Chapter 11:

A mind of hearts

…

In gradual increments, the blurred darkness became a white paneled ceiling. The familiar and pungent odor of chlorophyll from the healing tank fluid still lingered on her plumage; it was obvious where she was.

A clinic room welcomed her sight, along with the beeping heart monitor on her side. There were other beds, but they were empty and organized. From a nearby window, the sun bathed everything in a saffron glow.

Ginger pushed herself to a sitting position on the bed with her muscles groaning in phantom pain from her bout against Sang-kai. Speaking of which…

What the hell happened?

The last thing she had seen was…the medicham himself, in a transformed state, then a reddish beam engulfing her, and pain. So much sharp pain on her back and the pressure crushing her front. But after that, nothing else.

Then…If that was the case…

Oh.

I lost.

The combusken pulled the white covers off her body and examined herself…But there really wasn't much to look at besides patches of bandages, mostly.

Shit, was it that bad?

Neva had won them the right to challenge the gym.

Joanna won not one, but two matches in a row and stuck around for the third.

Which meant…

But…I tried my absolute hardest…Harder than even the time at Rustboro Gym…Yet that wasn't enough?

It hit her with a weight similar to that of the tidal wave from a week ago, and crushed her to realize…

She added nothing to the battle. After all the struggle and sacrifice, she believed she had bested Sang-kai. Only for her hope to be ripped away by some fucking pendant gem, and just like that it was all over…

Wait. But did Kassadar finish the job? Or perhaps Neva? No, it would be unthinkable for Grey to pit her against that in the condition she was in. He would never do that.

Sang-kai became unbelievably powerful after that transformation, and since he was psychic typed, she could only imagine the difficulty he would have posed Kassadar…But for Grey to risk himself with the starmie, even under that circumstance? Would that have been smart?

Her gut sank at the possible thought that came next…

Did that mean they lost the entire challenge, because of her failure—

"Nope. 'I' 'won' that battle for you worthless maggots. You're welcome." Said a familiar voice echoing in her head.

Ginger whirled her gaze to the window, but the curtains were the only thing there, billowing from the ocean breeze. Yet her instincts told her it was nearby there.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm at the window, but don't bother. I surround myself in an illusory veil and don't reveal myself in open public, and much less to pitiful plebeians like yourself."

The image of Grey's previously broken body getting healed by that mysterious light, flashed by her mind.

Ginger recognized the voice.

Wait…You're that 'other' psychic from the beach. The one that helped Grey.

"'Helped'? Pfft. More like 'saved his ass'. Huge fucking difference there, birdbrain."

Right…But…What pokémon are you to have won against 'that'? Who are you?

"Doesn't matter, and it doesn't change the fact that you were absolute piss in that fight. I watched Grey's memories, so I know exactly what happened. Ha! The way you got fucked up by an easily dodgeable psybeam was just precious. I mean, what, did you just expect him to stand there and take a telegraphed flamethrower to the face and miss the chance to hit a stationary target? Pfft! Dream on."

Ginger tightened her jaws at the pokémon's jeering.

Hey! I did my bes—

"And it wasn't enough. You failed. That's that. You didn't even get a single win! But if it makes you feel better, aside from Grey who's the trainer and, to my befuddlement, tolerates your idiocy and even bothers to train you lot, I consider you 'all' equally useless! Worthless!...Well, maybe that salandit is an exception, it seems she can get shit done. Respectable at the very least…But that sneasel has no fighting talent whatsoever, that starmie's support is as mediocre as his psychic potential. And you? Ho…Sweet mother of Arceus—You are a monumental failure, the likes that make me want to gouge my damned eyes out from the misfortune of even witnessing it! My word, your skills stink so bad, they reek more than a pile of tauros shit in the middle of a corpse-filled swamp hosting an orgy of filthy Muk on a hot steaming summer's day! You're nothing but an impotent, bungling waste of protoplasm! Everything you do is just an act of sheer dumbfuckery of colossal proportions—"

"Shut the fuck up!" roared Ginger as she leaped off the bed, opened her maw and fired a flamethrower at the window, with the fire singeing the curtains, leaving the window sill and everything around it blackened.

"...And not only that…But you're a fucking 'liar' on top of it all."

"What!?" Ginger was too riled up to form coherent thoughts and orally responded to the presence.

The psychic entity responded in kind. Her razor-thin and snappy voice echoed from the window. "That little story about your ex-trainer you sobbed over at the cruise. I took a sneak peek at those memories as well. I have all of you figured out. Yes, even the sneasel."

Her words alarmed the combusken.

"What…What do you mean?"

Ginger could somehow sense the psychic-type grin and the sheer animosity behind it.

"You told him all about the abuse you experienced at the hands of your ex-trainer, half of which was, honestly, exaggerated…But you failed to mention anything about what 'you did' to deserve it, bitch."

Her world spun at the knowledge that this psychotic pokémon, somehow, very possibly, read into her mind that far, and without her ever realizing it.

The combusken could barely form her words. "No…You didn't."

"I did. Face it. You're a liar and you're worthless. You don't even deserve half the sympathy Grey washes you with. If you really care about him, you should just leave him alone and stop wasting his fucking time. The only reason he took you in was because of your blackmail tactic, but now that threat means nothing to him. And once I come back and become part of this little group? You'll just be a filler at this point, a royal fuck-up who's a hair above being a benchwarmer."

"You're wrong!"

The entity barked a snide and shrill laugh. "Oh really? But weren't you just practically thinking the same thing moments ago?"

Ginger's heart throbbed and hung in a moment of despair at those words, with her vision wobbling in shock and falling to the checkered floor tiles…Did she truly believe herself useless? Was her ex-trainer right? Was she…Talentless? After all, she owed the discovery of her moves and techniques to Grey…

The being continued, "Tch. Even if you somehow convince your own weak self of how wrong my words are, you'll never convince me otherwise. Not like that. And sooner or later? Grey will know all about your little lie, and he'll dump you like the useless little chook you are."

Ginger snapped her gaze up, frustrated to see nothing yet feel the mocking presence there. She could only register her sweet scent of spring blossoms and a hint of peppermint, irritating her further in how seemingly perfect it was. "Don't you dare!"

"Oh, I won't have to tell him. He'll figure it out by himself. Anyways', just' came to remind you on what a worthless maggot you are. Byyye."

"Wait!" Ginger reached out, desperate to know.

"Ugh. What is it now, bird bitch?"

"How…How did you beat him!?"

"Oh, you mean Sang-kai? I'll admit, he was fairly resilient in that form, it's enough to say Kassadar would've been fried just like you were if he had fought in my place. But with a pair of simple and tactful techniques? His power meant nothing to me…and I broke him."

No way!

"Yes way."

"Show me!"

"Piss off. Why don't you ask one of the other menial dweebs, like Kassadar. He saw the whole thing. Let that multi-phallic-headed shit be useful for something other than life-support, I'm done sharing a mental link with a servile doormat like you. Ew. Dis-conn-ecteeed." Finished the callous psychic as her scent faded, suggesting she had left.

But then her voice returned.

"Oh and one more thing…"

What is it now?

"If you still plan on staying with him, then in the time that I'm gone, you can at least be useful and keep him safe for me."

Wait, you're leaving the group?

She ignored the question and instead, the gravity of the room suddenly multiplied. Ginger's legs wobbled. Unable to hold herself up, the fire-fowl fell to her knees. It was like a giant had decided to use her as a crutch. She grunted under the bone-crushing downward pull, with her lungs collapsing from the pressure.

It was easily ten times worse than getting sunk by a tidal wave.

W-what is this!? I can't move! Ugh!

"When I come back—[If I come back]—If I find one more fucking scar on him because of your repeated incompetence…I'll end all of you. I didn't save him just so you lot can fuck up again like you did at the cruise. See to it…that it does not. Happen. Again…"

Ginger fell flat from the invisible force, with sharp pain spreading on her cheekbone from having it squashed firmly against the ground.

"Do I make myself clear? Bitch?"

Ginger could only manage a pitiful wheeze.

Y-yes.

Finally, the weight lifted, and Ginger swallowed lungfuls of sweet air.

"Good. Now, speaking of cruises, I've got a boat to catch…Smell ya' later, loser."

A flash of light brightened the sky for a moment, and the presence finally and truly vanished this time.

What did she mean 'if' she came back? Is it 'when' or 'if'? Which is it? Fucking psycho…

Her harsh words and treatment left Ginger winded and heaving in indignation more so from recuperating her breath as she pulled herself back on her knees.

She ground her jaws almost to the point it hurt.

To think someone like her saved Grey.

To think someone like her won the match.

To think someone like her had the gall to treat her so lowly even if she was partially right.

This was a nightmare.

But still, her blood boiled at untold fahrenheits with an odd simmering cocktail of curiosity; anxiety; anger, and self-loathing; all rampaging in her very core.

I need to know.

She barely held back her urge to scream. It was like a huge bubble of hate building and building in her entire torso. Ginger glowed pale-blue, activating her Aerial Ace, leaped out of the window, and landed on the grass only a single storey lower.

She whooshed past some surprised pedestrians across the street and into the jungle, sprinting madly through it and slicing through any branches or shrubbery in her way, with the complaining of her healing wounds inexistent in her sudden delirium.

She couldn't hold it in anymore or her chest would burst.

She rocketed across the beach with a Flame charge, leaving a smoldering sandy trench behind her as she skidded to a dead stop, flinging a load of sand into a pile with her stopping force. She faced the ocean with a snarl escaping her beak-lips. She breathed in—

"Rrrgh—Kassadaaar!" Ginger roared out both mentally and vocally, dragging the last syllable out in a shriek for what seemed like an entire minute, echoing all across the beach.

She didn't care if people were watching, fuck them. Fuck them all!

Her scream petered out, and it was only then she realized she had forgotten that the psychic-water type couldn't be too far from Grey, due to his condition, so there was no way he'd appear here. A painful reminder of her failure.

Ah shit. Totally forgot…Fuck.

She gasped for air due to her exertion, with her body aching as her frenzied state faded and the pain kicked in. It would be best to go back to the pokécenter. This was a waste of time.

But before she took a step, a line of light opened in front of her, widening until a familiar and more welcome psychic presence made itself manifest. Out of the portal-like exit, came out a wispy, blue floating sea star, looking more like a glowing phantasmal specter of a starmie. The teleport gateway zipped shut behind it with a fading whir.

"You called?"

"What the hell? Is that you Kassadar? How are you—"

"This is a mere phantom extension of myself, an illusory scout sent out in my stead and maintained by a minimal portion of my psionic power that relays information back to my real self. You already know my main body cannot stray too far from Grey. However, I have no problem multitasking." His voice was even more ethereal and echoey than before, considering the nature of this spectral replica.

Psychics sure were an amazing bunch.

"Where is Grey?"

"He is in town purchasing some goods with the rest of the team, including myself and Joanna."

Joanna. The salandit had performed feats nothing short of amazing, in both Rustboro and now, especially, in Dewford…

"I see…Nice to know she's up and running."

His crystal eyelight glanced at the smoking trail she left.

"Indeed, as I am glad you are as well, from the looks of it…Why did you call me here? I sensed your emotional distress, yet I don't see any signs of trouble. You should be back in your clinic bed."

Ginger caught the rest of her breath for a few moments, before standing upright and scowling at him.

"Show me…Everything." She near-growled.

A few moments of pause ensued as the telepathic sea-star seemingly just observed her with the eye of his gem. A swathe of tingling touched her inner head, as though a feather were flicking the surface of her brain.

It was his mind just about ready to connect with hers in telekinesis.

"Are you sure you want to see this? It would seem 'she' drilled you harshly in particular."

"What's that bitch's name!? So I can curse it for eternity! Wait, 'in particular'? You mean she dissed you and the others as well?"

"Yes. It was…most unpleasant to say the least, and judging from your character and level of emotional distress, as well as her mentioning of your name…I'd say she was most hardest with 'you'. But it seems Grey has a better hold on her, though it vexes me to no end."

What? Why? How!?

"...Perhaps if I show you…You may have more clarity on the situation. Quite frankly, I do not trust her either."

A tentacle of thought-presence touched her mind, as he was about to connect to her psyche. At that last moment, she had an idea, of which its importance was an instant top priority.

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

She fumbled with the plumage around her claws in idle second-guessing. Perhaps it was out of place? But she so desperately needed every detail.

"Is it possible to…Show me, but from…Umm…Grey's perspective? As though I were him at that moment and for the entire match and post-match. I want to know everything, including his every thought and feeling. I was knocked out, so there's no way I'd be able to glean anything from what happened."

"I must remind you that every individual has a right to the privacy of their own thoughts."

"Kassadar, please! I need to know. I know you're connected to him enough to have felt everything he did. If I am to understand the situation, I need to feel and see everything you did through him. Just skip the private shit or whatever you consider unnecessary for me to know. Please!"

"...This, I can manage. But be warned, there are details that, although minor, you may personally dislike. I don't wish to cause you any more emotional turmoil than you already are experienc—"

I don't care! Just do it!

He sighed. "Very well…Close your eyes...Commencing psionic-relapse and memory synchronization…"

She did as instructed and shut out the light of the ocean. For a few moments, the after-colors flashing in her lids from the sparkling sunlit water faded, before darkness came again…

…

…Their eyes held each other's gaze for a few moments, as the light faded and the natural illumination of the cavernous battleground returned to normal.

Grey observed the newcomer closely for the first time.

She was around the same height as Ginger. She levitated a few centimeters off the ground. Her body looked frail and delicate, yet elegant and poised, like a dancer floating in mid-air. Her legs and pointed feet were turquoise of color, with her midsection hidden underneath the frilled tutu-like extensions from her upper body of pearly white skin; like a skirt.

She twirled her form in the air, white arms raised and waving at him with her didactyl hand; aware of his scrutinizing. Her hair was of the same turquoise color as her bottom half and was reminiscent of a long french bob style, except for the large and thick bang covering the front of her alabaster face, leaving only her orange eyes visible; locked onto his. Two flat disc-like horns, similar in color to her eyes, sat on both sides of her head and extended across just short of her nape, looking more like big hair clips. They had a faint pink glow about them.

She gave one more graceful swirl in the air like a ballerina, with her hair swishing to briefly reveal her noseless face, and a charming smile.

"Like what you see?" She asked coyly.

Grey rolled his eyes. "Could you have made a more dramatic appearance, Themis?" he asked rhetorically, raising a brow at the scorched terrain, caused by her flashy teleportation.

