Chapter 18

Japanese Names:

Mikan = Jasmine

Matsuba = Morty

Disclaimer: We do not own pokemon in any shape or form and we are not associated with Nintendo, GameFreak, or any of the creators of pokemon. OC characters and plot belongs to us; video game characters do not. Support pokemon by buying their games and/or watching their anime/movies.

Pokemon Center - Cianwood City

"Chin chou, chin chou, chou chou, chin~" The little blue pokemon sang out without meaning. The little melody danced playfully with the water hybrid's hops, matching perfectly.

Chinchou's trainer didn't seem to notice that the the pokemon's words were muffled and hard to understand. One could see the end of a C battery sticking out of her mouth with liquid electricity flowing into her mouth. The battery was all grey except for a few green lines near the top. Earlier that day, Mirei changed the batteries of one of the equipment and left it lying for a few minutes before the football shaped fish discovered it. The rest of Mirei's team stared at the hungry Chinchou, who continued sucking on the used battery.

"Is that healthy...?" Chiharu asked her friend, pointing at the hopping angler.

It was the afternoon, but the fish pokemon was somehow more energetic than her trainer was. Chinchou bounced around the room like the Energizer Buneary with a big smile on her face and continued to sing on top of her lungs. The water type scared a few trainers nearby in the Pokemon Center lobby room from her bountiful energy. Some trainers shouted out from shock when Chinchou jumped out in front of them to greet them.

"Is what healthy?" She replied as she scrolled through the map in her Pokegear. Her cursor kept going back to Olivine City, which she still couldn't go since her companion still hasn't fought the fighting gym leader.

The blue hair trainer pushed Mirei's head to the side to show Chinchou with the battery hanging on the tip of her tongue, "Please tell me you are aware of your pokemon's well being…"

"Ch-chouko!" Mirei yelled, snatching the liquid covered container out of her mouth. She quickly slipped it in a plastic bag and cleaned off her hands before the acid could cause any lasting harm. Sulfuric acid would burn through skin if left too long. "How long were you sucking on that?"

"You shouldn't touch that!" Chiharu stared at Mirei's hand and quickly searched through her bag for baking soda. The catcher found the item capsule containing it and enlarged the pokeball like container. She grabbed a water bottle and a plastic bowl, placed it at the table, and poured water and the white powdery compound together to create a murky white mixture. Mirei dipped her hands into the mixture and rinsed her hands again to neutralize them.

"What about Chouko?" The brunette girl looked at the pouting Chinchou, who was definitely sulking rather than having her mouth burning. She asked the pokemon to stick out her tongue. It was a normal pink, nothing red or burnt; same with her lips and the rest of her mouth.

"Chinchou, chou, chinchou," Chinchou frowned. Aw, that was so yummy! The water pokemon rubbed her belly with one fin.

Chiharu took a look at the plastic bag, rotating the cylinder shaped battery. She sighed out loud, "It isn't leaking." The battery was covered in saliva, but she couldn't see anything coming out of the battery.

"Then, what did I touch?" Mirei looked at her friend with a dumbfounded expression.

"Her saliva, I guess." She shrugged, "Maybe we should ask the nurse." The trainer stared at the Chinchou, "Although she looks perfectly fine to me…" Chinchou waved her glowing antennas at Mirei and Chiharu and made them flicker.

"She was sucking on electricity..?"

"Well, she is an electric pokemon…"

"Why don't you train Chouko while we wait for Satsuki's results to come back?" Chiharu asked, "You look like you have nothing to do." The teen lifted the plastic bag containing the electric battery. She would need to find a place to dispose of it later; throwing it in the trashcan didn't seem like a good idea.

"Why should I? It is so we-"

"Hello!" A perky trainer called out. He spun around towards the duo with his black bangs swirling under a cap that resembled an Ultra Ball.

"Hi Gold," the blue haired trainer wore an odd smile. "You defeated all eight gyms, didn't you?" She put the plastic bag in another item capsule and minimized it before pocketing it in her bag.

"Hello, Natsu," he winked at the brunette with a smile.

"My name is Mirei," the other girl said with a flustered face.

"Why don't you help Mirei train for the upcoming match against Mikan?" Chiharu asked him casually. "Both of you look like you could use a break from all of what just happened."

"Sure," he twirled one last time. The grin on his face made that morning seem like it never existed. Like a girl didn't go on a wild rampage just a few hours ago. He pointed to the water hybrid, "Are you using her for the battle?" At the mention of Chinchou, the pokemon beamed and started chattering to Gold excitedly.

"Chou, chou, chou, chinchou, chou!" Yay! We're going to train! Train! Train! The pokemon jumped up and down. Chinchou abruptly stopped bouncing when a heavy weight dropped on her. She caught the item and stared at the round stone in her fins. It had a smooth surface and was small enough to fit inside the palm of a child. Chinchou looked up at the male trainer with question, but he had his face turned away.

He knows that Chouko is a girl too? Mirei thought to herself as she shook her head. "No, I don't plan on using it."

"Wait, why not?" He tilted his head to the side with a confused expression. "Water types are effective against ground, no?"

