Jasper looked into the mirror for the tenth time. He still couldn’t believe it. He looked like a native from Kanto. Both him and Kai for that matter. The makeover was extensive.

  Him and Kai were in a room of mirrors a week after their successful heist, getting grilled on their backstory, by a fellow psychic trainer who referred to himself as Bob. Even though that wasn’t his name.

  The whole thing was surreal, they would work as novice Rangers till the end of the season and start their veteran circuit in the Kanto region. Jasper simply couldn’t believe it. What was going on? He had a carry limit of nine now. Something he was deemed too mentally unstable for, not 3 months ago.

  “Why are we running the veteran track again?” He asked while watching his own face. It was creepy how someone else was staring him in the face.

  Kai sighed. “Because this whole world revolves around this dumb system where no one takes you seriously unless you have run the veteran circuit and at least made an attempt at the ace track. Blame it on the outdated need of showing off from our ancestors.”

  “It’s called a meritocracy,” Bob drawled.

  ”It would be a meritocracy if we had a system in place that would measure someone’s abilities without having to show off.” Kai retorted scoffing.

  ”Yea that system is called running the circuit and participating in the tournaments.” Bob said while smirking. “Now pay attention to my facial expressions. This is very important when you deal with any Jenny or Joy, those clans might have been your best friends once, but they are now your worst enemies.” Jasper and Kai had been taught for days now, on how to properly lie. Especially when it came to body language.

  Of course Kai was an expert, the lunatic could make himself believe whatever he said or thought because it was the truth for one of his strings. Whatever that meant. Again he looked at himself, unless he would go through this makeover again, he would forever have black hair with the skin complexion of a Kantonian. No one, not even his own family would recognize him, not that he cared about them, he often wondered if they had been his real family, with how disconnected he had felt.

  A complete new start. He was registered as a 19 year old, even though he was older. A complete new life. So thorough was the work that this team in the indigo league did, that even the Joy’s and Jennie’s would believe them as long as they believed the lie themselves. Within his own mind scape he had already copied his original memories and given them to Beheeyem, who gave a solemn oath he would guard them to the best of his abilities, this way when Jasper dealt with Jennies or Joy’s he would believe what he said. This was Jasper’s own roundabout way to believe the lie. With the help of his Pokemon, he crafted the artificial memories, each adding their own touch. Within the mindscape they went out of their ways to truly experience those memories, it was equal parts creepy, equal parts wholesome. All his Pokemon wanted to belong, and this heartfelt desire went into these artificial memories.

  A few days after they were cleared, they were patrolling the forests southeast of Rifure Village, endless miles of no one. Rifure Village was home to the minor Fairy Gym. Owned and run by an elusive person almost never present. As such even though competent enough as a gym leader the gym never became a major Gym even though they were far better organized than half the gyms in the Kanto region. “Nepotism at its finest.” Jasper mumbled.

  Kai chuckled.

  Jasper had given up truly living in the moment ever since he got out of jail. It had been one surreal moment after the next. Just the two of them together now after all of it. The work in of itself was boring, cataloguing the numbers of the various Pokemon. They had a week for it but with Psychic Pokemon, the work was done by the end of the second day. So most of their time they spend training and practicing. they had “supposedly” built enough trust with the other rangers who all believed they knew them, which was all sorts of freaky, but they had spent a day on rehearsing all the peculiarities of the rangers who worked with them.

  Beheeyem told him that the rangers had their minds altered by a Pokemon more powerful and capable than he had ever seen, the memories were flawless, Beheeyem actually requested to stay out of his ball whenever they touched base in the Ranger outpost so he could study and learn from it.

  Jasper assumed it was the team they had done the heist for, was responsible. It reminded him how small he was. He hated it.

  ”It’s ironic how criminals got us back on track.” He mused while staring at the fire. Both him and Kai and their team lounging around after a day of training. Away from people, only Kai to worry about, he almost felt at peace.

  “It sure is.” Kai wasn’t smiling for once. No one around to trigger his psychotic vices. He almost seemed normal. Like him Kai had received a makeover completely unrecognizable. Jasper’s eyes fell on the sleeping Yamask in Kai’s lap and everything came flooding back.

  Jasper turned away and stared at the fire, hugging his sleeping spoink, Jynx and Braixen were sitting next to him, while his Hypno’s were playing a mind game with Beheeyem. These last few months, stuck in jail, escape from jail, steal a part of someone’s identity, getting away with it scott free.

  All of it had been eye opening for him. He still couldn’t believe the vileness of the penitentiary, he was no saint he knew that, but coming face to face with, that…. He shuddered.

  ”Was that the worst of the world? What we saw there?” Jasper asked.

  ”hmm?” Kai looked up. “Oh you mean the supposed justice done upon us by the system?” He smiled wickedly for a moment but dropped it, a somewhat forlorn expression came upon him. For a split second it was the old Kai. “In a way it was, wasn’t it? Sure we deserved punishment according to their laws, but did we young innocent souls deserve to be exposed to such, cruelty?”

  He left the question open.

  Jasper shook his head vigorously. ”No, I do not believe that for a second. Obviously some of the stuff we did back then was questionable but none of it was that bad. I can’t believe the Joy’s and Jennies condone this sort of thing! It makes them the bad guys!” Jasper was getting worked up, fuming.

  The nauseating experience Kai had told him about, threatened him with, the way the Jennies approached it all, he was horrified.

  “I still can’t believe Jennies would allow such a thing.” He muttered. His Jynx began singing a calm and soothing melody. Keeping Spoink sleeping and Jaspers emotional state from exploding. Braixen joined in on the tune, and so did Kai’s Shiinotic. Creating a soothing but eerie cadence in the pale moonlight.

  “How many Jennies and Joy’s did you see during your stay in the penitentiary and asylum?” Kai asked him. Jasper had to think. “A few in passing I think, you know, now that I think about it, the prisoners I was stuck with, weren’t nearly as bad as the ones you told me about. Why did they stick you with murderers and, worse?” Jasper asked almost whispering.

  “They didn’t.” Kai smiled wickedly again. “Neither did the Jennies or Joy’s sign off on your insanity plea. Not the real ones anyway.” Kai looked back into the fire.

  “What do you mean with that?” Jasper asked. Kai didn’t respond. After a while Jasper dropped it and was about to go to sleep.

  Kai’s voice rang out eerily in the silence after Jynx, Braixen and Shiinotic finished their song . “Think for yourself Jasper, what have you seen? this local Kanto team for example? What are they capable of? Now say that there is hypothetically another,” he paused looking for a word. “group.”

  ”with a vested interest in the worst humanity has to offer, where would they be? What would they be up to?”

  Jasper lying down thought for a couple of minutes. “Are you telling me someone is impersonating Joy’s and Jennies?”

