Hello everyone, I hope you've had a wonderful week. I am going to have my first final on Friday, I'll probably be just getting hime when this chapter is uploaded. But anyway, summer is almost here and I'll probably be able to get the chapters to you sooner. I do have a job but I don't think that'll interfere too much. Anyway, here's chapter 19, I hope you enjoy

Fallingarcher22: I'm happy you like Charizard, I tried to make him a little overpowered and serious but still have comedic value. Yes, but I not even close to subtlyhinted how Ash, Pikachu, Eevee and May will cross paths again in this chapter

Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Glad you liked it. Aura exhaustion is a bitch isn't it? Not that he knows it. yeah I gave her a... how would you put it? kinky? side to her. Well no one was in the hallway and I totally agree, there is absolutely nothing to keep him around, nothing at all. And he never will

BlackStarZX: Thanks, I'm happy you like it. Yes he is, I have Ruby dressed in his Pokemon: Ruby clothes. Well, I'm certainly not going to make it easy for her.

D'oh: Hello S.T.V., Thanks for telling me, I recognized the name and (even though I should've looked it up) I couldn't remember where it came from. I never saw Braveheart, but I know the story

Chapter 19: The Resistance

-Ash's POV-

"Touch down right over there Charizard" I said, pointing towards the small grassy area a little ways from Slateport. Charizard grunted in confirmation and descended before coming to a hover just inches from the ground. He gently landed and bent down to allow me easy access off his back. I hopped off and rubbed his neck a little. "Thanks for taking us all the way here. You earned yourself a hunt night" I said.

Charizard grinned and took off, heading towards Kanto. That's his reward for when he does something well. I let him go and hunt unrestricted, because when I first got him as a Charmander I quickly learned that he had a rather large appetite which only increased after he evolved and he put a dent in my food supplies. The simple solution was to let him hunt, but he always came home with way too much food so I had put a restriction on the amount of kills he could take home.

I watched him fly away till he disappeared behind the trees. "Alright Pikachu, lets go say hi to our old partner". Pikachu grinned and gave me a smile and an affirmative nod. I began to walk towards the port city, which glowed with the light of hundreds of candles and fires in the night sky. I entered the city and walked around till I finally found what I was looking for. "The Nine Lives" I read from the sign hanging above the doorway.

I walked throng the door, attracting a lot of attention. Almost everyone turned to look at the newcomer, but looked away when they realized it was only a mercenary. They were not uncommon in this bar and certainly not unwelcome. "Well, well, well. If it ain't the Ranger. How ya been ya stupid twerp?" the bartender said with a grin. I walked to one of the stools and sat down in front of him "Better than you I'm sure. I just came back from a bodyguard mission and thought I'd drop by"

"Really? Well tell me about it"

I grinned "Still miss the life of a merc?"

He grinned right back "I'll admit I had fun, and yeah, I do miss it sometimes, but this is the life for me. It's honest and it pays well. Plus I enjoy it, unlike when I was runnin' around with your mangy ass"

I chuckled "Well, I got hired by the King of Hoenn"

"So Giovanni" Meowth interrupted "No I mean King Norman. And that's not the half of it, the long lost princess escaped and she paid me to take her back to Pedalburg. Once we got there though, King Norman paid me to be her bodyguard. A whole battle went down and a lot of the outposts surrounding Pedalburg were just wiped out and by now I'm sure they're occupied by Hoenn forces"

"So then what are you doing here? Are ya on break or somethin'?"

"No, I was only needed while they were surrounded. Once all the outposts were cleared I wasn't needed anymore"

"Pphh, you always got the good jobs. So, what's the princess like?" Meowth asked

"Brown hair, blue eyes, nice face, really girly, huge emotional issues, a bit too over dramatic, so overall... she wasn't that bad. But for some reason you don't seem surprised that she escaped"

"Word travels fast. And there were massive explosions that were comin' from da Pedalburg area not too long ago. Since it was a stalemate over there, one side had have gained or lost somethin'. Turns out that one side lost somethin' and one side gained somethin' though. So I wasn't surprised when ya told me that the Hoenn side gained somethin'. Ya only told me what it was they gained"

"Still as smart as ever" I commented

"What made ya think I lost it?" he sarcastically. I shrugged "Age?"

"I ain't old! But forget about that, How much did you get paid?"

