"I know we had a deal," Ryan said, "but when you said 'whenever' I didn't think you actually meant in the middle of the night. Jeez."

Ryan and Ash were standing on a rooftop battlefield in the middle of Saffron City's commerce sector. The battlefield was hard concrete with white painted lines covered in a resin specially designed for taking the abuse of Pokemon battles. The bustle of the city was a dull roar beneath, a cacophony of car engines, sirens, and giant animated 3D-billboards.

Ash looked down at the intersection below them and the mass of people who appeared to be nothing but a sea of dark specks against the white lines of the street. Pallet and Lavender Towns were quaint — downright boring, compared to Cerulean City, but Ash couldn't help but feel dwarfed herself whenever she was in Saffron. Especially from the view she now enjoyed, with the shining neon and LED signs, Saffron felt overwhelmingly bright even at night.

"Where did you bring me?" she asked.

"These are the only decent places to have a Pokemon battle in this city," Ryan said, "only place worth being."

Ash scoffed. "Of course, why bother sightseeing?"

"Is that why you made me bring you here?"

Ash shook her head. Then, she brought out a Poke Ball. "Well, how about it?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. When Ash had first moved to Pallet Town, she had been a fan of battles, like most kids their age. She came over most weekends to watch the latest battles on the TV at Ryan's house, along with Josh and his brother. Ryan also knew that Ash had kept a poster of Misty in her room, but he had only heard of that second-hand from Josh. Ash had also been cool — for a girl — she was the one who had been lucky enough to get her hands on Lance's League Card and agreed to sell it to Ryan for a month's worth of his allowance.

By the time they had turned 12 and started junior high school, it had seemed Ash's love of battles had faded. She still came over to watch the Indigo Plateau Conference matches every year, but she didn't get quite as amped-up as Ryan or Josh. She had stopped collecting League Cards. On the one occasion Ryan had been in Ash's room himself, to work on a group project after Ryan's teacher had insisted Ryan partner with someone other than Josh, there had been no Misty poster.

Of course, when Ash had caught her Clefairy, Ryan had asked — not begged, like Josh, of course — to see her. But Ash refused. Instead, she had gone to Gramps' lab and shown her off there. Typical. At the end of the day, Ash was a girl, and girls aren't cut out for battles. Ryan knew that.

"Since when did you start caring about battles again?" he asked.

"Call it a spur-of-the-moment thing," Ash said, "yes or no?"

Ryan shrugged and rolled his eyes in his usual way, which silently said well, I guess if I have to. He pulled out the Poke Ball with his Gyarados in it. At the very least, Ryan thought to himself, stomping Ash will help me break in my newest team members.

Ryan and Ash walked to opposite ends of the battlefield.

"Let's go, Tempestas!"

"Go, Pat!"

Ryan's newly-evolved Gyarados stared down Ash's Wartortle. Even so, Ryan couldn't help but notice that Ash's Pokemon didn't whimper and shrink away the way most Pokemon would when they were facing his Gyarados.

"Pat, Ice Beam!"

"Tempestas, Thrash!"

Ryan's Gyarados huffed, and a blue flame began welling up within its mouth. She reared back, preparing to launch, but was struck in the face by the spear of ice shot out from Pat's mouth. Tempestas reeled back and roared in pain.

"Tempestas, I said Thrash!"

"Pat, Protect!"

Again, Ryan's Gyarados only huffed at Ryan's order. Instead, she slammed her tail on the ground in front of her, producing a small tornado with streaks of gold and blue energy hurtling toward Pat. But the Wartortle withdrew his head and limbs into his shell as a small orb of green energy appeared around him. The Twister collided with the green orb, and the small brown shell remained motionless until the attack dissipated.

"You two need a minute?" Ash asked with a grin.

"Shut up. Tempestas, return," Ryan said.

Ash withdrew her Wartortle as Ryan's Gyarados disappeared back into her Poke Ball. Ash hardly ever feuded with Ryan the way Josh did, but it was still satisfying for her to watch him fail at something. Those moments were rare.

"Go, Bellona!"

"Go, Bandersnatch!"

Ash's Cubone stood holding his bone club in front of him with both hands like a katana, watching Ryan's newly-evolved Dragonair emerge from her Poke Ball. Ash silently gasped as she watched the Pokemon arc through the air and land without making a sound, like some sort of blue, serpentine ballet move. They really were as beautiful as people said they were. Ash glanced at Ryan and immediately cursed herself for doing so — she saw him smirking with that self-satisfied look, the look that said yeah, you're impressed. The only thing worse than watching Ryan succeed was letting him know that you saw it.

