Unions of Friendship

by leonardonl

20 years after Mewtwo was born and the legendaries awoke, the world seems to be at peace once more. Lenny, born south of Pallet, travels through the Pokémon world, making friends and challenging gyms, with the ambition to become Master. But when the whole world is at peace, might there be a evil slumbering, waiting, somewhere within the world?

4. Dark tunnels

His heart was pounding in his throat. He felt like he had been standing here for a century. One hand was on the two pokéballs on his belt, the other clenched into a fist. At breakfast, Ruben and he had pulled straws and Lenny got the bigger one, making Lenny the one to face Forrest first. He could not eat anything, tension filled his stomach and left no place for food. He had drank some coffee and spend some time chatting with Ruben, who seemed far more confident than Lenny. His dad had send him a text, wishing him good luck and expressing his pride. It was a new sensation for Lenny, he had never been this nervous in his life. Maybe some tests at school, but then he knew at least what to expect. Trapinch was untouched by nerves, this morning. He had gulped his breakfast and was his cheery, almost oblivious self. Fiore seemed keen to prove himself, more to Iracundia than to Lenny. Of course, Lenny had prepared. He had watched recordings of Forrest his gym battles until very late. But now, waiting outside of the arena, he felt very ill prepared. A ping announced that the sliding doors would open. He took one last, big breath, put on his game face and stepped into the trainer's box at the arena.

The enormous arena floor consisted of compressed dirt, with smaller and bigger rocks scattered all around it. At the far end, Forrest was walking towards his own box. He was tall and skinny, with a messy hairdo. Lenny looked to the spectators arena and he felt reassured by seeing Ruben put two thumbs up, and Rose giving him an encouraging smile. Lenny gave a half smile back, before looking towards Forrest again.

"Welcome to my gym, Lenny. Rose told me to not go easy on you." Forrest seemed like a cheerful guy, but Lenny was too tensed to be cheerful. "Bring it on, I'm here to win my first badge." "Prepare yourself for a test of strength and determination. Today, we well determine if you're worthy of being called a trainer. I wish you good luck," Forrest concluded with a nod and made a gesture to the referee. Salvador, another one of the siblings of Rose, stepped forward and announced the rules. "We welcome the challenger Lenny Naighfield, who challenges Pewter Gym Leader Forrest for the Boulder badge. Since the challenger has two Pokémon, the battle will be two on two, and when one trainer has no Pokémon left who are capable to battle, he will lose this battle. Since Lenny is the challenger, Gym Leader Forrest will release his first Pokémon first."

"Alright, let's show them the power of Rock types, go Rhyhorn!" Out of the red beam, a gray Pokémon covered in rock plates materialized. Rose had told Lenny that this Rhyhorn was one of the Pokémon that Forrest used against rookie trainers, so he expected her to appear. The horn on her nose looked very dangerous, despite the somewhat dumb look in her eyes.

"Come on buddy, I know you've got this," Lenny said to Trapinch pokéball, before he pressed the release button. His started materialized and looked excited at Rhyhorn, not subject to stress at all. "Begin!" shouted Salvador and he lowered the official flags. "Charge!" Forrest wasted no time in issuing his first command. The Rhyhorn started to pick up a pace, as fast as her short legs would carry her heavy body. A cloud of sand and dirt busted up behind her. For only a short moment, Lenny was fazed, the overwhelming notion of fighting a real gym battling too much for his rookie mind. But it lasted only a short moment as he focused upon the stone behemoth coming at his starter. "Slow it down with mud shot!" Lenny shouted at Trapinch, who immediately carried out the comment. The Rhyhorn ran right through the mud, only slowed down a fraction, and slammed her horn at Trapinch, who was propelled a few meters towards Lenny.

"No, Trapinch!" Lenny exclaimed in shock. He almost ran towards his friend, but remembered that he was supposed to be staying in his trainer's box. Trapinch, however, was far from defeated. He crawled to his feet and lowly growled at the Rhyhorn. "Alright buddy, our turn, use bite!" With unwavering determination, Trapinch lunged forward, jaws agape, and sank its teeth into Rhyhorn's rocky armour. The Rock-type Pokémon grunted in response, feeling the force of Trapinch's Bite attack. Some cracks formed along one of Rhyhorn's rock plates. On Forrest's command, Rhyhorn rolled over to throw Trapinch of his back.

"Charge him again Rhyhorn!" Forrest was sticking to the same strategy. This time, Lenny came up with a better response. "Use dig and bite, Trapinch!" Trapinch growled in reply, before he disappeared underground. The work at Ruben's farm had done wonders for his control of dig, and it came very useful now. The Rhyhorn came to a still and looked around, confused to where her opponent went. "Now buddy," shouted Lenny at the top of his lungs. Trapinch came up from right underneath the Rhyhorn, with enough force to throw Rhyhorn on her side. Her soft belly was now exposed and Trapinch sank his teeth into the hide.

Lenny clenched his fists. Trapinch bit as hard as he could, but they seemed to have reached a stalemate. Trapinch couldn't do more damage, and this seemed not enough to faint the Rhyhorn. Before he could decide on his next move, Forrest commanded Rhyhorn to use Storming Tantrum. Rhyhorn started to thrash on the ground, rolling over and over until Trapinch at last needed to let go of his hold. "Bulldozer and horn attack, finish it!" The Rhyhorn smashed her front legs on the ground, sending a ripple that caused Trapinch to shortly lose his balance. Before he regained his footing, Rhyhorn had smashed onto him with another devastating horn attack. This time, Trapinch couldn't get up and Lenny recalled him. Whispering to the Pokéball that he was proud.

He released Fiore. Fiore looked back at Lenny, and gave a nod, while crossing his scythes. "Trapinch weakened this Rhyhorn, finish it!" "Lenny released his second Pokémon, a Scyther. Begin!" announced the referee Salvadore.

"Her left side is weakened. Use quick attack and fury cutter!" Fiore flashed forward, his wings creating a buzzing sound. The Rhyhorn was way too slow to track Fiore and seemed surprised when the first blade cut her on her already broken plate. Fiore didn't hold back and after four more consecutive slices with his scythes the Rhyhorn collapsed.

"Great job Fiore!" Lenny punched the air with excitement. He had brought a Gym Leader's Pokémon down! But he was not finished yet. As Forrest released his second Pokémon, he looked up to find Ruben and Rose, and to his great surprise, saw the white lab coat of Professor Oak, and the very proud figure of his father next to them. "How did they get here?" Lenny thought to himself, but quickly parked that thought to focus on the Geodude who now was floating on the opposing side of the battle field.

"Both Gym Leader Forrest and challenger Lenny are down one Pokémon. The decision is now to be made between Geodude and Scyther. Begin!" Salvadore dropped his flags again, and Geodude immediately started to throw rocks at Fiore. They had trained for this. Lenny knew that any hit would be fatal to Fiore, as flying types are vulnerable to rock type attacks. So far, Fiore had no problems with evading the rocks, due to his superior speed, but it was also not possible for him to get close. "Use vacuum wave and try to get close." Fiore slashed his blades, sending a wave of vacuum that slashed into Geodude. As Geodude needed a second to regain his wits, Fiore was over him and used a fury cutter attack, gaining a few hits on Geodude before Geodude punched Fiore backwards.

"Use stealth rock Geodude,"commanded Forrest. Geodude set up levitating pebbles all over the arena, limiting Fiore's ability to fly around. Lenny was worried, as he just did not have a logical counter to this. He knew upfront that he was at a type disadvantage in this gym. He grimaced. Fiore looked back at him with determination in his eyes. He knew how dedicated Fiore was, how badly he wanted to win this. He knew Fiore would not accept defeat, so why would he? He could see that Fiore had done quite some damage on Geodude already. "Use agility Fiore!" Fiore flew back, out of range of Geodude, who was throwing rocks again and opened his energy flows. Agility enabled his muscles to get access to more energy, and burn it faster. It allowed Pokémons to have a greater movement speed, exactly what Fiore needed right now.

"Get in his range again and when he picks up a bigger rock to throw, that's when you get close. Fly through the pebbles and just strike him with everything you got," Lenny announced his final tactic under his breath. Fiore slashed his blades to let Lenny know that he got it. He got closer, evaded a few of the rocks that Geodude was hurling at him, and then made his move. Almost too quickly for the eye to follow, Fiore shot forward, straight through the pebbles, who did their damage on Fiore. As Geodude was throwing the rock he had in its hand, Fiore dove underneath and was in range. In a blurry of slashes, he hit Geodude again and again, until at last, Geodude dropped to the ground and fainted.

He had won! He had won his first official gym match! Lenny ran forward to Fiore, the pebbles all dropped to the ground now, and wrapped him in a hug. Fiore was a bit surprised, but screeched in happiness. "Well done Lenny, your Scyther seems to have a lot of trust in you, for flying through those pebbles." Lenny looked from Forrest, who was standing next to him, to Scyther, who was covered in small, bloody cuts. The membrane of his wings was torn in some places as well.

Lenny couldn't help but beam with pride as the Gym Leader awarded him the Boulder Badge, a symbol of his triumph over the Pewter City Gym. "Well done, Lenny. You've proven yourself worthy of the Boulder Badge."

When Lenny entered the challenger's room, Ruben was waiting for him. "Congratulations!" he exclaimed, and gave Lenny a fist bump. "A good example creates following, right?" Lenny replied. "Best of luck to you and Iracundia! I'm sure you can do it too." And with that, Ruben walked through the sliding doors into the arena, and Lenny quickly made his way up to the spectators benches.

He took the seat next to Rose, but not before giving professor Oak a firm handshake and his dad a hug. He was seated just in time to see the referee announce the beginning of the match. It was going to be a one on one match, as Ruben only had one Pokémon. Forrest had released an Onix. Ofcourse, Onix has been the signature Pokémon of this gym for decades, but Rose told Lenny that this was a young specimen. To Lenny, it looked pretty fearsome nonetheless.

The initiative was clearly for Forrest and Onix. They set up a sand tomb, hurting and partly immobilizing Iracundia. After that, Onix hit Iracundia hard with a body slam and a rock throw. Iracundia, as Lenny knew, was only building up anger and ignoring the pain she felt. She leaped forward and hit Onix with a few quick punches. Onix retreated and dug underground on Forrests command. When it appeared behind Iracundia, it hit Iracundia straight in her back with another body slam. The Mankey was all but defeated now, and jumped on Onix! She landed a few punches on the back of Onix's head, momentarily fazing it. "Finish it with seismic toss!" shouted Ruben at the top of his voice. Iracundia jumped off the Onix, ran towards the end of its long tail and grabbed it. It ran forwards a few strides, pulling the Onix by its tail, and when Onix was outstretched, Iracundia jumped up and smashed Onix over her head, on the ground. A huge cloud of dust rose. Lenny was amazed by the power she must have in her tiny body to lift Onix. When the dust cleared, Onix lay defeated on the ground and Iracundia let everyone know that she won, before she tiredly collapsed to the ground.

