Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)

Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 4

Alone in his study, Sycamore continued to compile his notes. He had been working tirelessly on this research ever since Viola frantically called him that night, and only through sheer willpower and coffee was he able to stay awake. It didn't help that the League had contacted him directly about the event. They had been rightfully concerned about a non-Legendary Pokémon Mega-Evolving without a keystone, and he couldn't blame them. So far, the League was satisfied with his preliminary findings that he mailed them, but the sooner he could give a definitive answer the better. That it happened to Louise, a person he had come to care for deeply, only made him work harder. Especially since it appeared that she was the cause.

"What a mess," Sycamore sighed and rubbed his forehead. Reaching for a glass of water, he felt a distinct shake of the ground, causing him to lightly chuckle.

"Those two are still at it," he took a gulp of his drink. Immediately after their lunch, just a couple of sandwiches and sodas, Saito and Louise had gone out to the practice arenas next to the lab. Many trainers utilized it and given how Louise seemed dead set on becoming champion, she immediately dragged Saito over to them.

"Honestly, those two are quite the help to each other," laughing to himself, Sycamore refocused onto the task at hand. With any luck, he'd be finished by midnight tonight and would finally remember what it was like to get some proper sleep.

"Brennaraki, move!" Louise ordered. Brennaraki immediately jumped backwards while letting off an Ember towards a swooping Aile, who nimbly dodged the fireball. "Aile, do a fast feint!" she promptly ordered her other Pokémon. Aile dived with a Quick Attack, aiming towards Brennaraki's right side. Charging up a Psywave, Brennaraki let it loose towards the speeding bird, who at the last second spun out of the way and struck the fox's left side.

"Good job, Aile! Brennaraki, watch out for feints!" Ever since the battle against the collector, Louise had been thinking about how that battle had gone. Something she had noticed was how he reacted to her attempts at commanding Espirit. He had no idea what she was talking about, which threw him off significantly. She wasn't willing to purposefully make up names for every single move her Pokémon could learn, but Louise figured that coming up with distinct move combos could be a huge advantage for her. At the same time, she wanted to further her Pokémon's skills, and so far, battling other Pokémon seemed to get the best results. As such, she had Brennaraki and Aile battle each other, with her alternating giving them commands.

'So, this is training? Seems tedious…but if this will make me stronger…' Espirit grunted, standing by Louise's side and concentrating on her hands. She wasn't quite ready to battle the others, so right now she was practicing on improving her psychic abilities by trying to get Heal Pulse down.

On the other side of the practice field, Saito was doing the exact same thing with his Pokémon. He was having Tanuki and Ronin spar against each other, and the two of them were proving to be quite a show. Tanuki with his martial arts and Ronin with his scalchop, trading blow for blow. However, instead of ordering his Pokémon like she was, he was preoccupied with his latest capture.

"Maindo, come on!" he pleaded to a clutched Pokéball. "We're not going to get better if you don't come out!" Over lunch, Saito had told Louise and Sycamore how he come across his latest capture, a male Ralts he named Maindo. Apparently, it meant "mind" in some ancient Kantoan dialect, which his family originally came from before they immigrated to Unova. He thought that this would be a perfect time to bring him out and get to know him a bit more, but so far things haven't gone over so well.

"Just come out already!" Saito commanded only to have something bounce off the back of his head. On closer examination, the object turned out was a chip. Scowling, Saito turned around to spot Maindo as he casually sat on a rock, eating out of an open bag of Tamato flavored chips.

"Look you can eat later but for no-" Saito started only to have Maindo blow a raspberry, spraying him with half chewed up chips, and teleport to the other side of the training arena.

"Grrh," Saito growled before walking away in a huff. Maindo laughed as he did, but Saito paid him no heed as he walked up to Louise.

"Having trouble with Maindo?" Louise asked in a sincere tone.

"Arceus, yes!" Saito threw his hands into the air. "He doesn't listen to a thing I say, and when he does he deliberately misinterprets my commands!" Louise saw that earlier, and from what she saw it seemed that Maindo was deliberately disobeying Saito's commands. When Saito had told Maindo to use Confusion, he used Double Team. When he asked him to do something called Shadow Sneak, Maindo instead used Teleport and completely vanished for the past ten minutes, apparently to steal the bag of chips he was currently eating out of. At least Maindo wasn't trying to hurt Saito, but whether that was because he didn't want to, or the other Pokémon were with them remained to be seen.

"What am I going to do? I'll never be able to use him in battle at this rate," Saito sat down on a nearby bench and rubbed his hair. Louise sighed and, with a wave of her hand, beckoned her Pokémon to continue their training and sat down beside him.

"Want my advice?" Louise asked, and after a moment he nodded. "You need to put your foot down. Hard, if need be. He won't listen on his own? Make him. You're the trainer, make him recognize that. Otherwise, he'll never respect you and this will keep happening."

