Ludicom

The legendary Pokemon video game franchise garnered massive levels of popularity. Being piecemealed outside Japan after growing massively popular within, Nintendo and GameFreak made every intention to expand the series to astronomical levels. But as time passed, they kept on looking for the next step. Despite all the features added to the games, none of them had the full immersion that they strove for. That’s when they decided to create a digital Pokemon world run in Virtual Reality. With the intention of the final version of the product featuring every region in the series interconnected as they would be in the real world, and with a massive multiplayer layout that could make a Pokemon Society a reality, they first decided to test it on a small scale by inviting Beta Testers from around the globe. While the final version would have very few NPCs for the sake of maintaining the immersion, the beta that the testers would experience would be more preinhabited due to the limited number of testers. With months of programing and R&D invested into the project, it was finally ready for testing, and the applicants were reviewed and invited to the testing facility, and attached to the game, which was set exclusively in Sinnoh.

One by one, in response to adds on the internet, people signed up for the beta, and those who were accepted were flown out. With specific arrangements for the times made, each beta tester arrived to the testing site one by one and were rigged into their test rooms. With a surprisingly simplistic setup, the testers were placed in rooms that would accommodate false matter creations of the Sinnoh region and all who inhabit it. The world would be realer than ever imagined. And not one of the testers met each other. The purpose, so nobody in the test would know who was real and who was part of the program. With the safeguard activated, and their avatar designed, each tester was plunged into the Sinnoh region, all with different start points, their starter and Pokedex in hand.

Before the launch of the test, each tester was informed of a prize for their success. The first tester to successfully complete the championship battle would be given a ¥50,000,000 prize, and special perks when the game goes live. Competition and rivalry encouraged.

The sound of waves hitting sand and a gentle breeze could be heard, as well as a groan. "What a headache... I guess that's fair enough, though." The tall, shapely woman sat up, shaking the sand from her honey colored hair. She looked herself over first, checking for anything awry, but found herself to look and feel much the same as she had when she arrived at the beta testing facility.

A look of awe swept over her face when she saw the sea and beach before her. It was beautiful- if she hadn't known better, it would have fooled her completely. Her jaw dropped a moment, but she was brought back to the non-reality when something bumped into her leg. "Twig!" She looked down, and saw a small green turtle. "A Turtwig, huh? You must be the starter they promised. Can I call you Cheeto?" The Turtwig was a bit pudgy... It smiled and nodded happily. Shelby patted the Turtwig on the head. "We should probably get a move on, time's a-wasting!"

The duo turned and headed north, as that was the only direction land was in. After a short walk, they arrived in Sandgem Town. "Quaint place."

"Uuuuuoooooooooooooh!" Richie roared, though more of a growl, when he laid his eyes on the main page for the beta testing period of a "New Pokemon Game" that he had seen so many ads for recently, "I thought that was some sort of scam game, but it's on Nintendo's front page!"

"What are talking about?" Richie's younger brother asked with an arrogant tone.

"I'm talking about babies, and how many I've eaten live." Richie responded flatly, he glanced at his brother, "I'm gonna head out for a sec, if I'm not back for a few weeks, I'm playing Pokemon." He stuffed his laptop and a few notebooks into his bag, grabbed his phone and bolted.

"Well no shit, I was gonna tell them you were at Nathan's anyhow."

+++ Richie whited out +++

"Puuh! Hack!" Richie coughed as his eyes were pried open by the sun, "Shit... What?" Shading his eyes, he sat up, looking about his surroundings, "Did I pass out? Damn... I knew that 'New Pokemon Game' was just a shtick... Those crooks probably took all of my money, too."

He stretched, then patted himself down, feeling if he was missing anything, nothing gone, although he had gained something, a hard rectangle shape bulging from his back pocket, "Th' balls-?" Richie pulled the object out of his pocket, it was red and black, "A pokedex? Like one o' those toys I had as a kid? Hm... Weird, it has some weight to it."

Putting the Pokedex into his bag, he took a bit longer to examine the area, "Where-?" A flowery area, only a few houses, but the area was completely covered in varying colors of beautiful flowers along with the aroma of honey wafting through the air, "What the-?"

"Pip!"

"Eh?" Richie looked down to see a small blue penguin-like creature pulling at his pant leg, "AH! Mutant Midget!" He struck a frightened pose, although, he did not run, instead he fixated his eyes on the Piplup, who just stared, "Oh? You must be mine. Animals don't like my face so they usually run away if I happen to change it- WAIT- WHAT!? THAT WASN'T A DREAM!?"

Blinking open his eyes Michael weakly sat up holding one hand to his head. "Should have warned us about the head ache at the very least." He growled a bit, his eyes closing while he shook the pounding away.

Reopening his eyes he looks around gazing out at the open water and the cave containing Mesprit before him. "Geeze they really put a lot of work into the graphics. It looks so real." He whistles out, standing up to gaze out over the water before crouching down to place his foot into it. "Even feels real. If I wasn't worried about them not having the ability to swim programmed I would try and reach Mesprit's cave." He laughs out standing back up.

"Chim Chim come here!" He calls out looking over his shoulder at his starter Chimchar who was busy swinging around some of the tree branches before dashing over beside him and leaping onto his shoulder. "Well then we should probably get going to Sandgem so we can get some pokeballs." He grins walking off toward route 201. "Don't want anyone else getting a head start on me."

Dylan was groggy and wiped out from the process. He was sitting against a building as his vision cleared. Then a man on a bike swerved around him, rudely shouting "Get out of the road, ya bum!"

"Oh yeah! Well screw you too buddy!" Dylan shouted as he stood. It was then that he started to look around, realizing where he was. The buildings were different than what he knew as common. There was a weird ass statue not too far. And the building he was leaning against had a red roof and Pokeball Logo on it.

"This is Eterna City. I'm in Eterna City. This is AWESOME!"

"Chimchar!" A plucky monkey with a fire on it's rear hopped up and down with Dylan.

"You! You're awesome too! I'm gonna call you Donnel. You gonna be by buddy?"

"Chim!"

From there, Dylan spastic ran around the city, making an ass of himself. Simply put, he looked like an idiot. But he was having fun.

"Well then. That was fairly less annoying than in the games. Always seemed to encounter a pokemon every two steps on the first path." He laughed using the potion on Chim Chim that the woman from the PokeMart had given him.

"Well then I guess this is Sandgem Town." He grinned looking around at the few buildings in the town. "Ah and I guess she must be one of the other testers." He smiles seeing Shelby walking into the town from the south with Cheeto following her. Doesn't seem like one to be violent so might as well introduce myself.

"Want to go meet another person Chim Chim?" "Chim! Chimchar!" He laughs, while walking up to Shelby. "Hello there, since you have that Bulbasaur 2.0 following you, I take it your another beta tester? My name is Michael." He smiles holding out his hand toward her.

Shelby was headed towards the Pokemart when Michael walked up to her. She regarded him carefully for a moment before accepting his hand. "You assume correctly, Michael." She ended the handshake. "My name's Shelby. I'd prefer it if we could skip battling, at least for the moment- the beta just started, and I'd like for us to have more Pokemon at our disposal before any brawling." She wasn't exactly looking for companions- but she wouldn't force amiable people away, either. She gave a small smile.

The money's mine, though. I'm not here to make friends.

"I'd love to hang around, but you know, time is of the essence and all. I'm going to do some shopping, then I'm out of town. You're welcome to tag along if you'd like." It was an offer without any sort of obligation, and Shelby walked into the Pokemart. It was obvious that she wasn't trying to be rude, rather, she was hurried and seemed to want a good headstart.

A lovely woman sat at a desk in the Jubilife Pokemon Academy. Taking notes on a variety of subjects, Piplup by her side. She was approached by a number of people asking her questions about what she was doing there, but she remained silent. When she had a full assortment of notes, she stood up and walked out, again, in silence.

"Piplup, for now on, you shall be known as Soichiro." When the woman smiled, it only drew attention from passersby. But she ignored everyone.

"Oh, wow, the Team Galactic goons aren't here yet. Are the events timed in here? If so, that's some witchcraft and I love it!" Richie laughed in sheer joy, after a few seconds, he stopped then looked at his palms, "I can't even tell I'm in a game. They duplicated my skin perfectly, all the way to the scar tissue... This is some Sword Art Onli- No!" He looked about frantically as he recalled the Anime, "No flying robe man. No Teleportation to a coliseum. I think I'm good... For now."

Richie made his way to the Pokemart, buying a few Potions for his Piplup, not buying any Pokeballs as he was given some as he was entering the game, "Now... Heh, to the honey, without those blokes I can take as much as I please without interruption."

"Piplup!" Richie's companion quacked.

"Wait- first I think we should train and pick up a mate don'tcha think?" Richie asked Piplup, walking towards the southern entrance of Floroma.

Michael smiles and laughs. "Fine by me. Wasn't planning on fighting you anyway. No point wasting time fighting each other and letting the others get ahead of us now is there?" He grinned as he followed her into the mart.

"Well Shelby I guess we will be traveling buddies for a bit. You seem to know what your doing so my guess is we will both be taking basically the same path. Might as well have some company till we get used to the system better and get some more pokemon." He shrugs buying up some pokeballs and a few potions as well. And might as well keep my eyes on at least one of the competition.

Shelby purchased her usual grab at the start of a game- some Pokeballs, a few Potions, and some Antidotes. "Sounds fair. Are you going for the prize as well, or just here for fun?" She wanted to cut to the chase. "I don't mind competition, but I just want to be sure where we stand." It came across more as honest than as menacing. She nodded to the door. "We can talk while we walk."

Shelby was more relaxed than anything else- she had an air of calm about her as she inhaled the sea breeze one last time. "Mmmm." She looked north. "I'm going to catch a few things." She dashed ahead, into the tall grass, laughing the entire way. Cheeto panicked, being slower, and ran after her best he could.

Dylan and Donnel had tired themselves out with their running. Just being in this world felt great. Like everything was all for you. A woman in a green tunic and brown shorts walked out of the building he had stopped in front of.

"Wow. You're a fireball, aren't ya? Just like your Chimchar. I respect that. Hey, how many gyms have you battled so far?" The woman said in a cheery tone.

"Gyms... oh, right... I haven't... battled any yet." Dylan said as he caught his breath.

"Really? Huh, then I'll be your first. That'll be a nice change of pace from Roark's Hand Me Ups."

"Wait, now? I haven't actually battled anyone yet." Dylan was worried he and Donnel wouldn't have any synergy as a team.

"If that's the case, then my gym's perfect. Fight a few of my girls along the way to warm up, then you and I can have a go. It'll be one on one matches since it's just you and Chimchar. I'll bet you my spare bike you don't pull it off in one try." Gardenia had a teasing tone to her voice.

"Oh, in that case, you're on. I'll be right back." Dylan made a mad dash to the mart to stock up on supplies so he'd be in good shape for the battle.

"Crap." Richie sighed, standing next to Piplup and his new partner, Geodude, "I forgot about this part... Rock Smash." He pressed his hand against his face before turning to his team, "We're gonna have to duke it out with Roark a bit later, chums, at least not until we get to Hearthome." Piplup and Geodude shrugged, not making much of Richie's disdain, following him out of the cave and back to Floroma.

"Hm... Do I just skip along passed the Valley Windworks event? Or is that for the people who actually follow the games and start in Twinleaf or whatever, Littleroot? I dunno. C'mon guys, to space- I mean, Eterna!" Richie swung his arm to the eastern exit of the town, "Beh, I wanted to actually do that event, though, y'know, I mean- it isn't the first time you meet Team Galactic, I think, but it's cool because you get to fight the first of the Galactic Commanders, Mars."

"Geo." Geodude grunted, as if trying to affirm Richie.

"Heh, sorry for chatting your ears off, guys, when I was a kid I did a lot of talking to myself, so when I have the chance to talk to someone, especially someone who just wants to hear me, it makes me feel like I'm not... Boring. I guess you could say." Richie smiled a bit, making his way to Eterna Forest.

Laughing at her Turtwig, Michael leaned over whispering into Chim Chim's ear before the monkey jumped off his shoulder and ran up to Cheeto and began teasingly running circles around the far slower pokemon.

"Anyone who isn't here for the money is a fool. You can have all the fun you want in live but you only get one shot at the money." He laughs as he runs up to Shelby before pulling out his Pokedex. "ARC which Pokemon are in this route?" He grins down at his pokedex as it powers on. Pokemon available are: Starly, Bidoof, Kricketot, and Shinx the pokedex reads out aloud.

"Oh nice. Chim Chim enough playing with the slowpoke. See if you can find a Shinx in the grass." He laughs running around in search of one of the electric pokemon.

Dylan knew that Gardenia's underlings were taking it easy on him, but he got the hang of things fast enough. The Pokedex started to act up when the battle started. It showed the Pokemon's good ol HP bars on it's screen, but when you looked up, things were a lot different. The Pokemon were moving around each other, dodging and having to time their attacks. It was like Pokemon the RPG met with an action game and had a beautiful baby. In a few rounds, Dylan was face to face with Gardenia.

"Since this is your first gym, and since you only have that Chimchar, I'm only going to use one Pokemon. But I'm not holding back. Just because I'm lowering to meet you doesn't mean I'm not making you work for it. Let's go Roselia!" Gardenia threw her Pokeball and the rose Pokemon stood before them.

"I never realized how tiny those things were. No matter. You know what to do Donnel."

The fight was surprisingly epic for the low level battle that it was. Chimchar and Roselia were pretty speedy for that rank. Even worse, they were in a race of time between Roselia being burned by Ember, and Donnel being poisoned by Poison Sting.

"Looks like I've got a slight upper hand. But don't feel bad. Lots of people loose to me." Gardenia was cocky.

"Well, I'm not one of them." Dylan said with a grin. He ran in and slid past Donnel, spraying some Potion on him.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

"All's fair in love and war. And this is war. Donnel, Ember!"

Cinders erupted from the Chimchar's mouth. The burns both standing, and new were too much for the Rose Pokemon to bare and it fell in pain. Gardenia rushed to it's side, trying to tend to it's wounds. Then Dylan stepped up and spritzed on some Burn Heal, supprising Gardenia.

"Well. Looks like you earned this one. Good job Emo Kid. Just kidding. Here's the Forrest Badge and a Badge Case!"

Triumphant, Dylan strutted out of the Gym, new bike in tow. But he didn't just skedaddle off. He decided to stop at the Pokemon Center. After all, VR or not, he was hungry. When he sat down, he overheard some people talking about new renovations to a building just north of the center. Apparently, it had been bought out and was being modified.

Ian fell back into the grass, too dizzy to stand up without help. "Man, that was weird. I feel like I just got off the Tilt A Whirl after two hours." After regaining his senses, he managed to pick himself up with the help of a nearby tree. "I can't I'm actually in the game. It's incredible. Everything looks so real. I wish I had brought my camera with me." Ian started to walk forward when he felt something pull on his pants leg, holding him back. "Huh?" Ian turned and looked down and saw a Turtwig.