"Her Steelix is a steel type," Mirei objected. The metal snake looked nothing like a ground type. Its body was covered with steel from head to toe with a wide creepy grin that made Matsuba seem nothing to Mirei anymore.

"Steelix is actually a ground type too," Chiharu corrected her. She ignored the stare the brunette girl sent to her.

"And ground is weak against water," Gold added. He shifted his hands towards the angler. "She is a water type…"

"But it is so weak." She rolled her eyes.

A vein twitched in his forehead the second he heard "weak". His head dropped slightly, so his bangs covered his eyes. "'Weak'?" he asked, his voice quietly repeated. "'It'? You called her an 'it'?"

"Are you okay..?" Chiharu cautiously asked and glanced at him. She froze at the tone of his voice. The look in his eyes made her slowly back away from him, but stayed close with Mirei.

He brought his head back up, his eyes ablaze. His voice rang loud and clear, "You act like your pokemon doesn't have any feelings. You keep calling her 'it' like she isn't alive. Chiharu even corrected you a few times. Red corrected you! Do you even understand how it feels to be looked down on because you're 'weak'?"

"What?" She said, "I don't under-"

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon." Gold recited, "That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites. Someone once told me that."

"But Chinchou isn't my favor-"

"That's not the point!" The teenage boy snapped at her. "There are no 'strong' pokemon. There are no 'weak' pokemon. Now, if you still can't understand that, why don't you try battling me?"

Outside the Pokemon Center

"You're extremely offensive," The Johto champion stated.

It wasn't anything more than a statement. Their battle was a short three on three battle. A full length battle felt long and pointless, even if he was going against a rookie trainer. He pulled out some pokemon from his PC, knowing that she didn't have a chance with his usual team. The pokemon he used were local pokemon he caught around the area a few years ago; they were so pleased to be given the chance to fight for their trainer. Nothing to fear, for the battle was short and anticlimactic. Mirei got the basics of type advantages and disadvantages down, but she didn't understand the purpose of stat changing moves and was always more focused on taking down the opponent than thinking outside the box.

Her pokemon were slow and were unused to adapting the constantly changing environment because Gold took advantage of the battlefield at the beach and caused erosion. Cliffs of molded sand slanted on the sides, making it hard to see the entire playing field for both trainers and pokemon. It was a sand maze. Holes were dug all over the beach and water occasionally rushed in to bring water pokemon crawling out for food. Chiharu acted as referee for the two trainers while Gold and Mirei were standing on opposite sides of the beach.

"That's all I need! Power-" Her Nidorina leaped away from her opponent's Rock Slide. Boulders were hurled at the poison type pokemon but missed her by a few inches.

"And if the opponent spammed some attack or special attack reducing move, then what would you do then?" he asked her with a tired tone.

He wasn't even standing anymore; he was sitting down, slouched over on a rock with his hand on his forehead. Shuckle had a red polka dotted shell; the pokemon withdraw its limbs and head when Mirei's Nidorina used Double Kick on it. Inside its shell, Shuckle cringed from the poisoning from Nidorina's horns. Double Kick only slightly shook the shell because its high defense made up for its horribly low attack and speed.

"You use items that hurt your pokemon!" Mirei shouted back and pointed to the Life Orb held by one of his pokemon. "It's hurt because of you!"

"I know how to use items to my advantage," Gold said quietly. "Hidden Power!"

Energy balls surrounded Shuckle as the shelled pokemon aimed it at Nidorina. The poison type pokemon panicked and ran off, but was hit by the super effective type move. Nidorina only recently regained the ability to roam on her own when she was previously bind by Shuckle's Constrict attack. A combination of Constrict and Shuckle's other moves like Swagger and Facade had slowed down Nidorina and made her unable to keep up with the pace of the slow pokemon, ultimately giving Shuckle the upper hand. Shuckle saw its chance and finished off the pokemon with Facade, causing Nidorina to faint.

"Kisaki!"

"Nidorina is out!" Chiharu announced and flagged her arm to Gold's side of the battle, "Gold wins!" Mirei fell down to her knees at her defeat and recalled her pokemon.

"Life Orb boosts up his moves at the price of using up more energy. I wouldn't give it to one of pokemon that has doesn't have high stamina, or to a pokemon that doesn't have an offensive build in the first place." Gold held up a blue book and said, "You were given this book when you became a trainer. It's supposed to explain to you how to surive in the wild and how to battle. It talkad about the use of giving items to your pokemon." The book was pocket sized and had the thickness of a sandwich. He nodded in acknowledgement of his victory and recalled his Shuckle back into its pokeball.

"I plant berries for them," she uttered.

"You use them to make poffins," Chiharu reminded her and joined her friend by sitting on the damp sand beside her.

"I give it to them sometimes," she defended herself. "But some of them hate certain berries I give to them."

"Miracle Seed for grass moves, Charcoal for fire moves, Mystic Water for water moves," he continued, reading straight out of the first page. He closed it as he added on, "Life Orb, I already explained to you. Focus Band helps your pokemon endure a very powerful move, like Earthquake from a Swinub against a Tyranitar."

"I don't even have half of those items," Mirei countered.

