"WAKE!"

I jerked upright and felt at the back of my tingling head reflexively as a distorted, low hum of a voice that sounded frighteningly close reverberated through my skull.

I momentarily considered that it was another psychic-type, but the presence in my mind felt so familiar I instinctively knew it to be Apollo. The gravity of him speaking an actual word using telepathy wasn't lost on me, but I knew we were in some sort of serious situation that needed my immediate attention.

It was still night, and vision was extremely limited as the moonlight was barely able to make it through the canopy of the forest, let alone the tent. I felt Apollo nervously clutching my leg through the sleeping bag, and at the tent's closed entrance I could make out Corphish crouched low in an attack stance, seemingly ready to attack anybody who tried to enter. I could hear rustling outside, and it sounded as though my backpack was being rummaged through.

I silently cursed myself, wondering why I hadn't thought to bring it into the tent before going to bed and vowing to do that from now on. I looked at Apollo and gave a questioning look as I jerked my head towards the door, wanting to get some sort of read on what was out there.

Temptation. Greed. Resolve.

Not the profile I'd hoped to hear. I pointed to myself, wondering if it was a human out there.

Unfortunately, Apollo nodded. If it had just been a wild Pokémon, this would have been much easier to deal with. Now I knew I was dealing with a thief, and based on Apollo's read on them I doubted they would simply run if I came out of the tent or shouted at them.

My heart rate picked up as I thought about my options. I could still hear them out there, and the fact that they hadn't just grabbed the backpack and left probably meant that they planned on coming in here next. I considered confronting and attacking the intruder, but I didn't want to endanger myself or my team without knowing what we were up against. My only advantage here was that they didn't seem to know that we were awake, and they had no idea I had two Pokémon ready

At least, that's what I hoped.

As I thought of what items I had at my disposal, I was regretting having the utility knife in my backpack. The only thing I had in the tent was my lantern, sleeping bag, Pokéball clip, and… my Pokédex, which I suddenly remembered should be able to send out a distress beacon to summon rangers.

The only issue with using the Pokédex was that it would emit light when I opened it, and could possibly make a sound when I triggered the alert.

I really hope it didn't make a sound. Surely something with as much engineering as the Pokédex would have taken dangerous situations like this into account, right?

Slowly grabbing it, I moved my hand under my sleeping bag before flipping it open, using the fabric as a shield. I found the 'Emergency' button and clicked it, and after a confirmation the screen simply said 'STANDBY', and to my delight it didn't make any noise.

That done, I needed to prepare for if they came in the tent, which I felt was likely. I couldn't understand why a common thief wouldn't just grab the bag and run, so my assumption was that they might be looking for Pokéballs, money, or something more. Not grabbing the backpack and bailing that told me they likely weren't afraid of a confrontation, which was an unsettling thought.

I waved a hand in front of Corphish to get his attention, then cupped both of my hands and brought them in and out repeatedly, as if compressing something. I wanted him to start using Harden repeatedly, which he thankfully understood and started to do. I knew that the move made no sound, so it seemed like the right thing to do.

I thought of having Apollo Teleport outside the tent, but we had no clear vision for a destination and it made a subtle popping noise, so that was out of the cards. I carefully unclipped the Pokéballs from my clip and slowly pushed them deep into the sleeping bag, hoping to hide them from being stolen.

I suddenly wished that I had some silent and coded commands for my Pokémon, and vowed to do that later. Apollo would likely be able to pick up on cues from my thoughts, but I had no way of coordinating with Corphish. The only thing even remotely like that I had was the 'obscure' command, which I was pretty sure Apollo wouldn't be able to send him. Although he had woken me up in a moment of panic with a voice, I really doubted it could be relied on. He also had no idea that I had made that phrase with Corphish, and I didn't have faith he would be able to pick out that specific word from my thoughts and properly relay it.

Hopefully we'd be there someday soon, but tonight wasn't that time.

