Creation began on 11-11-21
Creation ended on 01-26-22
Neon Genesis Evangelion
To burn away the Weakness is to shed light to the Darkness
A/N: In order to go further, one has to admit that they know what they need to do.
The Tokyo-3 nightlife was very dim as of late, even as Toji and Hikari were out and about due to the former walking the latter home after meeting his sister at the hospital again.
"Is it just me," Hikari wanted to know from Toji, "or has our time with Shinji in the Pokémon world affected how our lives here are lived?"
"I know that feeling," Toji replied to her. "We've been to four different regions in such a short time, and each one was incredible to explore, even if it was only temporarily. I guess we got the wanderlust from Shinji each time we went to see him. He makes wherever he goes feel like the ultimate vacation or something. But then, we have to come back here and live as we always have…until we can go back again to support his efforts in entering the Pokémon League and catching more Pokémon to help him eventually return to this world. We live the mundane over here while he lives the extraordinary over there."
"I seriously want a Pokémon of my own one day over there. It doesn't even have to be a powerful one…so long as it's friendly."
"Like Leo before he evolved?"
"I believe he's still friendly, just not as easy to deal with now that he's all grown up. But yes, like Leo was when he was a Litleo. Maybe a Pidgey or Pidove, a Wurmple or Pikachu, something small and light to carry, less likely to hurt you…"
"Perhaps a Skitty or Jigglypuff?"
"Yeah, maybe."
As they reached Hikari's apartment, Toji bowed his head to her and wished her a good night.
"Stay safe on your way back," she told him before closing the door.
"Yeah, thank you," he replied, and then walked away.
-x-
Eight times now in the last three days since they left Shalour City. Eight tries to try and manage Leo, and eight times Shinji failed to keep him in line due to the Pyroar being much stronger than he realized. If he was stronger than a Pokémon that was over level fifty, he would need another badge to remedy the issue, but if he was higher than level sixty, he would need another badge to keep him in line. Until then, he would need to rely on his other five Pokémon that he had with him.
"You shouldn't worry, Shinji," Hanmyo told him as they sat in front of a fire that night. "You'll get Leo to respond to you."
"Yeah, but if something ever goes wrong, Leo could end up harming someone, and I can't have that on my conscience," he told her back. "So far, he's the only one to give me this degree of trouble after evolving since we came to the Kalos Region."
"But you've had other Pokémon that gave you trouble before in the past, in other regions, right?"
"Yes. There's Asuka, the Ursaring that needs to be watched at all times, Rei at one point when we were at the Lake of Rage, but that was because of the cruelty that had been unleashed there, and even an angry school of Sharpedo because of poachers. While most of the time, the difficulty has been because of people that have no respect for Pokémon, and other times, it's been because of Pokémon that have their own issues or see people as threats or exploitable for their own gain."
"Does it ever still bother you? What could happen if there were bad people from your world that had Pokémon and mistreated them over there?"
"Like a splinter in my spine that drives me mad. But that hasn't happened yet. And should it ever come to pass, I'll deal with the issue."
Shinji then raised his right hand up to lower it down to where his Eevee lay, stroking her head, earning a soft purr from her.
"I will say this about you," Hanmyo expressed. "You got a lot of conviction, wanting to make sure that people from your world treat Pokémon with trust and respect."
"Thanks."
-x-
"…Squawk! Squawk!" Pen-Pen yapped to Electrode, exercising atop the Ball Pokémon in the facility housing Palkia.
"Electrode!" It uttered as it rolled around the floor.
"I don't think Pen-Pen has ever enjoyed staying in shape until meeting Pokémon," said Misato as she sat by the console with Antonio as they observed Shinji and Hanmyo at their current location in front of a campfire at night.
"To train the mind, you must train the body," Antonio expressed, yawning as he drank another cup of coffee. "It looks like they're calling it a night."
"Ahhhhhhh!" Palkia yawned, and that caused the building to shake a little.
"Whoa!" Misato and Antonio gasped, startled to full wakefulness by the Spatial Pokémon's loud yawn and shaking the building.
"Sorry," Palkia apologized.
"It's okay," Antonio told it. "Everyone needs rest."
"Electrode!" Electrode went as it rolled over and let Pen-Pen off.
"I'm calling it a night, everyone," Antonio told the crew present. "Go get some sleep. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow and see where we can get from there."
Thud! Palkia slumped against a wall, having dozed off, right there and then.
"Wow," one of the female assistants went. "He certainly went down like a rock."
-x-
"…What's this, Hikari?" Hikari heard her little sister, Nozomi, ask her, seeing a piece of paper on her desk in her room.
"Oh, that's…" She tried to say that it was nothing, but Nozomi picked it up and looked at it.
"Are these the names of those Pokémon that we've been seeing and hearing about on those videos posted on the Internet? You must really want one now, huh?"
"Some of them are cute up close."
"Like Ikari's Eevee?"
"Yes."
"That Jigglypuff of his was cute, too. Is there a title above what Ikari is right now?"
"Besides Pokémon Trainer and Pokémon League Champion? Just Pokémon Master, but that's a title that some believe is impossible to achieve."
"Why?"
"It has different meanings and is one goal that many trainers have had over many generations."
"But…Ikari has been doing this for a long time, hasn't he?"
"Over four years, since he got displaced into the Pokémon world. Some could say that he's already achieved that title, but…he's still learning new things."
"Eh-heh! Still the learner, not the master."
"Huh?! Uh, yeah."
"I'd settle for a Pokémon that can fly around. Those videos of flying on the backs of Pokémon seem like something out of a dream. It's like…there's nowhere you can't go, anymore."
