Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, only Pokémon owns me.
Author's notes: Just a few rules in my fic:
•Pokémon can know more than four moves.
•Battles are not turn-based (probably not a surprise to anyone who's reading this).
•A trainer's Pokédex can list all of the moves known by Pokémon they own as well as its ability. However, wild Pokémon or opposing Pokémon cannot have their known moves or their ability read out by the Pokédex, though it can record moves that a wild or opposing Pokémon knows when it uses said move, and the ability when a wild or opposing Pokémon has it activated. A feature for the forgetful I guess.
•Some Pokémon in this fic have different typings, which I'll mention when they appear, though they most likely won't appear in this chapter. They'll only have different typings if I feel that the original typing was either lacking or just straight up made no sense, like Rookidee being a Flying-type instead of a Normal/Flying-type, Charizard being a Fire/Flying-type rather than a Fire/Dragon-type, or Gastly being a Ghost/Poison-type rather than a Ghost-type.
•Pokémon do have abilities, and they work just like in the games.
•Moves that a Pokémon learn at a certain level are not necessarily learned in a specific order by Pokémon. They're more or less plot-dependent, so for example although Gastly learns Shadow Ball at level 40, for the sake of the plot, Damian's Gastly already knows it, despite not being really strong (so not level 40). TM moves are also treated as naturally learnable moves, and TMs do not exist.
•Some Pokémon like Gastly have had their genders changed to be genderless. I never understood how a ball of ghoul could be male or female.
Now on with the fic!
Chapter 2 — Nerves of Steel:
Having left the professor's residence, Damian started to look around, seeing potential places to catch Pokémon in. He could see a nearby Rattata and several Pidgey, but this did not interest him. He could try to catch a nearby Bunnelby, but this did not pique his interest either. No, it was the wild Flareon that did it for him, but he was unsure of whether his Gastly was powerful enough to twith ake the fiery creature head on, and a Flareon in the city was unusual enough to make him think it might belong to someone else already.
He nonetheless decided to approach the Pokémon, and on the off chance that he was already owned by someone, Damian could safely bring him back to them. As he got closer, he could feel the tense air the red-furred beast emanated around himself, and got more curious. Now normally, to his knowledge, Pokémon in the city were not wary of humans, as they saw them daily and were generally treated as good, if not better than people's own Pokémon, being given bowls and bowls of food and water as well as tonnes of affection from passers-by. But this one seemed to be almost scared of humans. Evidently something bad had happened to the Eeveelution, though at first glance he seemed healthy and strong. As he started to slowly and carefully get closer, with Gastly's Poké Ball in one hand, the Flareon suddenly growled at him with, and his mane lit up, both with determination and literally, with his stance now even more wide and defensive.
"I don't mean you harm, Flareon," said Damian, "I just want to know what's happened to you. I want to hel-"
Unfortunately he could not continue his sentence as Flareon leaped at him, with Damian only having just enough time to react by letting Gastly out. Gastly was hit by Flareon's Flame Charge in the process, but it did not appear to be too much of an issue for it, at least mostly tanking the blow.
Checking Gastly's learnt moves list, Damian issued a command. "Fine. If you want to attack me and hurt me, you'll have to beat Gastly first. Gastly, use Mean Look to trap Flareon, and then use Lick!"
At the use of Mean Look, Flareon got even more angry, flaring up both literally and figuratively once more, with more rage this time. It leapt faster this time, now utilising Fire Fang, which stopped Gastly from using Lick, and damaged it. Damian realised that Flame Charge had increased Flareon's speed, so with this and the issue of Fire Fang, he made another plan.
"Gastly, use Payback!"
The Flareon used Fire Fang once more, but Gastly took the blows, and although it looked somewhat battle-worn, he used Payback in return, which did twice the regular damage due to being used immediately after having been attacked. The Flareon was finally showing some damage done to it, and by the looks of it, was similar in amount to Gastly.
"Do you still want to hurt us now?" asked Damian, though he now realised a problem in his approach. He had used Mean Look, so unless he returned Gastly back to its Poké Ball and risk being attacked once more, he could not back away from the battle, and neither could Flareon. At least Flareon now looked less angry, and more as if the thing was just determined to battle. The Pokémon spoke to his Gastly, apparently speaking something intelligible to it, as Gastly then began to look at Flareon more affectionately, before looking back at Damian once more.
