Recommended Music: Victory Gundam Opening 1.


Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 32: On a High Note.

"So we managed to win..." Blue said to Blastoise while observing her hand which was still shivering from excitement "...I really thought that the Solar Beam would be the end for us. But... what now?"

All the people in the crowd, who until that point were either cheering on or discussing the battle, fell silent as soon as the girl's victory was announced. Those couple seconds during which she waited for their reaction were a lot more scary than running in to help her Pokemon.

"You did it!" Maiia was the first person to approach her, hugging her friend tightly and lifting her off the ground in order to try and spin, instead causing both of them to fall in the snow.

Her happiness was enough to break something in Blue. She allowed herself to forget reason for some time and both of them just lied there for some time, laughing as loud as they could. They stopped however when a bunch of shadows, from other people slowly surrounding them, covered their view. Blue reminded herself of her situation and stood up as fast as she could. One of them was the same man who urged her to win when he found her in the restaurant.

"I'm still not okay with you lying to us but... that battle was more than I ever hoped for. I don't know about others but... I'm grateful." he stated before bowing, mostly in order to hide that he was getting teary-eyed.

"That was great!" someone else said while patting her on the back.

There were a bunch of other people congratulating her and she began to worry that she would have to hear out each of them one by one when suddenly she heard a rising chant. With each second more people were joining in repeatedly shouting her name.

"Blue! Blue! Blue!"

"I don't really know what to do." she said to Maiia who looked as clueless as her about what she should do.

When the chanting stopped, people looked like they were expecting something more from her. At least Tori seemed to enjoy the situation since the nurse team decided to heal him up and he was now receiving pats from people who wanted to give him separate praise for what he accomplished. The main nurse went up to Blue, struggling to get through the crowd, and handed her the megaphone, probably thinking that a speech from her would help tie everything up.

"Um... Hello everyone." she started.

"Yeeeah! Blueee!" one person stood out from the otherwise silently watching crowd, although they quieted down after the others gave him angry looks.

"Do... Do you have any questions? I'm not sure what I should talk about." it was hard to hide how nervous she was after the initial rush of happiness after her victory disappeared.

The people remained silent.

"You're probably expecting an explanation or... or maybe you want me to ask for your forgiveness? But would that be enough to repay how much you've lost? Hmmm... None of that really matters to me. You may think I'm a despicable, cold hearted person for tricking you but none of you know how many of the battles were actually fake so there's no way for deduce how much I should repay you if that's what you want from me. I could try pulling at your heartstrings by saying how it all happened, how this idea of pretending to be weak came to me, and why would I do something like that... I mean, for money of course... but the real reason... I don't want you to know it. When I first arrived here, I wanted to distance myself from something... someone.., but me being one of the stronger... apparently the strongest trainer here... it lead to you putting me on some kind of pedestal at which point it was impossible for me to even think about being friends with any of you." with each word she was more sure of what she actually wanted and her expression changed from a confused one to a confident smile "And so I decided to walk away from here without caring what any of you nobodies has to say about it. Since I'm already this strong, there's no chance for any of you to stop me. If you want to complain about what I did, make sure to get strong and challenge me at the Pokemon League!"

After saying that, she jumped on Blastoise's back and pointed towards the bridge. The Pokemon turned around so that his cannons were facing the crowd and shot out two powerful blasts of water which allowed him to slide on the ground with incredible speed. Anyone who stood in their path immediately jumped to the side to save themselves. Even though she was so fast, there were still a couple people who thought they could catch up to her and defeat her if they fought as a group. They barely made a couple steps in the direction of the bridge when a living wall appeared in front of them.

"It's the guardian! Dammit! Let us pass!" one of them shouted.

"No way. You know the rules." stated the main nurse.

The people proceeded to back away, scared that after becoming friendly with Blue, Snorlax would be prepared to attack them even if they resigned from pursuing her. Maiia was the only person, besides the nurses, allowed to approach the bridge.

"I should get stronger. If I'm at least as strong as the guardian then maybe Blue and I will be able to actually become friends." she said while stretching her arms before turning towards the camping ground in order to start her training as soon as possible.

