Creation began on 05-22-24

Creation ended on 01-16-25

Neon Genesis Evangelion

An Inner Strength beyond Compare

The Snowbelle City Gym was, in the eyes and minds of Shinji and company, beyond any reasonable doubt, creepy on the outside. It reminded Shinji of the Saffron City Gym in Kanto due to his memory of it during the day, but that was over five years ago, and this was today.

"Oh!" Antonio shivers as he pulls his heavy coat tighter around his head. "Why does it feel colder here than it does in the city?!"

"Oh, something the residents all say about this gym being the reason why it's snowy all year round!" Hikari states.

"Why?!" Misato, Ritsuko and Maya whine in resentment; everyone was bundled up in their cold weather gear, but it still felt like they were freezing.

"Shinji!" Asuka yells out. "If you lose this gym match! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Oh, no, Soryu!" Toji responds to that threat. "You're not gonna kick his ass if he loses! I'm gonna break his legs first!"

"I take it you're on their side, too?" Shinji asks his Eevee, who was tucked inside his coat, occupying his hood with him.

"Eee, eevo!" Misato responds, clearly unhappy with the temperature issue.

"Oh, I gotta give it my all to win, then."

"Eevo!"

The large doors suddenly opened up and they all felt a chill sweep up their legs.

"Ahhh!" They all gasp.

"It feels like Hell literally froze over," Shinji utters as he takes the first step into the gym. I am so getting my ass kicked if I lose this.

As they all entered the gym, they all had the same thought: Shinji had better win the upcoming match…because they didn't want to have to come back here a second time.

"All I want right now," went Kaji as he saw his own breath in the air, "is a nice, long bath…in a vat of hot chocolate."

-x-

Despite Shinji catching several rare and powerful Pokémon in his career as a Pokémon Trainer, Gendo found in many of the video posts that his son rarely used them outside of battles against specific individuals. There were only a handful of these matches where one or two were actually used by him, and mainly as a last resort when his usual Pokémon were tired or defeated. There was even a recording of why he wouldn't use these rare and powerful Pokémon all the time posted by the Fourth Child.

"…If I relied on Legendary and Mythical Pokémon all the time over my regular Pokémon, it'd be like cheating because I didn't put in so much time and effort to training them as I do my other Pokémon," Shinji had stated in the recording. "The power that affords a trainer victory in a battle…is the power that has to be gained from the blood, sweat and agony you go through when you train your Pokémon. If you can't put in the effort, then the potential victory won't really feel earned. Maybe one or two Legendary or Mythical Pokémon from time to time, with three or four in greater matches, but any more than that will make any match feel cheap because of the lack of hard work thrown in."

"And what if other Pokémon Trainers don't follow your example?" The Fourth Child asks.

"That's their choice; every trainer has a different viewpoint over what methods work best for them, but not all methods are embraced by those with different mindsets. Some trainers will even use methods that can be considered unorthodox, such as feeding them things that boost their strength, like Rare Candies or X-Attack or X-Special Defense boosters."

"You consider those unorthodox?"

"Only for those that don't have much confidence in themselves or their Pokémon. Some people will likely give things like that to their Pokémon to indulge them. The wealthy, the influential, the overeager…or the underachieving. The reason is different all the time all around. Nobody's methods are all right or wrong, just the ones they think will work best for them."

"But the ones employed by those that treat Pokémon cruelly?"

"Bad, bad, very bad."

Watching this video post, along with ten other videos, Gendo was seeing a different side of Shinji that he originally despised because of how he turned away from his scenario and ruined everything that he worked and sacrificed for to obtain, to reclaim. But as he watched the posts with different eyes, he couldn't help but wonder what could have been had he just looked the other way, turned the other cheek, admit that he and Yui had, in one way or another, failed Shinji, and he was now out of their reach, free from their influence and making his own way in life. The same boy he drove away from him, the very same boy he only saw as a pawn for his scheme to remake the world to suit his grand design…was this young man that got swept up into a different life and got better at its development than most people younger than himself did when they started at the age of ten…and he had to admit to himself that it was beyond impressive how Shinji managed to get as far as he had for the length of time he'd been displaced in a different dimension full of these creatures.

