Transfixed, as the light of evolution radiated from Prince Charming, I slowly walked forward. For some reason, my whole body felt hot and sore, as if I had been running under the light of a burning sun for hours, but knowing that my dear partner, my beloved friend, was taking a major step on his path, how could I stand back and watch from a distance?

The silhouette in the light started to shift, to wobble as if a heat-haze distorted the air, and as it shifted, it grew. By the time I had crossed the distance between us, the light was already fading and Prince Charming, in all his newly evolved glory, stood before me.

Gone was the small, orange lizard, gone was the wide-eyed wonder with which he had looked at the world at times. A small part of me shed a tear, that I’d never be able to pick my partner up again, or place him on my lap. But he had taken a step and there was no way I’d be willing to take that step away from him.

In his new form, Prince Charming was as tall as I, easily looking me into the eyes and I could see a flame burning in those red eyes. Reaching out, I gently caressed his deep red skin, feeling the heat emanating from him, even as he reached out on his own, mirroring my action and caressing my face, his clawed hands ever so gently.

Taking that last step forward, I pulled him into a hug, enjoying the heat that surrounded me when he returned the hug. For a few moments, Prince Charming and I simply remained like that, enjoying the other’s presence. But there were better places to bond with your partner, than the middle of a Stadium, with a few people watching.

“You did well, Charm. Charmeleon.” I praised him, before stepping back. He let out a chuffing sound, before I called him back into his Pokéball.

“You don’t see one of those every day.” Forrest said with a grin on his face, when I walked over to where the three of them had gathered.

“Evolutions or Charmander?”I asked in return, a tired grin on my face. Maybe going back to the Centre and having a nap would be a good idea.

“Yes.” Forrest replied, a smirk on his face. “Do you guys realise why travelling Trainers are never to be underestimated?” he asked, looking at the two beside him.

“Eh, I almost had her.” Caspian grumbled, clearly unhappy.

“Two things: One, the Ralts would have eaten your Zubat for breakfast. Bad match-ups exist. And two, Dani, why don’t you tell them when you started your travels?” Forrest cut the grumbling off, nodding at me.

“Two weeks ago, a friend and I started in Twinleaf-Town.” I replied, leaving out the training at the League before that. There, I had been the one training, with only very few chances for Vio or Charm to grow. For a moment, Leila and Caspian stared at me, unblinking, unbelieving.

“Two… weeks? Not months, weeks?!” Leila asked, her voice unsteady. When I nodded in response, she was just shaking her head. Caspian didn’t look much better,

“In other words, what you managed to accomplish in half a year, she accomplished in two weeks. That’s the difference between someone training once a week, maybe not even that, and someone going into the wilds, battling to survive. That’s why the Divisions exist. Imagine someone with her training-schedule after a year. Or hell, imagine it after ten years.” Forrest told them, pushing the lesson home.

“There are certain plateaus, both for trainers and for Pokémon, mostly related to how well they mesh with each other. And holding your partners back, as necessary for your Divisions, should be anathema to any League-Trainer. We don’t capture Pokémon to do battle, though it is part of it. We capture Pokémon to help them reach their full potential.” I reminded them, before continuing, “But yeah, there are some people out there who have incredibly powerful teams. Luckily, most of them are willing to protect the various towns and the region as a whole.” I paused for a moment, before adding,

“That’s what the League is for. That’s what it’s all about.”

The impact of my impromptu declaration might have been lessened a little, when I was forced to cover my mouth, as a yawn tried to break my jaw.

“I’ve read about some philosopher, saying something to the effect of, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility.” Forrest added a final bit to the lesson, “Always consider, do you seek the responsibility, if you reach for power. For it will find you.”

“And that’s enough heavy thoughts. All of you fought very well,” he complimented us all, causing Leila and Caspian to beam with pride.

“Forrest, as interesting as it was to visit this place, I’m afraid it’s time for me to leave.” I threw in, before looking at the other two, “Caspian, Leila, it was a pleasure to meet you and do battle against your partners. A final word from me, a plea. Ask yourself, would you want to be eternally restricted, never allowed to grow up and reach your full potential, because someone else wants to restrict you, for their own, selfish desire?” I asked, before shaking my head, a sad smile on my face.

“And if not, why is it that you do that very thing with your partners, those you should be closest to?”

Without waiting for an answer, I turned around, walking away. If Forrest wanted to join me, he could but I was completely done with the place.

I didn’t get all that far, when I got to the lobby, where I had met Forrest earlier, there was a mid-sized group of people, maybe thirty, standing outside the doors. They were holding placards, some with crossed-out Pokéballs, others with broken chains and similar symbols. Not sure what was going on, I wasn’t about to walk into such a group, as they seemed to be rather hostile.

“Dani? Still here?” Forrest asked, walking out into the lobby after me.

“You seem to have protesters.” I raised an eyebrow, nodding towards the crowd outside.

“Oh, great, they’re at it again.” he sighed, shaking his head. “If you want, I can guide you to the back-door.” he offered.

“What’s up with them?” I asked, curious to learn more. Someone who protested this place, might be worth listening to.

“Adherents of a Church of Freedom, or something. They preach that in a world without Pokéballs, without walls and chains, everybody would be free. They want to abolish the League, the Stadium, ban all Pokéballs and release Pokémon into the wilds, or something. They especially hate the Stadium, because we made Pokémon Battles into a spectator-sport. Without the Stadium, most people in Jubilife would never see a Pokémon Battle, certainly not a serious one.” he explained and I could only shake my head in disbelief. Certainly I was listening to someone who didn’t like these people, but that sounded just silly. Did they think towns could endure, without Trainers making sure that no Pokémon destroyed them? Did they think the guards at the gates controlled League-Cards because they thought it funny, or because they wanted to keep people in the towns?

“That’s…” I tried to find the right word, but came up empty. It sounded so incredibly naive and idiotic, that I began to wonder if he had misreprestned them. Instead, I simply shook my head again.

“No need to bother with the backdoor, I’ll just walk out.” I told Forrest, deciding that trying to hear their side of the story might be worth the time. Forrest simply shrugged in response, before wishing me farewell.

Walking out was a slightly surreal experience. At first, there was a moment of silence, the protestors, obviously not quite certain how to react to a person just walking out and towards them. But then, a woman in white robes with silver trim focused on me, calling out in a loud voice, “See, there is one of the slavers. One of those who force Pokémon to fight for their pleasure.”

“Repent, slaver!” she shouted, before turning it into a chant that crowd quickly picked up. It took all my willpower to keep walking, trying to talk was out of the question. Walking through a crowd of people, all loudly chanting ‘Repent, Slaver’ at you, the ‘Slaver’ part sounding more and more like ‘Slay her’, with each step, was more than enough to drive all thoughts of trying to learn more about them from my mind. I just wanted to get out of the situation, without having to call out either Prince Charming or Vio.

By the time I made it past them, the only thing in my mind was getting back to the Pokémon Centre, taking a nice, hot shower and nap for an hour or twelve. It wasn’t even noon yet, but I felt as if I had been walking all day.