Chapter 5: Deliberation

January, 5 years ago

"So, are you finally gonna tell us what you're upset about?" Ajia asked, breaking the tension that had followed us ever since school got out.

Starr let out a frustrated sigh. "Ajia, I thought I already said I didn't want to talk about it."

"Ahh, sorry, I'll stop asking," Ajia replied, holding her palms out.

The three of us were walking to Ajia's house. She lived closest to school, so we usually hung out at her place. My house was too far to walk. And I'd never even seen where Starr lived.

Starr's arms were folded. Her face looked like she was arguing with herself in her head. "Alright fine, it's Lexx," she finally said. "That little worm stole my report card." She glowered at Ajia like it was somehow her fault.

"Has he done anything with it?" Ajia asked patiently.

Starr paused to think. "Well, no. But he's obviously planning to use it as blackmail or something."

Ajia put a hand to her chin. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"I wasn't asking you to," Starr replied quickly. "Besides, he's my brother, not yours."

"That just means he might listen to me," Ajia pointed out with a sly grin.

Starr let out a snort. "I swear it's like you're the only person he listens to sometimes. But of course my parents always go easy on him."

"Was the report card really that bad?" I asked curiously.

Starr had to tilt her head to look up at me. I was walking on top of the brick wall that ran along the sidewalk, so I was way taller than her.

The look Starr gave me said that she wasn't too happy with my question. But then she made a face like she didn't care and said, "Well, if you really need to know, I didn't pass math or writing."

Oof. That was pretty bad.

"Don't give me that look," Starr said, rolling her eyes. "Are you really doing that much better?"

"I'm passing most of my classes," I replied defensively. Not Pokéspeech. But that class was impossible anyway, so it basically didn't count. I don't know how anyone managed to pass.

The wall stopped when we reached the end of the block, so I jumped down and landed next to Starr. We were almost the same height, even though she was older than me.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter," Starr went on. "When we get to Ajia's place, I just want to hang out and watch shows and pretend I'm an only child."

I shrugged. "That's fine with me."

Ajia elbowed Starr. "Seriously, do you want me to talk to Lexx? I hate to see my friends fight. Even if they're related," she added with a wink.

Starr let out an exaggerated groan. "Ajia, when are you gonna learn that I don't want you to fix things all the time?"

Ajia laughed. "Sorry, sorry."

A few seconds passed. Starr rubbed her arm, glancing away. "But like… if you wanted to help, I'm not gonna stop you or anything."

Ajia's face lit up. "Sure thing."

Today

"All in all, great job today, everyone. I'd say we've graduated to top class as far as not-getting-killed-by-Rockets goes," Spencer said, stretching widely and flopping to the ground.

We were resting in a small, shaded clearing in the woods some twenty minutes west of the crash side, after Spencer's Pidgeot had proven too sore to make the full journey back to Viridian—especially with two passengers. None of us protested the chance to stop and catch our breath after the harrowing escape. I hadn't moved from the spot I'd collapsed onto after sliding down Aerodactyl's back, utterly numb. It would have been nice to just lie there with the wind rustling the leaves and watch the sky slowly melt into red as the day drew to a close. I still had too many thoughts swirling through my head to appreciate it, though.

"And as an added bonus, check it out," Spencer added, sliding his backpack down from his shoulders and opening it to reveal… Pokéballs. Lots and lots of Pokéballs.

"The other stolen Pokémon from the plane," he went on, grinning broadly. "I only had a few seconds, so I pretty much just dumped 'em all in while we were looking for the healing items. No clue where any of 'em came from, but I figure I can drop them off at a ranger station so they can get back to their homes or trainers or whatever."

The other Pokémon—I'd completely forgotten about them after all the fighting for our lives. At least something good had come from us needing to return to the plane.

"So, Jade… you've really got to tell me how you got mixed up with those Rockets in the first place," Ajia said, giving me a sideways glance—or at least, what looked sideways, given that I was sprawled out on the grass looking up at her. It was hard to tell with everything upside-down.

I couldn't help letting out a laugh. "Me? What about you?! How did you even know we were there?"

"I asked you first," Ajia replied with a playful smirk.