«»

It was quite the company in the small lunchroom in Pewter. Professor Oak, Brock, Forrest, Leonard, Rose, Ruben and of course, Lenny. Some of their Pokémon were out too, his father's Gardevoir and Breloom, Brock's Croagunk, Rose's Azule the Oddish and Kappa the Lotad, and Trapinch and Fiore. Iracundia was passed out in the Pokecentre. Lenny had also brought Trapinch in and after a quick check by Nurse Joy he asked if Trapinch would be good enough to take him to lunch, Lenny really wanted Leonard and prof. Oak to see how much Trapinch had grown. Joy said it was okay as long as he would give him plenty of rest afterwards.

They talked lively about the gym battles and Brock and prof. Oak shared some great anecdotes of the times they were traveling. Forrest discussed some of the other gym leaders with them. While Lenny was catching up with his dad, he overheard Ruben saying in disbelief: "so you are saying that Ash Ketchum had all this amazing Pokémon, like Dragonite, Hawlucha, Primeape, and he just left them at professor Oak?" "It might seem very unreasonable for a young trainer, but it's actually very common that trainers switch around their teams for a variety of reasons. I guess the one that you're probably familiar with is the 6 Pokémon carry limit. There are very rational arguments why rookie trainers can only have 6 Pokémon with them, but the consequence is that it means you need to leave some of your Pokémon in someone's care, which could be a training school, a parent or a guardian such as prof Oak is. There's many corrals similar to Oak's spread out across the region."

"I would never leave Iracundia behind," Ruben replied matter-of-factly. "Well you know, if we take Ash for example, each Pokémon has it's own story. He once owned an impressive Pidgeot, who is now guarding the forests next to Pallet town and prefers that wild kind of lifestyle over training, battling and traveling, which I think is fair. He had a beautiful Butterfree that he released cause the Butterfree fell in love. His Charizard he left for a long while to train at the Charizard Valley, just as he had left his Primeape at a dojo. His Bulbasaur is actually the one who keeps all the other Pokémon at Oak corral in line." Oak nodded in agreement, "It would be a mess without him there."

"And I can continue for a while. Some Pokémon did not want to leave Kanto to explore other regions, other Pokémon tire of that battling or traveling lifestyle after a while and rather relax. And that is only talking about Ash's Pokémon. He got his Charizard for example because another trainer abandoned him, same as with his Gengar. Then there's also stories of Pokémon who release themselves by breaking their Pokéball. My own Pokémon have never been battlers, and I have never been that kind of trainer. My Pokémon help me with my breeding practices, or just like to be part of the family, just as people are unique and very different, so are Pokémon and it could happen that you'll encounter a Pokémon who you will at some point not be with you all the way."

Ruben and Lenny were hanging at Brock his lips. It was interesting to hear him talk about the fabled Ash Ketchum and although Lenny knew about the carry limit and that there are Pokémon who do not like to battle, it was different to hear it from such an experienced trainer. Rose had left the table for a bit and was apparently talking with Azule, Kappa and Leonard's Breloom. Lenny was reminded of his first day of traveling with Ruben, when he had asked so much questions about Breloom. Ruben was now getting up and joined the conversation with Breloom as well. Leonard paid the bill and asked them all to join him and Professor Oak outside.

On the field, Breloom was playfully spitting some bullet seeds at Kappa and Azule, while Ruben was around it asking it if it could show some punches. Croagunk was happy to volunteer and have a little showcasing spar to Ruben's delight. Forrest was explaining some things to Rose and Ruben.

"So, Trapinch is looking very good son." "I have seen quite a share of them, and it looks to be a healthy specimen," added Brock in agreement. Lenny's face shone with delight. "Thanks! I think it might actually be close to evolving, as he's growing and his skin is getting paler." Oak added in the conversation as well, "how is his ground control?" "It is a shame he's tired out now, I'd love to give a demonstration, although you've seen the gym battle. I think it's fairly good professor, but I don't know what to compare it to."

"Well as a former rock-type specialist, I know something about ground-types too and Trapinch is an interesting case, as it will gain wings upon evolution, so I will give you this one tip, do not evolve it too early and let it spend as much time in the ground as possible. Ground sense grows by being in contact with the earth and it develops slowly. For my Onix for example, it took a long time before he could battle with his eyes closed and only using ground sense. When your Trapinch evolves to a Vibrava, it will spend less time in contact with the ground, so it should have a good basis before then." Lenny nodded in enthusiasm, he had only wanted to evolve Trapinch as soon as possible as it would gain his draconic abilities and a boost in strength, he had never considered this aspect of its evolutionary line. "Thanks Brock, I will keep that in mind!".

Oak clapped his hands, "Alright then, time for gifts!" Lenny, Rose and Ruben looked up in surprise. Gifts! Leonard took over: "I am glad that you like my Breloom so much, Rose and Ruben. I was actually in Hoenn visiting my brother yesterday, who lives in Rustboro. I took my Breloom with me as he's originally from the forest south of Rustboro, which is a very popular breeding place for Shroomish. So while I was meeting my brother, Breloom went out into the forest and when he came back, he told me that this summer there had been a lot of newborn Shroomish. This is due to the falling population of Vigoroth's and the mild winter we had in Hoenn.. I'm trailing off. Anyway, Breloom met two Shroomish who loved the idea of traveling around the world, so,.." he looked at Ruben and Rose, who both held their breath in anticipation, "how would you like to train a Shroomish"?

"Yes!" "I'd love to!" "Omg, this is amazing!" Leonard smiled. And handed them both a Pokéball. "Thank you so much sir!" Ruben said, almost shyly compared to his normal demeanor. "Thank you sir Naighfield!" Rose added.

"Now before you release your new Pokémon, there is one more gift to be handed out," said professor Oak. "As you know Lenny, normally a kid from Pallet town gets a Tauros from the herd of Ash Ketchum, but this year the egg hatched a bit late. Every kid already had a starter so I thought I'd give it to the first kid from Pallet who wins a badge. Forrest called me yesterday when you checked in for a gym match, and here we are. Congratulations!" and he handed Lenny a Pókeball.

Lenny was in glee and thanked the professor with a hug. "I know you'll take good care of him, he is old enough to start some easy battles. Now kid, take good care of yourself too and if you need any help or advice, you know how to find me." Lenny nodded. "Thanks professor!" Oak walked over to say goodbye to the others, while his Alakazam had suddenly appeared next to him.

Lenny was now standing next to his father, a few feet away from the others."Dad.." Lenny started a bit hesitantly, not finding the right words. "It's okay son, I think I know what you want to say, it's okay." Leonard put his hand on Lenny's shoulder. Lenny's face cleared. "Thanks dad. It's just, I want to do this by myself you know. I will call you regularly of course, but it feels good when it's my adventure." "I get it son, it's truly okay". Lenny thought he heard a small block in his father's voice. He gave him a hug, said goodbye to Breloom and Gardevoir, who mentally told him how proud his father is of him, and then they teleported back home.

Brock and Forrest talked to Rose for a while, before they came to say their goodbye's. "If you two are a bit further in your journey, come visit, we can have a rematch." Said the gym-leader. Then they left and it was just Rose, Ruben and Lenny.

"So Lenny, how do you feel like traveling together a bit longer? I know I said only to Pewter, but I like this and feel like we can push and help each other. Rose would love to join as well." Ruben looked at Lenny, who had already kind of expected the question. "Yeah, I'd like that too. As long as we all get enough opportunities to battle." They all smiled. "Now, for more important things," Lenny said as he looked at the Pokéball Professor Oak had given him.

He barely noticed Ruben and Rose looking at their own new Pokéballs. He dropped to his knees and pressed the release button. Fiore was hovering close by. The red beam materialized in the familiar shape of a Tauros, although a very small one. It blinked a few times and looked around curiously, before settling his eyes upon Lenny. It mooed cutely. Lenny held out his hand and Tauros sniffed it and playfully bit in it. Lenny smiled. Tauros seemed happy too. "Hey small one. Professor Oak just handed you to me and I was wondering if you would like to travel with me. I think it is great fun." The Tauros mooed happily again and pressed his wet nose in Lenny's palm. "Great!" Lenny exclaimed. That's my Scyther over there, he's called Fiore. Fiore waved his scythe, even his stern attire seemed melted by the tiny Tauros. "Would you also like to have a nickname?" Tauros mooed enthusiastically in response. "So I have once ridden a Tauros as a kid, and his name was Teton. He was very impressive and very kind. Do you think Teton would be an honorable name for you?" The small Tauros jumped up on his short legs and kicked them wildly in the air. Like a Ponyta who is out in the field for the first time. Lenny laughed, "Teton it is."

"So, this is Teton, my new Tauros." Tauros mooed at Ruben and Rose. In turn, they introduced their new Shroomish. Toady, the female Shroomish of Ruben, and Cicuta, the male Shroomish that was now with Rose. "Toady huh, and you're the guy that came up with Iracundia?" Rose frowned at Ruben when he introduced his newest partner. Toady in turn released a cloud of stun spore at Rose at the insult. Cicuta immediately defended his trainer and tackled Toady. Lenny looked at Fiore who got in between the two fighting mushrooms and separated them. Lenny nodded his thanks to Fiore and when catching his eye, they both burst out in laughter at the funny image of the two small and fierce Shroomish. Ruben and Rose laughed as well.

«»

They had decided to spend the afternoon relaxing a bit more and spending time with their new Pokémon. The next morning they got up early to make it to the Pokécenter just outside the Mt. Moon entrance, where they would stay the night. It wasn't a full day of walking, but if they would leave early enough they'd plenty of time to battle the trainers they would come across.

"Hey look, it's the Hoenn boy," Lenny looked up from his bowl of yoghurt with fruit and nuts, to see his annoying former classmate Victor standing next to his table, three Pokéballs visible at his belt. Rose and Ruben frowned at him. "What a way to start a day," replied Lenny with sarcasm. "This is Victor, he's from Pallet and the first trainer I beat." Rose and Ruben mumbled a greeting but Victor ignored them. "I want a rematch, last time your Hoenn Pokémon did my Charmander dirty. This time I'm way stronger." "Well you should think twice Victor, I already have my Boulder Badge," he said teasingly. "No way. Forrest is unavailable today so I need to wait till tomorrow. Kicking your ass would be a nice warm-up!" Victor could not hide his frustration as Lenny showed him the Badge. "Well, let me finish my breakfast and we'll go outside to the training fields."

"I received a new Pokémon from Professor Oak yesterday, he's very young but I want to try and battle with him. Let's make it a 2v2?" "Sure, I have a recent capture that I would like to see battling as well." Lenny released Teton who looked back at him happily. "Cool! You got the baby Tauros this year, well done Hoenn boy. But he won't help you against my new Ledyba." A small bug Pokémon appeared on the field. It had a small round body, coloured red with black dots. It also had large, round eyes and a pair of black antennae and most distinguishing where thesix legs, which seems to be formed like boxing gloves. It was slighty bigger than Teton. A Ledyba, Lenny had seen and battled some in the Viridian Forest. This would be a nice test for Teton, Lenny thought.