"Oh, a bag of gold is all" I said casually

"And you didn't count it!? Have I taught you nothin'? You could be bein' ripped off. Bring it out and count how much you got" he demanded

I sighed "Fine, fine". I brought out (in a very overdramatic fashion) the bag of gold I was given and slammed it on the counter, bringing nearby eyes to me. Meowth just gazed at the bag with his eyes wide open. "T-t-t-that's a hell of a lot of gold twerp". I just ignored him band began taking out each gold piece one by one. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23-"

"Alright, alright, I get it. You didn't get ripped off" Meowth interrupted I smiled and wrapped my arm around all the gold I had taken out of the bag and pulled it back into the bag. "So, how about you donate some of that to the bar eh? You'd get part of the shares" Meowth said with a grin. My smile turned into a smirk "For some reason, I feel like I already did" I said as I held out my hand to him.

He looked at my hand and sighed "Nothin' gets past ya" he said as he handed back a few gold pieces he had taken from the pile while I was counting. "Nope" was all I said as I put the pieces back in the bag. "How's everybody holding up here?" I asked

"There all fine, a little antsy for some action though. Especially Garchomp, he's been complainin' that ya haven't brought him on any missions in a while" Meowth said. "That's bullshit, I took him out on a mission a like a month ago"

Meowth nodded "Well he doesn't seem to remember. By the way, your Rapidash showed up a while ago. I'm assuming you had some trouble?"

"I got a job from Prince Drew that required me to temporarily abandon Rapidash. I'll sat hello to him in a little bit"

"Ya better. He's been worried" Meowth said "Oh, there are some people upstairs looking for you. They've been renting that room for a month, not that I'm complaining, but it's weird that they'd wait that long for ya. I told 'em ta go ta Saffron, but they insisted that ya weren't there. Guess that's true. But you might want to go check 'em out, they looked ready for a fight"

"Tell me aout them" I said

"One is a short girl with black hair and blue eyes, the other is a tall guy with red hair and a cape. He appeared to be the leader. They are just here at night, durin' the day I have no idea where they go or what they do. I don't recognize them from anywhere, they might be in the black book, but I gave mine ta you so I didn't get the chance to look them up. In my opinion, you should go up there and see what they want, but keep your hand on your knife and Pikachu, be ready ta light this place up". I nodded "What room?"

"Second floor, third to the right" he said, I nodded once more and walked up the stairs to the right of the bar. I took my time but soon found myself in front of the door I was told they were in. I knocked on the door and heard some shuffling coming from inside before it opened a crack to reveal a single blue eye staring at me. "I was told you've been asking for me?" I said

The door opened fully and the girl was in full view. She had long black hair and blue eyes just like Meowth said. She wore a red top that had black stripe cutting it off just below her chest. Her red pants matched the top and similarly had black striped going down the sides. I smiled "Sabrina, it's good to see you" I said, discreetly taking my hand off the hilt of my knife. I felt Pikachu relax on my shoulder as well.

Sabrina smiled back at me "It's good to see you too Ash, and we have been asking for you"

"And may I ask who "we" is?"

""We" as in the resistance" a gruff male voice said, emerging from behind Sabrina. The man was indeed tall with red hair, he had a blue shirt and blue pants with orange striped and a black belt. He had a black cape that was red on the inside along with black combat boots with orange striped at the top. My smile faltered, any mercenary that had been active for at least a year knew about this man "I don't believe I've had the pleasure" I said, reaching out my hand. He took my hand and shook "Lance, leader of the Kanto resistance" he said "And you are the Ranger, I'm told your name is Ash"

I glanced at Sabrina when he said that 'Why the hell does everyone tell my name to everybody?' I thought. "You were told correctly" I said.

"You'll have to excuse me for hurrying this along, but I have been away for a month and I do not wish to be away any longer. We would like to hire you to fight for the resistance and are willing to pay you handsomely when the job is done. Do you accept?" he said

'Straight to the point, I like it' I thought. "Yes" I said without hesitation. I smirked when a surprised look came onto his face. "Really? Just like that?" I nodded "Well, I'll admit that I'm a little surprised that you accepted. It appears that you just came back from a mission so I thought you would want to relax for a while. but this does make things easier"

"Everyone knows a merc can't stay in one place for too long. Even one day can be too long" I said "So when do we head out?"

"Tomorrow would be preferable, but if you need another day to rest then I'll oblige" he said

"Tomorrow's fine. I'll here in the morning" I said, he nodded and closed the door. "We just kept getting the interesting jobs don't we Pikachu?" I asked while scratching him under his chin. My only response was a soft coo. I smiled "Let's go and grab something to eat before bed". I walked down the stairs again and sat in the same seat at the bar

"So, what'd they want?" Meowth immediately asked. "I got another job, but, can I get something to eat for me and Pikachu?". Meowth nodded and went behind the bar for a moment. I heard him yell something before coming back "Soup'll be here in a sec" he said, I nodded "And I got a piece of steak and some bread for you Pikachu"

"So what's the word going around the city?" I asked. Meowth leaned a little closer "People are sayin' that the Kanto soldiers at the front lines got their asses handed to them, but you already knew that didn't ya? But the interestin' part is that Hunter J was there, and hasn't returned. Everyone's sayin' that Giovanni is throwin' a fit trying ta find her. Personally I think she's dead. I'm sure you saw her there. Do ya know what happened?"