Oh, come on. That wasn't fair.

I sighed, unsure of how much I wanted to say about it. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something I shouldn't have. That's really all it was." Okay, so that wasn't the whole truth. Still, I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to bring up my conversation with the Charizard trainer—not because he told me to keep it a secret, but because I was afraid of the reaction I'd get.

Ajia raised an eyebrow, looking confused. "They kidnapped you just because you saw them doing something? That seems like a waste of time. A big organization like Team Rocket shouldn't care if some random kid saw them doing something. It's not like you could do anything with that info."

I paused. "Well… it wasn't just 'something.' I saw them trying to catch Entei."

That got a noticeable silence out of everyone. Rudy sat up immediately, eyes wide and jaw hanging.

"You actually saw Entei?" he finally said.

I nodded blankly, unsure of what else to do.

"Entei. As in, Legendary beast, Entei? Makes volcanoes erupt, and all that?" Spencer said incredulously.

"Has anyone ever captured a Legendary before?" Rudy asked with an awed look.

Almost immediately, Ajia replied, "No. Never."

I closed my eyes, feeling miserable. "They succeeded. They actually caught it. There wasn't anything I could do."

Ajia gave me a weird look, like she found my words completely bizarre. "Well, come on. It's not like you could have done anything."

I couldn't have done anything. It was the same way with the Rocket situation we had just been in. In both cases, I'd been powerless.

"What would you have done in that situation?" I found myself asking, not entirely sure why.

"Huh? That's… what kind of question is that?"

I sighed. "Never mind. It was stupid, forget it."

"Scary organization that tried to kill us now has an ultra-powerful fire-breathing weapon. I hope I'm not the only one bothered by this," Spencer remarked.

I didn't really know what to say to that so I just stared up at the sky. It was almost night—pinpricks of starlight had begun shining above us. If we didn't get back to Viridian soon, I'd have a world of explaining to do. The idea of returning home after all of this felt strange and foreign.

"Even if you saw them going after Entei, I still don't get why they cared so much," Ajia went on, apparently still trying to figure out the missing link in my story. "It just seems weird that they had to kidnap you even if you didn't know all that much about them."

"Can… can we not talk about this anymore?" I asked, looking away. "And in any case… what about you? You never said how found us there."

"I saw the Fire Blast from the air. It was pretty hard to miss, actually."

I gave her an incredulous stare. "Um. You just happened to be flying by and see us?"

Ajia chuckled slightly. "Okay, okay, I already knew you were in trouble. I heard about the situation from a friend. It's kind of a long story, though."

I raised an eyebrow. "We've got time. And does this have anything to do with the fact that you've fought Rockets before?"

She considered the question for a bit and then nodded. "I don't want to end up dragging you into that mess, though."

I couldn't help staring. "I'm already involved in this Rocket mess after today, so what's the difference?"

"Jade, be glad that what happened today didn't pull you in too deep," she said, suddenly looking very serious. I blinked, a bit taken aback by the sudden tone shift. My brain still had a hard time accepting the fact that she was used to situations like this.

Ajia paused, seeing the look on my face. "I'm sorry. It all happened a long time ago."

I didn't say anything. It was kind of obvious that she didn't want to tell me anyway, and I couldn't help feeling annoyed, even if she had a good reason.

"So… what are you going to do now? Were you on a training journey before this all started?" Ajia asked.

"Eh… not exactly… I still don't have a trainer's license, so—"

"You don't?" she asked, looking confused. "How did you get a Charmander, then?"

"He's, uh… not mine. I found him in the woods before I ran into the Rockets."

"Which is completely unfair, if you ask me," Rudy interjected.

"Yeah, yeah," I said exasperatedly. "Y'know, I'm… kind of surprised you chose Squirtle as your starter."

Rudy folded his arms with an overly sulky expression. "Yeah. Thanks a lot, Dad. He specifically requested a water-type for the job. He thinks me and Ebony aren't responsible enough to travel on our own without starting a wildfire or something."

His dad was probably right about that, but I didn't dare say so out loud.

"So, think we're ready to head off now?" Ajia asked, standing up and stretching. "Back to Viridian, right?"