"What is it, Gastly?" he asked, before Gastly nudged at a Poké Ball on his belt. Clearly the Pokémon wanted to be caught, though what had changed Flareon's mood he could not tell. He wouldn't refuse a gift in the mouth though, so he got ready to throw it, when something caught his eye. Behind the Flareon was a group of nine Pokémon, all of them either young and small or adults of medium sizes, except for one. There was a gigantic Appletun that seemed to be old based on its manner, and the group of nine, composed of three Flapple, one Breloom, one Lilligant, two Petilil, one Squawkabilly and one Grafaiai, seemed to be protecting the elderly Pokémon. They were looking at Flareon with the sort of misty-eyed, nostalgic look that a parent would have over their child when letting them go, knowing full well their child has grown up and is no longer the thumb-sized baby they once were.
He regained his composure, and flung the Poké Ball at the Flareon. The device started to roll and flash red in the centre, before making a dispensing sound confirming to its owner that the creature had been caught. He now understood that Flareon must have been protecting this elderly Appletun along with the other Pokémon, though it still did not explain to him why such an out-of-place Pokémon was here. Perhaps an Eevee from Hyde Park had tripped over a Fire Stone, but it still made little sense. Hyde Park was still not near enough for an Eevee to come here on a regular occasion, and even so, although Hyde Park was the only place in Central London that had Eevee, they were still fairly rare even there. The odds of one of them coming here and somehow tripping over a Fire Stone, which in itself was a fairly expensive item to purchase and so would warrant the purchaser to handle it with great attention and protection over it, was so astronomically low that Damian felt he should disregard the thought. But it kept coming back to him, as he could not think of any other reason why there could be a Flareon in here of all places. Regardless, Evolution Stone sellers were generally not even here, preferring to be either along the coast of Britain or near mountains where such stones were usually found, and so only the least reputable ones who sold them at half the price of other shops existed here. Even then, there were only three shops of such a kind here, as such stones were usually dug by hand and only sometimes by machines, generally being far too delicate to survive under such pressure. These shops sometimes swindled customers with fakes, but most did not shop here anyway, so only the most price-conscious would risk buying from them.
Climbing out of his repeatedly cascading thoughts, Damian waved a goodbye at the Pokémon, promising to come back and find them, even giving Appletun a tracker tag to do so. He then returned Gastly back to its Poké Ball, before turning around to a different and much larger, much busier street, which housed a Pokémon Centre. With the automatic doors sliding open, Damian went up to the Nurse Joy, who happily took his two Pokémon and healed them using Potions and Super Potions. He was aware that the Nurse Joy family was not big enough to be in every, or even most Pokémon Centres, but it still felt natural to call the nurse Nurse Joy, even though she was obviously donning a magenta-coloured wig that covered her hair and had a different face shape and a slightly, if only subtly, darker skin tone. Her eyebrows were black rather than magenta, and she had brown eyes rather than the traditional hazel, but he acknowledged that going that far to change even these differences would make no sense, and thought no further.
Waiting around afterwards, somewhat tired by his constantly working brain today, Damian sat still, and let out Gastly and Flareon, who both decided to lick him in delight.
"I'm so proud of both of you," said Damian, which made them lick him and made Flareon also gently headbutt his leg even more, earning the teenager a giggle or two. Just then, Tristan and Jackson called him.
Tristan: "How's it so far?"
Damian: "I got a Gastly from Professor Arauco and I caught a Flareon on the streets."
Jackson: "You serious? You must have some real luck here to be getting first a Gastly as a starter of all things and then a Flareon. Proof or you're bulshitting me."
At this, Damian switched to a video call, showing his friends his partners so far. "I don't believe it. You've used up all your luck for the next month I guess," said Jackson, with Tristan in agreement.
Tristan: "Where are you anyway? Cause we've just left Picadilly Circus station. Y'know, you said you'd get a starter from Professor Arauco."
Damian: "I'm at the Pokémon Centre nearby, you know the one next to Hamley's."
"See you in a minute," said his two friends in unison, hanging up the call.
In three minutes, due to the large amounts of traffic lights and crowds, his friends had arrived. The trio were thrilled to be reunited.