. . .

"You can't be serious. I know that you spent the last two days training all the time but you can't expect to defeat and Admin after such a short time." Nets, who was escorting Red to the same place he had his fight against Alex a couple days ago, was worried about the teenager whom he took a liking to in the short time they spent together.

"You said that you were impressed with the tactics we came up when you had to observe me during training." Red responded.

"Yeah. I was. But it's still not enough to win."

"But I don't need to win. I just have to meet Alex's standards, whatever they are."

"I've done some calculations based on what you told me about your previous fight and there's only 23% chance that you'll impress him." the red-headed boy said while adjusting his glasses as if they were proof of how intelligent he was.

"What does that even mean? How would you measure something like that?"

"It's quite easy, you see. I just..."

"See? I told you they'd show up." a voice interrupted them.

It was Green and his roommate who seemed to be waiting for them in front of the battle room. Red didn't take a good look at the other Team Rocket member when they first met but this time he noted that the person was a slightly chubby, dark-haired boy with small, almost completely closed eyes which made him look like he was judging everyone he looked at.

"Since Green is also here, I have double the reason to stay and have my fight. I don't want him to pass Alex's test ahead of me." Red said at Nets.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright." he gave up on trying to convince him and bowed to the other two "Good morning, Green and Otari."

"Hi." Green responded while his roommate seemed disinterested, greeting only by sticking up his index and middle finger.

After that, all of them went into the room where Alex was already waiting for them. He must have used the device for changing the battlefield since instead of having just plain earth, the middle of the room was covered with grass, with some bushes here and there and a small pond in the middle.

"You couldn't have planned this since I had you two separated so I guess the two of you challenging me on the same day just goes to show how well you know each other." the Admin commented after putting away a notepad in which he was writing something while sitting on a boulder on his side of the field.

"Or it could be a coincidence." Otari finally spoke up, although he immediately looked to the side when the Admin took note of his nonchalant tone.

"Yes... That's also possible." the man said before standing up and stretching a little as if he was the one who would be doing the fighting "I have no preference so... how do you want to do it? The same order as before? Switching it around?"

Red became excited at the thought of trying out the things he came up with and showed it by looking at his friend with hopeful eyes.

"Alright, alright. Go ahead."

Green started walking towards the stairs. Nets and Otari followed him after understanding that Red and Alex were about to begin their battle.

"The fact that you decided to challenge me for a rematch so fast is kind of... exciting. If you took your time, I would expect that you were building up the basics but... you're not a basic type of guy." the Admin commented while reaching for a pokeball on his belt "Go, Vaporeon!"

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment but I guess I'll take it. Go, Nidorino!"

The two Pokemon stared each other down. The main difference was that the Poison one was only partially interest in the opponent and after a short while approached Red in order to get a pat on the head from the trainer. Vaporeon glanced in Alex's direction, possibly thinking about doing the same thing but decided against it.

"Are you prepared to take me fully?" Alex asked while standing with his hands reached out towards Red as if he was trying to catch invisible rain in the shape he made out of them.

"What?"

"What i mean is that this time I won't go easy to allow you to show off. And every battle from now on is going to be the same. Are you... prepared... for that?!" he shouted while pointing at the teenager.

"Oh. That's fine. You mean we can still battle even after I pass your test?"

"What? No! I mean that you're going to lose today and each time you're try..."

"Oh! No, no. We're going for the win this time." the boy interrupted him.

In the viewing area, Nets looked at Green with worry after noticing a creepy smile forming on his face, not knowing that it was a sign of the pleasure he got from watching Alex trying to keep up with Red in their exchange.

"Okay then." Alex thought it was a good idea to rebuild his slightly damaged ego by starting the battle as fast as possible "We'll show you..."

"Let's make Hustle." Red said, and although nothing implied it, these words seemed to be a command for Nidorino who immediately started running towards Vaporeon, although keeping behind the bushes which would make it harder for the foe to guess where he was.