"That's only going to alienate him more," Saito retorted before sighing. "I just don't get it. I mean, I didn't have this problem with Tanuki and Ronin! You didn't even have this problem with Aile! But Maindo, Arceus he just…"

"An asshole?" Louise repeated what Saito called her classmates before, causing him to sigh.

"I was going to say difficult," Saito groaned into his hands while Louise stared at Maindo, who seemed particularly keen on Saito's current frustration. He almost seemed to be enjoying it. Narrowing her eyes, Louise got to her feet and turned towards Espirit.

"Louise?" Saito asked, rising to his feet.

"Stay there, I'll take care of this," Louise began to walk towards her Ralts, who stopped her psychic weightlifting as she approached. She knelt to Espirit's level, and while Saito couldn't quite hear what she was saying, it evidently got Espirit to stop what she was doing and walk over to Maindo.

"What did you…?" Saito watched Espirit walk over to Maindo in slight confusion.

"I asked Espirit to try and talk some sense into him," Louise explained as she and Saito watched the two Ralts begin to talk among themselves. "Figured that a fellow Ralts would make him more at ease."

"Huh," Saito hummed to himself as he watched them continue to talk. As the conversation stretched on, he allowed himself to smile. Maybe this would work. "What do you know?"

"See? All that was needed was a woman's—" Louise's reply was cut off by a loud slap, catching everyone's attention. She and Saito could only stare wide-eyed as Espirit stormed off in a huff, leaving Maindo behind, who was rubbing his cheek and smirking.

"Espirit? Espirit, what did he say?" Louise asked as her Ralts stomped up to her. A barrage of images soon flooded her mind. "WHY THAT VULGAR LITTLE…. I'LL KILL HIM!" Louise began to stomp over to Maindo, eager to give him a piece of her mind, only to be stopped by Saito.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Saito attempted to placate the enraged girl, the fact that Maindo started cackling wasn't helping in the slightest.

"OUT OF THE WAY, SAITO!" Louise demanded as she attempted to get around the boy, who blocked her path at every turn. After few more attempts, Louise stopped trying and took a few breaths to calm herself down, albeit with an enraged glare still directed towards Maindo. Seeing how Louise wasn't trying to murder his Pokémon anymore, Saito turned around to look at a still smirking Maindo.

"What the hell did you say to her?" he asked, turning his head towards Louise, still glaring at the smirking Maindo with murderous intent.

"You stay away from Espirit, you mangy dog." Louise huffed and stormed off towards the lab, recalling her Pokémon as she did. It appeared that, in her anger, she either ignored or didn't hear Saito's question. Left alone in the arena, he could only sigh.

"Well, looks like training is done for today," he rubbed the back of his head before turning back to his Pokémon. He quickly noted that both Ronin and Tanuki were glaring at Maindo. Evidently, they too heard what he told Espirit, and they weren't at all pleased. Seeing this, Saito began to glare at the Ralts, who continued to smirk.

"You know no one likes an asshole, right?" Maindo's smirk bloomed into a full smile, causing Saito to sigh and recall his Pokémon. Holding Maindo's Pokéball in hand, he stared intensely at it before clipping it to his belt. Someday, hopefully soon, Maindo would come around. He just knew it.

When Saito finally returned to the lab, he found Louise sitting and grumbling at the table, drinking a soda straight out of can. A silent glare directed towards him, or rather one of the Pokéballs currently clipped to his belt, told him she was not in a good mood.

"Well," Saito rubbed the back of his head and took an involuntary step back, "whatever it was that Maindo said to Espirit, I'm sorry." Louise said nothing and continued to sip her drink, still glaring at the Pokéball.

"I can see that you are mad," Saito held out his hand and stepped back even further. Seventeen years of life was screaming at him that now was a good time to leave, and he was going to follow that advice. "I'm just…going to get something to eat. I'll be at the bakery we ate breakfast at if you need me." Silently nodding, Saito turned and left the lab, Louise never getting out of her seat. The door shut behind him, Saito sighed and hunched over.

"That could have gone better," he groaned before walking off. Certain that the foul mood Louise found herself in would wear off in time, Saito allowed his thoughts to drift towards what he was going to eat. There were a lot of options, from sandwiches to pizzas. He could even have breakfast again, if he wanted. All this and more was on his mind as he entered the bakery and grabbed a table. Pulling out a menu, he held it close to his face to where he couldn't see anything else.

"What to pick, what to pick," he mumbled as he browsed the menu, only to stop as he heard a chair slide out. Lowering the menu, he saw the chair opposite of his being held by a tanned woman around his age. She was wearing a navy-blue dress with white trim, her verdette hair held up by a silky hair band. Her dark maroon eyes bored straight into his own, causing Saito to blush.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this seat taken? Keeheehee…" she laughed in a silky tone.

"Umm, I…uh," Saito stammered and sat up straighter, trying to be polite. "No, no it isn't." The woman smiled at his answer and began to sit down.