Jackson: "How did you find the Flareon? Cause like I took ages getting my Hitmonlee and Orbeetle and Mightyena."
Tristan: "And I took ages before I got my Mothim and Houndour."
Damian: "It seemed to be guarding an old Appletun with nine other Pokémon. It's weird, this friendly little guy actually attacked me and almost managed to charge at me using his Flame Charge. Once I showed him that I had strategy, he was happy to join my team. I guess he thought I was gonna hurt the Appletun."
Jackson: "That's quite a story, but how does a wild Flareon even appear around here? Last I checked the UK doesn't have volcanoes with Fire Stones close to the ground."
"Someone could've dropped one. I'm honestly stumped," admitted Damian.
Tristan had an idea of his own. "Perhaps he belonged to someone who crushed his Poké Ball and abandoned it."
Jackson: "That's cruel, though it could be possible and would make more sense."
Thinking about something else, Tristan suggested they head over to the local gym, with Jackson joking that he'd already been to one enough times today to get buff. Tristan, unaware that Jackson had understood him, clarified that it was a Pokémon Gym, having to be told by Damian that they were aware of what he meant.
"I'm pretty sure the gym nearby specialises in Steel-types, though the guy's known to sometimes also utilise unrelated Pokémon," stated Tristan in his matter-of-fact tone. Damian was thankful that he had a friend who could easily find and digest information like this, even if sometimes Tristan overstepped the mark.
"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go beat this guy," said Jackson, with Damian agreeing.
When they arrived at the gym, which was elegantly titled the Stilisthorn Gym, there was an ongoing battle there. They sat down on the seats outfitted for viewing such battles on either side. They were somewhat high up, and protected by glass, with the viewing area sitting atop the gym's fancily-built stone brick walls. From the screens outfitted on both the Gym Leader's and the challenger's ends, you could tell the challenger was losing, as he only had one Pokémon left out of the three he was using, which looked close to being worn out, while the gym leader had two of his three left.
"Use Flame Charge, Arcanine!" ordered the challenger, looking nervous.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge the move, and use Quick Attack turned into U-Turn, Scizor," ordered the Gym Leader in a calm voice, as if such a sequence of events had happened enough times in the past that he knew exactly what the situation would boil into. Predictably, Arcanine's Flame Charge went nowhere, and although it boosted his speed, Quick Attack meant that it was of no tangible benefit, especially since the Gym Leader could use the move to become even faster than Arcanine and then switch into a different move, which would provide a good momentum for most attacks. The Scizor then used the move once more to advance onto his opponent, and went back to her Cherish Ball after using U-Turn, which made a direct hit against the already tired Arcanine.
"Go, Magnezone, and finish it off with Thunder!" said the Gym Leader, no longer so calm, but still with large waves of confidence gleaming from his face. The Magnezone appeared out of the Dusk Ball, with sparkles glittering from it. Damian knew from his studies that shiny Pokémon, which had consistent but different colouring from other Pokémon, emitted these, though even scientists seemed perplexed by how or why this mechanism worked. Unsurprisingly, seeing anyone, especially a Gym Leader with a shiny Pokémon was seriously impressive to him. A massive crash of sound brought him out of his thoughts, making him realise what had happened on the battlefield. The Thunder had made a direct contact with the fluffy canine Pokémon, making quick work out of it.
"The challenger's Arcanine is unable to battle. Gym Leader Gideon wins," said the referee.
Gideon: "Maybe third time's the charm, eh Moise? You really should analyse where you went wrong. You can even download the video of our match onto your phone at the desk in the entrance if you want to. Or you could just ignore me once again and try the same strategies that don't work. The choice is yours either way. Next challenger please."
The challenger who lost seemed to make his way onto the stands in a pitch of anger, but the fact that he didn't immediately storm out showed that he at least wasn't completely out of control. Tristan and Jackson made eye contact first with Damian, and then with the Gym Leader. When Damian didn't get it, they even pushed him forward, finally making him understand what they meant.
Damian: "You sure you want me to go first? After all I've only fought a wild Flareon once, and that doesn't count cause I caught him."
Tristan: "I think this would really help you experience proper trainer-to-trainer battles. I'm sure the battle going on just as we arrived was also helpful, and it should still be fresh in your mind."
At this, Damian couldn't question his friend's logic, so he stepped forward and declared, "I want to battle you," to the Gym Leader.