I hesitated. After the events of today, the idea of returning home like nothing had ever happened felt… strange. Going to school, doing homework, knowing that the legends were in danger? Sure, maybe I was too weak to do anything about Team Rocket now. But wasn't that what the Charizard trainer was aiming to change? How could I go home and do nothing after hearing what he'd said and seeing the proof right in front of me?

I hadn't wanted to get involved because I didn't think I could make a difference. Now I wanted to join because of that. Maybe I was just insane.

"Hey Ajia, can I talk to you about something for a bit?"

"Sure?" she said, looking a bit puzzled when I stood up and walked away from the clearing. I guess it was kind of weird that I wanted to talk about it in private. But I wasn't supposed to tell anyone to begin with, and I'd known Ajia the longest, so it just felt right.

"What is it?" Ajia asked once we were a good distance from the others, who were now looking rather confused.

I took a deep breath before pulling the card out of my pocket and handing it to her. "I want to know what you think of this. I'm honestly considering joining a group working against Team Rocket."

Something flickered in her eyes when I said that, though I couldn't quite figure out what. "So you really want to fight the Rockets, huh? Even after what I said."

I nodded. Much to my surprise, she just smiled and shrugged. "Hey, if you're set on trying to help stop them, I'll stop trying to talk you out of it. I'd be lying if I said I regretted my decision to get involved way back when. It's been hard… but it's worth it."

Ajia proceeded to read the card several times, repeating certain bits out loud to herself as though trying to discover some hidden meaning that I'd overlooked. "This is… really vague. Possibly just to protect the leader from being found out. It doesn't even say where you'll be going… I guess you're supposed to learn that in Vermilion. Overall, it's suspicious, but I don't think it's a trap."

"A trap?" I said blankly. The thought hadn't really occurred to me.

She nodded. "There's always the possibility, but that'd be very unlike the Rockets. What would they gain by going and finding a bunch of kids, pointlessly feeding them info, and then killing them? No, I think it's real… though I can't say I know what the motives are."

The motives? What other motive could there be other than stopping Team Rocket for its own sake? Before I could ask, Ajia said, "Who exactly gave this to you? The leader of the team, or someone working for them?"

"Um, I'm pretty sure he was the leader. Tall guy, college-aged… er, I'm not very good at describing people."

Ajia paused, deep in thought. She considered something for a few seconds and then said, "Make sure he gives you more info before you commit to anything. And I hope you'll get to train for a while before actually fighting any Rockets. Then again, only an idiot would throw newbie trainers against them and expect anything good to come out of it. So depending on how good the training is… this could actually be a really good opportunity. But do you need to get a license first…?"

I clenched my fists. "I failed the test again, so I can't. But I don't care. I've wanted to be a trainer ever since you left. Heck, even before that, back when Starr left. So… I'm doing this, with or without."

Ajia's expression faltered for just a second. But then her face split into a wide grin. "I don't know whether to tell you that's a bad idea, or tell you that's the best thing I've ever heard you say." I couldn't help laughing slightly. "So I guess you want to go to Vermilion now?"

I paused. This was it.

"Yeah. To Vermilion."

As we walked back to the clearing, my head already felt lighter. This was real. I'd made my decision.

"So Jade, mind telling us what your ultra-secret talk was about?" Rudy asked with a bit of a laugh.

I took a deep breath and said it: "I'm starting my training journey." Somehow, saying it out loud made it feel all the more real.

Rudy stared at me, taking a few seconds to process my words. "…Wait, seriously? Hey, I told you it was a good idea! But seriously, this is kind of out of nowhere. What changed your mind?"

I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I repeated that excuse in my head, but it wasn't the whole reason. This crazy plan was my choice, and he didn't need to be involved. I kind of already knew he'd want to be involved if I told him.

"I guess you could say that all of this—everything that happened today—changed my mind."

I glanced around the clearing, eyes falling on where I had placed the limp experimental Pikachu. His back rose and fell lightly with each breath, but there was no sign of him waking up any time soon.

I didn't know what do with him at this point. It seemed cruel to just leave him here where a predator could find him out cold. And even if it had been for his own reasons, he had helped us.

