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Cheap Shot

A Team Rocket grunt has been camping out on Route 1, right outside of Pallet Town lately. They've been ambushing new trainers just stepping out of Pallet Town, challenging them to a battle, and taking their Pokemon by force after beating them. Or, they can pay a fee and go by unharmed. Regardless they can't be allowed to do this. Go to Route 1 and beat that grunt and give the stolen Pokemon back to their rightful trainers.

Objective:
---Beat the Rocket Grunt and get the Pokemon back.

Opposition:
---Wild Pokemon in the area probably, like Rattata and Pidgey.
---The Rocket Grunt, they have two Pokemon, a Koffing and Ekans.

Pokemon:
---You may catch a wild Pokemon or snag one from the grunt.

Rewards:
---3x Snag Coins and varies from there.

~*~

"Good morning," I heard Keiko say in almost a singsongy voice as I entered the main lobby. I didn't sleep well last night, so I wasn't nearly as cheery in my response. "...mornin'."

"Are you okay? You sound like you're still tired..." she asked, clearly worried about me.

"I'll be alright," I told her. "I just need a few minutes to wake up more."

"Okay, she shrugged, before taking a bite from her plate. "There's breakfast in the kitchen. Not sure who made it, though," she offered after swallowing, too polite to talk with her mouth full.

I nodded and headed that way, seeing the bacon and eggs, biscuits and gravy, and other such foods laid out once I got there. After sniffing them to make sure that none of them were made from Pokemon parts (a big pet peeve of mine), I made a plate and headed back to the lobby to set it down next to Keiko's. Instead of eating, however, I kept walking. I took a folder from a nearby locker before sitting down at the table, and ate as I perused its contents.

'What's that?" Keiko asked, taking interest in the papers I was reading.

"Missions," I told her, flipping a page or two as I passed over some missions that were currently out of my league due to the freshly-caught state of what pokemon I had. "Ones that Sub feels are too easy for the whole team to take down."

I stopped as I said this, with a mixture of egg, bacon, and gravy in my mouth. A mission had caught my eye, and made my blood boil. "Spawn camping? Really?" I huffed. Deciding to go with this mission, I set it aside and put the rest away in its folder, planning on putting it back in the locker when I was done eating.

"Spawn what?" Keiko asked, before grabbing the sheet of paper I'd left out and reading it. "I don't get how some people can be so mean," she added with a bit of a pout.

"Just the world we live in I guess," I muttered, sighing with my mouth closed.

"Well, it's just one person, so you should be able to handle it," she said, grabbing the folder for herself.

I finished my meal quickly and left the lobby, hunting down the team's Claydol so I could catch a ride to Pallet Town.

~*~

My stay in Pallet Town was short lived, as I 'landed' short of the entrance to Route 1 and could hear someone shouting in that direction. It wasn't long before I found someone dressed in a Team Rocket uniform heckling some ten-year-old girl.

"Okay, kid," the obvious grunt said, pretty calm despite the yelling I heard a few short moments ago. "You lose, so I get your Pokemon."

"I'm not giving you Squirtie!" the girl said, clearly confused and maybe even a little scared. I'm not all that good at reading people, honestly.

"Who said anything about give?!" the grunt laughed. "I'm -taking- it! And don't think my buddy Koffing, here, will let you keep it from me!"

"P-pokemon can't hurt humans!" the girl yelled, unfortunately mistaken about that.

"How about we test that theory," the grunt retorted with a malicious grin, one that vaguely reminded me of a certain musclebound psychopath.

"Or you could bugger off!" I roared, releasing my Ralts from its Pokeball.

"Who are you?" the grunt huffed. "Get out of here before my Pokemon make mince meat out of you!"

"Team Snagem sends its regards. Use Disarming Voice!" I responded, causing my Ralts to release its hauntingly beautiful cry to the grunt's Koffing - with surprisingly limited effects!

"Heheheh. And that's why I love rookies. Dunno what's effective or not! Hit it with a Smog, Koff!" the grunt ordered. Unfortunately, he knew more about Fairy-types than I did, as my Ralts took significant damage from Koffing's attack - more than I thought a weak move like that was capable of.

I pushed my glasses against my face in rage, not about to let this random douchebag insult my intelligence of all things. "Fine. But I know for a fact that Poison-type Pokemon like that Koffing can't handle Psychic-type attacks. Hit it with your Confusion attack!"

My Ralts stared at the ball of gas, focusing its fledgling psychic abilities into a warped and twisted ray of Celestial Chi that not only damaged the Poison Gas Pokemon - it also confused it. The Koffing decided it wasn't nearly close enough to the ground at this point and dove right in - knocking itself out in the process.

"Bah, friggin' smarty-pants," the Rocket grunt grumbled. "I ain't done! Come on out, Ethan!"

As the Ekans was released from its Pokeball, the grunt smirked. "This one's fresh. Let's see your baby doll take him on."

"Fine. Use another Confusion, Ralts," I told it. It was happy to comply, although the grunt was quick to respond with a Poison Sting that... unfortunately scored a critical hit.

"Gotcha!" the grunt cheered. Knowing my back was against the wall, I decided to discard what I learned at the Striaton Gym for the moment and fall back to my old habit of battling defensively.

"Okay, use Double Team, and keep moving afterward. Dodge as much as you have strength," I told my Ralts. It cooed in agreement, and soon enough the Ekans was swarmed with psychokinetic copies of Ralts.

"Friggin' cheatin'..." the grunt muttered to himself. "Poison Sting!", he added, causing the Ekans to spit kind of a fang of whatever chi went into Poison-type moves. Fortunately, it missed this time.

"Okay, -now- use Confusion," I told my Ralts, which seemed to emit a twisted Psychic-type beam from each copy, although somehow I could tell that only the 'real' Ralts was emitting enough energy to hurt the Ekans.

"Come on, keep trying!" the grunt roared, apparently feeling backed into a corner himself. Unfortunately, I could tell that the 'real' Ralts had been struck this time, and its body became coated with a kind of purple energy - it had been Poisoned.

I cursed under my breath, wishing I had an item that could cure poison. "Just keep trying, Ralts," I told it, hoping against hope that I would come out on top of this battle. Fortunately, the tides turned, and this Confusion wracked the Ekan's mind, leaving it Confused as well.

"Oh, no, you don't!" the grunt cursed, whipping a Persim Berry out of some pouch on his belt and force-feeding it to his Ekans. "I'm not letting Ethan fall to that same trap.

"Ra la!" My Ralts shouted, emiting one last Celestial beam. This one was too much to handle, and the Ekans passed out, unable to battle further.

"Oh, COME ON!" the grunt shouted. "Who brings a friggin' PSYCHIC to a Poison battle anyway!? That's not fa-"

The grunt never saw my fist coming. "Like I'm about to argue fairness with a friggin' spawn camper," I huffed.

"Spawn what?" the girl I'd almost forgotten was there asked.

"Nevermind. Release your Squirtle for a moment," I told her, taking a Revive from my duffle bag. Wasn't hard to determine what her Pokemon was from its nickname, given the region we were here.

Her Squirtle cheered happily once its fighting power was restored, and the girl smiled her thanks as well. "Thank you," she said before recalling her Squirtle. "I don't want to think what would have happened if you hadn't come along."

"He would have stolen your only Pokemon and you wouldn't be able to catch any others, not having a Pokemon to weaken a wild one with." I almost continued, detailing how she'd be unable to take the region's Gym Challenge, but I decided that was enough detail. "Anyway, have you been able to train your Squirtle any before getting ran over by that... person?" I asked, resisting the urge to curse.

"No, he pretty much ran up on me as I entered the route," she admitted.

Yup, spawn camper, I thought, realizing that I didn't really know where I heard that term before, myself. Probably during my Academy days? Oh, well. "Come on, I'll walk you to Viridian City. If your Squirtle has any problems with the wild Pokemon of the route, I'll help you out. Got any Pokeballs?"

"Yeah, Professor Oak gave me a few," she told me.

"Good," I replied simply.

~*~

We actually spent much of the time in the Route talking, with me telling her of my school days, my original starter, and my time in my short-lived Unova badge run, naturally leaving out the shady details like losing to the Striaton Gym Leaders my first time through, my year-long coma, and trying as much as I could to not talk about Snagem at all.

As we closed in on Viridian City, my charge got distracted by a Pidgey that flew in front of us, landing on a ledge. As the girl awed at the Pidgey's 'prettiness', I started to reach for my Academy Pokedex. However, realizing it wasn't there, I went for my SNAG instead. "Let your Squirtle out of its ball."

"Why?" the girl asked, probably thinking I sensed another Rocket Grunt.

"Because I'm going to show you how to catch a Pokemon," I told her.

As she released her Squirtle, I looked up its information in my SNAG. "Okay, because Squirtle is a Water-type, Water-type moves do more damage than other type moves when Squirtle uses them. It's kind of like a same-type attack bonus. So hi- ...her Water Gun will do the most damage for now."

"Okay. Use Water Gun, Squirtie," the girl said. The Squirtle happily puked a stream of water at the Pidgey, causing it to flap its wings to get away. It mostly dodged the attack, although its wings were a bit drenched for its trouble.

"Try it again," I told her. "It can't dodge every attack."

"Okay, try again, Squirtie," she replied. The Squirtle was successful in its use of Water Gun this time, but the unhappy Pidgey responded with a Gust that hit rather hard, if the distance Squirtle was flung was any indication.

"Seems like this Pidgey is pretty strong. It's good to try to catch Pokemon that have more strength than the ones you have, after factoring out type advantages and/or disadvantages."

"Keep going, Squirtie!" the girl cheered, apparently taking my advice to heart.

The Squirtle was once again accurate in its attack, but this time it got hit a little too hard - a result from the Pidgey's tackle. It had a hard time getting back up, which left its trainer worried.

"Squirtie!" the girl cried, running over to her Pokemon to make sure the Water-type was okay.

"Go ahead and call her back," I told her, reaching for my Fletchling's ball.

"But-"

"Trust me," I told her, releasing the Flying-type. "Okay, start out with Agility to get an edge."

The Fletchling responded by seemingly darting all over the place, getting that little bit faster every time it changed direction. The Pidgey tried to respond with an attack, but Fletchling darted past it, only to change course again and collide into it with a Tackle.

"Go ahead and use a Pokeball," I told the new trainer. "It should be close to fainting."