He even turned a bird with an attitude into a friendly ally, he thought as he watched the new post featuring Shinji after he caught the Fearow and its flock of Spearow, slowly, carefully approaching the Fearow and placing his left hand on its body.

"Tell me, Fearow," Shinji said to it, holding out an apple in his right hand, "can we be civil and work together?"

-x-

"Welcome, Shinji Ikari!" Shinji heard a man's voice as he and the others stood in front of a large, ice-covered stadium field. "I've been expecting you since you arrived in the city!"

In front of them was a large man sitting on a throne of ice. Unlike them, he seemed unfettered by the cold temperature of their surroundings.

"Hello, sir," Shinji greets him. "Are you the Gym Leader known as Wulfric?"

"I am. You have come to challenge me for the Iceberg Badge?"

"Yes."

"I accept your challenge. Three Pokémon each."

Wulfric rose up and stood across the field from Shinji. Everyone else walked over to the sidelines and sat down, wondering how this guy could stand the cold while they could barely stand it at all.

"Shinji better win this," Hikari says, shaking. "So cold."

A referee came over and announced the rules of the match and declared it had begun.

Wulfric went first, throwing out a Poké Ball and releasing a small creature that appeared to be made of ice and walked on four legs.

"Need to know," Shinji utters as he takes out his Pokédex to identify the Pokémon.

"Bergmite," Dexter reveals, "the Ice Chunk Pokémon. Bergmite generate cold in order to regenerate the ice that covers their bodies. Living in herds, they are often known to cause mountainous terrain to be very cold."

"You don't say? It probably explains why it's colder in here than it is outside. We'd better try to heat things up a little bit. Come on out, Komadori!"

Shinji threw his Poké Ball containing his Talonflame, and Wulfric was surprised to see one that was this large.

"Whoa! I've never seen a Talonflame that big before! Incredible!" Wulfric expresses.

"Round one, begin!" The referee declared.

"Bergmite, use Icy Wind!" Wulfric orders his Pokémon, and Bergmite's icy horn starts to glow.

The air then became colder as Shinji tightens his hood around himself and Misato.

"Aah!" He groans.

"Eee!" Misato adds in.

Wulfric's Bergmite unleashed sub-zero wind against Komadori, causing him to flap his wings harder to stay airborne.

"This is insane!" Toji says.

"Yarp!" Pen-Pen, despite bundled up as the others were, agrees with the boy because of the drop in temperature they couldn't tolerate. "Yarp!"

"Komadori, use Flame Charge!" Shinji tells his Talonflame, who once more demonstrated that, despite his evolution into a larger form, he was among the fastest of Flying-Type Pokémon, moving at speeds that defied his size, and for some that saw him move around in the air, there was a slight rise in the air temperature that, while still not enough to put smiles on their faces, was enough to give them hope of brief warmth.

"Talon!" Komadori went as he tackled the Bergmite, sending it falling backwards, looking a little melted because of the heat generated by him. "Talon!"

Bergmite slowly got back up and glared at him.

"First time I've seen a Flying Pokémon move that fast in cold temperatures," Wulfric states, impressed that Shinji's Talonflame was able to demonstrate that it was not just a big bird. "Sharpen, Bergmite!"

His Bergmite then became encased in a diamond-like barrier of ice as its body glowed a light blue color.

"Sharpen?" Ritsuko asks Kensuke.

"It's a Normal-Type move," he explains. "Pokémon that can use Sharpen do it to raise up their attack strength. It used to be considered the signature move of Porygon. The next time Bergmite attacks Komadori, it will inflict greater damage to him."

"Steel Wing, Komadori!" Shinji orders out, and Komadori's wings glow brightly as he moves through the cold air again.

