When Josh had imagined himself on his Trainer's journey, flying on top of his own Pokemon, this was not what he had pictured. It had been hard enough persuading Hermes to let him climb onto his back. Then, finding the right spot to sit on and hold onto had been another ordeal. Hermes had squawked and even pecked at his fingers when Josh accidentally yanked out a feather. But eventually, Josh found the right spot — just behind the wing joint — and held on tight as Hermes took flight.

The joy had lasted for about a minute, feeling the air whooshing past his ears and through his hair. Then, Josh felt as though the bottom of his stomach had dropped out from under him, and started to feel dizzy. Josh tried to tell Hermes to land, but Hermes had been flying so fast he couldn't even hear. Josh resorted to yanking out another feather, which thankfully made Hermes dive and land immediately.

Josh hunched over and stared at the ground to center himself, but he knew it was no good. The pit in his stomach opened up further, and Josh's breakfast came back up and out his mouth as he vomited. Josh's mouth and face burned, and he gagged at the smell. Josh wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and then cursed himself when he realized he was going to have to clean that.

Hermes squawked and pecked at his head. Josh didn't even try to protect himself, as another round of puke came bursting out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think I would get sick so easily!" Josh muttered.

Ryan and Ash have both been on airplanes before, so this probably didn't happen to them when they tried flying, Josh grumbled to himself.

Josh looked up from the ground. He was standing by the side of the road, and his half-digested food was lying on a puddle on the road. Josh silently thanked the world that no one was here to see him like this — and then spotted a school bus coming down the road toward him.

Josh withdrew Hermes and ran.

Yeah, totally the stuff Champions are made of.

#

Ash stared at the roof of the Silph Co. Building. For the last few days, she had staked out the Building, and she had found an opening. Every day, around 2:00 PM, a few of the employees came to the roof to smoke cigarettes. They kept the door propped open with something, though Ash couldn't make out exactly what from where she was.

She was standing in an outdoor garden in one of the upscale apartment buildings. The rent prices advertised on the side of the building were insane to Ash, but sneaking in to the building had been easy enough — she had bribed the doorman with an ice-cold lemonade. She had opened her eyes as wide as she could; flashed a big, toothy grin; and explained she was just here for the view. The doorman had suppressed a grin, taken the lemonade, and let her in.

The only issue now was getting there. Ash had thought of a plan. But as she looked over at her Wigglytuff, whose eyes were frantically darting between the Silph Co. Building and Ash, she could see Haigha was even more nervous about it than she was.

But Ash thought about Bandersnatch. She had sent him in to battle multiple times since he had joined her team, and he never hesitated no matter what Pokemon he was facing, or how obviously outmatched he had been every time.

Ash took a breath.

"It's okay," she said, taking her Wigglytuff's paws in her hands and giving them a light squeeze. "I trust you. We can do this."

The Wigglytuff was more than twice Ash's size and she had to crane her neck up to look into Haigha's eyes. Ash could still see some doubt in them, but Haigha pursed her lips and nodded back.

Ash turned around, and grabbed Haigha's paws again while her back was to her. Ash could hear Haigha draw in a deep breath. And then another. And another. The sound of air being vacuumed in grew higher in pitch with each breath, until it was little more than an ear-piercing whistle. Ash's arms moved up and over her head as Haigha's paws began to rise. Ash looked up, Haigha was now five times her usual size, and started to float.

Finally, Ash felt her feet leave the ground, and Haigha paddled her feet to begin moving forward. Years ago, when Ash had imagined herself flying through the air with her future Pokemon, this was not what she had pictured. If her parents could see her now, they'd die of shock, Ash thought to herself. Josh would probably stare at her with that dumbfounded look he always got. Ryan would laugh at her if he saw her like this. If Misty saw this, she'd probably blast her out of the sky before telling her off. For some reason, Ash could even imagine Erika and Sabrina looking disapprovingly at her. But it was too late to turn back now.

Ash was floating across Saffron City, with all the speed and grace of that blimp Ash had read about in a history book. That thing exploded, Ash remembered — and then immediately cursed herself for having remembered that. It was taking all of her willpower already to resist the urge to look down.