Despite her obvious nervousness, she complied, and we both watched the ball rock with bated breath.

I almost went deaf when she screeched with joy once the ball stopped rocking. She continued cheering at top volume about her first victorious capture. It was annoying, but I couldn't blame her. I was very happy, myself, when I first held Sunny's ball...

~*~

Upon reaching Viridian City, my charge thanked me once again for my help, and I led her to the city's Pokemon Center where both of our Pokemon could be healed up - as Ralts had fainted from the poisoning by now. As she left northward after that, I made my way to the city's police station, where I reported the Rocket grunt's actions and gave the cops directions as to where he could be found. I hit him pretty hard, but I couldn't be sure he'd still be there when they found him, so once they left to pursue the suspect, I contacted GRAY and had him Claydolport me back to HQ, all the while wistfully hoping that my Ralts would learn Teleport soon.

~*~

MISSION COMPLETE!

Objective: Successfully protected a new trainer from the theivery of a Rocket Grunt, even helped her catch her first Pokemon and led her to the next city and its Pokemon Center.

Opposition: Fought a Rocket Grunt and his Koffing and Ekans, weakened a Pidgey so the new trainer could capture it.

Pokemon: Received a Bulbasaur egg from the trainer's mentor.

Sub-Approved Reward: 3x Snag Coins and 3 EVs for Rala.

Sparring Partner Wanted

The Fighting Dojo in Saffron City is having a bit of a problem. They have a group of young Tyrogue they've been attempting to train but one specific Tyrogue seems to refuse to participate. They usually have each of the Hitmons spar with a Tyrogue and teach it its way of fighting so that it may evolve into a master of its art, like its self. Unfortunately this one Tyrogue refuses to spar with any of the Hitmons and simply stands behind and watches. The dojo is asking for any trainer to come to the dojo and try to get this Tyrogue active, maybe use your own Fighting type to teach it how to fight its self. Who knows, maybe it will bond with you and wish to join your team.

Objective:
---Get the lone Tyrogue to fight.

Opposition:
---You may have to fight with some of the other Tyrogue in order to show the loner Tyrogue that you aren't weak.

Pokemon:
---None, the loner Tyrogue might join you though.

Rewards:
---2x Snag Coins and varies from there.

~*~

After finding a mission that peaked her interest, Keiko managed to talk GRAY into having Claydol Teleport her to Saffron City's Pokemon Center, from which she made the trek to the city's Fighting Dojo uneventfully, though she couldn't help but stop to notice the Silph Co. building, remembering that my father worked there. She had meant to talk to him about his conclusion about the validity of the birth certificate she'd carried on her for years, but decided against it. It was his interferenced that allowed her to date me to begin with. Besides that, bothering him at work wasn't a very good idea. To make things worse, she didn't know if my father even knew that we were together, let alone that she became a hybrid. After deciding that not enough good would come of it, she passed by the Silph Co. building and continued making her way to the Fighting Dojo.

She was welcomed at the door by an attendant, who bowed humbly before her before speaking. "What can I help you with, Miss?"

Keiko wasted no time getting to the point. "You guys have a Tyrogue that won't fight, right? I was sent to help you with that," she fibbed slightly, as she came here of her own volition.

"Oh, you're from that group," the attendant blurted out, bowing again as an apology. "Please, follow me."

Keiko followed the attendant into the dojo, but was asked to wait next to the door while he fetched the sensei of the dojo. Keiko looked around while she waited - there were a lot of people around - only a few students taking a lesson from who she assumed was the sensei, and many others training themselves and their Pokemon, though there were too many Tyrogues for all of them to have a Trainer. This was expected, since the misson briefing stated that the dojo trained Tyrogues and helped them evolve. As she recalled that fact, Keiko noticed a Tyrogue that had seperated itself from the group. Likely, it was the mission target.

Keiko forgot that she was to remain there and wait for the sensei and walked up to the Tyrogue. "Why aren't you training with your friends?" she asked calmly, trying to come across as friendly to the small Pokemon.

The Tyrogue wasn't impressed. (Tch. What do you care? Man, this is boring.)

"I guess if you've seen the same Pokemon fight over and over again, it can get dull after a while," Keiko frowned, sitting beside him.

(Tell me about - wait, you can understand me?) the Tyrogue asked, giving Keiko a bewildered look.

"Yeah," Keiko answered with a smile. "I just became a hybrid, so it surprised me that I found out that I could. I thought I was going crazy because I kept hearing voices!" Keiko explained, laughing a bit at her own misunderstanding.

The Tyrogue snickered a bit with Keiko, but was interrupted from commenting when a shadow covered the two of them. "Sorry to keep you waiting," the dojo's sensei said, standing in front of them.

Keiko got up immediately, bowing a bit to him. "Sorry, sir,"

"Don't worry about it," the sensei said. "Can you understand what that Tyrogue is saying? I recall hearing that Hybrids can do that."

Keiko nodded at this. "Yeah, I can."

"May I ask something of you then? Please convince him to train with the others," the sensei asked with another bow. "This dojo takes it upon itself to help young Tyrogue improve their fighting abilities and help them evolve. It's become a point of pride for our dojo."

Keiko thought about that for a moment. "Do use any Pokemon other than the Hitmon line? Fighting-type Pokemon that have a second type?"

The sensei seemed confused at Keiko's questioning. "Well... some of the students have Machokes, and I have a Machamp, but..."

"Yeah, that won't work," Keiko sighed. At that point, she let Hera out of her ball, the Heracross stretching out upon her release. This caught the attention of nearly all of the students in the one-room building. "If he sees something other than a single-type Fighting Pokemon, it may inspire him."

"I see.." the sensei said, nodding at Keiko's proposition. "In that case, I will be your opponent."

"Sensei!" one of the students shouted, only to get a stern look from the sensei.

"No. This fight will show Tyrogue the pride of this dojo. I take that responsibility unto myself," he shouted at the student before turning to Keiko. "Honored Guest, I will not hold back in this fight. If your Heracross faints, please use your other Pokemon against me, even if they have a type advantage against me."

Tyrogue rolled his eyes at this, but Keiko nodded. "Okay!" she said energetically.

The sensei of the dojo called out a Hitmonchan that pounded its fists together and glared at Hera, sizing her up. Hera wasn't fazed by this, however. "Alright! Hitmonchan! Open up with Comet Punch!"

Hitmonchan began throwing punches at Hera, emphasizing on speed over power. "Hera, go low and dodge," Keiko asks. Hera leans blow the swift punches, showing her back to her enemy.

"Rookie mistake," the sensei sighed. "Hitmonchan, Seismic Toss!"

Hitmonchan stopped punching and leaned over Hera, grabbing her body with his arms. Keiko only smiled at this. "Now, Hera! Megahorn!"

The way Hitmonchan was holding Hera, her horn was between her legs. When Hera used Megahorn, she bucked upward, which lifted Hitmonchan into the air despite the hold it had on her. This caught Tyrogue's attention. "Okay, now use Pin Missile"

'Tch! Hitmonchan, use Detect!" the sensei said in a panic, not expecting this turn of events. Hitmonchan used Detect to dodge the Bug-type energy spikes being launched at it. It's speed was greater than Hera's so he was able to escape Hera's move unscathed as he fell back to the ground. "Use gravity as your aide! Mega Punch!" the sensei shouted.

"Hera, use Counter!" Keiko shouted, starting to get into to fight. The sensei realized Keiko's tactic at this point, but also knew that, thanks to the command he just gave, that there was no way to dodge it. Hera covered her face with her arms, letting Hitmonchan punch her, only to use her arms to throw Hitmonchan back.

"Okay! Use Close Combat while HItmonchan is off-guard!" Keiko ourdered. Heracross obeyed, lunging at Hitmonchan and striking it with a flurry of blows, pouring as much Fighting-type energy as she could muster into each strike. Hitmonchan couldn't take very much of this, and crashed into the ground, fainting on the spot.

The sensei of the dojo recalled HItmonchan, then bowed to Keiko again. "I underestimated you, Honored Guest. Your Heracross is strong indeed."

"You want to call another Pokemon out? I'm kind of getting into this," Keiko asked, feeling energetic from the excitement of that last match.

"There isn't much point in that," the sensei responded, looking over to Tryogue. Keiko followed his eyes to find the small Fighting-type walking away from the arena. In panic, Keiko ran up to him. "Hey, what's wrong? You looked like you were enjoying the fight a minute ago."

(It was interesting, at first,) Tyrogue sighed. (But that Bug-type ended up using a predictable tactic to end the fight. I'm tired of watching Fighting-types fight.)

"Oh... I guess that makes sense, considering you were raised in a place like this..." Keiko replied, frowning a bit. Then inspiration struck her and she smiled, letting Deadra out of her ball. "This Goomy doesn't have any Fighting-type moves. Would you like to see what she's capable of?"

Deadra smiled at Tyrogue and moved forward to wrap him in a hug. Tyrogue panicked, however, and jumped back. (Hey, what's the big idea?) he asked.

"My match with the sensei was to get you motivated to fight. But if you're so strong that your evolved couterparts don't pose a challenge, then surely Deadra won't be a threat. But she's got moves that no Fighting-type can use, so it should at least be interesting, right?" Keiko asked with a smile.

(That's not it at all!) Tyrogue shouted, Deadra stopping him from explaining himself by using Tackle on him. Tyrogue was quick to get out from in under him, but didn't attack, looking at Deadra in shock instead.

"Come on. You act like you've never been in a battle before? Were you watching everyone else fight because you're afraid of getting hurt?" Keiko asked, getting the gist of the situation by now.

Keiko's words angered Tyrogue, despite the truth they held. Not wanting the other Hitmons to see him as a weakling, Tyrogue swallowed his fear and gathered Fighting-type energy into his fist, launching a Mach Punch at Deadra that connected, pushing the small Dragon-type back.

"Oh, you can fight after all?" Keiko said mockingly, smiling at Tyrogue. "Go ahead and go all out, then. You, too, Deadra! Give Tyrogue a taste of your Dragon Breath!"

Deadra spewed vapors of Dragon-type energy at Tyrogue, who barely managed to dodge by running around. In a panic, Tyrogue leaped over Deadra's breath attack, only realizing once in the air that he was set to launch a counter-offensive. Gathering Fighting-type energy into his feet, he launched himself mid-air at Deadra, his Hi-Jump Kick landing squarely between her eyes.