"Well, he destroyed his Pokéball, so I guess I'll just have to hold him again," I said, picking up the hybrid as gently as possible.

"Wait a minute… you're gonna keep that thing?" Rudy asked, staring wide-eyed at Pikachu with a mixture of incredulous fear and envy.

"Of course not," I replied. "I'm just going to hold onto him until he wakes up, then explain the situation to him. He'll probably leave afterwards." At least, I hoped so.

Ajia put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, it couldn't hurt to put him in one temporarily, could it? Just to move him safely?"

I wasn't too sure how I felt about that, but… it was probably best, so I nodded. Ajia grabbed a Pokéball from her bag and tapped it against Pikachu. His body flickered red for a moment, but nothing else happened.

Ajia tilted her head. "Huh. Does he already have a Pokéball?

"No, I'm sure he destroyed it." That should have broken the link. Then again, his Pokéball had been jet black. I'd figured it was just a cosmetic thing, but maybe it was special. A ball to contain hybrid Pokémon?

"Well, I guess you'll have to keep holding him, then," Ajia said with a shrug.

She climbed up onto her Aerodactyl's back and strapped herself into its flight harness, prompting the reptile to stand up and stretch its wings. I climbed on behind her, taking care to hold Pikachu as best as I could while still keeping a firm grip on the Aerodactyl's straps.

"Leaving now, huh?" Spencer asked. "Take care! Nice fighting with you, or… alongside you, I guess."

It wasn't like I had done much, but his words still made me smile. "Thanks for everything. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't shown up."

Aerodactyl launched from the ground, and we were off. The air was dusky and cool, and the wind whipped at our faces and through our hair as we flew onward. I lost track of how long we flew, but the sky had deepened into navy by the time I spotted city lights reflecting off the sea in the distance. Finally, the winged reptile swooped low over Vermilion City, landing in front of the Pokémon Center. I let myself down from its back slowly, my hands now sore beyond belief from all the flying we'd done today. It was difficult just holding Pikachu now—I had to constantly shift his weight between my arms.

Ajia dismounted Aerodactyl to stand next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "So, this is it. Staring your journey… it's a pretty big step! Glad I got to see it."

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, it's… pretty wild." I wasn't sure when it would start to feel real.

Ajia snapped her fingers. "Hey, let me give you my new Pokégear number, alright? In case you need anything." She grabbed a pen and notepad from her bag and quickly scribbled onto a blank page before tearing it out and handing it to me. I took the paper, and my brain immediately conjured the image of failing. Needing to call Ajia to get a lift back home. I did my best to force it from my head. None of that. It wouldn't do any good.

Ajia climbed back onto Aerodactyl's back and waved lightly to me. "Good luck. I hope things work out for you. I mean it."

I waved. "Thanks, Ajia."

And with that, they were off, soaring into the night sky and out of sight.

So now it was time for me to figure out how to handle myself on my own. Though I suppose I wasn't on my own—I did have my Pokémon.

And then it hit me. I had made this decision without even thinking about the fact that I still had a confused Charmander that wasn't even on my team. I pulled out Firestorm's Pokéball and rolled it around in my palm. I'd have to tell him what had happened eventually… and apologize for taking him here without his consent. No sense putting it off. A flash of white light formed into the flame-tailed lizard, who glanced around, looking puzzled.

"*Are we safe now?*" he asked.

I nodded. "We're far from your old home, though. I'm not sure what you want to do, but—"

He cut me off with, "*Aren't you my trainer now?*"

I blinked stupidly at him. If I'd been expecting anything, it wasn't that. "I guess? I never properly captured you, but…" I trailed off awkwardly.

Firestorm swished his tail and said something to do with not caring about formalities like that.

Well, that wasn't my only concern… Sure, it was nice to know that he was apparently pretty on-board with the whole having a trainer thing. But the whole point of battling a Pokémon to capture them was to prove yourself. To prove you could make them stronger. I didn't know if I could do that for him.

"You know I'm not a real trainer, right?" I asked.