I heard the rustling of my bag stop, and my heart pounded as I realized I was out of time. I glanced back down at the open Pokedex in my sleeping bag, but there was no change or update.

I heard a Pokémon get released and saw the faint shadow of a figure looming in front of the tent's entrance. I couldn't hear any indication of what kind of Pokémon it was and I heard no orders being given, which deeply worried me. The entrance flap began to move as they searched the seam for the zipper, and I knew that it was go time whether I was ready or not.

I was scared; terrified even. But I had a team depending on me, and I wasn't about to freeze up and just let them be taken.

The zipper began to move very slowly, clearly trying not to wake me. I slowly got into a crouching position, ready to tackle the intruder the moment it was open enough, and I thought I might have a heart attack as time seemed to slow. My heart was pounding far harder than ever before, and I could hear each beat in my head.

The best plan I could think of was having Apollo Teleport behind the enemy and hitting them with a Disarming Voice, hopefully turning their attention away for a moment while Corphish and I attacked from the tent. I looked to the side at Apollo, and although he was trembling I got the feeling he understood what I wanted him to do.

Stressed. Frightened.

There was no more time for reassurances or additional planning. I heard a low growl outside as the zipper was about half-way up and the flap began getting pulled back.

Then, chaos erupted.

Apollo disappeared with a pop and instantly unleashed a Disarming Voice. I heard a yelp, and knew it was my cue to go when the flap stopped moving and I heard a deep voice yell "FUCK!".

I lunged through the entrance and tackled the unknown individual while their attention was diverted, knocking them back as I landed on top of them.

I momentarily had the upper hand as I palmed their face and pushed it into the ground, and although I couldn't see much I could tell that they were bulkier than me, and the facial hair I felt on their face informed me this was no kid.

My advantage didn't last; almost immediately I felt a sharp pain on my left arm as teeth sunk in and I was tossed to the side with incredible strength, my side slamming into a tree before I crumpled to the ground with the wind knocked out of me.

I gasped for breath while clutching at my side, trying to catch my breath as I heard a Howl and the familiar sounds of both a Bubble and another Disarming Voice, informing me the fight was now in full swing.

"Take them out!" The man bellowed as I heard a yelp.

My lungs began to regain their function as I managed to suck in a harsh breath after considerable effort. I heard a Screech and the sound of wings taking flight, but as I focused my eyes on the unfolding battle I wasn't able to see it. What I did make out was the Pokémon that must have bitten me, its unique shape instantly recognized as a Mightyena. It took a slew of Bubbles head on as it suddenly darted at Corphish with surprising agility, slamming into him and knocking him back.

Shakily making my way to my feet, I thanked Arceus that my impact with the tree seemingly hadn't broken any ribs, but it hurt like hell and was sure to leave a massive bruise. I reflexively held my aching arm as I felt blood seeping into the sleeve of my hoodie, not daring to actually look at the damage.

I noticed a faint glow in a tree that I knew to be Apollo's horn as he used Confusion. I was finally able to spot the silhouette of a Golbat as it slammed into Apollo with one of its massive wings in what must have been a Wing Attack, knocking him off the branch and sending him tumbling into the thick shrubbery below. The Golbat landed on a branch a bit clumsily, seemingly needing a moment to recover from the highly effective Confusion it had taken.

I saw that Corphish had re-engaged the Mightyena, who was dashing around him while attempting to lunge in, trying and failing to find an opening as Corphish would clamp at it with Vice Grip whenever it got close. I could tell that the Mightyena was too fast and agile for Bubble to be a very effective tool at range, and realized that Corphish probably thought if he could just get his claws on the Mightyena that he'd have the upper hand.

I wasn't sure I agreed; the Mightyena was larger and much faster, and if it got a good Bite on Corphish I doubted he'd be able to hold out for long. Odds were that whichever got a good grab on the other would win, and I hated to admit it but the Mightyena would likely be the one to do it.

