Route 42
Leafeon's Iron Tail met with Jackson's wooden sword, causing a clang that rang throughout the route. The Verdant Pokémon had her back to her trainer, but her head was turned to him as she pressed her blade against his. They backed off from one another, before going into a clash of blades with sword vs. tail. Eventually, Jackson did an upper swing that sent Leafeon flying in pain. Jackson couldn't rest, as Ledian and Gardevoir suddenly flew in, unleashing a combination of Bug Buzz and Magical Leaf. Jackson dashed back, using his sword to create a crescent beam that acted as a offensive barrier to counter the combo attack from hitting him from a distance. He skidded to a halt, glaring as Leafeon fell right between her teammates.
They were back on the route to towards Mahogany Town again, which they would take to make their way to Route 44, which would lead to the Ice Path, then to Blackthorn City, for their rematch with Clair. To prepare for it, they decided to get back into their usual training regiment. Quilava, Weavile, Dewott, and Latias were training on the sidelines, with Dewott heating things up against Weavile, while Quilava and Latias were pushing each other in a battle. This left Jackson to face off against Leafeon, Ledian, and Gardevoir. This was done because Leafeon had more experience in facing Jackson in hand-to-hand combat, while the two were the latest to Jackson's type of training. Plus, it gave the swordsman trainer a challenge.
"You're making it too obvious!" Jackson called out, before charging in at the trio, ready to swing his sword at Ledian, who panicked as he performed Agility to dodge the downward swing, while Leafeon came in with a Leaf Blade to strike Jackson. However, this was a ruse, as he used the downward swing to stab his blade into the ground, using the momentum to pull himself one-handed onto the butt of his sword, hanging upside down to avoid Leafeon's attack. She was startled by Jackson's attack, before getting a spinning kick to her face by Jackson, knocking her away. He then brought his spinning feet onto the handguards of his sword, pushing himself off as he saw where Ledian went to.
"How?!" Ledian gasped, seeing Jackson get in his face, before getting a pair of jabs with the tips of his hands at his chest, causing him to be vulnerable for Jackson's palm thrust that sent him crashing to the ground.
Jackson started to fall before he got caught in a psychic hold from Gardevoir, who used said Psychic attack on him, holding him in place. "This should keep you in place." she told Jackson, "Leafeon, Ledian, you can take it from here."
"Good thinking, Gardevoir." Leafeon answered, jumping up to perform a Leaf Blade, while Ledian regained himself, and shot forward with an Ice Punch.
Jackson closed his eyes, before stating, "If you plan to get ahold of me like this. You're gonna..." He concentrated deeply, making his body limp for a moment, gathering up his strength, before bringing all his strength and a sort of energy out of his body, causing the psychic energy to break off of him. The others were shocked as he finished, "...have to blade things up a notch!"
What he did made Latias and his other Pokémon stop fighting each other, looking shocked at Jackson's ability to break free of the attack, before seeing Jackson use an open palm to smack Ledian's Ice Punch aside, before grabbing the bug's other hand, carrying him into Leafeon's path, colliding the two of them. He continued to spin around with Ledian in hand, throwing him straight into the now vulnerable Leafeon, sending the two of them on a straight course to Gardevoir, who couldn't use Teleport in time, and got caught in the falling Pokemon, sending them all to the floor. Jackson landed on the ground, regaining himself as he went to his sword, pulling it out of the ground, and looked to his team as they slowly got back up onto their feet.
He looked at his hand he had ahold of Ledian with, and closed it tightly, releasing the same energy he unleashed before, stating, "Still got it."
"Jackson, what was that?" Leafeon asked in shock, "You broke free of a Gardevoir's Psychic grip on you with sheer power?"
"Well, partially." Jackson answered, "I concentrated my inner ki and released it in a pulse that broke free of that Psychic attack. It's pretty cut and dry."
"Ki? I have not heard of that before." Leafeon stated.
"Neither have I?" Ledian agreed.
"Nor I." Latias stated, as she, Dewott, Weavile, and Quilava came over to talk, "That's something completely new. How did you learn that?"