This attack had more power power to it than Mach Punch, and while that move pushed her back a bit, Hi Jump Kick launched her back, causing her to land close to Keiko.

"I guess you're pretty strong, when it comes down to it," Keiko said sincerely, though it still sounded like she was mocking Tyrogue a bit. "Alright, Deadra! Finish him with Body Slam!"

Deadra obliged, leaping into the air to crush Tyrogue with her body. Seeing this reminded Tyrogue of Hera's match against Hitmonchan, and he covered his face, taking inspiration from that fight. When Deadra landed on him, he used the Fighting-type energy he had been charging up as a means to brace himself, using Counter to push Deadra off of him. He then pressed the advantage, leaping up and grabbing Deadra while she was airborne and using Seismic Toss to slam her into the ground. When he landed, he fell back into a stance to prepare himself for another attack, only to find Deadra fainted in front of him.

Instead of worrying or being angry, Tyrogue was surprised to see Keiko happy. "Good job! I bet you're surprised that you won that, huh?" she said happily, recalling Deadra so she can rest.

Tyrogue was speechless, but was even more surprised to hear the students of the dojo and their Pokemon clapping in celebration of his victory.

"I'm a bit surprised, though," Keiko said, walking up to Tyrogue. "You ended up using the same old moves you see every day to take Deadra down.'

(Seeing and doing are two entirely different things!) Tyrogue shouted, using that line to defend himself.

Keiko only winked at him, though. "Exactly."

While Tyrogue realized the implications of what he just said, the sensei of the dojo walked up to him. "Now that you have seen the power that you are capable of, I would ask you again to join your brothers in training."

Tyrogue looked up to the Sensei as he spoke, then shook his head. Knowing the sensei couldn't understand him, he simply pointed to Keiko in response. "I guess he wants to see what other types can do. Even if he just now learned his own strength, he's still watched you guys fight for a long time." Keiko explained.

"Experience is a noble thing for the young to quest for. I entrust his training with you then, if you would be so kind," the sensei said reluctantly, bowing to Keiko respectfully. Keiko smiled and nodded, then threw a Heal Ball at Tyrogue. Though he did a good job of dodging Deadra's attacks, he was still worn out from that fight, and didn't have much fighting experience to begin with, so he wasn't able to resist the ball and got caught as a result.

"Thank you for having me," Keiko smiled, bowing to the sensei and his students alike. "I promise to take good care of Tyrogue."

As Keiko walked out of the Dojo, she looked at the ball she caught Tyrogue with. "I think Tyrian would be a good name for you," she said to herself, putting the ball away and having GRAY send Claydol to teleport her back to HQ.

~*~

MISSION COMPLETE!

Objective: Get the lone Tyrogue to fight.

Oppostion: Fought the dojo's sensei to show Tyrogue what other types could do, fought Tyrogue to show him the difference between watching and participating.

Pokemon: Caught Tyrogue.

The Tower of Mastery

The Tower of Mastery, an ancient tower that has stood for generations in Shalour City. The tower is impressive as it reaches high into the sky, an enormous statue of the first Pokemon to Mega Evolve, a Lucario, on the inside of it. If you want a Key Stone for your Mega Ring this is the place to go.

Before you can gain a Key Stone you must prove yourself to be capable of harnessing Mega Evolution. To prove this you will have to go through many battles and climb the tower. Your first test will be the Mega Evolution guru, Gurkinn. He will question you and observe the bond between you and your Pokemon to decide whether or not you are allowed to take the Test of Mastery.

Should you pass his inspection you must then climb the spiraling staircase in the tower without help from your Pokemon. The tower is very tall and walking up it will be exhausting (only walking). This is a test of your will to succeed.

Furthermore the walk up won't be that simple. There are many trainers along the way which will battle you to test your worthiness. Defeat them and past their tests until you make it to the very top, where the last challenge awaits. At the top of the tower you will face the Mega Evolution Successor, Korrina and her Mega Lucario. Defeat her without Mega Evolution yourself and you will be rewarded your Key Stone! Good luck.

-Objective:
---Make it to the top of the tower and defeat Successor Korrina.

-Opposition:
---Five trainers dot the tower on the way up, each specializing in a different stat. Here they are:
-----HP Master Kimberly: Owns an Audino (In a Love Ball) will will constantly heal its self and stall for time as it uses moves like Draining Kiss and Encore. Has Leftovers.
-----Attack Master Jason: Owns a Scizor (In a Fast Ball), will attack non-stop. Has Technician (Ability) and Metronome (Held item).
-----Defense Master Billy: Owns a Slowbro (In a Lure Ball), will use moves like Recycle, Slack Off, Toxic and any other move to hinder and exhaust your Pokemon while it takes hit after hit. Has an Enigma Berry.
-----Special Master Trini: Owns an Manetric (In a Level Ball), will attack non-stop. Has Wise Glasses.
-----Speed Master Zack: Owns an Aerodactyl (In a Heavy Ball), will avoid your attacks at all costs until your Pokemon get tired. Utilizes things like Agility and Double Team to gain speed and evasion. Attacks when the enemy is tired. Has Brightpowder.

---Korrina will battle you at the top with Mega Lucario.

---Your Pokemon are not healed between battles. And remember, Mega Lucario is very powerful, almost legend strength. Buy healing items.

-Pokemon:
---You may capture or snag no Pokemon.

-Rewards:
---10 Snag Coins
---The Key Stone

-Extra Notes:
---This mission may be done multiple times to acquire more Key Stones. A different character must be used each time.

~*~

I exhaled as I opened the doors to the Tower of Mastery. I've been dreading this one for a while - despite having an idea of how much powerful Rala'd be after Mega Evolving, I had a feeling it'd be hell getting up the tower to begin with. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I wouldn't be seeing it at all if I didn't at least make the attempt. Swalloiwng my dread, I filled my mind and heart with determination before stepping into the tower itself. I had to show my best game face before I could even take the first step.

As expected, it didn't take me long to find the proprietor of the tower. At least, the original one. "Hello, young man," the voice of Gurkinn, the original master of the Tower of Mastery spoke up. I was a bit surprised at just how old he was, but I kept my thoughts to myself regarding it. I didn't want to insult him, after all. "Greetings," I replied, not sure how to proceed but refusing to show anything but confidence. "I'm here to challenge the tower for the right to Mega Evolution."

"Of course you are," Gurkinn smiled as I imagine he did to all who made such claim. "Come on in, then. I would see the Pokemon you intend to Mega Evolve before I decide whether you're fit to take the challenge." This confused me a bit. Were we not already inside the Tower of Mastery? My curiosity was answered swiftly as Gurkinn opened a door in the tower's core, revealing an inner sanctum, likely where the former master spent the rest of his days, or intended to.

I entered the room and was instantly hit with a nostalgic scent, the kind you'd expect to smell in the dwelling of an older relative. It wasn't unpleasant, but certainly noticeable. Still, I ignored it, wanting to behave myself as best I could. Once Gurkinn had seated himself, I let Rala out of her ball before being asked. Said Gardevoir took to her new surroundings quickly, noticing the older gentleman almost immediately She greeted him with Pokespeak, as she was not strong enough to use her Telepathy.

"Odd..." Gurkin said as he began examining Rala. "This Pokemon seems somewhat weak."

I couldn't help but sigh at the former master's assessment. "I made a pretty big mistake a couple months ago that ended in both of us getting injured," I explained. "It took her a month in bed and a month on psychic suppressants, but I've been assured she's battle ready," I added.

Wordlessly, Gurkin began circling Rala, inspecting various aspects of her being. It took me by surprise when he finally spoke. "She's certainly healthy. Her ability to wield Psychic energy may be diminished, but her Fairy half is plenty strong. She must have been mighty powerful in her prime."

"She used to be able to speak to anyone telepathically. I'm hoping she'll be able to do so again once she's fully recovered," I explained. I felt the lack of weight in my left pocket - I put the Betyl Stone in a safety deposit box before we left for Paldea after having an epiphany on how I became a Psychic Channeler and making the decision to focus on competitive battling from now on.

As I forced myself to drop that thought, he changed the subject, turning from Rala to smile at me for what turned out to be a very short amount of time. "Well, you clearly share a powerful bond with this Gardevoir, and once she's made a full recovery, she should have little trouble handling Mega Evolution... but can the same be said of you? That is the real quiestion," he said with a glare, one with a lifetime of experience behind it. As I gazed into that glare, I felt the urge to step back and promptly ignored it. I wasn't the academy student I used to be over a decade ago. I had a wife, two daughters, and years of experience as a mercenary under the banner of Team Snagem. This man may have been many years my senior in terms of age, but who was to say he was my better on the battlefield? I wouldn't be intimidated so easily.

My focus snapped as Gurkinn exploded into a bawdy laugh which was soon followed by a coughing fit, apparently amused at my determination. "I suppose time will tell," he remarked once his throat was clear. "That, and the tower, which you are free to ascend. At least until you reach the first trainer. She will determine your worthiness from there, if you do not do so yourself." With that, Gurkinn motioned me to leave, and I did so, with Rala weakly hovering behind me. I felt the lack of the Betyl Stone's weight on my conscious once more, but for the time being, my decision was made This was for Rala's recovery alone, and anything involving my channeling artifact could wait, assuming I ever reclaimed it. Shaking off that phantom weight in my mind, I began ascending the stars, one by one.

...by one by one by one. This tower certainly felt massive from the inside. It was a good thing I had Claydol teleport me to the town outside the tower, otherwise travelling here would have taken precious energy needed to make this obscenely lengthy climb. I had long since given up counting the steps by the time I had finally hit a plateau of sorts - rather, a platform jutting out of the staircase, upon which a single person stood - a woman, middle aged, with a single Poke Ball about her person.

"Oh, another challenger!" the woman said happily, reminding me ever so slightly of Keiko despite the somewhat different pitch in her voice. "Welcome to the Tower of Mastery! My name is Kimberly, and I'm-"

"The Health Master, if I recall correctly," I said, interrupting her to prove a point, which she seemed to take lightly. "Oh, this one's prepared, hm?" she said happily, and yet a bit annoyed, perhaps. "Well, let's see what you've got! Come on out, Audino!" she cheered, letting out a Pokemon very similar in appearance to Audrey, which only made me smile. Kimberly seemed confused at this, but despite shaking my head, I refused to leave it at that. "My fiance has one of those."

