The day was hotter than normal as the sun bathed the area below shortly after noon. The group had set up lunch after a morning of light sparring and practice. Ash had spent the most time with Nebula today so far, helping her to further hone her usage of Ominous Wind, and spoke to her one last time before joining Janine.

  "You've gotten pretty good at the move, and seeing the way you use it had me thinking about something," he explained to the curious Staravia. "Since Ominous Wind is, you know, a wind-based move, do you think it's possible to combine it with Air Slash and Air Cutter if we practice enough with it? They have more of an offensive edge to them, and the ghost type properties could bolster that against certain opponents."

  Nebula's head tilted for a moment. It made sense in theory, but something about the idea did not sit right with her. Would she really be ready to do something like that?

  "Don't worry," Ash took note of her reaction. "We'll still keep focusing more on the move you're currently working on if that's where you're more comfortable. We should give Ominous Wind some more time before attempting something like that. But it is a worthwhile idea, I think. I just thought it would be best to let you know in advance." she nodded back.

  While heading over to where Janine was sitting, his eyes scanned the rest of the campsite. Tempest had just finished getting in a few minutes worth of extra Surf practice before helping himself to his food, sitting with Pikachu and Tentacruel. The Krabby had been progressively more social with the rest of the team since his battle with Phenom at the lodging; it had not been immediate, and still was not, but Tempest's presence was no longer distanced from the group. He ate with the rest of the team at every meal and participated in whatever conversations the group was having that Ash and Janine naturally could not understand the language of, even if he was not the most talkative participant in said conversations. He certainly seemed to be listening when he wasn't talking, and on the opposite end, the rest of the team was similar. It was an obvious adjustment period, as the interactions lacked the affectionate familiarity between the others, but hostility was no longer a problem, and the lingering tensions were softened, although not yet gone.

  From Ash's observations of their training, Phenom and Tempest were still in competition, but the pent up emotions from before were thankfully lacking in comparison to prior. Tempest had a clear respect for the youngest member of the team that had not been present before, no doubt thanks to the dinosaur pushing him as far and hard as he had in their match. The battle seemed to have given Phenom the closure he needed as well, at least in regards to the water type's earlier antagonism, but Ash knew better than to assume that they were out of the woods entirely regarding the Tyrunt: His emotions and instincts were under control for the moment, but that was due to his grudge against the large Krabby being squashed. Tempest had only exacerbated what Elacia had warned regarding Phenom's species, and Phenom's hostile response was simply just that: A symptom. That conflict between the two had only been one form that the Tyrunt's potentially destructive nature could take on, and although it had certainly been important to address, Ash knew he needed to make sure that no other potential triggers came into the picture.

  Thankfully, the boy felt decently optimistic regarding the young dinosaur's emotional progress, albeit not complacently so. Tempest may not have been the root cause, but the conflict had been a trial, and for as much as Ash knew that they had dodged a bullet settling things sooner rather than later, the silver lining was that the dragon now had some worthwhile experience to pull from that would hopefully make any further potential incidents easier to deal with. For now, the healthier rivalry that seemed to have formed between him and the river crab would surely benefit both of them as they continued training.

  Even so, his eventual evolution would be a potential wrench that they needed to prepare for. Adding mental exercises with Valiant into the Tyrunt's routine would likely be ideal, but Ash did not know much about meditation. While eating with Janine, he brought the topic up.

  "You said you've practiced that stuff back at home, right?" he asked after taking a spoonful from his bowl. "And you do it with your team every now and then."

  "I try to, at least." she confessed, stirring her bowl before blowing on it for a moment. "I've been told I'm a faster learner, but I'm not the best at teaching it, I'm afraid. I can still at least try to help, of course. Have you ever attempted it before?"

  "Probably not in any meaningful way," Ash admitted, feeling his cheeks redden. "I've seen characters do it on TV and that's about all I had to go off of. You can probably guess the results."

  She snorted in amusement, keeping her mouth closed to suppress her chuckle. "Yes, perhaps I can." After gently consuming a spoonful of her food, her gaze found its way to Phenom, who was chatting with Beedrill and Skrelp. "As you said, Valiant's developing usage of Calm Mind already gives him a helpful outlook. Psychics in general have a meditative foundation to them, self explanatory. I can do my best to help you three get started together, although I can't promise anything effective. But once we get to the city, I'm sure some people from home would be willing to lend a hand. They'll be more useful help and can teach it better than me. Until then, you guys are welcome to join in whenever I try to practice meditation with my team. Ivysaur and Tentacruel are usually the most interested."

  "Is it because they're the most calm?" Ash questioned. Her Ivysaur was about as level headed as they came; not in a supremely stoic way like Gary's Wartortle (and unlike his rival's starter, Ivysaur's demeanor did not change nearly as drastically when Overgrow was activated, albeit the adrenaline boost was definitely present), but he and Tentacruel both seemed to have a comfortable air about them, which did not necessarily translate to a lacking of expressiveness. Nobody on her team was poorly behaved by any means, but the others were more outgoing, apart from maybe Skrelp.

