Another Journey

[Seehan]

PSA: This story will have NSFW and R-Rated descriptions and language. If you are of the faint of heart/stomach or are below the age of 18, i recommend you don't read this. If you insist on continuing, remember to keep in mind this is merely a work of fiction, based off of a game, and being written for my own amusement. None if it is real, and should not be treated as such. I will also include a trigger warning, because I will be elaborating on the themes of depression, suicide, and others that are present in Reborn. Read at your own risk.

Reborn City-- Black smog and acidic water garnish the crumbling structures along the skyline. Alleys and streets alike fester with disaster and crime. The metropolis stands, a decaying blemish on the once-vibrant region.

Many years ago, the massive city sprawling across the majority of the Reborn region was a thriving metropolis of peace and prosperity. Center of all operations in the region, everything changed when mysterious natural disasters suddenly began ravaging the land. Many died, or simply vanished without a trace. There were stories of some former citizens waking up with no memory at all, or coming to in some foreign land halfway across the world. Shortly thereafter followed economic collapse, disease, and chaos. The region was evacuated- even by most of the Pokemon... until recently. When all seemed lost for the region, a young woman named Ame stepped up and began rebuilding the city, piece by piece. Over time, others joined her, until at last she had 18 powerful trainers supporting her. These 18 became the framework for the legendary endeavor that revitalized the Reborn Region: The Reborn League. Under Ame, a measure of peace had returned to the region. However, in recent times, a mysterious group has appeared in the shadows of the region. No one knows who they are, or what they want. The only thing that has been made clear is their threat to the Reborn Region's rebirth.

This world needs heroes to stop them, and to finally bring peace to the region.

The Reborn Region

Reborn Administrator Ame

"-and that's it for registration! I'll see you in a few hours at the station, so get some rest for now. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Reborn Region!"

The video call blinked off, screen fading from the cheery, if tired, face of the silver haired administrator of the Reborn League to the standard PokeComm logo.

A dark haired youth sat back in the chair, shoulders stiff from the long train ride from the Kalos region. Though young, one could tell from a glance that this boy had an air of power about him, the aura of one well traveled and experienced.

In truth, this particular young man was quite well known in every region bearing the traditional 8 gym system of the International Pokemon League, better known as the IPL. Beginning in Kanto, the boy had participated in every Pokemon League in all IPL regions in the past 4 years, a feat almost unheard of among new trainers. Doing so would mean a trainer would have to collect all 8 badges from a region in only a few months, participate in that region's League, then immediately set off for another region and repeat the process. The youth's accomplishment of this incredible feat was only made more impressive in the boy's policy: to only use freshly caught Pokemon in every new region he went to. Interviewers and fans would always ask why, and his answer would always be the same.

"By winning the League, my Pokemon have proven that they are strong. However, by starting over, again and again, I can train myself, and become strong in my own way, without relying solely on my partners to get me through tough opponents."

The boy stood up from the chair he was sitting in, allowing a blonde haired girl waiting behind him to use the PokeComm. Strolling back to his seat, he reflected on his conversation with Ame, the administrator of Reborn. While not of the IPL, the Reborn League had made its name known among all the higher level trainers in the world. Rivaled only by the Aevium League in its size and influence, its legendary 18 gym challenge had been more than enough of a lure to attract the 19 year old boy's attention. Although rumors of strange occurrences across the region had been spread in whispers, it had done little to deter the young trainer from making his decision. As he settled back into his seat, the boy's mind wandered as his eyes slowly slid shut, slipping him into a light, but restful sleep.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

The boy's eyes snapped open. Instantly alert, he sat up and looked around. Something was wrong.

Years of fighting off evil organizations during his travels had honed his senses to a razor edge. Being careless was not an option in the world of Pokemon, and especially while fighting against those who misused their power; a moment of carelessness could cost a person their life, as well as the lives of many others.

Sliding out of his seat and moving into the aisle, the boy glanced out the window and beheld a filthy, run down city through the smudged glass. The sun, barely visible through a layer of smog in the air, had set while he had slept, and the train was just seconds away from docking at the station. Had he been imagining things? Had he been wrong? The youth slowly relaxed his body as the train came to a screeching stop-

In a fraction of a second, everything changed.

The boy went from standing in the aisle of the train to lying on his back, covered in glass, on the pier just outside of the station. Having been blasted from the train, he had gone straight through both the window of the train, as well as the big windows of the station, to finally come to rest on the cold stone outside. Struggling to make sense of his surroundings, which were a blur of color and noise, the boy sat up-

-and came face to face with a corpse.

This person had not been as lucky as him. The body had been a middle aged man, well dressed, with a neatly kept mustache. During the explosion, a shard of glass had torn open his face and body, allowing his blood and entrails to flow everywhere.

The boy tore his eyes away from the sight of the mangled corpse, and instead beheld-

-a conflagration. The station of Reborn, once a beautiful building made of glass and shiny metal, was now a blackened husk. All the glass had been blown out in the explosion, and the inside of the station was a blaze of flame and scorched metal. Still in shock, the boy could only sit there and stare. In all his years of travel, he had never beheld such a massive loss of life. He had always made it in time to stop the disaster, or prevent it from happening in the first place.

Not this time.

"Hey! I found another survivor! Get the medics here right away!"

The boy wearily looked up at the woman rushing towards him. Dimly, in the back of his mind, he recognized her as Ame. However, his face showed no indication that he recognized her at all, and only stared blankly up at her as she reached him. Shining a flashlight into his eyes, she checked him for pupil dilation, and upon seeing that he was conscious and alert, if not exactly well, she bent down and looked directly into his eyes. Another woman stood guard behind her, an Electrode rolling around their perimeter at the ready.

"Seehan. There's a thousand things that I need to say to you, but for now I need you to focus on breathing, alright? In and out. Stay with me." Ame snapped her fingers in front of his eyes as his head drooped down.

"You probably have a concussion and about a dozen broken bones, so in a moment, a medic will be here to bring you to the Grand Hall. I'm going to find whoever is responsible for this, then join you there. Just focus on recovering for now. WHERE ARE THOSE MEDICS?" Ame yelled behind her. The sound of gravel crunching beneath heavy boots got louder as a man and woman bearing a stretcher between them came into Seehan's view. Without his noticing, he had been laid back down onto his back, and as he was being lifted into the stretcher, his gaze rose up towards the sky. A sky dark with smoke, and decorated with the screams and sobs of the dying.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

**not part of the story**

if someone could PM me a list of important plot events that occur throughout the game, i'd be very grateful. it's been a long time since i've played those first few episodes and i might miss some events.

EDIT: thanks! ^^

Edited June 7, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

For several days, Seehan's consciousness drifted in and out of awareness. He could dimly remember they had brought him to the Grand Hall, which also acted as Reborn's main hospital. As he slumbered, he dreamed. He dreamed not the dreams of one who slept deeply and contently, but rather the dreams of one who has seen many, many terrible things. Flashes of the faces of those he had known, both living and dead. Images of the teams he had raised and bonded with over the years, only to leave on the Champion's Plateau on Mount Silver to train on their own as he continued his journey. He dreamed of Serena, his rival, who had managed to push Seehan to his limit; she who overcame her own weaknesses to face him in the finals at the Kalos League, only to ultimately be defeated by his final Pokemon. The look on her face as she accepted her defeat had engraved itself into Seehan's mind. He also dreamed, fleetingly, of a girl who had gone forever beyond his reach. As Seehan awoke from his dreams for the final time, a single tear slipped from his face onto the soft, Cottonee fur stuffed pillow his head was propped on.

Grimacing, he tried to sit up and failed, his body weak from both lack of use and the leftover anesthetics from the emergency operations that had been performed on him. Seehan settled on examining his surroundings instead, noting the soft hum of the air conditioning and the bunch of flowers that had been left in a vase next to his gurney. A card had been left propped up on the vase, reading "Get well soon! You'll be back on your feet in no time!" in neat, curvy handwriting. A cute doodle of a winking girl holding up a peace sign had been drawn below the message, and the bottom of the card was signed "Victoria".

Seehan smiled and turned his head back towards the ceiling, wondering who Victoria was. As he did so, however, he stiffened.

He wasn't alone in the room.

He whipped his head towards the doorway just in time to see the end of a purple scarf disappearing beyond the threshold of the door. Seehan tried once more to rise out of his bed, this time with more success. As he stumbled towards the entryway of his room, his brain quickly processed what he knew, and what he could deduce from his limited knowledge of the situation.

The person in the room with me must have been waiting for me to wake up. So why did they run as soon as I started moving around? Also, how did I not detect them immediately? Even if I was groggy, I've gone through worse and still had full control of my awareness skills. From this, I can deduce two things. One, this person did not want me to know who it was that was observing me. This implies that either the Reborn staff cannot be trusted, or someone infiltrated the hospital to keep surveillance on me, for reasons unknown. Two, this person was trained in stealth techniques, in sufficient enough of a capacity to avoid my detection until they made their escape. Assuming the Reborn staff can be trusted, this means that the observer is either trusted by them, or was able to evade their detection. From the date on that clock over there, it seems that I was asleep for several days. The observer must have been keeping an eye on me for at least a few of those days, otherwise watching for when I woke up would have been pointless. This means they would have had to stay hidden for a massive period of time. That, and their ability to evade my detection, is a testament to how much training and discipline this observer must have.

All these thoughts flew through Seehan's brain in a fraction of a tenth of a second, a side effect of the training he had made himself go through in preparation for his Pokemon battling. If a trainer could not make sound logical decisions in time, their Pokemon would be the ones who paid the price. Seehan had learned that the hard way long ago, on his 15th birthday when he had first set out on his journey.

As he reached the door, Seehan rounded the doorframe-

-and came face to face with Ame, who almost dropped her papers in surprise.

"Seehan! Good to see you up and about. How are you feeling?" She asked, concern on her face.

"Uh, er, fine I guess," Seehan said distractedly, trying to look over her shoulder. Behind Ame, a nearly empty hallway loomed, with only a few overworked nurses bustling around. There was no sign of purple anywhere.

"I was hoping you'd wake up soon. I just checked on Alice, and she has just woken up as well. If the doctors give you to the okay, we can get you two registered and started on your journeys right away."

"Um. Who's Alice?" Seehan asked, only listening with half his attention. He was still looking for the observer in the purple scarf, but it seemed they had successfully escaped.

"She's the other survivor from the train. You two were the only ones who made it." Ame said solemnly. "Coincidentally, you both came to Reborn to challenge our League, which is why you two were on the same train." She suddenly furrowed her brow.

"....could that be why they targeted the train? Are they trying to shut down the Reborn League by stopping the inflow of new challengers...?"

Seehan was taken aback by the woman in front of him suddenly whispering under her breath with a troubled look on her face.

"Er, is everything alright?" He asked hesitantly.

"Hm? Oh yes, sorry about that." Ame quickly smoothed over her expression and gave him a pleasant smile. "I've been a little stressed out lately, what with catching the bomber and all, on top of managing the city and the League, so I guess I accidentally thought out loud. Pay no attention to it," she smiled confidently, "I'm sure we'll be able to get the names of the bomber's associates out of him soon, and then we'll clean them up in one fell swoop."

Seehan felt some doubt, but decided not to let it trouble him. If this was like any of the other regions he had traveled to, he'd be able to protect himself just fine as soon as he got a few Pokeballs onto his belt. Ame didn't seem to notice his lack of reaction to her confidence.

"For now, lets get you into some new clothes. Your bag got burned up in the explosion, as did your Pokedex and Pokenav. Your Poketch was also shattered when you hit the ground, but for some reason your Pokegear survived, if only a little banged up. The shockwave from the explosion damaged most of your cards though, so only the Map and Music options still work." As she was talking, she produced said Pokegear from her bag and handed it over. True to her word, the screen and holokey still worked perfectly, and only the casing seemed to have been damaged, with several dents. Seehan regarded it a little sadly. His Pokegear had been given to him as a welcome gift from Lyra when he had started his journey in Johto, and most of his cards had been custom made for him by Kris. Altogether, the little machine was the only thing he had left to remember them by, since they had passed away the day Littleroot town had been destroyed by a rampaging Tyranitar.

Ame, perhaps sensing the sentimental value it contained, had elected not to replaced the damaged cards or Pokegear itself. For that alone, she had Seehan's gratitude. After giving him a minute to check over the Pokegear, Ame rummaged through her bag and handed Seehan a second package.

"Here's a new bag and some clothes. We used the measurements you provided for us in your application report, so hopefully they fit your taste. Whenever you're ready, meet me in the common area downstairs; I'll let you pick out the first partner you'll be travelling with in Reborn."