  Kai sighed. “You are slow as ever but yes, to be fair it took me quite a while to figure it out myself.” Kai left it at that and crawled into his own sleeping bag.

  “Why are you telling me this now?” Jasper asked. After a few minutes.

  Kai sighed. “Come on Jasper, if they are capable of hiding from the Jennies and Joy’s in plain sight, don’t you think they don’t have ears everywhere?”

  he let it sink in for a bit before he continued. “If I carelessly blab and not one but two clandestine groups, who value their privacy highly. Have the slightest inclination that me or you, talk to much, know too much, what do you think they would do?”

  Jasper stared at the sky but it had sunk in. “It would be a repeat of Orre.”

  Kai: “exactly, neither one of us wants that, now let’s get some sleep? These mortal shells of ours need rest.” He turned around.

  Jasper finally could wait no longer. ”Do you regret it?”

  Kai: “Regret what?” A slight annoyed grumble in his voice that Jasper enjoyed.

  Jasper: “What you did to Sara.” Jasper couldn’t hold back a slight bit of venom but also sadness. For better or worse she had been his first crush.

  Kai turned his face to Jasper. “Never but if it makes you feel any better, she would have killed you too.”

  Jasper scoffed. “Liar, come on be honest. She attacked out of self defense.”

  Kai chuckled. “That in itself is an oxymoron Jazz, I am not lying. Lying to you would be too bothersome, too much to keep track of once I start, I would gain nothing from that.”

  Jasper felt the blood drain from his face. He hated how he felt the chilling truth settle in regards to Sara’s true nature, he couldn’t accept it, he looked at Yamask. “Are you for real? She, she was going to kill me?” He asked not wanting to know the answer.

  Kai stared at Jasper, for a split second Jasper thought he saw pity, before it turned into his defacto smile. “Again if it makes you feel better, she had us both wrapped around her dainty little finger, I don’t know what she told you or convinced you off. But I spend quite a bit of time back in purgatory trying to figure her out, she lied so often and so well she could fool even the Jennies, except that young Joy back in Blackthorne, we should avoid that area and Vermillion city as well.”

  Jasper didn’t know what to think, neither did he understand what any of it implicated, until his Jynx and Braixen, accessed his memory together and gently showed him, taking him down memory lane, pointing out each inconsistency with Sara’s facial expressions. It didn’t take long for any lingering feelings he still had for Sara to evaporate. The insidious manipulation shown to him by Jynx and Braixen who were sad putting him through this, made it all too real.

  “Did Kai know you would show me?” He asked Jynx & Braixen. They nodded in the mind link.

  Carlos POV.

  Two weeks after the big fight, Carlos was still stuck in Vermillion city, doing the same thing, following the same routine. Except now it was Him, Surge, Mia and a few other trainers. These other trainers were old army buddies of Surge. Infantry men, corporal’s, rough and tough dudes and dudetes that would play ruthless just like Carlos. He was just in the middle of joking about dialing his own ruthlessness back when Surge knocked on the door of the breakroom.

  “Yo Carlos my man you are in trouble. The champion himself, mister Prickpryce is on the line.” Surge walked in and smirked at a startled Carlos.

  Carlos hanging back in his chair on two legs, sipping coffee. lurched forward putting his chair back on 4 feet. Drawing chuckles from the other trainers. Both Loki and Gwen were with him. The other four were training. Gwen was becoming some sort of mascot keeping everyone’s beers cold while Loki fit right in with the somewhat cutthroat type of trainers Surge had gathered.

  “what does that guy want with me?” Carlos asked while getting up and following Surge, returning both his Pokemon.

  ”Someone moves fast. Ive only spoken out about the v3 for a week now.” Carlos thought to himself. This reaction speed, bothered him. He was just one guy talking shit about a product.

  “He wants a word about the theories you’re spreading recently to trainers and someone’s been complaining we make all the other gyms look bad.” Surge sported his shit eating grin.”Giovanni was there. charismatic, bigger than everyone kinda guy, basically telling me between the lines I shouldn’t get too big of an ego, about the rise of the vermilion gym.” He laughed heartily. “Keep it up and I might sit at the same Table as Giovani.“

  ”You are sitting at his table.” Carlos pointed out.

  “Not the major gym table. His table. The unofficial table that anyone of importance, even Oak, has to sit at with Giovanni at the head.”

  ”Im telling you Surge, cut ties with that man, he reeks of subterfuge and shady shit, No one is this good without blood or breaking eggs.”

  Surge outwardly shrugged, an electric tension could be felt, and Carlos was already kicked himself internally. He had once again let his stupid mouth run too far.

  Surge began calmly but his rage was obvious in the undertones of his voice. “Look kid, everybody trusts the guy, hell the Johto, league trusts him. I have my differences with the him but I trust him with my LIFE, he’s my brother in arm. Bloody hell kid, some folk basically attribute the pyrrhic victory Kanto had, to him. He was that instrumental to the war!”

  Silently Carlos fumed but he bit back his thoughts ”Became a god damn billionaire because of it, but everyone fucking refuses to see that!” Carlos was frustrated.

  The blind trust people had in this world was admirable but it was biting him in the ass. Surge hadn’t stopped talking and Carlos tuned back in quickly, lest he miss something crucial.

  ”He saved my ass more than once! So I’m telling you one final time. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Surge had anger in his voice. Real anger was rare for the bombastic loud and brash lieutenant. “And the only reason im not decking you to the floor is because you have proven yourself worthy and trustworthy. Drop this crusade you are on, don’t think I don’t know you have been researching the guy this last week.”

  “I respect Giovanni but he’s a lot more vicious than me. If he heard you talk like this he would make your life miserable, as is his acquired right.” Surge stood stiff like a drill sergeant and Carlos knew he wouldn’t win this battle.

  Carlos held his hands up in surrender. Surge nodded stiffly and snapped back to marching down the hall.

  Surge lead him to a private room with a terminal in the center and closed the door. He pressed a few buttons and the slight hiss told Carlos the room was hermetically sealed. Surge’s Alolan Raichu materialized and hummed as a blue sphere expanded from its invisible third eye, pushing past the walls of the room, providing scrying protection.

  Surge seated Carlos in front of the terminal and sat down behind him. If Carlos didn’t know any better he would think this was an interrogation.

  The screen was already on and an Impatient Pryce was waiting, Giovanni standing behind Pryce. Carlos realized this was the first time he came face to face with the man, the champion who had decided on his fate when he first made contact with humanity.

  He pushed his personal grudge he had against the man to the side. It paled to what he felt for Giovanni. That same arrogant all knowing smile plastered on his face.

  Carlos realized right then and there Giovani had been the one to move in the shadows, responsible for this uncharacteristically fast response, with the ear of the indigo champion league.