Themis winked at him. "Weren't you the one who said that 'a fight starts with the mind and not the first strike'?"—She pointed behind herself—"I must say, I'm already a fan of your words, heh. Just look at the gaping face of those two idiots."

Sang-kai, the mega medicham, seemed fairly shocked at her appearance, and Brawly practically reeled in surprise. The surfer almost stumbled forward to have a closer look as though a few centimeters would make a difference. "No way! That's, like, impossible! I think I'm totally trippin' here, man, but I gotta' ask and hear it from you just in case."

Grey spared him a glance. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Where the hell d'ya get your hands on a freakin' shiny Kirlia!?"

Grey rose a brow at that. "'Shiny'?"

Themis snickered hard at his ignorance, an admittedly cute sound.

If Brawly was surprised before, now he was absolutely stupified and gaped in disbelief. "Huh!? What do you mean 'shiny', don't tell me you don't know what a 'shiny' is?"

Now Grey frowned in sheepishness. He patched it up with: "Eh…I guess I got lucky."

"...Lucky!? Dude! You gotta' know that the chances of running into a shiny are, like, one in a bajillion!"

Shauna intervened from the referee platform. "Actually, dumbass, it's 1 in 8192. Also, I must ask, Wilson…" She glared at him with a serious undertone.

Grey didn't like where this was going, but he already had several answers prepared beforehand. "Shoot."

"Was she part of your chosen three for this battle?"

He grinned. "Unlike Rustboro gym's professional referee, you never said I had to actually 'lock-in three choices'. It's your fault for assuming I had already chosen my three from the party that you saw with me at first. Might want to make that clear next time."

She pouted at that and blushed. "Uh…W-Well there's no need to be so sass about it!...But there's another and more serious issue."

"What is it?"

"Is she legal?"

…Uh oh.

"...What do you mean?"

Shauna's leer darkened and all sense of triviality was vanquished. "Surely, you must know that all shinies both found and undiscovered within Hoenn have been deemed extremely dangerous due to their inordinate circumstances and volatile nature by the government, and are to be reported to the OPUS-TD (*Office of Pokémon Universal Science and Tech Department), and in the case of capturing one, are to be handed over to the same by law…So I'll ask again, Wilson…Is she legal?"

For a few moments, there was no reaction, before Grey removed a card from his jacket pocket and held it out. "Themis, be a dear and hand this to the nice lady, would you?"

The kirlia smiled. "Sure." The card glowed a faint pink, and levitated toward Shauna who took it and read it.

"This is your trainer ID." The surfette said with confusion sketched on her face.

"And simultaneously my Lab trainer license. Have a look under the extra affiliations section. I'll remind you that I'm Birch Lab's trainer and assistant, this pokédex even proves it. I've already used it during this match, but if you need a reminder…"

Grey scanned Themis with his device. The blue sheet of light phased past her before returning.

—"Kirlia, The emotion pokémon. Mature female. It has psionic power the likes that potentially enable it to distort the very fabric of space around it and see into the future. Kirlia uses the horns on its head to amplify its natural psychokinetic power, and it is highly perceptive of the feelings of those around it; its behavior is theorized to reflect the emotions and intra-ego of its sentient object of attention."—

—"This particular specimen seems to have a rare discoloration. Analyzing father genom—Error. Error. Error. Err-Err-Err-or-or-or-or"—

The screen hissed as it shifted into black and white static.

—"System error 00013, [ERROR_INVALID_DATA (0xD)]...Rebooting."—

The screen turned blue with white gibberish computer text, then black with a red circle in the middle that gave him the sensation it stared back at him, before the device restarted.

What the hell?

Creepy.

—"Reboot successful, restoring previous browsing checkpoint...Psychic and *Fairy type."—

—"Genetic passive ability frequency:

"40% Synchronize or 40% Trace, 20% other.

"100% spawn with secondary ability: Telepathy"—

—"*New discovery: Fairy type."—

—"*The Pokémon of this type have the highest average Special Defense of all types. They resist Bug, Dark, and Fighting type energy signatures. The Fairy type is also, notably, immune to Dragon-type damage.

—"Fairy energy signatures are lethal to Dark types, Dragon types, and Fighting types. However, their attacks are heavily resisted by Fire, Poison and Steel, the latter two of which are generally lethal to it…"—

—"Movese—"—

He clicked the central button to stop the voice before it was revealed Themis was wild, due to the new feature of the 'non-battle mode' calculating a wild pokémon's strength and potential moveset.

Fuck, that was close. Should've stopped it earlier.

"Ha! Dumbass."

Ignoring Themis' quip, Grey returned his gaze to Shauna. "There, solid proof it's a genuine pokédex, and not to mention,"—He flashed her a burlesque sneer—"Professor Birch, being a regional renown pokémon professor and sponsored by the PA themselves, is a close affiliate of OPUS-TD. Not enough? You'll also see under the affiliations section, that I am a member of the Mystic guild, Constable class, as you already know, and we're one of the primary law enforcers. Surely, you'd think by being part of a leader guild my pokémon would've been confiscated by now. Therefore, I'm more than authorized and qualified to handle a 'shiny'."

Shauna was taken aback by his confidence as Themis telekinetically snatched the card away from her. "Eh, uh…"

Grey kept his smile as he received the card back. "Any more questions?"

"Just let it go Shauna babe'! I've got a feelin' this is gonna' be, like, one totally radical match! I get to see a mega-evolved Fighting-type and a Fairy-type butt heads! And a shiny no less!" Brawly fist-pumped the air and wooed in excitement.

Shauna was rendered speechless before she hung her head in surrender, shaking it as she reaffirmed her stance. She waved her flag. "Alright then, trainers! Ready your pokémon!"

"Oh, Grey-kuuun." Called Themis through his mind.

He gave her a look of disgust.

Don't use that suffix. Please don't. Ever.

"Not my fault your head's got some naughty gardevoir imag—"

That is 'secondary' information that my colleague showed me by accident on his phone! He's the one with the lewd shit on his device, not me!

His face burned in embarrassment.

That particular incident took place a year ago, and it was true. Back on Pre-Earth, his colleague, an actual fan of pokémon, had wanted to show him a message from his ex-boss, but instead misclicked the tab and inadvertently revealed his apparent fe**** for that specific pokémon.

He had truly forgotten all about it, but that was a real awkward moment that resulted in a week of avoiding each other's gaze past a greeting at work.

Themis giggled, obviously reading his every thought.

And where the hell did you learn that suffix anyway!?

"Where else? Your head is filled with such fascinating oddities that I've never heard of."

Tch. Whatever. Just keep out of my private shit or I'll block you again.

"Aww, don't be like that. Anyway, now that I'm here, time to fill you in on some actually useful information. Every move I know…And in exchange, you'll teach me every fighting technique you know."

Her psionic probe delved deeper into his mind—

Wait! There's a difference between knowing a fighting technique and training your body to use—

But it was too late and a burst of information was birthed into his mind, with images of Themis using every one of her moves, flashing in his consciousness like a vintage slide projector but at light speed. They were mostly against other wild pokémon, sometimes trees, though notably a few were against…Other kirlias and the rest of the ralts line—

"There, now it's my turn. Give and take."

Didn't you listen to what I sai—

Images of his past flicked by his mind, though some he tried to retain from her psionic probe. He was only successful with a few critical memories as she was hard to resist—

"Oh yes…Yes! Wow! Shit, Grey, you sure know how to kill humans. To think you could actually do 'that' to another person's body barehanded—"

…He opened his eyes.

Themis' stood in front of Sang-kai. Her height negatively contrasted his, yet it seemed like he was shrunken, or his back weighed heavily on him, causing the mon' to hunch himself subtly, like a sudden weight plunged him into near-despair.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"Another reason why I'm fond of your words. You also said that 'Putting pressure on the opponent and causing them to stutter in their thought process is a good start.' Well, this happens to be called 'Pressure'. A rare ability even among my line. A pokémon facing this will find every one of their moves significantly harder to execute, exhausting them even more after using it."

I see…Well, it's definitely working.

Shauna brought her flags down. "Begin!"

Themis glowed red, and her body made a slight increase in muscle mass and definition.

Let me guess, another innate ability of yours?

"Trace. Allows me to copy another mon's ability. In this case, Medicham has 'pure power', doubling his attack power. Convenient, considering what I've just learned from you."

"Bullet punch!" Sang-kai's fist glowed a steel color, blending with his violet aura. He zoomed toward Themis in a flash, but she disappeared in a humming line of light, only to reappear behind him.

Grey lifted a hand and on instinct yelled out a command he didn't know before, "Trick Room!"

Themis raised her arms with her pinkish psychic aura flaring out.

A large cubic barrier was erected all around the rock platform, similar to that of an arena Mime-barrier, but a translucent green in hue with a checkered pattern all over it. It encompassed everyone.

Brawly looked nervous. "Quick! Thunder punch!"

Crackling electricity wrapped Sang-kai's fist and he went for a swipe, only to receive a burning impact to the gut that sent him smacking against the barrier wall.

Grey was astonished that she had reacted first despite the set-up time of the Trick room. Was that a fire punch?

Themis beamed at him with her flaming fist still raised. "Sure was!"

"Well goddamn, let's fuck him up further with a Power swap!" Another new move.

"How would that…Oh, I see."

She faced her palms forth and ribbons of red energy sprung forth—

"Bullet punch, one more time!" Sang-kai bolted forth with his fist raised, but the crimson strings of power wrapped around his body, becoming fat ropes of raw galvanic radiance that were majorly sucked away from his body while he received little in return. He visibly shrunk and looked gaunt.

Meanwhile, Themis' pink aura exploded outward with tempestuous intensity, and her muscles visibly bulged as veins all over her smaller body swelled and pulsated from the sheer power she took from him.

Sang-kai's fist met her open palm with a dull tap before she grabbed and crushed it in her grip, cracking his knucklebones.

He yelped in pain, struggling to free himself to no avail while Themis' let out a wicked cackle. "Ahahaha! Mmm-yeees…Yes! Oh, the power! Keep screaming for me like a little bitch."

She raised a leg and Sang-kai reacted to block it, but instead she hopped and reversed her stance, swapping her dominant leg for the other while using the same movement as a wind-up and cannoned his side with a 'switch-kick' so powerful that it distorted his body like jelly and launched him all the way to the other side of the arena, slapping him against the barrier like a fresh slab of meat would a cutting board.

The mega medicham heeled over and vomited a worrying amount of blood, with a hand on the ugly and huge bruise spreading all over his left ribs.

Hoooly mother of shit! She may have actually just broken every fucking rib on his left side!

Although he was concerned for Sang-kai…Grey couldn't help but be absolutely enraptured at the flawlessness of the muay-thai technique Themis executed. There was no doubt she pulled the switch-kick out of his mind just now…Yet on her first try, she nailed the precision, the timing, distance, rhythm, and added her own freakish power to the destructiveness of it…

She executed it to perfection…And it was scary.

Grey spared a glance at Brawly…The surfer looked pale and frightened at the sight. He didn't blame him.

"But…How!? I don't remember using a stat boost! And she's so fast!"

"You're wrong." Grey corrected. "You're forgetting that mega evolution massively enhanced his physical and mental potential, including his attack and special attack, while Themis boosted her own upon copying his ability. Power swap simply exchanged the boosts in power. As for her speed, she's not faster. Trick Room allows slower pokémon to move first every time. How it works? I'm not about to tell you."

The gym leader was shaken at the statement before he regathered himself. "Is that right? Well, we can do that first part just as well! Sang-kai! Psych Up!"

Themis' alarm rippled through their telekinetic bond—

"Grey! That copies my own stat changes, I can't dodge that!"

Shit, we'll have to use 'it' then.

Sang-kai glowed with violet energy, but—

"'Lobotomize.'" Themis focused on her opponent, and from her forehead, a laser thin, teal colored beam zipped across the field and pierced the medicham's forehead.

He heaved in pain from the attack, notably getting winded hard, but he soldiered on and completed his technique. The violet energy formed a reflective surface for a moment with Themis as the subject, converting itself into a ball of condensed light and re-entering Sang-kai.

His body was pumped back into something resembling his original shape, while Themis' notably seemed out of breath with veins spidering across her brow from intense concentration.

"Recover!"

"Disarming voice!" Themis reared her head back and produced a high-pitched humming that released a vibrational wave laced with fairy energy, striking Sang-kai first and ignoring his speed as he performed his move.

He stumbled backward from the shock and yelped in pain from the super-effective hit. Thanks to this, his recovery had diminishing returns and only healed him slightly.

Brawly was once more confused. "Hey, I thought he'd recover his stats fully from his Psych-up copying the kirlia's, what gives?"

Grey addressed the question. "Lobotomize is a move both Themis' and I invented. It silences* any innate ability an opponent may have. In his case…Pure power."

Brawly observed medicham carefully and then held his gaze on Themis', narrowing his brow in focus. "Incredible, I've never heard of it…But looks' like it cost her too."

"Nice of you to notice. We can't have medicham re-doubling his attack power again, or it'll mean trouble. So this evens things out."

"But shouldn't she also lose Pure Power? She totally copied it, right?"

"Wrong again. She can either choose to retain the ability or let it go in exchange for another. As you can see, its effect is independent of the victim's current state."

The surfer only affirmed with a grunt.

Hmm. His attitude has changed. For once he's acting like a serious gym leader…Yes, Lobotomize is pretty broken in the right hands…

A warm fluid ran down his nose. He wiped it off for the second time this match. Themis' too had a red streak running down her right eye, marring her alabaster face.

However, as a result of using it, she suffers mental strain and exhausts quite a bit of energy, doubly so against another psychic, especially when they're mega evolved…And since our minds are synced…We need to end this.

"Agreed. Mega evolution is bullshit."

I wouldn't talk so soon, maybe one day you'll use it.

Though the idea of a mid-stage pokémon powerful enough to face a mega-evolved second stager single-handedly, being able to mega-evolve themselves was, quite frankly…terrifying.

"Nah, if I can beat it? I don't need it."

Whatever. How long's that Trick room got to go?

"I can hold it for two more moves with the lobotomization on top."

Brawly thrust his arm out. "We won't let this room stop us, Sang-kai, use Surf!"

Sang-kai's violet aura expanded and whirled like a twister. His muscles twitched with effort as he clawed his hands and raised all of his arms, including the floating ones. His blue eyes flashed with power.

The command befuddled Grey. With the barrier surrounding them, how was the medicham expected to—

A tremor shook the arena.

What!?

Vapor rushed out of every geyser before towers of water burst out in swirling torrents that were weaved through the air like strings.