"Turtwig!" It barked, releasing Ian's leg.

"Oh wow, a Turtwig." He bent down to examine the starter pokemon. "Unbelievable. You look so lifelike." Ian extended a hand and rubbed Turtwig's head. When he touched the sapling on it's head, Turtwig head-butted his hand, not liking it's sapling to be touched.

"Turtwig!" It barked again, this time nudging a pokeball towards Ian.

"I get it. You're my starter pokemon than?" Ian asked the small pokemon. It nodded its head. "Than let's get going. I intend to see everything I can here while I'm playing the game." Ian started walking down a path, only realizing after he started that he had no idea where he actually was. "This could be a bit of a problem. I don't really know where we are." While thinking about where he could be, Turtwig bit his pants leg again, trying to get his attention.

"Turtwig!" The pokemon barked. Ian turned towards where Turtwig was motioning and found a sign.

"Nice sleuthing Turtwig. Let's see what it says." Ian walking to the sign. It wasn't a very detailed sign. All it said was Sandgem Town with an arrow that pointed to the right. "Sandgem Town huh? I'm pretty sure there's a Poke Mart there. Let's go stock up on supplies." Ian took off, sprinting down the road until he noticed Turtwig was falling behind. "You're not very fast huh Turtwig. Ah well. We can take our time." Ian's sprint turned into a slower jog, and with that the two make their way to Sandgem Town.

The facility seemed oddly clinical for something that was supposed to be a fun video gaming place.  Aryeh shrugged it off and decided it was time to get started.  A couple of workers strapped him into the virtual reality pod.  He was pretty stoked considering it was pure luck he was selected to Beta Test the new Pokémon.  It was the Sinnoh Region so he knew his way around that region, but this was a new gen so it wouldn't be exactly the same.  The pod closed over him and he closed his eyes, drifting into unconsciousness.  A small beeping sound occured as his subconscious floated into what was like another world and he questioned if this was supposed to be normal.

What was instantly later felt like it had been all night as Aryeh awoke in the middle of the fields of the Floaroma Meadows.  The flowers looked lifelike.  It was an amazing sight to see the sunny Sinnoh Region as if the Pokémon World was completely real.  Aryeh felt a tightness around his arms, as if the straps were getting tighter.  He didn't see the straps in the game but felt them on his real body.  Over the next minute, the feeling left as he was totally plugged into the game.  He no longer was in the real world.  Aryeh quickly contemplated the physics behind that, but then decided to check the backpack he now was wearing.

Five empty Pokéballs, five Potions, two Antidotes and a Paralyze Heal.  Basic supplies for sure, but enough to get started.  Aryeh then noticed he was wearing a belt.  He didn't normally wear belts but this was a belt for Pokéballs.  A Pokéball was firmly attached in one of the slots.  Aryeh pulled out and pressed the button in the middle.  Out popped a small green turtle like Pokémon.  Aryeh was pleased that his request for Turtwig was granted and they didn't make a mistake that ended up with a sucky Chimchar or anything.  Turtwig was awesome and seeing his new partner in person was brilliant.

"Brilliant" Aryeh surmised.

Aryeh walked along the fields towards the exit, Turtwig happily hopping alongside him.  The whole experience was surreal but Aryeh was sure he'd get used to it in a couple days or something.  Floaroma Town was a great start for the game, still at a fairly early point in the Sinnoh Region.  Aryeh still had a bunch of questions to ask.  How were the NPCs?  Apparently the artificial intelligence was very good.  How good?

Of course the first order of business was a battle.  You can't play Pokémon without battling something.  Itching to fight, Aryeh rushed into the nearby tall grass outside the town.

"Ok, my Turtwig; we will fight anything between here and down to Oreburgh City and the Gym" Aryeh explained; Turtwig nodded in understanding, something that made Aryeh wonder how talking was recognised by the beings in this game.

It wasn't long before wild Pokémon appeared.  Turtwig took them out without much effort considering it was a starter Pokémon and the levels seemed to scale with how it was doing.  Finally the two of them made it to Oreburgh but a bunch of Wilds were not enough.  Aryeh had to find some NPC Trainer to get better EXP before entering the Gym.  The Cranidos that he knew the Gym Leader would likely have was going to be tough if Turtwig's level was low, even though Grass was the effective type.

"Alright, let's get to it!"

+++

"Thank you for the oppurtunity" Donovan smiled to the workers at the Pokémon facility.

A businessman like him had pulled an awful lot of strings to get into the Beta testing for this game.  Donovan wasn't really a fan of the games before, but he had decided to learn a lot about it when he discovered that it would the host to virtual reality; something that Donovan wanted all the information on as he could find.  This was a way for Donovan to use the knowledge he gained to make as much money as possible.  He was strapped into the game and smiled; he knew what was coming, but this was his big break.

The shores of Route 213 outside of Pastoria City had a fresh ocean breeze that felt real.  As the last vestiges of the real world passed through Donovan's mind, he found himself awake in this new world.  He took in the sights for a moment and laughed.  It was a real shame he wasn't going to play by the rules.  The game looked fun but the end justifies the means and if he had to mess it up a bit to gain the secrets he so desired, then saccrifices would have to be made.

Donovan released the Chimchar from the Pokéball attached to his belt.  Strong offensive stats.  He wanted to crush any trainer in his way quickly so he could be strong enough to handle what he needed to do.  He had to get deep into the game to find the coding so learn its secrets.

+++

Underground, a small pixel was out of place.  A second later it was two pixels.  Then three.  It whirred and glitched before it was a whole mass of weird pixels.  Some of them then formed into what was the shape of a couple of people, but without any features.  A basic face appeared on the people without any emotion.

"Seek and destroy."

Shelby nodded. "Honest man. I like that." She gave him a teasing smile before walking back over. She had managed to capture a Shinx, which she named Simba, and a Starly, which she named Winter. She really did appreciate Michael's honesty. "Maybe you aren't half bad." She commented. "I'm going to head on along- battle a bit, then go into town. I'll meet you at the Pokemon Center!"

Shelby arrived in Jubilife City without breaking a sweat- as someone who's played the game this was based on dozens of times, she had a way of going about her business that took little effort and reaped great reward. Plus, she didn't want to let Michael get a lead on her. He seemed nice enough, but she wasn't about to have him pull ahead because she was sticking with him. Companion, not a friend. You aren't here to make friends, don't forget that. Her expression was a bit glum at the thought, but Simba bumped his head into her. He was currently at the head of her party, and he was fluffy. Tough and cute- it was no wonder that Shelby had him out. The city was sprawling- she looked around. A school, the Pokemon Center, clowns....

"Oh goddamnit, I forgot the clowns...." She moaned. "They're a lot creepier in person...."

"Harlequins actually." Ran said as she walked up to Shelby. "A bid different. Harlequins are more vocal entertainers. Ran, pleased to meet you." Ran spoke with a certain level of elligance, as if she were on stage.

"I take it you're a new trainer. Given the company you're keeping. But you also seem acquainted with this city. I suppose you won't be staying long. Off to Oreburg to compete in the League."

Ran had withdrawn Soichiro for now, mostly to remain inconspicuous. Piplups stuck out like big blue sore thumbs.

Shelby raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. I'm popular today. "Shelby, same. New to this, but not to Pokemon." She glanced Ran up and down, same as she had Michael, and felt almost inadequate in her midst- beautiful, even by her standards, and obviously she had some level of experience. She didn't recognize her as being from the game, but she wasn't sure if she was a player or not, either. She shifted, uncomfortable.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I'm in a bit of a rush to do so. And what about you? Where are you headed?" Shelby didn't want to be rude, but it was obvious that she wasn't planning on sticking around too long. Simba wrapped around her leg, and glanced up at Ran with wide eyes.

"Well, as it so happens, I'm heading in the same direction. I suppose I could go elsewhere, but there's not much else to do right now. The cave to Floroma town is blocked off, the waters to Canalave are too turbulant without a Pokemon's assistance. Nope, It seems Oreburg is the only place worth going from here. If you don't mind, I'd like to study you. If you're new to the area but not to Pokemon, you must be a expert starting from square one again. I'd love to see your technique." Ran's tone was respectful, but not in a way that lowered herself. More close to an equal tone if anything.

"Fine with me see you later then." Michael called out as Shelby walked off to catch some pokemon before he heard a Shinx call out near Chim Chim's location. "That was fast" He smiled rushing off to capture the Shinx, quickly subduing it and calling it Sparky.

"Well that was a fun training session but I think you two need to be rested a bit. Then we can go get a Magikarp once I get a fishing rod." He smiles down at Chim Chim and Sparky the monkey happily riding on the back of the Shinx as it walks proudly around. Finally entering the town he sees Shelby talking to Ran.

"Well I see you are making friends even with the NPC's aren't you Shelby?" He laughs as he passes her by to the Pokemon Center. "Keep talking to everyone of the NPC's and I will pass you by and win that money." He teased her playfully.

Shelby's gaze snapped back and forth between Ran and Michael. In the end, her uneasiness about Ran had her running after Michael, into the Pokemon Center.

"Wait up! I... Um, I'd feel a bit more comfortable if we stuck close for a bit." She whispered into Michael's ear, after they had entered the Pokemon Center. "That lady wants to study me." She was making little sense, but was obviously a bit creeped out. "Plus... I don't like clowns." She looked down, at Simba, returning him to his ball and placing her Pokemon to be healed.

Ian finally arrived at Sandgem Town, with Turtwig on his back. About halfway through their jog, Turtwig fell to the ground, exhausted. Not wanting to waste any time, Ian scooped up the pokemon and put him on his back. "Finally we're here. Man Turtwig, for such a small pokemon, you're really heavy." He said, stretching.

"Turtwig!" The pokemon barked, softly tackling Ian's leg.

"Hey wait. Why didn't I just call you back to your poke ball?" Ian asked himself as he stood outside the pokemart. "I should do that now." Ian tried recalling Turtwig, but the pokemon jumped out of the way from the beam.

"Turt!" The pokemon growled, not wanting to go back in the ball.

"Okay, okay! You can stay out of your poke ball. But I'm not gonna keep carrying you like that. My back'll give out if I do." The pokemon nodded, agreeing to his terms. The two walked into the pokemart. Thankfully, the creators of the game had given him 3000 pokedollars. Ian had enough to buy 12 pokeballs and a potion, also receiving a premier ball as a bonus for purchasing 10 pokeballs.

"All right. We're good to go. We should go train Turtwig. That way we can prepare for the first gym." Ian and his pokemon walked outside the shop. As they walked to Route 202, Ian considered something. "You know, I feel like we should have seen another player by now. I'd assume they would've dropped us off at the same place. Maybe they're ahead of us, no doubt trying to get the prize money."

"Turtwig?" The pokemon was unsure what his trainer was talking about.

"No doubt they want the money. People can be greedy at some times. I mean, sure 50 million dollars is nice, but how can you go into a virtual world just for money?" As Ian was talking to himself, he didn't even notice the pokemon in front of him until he tripped over it. "Ow. What was that?" He flipped himself over and saw a Bidoof, looking a little mad.

"Bidoof." It growled, looking at Ian and Turtwig.

"A Bidoof? No problem. We can handle this." Turtwig jumped forward, ready to battle the wild pokemon. That's when three more Bidoof appeared from a nearby bush. "Oh boy."


***


It took a bit, and Turtwig took a pounding but they finally managed to get defeat the Bidoof. "Man, that was crazy. You must be pretty tough to take out four Bidoof on your own." Ian said, petting Turtwig's shell. "But you're hurt. I had hoped we wouldn't have to use the potion so soon, but this is a bit of an emergency." He sprayed the pokemon, restoring its health.

"Turtwig!" The pokemon jumped, happy to be at full strength again.

"Hey look. It's Jubilife City. We can get a Poketch there. That will definitely be useful here. Let's go." The two ran toward the city, finally reaching the city after about ten minutes of running. It was huge!

"This is incredible. It's bigger than New York City. Well, maybe not. But it's pretty damn close." Ian said, looking around. "Anyway, if I remember correctly, we're gonna have to find three clowns and answer their questions. And considering the size of the city, that could be a tad difficult. The Pokemon Center's around the corner from here. How about we go to the Pokemon Center before we start our search?"

"Turt." Turtwig barked, agreeing.

"Cool. Let's go." The two walked down the street, not wasting any time.

"... that was an overreaction. Note to self. Use less intimidating terms when trying to make associates." Ran jaunted around the town before making her way to the Pokemon center, addressing Michael and Shelby.

"I realize perhapes I caused you undo uneasyness, so I decided to rectify the situation by fetching a Poketch for you and your friend too. I didn't know if you'd prefer the blue or pink models, so I just went with the basic whites."

Ran was determined to go with these two. Shelby more so than Michael, but still.

"Fine with me like I said good to have some company for a while. And. Scared of clowns? I would think the big scary pokemon would be scarier than a clown would be specially since it would be easier to beat up a clown with your own pokemon." He laughs teasing Shelby as Michael returns his pokemon to their pokeballs to be healed before going to get some snacks to eat.

"So if you are scared of clowns how do you plan to get the Poketch? You would still have to talk to them I believe even if your with....." Michael trailed off seeing Ran coming up to them and offering a Poketch to them. "Well thanks um. I never caught your name, but thanks for the watch." He said slowly remembering what Shelby had said to him about the woman as he eyed her up and down suspiciously. "You one of the other beta testers miss? You don't act like an AI but your speech seems to be similar and you don't have a pokemon following you like we have."

Shelby switched Simba out for her Starly, Winter, when her Pokemon were returned. The bird rested on her shoulder. She was trying her best to disregard Michael's teasing, her face reddening some, but when she turned around and saw Ran had followed her, she dropped any irritation at Michael and hung close to him.

"Thank you. Michael, this is Ran. Ran, this is Michael." She said nothing else, wanting to let Michael provide a cross-examination of sorts. She wanted to watch how they interacted. She wasn't sure what, exactly, Ran's motives were, but considering the large stakes, she also knew that violence or backstabbing wasn't out of the question, and she also knew that there was strength in numbers. And with Michael by her side, that made two against one. Shelby was a paranoid person, but that didn't mean she wasn't hopeful that Ran was just a strange person or NPC who was friendly.

In order to find some trainers, Aryeh passed through Oreburgh Gate and into Route 203.  Finally he saw an NPC Trainer waiting around.  He approached the trainer, wondering how a trainer Pokémon was going to work out.

"You've locked eyes with another Trainer, we have to battle" said the Trainer, a youngster.

"Fine by me, let's see what you got" Aryeh smiled; it was fairly awkward since the person wasn't entirely real yet seemed so real.

The youngster threw out their Pokéball and send out the Fighting Pokémon Machop.  Aryeh send out his Turtwig.

"Turtwig, use Absorb!" Aryeh instructed his Pokémon; the Turtwig listening before sending out a small seed that sucked a bunch of health from the Machop.