  "That is probably a factor," the poison specialist confirmed.

  As they finished their bowls, Janine pulled two bags of chips out of her backpack, offering one to Ash who accepted it. They sat in what Ash thought to be comfortable silence, but roughly halfway through his bag, he could see Janine looking elsewhere, eating fairly slowly as she appeared lost in thought.

  "Is something wrong?"

  She perked up at his voice, shooting him an apologetic glance before looking down at her bag with minor unease. "Sorry, I feel like being here has just got me thinking a little bit."

  "About returning home?" Ash guessed. The subject had been brought up before, and after hearing her open up about certain things, the conflicted tone mildly glazing her voice was easier to understand. It reminded him of how he would likely find himself feeling, once it came time to return to Pallet Town, even if their reasons were as different as they were similar.

  "Well that, yes. But, more specifically…" he wasn't too used to the look on her face as she stared down at the innocent bag of potato chips in her hands. It almost read as timid, which for his friend felt… wrong. "Back at home, I'm never allowed to eat most highly processed food."

  He blinked; it wasn't an answer he thought of. "Really?"

  "Nutrition has always been important to our family," she explained. "And we've always had the resources to avoid compromise. Since leaving, I've broken those rules a few times. Sometimes out of curiosity, I'll admit, but as a trainer on a budget and limited options. It's never felt right to me, even after these past months."

  "It's just a bag of chips, Janine." Ash spoke the words without much thought.

  "It's not natural food." Her retort didn't require much effort of her own.

  Ash didn't realize until after her reply how automatically he had said it. He knew potato chips weren't healthy; that was borderline universal knowledge, but for as long as he could remember (and most likely far longer), he had taken them for granted. They were as everyday as they became, and although his mother had certainly made sure his diet was healthy and varied, she hardly forbade any unhealthy snacks. At worst it was always about avoiding overindulgence.

  "So they're that strict about your diet?" he asked.

  "For my own good, yes." she replied. "But hardly just me, everyone there is the same. I've had to get used to compromising since leaving, but it never stopped feeling odd. I know it probably doesn't sound like a big deal to you."

  It didn't to him, but he held his tongue on that front.

  For as similar as certain things seemed, a whole lot was definitely different.

  /

  Ash and Janine were making sure to count the days since setting off from Benver's Lodging, currently on day thirteen. The pacing of their progress was still balanced between travel focused days and training focused days, today being the latter. In that time, the progress made by just about everyone was beginning to show, bearing appealing fruit. Some moves had found greater progress than others, but everybody had considerably grown, and it was a vindicating thing, as it should not be too much longer before they reached the city, even if they still had a fair ways to go.

  Even if it slowed their travel progress a decent bit, one very relieving development was that the group had finally begun running into other trainers to battle, making travel focused days just as useful as the training ones, not to mention stimulating for the team. Phenom and Tempest in particular were clearly overjoyed to have some fresh opponents to throw down against; the rest of the team made for great sparring partners (and the presence of Janine's Pokemon ensured variety), but it would have only lasted so long, especially since battles against other trainers were typically far more serious. Beedrill and Toxtricity seemed to share in the sentiment.

  A new training day was upon them, and work on Trailblaze was the first on Ash's to-do list for Glaceon. Racing Pikachu naturally required more space to move around compared to the rest, and although Ash knew he needed to be cautious in a place like this, he also knew that being too modest with the space made available for the group's two fastest runners would defeat the purpose altogether. Thankfully, they had Nebula to scope out the surrounding area to ensure the coast was clear, not to mention supervise the race from above. If any wild Pokemon were to try and jump the duo, the rest of the group would be signaled immediately. So far, only once incident had occurred where a wild Pokemon had intruded upon the camp during training; a Seviper that had been quickly neutralized by Tempest and Tentacruel.

  Without Agility, Pikachu stood little chance at matching Glaceon's running speed. She in turn would always fall short of the mouse when he used the move, making such races perfect practice for the both of them: Glaceon to push herself into keeping up with an overtaking the electric type's blazing velocity, and Pikachu to push himself into maintaining Agility longer than usual. Such exercises had been a boon for Pikachu's increased utilization of Agility, and by extension, his mental fortitude. The better he got with the move, the longer and more frequently he could use it before experiencing diminishing returns or feeling a noteworthy strain. It would make his eventual evolution all the more healthy as well.

  Glaceon's newfound practice in Trailblaze had altered the dynamic of these races, however. Trailblaze functioned effectively identical to Flame Charge, with a different element. It was a move where Glaceon would utilize grass type energy to propel her body forward in a forceful charge, creating great momentum that would only increase the better she maintained the move. After the initial struggle, her already impressive speed almost immediately experienced the benefits once she began to get a grip on using the move properly. To Ash and everybody else's amazement, the ice type was able to outrun Pikachu even at his best, for at least a short period of time. She still needed to work on maintaining the move, but in that brief window, it seemed as though she may have overtaken the electric rodent's top speed, briefly surpassing that of his Agility. And upon realizing that, she had become more determined than ever to master the move.