  Carlos sighed. He had prepared for this, talked extensively with Oak on how to approach this. Still to be forced to make his move so quickly made him very anxious.

  “Sir Champion, Giovanni.” He gave a small nod to both.

  “Yes, yes I have no need for these pleasantries. As a whisperer you have unique sway, a weight to your words. This means you need be careful what you carelessly spout!” Pryce interrupted him going straight into the grievances he had.

  Carlos nodded at that and hid a big sigh of relief. It had bothered him something fierce, whether or not Giovanni knew he was a star child, at least not officially.

  The way Pryce punctuated the word: whisperer, made it clear his identity was on a strict need to know basis.

  ”I tend to talk about a lot of subjects as a gym trainer what is it specifically you are referring to?” Carlos played dumb.

  Pryce rolled his eyes, “the only subject I would bother calling about! The fact you are telling everyone to stop using the v3 ball and go back to the v1, is spreading like wildfire!

  Only 1 in 20 devon corp factories still produce it, It’s a novelty ball we produce to shut the hippies up! People that didn’t care about the veteran or ace track! the projections of Trainers returning the v3 and the projections of Devon corp losses are devastating!” Pryce was fuming.

  ”We” Carlos thought darkly, fucking Devon corp has him in his pocket, he gets kickbacks and him and the elite don’t look too closely into what a god damn global sized corporation was doing. Carlos had to stop his own dark thoughts from spiraling, he couldn’t afford to say something stupid. He had zero proof whether his new suspicions were true.

  Pryce continued his rant. “Do you have any idea of the ramifications this will have on Devon corp reputation? The losses it will incur and what that will do to the global economy!?” The ice trainer sat back down to cool off, after building up too much heat.

  “May I suggest something?” Carlos said calmly. He could tell his calm response incensed Pryce. Giovanni quipped an eyebrow, mildly amused.

  “What! Would! That! Be!?” Pryce fumed.

  “You are angry. I get that but may I suggest you ask me the right questions instead? For example, how did I draw this wild conclusion and why I am critical of the v3 ball?” Carlos said, he tried to be calm but he was nervous and anxious and it showed. He was surrounded by 3 men who each had a personal team he couldn’t even touch.

  Pryce looked like he was about to explode but he did growl it out. “What made you think to spread this slander against Devon Corp?”

  Carlos was relieved and almost immediately struggled not to start gloating. He was angry at Surge for cussing him out. He was angry at Pryce, angry at Giovanni for abusing the trust of the people of this world. It was the reminder of the danger he was in, that kept his face neutral.

  He didn’t know how far along the project of mewtwo was. If Giovanni suspected him to be anything more than what he was supposed to be, he made no illusions that he would probably end up disappearing. So he spoke as calmly as possible.

  “Allow me to submit some telemetry data.” Carlos connected his Pokedex to the terminal and send over the file containing the telemetry data of his testing with the 3 versions.

  “Did you receive the file?” Carlos asked paying close attention to Giovanni instead of Pryce. The file showed up on their secondary screen. Pryce and Giovanni turned their heads. Giovanni stepped closer and bend over Pryce’s shoulder to take a better look, hiding his facial expressions while looking at the Telemetry Data.

  “This is telemetry data from Pokemon using the same moves over a period of 2 weeks.”

  Giovanni straightened, turned his face back to the terminal and smirked. “What are you trying to tell us Mr Sicada? That you are a diligent trainer? Who carefully monitors each Pokemon he trains?”

  Carlos cursed the situation, he didn’t get a look of Giovanni’s face so he never got a read on his expression. “Can’t win em all.” He thought. He cleared his throat and spoke.

  “I will need to explain my findings so please allow me to explain. This will take a couple of minutes. Also if you can allow me remote access, I prepared a few slides so I can point out my specific findings.”

  The ever so slightly twitch hidden by Giovanni’s hand wiping a loose strand of hair away, made Carlos doubt if he saw something.

  The champions scowl became worse. “Hates losing control.” Carlos noted. “Fine young man but make it quick, my time is far more valuable than yours.”

  Carlos nodded and wasted no time to start the slide show he had prepared. The first slide popping in both their screens.

  “Here it shows the telemetry of me training the same thing over and over with the same 3 Pokemon, side by side. Week one vs week two.

  I also included a telemetry example of Surge’s starter, his Raichu, doing the same exercise once. What’s important to note, for this particular exercise, is the spike of resonance hitting 100% 3 times over a perfect beat of .2 seconds for the exercise to be successful with this move.

  The telemetry is me training these three Pokemon to do the exact same thing as Surge’s Raichu. After 3 weeks all three Pokemon were successful.

  Do you notice the difference between week one and two?”

  Pryce nodded. Giovanni’s Face was unreadable, Surge was breathing down his neck.

  ”Yes it shows that your Pokemon were failing miserably the first week and by the beginning of the second week you changed something because they started making significant improvements around day 2.” Pryce said impatiently.

  Surge bend over Carlos, his face plastered to the screen with the telemetry. Carlos knew, that as an electric specialist trainer he knew these sorts resonance frequency readings, like the back of his hand.

  Surge spoke “Kid this telemetry can’t be right, these Pokemon shouldnt be capable of this, what did you do? How did you do it?” Carlos wanted to smirk but saw Surge going through something emotionally, so he kept his face serious.

  Pryce groaned, “Someone explain this to Me, im not an electric type expert.

  ”The telemetry shows how far allong each electric pokemon is, in chaining the move charge. in rapid succession.” Surge breathed out.

  “It shows them making improvements they shouldn’t be making at their level.” Surge finished.

  “I only made one change during these two weeks and it wasn’t the way I trained them.”Carlos said.

  “Don’t test the Lieutenant’s patience, mister Sicada.” Giovanni said and added. “nor ours.”

  Before Carlos could respond Surge spoke for him, he already saw where this was going. His face was dark. ”he transferred all three from a digit ball to an old v1 model of the basic pokeball, right?” Carlos nodded at that but Carlos had more.

  “I dug up the blueprints for the v1 Pokeball. And from the little I understand, it’s a technological marvel for it’s time. All the specialty balls, the ultra balls and the proto version of the masterball that Devon corp has been talking about for decades, are based on the v1, except for the v2.”

  Giovanni interrupted him. “This is all old news and publicly available. What are you getting at?”

  Carlos clicked the next slide. “Here is the telemetry of my own Personal Cetoddle, who I caught in the ice reserve with a v3. I think you can recognize the telemetry without me telling you what it is Sir.” Carlos concluded, looking at Pryce.

  Pryce nodded. “You were teaching the girl to chain Aurora Veil. However her telemetry shows some progress the first week.” He pointed out. “With a rise in progress the next.” He followed up as he studied the data, he was finally getting invested.

