Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)

Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 1

The morning after her victory, Louise and Saito began the trip back up Route 4 towards Lumiose. Luckily, thanks to Saito knowing what he was doing, they were making much more progress than Louise did on the way down. That wasn't to say there weren't any problems.

"Founder, I hate these things," Louise grumbled as she attempted to slap a mosquito away, sweat drenching her brow. It was much hotter than it was when she first came through, and now the mosquitoes, flies, and various other insects made their presence much more pronounced than before.

"Have to agree with you, there," Saito agreed, pulling out a small aerosol and spraying it on his body. Seeing Louise's confused look, Saito held out the can towards her. "Repel. Keeps wild animals, insects, and Pokémon away. Want some?"

"Thank you," Louise quickly took the can and began spraying it on her. As she hastily sprayed herself, Louise accidentally got some of the spray going into her mouth, causing her to drop the can and sputter. "Gagh! Founder, that's disgusting!" Louise started glaring at Saito when he started chuckling.

"Yeah, I've done that a few times," Saito shook his head in sympathy. Kneeling to pick up the discarded can, he again offered it to his companion, only for her to politely wave it away. With an understanding nod, Saito placed the spray can back into his bag and began to walk forward, with Louise quickly following him.

"So…," Louise began, "what can you tell me about the Lumiose Gym?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Saito shrugged. "At least in terms of what Pokémon he'll use. I do know that the Gym Leader is a guy named Clemont Lem. Apparently, he's some kind of inventor."

"Huh, makes sense," Louse imagined an old, bearded man in a workshop, tinkering away at various tools in a shed somewhere and nodded. Before she could speak up again, however, she stopped as a faint noise came over them. Saito, having heard the noise, stopped as well.

"Did you hear that?" Saito began, confused and his hand hovering slightly near his Pokéballs.

"Yeah, I heard it too," Louise admitted, echoing Saito's movements. The noise came over them once again, this time louder. She could almost make out some shouting. "I think…there are people over there."

"I think you're right," Saito narrowed his eyes and, with a shrug turned to leave, only to notice Louise still standing still, rooted in place. "Louise, you coming?"

"… I think we should check it out," Louise declared, still staring out towards where the noise was coming from. "Someone might be in trouble."

"Louise, I hate to burst your bubble," Louise was slightly confused at the idiom used but said nothing, "but I'm pretty those aren't sounds of distress."

"Well, maybe I'm just curious," Louise huffed and began walking forward, leaving Saito behind. "I'm going to go check it out. You do whatever you want." As Saito remained standing in place, he sighed and rubbed his brow in exasperation before following. Catching up to her quickly, the two released Brennaraki and Ronin from their respective balls. It wasn't long until the sounds became clearer, and as Saito had said, they weren't sounds of distress.

"Find it yet?"

"No!"

"Not over here!"

"Keep looking!" A small group of people shouted over each other as they searched every nook and cranny of a small area.

"Saito?" Louise stared in bewilderment at the scene. "Any idea what's going on here?"

"I think…those are collectors…" Saito, echoing his partner, stared out at the scene. It appeared that none of the collectors had noticed them yet, and even if they did, they were so engrossed in their search of…whatever it is they were searching for that they might not have even cared. Louise's expression darkened at this, her mind going back to the last collector she had met.

"Collectors… Great," Louise grumbled. "Let's get out of here."

"Agreed," Saito nodded and turned to leave, only to stop as someone noticed them and walked over.

"Hey, you two," the man demanded. As she stomped over, Louise was able to get a much better look at him. He was a boy around her age, unkempt in appearance. His shirt was tucked in raggedly, his hair a greasy mop as if it hadn't been cared for in days. The ends of his jeans were frayed, his shoes covered in dirt and mud. He emitted the foulest odor Louise had ever experienced, to the point where she and Saito almost gagged. But what was most striking to Louise were his eyes. His eyes were the most focused she had ever seen, and in contrast to the rest of his appearance, his Pokéballs were all shiny and pristine.

"…Can we help you?" Saito tentatively asked the collector.

"What do you want?" Louise barked, much less curt than her partner.

"Either of you seen a Ralts?" The collector demanded. Louise and Saito looked at each other, confused, before Louise finally spoke up.

"A Ralts?"

"A Ralts. Foot tall, white body, green head with pink horns."

"We know what a Ralts is," Saito explained as Louise internally shuddered at a foul memory. "And no, we haven't seen one." The collector hmphed and turned to leave.

"Why do you care?" Louise demanded, halting the collector in his tracks. Turning around, he stared Louise in the face, causing her to flinch back from the smell.

"For your information," the collector started to rant, "Ralts are among the rarest of all Pokémon species. Most people never see one in the wild, much less catch one. A few days ago, a Ralts was spotted in this area, and it belongs to me."

"So, you are a collector," Louise scowled.

"And proud of it," if the collector noticed, he didn't or it. Or maybe he did and just didn't care, Louise couldn't tell. "That Ralts would be a great addition to my collection. I've been out here for days—"

"Oh, we can tell that…" Saito whispered to Louise, making her giggle slightly.

"—all just to find one. I've searched every corner of these woods, and now that one has finally been seen, I'm not going to let it slip from my grasp. So, if either of you see it, stay away from it. Because that Ralts is mine."

"What about those people?" Louise pointed towards the rest of the Pokémon trainers, to which the collector huffed in annoyance.

"Them? Please. This is the fifth group that's come and gone in the past day alone. Everyone else, they all just gave up and left. Not me," the collector declared with a glint in his eye.

"Louise let's just—" Saito began, only to be interrupted by Louise.