  The ice type briefly looked up, seeing Nebula overhead just before refocusing her attention on her opponent in front of her. Pikachu's fleeing form was coated in the all-too familiar blue hue that signaled his usage of Agility, the move that had kept his speed undisputed prior to her evolution. Ever since realizing that she could finally make that dispute, she had looked forward to (and actively sought out) every training session together, occasionally challenging the surprised mouse outright. It had not been the first time Pikachu was a subject of her fixation, but this fixation was not brought on by frustration towards her shortcomings (those feelings had been a thing of the past well before she evolved). It was the excitement of reaching that next step, to which racing him was the key. The more she trained, the more thrilled she felt at the thought of tapping into the true capabilities of her new form.

  Those thoughts swirled in her mind as she struggled to focus the green aura that she was attempting to surround herself with. She could feel her speed increasing, and the gap between her and her opponent widening. For a good moment, the startling, adrenaline-pumping thrill of going faster than you could handle hit her, and she did her best not to flinch or stray from it, instead pushing even harder, passing Pikachu by just before the time came for the two of them to make the turn back to the camp. She held on longer than usual, performing a near-perfect u-turn as Trailblaze continued to boost her speed, now widening the gap. Behind her, Pikachu strained himself to run faster, but was already at top speed. The gap widened for a moment or two more before Trailblaze began to flicker.

  Both racers took note immediately, and although a mildly frustrated (but not necessarily surprised) Glaceon tried in vain to will the grassy aura around her into restabilizing itself, Pikachu's resolve hardened, the opportunity a reminder to keep Agility going for as long as possible. Even as Trailblaze left her, Glaceon still retained the momentum for a time, galloping at similar speeds even with the move itself no longer in play. She would require further practice with the technique to retain said momentum for longer than she did, however. Though she remained fast as ever, the speed boost began to wane, and Pikachu had narrowly retaken the lead shortly before they returned to camp. With a bigger, safer area to traverse, not held back by their trainer's understandable caution, the race (and Pikachu's win) likely would not have been quite as close.

  As Nebula called down in approval at their collective performance, both Pikachu and Glaceon sat down in the grass for a quick breather. Another memory of frustration passed through the ice type's mind as her gaze fell on her training partner. She saw her old self, as an Eevee, struggling to get the hang of Iron Tail, a move that Pikachu had already trained and honed to use against Brock well before she had even been caught. It was hard not to remember how painful and infuriating it had been when her own Iron Tail had given out mid-spar, leaving her with a sore and stubbed tail in the face of her sparring partner's near-perfected one.

  She did not feel much of any of those emotions today, however. Instead, whatever initial, spur-of-the-moment frustration that had inevitably accompanied her withering Trailblaze was simply replaced with a sense of mild fulfillment for another hard-worked race, not to mention a further reminder to keep improving. She'd win one of these days, and it would be a joy when she did. She was hardly blind to her opponent's progress, of course. She was almost certain that Pikachu had somehow grown even faster, even if only by a little bit. No doubt he would be receiving an additional boost once he evolved, leaving her back behind him.

  That was fine, however. Evolution made her feel… free. Like the locks holding her body back had been opened, the full potential of what she could one day be hers for the taking. Training and battling, as she had come to realize, was like the process of exploring all of that bit by bit. It felt good, and eventually all of her friends would feel the same. She'd be happy for Pikachu when he finally got to experience that for himself. Had it not been for his selflessness back in Lavender, he'd be doing it already, and she'd still be an Eevee.

  Even as a Pikachu, however, he still had legs to stand on, and she was sure to voice that to him as she sent a complimentary bark his way. He seemed to flush at the praise, offering an awkward thanks with a strange lack of eye contact.

  Not too far from them, a short blast of water from Tempest's pincers easily doused the small, purplish-white fireball that Valiant had tried to launch at him. Crossing his pincers, he quickly braced himself for impact as the Kirlia rammed into him with Zen Headbutt, grunting and being pushed back as he let himself take the hit. Shortly after recovering, he dove forward at the psychic, a surge of water enveloping his body as he took a swing. Valiant dodged the hit and fired a narrow bolt of electricity, aiming for the Krabby's side, but Tempest turned and easily halted the Thunder Wave with a Mud Shot, which was deflected by a quickly produced but still sturdy psychic barrier.

  Ash watched the two closely, lips curving up as both parties targeted one another with Icy Wind, freezing the grass between them in a stalemate. To call the duo friends would be a gross overstatement, but coexisting was no longer the difficult task it had once been. Sparring sessions were void of Valiant's distrustful demeanor or tempest's derisive dismissiveness towards every other mistake, although the Kirlia was making fewer as time went on.