Slowly, the Silph Co. Building grew bigger. Ash was moving through the air so slowly it felt more like the building was approaching her, like some giant monster made of glass and steel coming to swallow her up. Ash started to feel light-headed.

Finally, Haigha descended as air quietly hissed from her mouth. Ash let out a small gasp as her feet touched solid ground again, and she let go of Haigha's paws. She had never been more grateful to the feeling of solid ground under her feet. Her arms were sore and her fingers were stiff from how tightly she had been holding Haigha, but she had made it. She withdrew Haigha into her Poke Ball and stowed it. It was 1:10 PM, well before the time the employees usually came up to the roof. But, just as Ash had hoped, she found a rubber doorstop wedged at the foot of the door to keep it from fully closing.

Ash slowly pulled the door open. The door creaked loudly, revealing a darkened staircase leading into the headquarters of the Silph Co. Ash felt fat beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck. The gravity of what she was about to do was finally catching up to her. But, she took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

#

Sabrina's Mr. Mime slammed into the wall of the Gym, and then limply fell to the ground. Sabrina didn't wait for the referee to call it — she withdrew her first Pokemon back into his Ultra Ball.

After running from the embarrassment of his one failed attempt to fly, Josh had returned to Saffron City. He had tried — and failed — to find a laundromat to wash his shirt. Then he had tried to find a trash can to throw his shirt away.

How can this city be so clean when it's impossible to find a trash can here? Josh had thought to himself.

Finally, after enduring what felt like an hour of people and tourists scrunching their noses up at the dried vomit on Josh's sleeve, he texted Ash. She didn't respond, and Josh resigned himself to taking off his shirt and stuffing it into his bag, then pulling out a fresh one. While he had crouched there in front of his bag, Josh briefly considered just taking a train back out of Saffron. The memory of Sabrina trouncing his older brother still gave Josh a sick feeling.

But, for some reason, a thought came to Josh as he looked at his soiled shirt. Sayaka said she had lost to Misty twice before she got her final Badge. Josh had beaten Misty on his first try — for his second Badge. If Jake was stuck on his last Badge against Sabrina…

Maybe facing Sabrina now is for the best, Josh had thought to himself, I can't copy every step Jake took… or I'll end up stuck just like him.

Josh had felt more unprepared than even his first challenge against Brock as he had walked into Sabrina's Gym. He had felt her eyes staring into his soul while she dictated the terms for their battle. Four-on-four, Sabrina and Josh will send their Pokemon out at the same time, but Sabrina could use no substitutions. Josh hardly heard her, but he snapped to attention as Sabrina turned to walk to her end of the battlefield.

One down, Josh thought to himself as Hermes circled back to Josh's side of the field.

The second Ultra Ball levitating next to Sabrina floated forward, and a Jynx emerged.

"Hermes, Brave Bird, again!"

"Icy Wind."

The Jynx puffed her chest and blew a blast of wind laced with bright blue snowflakes, but Hermes flew straight through it, his body glowing a deep indigo, and slammed into the Psychic-type. The Jynx was sent flying into the same wall the Mr. Mime had been splattered against, and Hermes circled back less gracefully. Josh could see bits of ice clinging to his disheveled feathers. Josh knew from their training in the Dojo that Hermes could only manage one more Brave Bird without fainting. But, he had already beaten half of Sabrina's team.

But Sabrina's next Pokemon was not so forgiving. Sabrina's Kadabra held his spoons forward, and they bent as Hermes was caught mid-dive with the aura of Brave Bird half-forming around his body. In a flash, the Kadabra flicked his spoons downward, and Hermes's body was thrown straight into the ground.

"Hermes, return," Josh said, and looked into the Poke Ball, "you did great. Take a good rest."

The small hologram of Hermes within his Poke Ball was limp, with his eyes closed. Josh could barely make out the movement of Hermes's chest rising and falling with his breaths, but Josh knew his Pidgeot could still hear him.

Maybe I can't fly on you, but you're still amazing in a battle, Josh thought to himself.

"Now, let's go, Helios!"

Josh's newly evolved Arcanine emerged. Helios now stood almost twice Josh's height, and Josh felt the heat emanating from his fur.

"Helios, Flamethrower!"

"Protect."