And with that, Ame turned and walked away, her heels clacking on the clean, waxed floor of the hospital. Seehan watched her leave, then turned on his heel and walked back into his room to change; the time to begin the newest chapter in his journey had come.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Pokemon Trainer Seehan Pokemon Trainer Alice

Seehan stepped off the last stair on the staircase leading into the massive common area of the Grand Hall, adjusting the straps on his new ebony colored jacket. As the center of Reborn's reconstruction after the almost apocalyptic events that had occurred years before, the Grand Hall was essentially a small city in of itself, with its own Pokemon Center, PokeMart, movie theater, clothing and accessory stores, restaurants, and whatever else a trainer could want to relax and enjoy themselves before heading out again. Seehan scanned the vast space before him and finally spotted the administrator's desk near the back wall of the common area. As he walked towards it, he felt eyes on him, and heard whispers from people as he passed.

"-isn't that..?" "no way..." "do you think I can get an autograph?" "he's so dreamy." Seehan looked around for whoever had said that last line, but couldn't place the voice among the dozens of people all around him.

As he arrived at the desk, he saw a girl in a black shirt, skirt and thigh highs turn to face him. He raised his eyebrows in recognition; it was the girl who had been waiting behind him to use the PokeComm on the train. Recalling what Ame had said about the other survivor, that meant this girl's name was Alice. She flicked her long, luscious blonde hair over her shoulder and gave him a sad smile.

"Looks like it's just you and me, huh? Everyone else who was on that train-" Alice's voice trailed off, her teeth clenched. Seehan noticed her fists were curled tightly, to the point of piercing her skin with her nails. Sensing the pain in her voice, he deduced that Alice had yet to fully recover from the shock of seeing hundreds of people die right in front of her. Although he, too, felt sorrow at the passing of so many, Seehan had already come to terms with the fact that there had been nothing he could have done to save them. Seeing people die was nothing new to him; as a veteran trainer, he had seen dozens of people die in the wilderness, or from wounds inflicted by their own Pokemon going berserk. Although seeing that many people die at once was something new to him as well, Seehan knew how to cope with pain without allowing it to consume him. It was something Alice would have to discover on her own, too, if she was to survive in this world. Seehan patted her on the shoulder.

"The dead are gone from this world. The only thing we can do for them, as the living, is to live our lives in a way that is as fulfilling as possible, to honor their memory. We lived, while they died; while it isn't fair, it would be just as unfair to be weighed down by their passing and be unable to fully live your life." She looked up, her eyes slightly wet, into his own piercing, steady gaze. Something unspoken passed between them, and Alice relaxed her fists. She smiled at him.

"You're right. Thanks."

The two of them turned towards the desk as Ame clattered through the door, talking rapidly into her Pokegear and clicking through her PokeNav with her free hand. As she neared the two trainers, Ame ended her call and placed both items into her pockets.

"Sorry for the wait, Victoria just called and told me she'll be late, and that we should start without her." She nodded towards Seehan. "Victoria is an apprentice of one of Reborn's gym leaders, and very much admires your accomplishments. She says she can't wait to battle you, and that since you'll both be using fresh starter Pokemon she'll be able to truly observe your skill as a trainer, rather than the power of the Pokemon you trained." Ame turned her eyes to Alice. "The Order of Nurses has informed me that your partner Pokemon is doing well; although you saw its Pokeball get damaged in the explosion, the data was successfully retrieved from the Ball's core and reconstructed in a new Pokeball. After choosing your starter, you may pick it up from the Grand Hall's Pokemon Center whenever you like." Alice nodded her appreciation. "Now, without further ado, let's begin."

Ame had the two trainers sign some last minute paperwork, confirming that they would not abuse the Pokemon they were about to be given, or use them for immoral or illegal purposes. Once they had completed the forms, she handed them each a pack of Pokeballs, as well as their new Pokedexes. Like Seehan's Kanto Dex, Alice's Kalos Dex had been destroyed in the explosion. However, the data they had compiled in their Pokedexes was constantly being backed up via WiFi to the PokeBank, so losing their Pokedexes wasn't a huge loss at all. However, Seehan understood Alice's slightly bitter look as she examined her new device. To a trainer, a Pokedex wasn't just a convenient machine that identified them as trainers. It was a lifeline; a culmination of information gathered by thousands of trainers for the sake of saving even one more life through information. Using a Pokedex, one could immediately look up information on a Pokemon's feeding habits, diet, mating behavior, attacks, and even gender differences. The amount of information on every single individual Pokemon was staggering, and trainers took a certain pride in carrying their personal Pokedex, knowing that for every Pokemon they scanned, they could be potentially giving professors the vital information needed to save a life. Their trainer profiles and personal contribution logs were the same; only the physical devices were different. Losing their Pokedex was like losing a part of themselves; even though the only difference between their old Dexes and these new ones were the models, it seemed as though an old friend that had always been there for them had disappeared.

Ame came back from storing their paperwork, and graced the two trainers with an understanding smile.

"Well then, shall we?" She pressed a button, and a partition on the side of the desk slid aside, allowing Seehan and Alice to join Ame behind the admin desk. Leading the two into the back area and up a flight of stairs, she punched in a long string of numbers into a door's keypad and ushered them inside as it opened. Inside the cool, brightly lit room, were 18 Pokeballs lined up neatly on color coded tables.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan, ever the gentleman, allowed Alice the first choice of starter. After much deliberating and thought, Alice finally decided on Squirtle.

"My partner Pokemon, Mawile, is only weak to Ground and Fire," she explained to Seehan as she complied with her Squirtle's wishes and gave it a hug, much to its delight. "I'll be catching a Flying type as soon as I can, but for now," she shrugged, "I can cover for my Mawile's vulnerabilities with a cute water type like this guy. Hey!" She exclaimed, giggling, as her Squirtle licked her face and beamed up at her with fawning eyes. Seehan smiled at her, then turned his attention to the Pokeballs laid out before him.

Looking at the remaining choice of starters, Seehan deliberated on which he wanted. In Kanto, his first choice had been a Charmander. However, his hesitation during his first wild encounter on Route 1 gave a wild Rattata enough time to sink its fangs into Charmander's throat, killing it instantly. Wracked with regret and sorrow, Seehan had taken several months to recover before setting out again as a changed person, this time with the leftover starter that nobody had chosen; Bulbasaur. Seehan fondly thought of his Venusaur, who was now acting as a big brother to all his Pokemon on the Champion's Plateau. In memory of his first Charmander, and of his Venusaur, Seehan refrained from considering either the Charmander or Bulbasaur sitting on the desks in front of him. As Alice had chosen Squirtle, this meant the starters of Kanto were out of the question. It wasn't that he had a problem using either of those Pokemon; if he happened to run into one in the wild, he would gladly catch and train it if it proved a good fit to his team. However, as starters, there were many other options to consider.

Seehan ran through the rest of the starters he had trained in the past. His Typhlosion had been reliable, though shallow in movepool. His Sceptile had been strong, but weak early on; although he was usually quite forgiving of weak starts, Reborn wasn't a league where he could mess around in. His Infernape had been one of his favorites; strong, fast, and agile. Serperior and Delphox had been average at best; although they had been reliable, he could think of better options than them. Coming to a decision, he reached towards Piplup's Pokeball......... Then stopped.

There were many reasons why Seehan was such a successful battler. For one, he worked harder than anyone else. While others had gone to sleep, he would stay up for hours, researching ways to battle more efficiently as to reduce the strain on his partner Pokemon and to put more of the burden on himself. His lightning fast logical thinking, as well as his observational, detection, and deduction skills were also a product of this. However, if he was just a hard worker, his potential would have stopped after a certain point. Hard work was all well and good, but by itself, it had a limit to how much it could help a trainer improve. Seehan, on top of being hardworking, was also gifted with certain abilities. Nothing supernatural or overpowered, but rather expanded versions of abilities that all humans had. The first was a certain frame of mind his childhood friend Leaf had coined the "Blank Slate". By slipping into this state, Seehan could temporarily remove his mind of everything non-related to the task at hand. This proved invaluable in battle, as he could utilize 100% of his acquired skills in order to achieve victory, rather than having his mind processes blocked by distracting thoughts. By using Blank Slate alongside his skills obtained through his self training, Seehan, to a certain extent, became able to predict the logical conclusion of events that would occur in any given situation; in other words, he could predict the future. This ability had various uses in battle; however, its main strength was that he could predict which Pokemon the opposing trainer would send out next, and what move they would use, allowing him to respond in turn with either a switch, or a move to counter or evade his opponent's move. This ability was not what stopped Seehan from picking Piplup. It was his other skill, "Empathetic Link".

Empathetic Link allowed Seehan to connect with another living being on an emotional level; if that other living being was one that was close with him, such as a Pokemon that had come to trust him, an understanding of sorts would occur between the two. Using Empathetic Link was a massive boon in battle, as it meant Seehan could send orders to his Pokemon telepathically, rather than vocally. In doing so, he not only saved time in battle, but could also relay intricate battle strategies and orders instantly, all without revealing anything to his opponent. It was this skill that stopped Seehan's hand from moving any closer to Piplup's Pokeball, and instead made him look at another Ball laying on the table right in front of it. Seehan felt the eyes of the Chimchar held within staring intently at him, and at that moment knew that the choice of starter was out of his hands. Picking up Chimchar's Pokeball, he walked back to the entrance, where Ame and Alice were waiting.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Apprentice Victoria

Ame led the two trainers back downstairs to the common area. Waiting at the desk was a girl with a wide forehead, wearing a black and white robe. Upon spotting Ame, Seehan, and Alice, her face lit up.

"Seehan! Alice! I'm so happy you two are back on your feet!" She said gleefully, grasping each of their hands in turn. Her genuine happiness was refreshing to Seehan; after all the death he had experienced recently, having a cute girl worry over him was a nice change of pace. Ame smiled at the girl, before catching herself and assuming a stern expression.

"Victoria! I know you had some things to take care of back at Apophyll Academy, but being late during your Reborn League registration reflects badly on Kiki as well as yourself!"

Victoria stopped jumping up and down and tried her best to look remorseful; however, if she had been a Growlithe, Seehan was certain her tail would still be wagging.

"I'm so sorry Ame! Since I'm essentially restarting my trainer profile and going on a journey, I had to make sure my duties at the Academy would be taken care of by someone else. It took longer than I thought, and I had to look everywhere for Cal which took up a lot of my time as well."

Ame sighed. She could never be angry with someone like Victoria, with her unyielding sense of justice and heart of gold.

"Alright, alright. Come along and pick your starter then, since you came late you get third pick."

Victoria nodded enthusiastically, and with a quick "see you later you two!" she followed Ame into the back area. Seehan and Alice looked at one another.

Alice grinned.

"Hey. We both have Pokemon, and we just locked eyes."

Seehan rolled his eyes, but matched Alice's grin with a smirk of his own.

"I know, I know. Trainer etiquette and all. There's a battle area over there, hopefully no one's using it..."

Unfortunately, in a place as crowded as the Grand Hall, the battle arenas were all filled, and Seehan and Alice had to wait several minutes before a battle finished up and they could claim the arena for themselves. However, as Seehan stepped into his trainer box, and saw Alice stepping into hers on the far side of the battlefield, Seehan was filled with a strange sense of relief. After having gone through such a traumatic experience as the train bombing, being back in this little rectangle, with an opponent on the far side, and a Pokeball in his hand, felt familiar and reassuring. He was back in control of his own fate. He locked eyes with Alice across the battlefield, and with an unwritten tradition as old as Pokemon battling itself, they threw their Pokeballs at the same time, roaring with the thrill of battle coursing through their veins.

"Chimchar, kiminikimete![i choose you!]"

"Let's do this, Squirtle!"

Edited June 6, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

With an explosive flash of light, Chimchar materialized from its Pokeball in a dazzling ball of fire, its eyes burning with its eagerness to battle. On the far side of the arena, in a similarly blinding flash of light, Alice's Squirtle appeared in a haze of mist, its earlier happiness now replaced with a confident grin. Seehan instinctively reached out with his Empathetic Link, but was not surprised when he was unable to form a perfect link with his Chimchar. That was typical; Empathetic Link relied on the trust and bond he had with his Pokemon, which was something he had obviously not had the time to build up with his newly received Chimchar. He was, however, able to get a peek at his Chimchar's emotions. In many newly caught Pokemon, their excitement to battle could often overpower their desire to obey their trainer, causing them to ignore their trainer's commands. Seehan was happy to find that his Chimchar, though young and untrained, was calm and ready to submit to his authority and follow his orders. Closing his eyes, he activated Blank Slate.