"The Pokemart always have them on sale," Chiharu told her. "I always see them displayed on the first floor."

To be fair, Chiharu was the only one in the group who actively shopped at the Pokemart stores to restock her items. Her favorite store was the Goldenrod Department Store because it had everything she needed to catch and train her pokemon. Her visits to the department store was so frequent that she was the one doing the grocery shopping for her family unless she was on a pokemon journey. She would stay up until the wee hours of the night cutting out Pokemart and Goldenrod Department Store coupons.

"Occa berries reduce damage from a fire type move if your pokemon happened to have a disadvantage of the type." He switched his topic so that she could relate. "Passho for water moves, Wacan for grass. Haban for dragon moves. Berries can be used very effectively when battling against pokemon that would have the upper hand. Some berries raise your pokemon's stats when they are low on health, like a Salac berry, for speed."

"Don't forget about X items," Chiharu inserted in the middle of Gold's laundry list. "X items help boost up your pokemon's strengths in areas like Attack, Defense, Speed, and so on."

"If you used these items to your advantage, I'm relatively sure that you would have been able to defeat Mikan before you even had to surf here," he sighed, summing everything up. "Probably on your first try if she was gracious enough. So, why are you so stuck on the idea that you don't ever need them?"

"But if my pokemon are really strong, isn't there really no need to use them?" the brunette asked.

"There will always be someone better than you," Gold stated with a low tone. "Even if a trainer had pokemon below the strength of yours, if the cards are played right, they can easily overthrow your team with some form of strategizing (1). How do you think your friend managed to evade all of us these past few days?" He said the last sentence in a murmur.

Satsuki's Nightmare

Pain, unbearable heat scorched its way into her body. Beating her skin dry and a faint copper smell penetrated the darkness that she floated in. Tires squealing, a loud crash, then sirens; sounds from that first nightmare echoed around the empty space as loudly as when it had occurred. Satsuki curled herself into a ball, cover her ears, and shut her eyes, but the image of her father's body getting wheeled away illuminated itself in her mind. More pain blazed upon her old scars, wounds that should have healed at least a decade ago.

Light shined through her eyelids. She peeked through her eyelashes to see her house in a morning glow. The building was kept and clean, not at all aged like she had seen just days before. It had a slight glow from the distance. From its innocence before the event or because of her perspective? The pale red rooftop wasn't chipped and the walls were a creamy color with vines growing over them.. She saw a child form of herself about to run in with a basket of freshly picked berries.

"Don't go in!" Satsuki shouted with wide desperate eyes, recognizing the scene. She tried to grab the child's arm only to have her own hand go right through. She watched as her younger form happily enter the house, only to be welcomed by a grief stricken looking lady, her childhood friend's mother, the one who moved away. Tears that refused to flow pooled in her eyes as she had to explain to the child that she won't be able to talk to her mother ever again.

The house suddenly aged as the sun rapidly went down and an older child hopped off the porch. She turned and locked her door before stowing the key under a rock of the pathway. She had a backpack snugly sitting on her shoulders and three miniaturized pokeballs attached to her belt. The moon was high in the night sky as she quietly slipped into the forest.

Satsuki, begging in her head for it to be just any average night, followed her younger form in. She noted that her child version wore a long t-shirt, which stopped just enough to cover the pokeballs and beige loose boy shorts, held to her waist by her black belt. Even as a child she preferred male clothing. The two walked down a not yet worn pathway to a shrine, the same shrine she and her friends often played at.

Before she knew it, a small explosion blasted down several trees not too far from the old shrine. Satsuki turned around instinctively as she saw a dark shadowy figure kick her child-self down. Suddenly, a sharp pain spiked in her back, forcing her to flinch and shut her eyes. When she reopened them, she was staring at the grass and her own hands, much smaller than it should be.

A dark laugh erupted before her as she snapped her head towards the sound, up to the attacker when she realized that she is her child self. The air was filled with the scent of gunpowder and gasoline. She was reliving that night. Sweat formed at her pores. It was summer.

She quickly called out her pokemon, only for all three to get slammed to the ground by a giant spider. The Ariados that she had befriended earlier that day turned on her and bared its fangs and hissed.

Is it time to eat? It screeched as it knocked Eevee into a tree. The canine pokemon yelped at impact, but was quickly tossed into the air by one of the arachnid's legs. The spider swiftly skittered around, continuously bumping the evolution pokemon back into the air as if he was a volleyball.

"Elliot!" her child's voice and her own voice cried out as she dragged herself off the ground. The spider spun around just as rammed herself into it, causing it to fall over. Satsuki caught the Eevee neatly in her arms as the Ariados recovered. She recalled her other two pokemon and turned around to run, only to get grabbed by the collar of her shirt.

"You little brat," the arachnid's trainer grinned, holding her high in the air with her feet not touching the ground. With one hand she held onto his wrist to not choke and the other hand kept her pokemon close to her chest. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice you trying to hide here?"