  ”I switched her from a v3 to a v1, after the second week but I did more. I withdrew myself emotionally from her. Stopped guiding her, encouraging her. Gave her basic food only spend the minimum time with her…. Her telemetry still showed a near doubling of resonance, with the move.

  The third week I made it up it to her for neglecting her like that and her resonance shot through the roof, as the next slide will show, take some time to look at the graph but there is more.”

  Everyone got very quiet. Staring at the findings Carlos had made. Carlos gave them a few minutes.

  ”What else did you find?” Giovanni asked flatly, utterly unreadable.

  Carlos took a deep breath. “Every Pokemon from my limited dive in the scientific area of research. Has shown me a Pulse of sorts within their TE.

  TE has a frequency that spikes, bobs and is in rhythm with their own heartbeat. As a trainer, as a human I have my own TE pulse of sorts. The moment A trainer catches a Pokemon with a Pokeball these pulses link up.

  I add a fraction of their TE pulse to mine and i add my pulse to theirs. I had Oak confirm my findings to be sure, since it’s his area of expertise. The v1 does something to speed that process along. However both the v2 and v3 inhibit it. Although the v3 doesn’t inhibit it as much as the v2, for someone who is more sensitive to this inhibition, it’s more noticeable for me.”

  Carlos struggled to not give Giovanni a look, to challenge him.

  “On the next slide you should see the telemetry in regard’s to this bonding process and progress for my Cetoddle. The first week that I trained her while she was still in the v3 ball. The second week in the v1 and the third week in the v1.”

  ”Now im no scientists but those findings are quite damning to the functionality of the v3. I also included the Telemetry for my personal Pawniard and the same telemetry for the electric gym Pokemon. I stopped the process with the gym Pokemon after it became clear they started bonding with me.” Before he finished his last word. Pryce spoke up.

  ”Send me all the raw data immediately young man’” Pryce demanded. Carlos complied.

  The next 10 minutes him and Giovanni went over the telemetry with a fine toothed comb. They talked in tense hushed angry whispers. Surge had started pacing deep in thought, Carlos really didn’t like the deep frown he had on his face.

  Carlos tried to gauge Surge but Surge had his game face on, completely unreadable. Carlos could feel the crackling of the air. The ionization of the oxygen.

  After a while, Giovanni took a step back.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  ”I was wrong about you Mr Sicada, what you have shown and confirmed in triplicate many times over is extremely concerning. I was made to believe the v3 was a continuation of the v1, not the v2. This telemetry proves that without a doubt. I need to make a lot of calls. Someone is going to pay for this.” He hissed and left the room.

  Pryce looked at Carlos sternly. “Show me your Cetoddle, now.”

  Carlos grabbed Gwen’s ball and she materialized in his lap. “Hello Ceeee master~! I wants yummy Toddleeeee! FoOooood!!” Gwen came out with extra, energy.”

  “Hey Gwen! Can you say hi to the human grandpa on the screen?” Carlos responded with the same energy.

  Gwen turned to the screen and happily complied. “CE HELLO TODDLE GRANPA!”

  The microphone got a nasty feedback loop, Pryce groaned and rubbed his ear. “Ah I see those two Cetitan, saddled you with the insufferable one from their progeny. Here let me get a good look, what does Gwen mean? Never heard that name before.”

  “She puts extra effort in making all her ice moves have a streak of pure white. Her name means white, fair and blessed, it’s a name from folklore in Unova if I remember correctly.”

  “She wastes time on that?” The grumpy Ice trainer asked.

  Carlos shrugged. “It reduces the potency of her offense but it adds a tenacity to her defensive moves.”

  Pryce: ”Yea, the Jolly natured ones do tend to add flair to their moves. Quite the challenge to train. What are your plans with her young man?”

  Carlos: ”Well at the time of catching her, I was looking for a defender or stall type Pokemon. Someone that could take anything thrown at them and remain standing. So far, after I switched from v3 to v1 her strides in TE control have been exemplary, frightening even. Her superb talent with Aurora veil is breathtaking.”

  Pryce grumbled at that, “Let me guess, she loves the pretty colors.” Carlos snickered and nodded at that. Pryce gave him a stern look but kept studying the terra whale.

  Gwen Hopped off Carlos lap, doing her hobble waddle around the room checking if there were tasty snacks. Carlos grabbed the camera so Pryce could still see her.

  Pryce: “She is slightly overweight, do not fall prey to their guilt tripping manipulations. My own Cetitan was incorrigible. It’s part of their survival instinct and how they bond. So make sure you are always present when she eats or they will grow distant. It’s good to see your little test of isolating her, has had no ill effects on her. Remember they, are pod animals, like your poochyena and Mankey are. No issues with your Personality compatibility either.”

  With that He hung up. Silence hung in the room. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Surge voice was low.

  ”Tell you what?” Carlos couldn’t hide the sharpness in his voice. He continued.

  ”Truth be told I only just recently finished that presentation and was still mulling it over on how to present it. People don’t like it when someone takes shots at their heroes.” He gave Surge a sad smile.

  “As far as empirical evidence goes, the thesis that I just proposed needs a hell of a lot more testing with other whisperers, most won’t be happy with that prospect. With Pryce and Giovanni putting me on the spot like that, I felt I had no other choice but to spill the beans.”

  Surge scoffed. “You figured it would be a good time to catch Giovanni with his pants down.” Surge’s eyes bore into Carlos.

  ”Hey girl time to go back into the ball. Once I get out of here we are going to get some food.” Carlos spoke to Gwen and she hopped over. Shaking the room with her gleeful bouncing. Carlos returned her and faced Surge.

  Surge hadn’t broken eye contact and was still staring hmm down. Carlos shrugged and nodded. “Yea I’l admit the thought crossed my mind. but I didn’t expect anything to come from it. He’s got way too much plausible deniability lined up for him to trip up that easily, besides no fucking way can I take on the hero of Kanto in my current form, be it reputation or duel.”

  Before Surge could respond, Carlos quickly continued.

  “Tell me Surge. Don’t you think it’s odd how quickly Pryce and Giovanni responded to what Ive been blabbing about? Is it normal for me to talk with less than 30-40 people over a one week period and me getting a call from the champion himself? Just because I talk shit about a product? The response of people to this news means a lot of people were already on the fence. Why single out me?”

  Surge scoffed, “How am I supposed to know what interests Mr PrickPryce?” Surge looked tense at Carlos for a second longer till he relaxed his shoulders and dropped his hands in his pockets

  ”Idk kid now that you put it like that, I agree that it is odd.”

  Carlos wanted to point out again the many red flags Giovanni’s history exhibited that seemed obvious to him. However the way Surge always jumped to Giovanni’s defense, held his tongue.