I smiled "Yeah, I do" I reached in my pouch and took out the end of the blade that broke off her sword and pierced her throat. It was black to match her armor, but the blood was still stained on it "This is the blade that went through her throat, not only was this her part of her own sword, but it was also wielded by my hand went J died" I said to him

He looked at it, eyes wide "So you finally got your revenge?" I nodded "I'm happy for ya Ash" he said, and I knew he meant it. He called me by my name, something he doesn't do often anymore. "Thanks" I said, returning the blade to my pouch.

Meowth abruptly turned to the door at the end of the bar "Oi! Where's that food!" he yelled. I heard some grumbling before a guy with blue hair came out from the door with our food on it "You don't need to be so mean Meowth" he muttered. Meowth hit him over the head as he put the food down, Pikachu not hesitating to dig in.

"Hey James" I said. He visibly brighten when he recognized me "Ah, how are you today Ranger?"

"I'm well, is Meowth treating you guys right while I'm gone?"

He scoffed "The second you leave, he turns into a slave driver"

I fake grimaced "I bet he's worse than the "councilors" at a Kanto POW camp " I actually have been in one. It might as well have been a plantation or mine without pay. Wasn't one of my favorite jobs. I had to break someone out of it, but I couldn't get him out without being in it myself. It took me a month to get us both out of there.

"Meowth, why don't you give them a raise or something? They're hard working" I said. Meowth just glared at James "Get back in the kitchen where you belong" he said "Ain't gonna give 'em a raise that they'll use to try and buy Pikachu from ya"

I smiled Jesse, the cook, and James, the busboy, had frequently tried to buy Pikachu off me, and on all occasions, they failed. I finally began to eat my soup, making small talk with Meowth as I ate, Pikachu occasionally giving his input. The second I was finished though "Alright, I'm hitting it for tonight. We got to wake up early tomorrow. Spare us a room?"

Meowth nodded and tossed me the key to the room kept for just me. I walked to my room and entered the small room. It had a single bed with a weapon rack and a lamp, plus a small wardrobe. Nothing special, I preferred this to any room in the castle back in Pedalburg. Way too sophisticated and stuck up over there.

I sat down, putting my hat underneath the bed and my boots with it. I took off everything and put on some shorts from the wardrobe before getting into bed.

-Next Morning-

I woke up earlier than I usual did. It was still dark out, but the sun was beginning to rise, its luminescent glow visible from the one window I had in my room. I got up into a fresh, new set of gear. It felt better than the crap I was given at the castle. That stuff was supposed to be and exact copy of what I had arrived in but they added all these new types of cloth and applications that made me feel so uncomfortable during a workout or a fight. They, fancied my outfit. I hated it.

I grabbed my hat and my boots, putting them on before putting Pikachu on my shoulder and walking up the stairs and leaning against the wall next to the doorway of my new employers. They actually slept in for a while for people who wanted to get back to home as soon as possible. So and hour passed by, then another, and halfway through the third. Lance finally walked through the door, geared and ready to go, Sabrina nodding good morning to me.

I pushed myself off the wall and simply began to follow them, not a word said. We passed Meowth and I gave him a smile and waved, he gave me one back. They went to the stables and brought out there Rapidash, I went behind the stables to the area where some of my Pokemon stayed. I walked through the gate that wouldn't keep them in there if they wanted to get out and turned to see Garchomp's face inches away from mine.

"Uh, Hello?" I said, his face contorted into a rather disturbing looking grin and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. 'Okay, that's one way to say hello I guess' I thought as I heard my ribs begin to scream. He set me down after a minute and I walked around him in a daze before regaining my senses and looking for Rapidash, Garchomp following me.

I saw him canter over and nuzzle me a little "Hey boy, how ya doing?" He snorted "Yeah, sorry about that. But, you ready fro another job? I need your help to get me to Kanto from here. Think you can do it?". This time he responded by heading over to where his saddle was kept. I thanked him before harnessing him into the saddle.