No way!

The water converged and floated like a massive sheet overhead, forming into an encroaching boiling wave with Medicham leaping onto its crest. In seconds it was upon Themis.

"Psychic!"

The shiny kirlia raised a hand and sent out a concentrated blast of psionic energy, punching a huge hole in the wave and leaping through it as the body of water crashed onto the arena and once more drenched everything in sight, including Grey's boots.

Themis landed, only for Sang-kai to appear behind her with a crackling electric fist inches from her.

But Trick Room had struck for the last time.

The medicham found himself in a very familiar situation and only a second too late to realize how it happened.

The rules of the illusory prison were absolute as she had blinked to his free arm and grabbed it while hooking her legs around his throat.

He glared at her. "Nooo-you didn't."

She gave an evil smirk. "Yeah. I did." Themis shifted her legs and pulled him to the ground into a JJ 'Arm Bar', yanking back on his elbow and getting a roar of anguish out of him.

Grey waved at Brawly. "I know I told them to have restraint, but that doesn't mean they won't break their opponent's arm if they don't surrender. If you thought Ginger's Armbar was good, Themis' just executed it to perfection. And considering she's also psychic, his telekinesis won't help him this time."

One of Sang-kai's floating arms tried to sneak up on Themis, but as a warning she pulled harder on his elbow.

"Gah!" He yelped.

Brawly grated his teeth with indecision, he gazed at Shauna, ready to call out—

"No! Master! I can do it!" Hollered out Sang-kai as he made to lean upward, with his arm audibly cracking. Brawly's face paled once more. "No! Sang-kai! Stop! There's no need!"

But the mega-evolved pokémon kept leaning up.

Grey sighed in distaste and confirmed with a nod, hoping Sang-kai would be too frightened to continue. "Themis, maximum pressure, break it if you have to."

"Alrighty' then!" She beamed with pleasure as the medicham ignored the warning and made to get up—

Crack!

He roared and snarled through the pain as Themis' had to rely on telekinesis to pull herself back further against his elbow. The skin on Sang-kai's inner elbow bulged as the bone snapped and bent further out of place, threatening to puncture his rapidly darkening bruise.

Grey gaped at the madness behind the fighting-psionic pokémon's determination. Themis' looked just as shocked at his unexpected zealousness.

Sang-kai stood up now, with Themis' hanging off his now useless limb; leg's still around his chest and throat. For once since the start of the round, he returned the devilish grin as he heaved in tolerance of the agony. "Now Trick Room is useless. You're exactly where I want you to be."

Themis reeled in surprise. "What!?"

The fist of one big floating arm crackled with thunder, diving down and smacking her face with a resounding boom, smashing her into the battleground floor and pulverizing the rock into a crater from the clean impact.

"Themis!" Yelled Grey in concern. He gazed at the bloody appendage hanging off of the medicham's shoulder. What kind of conviction would one need to simply ignore that kind of pain? Pokémon were seriously fucking tough.

The kirlia slowly pulled herself out of the crater in a daze, but Sang-kai would not see her rest. He got into another stance and launched a perfect High-jump kick into Themis' face, sending her careening into one of the cave spires, crumbling it and burying her.

God damn it…

"It's fine. I'm ok—ow, fuck."

Neon pink and orange bolts of energy arched out of her aura, almost vaporizing the rocks that covered her and turning them into shining flakes of hissing dust. She was more than ok.

Themis rose from the ground, covered in soot. She levitated once more and wiped the blood from her mouth, flicking drops of it to the ground and gave a sadic, toothy grin; teeth stained in red.

…Sang-kai's body griped with pain, and worse yet he couldn't use 'Recover' lest he sap the rest of what little energy he had left. The combusken was one thing, but this kirlia…

She was a monster.

To think someone of her middling evolutionary level could cause such devastating damage and have an aura so very like Grey's, yet even more twisted and blighted all over with dark poisonous wisps…It heralded violence and promised anguish. How such potential for brutal oppression existed within a small body like hers, while savage beasts he had seen that dwarfed her several times over couldn't even hope to acclaim such an ungodly presence, was beyond him.

Earlier he had sensed the starmie's displeasure and distressing wavelengths from the appearance of this kirlia…Now he understood why.

It was perplexing. He had thought that the ralts line were, although admittedly pompous at times, mostly composed with calm elegance. But this one was just unruly, even for a 'curse-mon'.

He pitied her next victim, especially should she ever evolve.

Sang-kai gazed at Grey, who seemed steadfast for the most part…To others, it seemed the man only had his pokémon out to either strengthen them or watch the battles and keep their senses sharp without the pokéball's taint of slothful commodity dulling them…But it didn't take him long to figure out that this man had them out not because of such concepts…but because they were wild.

He gazed back at a grinning shiny kirlia; her eyes burned with wanton sadism.

She was dangerous in every sense of the word. Pure and simple…But…

For a man to command the respect of such a creature…He must either have conviction that moves even the darkest of beings…or…he is unhinged, and his insanity only causes further rancorous inspiration for the kirlia, enough to attract her to whatever mad cause he believes in.

Perhaps this was why his master and their associate seemed so willing to defeat them here and now, pulling even a mega-evolution in an attempt at intimidation—

"Cute thoughts you're having there, Sang-kai." She said suddenly, with her sick smile darkening further.

Sang-kai froze.

How the hell did she slip through his mental defenses!?

"What?"

She shrugged. "Regardless, there's nothing all that great about your mega-form, all you got was a bit more buff and some floating arms with a shift in eye color. Heck, I'm more impressed by the fact that you conjured a fancy hat out of nowhere to fit nicely on your ugly head."

He chuffed at her snide remark. "Your bluffs have no effect on me, monster. You may have lasted this long through technique and trickery, but I still have greater power."

"Ha! You mean those floating arms you're so proud of?"—She flicked her wrist in dismissal—"Pfft, anyone can do that."

"Such bold claims without proof."

She wagged a finger at him. "Careful' of what you say, you stated the same for Grey, and he outright proved you wrong with me."

"Indeed. Perhaps you should follow in your master's footsteps, then." He challenged.

She gave a malevolent laugh. "I thought you'd never ask..."

The kirlia raised her arms and her corona of psychic radiance split off into segments, flashing brightly and blinding Sang-kai for a moment.

He once more set his gaze on her and was aghast.

Madness! What sorcery is this!?

Floating behind her were not four, nor five…But six 'limbs' of pure pink energy, each laced with orange energy on their edges.

She flashed her bloodied teeth as her lips curled in derision. "See? Anyone can do it."

For the first time during the match…Sang-kai was livid. She was mocking him and he'd make her pay. But one good thing did come out of this…

Every vein on her face twitched and bulged in concentration. One of her eyes was bloodshot and bleeding, as well as the side of her head, most likely coming from her ear.

This was her last stand, and she was putting everything into it on top of maintaining her silencing of his innate ability.

With all that mental strain, she would not last long…but against an incoming assault of that magnitude, if he didn't put up a solid defense? Then neither would he.

He grabbed his broken arm, and with a grunt in pain snapped it back in place with a shoddy localized 'Recover'.

He beckoned her forth with the now functional arm. "Then come. Your pale imitation, against the real thing."

"Oh fuck yes! That's what I'm talkin' about!"

The kirlia cackled as she blasted forth in reckless abandon.

Limbs were thrown everywhere, beige and violet against hellish pink and orange extensions collided against each other with their rapid explosive impacts causing sonic booms that percussed through the cavern, blowing dust and rocks everywhere while loosening stalactites to send them falling, shattering on the battlefield and splashing into the waters below.

Since psychic attacks were out of the question, it became a test of combat.

While their pseudo-limbic extensions fought for supremacy and protected their main bodies, in a show of extreme multi-tasking both said controllers were themselves engaged in close combat.

Every punch retaliated against a kick while the latter would feint into the former. At one point, one of the kirlia's extensions almost broke through to him, but in an instant, he commanded one of his own to shoo it away with a blast of electricity and continued his martial movement without pause.

He had to give her credit. Though reckless and savage, her martial technique was easily one of the best he had ever faced, even though she had to adapt some of them to her limited physique since it was clear she absorbed the information from Wilson. It made Sang-kai wonder…Where did the man learn to fight like that? Whatever the case, one day, when the kirlia evolved and shed her physical limits, she would no doubt become a force to be reckoned with.

Regardless, this match had to come to an end, his master was ready to give the final command…

…Grey was astounded at the absolute destructiveness these pokémon were capable of. The blows, the impacts, the fucking sonic booms that rattled his eardrums, and the way they were engaged in combat on two different fronts simultaneously.

The external floating limbs thrashed against each other to attack the main body of their originator while Themis and Sang-kai battled in the middle of all that inferno.

It made him think…Back in alternate Earth, just these two alone were capable of causing some serious damage to any country's military.

Bullets would fall motionless before their psychic prowess. Tanks would be rendered scrap. Missiles rediverted or even simply blocked. These two were releasing hundreds of Kilojoules worth of energy; literal grenades and missiles worth of explosive power. He could only imagine the amount of concentration and mind power required to perform such feats.

The Trick room phased out.

Uh-oh.

Themis was at her limit. She was pushing herself far too much.

Sang-kai took advantage of her fatigue and took a punch while using the inertia of it to generate his own centrifugal force and deliver a vicious kick to her face, the impact of which echoed from a distance and rattled Grey's core.

Themis was sent rolling across the ground. Her psionic limbs fizzled out too, and though her aura still pulsated, she had lost her concentration.

The mega-medicham's body swelled further with his attack power rising. That meant the lobotomization wore off too.

Brawly fist-pumped the air in a moment of emotional release.

"Now! Sang-kai! Reversal!"

Shit.

She was only still getting to her feet, while the medicham roared and charged toward her, glowing with fighting energy.

Themis! Get out of there!

No response, she was still recovering from the earlier impact and her strain.

Damn it!

Just like Ginger did to the Probopass in the past, Themis would be sent out of the arena from such a devastating and well-timed attack.

He made to call off the match, but something strange happened.

Sang-kai stopped moving and froze.

He lost grip of the energy he had gathered.

What the hell?

Grey observed intently.

Sang-kai just stood there, with a blank look in his eyes, the pupils of which were jittery before his eyes rolled back like he had lost all sense…of…perception. All he could manage were a few twitches of his limbs.

Grey identified it.

…Yes! Finally!

The symptoms lined up. During stage fights, a contestant would usually get knocked out via concussion to the head and jaw overall, resulting in their immediate loss. However, it wasn't necessarily uncommon for a fighter to experience a late concussion over a period during the match from an earlier impact to the head, and momentarily be paralyzed.

And the last time Sang-kai took a heavy hit to the head was…

"Themis! Finish it now!" He roared out.

She snapped out of her daze, once again recovering, and understood what happened with a single exchange of thoughts.

Her aura fired up and she bolted toward the paralyzed medicham.

"Sang-kai! What are you doin', man!? Snap out of it, bro!" Yelled Brawly in hysterics.

Themis charged her energy into her fist, bent her knees, bounced up and smashed Sang-kai square under the jaw with a calamitous uppercut, grunting in effort and sending him flying all the way to the roof opening of the cave from the rattling impact.

With a mighty leap, she burst off the arena in hot pursuit.

Grey connected to her mind to see what was happening. She shared part of her vision with his and he could see as though he were up there with her.

She flew above a still concussed mega-medicham.

"How should I finish this? Grey-kun?"

Ignoring the annoying suffix he knew she'd tease him with forever, he clenched his fist. This was the moment he'd deny his enemy's plans despite all odds…

He waved his arm in a downward chop, "Finish him with a Lunar Kick! Full power and no fucking mercy!" He commanded with fervor in adrenalized conviction.

He could somehow feel her grinning, or was that his own?

Her body thrummed with supernatural power as the medicham began his descent. She twirled backward in a continuous gyroscopic movement, gaining immense momentum, like the sparking wheel of a thunder god's chariot in wrathful pursuit of their enemy.

Themis extended her body, channeling all of her power into her right leg, and with an ear-splitting warcry escaping her lips, struck Sang-kai's abdomen with her Lunar kick.

The strike sent out a deafening shockwave along with a corona of all her discharged energy flaring out like a supernova, before folding the medicham and shooting him out of the sky, smack in the center of the arena.

Sang-kai literally sunk through the rock, resulting in a huge fissure splitting the platform and causing it to collapse in on itself like one would close a book.

The entire structure fell from the devastating collision, shaking the cave with its undoing.

Kassadar!

Brawly and Grey almost fell with the entire thing, but they were held in the air thanks to the starmie's telekinesis.

The cavern water splashed and shot upward from the chunks of rock mass plunging into its surface and adding to its volume.

The arena was completely destroyed.

"Sang-kaiii!" yelled Brawly in nervousness.

Shit, we might've overdone it.

Kassadar settled Brawly on the referee platform with a slack-jawed Shauna, and Grey at the end of the now incomplete bridge leading to a gaping lake filled with the shattered remains of the battleground poking out of its surface.

Themis came floating down from the roof slowly, albeit wobbling in effort with her body returning to its slender self.

Kassadar, help her—

"No! I'll finish this on my own to the end! I must check on the medicham." She interrupted.

Tch, stubborn…

Themis lowered herself toward the direction of the impact and searched with mind and eyes.

She sensed a tiny wavelength and pinpointed its location. Using part of her remaining psychic strength, she flipped a big slab of rock.

Found you.

There, on a chunk of half-inundated platform with his legs dangling off into the water, was an unmoving Sang-kai, back to his original form. Bloodied, broken, bruised, and covered in cuts from the rocks and burns from the lashes of raw energy…but still alive and breathing.

Themis' waved at Shauna as she carefully levitated Sang-kai off the ground, not without a subtle smirk crossing her lips.

It took Shauna several moments to register what happened before she gave weak and incoherent movements of the flag. "T-the match, is, like, um, uhh...over. The winner…is the challenger, Grey Wilson." She barely let out, before returning her focus on the devastation wrought from the battle.

Brawly drew a breath in gladness. With little mirth, he pulled out his luxury ball. "Totally super gnarly job, Sang…Return."

Without much ceremony, the medicham returned to a photonic state of red light and into his ball.

The match was over.

The surfer gym leader turned to gaze at his victorious challenger, but he wasn't at the bridge.

"Huh. Where'd—"

"Right here." Said a voice from behind, startling him.

He turned, only to get his shirt grabbed and suddenly find himself nearly shoved off the referee platform rails, with only a fistful of fabric between him and a deathly plunge.