Sabrina's Kadabra made an X with his spoons, and became surrounded with a green orb of energy. Helios's Flamethrower splashed against the orb, but Helios couldn't keep the flame going forever, and the orb finally disappeared as the attack sputtered out.

"Helios, Crunch!"

"Reflect."

Helios charged forward, his jaws dripping with inky black energy, and leapt at the Psychic-type. The Kadabra held up a spoon, which twisted in on itself like a ribbon, and a pale blue screen appeared in the air in front of him. However, Helios charged straight through — the screen only lighting up and making the Fire-type stumble for a moment — and bit down on the Kadabra's neck.

Sabrina withdrew her defeated Kadabra. For a moment, Sabrina looked at Josh right in the eyes. Despite being up three-to-one, Josh involuntarily jumped.

Then, Sabrina sent her final Pokemon: a Hypno. Josh gave the order for another Crunch, but that only gave Sabrina the opportunity to use Hypnosis. The Hypno tapped her pendulum with a single finger, and the metal ring began to sway back and forth while surrounded by a pink aura. Helios tumbled forward, and buried his jaws in the ground at the Hypno's feet, asleep.

"Now, Dream Eater," Sabrina said.

The Hypno stood over Helios, and made a gentle pulling gesture in the air with her fingers. A faint, pink cloud of gas emerged from Helios's head, and then appeared to be vacuumed up into the Hypno's mouth. The Hypno closed her eyes in silent satisfaction.

"Arcanine is unable to battle!" the referee said while holding up a green flag.

Josh felt Sabrina's eyes drilling into his skull. He was still up two Pokemon against one, but Pan hardly counted in this situation.

Pan won't last a second here, Josh thought to himself, so Zeus has to finish this, or I'm done for. That Hypno will plow through my team just like her Slowbro plowed through Jake's team.

"Go, Zeus!"

Josh's Jolteon emerged. Zeus's fur bristled with energy, small sparks of electricity zipping between the needle-like hairs, and some cracked the tiles on the floor below.

"Hypno, Hypnosis."

"Pin Missile, quick!"

Sabrina's Hypno tapped her pendulum again, but Zeus's fur shifted and pointed straight forward as if they were a million tiny spears. They glowed with pale green energy and shot forward with blinding speed. The Hypno squinted her eyes in pain as a million green, glowing needles appeared on her face. She dropped her pendulum and clawed at her face to try and remove them.

"Hypno, Psychic."

"Quick Attack!"

Hypno shook her head and brought her hands forward, but Zeus disappeared from the spot he was standing on in a blur of motion. In an instant, he reappeared just before slamming his face into the Hypno, burying the needles further into her face and sending her tumbling backward.

"H-Hypno is unable to battle!" the referee said in disbelief, and then held up a red flag.

Josh jumped again as Sabrina beckoned to him with her hand. Josh walked forward in a daze as Sabrina's Hypno disappeared back into her Ultra Ball, and met Sabrina in the center of the battlefield.

"A loss is a loss. You have earned the Marsh Badge," she said, handing him a Badge in the shape of a golden sun.

"… Thank you," Josh said.

Josh took the Badge and held it in the palm of his hand, staring at it. He felt as though if he took his eyes of it, it would disappear.

"You did earn it, you know."

Josh looked up. Sabrina's pink eyes were still trained on him. Standing up close to her only made her scarier.

"Um, thanks. I guess I just didn't expect it, you know?" Josh said.

"Yes, I can see that," Sabrina said, finally looking away from Josh to somewhere in the distance. "I imagine you'll want to travel to Fuchsia City. I recommend you head east from here."

"Right," Josh said. He turned around and headed for the door. Then, he stopped, and turned around. "Hey, could —"

"Yes, I could give you a reading," Sabrina said, her eyes back on Josh.

"I don't really want to know my own future," Josh lied, "I'm just curious. What did you talk about with Ash? She's my friend, she was here with me when I was here last time."

"I'm afraid Ash's future is hers to face alone. For now."

"Oh. Okay," Josh said, "then, tell me something about my future then?"

Sabrina cracked a subtle smile. That was one of the quicker reversals someone had made on not wanting their fortune read that week. For a moment, Sabrina said nothing as she stared at Josh like a painter assessing a half-finished portrait. Then, she spoke.