On the other side of the battlefield, Alice was slightly nervous. As an exceptional trainer from Kalos, she, too, had obtained all 8 badges and participated in the Kalos League. Unlike Seehan, who had rushed through the region to collect the badges immediately upon arriving from Unova, Alice spent almost a year collecting all 8 of her badges, taking her time and enjoying her journey with her Pokemon. However, after blazing through the preliminaries, she was defeated in the group stages by Serena, who would in turn be defeated by Seehan in the finals. She had witnessed his triumph from her seat, watching as he commanded his Pokemon to victory without uttering a single word. Serena had fought bravely and strategically, building her team around countering Seehan's, and even pushing him to his final Pokemon, a feat no one else had ever managed to accomplish since Seehan had begun challenging Pokemon Leagues. However, she would fall in heartbreaking defeat as Seehan's Talonflame struck down her Mega Absol. After seeing such a display of skill, and wanting to push herself to improve, Alice left all her Pokemon save for Mawile, her first Pokemon, at home and decided to challenge the Reborn League, the hellish challenge known for its difficulty and unforgiving nature towards weak trainers. Perhaps it was fate that she ended up on the same train as the boy who had defeated the girl who crushed her dreams. Perhaps, if she defeated Seehan here, she could finally redeem herself for her defeat at the Kalos League. Now was her best time to try, while both of them were using fresh, newly obtained starters. If there were any time where she stood a chance verses the older boy, now would be it.

Exactly 47 seconds later, Alice could only stare in shock as her Squirtle, who had had the type advantage over Seehan's Chimchar, collapsed onto its knees and fainted. Chimchar, while breathing hard, had not been hit even a single time by Alice's Squirtle. As the crowd around her murmured, she could only stare at the older boy standing across the battlefield. As soon as the battle had started, it was if he had turned into an entirely different person. Gone was the friendly, slightly awkward boy from earlier. His eyes were the eyes of someone who could only see victory, and could accept nothing else. His orders to Chimchar had been crisp, perfect; it was as if he could see the exact way to win in as few moves as possible.

What happened to you? What happened in your past to make you desire victory to this extent? Alice asked him in her heart. She was only a 16 year old girl, and she could not bring herself to voice her question aloud. Instead, she retrieved her Pokeball from her waist, and with a quick "Squirtle, return!" she recalled her Pokemon back into its Ball.

"You did well, Squirtle. Have a nice, long rest. You deserved it."

Replacing her Pokeball onto her waist, she looked up to see that Seehan had also recalled his Chimchar, and was walking towards her. She was relieved to find that he had returned to his previous, friendlier self, and his eyes even held a bit of abashment. As he reached her, he gave her an embarrassed smile and held out his hand.

"Sorry... When I get into battles against opponents that I respect, I really don't know how to hold back." He said apologetically.

Alice took his offered hand, smiling back at him.

"Don't be sorry... I learned a lot from our battle. Next time, you won't win so easily!"

Seehan chuckled, and released her hand.

"Let's go see to our Pokemon at the Pokemon Center. You also have to pick up your Mawile, right?"

Alice nodded, and together they walked out of the battle area towards the Pokemon Center.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

The Order of Nurses, the most influential medical organization in Reborn, had done their best with aiding Reborn in its reconstruction. Offering not only the typical free PokeCare available to all trainers, they also regularly patrolled the streets of Reborn, rescuing Pokemon abused, abandoned, or neglected by other trainers. These Pokemon, after recovering, were put up for free adoption by the OoN for any trainers who swore to give them a better life than the one they had been living up until that point. After getting their Pokemon healed, and reuniting Alice with her Mawile, the two trainers decided to take a look at what Pokemon were available for adoption.

"After all, if I'm going to be filling out my team anyway, I may as well adopt instead of wasting Pokeballs on catching wild Pokemon." Alice said to Seehan as she casually cuddled a Furfrou, Lopunny, Swablu, and Vulpix at the same time. Seehan agreed wholeheartedly, and left Alice to her cuddling as he strolled down the lines of holding pens. Picking out a Zigzagoon with half an ear missing, but with the cutest eyes he had ever seen (he wondered if it was using Baby-Doll Eyes on him), he registered it to his Pokedex at the front desk, then returned to where Alice was regretfully picking herself out of the furry mess of napping Pokemon she had found herself in. In answer to his amused look, she flushed and looked away.

"I-its not like I think they're cute or anything! I was just.... Testing them out to see which of them fit me best!"

"Uh huuuuuhhhh." Seehan said with with a teasing smile on his face. "And did you manage to pick one out? I assume you know you can only adopt one Pokemon per day right?"

Alice eyes widened in panic for a split second, before she got her features under control.

"O-of course I knew that. Ahem." She coughed, trying to regain her composure. "I'll have you know I picked out this Swablu. See? Only one!" She glared at him, daring him to contradict her. Seehan, having no wish to be on the receiving end of a teenage girl's wrath, merely nodded meekly and accompanied her to the adoption desk.

As they exited the Pokemon Center, Seehan glanced at his Pokegear.

"It's been a pretty decent amount of time; I'll bet Victoria is done choosing her starter by now. Ame said something about her wanting to battle me right?" He asked Alice, who nodded. "In that case, what are you going to do? Will you come watch our battle, or begin your journey right away?"

Alice looked at Seehan. Although it had only been a short time since they'd met, she already felt comfortable around him, as if he were her older brother. However....

"I think I'll get a head start on you. I came here to become stronger, and you're already so far ahead of me. If I'm going to be beating you the next time I see you, I'm going to need to do a lot of training."

Seehan nodded his approval.

"Safe travels then, Alice. Before you go, lets register each other into our Pokegears in case something comes up. Travelling alone is good for training, but it's never a bad thing to make sure there's someone you can trust just a call away."

The girl nodded solemnly, and the two quickly exchanged numbers. Seehan watched her back as she walked away, all the way until she exited the Grand Hall, then turned and walked back towards the administrator's desk.

**This marks the beginning of the Seehan/Alice split. Subsequent entries will be marked with the relevant character's name in bold at the top, unless both characters are in the same entry; in that case, the format will be the same as it has been so far.**

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Chimchar - Level 6

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Scratch

-Leer

-X

-X

Zigzagoon - Level 12

Ability: Pick Up

Item: Potion

-Tail Whip

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 5

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-X

-X

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 10

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Safeguard

-Fury Attack

-Sing

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Pretty Boy Cain

Alice

Rain poured down onto Alice as she stepped out of the Grand Hall into the grime covered streets of Reborn City. Sighing, she sent out Squirtle and had him lie on her head, the Water type complying happily. His Rain Dish Ability would keep her reasonably dry, as long as she kept him directly above her. After making sure her Key Stone was securely attached to her necklace and tucked safely away under her blouse, Alice strode down the stairs of the Grand Hall into the Opal Ward. As she wandered the streets, she realized something very simple; she had no idea where anything was in Reborn City, least of all the Peridot Ward's gym. Looking around, she spotted a man, dressed all in a garish shade of purple, and strolled towards him, thinking of asking for directions. The man stood there, seemingly unaffected by the rain, staring out across the polluted waters of Azurine Lake. As Alice approached, he turned around; though his face was covered in piercings, his eyes were kind.

"Heyyyy, what's a cute girl like you doing in all this rain? You should head inside before your ultra stylish outfit gets wet!"

Alice smiled and stood her ground.

"I'm actually looking for the Peridot Ward's gym. You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?"

The curious looking man (more like an older boy, now that Alice looked closer) smirked, though not in an unkind way.

"Little girl, do you know what Reborn's gym leaders are like? They are ferocious; the toughest of the tough. Every single one of them carries 6 Pokemon, and they show no mercy, not even towards inexperienced trainers just starting their journeys. They do use different teams depending on how many badges their opponent has, but even their weakest teams would have no problem dispatching a new trainer like you." He looked pointedly towards her Squirtle, who was now napping on Alice's head.

Alice's eye twitched. No one insulted her Squirtle.

"Actually, I'm not a new trainer. I have my Mawile with me from Kalos, and he's really strong. I bet I won't have any problems with any of the leaders, especially if they have to use weaker teams against me since I have no badges." To her surprise, the older boy, rather than being embarrassed and apologizing, gave her a confused look.

"You mean... You don't know about Reborn's policy on foreign Pokemon?" He asked, seemingly genuinely surprised. "In order to use Pokemon from other regions in official matches, such as gym battles, you must have at least 5 badges before you're allowed to register them as part of your official team."

Alice's mouth dropped open. Ame had failed to mention this to her; though, upon retrospect, Alice herself had been unconscious until just this morning, and Ame had been extremely busy ever since.

".... I guess I'll go and train a bit first." As she turned to leave, the boy made a stop motion with his hand.

"If you want to train, a trainer battle is definitely the way to go in terms of gaining experience. If you'll have me, I'd be happy to provide such a service, just for you...."

Alice had a feeling the boy had said that last part many times before, but under a much different context.

"Alright. Lets do this..." She looked around, and saw a small park nearby, with several depressing looking trees providing at least a little shelter from the rain. "Over there."

The boy nodded, and the pair quickly moved into the shelter of the copse of trees. As they took up their positions on opposite sides of the "battlefield", the boy called over.

"By the wayyyyy, my name's Cain! What's yours?"

Alice grinned at him.

"If you beat me, I'll tell you!" And with that, she sent in her freshly adopted Swablu.

Cain chuckled.

"Feisty, I like that~." He sang under his breath, as he sent out his Nidoran(M).

Alice quickly checked her Swablu's battle information on her Pokedex.

"... Sky Attack? Huh." She placed the tiny device back into her pocket and turned her attention to the trainer in front of her.

For just a moment, the two Pokemon faced off, their trainers locked eye to eye. The standoff was broken as the rain snapped a small branch off a nearby tree, and as if someone had shot a pistol, the Pokemon sprang into action.

"Poison Sting!"

"Fury Attack!"

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 5

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-X

-X

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 10

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Safeguard

-Fury Attack

-Sing

Edited June 17, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

Victoria and Ame were just coming down the stairs, chatting amicably, when Seehan arrived at the administrator's desk. Upon spotting him, Victoria gave him a wave, while Ame favored him with a small smile before adopting a more serious expression. She beckoned Seehan towards her, who confusedly followed the two women into the back area, where he was ushered into a small meeting room containing only a small, round table and several chairs. Taking a seat beside Victoria, Seehan watched as Ame closed the door behind them, and sat down across from the two trainers.

"I'll get straight to the point. The bombing of the train station was done by an organization calling themselves "Team Meteor". We don't know their aim, nor do we have any information on them. All we know is that the members of this organization are extremely loyal, disciplined, and merciless, even towards their own members. Our bomber bit off his own tongue after he revealed the name of his Team, so we've hit a dead end in our investigation on that front. However, reports have been coming in of suspicious, black uniformed men and women skulking around the Mosswater Factory, and we have reason to believe they are affiliated with Team Meteor. I hate to ask this of you two, when you're merely here to take on the Reborn League, but with our Police force stretched as thin as it is, we need as many veteran trainers as possible to help us with our investigation. You are free to refuse, of course, but if you agree to help I will ensure you are sufficiently rewarded for your time and effort."

Seehan absorbed the Ame's briefing, sorting his thoughts as he listened. Naturally, he would assist in any way he could. If this Team Meteor was as powerful as Ame feared, then he would definitely have some difficult battles ahead of him; perfect, then, for his self training. Perhaps aiding Ame in her investigations would even prove more beneficial than challenging the Reborn League itself. Seehan glanced to the side, where Victoria seemed to be lost in thought. He briefly wondered why Ame had waited until Alice had departed before enlisting his help, but pushed it from his mind. She probably hadn't wanted to involve the girl after all she had been through. In that regard, Seehan agreed wholeheartedly. Alice had gone through enough suffering.

"Understood. I will put my League challenge on hold until this Meteor business is resolved." Seehan said, his steady gaze fixed on Ame. "May I ask who else will be participating in the investigation?"

Ame nodded.

"Florinia, the Leader of the Onyx Ward's gym, has taken command of the operation. Julia, Peridot's Leader, has also agreed to assist us. The three of us agreed to find as much help as possible, so there should be at least one other trainer included besides those two. The operation begins tonight, at 2200. You are to meet at Peridot's Pokemon Center, and approach the factory together as a unit."

Seehan acknowledged that he understood, then looked once more at Victoria, who seemed to have come to a decision.

"I'm sorry, Ame, Seehan. There's something I need to look in to on my own. Something about the Obsidia Ward bothered me on my way over here." She did not offer any more information, and Ame nodded her acceptance of Victoria's choice.

"Be careful then, Victoria. And Seehan, thank you again for your help. I'll let Florinia know that you've joined the operation, so expect a call or text from her within the next hour."

Victoria and Seehan nodded, and the three of them stood up and left the room, returning to the common area. Ame let the two trainers out of the administration desk, then returned to the back area, presumably to do more paperwork. Victoria looked at Seehan apologetically.

"Sorry that I can't help. I'll make it up to you though, I promise! For now, how about that battle?"

"Sure, let's go to the battle area. I have some time to kill before I have to head out anyway."

They moved quickly over to the battle area. This time, the area was much less crowded, with most of the trainers headed off to eat dinner or to their rooms to rest, leaving the majority of the arenas open for use. The two trainers picked one close to the edge of the battle area, then faced off from their respective trainer boxes.