Shauna shrieked in shock, "Wilson! What are you—"

But her body was locked by some kind of force, and the shiny kirlia floated over, shaking her head in warning.

"Whoa! Whoa! Dude! Chill, man—"

Grey glared at the surfer as he shook him into silence. "Shut up, and tell me…Where did you receive your information about me and the starmie? Why was this match so heavily set up against me? Who's your associate!?" He interrogated.

Brawly's eyes kept darting from the pitfall to the hand gripping his shirt. "H-hey Wilson, c'mon man, y-you don't look like the type to let me fall like this, your starmie even—"

The surfer yelped as for a moment the grip on his shirt vanished and he was weightless, before his fall once again ceased, though now he was more inclined over the rail.

"Care to correct yourself?"

"Whoa, hey-hey ok, ok!"

"Now answer, my grip is slipping."

"L-look man, like I said, my friend was the one who told me about you and sent me the info, h-he told me to go all out on you, but that's it!"

"Going all out is one thing, and I can admit that a bit of espionage is good strategy, but since it goes against the so-called 'spirit of competition' the League cockheads like to prattle on about with every chance they get, I'd say it's foul-play considering the point of the Hoenn gyms. And if you people are willing to go so far just to see me lose, then I'm sure you can understand why I'm a bit miffed about my privacy being…invaded,"—He let his grip loosen slightly with Brawly gasping in panic—"for the second time."

"Y-yeah, totally! I'm sorry! C-could you let me up now—Yah!"

Grey let his grip slip further. "You only confirmed my doubts, but haven't really answered my questions. I need a name."

Brawly for a moment faltered as his blue eyes pleaded for mercy.

"Don't think I won't do it. Your life really isn't in my interest."

Shauna struggled against her invisible hold. "You jerk! What gives you the right!?"

He spared her a glance. "The fact that someone is spying on me and my pokémon partners. I consider that to be a threat. I'll see Hell to Earth's door before I let their lives get compromised. Killing a couple of surf-head suspects is trivial in comparison, at best."

"T-this isn't how I pictured the hero of Oldale, don't you feel guilt?" asked Brawly, hanging onto Grey's wrist for dear life.

…He smirked. "And this isn't how I pictured the sportsmanship of the league. The truth is, if it guarantees the safety of my pokémon partners? I could kill you both right now and sleep like a baby tonight. Reality can be so ugly. Are you that scared of this 'friend' of yours? Is your life worth keeping his name away from me? I could always have both my psychics break into your well set-up mental defenses, but the excess psionic energy used to shatter it could end up leaving you braindead…I can't imagine surfing the waves as a vegetable being 'gnarly'."

Brawly still refused to answer and seemed conflicted.

"I see…" Grey's eyes shifted toward a nerve-wracked Shauna, before giving the kirlia a look. "Perhaps, I'm holding the wrong person over the edge."

"Hey, man! That's going too far!"

"Oh really? So pushing Sang-kai through excruciating pain to recover his broken bones constantly, and on top of that, straining him with an undesired Mega evolution, wasn't going too far?"

"What?"

"Don't think I didn't notice his distaste for the form. He clearly wanted to fight on equal terms with Ginger. Not only did you make him go through the agony of bone healing, but you even trampled over his pride and wishes, and used his loyalty to you; all for the sake of this 'friend' of yours. I can also appreciate discipline and a brutal regime to strengthen pokémon, but only with consent. Forcing your desires onto someone else is another category of murder on its own…You kill their dignity by stripping them of their right to choose."

"I'd never do that!"

"Oh but you just did…Just like this 'friend' of yours did to you…And if you don't give me his name? You're going to live the rest of your life knowing that the death of this woman will be on your conscience. But perhaps your surfer's carefree attitude might see you through that, now that's an interesting social experiment I'll gladly partake in."

"No, please. She's got nothing to do with this!"

"I need a name. Now."

Brawly shuddered, still keeping quiet. Grey turned his gaze to Shauna.

"...Themis—"

"It's Spark! Spark Lighton!"

Grey did not expect that name…But nor was it too surprising.

And it meant a whole new ball game.

Once more he stared at Brawly. "You mean the 'Instinct' leader guild master?"

"Yeah! Okay!? Now please, just stop this, man."

"I'm not done. Who spied on us at the beach? How did he find out about Kassadar? Was it you?"

"I told you all I know!"

"...Did Spark also instruct Roxanne to give me the 'tracker'?" Though Grey surmised the answer as a given.

"Wha'? I've got no clue, man! I already told you. He asked me to give it my all and sent me the info. I have no idea how he got it, I swear!"

"...Fine. That name alone says plenty anyway."

He pulled Brawly back to safety, and Themis released Shauna, though the battle-girl was furious and yanked out her phone while creating distance.

Brawly made to stop her. "What are you doin'?"

"I'm calling the police, idiot! What do you think?"

Grey rose a brow at that. "For all intents and purposes, ma'am, I am the police, and Dewford Gym administration is suspected of severe illegalities."

"Huh!?"

Grey made an explicative hand gesture. "The leader guilds are the primary law enforcers, and Brawly just admitted that Spark, one of said leader guild's masters, is engaging in illegal espionage and not only committed a breach of privacy, but also of league sports commission rules through Dewford gym administration. I don't recommend calling the cops, you have no hardline evidence for any of your claims…However,"—He pulled out his pokédex and played the recorded audio file of Brawly's admittance—"I do, and I'll remind you that I am an official Mystic Guild enforcer. Who are they going to believe?"

She lowered her phone in disgust. "You dirty bastard…"

"Careful, it's your administration that broke the rules. As for my threats? Newsflash: every agency, sports commission, and government plays 'dirty' to get what they want, and the ones that don't are the first to lose. Do you honestly think that a country's governance is founded on squeaky clean and unbent ideals?"

"So you're saying that even the League cheats!?"

"I'm not the biggest fan of spectator contact sports, but it should at least be the one thing that remains untainted from politics. The people have nothing else with which to temporarily escape the corruption that oppresses their already mundane lives. Yet it seems the Pokémon League has been caught in the government's web as well…And for quite a while, it seems. It makes me wonder whether the other regions play the same 'game'..."

Shauna seemed disheartened at that; all her fury swept away at his words and replaced with uncertainty. She looked to her gym leader. "Brawly…Is it true what he says? Have you been involved with…that?"

The Dewford gym leader scratched his head idly with confusion etched on his features. "Honestly? I'm just doing the bare minimum, man. Battle challengers, give em' a fair go depending on their skill level, and give em' badges if they win. It was only Sparks' strange request that was the exception, and after hearing about Roxanne's loss and Grey's merits, I gotta' say, I was pumped…But I didn't expect Spark to be so…'Specific' about it with all that info. But the way I looked at it was: that Spark wanted to test his skills to the max for some reason. Really, that's all." Brawly shrugged to conclude.

"What did he say exactly?" asked Grey.

Brawly put a finger to his chin. "Well…Uhh...Honestly, I kinda' zoned out a bit and got too excited after he said you were continuing the gym challenge, heh."

Shauna deadpanned. "Idiot…"

"B-but he did say something about him needing your 'unique ability' for his guild. Seems like he wants you in his group, dude."

Grey observed the man carefully. Most of the time, he knew someone was lying unless they were experts at keeping their eye movements and nervous ticks in check, and now on top of that he was in the process of learning psychokinesis…But it turns out…

He genuinely believed Spark just wanted to scout out my abilities…But it seems he's truly and completely unaware of the psychological warfare going on around him. It's as he said, he's just doing the bare minimum…He's blissfully ignorant, and Spark has taken advantage of that.

"Indeed, Brawly's wavelengths do not lie. It also matches our previous criteria of the 'Mega-evolution' stone Brawly obtained recently." Said Kassadar, now joining in his thoughts. "Spark is a guild master, like Blanche. I've no doubt they have enormous public influence over the population of Hoenn, considering their political agendas, potential contacts, and affiliates. It would not be too difficult for people like them to obtain mega-evolution stones from Kalos or other mining proprietors."

Yeah…

Shauna turned to Grey, scowling and gripping her fist in frustration. "So what are you gonna' do now? Turn us in?"

He chortled. "Oh, no. God, no. I only needed the information for personal reasons. Turning you in for this would only mean bureaucratic disaster for Blanche as it would alert the Hoenn government that we're onto its influence with the League and PA. They'd do anything to cover up Spark's underhanded involvement with the gyms. No, I think you two are safe, as long as you don't mention anything that happened in this room, err, cave."

Brawly sighed in gladness. "Haaw', thank Arceus, man. I don't think I'll be doing Spark any other favors too soon, that guy can be reckless."

Shauna curled her brow in confusion. "But what of the match results?"

"Don't mention the mega-evolution, nor anything about the match happening down here. As far as Dewford administration is concerned? I won the challenge at the arena upstairs in a private match. That should do. Speaking of which,"—Grey held a hand up to receive—"I believe I've earned my badge as 'proof'."

Brawly blinked several times before laughing nervously and scratching his head. "Uh…Right! Totally, I just…Forgot it upstairs. Hehe…"

Shauna did a double-take and Grey deadpanned. "You…actually expected me to lose, didn't you…"

Brawly squirmed in sheepishness and flapped his hand in denial. "Naaaw, naw, man! C-c'mon, I just totally forgot it back at the desk, I don't usually take my challengers down here—"

"Yeah, yeah, save your bullshit and let's head upstairs. Kassadar, how's Ginger and Joanna?"

The ethereal starfish floated above them now, joining Themis who huffed at his presence and made distance.

"They are fine, sir. The potions did them well, though they do need extra attention at the pokécenter."

"Fair enough. Take them gently. Let's head upstairs—"

"Erhem!" Chimed in Themis, zooming right in front of Grey with arms crossed and annoyance clear in her orange eyes. She somehow had a bit of blood flowing from a spot above her lips, but it seemed she didn't notice.

"What is it?"

She spoke vocally, "Aren't you forgetting something? Maybe a 'thank you'? For beating up a mega-evolution for you? Hmm!?"

He gave a coy grin. "I thought when you said 'if you can beat it, you don't need it', I just assumed you believed it wasn't such a big deal, and you beat it after all. Riiight?"

She was caught off guard by that but still frowned. "Well-I-uh, I mean it wasn't easy but not 'that' hard either. But of course, I should've known. You humans are so ungrate—"

While she was bickering, he pulled out a napkin from his pocket and gently held her face, instantly stopping her mid-speech. Her skin was silky smooth and cool to the touch. He wiped the blood off her…nose? Though now that he looked at her more closely, she still had a subtle central ridge of sorts that gave more definition to her face.

"I didn't think the ralts line had noses."

A furious blush flourished across her features at his gesture and comment. "W-well how do you think we can smell? Though our nose pores are, admittedly, tiny enough to be imperceptible, but can still bleed…Dipshit."

She harrumphed and looked to the side.

Themis, Kassadar may have saved my life and sustained me…but it was you who brought me back from an, otherwise, irreversible state. And now, you brought me victory when I most needed it. Despite the fact that I hel*** *** **** ** *** ********e, what you've done is still un-repayable. A simple 'thank you' can't even begin to show how grateful 'this' human is…But at least I can answer your first question.

"Huh? Which question?"

He found himself smiling genuinely; his fingers lifted from her cheek with a soft caress as he continued walking to the lift and passed her.

I 'do' like what I see.

For a moment there was no response, until the sensation of her immense embarrassment sent erratic vibrations through their connected wavelengths, amusing him. Cute.

…The 'Knuckle badge' looked like a blue boxing glove with its thumb portion a tangerine color, and the entire pin was lined with silver. He pinned it to the inside of his jacket, next to the Stone badge from Rustboro.

Brawly and Shauna were seeing them off at the front of the gym.

Grey held a brown disk, the T.M reward for his victory. "So this T.M is 'Bulk up' huh?"

"That's right! Raises attack and defense, without sacrificing speed, since the user concentrates their energy into their major muscle groups, powering them up including their legs. You saw Choka use it, pretty strong, right?"

~He recalled the huge hariyama that became even bigger and more powerful upon using it, specifically when it somehow maintained its speed despite the increase in mass, and near pulverized the ground from where Joanna had barely dodged the brutal strike.

"Oh shit yeah. I know exactly who's going to be using this."

Brawly laughed. "I got a feeling I do too."

'Beep'

Grey checked his pokédex to see a bank account transferal message. It was a lot more than what he got from Roxanne…Something was off.

He gave them a stare and Brawly once more became nervous.

"Why so much prize money?"

"Eh…Well, we kinda' gave you a hard time down there, and I feel bad about the stuff 'you know who' pulled."

They were careful not to mention the issue outdoors…Or, really, ever again.

"Uh-huh…So this really isn't a 'bribe' to shut me up, is it? You know that's illegal, riiight?" He gazed at Brawly with a scrutinous eye, making the surfer pull his face into a blend between a grimace and a smile.

"Cut that out, or you'll make him shit his pants." Intervened Shauna, irritated at her gym leader's cowardice. "It's just a thank you reward for the match."

The Dewford-born man brightened up. "Yeah! Dude! Like, I gotta' say, something radical came out of all this, and it was the best freakin' match I've ever had, bro! Like hella' super awesome! I haven't felt a thrill like that since I tried surfing the waves of the flood from, like, years ago when I was a lil' dude."

That last line caught Grey's attention.

The words of the aqua sergeant, Lisa, who was the cause of his semi-dead state, came to mind: 'We want to restart the world with a 'great' flood'.

"Flood?"

"Yeah. It was this really wicked rise in sea levels during a single week. Every day, bigger and bigger killer waves smashed the eastern coast of Dewford, and sunk a part of the island."

"How long ago was this?"

"Uhhh…" Brawly started counting with his fingers. "One, two, three—"

Shauna rolled her eyes. "Ten years ago, moron…Eleven if we count the next few months."

Grey put a finger to his chin in contemplation. "I see…That is quite something."

Sea levels rising that far within a week? Something isn't right here…And he said the waves came from the east of Dewford's coast…Which is in the same direction as Slateport.

He archived the thought and held out a hand to Brawly. "I'm sorry for my earlier behavior. I did it for selfish reasons, but note, I actually would never have hurt either of you. It was just a scare tactic. And I'm glad that you enjoyed the match, I'll admit it was…Thrilling."

Brawly registered the words for a moment, before giving his childish smile and clapping Grey's hand with his own in a firm shake. "What earlier behavior? I don't remember anything, do you, Shauna babe'?"

She shrugged, with a smirk of her own. "Nope. Not a clue."

Grey nodded in approval.