"You're a good Trainer, a born fighter… a tireless chaser," she said. "You're on your way to becoming much like your brother, and your friends. But not in your mind. You need to face the insecurity inside. Only when you learn to find strength in yourself, and not from others, will you become the stuff Champions are made of."

Somewhere, where Josh couldn't see, a door slammed shut.

#

Ash grimaced as she stepped on the white tiles of the Silph Co. Building. They reminded her of the hidden floor in the Celadon Game Corner. Ash moved as quietly as she could down the hallways, but every time she turned a corner she saw a camera somewhere nearby. Beneath her, Ash could feel a chill at her feet.

"Stop that," Ash hissed, "not until I say."

Ash entered one of the empty conference rooms and walked to the table. Ash pried open the port in the center of the table that hid the mess of cables and outlets that were used in presentations. Then, she took out the Poke Ball containing Tarrant. The Poke Ball clicked open, and Ash watched a pink and blue shimmer zip into one of the ethernet ports.

"Same deal, Tarrant," Ash said, "anything that connects these people to Team Rocket. Anything we can use to bring them down."

The projector screen on the wall of the conference wall lit up, and Ash saw the login screen flash for a moment before being replaced with a black screen and lines of code scrolling faster than any human could read. Ash looked at the camera watching her in the corner. There was no red light to indicate it was on like in the movies, but Ash could see the lens shift and turn down toward the floor. She nodded.

But then, an alert window appeared on the projector screen.

Silph Co. Cyber Security Threat Protection

- 4766947 files scanned.

- WARNING!

- Foreign Code has been detected.

- Terminating process…

An alarm blared loudly from the speakers adjacent to the projector screen, and the screen glitched violently.

"Tarrant? Tarrant! Get out of there, return!" Ash yelled.

A minute that felt like an eternity passed by as Ash stared at the screen. Tarrant emerged in a shimmer of pink and blue light, followed by four more Porygons. They glared at Tarrant with narrowed eyes. Ash could see bruises and burn marks on Tarrant's body. Tarrant let out a strangled hum before falling to the floor, defeated.

"Our newest security measure," a voice behind Ash declared.

Ash whipped around. Giovanni was standing there, in a suit identical to the one he wore at the Celadon Game Corner. Ash heard the Porygons of the Silph Co. chirp angrily behind her. She was surrounded.

"I admit," Giovanni said, "that was a nice trick you pulled at the Game Corner, using one of our own Porygons to hack into the computer system. You certainly exposed a glaring weakness there. Which is why I notified my other businesses to reassign our assets to protect against this kind of thing."

Ash's eyes darted around. Giovanni was standing between her and the only door to the room they were in. Ash felt her hand shaking, but she slowly reached into her bag, and tried to keep her voice steady.

"Your 'assets'?" she said. "Is that what you call the Pokemon you torture until they do what you want them to?"

"Don't act so high and mighty," Giovanni shot back, "do you believe what you do as a Trainer is any different?"

"What?" Ash said. "Is that what you tell yourself? You can't possibly believe what you do isn't wrong. I'm nothing like you, you're just a greedy, twisted man."

The Porygons behind Ash began to buzz loudly, but Giovanni held up a hand to silence them.

"You know, I used to be like you," he said, "I was a Trainer once. And there are two ways to train Pokemon: the carrot, or the stick. I learned which one gets results a long time ago. That's what it takes to make something of yourself. But a child like you will never understand that."

Giovanni reached into his pocket, held out an Ultra Ball, and a Tauros emerged. Massive and muscled, its hunched back was taller than Giovanni himself, and it towered over Ash. It locked eyes with her and flared its nostrils with a powerful huff.

"You are not as special as you think you are," Giovanni continued, "and this is as far as you go."

Ash was trapped in a conference room with four aggressive Porygons behind her and an even more menacing Tauros in front of her — all commanded by the Team Rocket Boss, Giovanni. But even with the sweat pouring down her face, and her hand still trembling inside her bag, Ash felt comfort in the ice-cold sensation that was still swirling at her feet.

"I've never thought of myself as special," Ash said, "but I don't have to be."

Then, she pulled out her new phone from her bag, and held it in front of her. Giovanni shook his head.

"That already failed you the last time, why do you think it would change anything now?" he said.