"What? How did he get so fast? Did he focus on raising the Pokemon's stats instead of coming up with a strategy?" these were the thoughts that swarmed Alex's head before he gave an order to his partner "Vaporeon, Quick Attack! But to the other side!"

With the dog starting to run in the opposite direction from the oncoming opponent, it started to look as if they were taking part in a race on a circular race track.

"There was something weird about how he gave his command. Hustle, hustle... Damn it. I should focus on the battle instead of these trivial details. The fact that he wants Nidorino to get close, even after what happened the last time, means that he must be confident that he can land an attack without getting trapped. Or does it? Am I overthinking this?"

Although he couldn't read the man's mind, Nidorino seemed intent on answering his questions when he suddenly jumped over the pond in order to cut off Vaporeon by running through a bush and ramming his horn into the dog's body.

"Damn it! Recover and use Quick Attack!" Alex ordered.

Vaporeon rolled on the ground before jumping back on her feet but Nidorino wasn't about to let her execute her attack.

"Horn Attack!"

Since he was already moving fast, Nidorino's horn grew quickly and started to shine as he leaned forward in order to hit the Water Pokemon's front legs before she would have a chance to begin moving.

Seeing his Pokemon struggling to keep up with his opponent, Alex arrived at a conclusion "Since he knows that Vaporeon has to use Quick Attack in order to keep up, he focused on making his own Pokemon faster to take advantage of that. That phrase he said must have meant that he realized Nidorino's ability. Since he doesn't have Poison Point, that leaves Rivalry and Hustle. From there he could easily check it by training with others. Nets must have helped him with that. But if that's all he has planned... No. I can't be too careful."

Even though there was a lot of things to think over, Alex's mind processed them at a speed normal humans wouldn't be able to. He learned to condition himself to group his thoughts and cut off unnecessary ones, doing it all in an extremely short span of time, making it possible to have separate streams of thought at once. What could take a normal person half a minute to arrive at, took the Admin one tenth of that time, and during that Vaporeon was hit only once.

"Water Pulse!"

"Fall back!"

Nidorino did a backflip which allowed him to hang in an air when the wave of energy flew below him, hitting the nearby bush.

"Acid Armor and Aqua Ring!" using the time bought by their previous attack, Alex went with the combination that brought him his previous victory.

Vaporeon surrounded herself with a protective ring of water while also liquifying her body before the two combined into a single watery form. Having already considered the possibilities of Red wanting to lure him in by making it seem like he didn't have a plan, Alex was too careful for his own good. The short time he spent going back and forth with the ways he should go about attacking was enough for Nidorino to land on the ground.

"Horn Attack!"

"Horn Attack?" the Admin repeated, surprised by the fact that the boy would choose a close range battle even after how it played out the last time "Dodge with Quick Attack!"

Vaporeon's liquid body looked almost like it was sliding through the grass when she circled around Nidorino, making her opponents attack miss. Alex looked at Red's face, hoping that it would help him in determining whether his suspicions were justified but the teenager's excited face remained mostly the same whether his attacks were successful or not. One thing that was clear was that the Admin couldn't win by just trying to dodge everything. He decided to risk it, hoping that seeing even part of Red's plan could help him to come up with a counter. He was fairly certain that there was no way for Nidorino to have something that would provide him immediate victory as was the case with Vaporeon's trap in their previous battle so that made the man a little more comfortable with the fact that he was about to do something potentially dangerous.

"Counterattack! Get in there with Quick Attack!"

The dog was still running in the opposite direction, since her trainer managed to decide what to do faster than anything significant could happen, but she spun around and charge at the Poison Pokemon. Nidorino turned towards her and stood his ground while giving Red a quick glance which didn't go unnoticed by Alex who however didn't intend on letting his carefulness hinder him. Vaporeon jumped at the opponent and swallowed him in her body which at that point lost its shape and was starting to look more like just a blob of water.

"Shock Wave!" Red shouted.

Before Nidorino even could have trouble with breathing, he released electrical energy from his body which immediately came in contact with Vaporeon which in her liquid state was even more dangerous, causing her to explode and rain down on the battlefield.