  Will-O-Wisp was a solid, debilitating burn-based move typically designed more to weaken the opponent than for truly direct offense, similar to Thunder Fang in that regard. In addition to being a fire type move, it was also known to use distortion energy (or something similar to it, Ash's knowledge of the greater details was vague at best). To Ash's knowledge, the move was as associated with ghost types as it was with fire types as a result, and Valiant's prior experience with Shadow Ball and having Shadow Sneak as an egg move were both beneficial to learning it. Especially since he was a psychic type, an attribute that would normally make learning the move a bit more difficult (thankfully not to the degree of an actual ghost type move). Ash had expected Valiant's progress with Thunder Wave to be better and faster, but to his satisfaction, Valiant appeared to have a decent hand in both moves. Calm Mind, of course, proved helpful as well. Zen Headbutt and Ice Punch had seen similar progress, and the boy would periodically have his psychic friend attempt to heal his teammates (and himself) in between particularly rough sparring sessions, practicing Life Dew. It was Dream Eater that lagged behind the rest, largely because it was a fundamentally more difficult move to practice.

  Tempest had gotten the basics of Liquidation, enough for Ash to be confident in the river crab's prowess with the strong water type move once he had achieved the elusive evolution he was chasing after. Iron Defense was coming along smoothly, enough to where the Krabby likely could have tanked some of his sparring partner's attacks with ease if he had chosen to do so. Ash silently commended Tempest's apparent sportsmanship for not doing such a thing; though there would not have been anything truly wrong with it, he seemed to instead be giving Valiant a more genuine opportunity to gauge the progress of his offense, taking the hits to give the psychic's offensive moves a better chance to produce a proper effect, especially helpful with Ice Punch and Zen Headbutt, the two attacks he was currently working on.

  "Alright you two, that's enough for now." As Ash called for the session to halt, Valiant obediently stood down, the Shadow Ball in his hands vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. Tempest took a moment longer, expressing some disappointment before nonetheless complying, Crabhammer's glow disappearing from his pincers. The two turned to their trainer, quick to accept the oran berries he offered to each of them. "Those barriers of yours definitely seem to be a layer stronger now, Valiant. It felt like you were absorbing more punishment without having to rely on Light Screen or Reflect. It's a defensive staple for a lot of psychics, and I'm sure it will be handy against Koga. Speaking of which, I'll have you both take a break for a bit, but afterwards I'll pair you with Phenom so he can get some practice for the day with Psychic Fangs and maybe a short-"

  All three quickly snapped their heads in the direction of Nebula's alerting cry.

  An Arbok had wandered into the camp, and as it faced off with Phenom and Skrelp, the hostility on the cobra's face was clear.

  Skrelp glanced somewhat uneasily to the side at Phenom, who bent his knees and bared his teeth at the invading serpent. Before he could make a move, a blur passed over him, and Glaceon drove an Iron Tail into the poison type's side. As Arbok reeled from the impact, he hissed in Ash's direction as he, Valiant and Tempest arrived on the scene. At the boy's signal, everyone except Tempest and Glaceon backed away.

  "Frost Pulse, both of you!"

  A steady Water Pulse expanded out of Glaceon's opening mouth, before quickly freezing over into solid ice, the strong glow of the water type move still shining through its icy encasement. The frozen sphere looked quite pretty as a result, and was soon matched by an identical one that had formed from Tempest's pincer. Both teammates fired at the same time, striking the snake cleanly in the head and stomach just in time for two more Arbok to show up, clearly displeased at the sight of their fallen kin.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Nebula!" Ash called up to the Staravia, whom he already knew was listening. "Are there anymore?" his feathered friend lowered herself just enough for him to see for certain that she was shaking her head.

  "Good." Ash had not noticed Janine's arrival until she had spoken, steady and stoic as ever. The moment the one word left her lips, the Arbok on the left was knocked back by a shockwave. The two trainers exchanged nods as Toxtricity positioned himself in front, standing proudly with his head raised.

  Eyes narrowing, Tempest offered electric/poison type a clearly displeased grunt before moving in even closer, almost just in front of the third, unharmed Arbok. The second Arbok picked itself back up, ready to retaliate against Janine and Toxtricity's transgression.

  "Careful, Tempest." Ash quickly reminded with a firm, disproving tone. "Don't get too close yet." The Krabby's outstanding defenses would do well to shield him from any debilitating moves, but they did not know exactly what these Arbok could do, and he'd rather not be surprised. Tempest responded by backing away just enough to satisfy the order, aiming a challenging pincer at the uninvited guest while his trainer looked back at Janine. "Let's drive them away quickly."

  "Agreed." As always in battle, his purple-haired friend was firm and unflinching, and devoid of relaxed demeanor.

  /

  A cold sweat passed over Ash as he jolted from his sleeping bag. It took a moment or two to register everything, taking in his surroundings.

  He was in the mouth of a cave, which the group had set up camp in to avoid the coming rain that had begun to fall the previous evening. Although not a downpour, it had hardly been comfortable. Looking outside, the rain seemed to have stopped, although he could still feel the cool moisture seeping in.