He paused to consider this. Then he asked if I'd be traveling and battling, or something like that.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"*Doesn't that make you a trainer?*"

I opened my mouth to speak, but then stopped. His words played on repeat in my head. He wasn't worried about formalities. Why was I so worried?

"I… guess it does." I was a trainer now. I had to get used to that idea. And even if I didn't feel like I could make him stronger now… maybe we'd both get stronger together.

A veil of anxiety still hung over my head, but underneath it all, I couldn't help feeling excited. Though this wasn't the way I wanted it to happen, I was now a Pokémon trainer. An illegal one off on a mission to join a secret rebel team, sure… but a trainer nonetheless.

A cool, salty ocean breeze ruffled through my bangs as I strolled down one of Vermilion's coastal walkways, shopping bags in hand. I had put it off as long as possible, but eventually I'd needed to buy more clothes, no matter how much I hated clothes shopping. Would have been nice if I'd somehow known to grab some spare outfits when I left home. Of course, I'd had no way of knowing what would happen; I had just planned on riding around town while Rudy finished his chores. It was almost crazy how something so small had led to all of this.

"*You guys spent way too long in there,*" a voice piped up from my feet.

I glanced down at Firestorm. "You said the same thing when we went to the library."

"*Libraries are boring,*" the Charmander replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, I wasn't just buying clothes—I got some snacks too." That seemed to satisfy him.

It was a good thing I'd held onto that Fire Blast TM—apparently the Series 5 discs were reusable, which made them more valuable than others. Pawning it off the second I got to Vermilion had managed to land me 20,000 pyen—probably far less than it was actually worth, but I wasn't in a position to argue. I had spent well over half of it within my first two days in Vermilion, but hopefully I wouldn't need to buy anything more than food for the remainder of my time here.

I paused just long enough to stuff the bags into my new backpack before continuing down the road alongside the bay, occasionally shooting a glance out over the horizon. I couldn't help staring in awe at the endless stretches of sea that surrounded half the city—it was so much more open than the hilly, forested setting I was used to seeing around Viridian.

"*I want to go see the gym tomorrow,*" Firestorm said.

I gave him a sideways look. "I don't think they'll let us participate in any of the training since I don't have a license."

"*Just to watch.*"

"Alright, I'll see what we can do."

Firestorm rambled on a bit about some fights he'd seen in a gym some time ago. I managed to catch… some of it. Something about a Sandshrew and some trick involving water? He was a lot more talkative now. Which meant getting more practice at Pokéspeech, whether I liked it or not. I still had to ask him to slow down or repeat himself a lot. He wasn't very good at remembering it.

I felt a slight pang in my chest as we walked past the Pokémon Center and its promise of a roof and a bed. Those things were for licensed trainers—without being able to receive the trainer's discount, I'd have gone broke within days. I'd had no choice but to settle on… much cheaper arrangements.

And so we made our way down the now-familiar trail to the trainer's campground that sat amidst the grassy hills of Route 6. It had the basic rest stop amenities like water pumps and bathrooms, but otherwise left food and shelter up to the trainers. It was there that I'd set up the tent that I bought the first night I arrived. The training high season had just started, so camping supplies were pretty cheap and thankfully didn't require a license to purchase. That was at least one thing that had gone in my favor.

I set down the shopping bags next to our tent and then, on a whim, decided to glance inside. Pikachu wasn't there. And I couldn't remember seeing him this morning, either.

"Did either of you see Pikachu today?" I asked cautiously. Given his intimidating air, it felt weird just calling him 'Pikachu,' but I couldn't think of what else to call him.

"*Told you that he doesn't want anything to do with us.*" Firestorm said dismissively.

"*He's probably still training out in the field,*" Swift added. He looked down, pawing at the ground. "*I'm worried about him.*"

Firestorm looked puzzled. "*Why? He doesn't care about us.*"

Swift didn't answer. I felt a bit relieved that Pikachu hadn't decided to take off, but I couldn't figure out why. Why did I care if a random Pokémon that wasn't even on my team just decided to up and leave one day? It wasn't like he'd said a word to any of us; he hadn't even agreed or disagreed to staying with me.