"Dude, it's gonna' be a while before anyone tops 'that' battle, for sure…Unless you might just be the one to top it yourself one day."

"I'd be glad to battle with you again sometime in the future in a friendly match."

"Or, it might just be in the next 'World Coronation Series', after this year's League Conference and World leader's tourney."

Yet another competition?

"World Coronation Series? What's that?" He asked as he let the gym leader's hand go.

Brawly grinned with a wave of his arms making a circle. "A world-wide competition to determine the gnarliest trainer of em' all!"

"...Uh."

"He means the 'strongest trainer in the World'". Translated Shauna, before jabbing a thumb at Brawly. "Pfft, but fat chance for him, he still needs to prove himself first in the world leader's tournament. His team may be stronger than Roxanne's, but that's because he has more experience and time as a gym leader than she does. Up until then, before she took leadership of it, Brawly here was actually the weakest gym leader out of the eight."

Grey blinked. "...What."

The surfette continued, amused at his reaction. "Though as of now we have the brand new ninth with the addition of Ruby at Lilycove, and considering he was the famed 'Dream mask' all this time and is a champion coordinator while being Norman's eldest son? Despite the gym's newness, I can say Ruby is certainly not the weakest on the get-go. Brawly would be a puddle of piss next to him. And Flannery, despite her recent ascension, well…Considering her Grandad…From what I know, he's certainly no fucking pushover. He's one of the Veterans, and used to be in the 'Elite Four'. I don't think the gym would've just been handed to Flannery without some kind of test. Hell, maybe she even battled and defeated him for the right to it. Though I think Ruby is certainly more experienced and stronger, given his background, Flannery would still kick Brawly's ass."

Brawly deflated and let his arms hang limp. "Gee, Shauna babe', you didn't have to be so sandy about it…"

For a moment, Grey absorbed the information and processed it…He reminded himself of just how difficult Sang-kai was for his team to defeat…According to Brawly, this was his best pokémon that he would enter in the World leader's tournament…Brawly is the second gym leader…And according to Shauna, before Roxanne assumed the leadership of her city's gym, it was Brawly himself who was actually the weakest of all the gym leaders…

Grey concluded that...he was still on square one…

At least that's what it felt like.

…Oh fuck me.

Grey almost staggered at the thought. "Shit, really? Goddamn…"

"Yeah. Wicked."

Shauna fisted her hand as though she reminded herself of something. "Oh and one more thing, Grey…"

He dragged his eyes to meet hers, knowing she was going to say something else equally exhausting. "This is the part where you tell me something horrendous about the next gym, isn't it."

She gave a tiresome smile. "Yeah. Torturing you is the least I can do after the scare you gave me."

He coughed into his hand. "That's…fair. But I'll take it as a friendly warning."

"Good attitude…Wattson, the Mauville gym leader, who you'll probably be facing next in the circuit…Though he wasn't elite four, like Oldman Moore was…He's also one of the Veterans."

"What does that even mean?"

"Good question. Go find out."

Again, he remembered the same store clerk back in Rustboro Mall…

'I mean...Only the best of the best make it, sir. Reason I know is, my cousin attempted the entire thing. He was a real hotshot too from our town...But…Well, he gave up at the third gym in Mauville...He couldn't do it. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't…'

Grey had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time he'd remember the same Clerk. The boy had once been a trainer himself and lost an eye for it. His intel was invaluable…And frankly, now worrisome thanks to the addition of Shauna's comment.

And the 'World Coronation Series'? Strongest trainer in the world? He knew that video games from his version of Earth were one thing competitively, filled with geekoloids knowing the inns and outs of every corner of the pokémon game's most efficient system meta. They competed to be a world champion of the video game, of that he certainly wasn't unaware.

But to think of it in a real-life context? An actual trainer with actual pocket monsters somehow labelled the fucking 'strongest' in the bloody World!? Just what kind of pokémon could someone possess and what kind of abilities and strength could they have?

By now he must've spent at least a month in this world, and yet he still had no idea of the rest of the pokémon lore nor the different kinds of the franchise creatures that existed. That would have certainly helped…

He imagined beasts of untold power and size, ready to decimate entire landscapes in their battle. Dragons, titans, godly esper powers, and explosions of unprecedented scale…Power the likes that could single-handedly end any war or upend any government on his Earth…

He had watched league tournament battles online as a study for his own journey, and the issue was…the cameras barely could show much apart from explosions and quick blurs of movement through the smoke, before the losing pokémon was left knocked out and the winner standing high. Most of them ended like that. Video recording technology could only do so much, and it didn't do justice to experiencing the real thing, nor spectating it at the venue itself. But, ironically, the camera's limited capacity to perceive the high-profile battles did show just how unfathomable the power involved in those fights were.

He had never actually looked into the WCS, but he could easily conclude that the footage will be even less useful to really grasp what he was potentially up against.

"Jesus fucking ay'..."

"Dunno' who this 'Jesus' is, but yeah, Good luck, Wilson," said Shauna.

Grey huffed. "Gee, thanks, now I feel like Brawly."

"Am I…Am I joke to you all now?" Asked the surfer with a sad frown.

Shauna punched his shoulder. "Yeah, but at least you're not the current weakest gym leader anymore…"

"And you still almost came back from a severe round disadvantage. Sang-kai really had me worried."

"Well, that's true." The Dewford gym leader seemed lifted—

"Still piss though." Concluded Shauna with a smug grin.

"Aww…"

The trio laughed at that and said their farewells, though not before Shauna asked why Grey hadn't yet put Ginger and Joanna in their pokéballs, instead opting for Kassadar to carry them.

He quickly made the excuse that they were sleeping, and it was to train their senses and awareness while asleep, as being in a pokéball would only dull their senses and make them heavy sleepers. Shauna was skeptical but Brawly seemed impressed.

…The group were walking back down the slope to town, with Ginger and Joanna floating thanks to Kassadar. The sneasel continuously stared at Themis as though she were a foreign object from space, and it was irritating her, though she ignored it in favor of engaging with Grey's mind.

"I know this seems sudden and uncalled for after that woman and this store clerk you recalled said those things about the third gym…But…"

Yeah?

"I probably won't be able to help you with it."

Oh? Why's that?

"I've got a few things to do before I can fully incorporate myself to your…group. Actually, I'm still undecided about that."

Why?

Her vibrations felt awkward, but she quickly remedied and steeled herself.

"Hellooo? Look at me. I'm a shiny, or in common pokémon terms…A 'curse-mon' or a 'freak'. But unlike most other shinies who conceal their skin color in any way they can, which would be easy for me, I take pride in who I am. I'd rather conceal my entire body in an illusory veil rather than change my skin color at will. I would be betraying who I am in the latter case."

What does this have to do with being part of our group? I may have swindled myself out of Shauna's observations during the battle, but what I said is practically true, and Blanche could easily make it—

"It won't change a thing. I'd still be a danger to you."

He stopped walking and leered at her.

…What?

The kirlia levitated in front of him, with sadness in her sunny eyes.

"Why do you think I was a* *** ********e? Poachers would never leave you alone. Corrupt organizations will try to pry me away from you and kill you on resistance. And it seems this Spark person will use it as an excuse and a legal attack against your guild leader. Even if this 'Birch' person is a part of OPUS-TD, they can't help you. Face it. I'd be a burden."

Then why did you bother helping me?

"What?"

You heard me, we're speaking telepathically after all, not vocally.

Ignoring his sarcasm, she struggled to find words, before she once more gazed at him.

"Because I *** ***."

Then saving my life was plenty enough. Your **** was r***** just with that. Why come to my aid in this, comparatively, unimportant gym battle then?

Again she was lost for answers but attempted to argue "Because…"

Because what?

She could no longer gaze into his eyes.

"Because...I felt your pain…back a* *** ********e."

What? I don't get it.

"You don't have to…Look, I haven't really decided, and either way, I've still got my own loose ends to tie up."

Does it have something to do with how you were c******* ** M****?

"Indirectly, yes."

Now it made sense. Someone as incredibly powerful as she was, to have been—

Just…Give it a good think, Themis. Okay?

"Sure…"

And I want you to know one thing. Let Neva and Kassadar be witness to my words.

The kirlia gazed at him, eyes glistening.

In a moment of preternatural passion and empathy he couldn't explain, he held her face in both his hands, surprising her and diving into her eyes with his own reflecting a stern yet gentle disposition.

"You'll never be a burden to me. Not ever. When I said to them, 'I'll see Hell to Earth's door before I let your lives get compromised', I meant it."

She breathed in, struck speechless by his words, and her wavelengths once more became erratic.

"You know. We could always help you with your quest and go together."

She shook her head. "It's something I must do on my own."

He gave a slow nod. "I understand. Either way, you're always welcome to be with me. You're my savior, after all. And…we still have that little 'deal' we made. Remember?"

"Y-yeah." She blinked out a tear, and he gingerly wiped it away with a thumb and a smile.

"Good. Once you're healed at the center, rested up, and whenever you're ready…go and do what you must."

"Grey."

"Yes, Themis?"

She became bashful and twirled her aquamarine hair. "Can I—"

…

…Ginger was back on the beach and surprised to have the connection cut.

What happened?

"That is as far as I can show you. The rest is unimportant." Said Kassadar

That seemed suspicious.

"No."

"...No?"

She said she was leaving, in fact, she was catching a cruise. So some more must've been said between them.

"Well, yes, but those are fairly priva—"

"You said you didn't trust her. Should I just take your word for it? You've already blocked off restricted stuff that Grey probably doesn't want you sharing especially, and I'm okay with that. But if the rest is private only according to 'you', then he didn't specifically block out those parts, now did he?"

"True, but—"

"No butts. Show me what you can. Leave out what you must, I just need a general idea. Chop chop."

She settled on the sand again and closed her eyes, waiting.

"Oh dear…let it not be said that I did not warn you…Re-initializing memory synchronization…"

…

…The following morning, Grey was at the ship docks alone with Themis as Joanna, now awake and healed along with Neva were wandering the markets, while Kassadar kept his distance for privacy as he was busy checking up on the prior two with phantom clones. Ginger was still unconscious and resting at the hospital.

The cruise ship nearby trumpeted its horn, destined for the mainland at Slateport city. The air was stained in the rancid stench of fish and seafoam. The people wandered across the port unknowingly past a levitating shiny kirlia, as she was cloaked in her illusory veil. Only Grey could see her as clear as day because she allowed it.

So, you're getting a head start on us, ay? Planning on taking on the rest of the gyms by yourself in our name? You really are my savior.

She giggled at that, a light and pure sound. "Yeah, you wish. I just happened to be going in that direction. Too bad that useless chook of yours is still knocked out, otherwise you might've been on the boat with me."

Now, now, don't be like that. Ginger fought against bullshit odds and would've won if it wasn't for the Mega-evolution or, metamorphosis? Besides, Blanche has contacted me for our next mission, and it's sort of halfway to Slateport, but no ships stop there. Not anymore, apparently. The result would've been the same.

"I know, I know…It's just…I'm going to be lonely again." She became upset and clasped her hands, looking away.

Hey, don't get like that. Here, I have something for you.

He pulled out the dangle earring he had bought from the Rustboro store, with the clerk's words echoing in the process.

It was a simple thing trimmed in plated gold with a chain linking a hoop that could fit a small orb. He offered it to her and she gingerly took it, observing it.

"What is it?"

It's an earring I had bought earlier on in case I got more members on my team. The rest of the girls, save Neva, chose their preferred accessories, and Kassadar can't exactly wear any of them…I thought about your quest, and I believe I've found the perfect home for this little thing.

She observed the trinket, flipping it around her didactyl fingers curiously.

"It's pretty."

It is, and that's why it's perfect for you…if you'll take it.

She blushed at that. "Thanks…Could you help me put it on?"

Sure.

She raised her blue hair on her left and revealed her little pointy ear lobe…Along with an angry jagged scar that cracked its way from the back of her cheekbone to the back of her jaw. He stopped for a moment to observe the old injury, before making good on not mentioning it, lest he hurt her feelings, and clipped the earring onto her lobe.

"It's ok. We're similar that way, with the scar on your brow."

He really wanted to slap himself for somehow forgetting they were psionically linked. Obviously, she was going to read his thoughts.

Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I just never noticed until now.

"It's cool. How do I look?"

The earring dangled and contrasted her scar to the point that it made it barely notable. It shone brilliantly against her alabaster skin.

You look great, and now you'll have a piece of me wherever you go, so you won't feel too lonely.

She turned pink for a moment before sticking out her tongue jovially. "Gah, you're so fucking corny."

He barked out a laugh, causing some people to spare him a glance in confusion before probably concluding he was insane.

Maybe, but that doesn't make it untrue either.

She fiddled with the earring, eyes darting to the side in thought. "No one's been this nice to me. Other mons' who know of my line and see me, just toss rocks at me and yell 'freak!'. While any other trainer would toss their capture balls at me yelling 'Oh look, a shiny, I must have it!'. But you…Don't. I mean, you didn't even know what a fucking shiny was until yesterday! Of which I would ask, 'how are you that legitimately ignorant, Mr. Wilson? If that's your name?' but that's not the point right now…Point is…I can't help but feel…"

Yes?

She looked down, almost ashamedly. "...That it's almost too good to be true."

That almost broke his heart to hear.

What? What do you mean?

"I've been hurt many times, Grey. This is another reason I have to think about joining you. I know you ***** **, and I saved you, but…part of my reason for hesitating is exactly what I'm setting out to deal with. I can't be certain until I'm strong enough to endure any kind of pain, including disappointment…hence the loose ends I gotta' deal with."

…I guess the pokédex sure wasn't fucking around. All sentient beings have emotions, but you're literally 'The' 'emotion pokémon'...'Emo-mon'? 'E-mon'?

She chortled at that and rolled her eyes. "I know. I'm a mess."

Nah, that's not what I mean, bad joke.

"Then what?"

He sighed.

I can only imagine the pain you've gone through, though I'm quite intimate with betrayal myself, as you might've guessed. You're taking your time, and that's ok. You have a right to freedom no matter where you choose to go, and with me that will not change.

"That's the odd part that intrigues me, but at the same time unnerves me about you. I've read countless wavelengths from other 'trainers' and 'people', they all have their mental foundations set similarly from being born under the same systematic principles in this society…They all think in similar frequencies…Yet you…I can't decipher. You're so different. It's like you're…you're…"

An alien?

She went wide-eyed and danced in the air like he had just read her mind for the first time.