"Oh, that's nice!" Kimberly smiled widely. "I used to have a Blissey, but..." she trailed off, apparently remembering something very troubling by the look on her face. "ButnowIdon't! And that is the end of that story," she added, looking more than a little troubled, as if forcing herself to smile.

"Oh... kay," I remarked, more than a little confused as a result. Then I decided to disregard all of that and focus on the reason I came here by letting Rala float before me.

Kimberly wasn't blind to Rala's weak hold on her Psychic-half. "Are you sure that one should be battling, dearie?" she asked. I made a point to not respond - a show of confidence in Rala. Kimberly only shrugged, likely believing this to be an easy win on her part. "Well, that's your problem. Let's lean into the curve this time. Attract, sweetheart!"

Audino began giving Rala loving eyes and whispered sweet nothings to her in Pokexpeak as Normal-type energy transferred from her to Rala in the shape of hearts. Nothing happened at first - Rala and Audino were both female Pokemon and Attract only works on Pokemon of the opposite gender. It certainly seemed to have an effect despite that, though not the one Audino intended.

Rala glared at her opponent. She knew who she was, knew who and what she liked, and was frankly insulted by Audino's insinuations. So much so, in fact, that she immediately gathered a large quantity of Fairy-type energy into a large orb. Once it was ready, she flung the Moonblast at Audino as hard as she could, blasting it into the far wall.

"Oh, no!" Kimberly shouted out, before running over to Audino's slumped body, only for it to lurch to its feet as she drew near, glaring back at Rala. It had been obviously spurned, and it wasn't happy about it.

"Okay, I guess that isn't going to work," Kimberly blurted out, mostly to herself. "Use Draining Kiss to get some of your strength back, sweetie!"

Audino wasn't interested in that move, however, having been spurned once already by her Gardevoir enemy. Instead, Audino gathers Fighting-type energy and lunges at Rala, striking her with a Draining Punch that wasn't very effective, and as a result, didn't gain her much health back

"Kiss! I said kiss!" Kimberly insisted, only to get a roll of the eyes and a snort of derision from Audino. I thought for a moment about having Rala use Aura Sphere, thinking perhaps a super-effective move could finish Audino off, but I knew with Rala's Psychic-side weakened, her hold on moves that used energy types that weren't Fairy would be weak, as well. In the interest of keeping Rala's strength up, I decided to not have her repeat her Moonblast. "Use Dazzling Gleam," I told her.

Rala complied, charging Fairy-type energy with one hand and firing it like a beam at Audino. Once again, Audino was blasted back, but she wasn't done, and got back up. Kimberly, in turn, pleaded for her to use the actually effective health-draining move, but this time, Audino complied. And while that was going on, Rala got an idea.

What happened next was a little too cheesy for both Kimberly and myself. Audino and Gardevoir came together, hand held in hand, and kissed each other on the lips, Draining Kiss meeting Draining Kiss. Though this ultimately resulted in the two moves cancelling each other out, Audino acted overjoyed that Rala came to see things her way, to the point where it was clear she was laying it thick.

And while Audino was thusly distracted, Rala somehow charged Fighting-type energy from the tip of her darkened Heart Crystal and fired an Aura Sphere point-blank, knocking Audino out and sending it tumbling to the floor.

Rala tripped forward, worn out from her efforts. As weak as her Psychic-side was, pulling that off was one hell of a strain. I tried to ease her pain by using a Super Potion, but she stopped me, and forced herself back to a standing position. It seemed that Audino had really affected her pride. Good thing she didn't take too much damage in that fight.

"That was quite a close match," Kimberly noted grimly. It was then that I realized that Audino had fainted from the weak Aura Sphere. "Still, since my darling fainted first, I'll give you this one." I smiled as thanks and started ascending. Meanwhile, Kimberly wordlessly tended to her Audino, showering it with an impressive amount of consideration. I pondered for a moment if Audino's affectionate flair in her moveset wasn't as a result of how her trainer treated her, but then thought it best to disregard that and move on.

...and just like the first leg of the starwell, boy, did this take a while. This whole thing made me glad I worked out regularly instead of just reading books the whole time. I wouldn't be able to finish this challenge otherwise. Fortunately I wasn't quite feeling worn out yet.

"Having trouble?" Jason, the Attack Master asked mockingly, his Scizor standing near him and folding its arms mockingly. "I'll be asking you the same thing here in a bit," I spat, motioning for Rala to take up a battle stance. "Charm!"

Taking a page from her previous opponent's book, Rala blew a kiss at Scizor, creating a heart-shaped mote of Fairy-type energy that sapped Scizor's physical strength on contact. "Yeah, that figures," Jason sighed as his Scizor stared into space, eyes widened in fear. "Retaliate, Scizor! Bullet Punch!" he ordered impatiently.

"I'm just getting started," I warned him, pushing my frames up the bridge of my nose. "Confuse Ray!"

As Scizor lunged at Rala, the Gardevoir seemed almost to sing, her voice creating a very... disturbing souund to say the least. This didn't stop her from taking a Bullet Punch to the face, but Scizor couldn't pull back before Ghost-type energy escaped Rala's throat and enveloped him.

Jason sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Scizor stumbled around in its confusion, but it wasn't the state of his Pokemon he was annoyed at. "Bro, I know Gardevoir isn't the manliest Pokemon, but do you got to have her fight like a ~*~? Just throw an attack at us already."

I smirked at his request. If he couldn't appreciate the finer details of battle strategy, that wasn't my problem. Rala, however, didn't take his quip happily. She looked furious, and that looks wasn't helping Scizor's mental state. She started to channel Fairy-type energy to retaliate, but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "It's resistant to Fairy-type moves. You'll have to push yourself to use moves of other elements if you want this to not be a slog," I advised her. Rala glared at me for a second, but relented, and released her unfinished attack. Bending forward, she began to slowly gather Fire-type energy, flexing her Psychic muscles to their currently impared limit.

Of course, Jason wasn't going to sit back and let Rala take all this time without acting. After a couple of attempts, he managed to get Scizor to stop hitting itself and fling another Bullet Punch right at Rala's face, which of course she had to take as she was concentrating. Fortunately, the pain didn't break her concentration, but she did almost fall down from the pain. What Jason wasn't expecting, however, was for Rala to smirk at him before reaching up to touch Scizor with the finished Mystical Fire. The poor, confused Scizor found itself engulfed in flames before falling flat on its back, fainted.

To say I was surprised by the results would be an understatement. Her Aura Sphere from the previous fight was NOT this strong. Granted, she took a lot more time charging Mystical Fire before letting it loose, but still. I couldn't help but smirk at Jason's expression, though. Couldn't blame him for being peeved, honestly. "Alright, get out of here," he said before turning his back on me, refusing to dignify Rala's fighting style with an argument.

With Jason's unspoken go-ahead, I turned to Rala and pulled out a Full Restore. Her body language made it seem as though she didn't approve of being pampered, but I wasn't going to let that slide. "Rala, you gave your all for that last attack, and you took two super-efffective hits to the face to boot. I can tell you're close to fainting, so you're getting healed, and that's that," I insisted. She seemingly wasn't happy with my demand, but she relented. After spraying her in the face, which I made sure she closed her eyes during, I let her back in her ball. She wouldn't be in it for long, but hopefully it'd be enough to ease the strain on her mind.

With that, I made my way up stairwell number three. I was actually starting to breathe heavily by the time I finished this set of stairs. I still had three sets to go, how worn out was I going to be after the final one?

"Jason was right, you are having a hard time with this," a kid half my size mientioned, holding glasses twice the size of my frames to his face. "I'll be fine," I lied, leaning back to try to stretch my body somewhat.

"Well, you made it this far, it would be wrong of me not to battle you. Assuming you can find some way past my defenses that is," he said, letting a Slowbro out of its Lure Ball. So this was Billy. Figures, it's not like I expected to find anyone other than the stat masters on these stairs. With a big exhale, I steeled my resolve and let Rala back out of his ball.

"You think that worn-out sweeper can get through my wall? Are you sure you wouldn't rather just quit?" Billy asked bewilderedly. I ignored that comment, but of course Rala didn't. Not being able to use Telepathy to defend herself with words must have her feeling vulnerable. I fell a bit bad for her, but if she was going to regain that ability, physic-er, mental therapy was the way, and this was about the best therapy I could give her.

"You might want to pay more attention to your Slowbro than me," I warned Billy as Rala charged up a Moonblast and chucked it at Slowbro's head. It didn't have the speed to get out of the way, but it could take plenty of normally-effective moves like that. I do kind of wish I'd seen the Toxic coming, though - I was kind of caught up in gloating and missed when Slowbro shot it out. I only saw Rala getting hit by it. This was one hell of an opponent to be hit with a time limit against.

"That Moonblast's pretty strong, but you're gonna need more than that to win THIS fight," Billy gloated. As soon as he said that, I got the idea to somewhat even the tides with Rala's Will O Wisp, but honestly, the damage from Toxic would build up faster, making it a war of attrition we would lose. I was better off going for super-effective attacks. I needed to rein Rala in, anyway. "Thunderbolt!" I ordered.

How quickly the Electric-type move charged was an indication of Rala's recovery, and I couldn't help but be impressed. But Billy wasn't going to just let it happen without a hitch. "Respond with Light Screen," he said confidently. It was a smart play, but his Slowbro wasn't fast enough to get the move out before Thunderbolt hit it. Considering the time limit Toxic provided, I was grateful for any advantage Rala and I could get.

Then something weird happened. Feeling a weird heaviness in my chest, I instinctively looked over to Rala. I don't know why I thought the feeling had something to do with her considering her weakened connection with her Psychic half and the lack of the Betyl Stone on my person. But just from looking at her, I could tell she was starting to feel the effects of Toxic. Maybe her weakened Psychic half was making it easier for Toxic's accellerating damage to progress? It was probably safter to do something about it now, if that was the case.

While my attention was on Rala, Billy took my silence as his cue to act. "Man, that Thunderbolt did a number on you, huh, Slowbro? Why don't you rest up with Slack Off," he ordered in a mockingly sympathetic tone. Slowbro was all too happy to take a break, and while Rala wasn't happy about being mocked, I had to keep her from acting on her own if I wanted to win this. "Use Misty Terrain," I told her. She turned and gave me an odd look at that order, but I didn't flinch. She knew she could trust me, and I had no intention to lead her astray.