Gideon: "What's your name? Also, from overhearing your conversation, I assume you only have two Pokémon. I'll use two weaker Pokémon for this battle if that's the case."
Damian: "My name's Damian, and you're right. I guess I'll head onto the battlefield and wait."
Gideon: "Sounds good to me. I'll be on in 30 secs."
When the Gym Leader came back, he brought one Heal Ball and one Heavy Ball with him, announcing, "Explain the rules please, referee."
The referee complied, stating in a neutral tone, "This is a two-on-two battle, with no time limits and no use of items. Both the challenger and the Gym Leader may Mega Evolve one Pokémon. The challenger is allowed to make unlimited substitutions, but the Gym Leader cannot make any, only being able to switch out due to the use of a move like Volt Switch or due to an ability like Emergency Exit. Now bring out your first Pokémon, and let the battle begin."
Both trainers swung their Poké Balls, bringing out their first Pokémon.
Damian: "I choose you, Flareon!"
Gideon: "Come on out, Shieldon!"
"Rush at Shieldon with Flame Charge and use Fire Fang!" ordered Damian. Tristan noticed that the challenger Moise, who was sitting on the sidelines, had suddenly looked interested at the battle ever since Flareon had come out, although this was also mixed with a different, undecipherable emotion on Moise's face.
Gideon: "Counter it with Ancient Power at Flareon's direction, then use Dig to dodge it."
At this, Flareon tried to leap over and away from the pointed stones thrown at his direction, but unfortunately a few of them hit him, throwing him backwards onto the ground. He quickly got up however, and was ready to fight again, though Shieldon was nowhere to be found, with only the telltale sign of a small hole in the ground.
Damian: "We'll just have to counter Dig with our own Dig then."
Flareon dug a hole inside the earth of the battlefield, before he collided with Shieldon underground several seconds later. Taking advantage of the situation, Shieldon used Bulldoze, flinging both Pokémon out of the ground.
Gideon: "Nice idea, but I'm not sure how well it would've worked even if your Pokémon didn't collide with mine. After all, attacking underground in a tight space is difficult, which is why Dig is generally a defensive move."
Damian: "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Now use Double Kick!"
Flareon quickly leaped up at Shieldon, and before either Gideon or Shieldon could respond, Flareon kicked Shieldon with his hind legs, sending Shieldon backwards.
Gideon: "Show 'em that a puny little Double Kick doesn't end our run. Use Earthquake!"
At this, Damian motioned for his Flareon to use Quick Attack to head up to the walls and bounce across them, successfully dodging the Earthquake.
Gideon: "Nice one. See, you're learning. That's what I like to see in a challenger, especially from a new one. Now use Sandstorm!"
From this move, Damian was reminded of the time he watched the Pokémon World Championships, where a trainer named Sally Gregor had successfully countered one of Japan's Elite Four members, Bruno. Bruno had made his Steelix use Sandstorm, which she had countered by making her Quilava use Fire Spin. It had mixed in with the Sandstorm, giving the move an easy target to hit, and had ultimately allowed her to also make her Quilava jump onto Steelix's face and use Fire Blast without Steelix being able to retaliate, decimating the Steelix and securing her the win.
Damian: "Use Fire Spin on that Sandstorm!"
Gideon's face appeared to light up, his eyes blooming in curiosity and interest. When the move connected with Shieldon's move, it met with an explosive reaction, but the fiery sandstorm appeared intact, spreading around the large battling room, though it appeared that high-tech systems prevented it from reaching the two trainers or the viewing area.
Gideon: "You know, I haven't had such an interesting opponent like you in ages, and you're still a novice. I'd love to see you make your next move."
It was in fact not easy to see Damian make his next move, as the fiery sand tornado partially blocked off everyone's view of the battlefield. Regardless, Damian had a plan, and called for Flareon's next attack.
Damian: "Now jump onto Shieldon with Quick Attack and use Flamethrower!"
Gideon: "Interesting. Shieldon, use Rock Tomb!"
Flareon with great speed lunged onto Shieldon and expelled a fiery breath of Flamethrower, dealing lots of damage, but Rock Tomb came crashing down onto both Pokémon, hurting the Eeveelution a lot more.
Gideon: "Now use Headbutt."