"Yes! Exactly! Ah, wait. No, sorry. Uh, I-I didn't mean it like 'that'…that word is a bit rude, I'd never really, you know, call you that, how did you even—"

He chuckled at her self-tripping and bashful squirming.

Chill, it's ok. I get that a lot more than you think.

"Where'd you say you were from again?"

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

"That's not funny."

At this point, he could even read other people's wavelengths at the docks from how genuinely concerned they were at his laughter, most likely wondering if he was an escaped asylum patient thinking he was jesting with a ghost.

And that was a nice try in getting me to slip. Truth is, I'm not quite ready to tell anyone that information.

"Yeah, no kidding. Your 'Carmonte Island' story is complete crap, that much I can tell. But…I can't even get near that part of your mind, you keep blocking me off. How do you even do that without being a full-fledged psychic?"

He shrugged.

Perks of being an alien.

She pouted at that with hands on hips. "Grey…"

What? I seriously have no idea. Honest.

"Liar…"

The ship gave one long continuous blast of its horns for a full 6 seconds, signaling its departure.

Got your ticket ready? He jested.

She flicked her hair, showing off her new brilliant dangle earring with a flutter of her eyelashes.

"Hmph. A queen has no need for a ticket. She goes where she pleases."

He smiled.

Then go on, oh great queen, before the boat leaves your royal ass behind.

She laughed, then frowned sadly as she levitated toward him. "I kind of wish it did…"

Themis flushed as she drew closer—

—Grey waved at her, uncaring of the people staring at him as she flew away toward the boat which sailed away gradually.

Take care of yourself, Themis…And thank you, for everything. I'll be right behind you, and you're always welcome to come back whenever, regardless of your quest.

She waved back and smiled. "You too. Take care, Grey. I'll see you soon."

With a final sad and teary smile, she turned around, and a line of light flashed in the air, she teleported…And she was gone…for now.

There was the strangest feeling on his face, like something small was running down his cheek.

He wiped it off with a finger.

It was a tear.

He scrunched his brow in confusion.

It had been literal years since he had last shed a tear out of…Empathy? No…Sadness? For someone else? That didn't seem right.

He concluded it was the psionic link they shared. The sadness in Themis' vibrations was almost too much to bear because of her emotional synchronicity with him, like he was drowning in a pool of her tears shed of pain. He knew the feeling of complete isolation and of being misunderstood, judged, and demonized. The difference, however, was…

He deserved it because of his actions. While Themis suffered the same simply because of her existence. Despite his 'anti-irrationale', that would be the closest thing to being an 'unfair' situation. But then again…No one asked to be born.

He hoped she'd be ok…

…

…That teleportation must've been when Themis came to her window recently, before teleporting for the boat afterward…

Ginger was speechless for a full minute, trying to come to terms with everything she had seen and heard…

It was too much.

Kassadar's specter floated in front of her to catch her attention.

"I warned you."

"Kass'."

"Yes?"

"Tell me…What she said about being unable to decipher Grey's wavelengths…About him being different…Alien. He jokes about it. But…do you feel the same?"

The ghostly starmie only hovered without a sound for a few moments, before twisting the back portion of his star points.

"...To be frank, yes. The way she described it is fairly spot-on. He has an unusual psychological profile that is very dissonant to most other people. But that doesn't mean he's an 'alien'. I'm quite surprised to see that's what caught your attention the most and not…Well, nevermin—"

Oh do I have 'a lot' to say about everything else, alright. Oh, fuck yes.

"And there it is."

"Like the scenes you keep cutting off entirely…?"

"Unnecessary trivialities, I assure you."

To Ginger they weren't trivial, especially that part cut out from before Grey waved at Themis from a distance…What did Themis do before they parted?

She almost writhed in fevered curiosity…But Ginger would not push her luck with Kassadar.

"Fair enough. I just…need to process everything."

In all honesty, Ginger's chest swelled like it was going to explode. The implications, the innuendos…And their ridiculous level of familiarity with each other! Oh, Arceus the nerve! It was maddeningly frustrating!

"To be fair, they do have a deep psionic connection that doesn't necessarily follow the same rules nor time-frames for personal familiarization with each other as the more common socially superficial stimuli does."

What's that supposed to mean?

"Such a connection is far more intense and profound as emotions and thought waves weave between each other more fluidly, and it is much harder to hide things from one another as their thoughts and feelings become more transparent to each other. Remember, he distinctly said he 'heard everything' after he awoke from his coma. That must've included Themis, her name unbeknownst to us then when she had spoken to the group. That means, they've been in communication ever since she reversed his condition. Maybe even 'before' that. Either way, their conversations have been mostly secret and on an unbreachable psychic channel, considering it's Themis we're talking about here. Like this mysterious 'Deal' they have that Grey mentioned, which even I know nothing of."

"So they've been chatting away for an entire week, in secret, without us even being aware of her presence!?"

"Well…I was somewhat aware of some kind of foreign wavelength coming and going during each of those days, but Grey had me believe he knew nothing of it. Of course, Themis, considering her skill, helped him conceal that fact. Since the cruise incident, he has been ever more cautious. And it turns out, recent events have proven him correct to be so."

"What were those parts of dialogue you bleeped and cut out? Did you do that because you know of them and decided to keep me out of the loop? Or is that information that you don't actually know?"

"I can't answer that first part. Partially because I won't reveal them to you, and partially because I…literally am unable to. Grey specifically requested I keep those pieces of information a secret, and…"

"And?" She insisted.

Kassadar was hesitant for a moment.

"What is it?"

"The reason I distrust her."

Now Ginger was getting worried.

"What did she do?"

"...Grey knows I respect everyone's privacy and hold no judgment toward anyone while being impartial. This is why I refuse to do this favor for you ever again. I only did so out of sympathy because I disliked the level of distress you were experiencing. But I really cannot do this again."

Kassadar seemed a bit annoyed now, if she could help feel a bit of his aura bleed out. It was the first time Ginger had seen him like this. But she pressed on.

"I need to know, Kassadar…what has you worried, what…did she do?"

"...Because their minds are transparent to each other, Themis knew exactly what Grey wanted me to keep specifically secret…But because she has apparent trust issues…"

"Yes?"

His perturbance wavered in their psychic link.

"...She broke into my mind, and forcefully erased those memories…So while I wouldn't reveal certain things to you, even if I wanted to, I actually can't because they are literal gaps she created with impunity."

Ginger gasped. "Why the hell didn't you tell Grey about it!?"

"Because it would be pointless. All she did was erase what he wished he didn't want others knowing, and nothing else. As far as her actions are concerned, she did his will."

Her spine sunk in horror at the implications behind Themis' acts. Did she invade her mind in just the same way? If so, what did she erase? Did she do that to Joanna? Neva?

'I have all of you figured out'

The uncertainty it created was scary.

Themis…was scary.

"I find myself inclined to agree. She is emotionally unstable and therefore…unpredictable. One could argue that such a member would only bring discord amongst the group. But I could also say that my weariness of Neva, due to her typing, could skew my perspective toward her. But it doesn't, she cannot help her birth typology, like the rest of us. This is why I must also practice my judgment without bias…Perhaps we are being too hasty."

Ginger furrowed her brow at that last part. "What do you mean!? She was a rude fucking bitch to me and she's meddling in people's heads! What's there to question!?"

He spun his back points again and refocused on Ginger, with his light pulsating in his gem.

"Perhaps she does this because of a sense of mistrust. I don't mean disrespect, and I am not villainizing you…but you, Neva, and Joanna, did effectively allow harm to come to Grey, while I wasn't able to do much due to circumstances and my ill-timing. It almost cost him his life, which Themis effectively saved."

That burned hard…But he was only stating facts. Not opinions.

"I am glad you did not take that personally. I too have made mistakes. And that is the crux of my point. It's probable she mistrusts us based on our helplessness before Grey's condition, and that she is only being over-protective for her own private reasons. Perhaps this is why she has journeyed away so soon albeit temporarily. To solve this personal issue on her own as soon as possible. Maybe she'll return with a better sense of clarity."

Either way, Ginger was glad to know the psychotic bitch actually left…At least for now. It gave her time to connect and slowly open up to Grey about the issue. Also, and equally important…

She had to get stronger, and fast.

"I must return to fully focus on Grey and the others. Was there anything else?"

"Kassadar. I wonder…is it possible for you to…teach me psychic moves?"

"Highly advanced ones? No. There are just some things certain typings are unable to do and energy typologies that they don't synergize with, lacking a genetic component. Not everyone can do what medicham are able to do, for instance. The same goes for you, myself, and everyone else."

She deflated in disappointment.

"I see."

"However…I can teach you how to strengthen your mental defenses. In fact, at this stage, I believe it's absolutely necessary for all of us to do so. Grey was lucky to strangely have some experience with it, with mine own instruction reinforcing it. But he too must strengthen it. I pray we don't meet even more powerful psychic individuals than Themis who may openly mean us real harm. But in the event we do, having a decent mental defense is crucial. It may even help you in future battles against opponents like Sang-kai."

"Right! That sounds good! We'll start tomorrow then. At the moment, my head hurts."

"I can only imagine. Do return to the hospital until we return. Rest, and take care."

"I know I was brash about it, but thanks for showing me the memori—"

"That's fine. But please do not ask that of me again." He said with measured seriousness in his tone.

"S-sure."

The psionic phantom once again opened the line of eerie bluish light, spreading it into a portal and closing it from behind; zipping out of existence to return to its main body.

She drew breath, as though it would end the desperation and anxiety that ate away at her being.

Bloody psychics…They're way too strong…

She checked her surroundings.

No one was around, and she could let it all out now.

Ginger heaved and heaved until she shrieked in frustration, punching the sand with fists of fire and unwarranted vengeance, leaving pits of scorching embers and screaming 'Fuck!' with every blow.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck!"

She tired and collapsed on her knees in the smoldering glassy crater she bashed into existence on the sand. It would've burned non-fire types, but to her it was as warm as the sun rays above, yet it did nothing to comfort her.

She cried in defeat, unable to stop the tears from pouring out. They dripped onto the burning pit as water, only to sizzle and float away as vapor. She sobbed and sobbed like one just realized that they were destined for eternal pointlessness and everything they ever did and will ever do would be worth nothing. Nothing at all.

Barring her ex-trainer's cruel rejection in the past…This was easily the worst day of her life. It was just one hurtful thing after the other. It begged the question…

How did Grey do it? How did he march on despite the clear foreverness of the apathy in his dead amber eyes?

Just how much pain did he endure in his life to reach that level of general hatred and distrust for his own species? How was he able to take the lives of other men so unremorsefully?

Where did he get that strength!?

It was just unbearable…But he was all she had left, and it was clear as day to her that…

Themis sought to take him away from her…

…Grey waltzed into the hospital room with the gang, to find Ginger fully awake and sitting up, staring at the...oddly blackened window frame. The acrid odor of carbon permeated the air. Did she burn it?

"Hey there girl!" saluted Joanna as she approached the bed.

"Yo, thunder thighs, how was your sleep?" asked Neva as she closed in.

The combusken turned around and gave them a weak smile. "Hey…"

Grey immediately felt it. Something was wrong.

It was like the room had been doused in overpowering misery, with the walls almost darkening and reaching over him, threatening to induce claustrophobia with prejudice.

It was strange, considering he never associated a room with such emotional qualities to a point of almost personifying it.

"That is a sign of your psychic awareness improving. Indeed, the room is just as you feel it…It is stained with emotional strife and almost reeks of sorcery. We should get her out of there." Suggested Kassadar…Almost too quickly.

Grey rose a brow at the starfish.

Did I miss something? He said to himself.

Yet it was true, Ginger seemed physically better, but she wasn't herself. He supposed it had something to do with her loss at the gym. But he tested, "You' feeling better?"

Ginger blinked and leaped off the bed, stretching her limbs.

"Yeah, all better now. I'm ready to go."

He nodded in approval before handing her a little paper bag.

She received it. "What's this?"

"They're…Uh, what were they called again?"

"Poffins."

"Oh, right. Poffins. Those are specifically Pecha flavored. I know you like sweet stuff, like me."

Ginger gazed at the bag before pulling out a peachy bun. She nibbled on it, and her eyes showed at least a bit of life.

"Wow. These are good, thanks Grey. Where'd you get em'?"

"From the dock markets. They're a delicacy first invented in the Sinnoh region. They're only now starting to sell in Hoenn, so enjoy it. But we should really get out of this…Room. Why don't we head to the beach?"

Neva and Joanna jumped in excitement from his suggestion. "Yeah!"

Grey liked the other duo's enthusiasm. "Right. Let's head to the west si—"

"East side." Quickly intervened Kassadar, broadcasting it to all. "I believe there are some special rock pools where you can find all sorts of interesting shells and sea sponges."

Ginger seemed glad at the suggestion and the sneasel along with the salandit were still just as enthusiastic about it.

"Eh. Right. True." Grey hoisted his backpack. "Come along then."

They left the room and Grey bestowed Kassadar with a side glare.

Now you're just making it obvious. You're hiding something.

"In all fairness, sir, and respectfully, you too hold secrets."

None of which are remotely concerned with the group or could really affect us in any way. This is obviously different. Or have you forgotten the, now, written rules of the group?

"Rule 1. During an official League-sanctioned battle, listen to your trainer. Only he has the final decision on whether you keep going, or return. It's fine to push your limits, but don't make them out to be death matches.

"Rule 2. Privacy and respect is a must, but do not keep secrets from each other that may involve the group or compromise the group's safety. Trust is also a must.

"Rule 3. Outside of official battle and training in the wild, protect each other equally and have each other's backs, we don't make differences. This includes the trainer.

"Rule 4. Do not disclose private information of the group to anyone under any circumstances. Such as the lack of Pokéballs and promotion of free will.

"Rule 5. TBA. Pending discussion on the matter and group vote to apply this rule.

The severe breaching of any of these rules without an excusable reason, may result in—"

Yes, yes, I don't need you to remind me, we both wrote it remember? Interrupted Grey.

The starmie's gem pulsated chaotically for a moment, almost as though it replicated an erratic heartbeat in nervousness. Kassadar let out a small hiss that passed as a 'sigh'.

"You are correct that I conceal something. But I fear that upon bestowing you with the truth…It may, to a degree, stain your perspective on certain subjects with my own views. And the last thing I wish to do is impose my opinions on you or influence you with my words."

Oh now I'm 'definitely' interested. Please, do tell.

"...I'll explain when we arrive at the beach and everyone else is distracted. Is this acceptable?"

Sure.