"Do you mind if I sit here? This really is the best seat in the house," Saito stole a glance towards a large empty booth right next to the window. He was about to point it out to the woman when he noticed that her eyes never left him, and with a deep blush he rubbed the back of his head.

"I…I guess," he nervously laughed. The woman, taking this as an answer, sat down completely and pulled the chair up to the table and pulled out a menu of her own. Silently, Saito pulled his menu up as well and began to read, taking a discreet look at the woman sitting across from him.

"Where are my manners?" the woman suddenly put her menu down and placed her hand on her chest. "I don't believe that either of us have been properly introduced."

"Oh, uh…" Saito, surprised, put his menu down and coughed. "I'm Saito. Pleasure to meet you, Miss…?"

"Elizabeth," she chuckled softly and held out her hand, which Saito slowly grabbed. "Charmed."

"Where is he?" Louise paced around the lab kitchen. It had been an hour since Saito left for the bakery, and he still wasn't back yet. It was only a five-minute walk from the lab, and it shouldn't have taken him so long to eat and get back. She was starting to get worried.

"Louise, he's fine," Sycamore yawned as he held a mug of steaming coffee in his hands. He had only just finished compiling and sending out the Mega Beedrill Event notes to the interested parties, and now he was just wanting to relax. A stressed out teenaged girl was not helping him do that. "Stop stressing."

"Still," she crossed her arms and huffed. Sycamore sighed and gestured for her to sit next to him, which Louise did, her arms still crossed.

"Listen, he's fine. He has his Pokémon with him, and even if one of them has an attitude problem—"

"Don't remind me," Louise grumbled, only to be cut off by a flat look from Sycamore. His normal patience had been burned out by the sleepless nights, and Louise promptly quieted herself.

"As I was saying, he is safe with them around. There is no need to walk around like a restless Meowth that just lost its coin."

"Yeah…," Louise sighed before straightening out. "Regardless, I'm going to go find him." Before Sycamore could even come up with a reply, Louise was already walking out the door.

"Geez," he sighed and rubbed his forehead. Turning his head, he saw Garchomp looking at him with a knowing stare. "There is no use dissuading that girl once she has her mind set on something, is there?" Garchomp grunted and shook her head.

Closing the door behind her, Louise began to march straight to the bakery. Despite the Professor's reassurances, she couldn't help but worry about him. What if something went wrong? Did another Pokémon attack him? Did he get lost, finally? All these worries and more swirled in her head as the bakery came in sight.

"There he is," Louise noted as she spotted Saito sitting at a table. It appeared he was talking to someone, having a good time. She couldn't see who it was, as the person he was speaking to was obscured by someone else. Saito glanced over out the window to see her standing there and smiled before waving her over.

"I swear," she shook her head and walked into the bakery. "Saito, you better have a good…" Louise trailed off as she finally got a good look at the person Saito had been talking to. A woman, a very familiar woman.

"What is this?" Louise's voice had a much sharper edge to it than normal, which Saito appeared to not notice.

"Louise, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Louise," Saito obliviously 'introduced' the two. Elizabeth turned around in her chair and gave a faux smile to Louise, her eyes shining with devious intent. Getting out of her chair, she lightly laughed and walked towards her, arms spread wide as if going for a hug.

"You must be Louise!" she said brightly, the disquieting feel she had projected the last time the two girls had gotten so close was almost palpable despite her only spreading her arms for what appeared to be a friendly embrace. "Saito has told me so much about you! You must be quite the lucky little girl to have a friend like him!"

"…We've been travelling together recently, yes." Louise fumed, glaring at both people in front of her.

"Saito told me about your travels together. Oh, what fun you two must have had!" Elizabeth laughed, tilting her head slightly to brush a few stray curls away from her face, then turned to look at the still oblivious Saito, the set of her smile shifting to something more possessive. "But I just couldn't possibly go on my own! Such journeys are best done with friends, after all. Sadly, none of my friends are quite into that kind of thing. If only there was someone who shared my desire to see the world. Keh heh."

"Don't give up! Keep looking," Saito earnestly advised, still not fully grasping her intent but nevertheless blushing. "I'm sure you'll find someone to travel with soon. I mean, so far traveling with Louise has been…" Saito trailed off, his smile going away as he finally took in the sight of a furious Louise glaring at him and Elizabeth with murderous intent. It was almost as if Louise was trying to set fire to them both from her eyes.

"Louise is something wrong?" Saito asked in confusion, not understanding what got her upset. He reached out for her, only for Louise to slap his hand away.

"I'm fine," She growled and walked away. "Don't let me interrupt your date." At that, Louise walked out and slammed the door behind her, walking away in a huff.

"This isn't a…" Saito tried to protest but was too late. All eyes were on him and Elizabeth, and he sighed. "I should go after her. I'm sorry, don't know what was up with her. She's not usually like this…at least to this extent."