"Why do you want this Ralts? Really, why do you want it?" Louise stomped up to the collector, barreling straight past Saito and quickly cutting him off. "Status? Fame? Or is it as shallow as simply placing it on your belt?" Louise's voice dripped with venom, so much so that the group of people around them paused what they were doing and glanced in their direction, some with thoughtful expressions on their faces. The collector, meanwhile, grew red with rage.

"Now you listen here," the collector pointed at Louise, who promptly swatted it away from her. "Don't lecture me on what Pokémon I can or cannot catch, nor my reasons for doing so. I want the Ralts, so I'm going to catch it. End of story," before the situation could escalate further, Saito placed himself between the two, holding them apart.

"Louise, come on. Let's go," Saito pushed Louise back, away from the stewing collector. In a huff, Louise sharply turned around and began to walk away from the clearing.

"By the way, you interested in trading that female, shiny Fennekin?" the collector called out to Louise, stopping her in her tracks. Brennaraki growled and huddled close to Louise as she turned to look at the collector, her eyes blazing.

"There is nothing you nor anyone else could offer me that would make me give Brennaraki up, so don't even try." At that, Louise stomped away fuming, a confused Saito quickly following her and leaving the collector behind.

"Can you believe that guy!" Louise continued to rant. The two of them had decided that, after that encounter, they were in no mood to continue traveling. Apparently, though, Louise was in the mood to rant about the collector and what he was doing and had been doing so for the past half hour.

"Honestly! He thinks he can just declare a Pokémon is his just because he wants it?! How shallow is he?! I doubt that Ralts would even want to be with a guy like that, all greasy and unkempt! I—" Louise cut herself off with a dry cough, her ranting finally catching up to her.

"Here, drink," Saito offered a bottle of water towards the rosette, who silently took it. As she continued to drink in silence, Saito clasped his hands together. "So… Want to talk about it?"

"… About what?" Louise grumbled as she continued to drink.

"Oh, I don't know. How you completely went off on a guy not half an hour ago for being a collector?" At Saito's declaration, Louise clenched her fist.

"What's there to talk about?" Louise replied through clenched teeth.

"Okay, look. I get it. You do not like collectors. That does not mean you get to antagonize a guy like that. Outside of a noticeable lack of any knowledge of basic hygiene, he did nothing to us."

"That's not the point," Louise tersely replied. "He's treating Pokémon like they're just objects. Like that Ralts is just a thing that meant to be shown off, with no care towards it outside of his own needs."

"…this isn't about the Ralts, is it?" Saito observing, stunning Louise into silence. Taking her silence as a 'yes', Saito nodded. "Want to talk about it?" Louise sighed at his question and looked down.

"Do you remember how back home, I was a failure of a mage? How my family had given up on me?"

"…Yeah, yeah, I do," Saito patiently waited for Louise to continue.

"Well…it wasn't just that they had given up on me. When they stopped my magic lessons, they…they replaced them with marital lessons."

"Marital lessons?" Saito eyes widened in realization. "You mean…?"

"Unlike here, or among the commoners back home, nobles don't marry for love," Louise quietly explained, answering Saito's unspoken question. "Most, if not all marriages among the nobility marry in pre-arranged marriages. People who have never even met before are suddenly forced to marry, even if they despise each other."

"That's what your family planned for you?" Saito slowly realized, to which Louise nodded.

"To their credit, they tried to set me up with someone I could potentially live a happy life with. Cushy, comfortable. But with my apparent lack of magical ability, I'd be relegated to the background. My life would become a gilded cage."

"But you didn't want that."

"No, I didn't. I wanted to prove myself so badly. I put myself through all that torment just to prove to everyone, my teachers, my classmates, my family, myse—" Louise stopped herself. "… I had to prove that I just as much of a noble as everyone else was. You already know how I tried…"

"…That's why you berated that collector so much," Saito realized. "It wasn't so much him, but rather the concept of what he was doing hit too close to home."

"…Yeah," Louise said as she pulled out Brennaraki's Luxury Ball. "Might be one of the reasons why Brennaraki and I bonded so quickly. I understood exactly where she was coming from, as she did to me. Her desire to battle, yet others only wanting her for her rarity. My desire to be recognized as a mage, yet unable to do so and fated to be wedded off.

"That's why I despise the concept of Pokémon collecting. Both collector's I've met so far have shown no concern for their target, only wanting them for their own ends and ignoring their desires. Had I failed my summoning, that would have been my fate." As Louise grew silent, relieved to get that off her chest, Saito nodded in understanding.

"It also didn't hurt that the guy was absolutely repulsive," Louise quipped, causing Saito to chuckle.

"Yeah, he kind of was, wasn't he," Saito replied with a smile, which Louise echoed. Standing up, Saito brushed himself. "Well, enough sappiness for now. How about we get some training in? Still got half a day left, and we've got nothing better to do." With a smile, Louise stood up as well, eager for a challenge.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

When night fell upon Route 4, and the light of the full moon shone brightly above, the forest went quiet. Outside of the chittering of nocturnal Spinaraks, Hoothoots, and other Pokémon of the night, it was tranquil.

That tranquility was shattered as a small Pokémon frantically burst from the forest, running away from her pursuer.

'I have to get out of here,' the Pokémon internally panicked as she sought a way out of her predicament. This human had been apparently tracking her for days, and a quick look at his mind told her she wanted nothing to do with him. So far, he had only proven her to be correct.

"Munchlax, use Odor Sleuth and find that Ralts!" the voice shouted out, causing the Ralts in question to pale and quicken her pace. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by that man, and this desire motivated her past the point of exhaustion. And after several days of running away and hiding, both from the human and others like him, she was exhausted.