I stepped up and sat down on the saddle and looked around at the four Pokemon that stayed here (not including Rapidash) Meganium, Crawduant, Garchomp, and Infernape. "Thanks for being patient everyone, I'll be home soon and when I do were taking a long vacation and you can do whatever you guys want then" I said

I had Rapidash canter over towards the fence and jump over it, I turned back around upon hearing the loud thud that definitely didn't come from Rapidash. Garchomp, was still following me. "Garchomp, I don't think you're going to b needed on this one. I already got Charizard waiting for my whistle, two powerhouses on one mission might not be too good of an idea.

"Gaaarrrr" he complained. I sighed "Fine, but if I tell you to go home, you go home" Garchomp grinned again, showing off his razor sharp teeth and giving ham slightly maniacal look and not helping the foreboding feeling that this is a mistake go away from my gut. I sighed again "This is going to be interesting". I turned Rapidash around again and went out to the waiting rebels.

"I apologize for the delay, one of my Pokemon wanted to come and I was debating whether or not it would be a good idea" I said

"And what Pokemon would that... be" Lance asked, trailing off at the end as my massive pseudo legendary lumbered from around the corner. "Ah, I see" Lance said, causing Sabrina to giggle.

"Well? Lead the way" I said, gesturing towards the Kanto region. Lance nodded and began to ride off with Sabrina at his side. I whistled as loud as I could before following with Pikachu in my lap, hearing Garchomp launch to the skies moments after me.

I quickly caught up with the Sabrina and Lance. "So what exactly will I be doing on this job?" I asked Lance. He turned back to me "We basically want you to help us take outposts, destroy supply routes, steal Giovanni's things, destroy new inventions he's making, and get information on him. Are you up to it?" Lance said

I snorted "As if I would back down from this now" Lance just turned back to face forwards "Also, we are going to try and make contact with the Kingdom of Hoenn, it appears they have begun to strike back at Giovanni" Sabrina said. I nodded "Does that mean I'll be a messenger between you and them?"

"Well, maybe not you, but if we need you to, yeah" Sabrina said. 'Well, that would be really awkward for me' I thought "Alright then" was my only response. The rest of the ride went on in silence. I looked back to catch a glimpse of Garchomp and Charizard flying just behind us. 'Good, he heard my whistle' I thought before turning to face froward again.

Soon I saw towns pass us by, I recognized Oldale town, Mauville City, Lavaridge Town, until finally, we came to a stop at our destination at sunset. "The Indigo Plateau. Still looks like a fortress, even in ruins" I muttered

The once great structure, meant to hold tournaments for Pokemon from around the world was now beat up and weathered down. Parts were destroyed, walls had chunks missing from them, wood had to replace where marble one was. But the place was still built like a fortress. Well, it had been modified into one. "This was one of the first places Gioavanni attacked" Sabrina said to me "The second he became king, all the towns and cities were occupied by soldiers and he launches an all out attack in the span of two days, taking out al opposition to his authority" I nodded, this information not being new to me.

We slowed to a walk as we made our way through the first wall, and the second, and the third. The place was up against a cliff and had a crescent shaped wall going around it that was pure marble and five yards thick and followed by two more, both equal in width. There were massive gardens and park areas before the "palace" which used to be where all the delegates and nobles would hang out before and after matches and finally, the coliseum with the infamous gladiator's ring. Where humans and Pokemon, representing their countries, battled each other, sometimes to the death.

Each Kingdom had a place like this, it was switched from region to region each year it was held. I took my eyes off the scenery and focused on everything else. 'There are no guards, not a soldier in sight. Strange defense method' I thought. Finally we came to some empty stables and put our rapid ashes in there before getting off them and walking towards the coliseum, me with Pikachu on my shoulder

We continued through and reached the archway heading into gladiator's ring. Upon entering it, Lance made a high pitched, two fingered whistle and before I knew it, a bunch of people started coming from, behind pillars, stacks of wood, latches leading to underground, from on top of some of the scaffolding and ran down till the made a semicircle around us.

Lance turned to me, the group of people making a semicircle around him "Ranger, I'd like you to meet the resistance of Kanto, even though there are only four Kanto natives here. Meet Red, Yellow, Gold, Crystal, Silver, Black, White, Diamond, Pearl, and Platina" he finished

I scanned all their faces and could tell that they were sizing me up as well "So this is the resistance huh? I knew you were small in number, but i didn't know you were this small" I heard the one with a hat and googles yell out "hey" I shrugged though "Oh well, I'm not one to make judgments based on numbers. I'll see sooner or later why you haven't been eradicated"

With that I turned around and let out my own high pitched whistle of my own before turning back around to face the group. Two seconds later, both Charizard and Garchomp landed right behind me, shaking the ground a little. I took a glance back at them, feeling to tension coming from them. I almost smiled, the two were glaring at each. They probably raced down, if I had been paying attention I would have known who won. "Calm down you two, you're making a scene" I said

The two stopped glaring at each other and focused on the group of twelve in front of them. "Ah, so you brought a Charizard as well. I didn't see him flying with your Garchomp when we first set out" Lance said, breaking the (not so awkward) silence the became apparent.