Once Rala used Misty Terrain, I sprayed her with a Full Restore, completely restoring her health and clearing the Toxic from her body. That was why I wanted her to use Misty Terrain in the first place - so Slowbro couldn't re-apply its powerful poison. I non-verbally dared Billy to protest - if his Pokemon could heal, so could mine.

"Alright, let's mix it up. Shadow Ball," I ordered, unable to prevent a slight smirk from appearing on my face. Rala seemed all too happy to continue her offensive as well, gathering the requisite Ghost-type energy. It didn't gather as quickly as Thunderbolt, however - maybe the fact that Rala was weak to Ghost-type moves made it harder for her to charge it in her Psychically-impared state.

Billy just huffed at what he was seeing. "You know what? Fine. You wanna spam super-effective moves? We can do that, too. Use Trick Room, Slowbro!" For a second, I wanted to ask how Trick Room was super-effective when it didn't deal damage. But I quickly realized what he intended. Trick Room slowed Rala down considerably, while giving his Slowbro the speed it needed to win this fight. "Now, use Shell Side Arm!' he ordered.

I couldn't help but worry. Slowbro's attack was in Rala's face before either of us could react. As Slowbro's special strength was higher than its physical strength, the move wasn't dealing as much damage as it could, and it got weaker the more it was used. But the move was still super-effective, and Billy had him using the move multiple times, bringing Rala down to her last legs.

I was tempted to recall Rala, have her rest at a Pokecenter, and try the challenge again. Rala had other plans, though. As Trick Room faded, Rala finally fired the Shadow Ball she'd been charging, Then a Thunderbolt. Then another. As she used the surprisingly quick charge time she had with Thunderbolt to do to Slowbro what he did to her, the heaviness on my chest came back. The fact that each use of Thunderbolt was weaker than the last didn't prevent her from winning the fight.

Rala stood proud as Billy admitted his defeat."Yeah, I guess I can't complain about that. Go on ahead," he said flatly, disappointed that his gambit didn't work in his favor. I then stood up straight and regained my composure before using a Full Restore on Rala. I had thee of these left and as many fights to go. I had to be careful about how these got used. I also couldn't help but think that I should have bought more before starting this, but it was too late for that.

I lost my train of thought when I realized Rala was behind me. I looked back to see what was going on, but she lightly pushed me toward the stairs, as if egging me on. "Alright," I said as I started to climb the stairs. This set of stairs was just as long as the last, but that didn't stop it from feeling like this was the longest set of stairs I'd climbed in this challenge. I'd gotten most of the way there before I had to stop to take a breath. I tried to recuperate quickly, but that proved futile, and before long I felt Rala's hands on my back."

"Save your strength," I told her. I was going to add that I'd be fine, but I felt her forcefully press against my back. She used Heal Beam to restore my stamina, and it had an added effect of lessening the weight on my chest. She then maneuvered beside me and glared at me, non-verbally daring me to challenge her for being forced to accept her help after I forced her to accept my help earlier.

"Alright, fair enough," I said with a smirk as I started to continue climbing the stairs. I soon thought better of it and used another Full Restore on Rala. She glared at me, so I put a hand on her shoulder. "We help each other. How about that?" I offered. Her glare turned into a smile, so I figured she liked that idea better. It was then that I noticed someting. Her heart crystal - it almost looked like it had a crack in it. I stopped her and took a closer look, and from there I could tell that it wasn't actually cracked, though it VERY much looked like it. I didn't get how it got like that, but her heart crystal didn't seem to be at risk, so I just shrugged off her concerned stare. "It's nothing. Let's just move on."

"That's weird," a young girl who I had to assume was Trini said as I approached the next plateau. "The boys said you were having trouble with the stairs, but you don't seem all that worn out." I shrugged at that. "I got better. You're Trini, right?"

Instead of answering verbally, she just smirked and let out her Manetric, and it was then that I realized this was going to be a rough fight. Electric-type Pokemon are only weak to Ground-type moves, and Rala can't learn any of those. The fact that it was focused toward special strength meant that Rala would be able to endure its attacks a bit more than the Scizor from before, but the same could probably be said of the Manectric. That said, I had to wonder why Manectric was chosen, as well over half of its moveset were moves that either used physical strength or inflicted statuses.

Even with that advantage, I didn't expect this fight to be easy. "Billy told me how you spammed him out with Thunderbolt," Trini giggled. "Let's see how your cute Gardy likes it." Rala hardly had time to register what was being said as a Thunderbolt collided into her. The voltage from the move seeped into her body and caused her nerves to sieze up, causing her to become Paralyzed. That was a hell of a debuff to start the fight. Fortunately, Rala was able to act, gathering Fairy-type energy into a large ball around her. When a second Thunderbolt was sent rocketing at her, she caught it with the forming Moonblast, altering its energy to become part of the move before flinging it back at the enemy Manectric

The Electric-type energy infused into Rala's Moonblast didn't do much to Trini's Manectric, itself being an Electric-type Pokemon and thus resistant to Electric-type moves. The Fairy-type energy of the move itself hit plenty hard, though, knocking Manectric back a fair bit. Unfortunately, it got right back up; it being in better shape than Rala due to the Paralysis. Trini was quick to order up another Thunderbolt, apparently having some beef with me for 'cheesing through' my fight with Billy to the point of making me wonder if she has a thing for him. It honestly bugged me. Making use of type advantage was a perfectly viable strategy, but she was making it sound like a cheap move, like she was even more chivalrous toward the Pokemon League ruleset than I was. I told Rala to use Double Team give Trini an excuse to use a move that could hit more than one target at a time. Unfortunately, she failed to use the move due to her Paralysis.

Trini found this hilarious, but I was getting frustrated. But I wasn't ready to lose ground by healing Rala yet, and Rala wasn't ready to give up, either. Thanks to her being fairly bulky against moves that use special strength on top of her not having a type that was weak to Electric-type moves, she could take a few more Thunderbolts before she fainted, which gave me enough room to hopefuly win this fight assuming her Paralysis didn't kick in again. Rala attempted Double Team again, and thankfully was successful in using the move, giving Trini plenty of targets to aim Thunderbolt at, and oh BOY did she not appreciate that. Her yapping was starting to get on my nerves at this point, to be honest, which is why I'm not going into detail about what she was whining about. "Best to use this advantage while we still have it," I muttered, walking up to Rala. "Use Misty Terrain the second I apply this," I told Rala just before using a Full Restore on her.

"Not so fast! Thunderbolt!" Trini shouted. As Rala was in the middle of using a move, she couldn't dodge it. I just barely got out of the way, myself. The gambit worked, though - Rala wasn't immediately re-Paralyzed. Trini went OFF, screaming about what just happened, but I didn't care. Nothing I did was against the rules. If she didn't have any healing items of her own, that was her problem, and I told her as such. Rala must have gotten tired of hearing Trini's voice as well, because she let a Moonblast rip on a collision course with Manectric, who just barely failed to dodge the attack. "Good work, but I think the remaining energy clones aren't serving much purpose anymore. Why don't you make some more?"

Rala smiled at the idea, but Trini was still fuming. "AGAIN!? Grr! Honestly, that move oughta be banned!" she scoffed, which earned her a look from me. "Have you considered getting good?" I asked derisively, "Or at least use some other moves? A one-trick Ponyta will only get you so far."

While Rala was making energy clonse of herself, Trini had reached the peak of her butthurt. "Argh, FINE! Excuuuse me for spinning back for a friend! Use Crunch, Manectric!" she roared. Somehow, Manectric had followed Rala as she made her clones, and hit her with the Dark-type move. Maybe her inability to sense the energy used in Crunch played a part? The energy clones WERE starting to pile up. Trini cheered, but I wasn't impressed. "Good instincts. Go for type advantage this time," I taunted.

"Wha-HOW!?" Trini asked, looking as though she was going to fly into another rage - only for her to catch herself. "Oh, right. Fairy-type. Go for Iron Tail, Manectric!" she cheered. I looked over to the group of energy clones, saw that Rala decided to make one more set for good measure, and nodded; making sure not to look at any one specific image of Rala in case that'd lead Manectric to the real Gardevoir. Either that worked, or Manectric lost track, because the Iron Tail slammed straight into an energy clone, thus missing Rala entirely. I opened my mouth to speak, but Rala must have read my mind because she dropped another Moonblast of her own volition; the attack knocking Manectric of of its paws.

Manectric was seriously hurt. It was starting to get back up, albeit slowly, but Trini recalled it, anyway. "Nope. I'm done. Get the hell off my platform. Go upstairs if you want, I don't care. Just get lost!" she roared. It was hard to tell if she was just angry or if she was about to cry. I didn't take my chances.

"Yeah, that's not surprising," Zack said to himself as I approached the fifth platform. He was facing away from me, looking down at Trini's platform. He must have been watching my fights up to this point. Can't say I blame him, it's not a bad strategy. "Maybe if your Pokemon was weak to Electric-type moves, things'd be different. Speaking of, why are you only using one?"

"Personal reasons," I responded, not wanting to get into it. "Well, don't expect to cheap me out. I'm not gonna copy anything out of some sense of vengeance or whatever. I do my own thing," Zack insisted, letting his Aerodactyl out of its ball. This immediately got me thinking. Steel-type moves were out of the question, but Rala had a number of Electric-type moves for type advantage. I had to take Zack's title into consideration, though - purely offensive fights like Jason and Trini and purely defensive fights like Kimberly and Billy weren't all that difficult to find workarounds for, but Speed Master implied leveraging every advantage he could get ahold of as soon as possible. I had to put a wrench in his plans right away, though there were no guarantees with what I had in mind.

"No complaints, here," I shrugged. "Confuse Ray, Rala!" I ordered. Zack had a look of panic as soon as I said that, but while his Aerodactyl was faster than Rala, his mouth wasn't. "Use Agility, Aerodactyl!" he shouted, but Rala's Confuse Ray struck before Agility kicked in, confusing Aerodactyl. It didn't hurt itself, though. Not yet. "Darn it," Zack growled. "Use Double Team!" he shouted. I couldn't help but smirk as Aerodactyl created energy clones of itself, albeit in a weird pattern due to its confused state. I wasn't smirking at Aerodactyl, though. "Not copying, huh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. This was always part of my strategy," Zack declared proudly. The way he said that made me think this wasn't the first time someone questioned him over Double Team. Trini, probably, assuming they battled each other for fun when they were off-duty. "He's only got a few copies for now, so go for Thunderbolt," I instructed Rala. With a nod, she charged Electric-type energy - much faster than when we first started fighting in this tower - and unleashed a Thunderbolt straight into one of the energy clones. That was just bad luck.