As she burst through the bushes into a small clearing, a foul odor swarmed her senses, halting her in her tracks. Clutching her nose, she looked out to find two small structures, one blue and one pink, lying in the clearing, a small burnt-out fire in between them. A quick observation revealed the stench was a concentrated in a sort of ring around the camp, likely to keep out any wild Pokémon. As the Ralts contemplated turning back, she heard a sound come in from behind her. A quick psychic look confirmed the source to be the human and his Munchlax, hot on her heels. With no other options, she forced herself through the odor ring. The stench was so foul, it seemed to be physically pushing her back, but the Ralts forced herself to fight through it. After what seemed like an eternity, the Ralts finally made it through the ring, freeing herself of the odor's effects.

After taking a moment to collect herself, the Ralts quickly ran behind pink structure to hide. Not a moment too soon, as the human and the Munchlax then ran out into the clearing, trying to find her.

"Where is she?" the human whispered, not wanting to wake up the people sleeping inside, if only to assure his quarry. The Munchlax attempted to smell her out, only to smell the foul odor instead. As the small bear clutched his noses, the Ralts' eyes widened in realization. The odor, in addition to keeping out the Munchlax, and therefore the human, it was also masking her scent.

"Aagh, stupid Repel," the human hissed.

'So that's what it's called…' the Ralts mused as she peeked out from behind the tent.

"Forget it, it's not here. That Repel must have forced it away. Idiots…," the human kicked the ground and clenched his fist. "Come on, Munchlax. Let's keep searching." The Munchlax barked in affirmation, and the two soon departed, leaving the Ralts alone.

'Thank goodness,' the Ralts sighed in relief as she began to look around. With the human and his Munchlax tracker gone, she could always simply go the other way. At the same time, however, she did not want to have to go through that 'Repel' ring again.

'…I guess this place is fine,' the Ralts sighed to herself. 'At least these humans seem to be nicer than that other human. Now, where do I sleep?' the Ralts began to look around the campsite, trying to find a safe place to sleep, only to see a small opening in the pink structure. Deep down, the Ralts knew she should not go in, knowing that there might be a human inside, but a deep curiosity compelled her to venture forth. A quick peek confirmed that there was a human inside, a pink haired female by the look of her fur. Luckily, she, and the purple Fennekin she was cuddling with inside of a shiny bag, were sound asleep.

'Alright, here goes nothing…' the Ralts thought to herself as she lightly stepped into the structure. Passing through, she quickly noted how insulated the structure was from the outside world. The cold night air didn't seem to be here, and with the emitted body heat of the human and Fennekin, it was comfortably warm. How the structure did it, she did not know, but regardless it was a nice reprieve. A quick poke at the bag revealed it to be quite squishy, almost as if it was hollow, not to mention smooth.

'Interesting…' the Ralts continued to poke the strange bag, only to stop as the human stir. The Ralts held her breath, lest she risk waking the human and Pokémon up from their slumber, and after several tense seconds the human went still. Letting out a sigh of relief, the Ralts turned to remove herself from the structure, only for a sweet smell to catch her attention. Turning towards its source, she found it to be coming out of a large pink bag. Slowly creeping her way towards it, consciously making sure to make as little noise as possible, the Ralts found the smell to be coming out of a slightly open container with strange metal teeth, a weird tag holding them together. Taking hold of it, she slowly moved it to the side, cringing at the sound it was making, until finally it was completely open. Reaching in she carefully started feeling around for whatever might be the source of the smell. The first thing she pulled out was a squishy container that she normally found around sludge ponds, although this one was filled with much clearer water then she normally found them with. Setting it off to the side, she then pulled out a metal cylinder with a picture of a Grepa berry on it. Strangely, despite the image, it was filled with some kind of liquid, judging by the sound it made when she shook it. Shrugging off her confusion, Ralts sat it besides the clear container and reached back in and pulled a boxy red thing, and after a moment of examination Ralts gently sat it on the ground next to the two objects found earlier. Turning her attention back to the opening, she could still smell something from the hole. Whatever was causing it, she could only reach it after she lowered her upper body into the hole.

'Oran Berries! My favorite!' the Ralts thought as she hungrily grabbed the small bundle of Orans that were wrapped in clear coating. After a moment of flailing that knocked the bag onto its side, she managed to remove herself from it and held the berries in front of her victoriously with a quiet cry. Her victory was short lived as she was quickly stumped as to how to remove the berries from the package. Grabbing it on one side with her hands and the other side with her psychic mind, she gave a quick, harsh pull on both ends, but the package suddenly gave way with a ripping sound and ended up throwing the berries all around the area and Ralts onto her back as she lost her footing.

Groaning in muted surprise, Ralts remained on her back for a moment before pushing herself to her feet. She started looking for where the berries went only to freeze as she saw two pairs of eyes poking out of the bag's opening, staring right at her.

'Uh oh.'

"Oh, Louise! I'm so sorry for how I treated you!" Kirche groveled before Louise, the rest of the Academy echoing her. "You are obviously a mage, the greatest of our time! I see that now!"

"Yes, yes I am," Louise beamed, her arms crossed and her Pokémon all standing around her. To her right stood Brennaraki, now a majestic Delphox, taller than Louise herself. On her shoulder sat Aile, preening herself. Her other four Pokémon all stood around her as well, each cloaked in shadow.

"Will you ever forgive us?!" Guiche begged, going down to his knees and clasping his hands. At seeing one of her tormentors beg, Louise's smile widened, her eyes filled with mirth.