"You would have to have the innate body and power of a Dark-type." Weavile stated.
"Well, I learned it back in Ryouzanpaku." Jackson explained.
"Oh. That place you keep talking about." Dewott recalled, "That's the place you trained your fighting style in."
"In fact, Gardevoir isn't the first 'Pokémon', so to speak, to put me in a Psychic hold." Jackson further explained, "Actually, I learned from someone else how to break free of those hold from them."
"You mean you met a Pokémon back in that other world?" Leafeon asked, confused, "I thought I was among the first you ever met?"
"Yes, but the one I met was a human who could use Psychic." Jackson answered her enquiry. He looked to everyone, seeing the confused expression on all their faces, before sighing as he said, "Right. Backstory time again. I'll tell you about it. Just a short version."
He gave everyone food to nourish themselves and heal their bodies, before he sat in a kneeling position, recalling the days in the dojo. "I'll tell you guys about it." He told them, "The story about me, my training at Ryouzanpaku, and the psychic boy I met there. A guy named Seth Muto."
(Insert 'STAND UP' by Twill (full version))
Music Intro
(Traveling through shining golden tunnel of energy, leading out into space with many world, all of which different colors, with the central world being the Pokémon world. The logo 'Jackson in Johto' appears on screen, before the camera passes through the arch of the 'n' from 'in, going into the world, through the clouds, where the glowing shadow of Ho-Oh can be seen, to the sea, where the shadow of Lugia is flying beneath the waters, before reaching the shoreline, getting blinded by the sun.)
Yeah, stand up boys!
Come on, face forward
(Jackson stands up, with Quilava at his side, followed by Dewott, Weavile, and Ledian, all of which expressing their unique personalities to Jackson.)
The call enveloping you is your guide
Step towards tomorrow
(Dewott gets angry at Weavile for trying to act so cool, while Jackson rolls his eyes before he, Quilava and Ledian took off ahead, with Weavile following behind, ignoring Dewott, who panicked and ran to not be left behind.)
Yeah, stand up girls!
At the end of what's more than real
(Leafeon rises up with Lyanne as Jackson and the boys pass by. The two look to one another, before giggling at the sight of the boys, before looking to the sky.)
We'll grab a light that's been covered by thick clouds
(Camera goes up to see Gardevoir appear in a sparkling light, landing right next to the two girls, smiling pleasantly at the two before they raced after the boys.)
How we spend our days before isn't good enough
(Camera passes by still images of all the companions and gym leaders that he has met or will meet in the future, including Cypher at the end of the pictures, while Jackson, Lyanne, Leafeon, and the rest of his current team walked along the bottom of the screen.)
At full speed
We can blast through
Even the highest wall
(Team Rocket suddenly appears, with the four admins of Team Rocket standing together, with the images of their ace Pokémon at their side, and the satellite system right above them.)
Stand up for your dream!
(Jackson draws his sword, while Lyanne turns into her Latias form, and the rest of his team ready to fight together.)
Be enthusiastic at what you do, no matter what it is
(Jackson rushes forward as he slashes his blade against Team Rocket grunts, followed by a spin kick, sending them flying, while Leafeon leaps up and unleashes a forward somersault Leaf Blade, taking out their Pokémon.)
Push your way through to make an opening
(Weavile unleashes an Ice Punch as Dewott throws a Water Pulse at a different direction, followed by the pair unleashing simultaneous Night Slashes. Quilava leaps through their attack, going into a Flame Charge.)
No matter how far
The answer you're seeking is
Stand up for your dream!
(Ledian flies in, striking with a couple Ice Punch, before unleashing a Bug Buzz. Latias flies above him, unleashing a Mist Ball, sending it ahead. Gardevoir flew forward, using Psychic to catch the Mist Ball, spinning it around her before shooting it forward, adding a Moonblast alongside the attack, creating an explosion.)
Even if my feeling show weakness
Your voice that I hear close by
(In the burning Ecruteak City, a serious Jackson raced along the path with Leafeon and Quilava at his side, towards the two towers, where a deranged Ho-Oh and Lugia were at, unleashing Aeroblast and Sacred Fire onto the city.)