"Now! Rapid Spin!" Wulfric orders his Bergmite, and it spins counterclockwise as it generates a twister of ice, moving towards Komadori.

Slam! The moving Talonflame collided with the twister of ice and sent both Pokémon backwards from each other.

It looked like a stalemate to some, but the actual outcome may have been dependent upon the individual Pokémon's level. Only the strongest and most capable could and would decide the victor. As Komadori landed on the ice floor, Bergmite panted from the intense blow it received from the Steel Wing attack. Both were looking like the match was taking its toll on them and it wasn't even five minutes into the battle. Even their trainers were feeling the exhilaration; Shinji felt the heat in a beneficial way while Wulfric looked as though he were sweating.

"Look at them," Fuyutsuki says. "They're feeling the heat of the battle."

"They could at least share some of that heat with us," went Hanmyo. "Shinji should've started with his Pyroar."

"He might save him for last," Hyuga suggests. "Don't use your trump card unless all your other options fail first."

Then…Wulfric's Bergmite fell to the ground on its left side, exhausted.

"Whoa!" Hikari gasps.

"Bergmite is unable to continue!" The referee declares. "Talonflame wins!"

But Shinji suspected that was too easy, even against a Pokemon Gym Leader that specializes in Ice-Type Pokémon. If Bergmite was strong, it was only strong enough to begin as one of Wulfric's weaker Pokémon, served up as an appetizer while his stronger Pokémon would be the main course of this frozen set of dishes.

"You're not convinced that it was easy, are you?" Wulfric asks Shinji, seeing it on his face. "You'd be right to believe that. It will not be easy with me. Even the last trainer knew that."

"You mean Ash Ketchum, don't you?"

"You know of him, then?"

"We've never met, but we hear about each other that I can't help but be impressed by his efforts. I do expect to meet him, eventually, though."

"Good luck after this. Ha!"

Wulfric threw out his second Poké Ball and unleashed a creature that made Shinji wonder if it was related to the first Pokémon he just fought against with Komadori, because it was larger and icier than the previous opponent.

"Brr!" He shudders as he holds up his Pokédex.

"Avalugg," Dexter reveals, "the Iceberg Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bergmite. With the ice covering its body being as hard as steel, Avalugg can demolish whatever stands in its way."

"Lugg!" Avalugg roars, and Shinji and his Eevee feel the cold chill return across their faces.

"Can you keep going, Komadori?" He asks his Talonflame, who responds by spreading his wings, releasing embers across the icy field.

"Talon!" He caws.

"Begin!" The referee declares, and the second match began in earnest.

"Avalugg, use Stone Edge!" Wulfric commands, and his Avalugg raises its front legs up into the air to slam them back down.

"Komadori, counter with Ember!" Shinji orders, and Komadori takes flight, unleashing a stream of fire from its beak.

"Flame!" He shrieks at the Avalugg, which unleashes a series of ice pillars that came towards him. "Flame!"

The two attacks went right passed one another…and made contact with the opposite Pokémon.

Bash! Komadori was hit by two of the ice pillars.

Scorch! Avalugg was immolated by the stream of flames.

When the dust from both attacks cleared, the two opposing trainers found themselves with surprise results!

Komadori, grounded by the attack, still stood, albeit with some difficulty, and his left wing was injured, while Avalugg, partially melted, looked as though it were already having a bad day. Even this was experienced by Wulfric, who was still sweating, and Shinji, who looks as though he just scraped his forehead.

"Man, it's starting to heat up in here," went Toji, feeling the heat in his blood.

"Ah, yeah," Asuka agrees with him, though pleased with the slight rise in temperature around them; it wasn't as cold as it was earlier.

Shinji knew pride when he saw it, and Komadori was unwilling to step down, even though he knew he should. Since he was allowed to substitute his Pokémon against Wulfric's, he held up Komadori's Poké Ball and prepares to recall it…when Komadori turns to face him.

"Talon!" He caws at him.

"You're hurt," Shinji explains. "You need to rest. We haven't lost yet, but I will not risk you getting injured further."