"As a noble," Louise began.

"The most noble of us all!" a voice from the back shouted out.

"Of course," Louise nodded in agreement. "As the most noble person here—" a strange, rustling sound came over the crowd, causing Louise to halt mid-speech. After a moment, she continued. "Anyway, as the most noble person here, it is my right to decide whether or not to forgive you.

"After many months of thought, and by the grace of the founder—" Louise felt a poke on her foot. Looking down, she saw nothing. Annoyed, she shrugged and carried on. "… I have decided that—" another noise, like that of a zipper opening. "That's it, who's making that noise!"

"Probably the creature that snuck into your tent," Tabitha plainly answered, reading her ever present book.

"The what?"

And then Louise woke up.

"Huh?" Louise shook herself as opened her eyes, back inside her expensive tent and not the familiar grounds of the Tristainian Academy.

'Just a dream…' Louise sighed to herself, slightly disappointed. Turning her head, she moved to go back to sleep, only for a gust of wind to keep her awake.

'Stupid wind… Wait a minute.' Louise's eyes opened wide as she looked towards the tent's door, only to find it slightly open. 'I forgot to fully zip it up…' Louise realized, mildly panicked. Looking around, she noticed a small form sticking out of her bag. Unable to fully see exactly what the Pokémon was, she quietly nudged Brennaraki awake. As she did, Brennaraki groggily moved to glare at Louise, only to hear the intruder as her bag fall over and go on alert. Just as Louise's eyes adjusted to the lack of light did the Pokémon finally disentangle itself from the bag and began examining the small package that they managed to fish out of the bag did Louise recognized it as a Ralts.

'It's…' Louise and Brennaraki silently watched as the Ralts attempted to tear into the package, only to fall back with a small cry as the package suddenly gave way, spraying the small berries around the tent. '…adorable.' Louise internally squeed at the sighted, Brennaraki looking at her trainer with a hint of jealousy. That jealously turned went away as the Ralts turned towards them, a look of surprise on its face as it realized that they saw her.

"Uh…" Louise slowly sat upright, Brennaraki hopping in front of her defensively. The Ralts began to shake in panic or terror, Louise couldn't quite tell. She could tell, however, that it looked like it wanted to bolt, but was instead frozen stiff. Sympathy rising, Louise raised her hands upward.

"Hi there," she softly whispered to the Ralts, who continued to shake. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. See?" Louise softly nudged Brennaraki who, with a slight glare, backed down from her defensive posture. Slowly, the Ralts began to stop shaking and, although trying to make herself distant, remained in the tent.

"I'm going to get out of my sleeping bag now, okay? Is that alright with you?" Louise soothed the scared creature who, after a moment of consideration, nodded its head. Smiling, Louise removed herself from the confines of the sleeping bag until she was finally free. She then maneuvered herself to the Ralts and sat down, curling her legs underneath her as a seat.

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Louise," Louise held out her hand. When she was still with Professor Sycamore, she had read up on the Ralts and learned that, even when compared to other Pokémon species, they were exceptionally intelligent. Some were even smarter than people, amazingly, and she hoped that to be the case here.

Recognizing the gesture for what it was, the Ralts began to calm down and slowly walk towards the outstretched hand. After gazing at it, the Ralts cautiously grasped one of Louise's fingers with its own hand and together shook their arms up and down.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ralts," Louise smiled at the adorable sight. Looking down at the package that the Ralts managed to rip open, she saw that it was the small package of Oran Berries that she bought in town. With a knowing smirk, she looked back down on the Ralts. "Hungry, huh?" At her question, the Ralts slowly nodded its head, embarrassed.

"Here," Louise picked out an Oran Berry and held it to the Ralts. Its face morphed into one of confusion and hope, and as it looked at Louise's face she smiled. "Take it, I have plenty." Hungrily, the Ralts took hold of the Oran Berry and began to slowly eat it, savoring each bite. Apparently, this Ralts loved Oran Berries, Louise noted with mild amusement. Curiosity bubbling up, Louise pulled out her Pokédex, causing the Ralts to stop mid bite.

"It's a Pokédex. I scan you with it and it tells me what you are. See?" Louise pointed the Pokédex towards the Ralts and activated the scan function.

"Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts are native to the Hoenn region and uses its horns as psychic amplifiers to both attack and read the emotions of people and Pokémon," the Pokedex's voice quietly rang out.

"See, perfectly harmless," Louise smiled at the Ralts, who had walked over to look at her image on the Pokédex, eating the Oran Berry all the while. As it continued to eat, Louise turned her attention towards the open tent and her eyes narrowed.

"So," Louise began to ask, her attention never leaving the tent door, "what brings you to my tent?" At Louise's question, the Ralts stopped its eating. After a silent moment, a series of images began to enter Louise's mind.

'Oh right, psychic,' Louise noted, after a bit of momentary confusion, as the images began to flash across. It wasn't as good as actual word, but it conveyed the message's meaning nonetheless. The images told a story of a young Ralts, living alone, hiding from people who would take her away. As a familiar collector entered the frame, Louise growled.

'Him…' Louise angrily thought, with the Ralts, hearing her thoughts like spoken words, nodding in agreement. "Do you know where he is?" at Louise's question, the Ralts turned around and walked out of the tent. After placing a pair of pink slippers on her feet, Louise followed, careful not to wake Saito up. As she emerged from her tent, she saw the Ralts standing in front of the firepit, pointing out into the bushes.