The Machop responded with a Low Kick, hitting Turtwig by not too hard.  Turtwig bounced back and continued with the assault of Absorbs until Machop finally fainted.  The trainer was defeated and Aryeh was victorious.  The Pokédex that Aryeh had been equipped with beeped as Turtwig learned Razor Leaf.

"It still needs a couple more levels.  Maybe it's time for some backup" Aryeh said to himself "I've still got these empty Pokéballs."

Back into the grass, Aryeh searched for more wild Pokémon to fight.  Bidoofs weren't good enough, Aryeh needed a Pokémon with lasting potential.  Then a Starly appeared.

"That's more like it!  Turtwig, use Razor Leaf and weaken the Starly!"

Turwig shot forth a barrage of leaves at the Starly.  Starly zoomed towards Turtwig and used Tackle.

"It isn't strong enough to use a Flying move yet" Aryeh realised "That means I don't have anything to worry about.  Turtwig, use Absorb and wittle it down!"

Turtwig sent out the Absorb seed again and brought Starly to low health.  Aryeh figured this was the right time and chucked a Pokéball.  The Pokéball wobbled on the ground a few times.  Then it clicked; success!  Starly was captured, but it wouldn't be the most useful thing in the Rock Gym.  Though once it evolved, it would do great in the next Gym which was Grass.  Thinking ahead would pay off.

Aryeh spent the new few minutes taking out more wild Pokémon.  Turtwig was Lv15 and Starly was Lv10.  Not the highest but after the Gym Trainers, Turtwig should hopefully be ready to fight the Gym Leader.  He walked back through the gate into Oreburgh City and headed to the Pokémon Center to heal up his Pokémon, ready for the next fights.

A girl sat in the center watching him intently.

"Where are all these people coming from?" wondered the girl "A whole bunch of new trainers who never existed till today as if by magic..."

"Quite honestly, I find it odd that you keep your Pokemon out of the ball. It'd be a matter of convenience to keep them with you, and it'd be less tiring on them. But I suppose if you see it as a social stigma preventing your willingness to let me travel with you, I suppose I can have Soichiro follow by foot." The Piplup was re released form the ball, calmly joining the group.

"Is this acceptable now? Like I said, I'd like to learn from your techniques as an apparent expert."

Eying Ran suspiciously still feeling unsettled at her robotic style of speech he shrugs. "I personally have no problems with you but I ain't the one you freaked out so that would be up to Shelby herself if you are good to follow us or her since she seems to be the one you want to 'study'." He says motioning to Shelby's position beside him as he retrieved his pokeballs and released Chim Chim and Sparky, the monkey instantly sitting himself atop Sparky's back as the Shinx began trotting proudly around as if showing himself off to the other pokemon.

"Either way I am going off to pick up a fishing rod. Want to try and get a Magikarp early so I can get it to Gyarados quicker." He says calmly as he heads for the exit letting Shelby decide if she wishes to follow him and have Ran following her or take her chances heading straight to Oreburgh with Ran but without him to complete the game faster.

After about five minutes of walking, Ian and Turtwig entered the Pokemon Center. It was a lot bigger than he had previously thought, big enough to accommodate a lot of trainers and their pokemon. "So this is a Pokemon Center. A lot bigger than it is in the games. But never mind that. We need to get you healed Turtwig." Ian said, looking down at his pokemon. He walked over to the counter where a pokemon center employee was waiting. "Okay Turtwig, I know you don't like your pokeball, but you gotta go in for now."

"Turtwig." The pokemon looked down, sad at the thought of being in the ball. Ian recalled him and handed the pokeball to person at the counter. He figured that while he waits, he should sit down and rest himself. Ian took a seat at a nearby chair. As he sat, he noticed something in his back pocket. He reached into it and pulled out a pokedex.

"Oh wow. They even give us our own pokedex. That's cool." Ian examined the device. "I probably should scan Turtwig when he's done healing. And after that, we should find those clowns. Now that I'm not busy, I should really think about a plan here. Maybe think about what pokemon to catch."

Shelby had a split second decision to make. Michael was leaving to go fishing- and that could take awhile. And I don't exactly have time to waste if I want to remain a competitor. Shit. Looks like I'll have to take my chances.

"Michael, I'll... I'll see you later." The tone of her voice was a bit strained- she felt bad about it. Traveling with Michael had been starting to look like a good idea. However, she also knew that it was rude to assume about Ran. She deserves a chance to prove herself trustworthy, at least... "Well, if you're ready to head to Oreburgh already, I guess there's no issue with you tagging along." That doesn't mean I trust you at all, but I'm going to try and figure you out some.

Shelby's eyes crossed over Ian a moment, but she didn't give him much thought. "Why don't we talk while we walk, Ran?" Shelby was walking out the door. "Tell me a bit about yourself." Her tone was casual, but cautious, as though she were afraid to offend Ran.

Ran followed Shelby.

"Well, I was separated from my husband a while back. Few months ago. It's a long story I don't want to go into, but the short of it is he was passionate about Pokemon. So now, here I am, now becoming a trainer myself. Like I said, it's a long story, but I'm trying to make him happy..." Ran's eyes started to well up slightly, as if she were in pain. But she sighed and brushed it off. Again, she recalled her Piplup for the sake of overall convenience unless she was in battle.

Michael smiled and shrugged at Shelby as he walked off. "Have fun with her in the dark Oreburg caves." He teased her just before the doors to the center closed. "Sparky I am going to be using you to try and catch the Magikarp. Chim Chim is a few levels too high I worry he would kill it too easily with how weak those things are before evolution." He says reaching down to pet Chim Chim's head as the monkey clambers up onto his shoulder.

Heading into the gate to the west of the town he quickly finds the fisherman AI that hands out the pokemon rods and picks one up before heading off to start fishing for a Magikarp. Quickly he manages to catch one naming it Mr. Fish, before he sits down staring at it swimming around. "Now how exactly do I go about training you in this world. Not sure its as easy as send you out first and then swap you out with another pokemon. Or is it?" He says looking out at the water than his fishing rod before grinning. "Well not like anything I catch with this rod can harm you." He smiles as he sets out to begin tag team training Mr. Fish, beating the Magikarps with Chim Chim and Sparky swapping between which one helps out.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ian could've sword that someone was looking at him. When he turned his head however, he could only someone quickly exit the Pokemon Center. Who was that just now? Ian thought to himself. Another player maybe? Still deep in thought, Ian was somewhat startled when Turtwig jumped into his lap, the Pokemon Center Employee not far behind.

"I thought you should know that your Turtwig knows Absorb, if you didn't know already. You can check your pokemon's moves with your pokedex too to see if they learn new moves." The employee said. Before Ian could thank him, the woman walked away, most likely back to her station.

"Well that's cool. We'll have to try that out as soon as possible. But for now, we got to find those clowns. Let's go." Ian jumped off, causing Turtwig to jump onto his back. Ian ran out the door, with Turtwig holding on for dear life. Ian looked around, searching for the clowns. It took him about an hour, running back and forth through alleyways, but he finally found the clowns and answered their questions correctly, receiving the three coupons.

"Alright. We got all three. Now we can get our Poketch." Ian said, panting between words trying to catch his breath. Turtwig was also worn out from being shaken back and forth trying to hold onto his trainer. Despite being worn out, both trainer and pokemon made their way to the Trainer's School where the man was handing out Poketches.

"I see you have all three coupons." The man said. "Great job. I'm assuming you'll be wanting the blue one?"

Ian nodded. "Yes please." The man handed the poketch to Ian.

"Here you go. Congratulations and thanks for playing." Ian strapped it to his right wrist, admiring his new device. Turtwig was also interested in the device. "It only has a couple of apps on it, but there are plenty of people that can give you more apps to make the poketch even more enjoyable. Also, in case you ever get lost the poketch also comes with a map." The man said, pressing the button on the watch to switch to the map.

"Very cool. Thank you very much." Ian said as he walked away from the man. He turned his attention to Turtwig. "Now than, we should go east to Route 203 than to Oreburgh City. That's where the first gym is. And considering that the first gym is Rock types, we should have a good advantage."

"Turtwig." The pokemon nodded, agreeing with his trainer.

"Alright. Let's go than."

Shelby sighed at Michael's statement, choosing not to reply, instead continuing onwards. "I'm sorry for your circumstances." As a nurse, Shelby dealt with this every day, and it had hardened her heart to the plight of others. While she could convey her sympathy, she felt very little about Ran's hardships. "That must be difficult. Are you from Sinnoh naturally, or are you from someplace else?" It was a thinly veiled attempt to ask if she were a player or an AI, but she felt the need to know. Her stomach began to grumble by the time they'd reached the exit of Jubilife. Everything that had been in her purse was more or less intact with her, so she pulled out a honey stick and snacked as they went. The route ahead was dotted with trainers.

"I'm going to take a detour into the grass real quick. It'll be just a moment." She ran into the grass, and a yellow, cat-like creature appeared before her. "Braaa...." "Perfect, an Abra! Winter, give it the business." Winter took off from Shelby's shoulder and attacked the Abra in one fell swoop, right as Shelby threw the ball. It clicked shut. "All in the timing. Welcome to the team, Meow. Winter, good job. You can take a rest." She let the Abra out. "I've always been fond of Abra and its evolutions. Smart, powerful, and handsome to boot." Shelby was smiling and patting Meow on the head. Meow seemed pleased. "Well, next step is to work our way through the trainers along the way." She kept Meow at the forefront, and as she worked through the small battles with inexperienced trainers, Meow got to the point where she was able to defend herself. Shelby was demonstrating a basic tactic from the games- using your other Pokemon to raise weaker or defenseless ones.

Donovan went into the Pastoria Great Marsh.  The rules meant nothing to him.  Despite the Marsh not allowing Pokémon Battles, he didn't listen and he started attacking the Pokémon to train up his Chimchar.  A security guard ran over to kick him out.

"Sir, I'm afraid you can't Pokémon battle in here" said the guard.

"I'm afraid I don't listen to ones and zeros" Donovan laughed "Chimchar, use Ember on this nice man."

Chimchar stood confused for a moment, turning to Donovan and looking at him.

"Do it" Donovan glared.

Chimchar obeyed and released a burst of fire at the guard.  The guard ran away, scared.

"We best leave before he returns with backup" Donovan laughed "I have to find another Pokémon anyhow.  You won't fare too well in the nearby Water Gym."

+++

Aryeh entered the Oreburgh Gym.  This was it; his first Gym Battle in the game.  This was going to be an interesting experience.  The first Trainer had a Geoude and Onix which were dispatched by Turtwig's Razor Leaf attack.  The second trainer had a Geodude which wasn't hard either.  Geodudes and Onixes were not the challenge.  It was the Cranidos that the leader was packing.

"Welcome! This is the Oreburgh Pokémon Gym! I'm Roark, the Gym Leader! I'm but one Trainer who decided to walk proudly with Rock-type Pokémon! As the Gym Leader, I need to see your potential as a trainer. And, I'll need to see the toughness of the Pokémon that battle with you!" exclaimed Roark.

"Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!" Aryeh commanded; Turtwig once again using its Grass Type attack and defeating the Geodude, causing Roark to send out his Onix.

Onix lunged at Turtwig with Bind and caught the turtle in its strong grip.  Turtwig turned the situation around and used Absorb, getting its health back and defeated Onix, in time for the final rounds of the fight.

"Think you can take down the next Pokémon like you did earlier?" Roark grinned.

"I'll give it a shot" Aryeh replied.

"Go, Cranidos!" Roark threw his Pokéball into the air, sending out the tough dinosaur Pokémon "Cranidos, use Headbutt!"

Cranidos charged towards Turtwig at high speeds, hitting it dead on and throwing it to back of the room.  Turtwig shook its head and ran back to Cranidos, facing it directly.

"Razor Leaf, quick!" Aryeh shouted.

Turtwig blasted out as many leaves as it could which all struck the Cranidos.  Cranidos was still in the fight though and responded with Pursuit.  Turtwig stood its ground and use Absorb to get some health back.  However it was still in a precarious situation and the next hit could end it.

"If I use the Potion, I can take a couple more hits and afford to waste the turn" Aryeh decided, getting out a Potion from his bag and spraying it at Turtwig.

While Turtwig was healing, Cranidos rushed at Turtwig again and used Headbutt.  Turtwig grabbed onto Cranidos and used Absorb again.  Cranidos was on low health but still as tough as ever.  It used Pursuit again, hitting Turtwig hard as Turtwig was real close to it.  Turting winced.

"One more Razor Leaf dude, hang on!" encouraged Aryeh.

Turtwig's eyes went from closed to open and with a determined expression, send out the best Razor Leaf it could.  Cranidos was stuck in a fury of leaves and couldn't get out.  Cranidos fainted.

"This is embarrassing... I went and lost to a Trainer who didn't have a single Gym Badge... But that's tough. You were strong and I was weak. That's all there is. According to Pokémon League rules, I have to give you our Gym Badge since you've beaten me, the Leader. Here's your official Pokémon League Coal Badge.  In this region of Sinnoh, there are seven other Gym Leaders. I should warn you — they're a lot tougher than I am!" explained Roark.

"I'm ready for it" Aryeh smiled "Thanks for the badge."

Turtwig began to glow.

"Evolution already?!" Aryeh gasped, before taking a look at the Pokédex; Turtwig had reached Lv18.

A flash of light and now Grotle was standing there.  It'd be a long time before it evolved again but until then, Aryeh was content to train.  Training wouldn't feel grindy in a world where it's all so real.  Starly needed training too in addition to getting some other Pokémon.  He was impressed with Cranidos, maybe he could get one of those.  He walked out the Gym along with his newly evolved Grotle and his Starly.

"Alright team, we head back up to Floaroma and train some more on the way there.  Maybe we can check out the Valley Windworks."

So they set out on their way back towards Jubilife and then to Floaroma from there.

Ran wasn't too concerned with capturing Pokemon. She was fascinated by Shelby's technique however. Throwing the ball to time almost perfectly with the weakening impact to capture the Abra before it ran was brilliant, and Ran appreciated it. But she was more worried about Soichiro's training rather than any of the Pokemon on the route. When she met up with Shelby later on the road, she finally answered the question.

"I'm actually from the Kanto Region. My husband and I met by the Harbor. The Sunset was beautiful."
_________________

I get it. Those guys are turning that place into the first Plazma Dungeon Dylan was keeping things internal as not to unsettle the NPCs. That means their acting on a Radiant AI. Brilliant. So that means that some of the Plazma battle points don't have anyone yet. It also means that most of the Plazmas are probably in the building near the department store. Noted.

"Donnel, you and me are gonna find some friends." Dylan ran out east of Eterna and ducked into Mt Corenet, quickly running back out when a Zubat Started to Gnaw on his Face. He threw a ball at it purely to get it off his back.

"Well, you're nothing but trouble. Gonna call you Loki" He said to the ball. "Well, east is a bust. West maybe?" Dylan wandered westward into the Eterna forest.