"L-let go..!" She struggled as she kicked at his torso. He laughed at her pointless assaults, shaking her around slightly like an oversized doll. He dropped her onto the ground and watched her take the fall, protecting her canine pokemon

She landed on her left arm as she rolled away from the arachnid, sending a sharp snap running up her limb. The trainer maliciously cackled as she forced herself up with her injured arm. Blood flowed rapidly down unevenly on her skin. Satsuki reached out in attempt to crawl away, not caring that blood and dirt mixed underneath her nails as she clawed the ground. Her eyes were blinded by red light when she looked up without thinking.

"Think again," he chuckled. He pulled out a lighter, flicked it and watched as the spark ignited a small, lively flame. It danced and flickered at the slightest breeze. The light left a dim glow on the trainer's face. Without hesitation, he flung the object into a nearby bush.

At moment's presence, the flame exploded like fireworks and greedily ate the branches on the ground. The effect was instant where the fire burst into form and consumed the trees surrounding it. Smoke arose from the macabre dance and stroked Satsuki's face with intense heat and clouded her mind and vision. He called out his Larvitar to block her from the leaving the burning area. The pokemon glared at its trainer with menace, but obeyed the man and started flinging rocks at the ground to make the ground uneven. A sharp edged rock nearly went to where Satsuki's hand was a few seconds ago.

From the corner of her eye, a two figures and a pokemon landed onto the ground with soft thud. Instinctively, she threw herself back, away from her two friends just as Larvitar slammed itself into her. She hit the ground with a groan, choking and coughing out ashes. It was as if a brick wall was rammed into her stomach; the pokemon's rock like skin contrasted to the increasing heat of the woods.

Without warning, the rock hybrid flopped itself onto her torso. She gasped, for air and in protest, but the pokemon ignored her and enjoyed its new squishy pillow. The ten year old girl forgot how heavy rock types were. Larvitar weighed at least twice of her weight (2). The pokemon felt heavier than it should have. Did the man stuff the pokemon with dirt before he executed the plan?

"Satsuki? Satsuki, where are you?" A girl's voice echoed from outside the rampaging flames.

"D-don't come…" she choked out before he delivered a swift kick to her head.

She was engulfed in darkness once again for what felt like hours, but she knew it wasn't any longer than ten minutes. Her ears were deaf to all but the yells and screams of pokemon and her childhood friends. When her eyes finally opened, she was already on her feet and all she saw were flames and Mirei's body next to a neatly wrapped cocoon, and Ariados' fangs ready to pierce through it.

Satsuki screamed, demanding for the man's attention. Before he could get in a word, she screeched out, "The fire, put out the fire! Hurry, hurry, please stop the fire!"

"The hell-"

"Don't hurt them, please!" She continued as she approached him, her vision was blurred with dirt and tears. "I'll do anything, just please stop hurting them!"

The man stared at her quietly before an evil grin etched itself onto his face. "Alright kid, I'll let them go. Just remember, this is your fault and you asked for it. You can't run. And you'll never get away from this choice you made."

Cianwood City Hospital

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Satsuki's eyes snapped wide open only to be staring at a blank tile patterned ceiling. The restless clicks of her heartbeat echoed through the cold dull room. She recognized where she was by scent alone; there are only so many places that could smell as sterile as a hospital room. A groan escaped her lips as she brought her left arm to cover her face when she noticed it was professionally bandaged up. The white cloth overlapped and covered the gash in about three layers while her wrists were wrapped in two. She glanced to her left to see her clothes folding on a table next to a bundle of new bandages.

"I wake up from a nightmare only to find myself in another," she muttered out loud.

The trainer quickly removed every wire that strapped her to the machines around her and nearly ripped out the needles from the IV. She then proceeded to strip off the hospital clothing and put on her own. Surprisingly, they were perfectly clean. Laundry machines are so convenient.

The heart monitor began blaring out a never ending buzz the second she pulled off the wired device from her finger. Chills ran up her spine as she slowly buttoned up her white dress shirt. Unsettled, she peeked out her window to find out that her room is on the fourth floor.

My pendant and Mystic Water are gone… she thought to herself as she slipped the second button through its slot.

"Her pulse stopped!" A voice outside her room called out. Suddenly a tall brunette with absurdly spiky hair that seemed to defy gravity burst through the door just when her fingers moved onto the third button. A Porygon-Z floated beside him and made odd machinary sound.

The Viridian gym leader came in with a terrified look in his eyes, only to have them freeze on the person of interest. Satsuki had her jeans loose and unzipped, revealing her bandaged hips and her dress shirt was not covering enough, and bandage wraps covered her chest area. A blush crept on his face as he stared dumbfounded.

"Why… Are you still staring?" Satsuki's voice growled in a low tone. Green could see flames flickering in her eyes.

"What are you doing out of bed?" His question was asked a little too quickly for her liking. The young man's eyes were hesitant on shifting away from her.

"Get out." She snapped as she spun him around and kicked his butt out of the room. The door slammed behind him.

He pulled out his Pokegear and called Red's number as eyes from nurses and patients bore into his body. "Yo Red. She's awake."

"Already?" His sleepy voice yawned over the speaker.

"Yeah, you can ask my ass later."

Mission to check on patient failed. Attempt to Plan B initiating? Porygon-Z asked its trainer, not noticing the warning look it was receiving.