"Well, I hope he's okay," I murmured. There wasn't much I could do about it now, anyway.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and said, "C'mon, I need to heat up some water," while motioning for Firestorm to bring his tail over. I grabbed a cheap kettle that I'd bought from a thrift store for 100p and proceeded to fill it with water so I could make a cup of instant ramen. Getting good food for Swift and Firestorm meant that I had to save money somewhere. But it wasn't like I didn't eat ramen all the time back home anyway.

While his tail flame heated the kettle, Firestorm took the liberty to dig through the shopping, shoving bags of clothes to the side until he located the bag with the snacks. He asked me a question, but I didn't catch it. I made the usual motion for him to repeat it, and he did, but I still couldn't make it out. I thought about just letting it go, but he seemed to want an answer, so I just… made the same motion again.

Firestorm gave an exaggerated sigh but repeated it again, slower this time: "Char' charmann'der charmann 'charr?"

Okay, sharp cutoff on the first syllable. Then full syllables, a trill, a sharp pause, tone shifting up, then back down. The verb was easy. Then the first syllable repeated with that trill at the end, that switched the tense, so—

…All that effort just to get that he'd asked if I could buy more cookies next time.

"Sure, whatever," I said exhaustedly.

Firestorm gave me a bewildered look.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Sorry, it's not you, I just… really wish Pokéspeech was easier. I don't know how everyone else hears those pitch changes so easily. I swear it's like trying to hear a dog whistle or something," I grumbled.

"*You'll get it,*" Swift said, leaning his head against my arm.

I gave him a weak smile. "I know. I'd just like it to not take another three years."

"*Years?*" Firestorm asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "*Why would it take years?*"

I sighed. "Humans aren't like Pokémon; our brains don't just 'pick up' languages like that." I snapped my fingers to emphasize the point.

Firestorm blinked, absorbing that thought. "*Well, if you can't hear the sounds,*"—I motioned for him to slow down— "*why don't you try making them? You humans can make any sounds you want, right?*"

I shook my head. "That'd be even harder. It's a lot easier for humans to learn how to hear the sounds than to actually make them, and that's saying something."

It was impossible to appreciate just how different Pokéspeech was from human speech were before diving into it firsthand. It hadn't made a lick of sense at first. How could a tiny handful of syllables make up every word in an entire language? How could every Pokémon species use an entirely different syllable set to make the exact same words? 'Char' alone could mean a dozen different things. But eventually they'd trained us to ignore the sound itself, and notice only the way it was said.

I'd been awful at it for the longest time. Even fumbling through slow and awkward conversations with Firestorm would have been completely unthinkable a year ago. I still wasn't sure what had kept me going at it. Shame? Spite? Or just not wanting it all to be for nothing?

I poured the now-boiling water into the ramen cup and was waiting for it to cook when a sudden flash of light drew my attention to the left. I jerked my head to see scattered bolts of lightning coming from a field to the north, twisting wildly into the air. Was that…?

I stood up and stepped away from the campsite, out into the tall grass, glancing in every direction until—there! The experimental Pikachu, darting around the grass as though tangling with an invisible opponent. Part of me suspected that he'd already defeated all the willing combatants on the route and scared away all the unwilling ones.

"Pikachu!" I called out, feeling rather silly. "Hey, Pikachu!"

He didn't give any indication that he had heard me at all. The hybrid simply continued ducking and weaving throughout the grasses in a very precise and streamlined motion, occasionally leaping out and slicing his tail through the air.

"You know, I heard when you snuck into the tent last night to steal food. You could have just asked."

Not a word. Not even a look. His spiky fur stood on end as he leaped forward and tail slammed the dead remains of a tree, unleashing a wave of electricity from the impact and scorching the trunk even more than before.

"Seriously, I know I'm not your trainer but could you at least give me a reason you haven't left yet? I have no idea what to think about you!"

The rodent's breathing was starting to grow heavier from the intense training. With each wave of sparks that leaped off his fur, he let off a narrow string of lightning straight along the ground. Compared to his previous moves, this was a lot more precise and controlled.

"You know, in a few weeks, I'm gonna be leaving to join a group fighting the Rockets! Are you going to follow me then too?"