"Mmm, Kanto." Shelby felt off about Ran's reply, but then it hit her. Wasn't there somewhere in Japan called Kanto? This person is either not seeing what I'm asking, or she's got something to hide. Goody goody. "Well, I've trained enough to feel comfortable moving on. Shall we?" Shelby walked into the Oreburgh Gate. It was a bit darker than the bright sun outside, and her eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden dark.

"HEY" A bearded man yelled at Shelby and Ran as they Entered the Orreburg Gate. "You two, take these! You'll need 'em" The man handed over a pair of micro disks. He had a box full of them. "Just install that on your Pokedex and you can teach your Pokemon Rock Smash!"

Ran followed the instructions. Basically, the pokedex had a disk slot on the side. Pop the disk in, press a button, and your Pokedex can teach the move to any Pokemon registered as under your ownership. But only to your own Pokemon or those you got in a trade. The disk was also wiped clean and left useless to anyone else. TMs and HMs would both work this way.

The girl from the Pokémon Center in Oreburgh was in Floaroma Meadows at the time Aryeh appeared.  He literally popped into existence and set off on his way.  It wasn't like a Psychic Type teleporting.  No, Aryeh had acted like someone who was completely in awe of being there.  Then she noticed a whole bunch of other trainers around with rare Starter Pokémon.  She had checked the lab of Prof Rowan and discovered he hadn't given any out.  Where were these people coming from?

She followed Aryeh intently, avoiding his notice.  She was going to find out who he was.  Aryeh was in Jubilife City, getting ready to head up to Floaroma Town.  However he had sidetracked himself with the Pokétch quest and obtained one.  This had the Map he needed.  His memory of playing Generation Four would only get him so far in the virtual world of Sinnoh.  Eventually though, the girl would be found out and be noticed, she wasn't a pro at tailing somebody.

She was an advanced artificial intelligence in the virtual world.  She didn't know this was the case.  As far as she was concerned, she was a Pokémon Trainer in the world of Pokémon.  Her name was Allana and she was a Pokémon Trainer with two badges thus far.  Her partner Pokémon was a Kadabra, but she also possessed a Roselia.

Aryeh sat down in the Pokémon Center in Jubilife to get his affairs in order before heading back out.  He looked at his shiny new Gym Badge that looked so real.  He still hadn't got used to the whole experience yet.  In due time, maybe.  Suddenly, Allana slipped into the chair opposite him.

"Alright, kid.  Talk" she glared.

"Uhh... about what?"

Ian thought he saw someone ahead of him as he and Turtwig walked through the area leading to Oreburgh, but by the time he got there the person was long gone. "Strange." Ian said to himself.

"Turt?" Turtwig looked and him, confused as to why his trainer had stopped.

"Never mind. Anyway Turtwig, we need to train a bit before we get to Oreburgh. That way, we can definitely beat the first Gym." That's when Ian spotted a person waiting in the grass. "Perfect."

***

Ian finished the pokemon battle shortly after. Turtwig taking out the other trainer's pokemon. And thanks to Absorb, Turtwig came out of it with most of his energy.

"Good job Turtwig." He started to pet Turtwig's shell when his stomach start to rumble. He heard Turtwig's stomach growl as well. "We need food." Ian looked above him and saw a bunch of fruit in a tree. "If only there were some branches I could climb up." The trainer said, looking around the tree. That's when Turtwig surprised him by using Razor Leaf, effectively getting the fruit out of the tree. Ian stared at his pokemon. "That's awesome Turtwig."

"Turt!" The pokemon barked in acknowledgment, but was too busy eating the fruit to look up. Ian grabbed some of the fruit and ate himself.

"You know I've been thinking Turtwig. Even though you have a type advantage on the first gym, going solo isn't exactly the best way to earn a badge. We're gonna need to catch another pokemon in case you faint." Ian was gonna catch a Starly while they were outside Oreburgh gate but he hadn't seen one since he got to the virtual world. "Hm. Let's try and catch another pokemon on our to Oreburgh." Ian stood up and walked along the path with Turtwig, but the duo couldn't spot any pokemon.

"Turtwig." The pokemon became sad again, unable to find another pokemon.

"Don't worry buddy. There's always a Zubat or two in Oreburgh Gate. Maybe we can catch one." With that said, the duo reached the entrance of the cave. As they walked in, Ian could swear he saw someone ahead of him again.

"Mr. Fish return, come on Sparky, Chim Chim lets get you three rested up then head to Oreburg. Just a few trainer battles and while pokemon fights more and Mr. Fish should be able to battle for himself." He smiles as he heals them up at the pokemon center before heading out toward Oreburg easily beating the trainers along the way till he comes to Oreburgh Gate.

"Lets see I do believe Psyduck can be caught here and he would be great against the rock gym. Chim Chim you handle the Geodudes and Sparky you handle the Zubats ok you two?" "Shi shi!" "Mon mon!" The Shinx and by now lv 14 Monferno called out joyfully as they explored for a Psyduck. Wonder how Shelby did in here. She was afraid of Ran and Clowns so she could be afraid of the dark for all I know she is hiding back in the Pokemon Center.

"Ahh, Eterna Forest, just the right place to pick up a fancy Dark-Type... Although it isn't night time..." Richie said, admiring the scenery.

"H-hello?" A quiet voice muttered in an attempt at Richie's attention, "C-could you help me?"

"Eh?" Richie turned around to see a tall green-haired woman tustling her dress and shyly darting her eyes about whilst trying to focus on the boy in front of her. Richie blushed, staring intently at the girl, "O-of course! I'm Richie, what do you need help with?"

"My name is Cheryl, and I am, as you can see, much too frightened to venture through this forest alone..." Cheryl admitted quietly, blushing from embarrassment.

Crap, I always thought Cheryl was cute in game, but this is gonna stop my heart! Richie thought as he nodded, "Let's head out, Cheryl."

"I-I can heal your Pokemon if they become hurt." Cheryl said, letting her Chansey out of its pokeball. The pair set out into the forest, meeting many Pokemon, Richie happened to catch a Buneary as well.

Richie sighed, "I guess it really does hafta be night time to catch a Murkrow..." Cheryl noticed Richie's annoyed look.
"Well... It wouldn't be too bad to take the longest way out, would it?"

"As ab-so-LUTE-ly adorable that question was..." Richie began, clenching his heart, "I don't think I can accept... I'm kind of racing against time- er, something. I was told that if I could finish fast enough, there's a nifty reward at the end."

Cheryl blushed, "Well, I wouldn't want to drag you down any more than I have... I wish you the best of luck on your journey, Richie."

"Dangit, my chronic illness!" Richie clasped his heart, attempting to seem dramatic, "My rare "Moe Moe Kyu" sickness... Cheryl, I hope we can meet again, even if I lose the reward." Richie waved to Cheryl, who walked a different direction out of the forest.

+++

"Hoh hoh! Eterna City sure looks different in comparison to its sprite-y counterpart, eh?" Richie commented, again becoming enthralled by the beauty of the game, "Oh yeah, the gym. Gardenia's fabulous khaki shorts won't know what hit'em!"

"Hm? Another challenger? And are you another newbie?" Gardenia said, waving her hand about.

"Fufufu~!" Richie chuckled, "a newbie? No, I'm something much more exciting!"

"Is that so? How many badges do you have?"

"None! But let's fight!" Richie shouted, pulling out Buneary. "Buneary!!" The Pokemon cried.

"Fiesty! Okay! Although, you should fight my girls first."

Allana and Aryeh stared at eachother for a few moments, not entirely sure how to proceed with the situation.

"Where did you come from?" Allana broke the silence.

"Are you a player too?" Aryeh asked.

"A player?  What?"

"You mean you aren't doing the Beta Test?"

"Beta what?" Allana was confused.

"Oh...ummm...do you have a Turtwig, Piplup or Chimchar?"

"I don't.  I'm also the one who is supposed to be asking the questions here!  I saw you in the Floaroma Meadow.  You appeared out of nowhere!"

Aryeh wondered how NPCs would react to new people existing in their world and this seemed to be the answer.  An advanced AI capable of asking their own questions and coming to their own conclusions.  This seemed unreal but here she was in front of him.  She wasn't a player, she didn't have a starter Pokémon like the players were given.

"I'm not from around here, it's difficult to explain" said Aryeh.

"Well try to explain" Allana growled.

"Sheesh, it's not as simple as that.  You wouldn't believe me and it'd affect your entire worldview.  I don't really want to tell you this stuff, it might break you or something.  I barely know the logistics of this myself."

"Fine... but I'll find out eventually because you won't be rid of me that easily!"

"Then how about we battle.  If you win, I'll tell you the truth even though you won't believe me.  If I win, you go on with your life; forget about me."

"That's fine by me.  Let's battle!  In fact, let's do a Double Battle!"

Allana and Aryeh made their way to Route 204 and prepared for battle.

"Prepare for trouble and make it double!" Aryeh grinned "Come on out Grotle and Starly!"

"Kadabra and Roselia!  I choose you!" Alanna sent out her Pokémon.

Both sides of Pokémon faced eachother intently, ready to make their moves.

"Turtwig, use Razor Leaf!  Starly, use Wing Attack on Roselia!" Aryeh commanded.

Starly took flight and flapped its wings as it flew closer to Roselia, quickly whacking the Grass Type with its wings and using the Super Effective attack to take it out of the match.

"Looks like we have a two versus one deal now" Aryeh laughed.

"Kadabra, use Confusion on Grotle!" Allana's Kadabra hit Grotle with a burst of psychic energy before being hit itself with the Razor Leaf that Grotle had prepared.

Kadabra readied its spoon for another Confusion, but Starly was ready with a Quick Attack to knock it down.  Kadabra was still up though thanks to being a decent level.  Kadabra's Confusion knocked Starly back a bit, but the early bird was still in the game.  Grotle finished the round with Razor Leaf which barraged the Kadabra, leading the Psychic Pokémon to finally keel over.  Aryeh had won the battle and this was evident when Starly began to glow.  Staravia stood in its place.  Aryeh and Allana returned their Pokémon to the Pokéballs.

"A deal is a deal, whoever you are" Aryeh said "That's it.  Go live your life and forget about the mysterious people like myself."

"I honour my deals and I'll leave you be, but that doesn't mean I won't find others like you and get the truth!"

"The truth is too much for you, I'm sorry."

Aryeh took off and walked back up Route 204 to Floaroma Town.

"Wait a second!" Allana shouted, running up to him "You seem like a good trainer so you'd find these useful."

Allana handed Aryeh two objects.  One of them was a disc that looks like it'd fit in the Pokédex.  Another was a strange strap.

"That's the HM for Rock Smash and an EXP Share" Allana smiled "I'm sorry for seeming so angry, but I'm not sure what to do really..."

"Thank you for the items.  I'm Aryeh" Aryeh smiled.

"Allana, from Sandgem Town.  I'll see you around, maybe then you'll change your mind."

+++

Donovan entered the Pastoria City Gym.  Thanks to his new Tropius from the Great Marsh, he was ready for action.  The Water Type opponents in the Gym might have been able to hurt his newly evolved Monferno but his Tropius had an advantage.  The shady suited man that was Donovan stood opposite Crasher Wake, the Gym Leader of Pastoria City; the battle was underway.

"Tropius!  Use Mega Drain on the Floatzel!" Donovan commanded his Pokémon; a useful tool in his plans.

Tropius realeased a packet's worth of seeds from its body which attached to the Floatzel and began to suck out its energy, dragging Floatzel to its knees.

"Floatzels are for little girls" Donovan laughed "It's time to show you how a man does things, 'Crasher', haha."

Crasher was visibly upset by the teasing he had received from Donovan.  Unfortunately, he was losing the battle and couldn't do anything about it.

"It won't be long now till you are forced to give me that silly badge I need" Donovan told him "While I don't care about the price money for defeating the league due to my already wealthy status, I'll definitely enjoy using the technology in this game for my own agendas."

Dylan's westward travels were met with little lucrativeness given his tendancy to be a walking snack buffet for bugs. He took three steps into the forest and had to run back out lest he be mauled by a hoard of Beedrill. This obviously barred his path, and disappointed him greatly had he not run into another trainer on the way. A fisherman who was accompanied by a catch he didn't want.

"I told ya! Get outta here. Your slime's messin with the fish!" The man yelled as he hurled the pink slug in Dylan's general direction. It was a Western Shellos.

"Is there a problem sir?" Dylan asked, puzzled by the development.

"Problem is, this thing followed me all the way from Floraroma and is scaring all the fish off. Damn thing wants to steal my bait."

Dylan popped out a Pokeball and tapped it to the Shellos's head, capturing it almost effortlessly. "Problem solved. I'm gonna call this guy Leo. Oh, and it was actually trying to clean your bait off is all. I think most fish don't like a bunch of mud on whatever they're eating."

Wut... oh, thanks kid."


"Well, that was easy. Not what I expected, but easy. But if I can't head West due to the forest, and I can't go east due to the Mountain, I guess I have to go south. On the other hand, the Plazma goons are getting their stuff ready..." It was at this point that Dylan noticed the commotion at Gardenia's gym. Curious, he peeked his head inside and saw Richie's battles taking place.

Another tester.

"Aahahah! I'm not quite sure why you're using a Water-type and a Rock-type against a Grass trainer, but I'll give you points for spunk!" Gardenia guffawed with her Roselia mimicking her movements.

"Hohoho! Don't be so quick to give me spunk points! My front liners were buttering you up so I could win in one last attack!" Richie returned his fallen Piplup then struck a pose, flinging a Pokeball into the air, "Happy Joy-py, Nice to Meet Chu-py! Buneary!"

"A Normal-type? You're gonna beat me with that? Roselia! Magical Leaf!" Gardenia called, the leaves rocketed towards Buneary, who was unable to dodge.

"Buneary, recover and then use Frustration!"

"Buuuu!" Buneary roared, smashing into Roselia, knocking the Pokemon unconscious.

"I'll take that badge now." Richie chuckled.

"Wow, that was actually really fun, I'm impressed, here." Gardenia said, handing Richie the badge.

"Phew, I actually thought I was gonna lose for a sec there..." Richie sighed, walking to the door of the gym.

Shelby copied Ran, installing Rock Smash in the same way as she had. A few uneventful battles later, she saw sunlight. She left the cave, and looked around. It seemed like a peaceful town, at least. She looked back to make sure that Ran was coming, before continuing into the town. Her Pokemon were all at a good level for taking on the Gym, and that was her destination. She swapped out Winter for Cheeto, and headed into the Gym. She kept a fairly punishing pace as she worked her way to Roark. She grinned stupidly when she laid eyes on him. Wow, he's pretty. Really pretty... Too bad we have to fight.

"I'm here to challenge you!" Shelby declared. Roark smirked. "Very well!"

Cheeto was able to handle all of Roark's Pokemon with ease- using Absorb and Razor Leaf to mow through the competition. Roark admitted defeat and gave handed Shelby her first badge, albeit a bit begrudgingly. "Man, today is not my day..." He groaned.

"Just makes tomorrow all the more promising. Thanks for the battle, and the badge."