"It's not a bluff," Ash said. She unlocked her phone, and it opened to a news article. "It's out. All of it, right now for everyone to see. You thought you stole it back from me in Celadon because of the police, but you didn't. And I gave it to someone who doesn't work for you."

Ash had put her flash drive in a sealed envelope and a handwritten note. Then, she had sent the envelope to the building of the Morning Sun newspaper, the same paper her father had read at the dinner table every day as far back as Ash could remember. If her father trusted them, then she knew she could, too. Their headquarters were just a few blocks away from the Silph Co. Building. A few days later, Ash got the confirmation: a news truck parked outside the Silph Co. Building, and an article on their website she had read on her phone. That was right before she had flown over to the building herself.

Giovanni stared at Ash's phone, and then at her, his face betraying no emotion. For a moment, he remained still — then, he thrust his arm forward, and all hell let loose.

The four Porygons behind Ash screeched, and the hairs on the back of Ash's neck stood up as the air crackled from the Thunderbolts headed her way. At the same time, Giovanni's Tauros charged forward with terrifying speed. Ash threw her Poke Balls to meet both threats. In a flash, Dinah emerged in front of Ash and Haigha behind her, and they surrounded themselves in glowing green spheres of energy that blocked the attacks.

The Tauros reared back in pain as it recoiled off of Dinah's Protect.

It must have used Double-Edge, Ash thought to herself, Perfect.

"Haigha, Thunder Wave!" she yelled as she dove under the conference room table, "Dinah, Wish!"

Again, Ash felt the electricity in the air as her own Pokemon unleashed a blast of lightning that spread all throughout the room, shorting out the lights, triggering the sprinklers, and making the Porygons, Giovanni's Tauros, and even Dinah groan in pain as the Paralysis set in. A single light source remained for a moment, a pale white star that ascended up into the ceiling, before disappearing and plunging the conference room back into darkness.

Giovanni gave the order for another Double-Edge, and Ash heard the sound of Dinah being sent crashing through the wall behind her. The table above Ash was thrown to the side, and Ash scrambled across the wet floor to the hole in the wall her own Clefable had made to escape.

"You think you can keep this up forever?!" Giovanni said. "Stand and fight, coward!"

The floor shook with each hoofbeat of Giovanni's Tauros, and Ash recognized the sound of her Wigglytuff also being sent flying with another Double-Edge. Ash sprinted around the corner as fast as she could, and called forth her Wartortle.

"Pat, Ice Beam, on the floor!" she yelled.

"Double-Edge, again!" Giovanni snarled.

The Tauros rounded the same corner Ash had in a fraction of a second, and Ash could feel its hot breath on her back, when the soaking wet carpet beneath their feet suddenly became a smooth, freezing cold surface. The Tauros's hooves skidded as the Normal-type lost its footing and slid into a wall, destroying it. Ash managed to keep her balance and braced herself against a doorknob to stop her slide, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Tauros, Earthquake!" Giovanni said.

Ash felt the ground shake so hard it felt as though her own legs were going to snap. But instead, the ice beneath her cracked, and gave way. Ash, her Wartortle, the Tauros, and Giovanni all fell to the floor below.

Ash cried out in pain as she landed hard on her left ankle, white-hot pain shooting up her leg, but she looked around frantically to orient herself. Pat was unconscious on the ground next to her. The floor they were now on was quickly flooding with water from the sprinklers above, and what few lights remained after the collapse were flickering. Everything Ash saw next appeared as though it were happening in a horror house, only a few snapshots at a time.

The Tauros charged straight for her, bearing its silver horns to gouge her eyes out. But Ash tossed out her final Poke Ball.

"Go, Bandersnatch!"

In a flash of white light, Ash's newly-evolved Marowak materialized and caught the Tauros by the horns with his paws. The white tiles beneath them cracked and flew up from the friction as the Normal-type dug its hooves in and pushed, driving Bandersnatch back into the wall and stabbing his chest with its hooves. Bandersnatch growled in pain, but held his paws firm and brought down his head with vicious force, striking the Tauros with a CRACK and driving it back. Ash burned with pride.

You've come so far.

"Now, Bandersnatch," Ash said, "Belly Drum!"