Shieldon was close enough that its stubby legs did not have to do the heavy lifting, with the small Shield Pokémon able to immediately use its head to deal damage. Flareon was hurt by the large surface of Shieldon's mettalic head, falling onto the floor. At least the fiery Sandstorm was still up, still hurting Shieldon, though it was also hurting Flareon.
Damian: "Can you still get up?"
At this, Flareon leaped forward, and surprising the relatively slow Shieldon, used first Fire Fang and then Flamethrower at the Shieldon's face with great speed. Damaging the Shieldon a lot, with the fire from the sandstorm already having further damaged him, the Shieldon fell to the floor, its eyes spinning circles.
"Shieldon is unable to battle. The challenger wins this round. Gym Leader Gideon, send out your second Pokémon."
Gideon: "Come on out, Skarmory."
Skarmory flapped its metallic sword-like wings open, letting out a squawk that sounded more like a scream.
Gideon: "Use Steel Wing!"
Damian: "Dodge it with Quick Attack and then use Fire Fang!"
Flareon deftly dodged the attack, but when he went to face the Armour Bird Pokémon, Gideon cried out another command.
Gideon: "Use Air Slash!"
Flareon was blown away by the Air Slash, hitting the ground hard. He still somehow got up, but looked very weak.
Gideon: "Use Spikes! We can afford to set up some stuff now that Flareon is almost done for."
The Spikes were scattered around the battlefield, forming hazards for Flareon, and presumably Gastly too, although the latter's lack of feet limited the usefulness of the move. Damian also realised that Gideon still didn't know he had a Gastly, so he could use this thought to his advantage.
Damian: "Flareon, use Sunny Day, and then follow up with Fire Spin!"
Flareon cleared the harsh fiery sandstorm from the battlefield, replacing it with an artificial sunlight. As far as scientists could tell, when no open sky was present, the move created artificial sunlight, although how this mechanism could work was a mystery. The Fire Spin hit Skarmory fair and square, trapping it in the fiery vortex, and doing some damage thanks to several factors. These were super-effectiveness of Fire-type moves against Steel-type Pokémon, the Sunny Day boosting the damage of Fire-type moves, and STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), where moves of the same type as the user would deal more damage.
Gideon: "Use Sand Tomb on yourself to free yourself from Fire Spin, and then use Brave Bird!"
Skarmory quickly used the Ground-type move on itself, smoldering the flames, but due to its Ground-typing, it did not damage the Flying-type Pokémon; before launching a high speed, high damage attack in which it charged at Flareon. Before Damian could react and issue a command of some sort, Flareon was swiftly sent all the way to the stone brick walls, creating a small imprint in them, before Flareon fell. The Skarmory had been damaged from the recoil, but the damage done against Flareon was much worse.
"Flareon is unable to battle. Gym Leader Gideon wins this round. Challenger, bring out your next Pokémon."
Damian: "You did a good job buddy. You deserve a nice long rest."
Damian recalled his Flareon, proud of him having withstood this long. It really was a strong Pokémon.
Damian: "Come on out, Gastly! Use Shadow Ball!"
Gastly hit Skarmory's left wing, but it did not do much damage, as most of the move disintegrated after hitting one of the spikes that Skarmory had previously laid on the battlefield.
Gideon: "Now use Double Team and Drill Peck!"
Damian was unsure of how to counter this, but he realised something. Gastly knew Hex, and Hex was an attack that applied in all directions around the user. He smirked to himself, now knowing of a surefire way of dealing with his opponent.
Damian: "Use Hex!"
Gideon realised his error, but by now it was too late, the illusionary Skarmory as well as the real one surrounding Gastly in a swooping attack stance. Before Skarmory could use Drill Peck, Gastly unleashed its attack, dealing damage to Skarmory and clearing up the mettalic bird's fakes. Any hope of using the illusions to Gideon's advantage was now lost.
Damian: "Nice job buddy! Now use Will-O-Wisp, and follow up once more with Hex!"
Gideon: "Use Autotomise to increase your speed to dodge Hex!"
Gideon did not have enough time to react to Will-O-Wisp, which hit Skarmory and gave it a burn, so he decided to at least increase Skarmory's odds of dodging Hex, as that would otherwise deal much more damage than previously due to Hex's doubled power against Pokémon with status conditions. Skarmory leaped extremely fast, dodging Hex just in time time for Gideon to make another move.