  Standing up, his eyes scanned the rest of the group. Everybody still seemed to be asleep. Carefully, he made his way to the end of the mouth to catch a glimpse of the sky. Much of it still was not visible, covered in clouds. Nonetheless, he could see some stars overhead. It was likely very early in the morning. A chill passed down his back as what sounded like a loud call (he did not recognize the species) was heard through the air. Sighing, he made his way

  Back inside, eyes falling on the rest of the group one more time before sitting a few feet away from his sleeping bag, back pressed against the hard, stony wall. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, but was not trying to sleep. Just relax.

  Another dream had come and went. Another visit to Lavender Tower. Another phantasm of the Iron-Masked Marauder. Another echo of Tyranitar's roar, and the feeling of falling as the tower collapsed from beneath him. No two dreams had been the same, but the memory found new ways to torment him each time it resurfaced in his sleep. It was as frustrating as it was nerve racking; you never knew what you were going to dream until you were already asleep, and often you wouldn't even realize it was a dream until you had already woken up. It's what made nightmares so terrorizing, you were there. Convinced that it was real. How many times had he gone to bed since the incident, with no idea whether or not the night would produce peaceful, stress free rest? There was no pattern to it. No way to prepare… not that he imagined he ever could prepare for a nightmare, of course.

  So instead, he simply leaned against the wall, closing his eyes again in an effort to keep them closed. Keep them relaxed. A sense of emptiness could be relaxing…

  He must have dozed off at some point, however, because his eyes eventually opened to the sound of Janine sitting next to him. She hadn't been awake before, which made him wonder how long he had been out. Looking outside the cave, it still seemed decently dark.

  "My apologies, did I wake you up?" she asked cautiously. Her purple hair was down beneath her shoulders, lacking the usual spiky ponytail. A sight no longer unfamiliar to him.

  "I didn't really know myself," he admitted. "It's fine."

  She hummed something, back pressed to the wall beside him, just enough to where their shoulders barely did not touch. They were silent for a few moments as both trainers gathered their thoughts.

  "Had another nightmare," Ash said. She did not seem surprised, looking over to him with a solemn nod as her hand pressed against her knee.

  "I had…" she bit her lip for a moment, face wrinkling in minor thought. "I don't know if nightmare is the right word entirely, but it was definitely a weird dream. Unpleasantly. Was yours about the tower again?"

  "As usual," Ash exhaled the words out a bit, mild sarcasm lacing his next sentence. "What number version are we at by now?"

  Her brow furrowed for a moment before looking forward at the rest of the team. None of the Pokemon were awake for the moment. Golbat would occasionally be up at night, but was not for now. Her eyes lingered on her flier before returning back to Ash. "Do you want to talk about it?"

  Talking about it was always a choice. They had agreed to never keep it from one another, always letting each other know whenever they had a bad dream the previous night. Whether or not they discussed it depended on the moment, or the mood. On some levels, Ash did not like speaking out loud what was already running wild in his thoughts, disturbing his sleep on a whim whenever his memories felt like he did not deserve a relaxing night. With Janine sitting next to him, it did not always feel that way. Not always. She had been there herself.

  "Not sure if there's a lot new to mention," he admitted. "It was a 'falling' dream, I guess. I didn't see Tyranitar this time, just heard him. Tower was collapsing and suddenly I was going down. I think Caleb might have… already been gone?" he paused to swallow. How many nights was Caleb tortured with images like this back at home? He remembered how subdued the younger boy had been afterwards… back then Ash had simply been happy to see him, but looking back…

  …

  …"I… uh, don't remember if any ghosts were in the dream this time," he half realized. "It might have just been me. Same idea, though." he turned his head to look at her, earning a nod. Her face was… strained wasn't the right word, it was too soft for that. The expression did not seem relaxed, however.

  "Anything else?" she invited.

  "It's a foggy one this time," he replied. "Do you want to talk about yours?"

  "Hm… there were ghosts in mine," she said after a pause. "It was one of those dreams that doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it. More so than usual, I mean. But the ghosts were one of the clear parts. They were in these glass containers, knocking on the glass and laughing." she chewed her lip, nose scrunching. "Do you remember what that merchant told us?"

  "You mean how all of those Lavender ghosts are basically homeless now?"

  "Yes that, but also… the fact that they all scattered around Kanto because of it. People aren't used to seeing ghosts just anywhere. All of these sightings could cause a panic. The tower being destroyed already did."

  "..." Ash looked back at the wall on the other end of the cave's mouth. "I wonder if Yami would have run off." he suddenly blurted it out, half by accident. He paused for a moment in realization of what he had said, but his friend's unchanged expression told him to continue. "I know he probably wasn't any different from the other ghosts… I guess he just sticks out."

  "Of course he does," she said. Her tone of voice was simplistic and to the point. As though it were obvious and did not even need to be spoken. "He was the one you knew. A better part of the weak."