Ruben, who volunteered to referee, signaled them that the match had started. Ledyba immediately spread its wings and got two feet in the air. The frequency with which its wings were zooming reminded of Fiore's wings. Since Teton only really knew three moves, tackle, tail whip and work up, Lenny ordered to tackle the bug Pokémon. Teton picked up speed and jumped, only for Ledyba to evade him. Teton however, quickly spun around and tackled Ledyba with his right horn. "Great job Teton! First hit is for us. Keep your focus." At Victor's command, Ledyba dove down and used bug bite in Teton's side. Teton seemed largely unfazed by the impact. Lenny took a mental note to further test how durable Teton was. "Get away Teton and use work up." Teton ran back to Lenny's side of the field and took a moment to channel his aggression. He looked fiercely up at Ledyba. While Ledyba's wing where moving fast, it didn't nearly have the speed of Fiore. In fact, it already seemed tired out a bit. "Keep on tackling it!" commanded Lenny. Teton was now chasing Ledyba around the field, until Ledyba was tired out and Teton hit it square in the back. Victor sighed as he recalled his bug. "I hoped Ledyba could help me defeat Forrest, but I'm not so sure."

"Great job Teton, you did amazing." Teton seemed a bit cooled down and mooed happily at Lenny. "Come over here, buddy, you can watch the next battle from the side." Lenny had already decided that he wanted to use Fiore. Trapinch was fully recovered from his battle yesterday, but he wanted Trapinch to save his energy for the long day ahead. Being a bug-type, Fiore could quickly recover, if he would not get any serious damage at least, just a few hours in his Pokéball would be enough.

Fiore materialized on the battlefield and immediately crossed his scythes over each other. Victor whistled through his teeth, impressed by the Scyther before him. "Nice Hoenn boy. When you go for Kantonian Pokémon, you definitely pick the cool ones." "Thanks Victor. I guess I have been lucky so far." "Well, he looks strong enough to give my Charmander a worthy spar!" upon which Victor released his starter. Lenny had kind of expected him to use his Charmander and wasn't too distraught by the type disadvantage. It would be a nice test for Fiore.

Fiore looked upon Charmander. While Charmander had something cute over him, he tried to look as intimidating as possible. Fiore didn't seem that impressed, but he eyed the flame tail of Charmander warily. "Avoid any flames he throws your side. Use quick attack to get close whenever you can and hit him with Fury Cutters. Start with a silver wave." Fiore did not have too many attacking options yet. His Wing Attack was barely used in battles, he should start training on that more.

Fiore released a silver wave going towards Charmander, which he burned away with an Ember attack. At the same time, Fiore was flying towards Charmander from the side and got a Fury Cut in on the reptilian body, before he needed to dodge a Fire Fang. "Smokescreen Charmander, keep it at distance." Charmander opened its mouth and released a heavy, thick smoke. Lenny couldn't see anything anymore. "Use Agility and Pursuit." The Agility greatly enhanced Fiore's speed, but also meant he would not last in a long fight. Pursuit made it possible for Fiore to sense Charmander in the thick cloud of smoke, and hit him. Lenny waited tensely. Then he heard Charmander cry out. When the smoke cleared, Charmander was on one knee and Fiore looked triumphantly down at him. "Great Fi.." halfway in his praise, Lenny stopped. Charmander started to glow a brilliant white. His whole body was covered in this glow and his body started morphing, growing. His tail extended, out of his head came a sort of horn-like protrusion, his claws extended. When the glow faded away into his huge tailflame, it was a Charmeleon who was on one knee. He got up and looked menacing. All the cuteness he possessed as a Charmander was gone. "Way to go Charmeleon!" exclaimed Victor.

Fiore looked surprised and was too slow to dodge an ember to his face. He quickly regained his wits and jumped into the air again. He was ready for a second round against this stronger opponent. He used his speed again to come close, but this time he found that it was not so easy to hit his opponent. The Charmeleon blocked most of his Fury Cutters, although he landed some hits. Than Charmeleon stopped trying to block, but instead launched a flamethrower straight in Fiore's lithe romp. Fiore looked aggressively at the Charmeleon, who fired another flamethrower at him. He slashed his blades together to release a vacuum wave, which smothered the first part of the flamethrower, but the Charmeleon kept the flamethrower up and just before it was about to hit Fiore, Lenny returned him.

"Good job, but let's leave it at this," he whispered to his Pokéball. They had a long day ahead and he knew that if he wouldn't interrupt, Fiore would continue until he was unconscious or victorious. "Congratulations on the evolution Victor, and you too Charmeleon, that's amazing!" "It definitely won't hurt our chances against Forrest. His Metal Claw will have way more power now." Victor looked with awe at his starter. "Thanks for the battle Lenny. It is not often that Charman- I mean Charmeleon is pushed that far, I'm sure you helped him trigger his evolution."

"Well, I guess this battle is a draw then. Looking forward to our next one." "Me too Hoenn boy." They both smiled. They talked a bit more of how their travels had been so far. Victor's third Pokémon was a Pidgeotto, giving him two evolved Pokémon already. After a few minutes, they bade each other farewell and went their separate ways. Ready for more adventures. Lenny was sure that Victor would win the Boulder Badge, and seeing an evolution up close, he felt even more determined to improve himself and his team every day.

«»

The closer they got, they more impressive Mt. Moon was looming over them. The entirety of it was bathed in a radiant sunshine. The path between Pewter City and the base of Mt. Moon was the busiest Lenny had traveled on, so far. It was a lot of fun. There were mostly rookie trainers like them, who started out in Cerulean City or even Saffron City. All three of the trainers got plenty of opportunities to challenge those trainers. Trapinch and Fiore were pushed to their limits against some of the trainers who were carrying one or two badges. They battled a Pikachu, a Marill, a Hitmonchan, a Drowzee, a Pidgeotto, a Radicate, a Geodude. Next to the plenty of trainers carrying Pidgeys, standard Bug Pokémon and Rattata's ofcourse. He only got into trouble once, when an older gentleman with a gray moustache took out Trapinch with a Krabby and when Fiore easily defeated the Krabby, a Growlithe was send out next. Fiore made it a true battle, but the Growlithe was experienced enough to turn his type advantage into coins for his trainer, signing Lenny's only defeat for the day.

Whenever Lenny could, he would send out Teton to battle as well. He was already growing really fond of the young Tauros. He had plenty of energy and was happily looking at Lenny with his tongue sticking out of his mouth every time he beat a Pokémon. Basically, he was just chasing his opponents around until he got a tackle in, a strategy that worked really well against most other fairly young Pokémon.

The two Shroomish did not have his energy and after a few battles they were tired out and did not see any more battles. Whenever they were having a break they would love to come out and bask in the sunlight. The difference between them was interesting, Rose's Shroomish was graceful, proud and seemed to absorb the environment every time he was out of his Pokéball, whereas Ruben's Shroomish was fierce, quick to anger and only focused on Ruben. Iracundia was also a magnificent battler ofcourse, overpowering her opponents with her inborn aggression.

Lenny also enjoyed watching Rose battle. She was smart, relying a lot on strategy, on slowing or stunning her opponents, before finishing them. Her Oddish, Azule, was particularly good at this, while Kappa the Lotad was trying to improve his water based attacks. Both of her Pokémon however were not very durable and once her opponent got a hit in, they were quickly in trouble. Out of the three of them, Rose lost some battles, Ruben lost three times, but he only had one true battling Pokémon.

There were also plenty of young wild Pokémon around, mostly small Nidoran and bird Pokémon, but also the occasional Jigglypuff and Ekans. Lenny considered catching one but thought he should first focus on preparing Trapinch for a smooth evolution and help Teton grow into a true battler. There would be plenty of opportunities to catch more Pokémon later on.

While enjoying the talks with Rose and Ruben, Lenny also cherished the silent moments in between. If the sun was basking on his face, and he had one of his three Pokémon with him, in those moments he felt a deep gratitude for being a trainer. There were cold nights of course, but he wouldn't change this lifestyle for the world.

After a long day of walking and traveling, the red-painted roof of the Pokécenter appeared. After checking in and leaving their Pokémon to get a check-up by Nurse Joy, they went to their rooms. Lenny had paid for an extra box of sand again, keeping the advice of professor Oak in his mind. Trapinch should be in touch with ground or sand as often as possible, and besides, his friend deserved a comfortable sleep after winning so much today.

After refreshing, he met Rose and Ruben for dinner in the cafeteria. There were some other trainers relaxing around, having their dinner, watching some tv or engaging in conversation. The table next to them was occupied by a trainer who appeared to be slightly older than them, having long blue hair and wearing goggles on her forehead. He nodded as they sat down to eat.

Halfway through their dinner, Nurse Joy came up to Lenny and handed him his Pokeballs. "Your Scyther and Tauros are looking fine. So is your Trapinch, I was only going to mention that he could use a bit of extra protein since he's getting so close to evolving. I took the liberty to send his blood samples over to my cousin in Lavaridge Town in Hoenn, you should go there once, I went on my vacation last year and those hot springs are just amazing" Nurse joy smiled at the memory. "Anyway, I'm carrying away, my cousin is familiar with the Trapinch line and advised to give him some extra protein, so I did. I made a receipt for you as well, you can pick up some supplements at the next Pokémarkt you'll come across. I do have some extra for you that should last you a few days however." "Thank you Nurse Joy, that's so kind of you! You're amazing!" Lenny took his Pokéballs and put them on his belt, and put the extra protein supplements in his pocket.

When Nurse Joy walked away, the blue-haired trainer at the next table starting talking to them. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I could not help overhearing that you have a Trapinch. I'd love to see it, if that's alright. How about we go for a little battle after dinner?" Lenny considered this for a moment, he actually thought both him and his Pokémon deserved some rest. Upon seeing Lenny's doubt, the trainer added "I'll send out my Dratini, it should be a fun match-up."

Wow! A Dratini! Those were notoriously rare and evolved into the strongest Pokémon in Kanto, a Dragonite. Most people were not even lucky enough to see one in their life, unless they went to one of Lance's exhibit matches, but he was offered to battle one.

The blue-haired trainer smiled at Lenny's expression. "So I guess I'll see you outside in 15 min's? My name is Ozana by the way." And she offered his hand. "Lenny, and yeah, see you outside!".

Ruben and Rose were as excited as Lenny was. "Lucky bastard" Ruben mumbled while hitting Lenny's shoulder. When they went to the field next to the Pokécenter – this one didn't have training fields as it was mostly used as an overnight stay, opposed to the ones in the city where trainers would often spend multiple nights – they saw Ozana waiting on them. A blue serpent-like body was wrapped around her torso. The head of the Dratini was resting on her shoulder, it had three fins on both side of its head and a small bump on its forehead. It had intelligent purple eyes and a white snout. Lenny thought that this was the most graceful Pokémon he had ever seen before.

Ozana laughed at their faces. "Glad you made it, Lenny! And Rose and Ruben too. There might be some more time to appreciate this small beauty after our battle, but I'm dying to see your Trapinch."