"So that's what he had in mind." Alex said to himself while already coming up with a way to deal with this, not worried in the slightest by his Pokemon who was slowly assembling herself as far away from Nidorino as she could.

The dog took enough damaged to cause her to revert to her normal form, although still surrounded by Aqua Ring. She looked at her trainer with hope that he had a way to deal with the fact that their winning tactic from last time proved useless.

"Don't worry. I already..."

"Version B." Red said, loud enough to gain Alex's attention.

The Admin was so busy with his thoughts that he wasn't completely sure if he heard right what his opponent uttered "Did he? Wait. Was th..."

"Aftershock!"

As if on cue, Vaporeon's body started shaking and she cried out in pain while a small trail of purple smoke escaped from her mouth.

"Of course." Alex said while cursing his own inability to foresee something that was so simple.

Since Nidorino's only Poison type move was Poison Sting, he couldn't use it with his mouth trapped in Vaporeon's body. But if he already knew that he was about to be swallowed up, he could use one of his limbs in order to use a move with a similar effect. What was more worrying was that depending on how early he did it compared to Shock Wave, and also on whether Vaporeon's parts were put together in exactly the same way before she exploded, the poison could very well be right in the middle of her body, affecting her more than if it was just an attack delivered from the outside. But that also meant that there was a possibility of getting rid of it if they played their cards right. The Admin looked at the pond in the middle of the battlefield and thanked whatever it was that made him choose this type of field since he didn't do it deliberately.

"Get to the pond, quickly!" he ordered.

"Not so fast! Nidorino, follow her!"

Seeing her opponent running around the water in order to get to her prompted Vaporeon to use Quick Attack to reach her target faster.

"Use Acid Armor!" Alex commanded as his Pokemon made a big splash "This should allow the poison to disperse and... No. That was his plan all along. He didn't know about the pond before battle but that just means..."

"Shock Wave!" Red announced while striking a confident pose.

Nidorino released a wall of electricity which fell on the pond like a sheet right after Vaporeon turned into liquid, making it impossible to escape from the attack.

"I was too sure of myself. After our last battle, he didn't just focus on strengthening his Pokemon or developing a strategy. He also came up with what moves would be useful and how to make that Poison Jab, or whatever it was, hurt more by using Nidorino's ability. I didn't think ahead so no matter how fast I was with figuring out what he planned, his mind was free to devise new plans on the spot. Right now I'm also thinking about what to do once this attack ends, but he must have already a follow-up prepared. In the end it makes it seem like he's thinking two-steps ahead so unless I risk it even more and try to predict things so far into the future that I have no way of knowing about them, I won't be able to do anything without him already having something to counter that."

Vaporeon managed to reform herself once again, this time feeling that she was free from the poison that was in her body.

"Double Kick!"

Since her trainer was busy being angry at himself, any chance of being able to avoid the move disappeared since Nidorino was already running at her even before getting the order. His first kick raised her a little but the second, a spinning drop, sent her back on the ground. Alex was still battling himself but even with Aqua Ring being there to help with decreasing the damage, he was too ashamed of how his own foolishness led to his Pokemon being in such a sorry state. Even with his interest in Red, he didn't for a second consider that this happened due to the boy's efforts and focused on thinking that he became lazy because he got too comfortable with his position as Admin and with the fact that they were very close to achieving their goals. He promised himself to be better with predicting his opponent's moves and, already thinking about his upcoming bout with Green, he pointed a pokeball at Vaporeon and placed her inside it before she could be hurt further. Red, who didn't realize how much his opponent was dealing with in his mind, became a little disappointed when he saw that the battle was over. Him not knowing about Alex's struggle was great for allowing the Admin to save face.

"Don't look so down, my boy. There was no need to continue this any further since I was already able to see what you're capable of. You passed this test. Greatness awaits you." these words were more tailored to what the man himself would like to hear as a praise but he figured they would also work for Red.

"But we can still have a fight in the future, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I would be glad to."