"Bandersnatch, Headbutt!"

"Bellona, Slam!"

Bandersnatch charged forward, and Ryan's Dragonair coiled her body up in anticipation. The Cubone reared its head and jumped forward, but Bellona simply dodged and quickly coiled her body around the Cubone, completely covering his body until only his poor head was exposed.

"Bellona, I said Slam!"

Bellona shot a glare at Ryan and hissed. Then, the air sizzled as the horn on the Dragonair's head gathered electricity, which spread down through its body. The Thunder Wave had no effect on Bandersnatch, but Ash still saw anger in her Cubone's eyes as he tried to wriggle out of the bind the Dragonair had over him.

"Don't fight it, Bandersnatch!" Ash said. "Wait. Just wait until I say."

Bandersnatch stared at Ash in confusion, but she held his gaze. Slowly, Bandersnatch stopped wriggling.

Ryan frowned. For a brief moment, he wondered what Ash could be planning. But he put it out of his mind in an instant. Ash had no Badges and spent all her time catching Pokemon, not training them. If she didn't recall her Cubone, Bellona would choke him out soon enough.

The two of them stood in silence as Bellona tightened her hold on the Cubone. Only the sound of Bellona's scales slowly scraping against Bandersnatch's skin broke the silence. Ash saw Bandersnatch's eyes flutter, and let out a desperate gasp — but she kept her nerve.

Finally, the moment she had been waiting for: Bellona exhaled, and loosened her grip for just a moment as her muscles relaxed.

"Now! Bandersnatch, Headbutt!"

Bandersnatch snarled and quickly jerked his head back, smashing his skull into Bellona's face. Ryan jumped at the sound of bone rattling and watched in shock as Bellona's body went completely limp and the Cubone scrambled out of her grip. Bellona shook her head and slithered back to her side of the battlefield.

"Stubborn little guy," Ryan murmured.

"Remind you of someone?" Ash said.

"Is that supposed to be a shot at me?" Ryan said.

Under other circumstances, Ash would drop it then and there. But something about the way Ryan's newest Pokemon refused to listen to him, and the way that flustered him, made her bolder.

"Actually, I was talking about Josh," Ash said with a smile. Exactly as she'd hope, she watched as Ryan scowled.

"Bellona, finish this, Slam!"

"Headbutt!"

Bandersnatch charged forward, and Bellona sprang into the air to meet him. The two Pokemon collided, and the sound of Bandersnatch's skull smashing into the Dragon-type made another deafening crack, but only Bellona landed gracefully back to the ground. The Cubone was sent flying back and Ash had to jump out of the way to avoid his unconscious body from hitting her.

"You did great," she whispered as she withdrew him into his Poke Ball.

"Bellona, return," Ryan said as he did the same with his Pokemon.

The two of them said nothing to each other as they walked to the nearby Healing Machine. Ryan opened the Machine, put his six Poke Balls in, closed the lid, and then waited as the Machine lit up and began to work.

Ryan thought of the last time he had seen Josh — the Pokemon blitz tournament on the S.S. Anne. Ryan had heard people in the crowd whispering before their match in the finals. They had been comparing the two of them, too.

"Two Badges, each."

"Really? But they're so young…"

"They're both from Pallet Town, can you believe it?"

Yes, Ryan and Josh were from the same town, were the same age, and they technically had had the same amount of Badges, at that time. But that was where the similarities ended. Josh was nothing like Ryan in the parts of life that actually mattered.

Sure, they were both competitive, but what did 'competitive' even mean? Isn't that just another way of saying 'actually trying', Ryan would sometimes say. You have to try if you're actually going to do anything that matters. And when you thought of it that way, only Ryan was actually 'competitive'. Only he actually won — at anything.

He had always been better at baseball, especially pitching. He was a faster runner, he was taller, and he was five days older. Ryan even had better grades, and he did that without even studying. Ryan was a winner, Josh wasn't. That's how it'd always been.

The Machine beeped as Ryan's team was fully healed. Ryan lifted the lid, took back his Poke Balls, and then turned to Ash. He held out his hand and beckoned impatiently. Ash handed over her six Poke Balls and Ryan put them in the Machine.

Ash had always had better grades than both of them, not that Ryan had cared. School was boring, and Ryan knew when he got his own Pokemon it would totally beat Ash's Clefairy every day of the week — and that's what really matters.

Ryan saw the six Pokemon in Ash's party displayed on the touchscreen as the Machine worked: Clefable, Wartortle, Nidoking, Wigglytuff, Haunter, and Cubone. So, she had finally evolved that Clefairy, so what? It would never be decent in a battle with Ash commanding it. That Headbutt she'd managed to land on Ryan's Dragonair was just luck. Ryan could do well without even trying, but Ash couldn't be a good battler even when she was trying. Ryan knew that.