"Yeah, it does feel that way after a while. But Pokémon aren't something you can just get tired of after a long time. They're as alive as we are, are able to feel as we do, and want to be cared for like we do."
"If you had to choose one that's been seen before, which one would you choose?"
"Probably a Pidgeot…or a Fearow, just big enough to fly around on, but friendly enough to be around people."
"Pidgeot is much friendlier than Fearow. Oh! What about Doduo? Those are nice, aren't they?"
"But, Nozomi, Doduo can't fly very well due to having underdeveloped wings. Even their evolved form, Dodrio, have this difficulty."
"Oh."
"However, they can run faster than other Pokémon on the ground do, and because they can jump so high up, they give an impressive illusion of being able to fly."
"That's right!"
-x-
"…Shinji!" Shinji heard Hanmyo yell, feeling a hand shake him from his slumber. "Shinji, wake up!"
Opening his eyes, he looked up at the girl and saw a look of woe on her face.
"What is it, Hanmyo?" He asked her as he got up.
"My cats have changed!" She told him, pointing to outside his tent.
"You mean, they evolved?"
"No! I mean, they changed! They don't look anything like their evolved forms in this world are supposed to look like! They look like…mirror opposites! Come see!"
Shinji was still half-asleep as she dragged him out into the daylight, and Hanmyo showed him what had her bothered.
"Whoa!" He gasped, seeing Mata and Kemi. "That's no Persian or Delcatty."
In front of them were a pair of felines that seemed to be of the same species of Pokémon, but their coloring were the reverse of each other; the one on the right was mostly a dark shade of blue and the one on the left was mostly white, both having two tails and bits of the other's fur color. What's more, they seemed to be…more perceptive of them than usual.
Shinji took out his Pokédex and identified them.
"Meowstic, the Constraint Pokémon," it revealed to them. "When threatened, Meowstic can create psychic energy enabling them to demolish up to ten tons of mass. A Meowstic's appearance varies, depending on its gender."
"The dark blue one is a male," Shinji informed Hanmyo.
"And the white one is a female," she realized. "The male is Mata. Kemi is the female."
"Eevo?" Misato spoke as she came out of the tent, seeing the Meowstic. "Eee?"
We woke up like this, they all heard a female voice.
"Did…did you hear a voice just now, Hanmyo?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah," she replied, looking at the Meowstic. "What type of Pokémon are Meowstic?"
"Psychic."
"So, then…we heard Kemi speak up just now?"
"It's possible. Many Psychic-Type Pokémon can speak to people."
Can we eat now, please? They heard a male voice ask them, and they looked at Mata, who rubbed his stomach.
"Okay," Shinji expressed, "I'll get us started on something to eat."
This was obviously something that wasn't going to be gotten over any time soon on an empty stomach, and not something either Shinji or Hanmyo had expected to witness. It was unheard of for Pokémon to just…change into completely different Pokémon that weren't part of their natural evolutionary family, with the minor exception of Pokémon that knew the move Transform. This was just another rare phenomenon in such a diverse and expansive world.
"Has anything of this sort ever happened to you, Shinji?" Hanmyo asked.
"No," he answered her. "The most extreme thing to have ever happened with me is facing Pokémon that are unlike those I've encountered previously, whether they're common, rare, pseudo-rare…or just unexpected. Half the time, mostly unexpected. But still, I get to do one of the most exhilarating things I love while here."
"Which is?"
"Meet new Pokémon from other parts of the world."
Shinji restarted the fire and started cooking breakfast.
-x-
"…Whoa," went Misato as she noticed the two look-alike Pokémon with Shinji and Hanmyo on the monitor the next morning. "Where and when did they find those two?"
"I don't think they found those two Pokémon," Antonio suspected. "It looks more like they were the two cats Ms. Hanmyo had the last time we saw her with them."
"Except now, they're different from before."
"Pokémon are mysterious when they make no sense to those trying to comprehend all that they are," said Palkia to them.
"Yeah. Curiosity is both a blessing and a curse." Misato admitted.
"Mostly a blessing. It's only a curse when curiosity gets the better of one's sense of priority and moral constituents."
On the screens, they could see Shinji, Hanmyo and the Pokémon enjoying breakfast…and Misato wished she was over there right now to enjoy it with them because her breakfast for today was only half as good. But she noticed how Shinji was being cautious with his Pyroar, keeping a close watch on him.
"Hopefully, when you face the next Gym Leader, you two will be on even terrain," Hanmyo told Shinji as she noticed him being cautious. "But on the other hand, Leo doesn't seem difficult outside of a battle."
"It really depends upon the Pokémon and their behavior quirks," Shinji responded. "The less restraint they demonstrate, the more unpredictable they are likely to be. But I once heard a rumor about a large Onix that was causing minor problems because of a Sandslash that was stuck inside it. Anything can make any Pokémon demonstrate upsetting behavior. Nightmares, poor diet, trauma, social inequality, anything."
"Rrrr!" Leo growled as he lapped up his water from his bowl.
"Eee," Shinji's Eevee added in.
-x-
Coumarine City, another coastal city of beauty and merriment, with a lot of trees nearby. It was a sight to behold and made Shinji and Hanmyo awe in its beauty.
"So…where to first, Shinji?" Hanmyo asked. "Do we go to the gym…or somewhere else in the city before going there?"
"The Poké Mart first," Shinji answered. "I need to restock on my healing items and get extra Pokémon treats. After which, we head to the Pokémon Center to make sure the Pokémon are feeling alright, and then the Coumarine Gym."