I began to stumble forward, laying eyes on the man responsible for this. He was back on his feet with his arms crossed as he monitored the ongoing fighting, seemingly content with how things were progressing. I was surprised that he hadn't been commanding his team, but they seemed to be used to making their own decisions once given a target and goal.

Giving the man a close look for the first time, I noticed he was just slightly taller than me but much more stocky, wearing a black uniform and flat cap with white gloves, boots and utility belt. I was able to make out a red "R" printed on the front shirt, and my heart sank as I realized that this wasn't just some random thug but a member of Team Rocket.

That made this situation really, really bad. Team Rocket was infamous for stealing Pokémon and running a wide array of illegal operations, and they were hands down the most prolific criminal organization in the world. After the Kanto gym leader Giovanni had been revealed to be their leader and forced into hiding, they had become much more brazen. They expanded across multiple regions and began to be attributed with more violent crimes than previously, seemingly no longer concerned with public perception or keeping a low profile.

I realized that we could very well die here, and that unless we were able to win this fight or stall until Rangers arrived, I was likely to lose my only family yet again. I couldn't bear to let that happen.

"Apollo, to me! Corphish, obscure and defend!" I coughed out, hoping that Apollo was still alright.

"Call them off kid, before things really get bad." The Rocket commanded threateningly as he turned his attention to me.

I ignored him as I hobbled to my backpack, desperate to find any way to turn this battle around. Despite landing a couple of good hits, I knew we were losing.

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw a veil of Bubbles surround Corphish, and the Mightyena paused its lurches towards him and kept its distance just outside the perimeter, seemingly not wanting to charge in when it couldn't see its target. It took a ready stance and unleashed another loud Howl, its muscles bulging as it waited for the right moment to strike Corphish, seemingly aware that the shroud of Bubbles wouldn't last long.

Apollo finally appeared, Teleporting beside me and immediately unleashing another Confusion on the Golbat, who took flight and shrieked in pain before beating its wings hard and sending blades of wind into the bushes Apollo had fallen in, seemingly not realizing he had just Teleported away. I spared Apollo a quick glance as I opened the side pocket of my backpack, and was thankful that he didn't look too banged up, only having a few scratches and scrapes.

"Golbat, over here!" The Rocket pointed at us and yelled, getting the giant bat's attention.

"Disarming Voice and Vice Grip the Mightyena!" I shouted in a panic as I finally found the item I had been looking for. I heard the Golbat screech angrily and begin flying towards us as I grabbed the pepper spray, which the Rocket had apparently not seen any value in taking. Thankfully I'd had the slightest bit of foresight to keep it easily accessible, just not enough to keep in my pocket.

Corphish lurched out of the Bubbles right at Mightyena as Apollo released a Disarming Voice. The Mightyena was able to sidestep Corphish's initial attack, but pink waves washed over him as Apollo's attack landed. It yelped in pain, now having taken three of the super-effective attacks as well as a Bubble to the face, and Corphish used the moment to finally land his first Vice Grip, pincering right behind its shoulder and clamping down tightly as it held its other claw to the canine's head and sprayed a powerful Bubble directly into its face. It began thrashing, desperate to get the crustacean off of it while attempting to reach back and get its teeth around Corphish but unable to bend back far enough.

I turned my attention to the quickly approaching Golbat, whose mouth was wide open and diving right towards Apollo.

I clicked off the safety of the pepper spray and sprayed it towards the incoming Golbat, coating its eyes and open maw with the stream of capsaicin. I had expected a cone shaped trajectory more like a mist, but thankfully it was a powerful stream with quite a bit of distance on it. The bat crashed into the ground and thrashed about, its senses completely overwhelmed as it cried out in agony.

I glanced over and saw that the Mightyena had fallen, apparently unable to shake off or get a good bite on Corphish as he continued using Bubble and Vice Grip liberally. It wasn't quite unconscious, but it looked like it had taken too much of a beating to continue the fight.

"You fucker!" The Rocket screamed in a livid rage, realizing that the tables had just turned against him on a dime and he had no choice but to intervene. He reached towards his belt, and my heart skipped a beat as I saw him unclipping a small pistol.