Lenny smiled. "Sure, let's go then!" he said as he released Trapinch. "Hi buddy, we're going to battle this Dratini, if you're up for it." Trapinch grunted in his usual manner and took position in front of Lenny. He recognized draconic energy, but was not nearly as awed by the Dratini as his human companions. The Dratini slithered down from Ozana and took place opposite of Trapinch.

"Mudshot buddy!" "Evade it Pearl." Trapinch hurled mud at the Dratini, who slithered to the side with ease. "Keep it up. Throw mud balls at it." Lenny come up with this idea yesterday and it was easy for Trapinch to use. Rather than keeping up a continuous stream of mud, he would now release small bursts of mud, making it a less energy intense move and keeping the opponent on the move. "Keep evading it. Try and use agility." The Dratini was very agile and was able to keep moving around the mud balls, without being hit. When Trapinch needed a small moment to refocus his energy, Dratini used agility to increase it's speed further. "Use Water Jet, Pearl." Apparently, Ozana had decided to take over the initiative and move into attacking. "Dig, quickly!" Lenny ordered instantly. Before the water jet was upon him, Trapinch moved underground. Dratini looked around, waiting for his opponent to show. Lenny knew Trapinch would take his time. Since Dratini was on agility, its energy would be burning faster than it normally would. When Trapinch decided it was enough, he burst up next to Dratini and used his strong Bite attack, just behind Dratini's head. "Dragon Tail!" Dratini's tail was covered in green, draconic energy. Lenny had only ever seen the draconic energy on tv-battles. "Get away!" he shouted. But Trapinch was too slow, before he released Dratini from his jaws, the dragon tail hit him on his back.

Trapinch quickly ran back towards Lenny's side of the field. It did take a hit but he was durable enough to shake it off and continue fighting. The bite attack had did a number on the Dratini as well. It was an interesting matchup, Lenny was thinking to himself. "Use bulldoze and mudshot." He murmured softly. "Get close and use Aqua tail," Lenny overheard Ozana say. Not trying to hide her commands as Lenny was. "Wait. Wait." He told Trapinch quietly. Dratini was quickly covering the distance. It was close now, Lenny could see a layer of water forming around it's tail. "NOW!" Trapinch got on his hind legs and when he smashed his front legs down, ripples spread out from the area of impact, and hit the Dratini. Who was momentarily air-borne. Trapinch quickly released a mudshot, and since the Dratini was so close, there was no time for it to dodge now. The mud hit it straight in the face and covered its eyes.

"Hit it with Tackle and if it's still standing use Bite again!" Trapinch ran forward and slammed with his full weight into the lighter Dratini. The Dratini was trying to get away, but the mud in its eyes greatly reduced its movement speed. Just before Trapinch could close his jaws on it, Ozana recalled it. He smiled at Lenny and Trapinch. "I give up. What a fun battle." Rose and Ruben applauded and Lenny complimented Trapinch. Even though they won most of their battles, it never got boring, especially not against a rare dragon-type.

"Your Trapinch has a lot of potential Lenny. His ground-control is amazing." "Thanks, he is my starter. I am actually trying to get his ground-control to improve a bit more before he get's to evolve into a Vibrava." Ozana nodded. "Makes sense. Well since you.." before she could finish her sentence, Ruben interrupted them: "How did you get the Dratini?! It's beautiful. Did you win in at the Game Corner? Is it hard to handle? Dragon types are notoriously so right? It looked like it listened really well to you. I cannot imagine it being a hard Pokémon to train." Ruben was spurting out questions rapidly. Ozana just smiled. "Geez. Let her answer mr. Wannabe Rapper." Rose told Ruben, who answered with a mean look.

"I get these questions more often than I care for" Ozan started, to which Ruben looked a bit embarrassed, "but I guess that's what happens when I'm showcasing my super rare Dratini. You should see the looks though when I release my Dragonair." At this, their jaws dropped to the floor. "You have a Dragonair too?!" Ruben was the one who came to his senses first.

Ozana was laughing out loud now. "I guess I should give you an explanation after dropping it like that. I'm sorry, I'm just playing with you. I'm a Waturu, the ancient Clan of Dragon-type trainers from Blackthorn City." If their jaws could fall any further, they would have. "Next thing you're going to say is that you're Champions Lance's youngest sister?" Lenny asked smiling.
"Close haha, Lance is my cousin. As is Claire, the Blackthorn City Gym Leader. It has quite some benefits you know, the name in my passport helped me quite a lot in getting Pearl and Lucie, my Dragonair. So before you're getting cold in this wind with your mouths open like that, I suggest you can close them now, I want to make you an offer Lenny."
Lenny frowned, confused but in high anticipation. "When your Trapinch evolves into a Vibrava, I'd like you to train with me for a week."
Lenny's heart jumped at the opportunity to train with a Dragon-type specialist! "Yes! Yes ofcourse! I'd love to! Do you hear that buddy, you want that too right?!" Trapinch rumbled in agreement. "Great. So that's a deal then." Ozana smiled.

"Wait, two questions," Ruben said. "First, can I and Rose come too?"

"If it's all the same to Lenny, you're very welcome. Although I would be a bit surprised if you have dragons too."
Ruben explained that he was a fighting-type specialist and Rose a grass-type specialist, at least, they are training to become specialists. But training with more an experienced trainer, who was obviously very good if she had a frigging Dragonair, that would be a huge opportunity for every trainer.

"And second question" he put his index finger and middle finger up in the air, "Why?"

Lenny looked at Ruben to shut him up. He could only ruin his deal by being skeptical. Ozana laughed, "that is actually a very good question. So I am a Dragon-type specialist right. But I have never got the opportunity to work with a Vibrava, let alone a Flygon up close. I try to be very thoughtful about my team planning, it is not like dragon types are just flying around and hitting you in the head. So I am actually curious to see the abilities of one up close and determine if I think the Flygon-line would be a valuable asset to my team. They're interesting in the family of dragons. Garchomp has the same typing, but relies way more on its draconic energies than Flygons usually do, who are truly rulers of the desert. So I just like to get to know them a bit better, but also to see how hard it is to train a Ground-type Dragon."

Ozana released Pearl. Ruben, Rose and Lenny looked at her closely and she loved the attention. Trapinch was getting slightly jealous and spat some mud at Lenny's shoes. Ozana said that next to Pearl and the Dragonair, she also owned a Charmeleon, a Noibat and a Swablu. Lenny told her that his dad has an Altaria too. Ozana looked at Trapinch more closely and commented on his rough skin, the little studs revealed where the wings would come up after his evolution. They exchanged their Pokenav details, and after that, Rose, Ruben and Lenny retreated to bed.

Back in their room, Teton was curled up as a small bundle at Lenny's feet. Trapinch was in a box of sand on the floor and Fiore was sitting on his pillow, his favourite sleeping position.

Cute snoring sounds came from Teton's direction. "One day we are going to be so strong guys. We already are. But I know we can grow into so much. I am lucky to have you as my family."

Trapinch rumbled in response, the sound of stone crushing. Fiore reaffirmed, saying "Scythe" and crossed his scythes over each other. Teton continued snoring.

«»

Mt. Moon was spacious. Lenny had imagined tight spaces, the need to crawl through them and definitely not the chance to walk upright. The tunnel was so large, he thought two fully grown Onix could move through it side-by-side. Every few feet, the League had places some dim lights. There were many crooks and pathways leading away from the main path, but they were smart enough to not wander there. At the entrance it was said that it was discouraged to battle in there, especially for high-level trainers, unless to defend. It was not disallowed, but especially more powerful Pokémon had the ability to damage the stability of the tunnel network. So the three trainers refrained from battling some of the other rookie's they encountered.

Fiore was in his Pokéball, disliking the lack of sunshine and fresh air. Teton was his happy little self and Trapinch reveled in the tunnel system, completely covered in ground. He would dig through the ground at speeds that Lenny didn't know he could keep up for an extended period. He would often leave the group and explore the caves on his own. Lenny let him, happy for his buddy to enjoy this environment and also knowing that it would be very good for his ground sense and control.

They saw large swarms of Zubat, hanging upside down from the ceiling. While an individual Zubat would not be threatening to basically any trainer, their strength was in numbers. Next to the Zubat, they also saw a group of five Geodudes, carrying rocks into one of the dark side-tunnels. They were lucky enough to get a glimpse of a Sandshrew among a few Paras, who fled when they heard them approach. As he did with every wild Pokémon, Lenny considered trying to capture one of the residential Pokémon. But like yesterday, he decided he would focus on his current partners first.

They only got attacked once, when there was a Golbat present in the group of Zubat. It took the combined efforts of their Pokémon to handle the swarm. The Shroomish were covering the swarm of Zubat with Stun Spore, paralyzing most of them. As soon as they would fly low enough, Teton would tackle them, before he got confused by a Supersonic attack and ran headfirst against a rock. Kappa, the Lotad, rapidly fired water guns at the Zubat to scare them off. Fiore, Iracundia and Azule were the main battlers focusing on the Golbat. The Golbat was ferocious and a tricky opponent. It evaded most of their attacks and only Fiore was really agile enough to keep up with it. It used a Bite attack on Iracundia and the moment it did, Azule released Sleep Powder, hitting both Iracundia and the Golbat. Now the Golbat was drowsy, it was easy for Fiore to hit it with Fury Cutter, sluggish and hurt, the Golbat retreated into the dark cave system and the swarm of Zubats followed.

Lenny sighed in relief, he had experienced some tense moments and his heart rate was still up. Just as he turned to release Teton from his Pokéball to check on him after recalling him during the battle, Trapinch appeared from below. Lenny smiled at his confused face. "You're late buddy, stay closer next time alright?"

"Inch."

"Why did your Oddish spray my Iracundia with sleeping powder? She's going to be furious when she wakes up!" Ruben looked as angry as his Mankey often looked.

"Wow. Sorry for saving your ass. That Golbat was biting with enough force to take Iracundia out. Azule did great." Rose replied while lifting Azule.

"That Golbat was not strong enough to take Iracundia out. She's way stronger than you think." Ruben turned his back on Rose.

"I think we showed some amazing teamwork here guys. Both your Shroomish did great too." Lenny tried sheepishly, but both Rose and Ruben did not seem interested in continuing this conversation.

Rose was feeding an Oran berry to her three Pokémon. She always carried tons of them, one of the benefits of having a traveling companion, Lenny thought. Teton silently approached Cicuta, Rose's Shroomish, asking for a bite. When Rose noticed this, she opened her backpack to get another Oran berry for Teton. As she did so, Teton gave her a friendly headbutt against her leg and the sudden movement caused Rose to lose her balance, dropping the Oran berry as a result. The berry tumbled over the ground, bounced against a rock and rolled around the corner. When Teton ran after it, he mooed happily and loudly. Rose and Lenny looked at each other in confusion, and walked over to Teton.

When they rounded the corner, they found Teton happily sharing his Oran berry with a Paras. The medium sized Paras had the berry between its pinchers and offered Teton another bite, before taking one itself. Rose looked on amazed.