Gives me courage and strength
I can go the distance
(Jackson leaps high, landing on Latias's back as they flew off, with the rest of the team leaping with him before encased in a stream of their signature colors, before the screen turn white, with a crystal blue Pokéball with a gold and silver sword crossing behind it the only thing remaining.)
Jackson thought of where to start, and began, "I already told Leafeon about the story of me and my friends going up against a time eater named Solaris. When we defeated it, and eliminated it from time, I ended up getting flung away from my friends in the aftermath of the battle. Time was distorted well enough at that point, but it seemed like our fight also warped space along with time, causing me to be sent through a wormhole into another world. When I awoke..."
(Flashback) The young eleven-year old Jackson was standing on a suburban home rooftop, looking about the urban place he landed in. He was worn-torn from the battle he had dealt with before. He had not had a change of clothes since before he met Princess Elise. His attire was a blue long-sleeve shirt, a sturdy brown leather vest with metal studding along the zipper line, ripped up blue jeans, his Air Shoes underneath, and white socks. He wore a strap diagonally across his body, where he had his broken sword sheathed on his back.
"Where in Mobius am I?" Jackson asked, looking about, "This doesn't look like ANYTHING from my travels with Sonic and the others. Is this a town?"
He tapped his foot as he looked about, seeing any of the residence he could find. From what he could see, it was nothing but humans about. "Not a single Mobian." He noticed, "That's pretty unusual. Usually you would find one or two at least. There aren't even Flickys in the air..."
He then sat down cross-legged, muttering to himself, "Okay, stop and think, Jackson. You fought Solaris, got flung back from Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. Next thing you knew, you were sent through a tunnel of some sort. It didn't seem to be a tunnel through time. It didn't feel like the tunnels I was flung through before. Meaning this one was different. Maybe the Chaos Emeralds did something else besides warp time. Maybe...they warped space? Could they do that?"
He stood up again, stating, "Well, can't just stand around and ponder. Gotta look for clues as to where I am at." He hopped off the building, activated his Air Shoes. He surprised a couple of people that saw him land, before taking off along the streets, zooming from one street to the next, taking tight turns and avoiding pedestrians. As far as he could see, the area was odd, and not advanced in technology, as far as he was aware.
"These streets are super narrow." Jackson stated, racing along the path. He saw a stone wall structure, and took a left on it. Turning that corner, he nearly rammed into someone. He was a kid around his age, with short black hair, blue eyes, a black baseball cap, a black shirt with a ball-like picture on it, black pants, and black high tops.
"Whoa!" Jackson exclaimed, before jumping up over him. The kid panicked, and crossed his arms in front of him as his body glowed. Suddenly, Jackson flew up higher than he had originally done, flipping about a bit, before landing feet first to the ground, stumbling and collapsing to the ground.
He grimaced as the boy turned and raced to him, saying, "Sorry about that! You came out of nowhere, so I had to protect myself!"
"No worries..." Jackson answered, getting up and massaging his head. He then looked to him, saying, "You sent me flying higher, didn't you?" The boy looked very anxious. He looked like someone who was afraid to know that secret. "Was that telekinesis?" Jackson asked, getting up to his feet, "A guy I know named Silver uses that."
"Telekinesis? Silver?" the boy echoed, "I used Psychic, not Telekinesis. But...is this 'Silver' person a Pokéhuman?"
"Pokey-what?" Jackson echoed, "No. He's a Mobian. A hedgehog Mobian, to be exact. From the future."
"From...the future? You are not making any sense." the boy stated.
The two boys suddenly asked nearly the same question. "Are these (Mobians)/(Pokéhumans) native here?" The two boys looked startled that they asked a similar question.
After a moment's pause of silence, the boy in black asked, "Hold on...do you know where we are?"
"Not a clue." Jackson answered, "I ended up waking up in this place after going through some sort of rift."
"The same happened to me!" the boy answered, looking about, "This place isn't like anything I know. There's not even a single Pokémon here!"