"Confusion!" I shouted desperately, pointing at the man. He leveled the gun at Apollo and I just as he was slammed by a wave of psychic energy, and if he hadn't been trying to kill us I might have felt a bit sympathy.

I hadn't been the target of Apollo's Confusion recently, but I knew that he had gotten considerably stronger since my last time experiencing it, so I had a rough idea of the level of disorientation that must have washed over him.

His knees buckled and his vision blurred just as he began firing off shot after shot in our general direction, completely incapable of keeping a bead on us. He dropped to his knees and kept firing off random shots, and as the gun began making clicking sounds when the clip ran out he dropped the gun and brought his hands up to hold his head, writhing and rolling on the ground.

"Knock the Pokémon out, fast!" I shouted, unclipping the bundle of nylon rope I had dangling from my backpack. I wasn't about to take any chances of either of them returning to the fray, and wanted to focus on getting the Pokémon completely incapacitated battle before finishing with its trainer, who was laying on his side and groaning as he held his head and looked close to vomiting.

With both of the enemy Pokémon unable to properly fight back, my team was able to quickly beat them into unconsciousness. I ran over and dug my knee into the Rocket's back, pinning him face down into the ground as I tied his hands and feet together in a terribly sloppy but functional knot as both of my teammates loomed over him threateningly.

No longer in immediate danger, I fell back onto the ground as I tried to calm down and catch my breath. My heart was absolutely pounding, my arm was still bleeding and my side hurt every time I moved, but I knew that overall we had made it out relatively unscathed. I could tell I was going to have a nasty bruise, and I didn't want to pull my blood soaked sleeve up to see the extent of that damage, but it wasn't enough blood or pain for me to worry about at the moment.

Concern.

"I'm fine… You guys… were amazing." I managed to get out between labored breaths after a few moments, trying my best to calm down.

Relief. Solidarity.

"Cor…"

As we laid on the ground for a few moments and finally began catching our breath, I heard the sound of wings from above.

"Rangers! Return your Pokémon immediately, then put your hands up and identify yourself!" I heard a woman yell as I saw two massive flying-types break through the canopy above to descend on my camp, flashlights shining down on us.

I probably looked like a psychopath, but I couldn't help it; I broke out laughing, clutching my arm and wincing in pain as my side ached from the action, yet still unable to stop myself. Of course they would show up now of all times, after the threat of death had passed. I had no idea how long it had been since I called them, my perception of time completely warped from the adrenaline of the experience. All I knew was that as fast as it might have been, it still wouldn't have been enough to save us.

All I wanted to do was rest, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon after an event like that, and I groaned in a mixture of pain and annoyance as I realized I had a lot of explaining to do.

"So let me get this straight… You became a trainer two days ago and have no badges, yet you took on Keegan and his two evolved, highly experienced Pokémon… And won, even though he snuck up on you while you were sleeping and unloaded an entire clip at you?" The woman asked with an arched brow and an incredulous look, seemingly trying to get me to confess to some part of the story she thought I was leaving out.

I blinked. It was a severe oversimplification of the story I had told, and I really hoped the report she had taken amounted to much more than that.

"In a nutshell, although that's a very generous and simplistic summary." I shrugged before quickly wincing, soreness and exhaustion kicking in now that I had come down from my earlier rush of adrenaline.

At this point there were now five Rangers in my camp documenting the scene, along with a slew of Pokémon standing guard or searching the nearby area. The Rocket's Pokémon had been recalled, as well as mine after some persuasion and reassurances to them that I would be fine. The Rocket had been promptly Teleported away in cuffs by a Ranger with an Alakazam, apparently someone who had been wanted for some time.

After a moment of looking me over with a critical eye, she sighed and flipped her notebook closed, clicking her pen and stowing them away in her backpack. "We came out here expecting a nasty case of poisoning, we didn't expect to hear gunshots when we came out here. You're extremely lucky, I hope you know that. That man is responsible for three deaths and over 60 missing Pokémon all across Hoenn, and that's just what we can tie to him."

