" Pikachu, please stop eating that ketchup."

" Chu Pikachu."

The first two weeks of June had come and gone, and now, a day later after Cynthia had left for Sinnoh, Austin found himself, in a T-shirt and shorts, standing on the shore, looking at the vast sea around, one that connected the solitary Birth Island to the rest of the world, and importantly, his destination, Vermillion Harbour.

His training session with Cynthia and her actions of trying to help him left a great impact on Austin's mind.

The very morning when Cynthia left, he suddenly felt something he had never really felt before.

He missed her.

And that's when he realized something that left him horrified, he was falling for her. He liked talking with her for hours on end, this wasn't just some crush like with Jane he wanted to spend more time with her. He enjoyed those strolls they had, those strategies they discussed, and even though he didn't know why but he missed those small arguments they had. And most of all, she liked him too if those hints she was dropping were anything to go by.

Austin pinched the bridge of his nose because he knew that it wasn't going to be possible. He was trying to get back to his world and pursuing any kind of relationship wasn't on the table.

Placing a hand on the small casket of Raticate beside him, Austin with a melancholic look in his eyes thought,' My life has truly become something else.'

( ~ Ting ~ )

Looking at his Pokedex, Austin took a deep breath as he received the notification that a trainer will be waiting for him at Vermilion Harbour to teleport him to lavender town.

' I am going to thank Cynthia for paying for this expensive transportation.'

Austin thought as he remembered Cynthia's last words before she left.

' You are going to call me up every week on that number. Is that clear, Mister? '

" I wonder if she arrived in Sinnoh."

Over the last few days, he had extensively trained, both himself and his pokémon. There had no new moves to learn, only old ones to perfect. After a week of learning new skills and battle techniques from Champion-level pokémon, it was time to implement them and put them in order. Older and basic-level moves had to be permanently replaced with advanced and more powerful ones. There was no point in learning a hundred moves, but mastering a few to absolute perfection.

That had been the goal.

And be sure of it. It hadn't been easy. It had been Hell with a Capital H for some of the members of his team- Wortortle and Shedninja being the most distinct. While Wortortle was getting used to his new body and power, Shedninja was something else as he wouldn't do anything until he outright asked him to and he would do that task for hours on end without a single break in between which left Austin with an anxious look.

Wortortle had to battle a few times with the others to get a hang of his new body but it was coming along.

Scizor had been beaten to death by Charmeleon, who in turn, had been knocked out more times than he could count. Pikachu had run Ninjask to his afterlife and back, uncompromising and firm until the ninja pokemon had gotten used to flying. Said Rodent himself, had also been run ragged by a rather authoritarian Clefairy, teaching him the art of Play Rough, something that Pikachu had been having a lot of trouble with.

Crabby and Buttterfree had made remarkable growth and were now ready to learn better techniques, and on their way to versatility. Bulbasaur, Pidgeot, and Fearow were already there, something that had made Austin work out the next set of combo moves that he needed to work on

Charmeleon had finally mastered Draco Meteor, and though he wasn't as… natural with it as Garchomp, he had persevered, and was now one of the strongest offensive battlers on his team, on par with the likes of Pikachu and Scizor.

His hand almost subconsciously reached for the tear-drop ornament that he wore inside his shirt, caressing the crystalline object that had been her gift to him. He had faced her in exactly twenty-six battles, and every time, she had wiped the floor with him using nothing but sheer tactical maneuvers. Every night, after dinner, Austin had meticulously studied and noted down the inferences from the day's battles, the techniques she had used, the modulations she made, the mistakes he had committed—everything. During his training, he had done his absolute best to incorporate those inferences into his battling style which resulted in the win against Garchomp even though she was holding back.

And now… Kanto was waiting for him. His friends were waiting for him.

He had Professor Oak assure them that he was fine but now he was ready to face them and deliver the news of Raticate's death.

[ Meanwhile at Indigo Plateau.]

By tradition, a meeting of the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders was held twice a year, the first being just after the day the registrations for the upcoming Indigo Conference had finished, which was usually sometime in the middle of February, and the next being just after the Celebrations party held in honor of the new winner and the Top-4. This one was usually in the last week of March, after which, the declaration of results for the Trainer Certification was released. Today's meeting, however, was more of a special session, one that was being presided over by the Champion (a rare thing) and not related to the Indigo Conference at all.

Inside the large, stone-walled conference room, seated across two concentric U-shaped tables, were the Gym leaders and the Elite Four, the latter seated up front, facing the elevated podium upon which Lance stood, with a sprawling table behind him.

"As you well know, the SS. Anne's event has hit Kanto hard, with several questions raised over our administration and security, especially with this…" Lance paused, "... Mewtwo business."

"But we haven't detected any Team Rocket activity ever since then." Blane, spoke up meanwhile he glanced at a black-haired woman, in her early twenties, who was always dressed in Japanese kimono and professionalized in grass-type pokémon, her demeanor showed that she was extremely relaxed in such a serious meeting.

"You are right, we didn't. At least, not in Kanto at least." It was Steven Stone, who answered the impending question. "However, we have received… intelligence about a large-scale Team Rocket attack on the outskirts of Mirage Island, in Hoenn."

One of the higher-ups of the Indigo Plateau whose authority rivaled the Elite four, Giovanni, the former Viridian city gym leader posed. "I wasn't informed that Team Rocket has been active outside of Kanto."