"Pokémon?" Jackson echoed, "What in the world are..." He stopped, as a thought occurred. A thought that he was worried would be true. "Tell me..." he started, "This world wouldn't happen to be Mobius, would it?"
"Mobius? No. It's the Pokémon world called Earth." He answered, "Or...at least, I thought it was. But the more I look about..."
"I knew it." Jackson understood, getting the boys attention.
"Knew what?"
"This might come as a shock, but I don't think this is either one of our worlds. Maybe the battle I had against Solaris sent me through a space-time rift here, and you must've gotten caught up in it in your world! Or something close to that."
The boy looked absolutely dumbfounded, before asking, "You...can't be serious. How in Arceus's name could I have been flung into another world?! And what is this Solaris you are talking about?!"
Jackson massaged his head, muttering, "I'm kinda figuring it out myself. I've never experienced anything like this outside of those books I read." After a few seconds, he looked to the boy, and started, "Before we figure this out, let's do introduction. I'm Jackson Alpphire. I'm a hero-in-training from Metrotropolis in the world of Mobius. What's your name."
The boy looked confused, before answering, "I'm... Seth Muto. I hail from the Kalos Region in my world."
"Good to meet you, Seth." Jackson greeted, "Looks like we got some figuring out to do."
Present Day
"Seth and I were trying to wrap our heads around what had happened to us. According to him, Seth was training with his Psychic powers, attempting to make better control over them. However, as he was getting serious, and trying to implement his Psychic to the fullest, a sort of distortion opened up in front of him, sucking him in and sending him careening into that world. He wasn't sure if he pushed too hard, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't his fault. Could be the aftermath of my fight with Solaris, or something else entirely. Either way, we were stuck together in a new world. We decided to go see if there was any place that we could go to get more info on where we were at. That's when we arrived at the doorsteps of Ryouzanpaku..."
(Flashback) The two boys stood at the large doors to the soon to be known to them Ryouzanpaku dojo. Looking up at the top of the doors, Seth started, "This kinda reminds me of the architecture of the Johto region from the books I read."
"Not sure what you are talking about, but it looks pretty interesting." Jackson stated, "Seems sort of like Chun-Nan back home. I wonder who owns such a property?"
Seth walked forward, and pushed on the doors, only to find himself unable to open them. He backed off as he answered, "Well, no way to find out. The place is locked tight."
"Well, the walls are not too tall." Jackson pointed out, looking at the wall that was over three times his height, "I'll just take a peak over it."
"Hey, what are you...?" Seth started, before seeing the shoes that the boy was wearing start to charge up with energy, before they created a burst from the jets underneath that got him up on top of the roof, landing neatly in a crouching stance.
Jackson looked at the interior of the place, seeing the facility. He noticed three buildings, a garden area, training field, and a large forest behind it. He turned and looked down at Seth, answering, "Seems pretty interesting. I don't see anyone in here, though..."
Seth nodded, then froze up, stunned. Why? Because a shadowy figure appeared behind Jackson out of nowhere. A muscular figure with spiky hair held by a hairband, with glowing, beady eyes. "J-J-J-J..." he stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the figure behind him.
Jackson looked confused, before turning around, almost face to face with the guy. He never even sensed him coming. He froze up in shock at the sight of the burly man. Before getting a full view of him. His hair was a bluish-silver color, tan and toned body, a yellow tank top, red shorts, and bandages around his hands and feet, and he was barefooted. Despite the intimidating figure, his face was childish.
"Apa~" he spoke up, raising a hand in a greeting gesture, "Hello, little boy. Do you need Apachai to help you down?"
Jackson panicked, stumbling into a sitting position. "Where did you come from?!" he demanded, pointing a finger to him.
He suddenly saw his body shadowed, and looked up above him, only to see large lumps hidden underneath a pink kimono, which he suddenly learn was the bosom of a woman. She had lavender eyes and black hair tied in a ponytail, with a figure that blew Rouge the Bat's out of the water. Jackson blushed horribly at the sight of her, and scrambled away from her.
"This boy. You jumped...all the way...up here?" she asked.