"Wow. Nice goin." Dylan said as Richie approached. He wasn't going to say if he was a beta tester, even going as far as to withdraw Donnel for the sake of it, but he knew that the other guy was, and that's all that mattered.

"Hey, not sure if you noticed them on the way into town, but the big building at the north part of town has some fishy folk loitering around it. Maybe it's worth a look-see? Me, I've gotta be heading my own way.

Dylan was trying to get this beta tester to be distracted enough for him to get a head start. At this point, he was pretty sure he was falling behind. As he backed away into the gate to the south of town, he hopped on his bike and went onto the slope. Unfortunately, the slope was a little too steep. Dylan went over the edge of the bridge and fell into a cave below.
________________________

Ran followed Shelby's example. A Piplup was just as effective as a Turtwig, but since Ran hadn't been using any other Pokemon yet, she didn't have a Piplup. She had a Prinplup. Roark didn't stand a chance.

"I must say Shelby, you seemed slightly distracted when fighting Roark. You should have been able to finish him more swiftly given your advantage." Ran's eyes were closed to anyone's appearance, handsome or otherwise. She heart was taken.

Exiting the cave Michael stretched and returned his pokemon to their balls for healing. "Got to make sure you guys are all rested up before the gym." He says to them as he enters the Pokemon Center healing them before he too enters the Gym. "Mr. Fish, Sparky you two can sit this one out." He says patting the pokeballs they were stored in as he released Chim Chim and Crackers the Psyduck he managed to find while going through the Oreburgh Gate.

Looking toward Roark he grinned seeing Shelby with Ran as she finished up her battle. Well looks like having the study partner must have slowed her down a bit. He thought to himself as he began to battle through the trainers in the gym quickly before approaching Shelby and Ran before they left. "So I see you made it here fine Shelby." He smiled at her as he prepared to battle Roark.

Seeing someone ahead of him in the cave, Ian walked forward. Maybe it's another player. To his disappointment, it was only an NPC Hiker. It wasn't all bad. The Hiker had had given the teenager a small disc with the move Rock Smash on it. "Well, this could help get through caves in the future. Turtwig, let's teach you this new move."

"Turtwig!" The pokemon barked, agreeing. In a matter of minutes, the pokemon had forgotten the move Withdraw and learned Rock Smash.

"Good. Now we should focus on capturing another pokemon. And since we're in Oreburgh Gate, I'd say we get a Zubat." Ian said. As if on cue, a screech was heard from above and a Zubat tried to dive bomb Ian's head. "That one's fast! Turtwig, try knocking it down with Razor Leaf." The trainer commanded. Turtwig launched leaf after leaf but the Zubat dodged every single one. The Zubat stopped and screeched again releasing sound waves, using supersonic.

"Hey watch out Turtwig!" Ian shouted. The pokemon jumped away from the sound waves. "The next time it stops like that hit with absorb to stop it!" The Zubat stopped once again using supersonic while Turtwig launched an absorb, both moves hitting their intended targets. "C'mon Turtwig, snap out of it and use tackle!" Thankfully, the Turtwig successfully launched the attack at the bat pokemon, knocking it back into a wall. Ian took out one of his pokeballs and threw it. The ball shook three times than clicked. Ian ran over to the pokeball and picked it up. "Success! Nice job buddy." Ian said to Turtwig. Unfortunately the pokemon was still confused, and trying to jump to Ian it jumped into a wall. "I'm gonna have to call you back for now. I'll bring you out when we get to the Gym."

***

It didn't take long to get the Oreburgh Gym. Unlike Jubilife City, Oreburgh was almost as small as the game made it to be. Ian walked through the door with both Turtwig and his newly acquired Zubat next to him. Ian had figured he should make friends with the Zubat after sending it out so soon after their battle. When he walked in, he spotted someone two figures talking to Roark.

"Players?" Ian said under his breath. He noticed both pokemon looking at him. "Anyway there are two trainers as well as Roark. Let's challenge them both to get you guys stronger." Both pokemon nodded as Ian approached the two trainers. Ian had formulated a new strategy to include Zubat. He sent Zubat out first to use Supersonic to confuse his foes' pokemon, than sent in Turtwig to finish them off. The strategy paid off as Ian beat both trainers, and it made Ian even happier when his Turtwig evolved into Grotle after the second trainer's defeat.

"Grotle!" The pokemon roared, happy with it's new form.

"Alright Tur-I mean Grotle! Now we're definitely gonna be able to beat Roark." Ian said, patting Grotle's head. Zubat seemed to approve as well, resting on the newly evolved pokemon's back.  Ian walked towards Roark, looking at the two women in front as he walked by.

"Another trainer? Man you guys are wearing me out." Roark said, rubbing the back of his head. "But I suppose I should battle you too."

Right off the bat, Ian sent in Zubat while Roark chose to send out Geodude. Taking advantage of Zubat's speed, Ian had the pokemon use Supersonic than recalled it as Geodude damaged itself, sending in Grotle. "Grotle, finish Geodude with Razor Leaf!" Ian commanded, the move easily taking out the rock pokemon. Next Roark sent out Onix, who (at least to Ian) was a lot bigger in person. Ian again sent out Zubat, who used Supersonic on Onix. "Zubat, use Wing Attack!" Ian shouted to bat pokemon. The pokemon hit the rock snake, barely dodging it's Tackle. Ian recalled Zubat and sent in Grotle once more, finishing it off with an absorb.

"I'm up to your tricks now!" Roark shouted. He sent out Cranidos. Ian decided to keep Grotle in the battle. "Razor Leaf!" Ian said to Grotle. The pokemon launched the leaves at the prehistoric pokemon. "Headbutt Cranidos! Right through the leaves." To Ian's surprise, Cranidos ran right into the leaves, taking damage but temporarily ignoring the pain. "Alright Grotle, counter it with Tackle." The two pokemon rushed into each other, but Grotle was just a bit tougher than Cranidos. The pokemon fainted, winning Ian the battle.

"I can't believe how many times I've lost today." Roark said, groaning and rubbing his face at the same time. Ian walked over and received his badge from the frustrated Gym Leader.

Shelby regarded Ran carefully. Her companionship, while slightly more comfortable, wasn't exactly the kind of companion she was looking for. And to be honest, she saw no reason to be hanging back with her. She walked towards the exit silently, hoping that Ran wouldn't notice and be distracted by her upcoming Gym battle.

She returned Michael's smile. "Same to you. I've gotta run, but I'm sure we'll meet again..." She was whispering. As she headed out the door, she looked back to see someone else with a Turtwig fighting Roark. Player...? Damn, I'm falling behind.

Shelby left the Gym and headed north. Ponyta lived there, she knew, and she was determined to catch one. It was easier than she thought to find one- with night quickly falling, their manes glowed brightly. She managed to capture it with ease, and named it Cochise. "Next order of business is to get out of town." She had Meow accompany her through the cave again, and entered the cave. Rock Smash was actually very useful- in games, the boulders looked rather small, but in reality, they were large rocks that were neigh impossible to climb. She was starting to get tired, and wanted to lie down, but she wanted to get to Floaroma Town before stopping for the night.

Blinking Michael looked back at Shelby before shrugging slightly disregarding the fact she was whispering to him as he set about focusing on the gym battle. Stepping up to Roark he grinned at him. "Well. How about we just continue your streak of loses." He laughed before beginning to battle.

The battle was fairly easy with the training Michael had given his pokemon. Crackers long range water gun attack was easily able to handle Geodude and Onix before Roark sent out Cranidos. "Come on back Crackers. Let's leave this one up to Chim Chim." Michael smiled as the Monferno walked out onto the battlefield eying the Cranidos before he rushed it and began to attack the slower pokemon with a flurry of Mach Punches until the Skull Pokemon was fainted on the ground unable to handle the speed of the monkey.

Grinning at the devastated Gym Leader he collected his Gym Badge before exiting and looking around as he noticed it beginning to grow dark outside. "Hm getting dark. Might as well make it back to Jubilife and spend the night there." He shrugged, quickly healing his pokemon before he began his return journey through Oreburgh Gate.

When Ian exited the gym, it stated to get dark. "So it's been one day already. Our next stop is Floaroma Town. I wanna get to the Honey Trees and try and catch a Munchlax." Ian said, looking at Grotle and Zubat. As he started to walk, he noticed both of his pokemon were far behind. "You guys are tired from the Gym battle, huh?"

"Grotle."

"Zubat." Both pokemon growled, looking like they could pass out.

"Alright than. We'll stop at the pokemon center real quick and than make our way to the Floaroma Town." Ian recalled both of his pokemon and ran to the Pokemon Center, where he got his pokemon healed. It took about an hour for Ian's pokemon to get completely healed, and when he got them back he ran through the door. It was getting dark fast, but Ian didn't want to stop. He ran through Oreburgh Gate as fast as he could and finally reached Jubilife City, which took around half an hour. It was exhausting, running as fast as he could but Ian had no intention of stopping. Using his Poketch to navigate his way through the city, Ian left the crowded city, it's lights visible for miles and went straight to Route 204.

"Oh man." Ian said, panting as he fell to the ground. He had stopped right outside a cave, which Ian identified as the Ravaged Path. "I got to stop running like that. It'll be the death of me." The teenager looked up, seeing the full moon, not a cloud in the sky to block it. "It's getting late." A thought occurred to Ian. "I should check to see if I have any supplies in my bag other than my pokeballs." He slung his bag off his bag and opened it up. There wasn't a tent, which Ian found unfortunate but he did find a sleeping bag and a set of matches to start a fire, as well as some other supplies that Ian couldn't identify in the dark, even with the moonlight. "Hm. Should we camp outside for tonight?" Ian asked himself and his pokemon, releasing both Grotle and Zubat. Zubat flew towards a tree and looked at something.

"Zubat!" The pokemon quietly called out for it's trainer. Ian walked over to tree and froze. In the tree were about a dozen Beedrill sleeping in a tree.

Ian shivered. "Yeah we're sleeping in the cave." Ian whispered, quietly walking back towards his bag and Grotle. Before he went inside the cave, Ian gathered some sticks and berries near the entrance, careful not to make loud noises. When he got a good amount of both, Ian entered the cave with Both Zubat and Grotle. Ian made his way to an open area of the cave. He set sticks down in certain positions and lit a match, throwing it onto the sticks and creating a fire. "It's not the best fire, but it should keep us plenty warm." Ian said, looking at both pokemon, who were currently eating some of the berries that their trainer had collected.

"Groooot." Grotle yawned, finally lying down close to the fire. Zubat however, was showing more energy than ever flying back and forth.

"Okay Zubat. Since you don't seem tired, why don't you hang out on the ceiling, and warn us if a pokemon or some people are approaching?" Ian question the bat pokemon.

"Zubat!" The pokemon, seemingly agreeing with this plan, flew up into the dark ceiling where Ian lost sight of him.

While rolling out his sleeping bag and going to lay in it, Ian pulled out the badge he had won from Roark. "First day in this world: Not bad. Not bad at all." He put the badge away and closed his eyes, using his bag as a makeshift pillow.

"Hm? You don't look like any of these NPCs..." Richie said with a raised eyebrow, "ah well, I wouldn't be surprised if there were any NPC models that didn't look like any of the ones beforehand."

Richie looked back at the boy who gave him the tip, "Oh that's right, I'm sure you were programmed to be aware of them, but watch out for other beta testers, some o' them might want to take advantage of NPCs like you, y'hear? Y'know, 'too competetive for their own good' types." Richie turned to the Galactic Building, "see ya some other time."

As Richie walked toward the building, a woman with long blonde hair wearing a striking black coat approached him, "Holy shit, it's Cynthia!" He whispered to himself.

"Oh, and what do we have here. Some Fiery new trainer who has the look of a badge under his belt. We may one day fight eachother you know. I'm looking forward to it if that's the case. Here, take this." Cynthia said, handing Richie a small disc, "See you around, Trainer Boy."

"What the...? Was that really Cynthia?" Richie muttered, looking back at the woman who walked away.

Aryeh stood in front of the Valley Windworks.  The windmills had stopped moving.  Guessing who was responsible, Aryeh began to walk inside.

"Wait!" yelled a little girl "It's dangerous in there!  Some strange people grabbed my father!"

"I'll be fine" Aryeh smiled "I have a plan, one that will be very different to the usual.  I'll save your dad."

Aryeh stepped into the Windworks, seeing a couple of familiar looking grunts.  Team Galactic.

"Hey, stop!" a Galactic Grunt ran up to him and sent out their Glameow.

Aryeh responded by sending out his Staravia and using Wing Attack to defeat the Glameow.  Grunts were fairly weak, but the real battle was up ahead.  Aryeh grinned to himself as he saw Mars in front of him.  She looked intimidating but interesting, especially in the weird Galactic skirt she wore.

"Hello there" Aryeh said.

"You beat my Grunts?" Mars said, intrigued.

"Indeed, I did" replied Aryeh "I came in here to save this dude but I figure you've already got what you want and might as well let him go.  We could battle, but all it'd be would serve as a distraction while your Grunts abscond with the energy.  As a Trainer, my goal is to win the Pokémon League.  As long as I'm able to do that, I think I'd be happy doing something else in the mean time."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mars.

"I know all about Team Galactic and I want in.  Release that guy and battle me.  If I win, I get to join.  However, I'm not going to be a Grunt; not in that outfit anyway.  I want to be your second" Aryeh grinned.

Aryeh had realised that due to the nature of the virtual game, the decisions he made were not linear.  In the end, he'd make sure Cyrus didn't end the Universe, but in the meantime, he'd see what happens.  It wasn't a real world, he could have some fun... perhaps be undercover.

"I'm interested in your terms" said Mars "You seem confident and I'm not one to back down from a battle.  If you defeat me, I will give you what you want.  You'll be my second and get to chill in the Galactic Base."

"I'm headed to Eterna anyway, so this works out great.  I'll win badges and be a better trainer, which will make me useful to you."

"You are already speaking as though you've won" Mars laughed "Let's battle first!"

"Go Staravia!" Aryeh exclaimed, sending out his Pokémon.

Michael slowly enters Jubilife City yawning as he does while returning his pokemon to their pokeballs. "Well that took a bit longer to get here than I thought it would." He said looking around the city. "Shelby probably already decided to run off ahead rather than staying the night. Probably going to end up tiring herself out in a few gyms." He smiles walking into the Pokemon Center as he leaves off his pokemon to rest and gets himself a room to stay the night, before going outside to sit on a bench and relax for a bit before he went to sleep.