Would you like some heavy concentrated caffeine? Caffeine has been proven to be very beneficial to tired humans. My record says that you have slept for 4.34 hours last night. The normal type pokemon suggested when its trainer didn't reply. Or perhaps some nutella? Nutella with bacon on top is confirmed to be the best thing invented since Nyan Skitty. Are you ok, Green?

Green had a headache listening to his pokemon blare on random bits of data and Internet references that made no sense to him. Its robotic voice was loud and clear where it made a few nurses spin around to see where the voice was coming from. Maybe it was a horrible idea to always have the pokemon by his side. The stares and whispers always got on the gym leader's nerve. Although it was the only pokemon that didn't make noise as it moved and it was useful for going to places undetected.

Satsuki, with an annoyed expression on her face, opened the window and plopped herself on the windowsill. The heart monitor finally stopped; Green told the nurse that she was fine. All she had to do now was waiting for the group to come.

Pokemon Center Lobby

"Satsuki is up?" Gold's ears perked up as Silver's voice sparked out of his Pokegear. His voice reached Chiharu and Mirei too; both were tending to Mirei's pokemon. Nidorina was resting at Mirei's foot while Alakazam and Chinchou were bickering to each other. Alakazam towered over the water type pokemon and nearly squished her from leaning too close.

"Alakazam, zam, kazam." You could have easily ran away today, the psychic pokemon argued.

"Chou?" What do you mean? The angler pokemon cocked her head to the side. "Chinchou, chou, chin!" Mirei is the best trainer ever! She squealed.

"Yeah, I was told that Green entered her room when he heard the heart monitor announce that her pulse stopped. He ran in, but she kicked him back out." Red replied in a tired tone. The Johto champion could clearly hear that he barely slept.

"I'll head over right now," Gold answered and turned to the other two. "I'll go first, girls. Come soon okay? Don't leave me by my lonesome." He bear hugged Chiharu to say farewell, only to receive a slap.

"Fine, fine," he teared up as he rubbed his cheek. He walked away, pocketing a trinket. "Got it." He sighed as he headed back to town.

"Kazam," What are you talking about? Alakazam shook his head with a sigh, "Ka, ala, kazam, zam, ka." She hardly trains you and called you weak.

"Chou, chinchou!" I just didn't try hard enough, the fish pouted. "Chinchou, chou, chou!" She'll look at me if I try hard enough! Chinchou jumped up and down and narrowly missed slapping the psychic pokemon in the face. Alakazam leaned slightly back to avoid the angler pokemon getting too close.

"Zam…" What a pain… Alakazam scratched his forehead with one spoon. "Ala, kazam, alakazam." Listen, you don't need to please everyone. He inspected Chinchou with a raised eyebrow. "Alakazam, zam, ka, zam." Just go at your own pace. You don't have to become a good battler just because Mirei thinks you're not strong.

"Chou? Chinchou, chou, chi?" What? But isn't that what being a trainer's pokemon is about?

"Alakazam, zam, kazam." It isn't just the pokemon who should worry about making others happy. The trainer has to think about the pokemon too.

Chinchou only looked more confused at Alakazam's words of advice. The water hybrid sat down on the floor of the hospital with her eyes closed as if in deep thought. Alakazam saw that talking further wasn't helping things and silenced himself. The water pokemon wasn't going to understand anything until she saw it for herself. Chinchou seemed so sure that being strong was going to make their trainer happy. Even if Chinchou was "strong", would that make Mirei happy? Mirei's definition of strong pokemon was vague at times and even then, being strong wasn't enough. Her pokemon always had to get stronger. There was no limit to when to stop.

"Chinchou, chinchou!" Just you wait, I'll get strong and then Mirei will love me! Chinchou chirped.

"Alakazam, zam." Don't get your hopes too high, the psychic pokemon looked away. Chinchou didn't hear him and stuffed her face with a Poffin.

Satsuki's Room

"We know that you are not doing this by your free will," Green spoke calmly watched Satsuki continue to stare out the window. Other than earlier, when she kicked him out of the room, she hasn't said a word. Only a glance or a glare to acknowledge that people were in the room. "Or at least, that's what are assuming, since that collar you have is hurting you rather than being a fashion statement and that I was told that you taken away when you were ten."

"We want to help you, but we can't do anything unless you open up to us," Red added.

Chiharu began fidget, nervously stuffing her hands into her pockets. A sudden realization dawned to her when her fingers couldn't find a cold metal pendant. She peeked at Mirei, who was outside due to the limit of visitors in the hospital room, hoping that she may know where it could have dropped only to see her staring at the ground. The brunette girl fiddled with the end of her side ponytail with a distant look on her face as if she wasn't quite there.

"How many legendary pokemon have you caught already?" Silver questioned, getting straight to the point. Gold gave him a look that screamed 'that was way too soon' as his rival shrugged and added, "There is no point beating around the bush."

"Pika pii." She doesn't look like she really wants to talk. Pikachu whined from Red's lap.

"Rowl, growlithe gr growl," Maybe she's hungry! Growlithe yelped. The tiger dog sat at his trainer's feet with his tongue sticking out.