The Machine beeped again, Ryan fished out Ash's Poke Balls, and then handed them back to her. He watched as Ash stowed them back in her bag. She was nerdy, short, and wasn't pretty. That short haircut looked bad on her. But Ryan's parents always loved having her over. Ryan's sister, Avery, always spoiled her with gifts she never gave Ryan. And Gramps never shut up about how great she was. 'Insightful' was the word Gramps always used. What does that even mean? Ryan didn't care back then. He didn't care now.

"Since when do you care about battling all of a sudden?" he asked.

Ash shrugged. "You brought me to a battlefield in the middle of Saffron, what else were we supposed to do here?"

"Why did you want to come to Saffron City then?"

"Just some stuff I gotta take care of."

Ryan rolled his eyes. That was another thing about Ash he didn't like — she always talked like she was better than him. It wouldn't kill her to just be honest, for once. Like all of the times that she would come over to 'hang out' with him and Josh, except that Ryan knew the real reason she was coming was to talk to Avery, or to Gramps.

That, at least, Ryan could understand. Avery was studying to become a Pokemon Doctor, which was lame, but at least that meant she got to have her own Pokemon. And Gramps used to be a Trainer, too. But Ryan knew that Gramps never talked about battling, or anything fun at all. Ryan had always thought to himself, if Ash wants to bark up that tree, let her.

The elevator to the rooftop they were on dinged, and a group of Trainer school students flocked out. After five months of traveling from city to city, Ryan could recognize them in a second. The distinct shade of orange of the Saffron City Trainer School on their ties and skirts was especially easy to spot. Unlike Viridian or Cerulean, these kids were the elite — and they wanted you to know it. The entrance exams for the school alone often made the news in Pallet Town.

Ryan would never admit to it, but he had always hated Trainer School kids; the expensive, snobbish ones most of all. Ryan had met them on trips to Pewter City, and some of them were siblings of his classmates. They had all loved to talk down to Ryan back when he didn't have any Pokemon of his own. However, all that had changed once he had gotten Vulcan. Ryan never missed a chance to challenge Trainer School kids when he saw them, and his team never failed to get him the win. Ryan's battle record was 57 wins and 0 losses, and a good chunk of them were Trainer School kids.

"Is this field free?" one of them asked.

The boy was tall, with wavy brown hair, and had a single earring dangling from his left ear.

"Well," Ryan said, glancing at Ash, "we weren't quite done."

"Excuse my friend here," the senior girl said as she chewed on a piece of gum, "I'm Imari, and this here is Eita. Saffron City Trainer Academy."

Imari's hair was dyed blonde with pink highlights, and was done up in a pair of pigtails that fell down to her shoulders.

The unofficial pecking order of the group that Ryan and Ash were facing was clear: Eita and Imari were senior students, about Avery's age, and clearly the leaders of this group.

"A challenge is a challenge, right?" Eita said as he pulled out an Ultra Ball from his pocket.

"Yeah, it is," Ryan said.

Ash rolled her eyes as the boys silently sized each other up. Of course, Ryan didn't need Josh around in order to go full snob. But Ash's thoughts were interrupted by the pop of Imari's bubble gum. She was staring at her.

"We just going to let the boys have all the fun?" she said.

Ash grinned. "Of course not."

Ryan's confidence plummeted as Eita looked at Ash, then back to Ryan, with a smirk. Out of the 57 victories on his journey so far, absolutely none of them were in Tag Battles. And if Ryan were to participate in a Tag Battle, he certainly would not choose his partner to be Ash. But, he had already accepted the challenge, and there was no way he was going to back down now in front of these Trainer School kids.

"Fine," Ryan said, and turned on his heel to walk back to the battlefield. Ryan heard Ash's footsteps behind him, and spoke without looking back at her. "Don't use your Wartortle or Cubone, just pick your fastest 'mon and back me up."

"Sir, yes, sir," Ash answered, sarcasm dripping off every word.

Ryan and Ash took their places at one end of the battlefield, Eita and Imari facing them on the opposite side. The four of them threw out their Poke Balls at the same time. Ryan's Kadabra and Ash's Haunter were now facing Eita's Machoke and Imari's Dodrio.

"Apollo, Psychic!" Ryan shouted.