"Yeah, he joined in a little later" I said "So, down to business, what do you want me to do?"

But instead of answering my question he turned back to the group "Everyone, get back to your jobs, you've met our newest addition" he said before turning back to me "You'll be helping with whatever it is that they need from you" I mentally sighed 'Not exactly what I was hoping for. Still, better than being the messenger' I thought

"First, I would go around and ask what they need you to do. Plus it'll help you get to know your coworkers better" Lance said. I nodded and went towards the first person I saw, but turned around to my Pokemon "Why don't yo guys rest for a little, but if thou want to fight then go outside with it. I don't want you destroying anything" they both grinned at each other before launching back into the sky. it might have been a mistake to have them both come.

I went over to a girl with blonde hair and brown eyes who was dressed in a black long sleeve undershirt with some a brown sleeveless vest on top of it and some pouch around the back. She had some bald pans on with brown boots that looked like they were meant for gardening. She was sitting cross legged with a bunch of berries and cups surrounding her. I gently tapped her shoulder and at first she jumped a little before turning to me "H-hello" was all she said

'A shy one eh? This one was... Yellow, right?' I thought

I gave her friendly smile "Hi, Yellow correct? Well I was told to come over and see if anyone needed any help and you were the first person I saw. So do you want me to do anything?" I asked in the most polite way I could. She brought a finger to her chin in thought "Well, I could use some help mixing some berries together for salves" she said

I nodded "Just tell me what to do, I am at your command"

She smiled a little at that "C-can you mix the Pecha berries w-with the Oran berries. Then put the mixture in that big bowl o-over there" she said, pointing to a rather large wooden bowl behind a pillar. I nodded and sat down a few feet away from her where the two bowls with the requested berries are. I began mixing the berries, two at a time, making it into a paste that is probably going to be used as medicine later.

"So, what is your job in the resistance?" I asked her. She looked up from her work "I-I'm kind of like a nurse or... how did Red put it? A medic, that's it. I'm a medic" I nodded "So your responsible for the health of all the Pokemon and people here? That's a heavy responsibility"

She smiled again "It's not that bad, not too many people get injured"

"OOOOWWWWW! CRYSTAL WHYYYYYYYYYY!?" I heard a male voice yell from the second level of the arena. Yellow coughed "Well, not everyone is as lucky as the others"

I laughed a little at that before putting the berries I had mashed into the large bowl she pointed to. "So what are you doing with all this?" I asked when I saw how much was already in the bowl "It's not just for us, we send this to all the towns and villages all over the Kanto region and even the others. Giovanni took everything from them and this is just a small way to help them"

"Wow, you're a really nice person" I said. She blushed a little at that "I-It's not just m-me who works"

Damnit, and just when I got her to get rid of the stutter. Way to go Ketchum "Well, is there anything else you need me to do? I asked her. She shook her head and thanked me before going back to work. "All the same I'll leave Pikachu to help you with anything, this looks like ti will take a lot of time" Pikachu jumped from my shoulder and stood next to her, ready for directions. I stood and leaned on one of the pillars that supported the coliseum, looking for the next person to help. I looked up and saw the guy who yelled. Wait, wash't that the same guy who said "hey" when I said the were small in number?

I walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor and headed towards the boy, who was accompanied by a girl. The boy who's name is Gold had a black and yellow hat on with a set of goggles with the trademark Kanto logo on them. Must've looted them from the "armory" in the palace. The armory was really just equipment for the computers so they could do whatever their event was without a hinderance. The goggles probably came form the Flying type race course. He had a black heavy shirt with a hood attached and some black shorts with yellow stripes going down the sides and some black shoes. He had tufts of black hit sticking out form under his hat and, true to his name, he had gold eyes

The girl, who was apparently Crystal, had blue hair that seemed to defy gravity as the made a 'V' shape and blue eyes. Her hair had a yellow band on the top that tucked behind her ears. She had a small pink jacket with a red undershirt, her shorts seemed to reverse Gold's, having the color coordination go from yellow shorts with black stripes along the sides but the same black shoes. She was currently talking angrily at him, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at Gold who was watching her rant with disinterest

"-ven listening to me Gold! You tie the knot with three crosses, not one. If you did it with one then the entire scaffolding would collapse because of that one weak link" she yelled at him