"Simple jealousy, I've seen it countless times," Elizabeth replied, her tone almost pitying as she turned away from the door and let her countenance relax into a more genuine smile. "It would cause more harm than good to go after her now. Give her some space and let her cool off on her own terms. Trust me, I've learned that lesson the hard way." She walked back to her seat and sat down, brushing a few curls away and met Saito's eyes again, entirely unfazed by what had just happened.

"Still…," Saito rubbed his head and looked back at Elizabeth. "Have you two met each other before or something?"

"She's a rather distinctive individual, I'm sure that I would remember her if we had met," Elizabeth chuckled, her tone regaining her earlier joviality.

"WHY THAT NO GOOD, BACKSTABBING, MANGY DOG!" Louise screamed in an alleyway next to the bakery. Kicking a trashcan, she pulled her hair and screamed in absolute rage. How dare he! How dare he spend time with that thieving witch!

"STUPID DOG!" she shouted and kicked a trash can hard, too hard in fact as she clutched her foot in pain. Hopping on one foot, she sat herself down, took off her boot, and began to rub, fuming in her rage. As she did, one of her Luxury Balls opened on her own, revealing a concerned Espirit.

"Espirit? Why did you…?" Louise shook her head in realization. "Oh right, you can sense emotions. Don't worry, I'm fine. Just…venting." Louise replied before clutching her foot, wincing as she squeezed the injured toe. Espirit looked at her trainer in concern and walked over to injured foot. Placing her hands on the injured foot, Espirit closed her eyes and concentrated. A faint pink glow soon enveloped her hands and spread to the foot, and after a moment the pain subsided.

"Looks like you finally got Heal Pulse down," Louise smiled before looking downcast. Noticing this, Espirit look up at her trainer in concern, and a few images danced across Louise's mind.

"Saito being an idiot, that's what happened," Louise shook her head with a frown. More images flashed, and she sighed.

"He was having a date with Elizabeth Colette, the person who tried to steal Brennaraki," Louise scowled. "After I told him what she did! How could he?!" More images appeared, causing Louise to look at her Pokémon in confusion.

"What do you mean? Of course I told him who she was." More images appeared, and Louise squinted her eyes. "I told him that a thief tried to steal Brennaraki… Oh." Louise's eyes widened in realization.

'I never told him her name or what she looked like…' Louise thought and slapped herself in the forehead. How could she be so stupid! How was he supposed to know that Elizabeth was the thief if she never told him what her name was or what she looked like! Shaking her head, Louise looked back down at Espirit, a thought coming to her head.

"Espirit, does he know who Elizabeth is?" She had to be sure, and sure enough Espirit scrunched her face as she concentrated on the nearby bakery, trying to isolate Saito's mind from all the others. After a few moments, the Ralts shook her head.

"He doesn't know," Louise narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "…Does Elizabeth know who he is? Before they met up here?" Once again, Espirit concentrated, this time on Elizabeth, and after a much longer period of time opened her eyes her eyes with an exhausted nod. The images painted a more complete picture, one of Elizabeth, by pure circumstance it seemed, spotting Saito and Louise enter the city together and coming upon Saito all alone at the café. It looked to be a sort of tit-for-tat behavior meant to get back at Louise for the last time they met. Clenching her fist and grinding her teeth, Louise's anger returned in full force, only now directed towards a much more deserving target.

"Why that little…" Louise scowled before a thought entered her head. She then stood up with a wicked smile emblazoned on her face. Elizabeth tried to pretend that they had never met, did she? Two could play that game.

"Thank you, Espirit. I'll take it from here," her wicked smile still shining, Louise returned a content Espirit to her Luxury Ball and began to march back to the bakery. Walking through the doors, she walked right over to Saito and Elizabeth, their conversation ending as she did.

"Louise, you came back!" Saito smiled while Elizabeth's smile turned brittle. "Listen, I wanted to…"

"You don't need to apologize," Louise waved her hand. "My behavior was unacceptable and uncouth. You did not deserve that, and I apologize. May I?" Louise pointed towards another empty chair. Elizabeth flinched and was about to say something when Saito cut her off.

"Sure, go right ahead. We have plenty of room," Saito got up and pulled the chair out for her. With a smile, Louise sat down and made herself comfortable while Saito smiled in relief and Elizabeth looked at her in noticeable worry and concern.

"So, Elizabeth, was it?" Louise played coy, causing Elizabeth's eyes to narrow. "Tell me, how did you and Saito meet?"

"I met him here," Elizabeth replied after a beat. "He seemed so lonely that I couldn't bear to just stand by."

"Oh, so you're a good Samaritan, then?" Louise smirked, causing the verdette to slowly nod.

"O-of course. One must be kind and courteous in all actions, after all."

"I one-hundred percent agree," Louise's smile grew wider while Elizabeth's face scrunched slightly in suspicion. "It is only proper to consider how one's actions could hurt someone else before undertaking them."