"Maybe next time you'll take me a little more seriously..." the boy said, lowering his voice, while turning away and going towards the stairs with Nidorino following him behind.

Alex felt slightly unnerved by the idea that Red acted like he could defeat him even if they were both serious but he decided to laugh it off, reminding himself of how strong he could be when he actually tried. That lead to him thinking about the following fight. He didn't want to make the same assumptions about Green as he did about Red but he still needed a way to make himself look good. There was no chance of him gaining the boy's respect even if he won so he considered going all out from the beginning and scaring him into submission but he had to remember that they had spectators whom he didn't want to look desperate to.

"It's truly a thin line I'm walking here..." he jokingly said to himself, unaware that Green was already waiting on the opposite side of the field, waiting for the man to notice him.

"Are y..."

"Yes, yes. It's time for our fight. And since I'm such a stand-up guy, I'll allow you to choose the field." the Admin looked at his opponent with a smile and nodded towards the device responsible for changing the field.

He hoped that Green being able to choose where they fought would be viewed as a handicap that would draw away attention from the fact that he wanted to beat him as quickly as possible.

"I don't know what you're planning and it may be foolish of me to act this way but I'm going into this battle with a mindset that I have kept till now and intent on keeping in the future, that being that I won't trust anything you're doing could be beneficial to anyone besides yourself."

Not giving it a second thought, Green threw a pokeball and Jynx appeared on his side of the field.

"Ahh... He's still sour. Not that I can fault him for that... Well... I could. And I probably should. I'll just have to go along with this. Him not changing the field also counts as him choosing this field. That should be enough..." Alex spoke to himself before looking back at Green who looked irritated by the fact that he had to wait for the Admin to make his move "Alright. Let's get to it. Go, Jolteon!"

Alex continued looking at Green's face, having learned his lesson from the previous and trying to figure out what the boy was thinking so that he could have a counterattack prepared before anything would even happen. Suddenly, Green's face mellowed out and he stared right back at the Admin, making him feel shivers running through his body. It was hard to tell if this was intended to intimidate him but it felt different from the natural confidence that Red exuded.

"It's time for our finishing move!" the boy announced.

Red leaned as close to the window as he could while Otari and Nets almost fell back in shock after hearing these words. Alex was similarly surprised by this statement but his instincts kicked in and immediately tried to rationalize this behavior as his opponents trying to play with him. This caused him to let his guard down for exactly the time needed for Green and Jynx to execute their plan.

"Perish Song!"

Jynx put one of her hands on her bosom and breathed in before singing a short but powerful verse that sounded almost like someone chanting in an ancient language.

"So that's what he planned. Given that Jynx would be at a disadvantage simply because of how my Pokemon is, he had her learn a move that could at least get him a draw. I don't think anyone would normally go with such a tactic but he's not necessarily trying to win. Despite that, he doesn't look like he's actually that desperate to prolong this fight. That means that he has something else up his sleeve and this was only a precaution... For him at least. When it comes to me, he wants to keep me in check by constantly having the thought that I need to hurry up somewhere in my mind. This could lead to me slipping up and he's definitely set on using any mistakes on my part. In a weird way, this fight is building up to be more exciting than the one against Red." Alex instantly went over his thoughts about Green's possible plans.

"I'll play your game." the Admin said out loud "Jolteon, use Pin Missile!"

The dog turned the hair on its back into projectiles which flew at her opponent with great speed.

Naturally, Green ordered his Pokemon to dodge but during that time Alex also gave his next order "Use Agility to get close!"

Jolteon quickly reached her opponent and jumped at her from the side, already expecting what was the next move she was supposed to use.

"That's right! Thunder Fang!"

"Predictable." Green commented, although quiet enough that Alex couldn't hear him "You know what to do, Jynx."

At the exact moment that Jolteon's mouth closed down on Jynx's arm, the Ice Pokemon used her free hand to deliver a punch to the dog's face. The side of her head started to freeze so she tried to let go but her teeth were also stuck.