There was that look of pride, of conviction, on Komadori's face, but then Komadori relents. Since he hadn't been defeated yet, he could stand to rest for a while.

Shinji recalls Komadori and holds up a different Poké Ball.

"It's your turn…Bitā!" He yells as he throws it onto the field, releasing his Tyrantrum.

"But Bitā's a Dragon-Type," Hikari says. "Why use her against an Ice-Type Pokémon?"

"Because she's also a Rock-Type, which is strong against an Ice-Type," Kensuke realizes. "If Shinji can't beat Avalugg with a dragon's strength, then he's gonna compensate with the part of her that ice can't harm much of."

"Rrrrrraaaurgh!" Bitā roars, causing the whole field to shake.

"Whoa!" Kaji gasps, leaning over to Misato.

"Yeah, size matters in this case," she tells him, and then shoves him back. "Ice Age vs. Stone Age. Who will win?"

"Begin!" The referee declares, and the match resumes.

"A Tyrantrum, huh?" Wulfric questions. "Not many trainers that come here have one!"

"And how many have won with a Tyrantrum?" Shinji responds.

"Less than ten."

"Then, hopefully, we'll be able to get somewhere along the Victory Road after this."

"Avalanche, Avalugg!"

-x-

"…Oh, my God, Shinji!" Gendo hears the Fourth Child say as he filmed the capture of one of the rarest and strongest of Pokémon from the Johto Region. "I can't believe you caught a Lugia! How do you feel about the fact that you have just obtained one of Johto's most incredible and amazing of Pokémon in its history?!"

"How do I feel?" Shinji responds as he holds up the Ultra Ball that contains the newest Pokémon he caught just moments ago. "I feel like I just crossed another great threshold on this path to greatness. Lugia is referred to as the Guardian of the Sea and the Trio Master of the Legendary Birds, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres. It's said to have a Trio Master is to be invigorated by the drive to one day harness all members of the trio itself, which is another threshold to one day cross on this path."

"Eee!" He hears his Eevee say as it climbs up his back and rests on his right shoulder.

"He compares the catching of Pokémon like this Lugia to thresholds that must be crossed to get closer to some goal he is trying to achieve," he says as he moves on to the next video clip.

The new video was of Shinji and the others on his Shiny Gyarados at sea, heading to an island. The people had just been showered by a large, blue whale-like creature and the Fourth Child was recording everything around him.

"…So, Wailord are heavy enough to do splashes like that?" One of the Central Dogma technicians questioned Shinji.

"Wailord, Wailmer, Lapras, Magikarp, and even Gyarados," Shinji replies, patting his Gyarados on his left side.

"You can get your own waves at a beach with Water Pokémon like that," went Kaji.

"Not without considering the risks toward others," the Fourth Child informed him.

-x-

Slam! Avalugg was thrown to the ground by Bitā, causing Wulfric to feel like he had been hit in his stomach by a fist made of ice.

Avalugg tries to get up again, having been thrown twice by Shinji's Tyrantrum, tail-whipped thrice, and then thrown once more by the opposing Pokémon that was showing signs of fatigue…but collapses onto the ground.

"Lugg," it groans, unable to rise back up.

"Avalugg is unable to continue," the referee declares. "Tyrantrum wins!"

"Rrrraaurgh!" Bitā roars…and then drops to her right knee, followed by Shinji, looking a little sweaty and out of breath. "Grrr!"

Shinji didn't need to ask Bitā if she needed a break; it was obvious that she did, as fighting Wulfric's Avalugg had been slightly more intense than the match with Olympia's Pokémon. Holding up her Poké Ball, Shinji knows when to let his Pokémon catch their breath.

"Take a break, Bitā," he tells her, and recalls her back into her ball, feeling a little better.

"I gotta hand it to you, Ikari," Wulfric says, holding up his third Poké Ball. "You're a lot like Ketchum; your dedication is promising, except you demonstrate more experience and resolve."

"To the victor goes the praise for their Pokémon's hard work."