  “Look you know I will keep digging but I won’t bother you with it unless it’s concrete evidence alright? Right now all I’ve got is suspicious functionality and hearsay of people that Giovanni was involved in the development of the v2, digit ball.”

  Surge looked tense, seemingly thinking things over.

  “What did you call it? Plausible denial?”

  “Plausible deniability.” Carlos corrected.

  “Explain to me like I’m a complete numbskull. Don’t worry, My alolan Raichu’s psychic abilities, were nurtured purely for scrying privacy. You can give me the down and dirty.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

  Carlos glanced over his back and saw the Raichu wave, still glowing. He turned back to Surge and thought over the odd request of Surge.

  ”Well first, say that I am the leader of the underground team in hiding. Since I don’t want my underground members to be caught, and then spill the beans on all my members getting their names plucked from their brain by a Psychic Pokemon.

  I divide them up into cells. Small, fully autonomous groups of people that directly answer to me alone. Through liaisons that use aliases, disguises and that sort of thing. The point is, you layer the information, through a need to know basis with as many layers as possible. So if you catch one member of a cell it only leads to the capture of a cell, not the entire organization.” Carlos took a breath.

  “Second, if I already have a reputation as someone who did well for our region during the war, I make bank on that, I create a network of people that I reward with things they need. I would be your best friend. Especially if I have a horde of assets and money lying around that I don’t want to explain.

  I launder all the spoils of war, through unknowning channels, turning those spoils into lucrative favors that people owe me. Make bank on those favors. Use them for business deals, the works. A foolproof reputation. Everyone trusting me with their best interest, when they become aware of something that might implicate them, you subtly remind them of what you did for them in the past. Tough questions, deflected with half truths and false evidence. You craft a story, one that looks true to everyone involved, including the members of your own organization.”

  Surge sat down. “It’s all just a theory though?” He looked at Carlos. Carlos nodded.

  Surge thought it over. “None of that would work in this world kiddo, law enforcement has Psychic Pokemon and they can do a hell of a lot more then just pluck names from someone’s mind. They can trace people.”

  “Sure, unless this organization has psychic, dark, ghost or well trained fairy types. All capable of hiding such traces.” Carlos retorted. Surge grumbled. They both knew Carlos was right. Neither Dianne or Loki was trained that way but they most certainly could be. Kingambit wasn’t known for subtlety but Mightyena’s, natural hunters, most definitely were.

  Surge sighed. “Alright, fine I’ll bite, show me what you’ve collected so far, don’t pretend you don’t have a slideshow half ready on this.” He grinned.

  Surge POV.

  Surge initially figured he would be able to explain everything away, Carlos came up with.

  But, oh that but.

  Once Carlos got going it wasn’t just some of those half assed tinfoil hat theories you mocked on the internet over a few beers with your drinking buddies.

  No Carlos had dragged a fine tooth comb through every publicly available file and report. Even the discrepancies in Carlos’s logic started making sense once you took in the scope of the whole picture he was painting.

  The Giovanni’s were influential, heck Carlos even extended multiple olive branches to what he considered good business on the Giovanni’s part. But the fact that the Giovanni family had a hand in everything important. Every branch of government, every major company, links with every Gym, not just Kanto but Johto and the orange Islands as well.

  The thought; that he was indeed the boss of the local team in hiding, was a frightening one. Surge had known some star children himself. As a prolific trainer it had been inevitable. Their fundamental lack of trust in people had always stood in stark contrast with the people of this world.

  Secretly he hadn’t been too sad to see them gone for the most part. They reminded him of Jennies far too much.

  Carlos wasn’t the first of their number to throw mud at the Giovanni’s. However Carlos didn’t have the same level of distrust like previous star children. He was a good egg. A rough but fair guy. You knew the guy fully after spending a few weeks together with him. He didn’t hide or hold back who he was. Which made the theory credible to Surge.

  Specifically when Carlos described how, during the war the Giovanni’s rose to success. That was the underlying issue that hooked Surge.

  No one had gained from that war. No one, yet the Giovanni’s did. That proof was irrefutable. Carlos was primarily focused on the monetary gains the Giovanni’s made but Surge saw the real issue hiding in plain sight. The incredible scope of connections and trust, worth their weight in gold, the Giovanni’s, previously obscure, to the renowned number one gym. Surge himself had known part of this rise of course but never had he bothered looking into the whole scope.

  It was one particular rescue mission that not even Carlos gave that much thought, that put the doubt in his mind. Surge knew response times from back in the military like the back of his hand, you had to for your own survival. Especially from Psychic Pokemon. Most war strategies revolved around quick guerrilla tactics based on fooling or distracting the opponents Psychic Pokemon.

  That particular mission early in the war, which was officially attributed to luck, hammered home that things weren’t right.

  Once Surge began paying attention, he noted how meticulous Giovanni’s response times were in each mission and rescue mission he was on. They were completely, bloody perfect, every single one of them. As a gambling man he knew those odds smelled up to high heavens of foul play.

  A dark thought entered his mind. “That fucker was in control of it.” Surge felt himself seethe. He spoke stiffly. “Alright I think Ive seen enough.” He sighed and let out his rage. Rage he hadn’t felt in forever. “Look I get what you are saying but you know you need to come at this with way more than what you have right? As a gym leader I can’t assist you openly with this either. That could lead to a civil unrest the indigo league will crack down. on regardless of if you are right.”

  Carlos shrugged, seemingly unbothered and smiled. “To be honest I’m glad someone is actually taking this serious. I found it really odd how there isn’t even a hint anywhere, with someone suspecting foul play with the Giovanni’s. Not even with those tinfoil hat theory forums. Heck they speculate wildly on Oak, yet nothing on the entire Giovanni Family.”

  “They have access to an ace Psychic trainer or several for that matter.” Surge thought while shrugging to what Carlos said.

  “Just another why on the list of questions.” He thought.

  Surge spoke: “Yea that is weird, those idiots love to spout nonsense on anyone. Heck they have a few threads on you too.”

  Carlos: “I know, read the one where they speculate I’m half primeape?” Carlos grinned.

  Surge rolled his eyes. “Ffs you would think people have better things to do.” He gave Carlos a side long glance who shrugged at the irony.

  Surge: “You have given me something to think on. Why don’t you take the rest of the week off? Spend some time with your lass and Pokemon?”

  Carlos looked up, his excitement plain to see but he schooled his expression. “You sure?” He asked in that stupid professional tone unbefitting of an 18 year old.

  “Of course I’m sure. You ain’t the only one who can kick some rookies ass. Why do you think I hired all that half assed scum?”

  He grinned. The folks he hired weren’t exactly on the up and up and not the brightest. Greasing their palms with a few Pokedollars was easy. A lot cheaper than Carlos’s involvement with his bootleg operation.