Mars stared the battle off by sending her Zubat out and using Poison Sting.  Thankfully, the attack didn't poison Staravia.  Staravia followed up with Wing Attack.  Aryeh wasn't entirely focused in the battle; his thoughts were about how the game would change with a Galactic membership.  Maybe he'd obtain items in different ways.  This was something a lot of fans would enjoy and he could experience it.  He turned his focus back to the match, having Staravia use Quick Attack to dispatch the Zubat.  Mars sighed as she returned Zubat to the Pokéball and sent out his ace Pokémon - Purugly.  This was the true battle.  Purugly started with Fake Out, making Staravia flinch.  Then it followed on with Faint Attack.  Staravia hit with Wing Attack and then was hit with Faint Attack again.  It was unfortunately a Critical Hit; Aryeh's Staravia was now unconscious.  It was up to Grotle now.  Grotle was thankfully a higher level and made its play using Bite.  Purugly used Hypnosis but missed.  Grotle then used Razor Leaf.  The moves went back and forth.  Aryeh noticed Grotle's health was getting low and used a Potion.  Purugly responded by activating its Oran Berry and healing up a bit too before using Scratch.  Grotle had a flurry of Bites and Razor Leafs on the Purugly, getting it to low health.  It came down to this.  Grotle had to KO in the next round else Purugly could hit it hard with another Faint Attack and win.  Aryeh was having a lot of fun here, it was the toughest battle so far.  The virtual world element of it made it more exciting and more unpredictable than the original video games.  Grotle used Razor Leaf one last time.  Purugly fell to the ground.  Aryeh had won.

"Welcome to Team Galactic" Mars smiled "You don't need to be a Grunt and wear a wig."

"I appreciate that."

"Hehe, a tough trainer like yourself can continue your journey and get stronger.  We'll call you when we need you.  Visit the Eterna Base and meet Jupiter perhaps.  I'll call her up in advance and tell her to prepare your membership card which will give you access to our Veilstone base" explained Mars.

"Thank you" replied Aryeh.

"Oh and one more thing" said Mars "Take this."

Mars handed Aryeh and object.  It was a Miracle Seed.  Aryeh placed it on Grotle, boosting its same type moves.  Aryeh left the Windworks and saw that the girl was reunited with her father.  Being in Galactic gave him a oppurtunity to do some good by being on the inside.

"This could work..." Aryeh grinned to himself "But first, it's time to head up to Eterna Forest.  I know exactly what Pokémon I'm going to get next."

"Uuuuuooooooooh!" Richie roared as he burst through the front door of the Galactic Building.

"Have you come to donate your Pokemon!" A woman in a strange grey outfit chimed in a very cheery tone, even wearing a bright smile that rivaled the sun, "I can take those, hun~!"

"Oh... Yeah sure... H-hey wait a second! Don't toy with my emotions! Badge- I mean, battle!" Richie shook off his curse.

+++

"Damn, those Galactics don't seem anywhere near as mean as they are in the handhelds, I had a hard time beating them when they started cheering me on... What's going on!?" Richie sighed, walking into the final room, beholding Jupiter, a man and two Pokemon, "okay, Jupiter... Don't praise me, because I'm going to take those Pokemon back!"

Dylan awoke in a cave with a hole in the roof, his head throbbing.

"For the love of Mew that hurt. Where am I?" Dylan looked around. Fortunately, the place wasn't totally pitch. Yet. The hole in the ceiling helped with that. Only after taking in his surroundings for a bit did he notice the shark nibbling on his leg.

"Hey, knock it off ya jerk!" Dylan said, kicking the thing across the room. This of course made the Gible angry. And you don't piss of a land shark without a fight brewing. It dove into the ground, only it's dorsal fin poking out, and charged at Dylan who proceeded to run away screaming. It chased him left, then right, then left again. In the end, Dylan wound up with his back against the wall, cowering. The creature popped back out of the ground and slowly marched at Dylan. In an effort of self defense, Dylan raised his backpack, and one of the empty pokeballs on it fell off. Not paying attention the Gible stepped on the ball and in a flash, was captured.

"...what the... I AM THE BEST CAPTURER EVER!" With that, Dylan found a nook in the cave to sleep in. He was bushed after all that running."
________________________
"Well, that was rude just bursting off like that while I was in the middle of my battle. But I know which general direction you're heading, and that's all that matters for now." You won't shake me that easily Shelby.

With that, Ran started to briskly jog in the direction that Shelby would have been heading. If she was quick, she could follow Shelby's trail easily.

Shelby heard shuffling in the cave behind her. She froze a moment, the breath catching in her throat. Ran isn't that fast, is she...? She glanced back, seeing the shape of a young man lying down to sleep. She sighed and left as quietly as possible. It wasn't too long a walk through the trail leading to Floaroma Town, and it was made even easier because several of the trainers along the way had nodded off. She entered the town through the arch.

Her eyes lit up. There were flowers everywhere! A feeling of joy went through her as she giggled, running through the flowers a moment. She made a stop by the Pokemon Center to heal, and purchased a small box lunch. It was plain, but filling, consisting mostly of rice with some fish and vegetables. You can really tell that Japan made this. She chuckled a moment before thinking. She could rent a room, but knowing Ran, she'd likely be following close behind and the Pokemon Center would be the first place she'd check. She ended up deciding against renting a room, instead deciding to find someplace outside to sleep.

She wandered back outside, admiring the moonlit view again. She had Cheeto out with her- after that last Gym battle, he was near evolution, and he would be decent protection while sleeping outside regardless. Shelby then remembered the small field of flowers out back- the field was ripe with honey due to the waves of flowers. She picked a place farther from the only break in the trees from town, near a tree in the middle of the field. When she laid down, the flowers pretty well kept her and Cheeto hidden. She checked her bag- only a sleeping bag. "That's enough." She swaddled herself in the bag and went to sleep. Cheeto slept next to her on the ground.

It wasn't as hard to find Shelby as she had probably planned it to be. Maybe it was because a human shaped dent in the flowers stuck out, or rather in, like a sore thumb, maybe it was because her Turtwig Snored, but either way, about 30 minutes after Shelby fell asleep, Ran was standing over her.

I could just do away with her now, but she's met someone else already. Besides, there'd be too much time for me to be caught before the test is over and she'd be released. I'll chock it down as an option and keep my eyes peeled. Maybe a better option will present itself. I'll strike when the goalpost is within reach.

Ran reached into her handbag and pitched a tent over Shelby. She then kneeled down and closed her eyes. She was actually quite skilled at meditation, which was as good as normal sleep to her.

"Skuntank! Pursuit! Rip that punk a new one!" Jupiter yelled, her Skunk Pokemon smashed into Geodude, although it shrugged the attack off, "Hmph, it isn't like your rock can take many more of those, even if it did for that one."

"Don't be so quick to take my Pokemon for granted! Geodude, use Magnitude!" Richie shouted, reciting what he must have felt was his catch phrase.

[MAGNITUDE 4]

"What?" Richie gasped. The Skuntank snickered, shaking off the minimal damage it received.

"Skuntank, hit it with Pursuit." Jupiter ordered with a chuckle. Skuntank tackled Geodude, who could not ignore the damage on that hit, though it remained conscious.

"Geodude, end it with Magnitude!" Richie yelled, striking a fabulous pose with his Geodude before it wrecked the ground.

[MAGNITUDE 10]

"E-eeeehhhhh!? Haah?" Jupiter gasped, "I-I was going to win! Tch- fine, take the stupid Pokemon, I'm going to bed..."

Richie let out a sigh of relief, "I'm happy that I've been so lucky lately, but that was really close... I should probably head to a Pokemon Center myself."

Ian awoke to a loud, high pitched screech. Assuming that this was Zubat's signal for someone being nearby, Ian jumped out of his sleeping back, Grotle standing up behind him. The two looked around, trying to find Zubat and whatever person was nearby. However, when Ian looked up, he sighed. His Zubat had gotten into a fight with another Zubat. He watched as his Zubat used Wing attack on the wild one, causing it to flee.

"Man, false alarm. You didn't need to scream that loud Zubat. You could've alerted a whole swarm of those things." Ian said, scolding his pokemon. He looked at his poketch, trying to find the time app. He had only been asleep for 45 minutes! "Oh well. I guess I should keep moving anyway. I really want a Munchlax." Ian rolled up his sleeping bag and gathered the rest of his things in bag, which slung on his back. Ian walked out the exit of the Ravaged Path, Grotle and Zubat following nearby. When Ian entered Floaroma Town, he found that some of the inhabitants were asleep, despite it still being somewhat early. Thankfully, he had found the man who sold money, and with the prize money he had won from Roark, bought a couple jars to put on the the Honey Trees.

"Oh man. Look at all the flowers." Ian said as he entered the meadow. He had never seen so many plants in one place before.

"Grotle!" The pokemon barked, happy with the environment as well. It walked through the fields, smelling the flowers. Zubat, however looked somewhat bored now that it wasn't in the cave anymore.

"C'mon Grotle. We got to find a Honey Tree." Ian called out. As he walked through the fields, he noticed that a tent was set up further in the meadow. And a bit behind the tent was a Honey Tree. "Another player is here in the meadows? What are the odds?" Ian said to himself.  As he walked by the tent, he noticed another person nearby, although she looked to be meditating. Not wanting to disturb the person, Ian walked passed her and approached the tree, taking out 2 jars of honey and putting the honey on the tree. "Perfect. Now we wait." Ian walked back a couple steps and sat in the grass next to Grotle, Zubat resting on Grotle's back.

Five minutes passed. Nothing. Ten minutes passed. Still nothing approached the tree. Another five minutes passed, and Ian could make out a shape in the darkness approaching the tree, no doubt attracted by the honey. "Alright, here we go." Ian whispered to Grotle and Zubat. Ian started to walk towards the tree silently, pokeball in hand. When he was close enough, Ian leaned back. "You're mine." Ian whispered to himself. He threw the pokeball at the shape, but was surprised when what looked like a tail turn around and smack the pokeball back to him. "Whoa!" Ian shouted as he ducked to avoid the ball. The Pokeball kept going until pierced the wall of the nearby tent. That's gonna come back to hurt me. Ian thought to himself. He looked back at the shape. "That was a tail. And last time I checked, Munchlaxes don't have tails." Ian approached the tree, only to hear something laugh at him from a branch, a tail with what looked like a glove keeping it suspended in the air.

"An Aipom." Ian said. "A powerful one too. You're not a Munchlax, but you'll have to do. Grotle use Razor Leaf." Ian commanded.

"Grotle!" The pokemon barked as it launched the leaves. The Aipom was fast, however, using it's tail to launch itself to another tree. It started to laugh again.

"Damn. Too high for a Razor Leaf. Zubat use Wing Attack." The bat pokemon launched off Grotle's back, aiming for the monkey. Once again the Aipom used it's tail to launch itself onto Zubat, using it like a spring board and jumping to an even higher point in the tree. Resuming it's laugh.

"Tch. You think it's so funny huh? Grotle, use tackle on the tree." Grotle rushed the tree, smashing into it. Aipom, startled by the sudden impact, fell out of the tree and fell towards the ground, not close to any branches. "Now Zubat, try Wing Attack again." Zubat flew up and slashed the monkey pokemon with it's wing, sending it into the tree trunk.

"Aipom." The pokemon grunted as it slid down the tree.

"Now you're mine!" Ian shouted as he threw another pokeball at Aipom. With no energy left to whack it like before, Aipom entered the poke ball. It rotated to left and to right three times, finally clicking after five seconds. Ian had caught his third pokemon. "All right. Good job guys. I should get to a Pokemon Center before I left him." Ian turned around and looked at the tent again. "Oh right. I guess I should go apologize to them." And try to get my pokeball back. Ian thought as he approached the meditating woman.

"Uh, hey. Sorry to interrupt your meditation. I just wanted to apologize for hitting your tent."

Ran opened her eyes. "It's quite alright. Although I would ask you keep your voice down. My companion is sleeping, and I'd rather she not be woken up. I've been trying to make a good impression. I assume you'd like this back?" Ran picked up the loose pokeball and handed to Ian.

"Congratulations for your catch by the way. Aipom are uncommon, and they have great potential. I don't suppose you mind if I take advantage of the honey left on the tree, do you?"

Ran tossed one of her own Pokeballs at the tree. A bushel of leaves was hit, and revealed to be a Burmy, which was fairly easily caught. Must have been a weak one, but it clearly had potential.

"Your name is Kallen" She said to the ball.

As the night fell over Sinnoh, Aryeh entered the Eterna Forest.  The Forest was dark enough in the day, but this made it darker.  The NPC Cheryl was not there, meaning somebody else had taken on that quest.  It meant others were ahead of him and so Aryeh had to speed up if he was going to win the League as soon as possible.  Although it was the journey and not the destination and he was interested in exploring the region in depth.  Aryeh battled a few wild Pokémon, mostly getting levels for Staravia.  The Pokédex told him they were both Lv25 now.  At that point, he decided it was time to get the new Pokémon since the two he had were in a good way.  As he battled the wild Pokémon, he had been navigating the forest.  It was fairly straightforward if you were ok with going through the grass rather than going around the edge.  Aryeh wondered how long he'd been playing this game.  He'd been playing all day.  Being plugged into this world meant Pokémon all of the time and not putting it down to do something else.  Maybe he'd get a break later to do some real world stuff, but honestly the Pokémon World was far more interesting than the real world.

The Old Chateau was a magnificient building.  It was abandoned and creepy, yet its atmosphere was easing rather than scary.  While walking into a creepy building in the real world wasn't the best idea, Aryeh knew it was here where he would get his Pokémon.  Plus having a Grotle and Staravia to protect him was good enough at this point in the game.  He stepped into the mansion, making sure the only Ghosts he encountered were of the Pokémon variety.  With Grotle's Pokéball in hand, Aryeh wandered the corridors of the building.  The candles would instantly light as he walked past them.  Aryeh wasn't scared.  Ghost Pokémon were his favourite Type and he was going to catch one.

The gas Pokémon, Gastly.  It hovered in front of Aryeh, ready for battle.  Aryeh used the time to figure out how trade evolutions would work.  Maybe once he got a Haunter, he'd be met with that Allana girl again and swap her Kadabra and swap back.  Or maybe he needed another player to help him.  Turning his attention back to the Gastly, he smiled as he saw the Pokémon that would eventually become Gengar; one of his all time favourites.  Aryeh pressed the button on his Pokémon and send out Grotle.

"Can't use Bite" Aryeh said to himself "That could do too much damage; I'll have to weaken it and make sure it doesn't use Curse or anything."

The battle started.  Gastly floated quickly towards Grotle and used Lick.  Grotle responded with an Absorb which weakened Gastly.  Gastly hit with Night Shade which did the fixed amount of damage - twenty HP as it was Lv20.  Looks like it would benefit from the EXP Share to catch up.  Aryeh commanded Grotle to use Razor Leaf and then Absorb to get Gastly's health lower.  Gastly used Night Shade again and as the twenty HP of damage stacked up, Aryeh had to use a Potion.  He'd have to stock up on more at the next mart.  Gastly used Lick next and got Paralysis luck.  Aryeh hoped that Grotle wouldn't get bad luck and be able to attack.  Grotle used Absorb one more time.  Gastly was weak enough for what came next.  Aryeh threw an empty Pokéball at the Ghost Pokémon.  It sucked Gastly within and wobbled on the ground a couple of times.  It wobbled once more, then click; Gastly was caught!  Aryeh picked up the Pokéball and put it on his belt in addition to returning Grotle.