"Lead the way."
However, as Shinji had just arrived to this city, he didn't know where the Pokémon Mart or Pokémon Center were. Fortunately, he had a map to help him look for the locations they needed to get to. Once he figured out where they needed to go, he led the way to the Poké Mart.
-x-
"…Oh?" Toji went during the lunch period at school, looking up at the sky on the roof.
"What is it?" Hikari asked him as she, Kensuke, Asuka and Rei were with him.
"I thought I saw something up in the air," he explained.
"Like what?" Rei questioned.
"A Pidove."
"As incredible as that would be," Asuka told him, "it's not possible yet. We've only managed to see the artificial Pokémon that were within our grasp. Palkia being the sole exception due to being the first Pokémon in our world. I mean, it's just not…"
"Murkrow!" They all heard something nearby.
"Huh?!" Kensuke went, getting up to his feet and looking around. "Tell me we all heard heard that just now."
"Hoothoot," another noise was heard.
"Oh!" Hikari gasped, pointing to the roof of the stairway. "Up there."
They looked to where she pointed…and saw a Hoothoot and Murkrow…but they were see-through, like they were not entirely there. Then…they were gone.
"We all saw a Hoothoot and Murkrow, right?" Toji asked them.
"Either that or we're officially trippin'," went Kensuke.
The bell rang afterwards, and the teens left to return to the classroom. But had they stayed for a minute longer, they would've noticed something else on the rooftop. Another see-through creature, mammalian in its appearance and slowly moving around. Rather very, very slowly.
"Slaa…" It went, and then it disappeared.
-x-
Shinji couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him on the item racks. There were scarves and bandannas in bulk, and they reminded him that he had been wanting to get his Eevee a new scarf to replace the one she had been wearing for over four years now. He decided to get four of them along with the other items he needed to restock on.
"Did you find everything you need?" Hanmyo asked as she came over after getting what she needed for her Pokémon, which, quite surprising to Shinji, were a pair of bracelets and a ribbon.
"Just about," he answered her, and decided to get a smaller scarf for his Fletchling and a bandanna for his Gogoat. "Okay, let's get going."
He paid for his items and they left to the Pokémon Center.
"What will your strategy be against the gym?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Depending on the circumstances, I'll likely rely on Misato and Komadori. I want to believe in Leo rather than have Asuka be my ace in the hole, but I won't know for sure if I can have Leo deal with the Gym Leader's Pokémon until I obtain the fourth badge."
"You don't want the next match to be an easy win."
"I don't want to feel like I've been training my Pokémon for another regional tournament and we got to where we are without actually putting in the effort to earn the recognition or the glory. It can't be achieved the easy way when the goal has to be accomplished with some difficulty. To achieve success, you must experience some measure of obstacles that impede your advancements. No impediment, no deserved greatness. No risk or effort, no reward. No sacrifice…no…"
"No victory?"
"Yeah."
"Eevo."
To Hanmyo, the path of a Pokémon Trainer was no different from the path of an assassin or a space pirate; there had to be effort thrown in to ensure that your success was actually yours to achieve. If there was no measure of difficulty, then you'd feel like you didn't really achieve anything when you started out in the beginning.
"Well, you're stronger than you were when we first met," she told him. "You've achieved Hall of Fame status in Sinnoh, you've caught over a thousand Pokémon in over four years, and a handful of them are powerhouses that you don't use often like your regular Pokémon because you don't want to win easily. If you used Legendary Pokémon against all your adversaries, you're bound to win every time. But one or two Legendary Pokémon alongside the ones you've trained for longer or just started training, then the battles…while not likely easy…will be worth it all. You have quite the list of accomplishments that you should be proud of."
"Thanks, Hanmyo," he praised her.
They made it to the Pokémon Center where Shinji had his Pokémon examined.
"…Hey, I heard another trainer passing by lost to Ramos," they overheard some people talking by the vending machines.
"Yeah, they were amateurs," another person stated. "They only had one badge and four Pokémon, none of which could beat any one of his. It's just child's play to go up against Ramos without having a clear strategy or Pokémon with a type advantage."
Fortunately, Shinji was no amateur; he had faced plenty Grass-Type Pokémon to know that he had three Pokémon with a type advantage against them currently in his roster. Well, two of them, as the third was a challenge. He could've exchanged Leo or Otona for another Pokémon with a type advantage, but he decided against it until Komadori was fully evolved.
"You're gonna do fine," Hanmyo encouraged him as he replaced his Eevee's first scarf with a new one.
"Eevo!" Misato added.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," he told them.
-x-
They returned to the Geo-Front for their synchronization testing. But it was quite a shocker to hear things from several of the personnel that had something to say about their day…and the last few hours prior to the day.
"…Wait a minute," went Asuka to Ritsuko as she sat in the test plug, "you saw something that was there…and then it wasn't there?"
"It was in my apartment for a minute," she explained, "and then it disappeared."
"What did it look like?" Toji wanted to know as he sat in his plug.
"A Growlithe, except it was see-through. Lately, it seems that people across the city have been seeing Pokémon of this sort, barely visible, and in random places. The sole exception being the Porygon, as you can't touch them."
"Probably Giovanni's experiments with opening a portal to another dimension is having other results than they expected them to," suggested Hikari, "but nobody's gotten hurt, have they?"
"No," said Maya, "but it does get concerning when you can't tell if they're trying to get here or are just in limbo, wandering between dimensions, trying to get back to the one they know."
"Like Ghost Pokémon or displaced souls," Kensuke suggested.