"He went that way?" the Ralts nodded. Louise cupped her chin in thought before snapping her fingers. "Alright then, guess we're going this way," Louise declared, pointing in the opposite direction. The Ralts gasped and looked up at her in a great deal of confusion.

"What? It's not like I'm going to let you get caught by that jerk," Louise smiled and held out her hand. "Especially when you don't want to." At Louise's declaration, the Ralts grew silent before tears began to form. Shaking them off, she happily walked up and grabbed Louise's hand, who began to lead them out of the camp site. As they reached, the edge, however, the Ralts suddenly stopped and let go, refusing to follow Louise further.

"What is it?" Louise asked, confused. Upon noticing both Brennaraki and Ralt's expressions, with the Ralts clutching her nose, the answer became clear.

"Oh right, the Repel. Okay, uhm…give me a sec while I think of something."

The solution turned out to be returning Brennaraki to her Luxury Ball and tying a bandana round Ralt's face. It didn't fully succeed in keeping out the Repel's effects, it got the job done. As the trio continued to walk away from the campsite, the Ralts stared up at Louise.

"So, got a name?" Brennaraki asked as she bounded up to the Ralt's side.

'Huh? What do you mean' using her psychic abilities, the Ralts asked the Fennekin.

"Well, for starters, my name is Brennaraki."

'But…you're a Fennekin?'

"Yes, but my name is Brennaraki. Louise gave it to me," Brennaraki nodded her head towards her trainer. "Didn't want to keep calling me by my specie's name. Humans are weird like that, but I like the name so I'm fine with it."

'That…kind of makes sense. I'm just Ralts. Don't really have a name like yours or…Louise, correct?'

"Yeah, that's her name. She's my trainer, and I'm her starter." Brennaraki smiled.

'Huh,' the Ralts cupped her chin. 'Forgive me, but I'm curious.'

"No kidding?"

'Oh, you be quiet,' Ralts lightly admonished Brennaraki. 'Anyway, what exactly…are you guys doing?'

"Well, we're trying to beat the Pokémon League and become the Champions."

'Pokémon…League?'

"A big Pokémon Battling tournament the humans hold every year. To get in, we must get eight badges to qualify, then battle a bunch of really strong humans leading Pokémon until we become the Champions."

'Sounds…violent.'

"… Yeah, kinda, but that's not really the point. The point is that everyone gets to prove just how strong they are. That they deserve to be there, both to others and themselves."

'Which one is Louise more concerned about?'

"…What?" Brennaraki asked, her eyes narrowed.

'I didn't mean to intrude but, when I was showing Louise those pictures earlier, I got a peak into her mind.'

"You looked into her mind?!"

'Not on purpose! The door was wide open, and when I realized what I was looking at I immediately turned away. I'm sorry!'

"…okay, fine. What's done is done," Brennaraki huffed in annoyance. "…What did you see?"

'I saw…flashes, really. Memories, I think. A castle, laughing humans, a white room, meeting you. That last one was the happiest one for her, but the ones before that…weren't.' At Ralt's observation, Brennaraki sighed.

"It's not really my place to tell you, it's hers," Brennaraki admitted. "I will say that she has a need to prove herself, and I am with her til the end. Anything else, you'll have to ask her."

'Oh…okay,' Ralts quietly replied. The conversation ended, the three continued their walk in silence. Ralts, feeling guilty, moved to apologize once again, only for Louise's voice to ring out.

"I think we're good," Louise placed her hands on her hips. Looking around, she turned towards the Ralts and kneeled to look her face to face. "This should be far enough from any of those collectors, okay. It was nice meeting you, Ralts." Louise smiled and held out her hand once again. This time, the Ralts shook it with much less hesitation.

"Come on, Brennaraki," Louise beckoned to her starter, who bounded up to her smiling. As the two began to walk away, back towards their camp, Ralts looked on, a pang of sadness entering her heart.

'I wish I had that…' Once the two disappeared, Ralts sighed and turned to walk the other way, only for a noise to stop her in her tracks. Turning around, she smiled, thinking that Louise and Brennaraki had returned, only to see she was alone. Another voice erupted, this time from another direction, and turning quickly she attempted to find its source. As the sound came up once again, Ralts slowly looked up to the treetops, only to see a dark, feathery form staring down at her with alert eyes. Her eyes widened as she recognized the creature as one of the other human's Pokémon team, and as it flew off to gather its trainer, Ralts turned and ran towards the direction Louise and Brennaraki walked off to.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Louise asked her starter as they continued their walk. "I mean, it would have been nice to catch it, but that would have been hypocritical of me, wouldn't it?" At Louise's question, Brennaraki merely shrugged.

"I guess you're right," Louise sighed. "Well, at the very least Ralts is safe and hap—" a small form erupting from the bushes cut Louise off. Sharply turning around, Louise saw the Ralts from before, now clearly panicked.

"Ralts?! What's wrong?" Louise attempted to comfort the Ralts, who coward behind her legs. Images flashed into her mind, that of the collector and a strange Pokémon she had never seen before. Putting two and two together, Louise pulled Aile's Luxury Ball out of her pajama pocket while Brennaraki got into a combat ready stance. Soon enough, a small green bear erupted out of the bushes, running after the Ralts, only to stop once it saw her. Not recognizing the creature, Louise immediately pulled out her Pokédex.

"Munchlax, the Big Eater Pokémon. Munchlaxes are among the most prolific eaters of the Pokémon world, and spend up to ninety percent of the day eating. They are capable of digesting most anything," the Pokédex revealed as it scanned the Normal-type Pokémon. Her eyes narrowed as the scan revealed it to be a registered Pokémon, and it wasn't hard for her to guess its owner.