Seehan felt the familiar battle rush coursing through him, and grabbed Chimchar's Pokeball from his belt. Even though they had only battled together once, Seehan already felt a vague connection beginning to form between the two of them. His choice in starter had been correct after all. Victoria selected her Pokemon as well, and together they released their Balls. Two flashes of light marked the successful materialization of their two Pokemon, and Seehan's Chimchar found itself facing off against a Tepig, snout blaring out flames as it stomped the ground, eager to begin the battle. The two Pokemon circled one another, each sizing the other up. Seehan stood ready to give a command, his Blank Slate already active. Victoria, too, waited for an opening to present itself. Tense moments passed, and the standoff seemed to have no end until Tepig's foot, in a moment of carelessness, slipped on a loose patch of dirt, causing it to lose its balance for just a fraction of a second.

It was enough.

"Scratch! Aim for the snout!"

"Tepig, use Tail Whip and counter!"

Chimchar dashed into range, in a streak of red and gold flame, eyes blazing with the thrill of battle as it aimed its sharp claws towards Tepig's face-

-but was blocked, as Tepig used its momentary slip as a pivot, spinning faster than any Tepig Seehan had ever seen before, and smashed its tail into the side of Chimchar's head. Chimchar staggered back, stunned.

"Chimchar, use Leer! Then combo it with Scratch, same spot!"

"Tepig, use Tackle!"

Tepig pressed Chimchar's momentary distraction, throwing itself headfirst towards the Fire Monkey. Before it could make contact, however, Chimchar made eye contact with Tepig. A chill went down its spine, and it hesitated, giving Chimchar the opportunity to dodge the Tackle, and return with a devastating scratch to Tepig's snout. Squealing in pain, Tepig bounced off the ground once, then came to a complete stop and was still. Victoria gaped in disbelief. The battle, from start to finish, was over in less than a minute.

Is that... Really another fresh starter Pokemon? The way it responded to Seehan's commands... It's as if they've been battling together for weeks.

She was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of Seehan recalling his Chimchar to its Ball, and hastily retrieved her own Pokemon. Thanking it for its effort, she slipped her Pokeball back into her robe.

"You're even more of a monster than your reputation says you are." Victoria said, shaking her head and smiling as Seehan rejoined her. They began walking towards the Pokemon Center. Seehan smiled a little at the praise.

"You surprised me yourself. Turning your Tepig's mistake into a move to punish my over eagerness... Your battle sense is phenomenal. I shudder to think what you can do with a team of trained Pokemon."

After getting their Pokemon checked out, they exchanged numbers and parted ways; Seehan towards the Peridot Pokemon Center to the North West, and Victoria towards the Obsidia Ward to the East. The rain fell heavily on the two trainers as they, at last, began their respective journeys in earnest.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Chimchar - Level 7

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Scratch

-Leer

-Ember

-X

Zigzagoon - Level 12

Ability: Pick Up

Item: Potion

-Tail Whip

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Edited June 17, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Alice

"Again!"

For the tenth time, Cain sent out his Nidoran(M). Alice sent out her Squirtle. The two had been battling almost nonstop for the past hour, with Alice rotating between her Squirtle and Swablu between matches. Stopping only to give their Pokemon Oran Berries and Potions (Cain had a seemingly unending stock of recovery items in his bag), the two trainers had agreed to only end Alice's relentless training when their Pokemon were too tired to go on. Despite its constant battling, Cain's Nidoran(M) seemed as fresh as ever, dancing lightly on its toes as it prepared for yet another battle. In comparison, Squirtle's breath came out in short gasps as it glared at Nidoran(M) through the rain. Although its Rain Dish Ability had kept it in better shape than Swablu, the back to back battles were starting to take its toll on the Tiny Turtle. This battle, thought Alice, will probably be the last one we can do before I have to head to a Pokemon Center. She was quite satisfied with her training, however. Her Squirtle had progressed incredibly fast, perhaps in part due to the heavy rain both strengthening its attacks and healing it at the same time. Her poor Swablu had been too weighed down by the rain to make use of its air superiority, and had thus suffered multiple defeats, unable to use Sky Attack due to its feathers (fur?) being too damp for it to fly.

"Nidoran(M)! Use Double Kick!"

"Squirtle, use Withdraw then Water Gun!"

Squirtle hid in its shell just in time to avoid getting kicked by Nidoran(M). The force of the kick, however, blasted Squirtle into a nearby tree, where it bounced off and slid into muddy puddle. Squirtle then stuck its head out of its shell and, using water absorbed from both the puddle and the rain in conjunction with its own body fluid, shot a boosted Water Gun straight at Nidoran(M)'s bucktoothed face. Nidoran(M) sidestepped it easily, but was caught by surprise when a second Water Gun, shot immediately after the first, hit it head on. With a quick cry of pain, Nidoran(M) flew through the air and landed in some bushes. Cain clapped his hands, a grin on his face.

"A decisive victory! Aaaand the winner iiiiis, Alice!"

Alice gave a mocking bow, then joined Cain when he started laughing. Recalling their Pokemon, they returned to the Grand Hall Pokemon Center and healed their Pokemon. Alice looked around for Seehan, but he was no where in sight. Probably already started on his journey, she supposed. Although she felt a strange pang of loneliness, she took comfort in that she could always call him if she wanted to meet up. As the two trainers sat down for a hot drink, Cain pulled out his Pokegear and called up his map. He shuffled around the table and pointed out an important looking building for Alice as she sipped her hot chocolate.

"This is the Peridot Ward's Gym. Its Leader's name is Julia, an Electric type specialist. Your current usable team of Squirtle and Swablu might have some troubles, so you should think of picking up a Ground or Grass type as soon as possible, if only to take some hits."

Alice nodded her understanding, deep in thought.

"I was under the impression that Pokemon had been forced into hiding within the City," she said slowly, "where should I go to catch wild Pokemon?"

Cain sat back in his chair and sipped at his coffee, while with his other hand he pointed at several locations on his Pokegear.

"I've heard rumors of an abandoned Numel hiding somewhere around the old North train station. Maybe the rain will have forced it indoors, making it easier to find. As for a Grass type, there's a garden hidden behind this apartment. Talk to the owner; he and I are pals. If you let him know I sent you, he'll let you in. Even if you don't go to the garden, there are tons of Grass types hidden around the city if you look for them."

The two of them finished their drinks. Alice sneakily paid for the both of them, as thanks for all the help Cain had given her. As they were leaving, they exchanged numbers, and with a wink and a kiss blown in her vague direction, Cain disappeared into the rain. Alice couldn't help smiling as she heard him singing off in the distance.

What an odd fellow. Great guy though, helping out a girl he just met and expecting nothing in return. Guess this city isn't that bad after all.

She set off for the gym, intending on scoping out the location before going hunting for new team members. However, when she arrived at the gym, she found it locked. A note on the door read

"Fern and I will proceed to the target headquarters. Objective confirmed to reside within Factory. Investigating West Peridot Factory first. Join immediately.

~ F"

Alice frowned. Was something happening, concerning the Gym Leader? Shrugging, she decided to come back later, and set off towards the North train station.

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 11

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Water Gun

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 13

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Fury Attack

-Sing

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

Sweat dripped down the trainer's bare chest as he circled his Chimchar, their eyes locked. Reaching the Pokemon Center well ahead of schedule, Seehan had decided to get in some training with his two Pokemon. For the past hour, he had been sparring with first his Zigzagoon, and now his Chimchar, each making fast progress in their battling ability. Chimchar made the motions for Ember, and Seehan dived out of the way, before he saw that the Ember wasn't coming. Sitting up, he looked at his Chimchar, which had a confused expression on its face. Glowing softly with an azure light, the light flared in brightness, and moments later a Monferno was standing where his Chimchar had been, examining itself. Seehan grinned giddily. Having a reliable Pokemon at his side was truly reassuring, especially in a place so far from home. The young trainer picked himself up, recalled his new Monferno, and was about to head back inside the Pokemon Center when he felt a sudden, sharp pain behind his right temple. Wincing, Seehan whirled around, trying to find the source of the mental contact, for that was what the pain had been. A Psychic, either a Pokemon or human, had just brushed against his mind.

Quickly dressing and gathering his things, Seehan strode towards where he thought the probe had originated. As he moved through the streets, drunks and beggars wandered around him. Walking past a small alleyway between two squat buildings, he felt the mental probe again, this time stronger and more insistent. A drunk lay sprawled out across the opening of the alley, watching the boy with a malicious grin.

"Ay there boy, got a coin to spare for a poor old man?" He laughed, taking a swig from a large bottle. Seehan looked at him, disgusted.

"Let me guess. You found some poor little Psychic type, and decided to have a little fun with it. When it didn't respond how you wanted, you dumped it," he gestured further into the alleyway, "somewhere back there. How am I doing so far?"

The man only smirked, and took another swig. Seehan lost his patience. With one quick, practiced motion, he kicked the bottle out of the man's hand, catching it neatly without letting a single drop of foul smelling alcohol spill out. The man, rather than being cowed, merely hooted and clapped. He gave Seehan a toothless grin.

"Seems like you're intent on rescuing the poor thing, eh? A right little knight in shining armor you are!" Standing up unsteadily, he clapped Seehan's shoulder as he walked past. "Do yourself a favor, boy. Drop the act. There's no place for a white knight in a city like this." And with that, the man stumbled away down the street. Seehan watched him go, then carefully placed the bottle where the man had been sitting. Moving briskly into the alleyway, he found a small door and entered. Inside, bound and gagged, was a Ralts. It had a deep cut, dripping with gleaming silver blood, on its green head piece. Moaning softly, it turned its dirty head to look up at Seehan, its eyes cloudy and out of focus. Seehan untied the Ralts, pulled a Potion out of his medicine pocket, and gently sprayed it on the infected wounds of the tiny Psychic Pokemon. The Ralts stared up at him, then closed its eyes and fainted. Finishing up with his First Aid, Seehan retrieved a Pokeball from his ball compartment and touched it softly to the Ralts' fragile head. The small, baby sized Pokemon was enveloped in a soft red light, and with 3 almost imperceptible shakes, the Pokeball gave off a solid click as Ralts was registered to Seehan's Pokedex. Standing up and dusting himself off, Seehan checked the time on his Pokegear, saw he had a message, and read through it. The text was from Ame, telling him the meeting place had been changed from the Pokemon Center to the factory itself. Seehan took one last look around the dirty, dusty room, then walked away, closing the door behind him.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 14

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Scratch

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Swag Jockey Fern

Alice

Alice bent over her soot covered Pokeball and picked it up. Inside, a very annoyed Numel glared out at her. It had made Alice work for the capture, forcing her to chase it through the old train station. When she had finally cornered it in the small shack just outside the station, it decided to set the old wooden building on fire. It had taken both Squirtle and Mawile's effort to get them all out alive. Upon escaping safely, and noticing that the weakened Numel had crawled out of the wreckage as well, Alice had taken the opportunity to toss a Ball at the tired Pokemon, capturing it. Taking the time to thank Squirtle and Mawile for their hard work, she recalled her Pokemon and clipped all 3 Pokeballs onto her waist holster. She now had a total of 5 Pokemon with her, the fifth being a Budew she had found wandering around atop a wall on her way to the train station. Alice pulled out her Pokegear. Earlier, in one of her bag's pockets, she had found a Map card for her Pokegear, most likely placed there by Ame. Retrieving it from her bag now, Alice equipped her Pokegear with the card, and called up a map of Reborn City. Noting that it would be faster to head to the Peridot Pokemon Center than to return to the Grand Hall, Alice dusted the soot off her clothes and was about to set off, when she noticed a green haired boy standing alone near the sea wall, gazing at a large, abandoned looking factory. Normally she wouldn't have paid him any mind, but she was intrigued to see another person standing outside in the pouring rain. Before she could make any sort of move, however, the boy noticed her looking at him, and gave her a sneer that for some reason annoyed her to no end. Walking over to him intending to ask him what his problem was, she spotted the Pokeballs on his waist.

"Hey girly, no need to crowd me. Plenty of Fern to go around." The boy apparently called Fern said smugly. Alice resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"What's up with this factory? Is there something interesting about it?" She asked, curiosity overpowering her dislike of the glasses wearing boy. Fern somehow made his expression even more annoyingly smug.

"Sorry girly, that information is C-L-A-S-S-I-F-I-E-D. Although..." Fern looked at her through his glasses, apparently coming up with what he thought was a great idea. "If you can beat me in a battle, I'll tell you."

Alice narrowed her eyes.

"And if I lose?"

Fern's face adopted a lustful expression.

"Then you give me your number, and...." He eyed her skirt, or more specifically, what he was imagining underneath it. Alice suppressed a shudder.

"Fine. Let's do this."

The green haired boy's eyes lit up, and he smirked, thinking his victory was assured.

"No backing out when you lose! Go, Lotad!" With a flash of light, the small Water and Grass type Pokemon materialized onto the wet stone of the street.