Gideon: "Now use Whirlwind to further increase your speed, and follow up with Brave Bird!"
At this, Damian decided to react once more. "Use Curse, and then Destiny Bond."
Gastly conjured up a ghastly curse, cutting its health down to half its maximum health to do so, and afflicted Skarmory with a soul-stealing omen, causing further damage alongside the burn that was sipping up Skarmory's health. Destiny Bond also hit, creating a deathly shadow under Skarmory that would completely immobilise Skarmory if Gastly was defeated, making Gideon less comfortable in his strategy. Just then, Brave Bird hit Gastly with a direct hit, sending the Ghoul Pokémon quite a distance back.
Gastly was still able to battle, but it had been considerably damaged. Even considering this, however, Skarmory's situation looked more dire. It already had a burn, it was afflicted by Curse, and now Brave Bird, which did a considerably large amount of damage to Gastly, had caused great amounts of recoil to Skarmory.
Gideon: "This is getting very fun y'know. You're a real strategist, beating me at my own game, and you haven't even battled before. You're not just lucky, you're a natural at this."
Damian: "Thanks. You've made me think outside the box in all sorts of ways during this battle. I've at times thought you had my ass beat, but my mind keeps going back to other people's battles that I've watched. This is almost like chess, but it requires a thousands times more creativity."
Gideon chuckled, in a friendly sort of way, before replying with, "Let me show you some of that creativity. Skarmory, use Roost and then Swords Dance."
Damian remembered being told by Tristan before that you shouldn't use two moves that take some time to apply their effects in a row, as it would leave you vulnerable. Well, that's what the experienced Gym Leader was doing, making him wonder if it was a slip up or a deliberate move to trick him. He instead chose an option that would cover both bases.
Damian: "Gastly, use Haze!"
Haze returned Skarmory's heavily increased speed back to normal, and this made Gideon abandon his plan, as Gastly was incredibly close to Skarmory while the latter was very slowly healing under the effects of Roost.
Gideon: "Stop using Roost and use Air Slash!"
Damian: Use Shadow Ball back-to-back!"
At a distance of only two metres, Air Slash was practically unavoidable, hitting Gastly square in the face. Despite this, however, Gastly was not finished just yet, even though its state looked absolutely terrible. It still managed to hit Skarmory with a satisfactory Shadow Ball, followed by another few streams of the move. Skarmory fell to the ground, looking almost incapacitated. The steel-covered bird only had the final stretch of capacity for battle left within him.
Just then, a light began to emanate from Gastly, which Damian's quick eye noticed was the purple-white light that Pokémon produced when undergoing evolution. After about eight seconds, a Haunter emerged from the light.
Damian: "Nice! Haunter, let's finish it off with Dark Pulse!"
The impressed Gym Leader had no time to react, though even he would admit it would not have made a difference. Dark Pulse exploded at his Skarmory, flailing the Armour Bird Pokémon around in the air before it hit him back down onto the ground. Swirls began to appear around his eyes.
"Skarmory is unable to battle. The challenger wins the round and the gym battle, winning the Stilisthorn Gym Badge."
After recalling both of their Pokémon, the two teenagers began to head to the stands, still talking to each other. Once they had gotten back, Tristan and Jackson came to congratulate him, with the latter deciding to give him an overly strong bear hug.
"Help me! He-p me! Awgh!" cried out Damian, getting crushed, before Jackson dropped the practical joke.
In an almost teacherly manner, Gideon scolded Moise, his voice dripping heavily with disappointment with an added spoonful of subdued anger. "This is what a successful battle looks like. I hope you were watching Damian's moves carefully to learn from them."
Moise looked at him, with the same sort of expression on his face that Tristan had noticed Moise had made earlier, before replying back. "It's just that, you know, that Flareon was mine."
Last words: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I certainly enjoyed making it. From now on chapters will be wordier like this and have more in them like this one. I honestly wasn't sure how to write Chapter 1, and how best to make it function, so I mostly just ended up introducing the setting and important characters really. I'll make sure that future chapters are more action-packed even when introducing new characters too. I might also make a partial rewrite of Chapter 1 at some point, but I've already updated it several times which the more attentive of you may have spotted. See you in hopefully the next couple of days.