His movements faltered. It was only for a moment, but he definitely paused before leaping back into the tall grass and out of sight. I waited several seconds, but didn't see any more signs of his training.

"Ugh, forget it," I muttered, trudging back to the campsite.

"*How'd it go?*" Firestorm asked.

"Like you said, he doesn't want anything to do with us," I said in a low voice.

I finished my ramen before climbing inside the tent and flopping down onto my sleeping bag. My eyelids started to droop and my muscles went limp, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. I'd felt similarly exhausted throughout the past few days too. Maybe it was stress—I didn't really know.

The wind swept against the tent as I looked out toward the sky. Twelve more days in Vermilion…

My footsteps dragged as I walked down the boardwalk for what felt like the hundredth time. I paused to lean against the railing and pulled out the card I had been given, which was now frayed from just how many times I'd pulled it from my pocket.

The card said to meet at Vermilion harbor prior to June 16. Well, I'd been here for seven days now, and I hadn't seen that Charizard trainer yet. I wasn't sure how I'd ever spot him. Vermillion was a huge city. A popular stop for both tourists and trainers alike. The harbor was always crowded. My best bet was just… hoping that he'd find me somehow. Even if that didn't feel too promising.

And so, every day at noon, we walked up and down pier 3, waiting for a meeting that might never come. It felt pretty weird hanging around there. Pier 3 was mostly full of fishing boats, and crowded with sailors and water-types. I stuck out pretty badly, being the only kid around.

Swift rode on my shoulder, looking in every direction, taking in the details of the ships and sea just like he had the first day we walked here. Every so often Firestorm cautiously glanced over the edge of the pier and shivered at the sight.

I couldn't help wondering what would happen if I didn't meet the Charizard trainer in time. Would I miss my chance? Would I have to call Ajia and tell her that I'd failed? Return home to my boring life, knowing what I now knew about Team Rocket? I didn't want to consider that. But every time I visited the pier, those thoughts wouldn't leave me alone.

"Looks like another bust," I mumbled. "C'mon, let's go get lunch."

Swift wasn't paying attention, staring straight up at the sky. I squinted through the midday sun, struggling to make out a figure soaring overhead. A flash of orange… a Charizard?

"Hey!" I yelled, waving. It did look similar to the one that the trainer had ridden. Maybe…

The fire lizard glanced down at me, then pitched its wings back to dive downward so rapidly it almost looked like it was going to plunge into the water. But then, at the last second, its wings flared outward and it swooped up to land on the pier right in front of us.

A couple of fishermen working nearby looked up, annoyed. A Golduck with them told us to clear off, and the Charizard replied something to the effect of, "*Won't be long.*" Then it turned around and leaned forward in a clear invite for me to climb on its back.

I blinked. "Oh, right, uh… you guys mind going in your Pokéballs for this? I don't want anyone to give you trouble for hanging around here." It was mostly directed at Firestorm since Swift could just fly away.

Firestorm just shrugged, so I recalled the pair and climbed onto the Charizard's back. As wings unfurled on either side of me, I reached for something to hold onto… and then suddenly realized that it wasn't wearing a riding harness. No choice—I clasped my arms around its neck, ready to hold on for dear life. But the takeoff was smooth compared to Aerodactyl's instant vaulting into the air. Just a few graceful flaps and we were off, calmly, lazily riding the wind with the ocean glimmering far below us.

We headed east of town where a maze of trails twisted their way around rocky, pockmarked hills surrounded by fields. Charizard flared its wings and we gradually lost speed before landing near a patch of forest.

"It's good to see you."

I turned at the sound. There, at the edge of the trees, stood a tall, cloaked figure wearing a dark mask that completely covered his face. My heart caught in my chest. Finally. It had to be him—the one I'd met in the forest that day.

"I assume you're here to learn more about the rebel team?" he asked.

"What's with the mask?" I blurted out as I slid down from Charizard's back.

He tilted his head. "That's right, you saw my face back then," he said distantly. "I hadn't been planning on picking up any recruits that day, so I didn't take care to hide my identity. Everyone else I approached only saw me in this."

It felt a bit strange being stared at by someone whose face I couldn't see. Then again, even without being able to see his face, I still couldn't help feeling like I was being x-rayed. Just like when I'd looked into those icy blue eyes of his back then.