"But let's see how well you can stand up to the big freeze!"

Wulfric throws out the Poké Ball and Shinji watches it open to unleash his third and final Pokémon of the match. At first, Shinji expects to see some Kalos-associated Pokémon, but as the light fades out to reveal its form, he was slightly disappointed to see that it was only an Abomasnow, a Pokémon associated with the Sinnoh Region. But then, his gaze lowers in anticipation as realization settles in; just because Wulfric saved this one for last, it didn't mean that it was going to be a pushover. This is especially so if this one was capable of Mega Evolution like the Pokémon he encountered on Mega Island with the others.

"Can't back out now," he says as he holds up Leo's Poké Ball. "Let's go, Leo!"

He opens the ball…and out comes his Pyroar, looking restless at having to wait so long for his next battle to take part in.

"Begin!" The referee declares.

Then Wulfric's Abomasnow starts to glow, confirming to Shinji that it was capable of Mega Evolution. When the glow ceases, everyone that had seen an Abomasnow saw its Mega Evolved form and felt that it looks bigger and stronger, because that what it is right now. Even Shinji knew that this is not likely going to be a piece of cake.

"Rrrrahh!" Leo growls, unafraid of this Mega Evolved Pokémon.

"Leo looks like he's ready to set the place on fire," Toji expresses.

"This is going to get intense," Shigeru states, and then it feels like the entire gym's temperature dropped by several degrees. "What the heck, man?!"

Shinji and Misato feel the chill in the air and the trainer tightens the hood around their heads.

"May I presume that your Abomasnow has the ability Snow Warning?" He asks Wulfric.

"You may presume," Wulfric responds with a smile. "That is a most peculiar Pyroar you have. It's far bigger than the previous ones that I've seen from other trainers."

"Leo here is…my roughhouse player. Stronger than I strive to be."

"We'll see how strong he is. Abomasnow, use Blizzard!"

"Abom!" Mega Abomasnow opens its mouth and unleashes a stream of snow at Leo, covering him in snow that quickly turns to ice, reducing the Royal Pokémon to an oversized popsicle.

"Oh!" Asuka gasps; she didn't expect an attack to freeze one of Shinji's Pokémon in an instant like this.

"Please, tell me he didn't just lose," Ritsuko says.

"It's not over until all three of his Pokémon are beaten," Hanmyo responds.

Crack! The ice around Leo fractures.

Blast! It shatters and falls to the ground, freeing the Pyroar from its would-be prison.

"Rrrrraah!" He roars, causing the ground to shake.

"Abomasnow!" Mega Abomasnow gasps, taking a step back.

Leo's mane flares up, his paws dig into the ice beneath him, and his eyes blaze with unchecked power. This Royal Pokémon was unlike anything Wulfric had ever seen prior to this match, and based on what he learned from the other gyms of this region visited by this young man, he only recently caught this Pokémon and it evolved during his Shalour City Gym match. Even as he looks at Shinji, he could see him glowing with a fiery aura that was like his Pyroar.

Incredible, he thinks; there was probably no synchronicity between these two, but both trainer and Pokémon were committed to winning this match.

"Leo," Shinji utters, "counter with Incinerate."

With one step forward, Leo opens his mouth and unleashes the flames of his pride and conviction towards Mega Abomasnow. The heat of the flames released were so great that they spread across the entire field, melting the nearby ice pillars and then bathing Mega Abomasnow in them.

"Waaaaaahh!" Wulfric gasps, blown off his feet.

The fires dissipate…and in front of the furious Pyroar is a singed Mega Abomasnow, its eyes wide with a newfound sense of dread towards this Pokémon it tried to freeze. And then…it fell backwards, returning to its previous form, passing out from the pain of its burns.

"Oh…my…goodness," went Hikari, holding onto Toji. "That was something else."

"You can say that again," added Antonio, impressed and terrified of Leo. "He beat that other Pokémon with just one attack. He must be stronger than Shinji realizes."