Aryeh explored the Chateu a bit more, checking some of the old rooms to see what other Pokémon were living there.  Then he heard some strange static.  Walking to the next room, he saw that the TV in the room was on.  It fizzled with static and electricity.  Aryeh grinned at the prospect of being the one to find this in-game event.  He walked right up to the TV.  Even though the game was based on Platinum, it was still a newer game so if the Pokémon in question would find an appliance later, it wouldn't be a Ghost Type and then wouldn't be redundant typing.  Not that it mattered, Ghost Types were the best.  Aryeh knocked on the top of the TV a couple of times.  It buzzed for a moment before suddenly a hyperactive little Ghost flew out of it!  It was Rotom, the Electric Ghost who posessed appliances!  Aryeh sent out his Grotle, hoping it wouldn't get any Paralysis problems.  Sadly, it did.  Rotom used Thundershock, doing a bit of damage to Grotle.  Aryeh figured he'd have to switch out.  He recalled Grotle and sent out his new Gastly.  Rotom used the opportunity to use Thundershock again.  Aryeh used his Pokédex to check Rotom's HP.  A couple of Licks would be enough to weaken it sufficiently.

"Gastly!  Use Lick on Rotom and then do it again!" Aryeh instructed his new Pokémon "Show me the awesomeness of the Ghost Pokémon!"

Gastly nodded itself, since it was basically just a head at this point.  It felt the enthusiasm its new trainer had for Ghost Pokémon and decided to do its best.  Gastly stuck out its tongue and gave Rotom a big lick.  Rotom then used Astonish which despite being Super Effective, didn't do too much.  Gastly followed with another Lick, which hit Rotom hard.  The move did more than Aryeh expected it to do but thankfully Rotom was still up.

"I hope this works" hoped Aryeh "I have yet to pick up some Great Balls."

Aryeh threw the Pokéball at the Rotom, engulfing it in the red light.  It wobbled twice.  Then the ball cracked open and Rotom flew out!  Aryeh sighed as he realised the game was harder than he wanted it to be.  Rotom used Astonish on Gastly again.  Aryeh couldn't have Gastly attack again without defeating the Rotom, because he wanted to catch it.  Aryeh had only two Pokéballs left.  He threw one of them at the Rotom.  Wobble...wobble...wobble...click!  Rotom was captured!  Aryeh breathed a sigh of relief and he picked up his fourth Pokémon.

Checking his Pokédex, Aryeh realised that it was now about three in the morning.  He was running on adrenaline till that point but the rush was over.  He felt quite tired.  He had almost forgotten that the game simulated real life and he was kind of awake despite being plugged into a machine.  He used what was left of his energy to exit the Chateau and make his way out of the forest into Eterna City.  Going straight to the Pokémon Center, he booked in for the night and slept for the first time in this new and strange world.

Richie's eyes fluttered open then he wiped the sleepiness from them, "Awwwwwhn~ damn, even the sleep mechanics are just like real life, this game really is top-notch." He said, sitting from the cot he rented in Pokemon Center then letting his Pokemon out of their Pokeballs, "C'mon guys, we can get through Mt. Coronet to Hearthome from there. And if I remember Sinnoh's terrain, Oreburgh is south past the Cycling Road."

When the Pokeballs hit the tent, the snoring stopped. Cheeto could be heard running around frantically, eventually hitting the side of the tent hard enough to collapse the tent on top of himself and his Trainer. Shelby and Cheeto screamed, and both could be seen flailing under the tent. Cheeto, due to his small size, was able to quickly escape, but it took Shelby several agonizing moments of screaming until she calmed down enough.

"...wait, a tent? ....I never pitched a tent...." You could hear her heart go into her throat. She clambered to the side of the tarp, and stuck her head out. And then , she saw Ran and resumed screaming. This time, however, she stopped a lot quicker. When she finished, she clutches her chest and is breathing heavily . She just had the living shit scared out of her and her heart was pounding so hard it hurt.

"How...? W-why do you keep chasing me?!" All Shelby could manage in her shock was an accusatory finger point. Cheeto seemed unaffected, not understanding the situation and happy to be outdoors. "Explain yourself!"

She had been asleep a few hours, and it was dawn now. Very early in the morning, but she'd had enough sleep to satisfy.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I suppose I'll answer in order. To your 'how', your Turtwig Snores and you leave a distinct imprint on the flowers when you sleep in them. As for why I'm following you, well, I suppose the best was of describing it is that you're the first female companion I've ever made outside the theater I was raised to be a part of. So I suppose I enjoy the company. And since we're going the same direction and all, why not travel together, after all." Ran's tone was slightly more human than it had been before. She had decided to dial back the formal a bit at least when it came to Shelby. She enjoyed how others reacted to it.

___________________

Dylan awoke being held upside down by psychic power. And what a startling awakening it was.

"Ohmygodwhatintheheckwasthewhatthewhatthewhat!" Dylan blurted as he looked around frantically, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh, so you're awake. Good job Kadabra!" A girl with Pink hair said as she motioned for Dylan to be let down. "My name's Mira. I'm a Specialist. Special Specialist. Special Attack Specialist to be most exact. And well, you were asleep when I found you so I figured you wouldn't be itching for a fight as quickly as the spelunkers here are. So I have a propositon for you. Be my bodyguard and I'll help you out of this cave."

It was an offer Dylan couldn't refuse. Mostly because it was happening so quickly that his brain wouldn't allow it. And thus, Dylan and Mira started to travel the Wayward cave together, Dylan's Pokemon playing the spear to her pokemon's cannon as the case would be. But it was good experience for both of them, especially Donnel, who evolved into Monferno, Loki, who evolved into Golbat, and The Gible Dylan now officially named Roxie, who rather quickly evolved into a Gabite.

"You're pretty good at this, you know?" Mira said, appreciating Dylan's assistance.

"Well, I oughta be. Or at least, I better be. Or something. It's a long story." Idiot. Don't let the NPCs know that you're from out of the game.

It took a good hour, but eventually the two of them hit daylight, only to be blocked by a tree.

"Wow. These things are bigger than they look... that sounds dumb..." Dylan said as he awkwardly stared at the tree. "Know any way around these?"

"Only by using Cut. Which I don't have."

"Then how did you even get in that cave?"

"How did you?"

The two of them agreed to shut up as they thought. Then out of nowhere, a scruffy man cut the tree from the other side.

"There, now you can go about your buisness." The man said, handing Dylan an HM disk for cut should he ever find himself in this situation again. "No need to thank me. Just keep working on that Pokedex." The man walked on.

As soon as Ian grabbed the poke ball from Ran, he had to drop it and cover his ears. He watched as another girl emerged from the ruins of the tent and screamed once again, looking at the girl he was talking to. "Oh man, she's louder than Zubat." Ian whispered, releasing his ears. "Oh hey, another Turtwig." Ian said, bending down to look at the girl's Turtwig as the two girls conversed. He avoided petting it, due to it belonging to someone else. Ian knew from experience you shouldn't touch someone else's pet unless you know they're friendly. He stood up once again, looking at the duo in front of him. "So I was right when I saw you two before in the gym. "You're both beta testing the game as well?"

"Just..." Shelby pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously frustrated. "Listen, I see where you're coming from, but..." She looked off to the side. Her gut feelings were usually right, but she had no clue how to explain other than to be blunt. "You're here for the money, aren't you, Ran?" Her voice started off calm, but raised slightly at the end. "I get the creeping suspicion that you're out to kill me. Call me paranoid, but with as much at stake as there is, I wouldn't put it past people to just start offing folks to better their chances. I'm already not the trusting type, so with things as they are, please forgive my rudeness, but if you intend to travel with me, you'll need to earn my trust." Her voice was a bit harsh, but she had a point. Shelby figured that if she were an AI, she would be confused, because she'd be unaware of what's going on, and if she were a player, she'd have some form of reaction to her accusation.

Once she was done grilling Ran, she turned to look at Ian and put her hands on her hips. "You could assume that, sugar." She was still a bit worked up from Ran, but she had enough wit about her to smirk at and tease at Ian. Cheeto headbutted Ian's leg gently- sort of like how a cat would mark a friend. Since Ian smelled like Turtwig, he already liked Ian.

Ran didn't let herself get shaken.

"I'm actually not making this adventure for any monetary gain. I'm here for other reasons. Mostly because of my husband. He wanted this to happen. That's all. But I understand if I need to earn your trust. Just allow me the chance to do so."

"As for you boy. That's a dangerous question to be asking anyone. You really should use more digression when discussion such matters."

Sitting up Michael yawns and gets out of the bed feeling fully rested as he goes to retrieve his pokemon before setting out up north toward Floaroma Town. "If I remember right there should be a honey tree there so how about we get us a new friend you guys." He smiles down at Sparky and Chim Chim who were talking beside him.

Fairly quickly he managed to pass through the lower half of Route 202 and the Ravaged Path before he began the upper half of the route and exited into the meadow. "Geeze this place does look amazing. Oh hey there Shelby!" He called out as he spotted the group in the flowers running up to the other 3 people.

Ian reached down to the pet the Turtwig's head. As he pet the girl's Turtwig, Grotle, with Zubat riding on his back, finally approached the group and examined the smaller Cheeto. He nodded to the Turtwig, doing what Ian assumed to be a type of greeting, but he wasn't really paying attention to the pokemon. He was listening to the girl rant about about how people might kill other people for the prize money. He had to stifle a laugh at that comment. He almost burst out laughing when the girl called him sugar. "Sugar huh? Not what I'm used to being called but I suppose it's better than nothing." Ian stood, looking at the pokeball on the ground. He kicked it up like a soccer ball and caught it as it was falling, something he had a lot of practice with. "Sorry about waking you up with a pokeball by the way. I didn't plan on capturing an Aipom, but when I saw it whack that pokeball with that strength I had to get it." Ian said, looking at the tree. "My name is Ian by the way."

He looked at the woman, a frown on his face now. "And why is that a dangerous question exactly? It's not like someone's gonna come after us." Ian was going to say more, but stopped when he saw a guy approach the group, shouting to one of the girls.

"Whatever." Shelby was obviously at her wit's end when it came to Ran. "I'll give you a chance, but if you start making me feel like I'm being hunted down again, or if you hold me back, we part ways." Relief visibly washed over her when she saw Michael running up from behind Ran. "Hey Michael! You're looking well as ever."

She turned to Ian again. Cheeto was happily poking at the Grotle, and just seconds later, he was glowing, evolved into a Grotle. It appeared that Cheeto had held out on evolving, but upon meeting Grotle, was inspired to evolve as well. "Don't put it past people." She seemed dark suddenly, threatening even. It lasted but a mere moment and was gone as quickly as it had come. "It's dangerous to ask simply because someone might have the intent to narrow down the competition. Even if there wasn't anyone who would do that here, it could unnerve other players or make you seem insane to the natives." She felt comfortable explaining, as she assumed everyone was already aware in this group. She smirked again at Ian. "It's fine, I understand. I don't need much sleep anyways. As for "sugar", sorry. Lived in the deep South a long while. Not a friendly place for a Swede." She giggled. "Shelby, pleased to meet you."

"Guuhoh!" Richie let out a loud breath as he sat down, exhausted alongside his Pokemon, "Man, how did I manage evolving two Pokemon in an attempt to catch a Pokemon as common as Machop?" His voice seemed a bit choppy through the heavy breaths.

"Graaahaha!" Graveler guffawed at Richie's lack of stamina.

"Yeah yeah, you ain't in th' best o' shape either, pal," Richie smirked as if he were about to make a pun, a stupid one at that, "lookin' a bit... Chunky. YEEEEEAAAAAAAH!"

Graveler, and Prinplup who had just finished dealing with a Zubat, wore a face of pure unadulterated disappointment, "Oh c'mon, you're tellin' me that you had the chance, you wouldn't be making puns about your friends? Enough of this noise, I need a Machop, so let's go grab us a bike, considering I helped out the bike shop guy, I should be due for one."

+++

"Hey hey hey, lookit that, the bike hill leading to Oreburgh , and my pretty new Machop!" Richie said, unfolding the bike and speeding down the hill, "woo! Catch te ikezo! There's a lively one! Buneary, Pound! Punch 'im to death, but don't kill 'im!"

"Buuuu!" Buneary slammed his ear onto the Machop, leaving it still standing. Richie quickly flung a Pokeball. 'Wobble wobble wobble... Click!'

"I'm afraid I won't be using you against Roark, but you can level a bit on the Gym Trainers beforehand." Richie said to the Pokeball, setting his new partner out of it.

Ian looked at Shelby's Cheeto as it evolved. He pat it's head, no longer needing to bend down. He was happy for it, but was somewhat distracted. Would someone really murder another person for money? In a pokemon video game? "Well I already seem insane to people back home so I should fit right in here if I start to ask questions. But I guess I should keep my head down, just in case. If it is true, I don't need some guy coming at me with a knife or something." Wanting to change the subject, he looked back at Shelby. "Shelby. And that guy behind you," Ian said, pointing to the newcomer, "is Michael. And you are...." Ian said, looking at the second woman, who despite being having two conversations with had not learned her name.

Grinning as he walked up to Shelby he turned to eye Ran. "And you look like your having as fun of companions as ever, Shelby." He says as he notices Ian. "Already making new friends I see then? Hello I am Michael." He says looking up and down Ian before taking a look at the two Grotles that Chim Chim had gone up to and began dashing around the two of them teasingly blowing small embers by their feet.

"Nakamura Ran, but you can just call me Ran. I'm sorry I didn't bother to ask your name sooner, but it didn't seem to matter at the moment. But since we're now all gathered up like this and being sociable, I suppose it's more pressing. Although given the nature of our tasks at hand, I think it might be best if we all cut off the conversations short. Don't want to fall behind any competition we have after all. It's a Friday morning, so everyone will be in good spirits."
_________________________

Dylan p He almost missed seeing Richie as he ran by, but caught him out of the corner of his eye. This only made him start sprinting faster as to get in the gym first. When he announced that Roark was his second gym battle and that he had 4 Pokemon with him, Roark decided to break out a big gun. The battle was 2 on 4, with Roark starring a Graveler and his Rampardos.

The Graveler was too slow to really make a threat, add that to Leo's hyper effective attacks, and the thing was effectively OHKOed. The real threat came from the Rampardos. Fresh from an evolutuon, this thing was at least 5 levels above everything Dylan was packing.

In an attempt to wrap things up quickly, Dylan tried for a water pulse, but the difference in raw power due to the evolutionary boarder proved too great for it to do the job. And this Rampardos had a trick up it's sleeve in the from of knowing Hammer Arm. The sneak attack caught the Shellos off guard, knocking it out. This was bad.

Dylan's next attempt was via Donnel. A flurry of Mach Punches were thrown, chipping at the spear headed pokemon, but Roark's Rampardos was a creature of power, and it didn't take the hits lying down. With luck on it's side, it threw ancient power and was buffed in the process. Even worse.