  "And aside from that… Alpha thing," Ash recalled with some effort. "He was the only one who didn't, you know…" The only one who didn't get away. Unlike the other ghosts, Yami was not homeless, running around in a panic, potentially frightening travelers that would frighten him back in return. His home was the dark, almost alien looking Poke Ball that Marauder had sucked him into.

  Janine did not finish his sentence for him, to his gratitude. Instead she simply nodded, a much more comforting reaction. She continued to study the side of his face as he looked away towards Nebula, the one who had spent the most time with the Sableye. "Did you want to catch him?"

  Her words brought his eyes back to her, blinking for a moment as he processed the question. "Oh, you mean…"

  "I was just curious," she said, voice laced with a mild apologetic tone. "You bonded with him a decent bit, and were impressed by his strength. So was I, but he was your friend for the most part. It just made me wonder, is all."

  "Hm…" he nodded with a light hum, gaze shifting to the stony floor where his hand rested next to his knee. "You're right, I'll admit the idea popped into my mind once or twice. I didn't really plan on acting on that, though. It didn't feel the same, he was like a resident of that town. For all I know, I wasn't even the first traveler passing by who made friends with him. Or the second or third. I mean, he was there since before my mom was born."

  "It does feel different," she echoed in agreement.

  Breathing through his nose, Ash felt another cold sweat. "He saved me. That's how he got caught. I'm sure he was scared but he kept fighting, and I just froze."

  "...No, you didn't." the girl shook her head, a bit lightly, just enough to get the motion across while keeping her hair behind her. "If you had really frozen, Caleb would have died. Maybe Yami… maybe he felt the same way you did." It felt like she wanted to say something more, as though her tongue had frozen mid movement. Ash studied her face, a cloud passing over he expression.

  "Are you thinking about the…" he paused for a moment. He needed to mention it as gently as possible. "Skeleton you saw?"

  Her eyes traveled down as he said it. He felt guilty for mentioning it, but found he was getting somewhat used to it. These talks were semi recurring.

  "I did freeze," she finally said. Chewing her lip, she did not want to look Ash in the eye speaking her next sentence. "Team Rocket is scum, worthless." It was probably the tone of voice, albeit shaky, that discouraged her from looking in his direction.

  So he looked away from her, and they both stared at the wall in silent agreement. He wasn't sure who's arm moved first, but their fingers locked against the floor. A tense, but relaxing touch shared in an uneasy, but comfortable silence.

  /

  The next traveling day, following a productive day of training by the cave, bore promising fruit as Janine's widened at something in the near distance, just close enough to be made out. "Hold up, look!"

  As per routine, Pikachu was scouting ahead of the group, and Glaceon ahead of him while Valiant and Ivysaur remained at their trainers' sides. It was currently Nebula's turn on sky patrol, and the Staravia was filled with energy, performing the occasional loop-de-loop that would produce amused smiles from the observing group. Of course, she did not forget her duties in the midst of having fun, and kept a vigilant eye on the below surroundings, prepared to signal anything suspicious or concerning.

  A tiny hop brought Janine's feet just barely above the ground as she viewed the tree she spotted, having swiftly verified it with her binoculars before turning back to Ash with what almost felt like uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "See the tree? The really bulky one? Here."

  He accepted the pair of binoculars as she handed them to him, peering through the lens with curiosity to see what she was talking about. It was definitely a bulky tree, alright. Almost round like an oval, with skinny branches that almost resembled spikes. The branches extended higher than the trunk itself, but the tree was still certainly tall.

  "Yeah, I see it," he lowered the device from his face before handing it back to her. "It's… oddly shaped."

  "Mhm," she hummed in affirmation. "Do you know what it is?" Unsurprisingly, her tone of voice indicated that she did know, a fact that was quickly confirmed as he shook his head. "That's the armored tree of Sennfence. It's said to be the sight where Gwyniff Kyo married her husband, named after his surname. Never actually been to it myself because it's a fair way out, but I do know that Fuchsia City is about a day or so away from it if one goes at a good pace. If we sped up a little bit, and continued southeast, we should be there within thirty six hours."

  Ash's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, eyes widening with a sense of finality. After all of the hiking and precautions… "That is good news!" as he grinned, Valiant and Ivysaur mirrored his expression, exchanging knowing looks. All four parties seemed to have the same thoughts flowing through their minds.

  "We could switch the schedules for the home stretch," she offered, putting her backpack back on with a slightly tightened grip. "Just traveler the remainder, it would be easy enough to make up the training time once we get there. Fuchsia City has its good share of quality spots for training. And I'm sure you're looking forward to a true bed."

  "One way to put it, for sure." Ash chuckled. "Although, I'm sure you're also looking forward to seeing your family again. Been months since you saw your father in person."

  As Ash's words sunk in, Janine's expression did not noticeably change, but Valiant blinked for a moment, gaze turning to the girl with studious focus. After a moment or two, Ivysaur picked up on the psychic's facial expression, and followed his eyes to his trainer's face.