"Urgh!" The referee struggles to get back up on his feet as the floor with covered in dried dirt, checking the Abomasnow and calling the match. "Abomasnow is unable to continue! The winner of this match, the challenger, Shinji Ikari!"

Then, from the heat around them all, Shinji pulls his heavy coat off and his Eevee jumps off his shoulder and onto the ground as Leo approaches them.

"Rrrraaurgh!" He roars at Shinji, who looks at him in the eyes. "Rrrraaurgh!"

"That's right," Shinji responds, refusing to be intimidated by him. "We won."

Leo then tackles Shinji to the ground, licking his face.

"Ah-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!" Shinji laughs.

Wulfric gets up to his feet, sees his gym will need to be readjusted with ice later on, and couldn't believe that his Abomasnow was defeated with just one attack by a Pyroar. It wasn't just as if he was up against a trainer's third Pokémon choice to win the last badge. It was like stepping into the inferno of a fire god's fury. Recalling his Abomasnow, he walks over to Shinji as he gets back up to his feet.

"I've dealt with aces, trump cards and last hopes many times in the past, young man," he says to him, "but your Pyroar…is an entirely different level of 'all of the above' here. Still, I know when to admit defeat. You've earned the Iceberg Badge."

Being presented with his eighth and final badge of this region, Shinji accepts it and looks down at it. With this badge, not only did he qualify for the Lumiose Conference, but now all Pokémon caught by him would no longer pose difficulty with being told what to do. He looks down at Misato, who looks up at him, and he smiles to her.

"We did it," he tells her. "We did it."

"Eevo!" She chirps happily.

"Orh!" Leo expresses.

Fuyutsuki looks on and can't believe that he witnessed such a phenomenon that was part of the norm of this world. It was the most incredible moment he had ever witnessed among the other things Shinji was involved in being a Pokémon Trainer.

"He's amazing," he states.

"Yes, he is," Misato agrees with him.

"And he melted the ice off the entire gym interior," Ritsuko utters, surprised by the phenomenal power of this Pyroar's Incinerate attack, mostly due to the fact that they were spared being singed by the intense heat.

"Shinji can be a badass when he chooses to," went Kaji.

-x-

Beep! James' tablet receives an alert, and he checks it out; whatever it was, it had to be better than the defeat he, Jessie and Meowth just received from trying to capture the twerp's Pikachu for the umpteenth time.

"Urgh!" He groans, and drops his head to the ground.

"What is it?" Jessie asks him.

"The trainer with the Eevee?"

"What about him?"

"He just won his eighth badge."

"He is not to be taken lightly," went Meowth, raising his left hand up and stating the obvious.

"Aaah!" All three groan.

-x-

"Ah, man," Kaji sighs as he enjoys a mug of hot chocolate back at the Pokémon Center. "Shinji has got luck, skill and tenacity in these matches."

"It's more about development of skill than good luck," Misato states as she enjoys a mug herself. "He puts in the work, gets his Pokémon to trust him, and they become his partners in a goal to make it to the top and be among the best. But being here… It's definitely like a vacation. But for Shinji, it's a working vacation; he gets to have fun while doing these amazing things that seem like dreams. And being able to see Shinji do these things… It'd be a dream if more Pokémon could come to our world and be able to affect our lives the way they have already."

"You really want a Dratini," Antonio says, and sips more of his hot chocolate.

As the adults continue to converse, Shinji was checking in on his Talonflame and Tyrantrum after Nurse Joy confirms that his Pyroar only caught a mild chill that a hot bowl of soup could treat.

"I must say," Nurse Joy tells him, "most trainers take three or four tries to defeat Wulfric. Some take only two tries. But you…you only needed one try, and these two only got exhausted. You really are an amazing Pokémon Trainer."

"I'm not that amazing," Shinji claims. "I just work hard. My Pokémon here… They're amazing."

Nurse Joy smiles at his humble nature.

"Grr," Bitā growls.

"Talon," Komadori utters.