"That Paras is so cute! Look at those big saucer eyes." She knelt down and took a small candy from her pocket, and laughed when the Paras ate it out of her hand. She quickly looked up at Lenny, an unspoken question in her eyes. Lenny nodded. He had decided he did not want more partners as of now. Besides, it was her berry that lured the Paras, even though Teton technically found Paras first.

"If you like that Paras, you could come travel with me and my friends, and I'll promise there will always be plenty of snacks available for you."

Paras' eyes lit up at the mention of snacks. It made a cheerful sound and Rose cheered loudly. She took an empty Pokéball and captured the Paras, releasing it immediately again.

"Let me just scan you on my Pokédex alright cutie?"

Paras, the mushroom Pokémon. Paras has parasitic mushrooms growing on its back called tochukaso. They grow large by drawing nutrients from this Bug Grass Pokémon host. They are highly valued as a medicine for extending life. This Paras is male and knows the moves Scratch, Stun Spore, Light Screen, and Poison Powder.

Lenny retreated to give Rose some space to introduce her newest partner to her family, and after a few minutes she came to introduce 'Maka' to Ruben and Lenny. Ruben had fully forgotten his earlier anger and was happy for Rose that her team was growing.

«»

"It's interesting to me that Ozana is doing so much research before catching a Pokémon. It seems smart, but also a bit cold, calculating, it's too much planning for me." Lenny voiced his thoughts that he had been having since meeting Ozana.

"I think it makes sense. Maybe it's even what might eventually get you to raise above the bulk of trainers. If you only catch strong Pokémon you will become a strong trainer." Ruben shared his thoughts.

"I think I am more with Lenny on this. Our Shroomish are no strong Pokémon. But we like them and we see their potential. I think a great trainer should be able to get every Pokémon strong. And just like my know-all-prodigy-eldest-sibling said, not all Pokémon want to battle right. But that doesn't mean that they can't be part of my family."

"Hmmm.. I only want Pokémon who want to battle. Otherwise Iracundia would never accept them, she needs team members who can push back on her."

Rose sighed, "sounds like healthy team dynamics." Ruben threw her a look, but before he could reply Lenny chipped in.

"Maybe it's different when you're planning on becoming a specialist. But I never dreamed of having either a Trapinch, a Scyther or a Tauros. And I'm so happy I got to meet them and they're all awesome. But I'm sure here in this big-ass mountain, there's plenty of powerful Pokémon too. Like those Geodude we saw, or Maka. Point being, team-planning takes away the opportunity for chance encounters and I do think the universe will give you the team you need, if only you're open for it."

"All good mister wise guy sage. But I'm looking forward to catching a Poliwag, which will be my next aim. I also want a Machamp, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee and I think a Hitmontop would also fit in nicely." Ruben counted on his fingers as he named his favourite team.

"Must be nice for Toady to know he's the unwanted child," sneered Rose.

Ruben immediately picked Toady up. "No, she's the unexpected gift that was kindly given by mr. Naighfield."

Toady released a Sweet Scent in response as she was crushed in a hug by Ruben. Ruben coughed to the thick sweet air.

"I'm not planning myself. But sticking to a type helps to determine whether I want a Pokémon or not. Not judging you Lenny, but I feel like I can help my Pokémon the best when I understand their nature. Which is also why I want to study with Erika. To really get to the fundamentals of what it means to train Grass-type Pokémon."

"I've been thinking about that, maybe I will stay for a while at the Fighting-Dojo in Saffron City. When Brock said that Ash Ketchum's Primeape was training there, I mean, it must be so cool to train with all those Fighting-type Pokémon and see Iracundia kick their asses!" Toady released a small puff of Stun Spore which made Ruben sneeze. "And Toady will kick their asses too of course."

Lenny and Ruben laughed.

"I guess we'll see what Arceus has in store for us. I just feel so lucky to have met Trapinch, Fiore and Teton and I'm sure I will meet many more amazing partners which will help me to take a place in the Conference. Do you aim for the Conference too, Rose?"

"I'm not actually sure. My goal is not like yours to become the strongest trainer who ever lived and all that blabla. For now I'm just content to learn about my Pokémon. But you've seen my battling and I know my team is strong enough to make it there, so I might. I'm definitely planning on challenging the Cerulean gym when we'll get there. And at some point this year I'm going to challenge Forrest and make him pay for all the times he picked at me for preferring Grass types!"

They sat down for a break in a little cavern just next to the main tunnel. It just happened to be the case that Trapinch, Lotad and the two Shroomish were sitting together and Trapinch and Kappa were heavily engaged in conversation, with the two Shroomish snatching food from each other's bowls. Fiore was making conversation with his fellow Bug-type Maka, Iracundia was still a bit drowsy and sat by herself, Teton and Azule were sitting with their trainers.

Lenny wasn't sure what caused it, although he suspected Toady. But at one point Cicuta screamed out loud with a shrill high-pitched sound. Kappa in her turn fired a Water-gun between the two Shroomish and in the confusion, Lenny noticed Trapinch closing his eyes. He often did so when he used his ground sense. Lenny looked around just in time to see a big yellow Pokémon hiding behind a big rock. Iracundia had noticed it too and shook the last of her sleepiness off, quickly getting to her feet and diving behind the rock. The yellow Pokémon ran away, Iracundia in a fit of anger chasing after him.

"Stop Iracundia!" Ruben shouted. But when she was like this she was not the best listener, and she continued chasing the bipedal Pokémon. Lenny noticed that it was covered in thick fat with a sort of ribbon on its round head.

As it was locked in a corner, it suddenly turned around and threw one of it glove-like fists straight into Iracundia's face. Iracundia was stunned for a second and Lenny couldn't help but notice a small smile on Ruben's face. He knew that eager look and could imagine how this would play out.

Iracundia scratched the Pokémon a few times, while also collecting a few punches herself. In the end, Ruben told her to use a Low Kick and when Iracundia listened this time the Pokémon fell over with its feet swept from underneath it, Ruben threw a Pokéball.

Iracundia looked irritated when her target disappeared and skulked away in a corner. Ruben turned to look at Lenny and Rose, his face full of glee. "I think I just captured a Mahukita!" he exclaimed.

Lenny smiled at his happy face and congratulated him. Ruben was quick to anger and would just as easily let it slide again. "Congratulations! But help me out mastermind, I thought your next Pokémon would be a Poliwhirl or a Machop?" Rose teased Ruben.

"Oh will you shut up please. I have just captured an awesome Fighting-type, who cares about team-planning!" Ruben laughed. "Iracundia, Toady, be nice. I'm going to release our newest companion." Iracundia still seemed irritated that her prey was taken away before her, but the worst of her anger had gone. Mahukita appeared and looked around a bit confused. When it spotted Iracundia, it immediately raised his glove like fists. "Hi Mahukita, Iracundia won't harm you anymore. But I can let you two spar later if you want to." Mahukita responded with a grin. "I am Ruben, I caught you in a Pokéball and hope you want to come with me. I am training fighting-types and I think you have the right spirit for it!" Mahukita seemed to consider this for a moment and when it eyed Iracundia again, it turned back to Ruben and punched it fist into the air. Apparently, that meant it would travel with their growing company.

Ruben scanned Mahukita with his Pokédex. Makuhita is tenacious - it will keep getting up and attacking its foe however many times it is knocked down. Every time it gets back up, this Pokémon stores more energy in its body for evolving. It eats a lot of food, gets plenty of sleep, and it trains very rigorously. This Mahukita is male and knows the following moves: tackle, focus energy, sand attack, arm thrust, bullet punch and fake out.

"So you love to eat huh? I'm sure my mom would love you!"

After Ruben had dubbed Mahukita as 'Tank', they packed up their lunch and continued down the tunnel.

«»

"Do you guys think that Tank came to us because he heard Cicuta shout?" Ruben asked Lenny and Rose. They were at three quarters of the mountain and most of their Pokémon had been in their balls after lunch. Trapinch was out exploring and Rose was carrying her Lotad Kappa, but the others got tired of their long walks. Iracundia, Fiore and Azule were released in turns to chase off any wild Pokémon that got some wrong ideas in their head. Right now it was Fiore who was walking with the group.

"It could be. I think our Hoenn Pokémon were sitting together and were chattering. Maybe Tank recognized some sounds from when he was still in Hoenn?" Lenny offered.

"It's funny right, how they all seem to speak the same language? Well, maybe speak is not the right word, but you get it." Rose joined in.

"I think they talked about this in Biology classes, but I was too bored to pay attention. As soon as I could I dropped it for more Physical Exercise classes. Do you remember Mister Bouillard Rose? With his large moustache. There was this one time when he made me do all those push-ups, I think at least a hundred, because I had pranked that nerdy kid. It was just a prank, we locked him in one of those, Ah!" Ruben stepped back with a shout, as dirt erupted from the ground in front of him.

Trapinch had returned from his explorations, but normally he would return very calm, gentle. Right now he was worked up. He nodded his head in the direction that they were going. There was a split coming up, with a signing saying that the tunnel that curved to the right side, was going to Cerulean, and a warning sign for the other tunnel, warning that only strong trainers with at least 5 badges should go there.

"What is it buddy?" Lenny kneeled down in front of Trapinch. Trapinch put his foot down and a small crack appeared from where they were standing to the left tunnel. "You want us to go there? It says it's dangerous." Trapinch nodded frantically at the last part. "So you agree it is dangerous buddy?" Trapinch nodded again. "And you are sure we need to go there?" Trapinch rumbled.

Lenny looked up at Rose and Ruben. Ruben shrugged. "It seems very important to Trapinch, so I think we should go, but we should be on our guard." Trapinch rumbled in agreement again. "I don't like this Lenny. There is surely trouble ahead. Shouldn't we just get out of this mountain ASAP?" Rose said, obviously feeling very uncomfortable in the situation.

"No. People might need our help. Trapinch wouldn't send us there for nothing. You can do what you want, but I'm going." Lenny's face steeled. He was not one to refuse to help someone. "I am with Lenny." Ruben nodded, his hands on his belt with his Pokéballs. Rose sighed, "okay then, but please be careful. The safety of our Pokémon and ourselves goes first alright." The two boys agreed and they all released their Pokémon. Before they could give any instructions, Trapinch grumbled with his voice that sounded like grinding stones, and all of their Pokémon paid rapt attention, even Iracundia. If he wouldn't be so tensed, Lenny would be amazed by this showcasing of leadership of his starter.

He and the two other trainers had no clue what they would walk into, but their Pokémon seemed prepared. Ahead of the trainers walked Fiore, Iracundia, Teton, Azule, Tank and in the middle of them was Trapinch. Kappa, the two Shroomish, and Maka were covering the sides. Lenny doubted whether the Shroomish should not be returned to their Pokéball, as they were by far the weakest Pokémon they had with them, but they both seemed determined to help out, so Ruben and Rose let them.