  "Regardless," Janine continued. "Should we let Pikachu, Nebula, and Glaceon know? Since we're speeding up."

  "Yeah, will do."

  Over their heads, Nebula saw the group break into an abrupt jog after Pikachu and Glaceon. Her eyes glinted in curiosity at the sight, and she was just about to follow down after them to see if anything was up, when something else from the opposite end just barely caught her attention. Had she not been circling in that specific direction, she most certainly would have missed it entirely.

  Taking one last look back at her friends, the Staravia veered off course for a brief moment. Doing so was part of her job, after all. The sight that had grabbed her notice was a fair distance away, but as she got closer, it started to seem… mechanical?

  Humming in confused curiosity, she continued her approach, until she was almost directly above it. To keep an eye on the rest of the group, she circled above, trying to remain high enough to be seen by them in case she needed to give any signals. Nonetheless, she did her best to zero in and focus on the object. It was box-shaped, and inside was…

  The Staravia's eyes widened just before an agonizing pain erupted in her left wing. A piercing, stabbing sensation that went directly through it, a bladed object. All thoughts left the normal/flying type as a harsh, ugly shriek erupted from her beak, and her aerial balance was completely gone, as though it was a function that had been turned off by a button. Her left wing went limp; it hurt like every synonym to the word, and yet it was almost as though she couldn't feel it. It slumped lifelessly down to the side, hanging in the air as her right wing flapped ferociously to know avail. She spiraled in the air, every which way, in every direction but up, until she was only going down. The ground came closer and closer until she could see nothing.

  …

  "Alright you two," having gathered Pikachu and Glaceon, Janine knelt down to look the scouting duo in the eye, hands gripping her knees. "There has been a last minute change in plans. First, we're going to be heading for that tree to-"

  Her blood turned cold, a wintry sensation rushing down her spine as she heard Ivysaur's call directly behind her. It was a shrill, borderline alien cry that rarely, if ever, escaped her starter's throat, and along with Ash and the rest of the group, she was whirling around to look at him in less than a second. "Ivysaur!? What is-" She paused almost the second her eyes fell on her partner, noticing the vine that had exited his bulb, pointing to the northwest. Almost skyward. "The sky, what is it?"

  "The sky…" Ash repeated in a mild confusion, but very much alert from the grass/poison type's panic. "Wait a minute, I don't see Nebu-"

  Valiant's mental voice quickly relayed Ivysaur's words, and Ash's heart stopped.

  /

  A satisfied whistle escaped Caesar's lips as he approached the cage. It was roughly ten feet in height, with the width of most cargos on a box truck. The bars were not ordinary steel, glowing with red-violet light, and vibrating with a minor pulse, just enough for those close to the cage to hear the hum. Inside the cage were multiple ghost types of varied species, all of whom appeared to be some combination of drowsy and distressed.

  "An operation like this was a borderline freebie," he declared to no one in particular as he looked over the mechanical structure.

  When Executive Ariana had enlisted Scarfist Company for the assignment, they had been generously loaned equipment used by the Iron-Masked Marauder himself. The legendary Pokemon Hunter was an expert in hunting all types of Pokemon, which included ghosts, for which particularly special equipment was often used for the best success. The equipment supplied to them had made their current hunt a foolproof undertaking in the making.

  One such device was a special emitter that gave off signals designed to imitate distortion. Although not actual distortion, it was capable of fooling the senses of most average ghosts (those with especially fine tuned senses or advanced training were likely to tell that it was simply a fabrication), attracting them to the area the signal was coming from. With the ghosts scattered across Fuchsia's wilds in large numbers, the best method was to avoid the search and have the targets come to them.

  The cages supplied to them were special contraptions designed for restraining ghosts. The machines emulated a potential form of dark type energy to suppress and contain the spectral creatures. Touching the bars would burn like a stovetop, and being enclosed and surrounded by them would be oppressive and debilitating. When Caesar had curiously asked why the cages were not bigger, Ariana had explained that the functions of the device were most effective when each set of bars were not too far apart, ensuring consistent proximity to the harmful effects. For this reason, the size that had been distributed to Scarfist company was often viewed as the best quality; just big enough to house a decent number of captives without compromising the restraining functions. Essentially the largest the cages could be while still producing maximum energy inside.

  As the large man stopped in front of the cage he was examining, a movement directed his eyes to two particular ghosts. One was a Misdreavus, shivering in fright. The other was a Haunter, the one resident of the cage who had an expression of anger, rather than fear, sadness, pain, or fatigue. Snarling, the ghost lunged in Caesar's direction, but the lead poacher did not flinch. Instead, he simply offered a light shake of his head, mildly amused as Haunter hissed in displeasure upon making contact with the bars. As the hostile ghost backed away, Caesar fished a remote from his belt, adjusting a slider as the humming of the cage grew slightly louder, and the glow from the bars intensified.

  The reactions were immediate, with every ghost in the cage instantly feeling the effects of the extra pressure. Haunter snarled for a moment or two longer, but once Caesar was certain that the aggression had been quelled, he returned the settings to normal.