Alice, having no intentions of losing to this creep, sent out her Mawile.

Several minutes later, Fern watched, aghast, as his Budew, his last Pokemon, was smashed into the wall of the factory by Alice's Mega Mawile. Alice watched the proceedings, bored. In an unofficial battle in which she could use her Mawile, there was little to no chance of her losing to anyone of Fern's level of skill. She had torn through Fern's Lotad and Snivy almost instantly, and had Mega Evolved her Mawile when Fern had started talking smack. Watching his change in expression had made this battle totally worth accepting the wager he had offered. As her Mawile released its Mega Evolution and stepped back, Fern quickly ran up and scooped up his Budew. Alice recalled her Mawile, and casually strolled over to where the boy kneeled. Folding her arms, she asked, "Well?"

Glaring at her, Fern recalled his Budew and returned it to his belt. Standing up, he brushed back his wet green hair with his hands, and looked her in the eye. To her surprise, his face was smug, as if he had been the one who won.

"Yeah sorry, that win didn't count. I didn't lose to you, I lost to your illegal Mawile."

Alice sighed. She had suspected he would weasel his way out of telling her the factory's secrets. They were distracted from their conversation when Fern's Pokegear vibrated. Quickly opening it up, Fern scanned the message he had been sent, then gaped.

"WHAT? I WAS AT THE WRONG FACTORY THIS WHOLE TIME? Shitshitshitshitshitshit..." He muttered as he jogged off. "THIS ISN'T OVERRRR!" He yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared into the rain. Alice watched him go, thoroughly confused, before shrugging and continuing towards the Peridot Pokemon Center, intending on getting a room for the night. As she walked off, lost in thought, she failed to notice a girl with emerald hair and wearing a yellow cheerleader's outfit run past her, heading in the direction Fern had gone.

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 11

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Water Gun

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 13

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Fury Attack

-Sing

Budew - Level 5

Ability: Poison Point

Item: None

-Absorb

-Growth

-x

-x

Numel - Level 15

Ability: Simple

Item: None

-Ember

-Focus Energy

-Magnitude

-Flame Burst

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Leader Julia Leader Florinia

Seehan

As he approached the factory, Seehan thought it looked like something straight out of Hell. Old, and black with soot and grime, this building represented the current, pathetic state of Reborn. Entering the agreed meeting place (a house, used by the Reborn City Police Department as a stakeout spot) through the back door, Seehan found himself alone in a spacious living room. Sighing at the tardiness of the others, he plopped himself down onto one of the worn but still comfortable couches. Minutes passed, and finally another trainer walked in. Emerald hair tied back in a pony tail, and sporting a bright yellow cheerleader's outfit, Julia took one look at Seehan and gave him an enormous smile.

"Hey hEy heY HEy HEY! Look who's still alive!!" She said enthusiastically, rushing over to him and wringing his hand. "After the train got all explodey, I was worried you wouldn't make it! Guess you really showed them boomers huh?!?"

Seehan couldn't help giving her a smile himself.

"You were there that night, right? I vaguely remember someone with Ame when she found me. As the Peridot Leader, I guess having a train station blow up in your ward was kind of your concern."

Julia nodded rapidly.

"Yup yup yup! After the station when kaaBOOOOOM, I rushed right over! Ame was already there waiting for you, but she was super lucky! She had to step outside to take a call, and the next second the station went BOOOOOM! If she had still been in there...." Julia's smile faltered, but only for a second. "But she wasn't in there, so everything's A! O! K!" For each letter she said, she spelled it out with her arms. Seehan could only watch in complete bemusement.

The door creaked open, and in walked two jade haired trainers. The one in front, Seehan assumed, was Florinia. She confirmed his suspicions immediately.

"Greetings. I am Florinia, leader of the Onyx Ward Gym and Trainer's School. I am pleased to see you are well, Seehan. I heard about the station incident, of course. I thank you wholeheartedly for your assistance despite your recent recovery." She turned to Julia. "Hello Julia. It is good to see you." Anything she was going to say next was silenced by Julia's chest as Florinia was glomped by the Peridot Leader. Turning away from the writhing pile of women on the floor occasionally giving off sounds like "RINIII!!" and "Please release me.", Seehan offered his hand and a smile to the boy who had entered with Florinia. The boy stuck his hands in his pockets and ignored Seehan, turning away and going instead to examine the pictures on the wall of the house. Extricating herself from Julia's embrace, Florinia stood up and dusted herself off.

"That is Fern, my brother. Say hello, Fern." The boy named Fern mumbled something incoherent. Florinia turned to face Seehan.

"He, too, will be assisting Julia and I with the investigation. I am quite grateful that we were able to acquire someone of your reputation to join us as well; assaulting a potential base of Team Meteor with only the three of us seemed less than ideal."

Seehan shook his head.

"At the moment, I'm only slightly stronger than any other novice trainer. My Pokemon are all fresh and untrained; I'm afraid I won't be as much help as you might have imagined."

"I had already taken your party into consideration when I evaluated your overall asset to the operation. Be assured, your experience as a trainer and combatant are what is truly valuable to us. We are not about to enter a Pokemon Battling tournament, but rather a den of criminals. Even if your Pokemon are weak, they are still stronger than the average human; this will be sufficient for our purposes if the trainer commanding them is exceptional." Seehan acknowledged her point, and backed down to her authority, though not without some misgivings. What, then, was the plan if they did find a trainer too powerful for them to handle?

"Before we go, let us give our Pokemon a quick refresh. It would not do to potentially enter combat with tired partners." Leading the others to a side room, Florinia pressed several button on a large, cylinder shaped machine. Whirring to life, it began emitting a soft, blue light. Florinia placed her Pokeballs into the machine, and gestured for the rest of them to do the same. When all of their Pokeballs were safely inside the machine, Florinia shut the door and pressed another button. The blue light flared, and in the back of Seehan's mind he thought he heard a gentle "dun dun dundundun~". Florinia opened up the machine once more and returned to the trainers their respective Pokeballs. Once she had shut off the machine, she led them to the front door.

"When we exit this door, the operation will begin. Our objective is simple: we are to discover what Team Meteor is doing within the factory, and why. If whatever they are doing is malicious towards the city, we must stop them at any cost." And with that, Florinia pulled open the door and led the party outside into the night.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 14

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Scratch

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

The party of trainers quickly encountered their first major obstacle, one that no had had foreseen; the front door.

"URGHHH!!!!!!! IT! WON'T! BUDGE!!!" Groaned Julia as she tried opening it for the umpteenth time. Fern already lay panting on the ground, having used up all his strength on the first try, in an attempt to show off his "swag". Florinia and Seehan stood by, watching with wry amusement as the Peridot Gym Leader attacked the door from multiple angles, to little effect.

"It would appear we have made a miscalculation." Florinia stated with a deadpan expression. "Our stealth operation may well be over if we cannot penetrate their first line of defense in a soundless manner."

Julia perked up.

"Does this mean we get to kaBOOOOM the door?!???"

Florinia nodded, though to Seehan it seemed that she did so with some reluctance. He understood. Their plan had revolved around getting in and out quickly and silently, taking down individual guards before they could sound an alarm. In an all out fight, the four trainers could easily find themselves surrounded and overwhelmed if they were discovered. But there now seemed to be no other way to enter the factory than to announce their presence... Explosively.

"Here we goooooo! Electrode, uuuuuuse..." Julia did a little twirl and a backflip before striking a Sailor Lunatone pose. "EXPLOSION~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a flash of light that signaled the release of her Pokemon from its Pokeball, the Ball shaped Pokemon rolled happily around its trainer once before charging at the door. Seehan spotted a massive grin on the Electrode's face just before it reached the barrier- and with a massive BOOOOM, the door was blasted off its sliders into the factory, now nothing more than a twisted hunk of half melted metal. Julia clapped and laughed gleefully, before skipping over and feeding her fainted but happy looking Electrode a Max Revive. Seehan stepped over the threshold of the factory, and was hit with a smell that reminded him of a cross of Weezing residue and week old fish on a hot day. Filth lay on every surface of the factory; one could easily tell that this room was rarely used except as an entryway. Florinia stepped up beside him and examined the water rushing before them in a small canal.

"Analyzing. Analysis complete. It would appear we were correct in our assumptions; this factory is one of the sources of pollution that are plaguing Azurine Lake. Further analysis suggests this substance to be more than 90% toxic."

Fern walked up behind them, looking around.

"Looks like there's two ways to go. Time to split? I'll go solo that way, Seehan can go with you guys; I'm sure he needs the protection."

Seehan ignored Fern's sass and turned to Florinia and Julia, who had retrieved her Electrode and bounced up to join them. The glasses wearing girl spoke.

"Upon examination of the filth on the floor, it can be observed that the majority of footprints lead to the right. As such, I will go with Julia and investigate that route. Seehan and Fern will perform reconnaissance on the left route, then attempt to regroup with us at the earliest opportunity. Are there any questions?"

Seehan had an objection to being paired with Fern, but stayed silent. It made sense to send their main firepower in the direction with more resistance, and send the party's weaker pair as scouts in the other.

The two pairs split off; Florinia walking at a brisk pace with Julia bouncing behind her, and the two women quickly disappeared around a corner. Seehan turned to Fern, who was picking his nose.

"Let's go, we should try to avoid as many fights as possible, and-" Before he could finish, Fern simply walked away. Seehan had to enter Blank Slate for a moment to resist punching out the green haired boy, then followed. The two trainers didn't have to go far before they spotted two black uniformed figures patrolling down the corridor. Hiding behind a pipe, Seehan was about to suggest ambushing them when-

"Hey, losers! You want a piece of me??"

Seehan sighed, then joined Fern where he stood in plain view of the two grunts. The grunts looked at one another, then pulled out their Pokeballs and charged the two trainers. Seehan quickly called up Monferno, while Fern sent out a Budew.

"Monferno, Mach Punch!"

"Budew, Water Sport!"

Seehan shot an incredulous, though unsurprised, look at Fern, then returned his attention to the grunts. Making short work of them, Seehan hid their unconscious bodies safely behind a boiler. Years of fighting the grunts of nefarious organizations had left Seehan with the skills necessary to take care of lower ranking members without much thought. The two trainers (mostly Seehan) quickly dispatched the half dozen other grunts in the area, then came face to face with another locked door. Fern looked bored.

"Maaaan, if only sparky sparky boom girl had come with me instead; she would've actually been useful in this situation."

Seehan ignored Fern's jibe, and examined the door.

"It looks like this door is connected to an electrical circuit. Considering there were grunts working in this room, there must be some way to open it from this side."

Seeing that Fern wasn't listening, Seehan merely shook his head, and left him to go examine several terminals placed around the room.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 16

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Fury Swipes

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

Successfully disengaging the door's electric lock, Seehan and Fern proceeded to the next room, where they found Florinia and Julia finishing off a pair of hapless grunts. Nodding to the two, Florinia turned her attention to a large, black metal door that blocked their path. A strange shimmer could be seen dancing in front of the cold, rough steel. Sitting to the side of the door was an old looking console.

"Upon inspection, the door appears to be protected by a force field, similar to a Pokemon's Protect." Observed Florinia. "However, this particular barrier seems to be electrical in nature. If given enough time, I can bypass it from here, using this terminal's substandard digital security system."

Julia screwed up her face and let out an impatient whine.

"Awwwww. Can't we just kaBOOM it? If they were planning on BOOMing more stuff, I'm sure Team Meteor would have stored some barrier-smashing-explosive-AWESOMENESS somewhere in the factory. I CAN FEEL IT!!!!"

Florinia shook her head.

"Negative. I require your presence with me, to keep up surveillance while I concentrate on penetrating this console's security matrix. However, there is a room to our rear that has not yet been investigated; perhaps Seehan and Fern could perform reconnaissance while we maintain our positions here."

"Yeah, I'd much rather go kick some butt than sit around here watching you two hags play with a computer. Seehan can stay here though, he'd only slow me down."

Pretending he hadn't heard Fern speak, Seehan nodded to Florinia's suggestion and accessed the door between the two passages the pairs had already been through. From the open doorway, he observed steam from several overworked machines, as well as the hurried movement of something moving deeper into the room. Chasing after it, Seehan and Fern ended up cornering a pair of grunts, their backs to a table covered in red, shiny explosives (did Julia have an explosives sense or something?). Crushing the grunts handily (again with very little assistance from Fern), Seehan retrieved as many explosives as he could carry and returned to the terminal room, where Florinia was still busily poring over the console. Julia's face lit up when she saw Seehan's load of explosives, and hurried over to take his burden from him. Placing the bombs in strategic positions around the door, Julia, her face wearing an almost maniacal expression of pure joy, began a countdown.

"3... 2... 1... KA-"

Before she could press the trigger, the door opened.