I glanced around at the fields surrounding us. "Why'd we have to meet way out here anyway?"

"There could have been Rockets staking out the pier," he replied simply, like he'd had the answer ready. "Even if they couldn't see my face, they could still have targeted you. Charizard will drop you off at the Pokécenter so you won't be followed," he said, gesturing to the fire lizard.

"Huh…" I hadn't thought of that. It was the sort of thing I'd have to start thinking about if I didn't want to get captured again.

"First of all, I need to make sure you're willing to go through with this."

His words were like a sudden splash of water in my face. A reminder that I'd come here to sign up for something deathly serious.

"I, well… after you first told me about it, I wasn't so sure," I admitted. "That was because I didn't think I could do anything, but…" My voice trailed off. I wasn't exactly doing the best job at selling myself.

The masked trainer considered me for some time. "I don't want anyone joining because it sounds interesting and then quitting after they realize that there's danger involved," he said, his words slow and deliberate. "Of course, I'm not going to throw you into the fire until you've been trained. But one way or another, this is going to test your resolve." His voice was cold. Even though he had probably said this same thing to all of his potential recruits, for some reason I felt like a perfect target for it.

And yet… I'd already been through danger with Team Rocket, and I still wanted to do this. That had to count for something, right?

I took a deep breath. "I… I can't just ignore what happened that day. I want to be able to make a difference." I hoped he didn't notice the slight quiver in my voice.

A few seconds passed. "Alright," he said, pulling a small, stiff sheet of paper out of his coat and handing it to me. I took it and skimmed the text. No way… this was…

"This is a boarding pass for the S.S. Anne?" I said, staring blankly at him.

He nodded. "That's where I'm having the recruits gather."

My eyes slid back to the paper, as if expecting it to evaporate. "You're really just giving tickets to everyone who's joining the rebel team?"

"I told those in charge of the ship that I wanted specialty invites for the Pokémon trainer's party on board and then bought eighty of them."

I gawked at him. "Holy crap, you must be rich."

"I wouldn't be starting something like this if I weren't prepared," he said simply. "Still, I spent most of my extra funds on the tickets and renting the stadium we'll be using as headquarters."

"Which is where…?" I asked.

"That's classified until you arrive."

I hesitated. "But then… how will we get there without anyone knowing? Couldn't we be followed?"

"I've arranged for an invite-only event onboard the ship. Anyone who completes it will be teleported to the headquarters in secret."

"You mean like a test?"

"That's the idea."

A test… I already found myself wanting to know what kind of test, but something told me he wasn't going to say. But that wasn't the only question I'd had…

"You said you were recruiting beginning trainers," I began, "but why? Why not more experienced ones? Wouldn't they stand a better chance against Team Rocket?" My mind drifted back to the way Ajia had battled. If we had someone like her with us…

He paused, mulling the question over. "I suppose I just preferred having a blank slate to work with. I want to train you all from scratch in the battling style that will be most useful for our missions, instead of forcing an experienced trainer to relearn everything."

I… guess that made sense. It still seemed a bit weird, but I didn't feel like I could say anything against it.

"It sounds like I'll be seeing you with the others. Charizard will take you back to the city now."

This was it. This was really happening.

"Yeah. I guess I'll see you later, then," I said, climbing onto Charizard's back once more. But before it could take off, a random thought struck me. "Hey! What's your name?"

He paused to consider the question. "I suppose you guys will need something to call me…" He turned away, and the last thing he said before Charizard lifted off was, "Stalker."

Stalker… dodgy name for someone who wasn't totally free of suspicion himself. Still, when going against Team Rocket, it probably wasn't best to reveal too much. So as much as I wanted to know more, I'd have to be patient.

I gazed out over the harbor as Charizard flew, my thoughts swimming with both anticipation and anxiety, and the realization that I was now definitely bound to this crazy, spur-of-the-moment adventure. I had long since given up my opportunity to return home and put things right from the moment they had first gone very wrong in the forest that day.

But that didn't matter anymore. There was no turning back now, and in a weird sort of way, I didn't mind.