  "Ever since your home was destroyed," Caesar kept his eyes on the ghost/poison type for a few more seconds to ensure a repeat would not occur. "Those arrogant hypocrites in the League have been hunting Team Rocket like game. It's hard for them to come out and do an operation like this, when their movements have to be so much more careful than usual. And the Marauder is needed elsewhere for what sounds like a very special mission." he shook his head again, disproving irritation gleaming from his eyes. "The Rockets' plight is not good news, but Ariana has assured me that it is only a rough patch. Even something that was taken into account. It's good to hear; when they finally destroy the League, they can create a world where people like us are free to do what we do with no swords at our back. No law, no restrictions. Just the instincts of man. It sounds like paradise, doesn't it? They say paradise isn't real, but you all came from one: Lavender Tower. Team Rocket had to destroy it to create one for the rest of us; it was simply a price that needed to be paid. Nothing personal." returning the remote to his belt, he crossed his arms. "In the meantime, with Team Rocket's hands tied, my company was more than happy to accept this job. Lending our hand to the cause, and looking forward to the paycheck. That's what it means for us at Scarface Company. Nothing personal here eit-"

  A sound from elsewhere nearby in the camp caught his attention, and his face wrinkled in annoyance, a large hand running through his hair. "Not again… Jad! The Sunnytown girl is acting up for the umpteenth time. Tell her to knock it off!"

  "On it," brushing his dirty blonde hair behind his head, Caesar's subordinate jogged to the source of the noise.

  That source was a small girl tied against a sturdy, cushioned seat, with a tight piece of cloth muffling her screams. Six years old, the child had icy blue hair to go along with her cerulean eyes. It had been tied into a ponytail prior to restraining her against the seat. Her eyes widened as she saw the man approaching, and her struggling halted.

  As he slowed down, and eventually came to a stop in front of the child, Jad let out an exhale before crouching to eye level, keeping his voice firm and authoritative.

  "What the hell is it now, young lady? You were fed a sizable and healthy meal for your age two hours ago, so don't be greedy. You need a juice box or something?" he carefully reached up to grip the cloth covering her mouth, pulling it down slowly. "Don't try my patience-" He was cut off by a loud scream, high pitched and frantic.

  "Please let me go! I want my-"

  Jad's face clenched, eyes flashing for a moment as his hand collided with the side of her face. She immediately stopped all speech and movements, as if the impact had flipped a switch. "What did I just say!?" his gaze bore into her tear stained face. "We're doing our best to accommodate you before it's time to move out, which will be in less than a day. You should be doing your best to cooperate, not making everything harder. It's bad enough we're doing this here of all places and we don't need any inconvenience weighing us down. Do you hear what I'm saying?" After a moment or two, she offered a hesitant, weak nod. "Are you sure?" The second nod was more steady.

  "Good." Jad kept his firm eyes locked with hers, studying every corner of her face as he stared her down. "You may not know it now, girl, but a few years down the line you'll back at us and be grateful. If you had stated with your parents, you would have grown up to be another brainwashed cog in the Indigo League's monopoly. It's a waste that they'd have tricked you into finding fulfilling. Executive Petrel is going to give your life a true purpose. Something greater. Something you'd never have had if we hadn't snatched you. You'll see, one of these days." After a moment or two of silence, he stood back up, keeping his eyes on her as he brought the cloth back to her mouth before staring down at her. "He's good with kids, you'll be introduced soon."

  As Jad left the girl to return to his usual work, two more poachers teleported a few feet away from Caesar, who had since walked away from the cage of ghosts he had been reviewing, now on his way to his tent. The woman with strawberry blonde hair, and a shorter man with spiky green hair laced with blue dye at the tips. Next to them was a Kadabra, who held an unconscious Staravia in her arms. Blood dripped from the Staravia's left wing, and her beak was dented from a hard fall.

  "Sir," the woman's voice caught Caesar's attention. As he turned to them, his eyebrow raised in intrigue when his gaze immediately locked onto the wounded bird. "We just shot down this Staravia. She came across one of the cages from above, and based on her movements seemed to be closely inspecting it. We're not sure if she's wild or trainer owned, but if the latter…"

  "She could have alerted her trainer if left alone," Caesar's eyes narrowed, and his fingers gripped his chin. "And if she does have a trainer, her absence won't go unnoticed…"

  "What should we do?" the spiky haired man questioned. "We're scheduled to meet Ariana and Petrel in twelve and a half hours, right? We can't afford any last minute disruptions while preparing to leave."

  "You're right," Caesar's arms fell to his sides, biting his lip as his forehead wrinkled. "But we do still have time. Scope out the area, and put the bird in a cage. Separate from the ghosts."

  The two poachers nodded, before the woman signaled for the Kadabra to follow her. As the psychic walked through the camp, Nebula's eyes fluttered open, but could only manage halfway.

  Everything was a haze…