But Eita withdrew his Machoke, and sent out a Rapidash in his place. Eita only let go of his Machoke's Ultra Ball and Ryan watched as it flew back to Eita's specialized belt with a metallic click and then a snap. Those things were equipped with magnets that automatically detected when a Trainer was making a switch in battle and cost ¥128,000, according to the Silph Co. website that Ryan had checked once. Ryan was regretting not having just bitten the bullet and bought one himself. Eita had made that switch lightning fast.

Before Ryan could give another command, he saw the brown blur of Imari's Dodrio barreling for Apollo with an Aerial Ace. Of course, they were ganging up on him. They knew he was the bigger threat.

But before the Dodrio could reach Apollo, a black puddle of purple sludge appeared on the ground between them, and the pink glowing outlines of a Haunter's eyes flashed from up the ground. The Dodrio's let out a half-choked squawk before it fell mid-stride and tumbled to the ground, asleep.

"Yes! Way to go, Cheshire!" Ash squealed.

Imari huffed and withdrew her Dodrio. Ryan stared at Ash as she cheered for her Pokemon. He never would have imagined Ash's Pokemon out-speeding a Dodrio, let alone landing a Hypnosis on the first try.

"Rapidash, Flame Wheel, dead ahead!" Eita called out.

"Go, Magneton!"

"Apollo, Kinesis!"

"Cheshire, Confuse Ray!"

Again, the opponent's Pokemon moved so fast it simply became a blur of motion, but Ryan's Kadabra showed no fear as he held out his spoon and the very air around him seemed to shift like a mirage in the desert. At the same moment, Ash's Haunter sank back into the puddle he emerged from, and reemerged behind Apollo. A bizarre, kaleidoscopic orange orb emerged from his gaping mouth. It sparkled and shifted colors like a fireworks show.

Eita and Imari shielded their eyes, but the Rapidash careened off-course and fell face-first onto the ground several meters away from Apollo. Cheshire cackled as he sank back into the ground, Apollo only narrowed his eyes as he watched the Fire-type helplessly flail on the ground.

"Magneton, Thunder Wave!"

Imari's Pokemon planted itself on the ground and discharged a blast of electricity in all directions. This time, both Apollo and Cheshire froze up, and Ryan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Rapidash, return," Eita said, "Machoke, come back out, Payback!"

Click-snap. Ryan couldn't match Eita's Poke Ball speed, and his Kadabra was sent flying into the fence behind him.

Ryan glanced at Ash's side again. Her Cubone was now absorbing the Magneton's Thunder Shock without issue, and then Ash gave the order for a Bonemerang. The Cubone's club flew across the battlefield and hit the Magneton with a deafening gong. The Magneton's three eyes closed in pain as the Pokemon was sent flying.

Ryan ground his teeth together. There's no way that pipsqueak is upstaging me!

"Neptune, Bubblebeam!"

Eita tried to respond with a Vital Throw, but Ryan's Tentacruel battered the Fighting-type with a barrage of bubbles that forced him back, raising his arms in an X to block the attack. Ryan kept his eyes on Eita, waiting for the next switch so he could react for it in time — but he missed Imari giving the order for a Fake Out from her Raichu, stunning Neptune with a deafening snap that knocked the Tentacruel over and ending his attack.

Imari's Raichu then whirled around and deflected Bandersnatch's Bonemerang with a Mega Kick, sending the bone club flying into the air.

"Come on, Bandersnatch, Headbutt!"

"Mega Kick, again!"

The two Pokemon lunged at each other, Bandersnatch's over-sized head colliding with the Raichu's foot, and both were knocked back by the impact. Imari's Raichu managed to land on her feet, but Ash's Cubone smashed into the ground much less gracefully.

Little guy just doesn't know when to quit, does he? Ryan thought to himself.

"Neptune, return," Ryan said, "Let's finish this, Vulcan, Flamethrower!"

Click-snap. Eita's Machoke disappeared back into his Ultra Ball, and was replaced by a Golduck. This time, Ryan finally beat Eita to the punch. Just as Golduck's Water Pulse overwhelmed Vulcan's Flamethrower, Ryan gave the order. The flames billowing out of Vulcan's mouth shifted from red and orange to blue and white, as the Flamethrower became a Dragon Breath. The Dragon-type flames hissed as the water instantly became steam.

Vulcan wasted no time charging forward — already knowing that Ryan would want to make this a close-quarters battle — and Ryan followed up.

"Vulcan, Slash!"

"Golduck, Strength!"

Vulcan leapt into the air and descended with a pale-white glowing claw, but the Golduck dodged and caught Vulcan's claw in his hand. The two Pokemon wrestled on the ground, neither able to get the upper hand, until —

"Golduck, Low Kick!"