Zack was all to happy to capitalize on it, though. "Use Agility again!" he barked, his Aerodactyl rushing forward with increasted speed. Right into a wall. Exactly what I was hoping would happen. I was so happy that it worked out that way that Rala could sense it. It was the perfect opportunity to tell the real rock bird from the energy clones, and she didn't hesitate to send a Thunderbolt right for its wings. However, that would be the only time we'd be able to benefit from Aerodactyl's confusion, because shaking its head to rid itself of the aftershocks of colliding with a solid object set its mind straight - Aerodactyl shook off its confusion.

Zack repeated his order for Agility, and Aerodactyl obliged, improving its speed and making it harder to hit. Zack was likely to continue to set up, making attempts at damaging it less and less likely to connect. If we wanted to continue to stand a chance , Rala would have to be equally difficult to aim at. So, while Zack ordered one last Agility before haivng his Aerodactyl spam Double Team, I set Rala to share in the Double Team Spam. Rala didn't have any tools in her moveset that'd help her catch up to Aerodactyl's speed, but she at least could make herself harder to hit.

Zack wasn't doing to just sit there and wait for Rala to catch up to his Aerodactyl in evasiveness, though. Once said rock bird's evasiveness was as high as it was going to get, Zack had it switch to an offensive strategy, switching between Iron Head, Iron Tail, and Steel Wing - willingly going for the type advantage against Rala. Fortunately, her evasiveness worked in her favor; keeping her out of harm's way until she'd used as many Double Teams as would be effective. Now that both of our Pokemon were as dodgy as they could get, this battle was going to be a contest of who could get the most hits in. Rala wasn't wanting in means to strike Aerodactyl's type weaknesses, after all.

After a few rounds of failed attempts, Aerodactyl was unfortunately the first to score a point - by striking Rala right in the chest with Iron Head. I thought for a while that he struck her heart crystal because my chest started hurting out of nowhere. My worst fears had been realized when I watched her push herself upright - or so I thought. For a second, it looked like her heart crystal had shattered without actually falling apart. But then started to see the glowing blue in the cracks and realized her heart crystal was intact: it merely looked cracked because the remains of the Mewtwo-infused Shadow Viros in her heart crystal was flaking away. Her difficulty tapping into her power over Psychic-type energy wasn't entirely due to the injury she inflicted on herself during the fight with Stakataka, it just compounded the effect the remnants of the Shadow Virus had on her heart crystal, which was the source of her mastery over Psychic-type energy.

Rala's retaliation for the pain Iron Head caused to her source was fast - faster than either Zack or I could have predicted. Not as fast as Aerodactyl, but the power behind it made the rock-bird's speed irrelevant. Aerodactyl found itself consumed in an aura of Psychic-type energy, it's body being crushed in the field affected by Rala's Psychic. The way Aerodactyl shrieked made it clear it was in a great deal of pain. It was clear that Rala's Psychic was a good deal stronger than it was prior to the battle with that Ultra Beast. Aerodactyl wasn't out of the fight, though - in fact, it used its own pain against Rala with Payback, using the Dark-type energy of the move to force Rala to lose her focus on it. Fortunately, the move itself didn't have any type advantage to leverage, so while it brought Rala to her knees, it didn't take her out of the fight.

That said, both Pokemon were close to, if not on, their last legs, so it was time to whip out the trump card I was saving for this fight. "Finish the fight! Iron Head!" Zack ordered. It was smart - of the three steel-type moves Aerodactyl knew, Iron Head was the most accurate. However, this led it on a collision course with Rala, giving me the perfect opportunity to put my trump card to use. "Now! Use Shock Wave!" The look on Zack's face was priceless as Aerodactly flew face-first into Shock Wave - It was clear based on its movements that it tried to fly away from the oncoming attack, but then suddenly stopped just before the attack connected. Apparently that one lucky Thunderbolt Rala got in Paralyzed it. How that Paralysis didn't stop it sooner was anyone's guess, but I wasn't going to look a picture-perfect finisher in the mouth. Or... well, something like that.

"Man, that fight was crazy," Zack sighed. "I have to know why you saved Shock Wave for last, though. You should have been using that from the start." I could only scoff at that though. "And let you find a way around it? Hard pass. Besides, it's not as strong as Thunderbolt, so it was important to get some of those in while I could." Zack just laughed at that. "Yeah, fair enough. Well, go on ahead. You've got a hell of a fight ahead of you, but at least it's the last one, right?"

I smirked at that, then walked up to Rala. While I administered a Full Restore, she used Heal Pulse to give me the energy I needed to get over the final set of stairs. We agreed to help each other, and we were making it work. There was no avoiding it, either - Rala came close to fainting in that last fight, and she was about to have to face a Mega Lucario on her own. She needed all the strength she could get. With that taken care of, I let Rala into her ball to give her what little rest she could get as I ascended the final staircase.

Psychic Master Mission Stage 2
The First Celestial Plane, Naraka

Now a student of Maya it's time to pursue your tutelage under her in earnest. Your training will involve you looking inward to conquer all that stands in your way from achieving true enlightenment and access to your latent potential. It is said the psychic mind is made up of several Celestial Planes with the first being called Naraka, or Hell. It's in this plane where one's most terrible memories and fears dwell. To conquer this plane you must find what gives you hope in even the worse of times and save it from the darkness. When you enter your meditative state and dive into the Celestial Plane you will make real what was once simply a concept. That is you can be harmed in this plane and even risk losing whatever your 'hope' might be, such as losing a memory or a love for another as your dark memories and fears will also be made manifest and become true threats to you and your 'hope'. These dark memories will be reflected in the surface of Bronzor who will pursue you throughout the plane as you search for your hope, which they too wish to find and destroy. Be forewarned, your most greatest fear or most terrible memory shall be the most powerful and will stop at nothing to destroy you and your hope. The plane itself will take on many forms, none of which are pleasant to you.

Maya will first teach you the special meditation you will need to learn to dive inward into the Celestial Planes which will involve you finding the perfect synergy between you and your primary Channeling partner, a special psychic wavelength only you two share. Once successful you'll be able to dive in together with your primary partner and any other of your Psychic Channeling partners you are access in finding the right wavelength together while meditating. You may not succeed with all your Pokémon at first, this form of meditation is difficult.

Once you find your hope you will have to escape the Celestial Plane the way you came with this 'hope'. When you leave you will be freed from your meditative state and have a new and profound respect for what brings you hope and why. It is only be realizing the truth behind why it gives you hope and how that you will be able to unlock more of your latent potential. Good luck.

-Objective:
---Learn the Celestial Meditation to dive into your own mind and into the Celestial Plane of Naraka.
---Find what gives you hope in this awful plane built on your own bad memories and fears.
---Escape with your 'hope' the way you came in.

-Opposition
---The numerous dark Bronzor that will pursue you and assault you with your bad memories and fears. They will also be searching for your hope to destroy it.
---Your worse memory or greatest fear will be the most powerful and made the most real. It will pursue you the most relentlessly, attempting to keep you in this plane permanently.

-Pokémon:
---There are no Pokémon to be captured but you may receive an egg.

-Rewards:
---7x Snag Coins
---Varies from there.

~*~

I was sitting in the barracks of Trainer Hill, with Rala sitting beside me. She was fully healed, with her heart crystal shining a brilliant blue, so now was the time to reconnect with the Betyl Stone. Opening the box I'd hidden in my duffel bag, I laid eyes on the Betyl Stone for the first time in... a long time. I looked up to Rala, saw her smile, and took hold of the artifact. Immediately, I felt my bond with Rala re-connect, striking my mind with a whiplash - the effect of sensing the emotional states of every human in a 50-foot radius all at once. This mostly comprised of the Snagems in Trainer Hill, and while there weren't a great many of us, each of us had the SWIPE invasion of HQ and everything that came immediately after still fresh in our minds, so the backlash from the connection was POWERFUL. I was not afforded a moment to compose my mind, as I heard Maya shouting into it almost immediately after the connection was made. "Come to Mirage Island IMMEDIATELY!"

"Okay, ow!?" I responded. Did my mind really need to be FLASHBANGED with LOUD SCREAMING!? Maya didn't seem to say anything else, so I finally got that moment to compose my mind and realize what just happened. I looked to Rala, who nodded before teleporting us to Pacifildog Town.

That's not where we ended up, though. Maya must have sensed the incoming teleportation and somehow rerouted it, because once I could see again I found myself in her sanctuary in Mirage Island This is not- Rala started to say. "Yeah, I get that," I cut her off as I realized somebody was already in the room with Maya. The stranger was wearing a PokeTech academy uniform - the exact same one I was wearing. Which was odd, considering that male academy uniform was being worn by a woman. A rather attractive one at that, though I didn't let myself dwell on her looks - I was happily married, after all.

"Are you TRYING to DIE!?" Maya shouted, clearly angry about something. Fortunately, she didn't wait for an answer. "Seriously! Having your PRIMARY CHANNELING PARTNER open a BLACK HOLE on a fight that was pretty much ALREADY WON!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? Getting your primary channeling partner KILLED is EXACTLY how you lose your ability to channel, not to mention your ~/~ LIFE!!" I didn't really have an answer. She was right. It was an incredibly stupid move. And Rala can insist it was her fault all she wanted. She didn't break out of her ball. I let her out. The fault lay with me. I thought that having her practice using her black hole would help toward working together to master it, but I didn't know that opening black holes could be fatal for Gardevoir. Not until Doc Owl told me. "I don't have an excuse," I confessed. "It should have never happened. I take full responsiblity."

Rala tried to protest, but I immediately told her to drop it. Arguing over blame would just piss Maya off more. Said Psychic Master facepalmed at my honest confession. "I genuinely shouldn't help you, but I'm going to. Mark my words: screw up this bad again, and you are completely on your own," Maya insisted. "You will never set foot on this island again."

"How did you avoid death?" the blonde woman standing next to Maya asked in a voice that, despite being higher pitched, was VERY similar to my own. I knew something was off the second she talked because I couldn't sense her emotional state whatsoever. I can't sense her mind at all. She just feels like energy, Rala told me through a private telepathic bond, as she feared Maya's wrath. I wanted to answer her question, but I couldn't help but point something out. "Who are you?"