"Espeon! Esp, pi, eon!" Helios! Not everything is related to food! Chiharu's Espeon looked at the fire type pokemon in annoyance.

"Growlithe, gr, growl?" Coming from the pokemon that eats everything in sight? Helios cocked his head to the side.

"Pi, esp, pi?" Are you saying I eat too much? The psychic pokemon's voice raised an octave higher. Espeon bat her paw at Growlithe angrily.

"You look fine to me," the gentle tone of Satsuki's voice startled the room. She glanced towards the pokemon when she responded. Silver felt almost insulted that his question was almost entirely ignored.

"What?" Red asked with disbelief.

"Esp!" See! Espeon head her head high, "Pi, pi, pi!" Glad to see someone agrees with me! She flicked her tail across the clean hospital floor.

"Grow, growl, lithe…" Someone's in denial… Helios lowered his head and looked at the girl in the hospital bed with half opened eyes.

"Who are you talking to?" Green asked as she simply lifted her head to stare back outside again.

There was nothing interesting outside in particular. Her eyes weren't aimed at the usual tourists flocking towards the beaches. She was eyeing the sky in particular, ignoring the cold chill coming from the air conditioner. Chiharu's pokemon continued bickering in the background, but even their argument didn't get her attention anymore at the moment. She was fixated of what was beyond the thick glass window. Green impatiently gripped the side of the wall with one hand. After years of being recognized as the grandson of a well known researcher and being under the spotlight of being a strong trainer, he wasn't used to being ignored. It was like talking to Red again.

"Vii," Ignoring again.

"Growlithe growl," Maybe she's thirsty?

"Medical records indicate that this underdeveloped human has the proper intake of liquid for the day," Green's Porygon-Z blared. Espeon and Growlithe turned their heads to the virtual pokemon with blood veins nearly popping out.

"Espeon…" Thank you for informing us… The psychic pokemon mumbled.

"Growl…" Who asked you...?

"Underdeveloped..?" The said person's lips twitched.

"Underdeveloped. Pronunciation: [uhn-der-di-vel-uhpt]. Adjective. Definition 1: Improperly or insufficiently developed. Definition 2: in photography, less developed than is normal to produce dark positive lacking in contrast, Definition 3-" (3)

"Growl?" Why does she respond to us but not the trainers? Growlithe interrupted Porygon-Z from continuing to recite definitions from recently updated dictionaries.

"Vui," She could possibly not want to talk to them.

"Synonyms: embryonic, nascent, undeveloped, immatu-"

"What do you mean immature?" Satsuki's vein pulsed with annoyance, "What does nascent even mean?"

"Nascent. Pronunciation: [nas-uhnt, ney-suhnt]. Adjective." Growlithe opened his mouth, but was easily ignored. Porygon-Z didn't seem to care that all of the trainers in the room had their eyes on it with looks of uncertainty and rambled on. "Definition 1: beginning to exist or develop. Example: The nascent village was easily rampaged by the wild pack of Mightyena because they were not prepared for defending themselves. Followed by death. Definition 2-"

"Shut up!" Green was surprised to see his voice wasn't alone. He turned to look at the patient, but she quickly turned away. He took out his pokeball and put the bothersome artificial pokemon back into its pokeball. There was a sound of relief from the occupants of the room.

"What's going on here? What's the racket about?" The nurse came in, "This is hospital, not a high school!"

"Sorry ma'am, we'll keep it down," the gym leader replied quickly. The nurse gave a slight glare before she left the room. He turned back to Satsuki and added, "Sorry about that…"

She stared off into the sky without another word, as if embarrassed by her outburst.

"I'm starting to regret ever evolving this guy…" Green said with a sigh. "He was polite when he was a Porygon. He's been acting weird ever since he evolved into Porygon-Z…"

"She's not going to talk," Chiharu shook her head. "We should come back later maybe."

"This might be the only chance we can ask her!" Silver hissed at her.

"As if forcing someone to talk is any better," the blue haired girl mumbled. "Let her heal first."

"Pikachu pii…" Don't argue… the electric rat pleaded and looked at Satsuki. "Pika, pikachu, pi, pikachu, pipi, chu, pi…" They're just worried about what happened to those pokemon and want to know if they're okay...

"They are fine," she responded to the little mouse.

"Pikachu?" Where are they? Pikachu asked. "Chu, chu, pika, chu?" Why do they have to leave?

"I have to," the patient said.

"Pikachu?" Isn't there another way? The mouse poked her leg, "Pii…"

"Growlithe, lithe!" Why don't you visit us anymore? Chiharu's Growlithe whined. "Lithe, growl?" Do you hate us? He covered his head with his two front paws.

"No…"

"Who are you talking to..?" Red began to grow impatient, but the second his words were out of his mouth, she turned back to the window.

"Pika...chu?" Can't you...hear Asahi? Pikachu had a frantic look on his face and gave a quick glance to the female Espeon. Espeon gave the electric pokemon a confused look and licked her paw.

Satsuki! A faded voice called through the wind. It came from below and not too far away.

"Esp?" Hm? Espeon turned her head to the window with perked up ears.

"Pii?" Talk to them, please? The mouse gulped.