"I...I'm sorry!" Jackson apologized, "I was curious what was beyond the wall, and I just...!" He then stopped as he noticed the strange-looking sword hanging from her back, and stopped. He then asked, "Is that a sword? I've never seen anything like it."
"You have...a sword...too." she responded, pointing to Jackson's weapon on his back. "But...it is...broken."
"Um...yeah." Jackson replied, mentally asking, 'Firstly, how did she know my sword was broken when I hadn't unsheathed it. And secondly...what's with the weird way of talking?'
Seth watched the scene, until he heard someone behind him say, "You children are interested in my dojo?" He turned and was caught off guard as another person appeared out of nowhere. This guy also was tall and muscular-looking, though his appearance was hidden underneath a muddy-colored robe. He had long blonde hair, including a beard and mustache, and his eyes were glowing like the first man. The backs of his hands showed armguards, and he had a lollipop in one hand, which he was licking.
Seth made a panicked noise, backing off, before getting a tense feeling from the guy. 'What is this...?'he asked himself, 'This...intense feeling. I've never encountered someone like this. Not even among Pokémon! I feel like I could get killed the moment I rub him the wrong way!' He concentrated as he looked ready to perform his Psychic on the guy.
"Well, now." the man looked down at him, seeing the glow coming off of his body, "Seems like neither one of you are ordinary young boys, are you?" Seth was too tense to respond, while Jackson looked down at the man, before looking at the pair that surrounded him. One thing was for certain; whether they were good people or not, there was no escaping them, nor could they beat them.
Present Day
"Meeting the grandmaster of the dojo, Hayato Furinji, along with Apachai and Master Shigure was a big culture shock." Jackson stated, pulling out a box of Mahogany Town's local specialty, Rage Candy Bars, and handing them to his Pokémon and one for himself, "But once we were calm enough to talk it out, we ended up telling the truth about where we came from, and how we had no idea how we got there."
"You just told them you were from another world? Just like that?" Leafeon asked, "I thought you would be more cautious than that."
"It was my first world I traveled to outside my own, so I didn't know any better." Jackson defended, taking a bite out of his candy bar, and eating it up, before continuing, "Looking back at it, now. I was rather surprised they would believe us in the first place. However, once they saw Seth's powers and my tech, and once I met the other masters and their disciples, we got them to believe."
"Other masters?" Lyanne asked, "And disciples?"
"Yeah. Apart from Apachai, the Muay Thai master, and Shigure, the Maiden of Weapons, there was also Shio Sakaki, the Karate master, Akisame Koetsuji, the Judo master, and Kensei Ma, the Chinese Kenpo master." Jackson listed off the names, "The disciples there were Kenichi Shirahama, who was about seventeen at the time, and Miu Furinji, the granddaughter of the grandmaster. It was quite the meet and greet to see all of them."
He finished off his snack, before pulling out his sword, and continued, "Well, anyways, once we got through that, they decided to house us there, and teach us martial arts while we figured out whether we could go back to our home worlds or not."
(Flashback) Inside the fighting dojo of Ryouzanpaku, Jackson and Seth were sitting together while they were surrounded by the master of the dojo. Starting with Shio Sakaki, who like Apachai was tall and muscular, with smooth and short black hair, black eyes, a scar across his face, an open brown jacket, blue jeans, a belt with a gold buckle, barefooted, and a bottle of beer in one hand, the stem of it cut off with his hand.
Akisame Koetsuji was the only normal-looking adult in there, with an average physique that hid his true physical strength, fluffy black hair, pale eyes that made him look blind, a pencil mustache, wearing a hakama that was a white top and purple bottoms, and white socks, and sandals.
The final master, Kensei Ma, was the shortest of the group, middle aged, with a black bushy mustache and black hair, a green hat hiding his balding head. He wore a green and yellow-trimmed long-sleeved Chinese shirt, blue baggy pants, white socks, and black slipper-like shoes.
Kneeling on the sidelines was the two disciples of the dojo. The teenage boy in the group was Kenichi Shirahama. He had medium-length spiky brown hair, brown eyes, and was well-built. He wore a white dougi as his dojo attire.