"Munchlax, you find it yet?" a familiar voice called out. "Munchlax?" the owner's voice rang out as he got closer to the group. Finally, he burst out from the bushes, confirming his identity to Louise: it was the same collector as before. Judging by even more disheveled appearance than before, he must have spent all night tracking Ralts down. The heavy bags under his eyes revealed a total lack of sleep, but even then, upon seeing Louise they narrowed. "Oh, you."

"What are you doing here?" Louise venomously asked. In response, the collector crossed his arms.

"None of your—" the collector stopped as he spotted the green head of the Ralts cowering behind Louise. "Hey! That Ralts is mine!"

"Don't you see she doesn't want to go with you!?" Louise shouted. "Just leave and find a different Ralts! One that can somehow stand your-uhgh-smell," Louise clutched her nose as the man's stench finally reached her nose, attempting to waft it away.

"Why you little-!" the collector grew red with rage. "I don't care what it thinks! Get out of the way!"

"Or what?" Louise asked, her eyes dagger-like slits glaring at the man. Instead of answering, he grew silent before quickly nodding his head. Louise only had a moment of confusion before a sharp sound erupted from beside her. Ducking down, she grasped Ralts in her arms and dived out of the way as a feathery Pokémon swooped down towards the small green and white Pokémon. Brennaraki, incensed at the danger his trainer was in, fired off an Ember towards the creature, finding her mark, only to find it did nothing. As she got to her feet, Louise let go of Ralts, who ran behind her in fear, and pulled out her Pokédex.

"Archen, the First Bird Pokémon. Archen once thrived millions of years ago but are now extinct. Thanks to Devon Corporation innovations, scientists were able to bring the extinct creature back to the modern world from fossils of its plumage. It is the earliest recorded feathered Flying-type Pokémon in history, but it could only glide from the branches of the trees it lived in."

'They brought back a fossil to life!' Louise stared wide-eyed at the Pokédex. The collector, rather than use her distraction to try and get Ralts away, looked smug at seeing his Pokémon get scanned.

"You have a Pokédex, I see. Here, let me help you fill it out," with his intent to show off his collection obvious, he tossed out another Pokéball, revealing a plump, pink fairy with a happy expression on its face. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction but needing to know what she was about to face, Louise reluctantly pulled out her Pokédex and activated its scan function.

"Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. Clefairy's rarity is well known and as such is highly sought after by trainers and collectors alike. It was previously assumed to be a Normal-type Pokémon, but recent research has resulted in its reclassification to a Fairy-type," Louise frowned at this, but silently released Aile from her Luxury Ball. At first, Aile was groggy and irritated, but upon seeing the opposing Pokémon quickly snapped to attention.

"Okay, what I miss?" Aile asked, hovering in place.

"That sleaze ball over there," Brennaraki pointed to the collector, "is trying to catch her," Ralts waved at Aile, "and we're stopping him."

"… Okay then." Aile narrowed her eyes at the collector.

"Leave. Her. Alone," Louise growled at the collector, who glared at her.

"Give me that Ralts. Last chance," at the collector's demand, Louise narrowed her eyes.

"No." A heavy silence descended over the path, both trainers and Pokémon glaring at each other, Ralts still cowering behind Louise's leg. After a pregnant pause, the silence broke.

"Aile, Tailwind! Brennaraki, Fire Spin!"

"Munchlax, Rollout! Archen, Smack Down!"

At their trainer's command, the Pokémon descended into a brawl, charging at each other. Aile, with powerful flaps of her wings, created a gust of wind from behind while Brennaraki released a fiery vortex. The Archen leapt over the Fire Spin at Aile and opened its mouth. A small, golden orb formed before shooting out at the small bird. As it neared, Aile dived below it before it violently exploded, the shockwave barely ruffling her feathers. Meanwhile, the Munchlax curled up into a ball and launched itself towards Brennaraki, who dodged to the side before firing a Psywave into its rolling form. As it skidded across the ground, Brennaraki fired another Fire Spin towards the downed creature, engulfing it in flames.

Archen and Aile, meanwhile, entered a sort of dogfight. Aile, much nimbler, was able to dodge the Archen's leaps, who was unable to take flight. Seeing how it wasn't working, Archen paused and focused until four small stones lifted from the ground around its head. After a few moments, they were launched towards Aile in succession. The first who she dodged easily, the third just barely, but the fourth struck her directly. With a pained squawk, Aile crashed onto the ground. Her attempts to get back up were quickly met stopped as the Archen smacked her down with its wing. As it attempted to do so again, it was suddenly struck by a Psywave launched by Brennaraki, who had come to rescue her comrade.

"Girls, switch targets!" the two Pokémon immediately complied, Brennaraki staying on the Archen while Aile sped towards the Munchlax. The Archen managed to pick itself up rather quickly and fixed its attention towards the fire fox that blindsided it. Annoyed, Archen launched itself towards Brennaraki with a blinding fast swipe of its wing. Too fast to be dodged, Brennaraki took the hit and skidded back, never leaving her feet. Growling, Brennaraki formed an Ember in her mouth and launched it at the Archen, who took it with nary a scratch. Seeing how her Fire-type attacks were ineffective, Brennaraki switched to Psywave, firing off multiple waves of energy towards the Archen. It attempted to dodge, but the attacks found their mark and sent it flying off into a bush. Aile, in the meantime, focused on the Munchlax, flying over its attempts to hit her. With a combination of Quick Attacks and Pecks, Aile dive bombed the Munchlax repeatedly, who was unable to effectively counterattack.

"Dammit!" the collector yelled out in frustration as Archen returned to the battlefield.