"I don't need to talk to them." The hunter answered, her eyes still set on the clouds. "There is no point in explaining my situation to Kanto's 'greatest' trainers if they couldn't catch me. If they couldn't do that much, then they can't help me." She smirked, grinning at the incompetence of the so called champion and strongest gym leader.

"What?" Red's voice lowered to almost a growl. He glared at the passive aggressive patient.

"I'm saying, talking to you is a waste of time." Her eyes flashed towards the Kanto champion, narrowed and dark. "You and the perverted bastard both should just get the fuck out."

"Perverted?" Chiharu looked at Green, who quickly turned crimson, with an odd look and slowly edged away from him and closer to Silver. She suddenly recalled the gym leader reacting oddly when she was complaining about flirts the other day. He did act a little too friendly when he tried to convince her and Mirei to join them on Lapras.

Red's hand snapped to Satsuki's collar, pulling her up close to his face. Alarmed, Gold took a step closer, but backed off as soon as he saw the champion's expression. "I don't really give a shit about what you say about me or my title, but you're going too far by insulting my friends too."

"You call him a friend even though you're feeling that guilty?" She spat out, unwavering.

"Guilty?" Red's expression dropped. The intensity softened, as if she hit a landmine. If possible, the trainer's face got paler than it already was.

"Wait, what is she talking about?" Green moved in closer, right next to Red.

"And he doesn't know…" Satsuki's grin grew wider. "Wow. My savior is someone who can't even help himself."

"How do you…" The champion's voice waivered. The gym leader looked between the two in confusion.

"'Our dear departed friend. May you rest in peace and only remember the happier days.'" The hazel eyed trainer recited.

"Raticate?" Green's eyes widened. "How did you know about Raticate?"

Red's grip loosened at the statement, his face stark white and eyes terrified. Seizing the opportunity, Satsuki placed both her hands onto the windowsill and shoved the champion off with the soles of her shoes, pushing him into Green and throwing herself out the window.

"Satsuki!" Gold instinctively lunged for the window. "Togetaro, go!" The flying hybrid flashed outside in a red beam just as he leaped onto his back.

He and his pokemon dropped, diving towards the hunter's falling figure. Once they were closer, he reached for her hand only for her to be snatched away from large brown blur. A roar sliced through the wind as Satsuki and her pokemon bounced away.

"What was that?" Mirei voice suddenly intersected in the midst of chaos. Her voice surprised Chiharu, who had almost forgotten that she was outside the room.

"Go after her!" Green shouted out to the remainder of the group.

Silver was already out the window when Mirei stumbled out behind him. Crobat and Pidgeot's cries rang through the humid air as their trainers jumped onto the flying pokemon's backs. Mirei's Pidgeot had to support his trainer with his wing to avoid having her fall down below. She gasped at the exhilarating experience of being in the air. Silver climbed onto Crobat's back with little effort as if he had done so on numerous occasions.

"Is he okay?" Chiharu asked with concern as Green supported Red.

"Go ahead and help them," Green said hastily. "Don't you have a flying pokemon? No HM?" Chiharu shook her head. "Go on ahead then. I'll stay with him."

"Right!" She then said, "Helios, Asahi, let's catch up to them!" Growlithe and Espeon yelled in agreement and led her out of the hospital room with great speed. Their footsteps echoed in the hallways until they were barely audible.

Cianwood City

"Gold!" He heard their voices almost close behind him. Red and brown hair appeared blurred as they caught up to him. Silver and Mirei caught up to Gold quickly.

"Mirei, go after her directly. Silver and I will take a different route to see if we can cut her off."

"Gold…" Silver mumbled, but stopped midway when he saw Gold's odd expression. The redhead stared at the girl on the Pidgeot and shook his head.

Gold's Togekiss and Silver's Crobat grew closer to each other with the two trainers saying something to each other. The brunette girl nodded and leaned forward to guide Pidgeot towards their destination. Mirei saw Satsuki and the brown blur move towards the northern part of the city. She and Pidgeot dived down, almost the speed of a bullet, and torpedoed down to the north coast. Pidgeot landed softly on the soft sand, perhaps several meters away from where Satsuki was. Mirei slipped off the man sized bird and landed clumsily into the sand. She rubbed her head and cringed when she saw wet sand seeping through her clothes.

"My belongings.…" Satsuki held out her hand expectantly. Her direct and straight to the point attitude startled the trainer.

"What? You're coming back with us!" Mirei shouted, "We finally found you!" She spread her arms out, "Where's that creep who took you?"

"Either you have it, or she does. You won't beat me in a battle." She replied bluntly.

"Did you run away from him?" The high school girl said in disbelief, "What happened to you? Chiharu and I spent years trying to find you!"

"Do you have it, or no? You're wasting my time." She breathed out, tired of having to deal with people in general.

"Why don't you fight me and see for yourself?" Mirei shouted, having no idea what she was talking about. She checked her belt and saw all of her pokeballs present. Good, she could stall some time before Gold and Silver arrive.

"Please stop wasting my time." She sighed as Entei crouched protectively around Satsuki. Ashes and smoke emitted around the volcano pokemon. Each step it took produced a deep trace of burned sand in the shape of huge paw prints. She pulled off her black coat from the back of the legendary pokemon and slid it on.