"And the second one." Green said, without the need to state the name of the attack, which was enough for Alex to realize that he once again walked right into a trap set for him.

The second attack was a slap. Jynx created a ball of mud in the palm of her hand and slammed it into the foe's face, causing her to let go and blinding her in the process. Alex himself found it weird how calm he remained about the situation although he hoped that it wasn't him getting used to being tricked. He came to the conclusion that focusing too much on Green's plan would lead to him only getting more tangled up in the strings that Green tried to control him with.

"I just need to do my thing. Improvise, adapt and not get discouraged. Like him." he looked at Red who was watching their fight with a big smile on his face "Jolteon, fall back! I just came up with something!"

The dog listened and put a significant distance between herself and her opponent, even though she was troubled by the mud in her eyes. She used one of her paws to get most of it out of the way and it didn't look like Jynx was planning to stop her, seemingly keeping with a schedule that Green's plan ran on.

"If that didn't work then he'll probably have Jolteon used Thunder Wave and then try again... Maybe he'll use the bushes to try and trick us. My plan is already flexible but I still have to be prepared for surprises." Green commented while looking at a watch he borrowed from Otari "We still have time."

"Jolteon, use Pin Missile again..."

"Hmm?"

"...and then grab one of them before it reaches her!"

The dog shot out a bunch of hardened spikes with Jynx either avoiding them or blowing them away with Powder Snow but Green decided to keep an eye on what Alex was trying to do. Jolteon managed to catch a needle although she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with it.

"You can charge it by using Thunder Fang and use it to extend your reach!" explained the Team Rocket member.

When electricity started coursing through the piece of hardened hair, it began to glow with a bright light. It was close enough to her regular Electric attacks so she wasn't distracted by it as she charged at Jynx, aiming to run by her and perform a slashing attack.

"Powder Snow!" Green yelled, hoping that it would slow down their opponent enough to allow them to launch a counterattack, but their efforts were wasted.

Jolteon performed exactly as planned, causing Jynx to fall down on one knee as she held onto the spot she was struck in.

Green didn't want to show that he became worried about the outcome of the battle but he couldn't help glancing at the watch which didn't go unnoticed by Alex who after seeing that was dead set on using this improvised move to finish the fight as quickly as possible.

"Another one!" commanded admin.

"Ice Punch the ground!"

Without turning towards the foe, Jynx struck the ground with both her fists, even though she would prefer to keep one of them on her wounded side. Jolteon tried to avoid the wave of ice which quickly travelled through the field by jumping over it, hoping to deliver the attack from air but the Ice Pokemon was prepared to face her.

"Powder Snow!"

Being hit by the attack made it even harder to maneuver in air and left Jolteon seemingly open to another move.

"Ice Punch!"

"Throw it at her!"

Jynx's hand met with Jolteon's face at the same time as the dog's missile struck her other arm. The Ice Pokemon felt that the hit limb would be useless for the rest of the battle so she focused on putting as much force behind the other one as she could. After receiving a powerful blow, Jolteon couldn't even manage to land properly, instead hitting the ground with her body while giving out a pained howl.

Even with his Pokemon hurt, Alex couldn't help but get more and more taken in by the battle "You need to get up! It's not over yet!"

"I'm afraid it is." Green stated while wiping away the sweat that accumulated on his forehead.

There was a point in the battle where he realized that his chances of victory harshly dropped so he was relieved that he came up with the strategy that could earn him at least a draw. Alex was so pumped up that he didn't immediately realized what his opponent meant by that but his words slowly brought him back to senses and allowed him to clearly see that both Jolteon and Jynx were being affected by Perish Song. They started coughing uncontrollably while puffs of black smoke escaped their mouths before fainting shortly after.

"And it was just getting good." the Admin commented, completely forgetting the mindset he started this battle with "Return, Jolteon."

"Come back, Jynx. You did a good job."

Seeing that Alex was approaching the middle of the field where the pond was situated, Green did the same, although making sure to avoid the still frozen grass.

"You passed." the Admin said while showing a genuinely happy smile.

"You're saying that as if you think I care."