  Carlos: “Well I appreciate it boss. I’ve been wanting to take Dianne and Gawain on a hunt to get them the push they need.”

  Surge: “See if the rangers have a wild Pokemon that needs taking care of. The forests around big cities are always overpopulated, so there is bound to be a problem Pokemon people and Pokemon wouldn’t mind disappeared.”

  Surge waved at his Alolan Raichu, who was grateful he could finally drop the scrying shield. He looked exhausted. Surge caught the apologetic look Carlos gave her.

  Carlos got up and was about to leave. “Hey don’t do anything stupid you hear? I meant what I said. Giovanni’s a hero but he’s not known to be the forgiving kind. He will make issues for you if you are too obvious with your crusade.” Surge called after him.

  Carlos looked over his shoulders and smirked. “I know when to run with my tail between my legs.” He waved and left the room. Surge grinned but his face fell back to a stern and dark expression. He took a deep breath. “Carlos is far more cautious in nature than his reckless facade lets on boss.” His Alolan Raichu communicated.

  “Good, he will need to be.” Surge grumbled.

  Carlos POV.

  Walking to the field all his Pokemon were training, he was glad to catch them right in the middle of it. Kong was fighting both Loki and Jackie who were extremely frustrated with Kong’s smug superior attitude.

  Although completely deserved. Kong was running circles around them. Carlos noted with pride how the now very large angry furball was leveraging every single aspect of himself, every advantage. And although either Jackie or Loki could match him here or there he made sure it never mattered. It wasn’t just statistics. It was experience. Kong had way more real tough fights under his belt than them combined.

  Next was Dianne fighting Gawain. Although Dianne had him occupied with shadow clones, Gawain was smart. Learning Safeguard completely changed the game. He knew that Dianne would soon be begging him for Disable. The only way one could block safeguard.

  Both safeguard and disable made Pokemon moves more of a chess game than anything. As far as Carlos was concerned everyone needed those moves. Or encore. He sighed again.

  Kicking noobs to the curb was fun. And his three main Pokemon flipped the bird at the established meta.

  He still saw the need for the long list of required meta moves, that were circulating around the web. Constantly hammered on by veteran and ace trainers.

  “Alright good news. We are going to look for a hunting job to give both Dianne and Gawain the Push they need in order to evolve.”

  Dianne and Gawain perked up at that. Everyone came rushing at Carlos asking for details.

  “Look guys I just got some time of from uncle Surge. I don’t know what we will hunt but this will be just a hunt with me, Dianne and Gawain. Sorry Kong but this needs to be a challenge. If you help it’s simply a hunt for food.”

  Kong was obviously upset. He liked hunting. So were Loki and Jackie. Gwen like usual didn’t mind either way. All she heard was they were gonna get wild food.

  “Furthermore, Dianne, you will be the pack leader for this hunt. You will also pick from the available jobs at the ranger center ok?”

  That got everyone quiet, even Gwen. Dianne had an unreadable expression and stood perfectly still. For a few seconds then nodded her head. “If you believe that is necessary then yes I will.” She was hesitant yet excited.

  “I do, I believe it’s necessary for you.” Obviously we will do something similar for you two once we get to that point. Work diligently and you will get there.” Carlos was looking at Loki and Jackie. “Gawain and Dianne are not better than you two. They are simply further along the path. Remember that.”

  “Yes boss.” They said simultaneously.

  Carlos returned everyone except Gwen. She needed the exercise. They took a half hour walk to get out of the city. Walking through the city gate was still something to get used to. Walls functioned primarily as a deterrent for wild Pokemon. Letting them know this was human territory. They walked further towards the rangers trading post a few miles north of Vermillion, Rookie trainers could still challenge them but even Gwen who was the least competitive was too much for most rookie Pokemon at this point.

  “So Gwen, we don’t talk as much as I would like. What are your thoughts so far. As a member of my, our, team I mean.” Carlos asked, matching her waddle pace.

  “It’s great snack man! Everyone feeds me lots of snacks! Lots of work though, making all the bottles of Surgydoo, all glistening.”

  “How is your training? Do you feel like you are getting stronger?” Carlos was struggling in the reverse with Gwen vs Loki. Loki had required quite a bit of talking to figuring things out, for him to find his groove.

  “It’s good. Big-sis is very strict, always tells me what to do and that is good. I don’t know how to train, like everyone else.” She happily responded.

  Gwen on the other hand was always naturally happy. Besides a ton of food. She was almost always content. The only time she pouted or felt hurt was with angsty teenagers, yelling foul when Gwen knocked their Pokemon about. After learning her triple combo she hadn’t learned much but browsing the ice specialist forums hadn’t done much. Ice types needed a strong hand which Carlos and Co were but still, it seemed that Cetoddles learned new moves a lot slower than the average Pokemon .

  Besides a bit of small talk and the big girl wandering all over the place, saying hi to the oddish, slowpokes next to the river, the psyducks and the mareep in the fields that covered the hill sides.

  Carlos and Gwen didn’t really talk about big stuff. Once they got to the trading post, Carlos nodded at the lone Ranger on guard duty. A lazy Electrivire lounging next to her and walked straight to the notice board. Both Gwen and Gawain popped out and Gwen went back in the ball.

  After a good ten minutes of scouring the many notifications of dangerous Pokemon to be avoided and Carlos translating. Dianne’s gaze rested on a piece of paper that contained information on a nasty Drapion that had attacked humans and had gone out of its way to hurt and injure them.

  In these civilized areas there was an unwritten rule, stay out of pokemon territory and big and strong Pokemon won’t be too much of a nuisance to human trainers sticking to the road.

  This particular Drapion was recently classified as lethally dangerous. Although peace love and happiness was the primary currency for this world. Not everyone agreed. In order to keep the peace. Both Pokemon and human kept eachother in check. No one wanted a repeat of the dark ages.

  A time where Pokemon and human were at war with one another. Or that was the theory at least. Many weapons of incredible mass destruction were made. His personal Pokemon didn’t know much about it but Oak’s Alakazam had talked a bit about it.

  “This one then? From the info this one might be quite the tough one, his poison dark combo is specifically nasty.” Carlos asked and looked at Dianne.

  Dainne was quiet and mulled the info over. Asked Carlos to repeat certain parts of the reports of survivors. After a few minutes she nodded. “The three of us should be able to take it on. Unless you don’t want to hunt alpha.”

  Carlos thought about it. He had brought his trusty bow and scyther chopping knives. He smiled. He was exhilarated to go hunting again. He looked over the notifications and saw one for a Belligerent Ursaring. From what he could reverse calculate it would be a fierce opponent it was a cub-less, female that had harassed everyone close to the roads. It was in the same direction as the Drapion and picked that job up as well. Just in case his team felt like they could.