Bandersnatch brought out his club. A thick, femur bone he had dug up himself a few miles out from Lavender Town. Bandersnatch held it high above his head, and then brought it down on his own stomach, striking it so hard Ash could feel the force of the sound in her teeth. Bandersnatch winced, but held the Bone Club forward with both paws like a katana.

"That's your plan?" Giovanni said. His suit was soaking wet, his hair a mess, but he still picked himself up off the ground with remarkable coolness, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "This is even more pathetic than that Metronome you tried to pull on me at the Game Corner. One more charge from my Tauros and you're finished."

"Maybe," Ash said.

Suddenly, the flickering lights were overwhelmed by the light from a pale, white star descending through the whole in the ceiling. It fell onto Bandersnatch's head, and the light surrounded him for a moment, and then faded.

"Or maybe not," Ash finished, with a smile, "guess it doesn't take someone 'special' to beat you."

Ash watched as Giovanni's face finally cracked. His ice-cold, gray eyes narrowed, and his hands curled into fists.

"I've had it with you," he said.

The Tauros charged forward, and Ash gave the order for Bonemerang. Ash watched as Bandersnatch's club flew through the air, hit the Tauros, and sent it flying through the wall behind it. But, she missed the moment that Giovanni sent his Persian straight for Bandersnatch. It leapt at Ash's Marowak and smacked its paws in front of his face, the Fake Out sending Bandersnatch tumbling backward. The split-second opening was all that Giovanni needed.

He ran to Ash with surprising speed, and grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her with one hand and slammed her against the wall. Ash gasped for air, but Giovanni's grip on her through was like a metal vice. Her feet dangled in the air, and she clawed helplessly at Giovanni's hand.

"When I do this, it's rarely personal," Giovanni hissed. "But with you, I have to say: I'm going to enjoy this."

Ash saw the corners of her vision start to darken. For a terrifying moment, she thought of the ghost in the Pokemon Tower. The dried up bones she had seen there. But, with her last breath, she whispered.

"Chesh…"

Giovanni's eyes widened, the color drained from his face, and his grip loosened. Ash immediately drew a breath and kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could. Giovanni released her and doubled over in pain, revealing the silhouette of Ash's Haunter behind him. His tongue was dripping saliva, and he even blew a raspberry at Giovanni as he struggled to stand up.

Giovanni looked at his Persian, but before he could say anything Bandersnatch charged forward and sent the Normal-type flying with a Headbutt.

Giovanni took a breath, and stood up. The rage in his eyes was gone, and Ash only recognized the calm, menacing man she had met in Celadon. He called forth his Nidoking. The giant, Poison-type stood glaring at her, and her Pokemon. In an instant, the memory of it charging through that herd of Clefables at the Game Corner came to Ash. All she had left were Bandersnatch and Cheshire, and she was so exhausted she couldn't even begin to think of another strategy to take on this next Pokemon. Giovanni opened his mouth to speak, but —

Ash was blinded by a flash of pink light. Ash shut her eyes from the brightness, but she recognized the smell of cherry blossoms. Ash opened her eyes, squinting from the brightness, and she saw three figures standing between her and Giovanni.

Sabrina, Erika, and Misty. Before Ash could even react, they sprang into action. Misty's Starmie launched a Hydro Pump which blasted the Nidoking into a wall. Sabrina's Alakazam fired a Shadow Ball at Giovanni, which he sidestepped. Erika's Vileplume spun like a ballerina and unleashed a tornado of glowing pink flower petals. The column of petals tore the floor apart as it moved towards Giovanni, and Ash sprang up with excitement with what she was about to witness. But at the last moment, Ash saw the flash of another Ultra Ball emerging from Giovanni's hand, and a cloud of dust appeared from under his feet and enveloped him.

Ash stepped forward, but she stumbled as her ankle immediately gave out from the pain. Erika grabbed Ash by the shoulders to steady her and pulled her away from where Giovanni had been. Sabrina and Misty ran forward, and Sabrina's Alakazam swept away the dust with one flick of his hand. With the dust cleared, only a perfectly circular hole in the floor remained where Giovanni had been. The two Gym Leaders peered down into the hole together.

"Dug his way out," Misty declared. "I'm going after him."

"No," Sabrina said quickly, "first we need to deal with everyone else in this building."