They took the left tunnel and after about a hundred feet, they saw light flooding from across the corner. As they came closer, they became of a thundering sound. It was like a beat, rhythmic, and every time the sound came, the ground shook along with it. Trapinch said something and all the Pokémon slowed down. Trapinch closed his eyes and used his ground sense, before continuing. They carefully rounded the corner and entered a large open space. While it should've been dark since there were no League lamps anymore, the cave was clearly lit by those bright construction lamps. To their left, there was a huge boulder that all their Pokémon silently rushed towards, and the trainers did so too. While ducking low and sprinting towards the boulder, Lenny quickly looked up into the massive space and saw some sort of cage made up of rocky stalagmites and to his horror, he saw young trainers in there!

Once they reached the boulder, he quickly regained his breath. "Did you see that?! There were trainers in a cage!" He whispered quiet but frantic to Rose and Ruben. "I didn't, but did you see all those guys at the back? There were at least ten of them," Ruben whispered back. "Shit, I hate this," Rose said and Azule came to comfort her. "There was also a guy in a white lab coat. Like Professor Oak always wears," Rose said. All the while the trembling of the ground and the rhythmic beating continued.

Lenny moved to the side of the boulder and when Trapinch nodded, he peeked around the corner. First his eyes were drawn to the made-up cage. He could see nine trainers, but he expected there to be more. He asked Trapinch silently, and pointed his index finger up, Trapinch nodded, Lenny moved his index finger up again, and Trapinch nodded again. This way he discerned that there were fourteen trainer's locked up in that cage. Another idea came to his mind. He carved a large square in the dirt by using a pebble. With a cross he marked their current position in the lower left corner. He asked Trapinch were the Pokémon of those trainers where. Trapinch tapped his foot and in the opposing corner on the long side of where they were, a small rock popped up in the lower right corner.

"Great buddy," he whispered. "Where is the pounding coming from?" A slightly bigger rock appeared on the map, in the middle of the wall on the upper side.

"Is it a Pokémon?" Trapinch nodded in response.

With the same counting mechanism they used before, Lenny learned that there were twelve of the bad guys around, of which two were guarding the Pokéballs of the other trainers. Another three of them were guarding the cage, and the other seven were with the Pokémon that was working on the wall on the other side.

He thought of a strategy. Lenny gestured to Ruben and Rose to come over and told them of his plan. They agreed and seemed determined, Rose too, to perform this. Whoever those guys were, they needed to be stopped. Trapinch explained his plan to the rest of the team, and in the meantime Lenny quickly messaged Ozana through his Pokénav: "SOS! Bad guys and captured trainers. Send help ASAP!" She already knew that they would be in Mt. Moon today, so this message would have to do. He cursed under his breath when his message didn't go through. She was the only trainer he knew that could help them out if they were in trouble. But it was up to the three of them and their Pokémon. He told Rose to send Kappa back to the split, just in case.

They looked at each other, and nodded. "Alright buddy, you can do this," he told his starter as he gently laid his hand on Trapinch' head. Trapinch dug underground, and made a bigger tunnel than he would normally do. Azule and the two Shroomish followed him. Lenny prayed that the tunnel would not collapse due to the frequent shakes that were still being produced. The waiting felt like ages. They had no Pokémon that could serve as an undercover scout. Maka would be closest, he was native to Mt. Moon and the bad guys would probably ignore him, but his eyesight was too bad to really make a difference. So Lenny took it up on himself to peek around the corner and look towards the bag filled with Pokéballs. The minutes were crawling by so slowly. Finally he saw dirt coming up behind the two guards. Trapinch appeared first, and quickly hid behind a crate. After that, Azule and the two Shroomish appeared and immediately released a cloud of sleep powder. Trapinch quickly went back into the tunnel, before he would be affected by the sleep powder himself. Lenny silently cheered when he saw the two guards collapsing.

Phase one worked! He quickly told Ruben and Rose and they prepared for phase two. Their faces showed determination. They all knew phase one was the easiest, but nonetheless it was important that it went smoothly.

He tapped three times on the ground with his foot, signaling to Trapinch. Ruben looked at Iracundia and nodded. They were tensed. Phase two was even more important. Fiore looked ready, a fierce look in his eyes. Teton seemed excited more than anything, as if he did not get a full grasp of the situation. Kappa was back in time for phase two as well, having accomplished her part too.

Lenny looked around the corner again. Trapinch and his following of Grass-types appeared again, this time they were just behind the man-made cave of stalagmites. Lenny tapped his foot another two times and Trapinch said something to Azule. Azule walked over to the far side of the round cage and Lenny lost sight of her. The two Shroomish walked towards the front of the cage, where Lenny could see two guards.

"Here it goes" Lenny whispered under his breath. The three trainers and their Pokémon braced themselves behind the big boulder. Lenny saw both Toady and Cicuta release a green cloud of Sleep Powder. The first guard went down. The second sluggishly turned around to look at his collapsing buddy. "Shit," Lenny murmured. The two Shroomish shook their bodies, trying to release more Sleep Powder but it seems that well had run dry. Lenny noticed the guard moving his hand to his belt, were he had two Pokéballs. He needed to act fast. He jumped up in the air, forcefully coming down with his feet on the ground, signaling to Trapinch. At the same time, he turned around: "GO!" he shouted. The Pokémon knew their tasks. Fiore blurred forward, leaving Teton, Tank and Kappa quickly behind him. Iracundia didn't bolt towards the cage, instead, she made her way over to the pile of captured Pokéballs. She was the only one with hands that could actually carry the bag.

The barely awake guard managed to press the release button on his Pokéballs, and Lenny watched how the red beam materialized into a Spearow, who immediately let out a horrifying shriek. "We're caught onto," Lenny told Ruben and Rose as they saw the other bad guys looking towards the cage. Everything went so fast now. Trapinch used his earthquake to shatter two of the stalagmites, giving enough space for the trainers to escape. The closest guard had also released his second Pokémon, a small but fierce Rattata. Fiore hit the Spearow out of the air with a few Fury Cutters. Teton tackled the Rattata and Tank finished it with a Bullet Punch. Azule released some more Sleep Powder to the already half-asleep trainer, who fell unconscious.

Lenny looked up at the remaining bad guys, who were all releasing their Pokémon. There were more Spearow and Rattata, Swinub, Exeggcute, Zubat and even a Golbat, a Electrike, a Poochyena, two Raticate, a Houndour, some Koffing and Ekans, a Gastly, an Eevee, a Nidoran, two Drowzee and a mean looking Poliwhirl. Just as they started moving towards them, Iracundia arrived with the bag of Pokéballs. "Quickly, get your Pokéballs and release your Pokémon capable of fighting. Physical fighters in the front, long-range attacking Pokémon in the back giving support. We need to take them all out!"

The trainers tumbled over each other to get their Pokéballs, some quicker of wit than others. Only now Lenny realized the shaking of the earth had stopped. He looked up at the tunnel on the far end, and saw the biggest Pokémon he had ever seen, except for Forrest's Onix. With every step the Pokémon took, the earth shivered. It was a huge round creature, made of stone. Rose muttered: "No way, they're not supposed to be this big." The Golem, for that it was, bellowed a wild challenge into the cave, his eyes were blood-colored. Next to the Golem walked the apparent leader of the gang, a very big guy wearing a leather-jacket and a black bandana around his head. He just smiled when he saw the group of trainers banding together. Hiding behind him, was a guy in a white lab coat.

The trainers released their Pokémon in front of Lenny. There were so many! Lenny saw a Bulbasaur, a Kadabra, Gastly, Butterfree, Pikachu, Stantler, Sneasel, a Vulpix, Meowth, Weepinbell, Rhyhorn and two Geodude, a Slowpoke, a Seel, before he stopped paying attention and focused on the coming enemy. "Azule, stop it!" Rose shouted. Lenny quickly looked up and saw a Spearow flying towards the two Shroomish, who were still at the front-line where they shouldn't be. Azule fired a few spits of Acid at the Spearow, which it easily evaded. The Spearow now came towards Azule with a glowing beak, a Peck attack. Azule waited for it to come close, then jumped to the side as the Spearow flew by and spit Acid straight at the Spearow, who immediately felt the effects of the poison through his veins. The flying-type fell to the ground and Trapinch finished it off with a Rock Throw for good measure.

Suddenly the entire cave was lit up by a pulsating and blinding light. Lenny quickly lifted his arm before his eyes. After a second, the light became less intense and Lenny was able to make out the source. Azule was basked in white light. Lenny recognized this as the same pulsating glow they had seen yesterday in Victor's Charmander as it evolved into a Charmeleon. He looked at Rose, whose mouth was open wide in disbelief. Azule's glowing form shifted, molded in new forms. At first the leaves on her head appeared to move inside her body, causing her whole body to grow a couple of inches, and two small rudimentary hands to form, then the light died down and just before it was gone entirely, a flower blossomed out of Azule's head, finishing the evolution of Oddish into Gloom.

"My God, you look amazing Gloom!" Rose shouted. The approaching enemy was shortly halted by the engulfing light, but was now coming closer again. What followed was an intensely chaotic battle. There were rocks flying around, bouts of flame scorching Pokémon and equipment, showers of water aimed and dodged, and clouds of poisonous gas flying around. Lenny quickly decided that he could only pay attention to his own three Pokémon, and help them as best as he could. He never let the massive Golem out of his sight though.

Trapinch was fighting the Houndour and clearly had the upper hand. The Houndour had a wicked look in his eyes. Bloodthirsty, crazy. It was quick and evasive, but Lenny was sure Trapinch would win this one, if not for the Poliwhirl showing up and firing a Water Gun that hit Trapinch straight between the eyes. "Teton hit that Poliwhirl!" Teton was helping a Vulpix fighting a Rattata, but spun around at Lenny's command and hit the Poliwhirl right in the stomach with his lowered horns. At the same time, Fiore was dealing with another Spearow and a Murkrow and got some support from Rose's Lotad.

Lenny took a second to look around and he couldn't help but think the trainer's slowly but surely were pushing the bad guys back. He saw a fainted Koffing lying around and a Rattata limping away from the battle. "Keep on pressing, we've got them on their last breath!" He encouraged the other trainers, who continued pushing and commanding their Pokémon.

The leader in his black leather jacket hadn't made a move this far. Instead, he just stood there looking over the battle, his arms crossed. The limp Rattata that was moving away from the battle, came close to the bandit leader. For the first time since the battle started, he moved. He walked towards the Rattata, and kicked it. The Rattata flew a few feet before it hit the ground in a cloud of dust. The bandit just spat at it and looked at it with disgust on his face. He said something to Golem. Golem nodded and retracted his body and his limps into a ball, and he rolled towards the battle. He picked up more and more speed. Lenny watched with eyes wide. "Look out for that Golem!" Lenny shouted to no one in particular. He did not move however, being confused at why they would send that Golem in a Rollout while it would surely hit their own Pokémon. Ruben pulled Lenny backwards from the battle, and Lenny, snapped out of his thoughts, told Fiore to pick up Teton and fly upwards. Trapinch dug a tunnel underneath himself and escaped the scene just in time.