  He wasn’t sure though. He had always made himself scarce when it came to Ursarings. They were the yang to the Yin of Tyranitars. Tyranitars were chill but lethally dangerous if you pissed them off. Ursaring’s had a bone to pick with everything and were always pissed off. The notification also classified her as a lethal danger. Which meant they were allowed to hunt it.

  He tucked it in his pocket. That was a big maybe. First the Drapion. He ran it by the Ranger and said he would scout the Ursaring but not engage and the Ranger nodded. She did warn him that the Ursaring was quite a bit more hardened than the Drapion so she cautioned him on approaching her. No one was able to get close to her before she raged and went on a rampage.

  “Look I’ve heard about what you did with the Cetitan in the ice habitat. Now this Ursaring isn’t near that level but Ursaring are as short tempered as primeape and far more dangerous to boot. They don’t just attack cuz they are pissed like mankey and Primeape. They attack with the intent to kill.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. I am not planning on facing her at all. Just have a feeling I should check it out.”

  The female ranger smirked. “Don’t think I don’t see those empty balls on your belt.”

  Carlos smiled and pulled one of his scyther chopping knives out of its holster. “Ive seen firsthand what an annoyed Ursaring does, I have no intention of tussling with what sounds like a frenzied berserking one.”

  The ranger nodded and held out her hand and Carlos shook it. “The name is Rosalie, let me know how you handle that drapion once you are done yea? Lets exhange numbers so you can call me if you need anything. There are Rangers out and about and I can be at the last known location of that Drapion with my Kilowattrel within about 20 minutes if I push her to the limit so keep that in mind. Got your antidotes and healing sprays?”

  Carlos showed her his selection of potions and she nodded. “Yea that should be good enough. happy hunting.”

  Carlos waved her goodbye and he set a brisk pace. “Whenever you are ready to talk strategy girl, this is your hunt.”

  Dianne and Gawain began talking and Carlos followed the conversation. Tracking the Drapion wasn’t difficult. It almost seemed like it wanted to be found. It didn’t take long for the group to hear an unearthly screech. And pitiful gurgling cry.

  Dianne, Gawain began sneaking diagonally. Everyone knew what to do. Everyone else on standby in their Pokeballs.

  Carlos controlled his breathing. Silently he stalked through forest following the faint traces of their prey. Slowly Carlos, Gawain and Dianne inched forward, each from a different angle, they knew eachother well enough to know what each of them would do.

  Carlos trusty bow in hand knocked and ready. The arrow wreathed in fighting TE, Gawain hiding close to him. After his double fight with the Pupitar and Magcargo, Carlos knew the stout badger didn’t need much more of a push to evolve. He could barely contain his excitement, soon he would have two more Pokemon that had reached their second stage.

  He wondered if either one of them would awaken their hidden ability. Ever since Kong evolved, finding him a challenge had proven to be a challenge. His anger point ability in combination with his multitude of moves all serving the purpose to keep him punching and kicking, made for a very difficult Pokemon to deal with.

  Trick room had proven to be the trickiest Move to deal with so far. Exchanging Kong’s reflex and speed with those from the Psychic Pokemon, psychic had a few popular moves that circumvented defiance. Although super annoying, it was a difficult move and Kong was still able to punch his way to the top. Psychic was definitely going to be a growing problem for both his Fighter Pokemon. Not because of the typing advantage but mainly because of the dizzying array of utility moves both Psychic and fairy had.

  The Drapion was feasting on a dead Wigglytuff.

  Dianne gave them the signal to make the first move. He drew his bow, using his dark TE to mask his own sound and TE signature. It wasn’t shadow sneak, not by a long shot but good enough to get the drop on an unsuspecting Pokemon.

  Bow fully drawn he took a split second to center himself everything, sound, visual smell dropped off, it was just him his bow, arrow and target. The moment he let go of his bowstring the arrow blasted forward utterly silent.

  Both Gawain and Dianne jumped into action. Peppering Drapion with swift. Both had sneaked closer, Gawain used one of his double team illusions to step on a branch and just as Drapion’s head lurched up at the sound, Carlos Arrow dug deep inbetween two plates of Drapion’s exoskeleton. It screeched a horrifying unearthly sound and immediately spewed a noxious cloud that was laced with Dark typing, combining the effects of Dark pulse with the poisonous cloud simultaneously shooting a variant of twin needles with dozens of needles firing in multiple directions.

  Dianne immediately used both safeguard and Recovery, both moves unclassified, circumventing disabling moves, allowing her to use moves normally and removing the poison, however both her Shadow clones dissipated and she was forced out of the Shadows.

  Carlos fired 2 more Arrows keeping Drapion on the backfoot.

  Gawain rushed forward with quick attack and pelted Drapion with firequills and stayed out of range beginning to belch out incendiary smoke in the meantime, surrounding Drapion with it.

  Dianne rushed forward combining quick attack with chomping down her fangs into where she assumed was Drapion’s jugular with normal TE, akin to hyperfang, timing it perfectly with both Gawain and Carlos’s actions which momentarily flinched him.

  The pain of her ad hoc Hyperfang, snapped him back and his venomous claws clamped painfully into Dianne. Carlos wasted no time in peppering Drapion with arrows, one pierced its glassy eye, but Drapion didn’t let up both his powerful claws sinked into Dianne, he could hear her whimper, she was using endure but her TE dropped fast.

  He rushed forward, both detect and counter active, increasing his speed tremendously, jumping to Dianne’s rescue and leapt onto Drapion’s back, ignoring the poisonous barbs poking into him. Both his scyther Kukri’s in hand, blades wreathed in fighter TE, he wildly stabbed and sliced into Drapion. Ripping and tearing, The blades piercing its exoskeleton, chunks of it chipped off. Gawain Rammed into Drapion with flame wheel. Toppling Drapion over.

  All of which happened within a mere second. Dianne thrashed and ripped into his Jugular, fighting the pain doubling down on chomping down. Drapions claws lost their grip on Dianne as it tried to prevent itself from falling over. Gawain ripped a piece of exoskeleton off Drapions underbelly and blasted the exposed flesh with a continuous gout of blue flames.

  Drapions screeched out in defiance. The pain overwhelming him. Dianne took the opportunity to plant her paws into his chest and began pulling, ripping part of Drapion’s throat out. This proved to be too much for Drapion who was still getting stabbed repeatedly by Carlos and seared black by Gawain. A pitiful gurgling was the last sound Drapion made before it slumped over.

  Carlos quickly ran over to his dropped backpack for the antidote and a potion. He chugged his own and right as he turned around he witnessed the white light of evolution overtake both Gawain and Dianne.

  He smiled in relief as he observed them grow quite a bit. He was somewhat sad that Dianne still wasn’t quite large enough to let him ride her. Still she was huge for her level and age. A testament to her strength and tenacity.