"Sounds like a real piece of shit." I stated bluntly.

She nodded in agreement, "He is, but there are definitely worse people you could have run into. You should count yourself lucky it was only him, since Rockets are usually in groups. He's an ex member of Team Magma, if you hadn't already realized based on his team. He's known as a wanderer, and from what we can tell he uses his Golbat to locate and prey on newer trainers. You're sure you don't want a lift out? We patched you up as best we could, but you should probably get yourself and your Pokémon properly examined."

"Nah, we're alright. Nothing we can't walk off. I want to finish what we started and make it through the woods properly." I said resolutely.

She sighed, seemingly a bit exasperated but not surprised. I wouldn't be shocked if it was a common answer among journeying trainers who found themselves in trouble one way or another.

"Well you've done a great service, and I want to personally thank you for not killing him, even though he didn't share the sentiment for you. Now the League can interrogate him for information, and he might actually know something useful. It's rare for them to get their hands on anything other than clueless foot soldiers, and although he's definitely no admin he's clearly not a grunt. If you ever run into trouble again though, just stall until help arrives, no need to be a hero." She informed me and I simply nodded, not wanting to argue.

"Good news for you though; he had a bounty on his head that you are now entitled to. It'll be transferred to your account once I finish up the paperwork back at the station." She stated more cheerfully than I had yet seen her, and I suddenly found myself much more attentive.

"Bounty? How much? Would I have gotten it if he had died?"

Her brows furrowed and she gave me a harsh look. "Don't go getting any ideas; the only time you can get lethal is if they attack you first and display a clear threat to your life, such as the gun being pulled or an order for Pokémon to kill. If you start going around killing Rockets for money, or if we see a pattern of you finding yourself the 'victim' of an attack with no witnesses to back up your story and using that as an excuse to commit murder, you'll find yourself in prison with the rest of them. This one is pretty cut and dry, but don't go trying to play bounty hunter or vigilante."

I nodded, "Wasn't planning on it. I'd rather not deal with anything like that ever again. Once is enough for a lifetime." I said truthfully.

Her expression softened and she nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. "Good. Well this particular Rocket had a bounty of 40,000 credits on him. Keegan may not be the worst of them, but preying on newer trainers really rubs the League the wrong way. You should see it within the next 24 hours, assuming no holdup with the paperwork."

My eyes bulged and I spluttered, trying to wrap my head around such an amount. "Arceus, that's… Wow…" I was left truly speechless, my mind racing with thoughts on how I might possibly spend that. I had no doubt that it would mostly be gone by the time I left Rustboro, but it was still an insane amount of money to drop into an orphan's lap. I couldn't help but think it was rather low considering all the crimes he had done, but I wasn't about to complain.

"Well I think we're wrapping up here. Stay safe out there, and thanks again for your help Mr. Ingram." She gave a respectful bow before returning to talk to three other Rangers who were having a hushed discussion.

Sure enough the Rangers soon left, seemingly done documenting the scene. I sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes before realizing that the sun was now rising, as I was able to see the sky brightening through the canopy above.

I took note of a couple new holes in my tent courtesy of the Rocket's random shooting, which would leave us very vulnerable during any rain. Now I'd need to replace it when I got to Rustboro, which wasn't likely to be cheap. Sure, I probably could have managed to patch them, but the tent was honestly looking pretty worn as is, so I figured it was better to invest in a good one sooner rather than later.

"Well… Guess it's time to start the day…" I muttered to myself as I rubbed at the bandage around my arm. I released my team, both of whom looked alert and ready for a fight until they saw I was fine and that nobody else was around.

"See? Told you everything would be fine. Rangers can be trusted, they only want to help and keep people safe. Sorry it took so long, they had to question me and document everything." I explained apologetically and was thankful when they seemed to be understanding, simply glad that everything was alright.