"I'm living proof of that," Saito mumbled to his breath, only to receive a playful bop on the head.

"Oh, hush you," Saito looked confused at Louise's behavior now, sensing that something was up. Good, her plan was working. "Your dress is marvelous, by the way. Where'd you get it, I'm on the market for some new clothes and I only the best."

"It's one of a kind, custom tailored," Elizabeth earnestly smiled, believing that the rosecrown had given up her advantage. "Cost a fortune, but I'm quite fond of the result."

"I see, no expense is too great? Let nothing get in the way of what you want, am I right?" Saito squinted his eyes at Louise's answer while she faintly smirked. "I'm the same way, but I always strive to make sure that I keep others in mind. Don't want to hurt anyone, after all." Louise turned to look at the now thoroughly confused boy, whose eyes were rapidly shifting between the two girls.

"Am I…missing something?" he looked between the two girls, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Louise merely laughed and waved him off, her eyes telling him to wait.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all," Elizabeth replied, her tone hardening as she glared daggers at the smug rosecrown.

"So, Elizabeth, you mentioned travelling. You a Pokémon trainer?" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and nodded. "So am I! Want to meet my Pokémon?" Elizabeth's flinched and made a strangled sound Saito's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No, no that's not necessary…" Elizabeth waved her hands, trying to dissuade the rosecrown, who only smiled wider.

"Nonsense! This is a Pokémon friendly venue after all," Louise pulled out a Luxury Ball, her smile turning wicked. "This is my starter, Brennaraki. Say hello." Before Elizabeth could protest further, Louise released the Fennekin stored inside. Shaking herself, Brennaraki smiled at Louise before turning to introduce herself to the woman, only to back up and snarl as she recognized the woman in front of her.

"What is…" Suddenly it clicked, and Saito's blood ran cold. "…It was you. You were the one who tried to steal Brennaraki that night…"

"Yep," Louise confirmed, crossing her arms behind her head while Elizabeth looked panicked. Saito, however, merely looked enraged as he looked at the verdette, demanding answers.

"Did you know I was travelling together with her?" Saito demanded, only for Louise to answer for her.

"She saw us come in together, yes," Louise smirked with a glare directed towards the scowling Elizabeth. "When she saw you all alone, it was an opportunity to get back at me she couldn't pass up." Saito's scowl deepened, and Elizabeth's panic increased.

"Listen, she—" Elizbeth tried to defend herself, only to be cut off as Saito clenched the glass hard enough to form a small hairline fracture barely noticeable to the human eye. In a state of tunnel vision, Saito stood up and doused Elizabeth's with its contents. Slamming the glass down with an audible crack, Saito stormed out of the café without saying a word, not even looking back. Louise began to smile wickedly, only for it to turn into shock as she took in the sight of Elizabeth's face. Before Elizabeth could ask what was wrong, a sharp pain erupted on her face as blood began to drip down.

Clutching her face, Elizabeth ran to the restroom, Louise quickly following after her to help. Opening the door, she saw Elizabeth starring in horror at her reflection, specifically at a large jagged cut that was now marking her face.

"Founder…," Louise gasped before flinching back as Elizabeth turned to look at her, face twisted in absolute rage.

"Look at this!" she pointed to the cut while grabbing a few more paper towels to wipe it off.

"Okay, I know it looks bad, but I have a Ralts that knows Heal Pulse. She can—" Louise offered while holding up Espirit's Luxury Ball, only to be cut off as Elizabeth stormed up to her.

"Does it look like I want your help!?" Elizabeth barked back and pointed at the shocked Louise. "This entire month has been one disaster after another, all because of you and your stupid boyfriend!"

"What did I do?" Louise threw her arms out.

"Everything!" Elizabeth broadly accused. "Because of you, I got cut off from my parents! Because of you, I had to get a dead end job just to get anything decent anymore! Because of you, I have to deal with coworkers I despise and serve customers I hate! Because of you, I got this cut that's likely going to scar! Everything wrong that's happened to me has been because of you! So no, I don't want your help!"

"…Okay then," Louise scowled, her earlier sympathy now replaced with irritation, and stared back unflinching. "What is it that you want?"

"I want a rematch," the verdette resolutely declared, much to Louise's surprise.

"…What?" Louise stared back blankly, while Elizabeth merely fumed.

"I. Want. A rematch," Elizabeth emphasized slowly. "Otherwise I report him to the police." Louise fumed at her theat. Yes, it looked bad, but it was an accident. Saito deserved a scolding, at most, not getting reported to the police. Plus, she was his friend. Her first human friend in a very long time, and the fact that she was threatening her friend made the decision clear.

"Fine," Louise scoffed. "Only if you leave Saito out of this."

"Deal," Elizabeth agreed. Louise held out her hand to mark the agreement, but Elizabeth angrily brushed passed her and out the restroom door. Clenching her teeth in anger, Louise turned around and followed after her. She caught up to her in short order, but none of them said a word.