"Can't tell?" she smiled, and I couldn't help but be creeped out by her voice. "My name is Terisha Naomi Toumei. You and I are the same person... for the most part," the woman explained. I refused to believe that, though. She's supposed to be me, but she looked like THAT? I know I'm a pretty okay-looking guy, but the comparison didn't really seem fair. "She's an Ultra-space variant of yours. Answer the question," Maya insisted. I tried to, but I couldn't help but be caught up in confusion, among a couple other emotions. I could feel Maya's anger rising by the second, so instead of forcing an answer out, I just forced myself to go numb, wiping my emotional state clean and suppressing my mind - though I managed to hold on to my conntection to Rala.

"Ooh, an esper ability! I didn't know we had one of those!" Terisha stated excitedly, which earned her a weirded-out look from me. Though the look wasn't because of her reaction. "...yeah. It's a trait of our heritage. According to my mother, our ancestors were a clan of espers. It was apparently a strong enough ability that it passed down through the generations, though it manifests differently for each individual. My mother can sense guilt, I can suppress my emotions, and my daughter has prophetic dreams about the people she's close to - which with how young she is, mostly just means me, Keiko, and Ulla."

"Oh, you adopted Ulla, too! Good!" Terisha smiled for a moment before realizing something she'd missed. "Wait, you have another daughter?" she half-shouted in surprised. "Two, actually," I told her, flashing my wedding ring. My Ultra Space variant blushed at the sight of it. "Oh. Guess that's why you're so far behind in terms of channeling," she said bashfully.

I couldn't help but smirk at that. "Haven't found her yet, huh?" I commented snidely, causing her to go on the defensive. "No, Keiko IS my boyfriend, just... have kinda been busy with Channeling training," she explained, confusing me utterly. "Wouldn't it be Keith or something like that?" I asked, which got a smile out of her. "Actually, Keiko is considered a unisex name in Johto. There was even an emperor in feudal Johto that had that name, and-"

"Yeah, that's incredibly interesting and not worth my time," Maya butted in, feeling more frustrated than angry. While I yapped with my variant, she'd been thinking about my esper ability and had come up with a plan. After saying that, she pointed to my variant and said "Stay," before pointing at me and saying "Follow me." She immediatedly floated away to what looked like a doorway to a side room. Not wanting to invoke her wrath any further, I followed the spirit without giving my variant a second glance.

"Your esper ability isn't simply an emotional suppressant. In fact, knowing that you have it makes it easy to believe that you survived the 'BlAcK hOlE iNcIdEnT". Which, by the way, I was dead serious about ghosting you if you screw up that badly again. No pun intended," Maya explained. I couldn't help but smirk at that. "It is a fitting one, though," I pointed out. "Hush, idiot," Maya snapped back as she placed some weird crystal orb on the table in front of the couch I was sitting on. There was another couch on the other side of the table in this small room. The decorations looked almost ritualistic. "This artifact is a gateway into the Celestial Realms. Delving the Celestial Realms is one of the most powerful ways for a Psychic channeler to grow their power. It's pretty much guaranteed to reawaken your dead channeling ability." I didn't think Maya was lying, but this 'Celestial Realm' thing seemed to good to be true 'What's the catch?" I asked with a discerning tone. For a second there, I thought I saw Maya smirk. "Oh, look at that. You're not completely retarded."

"The Celestial Realms are dangerous. At least, realm I'm sending you to is. I'm not going to tell you what's in there. This isn't about me helping you, this is about you proving to me that you're worth helping. Make it out of Naraka, and I'll take the time to decide what the next leg of your training will be. Don't, and... well, it won't matter," Maya explained, making it abundantly clear that this could kill me if I didn't make it out. "I normally reserve this for students with exceptional emotional fortitude, but that esper ability of yours will give you an edge. Let's just see if you're smart enough to use it to your full advantage. Once you're in, follow the light. Once you've found it, try to find a way out, and DO NOT let go of that light for a SECOND."

I spent the next hour learning the ritual needed to enter the Celestial Realm from Maya. The technique wasn't the hard part once I understood it. The hard part was perfectly synching with Rala. It felt like we kept just barely missing the mark. After a while, I had to assume that the cause was the aftermath of the Black Hole Incident. I was starting to lose patience when we finally clicked and power rushed through my body, causing me to shudder. I felt my feet land on the ground and I opened my eyes to see... nothing.

The area around us was completely covered in darkness, with only a single, faint light in the distance. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness... and I immediately regretted doing so. We were in the ruins of what was once Castelia City. It was completely desolate, to the point where there were only chunks of buildings left. The entire city looked abandoned, like it had been destroyed by a powerful legendary Pokemon. Only the nearby fountain was pristine, somehow. The area was completely dark other than a pillar of light to the north, where the station leading into Route 4 was. I started to say something, but I was cut off by the sound of an explosion. Looking around, I saw Keiko nearby. I wanted to call out to her, but I knew something was wrong when she looked at me. She was something beyond furious. I wanted to calm her down, to tell her that nothing crazy would ever- ...no. I remembered the last time I told her that.

"SHUT UP!" she roared, as if I had said that anyway. "I'm SICK of your LIES! EVERY TIME I let my guard around you, something even WORSE happens! White Forest, the Shadow Mewtwo, that ~/~ Lovrina, Ulla DYING in the WCC! It's been one ~/~STORM after another, and I'm DONE!" Keiko burst into Frustration and ran at me at full speed. No, it was more than that. Despite running on just her legs, she was running as fast as she did on all fours with an Agility boost. When she stretched her arm out, I ducked out of the way, and heard a ringing sound that felt similar to metal hitting concrete as I looked back. I got a quick glimpse of a very dark-looking Bronzor before Rala shouted in my mind. 'Master, we've got to hurry.'

I jumped to my feet and ran, Rala levitating closely behind me. We were able to run for about thirty seconds in silence before I heard 'Keiko' roar behind me. "GET OVER HERE!!" Not wanting any of that, I kept running, following the light to the northern end of the city. As I passed the ruin that used to be the apartment I was raised in, I stopped in my tracks. My father was siting at the destroyed doorstep, his outfit a complete mess and he was holding a broken bottle with 'Corona' written on what was left of the label. "Where do YOU *hic* think YER goin *hic* BOY!?"

'Master!' Rala cried out as my father stood up, standing absurdly tall. Right. The one time I saw him like this was when I was seven years old. It never happened after that, and with the stress that I went through in PokeTech Academy, I straight-up forgot about it. I shook my head and ran - I did NOT have time to dwell in that memory. As Rala and I kept moving, I heard my father start to run after me, and it wasn't long before Keiko's footsteps caught up to this. I didn't look back at them, though. We were almost to the station leading into Route 4.

~*~

I had to hold my arm over my face as we entered the station, but once I was able to look around, I realized that we were no longer in Castelia. We were smack dab in the Colisseum in HQ, beneath Mt. Silver. This was good - I remembered enough about HQ to know how to get to the entrance. The room was exceedingly dark, like Castelia was, but my eyes had adjusted enough to that darkness that I could make sense of the room around me. Looking around, I noticed the path back to Castelia was a bright, yellow hole in space that was shaped like a doorway. Kind of on-the-nose, really. The station looked the same way as I approached it, but the lights are always on in there, so I kind of expected that.

Wait, no, I thought as I shook my head. I don't have time to dwell on this. There were three doors - one to the east, one to the west, and one to the north - and I took the North one as that offered the shortest route to the main lobby - and therefore the entrance. Instead of walking out into a hallway, however, the door lead me to Sub's office - and NOT through the only door it had, but rather through the wall opposite the door. I shrugged this confusing layout off - this realm was not a physical one, and trying to apply physical laws to it would be a waste of time. I quickly headed to the door leading out of Sub's office, but a voice stopped me in my tracks - one I would NOT want to hear in the real world.

"Going somewhere, Mr. Toumei?" Looker asked. Turning around, I saw him sitting in Sub's seat, though he rose to his feet almost as soon as he laid eyes on me. I hadn't noticed him due to how dark HQ was until he spoke up. "If you're here to petition for the release of your daughters, I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to grant that request." This wasn't a memory, what was this from? A daydream? I'd certainly considered what trying to talk to the man in person would be like, though I never imagined it going well, at least not realistically. Before I realized it, he was right in front of me, preventing me from retreating back to Castelia - not that I had any intention to. Before he could say anything else, though, I heard another metallic ring as Looker flew into Sub's desk and shattered it - at least the Bronzor transmitting him did, anyway. In his place was Keiko, wreathed in Frustration and hatefully glaring at me. Knowing better than to try to reason with THAT one, I turned on my heel and slammed the door out of Sub's office shut.

The room I entered next was a mish-mash of rooms - a combination of the library, exercise room, and... the pool? They were all seperated so nothing was running into anything else, but the walls separating them weren't there. I could have sworn I remembered them being separate rooms in HQ. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!" I heard Keiko roar from Sub's office. Not wanting anything to do with that, I looked around this triple room, only to find no other entrances. I did, however, notice that he pool was strangely deep. As I considered that, I heard the door slam open. Figuring I was out of options and time, I dove into the pool. I got caught up in a current once underwater, and once I resurfaced, I found myself in a bathtub. A full bathtub. Not willing to spend time thinking about it, I leapt out and opened the door leading out of the bathroom. It didn't lead into anybody's room, but rather the dormitory hallway. I ran down it, planning to take the stairs up to the ground floor and exit through the main entrance. But when I got to the stairwell, it straight-up wasn't there. It was just an empty hole in the base.

I had a short moment to weigh my options before the door I came from slammed open, and 'Keiko' rushed out. I ran away, and as it became increasingly clear that the Bronzor chasing me was going to trap me, I felt a three-fingered hand grab my arm and a wave of Psychic-type energy encompass me. Before I realized it. I was in GRAY's server room with Rala. Thank Arceus I found you, she huffed, and as I heard her try to regain her breath, I realized I was breathing heavily as well. "Did we seriously get split up?" I asked bewilderedly, having not realized it until now. I don't know what's going on with this part of Naraka, but it's DEFINITELY not based on HQ's floor plan, Rala explained telepathically. That was somewhat obvious, given the sequence of rooms I went through while trying to navigate this representation of Snagem headquarters. Though I had to wonder if the layout was different between Rala and myself. I didn't have time to contemplate it, as at that moment, the door leading to the dormitory hallway was slammed against. I covered the door with Protect, but the farther I get from it, the weaker it'll get. But we can't just sit here, Rala 'spoke' up, and I nodded at her. Taking her hand in the hopes that a physical connection - or whatever passes for a physical connection in this place - would keep us from splitting up again, we ran through the server room, which was more like a server corridor. There were lots of nooks and crannies filled with cables and machines, but one corner of the space had a bright doorway in it. The brightness of it reminded me of the brightness of the station leading to Route 4 earlier of Naraka. I wasn't sure where it would lead, but the crashing of the door we came in from made it clear that I didn't have time to be wishy-washy about it.