They both claim that Shinji was truly amazing due to his faith.

"Rrarh!" Leo goes.

"So, where to on your way to the championship?" Nurse Joy asks Shinji.

"Now that we have eight badges, it's to the Lumiose Conference," he explains, "which is a while away from now. That will leave time to train and get ready."

"I look forward to seeing you progress."

"Wiggly!" Wigglytuff cheers.

"Thank you."

-x-

Gendo learned from the video posts of Shinji's time in the Kalos Region, this Lumiose Conference, the Pokémon League Championship for the region would be a while, and Shinji would likely be preparing for it in any way he could to achieve the highest possible chance of success. Not only would he have likely acquired the eight badges necessary to compete, but will have caught and trained the best Pokémon he chose to compete with, and based on what was recorded in the post, the conference would likely have less than a hundred trainers competing. If Shinji was garnering support from fans and admirers and gaining success from his matches and catching Pokémon and putting in the work, he could make it to the top. And this was assuming that there were no other trainers that were as strong or stronger than he was likely to be.

"He loves what he does," he says as he watches a rerun of Shinji's last match in the Sinnoh League, "and does what he loves."

The way the video showed Shinji and his Eevee facing this woman that was a previous champion and her Garchomp, it appeared almost like a scene from a movie with an action and adventure plot. With a different perception of Shinji's exploits, Gendo sees the joyful freedom that his son has in his dimensional displacement. Rather than facing a stopgap in a situation where he needed to find a way to return to his original dimension, he was just in a fighting tournament involving animals with unusual abilities and that were around longer than human beings and were either revered or feared in different places and cultures for millennia. It was starting to sink in why those that watch these video posts and comment about his son saw him as some sort of hero or the latest fad in social media; it wasn't just because of the Giovanni Corporation or the Fourth Child that anyone knew about his whereabouts, but because he was doing things most couldn't even begin to fathom themselves being able to do…and how they would sometimes wish to be where he was, even for a little while. Just the mere mention of Shinji's time there would incite the imagination of any soul to want to experience such an escape from the ordinary and into the extraordinary that he gets to see every chance he gets.

How did you manage to do it? He wonders, seeing his Eevee defeat the Garchomp and securing his victory in the Sinnoh League. You got people to notice you, admire you, worship you…and all you did was get lost in another world. You got into a profession that other people were doing…and you found joy in it. Every attempt to get you to fall in line backfires and you become more attached to this other world you live in. Not even a scientist, but you've changed the world. You made an impact on people's lives. You really are among the best of your generation.

Oh, it hurts Gendo to have to admit this all, even to himself, but he has to own up to it. He spent so much time trying to retake control over a situation he never had any control over, he failed to realize that he could have changed his relationship with Shinji. But now, with the way things were, he would not be likely to get a second chance…or even a third chance…to change things between them.

Some would claim that it is too late to change, he hears a voice from behind himself, and turns to see a…a creature standing in his room. But only those that give up too soon fail to realize that it's never too late, where every day, every moment, every second…is a chance to turn things around, to make better choices. The question you should answer is this: Do you want to change things between the both of you?

Gendo looks at the creature and recognizes it as the Pokémon Shinji had obtained a few years ago and gained its trust and respect.

"You're…" He utters.

I am Master of One's Own Destiny.

The Mewtwo, the Pokémon that had been created by scientists in the goal to recreate Mew, the Pokémon believed by some to be extinct, was see-through, but entirely invisible. Maybe an astral projection, but it was definitely present in his home. How, though, he was unsure, but likely due to its psychic abilities.

-x-

In his sleep, exhausted from the gym match, Shinji turns over in his bunk at the Pokemon Center, dreaming of another scenario in which he was facing Ash Ketchum in the Lumiose Conference, dropping the Poké Ball he had been holding in his left hand.

To be continued…

A/N: This story was not abandoned, just delayed because of other stories that beg to be completed. I hope this will satiate y'all until the next chapter. It's on to the Lumiose Conference! Until the next chapter, everyone.