"Uh…yeah…I guess," Ritsuko accepted; since they were all able to visit the Pokémon world and were witnesses to the bizarre and amazing, the faux-blond couldn't deny that there were things in existence beyond her complete understanding…and that there would be other things that were yet to be fully understood.
Suddenly, the alarms went off, alerting the base of something Angel-related. But that was for only twenty seconds before they ceased.
"What was that?" Hikari asked, worried about facing an Angel after very little time to practice moving an Eva around.
Maya and Hyuga checked on the Angel still trapped in the spatial rifts made by Palkia…and were surprised by what they discovered.
"Uh, you're not going to believe this," Hyuga told them, "but the blue pattern of the Angel trapped within the spatial rifts has gone silent. The rifts themselves have also disappeared."
"What does that mean?" Asuka asked him.
"We're double-checking," Maya responded, "but…it doesn't look like the Angel we had trapped in between space is active, anymore. It's…gone."
"No residual trace of its AT-Field?" Ritsuko questioned, needing to make sure.
"There's no trace of even the smallest hint of an AT-Field. Either the Angel attempted to self-destruct its way out of its prison…or it just died from being imprisoned for such a long time. Either way, the Fourteenth Angel…is no longer around to threaten us."
This was quite a surprise for them to hear. Some of them had expected the Angel to remain trapped in its makeshift prison until the end of time. It never once occurred to any of them for the Angel to die or commit a suicidal attempt to escape, if that's even what it did. But all NERV could assume or suspect was that the Angel might've attempted to break free from its captivity and ended up destroying itself in the process.
"That's…not exactly bad," went Rei.
"That doesn't make it good, either," Asuka stated.
"Why?" Hikari asked her.
"If the Angel's gone, that just means that another one will show up in due time…and we won't know for certain how to handle it until after we encounter it."
That…was bad to know. From what Toji and Hikari could understand from Rei, Asuka and Kensuke, the Fourteenth Angel was the strongest one that had appeared, with the one before just being an unexpected one because it took possession of Unit-03. All they could do was hope that the next Angel to appear wouldn't be as dangerous as the one that was no longer their concern. And hope that it didn't show up any time soon.
-x-
Hanmyo had seen many large trees before, but this one, the Coumarine City Gym…it was like what she learned about once in an old book about mythical trees. A…world tree. It housed the gym within itself and was a place that really enabled the Grass Pokémon to thrive peacefully. Instead of people trying to reshape their environment to suit them, they adjusted to their environment in order to thrive in it, living harmoniously with nature.
"I must say," went Ramos after introductions were made between them, "it's never a grand pleasure to face someone that won an entire regional tournament from another region in this one. I do hope you've been enjoying your time in Kalos."
Shinji, on the opposite side of the stadium, replied, "Kalos, Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto… They're all amazing places to travel around in. I'm loving Kalos. I look forward to our match right now, too."
"Begin!" The referee decreed.
Shinji threw his Poké Ball and released his Fletchling onto the field.
Ramos threw his and released his Weepinbell onto the field.
"Go, Shinji, go!" Hanmyo rooted.
"Eevo!" Misato cheered.
"Fletchling!" Komadori chirped.
-x-
This was an unexpected turn of events. As Fuyutsuki walked down the halls of NERV HQ, he was recently informed that the Fourteenth Angel was no longer around where they could monitor it. But still, he didn't want to pressure the children to putting their focus entirely on dealing with the Angels; they had the aid of Palkia should the next Angel appear, so there wasn't entirely a need to have them raise their synchronization with the Evas up higher.
"So, how do you want to inform the Committee of this?" Ritsuko asked him.
"I'll explain to them that it was simply unexpected," he replied. "The Angel was likely attempting to escape from its spatial prison and ended up destroying itself in the process. It won't matter to them just how the Angel was defeated, so long as it was defeated discreetly."
This was true; the Committee wouldn't care how the Angel was dealt with so long as the defeat had minimum casualties and minimum damage to the Evas and base. The less damages that occurred from dealing with the Angels, the less they were likely to raise their voices. In addition, they were developing more Evas, and with some hope, NERV would be able to procure two more for the Fifth and Sixth Children. However, because the people of Tokyo-3 were more focused on Pokémon and less on NERV, it actually served as a boon to the paramilitary group that the Giovanni Corporation had managed to obtain at least three Pokémon that were tangible and four more that were wandering through cyberspace.
Ring-ring! Ritsuko's phone rang, and she answered.
"Akagi," she spoke. "Oh, hey, Misato. We have a slight issue here regarding the Angel… Really? Do they know… How is Shinji doing? Oh, it should be easy for him to win, then. What? Well, of course, he'd want to put in the effort to earn his badge; he never wants it done easy. What?! There better be a recording of the match for later! These are something I'd like to see in person because I find them to be remarkable feats."
She hung up and sighed.
"I'm guessing you missed the evolution of another Pokémon?" Fuyutsuki asked her.
"If I could study the evolution of these creatures up close, I'd probably be able to come up with innovative ways to revolutionize medical science and combat degenerative diseases."
"Oh, really?"
"The ways these Pokémon are able to evolve, it's just unlike anything that we've ever researched before. What took humans millions of years to accomplish, they can do almost instantly…if they're able to, that is. And then, there's this branched evolution that some of them are capable of, like his Eevee, or Gloom…or Poliwhirl."
"Or Nincada or Ralts," he reminded; despite the many times any of them were even slightly aware of people suggesting that Shinji evolve his Eevee, he was among those that wouldn't do so due to personal preferences.