"Relax super serious gal, I'll get it done correctly, go and help yellow, or Silver. Hell, why don't you help the new guy, show him around or something"

I was standing to the side at this point, I wanted to ask if they needed any help, but there was no real good point to intervene "No! If I left you alone to this you would screw it up and we'd get punished. Besides, the new guy is kind of intimidating"

Ah, my cue. I coughed rather loudly into my hand, drawing the attention of the two. I heard the girl let out a small squeak and I hid my smile behind my hand, Gold started to crack up, bering over in his sitting position before falling back wards onto the ground and rolling around. Crystal was fuming "Shut up, it's not funny!" she yelled at him

"I think-it's pretty-fucking funny" Gold said in-between breaths. "Well, I hate to interrupt but I was sent to ask if you need any help with anything" I said. Gold sat up form the ground and wiped a tear from his eye, "How ya doing? My name's Gold and this super serious gal, aka Crystal" he said with a smile, one hand raised from his sitting position. I reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him upwards so he was standing before shaking it "A pleasure" I said

"Well at least someone around here has manners" Crystal said. Gold cracked a smile "Says the girl who just insulted him behind hid back, actually, to his face" Gold said before he began laughing again. "SHUT UP!" Crystal yelled before smacking him upside the head, effectively ending his laughter. Was this how Riley and I looked? Arceus, maybe I should apologize to him... Fuck that.

I coughed again "So, is there anything I can do?" I asked. Crystal looked a little flushed, realizing that I was watching still "Uuummm, I guess you can help put some scaffolding together. We were just about done anyway" I nodded and walked up to the already assembled scaffolding, studying the knot before going and grabbing the supplies needed to make some scaffolding that lay in a few neat piles nearby.

"How many would you like me to make?" I asked, sitting down and staring to tie two poles at a ninety degree angle. "Just two squares should be enough" Crystal answered, sitting down and also getting to work. Gold sat down next to me and worked as well. But I noticed he immediately got bored "if you don't start working now, she'll just start yelling at you again" I muttered to him

He sent me a smile "I know, pissing her off is so much fun, makes boring things like this more enjoyable" I chuckled at that "I think you just like the attention" I said. He gave me a knowing smile "That too"

"Get back to work Gold!" Crystal yelled, he just smiled and waved at her before actually doing the work. Soon I was done and walked over to Crystal who was clearly in charge of this project and showed her my two completed pieces. "Excellent. Why can't you be more like him?" she yelled at Gold. Gold yelled back "I guess I'll have to be more intimidating then"

"GOOOOLD!" she roared at him. I just quietly took my leave, not wanting to get caught up in one of their arguments. I looked back around the coliseum, looking for more work to do.

I spotted three guys pushing up against a wall with a large cut out in it and started to walk in their direction. "This method is ineffective, we should try something different" one said

"I don't know what you're talking about, this'll work" another one said "Yeah, we just need to put more power into it, if we push harder then we'll get it in no time" the third one said, agreeing with the second one

"Red, we have been trying this tactic for hours and nothing had come out of it. Let's request help" the first said

"No Silver, we don't want to hinder everyone. We're all busy, if we do it one more time" the third said "I agree with Black" the one now identified as Red said. Red had a red short sleeve jacket with white striped going down where it separated. He had a black undershirt and a red hat with some blue pants on and red and white shoes. His eyes, much like Ruby's were red and he had black hair to go along with it.

They all faced the wall again and Red said "On my count okay? One, two, and-"

"Excuse me? I was sent here to help in anyway that I can. Do you need anything from me?" I said. They all just looked at each other "Yes, help us-" the one known as Silver began but was but off by Black "What he means is, why don't you help someone else? Gold and Crystal need some help with the scaffolding"

Silver had long red hair that was about shoulder length and a silver pair of eyes that had a certain emotionlessness to them that matched his name. He had a high neck black, long sleeved shirt with a red stripe around the clear and going to down where the shirt separated. he had a pair of light grey pants on and some black and red shoes.

Black had short brown hair the stuck out to the sides a little and brown eyes. He had a blue hooded shirt with a dark clue undershirt with some black pants and res and white shoes.

Red sighed "Come on Black, it's time to admit we need some help. Truth is, we're trying to push this wall down. We have an area cut out going through to the other side, but we don't have the man power to push it"

"Why don't you get your Pokemon to push it?" I asked

Because all of our Pokemon are bust in Sinnoh and Johto right now. None of them are here" Black said. I nodded "Then let's start pushing"

We all pressed ourselves up against the wall "On my count" Red said "One, two, three, PUSH!" he yelled and we all began to push against the wall as hard as we could. At first nothing happened, but the wall began to, very slowly, move forward. "C'mon guys, its moving. Keep pushing" Black said. I began to push even harder. And after what felt like eternity, the wall was finally pushed through to the pher side and fell to the ground with a massive thud.