I was rather let down to realize that I was back in HQ's colisseum, but after a moment, i realized that there was still one unexplored exit from this place. The door to my right led back to Castelia City, and the door to my left led to Sub's office - ah crap, Looker was standing right beside it. "I had a feeling I'd find you here, Mr. Toumei," Looker spoke up, his face grim. Granted, I knew it wasn't the real Looker, but that hardly mattered in Naraka. Not entertaining the illusion, I ran across the colisseum with my left hand still holding on tight to Rala's right hand. Looker ran forward to intercept us, and Rala used her free hand to try to use Thunder Wave, but nothing happened. "I can't recommend attempting to resist," Looker warned as he chased after us. An idea popped into my head as he got close, one that seemed to make sense. Stopping in my tracks, I focused on numbing my emotions, flexing my esper ability to enforce my control over myself. As I did so, Looker slowed down, eventually stopping in place. I smirked as I watched my idea work - Keiko, Looker, and my father were just fabricated memories of my life up until this point. They weren't actual people, so keeping control of my emotions - and in so doing, cutting off the emotions attatched to those memories - killed whatever contol those memories had over my mind. It was only then that I felt a certain heaviness in my chest. This was a mental plane, but everything felt real, and I had been running for a while. The injury wasn't as easily agitated here, but I couldn't afford to ignore it, either. Smirking, I walked toward the exit while holding my emotions shut. Looker was powerless to stop me, and could only watch me leave the room.

Leaving through the last unexplored room in HQ's colisseum, I found myself in the Fairy Realm. This meant I was out of HQ, but it didn't mean I was out of trouble. I couldn't help but remember what being in the Fairy Realm was like, how my mind struggled to maintain focus in this place. But I felt no such struggle here. Of course, this wasn't the real Fairy Realm, but Naraka's representation of it. I had to wonder if Naraka was shaping itself around my memories, or if my memories were giving context to what Naraka actually looked like. Rala noticed my contemplations and tugged my arm in hopes of knocking me out of my train of thought. Master, we don't have time, Rala pointed out. Nodding in agreement, I looked around and saw a single tree in the infinite plain of the Fairy Realm. I didn't know why, but I couldn't help but assume that had to be the Tree of Life, where we sat Ulla down to rest to recover from the state her biological mother left her in. That had to be where the way out was. Holding tight to Rala, I ran as hard as I could across the infinite plain. As we moved, I couldn't help but feel like there was no way that this was an accurate depiction of the Fairy Realm. Was it because I was struggling so hard to maintain focus that I didn't remember what the Fairy Realm actually looked like? I was looking down on the way to the Tree of Life back then, so maybe this version of it looks like an open, empty field because the ground was what I remembered most of it? I shook my head as I ran. Focusing on it was a trap. I had to keep my mind open as I moved. It felt like it took a while, but eventually the Tree of Life was close enough that I could see a bright doorway in front of its trunk. But what I saw next stopped me in my tracks.

Lying motionless in front of the tree and the doorway was Ulla. As I beheld her, grief and regret washed over my mind, and I could no longer hold my emotions shut. I remembered the assumptions I'd made and the guilt I felt when I realized what the truth was. I had no idea what she was going through. I couldn't know, but that didn't matter. I should have known, somehow. The fact that I had adopted her, or rather, that she had adopted Keiko and me didn't matter. I was the closest thing to a father she had, and I failed her. I heard Rala call for me, but she sounded distant, like she was far away. But I still heard her, and I realized that what I was feeling was a trap. It was exactly what this plane wanted. So I decided I would turn that trap back around on it. Grabbing Ulla's lifeless body, I stood up and turned around, putting it between me and the rapidly approaching Keiko, who also stopped in her tracks. She had a fist held up, as if ready to swing, but once she stopped, the arm connected to that fist fell to her side. Her eyes were glued to Ulla's, and tears had begun rolling down her cheeks, downright ignoring the fur there. Right as I had thought his had worked, Keiko looked up at me with a look on her face that reminded me of the vision I had when I was first training to be a Psychic Channeler in Hoenn. The look I'd told Keiko I never wanted to see on her again. "How could you?" she asked. Guilt overcame me. I tried to flex my esper ability again, but the guilt was too great. I couldn't get a handle on it. Right as I was about to fall into dispair, I heard Rala's voice again, though this time it was VERY distant, almost inaudbile. Looking to the Gardevoir, I saw her mouth wide open. She was screaming at me, but I could barely hear her.

I realized then that I was in danger. I tried to turn Naraka's trap against it, but it was like the realm itself was holding an Uno Reverse card. It took every ounce of will I had to toss Ulla's dead body to Keiko. Hearing the ring of Bronzor colliding against Bronzor, I turned around, grabbed Rala's hand, and tried to run. It felt like my body was immersed in a pit of tar, but every step I took was easier, as if the guilt I felt was falling off me in chunks. By the time I was running at full speed, Keiko's roar echoed throughout the Fairy Realm, but I only heard it for a second before I passed through that bright doorway right again. That passage had led us to the Super Training Room in HQ. I was confused for a moment before I turned around and realized that the Fairy Realm I thought I'd entered was an emulation within the room. I gritted my teeth in rage as I realized that the 'Fairy Realm' was a trick from the start. Master, please, I heard clear as day. Right, this wasn't the time to dwell in my thoughts. Taking my hand, I ran toward the exit to the Super Training Room, which wound up leading to the main lobby of HQ. For a second, I was excited to be close to the exit of HQ, but that faded when I realized that the room was devoid of furniture, and full of people in handcuffs. It was then that I realized that this version of HQ was very recent. It was during SWIPE's invasion of it. That explained why Looker was here. The Castelia City I ran through when I first got here must have been from my childhood, if the memory of my father was any indication. I didn't bother looking at the manacled Snagems on the floor, opting instead to focus on getting out. Once I was close enough to the mechanical door leading to the entrance, I saw another bright doorway. It made sense - this wasn't the real HQ, and the doorway couldn't be opened because GRAY wasn't here to open it. I ran up to the door, but stopped when I heard Keiko's voice. "Get back here, you worthless coward," I heard her snarl. Sparing a second to look at her, I saw her face twisted in anger, and her body wreathed in the heavy pink aura of a genuine Frustration. "Nope!" I smirked in response before pulling Rala into the bright doorway with me.

~*~

I was hoping that'd be the last doorway I'd have to go through, but those hopes would be dashed as I found myself in front of Pokemon Tech in the middle of the night. Looking behind me - as I knew I'd have to come back through here, I saw something I wasn't expecting. My father's car. So this was when I first arrived in Pokemon Tech. With that in my mind, I forced myself to go numb. I knew I couldn't keep running. If I didn't slow down on occasion, my injury would flare up. I didn't know how considering that I was basically trapped within my own mind, but everytihng about Naraka felt way more real than it should, especially the memories it brought up. When Rala objected to us slowing down, I explained the situation. I then pointed to the VERY bright light emanating from the nearby building, though it was clear that it was coming from one of the rooms inside the building as the building itself wasn't encased in that light. "If I remember the layout correctly, that light should be coming from my dorm room. Should be easy enough to get to as long as the floor plan is upheld," I didn't want to think about it being twisted like HQ was for fear that it'd wind up becoming like that. Instead, I just held on tight to Rala and rushed toward the building's entrance.

The building itself was surprisingly empty. The front desk, the common room, the cafeteria, the classrooms - all completely devoid of life, and all dark inside like HQ and Castelia were. I was starting to wonder if this part of Naraka was just empty, but I'd come to regret wondering that as I found the hallway leading to the stairwell, at the top of which were the dorms. While the hallway looked empty, it sounded like it was full to bursting of people talking among themselves. I didn't stop moving as I went along, but the more I listened to the conversations around us, I began to recognize certain voices in the crowd. Roomates, friends of roomates, complete strangers, all asking me to stop focusing so much and just live a little. I remember being bothered regularly by people who assumed from watching me that I was taking my studies far too seriously. They meant well - they wanted to show me that the Academy had more to offer than studies. That there were friends to make and activites to enjoy. But with the pressure my father was putting on me to perform well in my classes due to the cost of tuition, I wound up having to turn all those people down. Granted, I put some of that pressure on myself, as some of the classes I took were taken more for curiosity and personal interest than the degree I was chasing. Of course, as soon as I thought of my father, the handle from a nearby phone booth ripped itself off its cords and latched itself onto my ear. I immediately began hearing my father's determined, insistant tone about how studies were going and how he felt I wasn't taking this opportunity seriously enough. I saw the trap for what it was and ignored my father's voice. I'd graduated from Pokemon Tech well over a decade ago, and while I did have fond memories, I had to remember that I was in Naraka, and any memories I tried to relive would just trap me.

The second I opened the door to the stairwell, the phone handle fell from its perch on my ear. Fortunately, not only did the door lead to the stairwell, but the stairwell itself was actually there, fully intact. Grateful that this place wasn't going to be as much trouble as HQ was, I rushed up the stairs, but stopped as the conversations I heard below changed suddenly to screams. Keiko's roar made it clear what was happening - the angry apparation of my memory of Keiko shortly after Lovrina got her filthy hands on her was fighting off the disembodied voices to get to me. I squeezed Rala's hand to remind myself that I couldn't stay still, and was grateful to feel the Gardevoir's hand in mind. Rala was still there. With that in mind, I continued rushing up the stairs. At the top, I forced myself to go numb, as I was having trouble catching my breath. The screams and roars stopped, but I knew they wouldn't stop for good. Opening the nearby door, I found myself in the dorm hallway and instinctually let go of my emotional state. One of the doors was almost blinding in the amount of light it was giving off, but it didn't look like the bright doorways from earlier. It looked like a normal door. I ran up to it and opened it, but it didn't lead to my dorm room in Pokemon Tech.