"Let me guess," Louise smugly called out, "your team is so focused on catching Pokémon you can't actually- Where's the Clefairy?" Louise yelled out as she noticed a distinct reduction in pink. Turning around, she saw the Clefairy behind her, that smile now sinister.

"Clefairy, use Sing!" the collector confidently called out. Brennaraki immediately fired off an Ember towards the Clefairy, but it merely took the hit as it began to sing. As it's soothing voice rang out over the battlefield, intense drowsiness engulfed the participants. Aile went down immediately, falling into a deep sleep, while Brennaraki fell soon after with a light snore.

'Must…keep…awa…' Louise struggled to remain awake before succumbing to the siren's song and fell asleep. Ralts, having used her psychic abilities to keep itself conscious while her body fell asleep, was now defenseless as the collector and his Pokémon all stared at her, a look of accomplishment on their faces.

"Good job, Clefairy," the collector, taking out his ear plugs, sincerely congratulated his Pokémon, who smiled in at its accomplishment. The other Pokémon began shaking their earplugs out as well, relieved at the emptiness returning. Her body slowly waking up, Ralts attempted to get away, only for the Archen to pounce in front of her, with the Munchlax blocking her other exit. Fearful, Ralts looked up towards the collector, a yellow and black ball in his hand. "Finally."

'Someone, please! Help!' Ralts screamed in her head, sending out pulses of telepathy to anyone that would listen, the Ultra coming its way towards her. Just before it made contact, Louise began to stir, panicked images racing in her mind. Groggily, she awoke from her song-induced slumber, only to see the collector about to place Ralts inside of an Ultra. Immediately she kicked the collector away and with an audible 'oof', he fell to the ground and lost his grip on the Ultra Ball. As the collector's Pokémon all raced to check on their trainer, Louise shakily got to her feet and pulled out the one Full Restore she had brought with them. With her primary concern being Ralts, she used it on her.

"You need to get out of here! Go!" Louise ordered Ralts, who got up to her feet. With the collector getting to his feet, Louise placed herself between him and his target. Ralts, meanwhile, stared up at Louise with stars in her eyes.

"Why won't you just let me catch it! Why do you keep getting involved!?" the collector raged. "This doesn't even concern you!"

"Well I say it does!" Louise shouted back in defiance, standing her ground. Upon noticing that Ralts was still there, she turned her head. "Ralts, I told you to run!" After a moment, Ralts shook her head and walked up to her, stunning both Louise and the collector. Her eyes glowed purple, and its horns began to shine.

'No.' Ralts telepathically thought, Louise's eyes widening a purple sheen began to cover the Clefairy.

"Did you just…?" Louise couldn't finish her sentence as a the Clefairy began to be psychically lifted into the air. Flailing around in a panic, the Clefairy was suddenly launched towards a nearby tree, striking it with an audible crack. Another glow and other Pokémon, along with the collector, were sent flying back as well, although with far less strength. As the glow subsided, Ralts turned her head to look at Louise expectantly.

"…Why didn't you do that before?" Louise raised her eyebrow towards the Ralts, who bashfully kicked the ground. A barrage of images told her that she didn't like violence that much. Before Louise could dig deeper, the collector got to his feet in a huff.

"Why you little-!" he growled out as he checked on the status of his Clefairy. Upon noticing it was knocked cold, he angrily returned it to its Pokéball. Feeling a slight tug on her mind, Louise looked down to see Ralts looking up at her expectantly. No words were spoken, but the meaning was clear.

"Okay, Ralts. What moves do you know?" Images flashed in Louise's mind, revealing the moves that she knew. A flash of images soon erupted in her mind, telling Louise that Ralts only knew four moves. What their proper names were, she did not know, but she would have to make do. As the collector angrily turned towards them, Louise sprang into action.

"Ralts, use Cute Cry!" Louise ordered, the command drawing confusion from the collector, not knowing what move she was referring to. Ralts, however, did, and opened her mouth and released a cute cry. Pink waves of energy flew out from her mouth towards the Munchlax and Archen, and while Louise thought it was adorable, the others did not, the sound causing them to clutch their ears in pain. The Munchlax, recovering first, rolled up into a ball and zoomed towards Ralts.

"Split Apart!" Louise commanded, with Ralts splitting herself into multiple different forms that surrounded the Munchlax. As the Munchlax rolled into one, it fell apart, revealing it to be a fake. Before it could attack another one, a psychic force began to rattle its mind, causing it to rattle its head in pain. The Archen, narrowing its eyes, leapt up into the air and, in an action meant more for clearing out dense fog, blew away the copies, revealing the actual Ralts. As her false copies dissipated, Ralts ceased her psychic assault of the Munchlax, who remained dazed. As it tried to walk over to the Ralts, it began to sway and wobble. After a few more wobbly steps, Munchlax faceplanted with an audible plop. It attempted to push itself off the ground, only to slip and faceplant once more. The third time, it managed to get to its feet, only to fall onto its back.

"Munchlax, snap out of it!" the collector shouted, beginning to panic. Shaking its head, Munchlax narrowed its eyes and curled up into a ball. It began to spin, building up more and more velocity before shooting forward at the Ralts. Like a Deerling in headlights, Ralts stood still in panic before Munchlax suddenly veered off course and slammed into a tree, hard enough to create a noticeable dented crack. Soon enough, the tree itself fell over, and the Munchlax uncurled but remained unmoving.