The teenage girl was Miu Furinji, who was very pretty, with long blond hair, bright blue eyes, and had a physically fit and well-endowed figure. She, too, wore the dojo's dougi, but she also had a purple spandex outfit underneath it.
"So, since you are planning to live in the dojo for the time being, what would you like to learn in regards to martial arts?" Hayato asked the young boys, "I can see a glimmer of potential in both of you."
"Yeah. Quite a bit more than Kenichi when he first came here." Shio compared.
"Could you not say that?!" Kenichi rebuked with a hesitant face.
Jackson raised his hand, going, "Here! I would actually like to improve my swordsmanship!"
"Oh, do you?" Hayato asked, looking to Shigure, "In that case, you would find no better teacher here than Shigure to teach you, apart from yours truly."
"It would be... nice... to have someone... to teach... swordplay." Shigure stated, while her pet mouse, Tochumaru, folded his arms and nodded in approval, "Especially since... Kenichi doesn't... use weapons. I'll also... teach you... how to wield other... weapons."
"Great!" Jackson answered happily. He thought for a second, then asked, "I should probably learn more, too. Maybe some natural hand-to-hand combat in case I don't have a weapon on hand?"
"You want to learn from more than one master?" Akisame asked, "You're just like Kenichi, then. He's learning from all of us."
"I wouldn't go that far!" Jackson responded, waving his hands to perish the thought, "I'll be fine with one more master, but not more than that!"
Just then, he found his arm being held and examined by Kensei Ma, without him even noticing him move to his side. "Well, from what I am able to see, you have a flexible body. And given that nimbleness I saw you before, I bet you would do well to learn my martial arts, young man."
"Really?" Jackson asked.
"If Kensei says you would do well to learn from him, then you should give it a chance, young Jackson." Hayato told him.
Jackson looked to the Chinese Kenpo master, before nodding as he answered, "Okay. I'll do my best to learn."
"You really are gonna learn from two master, Jackson?" Seth asked.
"Why not?" he answered, "I mean, if it will help me learn how to be a better hero at home, and protect my friends better, then I don't see the harm."
"You're a hero?" Kenichi asked.
"Just curious, but how old are you?" Miu questioned.
"I'm eleven, and in-training." Jackson answered, "I'm working together with all my friends, who are big deal heroes in my world. They've been teaching me all sorts of things back home, and training my body, too. I just want to be sure I can be the kind of hero that is respected and one that cares for others. Not someone selfish like my father."
"What do you mean?" Akisame asked, curious.
Jackson paused for a second, before deciding to answer, "My dad left my mom because he didn't like her being able to stand up for herself. He wanted her submissive and beautiful, and that's it." Seth looked startled at that bit of history.
"How dare he!" Kenichi growled, showing signs of hostility for the first time since they met.
"That's wrong!" Miu noted, while Shigure slightly pulled out her katana from its sheath.
"That's why I chose the path of becoming a hero." Jackson finished up, "It may not be easy, and I am in constant high risk of getting killed, since the enemies back home are powerful and persistent. But if I am able to protect people, and honor them everyone equally, then I am taking this path!"
Kenichi was in awe at this eleven-year old and his bravery to face something that sounded pretty scary. And yet, he chose to take it. He doesn't know what kind of world he came from, but he must have it rough.
"That is an admirable goal you have." the grandmaster stated, "We welcome people like you to Ryouzanpaku and learn our ways." He then looked to Seth, asking, "Now, as for you, young Seth. Any sort of reason you would like to learn martial arts? And what master would you like to train under?"
Everyone looked to Seth, who had his eyes shadowed since he heard Jackson's story. He raised his head, looking at the group in general. "I want to be strong without needing to use my Psychic powers." he answered, "They weren't something I was born with. They were forced upon me when was taken from my home and experimented on." This became a shock to everyone in the room.
"You were experimented on?!" Miu asked, shocked.