…Grey sat on a towel in the sand. He had changed into a simple shirt and swim shorts similar to his usual colors. He watched Neva splash water at Joanna in the shallow end of the waters that were painted a burnt saffron with the afternoon sunlight.

It was interesting, considering the salandit was from Alola, a tropical region made up of numerous beaches and islands like this one. The water didn't seem to bother her despite being a fire-type. Was that because the properties of the water itself changed if handled and manipulated by a pokémon? The match with Brawly seemed to suggest so…Interesting.

Meanwhile, Ginger sat much farther away alone with her legs tucked in, gazing out into the ocean. She had held her normalcy since the pokémon center, but Grey closely observed during their trip to the beach how it gradually eroded into what was beginning to look like a depressive state, if he went on her facial expression alone…But her wavelengths said it all.

Now she just sat there, without any fire to her demeanor. Just…Empty.

It hurt him to see her like that, and according to what Kassadar just explained to him, about him having brought her up to speed with the results of the match, Themis and her departure…And with how Themis had actually treated Ginger in the hospital room.

That one was a surprise, and it initially outraged him…Until he realized why Themis' did it, or at least in theory, if all of her vibrations and the thoughts they had shared up until now lined up…He also expressed this to Kassadar and the two came to their own conclusion…

Themis feels that Ginger is a threat to our recently developed friendship, considering she's the first pokémon to have joined my group.

"Isn't the first usually the most important?"

That's only contextual and is restrained by a time factor. It's only natural that a trainer will feel more attached to his first pokémon. I mean look at Ash and Pikachu for God's sake. Those two are practically inseparable.

"Ah yes, the boy from Kanto you told me about. Basing myself from your memory alone, it seems they have a strong bond."

Exactly. But my relationship with each of the team is unique in its own way. I don't consider one less important than the other. Each of your lives matter just as much as the other's.

"Well, my circumstances are a bit more unique. But I cannot reveal this to you just yet, and I almost feel exempt from the rules due to the fact that my importance is paramount in maintaining your life. My absolute position hardly seems ethical at this point."

Grey gazed at the sea star, marveling at the sheen of the gem core which seemed to work as his eyes and mind. Interesting.

It's that impartiality that makes me trust you the most, Kassadar. We may not have known each other long, but regardless of Themis having been the one reversing my condition…you saved me just as much, and are continuing to do so even now, disregarding this 'secret mission' of yours and 'the Vision'. I may be the trainer who makes most of the decisions, but you're the one that helps me enforce them if necessary.

"I am touched by your words…And I believe Ginger needs that feeling more than ever now. Can I suggest for you to attempt to cheer her up?"

Grey once more focused on the combusken.

He could even sense her jagged melancholic frequencies from where he sat.

I dunno', I just think I'll fuck things up even more.

Kassadar hovered into his vision.

"I disagree. Your words have had an effect on a being as powerful as Themis, despite her brash character. They've even begun a change in the kirlia, even inspired her to leave and deal with her own personal problems just so she may come back and fully experience being with 'you', if she so chooses after her own mission is complete. That is powerful, Grey…I'm beginning to see the merits of my own mission just by observing it. Look at Neva and Joanna."

Grey once more observed the two. They were playing a game. They often wandered and explored the places around them together.

"In the beginning, those two were at each other's throats. Now look at them."

The salandit and sneasel stopped for a moment before one pointed at Ginger. They approached her and exchanged words he couldn't make out from this distance. The combusken only shook her head to the apparent disappointment of the ex-Aqua duo. They patted her shoulder in a show of positivity and approached their position now.

"Companionship is a strong thing. And so is true loyalty out of free will. You inspired this in them."

After I took them away from their owners without giving them a choice in the matter…

"Only out of good intent, and not selfishness. Sometimes the most heroic actions taken, are the ones that seem the most selfish. Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking. What would have become of them had they stayed with Aqua?"

I'm not a hero, Kassadar. I'm anything but 'that'.

"You might think that based on whatever past you may have. But they see it differently, and that's because of your actions 'today'."

"Yo, Grey." Came Neva, her teal fur wet and glistening from the sun rays, with her long red-head plumage drooping to her front. "Something's up with Ginger."

"Indeed, master. She's not herself, and our words won't reach her. I'm concerned." Agreed the salandit, with her charcoal skin shining almost like black oil under a lampshade after her swim.

"Uh…I-I'm not great at that stuff."

"Ah c'mon Grey. Sure you are. If she won't listen to us, then who else?" argued Neva.

Grey glanced at Kassadar for a moment.

"They look to you."

I can see that, I have eyes…

Kassadar's amusement at Grey's sudden emerging shyness from all the encouragement rippled through their connection.

He conceded with a sigh. "Guess it's my turn, then. I hope I don't make it worse."

…She watched the sun slowly descend and envelop the ocean with its fiery light. That color…It reminded her of those hateful eyes belonging to the freak kirlia.

Threateningly bright and overpowering with a tyrannical disposition hidden behind a veil of hurt.

Ginger clenched her claws and tightened her hold on her knees, seething in self-hatred of her own failures and how Themis called her out for it.

Maybe she was a failure.

Maybe she deserved getting exiled from her ex-trainer's group.

And when Grey realized how useless she was…He'd leave her too.

Now he had allies who could defend him, which meant he could easily just shirk off his obligation to see her dream come true. After all, her blackmail tactic had run its course, and it was Grey's natural instinct for survival that kept things going now.

He didn't care whether she found out about his little secrets or not.

Yes…She could see it now. A repeat in history.

She could see an evolved Neva to one side, an evolved Joanna to the other, the overseer who was Kassadar, and as Grey's stellar vanguard holding the banner of their unity…would be Themis, who by then would be a beautiful gardevoir reveling in his adoration.

All standing against the still middling form of herself, and forcing her out of the group due to her incompetence and because of yet another stupid mistake she made in desperation—

"Hey."

She started at the sudden voice.

"Can I sit here?"

Ginger turned to her current trainer. A man conflicted with his own species and his past, whatever the latter was. A man who, breadcrumb by breadcrumb of clues, she slowly started to understand and learn about. A man riddled in secrets and apparently forbidden knowledge. A man so alien and perplexing to even the intelligent Kassadar and the powerful Themis.

Gods above…What hope did she have?

"Sure, it's not like I own the beach…" She grunted.

He chortled at that as he sat down right next to her, gazing out to the waters of Dewford for a few moments, before finally turning to her.

"Spill it."

She spared him a side glance. "What?"

His dark locks of hair swayed in the ocean breeze; through them, his tired amber eyes were a golden radiant sheen by the grace of the sun; they watched her with a stern understanding, yet in gentle openness. "It's about the match, isn't it?"

Ginger sighed. "Right. I almost forgot, you're learning psychic stuff."

"I don't have to be psychic to figure it out. What else could you be upset about?"

"I'm sure Kassadar already enlightened you."

"I want to hear it from the killer fire-fowl."

She couldn't bare to look at him, so she returned her gaze to the ocean. "I'm useless. I did nothing in that match. I was given leeway by an opponent who in essence cut his power in half, and yet I still struggled to keep up."

"You also cut your power in half by agreeing to Sang-kai's little 'game'. You still outsmarted him, and he's the psychic."

"It doesn't matter how you look at it. Had Sang-kai been serious from the start, he would have ended the match right then and there."

He hummed his doubt. "I don't know about that. You'd still have lasted quite a bit."

"Gee, thanks."

"No really. I would've come to the same conclusion as I did when you guys restarted the match. It might have been harder, yes, but in the end, even for his advanced psionic precognition, your speed was too much."

The combusken turned to him, getting annoyed at his dishonest attempt to make her think she was worth something, like her ex-trainer. She thrust her arm out in the gym's direction. "But that's only because he made the mistake of letting me build it up in the first place!"

He rose a brow at her attitude. "How do you think battles are won, Ginger?"

"Huh? What kind of a question is that?"

"A serious one."

"Well…Obviously by overpowering them and outlasting them."

He shook his head. "Wrong."

"What?"

"Think about how we've won our battles up until now. Think about how I ended up like,"—he waved his arms to show himself—"This. A half-dead zombie."

Her eye contact faltered as a pang of guilt hit her.

"No. It wasn't your fault. As I said before, that was my error as the trainer." He intervened.

"Could you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

"'That'. You're reading my mind with your psycho powers or whatever."

"I'm not. I can see it in your body language."

That was a new one for her. "Body language?"

"Yes. You don't have to be psychic to read an opponent. In fact, while psychic abilities can be a huge plus, they can also cause you to make huge oversights. That is the keyword to my question. How do you think we've won our battles up until now?"

That one still had her confused.

"Well, why don't you tell me? 'Professor'?"

His lips curled at that. "You already said it yourself."

She deadpanned. "You're just fucking with me now."

"You said he made the mistake of letting you build up your speed, yes?"

"Right, and?"

"Do perfect people make mistakes?"

"Well…I…Don't know? I mean, if they were 'perfect', then how could they?"

"Exactly." He only gazed at her, as though expecting something.

"I still don't get it."

"You used the words 'overpowering' and 'outlasting'. Let's say, hypothetically, that two fighters have infinite strength and infinite stamina with the same speed, which doesn't necessarily mean they're invulnerable, by the way. They can still hurt each other. You following?"

She had to admit, whenever he started one of his outlandish talks about fighting, he was intriguing. "Right, go on."

"Well, say they were perfect and they were incapable of making mistakes. How long do you think the fight would last?"

"Uh…I guess…I mean, if they never tire and they have the same infinite strength, while having the same speed but never making mistakes…It'd be a pretty long fight."

"It would last forever, yes."

"Right."

He raised a finger, "But, no one's really 'that' perfect, right? We all make mistakes…right?"

"Sure."

"Ok. So let's remove that last characteristic. Now, they only have the first two qualities, infinite strength, and stamina with the same speed, but they're perfectly capable of hurting each other…Now, what do you think?"

"Well then now it just means the one that makes the most…mistakes…" Her gaze strayed in thought.

He grinned. "Go on."

"...Is the one that loses."

Grey clapped. "Nailed it! Sometimes, it only takes one fatal oversight for the opponent to capitalize on, and the fight is as good as over."

Ginger thought about all her battles so far, even Grey's fight with the machoke and the other Magma pokémon…If it was truly about overpowering someone, then Grey, a human, should have lost…But that didn't happen. Neva and Joanna's battles came to mind too.

"Sang-kai's overconfidence in himself from the type-advantage and his oversight of your abilities are what inevitably led to his downfall. As far as I'm concerned, Ginger…You won that fight."

She shook her head. "No, Themis won that fight. I might've beaten his normal form, but when he mega-evolved…It was over. Neva won the right to challenge Brawly. Joanna won two matches in a row, and Themis was ultimately who won. Meanwhile…I didn't win at all. I still feel like I added nothing to that fight…"

Grey surprised her with a warm hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes with a devilish smirk. "But what if I told you…That we actually won, because of you?"

Now that was preposterous.

"Grey, if this is a joke, I swear—"

"Kassadar showed you everything in that fight, didn't he?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Sang-kai when he had Themis right where he wanted her on the ground in the final phase of the battle? Why couldn't he deliver the final blow?"

The mega-medicham had practically been paralyzed for some reason…

"You mean that 'late concussion' thing?"

He nodded. "Yes. That only happens when the brain experiences physical trauma, instant or late. The only way to do that is to strike your opponent's jaw or head with a strong enough attack. Correct?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Themis was never able to get a clean or a good shot to his head. She didn't attempt that because it's too small a target for an opponent with a lot of defenses and high speed. She only hit him there after he froze, not before…Are you forgetting how you ended your bout with him before he transformed?"

…

She had smashed his face…his head, with her round-house kick…Then she recalled the crunching of his jaw under the power of her 'Superman punch' that sent him into a pyre…

It struck her.

Her lids peeled back in realization.

No.

"Yes."

"No way."

"Yes way."

She pointed to herself with a claw. "Are you saying that…He was winded because…Of me?"

He laughed out in a rare moment of cheeriness. "Yes! Don't you see, Ginger? We're a group. I may be the trainer, but it's you and everyone else that does the battling. We're a team. We all have our roles to play. It's not about individual achievement, it's about working together in the most efficient way possible."

Ginger's mind was blown away at the clarity his words brought.

But...Was that really true?

Was she so obsessed with proving herself individually to him that she forgot about what led them to victory in the first place?

"Once a fighter receives an impact like that to the head in the right place, it's only a matter of time before they fall. Perhaps the only reason Sang-kai lasted as long as he did was because of the powerful will of mind he possesses as a psychic...Themis may have been the termination of his physical capacity to keep fighting…but…"

He tapped the center of her chest, and then flicked her on the forehead, causing her to reel back at the unexpected tiny jolt of pain.

"Ow! What was that!?" She held her forehead.

He only kept grinning as he continued, "You, Ginger, were the termination of his focus and pride. You beat him at his little game, and then you beat him in the battle fair and square. In the end, you surpassed his precognition and his will. I saw the look on his face when you had him on the ropes…It was the look of despair at the realization of his mistakes…It was a look of absolute and utter defeat. You, the non-psychic, crushed his mind, while Themis, the actual psychic, crushed his body. It's a strange irony, really."

His words elevated the weight of her self-doubt.

Grey reached out with the same hand, and for a moment she thought he was going to flick her again…But instead, he did something he hadn't done before.

He caressed her feathery head crests.

"And the beauty of it all is that we learn from our mistakes, Ginger. In any context, despite the consequences suffered from them."

Elation came to her with his caring touch. It was nice. She found herself leaning into his hand, wishing for more—

But Themis' words rang in her mind and it was almost as though she were right there behind him, staring at her from her invisible veil.

'You're a liar and you're worthless. You don't even deserve half the sympathy Grey washes you with.'

Her mind ached.

'The only reason he took you in was because of your blackmail tactic, but now that threat means nothing to him.'

Her shoulders spasmed.

'And sooner or later? Grey will know all about your little 'lie', and he'll dump you like the useless little chook you are'

She heaved in desperation as the guilt crushed her heart.

Ginger snapped her head away and glared at him. "But what about Themis!?"

Grey seemed shocked at her unexpected outburst, but recomposed himself, as though he understood something she didn't.

"Kassadar said you mentioned Themis egging you about the match back at the center'…Is that true?"

—sniff—"Yeah."

He sighed in frustration before returning his gaze. "Listen. Nothing justifies such disrespect…But…Themis is…well…"

"Well what?"

"...She's scared."

Huh?

"Of what?"

"You."

Her chest sunk at that, quickly concluding that Themis did something.