Misty huffed in anger, but then nodded, and turned around to face Ash.

"Starting with her," she said.

#

Growing up in Cerulean City, Ash had never been much of a rule-breaker. She had done well in school, been on the swim team, watched the Cerulean Starmies whenever they had a home game, and she liked to watch the Trainers battle it out on the Nugget Bridge most of all. Ash had always seen Misty fairly often. But she had never taken much interest in Ash. As the youngest Gym Leader in Kanto, she was always busy.

One day, in December of 2003, Misty had frozen part of Cerulean Cape with her Pokemon, and a bunch of people had grabbed their ice skates to join her on the impromptu ice rink she had created. Ash had never skated in her life, but she had managed to cajole the owner of the local store into lending her some skates by acting cute, and ran out onto the ice.

After finally managing to tie them on correctly, Ash had taken her first unsteady steps with the skates — and immediately slipped and fallen on her butt. Ash recognized a few of her classmates while she was sitting on the ice, but none of them seemed to notice her as they skated past her.

It had always been that way, growing up in Cerulean. As much as Ash liked to swim and watch battles, no one ever invited her to join in or even so much as asked her name. Her name was 'Blondie', as far as anyone was concerned. In those days, Ash sometimes walked home from school wondering what it would be like to have a sister, or a brother — or anyone to hang out with, really.

Ash did well in school, but she rarely raised her hand in class. She rarely talked to people at all. She never seemed to be able to find the right words, or she would hesitate a little too long. She sat alone most lunches. The school swim coach always put Ash in the individual events at meets. And she spent her time reading during recess. On the rare occasion she tried to reach out and make friends, it usually ended awkwardly. Falling on the ice in Cerulean Cape was one of those moments.

And so, Ash carefully stood up, and inched her way to Cerulean Cave. Crossing the ice took a while, but no one even so much as glanced as Ash, as she expected. But, Ash reasoned, if no one was going to notice her, she might as well do something no one else had the nerve to do.

Ash had untied her skates and left them sitting on the ground as she approached Cerulean Cave, the entrance marked with a large sign forbidding Trainers without eight Badges from entering. Ash had read the sign once, twice, and then taken a step toward the cave. Then, a hand had grabbed Ash by the collar and yanked her back.

Again, Ash landed hard on her butt. The culprit walked in front of her, to block the entrance of the cave. Misty had just recently become a Gym Leader and was short for her age — but she still towered over Ash in that moment and was even more intimidating than when she was breaking up battles on the Nugget Bridge. Ash had always looked up to Misty in those days, and it was always fun watching her dress down rookie Trainers who tried to talk back to her. But it wasn't funny to Ash now that she was on the receiving end of Misty's ire, and Ash had just landed hard on her already-aching butt, and she was alone, so Ash had burst into tears.

The memory still made Ash squirm years later. Misty had been her hero for years growing up, and she had bawled her eyes out like a baby in front of her idol for the dumbest thing she had ever done, and moved away to Pallet Town less than a year later. Now, Misty was standing in front of Ash again, for yet another dumb thing Ash had done. But instead of reading her the riot act, Misty wrapped her arms around Ash and hugged her tightly.

"Look at you, Delaney," she whispered in Ash's ear, "a lot more exciting than Cerulean Cave, isn't it?"

Ash's face burned with embarrassment. She had always hoped Misty wouldn't remember that. Misty released Ash from the hug, and Ash's eyes darted to Erika, who was watching the two of them with her hands clasped in front of her. Even in the mostly destroyed floor of the Silph Co., she looked serene in her green kimono.

"I'm sorry," Ash stammered, "I know I said I wouldn't keep doing this, but I didn't know Giovanni would be here —"

"You're not in trouble," Erika said, "I'm afraid that Sabrina decided to use you as a pawn, of sorts."

Sabrina and her Alakazam had been surveying the damage to the building. Satisfied, Sabrina walked to Ash and the other two Gym Leaders.

"I told her when she met with me in my Gym that she already knew what she wanted to do; that she needed to take the first step," Sabrina said to Erika. "All I did was point her in the direction she already wanted to go."

"She's right," Ash said, "I lied to you before. I couldn't stand Giovanni getting away with what he was doing."