"Barrier breached. Door mechanisms released. Let us proceed." Walking past a frozen Julia, Florinia moved through the now open doorway. Seehan glanced at Julia's face as he passed her, who seemed to have fainted from disbelief, and followed Florinia through the door into a room filled with blinking consoles. Waiting for them were two grunts, and behind them was a tall man dressed in a black coat.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Fury Swipes

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Meteor Commander ??? Meteor Grunts Aster and Eclipse

Seehan

Julia and Fern entered the room, joining Seehan and Florinia in the tense standoff against the three members of Team Meteor. Although they outnumbered the criminals, Seehan sensed that the man in the black coat was more than a match for two, or even three, of them at once. The man raised his arms in a mocking greeting.

"Welcome, Leaders Julia and Florinia. I suppose I should be congratulating you four for making it this far. However, considering how I purposely allowed you reach me, such praise would be undeserved."

Florinia narrowed her eyes.

"As suspected. For an organization as careful as Team Meteor, I thought it strange that there would be such a poorly encrypted access console leading to the control room. You were merely stalling for time."

The man clapped his hands in several slow, heavy beats. Seehan noticed he wore an eye patch over his left eye.

"As expected from the Leader called the living computer. Indeed, the electronic doors and barrier were all simply a measure to slow you down. Our mission has already been completed, and all our data has already been moved or deleted from our system. Your foolish operation has failed; you have come too late."

An intercom sitting on one of the desks suddenly turned on.

"Sir, our unconscious members have all been retrieved. We will now retreat towards the agreed rendezvous and begin our next assignment." The intercom went dead with a hiss of static.

The man smiled.

"Excellent. In that case, all that is left is to erase you four, then we can leave without a trace."

Julia pointed at the man defiantly, her eyes fierce.

"The only one going down here will be you! Go, Electrode!"

Florinia stepped up beside her, facing the black coated man.

"Agreed. Cradily, prepare for battle."

"Seviper. Crush them."

In an explosive burst of energy, Julia's Electrode and Florinia's Cradily materialized. Across from them, an enormous Seviper appeared from its Ball, hissing and dripping with Poison. The three Pokemon glared at each other tensely, waiting for commands from their trainers. The man signaled to the grunts without taking his eyes off the two women.

"Aster"

"Yes sir." The male grunt stepped forward.

"Eclipse."

"Sir." The female grunt moved to stand beside her partner.

"Deal with the small fry. I will take care of the gym leaders myself."

Saluting, the two grunts turned and faced Seehan and Fern, who scoffed.

"What, you think just two of you shitheads can even slow me down? I don't even need Seehan; I'll take you both on and make you beg for mercy."

Seehan was not as confident as Fern; he was feeling a surprising amount of pressure from the two grunts. Were they really on the same level of strength as the grunts they had easily dispatched earlier on? He doubted it. These two were trusted enough to fight alongside a commander who was confident enough to take on two gym leaders at once.

Without another word, Aster and Eclipse sent out a Magby and Elekid, respectively. Seehan let loose his Monferno, and Fern threw out his Budew. For just a brief second, the four trainers stood at an impasse, sizing each other up. Seehan felt himself swell with the familiar rush of battle, and activated Blank Slate, his eyes becoming sharp and focused. The momentary silence was broken by a hiss from the black coated man's Seviper. The Pokemon sprang into action, their trainers shouting out orders.

"Elekid, hit them with a Thundershock!"

"Monferno, Mach Punch! Focus on the Magby!"

"Magby, use Ember! Try to separate them!"

"Budew! Shut them up with a Stun Spore!"

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Fury Swipes

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

The Elekid and Magby easily avoided Budew's Stun Spore. However, in doing so, Magby left itself open for Monferno. Taking it out was critical, thought Seehan. If allowed to remain active, Fern's entire team would be taken out with ease. Monferno closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, its fist tracing a white streak behind it as it cut through the air, and connected its attack squarely with the Magby's face. However, instead of being blasted back by the impact, as Seehan had thought it would, it stood its ground defiantly, a blazing look of anger etched on its face. Twisting its body as it absorbed the force from Monferno's Mach Punch, the Magby fired off an intense Ember towards Budew, catching it in the chest and causing it to screech in pain, before fainting. Monferno tried to follow up with a second Mach Punch, but was blasted off its feet by a powerful Thundershock from the Elekid. The Fire Monkey was thrown into one of the screens lining the wall by the force of the attack, cracking it before sliding to the floor with a thud, stray sparks of electricity dancing in its fur.

"Useless Pokemon... Return! Go, Lotad! Hit these fuckers with a Bubble!" snarled Fern as he recalled his Budew and called out his Lotad in a single smooth motion. The tiny Pokemon materialized in front of him, and fired off a stream of translucent spheres. The Magby, still off balance from the hit it had taken from Monferno, took the attack hard, each popping Bubble forcing it back half a step. Monferno stood up with a wince.

"Monferno! Take it down! Mach Punch once more!"

"Oh no you don't! Elekid, Low Kick!"

"Magby, Fire Spin! Burn them to the ground!"

Monferno leapt towards the Magby, its fist once again whistling through the air at subsonic speed. However, the Elekid leaped into its path. Its Low Kick collided with Monferno's Mach Punch, creating a shock wave that cracked the floor beneath them and shattered every screen present in the room. Both Pokemon were blasted backwards onto the tiled floor, grimacing in pain. Without Monferno to stop it, the Magby completed its attack successfully, sending out a stream of fire that wrapped both Monferno and Lotad in blazing rings of flame. Screaming, Monferno writhed in agony as its fur caught fire, before collapsing in a smoking heap of burnt fur and flesh. Fern's Lotad tried to free itself from the fire by using Bubble, but to no avail. It, like Monferno, fainted amidst the flames.

Recalling his Monferno, Seehan grimaced. The situation had turned very bad extremely quickly. The two grunts were indeed proving themselves to be leaps and bounds ahead of their fellow grunts in terms of combat strength. If it had been one on one, Seehan could have easily taken on either of them; however, in a double battle, their impeccable teamwork and well trained Pokemon were negating the advantage his Blank Slate was giving him. To make matters worse, Fern was down to his last Pokemon, and Seehan only had one battle ready Pokemon left, unwilling to force his Ralts into combat if he could help it. If Zigzagoon could not finish the battle, however, the choice would be taken out of his hands. Seehan unclipped his second last Pokeball from his belt.

"Zigzagoon! Take the stage!"

"Who do these shitters think they are... Come back, Lotad. Take them down, Snivy! Teach them a fucking lesson!"

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**

**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**

**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17

Ability: Iron Fist

Item: None

-Fury Swipes

-Leer

-Ember

-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14

Ability: Pick Up

Item: None

-Odor Sleuth

-Sand Attack

-Headbutt

-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 11

Ability: Trace

Item: None

-Disable [egg move]

-Confusion

-Teleport

-Disarming Voice

Edited June 8, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

Unfortunately, Zigzagoon was unable to defeat either of the Meteor's Pokemon, though to no fault of its own. As soon as it was released from its Ball, it was immediately double targeted by both Magby and Elekid. Although it easily evaded several Thundershocks and Embers, a Shockwave from Elekid stunned it long enough for Magby to finish it off with a Feint Attack. Fern's Snivy tried to even the odds, but was unable to properly enter the fight until Zigzagoon was defeated. Gritting his teeth, Seehan recalled Zigzagoon and prepared to send out Ralts.

Then time seemed to stop for him.

Inside its Pokeball, Ralts had been feeling nervous, but defiant. It didn't want to lose. It wanted to protect the trainer that had saved it. The little Pokemon had reached out, touched Seehan's mind with its Psychic ability, and joined their thoughts, creating a connection. Seehan's natural ability to create mental bonds willingly accepted Ralts's advances, and although the two had never battled alongside one another before, the impossible became a reality.

An Empathetic Link had formed.

In his mind, everything clicked into place. For the first time since arriving in Reborn, he could display the full utilization of his skills. At last, Seehan had all the tools he needed to achieve victory. Taking hold of Ralts' Ball, he sent it out without the slightest hesitation in his movement, its battle information flowing into his head without a need for his Pokedex. A blazing light exploded into existence, and Ralts materialized, an aura of Psychic energy pulsing out in waves around it. Yet again, Aster and Eclipse ordered their Pokemon to single out Seehan's.
"Once more! Elekid, use Shockwave!"
"Magby! Keep Snivy out of the fight with a burst of Ember, then use Fire Spin on the Ralts!"
Their Pokemon sprang into action. Neither Seehan or Ralts moved an inch, nor did Seehan call out any commands.
Then Ralts disappeared.

Elekid and Magby's attacks flew through the air where the Psychic Pokemon had been just a moment before.
"It's behind you!!"
The Elekid and Magby turned, just a second too slow, and were hit with a massive Confusion. The force of the Psychic assault drove them to their knees, giving Snivy the chance to grab Elekid with Vine Whip and throw it aside, away from Magby. The two Pokemon were separated, their exemplary teamwork finally unusable. Seehan continued to simply stand there, calmly surveying the battle. A torrent of information flowed through his brain in a fraction of a tenth of a second. His mind's eye showed him a picture of what would be happening in the next few seconds.

In 1.2 seconds, Magby will recover, but will be confused from Ralts' attack. It will fire an Ember towards Ralts. Ralts will Teleport out of the way. Elekid will have just used Shockwave on Snivy. Ralts will Disable its Shockwave. It will fire a Thundershock towards Ralts. It will miss and hit Magby instead, causing it to faint. Elekid will then fall to a Disarming Voice. This battle is over.

"Magby, get a hold of yourself! Use Ember!"
The Magby forced itself back onto its feet, and fired an Ember at Ralts.
Teleport now.
Ralts disappeared once more, appearing just behind Elekid, who had just fired a Shockwave towards Snivy to push back its unrelenting Vine Whip.

Disable.

Snapping its fingers, Ralts Disabled Elekid's Shockwave, then casually moved between the Magby and the Elekid. Enraged, the Elekid whirled onto Ralts.

"Take that thing out with a Thundershock!"

The child sized Pokemon fired a surging Thundershock at Ralts, who waited calmly. On Seehan's mental command, Ralts used Teleport one more time, blinking out of the way and narrowly avoiding the pulsing blast of electricity. The attack struck the Magby head on. With a cry of agony, the Fire type dropped to the floor, unconscious. The Elekid was, for a split second, frozen in place by the crushing realization of its own mistake. As such, it failed to react in time to the Ralts appearing just centimeters to its right.
End it. Disarming Voice.
Ralts opened its mouth and blasted Elekid point blank with a devastating wall of sound. Its eyes rolled up into its head, and it fainted with a resounding thud as it hit the tiled floor.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**
**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**
**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: None
-Fury Swipes
-Leer
-Ember
-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14
Ability: Pick Up
Item: None
-Odor Sleuth
-Sand Attack
-Headbutt
-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 16 [41]
Ability: Trace
Item: None
-Disable [egg move]
-Confusion
-Teleport
-Disarming Voice

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan

The two grunts stood stock still, their faces frozen in masks of disbelief. Clearly they had not expected to lose in such a spectacular fashion, especially after having had the dominating advantage for the majority of the battle.

"... Huh?"

"Grrr!"

The man in the black coat looked over at them.

"Oh, you two were defeated already? How disappointing. I can't say I'm surprised, though I'd hoped you'd be able to hold them for a little longer than you did."

Seehan turned to face the battle on the other side of the room. Though at first glance the fight appeared to be even, upon closer inspection it was disturbingly clear that the man, despite fighting 1 on 2, had the upper hand. Julia and Florinia's Pokemon were showing signs of exhaustion and sported several wounds; in stark comparison, the man's Seviper looked as fresh as it had when it had first been called out of its Ball. If he had been given more time, the two leaders would have been forced into a complete defeat, even though they outnumbered him 12 to 6.

However, the situation had changed. The man was now facing 4 Pokemon at once.

"I can take on two easily by myself, but four..." The man shook his head. For some reason though, despite his impending defeat, he did not seem all that bothered. "Well, this was an amusing diversion. It is of no matter though. Do not think you have won; Team Meteor does not forgive." And with that, he grabbed a Pokeball from his side and threw it, engulfing the room in a flash of blinding light. When Seehan could see again, the grunts and the man, along with their Pokemon, had disappeared. Probably Teleported away, he thought. Julia blinked and looked around.

"... Is he gone?"

"Affirmative. Cradily, return."

"You too Electrode! Good job~."

Julia and Florinia recalled their Pokemon, with Seehan and Fern following suit. In a quick second, the only ones left standing in the room were the four trainers. Julia strolled over to an undamaged console and ran her fingers over the keyboard, quickly inputting in several commands.

"Now let's see... Mhm... Mhm~." She turned around, her face ecstatic. "Okay! Well, he told us there's nothing of value left for us in the factory, sooooo..." She winked. "You should all start running now!"

Fern looked at her, confused.

"Huh? What did you do now?"