Dust flew up all around us and the others started to cough. I just pulled up my mask to prevent any dust from getting to me. When the dust finally settled I looked around and realized why they wanted to get into this room. It was filled with weapons. Swords lay everywhere, spears and shields were on weapons racks, bows hung along the walls. "This is enough weaponry for an entire platoon" I muttered

"I know right? This place is full of weapons. We were trying to get through the wall instead of the door because even our Pokemon couldn't get through the door. It's way too fought for that. And throughout that door should be even more weapons, and some equipment for our Pokemon" Black said

I looked at the door that he had indicated to first. It covered the entire wall and based on how even these guy's Pokemon couldn't out a dent in it, it was probably VERY thick. I looked to the second door he indicated and it was normal. I walked through it and was greeted with more dust. I waved it away and looked around the room.

The room I came from was a fraction compared to this one. It looked like it was triple the size of the other. Weapon racks lined the middle, filled with all sorts of equipment. On the walls hung equipment for Pokemon. I saw some that was meant for fire types, flying types, water types, etc. I closed the door and walked back to the boys who were picking up swords and shields.

"Anything else you need me to do?" I asked. red looked like he was about to say something but Silver cut him off "No, now leave" he said before walking outside with a bundle of weapons in his arms. "You'll have to forgive him, he like that to everyone he doesn't know and even to us sometimes" Red said to me. I shrugged "I've put up insults, glares, and even abuse from my employers. I don't think some harsh words are going to affect me" I said before leaving

I passed by Silver on the way out but didn't spare him a second glance. I looked out again and saw three people in the middle of the arena surrounding a fire and some pots. I saw one other person who was carrying some boxes. I started to walk towards her. I caught just as she was about to pick up another box "Sorry to interrupt, but do you need help with anything?" I asked her.

This girl had brown hair that went into a ponytail and a pair of dazzling blue eyes. She wore a small sleeveless balck vest and a white wife beater. A black and red band was around her wrist and she had a pair of blue short shorts that was torn in different places and black and pink shoes. She put her hands on her hips and studied me for a moment.

"Name's White, nice to meet you" she said. I shook her outstretched hand "Call me Ranger, it's a pleasure to meet you"

"Ugh, you sound like Crystal. Whatever, can you pick up some of these boxes and carry them inside, they're full of food so be careful" she said. I nodded and picked up two boxes with one arm and held them in front of me before taking a third one and resting it on my shoulder. "Well aren't you the string one?" White said as I began walking towards the other crates she had placed under the roof of the coliseum "In my line of work, you got to be"

"I suppose that's true" she said absently "Hey, what's the worst job you've ever gotten?" she asked suddenly

A weird question but I'll play along "There have been a lot of bad ones, but I'd have to go with when I had to break a guy out of a POW camp. It took me a whole month to get everything we needed to get us out. During that month we were underfed, beaten, sometimes went days without sleeping, had little water, a stack of hay as a bed with no covers or pillow, and no shelter to keep us from the rain. There were barracks for us but only to be used during the winter time, I never stayed around for that. But at least those had heat and we did get three meals a day" I said

She sucked in air through her teeth "That's sounds like hell on earth. Who was the prisoner?"

"His name was Gary Oak, and I wasn't really getting him out for the money, it was a favor for a friend. He had got caught helping the enemy by giving away plans and weapons. So they sent him there" I said

"You're one tough bastard" she said

"I'd like to think so"

"Well, these are the last two. I can take care of them on my own, you can go and help some of the others" she said with a smile. I nodded and began to walk towards the last three people of this resistance.

"Diamond stop eating the food! That's for everyone" the whose name I believe was Pearl yelled at the one called Diamond. "Jeez Pearl you don't need to be so loud, you sound like Black when he gets angry" Diamond muttered while biting down on something

"What did I just say? I said don't eat the food but you ignored me and started to eat it again. Arceus you're hopeless" Pearl said in exasperation. "Hello, I was sent to help you with anything you may need" I said. The three looked at me

Diamond had a weird red ha on that was flat at the top with black hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue long sleeve jacket with a grey undershirt and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. He had a pair of bald pants and red and white shoes. Pearl had spiky blond hair and orange eyes. He wore a orange and white striped collared shirt with a greens scarf around his neck. He wore blue pants and a pair of black and white shoes.