  Unique Hidden ability unlocked!

  Ancestral Matriarch.

  Both leader and maternal caregiver, has made you capable of leading those in need inspiring those you consider Kin. Your howl is upgraded to give all your allies a +4 to all their stats. Each time you howl your allies reduce the intensity of their next move by 1, for the next 6 seconds.

  You push yourself way beyond what is normal. You can invoke a wild hunt once a day. When you do. You and your allies create a shadow clone, this shadow clone has half the TE and HP of its counterpart. Additionally at the start of a new day you may switch out 2 moves as cardinal.

  It was an incredible ability. Completely broken in Carlos opinion. It did something no one in this world was capable of Every Pokemon in this world required at least a month to alter 1 move into a cardinal move, and that was with simple moves. This lead to most trainers keeping predominantly buffing moves as cardinal.

  Furthermore she had upgraded bite into crunch but it got further upgraded into rip&tear. Additionally she had learned Hyperfang an advanced normal move that belonged in the same cardinal domain as Bite.

  “How you feeling Girl? Your wounds OK? He got you pretty good back there.”

  Dianne

  Gawain.

  Sassy: Although you may miss some of the brawn of your kin, Sassy nature gives you a more technical strength with all your offensive moves. You have quite the mouth on you too and a naughty streak.

  “I misjudged it’s speed and something about his pin needles removed all of my preparation with hone claws. But other then that I am fine. I feel great even! Ready to sink my fangs into prey!” She growled almost maniacally.

  Carlos smiled. He understood she was on a bit of a high. “Well you know my rule, waste not want not. First we feast on this guy. Drapion once you roast the meat should be a bit of a delicacy.”

  Dianne realized she was panting for more blood and did some of ber breathing exercises to calm down. “Of course alpha I apologize, i let myself get carried away.”

  Carlos smiled again, letting his own dark thoughts leak out. “I would be lying if i didn’t feel the same way girl but we have to stay in control.”

  The rest of his team finally decided it was time to come out. Both Kong and Loki came out of their balls with a sour expression. Still moping they hadn’t been allowed to participate. “Hey none of that you two. I told you before that this hunt was for the chief purpose of gaining the evolution for both Dianne and Gawain. Be happy for them.”

  “I am, think nothing of it boss-mon, just my greed for a good challenge. This one seemed a little tough.” Kong gently kicked the now dead Drapion.

  “Just impatient for my own evolution boss-king, I can handle the indignity for now.” Loki was better at hiding his displeasure.

  “This one would hardly be a challenge for you.” Jackie their newest member drawled, looking at Kong. Measuring up both Dianne and Gawain. He looked at Carlos. “Rarely do I see a trainer fight with their Pokemon. You are the second one.”

  “Bruno the other?” Carlos asked while he was checking Dianne to make sure she was ok. The evolution had healed her wounds.

  He looked at Gawain, checking him out.

  Pyromancer.

  All your fire moves and solar moves ignore an additional 25% of an opponents defense. You may master 3 additional fire or Solar TE as cardinal moves. You are capable of molding fire as you see fit. Giving you much greater flexibility and control with the flame.

  Gawain had a huge shift, his nature had changed to sassy. His body elongated compared to the more cuddly shape Cyndaquil’s had. He was calm but a fierceness was flickering in his eyes. His stuttering that he had from time to time was gone. Gwen was happily asking him questions and he gave clear concise answers.

  Carlos was happy. His three main Pokemon each broke the mold of defender, wallbreaker or speedster, in their own way.

  Carlos approached to Gawain. “You looking a lot more sure of yourself Gawain. I can see that you have a pretty cool ability now.

  “Cool does not begin to describe how it feels. Uncle.” He grins. “Another fire type might have been offended by that statement. To answer the question. It feels like chains, I wasn’t aware of, have been removed and something blocking my inner fire is now gone.” To get his point across he sparked a flame into existence and let it dance. Carlos System registered the move as Will o Wisp. A ghost/fire move. The casualness that Gawain showed with bringing a move into existence was quite something.

  He had a whole bunch of new moves in repertoire.

  Dig, Flame Thrower, Inferno, mystical fire, overheat Solar blade and Solar Flare.

  They got to work and build a fire to bake the Drapion. As they were all waiting for their meals. Huddled around their fire. Carlos looked around and smiled. “It sounds strange but I missed this. The hunt, the feast after.”

  He sighed. And looked up at the starry sky. “It’s strange how I missed this, being part of nature like this, we just hunted a living thing, we will eat it, or it could have eaten us. That used to freak me out. Now, now I know I am part of it, the cycle.” He looked at his Pokemon, all wearing various expression’s but mostly of understanding.

  ”URSARING! HOW I AGREE!”

  Carlos would not be able to tell you what it was that made him turn on a dime and use Scary face. Detect and quick guard all at once. It’s what saved his life, blocking the charging Ursaring, from using one of its moves that would splatter him in a heartbeat. The Ursaring crashed through the trees and slammed into him. It was a basic quick attack but done by a massive raging Bear.

  His team a split moment later exploded into action. Dianne Initiated her wild hunt howling in rage somehow offsetting Intimidate and shadow clones shimmered into existence for everyone.

  Including Carlos. The wild Carlos clone kept spamming Scary face but the Ursaring began using Safeguard. Gwen and her Clone jumped in front of Carlos desperately using Dance off, trying to occupy the raging Ursaring. Gawain, Jackie and their wild Clones used double team creating a dizzying amount of illusions to distract the Ursaring. Who swiped left and right splintering trees like toothpicks.

  The moment Wild hunt was initiated Dianne and her wild clone both used shadow clones

  Kong Roared healing Carlos but his bones were still fractured and slammed a Brick break into the Ursaring’s Jaw. Somehow tapping into the debilitating pain Carlos felt, triggering bide as well.

  Everyone else did significantly less damage but it didn’t matter 12-14 vs one was far too much. Even a fully stacked steel defense and constant endure and for the first time Protect. Fully blocking damage. However the barrage of foul plays. Assurance Thunder punch. And whatever else everyone fancied. The Ursaring was getting ripped to shreds. Pummeled into the dirt and fried and seared by lighting and white hot fire. Even Gwen was enraged.

  Carlos got up and grabbed one of his scyther glaives and stumbled towards the nearly dead Ursaring. She looked at him with wild savage defiance even at death’s door. He impaled her throat.

  it didn’t take long for Ursaring to whimper and die.

  Carlos immediately grabbed a healing potion and sprayed himself while sending Surge, Rosalie and Corey a message of his whereabouts and situation.

  ”Fuck I’m going to be sore for a week.”

  Dianne came come over. ”That’s the least of your problems.”

  Carlos grinned painfully. ”Tell me about it, she’s going to nag me about this for months.”