"I have never been so humiliated in my life," Saito sulked at the practice arena. "I should have seen it but- Gagh!" Saito threw his hands in the air in exasperation. In hindsight, the warning signs were there. The excessive laughing, the overly flirtatious behavior, she was just using him to get to her. As he continued to sulk, he spotted Louise enter view. He got up to apologize once again, only to scowl as he saw Elizabeth walking beside her.

"What do you want- What happened to your face!?" Saito's anger turned to shock as he spotted the bandages now covering Elizabeth's face. Rather than answer him, she glared at him before stomping to one end of the practice arena. As Louise began to move to the other, Saito stopped her in a great deal of confusion.

"Louise, what is going on? What happened?" He asked in a great amount of worry.

"I'll tell you after the battle. Right now, I need you to be the referee," Louise replied while glaring at Elizabeth. Walking over to her end of the arena, Louise placed her hand next to her belt. "So, how we doing this?"

"How many Pokémon do you have?" Elizabeth demanded, her hand slipping inside of her navy purse.

"Three," Louise answered, showing her Luxury Balls with a hint of pride.

"Then I'll use three as well," Elizabeth pulled three Pokéballs out of her purse and held them out before strapping them to the purse's exterior.

"I'm surprised you even have more than one Pokémon," Louise admitted, causing Elizabeth's teeth to clench before she regained composure.

"If you must know, I have built a collection of rare and powerful Pokémon for years, and my family has hired the best trainers in the region to train and care for them. All live in the lap of luxury at the Collete Lumiose Estate, which is more than I can say about that Fennekin of yours." Elizabeth scowled.

"You tried to steal her!" Louise accused, causing Elizabeth to flinch back before scowling.

"I was not stealing her!" Elizabeth stomped the ground in protest, deeply offended. "I was going to leave ten times her value on the desk! That's more funds than Augustine could get on his own for an entire year! I was buying her! I would never stoop so low as to steal something!"

"'Buying' something without permission is still stealing, thief," Louise scowled, growing impatient. "Go on and release your Pokémon already." Elizabeth snarled before pulling out a Pokéball.

"Well, I guess we're doing this," Saito grumbled to himself before walking over to the referee's box. Putting his personal feelings aside, Saito dusted himself off and did his best referee impersonation. "This will be a three on three Pokémon battle. Standard rules apply, and eliminations are by knockout or ring out. Are the trainers ready?"

"Of course," Elizabeth huffed.

"I am," Louise declared with confidence.

"As the challenger, Elizabeth gets to choose her Pokémon second. Louise, you may release your Pokémon."

"Thank you, Saito," Louise smiled and threw out a Luxury Ball. "Let's show her who's boss, Brennaraki!" The shiny Fennekin exploded onto the battlefield, a confident smile emblazoned on her snout.

"Alright then," Elizabeth's predatory grin unchanged as she prepared to do the same. "Let's see how you handle this. Go, Gengar!"

"You have a what!?" Saito shouted and Louise blanched as the Pokéball opened, releasing a round, spiked purple shadow. Shaking, and her confidence rapidly shrinking, Louise pulled out her Pokédex to scan the creature.

"Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. The final evolved form of Gastly, Gengars have the ability to blend themselves into any shadow, granting them extraordinary stealth capabilities they use for hunting, evasion, and the occasional prank," the Pokedex's voice sounded off.

"How…how do you…?" Louise finally sputtered out, causing Elizabet's smirk to redouble.

"My collection, remember," she announced as if it were obvious. "All three of my Pokémon come from it. They'll be more than enough to… Where'd Gengar go?" Elizabeth blinked her eyes and looked around a suddenly empty field, outside of an equally confused Brennaraki.

"Umm…," Louise scratched her head, trying to find the suddenly missing Pokémon. As the humans and Pokémon continued to search for the Gengar, a shrill scream suddenly directed their attention. Turning to the source, they saw a young girl laying down on the ground, pointing at a laughing Gengar, her brother doing the same at her misfortune.

"What?" Elizabeth's flat tone sold her confusion, along with everyone else, though one could hear the rage simmering underneath, before she shook her head and snarled. "Gengar, get back here!" Rather than come back, Gengar turned to her and blew a raspberry before disappearing again. A few seconds later, a new scream shouted out.

'Guess he's more interested in pranking than battling…" Louise droned as she turned towards a horrified Elizabeth.

"Uhh… Gengar has left the field, apparently. He is out by voluntary ring out, I guess…" Saito was just as confused as everyone else, but rules were rules.

"What?!" Elizabeth shrieked in protest, but after a moment shook her head in conceit. Conceding, Elizabeth pulled out her Pokéball to return the Gengar, only for the recall beam to fizzle out before it could reach the Pokémon, which was now scaring more passerby from behind a wall. Grumbling to herself, Elizabeth pulled out her second Pokéball. "Go, Sharpedo!"