"Yeah. This group of people burned our homes and killed our family and friends while taking people like me away, turning us into super-soldiers known as Pokéhumans." Seth explained, "Basically, people with powers like the creatures that inhabit our world called Pokémon. I was imbued with a Pokémon who knew the move Psychic. While I was efficient in using it to move stuff around and lifting objects, what they wanted me to use it for was for killing. And...I was forced to do so many times."
Jackson felt he had it much rougher than he did. There was no denying that. Seth was forced to kill others for experimentation reasons. Inhumane reasons.
"Apa..." Apachai said with a sad expression.
"That's pretty messed up." Shio growled.
"But not unheard of." Akisame stated, "For we have seen facilities that did the same thing to people. Even brainwashing their victims." Unbeknownst to the kids, Kenichi looked to Miu, who looked down, her right hand gripping her left arm. She knew that fact all too well.
"How did you manage to escape such a place?" Jackson asked.
"Through desperation. Me any many others staged a rebellion, and escaped that facility, destroying it in the process." Seth explained, "Now, me and another person I know, a girl named Fay, we wander our home region, trying to make a living." He looked down, muttering, "I hope she is doing okay without me..."
"Many of us have experienced traumatic moments like you did in our lives." Hayato told Seth, "And some of us have killed. I am no exception, either. Tell me; do you regret killing like you did?"
Seth paused for a moment, before answering, "The innocent people I killed from the tests... I do regret that I killed them. But the scientists I took out in order to escape that hellish facility... I'm sorry, but I don't grief for them at all." The calmness in his voice made Jackson shiver a bit, not sure whether he should support such a claim or not. Miu and Kenichi also felt the same.
"I see." Hayato understood, his eyes closed after getting an understanding of his heart. "In that case, you should train here not just to fight without that power of yours, but to temper your mind, and control your heart and its rage." He looked to the other three masters that Jackson didn't pick, saying, "Why don't Akisame, Apachai, and Shio teach you all sorts of martial arts."
"You think I can handle learning from three of them?" Seth asked.
"Yeah, I almost died learning from all of them when I started off!" Kenichi pointed out, "They might kill him!"
"Hey, you survived. I don't see the problem." Shio stated, taking a sip of his beer.
Jackson looked to Seth, who pondered on the thought. From his perspective, training with the three wouldn't be as bad as the hell he went through back at the lab. He opened his eyes and answered, "Okay, then. I look forward to the training."
Kenichi looked stunned, his expression saying Seth had no idea what he was getting himself into. Miu giggled, pretty pleased to have new blood joining their dojo. All the masters looked eager to train the two new disciples. Jackson and Seth looked to them, before looking at one another. Jackson gave a toothy grin, happy to partake in the dojo's training.
Present Day
"So you and Seth joined Ryouzanpaku, just like that?" Gardevoir summed up.
"Yep. It was the start of our martial arts training." Jackson stated, "I had no idea what I was stepping into, but considering I had literally no other place to go, I decided to make the time I had there worth it until I found my way home."
"Still, though..." Lyanne muttered, looking a bit concerned, "I can't believe there was such a thing that happened in the Pokémon world. Human beings being experimented on to wield the attacks of Pokémon? What madman would do that?!"
"From a Pokémon's perspective, that would sound ludicrous, wouldn't it?" Jackson asked.
"I swear, if there's a Night Slash-using human out there, I will beat them!" Dewott scoffed.
"Hardly the issue, here." Weavile stated.
"I still wanna hear what happened afterwards!" Quilava insisted, "That training you went through, and how you got back to your home again."
"I am very curious, too." Ledian agreed.
"As am I." Leafeon finished.
"Sure." Jackson replied, before stating, "But let's talk about it after we go a little further."
"Aw..." "Why not now?" Ledian and Quilava respectively asked.
"We'd spend too much time not going forward if we don't make our way to Blackthorn." Jackson answered, "We'll stop at Mahogany Town and grab a bite together, and I'll continue the story, there."
"Sounds like a plan." Lyanne understood.
Jackson and his team cleaned up their area, before he put all but Leafeon into their Pokeballs, and they moved on ahead towards the next town over.