The impact of the Golem was horrific. It hit trainers, bad guys, and tons of Pokémon on both sides. Lenny couldn't see if Fiore and Teton made it out in time. He could see Iracundia trying to hit Golem, before being squashed by it. There was blood, there was the sound of bones crunching. And he did not know what to do. It all went so fast. The Golem stopped at the other side of the cavern and looked at the havoc with a grin.

Lenny waited for it to curl up in a huge ball and flat those that were still standing. But he didn't. It just stood there smiling. Lenny looked at the damage. Trapinch managed to dig away just in time and had even dug a tunnel underneath Mahukita too. They had just resurfaced in the middle of the ranged Pokémon, were the Shroomish and Kappa were too. Fiore was flying high, escaping unscathed. Lenny anxiously searched for Teton, at last seeing his body lying between some boxes. He was trying to get up, causing relief in Lenny. Apparently Fiore didn't manage to get him out in time, but it didn't look like Teton did get a frontal hit by the Golem, because Lenny was quite sure his newborn body would not have survived that. He quickly returned Teton. Azule was unconscious, as was Rose's Paras and many other unnamed Pokémon from both sides. Lenny didn't know if that was due to the Golem or if they had already fainted before that during the battle. The worst was Iracundia, she lay broken with her right arm in an unnatural angle. Ruben had pale horror in his face as he returned her. The horror now turned to rage as he eyed the bandit leader.

"Tank, we need to kill that bastard." He said grimly, as he walked forward. The leader eyed the destruction with something that looked like satisfaction. He grabbed another Pokéball of his belt, and released a Weezing. The leader said something and the largest of the Weezings faced formed a stupid grin while puffing out foul smoke. Lenny hold Ruben back by his arm. "He might have four more Pokémon, and we shouldn't turn our back on the Golem. We need to be smart about this," he told his friend.

"Oh, I am being smart about this. I've got a plan. It is killing him," Ruben replied with barely contained rage.

All the while the Weezing moved closer to them and the massive Golem was still enjoying the ravage he created.

Ruben moved closer again, but Lenny hold him back again, only for Ruben to shove his arm away. "Wait!" shouted Lenny at his friend. "Look," he told Ruben as he looked down himself. A mist was crawling between their legs, coming from behind them. Lenny looked back to see where it was coming from. It appeared to come from the same tunnel through which they entered the cavern, but the mist was too thick to see the source.

The Weezing was very close now. It stopped and seemed to focus. "Get out!" One of the bad guys shouted. Ruben was a few feet ahead of Lenny and looked back at Lenny. Lenny didn't know what was happening, but thought getting away from that Weezing would be smart. "Run!" he told Ruben and his Pokémon, while running away himself. He heard a loud explosion and felt a heatwave coming from behind him, before everything went black behind his eyes…

«»

He slowly opened his eyes and flinched at the bright lights that send a painful stab in his brain. He winced. He lay there with his eyes closed for a minute. He moved his fingers, his arms and eventually his legs. His body was strained, there was pain everywhere. And there was that non-stop pounding in his head. Was it in his head? His eyes snapped open, expecting so see the massive Golem stomping away at the earth again, creating the pounding sound. When he realized he was in a brightly lit room, in a bed with a blanket over him, he calmed down and breathed a few times, calming his heartrate. The headache stayed however.

"Here, drink some water." He looked up to see Nurse Joy walking towards him with a glass of water in her hand and an empathic smile on her face.

He drank awkwardly, spilling some drops down his chin. His tongue felt thick in his mouth. "Thank you Nurse Joy. Where am I?"

"In Cerulean, honey. We pulled you and some others out of Mt. Moon yesterday."

"Yesterday?! What happened? Where are my Pokémon?!" He threw his blankets aside, wanting to get out of this bed and find his Pokémon. His heart beat quickly went up and a painful sting split his skull.

Nurse Joy calmly put a hand on his chest and pushed him back into the cushion.

"Your Scyther is unscathed and your Trapinch has some minor damage from the shockwave that came after the explosion. Your Tauros had a few internal bleedings and a concussion, but he will be fine after some more rest. So please Lenny, relax. They are fine. As for what happened, there is someone else who can give you a better explanation. Try and get some more rest and you'll get another visit soon."

Nurse Joy got up and left the room. Lenny his thoughts raced to Ruben and Rose, and Iracundia! He prayed to Mew she was alright. Images of the massacre flooded his mind. The broken bodies, bones penetrating skin. Blood and cries everywhere. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft singing voice, he looked up to see Chansey standing at his bed, singing to him about peace and flowers, of the first dawn of spring. And he felt himself drift into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke again, he saw familiar messy blue hair at his side. "Ozana," he whispered softly, not fully awake yet. She put her PokeNav down and smiled at him. "Look at that, good to see you awake Lenny."

He was fully awake now and sat upright. His headache was mostly gone now. "Did you get my message? What happened?" Lenny asked impatiently.

"I did Lenny. You saved a lot of people by sending that message. I was still on the other side of Mt. Moon when I got your message. To be honest, I didn't even leave the Pokécenter yet, I really like to sleep in." A sheepish grin appeared on her face. "Anyway, I quickly jumped on Lucie and contacted the League. We flew through the caverns looking for you, until we reached that split in the path. It was smart you marked the sign, otherwise I would not have expected you to have gone there." Lenny smiled, he wasn't sure at the time whether it was the right decision to send Kappa back. They had not expected his message to reach Ozana, but just in case he told Rose to tell Kappa to use a concentrated Water Gun attack to write S.O.S on the left side of the sign that was at the split of the tunnel, so that if Ozana would come, she knew where to go. He was so happy they made the right decision.

"When I entered the cave, I was just in time to saw that Weezing coming towards you and the others. One thing for you to never forget, if one from the Koffing or Electrode line comes towards you in a fight, and I am talking about a real fight, you run. Some Graveler use the same trick, but they have plenty of other options so won't use it as often. But when it happens, you run the fastest you can, because they're going to use self-destruct and it can kill you and your Pokémon. Alright?!" Her face was dead serious.

"Got it. So that's what that explosion was," he replied grimly. He could not wrap his head around being attacked with the intention to kill. First that Golem with his crazy dangerous Rollout, but apparently that Weezing too.

"You've run into some really bad guys Lenny. You were lucky." Ozana said soothingly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, the Golem killed a trainer's Meowth and two Rattata that belonged to the other side."

Lenny felt sick to his stomach. Anger rose in his body. How sick in the head do you need to be to intently kill Pokémon. Ozana's hand was still on his shoulder, gently pushing him against the mattress. "I know Lenny. You want to take your anger out on them. But there's nothing you can do for now. You have already done so much."

Lenny calmed down a bit.

"Just be relieved that you and your Pokémon are fine. And trust the League to go after them."

"So what happened next? Why did the explosion not kill us?" he asked.

"When I saw that Weezing, I immediately knew what it was going to do. And that I had no means to stop it from happening. So I ordered Lucie to use Mist, it greatly reduces the impact of the explosion, and luckily it was just in time to prevent any deaths from happening, although not everybody is in such a good shape as you are. Relatively speaking of course," she said with a dark cloud over her face.

"Rose? And Ruben? He was closer than I was.." Lenny swallowed.

"Ruben definitely got a proper shake-up. He will recover though. Medical help arrived shortly after me."

Lenny nodded, relieved.

"After the dust of the explosion settled down, Lucie fought that Golem. Lucie is very strong, but she was outnumbered. That asshole West, he had more very strong Pokémon at his disposal, especially a Piloswine that countered Lucie, and my Charmeleon, Swablu and Noibat are not nearly at Lucie's level. Let alone Pearl. So I was outmatched and outnumbered. Luckily, the Sensational Sister's from Cerulean showed up to help me, the League called them in after my message, and together with their Pokémon we managed to defeat the Golem. Before we could capture West however, he teleported away. Which I blame the League for, they should have released an anti-psychic field immediately, but Karen appeared too late."

Lenny's head spun. The Sensational Sisters were maybe not the League's strongest, but for sure they were no pushovers. Karen of the Elite Four on the other hand.. what was so important that the Elite Four themselves needed to be on location?

"After he fled, we rounded up the crooks that were left behind, and made sure there was medical attention to those who needed it. And now we're here," she finished her recounting of the events.

"Thank you Ozana." He did not know what else to say. She saved his life.

"There is a lot of people that want to thank you Lenny. You gave them a fighting chance, you released them out of that cage and called me in. Without you, their Pokémon would surely be on auction on the black market as we speak, and they might have been left in that cage to rot."

Lenny nodded. Not feeling like a hero at all. He was just so tired.

"When can I see my Pokémon?"

Ozana smiled. "In a little while. First, Karen wants to ask you some questions for her official investigation."

Lenny nodded. Karen of the Elite Four wanted to speak to him. If he wasn't tired and confused and probably on drugs, he would've felt so honored.

"This West, who was he? Who were all those guys? Why did they capture the trainers?"

"You know I'm not officially with the League right? I know quite some of them through my family and I've been helping out a few times, but the only reason I'm involved in this is cause you messaged me. I don't know nearly everything, and I also don't know what I'm allowed to tell you and what's classified. I'm sorry Lenny, you need to ask those questions to Karen."

"Having said that. I'm glad I got to know you Lenny. You did very well in a stressful situation. I've heard how you freed the other trainers. It's really impressive and I'm even more looking forward to training with you. So promise me to keep in touch, alright?" she smiled at him. Lenny felt a warmth rising. He really liked this older trainer.

"I will Ozana. Thanks for saving my butt."

She laid her hand on his chest, before she got up and left.

A minute later, Karen came in.

Lenny swallowed. Karen must be one of the most charming women he had ever seen in his life, despite her being at least twice his age. It might have been the drugs, but he felt blood flushing to his head. She had an easy way of moving around, as if life itself carried her. She was wearing white trousers and a yellow top, and her long blue hair was flowing like a waterfall. Lenny swallowed again, despite the age difference, he was more awed at her appearance, than her status.

Karen didn't seem to notice, or she was used to getting this reaction from men and boys.

"Here's our little hero. How are you Lenny?" She offered him a beautiful smile.

"I… I am fine. No hero though," He stuttered.

"Nobody ever considers themselves a hero, but I know a number of people who are very impressed by what you and your friends did, including myself." She smiled again. Lenny just nodded dryly.

"We've captured a lot of bad guys because of you, Ruben, Rose and of course Ozana and the Sensational Sisters. So I am here to thank you Lenny. You probably know who I am, however arrogant that sounds," she laughed, "but before we get to the thanking part, I want to hear your version of events from the moment you knew something was off. I know you want to see your friends and Pokémon, but it's really important for the League to know precisely what happened."

He nodded in understanding.

"Do you think you're in a good enough shape to tell me?" When he said he would be happy to share his perspective, she took out a voice recorder.

"Alright Lenny. Feel free to take your time."

"We had been in Mt. Moon for a few hours already and just before that T-split, if you know which one I mean," Karen nodded so he continued, "well my Trapinch had been exploring all day and would come back to our group every now and then. So just before that split he came back to us and motioned us to go to the restricted part. He seemed really distressed and adamant that we needed to go there. And of course I trust him so we did."