Julia looked like she was about to burst from excitement. Wait, burst... Seehan suddenly had a bad premonition. Julia started shaking in pleasure.

"KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA............."

Fern finally got it.

"Oh shit! Let's move!!"

As the trainers fled the room, Seehan spotted the corner of a folder partially hidden under the bank of consoles. Perhaps the Meteors had missed something after all. Snatching it up, Seehan sprinted after the others.

As the factory exploded behind them, the trainers stood gasping in the rain, watching as pieces of blackened metal flew through the air and splashed harmlessly into the lake. Julia clapped her hands and struck her Sailor Lunatone pose, sticking her tongue out and winking.

"Aaaand that's a wrap! Good job team!"

Fern looked up from his position on his hands and knees, where he had been heaving on the wet stone street.

"Holy fucking shit woman, what the fricking hell is wrong with you?!?" He got up slowly, clutching at a stitch in his side. "If you're done with your fucking pyrotechnics, I'm getting out of here."

Florinia nodded her agreement.

"Indeed. Obsidia remains problematic. I will attend to that now."

Seehan looked at her in shock. Was the problem that Florinia was talking about the same thing Victoria had sensed and gone to investigate? If a gym leader was getting involved, that meant whatever was happening was extremely dangerous. If that was the case, Seehan needed to get involved as well. He stepped forward.

"I'll come too. Perhaps I can help in some way."

The green haired gym leader shook her head.

"I cannot allow a trainer with no badges to put himself into danger of this magnitude, no matter how skilled he may be. I only agreed to your cooperation for this investigation because I had not anticipated such a high level of opposition to be present; it is not a miscalculation I will make again. If you wish to assist me, please challenge Julia's gym first. If you are able to defeat her and still wish to offer aid, I will reassess the volunteering of your services."

Julia bounced over.

"Okay~! Thanks for your help! I know you've been super busy since our graduation, but it was nice to get to hang out~! Just like old times, right?"

"And equally destructive. However, sentimentalities remain counterproductive. I will report today's proceedings to Ame before I leave for Obsidia. Farewell."

As the Onyx Ward's Gym Leader walked off, Julia watched her go with a sad look on her face.

"Rini... She's never been the same since..."

Fern cut in.

"Since Titania? Yeah, that crazy bitch traumatizes people like that. What's new?" He smirked, rain running down his face and washing the gel out of his hair. Without his hair's pompous poof, Fern almost looked like a decent human being. Almost. "Anyways, I got places to be. I'm not like Seehan here who has the time to wander around with his thumbs up his ass and not get anything done. Peace!" And with that, the green haired trainer swag-walked off into the night. Seehan decided not to say anything about the massive hole on the rear of his jeans.

Julia turned to him.

"Thanks for your help today Seehan!!! You were great! It's kind of late to be heading back to the gym right now, but I can safely leave it alone for the night since I know it's not going to be randomly going BOOM or something for the time being." She looked at him curiously. "I know you need to challenge me and get your badge, but do you have a place to stay for the night? Did you already reserve a room at the Pokemon Center?"

Seehan shook his head. It had not occurred to him that he would need to reserve a room; in all the other region he had been to, there had always been at least one vacant room available for a last minute check in. Julia looked slightly disbelieving when he told this to her.

"Whaaaaaaat? Here in Reborn, if you're planning on getting a room for the night, you have to either check in before 11 or make a reservation. After 11, the Pokemon Centers here give up all their vacant rooms to the Order of Nurses to put homeless people in. They just make you sleep on a bench in the lobby if you try to get a room after that!"

Seehan checked his Pokegear. The digital clock told him it was slightly past midnight. He sighed. Julia grinned at him.

"Fear not! You can spend the night at my place! You're coming to the gym first thing in the morning anyway, so we can just go together!"

Seehan looked at her incredulously. They had only properly met just 2 hours before, but this girl was already allowing him to spend a night in her apartment. It just went to show how big of a heart she had beneath all that obsession with explosives. Seeing no reason not to, Seehan accepted Julia's offer, and together they set off towards the blinking lights of the inner city. It had been a long day for him, and Seehan was looking forward to clonking out as soon as he had a place to lay his head down. In his exhaustion, he forgot all about the folder he had picked up during their escape from the factory, now hidden away in a corner of his bag.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**
**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**
**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: None
-Fury Swipes
-Leer
-Ember
-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14
Ability: Pick Up
Item: Super Potion
-Odor Sleuth
-Sand Attack
-Headbutt
-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 16 [41]
Ability: Trace
Item: None
-Disable [egg move]
-Confusion
-Teleport
-Disarming Voice

Edited June 10, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Alice

Morning crept up slowly on Reborn City, the dawn's early light poking its way through the few wispy clouds still hanging lazily over the region. Alice stretched as she reluctantly crawled out of bed, still sleepy. She had stayed up late the night before, taking the time to groom and bond with her Pokemon. Excluding Mawile, her entire party was only a day old, and had not yet fully adjusted to their new statuses as her Pokemon. Her effort had paid off nicely. All around the room, her Pokemon were either sprawled out on the floor, or curled up at the foot of her bed. Budew had sat itself down on the sill of the room's small window, and was now enjoying the warm rays of sunlight that were spilling into the room as it dozed. Quickly washing up and getting dressed, she woke up her Pokemon and fed them, before heading down to the Pokemon Center's food court for some breakfast. As she sipped a warm mug of coffee after her meal, she scrolled through her Pokedex, checking over her Pokemon's stats and conditions one more time. Today was, after all, the day she would challenge her first gym in the Reborn Region. Finishing her drink, she returned her tray to the kind faced lady at the counter before picking up her bag and walking out of the Pokemon Center.

Today's weather was much better than yesterday's; a light breeze was blowing through the city, but the sun kept the chill at bay as its beams lit up the dirty streets of Reborn City. As Alice strolled towards the gym, she dropped by the Pokemart to pick up some Pokeballs and Potions. Alice grimaced at her increasingly light wallet; she would have to go withdraw some more money from a Pokemon Center within the next week, or she would run out before she knew it. Many trainers preferred to keep all their worldly finances on their own person, only replenishing their stock of cash with prize money won through battling; Alice, however, kept the vast majority of her money at home with her mother, and only withdrew enough to last her through the week at any given time. She did this for two reasons: for one, if she lost a battle it meant she would have to give up less (standard etiquette for losing a battle was to give up 10% of your current amount of funds). The second reason was that Alice was a shopaholic; if she was holding too much money at once, she would immediately go spend it all on clothes and accessories for her Pokemon. Thus, in order to enforce discipline on herself, she kept as little money on her as was reasonably possible.

Arriving at the gym, she found it still closed, the note from yesterday still hanging on the door. Had the gym leader not yet returned? Alice decided to explore while she waited. The gym building itself was quite interesting, as it served another purpose besides being the Peridot Ward's gym; it also acted as a power plant that supplied energy to the Western half of Reborn City. Examining a large power dish that was apparently collecting solar energy for processing, Alice heard footsteps and laughter approaching. Standing up, she turned around to see Seehan walking with a pretty girl in a cheerleader's outfit towards the gym, chatting as they went. Alice briefly felt an unfamiliar feeling rising up in her chest, and her cheeks reddened as she looked away, embarrassed at her reaction. After all, she barely knew him. Why should she feel anything just because she saw him walking with another girl? Alice clapped her face with both hands, arranged her features until they resembled her usual expression, then walked up and greeted the two approaching trainers. Seehan gave her a warm smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"Morning, Alice! Are you here to challenge the gym too?"

She nodded quickly, grateful for the opportunity to hide her face, albeit briefly. The girl that Seehan had arrived with clapped gleefully.

"YAY! Two challengers, first thing in the morning! I'll go prepare the kaBOO- I mean the gym for you two, so just wait out here for a sec okayyyyyy~?" And with that, the girl skipped into the gym, pausing to tear the note off the door before disappearing inside. Alice turned to Seehan questioningly. He held up his hands, an innocent expression on his face.

"I know this looks bad, but that's the gym leader of the Peridot Ward, Julia. Last night, Ame gave her and I a job that involved another gym leader, and by the time we finished up it was too late for me to go to a Pokemon Center. Julia kindly lent me a room, and that's why we came here together just now. That's what happened, I promise!" He insisted upon seeing Alice's skeptical face. She sighed, and tried desperately to resist the urge to giggle. Teasing Seehan was fun; he took things so seriously. Their conversation shifted to catching up on what the other had done since they had separated, and Alice proudly showed off her Pokedex, which now sported 5 pages of party data; a step up from the 3 Seehan had last seen her with. Seehan himself sheepishly showed that he had only acquired 1 more page since they had parted ways. It was nice, Alice thought, to have someone to chat with like this. The two were bound by the tragedy they had shared; it was a bond that couldn't be broken easily. They had finished talking and were simply sitting on a bench outside the gym, enjoying the day's warmth, when an intercom crackled to life above the gym's entrance.

"CHALLENGERS! THE PERIDOT WARD GYM IS NOW OPEN!!!!! KABOOMS AND BATTLE WAIT FOR YOU INSIDE, ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO ENTER??" Julia's magnified message trailed off with a cackling laugh, and the doors of the gym swung open.

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 11

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Water Gun

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 13

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Fury Attack

-Sing

Budew - Level 5

Ability: Poison Point

Item: None

-Absorb

-Growth

-x

-x

Numel - Level 15

Ability: Simple

Item: None

-Ember

-Focus Energy

-Magnitude

-Flame Burst

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

VS Cheer Captain Julia

Stopped at the door of the gym by a man in a dark suit sitting behind a desk, Seehan and Alice were made to fill out several forms and present their Pokedexes for verification before being allowed to continue deeper into the building. As they walked down the long hallway, the two trainers took the opportunity to examine the power plant's interior. Bright red and blue banners hung in conjunction with green heavy duty power lines in an interesting contrast of color that gave the gym the appearance of a strange exotic bird. Alice commented on this to the boy beside her.

"Who on earth pairs up Red and Blue with Green? What's next, adding Yellow to the mix?"

Seehan smiled but didn't reply, his attention taken by the room ahead of them. Standing on the far end of an arena crackling with electricity was Julia, her arms crossed. If it weren't for the enormous shit eating grin plastered across her face, and the pom poms attached to her arms, she would have looked exceedingly intimidating standing atop such a battlefield. The Peridot Ward's Gym Leader spoke up, calling to the duo from across the room.

"Greetings, challengers! Which one of you will be getting kaBOO- I mean, will be battling me first?"

Alice and Seehan exchanged looks.

"By all means, go ahead. You did get here first." Seehan said. He actually had an ulterior motive for not wanting to go first, but didn't say anything more.

Alice grinned confidently.

"Ha! Don't blame me when I destroy the battlefield before it's your turn then!" Turning to the arena, Alice strode up to the challenger's box.

Seehan walked up the stairs to the spectator's area. The referee, a man dressed in an insulated suit and a hardhat, standing to the side of the battlefield began the formalities of the battle.

"Alice of Lumiose City wishes to challenge Julia of the Peridot Ward Gym in an official League match! This battle will be a 6 on 6 single battle. The Challenger may switch their Pokemon freely, while the Leader may only switch Pokemon upon successfully fainting one of the Challenger's Pokemon. As the Challenger has 0 badges, the Leader will be using their 6th, and weakest, team. The battle will take place on the Electric Field. Trainers, are you both ready to begin?" When both nodded, the man continued. "Then let the battle begin!"

Julia let out a brilliant smile.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! TIME FOR SOME FUN, HELIOPTILE!!!!"

"... It's time to begin. Time to dance, Swablu!"

As the two women sent out their Pokemon, Seehan quietly slipped back out into the entry hallway. He had spotted something of interest as he had been walking in, and wanted to take a closer look. Exiting the gym with a "be right back" to the guard at the front desk, Seehan walked around the building to where the fleet of solar dishes sat. As he got closer, he confirmed what he had thought he had seen earlier; a wounded Electrike was lying next to a transformer, trying to absorb whatever electricity it could with its Lightning Rod Ability. As Seehan got closer, it bared its teeth at him, but was too weak to run away. Raising his hands to show he was harmless, he slowly reached back into his bag and pulled out a Cell Battery. Offering it to the Electrike, the Electric Dog sniffed it, then tentatively took the item into its mouth, closing its eyes in relief as energy began flowing into its electricity starved body. Seehan wondered what had caused the Electrike to have gotten into this weakened state, and briefly cast a look around. A scorched area near a close by solar dish caught his attention. Leaving the Pokemon to suck on the Cell Battery, Seehan went and inspected the patch of blackened dirt. As he got closer, however, it became increasingly obvious what had happened. During the heavy rain the previous night, the Electrike had probably wandered around the power plant, looking for food or electricity. However, the high amount of electricity in the area must have increased the potency of Electrike's Lightning Rod, bringing down a strike of lightning from the sky onto it. As wild Electrikes rarely knew any Special Electric type moves that could quickly get rid of large amounts of energy, the Electrike must have been overloaded with electricity that it couldn't release, eventually forcing it to discharge all of its body's energy in an uncontrolled way and wounding itself in the process. Thus, the scorched earth and the weakened Electrike. His curiosity satisfied, he returned to the Electric Dog, which appeared to have sucked the Cell Battery dry and was now scratching itself behind the ear. Patting it on the head, he debated on catching it; the decision was made for him when he tried to leave and the Electrike stubbornly began to follow him, whining and tugging at his pant leg. Smiling, the trainer touched the Pokemon with a Pokeball, converting the Electrike to a beam of red energy. Shaking three times, the Ball sealed itself with the usual click, causing Seehan's Pokedex to vibrate in his pocket as it registered a new team member. Seehan tucked the ball away onto his belt, and walked back into the gym, returning to the spectator's stand just in time to see Alice's Swablu fall to a SonicBoom fired by one of Julia's Voltorb.