"Yeah."
"I do believe that when certain Pokémon evolve, they lose one type and gain another to replace it. In the case of a Fletchling evolving, it loses its Normal-Type attribute and gains the Fire-Type attribute in its place."
And this was among the things Ritsuko wished to eventually understand when Pokémon evolve.
-x-
Komadori was doing better than Shinji had expected of him, having bested Ramos' Weepinbell and dealt a major blow to his Jumpluff. Originally, before he evolved, Shinji was just going to have Komadori rely on his Flying-Type moves and then sub him with Otona. Now, so long as Komadori could keep up his evasion and counters, Shinji might be able to achieve another victory with just two of his Pokémon.
Komadori is stronger now, he thought, watching as his Fletchinder used his Peck and Ember attacks against Ramos' Jumpluff, further weakening it, but Ramos is no pushover. He would save his strongest Pokémon for last.
Ramos' Jumpluff, partially singed and not floating as well as before Komadori's last Ember attack, fell to the ground and was passed out.
"Jumpluff is unable to continue," the referee announced. "Fletchinder wins!"
"Whoo-hoo!" Hanmyo cheered from the sidelines. "You're doing great, Shinji!"
"Eee! Eevo!" Misato rooted, but noticed something off with Komadori. "Eee?"
Komadori, despite having evolved and besting two Grass Pokémon, was starting to feel exhausted and could barely keep in the air.
"Fletch…fletch…" He panted.
"Okay, Komadori, that's enough," Shinji realized, holding out his Poké Ball. "Time for you to take a break."
Komadori became red light and was recalled back into his ball.
Shinji then took out Otona's Poké Ball and looked at Ramos.
"Let's finish this," he expressed, and the Gym Leader threw out his third Poké Ball of the match.
It opened up and released a burst of light that took the form of…
"A Gogoat?" Shinji couldn't believe.
Ramos also had a Gogoat, and unlike Shinji's, it had a look of more experience in battle.
"Uh-oh!" Hanmyo gasped; from what she understood, certain Pokémon Trainers in battles rarely ever used the same Pokémon to engage each other due to some confusion or preference.
She once saw a pair of trainers in Hoenn battle with a pair of Ditto and the match had no winner due to the two Pokémon knowing only one move that was next to useless with no other Pokémon present to use it against. But this was different; both men had a Pokémon that knew several attacks and were separated only by their level and experience. While she had confidence in Shinji's Gogoat, neither of them, she and Shinji, were sure of how strong Ramos' Gogoat was.
"Okay, Otona," Shinji uttered, deciding to not let this revelation impede him due to both trainers having the same Pokémon on hand. "You're up!"
Otona was unleashed, and Ramos was surprised.
"Wow, hardly any trainer would use the same Pokémon as the Gym Leader," he said to him. "Let's see how strong your Gogoat is! Use Razor Leaf, Gogoat!"
"Otona, use Vine Whip!" Shinji ordered.
With only his use of nicknames and accessories being a factor in which Gogoat belonged to which trainer, Shinji watched as his Gogoat shot out two vines to counter Ramos' Gogoat's shower of leaves. The leaves were strong, but not as strong as the vines, falling to the ground and disappearing from sight.
"Use Grass Knot!" Ramos commanded, and his Gogoat stomped its feet on the ground, causing several blades of grass to jut out from underground and ensnare Otona.
"Go!" Otona gasped, unable to break free.
"Otona!" Shinji gasped, feeling the binding pain that his Mount Pokémon was feeling.
"Now, Horn Leech!" Ramos ordered, and his Gogoat lowered its head as its horns began to glow.
Oh, no! Shinji thought as his Gogoat was hit by the beams of Ramos', draining his of significant energy. How unexpected!
Stealing his Gogoat's energy had boosted Ramos' and made it more powerful. But the effects of Grass Knot had expired and Otona was free once more. However, Otona wasn't as strong as it used to be right now.
"Otona, use Synthesis!" Shinji suggested; if Horn Leech could drain his Pokémon of strength, then Synthesis would restore it of some strength.
Otona's body glowed as it restored some of its stolen energy.
-x-
It was anyone's guess as to when the next Angel would appear, but now that the previous Angel was no longer around, that put the pilots back on a challenging schedule that would impede their time spent with Shinji in the Pokémon world and furthering the Giovanni Corporation's research into opening a gateway between the two worlds.
"I'll tell you, though," said Hikari to Asuka and Toji as they walked down the hall after the synchronization testing ended for the day, "I'd rather be wherever Shinji is in the Pokémon world right now than doing my homework."
"If I see another Pokémon that's split between our worlds, I hope it's a Blastoise," went Toji, exhausted from sitting inside the plug for over three hours. "Or at least a Pinsir."
"Why?" Asuka asked him.
"They're both large and heavy. You?"
"Charmeleon, Rapidash and Blaziken; one smaller than me, one large enough to ride on, and one that can fight back."
"What is it with people and size?" Hikari questioned, and then yawned. "Why can't there be a size preference that suits efficiency?"
"You're thinking too much on the subject," Asuka told her.
Separating to go into the locker rooms, the three parted halfway.
"Pokémon have their individual benefits, but shouldn't be focused solely on strength or appearances. Each one should meet a requirement that is needed of them and whatever it is that they can't do isn't something that should be frowned upon." Rei, who was in the women's locker room earlier, heard Hikari's voice.
"It's probably part of the reason there's a six-Pokémon limitation when traveling," she heard Asuka reply. "People have to be mindful of which Pokémon they need to have with them."