I took a moment to spray Apollo with a potion, relieving him of the cuts and scrapes his tumble into the bush had given him. They were all rather minor and healed up quickly once the potion was applied, but I felt a bit guilty for not having done it sooner. Corphish appeared to be completely fine, but I confirmed it with him before moving on.

"We're going to skip morning training, since you two had plenty of practice during our… scuffle not too long ago. But I think we should talk about it, and make some plans for the future…" I trailed off before pausing for a moment, collecting my thoughts on how to proceed.

"I won't lie to you two; we shouldn't have won that." I said truthfully, causing them both to give me an incredulous look. I shook my head and continued, "Our opponents were stronger and more experienced, they snuck up on us, and our only saving grace was luck. I'm really beginning to hate that term, but it's true. If you two hadn't been awake, or if Apollo hadn't developed a new ability... If we didn't have that pepper spray, or that bush hadn't broken Apollo's fall, or if I had broken bones or gotten knocked out... If any of those gunshots had hit us... There's lots of things that saved us from things going very differently. That man was part of Team Rocket, which is a notorious group of criminals from Kanto known for stealing Pokémon, and they aren't afraid to kill to get what they want. They wanted to take you away and force you to do their dirty work. You'd have been stuck in your Pokéball except when they wanted to use you for a few minutes to steal or kill." I explained as I saw the look of horror cross their faces.

Frightened. Appalled.

I nodded, "Yeah, it's scary, evil stuff. So if you ever see us fighting somebody dressed like that again, know what's at stake. Whenever we train, it's to be ready for another situation like that. Sure, we want to conquer the gyms and explore the world, but even more important is being able to survive encounters like that. I'm sure you've both realized this, but the world can be dangerous and cruel. We need to be prepared for anything, so from here on out we take battles and training much more seriously. Agreed?"

Firm nods from both of my team members.

Resolve.

"First thing's first; we aren't doing any physical training this morning, but we need to practice some non-verbal communications, and I think that starts with Apollo's telepathy. We can't fully rely on that, but I think it's a good place to start. Apollo, this morning you woke me up by talking using your telepathy. Think you can try again?" I asked hopefully.

Hesitance. Uncertainty.

"You did it once, you can do it again. Just try your best." I encouraged him with a confident smile.

He focused, and I felt the dull tingle I'd grown so accustomed to ignoring in the back of my mind, but only because I was mindful of it. I often found myself unable to notice it anymore unless I really paid attention, and I wasn't sure if that was a reflection of Apollo improving or me getting used to it.

"G-Greet."

I beamed when I heard the voice. It was extremely strange; a low echo reverberating through my skull, and I could tell that Apollo's limited grasp on English was definitely making it more difficult on him. I assume he meant to say 'greetings', but I wasn't about to correct him on it since he would surely get better over time.

"Fantastic job Apollo; I'm really proud of you. We'll keep working on it, but first let's take a step back. You're really good at sending emotions and feelings; do you think you can do more general concepts? Something like 'attack', or 'above', but without using words like you just did?"

Offended. Defensive.

I chuckled; he had used the feeling of being offended, as if somebody had insulted him. I guess both feelings technically worked, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

"Not quite, but that was clever of you. Alright, next question. Can you take something from my mind and send it to Corphish?"

Unease. Lonely. Isolation.

I tilted my head, trying to figure out what he was trying to relay. After a moment of thinking about it, it came to me. "Are you saying you can only do telepathy with one mind at a time?"

He nodded in confirmation.

"That's alright, we can try to work around that. Hopefully you'll be able to do multiple connections at once when you get stronger, but for now I don't see a huge issue with you getting the information from me and then connecting to Corphish to relay it. Let's give it a shot alright; I'm going to think of something, you try to instruct Corphish on what to do.

I thought about something coming from behind Corphish, sneaking up on him that he hadn't seen. I thought about the need for him to turn around and notice it before it was too late and something bad happened.

Focusing on Apollo's presence in my mind, I could feel the moment he disconnected from me, and I watched Corphish with interest as I waited to see if the message got relayed.