"Sharpedo?" Louise raised her eyebrow as the Pokémon in question came out onto the battlefield. It was as blue, shark-like Pokémon without a tail, a red star on its forehead. She might have been intimidated by it, had the Sharpedo not been flopping around like a fish out of water. Which, now that she thought about it, it kind of was. Seeing how it wasn't doing anything anytime soon, Louise calmly took out her Pokédex and activated its scan function.

"Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon. The evolved form of Carvanha, Sharpedo patrols the oceans using jets of water ejected out of its back. Gangs of Sharpedo are brutal towards all in their territory, earning the species the title of Bully of the Sea."

'Guess outside of the sea they're a bit helpless…' Louise sweat dropped as the shark continued to flop around. Judging by the look on its face, it was not happy. Neither was Elizabeth for that matter.

"Stop flopping around and actually do something!" She commanded. With a snarl, Sharpedo decided to follower her command by turning around and blasting Elizabeth with a jet of water that erupted out of its mouth. Thoroughly drenched, Elizabeth shrieked and fell down on the ground before hissing as the salt water stung her cut. Ignoring the slight pain and still sitting, Elizabeth angrily recalled the disobedient Pokémon.

"Is… Is that a retire or…?" Saito asked in extreme confusion. He was not expecting this battle to play out this way, and a quick look at Louise told him she felt the same.

"Yes!" Elizabeth spat out, angrily placing the Pokéball back in her bag. This was turning into a disaster, and her rage was growing by the second. Another hiss of pain escaped her, causing her to reach inside her purse to pull out a handkerchief to dry herself with.

"So… Are any of your Pokémon actually going to battle or…?" Louise numbly asked. Elizabeth went still for a moment before slowly placing the handkerchief back inside her purse, her green hair covering her face. Rising upward, she looked up at Louise to reveal a face twisted into a rictus of manic fury. She removed a Pokéball from her bag, ignoring the last one clipped to its side.

"I know this one will! Go, Machamp!" The Pokémon erupted onto the battlefield, revealing a grey humanoid creature with four muscular arms. Standing upright, it flexed its muscles downward and roared out a challenge, causing Louise to sweat. This one seemed eager to fight, and in a hurry, she once again scanned the Pokémon in front of her.

"Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon. The final evolved form of Machop, they can throw five hundred punches a second and with its four arms can attack in multiple directions at once." Louise gulped at this information, nervous about her chances and slightly hoping that it too would run off. Seeing that it didn't, and with the Fighting-type staring straight at her in anticipation, Louise shook herself out of her stupor and steeled herself.

"Well, I don't care how big it is! It's going down. Brennaraki, use Ember!" Louise shouted her command, which Brennaraki spat out in defiance. It zoomed towards the Machamp's face and impacted harmlessly. Machamp finally looked down and saw Brennaraki, who was surprised at how her attack did nothing but, rather than cower in fear she growled in defiance.

"Machamp! Use Mega Punch!" Elizabeth shouted an order, ecstatic that one of her collection was listening to her. A few moments passed, and when the Machamp did nothing she grew impatient. "Machamp?" Turning around to look at the verdette, Machamp gestured all four of its arms down at the defiant Brennaraki, ignoring another fireball striking his head.

"You want me to fight that?!" he knew that his owner wouldn't understand him, but he hoped his point got across. Apparently, it did, as Elizabeth growled in anger.

"Yes, you're fighting the Fennekin!" Elizabeth stomped in frustration, causing Machamp to frown.

"I was promised a fight, not…this!" Machamp gestured down to Brennaraki once again. Brennaraki tried to take advantage of his distracted state by firing a Psywave at his head, but once again the attack was far too weak to do anything to him. With an amused chuckle, he nodded down at the shiny Fennekin and redirected his attention to his increasingly exasperated trainer.

"You fight what I tell you to fight! Now do something for once!" With a scowl, Machamp looked back down at Brennaraki, currently chewing on his ankles, and picked her up. Holding her up to his face, he didn't even blink when she launched a fireball straight at him.

"…Forget this. I am not lowering myself to this level," Machamp grumbled and lowered Brennaraki to the ground as he knelt. Elizabeth began to shout in protest, but an angry glare quickly silenced her. Brennaraki moved to attack him again, but an open palm stopped her.

"Listen, kid. You got spunk. I like that, but I'm not going to fight you. We both know how a fight between us would turn out." Brennaraki responded by growling.

"Says you!" she barked. "I don't care how big you are! I never back down!" Rather than get angry, Machamp unleashed a throaty laughed that bellowed across the field.

"Now THAT'S what I like to see!" he patted her on the back, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to get his original point across, as a contemplative look crossed his face. "Still, this isn't a challenge for me, and it isn't fair to you. Plus, I really don't like her, so I'm not going to listen to her."

"So…you're giving up?" Brennaraki looked both relieved and disappointed, which turned into confusion as he slowly shook his head.