"Or they're type experts."
"Maybe."
Type experts, a class of Pokémon Trainers that often specialized in only one type of Pokémon. But they were often at a disadvantage against trainers that didn't specialize in just one type…but many types, which made them a challenge, overcome only by level and experience. As Rei finished dressing back into her school uniform, she left out of the locker room and pondered whether or not she should go back to her apartment; Fuyutsuki and Misato had sent Section Two to check and make sure that Gendo wasn't there, but she wasn't sure if she should go back there. With a sigh, she made a personal decision to forgo returning to her apartment; even if it was confirmed that Gendo wasn't there, she didn't feel safe going back there right now.
"So, Ayanami," went Kensuke as he was walking down the halls toward the elevators, "where are you off to now?"
"I have considered heading to the Giovanni Corporation research station where Palkia is held to see how Shinji is doing in the Pokémon world. Yourself?"
"As much as I want to see how Shinji is doing, I need to head home to see my father and Brute-Chan. Safe traveling to the research station."
"Thank you."
-x-
This was the eighteenth time that Shinji had done something as awkward as this, but it was done and he couldn't undo it. His Pyroar, the strong and difficult Leo, was released by him, accidentally, onto the field against Ramos' Gogoat…and was already showing signs of disobedience taking effect due to Shinji only having three badges.
"Oh, this is bad," went Hanmyo as she and Misato watched with woe.
"Eee," the Eevee agreed; Leo, despite his own efforts in trying to follow Shinji, was currently unable to due to being above Shinji's level of handling.
Leo grunted as he faced Shinji with a temperamental stare.
"Oh, this is going to cost me dearly," Shinji expressed as he refused to back down. "Leo? Don't you dare do what I think you're going to do."
Steam was expelling from the Pyroar's mouth as he approached his trainer.
"What's going on here?" A woman asked Hanmyo.
"His Pyroar is currently a problem Pokémon because it's too strong for him to control," she explained to her. "We've tried to get him to listen to Shinji several times, but having only three badges for the time being has made Leo unruly. I think it was an accident that Shinji let him out onto the field."
"Can't he just put him back into his Poké Ball?"
"Will Ramos allow that? This is a three-on-three match and Leo is, technically, Shinji's third Pokémon because Ramos' Gogoat defeated his Gogoat."
It was not common, but most trainers couldn't substitute whichever Pokémon they released from their balls against a Gym Leader. If this was the case, not even Ramos would make an exception, even for Shinji.
Leo started to generate fire from his mouth in front of Shinji as he growled.
"Leo!" Shinji raised his voice in front of the Pyroar. "Don't you dare!"
The flames escaped from his mouth, but only mildly so; he hadn't spat them out at anyone or anything yet, but he wanted to very much. He didn't want to hurt Shinji, but he was currently having a difficult moment refraining from lashing out at his trainer.
"Grrr!" He growled.
Ramos felt like he needed to do something, but waited until something went wrong. The second this Pyroar crossed a line, he would act, whether it was setting fire to the plants or harming someone. It was rare that certain trainers kept Pokémon that wouldn't listen to them as well as they used to, but this was slightly different from the last few times he fought other trainers that came to face him.
"Rrrraurgh!" Leo roared in front of Shinji's face, letting the flames out at him in an intimidation display, not really attacking him, but trying to frighten him. "Rrrraurgh!"
Shinji turned his face slightly to avoid the flames, but kept his eyes on his Pyroar. If Leo was trying to scare him, it was working slightly; Shinji wanted to run, to scream, to get as far away from this misbehaving Pokémon as possible…but he couldn't do so.
If I flee from him, I'd be setting a bad example, he thought as he stood his ground against the Pyroar. "You listen to me, Leo!"
"Orh?" Leo reacted; it was the first time Shinji had raised his voice to him like this.
"Look the other way! At our opponents!" Shinji ordered him. "You wanna fight? We fight them! Not each other!"
Leo looked the other way towards Ramos and his Gogoat, but then looked back at Shinji. It was the first time Shinji had raised his voice towards him in such a manner. If this was to ensure his loyalty towards him, it was unlike anything he has done before. Of course, he wanted to be loyal to Shinji, but the young man was struggling with him. If this match proved something new to the both of them, it had to be shown sooner or later…and he turned back to face the Gym Leader and his Gogoat.
-x-
"…Whoa, Shinji," went Misato as she watched him stand up to his Pyroar in the midst of the gym match. "I barely recognize you when you speak up like that."
The Pyroar then faced the Gym Leader's Gogoat…and the match began.
Ramos' Gogoat attacked with a seed-based attack, but the seeds burned away upon contact with the lion-like Pokémon.
"Okay, Leo, counter with Flamethrower," Shinji ordered, and the Pyroar unleashed a stream of fire at the Gogoat, leaving it partially scorched.
"Whoa!" Antonio reacted. "I get that Grass-Type Pokémon are vulnerable to Fire-Types, but that was just impressive right there. And the Gogoat is still standing. Great Gaea."
Then, Ramos' Gogoat charged toward Leo, managing to avoid two more streams of fire, tackling him to the ground.
"Oh!" They and several assistants gasped.
"That goat is pissed!" A woman stated.
Leo got up from the where he was knocked down and shook the injury off, stood proudly and had a look of intimidation on his face.
"Like every other male lion," said Antonio, "you don't want to enrage someone that can be the king of the beasts."
Suddenly, Leo's whole body glowed like it was on fire, causing a series of confusion and woe from the spectators.
"What is going on?" Palkia asked them, unable to see any of the monitors to observe the battle.