In one fluid motion, Eita's Golduck let go of Vulcan's claw, dropped to the floor, and swept the Charmeleon's legs. The Golduck stood over Vulcan, raising his hands in the air as he prepared another Water Pulse. Ryan's eyes widened in horror, his Starter Pokemon — his best Pokemon — was about to be defeated for the first time. But just as the Golduck was about to bring down the attack on Vulcan, he was struck by a Thunderbolt from the other side of the battlefield.

Ryan looked over, and immediately understood what had happened. Bandersnatch was gone — knocked out or simply withdrawn, Ryan wasn't sure — but Ash's Porygon was now absorbing a Thunderbolt from Imari's Raichu. The Virtual Pokemon was shining bright yellow, having changed its own type with Conversion, and then unleashed its own Thunderbolt on Eita's Golduck.

In an instant, Ryan had Vulcan return the favor, knocking out the Raichu with a Flamethrower.

Click-snap. This time, Eita didn't send a Pokemon out to replace his withdrawal.

"We concede," he said, throwing up his hands in mock surrender, "you kids are way too good."

There would have been nothing more satisfying to Ryan than seeing the previously cocky Trainer School kid humbled. But rather than enjoy his victory as usual, Ryan looked at his Charmeleon, still knocked to the ground and clearly winded from his tussle with Eita's Golduck. Vulcan growled as he got to his feet, but gave Ryan a reassuring nod.

Ryan ran over and hugged Ash — then realized what he was doing and let go, taking a step back and scratching a nonexistent itch on his head. Immediately, he could feel all the eyes of the Saffron City Trainer School kids watching them. Even Vulcan was staring at Ryan with a confused look.

"Um, thanks," he said, still in disbelief at what he had just done, "that was, like, a really good move you did at the end there…"

Ash flashed a wide, crooked-teeth baring smile. "You said to back you up, so that's what I did."

Ash stood in front of him, flashing that smile that usually annoyed Ryan so much. Even so, Ash had done more favors for Ryan than he could remember. That Lance League Card was still stashed in Ryan's wallet. And Ash had gotten them both perfect grades on that group project they had been assigned to, even though she had done most of the work.

Ryan walked alongside Ash as they met Eita and Imari in the center of the battlefield and shook their hands. He thought about all the times he had had lunch with Ash, only to see her chatting away with a bunch of girls in another class in the next period. She's so weird, Ryan often thought to himself. She could be just as easy to talk to as Josh one minute, and then a total girly-girl the next. And now, Ryan was watching her exchange numbers with Imari — she was already asking if Ash's hair was natural — as if they were already friends. Eita's handshake with Ryan was decidedly brief.

Ryan and Ash took the elevator down to the ground floor and emerged onto the streets of downtown Saffron City. The bustle of the city was no less intense even in the middle of the night. Ryan thought about the day that Ash had come over to his house, but surprised him when she had said she was actually there to see him and not Gramps or Avery.

"Why? What do you want?" Ryan had said.

"It's been almost a month, when are you and Josh going to make up and go back to being friends?" she had answered.

Ryan couldn't look Ash in the eyes when she had said that. He had considered closing the door right then and there, but he didn't.

"He misses you, even though he won't say it. Just forget whatever happened and have lunch with us tomorrow. I don't like taking sides." Ash had said.

And then she had left without waiting for Ryan to answer. The sun had been close to setting that day, and Ash's silhouette had been swallowed up by the sunlight, making her hard to see from Ryan's porch. Her hair used to be long, back then. She had gotten it cut short not long after. Ryan never understood why he remembered that day so clearly.

The memory of the afternoon he had spent with Ash and her friend on Route 19 came to Ryan's mind, thought he could not for a second understand why. "It's always cool seeing how people rub off on each other, you know?" that girl had said.

No, Ryan thought to himself, Ash hasn't rubbed off on me. She comes over to my house to talk to my grandpa and my sister. She's taken after me. That's what happened.

Ryan glanced at Ash out of the corner of his eye. Up close, with the bright lights of the city illuminating her, it was a little easier to ignore the haircut. She was already tapping away at her phone, looking up an address. Even at midnight in the middle of Saffron City, she always seemed to know exactly where she needed to go next.

Ryan reached into his bag and handed her a disc.

"What's this?" she said as she took it.

"Belly Drum," Ryan said, "I'm tired of watching your Cubone get whooped. At least teach him some good moves."

Ash smiled and stowed the disc in her bag. "Thanks, I will."

The two of them parted ways, melting into the crowd of pedestrians. Ryan was still thinking about the moves Ash's Pokemon had pulled off during their battle as he checked into the nearest Poke Center overnight room. Ash, however, had already put it out of her mind, as she headed for the Silph Co. Building.