Alice grimaced as she recalled her Swablu to its Pokeball, thanking it for its hard work. Her Swablu had done its job brilliantly, defeating Julia's Helioptile despite the type disadvantage. However, the damage it had taken from Helioptile had done its work, slowing it down enough for Julia's second Pokemon, Voltorb, to shoot it down with ease. Now, with only 3 Pokemon left, Alice considered her options. Squirtle, of course, had a type disadvantage towards Voltorb, and didn't have the advantage of being able to fly to avoid attacks like Swablu had. Budew resisted Electric attacks as a Grass type, but was still weak and untrained; it probably wouldn't even be able to take a single SonicBoom before going down. That left........

"Go, Numel! Hit it with a Magnitude!"

The Fire Camel Pokemon materialized onto the battlefield, the Electric Field flickering without effect against the feet of the Ground and Fire type. Its roar of challenge at Julia's Voltorb reverberated around the room, making the windows shake from the force of the shout. Numel then stomped the ground, creating a shockwave that was felt across the entire field.

But only slightly.

Alice sighed as she concluded that Numel had just hit the Voltorb with a Magnitude 4.

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**
**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**
**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: None
-Fury Swipes
-Leer
-Ember
-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14
Ability: Pick Up
Item: Super Potion
-Odor Sleuth
-Sand Attack
-Headbutt
-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 16 [41]
Ability: Trace
Item: None
-Disable [egg move]
-Confusion
-Teleport
-Disarming Voice

Electrike - Level 15

Ability: Lightning Rod

Item: None

-Ice Fang [egg move]

-Howl

-Quick Attack

-Spark

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 11

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Water Gun

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 14

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Mist

-Sing

Budew - Level 5

Ability: Poison Point

Item: None

-Absorb

-Growth

-x

-x

Numel - Level 15

Ability: Simple

Item: None

-Ember

-Focus Energy

-Magnitude

-Flame Burst

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Alice

Alice's luck with Magnitudes got better very quickly, rapidly knocking down both of Julia's Voltorbs and her Blitzle, but taking several hard hitting SonicBooms and a Quick Attack in the process. However, Alice had a sneaking suspicion that Julia was allowing her to even the odds on purpose. Perhaps knowing that she only had 4 usable Pokemon, was the older girl going easy on her? Or did she have something else up her sleeve. Julia was still smiling confidently as she recalled her Blitzle, certainly not wearing the face of someone who had given up. Striking a pose, she began to dance.

"A! L! I, C, E! She really wants this victory! Will I give it? No no no! Here I come, here I go!!! KAAAAAA...BOOOOOOOOM~!!!" And with that, she tossed her 5th Pokemon into the arena.

Materializing from the flash of light that signaled its arrival, Julia's Electrode grinned and rolled around, electricity from the field sparking along behind it in its trail. Alice frowned and scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. From the research she had done, Julia should have an Emolga still waiting to be sent out. Why had she sent out Electrode verses Alice's Numel? Was she throwing it away as well? Shaking her head, Alice ordered Numel to use Magnitude one more time. However, halfway through her sentence, she realized her mistake. Julia's smile grew wider as well.

"Electrode, transform and ROOOOOOLLLLLLLL OUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT!"

Like a race car, Julia's Electrode revved up for a brief moment, and in the one second that it took for Numel to complete its motion of lifting its leg and stomping it onto the floor, Electrode shot forward, closing the distance almost instantly, and slammed straight into Numel. It cried out in surprise as it was blasted into the air, its legs flailing helplessly in the void.

"Shimatta![oh no!]" Alice gasped. In the air, Numel was at the mercy of Electrode, losing its "Ground" typing and becoming, for the moment, a pure Fire type. Julia punched the air in short, cute jabs.

"Go go go! One more hit! Goooooooo Electrode!" Her Pokemon obliged, wheeling around the arena once to gather speed before rocketing up towards the falling Fire Camel.

"No no no! Numel, hit it with a Flame Burst!"

Before Numel could twist its head to face Electrode, however, the Ball shaped Pokemon smashed into it with a Super Effective Rollout, blasting it into the ceiling. Bouncing off the insulated roof of the Power Plant, it seemed to fall in slow motion before hitting the Electric Field with a crunch.

"Numel!"

The referee raised his flag.

"The Challenger's Numel is unable to battle! Electrode is the winner!"

Alice recalled her Numel, cradling its Ball in her hands. She had been careless. This was a Gym Leader of the Reborn Region, after all. Underestimating Julia had cost Alice her trump card, and now things were looking very grim. Closing her eyes for a moment, Alice made her decision, and chose her next Pokemon.

"... I choose you! Budew!"

The tiny Pokemon appeared onto the battlefield, its carefree smile unsurprisingly out of place in such a tense situation, and began meandering around the arena. Alice had one chance, one strategy left, and she clung to that slender thread of hope with the desperation of a drowning person. Julia continued dancing, her Electrode rolling around the arena once again picking up speed.

"Electrode! KaBOOOM THAT BUDEW!"

The white and red Pokemon shot like a bullet towards Budew, who was still peacefully wandering around. Alice waited as long as she could, before yelling

"Budew! Now!"

The bud Pokemon, who had walked into a patch of sunlight, suddenly used Growth, abruptly swelling in size. As the Electrode smashed into it, Budew bounced off the Electric Pokemon, flying gently through the air due to its new balloon-like body shape. Although it had taken a lot of damage from the Rollout, most of the impact had been successfully dispersed. Not only that, but Electrode was forced to skid to a halt, wincing as its color turned a shade of purple, having been affected by Budew's Poison Point. Alice quickly aimed her Pokeball at the deflating Budew falling through the air, and at the same time pulled her last Pokemon from her waist.

"Budew, return! Go, Squirtle! It's time to tip the scales!"

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 11

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Water Gun

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 14

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Mist

-Sing

Budew - Level 5

Ability: Poison Point

Item: None

-Absorb

-Growth

-x

-x

Numel - Level 17

Ability: Simple

Item: None

-Ember

-Focus Energy

-Magnitude

-Flame Burst

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan

[Seehan]

Seehan was impressed, watching as Alice sent out her Squirtle after successfully weakening Julia's Electrode with her clever strategy. It was clear that she had done a lot of thinking on how to improve herself as a trainer. In contrast with Seehan's battling style of simply overwhelming his opponents through sheer skill, Alice appeared to have covered up her weaker real-time battling skills with extended research and multi layered backup plans. She, like Serena, had accepted her own weakness, and had instead focused on becoming stronger in her own way rather than trying to become something she was not. As her Squirtle took to the battlefield, Seehan wondered how much further Alice would go as a trainer. He was excited to find out.

Her Budew returned to its Ball in a stream of red energy, and at the same time, Squirtle materialized in a flash of dazzling light. Across from Alice, Julia looked surprised. Clearly, Alice's tactic had caught her off guard; even Alice herself was surprised that it had worked. Poison Point was an Ability that only had a certain amount of chance of activating, and she wouldn't have had a second opportunity to reapply it if that one touch hadn't activated it. However, the odds were once again in her favor; Julia's ace was now weakened by Poison, and Alice's Squirtle was fresh and ready for battle. Alice didn't relax though, even in the slightest. Even if she got past Electrode, there was still an untouched Emolga waiting to be sent out on Julia's side. The real battle had only just begun. Julia quickly got over her surprise, beaming an enormous smile at her opponent.

"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!! I'm so happy that you're a tough opponent, Alice, or this wouldn't have been fun at all!! Sorry though," Here she assumed a semi-serious expression. "you're still gonna get kaBOOOMED!!!! Electrode, uuuuuuuuse Charge Beam!"

"Push it back with a Water Gun!"

As the Electrode shot out a techno colored beam of electricty, Squirtle responded with a powerful Water Gun, and for a moment the two Pokemon were evenly matched. However, Alice had forgotten about the effects of the Electric Field. Sparks flying around the Electrode, its Charge Beam suddenly increased in power, forcing Squirtle to dive out of the way as the wave of electricity crashed into where it had been standing. Strands of electricity crackled around Electrode as its Special Attack became more powerful from the leftover energy of its Charge Beam.

"Close the distance, Squirtle! Hit it with a Tackle!"

"Electrode, Electrode, don't let up~! Blow them up, blow them up, go and use Spark~!!!!"

Squirtle charged forward, the Electrode moving to meet it while blazing with sparkling energy. The two Pokemon got closer and closer, and Alice clenched her fist, her knuckles white. Come on... Come ON.

Just as the two Pokemon were about to collide, Electrode's electric aura suddenly disappeared, and it rolled to a halt, gasping. The Poison was finally doing its work. With nothing to stop it, Squirtle hit the sphere shaped Pokemon head on, knocking it across the arena into a wall. Dropping to the ground with a resounding thud, the Electrode left behind a deep imprint of its body in the once smooth horizontal surface. Alice punched the air in relief, and waited for the referee to announce the Electrode's defeat. However, to her confusion, the call didn't come. Was the Electrode still able to fight?

Julia smiled at Alice's confusion.

"Sorry~!. Electrode loves booms as much as I do! How could it possibly bow off the playing field before giving a grand KABOOOM?" As she spoke, the Electrode began glowing white, and sent one last grin towards Squirtle, whose eyes widened in panic. Alice cried out desperately to Squirtle, praying that it would follow her command in time.

"ELECTRODE, UUUUU-"

"Squirtle! Use Withdr-"

"-UUUUUUSEEEE EXPLOOOOSIOOO-"

"-aw!"

"-OOOOOOOOON~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

The Electrode exploded, blasting everything within 20 meters of it into dust. The resulting shock wave kicked up an enormous cloud of dust and a powerful gust of wind, throwing Alice's vision into chaos. She tried blocking her face with her arms, squinting desperately to look for her Pokemon through the electric infused wave of smoke and dust.

"SQUIRTLE!"

Trainer Profile: Seehan

Trainer Rank: SSS

**Note: Seehan's Trainer Rank without Blank Slate and Empathetic Link would be A+.**

Badges: 0

Current team:

**Note: When in an Empathetic Link with Seehan, his Pokemon deal 1.5x more damage from all damaging moves, and gain a 1.5x increase in speed.**
**Note: When being commanded by Seehan in Blank Slate, his Pokemon's moves gain +1 priority, and land critical hits more easily.**
**Note: If both of the above conditions are fulfilled, Seehan's Pokemon temporarily gain 25 levels worth of stats.**

Monferno - Level 17
Ability: Iron Fist
Item: None
-Fury Swipes
-Leer
-Ember
-Mach Punch

Zigzagoon - Level 14
Ability: Pick Up
Item: Super Potion
-Odor Sleuth
-Sand Attack
-Headbutt
-Baby-Doll Eyes

Ralts - Level 16 [41]
Ability: Trace
Item: None
-Disable [egg move]
-Confusion
-Teleport
-Disarming Voice

Electrike - Level 15

Ability: Lightning Rod

Item: None

-Ice Fang [egg move]

-Howl

-Quick Attack

-Spark

Trainer Profile: Alice

Trainer Rank: B

Badges: 0

Current team:

Squirtle - Level 14

Ability: Rain Dish

Item: None

-Tackle

-Tail Whip

-Bubble

-Withdraw

Mawile - Level 45

Ability: Intimidate

Item: Mawilite

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Play Rough

-Knock Off

**Note: Alice currently cannot use Mawile in official gym battles, as she does not have the required Gym Badges necessary to register traded/foreign Pokemon as part of her official team. In unofficial battles, she may use Mawile freely.**

Swablu - Level 14

Ability: Natural Cure

Item: Sharp Beak

-Sky Attack [tutored]

-Disarming Voice

-Mist

-Sing

Budew - Level 10

Ability: Poison Point

Item: None

-Absorb

-Growth

-Poison Sting

-Stun Spore

Numel - Level 17

Ability: Simple

Item: None

-Ember

-Focus Energy

-Magnitude

-Flame Burst

Edited June 9, 2015 by Seehan