For the next 30 minutes, Lenny tried to describe the events in as much detail as he could remember through his cloudy mind. Sometimes Karen asked some clarifying questions and when he mentioned the Professor in the Lab Coat, she frowned and took some notes. She asked for an accurate description of him, and when Lenny mentioned his greasy long hair and thick glasses, her frown became deeper. She commented that their plan of rescuing the captured Pokéballs first was very smart. And her face turned empathetic when he told of how the Golem came crashing into the group of Pokémon and trainers, both good and bad.

When he told of how he fainted, she touched his shoulder. "It is really amazing what you've done Lenny." She smiled warmely at him and he returned the smile.

"I can imagine you have some questions and I will try to answer them. To an extent." She added.

Lenny understood. "Who were they? What were they doing there?"

"Mt. Moon is rich of two things. Moon stones and fossils. Our current hypothesis is that they were looking for either one of them. We can only guess at their underlying reasons. Money? Or looking for powerful Pokémon. Which also touches upon the question of who they are. Unfortunately, we have not captured the scientist, but we have some clues that lead us to believe he used to work at the Cinnabar lab. As for the others, we currently think they are just a bunch of for-hire thieves, probably being hired by a poacher. Their leader, West, is a former Rocket associate that has been escaping justice for a long time. Our latest intel was that he was in Orre, so we were actually very surprised to hear he showed up. Maybe we have been sloppy," she sighed. Suddenly she looked tired to Lenny.

A second later, it was gone. "Any more questions Trainer?"

Lenny nodded eagerly. "Two more. Their Pokémon, they were, I'm not sure how to describe it, they seemed mad, not in the angry sense, but like they were insane. Their eyes were bloodshot and wicked."

Karen nodded in understanding. "They are drugged. Most Pokémon are not fond of killing other Pokémon or doing evil stuff. Not even Dark or Ghost types. Believe me, I know," she added with a soft smile.

"We see quite often that Pokémon belonging to bad guys are either drugged or tortured, or to be more precise, it is often a combination of both. They just use their Pokémon as a means to an end. Like a napkin that you can throw away."

Lenny thought back of how he saw that guy West kicking a Rattata. That kind of cruelty he had never witnessed before. He now understood why that Golem didn't care whether it would hit Pokémon from his own side. West probably didn't care at all. Although Lenny wasn't sure if that Golem was drugged. He seemed to revel in the onslaught he created, it was different than the Houndour for example.

"That's fucked up," was all that he could say.

"It is. We try and rehabilitate the Pokémon we got from them. But depending on the severity of the psychological damage, it does not always work. Which brings us to the reward I guess,"

Lenny's eyebrows rose in interest.

"We want to offer you, Rose and Ruben a Pokémon that we took from the bandits. Provided we are able to rehabilitate them of course."

Lenny nodded slowly, his thoughts turning back to the crazy Houndour that had battled with Trapinch. Or the Murkrow that kept trying to peck Fiore's wings apart. "To be honest, madam, I am not sure if I want a Pokémon like that."

"Just Karen is fine, Lenny." Lenny nodded.

"And I understand, and you don't have to. Let's make a deal okay? In exactly six weeks from now, you can come by to our rehabilitation center and see if there's one of the Pokémon that you would want to have as part of your team. If not, we will find another way to thank you, alright?"

That worked for Lenny. He was sure the League would not give him a bloodthirsty Pokémon. And there were actually some rare Pokémon among those they fought. Gastly, Houndour, Murkrow, Swinub, the Eevee ofcourse, the Nidoran was also strong, if Lenny remembered correctly it took out a Butterfree and a Pikachu. Well, he would just go to the facility in six weeks and see.

Karen looked at her watch. "I need to speak to your friend Ruben last, and then it's time to go and shake some things up back in Indigo Plateau. But if I'm not mistaken, you have one more question right?"

Before Lenny could ask his second question, Karen's PokeNav rang. When she looked at it, Lenny recognized the famous features of Champion Lance. "Sorry, got to take this, it's the big boss himself." She walked to the corner of Lenny's hospital room, and turned her back towards Lenny. He couldn't overhear much, but she spoke in a stressed manner. After a minute or two, the conversation seemed to end and while turning back to Lenny, he could overhear the last thing she coldly told Champion Lance: "if he get's past Will, he's in my League and my Pokémon will tear him to shreds".

Lenny frowned. That had to be about the challenger Iblix. Karen was walking back towards him, exhaling loudly and Lenny noticed how she shifted from being cold and dangerous, back to being the kind conversation partner like she was before.

"So your last question kid."

"That Golem. It was big. And I am no expert or anything, but even Rose said that they were not supposed to be that huge. Do they also feed them growth enhancing drugs or something?"

Karen seemed to consider her answer for a few seconds. "What I am about to tell you is classified okay? You're not allowed to tell anyone, but since it was intend on killing the bunch of you, it's only fair to tell you."

Lenny promised to keep his mouth shut.

"Have you ever heard of Alpha Pokémon?" Karen asked him. She looked very serious.

"Yeah. In history of biology classes. I thought they do not exist anymore? It can't be that that Golem was an Alpha." He frowned when she remained silent. "Right?" he added.

"Alpha's have become very rare since humanity started capturing Pokémon and when human technology become more advanced and humanity as a species grew, the living areas of Pokémon became smaller and Alpha's disappeared. That's what they taught you in school right?"

Lenny agreed. This is what he had learned and he never heard otherwise.

"That's the official story. There are some Alpha's left in this world. Also in our region. Some are with trainers, all with our permission, and those trainer's are keeping the truth to themselves. Most people believe it when we say that it is just lucky genetics and a healthy diet. The other one's are wild and are watched and guarded 24/7. Both for our safety as for their own. We don't know how West got his hands on an Alpha. It is very disturbing." She had that downtrodden, tired look again.

"What's the difference between an oversized Pokémon and an Alpha?" Lenny was curious to learn more.

"Next to the brute force that comes with their size, Alpha's still have some of that primal rage that their ancestors had. They are the strongest, most dominant Pokémon in a region. All they know and value is power and dominance. Well, not all of them to be fair, those owned by trainers are often a bit more," she was looking for the right word, "manageable. But their mindset is still primal, as if the whole world is hostile towards them or those they are bound to protect. Making them very difficult to bring into modern society."

Lenny took it all in. A bit amazed and confused at the same time. Alpha's existed! And he saw one. One that tried to kill his Pokémon and himself. But still, imagine controlling that kind of power.

Karen noticed his thoughts and smiled. "Don't even think about it. As I said, we are watching all of them. No way we would ever give one to a Rookie."

He just smiled guiltily.

"Thanks a lot Lenny. You've been a great help in giving us more information. I will make sure you'll get a call in exactly six weeks to talk about your reward. I'm now going to talk with Ruben and Rose, to get some last details in addition to your story. Afterwards you and Rose can go and see them. I will tell Nurse Joy that she can finally bring your Pokémon in." She quickly touched his face in a gentle manner.

"I'm sure we will meet again," she said before she turned around and left the room.

«»

Not much later, the door of his private room swung open and crashed into the wall. Trapinch came crashing through, followed by some shouts from Nurse Joy.

Trapinch halted underneath Lenny's bed, frustrated that it was too high to jump on. He frantically looked around and when he noticed a chair, he pushed it over to Lenny's bed and jumped on it. Lenny laughed and scratched his starter affectionally.

Fiore walked it, carrying Teton. He handed Teton over to Lenny and Lenny put Teton next to him in the bed. Fiore crossed his scythes and dipped his head, his sign of respect. Lenny was smiling non-stop. He was so happy to see his Pokémon.

He was surprised at the affection that Fiore showed for Teton, but at the same time he wasn't. When he first met Fiore, he was stubborn and proud. He actually still was. But beneath that exterior he might have started to thaw. Or maybe he was always a bit softer on the inside but did not want to show it. Anyway, Lenny appreciated Fiore's gesture of respect and that he apparently cared for Teton.

Both Trapinch and Fiore looked fine, although Trapinch did seem very worried and a bit riled up. Teton on the other hand.. it was clear he had not recovered from the rough impact with Golem. Although he still had his happy energetic behavior.

"Hey guys. I'm so happy to see you," he told them as he tried to put the depths of his feeling upon seeing them into words. "You are everything to me."

None of his Pokémon seemed to really know how to react, but Teton buried his snout between Lenny's arm and body in affection. Trapinch grumbled and Fiore bowed his head.

"You really did amazing. All of you. And if we ever meet that Golem again, we'll kick his ass." They all agreed.

"How are you doing Teton? You got hit pretty bad?" Teton shook his head in denial and mooed as loudly as he could, before wincing at the effort. Lenny ran his finger through his soft fur, and Teton laid down on Lenny's lap.

Fiore caught his attention. He bend his knees and used his scythes in a motion as if he was picking something up. He pointed one scythe at Teton. Then he crossed his scythes, as if he was holding something, and then he made a sweeping motion with his right scythe.

"You picked up Teton when that Golem came, but you lost grip and he fell?" Fiore nodded.

"That's when you got hit so badly I guess." Again, Fiore nodded. Teton just stayed still.

"You did what you could Fiore. We are lucky that we are all relatively fine. The league is very proud at us you know. We stood up to bad guys and I think that is amazing."

He talked with his Pokémon some more, emphasizing how proud he was of them, before Nurse Joy told him that if he could get out of bed, he could go see Ruben and Rose. He leaned on Fiore for his first steps, but found he could walk without too much trouble.

«»

He found Ruben and Rose a few doors down the hallway, in a room that looked exactly like his. Ruben was lying in bed, his head and right arm wrapped in a bandage. Rose was sitting by his side.

"Lenny! Welcome to the losers room!"

Ruben definitely had not lost his cheerful, gregarious attitude in Weezings self-destruct.

"What a mess huh, guys. How are you doing?"

"Me and my Pokémon are fine. We escaped the worst of it. But this is so wrong. I hate that we got caught up in this," Rose spoke first.

"I only wish we could've taken that bastard down. He tried to kill Iracundia for Moltres's sake!" Lenny recognized the anger in Ruben. It was the same he had been feeling.

"How's Iracundia doing? And the others?"

"They've put her in an artificial sleep and will keep her like that for two more days. She will recover and it will be fine, but every time she wakes up she get's into one of her anger fits and they don't like that here. Shroomish is fine and Tank tanked all the hits he got. Get it?!" Ruben lost his anger as he burst out in laughter at his own silly joke.

Rose sighed.

"We got lucky. I heard someone's Pokémon got killed. A Meowth," Lenny said.

"It must be terrible to lose your Pokémon. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost Azule or any other Pokémon of mine like that."

"But without us it would've been worse. We did good guys. Karen told us so. I'm proud of us Rookies. And next time we run into some of those jerks, they won't stand a chance." Lenny appreciated Ruben's efforts to keep them positive.

They continued talking about their experiences of yesterday, including Azule's evolution into a Gloom, until Nurse Joy told them all to go rest.

Just before Lenny went to sleep, he received a message that put a smile on his face. Despite everything, he was looking forward to tomorrow.