I saw Corphish's eyes widen momentarily before quickly narrowing as he started looking all around him, searching for something and looking extremely guarded as he took a defensive position. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it was still an overall successful test in my opinion.

"Pretty good. I wanted Corphish to look behind him specifically, but it seems you got the general idea. What did you send him?" I asked curiously.

His presence returned to my mind. Hostility. Paranoia.

I grinned, "Not bad, that's pretty resourceful. It feels like we're on the cusp of a major improvement in team communication, so keep practicing your telepathy as much as possible Apollo. Try to use more words, and try sending more complex ideas or descriptions if possible. Emotions and feelings come naturally to you, but they are limited as we just saw. Precise communication is key, so try your best to work towards concepts like water, left, flee, things like that. Now then, before we pack up and get going for the day let's work on some hand signals."

I spent a little over an hour teaching them a few commands, each with a hand and whistle variant. It was all extremely basic; I taught them attack, stop, move, regroup, caution, and escalate. We had a discussion about there being two different levels of force; how all battles defaulted to us wanting to try to quickly incapacitate the opponent without any permanent damage, but if things escalated then maiming and death were no longer off the table. I really hoped we'd never have to do anything like that, but I couldn't help but think it was necessary.

I talked about the importance of keeping our force appropriate for the situation, and to never escalate without my order, even if I was missing or unconscious. I didn't imagine we would find ourselves in too many situations like that, but I didn't want them to ever read a situation improperly and do something that would cause the League to come down hard on us and break up our developing family.

By the end of our little session, I felt much better about the possibility of running into another situation like that. We had breakfast and packed up camp, and soon we were resuming our trek through Petalburg Woods.

As my team resumed their 'travel training' as I was starting to refer to it as, I couldn't help but think about the encounter with the Rocket and wonder just how prolific the group was in Hoenn. Although many regions had other established criminal groups to keep them in check, Hoenn's Team Magma and Team Aqua had disbanded years ago, leaving a void Team Rocket was more than willing to fill. Rumor had it that the majority of Rockets in Hoenn were ex Magma and Aqua members, and many claimed that Champion Wallace left the defunct groups' members no choice but to join Team Rocket's ranks by taking such a hard stance and not offering rehabilitation or pardons to known members.

The argument was that he had essentially turned a generation of misguided environmentalists into hardened criminals, and although never confirmed the backlash of his choice bolstering Team Rocket's rise in the region was commonly cited as one of the primary reasons he eventually stepped down as Champion.

I've never been one to care much about politics unless it directly affected me, such as the age of adulthood being constantly raised. But after my encounter with Keegan, I was now firmly on the side of those who disagreed with Wallace's approach to Magma and Aqua members after they disbanded. I know they had stolen a couple of things and caused some sort of calamity, however the details on that were never shared with the general public and it was quickly resolved. Rumors had it that it involved Legendaries, but I had never looked into it much since I was so young when it happened and it had been so inconsequential to me.

I still couldn't help but think that the lowest ranks of those groups likely had no idea what they were doing and should have been given a second chance, but maybe Wallace knew something the rest of us didn't that caused his stance to be so firm. Either way, I couldn't help but feel a bit resentful that politics may have been the cause of my encounter with the Magma turned Rocket.

It might be wrong to say, but in a way I felt grateful that we had the run-in with the Rocket. The incident with the Taillow had put a strain on our team, but now we were closer and stronger than ever, and I finally had a bit of breathing room financially.

We'd only been in these woods for a little over 24 hours and weren't even halfway through, but I was already eager to be done with it. A warm bed and a good meal sounded particularly appealing right now, and I had high hopes that our time in Rustboro would be more pleasant than it had been in these damn woods.

But first, we had to get there.

TRAINER ID
Name: Daniel Ingram
Age: 16
Badges: 0
Account: 41,156 credits

POKÉMON
Ralts (Apollo) - Male
Corphish - Male

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