"Well, we know the feeling," Misty said.

Before Ash could respond, another pink flash blinded her, and a familiar voice began speaking.

"SCMPD are on the ground floor and the media's outside waiting. Where's the exit?"

Tinker Bell strode past Ash as her vision cleared and approached Sabrina, who pointed at the hole in the floor. Ash caught the eye of Tinker Bell's Mr. Mime, who raised an eyebrow at her. Tinker Bell grimaced as he looked down the hole.

"Must have punched through every single floor," he said quietly.

"And covered his tracks once he hit ground level. There's no tunnel to follow," Sabrina finished.

"Then there's no telling where he went," Tinker Bell grumbled, "tch, scumbag never misses a beat."

"So what now?" Ash said, "There must be something here that can tell us where he went. We have to find him."

"Who is 'we', blondie?" Tinker Bell said, finally turning away from the whole and looking at Ash. "You shouldn't even be here. Do you have any idea the kind of strings I'm pulling to keep your name out of the papers?"

"Cool it, Tinker Bell," Misty said, "we've got plenty here from Silph Co. And it's all thanks to her."

"Fine," Tinker Bell said, "But I'm serious, Ash. Take some advice from someone who's survived in this world much longer than you have: stop giving your real name when you use hotels, Poke Centers, restaurants, anything. Never enter a Rocket Hideout without having an exit plan. And keep that hair covered, you stick out like a lighthouse everywhere you go."

Ash bit back a jab at Tinker Bell's own blond hair, and nodded instead. This was the second time she had seen Tinker Bell, and he was wearing the same green jacket he had been wearing in Celadon City. It had a large hood, and when combined with the rest of his drab clothes, it was easy to see how he got by without being noticed.

Tinker Bell stepped forward, and handed Ash a cell phone. It was black, foldable, and much cheaper than the phone she already had.

"I'll be in touch," Tinker Bell said. And then he turned and walked away.

"And I'm giving you my number on your actual phone," Misty said as she held out her hand.

Ash handed Misty the phone from her bag while she stashed Tinker Bell's phone. She watched as Misty swiftly tapped away at the screen.

"Your buddy, Josh, told me about what happened at Mt. Moon," Misty said, "and he called me when he got into trouble with Team Rocket."

"I should've gone to you," Ash said. "I don't know why I never thought to do that. I thought the police would be enough, back in Celadon."

"Because you're not a Trainer," Misty said as she finished, handing the phone back to Ash. Ash couldn't begin to count the number of times she had said the same thing to other people since she had started her journey. Hearing those words from Misty, however, made Ash feel oddly defensive. "You were always a bit of a loner. But when you start traveling and training Pokemon, you learn to trust Gym Leaders with more than just your challenges. So next time you get in real trouble, remember you can call us."

Ash glanced at Erika, who nodded at her. Misty gave Ash one last hug, which brought heat back to Ash's face. Then, Misty turned and left with Erika. Ash turned as she heard Sabrina approach her.

"When you're ready, my Alakazam will Teleport you wherever you want to go," she said.

"You were never going to take me in as an apprentice, were you?" Ash asked.

"Did you ever really want to become one?" Sabrina countered.

"So you knew everything I was going to do, after you called me into your office?"

Sabrina shook her head. "My visions are never that detailed, or easy to interpret. I see fragments that can be better understood with context," she explained, "I knew that you had a part to play against Team Rocket, it was only a question of how exactly you would go about it. I suspected that you being so young would be part of why you would succeed. You are quite good at the young and naive act."

Despite everything that had happened to her, Ash let out a snort, which broke into uncontrollable laughter. Despite the fact that she was cold and soaked from the sprinklers, her leg ached from the fall she had taken, and that most of her team had been mauled from the battle, Ash relished the feeling of having finally brought down Team Rocket. When Ash finished laughing, she wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye, and then looked up at Sabrina.

"One last thing before I go," Ash said, "do you know why they call him Tinker Bell?"

Sabrina smiled. "From what I could see, it seems to be related to a night out he spent at a karaoke box with some friends. The memory was rather hazy — I'm sure a lot of drinking was involved — but he certainly gave that song his all."

Again, Ash doubled over in laughter in the middle of the destroyed Silph Co. Building.