"Dammit!" the collector shouted as he returned Munchlax to his Pokéball. He attempted to give an order to his Archen, only to see it already on the move. Enraged at seeing its comrades fallen to the Ralts, Archen leaped towards the her, who suddenly created more copies to avoid the damage. With another quick flap of its wings, Archen again dissipated the false Ralts copies, revealing Ralts to be standing behind it. Before it could fully turn around it was suddenly pushed back by a psychic force. As it began to push itself off the ground, Louise shouted out another order.

"Fairy Mist!" At Louise's command, pink energy began to coalesce above Ralts before exploding, covering the area with a light, tranquil, pink mist, the grass itself turning pink as it absorbed the ambient Fairy energy. Archen lifted another set of submerged rocks, attempting to get off an attack.

"Cute Cry!" Louise shouted once again, which Ralts quickly unleashed. The excess Fairy energy emitted from the mist amplified the cry's power as it struck Archen. Clutching it head in pain, it glared at Ralts in anger and launched itself towards the recoiling Pokémon, only to be blindsided by a fireball. Looking to the side, the participants saw an enraged Brennaraki glaring at the Archen, Aile struggling to lift herself off the ground. Archen began to lift some small stones out of the ground, only for Brennaraki to charge him. As she did so, she became engulfed in flames which increased her velocity. Eyes widening, Archen attempted to get out of the way, but it was too late, its body too weak. The flaming fox slammed into the prehistoric bird, sending it tumbling with a few scorched feathers. It skidded across the ground before coming to a halt, its body unmoving. Silence descended over the air as everyone realized what had happened. Louise had won.

'Huh, Brennaraki finally got Flame Charge working. Been trying to get that all day,' Louise thought as she stared at the smug Fennekin. A sense of relief fell upon the group, but before Louise could revel in her victory, the collector dropped to his knees.

"No!" the collector screeched. Returning Archen to his ball, he clutched them tightly to his chest and began to rock back in forth. "No, no no…" Louise stood back, watching him in pity, something she did not expect to feel towards him. With a sigh, she returned Aile and Brennaraki to their balls and turned towards Ralts.

"Let's get out of here…" she slowly began to walk away, with Ralts quickly following her, leaving the wailing collector behind.

As the two walked quietly back to camp, both Louise and Ralts contemplated the events that transpired. They were happy to get her away from the collector, but his broken state afterwards was very uncomfortable to watch.

'Is that what happens if you focus too much on one thing?' Louise asked herself as she pondered the collector. Those thoughts went away as she found herself back at the campsite.

"Well, Ralts, it's been…eventful, to say the least. I'm pretty sure your safe now, at least from him. I doubt he'll try anything for a while, anyway…" Louise knelt down to the Ralts. "Goodbye," Louise smiled and turned to walk to her tent, only to feel a tug on her pajama pants. Looking down, she saw Ralts look up at her expectantly, shaking her head.

"What? What is it?" Ralts responded by hugging Louise's leg tightly, as if she didn't want to be separated. With a gasp, Louise realized what Ralts was wanting. "You mean… But I… I don't…" Louise began to stammer, confused as towards Ralts' reasoning. With a smile, Ralts climbed up Louise's body before coming eyes level and resting her forehead on Louise's, sending a clear message: Ralts trusted her.

Happy tears welling up in her eyes, Louise rushed back to her tent and pulled an empty Luxury Ball from her backpack. Running back to Ralts, she offered the ball to the small Pokémon, who immediately touched the front button and was absorbed into it. Lighting up red, it mildly shook before finally clicking, confirming a capture. Louise, beaming, held the ball up to her face.

"Welcome to the team…Espirit."

As the sun shone into the tent, Saito groggily woke up and stretched out his arms. Smacking his lips, he got the distinct feeling that he missed something earlier, but the smell of cooking food banished those thoughts from his mind.

"Morning, Louise," Saito greeted as he exited his tent. "What's for… Why is there a Ralts here?" Saito stared at Louise, currently attempting to grill some sausage patties and hash browns in a skillet, with a Ralts kneeling at her side, along with Aile and Brennaraki. Judging by the smell, it was likely to end up as charcoal, but that was the least of Saito's questions. Tanuki and Ronin soon erupted out of their Pokéballs and joined in looking at the Ralts, although Tanuki's look was less confusion and more excitement. Seeing the attention on her, the Ralts shyly waved towards the three boys, who, except for the animated Tanuki, slowly waved back.

"Morning, Saito. This is Espirit. I caught her last night," Louise nonchalantly revealed as she continued to burn their breakfast. If she knew, she wasn't showing it.

"…I'm sure that there is a story behind that," Saito sighed as he started fishing a couple packages of jerky out of his backpack, "But I'm willing to wait until we eat."

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter for Outsiders! Louise had an encounter with a nasty collector, and in the process got a new Pokémon. A Ralts named Espirit. In case you are wondering about the name, Espirit is French for "mind".

Now, before I move onto the Q&A, I wanted to talk about the collector for a bit. First, he is purely a plot device. As such, he did not receive a name as he did not need one. Yet, at the same time, he also served as an important element of Louise's character development. He essentially is a living personification of getting way too deep into a single goal. In this case, it was Louise getting too focused on becoming Champion. He was way too focused on catching rare Pokémon, and his appearance reflected that. He was fat, sloppy, smelled, and in general had very poor hygiene. Yet his Pokéballs were pristine, which shows his true priorities. He cares more about his collection than he does himself, which is not a healthy mindset. In the end, Louise could only feel pity for the man, rather than her previous dislike.

We will be skipping the Q&A today as there weren't really any questions to be answered.

That wraps it up for todays chapter! Stay tuned tomorrow for the next chapter of Outsiders!