"...Wha…Me? What the hell did I do?"

"Well…In reality, she's afraid of the group in general. She actually drilled into the others as well."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you that. All you need to know is that while she can be snarky, even with me at times…She's not your enemy."

'Face it. You're a liar…'

But she's right…

"But…Her odds of winning against that should've been…yet she's so strong!...I'm useless compared to her!"

Again, she was on her knees in the sand; tears flowing as she gripped her leg plumage, and hating that cursed-mon of a kirlia for every moment of it.

A gentle finger lift her chin up to gaze at Grey as he kneeled on the sand with her.

He placed a warm hand on her cheek, wiping a tear away.

"Then get stronger…I know you can. You outsmarted Sang-kai, after all, which means you're anything but useless, and for that matter…I still think you're amazing, Ginger. Despite all odds, you fought onward, and despite your fear, you never backed down. That takes enormous courage, and I admire that."

His lips curled into his lopsided smile.

It was calming, and reassuring, like his words…

She couldn't resist pulling him in and wrapping her arms around his torso for comfort.

For a moment he was surprised, but eased into it as he held her, with a hand gliding across her head crests. It was soothing, and she loved every moment of it…

...

…Neva gazed at the two from Grey's previous spot on the towel. It was touching.

The sneasel shook her head though amused and glad. "Pfft, and he said 'he wasn't good at that stuff'. What a fuckin' liar."

"Is master giving free hugs? I think I'd like one too," said Joanna as she leered at Ginger from a distance.

Neva deadpanned. "Is this you acting like a stupid bitch again, Joanna?"

"But he rarely gives them." The salandit whined.

"Too bad. That's their moment, leave em' be."

"I must admit, though. Master is quite cute."

"And now you're being a slut."

The salandit snorted. "I say, you're just about as rude as that kirlia."

Neva gave her a glare in warning. "Don't compare me to that psychotic freak. She called me a midget. A midget. No one calls me a fucking 'midget'! Especially when they're only a couple of fingers taller. I'll kill her for that!"

"It's strange, I'm smaller than you are, yet she called you that."

"That's why it's fucking frustrating!"

Joanna placed a black claw on her chin. "Though I must say, from what Kassadar showed me since I was still knocked out, she's very impressive. I kind of like her."

Neva folded her arms and gave her the stink eye. "Oh yeah, because it has nothing to do with how she went easy on you and actually even acknowledged you in the end instead. Yeah. Sure."

The toxic lizard dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Oh come now, she's not that bad. I think it's her twisted way of motivating us."

Now Neva wrinkled her brow in disgust at the thought. "You're joking. Right?"

"Not at all. Think about it. She mentioned our failure to protect Grey at the cruise, right?"

The ice-dark-type snarled at that. "Don't remind me."

"And yet she left on a personal mission, leaving us with Grey. Correct? If she was that hateful and mistrusting of us, why leave his protection to us, 'the worthless maggots' as she likes to call us?" Joanna tilted her head in curiosity of her ex-aqua comrade's response. "Hmm?"

"W-well…I…guess that seems contradictory…and odd. But c'mon! She's a fucking curse-mon!"

"And you're a 'darken'. Your point?"

"Shut up, that's different."

"How so? It's a circumstance of birth, just like the rest of our typing genes, is it not? Your white lashes are an oddity for the sneasel line, and the invisible small gas flames I can control on my back and tail are even more uncommon, giving me a flame body. Why treat her unusual colors any differently?"

"Because, you dumb bitch, cursed-mons are notorious for being fucking psychotic! Don't you get it?"

"I don't think that's a hardline rule."

"And yet her attitude towards us, especially Ginger, is fairly extreme."

"Then, again, I ask: why would she leave us alone with Grey?"

Neva facepalmed. "Arceus—there's no arguing with you!"

"You both present good cases." Kassadar glided toward them, broadcasting his thoughts to the two.

"However, Neva is correct that amongst the various pokémon communities, shinies, as humans more positively dub them, are often known to be either emotionally or mentally unstable…Sometimes both. This is based on recurring tales of them I've heard from others who have encountered them, while some of those mons' were tasked with exiling them from their own herd…And we happen to have a psychic-fairy type one on our hands. A shiny of an already notoriously powerful line of psychics, the Ralts line."

Neva gestured to the starmie while holding a smug look of victory. "See? It's not just my opinion, lizardy-bitch."

"However, Themis is the very reason Grey is on his feet. She had no obligation to help him. That is not a favor we can ignore. On top of that, she aided in our victory against Brawly. Again, she was not obligated to do so. She may simply be overprotective of him, which is why her trusting us with Grey once more in her absence is most notable. Joanna's assessment of the situation must also be considered."

"Then what do you propose we do about it?" asked Joanna.

"Ultimately, the decision to accept her in the group is Grey's. That is not up for debate."

"So we're just going to ignore the fact that she basically attacked Ginger?" blurted out Neva.

The eye-light of his gem flashed to gaze at her. "I suggest you keep that to yourself. Moreover…I don't remember specifically telling you that, Neva…How did you come across that information?"

Neva was nervous for a moment before she regathered herself. "I heard Ginger talk to herself about it."

The starmie held silence for a moment, with his red crystal core flickering.

"You lie."

"It's true!"

Joanna intervened. "How did she attack her?"

"I-I don't know, all I know is she was in deep thought about it on our way here and murmured to herself about Themis. My ears picked up on it. She seemed to be in shock." Answered Neva defensively.

The salandit turned to Kassadar. "Regardless of how or what, we can't deny that Themis can be aggressive."

"Which is why I joined the topic. Ginger made a request of me earlier today, to teach her psychokinesis. While I can't do this for her or any of you, aside from Grey due to his particular circumstances, what I can help you with is train your mental defense. This way, we can be better prepared, just in case. This doesn't necessarily have to be because of Themis. There are even 'more powerful' psychics out there who may 'truly' mean us real harm without hesitation."

"Mental defense? What's that?" asked Neva.

"Good question to start off with. One might mistake it as a 'will of the mind', but that is unquantifiable. It requires focus and constant awareness of all things around your area at all times. The reason why psychics can be extremely dangerous both in and out of battle context, is because people are always distracted and lost in their thoughts, mostly unaware of their own surroundings. A common criminal can jump out and physically assault them at any moment, and they may still be able to react on time if quick enough…But a psychic will lash out with a psionic assault and the distracted individual won't even know they are under attack before it's too late. All because they couldn't perceive a shift in the wavelengths around them. Some people have enough mental instinct to realize there is something wrong, but without a mental barrier? They too will succumb."

"Define 'mental barrier'." Inquired Joanna.

"Tomorrow. I believe we have a decent amount of time before Themis' return, she only left today. As for now, Grey and Ginger approach us."

The sand grains sifted with every step as their trainer and friendly combusken approached.

Ginger seemed a lot better, though Grey's expression turned serious.

"Everyone, I'd like to point one thing out. I try not to make a habit of extending my psionic awareness in an uncontrolled manner, I'm still working on it since I couldn't help but feel your frequencies from all the way over there."

Neva and Joanna's eyes widened at that. His eyes shifted to them. "You seem surprised. Have you two forgotten that since my 'resurrection', for lack of a better term, I'm also now a psychic? Sure I might be a lot weaker than any other right now, but your frequencies were far too loud on the issue. So, I'm going to make this nice and clear for all of you."

He stood taller, with Kassadar levitating behind and above him for emphasis, as though he were the starry physical manifestation of Grey's will.

"As Kassadar must've pointed out by now, I owe my life to Themis. Yes, it pains me to say that she might be a bit unstable, but that's not entirely her own fault. Circumstances have made her out to be that way, of which she has made the very brave and mature decision to go rectify and tie that loose end in her life, before joining us later on, if she decides to. She was extremely hesitant of the idea at first, but over the last few days, I admit, I've been in communication with her, trying to be as welcoming as possible. I did my best, and I expect the lot of you to do the same if she decides to come back, which I'm confident she will. Questions?"

Neva stepped forth. "I understand she helped and saved you, as did Kassadar. But what if she's dangerous to the group over the long run?"

"I believe that if she's interested in joining, she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her place in the group. She may have been critical of you guys at first, but I think it's only in the interest of me, and by extension, the group. If you have enough time to criticize her for her shortcomings, then you've certainly got time to criticize me, as a human, for having absolutely zero qualms about killing others, human or pokémon, if it means keeping the group safe and fed. I've already demonstrated this in our previous guild mission. You can question my morals all you like, but that's just how I am, and you knew this well before you decided to come with me. Any other questions?"

No one said anything else.

"Good. Then let Kassadar, the moderator of the group be witness, as I, your trainer, declare that Themis is welcome to join or leave the group, as she chooses. The same applies to you all, for you've always been free to make your choices. The matter is now closed."

For a few moments, only the sound of the ocean tides and singing wingull filled the cool breeze as the group looked at each other idly.

Grey's demeanor returned to normalcy and he clapped. "Okay. So, I'm fucking freezing and it's getting dark though the night is young, which means we still have time to celebrate our second badge…Therefore I must ask…"

~They all gazed at him, wondering what else he had planned.

"Who wants pizza?"

Suddenly the bitter silence was butchered by their joyful celebrations at the mere mention of the famous fast food, restoring the jolly mood...

...

…The enticing aroma of cheese, tomato sauce, and spices from the pizzas wafted through their pokécenter lodge, which was lit only by the light of a screen featuring a blockbuster film about some secret agent and their 'sidekick' investigating an evil syndicate hell-bent on world domination.

To think that the pokémon in the film industry could be such great actors. It baffled Grey to no end. Apparently, the movie had recently been aired in Hoenn after its release in theaters a month after its production in the Galar region, resulting in a pokédex update.

The secret agent's side-kick (arguably the one that does the most work for a simple 'side-kick') was a rather tall and trim, water chameleon pokémon recently added to the pokédex called: Inteleon. A pokémon that would truly make the ultimate spy due to its ability to camouflage into its surroundings. Suddenly kecleon seemed irrelevant, as it could only partially camouflage. Different adaptive environments perhaps.

But what actually baffled Grey the most to this day…Was the fact that he couldn't actually understand what pokémon said on the TV because they weren't around for his, apparently psionic, ability to pick up on their mind waves.

It was bizarre. All he heard the inteleon say were garbled versions of its given genus name, and some minor guttural hissing, like a real reptile.

It made him gaze at the rest of the gang. They were currently laying all around him on his bed. Ginger lay on one side next to him, close to dozing off, while Joanna lay on the other, quite attentive to the movie, with Neva on her stomach further down the bed getting a better view of the screen.

Kassadar was idle on the nightstand in his 'auto-pilot' mode, or 'standby' as he liked to dub it.

I wonder what they initially sounded like.

Ginger nudged him. He turned his gaze to meet hers. "Yeah? What's up?" He whispered to allow the other duo to enjoy the movie.

"So where are we headed next? You haven't said anything about that yet."

"Well, Blanche called me earlier today while we were at the dock markets, really giving me an earful for not calling to report our victory at Dewford gym. Kiiinda' forgot about that." He winced.

"Really, Grey?" She deadpanned.

He chuckled. "Yep. She was annoyed, and I found it hilarious."

Ginger rolled her eyes and shook her head, though not without fighting to hold back an amused smirk curling her beak. "Right. And?"

"Anyway, it's on the same route toward Slateport. It's an abandoned research facility. Apparently, it's considered a restricted area by the government. However, according to officials, the coastal guard placed there recently stopped reporting back for an unknown reason."

That caught the attention of the other two girls, with Joanna flipping to her side to gaze up at him. "I couldn't help but overhear that last part. Didn't they send someone out to investigate?"

Neva turned around to also listen.

Grey was glad he didn't have to whisper anymore, making the movie pointless. So he muted the television with the remote, keeping the ever-shifting colors of the imagery illuminating them in the dark. Kassadar already knew, naturally.

"Might as well brief you lot on the mission now." He said as he sat up on his pillow.

He put his fingertips together and gazed at his team over them. "As I mentioned, due to the sudden stop in their radio reports, the coastal guard's port headquarters sent their patrols to investigate…"

He waited for it.

"And? What did they find?" asked Neva, engrossed in the report.

"Nothing...because they never returned."

He could sense their emotional oscillations shift into that resembling a mix of excitement, apprehension, and nervousness.

"What? Really?"

"Really. So they sent another team…They didn't come back either…not a peep from any of them."

Now they were more apprehensive than excited.

"Oh wow…That's…creepy," admitted Ginger.

"So…What is our mission, then?" asked a shaken Joanna, though grimacing and holding a hand on her black snout, as though she dreaded the obvious answer.

He grinned. "Take a guess."

"No way…Is Blanche actually ordering us to…" Ginger and Joanna seemed worried, while Neva was still a healthy mix between excitement and nervousness.

"Well, our mission was originally a different one, but our gym battle was delayed for obvious reasons, and by extension, our previous mission had to be allocated to a different Leader guild. This issue with the restricted area and the coastal guards cropped up two days ago. Naturally, the involvement of the leader guilds would be the next course of action, and we just happened to be here. Lucky us."

"So what is our mission brief, exactly?" Asked Neva, more attentive than ever.

"Most likely the same as the vanished surveyors…We're to go to the decrepit research facility and investigate the cause of these disruptions. Of course…That's what the government may think. In reality, we're also going there to investigate the facility itself and recover any documents that may still be there."

"Why would that be so important?" Inquired Ginger, now looking a bit shaken as though she had just heard a horror story and was about to become part of it. Which, frankly, it did sound a bit intimidating, especially in a world of pokémon.

He rose a brow at her in playful derision. "Why the question? You wouldn't happen to be scared, now would you? Ginger?"

"What!? N-no, of course not! I'm just curious." She huffed with the folding of her arms in dismissal of the idea.

He laughed at her defensive denial before continuing. "Blanche's guild leader predecessor had an interest in the place ever since it got shut down, but due to all the bureaucracy, the Mystic guild was powerless to do much…Now, 11 years later with Blanche at the head, she's willing to finish what her ex-leader started and will not lose this chance."

"Why was it shut down?" Asked an equally terrified Joanna.

"Good question. That's what we're going to find out. According to Blanche, the media had a hand in covering that up too with some lame lawsuit context between some of the company shareholders."

"What's the place called?"

Grey observed each of his team members before answering, with Ginger and Joanna's eyes gleaming in fear, while he shared the excitement and nervousness Neva had.

The screen flashed red for a moment, dousing them in the color of whatever scene the muted movie was featuring. It was as though they were in a darkroom.

"Sea Mauville."

…