"Weeell... There is something you care about, isn't there? You should do well to remember it... him... when talking to me." Alex said, a little saddened that Green would react in such a way "I mean, I'm just saying stuff to keep you here. You have no way of actually knowing if I'm telling the truth but the fact that you're doubting me is actually a good thing. I myself don't tend to trust anyone."

Green became a little interested in what the Admin had to say "How about Red?"

"I like him and I know that he isn't the type to lie but there's something in me that still keeps me doubting him. That applies to everyone, even our boss. I believe in what he's trying to do but there's still a feeling that he could try to get rid of me as soon as we reach our goal. You probably think that it's not good to live in such a way but the world... the people... still haven't proved me wrong."

"But you don't intend on actually doing anything to my grandfather?"

"As long as you keep being obedient. That still doesn't mean that I trust you. After all, I have no way of knowing if he actually means anything to you. I feel like you could be hiding a pretty mean part of yourself. Well... meaner than what you've shown me."

"And you're telling me all this because...?"

"You also have no way of knowing if anything I just said is the truth." Alex explained before bursting into laughter.

It took a lot for Green to stop himself from punching the Admin but he couldn't help thinking that he actually agreed with him on some points of what he said.

Red and the others came down the stairs and approached the two of them. The boy congratulated his friend with a fist bump after learning that he managed to pass. Even though he wasn't sure what it meant, Nets was also happy for the both of them. Otari was the only one who didn't seem enthusiastic about it.

"So... what's next?" Green asked Alex after the excitement died down.

"You get to meet the rest." he replied.


Woohoo. We're at 200k words already. I didn't know I had it in me to write this thing for so long. It's still nowhere near the really long fanfics but we're only halfway through Kanto. If I manage to keep my interesting in writing this, someday we may be somwehere up there in length. Let's just hope that quality stays the same(or gets better in case you think it's bad right now, I imagine that's eniterly possible). But anyway, if you're one of the people who read this from the beginning, no matter when you started reading it, then thank you. I'm still a little sad that I don't get any reviews and while I'm mostly writing this for myself, the fact that I see more and more views each month definitely helps in keeping me motivated.

We reached the end of the guardian storyline and Blue can go on to get more involved in the main story. Even though I tried to paint her in a likeable light, there's still a bunch of people dissatisfied with how she treated them. We'll see how that affects her in the future but for the meantime she has her own problems to deal with as she begins to learn more about herself and what makes her connect with others. Maiia wasn't actually a character in my original plans but with how important she has been for Blue's development these last couple chapters, I'll be sure to have her appear in the future. I don't even remember if I described how she looks like. Hmmm.

The other story also ended. Or rather, it's going into its next part. We learned a little more about how Alex's mind and got a possible explanation of what his relationship with others looks like. There's also an explanation for why Green is hostile to him(aside from him being a criminal, of course). There aren't any details but I'm sure you get the gist of it.

A thing I think I should work on is having multiple characters in a scene. I can't remember the last time in this story where there were more than 3 human characters talking amongst each other. I like shows with big casts and obviously we have 3 main characters, 8 Leaders, 2 Elite Four members and 7 named Team Rocket members(excluding the Leaders), not to mention various other characters that appeared for a chapter or 2, but I feel like I should challenge myself in the future to have a bigger group of characters appearing together and see if I manage them well.\

The title refers to Perish Song, to Red and Green passing the test, and to Blue "graduating" from the camping grounds.

Red. Team: Nidorino.

Stasis: Eevee, Charmeleon, Raichu, Gloom, Gyarados, Pidgeotto.

Badges: 4

Green. Team: Jynx.

Stasis: Venusaur, Nidorina, Jigglypuff, Hitmonlee, Vulpix, Horsea.

Badges: 3

Blue. Team: Weepinbell(Bell), Blastoise(Tori), Zubat(?), Graveler(?).

Badges: 3

Alex. Team: Ditto, Vaporeon, Jolteon, ?.

Angie. Team: Dragonair, Sandslash.

Peter. Team: Dodrio, Haunter, ?.