The last one, a girl, was looking at me curiously with her silver eyes. She had blue hair with two yellow clips on the side and a white hat with a pink emblem on the side. She had a black sleeveless short on that spread into a pink short skirt and a white undershirt. She had a red scarf around her neck and pink boots.

"Hello" she said "I believe you are the new recruit, correct? Well, if you would be so kind would you please get some bowls and put them on the table next to the pot?" she asked with very formal speech and a dainty voice. 'Nobility perhaps?' I thought while getting the bowls out. Once I was done I turned back to find Diamond and Pearl arguing about something.

"I'm telling you, we need to switch it up a bit. People will get tired of the same old thing over again. Time to make a new act and do something spectacular" Pealr said.

"What's wrong with our current act? Everyone who sees it had given us nothing but compliments" Diamond said. Pearl nodded "Yes but for how long? They will get tired of our act, that's why we need to come up with something new and exciting"

"They are entertainers" Platina said from next to me "Excuse me?" I said

She giggled at my confusion "they are performers. They travel around all the regions and do their performance in front of people to earn money. However, they had to stop because people began to hoard their money due to the heavy tax of all of Giovanni's wars. All of us were something before we were part of the resistance" she said

"I see" I said "So what were you? You have a small accent and your hands don't seem like the kind that have seen much work in their existence, if I had to guess I'd say you were nobility before you came here" I said

She rubbed her hands, now conscious of them "Yes, you are correct. I belong to the Berlitz family, but we were taken down by Giovanni when he first invaded the Sinnoh region" she said sadly

"Oi, perk up. You're here to make a difference right? Well being sad like everyone else in the region isn't making much of a difference right?" I said to her. She gave me a surprised look before smiling. "I'll admit you are not like I'd thought you'd be. I had always assumed mercenaries were cold hearted and thoughtless" she said

I put a hand to my chest and faked a hurt voice "Well that truly hurts, we aren't thoughtless, were emotionless. There's a huge difference between the two" she laughed at that.

"It's been a while since I've laughed, thanks you for that" she said with a smile. I smiled back at her, she looked beautiful when she was smiling. And when she wasn't but, you get the idea. I turned back to the two who had ceased their argument and were staring at Platina. "You laughed" Pearl said "You haven't laughed in a very long time"

Platina nodded "I know, but our new friend is a nice and funny man" she said while smiling at me, I returned it once again. I looked back to the two but found Pearl's face inches away from mine. "hmmmm" he said in thought while studying him before breaking out in a smile "Well, anyone who's a friend of Platina is a friend of mine" he said while holding his hand out "My name's Pearl, and the guy that almost ate our dinner is Diamond" he said.

After shaking his hand I responded with "I'm the Ranger, it's a pleasure" Diamond smiled and waved at me and I returned it both. Pearl, could you call everyone in for dinner?" Platina asked. Pearl nodded and yelled "HET EVERYONE, DINNER'S READY. COME GET IT BEFORE IT'S GONE". I saw everyone begin to congregate around us. Lance and Sabrina came from the direction of the palace and everyone sat on some massive stoned put in the middle of the arena to give the gladiators a terrain advantage.

I handed everyone their share of the soup that was being made in the large pot before taking my own share and climbing on one f the taller pillars so I could look down and see everybody. I gave a small and whistle for Pikachu to come to me, but when I saw him, there were two Pikachus. They both raced towards the campfire before coming to and abrupt halt. My Pikachu in front of the other.

My Pikachu began to brag to the other who just gave a huff and walked over to Yellow who patted his head and gave him some food. I whistled again and Pikachu bolted up the pillar, almost like he ran up the side of the pillar to get hop before coming to a stop next to me. I scratched him under the chin before giving him some of my food and paying attention to the others below me.

"We finally got the weapons from the armory. Now we got enough supplies to give to a whole army" Black bragged. Yellow looked a little apprehensive at the mention of weapons. "Phh, took you long enough. You were working on that wall for hours with no success. And the new guy shows up and you miraculously mange to get in open, coincidence much?" White said

"Well, sure her helped a little but we would've gotten it open sooner or later" Black said defensively. White just responded with a "mmmhmm".

"Well at least they were doing work, Gold was being lazy and not doing any work" Crystal complained. "Hey, I was doing work, just slower than you" he said. I chuckled a little at that poor excuse. "Ughh, you're so annoying" Crystal muttered

This job might just be a fun one

And that's the end of this chapter. My longest yet. I hope you're happy, but I'm tired. I added in 12 new characters and I'm sorry if you find that the work is sloppy. I misjudged how long this would take and began to run low on time. Anyway, hate, suggestions, requests, and anything else are always welcome. I hope you enjoyed and until the next time

-novaking2832