"No, where's the fun in that?" Machamp smirked. "And besides, I ain't a quitter either. No, I have a much better idea. I'm going to throw the match, and you're going to help me."

"…how?" Brennaraki was now thoroughly confused but at the same time intrigued.

"You ever watch PWE?"

"Saito?" Louise asked, her mind failing to comprehend what she was seeing. For the past ten minutes, Brennaraki and Machamp had been doing something indescribable to the rosecrown, and at this point they had attracted quite the following as more and more bystanders came by to watch and cheer the two Pokémon on.

"Yes, Louise?" Saito stifled back his laughter, fully comprehending what was transpiring in front of him.

"What in the Founder's name am I looking at?"

"Something glorious, Louise. Something glorious." Saito declared as Brennaraki launched herself off Machamp's raised foot like a platform to deliver an approximation of an elbow drop on the large Pokémon.

With exaggerated movements, Machamp cried out in faux pain and hurled his body upwards from the 'impact'. Not missing a beat, Brennaraki grabbed his massive leg with her tiny mouth and began to heave. Twirling him around in a circle, with subtle assistance from the Machamp, Brennaraki hurled him across the field. 'Skidding' to a halt in front of a seething Elizabeth, Machamp quickly got up and charged at Brennaraki, who charged towards him as well. He reached to grab her with his four arms, only for her to slide under them and in between his legs while grabbing one of the fingers. Machamp then flipped himself onto his back and rolled around in 'pain' while Brennaraki turned around and ran back to his prone form. She began to kick him in the stomach, each 'blow' causing him to flinch. Having enough, Brennaraki flipped him over, again with subtle assistance, and climbed on top of his back. Grabbing his leg, she began to heave, causing Machamp to slam his fists on the ground in 'agony' until Brennaraki stopped. Rushing over to his head and shoulders, Brennaraki wrapped her body around them in an approximation of a full nelson and began to force the larger Pokémon to submit. As she did this, a large shadow then appeared as Gengar made himself known as he knelt down and started an approximation of a countdown. Machamp attempted to free himself, but as Gengar counted down to ten he went slack and conceded.

"Machamp, ha-ha, Machamp has conceded, ha-ha!" Saito barely managed to get out through his laughs as Brennaraki stood triumphant on top of her defeated foe. Before anyone could react further, Gengar grabbed Brennaraki's paw and hoisted it upwards as if he were announcing a new champion, an action that caused Saito's will to finally break.

"Brennaraki is the winner! Hahaha! Arceus, I can't breathe!" He doubled over and clutched his stomach as he began to laugh profusely. The other's in the stand did so as well, along with many hoots and cheers.

Elizabeth screamed in rage before quickly returning the Machamp and running out of the practice arena, tears running down her face, as her anger granted her the strength to bash the spectators out of her way. The Gengar, seeing his owner flee the scene, turned and bowed to his audience before floating after her, the laughter of the spectators all echoing all around.

"I don't understand anything about what just happened," Louise admitted as the crowd began to disperse and Saito, still chuckling, walked up to her.

"I'll explain in the lab. Come on," Saito chuckled one last time before walking away. Louise, still confused, followed him, while a victorious feeling Brennaraki pranced after them, imaginary thoughts of a belt filling her mind.

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders! Louise has had her first official 'rematch', if you could call it that, with Elizabeth, and a rivalry is set in motion. Also, writing Machamp was an absolute blast and I hope you all liked him.

Now, before we begin, I want to address the scaring. The addition of it was actually of considerable debate between all of us. Some were convinced that including it would make Saito and Louise out to look like assholes, while others thought it would serve as good character development for Elizabeth. In the end, we decided that the character development that could come from this was worth it and worked on a way to not make our heroes look like jerks.

Now for the Q&A:

ian25rebel: To be fair, the Ralts evolution comes directly from gender. Only males can evolve into Gallade, for instance. Ultimately, its why we chose it. I am curious as to what you think the theme is, but I will not be confirming it until all team captures are made. Also, yes. The teams are already set in stone and are not subject to change nor request.

Pacer287: Maindo, Saito's Ralts, is a complicated figure. He does, however, come in part from Saito's more negative aspects of his canon personality and motivation. We will be exploring him more in the future. And I do not blame you for not liking Canon!Saito. Frankly, he was not a likable protagonist in FoZ/ZnT canon and extremely bland. I do hope that you are enjoying our version at least.

MBenz4268: I'm glad you enjoyed the Alain and Mairin cameos. Expect more cameos of those nature in the future, wherever appropriate. Also, yes. The Elite Four do challenge the current champion every so often. Its how Lance got his current position as champion of the shared Kanto/Johto Pokémon League.

Avro 683 Lancaster: We will not be taking suggestions for Louise or Saito's Pokémon. As previously stated, their teams are set.

That concludes today's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and see you all tomorrow!