"Shinji's Pyroar is glowing like fire," Misato answered. "It looks like Fire Blast."
-x-
It was strange to see a Pyroar glow like this. In fact, it was strange just to see a Pyroar in a gym match at all. The intensity of its heat, the majestic look on its face, and the sense of conviction it possessed. Not many Pokémon Trainers from or venturing through the Kalos Region had a Pyroar, being a very strong and temperamental Pokémon after evolving, and Ramos was seeing why all over again.
Leo opened his mouth and unleashed a wad of fire at his Gogoat!
Blast! The attack hit it and caused a smokescreen, which cleared up after several seconds, revealing a scorched and staggering Gogoat, seesawing between its left and right sides, then falling to the ground on its right, incapacitated.
"Gogoat is unable to continue," the referee declared once it was confirmed that Ramos' Gogoat was defeated. "Victory goes to the challenger, Shinji Ikari!"
"Whoo-hoo!" Hanmyo cheered. "You did it, Shinji!"
"Eevo!" Misato cheered.
"What was that attack?" Shinji wondered, taking out his Pokédex and aiming it at Leo; it would scan his body and confirm its last attack's identity.
"Incinerate," it revealed. "By overcharging with intense heat in battle, Pyroar is able to unleash flame attacks that are more effective than previously experienced. So intense that they can burn allies too close to them."
And, to his surprise, the Pokédex confirmed something else, as well; his Pyroar was at a high enough level to perform Incinerate…which left him with concerns over dealing with Leo. Because Pyroar had to be over level fifty to access such a move, Shinji's was over level sixty, confirming that he would have his work cut out for him in dealing with Leo.
Just my luck, he thought as he looked up at Leo. He's at level sixty-six. He's still problematic because of the insufficient number of badges.
The number of badges determined one's ability to command their Pokémon without much difficulty most of the time. If Shinji wanted Leo to respond to him better, he was going to have to progress on the number of badges he had access to, now that he knew that four or five badges wouldn't cut it if he got stronger over time.
"I gotta say, Shinji Ikari," went Ramos to Shinji as the Gym Leader came over to him, "your Pyroar is at a high level."
"Too high, sir," he responded; it was either a sense of faith or dumb luck that Leo listened to him a little bit. "I had no idea how strong he was."
"Well, I hope you winning this will help you manage his behavior."
Shinji looked as Ramos held out a badge shaped like a leaf. This was the Plant Badge, proof of his victory over the Coumarine Gym. It would ensure that most of his Kalos Region-caught Pokémon up to level sixty would respond to him.
"Thank you, sir," he praised him.
"Eee?" Misato spoke to Leo as she approached him.
"Rrah," he responded; it was still difficult to listen to Shinji, but after the young man refused to back down, the Royal Pokémon could admit that he wasn't going to stand down, despite his fury.
"Eee. Eevo." Misato expressed; no matter what Leo did, either due to being stronger than expected or because of a behavioral issue, Shinji wasn't going to allow any of his Pokémon to get the better of him when he, as the trainer, had to be on top of their quirks and limitations.
"Rrrah."
"Something tells me that Leo may be halfway to being the next powerhouse in Shinji's group," Hanmyo told herself.
He's only halfway to listening completely to Shinji because Shinji refuses to let Leo push him around, Hanmyo heard her cats say to her, reminding her that they were present the entire time, just quiet because they had nothing to say most of the time.
"It's so strange, hearing you two speak now," she admits.
We live in a strange world, Kemi replied.
A strange world, indeed, added Mata.
-x-
Asuka returned home that evening, surprised to find Misato's apartment empty; there was no sign of Pen-Pen nearby or even in that refrigerator of his.
"I wish for once that Angel was still locked up," she sighs as she goes into her room. I hope to Gott the next Angel doesn't show up at all.
It was hers and everyone else's hope that the next Angel didn't show up for the next few weeks. People were relieved by the previous Angel being locked up and unable to escape and cause mayhem, and the fact that it was now gone due to an kamikaze attempt to escape its prison left several of them just praying that it wouldn't cause problems later on with the next Angel. First, the Thirteenth Angel caused a ruckus that led to the discovery that the Fourth Child had subconsciously ended up in the Pokémon world and established contact with the Third Child, and then the Fourteenth Angel caused a mess that required the aid of a Legendary Pokémon that was fortunate to be in their world and was able to get them out of the hole they were in. As she changed out of her school uniform and into her indoor clothes, Asuka wished that she had something to eat that was prepared by Shinji right now; his absence from this world because of the Twelfth Angel and NERV's blunder in retrieving Unit-01 and her departure from the Pokémon world because of the safety regulations the Giovanni Corporation took to ensure that the teens didn't suffer from being overmedicated and kept in a coma longer than necessary made her miss the nutritional value of his cooking.
"You have gotta find a Palkia and Dialga of your own and return to this world with Pokémon that can heal the world," she utters as she looked in the refrigerator for something to eat. "Nobody was meant to live off instant food forever."
-x-
Gasp! Shinji awoke late that night in the Coumarine City Pokémon Center, drenched in sweat and feeling like he almost went and had an accident in the bunk bed.
"Shinji?" He heard Hanmyo speak up. "Are you awake?"
"I am now, Hanmyo," he replied. "Just a bad dream."
"About what?"
"My parents. We're not exactly close in any sense. And I can't see them being anything remotely caring of Pokémon like others would be. I wouldn't be surprised if they were upset with me over the fact that I refuse to have anything further to do with either of them because of something they did before I was old enough to really recall anything explicitly about what they were doing with the Eva…but that's a part of my past that deserves to be buried."