"Ch-Chouko, use Water Gun!" She called out shakily, remembering that water was effective against fire.

The little blue fish pokemon flashed out of her pokeball with a joyful cheer. She hopped towards Entei and squealed, "Chou! Chou! Chinchou, chou, chi!" I can finally show Mirei I'm strong! Chinchou bounced around the sand and ignored the glares she received from Entei and its trainer. She squirted out a stream of water onto the fire pokemon, who took it like it was a squirt gun to the face. Entei opened its mouth as if it was taking a sip from a drinking fountain and let out a deep roar when some of the water soaked its beard.

Satsuki and her pokemon hardly reacted to her tiny presence. Instead of an alarmed reaction Mirei hoped for, the hunter looked rather confused.

"A Chinchou..?" The Starmie's voice played in her head, asking for the whereabouts of a naive Chinchou. "Hey, do you know a Staryu that believes in trainers and questions the lifestyle of everything?"

"Chin?" Staryu?

"He...She? Wanted to tell you that he/she evolved into Starmie, that he/she misses you."

"Chinchou...chou?" You mean...Voltaire? Chinchou tilt her head to the side. She was still standing close to Entei, a little too close for her trainer's liking. The football fish looked at Satsuki with confusion when the trainer talked to her. Entei tossed his head in the air and allowed the warm sunrays to dry his wet beard.

"...is that seriously his name..?" Voltaire? Volt, like electricity? Why did that name sound familiar somewhere? A poet? An author? Who was he again? Who named that Starmie?

"S-stop distracting Chouko!" Mirei stuttered, having no idea what sort of conversation her pokemon was having with Satsuki. "Chouko, Entei took that move like it was nothing! Why is it so weak?"

"Chou, chi?" You can talk to pokemon like me? Chouko asked.

"Did you just call this girl an 'it'?" (4) Satsuki's tone dropped to threatening levels. The trainer glared Mirei straight into the eyes with a dangerous gaze. "You call her weak, why did you catch her and take her out of the ocean then? What was the point of dragging her out of her natural habitat where she has friends and other pokemon who actually want her around? What was the point? How long had she been in your neglecting care?"

"Chinchou…" But I like Mirei… The pokemon whined and tugged at Satsuki's tailcoat, "Chi, cho, cho…" I want to stay with her...

"You want to stay… With a person who doesn't even acknowledge that you are a girl?"

"How am I supposed to know the difference?" Mirei asked in protest, "When no one ever told me?"

"Chinchou, chou, chou, chi!" That's okay! It's hard for me to tell male and female humans apart too! The water type beamed at the two trainers.

"It's extremely obvious…" Satsuki stared at the water hybrid. "You shouldn't be near her… Though that is your choice." She looked up to Mirei, who didn't know how to respond. "You changed. You're no different than him."

"Wh-what?" She stared at her, "How am I like him? I'm nothing like him! He's a cruel selfish bastard who only cares about kidnapping people for his own selfish reasons!"

"No…" The hunter shook her head and motioned Entei that they were leaving. "Actually, you're worse. At least he takes care of his pokemon."

Satsuki jumped onto Entei's back and leaned her body towards the west where the sun was starting to shift. The legendary pokemon leaped upward and landed neatly on its paws atop of the many cliffs of route 47. Entei gave a great roar as its messy mane tangled in the salty wind. Mirei looked at the volcano pokemon moving away with her long lost friend and collapsed on her knees with an empty look. Satsuki's last words still rang in her head when someone came by to shake her.

Extra Notes:

(1) = There are times when even if your team is 10-20 levels above your opponent, you can still lose to them if the opponent's moves are super effective and have poisoned you with Toxic. We've learned this the hard way through nuzlocke challenges.

(2) = Larvitar weights 158.7 lbs (72 kg). The weight of a 10 year old is usually 80-100 lbs (36-45 kg)?

(3) = All the definitions are kindly provided by a dictionary. We do not own the dictionary or website of the dictionary and we would like to teach our readers random new words. This word will appear on your SAT, ACT, and possibly your GRE. You're welcome.

(4) = I feel like we should just explain the difference anyway, lol. Female football fish are bigger than males. Males attach themselves to the female for free food like parasites.

Author Notes: So why did we give Gold a Shuckle? It was one of the gift pokemon you could get from the game in Cianwood City. Very fitting, huh?

Also, technically, Satsuki should have reached the ground sooner; however we took into account that pokemon visit too. Instead of the average (roughly) three yards, or three meters, of space between the floor to ceiling, if we are not including the about floor thickness itself, we decided for it to be longer. So our hospital's fourth floor window is located at about the height where the seventh or eighth floor of the average business building.

"RainSonata": We wanted to update this on December 28, but Christmas came around and I had to go out of country for a funeral. The next update of chapter 19 will be posted on the soonest Saturday possible. This chapter was updated on a Monday because we feel bad about falling behind schedule and want to upload this chapter as soon as we could. I wish our updates could stay constant like it used to be, but life and college are making it harder for us.

"LunarAbyss": I have no excuse. I apologize for this late upload.