"To burn away the weakness is to shed light to the darkness."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"It was something my mother once told me before we went into space one time. People show weakness when bothered by something or someone from their past that refuses to stay in the past…and to show their conviction to put the past behind them is to confront the representations of their issues…and let them know that, despite their future hardships, they won't break whoever it is that is being tested by them. For some, to burn away the weakness, to shed light to the darkness…is to not echo the actions of the ones that came before you. To shed light to the darkness…is to be willing to walk away from the legacy they attempted to leave you…and make your own legacy that you can be proud of, regardless of who disagrees with you."
"Is that how you move past the past…and into the future?"
"When you can't stand the issues those before you make, you gotta strike out on your own and leave it all behind."
"How'd you do it?"
"I didn't have much of an option but to leave my past behind; my parents were dead at the time, and I ended up in the service of the Kei Pirate Guild. They took me in, trained me to be an assassin, and I never looked back. You?"
Of course, Hanmyo knew about his past as much as he could recall until his Psychic Pokémon aided in his recollection of repressed memories that were so fragmented and traumatic that he couldn't recall complete events without their aid. And she had to admit that it seemed like Shinji's parents were up there with other people that had delusions of grandeur and godhood that they were willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their goals, including those around them, as though they were expendable. If she could say it, Shinji was better off being as far away from them as possible and making it on his own than to fall into their clutches and be their pawn or resource in a scheme that was cruel beyond mere words.
"Between the adventures I've had displaced here over five years and facing creatures dedicated to exterminating the human race in a maimed world, I'm happier here than I ever could've been over there," Shinji expressed, "but there's only one thing I'd need to do over there and walk away from my parents' beliefs."
"Which is?"
"Heal the world. Pokémon can do what human technology can't accomplish, and if they can restore the balance of nature in my world…then people can get on with their lives, knowing the end doesn't have to be sought after by anyone."
"The end is only sought after by those without hope…or are just crazy enough to forgo all sense of sanity in favor of their own ambitions."
"But such ambitions can be dangerous."
"Nothing is more dangerous than a belief that attracts others and influences them to do anything to make it a reality."
"A belief is a bad thing?"
"Only if it makes people do wrong under the blind sense that they're doing right. It's okay to have ideas, just not so good to follow certain beliefs."
Shinji knew Hanmyo was right about that. An idea was something that could be changed as many times as needed to do something proper, but a belief was harder to change when it made people cross lines. Still, the possibility of returning to previous dimensions without harming others was an idea, and the only minor belief inside such an idea was the hope that you could return to where you were.
"Tell me," he spoke, "what do you aim to do when you get back into space in your world?"
"If I'm still alive to do so?" Hanmyo questioned. "I'll leave the guild and pursue an honest living. An assassin's life isn't so great now. If Pokémon were to appear in my dimension, I'd be the first to tell people what they were and what they could do."
-x-
It was an unexpected visit from Rei this late in the day, but Antonio wasn't going to turn away a friend of Shinji's after a hectic day of being at NERV HQ; even if the girl wasn't recovered from her last visit to the Pokémon world, she could still monitor events from there on the consoles. It was also unexpected to be getting reports from across the city and other parts of the Japanese nation that Pokémon were appearing and disappearing in various places, like schoolyards, hotel lobbies, alleyways or public restrooms, but only as see-through phantoms…and never for more than a minute or two. Some people actually tried to catch one of them, but were unable to do so; it was like they were there, but not truly there, as if taunting people because they couldn't be obtained just yet.
"So, Pokémon are appearing as phantoms in our world for the time being," Rei understood. "Are they dangerous?"
"No reports of violence have been mentioned," Antonio informed her. "Most of the Pokémon seen are all small ones from the regions Shinji's been to, like Digglet, Hoothoot, Skitty or Pikachu. There were reports of some Water-Type Pokémon in swimming pools and bathtubs, but only when people weren't so close."
"So, the only ones that are actually, physically, here…are Palkia, Aida's Machamp…and your Electrode. Three Pokémon. Seven when you include the Porygon."
"More or less," Misato expressed to Rei.
On one of the monitors, it looked like the new day was beginning earlier for Shinji as he and Hanmyo were walking down the road in a forest with their Pokémon. It was still cloudy in the sky, indicating that the sun hadn't come up just yet. As Rei watched them, it looked like Shinji had a lot on his mind, more so than the last few times he had much on his mind. She wondered what he was thinking about…or who was he thinking about at a time like that when the night was still around him.
The day…the day will come, she thought as she recalled seeing Shinji asleep that night in his home in Pallet Town. The day will come.
There were days where light illuminated the darkness around people, days where hope overcame despair, where even the miracles that were in short supply and demand were able to outweigh the difficulties that came with one situation after another. Those were days that were often the ones waited on to happen, and right now, it seemed like they all needed those days again.
"Did I hear someone singing just now?" Palkia asked them.
To be continued…
A/N: It was a bold move, but I felt that there should be moments where even Angels trapped someplace have their limits and do things that result in their own demise, making the brief calm between storms feel briefer and putting people back into a lifestyle that they were not happy about. Some of Final Space influenced the end of this chapter, particularly the song The Day Will Come, and it references how the characters are waiting for days to come and give relief to their problems. Now, I'm sure most of you know where Shinji is heading now that he has four badges and Leo still has difficulty listening to him, but I'd like to hear from you if Shinji should catch some more Pokémon in between the last city he visited and his next destination. Have a good read during these difficult times that we want to see over. Peace.