Loki didn't have much of a chance. But it didn't go down without a fight. The Golbat's speed was great for dodging, but you can't run away forever. Still, exhausting the thing's Aincient Power was a good point, and even better, getting in a confuse ray just before being knocked out was worth it.

It all came down to Roxie. The good news is, at this point, the thing was crippled. Made worse that it was confused. The Rampardos charged, a force of massive fury. Unfortunately for it, it charged into a wall. One Dragon Rage later, and it was out. The Coal Badge was Dylan's

"Hmm. I might retool Rampardos to be a bit more fair in future battles. Still, good job out there. That was a great come from behind victory. I've had lots of good challengers lately."

"You've got one more outside. See ya." Dylan yelled as he walked out, now taking his time a bit more. He went to rest up his pokemon at the PokCent.

Donovan awoke after a peaceful night's sleep.  Another day to advance his plans.  He decided he would head back out of Pastoria towards Veilstone City and win a Gym Badge from there.  The more badges he had, the stronger he'd be and then he would be able to command high level Pokémon to crush the other Beta Testers.  They would get in his way and he had to dispatch of them.  He was a master of strategy and had studied Pokémon's logic to understand how to do things.  He had practiced and won many battles.  Of course it being in a virtual world changed things, but it seemed most of the maths was the same.  Quickly avoiding the guy he had burned before, he ducked out of Pastoria City and continued on his way.  It was a beautiful morning in that area, as he neared the Grand Lake Hotel resort he knew had many Double Battles to give him some more training.  He'd fight those battles and then head to Veilstone.

As he walked along, he noticed a fisherman.  This gave him an idea.

"Escuse me sir" said Donovan as he walked towards the fisherman "Could I borrow your fishing rod and find a specific Pokémon with it."

"If you beat me in a battle, then sure" the fisherman laughed.

"I'll take you up on that deal then" agreed Donovan.

The fisherman threw their Pokéball and out came a Gastrodon.  This was going to be easy for Donovan as he sent out his Tropius.  Tropius used Mega Drain, hitting for four times the damage and winning the battle.

"Looks like I got the lucky type" said Donovan.

"A deal's a deal" said the fisherman "You can use the rod."

The fisherman handed Donovan the fishing rod.  It was a Super Rod which is exactly why he wanted to use it.  After a few seconds, there was a tug.  Donovan forcefully reeled it in.  Gyarados was on the line!  The massive sea serpent Pokémon thrashed about wildly.  Donovan commanded his Tropius to weaken the Gyarados.  After it was sufficiently weakened, he threw a Great Ball at it.  The ball wobbled a few times before a successful click.  Gyarados was caught.

"Thank you" Donovan said, handing the rod back; sometimes it helped to be polite to get what he wanted, he was a businessman and not a barbarian.

"Eh? Some kid just mad dashed into the gym..." Richie said, taking note of Dylan, "Oh well, he must be a newbie if he's only at Roark-" Richie stopped, then looked longingly at his own hands, "Curse you, based god... Curse you..."

Shrugging off his visibly obvious agony, Richie proceeded to the gym, where Roark was waiting, "Okay, bring it on, Rock-types, I'm raring to get my second badge!"

Railgunning through the Gym Trainers with Machop, his new Pokemon leveled quite a bit. Richie stomped up to meet Roark, who seemed like he was expecting him.

"Hey there, Roark here, I was told that I was going to have another challenger real soon, so I didn't have time to alter my team, let's get this on!" Roark shouted, tossing out his Graveler.

"Hohoho! A Graveler, let's make this interesting! Graveler!" Richie tossed out his Graveler to rival Roark's own.

Ian was somewhat disappointed with Ran's suggestion. He wanted to get more information from the group. But she was right. He couldn't afford to fall behind. Ian may not have really card about the prize money, that didn't mean he wouldn't try and win it. "Alright. So Michael, Ran and Shelby. It was nice meeting you guys. I wish I could stay and hang out, but like Ran said, we can't afford to fall behind the other competitors. Good luck guys." Ian picked his bag up from the ground, taking out the pokeball that contained Aipom. He walked away from the group and left the meadow. When he got back into the town, he released the Aipom, who upon seeing Ian, decided to hitch a ride with Ian and jump on his shoulder.

"Aipom!" The monkey cheered, a smile on his face.

"Good to see you feel better. And it's a pleasure to have you as a part of the team." Ian said, shaking hands with Aipom's tail. "We should get some supplies from the Pokemart before we leave." The teenager said, standing outside the building. "Zubat, Grotle you two wait out here. I won't be long."

Ian walked into the pokemart, making sure to buy some potions and antidotes. He had a feeling he'd be need antidotes since they'd be going in the Eterna Forest where a lot of bug pokemon lived. And Ian knew from experience that a lot of them knew Poison Sting. He was about to walk out when he saw a whistle on one of the shelves. Ian grabbed the whistle and payed the store clerk the hundred pokedollars for it. He exited the shop and made his way out of the town, Grotle and Zubat right behind him.

"Alright guys, I have an idea." Ian said to his pokemon. "I bought this whistle for training. When we get into the forest, I want you guys to walk through the forest and battle some wild pokemon. Aipom, since you're weaker than Grotle and Zubat, you'll stay with me for now and we can challenge pokemon as we make our way to the forest. When you hear this guys-" Ian paused to blow into the whistle, the sound echoing for miles. A worthwhile purchase. "I want you to follow the noise back to me." As Ian finished talking, they finally reached Eterna Forest. "Alright guys, let's go."

Cheeto skittered back to Shelby. She frowned. "I guess you do have a point, Ran... We should probably get going. See you later, Michael." She did her best to not look back. Not here to make friends, remember that. She went straight through Floaroma and through the adjacent route. It was relatively quiet-in the early morning, even the birds weren't awake yet. At the end of the route, she saw... a purple balloon tied to a sign? Shelby jogged up to it.

"Is there a birthday party here?" She placed her hand on the sign. The strings of the balloon wrapped around her wrist, gently at first. "Well how nice, it's... Wait." The balloon turned around, and on the other side was two eyes and a yellow X. If it could grin, it seemed to be doing so, and it tightened its grip. Shelby was struggling to get loose. Cheeto was back walking with Ran, so he was no help. "Help! HELP!!" It started to pull her up, but since she was a full grown woman, it was only able to lift her just off the ground and keep her from running away. Shelby was screaming for the third time this morning.

Ran heard Shelby's plight and jogged up, Cheeto keeping up with her. It was at that point that she saw what was happening. The Drifloon had lured Shelby into a trap, and while she was larger than their usual victim, it was still a problem if a strong wind came through.

"Kallen, subdue!" Ran ordered as she called her new Burmy to her side. The bag worm Pokemon focused orbs of energy around it's body and projected them at the Drifloon. The impact was great, and it caused the balloon Pokemon to loosen it's grip and attempt to escape.

"I don't think so." Ran threatened as she produced a Pokeball. With a rotation of her body, she pitched the ball at the Drifloon, and dispite the above average distance of the throw at that point, the shot was clean and effective. 1. 2. 3. Click.

"Your name is now Ichigo. No more reaping without permission." She said softly as she picked up the ball before returning to check on Shelby.

"Sorry that happened to you. Are you injured in any way?"

Shelby had fallen to the ground in a heap after Drifloon had let go. She groaned before sitting and then standing up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Um... thanks. I owe you one." She could have been swept to god-knows-where if the wind had started blowing. She shivered. One of the honey sticks had fallen out of her bag when she fell, and a Buizel had started eating it. Once it finished, it walked up to Shelby, headbutting and trying to get more. "You wanna come with?" She put a Pokeball out and the Buizel willingly tapped the center, and went inside briefly before breaking free. Shelby recalled Cheeto. "You can be Demyx. Cuuuutie~"

"So.... Talk to me while we walk, then. You can ask questions, too. If we're walking, we may as well be talking."

"Confusion!" Allana commanded her Kadabra as it defeated a wild Pokémon in their morning training routine.

Allana recalled Kadabra into its Pokéball and made her way back to the Floaroma Pokémon Center.  She had been training for about half an hour but her mind was not in the right place.  All she could think about were those strange trainers.  She had noticed a couple of them pass through but didn't say anything because she figured they wouldn't give her much information either.  She sighed to herself as she handed her Pokémon to the Nurse to get healed up.  What could she do to find out the truth?  Aryeh had warned her that learning it would be a bad idea.  Was it going to cause some kind of existential crisis?  It couldn't be that bad.  What could possibly be so life changing as to explain a bunch of people appearing out of thin air with rare Starter Pokémon.  Yet, she had an uneasy feeling about all of this.  It felt more sinister than it seemed.  As if she was thinking about herself and the whole world.

Picking up her Pokémon from the Nurse, Allana set out up towards Eterna Forest.  She'd have to figure things out later.  She would block things from her mind for now.

+++

Aryeh woke up.  He had a good night's sleep here, quite unlike the real world.  He guessed it was because he was technically asleep in the real world, so in the virtual world he'd have more energy to do things comparatively.  The first thing to do was go to the Pokémart.  He strolled over the mart and picked up a bunch of Pokéballs and Great Balls.  Then he picked up some Potions, Super Potions, a couple of Antidotes, Paralyze Heals and an Awakening.  He finally picked up an Escape Rope because he was interested in how that would work in the virtual world.  He fastened his EXP Share to his Rotom and decided to visit the Galactic Eterna Building next to meet Jupiter and get his membership.  He walked up the building and pressed the buzzer on the door.

"Hello, who is this?" said a voice on the other end.

"Name's Aryeh.  Mars sent me" replied Aryeh.

The buzzer beeped and the door swung open.  Aryeh walked inside.  A few moments later, a tall woman with purplish hair walked over.  It was Jupiter.  She looked quite upset.  Aryeh figured another Beta Tester might have defeated her.

"So how did you get into Team Galactic then?" asked Jupiter, her tone showing she was in a bit of a bad mood.

"I defeated Mars in battle.  Made a deal that I'd get to join if I beat her, could do missions and stuff.  No wig though."

"Ok, guess it's good to have a decent trainer in the group.  I'll get your Galactic ID.  However, I'd also like to battle you.  See if you beating Mars was just a fluke."

"Alright, in this world, I don't back down from a battle.  At least ones I know I can win!" Aryeh laughed "Go Gastly!"

"Zubat, come forth!" Jupiter sent out her Zubat to face Aryeh's Ghost Type.

"Let's show Jupiter why Mars wants to be my homie."

((accidentally deleted most of this so I had to retype.  The original was better so imagine it's that xD ))

"Well, I suppose my first question would be, tell me about yourself. I told you where I'm from and about my husband after all." As they talked, the two traveled north toward the forest, stopping only when a challenger approached.

____________________________________

Dylan healed up his Pokemon then ran back to the Gym. Just in time to watch his other guy go about the fight. He considered this a chance to learn about one of his rivals, just in case they had to fight each other.

"Let's see. I'm 21 years old. I'm from the United States, Swedish heritage. Du vet? I work as a nurse. Um... I have a few close friends who are like family to me. They come over to my house nearly every day, or I go over to one of theirs, and we hang out. I also work as an artist, in my free time. I like making things. Anything specific you want to ask about? I'm drawing a blank..." Shelby was training Demyx as they walked. They were about halfway along the route to the Eterna Forest.

"Meanwhile, I'm a 32 year old theater actress who was sheltered from the world for her first 18 years of life, never met many people until I met my husband while preparing for my commute overseas. We were married and spent many years together. Happy ones. But then, there was an accident. It's too painful to talk about. But now I'm here. Not much more to say." Ran was putting some effort into her new additions herself. Considering she had gone all this way with only Soichiro, raising these two new additions was taking some effort

"It's alright, I understand. You don't need to tell me about it if you don't want to. It's wonderful that you found someone to have so many happy years with. I'd love to find my perfect someone..." Shelby's voice was wistful a moment before she decided to change the subject. "Theater, huh? I've never participated, but I did make clothes for a theater once. I got to see the show for free because of it. Lovely time. Hey... Here." Shelby dug around in her bag and pulled out a long, shimmery gold colored ribbon. "I made this for that project, but it didn't get used. Maybe you'd be able to use it." She smiled and offered the ribbon.

They stood outside the forest, now. The treeline loomed large over the two ladies.

Roark's Graveler shivered, shaking rock chips off of itself, making it faster, "Now Graveler, use Stealth Rock!" Roark called to his Pokemon, the Graveler did so, flinging several stones to hover around Richie and his Graveler.

"Crap, that last Magnitude did so little, who knew I'd get another four when I needed it to count?" Richie grit his teeth, "And with those rocks going I have to be more careful when switching... Graveler, use Defense Curl! Let's play- hard ball... YEEEAAAAH!"

"Are you proud of that sentence?" Roark pressed his hand firmly on his face, "Graveler use Magnitude..."
[MAGNITUDE 6]

"Hohoh, a pretty weak one on your end, too, made even weaker by my Defense Curl!" Richie declared, striking a pose, "hit 'em where it hurts, Graveler, Magnitude!"
[MAGNITUDE 7]

"My Graveler still stands, trainer, what are you gonna do about that?" Roark asked with a wide smile, "Graveler, hit him back with Magnitude!"
[MAGNITUDE 8!]

"Crap, I gotta get ridda this rock, c'mon and shake 'em, Magnitude!" Richie announced. Graveler shook the room causing more damage to his opponent.
[MAGNITUDE 10!!]
"Now there's only Cranidos."

"Hm Hm Hm..." Roark chuckled, "No no no, my friend, I have something much more exciting! Bust every wall! Rampardos!"

"What!? Level 30!?" Richie seemed honestly surprised at the development, though intrigued, "I didn't expect that..."

Michael smiles at Shelby as she walks off waving to her. "Yep see you later." He says before walking off to the honey tree and put some honey on it to attract a pokemon sitting back to wait a while.

Eventually a Heracross showed up prompting Michael to send Chim Chim out using Ember to surprise the Heracross. The Fire monkey easily over powers the bug untill unable to fight back Michael throws a pokeball at it capturing the Heracross. "I am going to name you Horn." He smiles as he lets Horn out of his pokeball to finish eating the honey on the tree. Smiling as he finished Michael stood up and took off toward Route 205 and Eterna Forest

"His strategy revolves around a random power move... that's risky... HEY! STAY BEHIND IT IF YOU CAN!" Dylan shouted from outside. He had to give a fair warning. That Hammer Arm would absolutely eat anything that wasn't ready for it.

"Well, that's my good deed done. Well, now on to buisness. If memory serves, this place has lots of fos-" Dylan never got an excavation kit. "GAWDAMMIT!" He yelled as he got on his bike and rushed back to Eterna as fast as he could.
____________

Ran was taken aback by the gift. "...Thank you..." She tied her hair in a ponytail with the ribbon.

Ran knew a shortcut through the forest. A path of least resistance as the case would be. It was useful too because quite frankly. the forest was alive today. Lots of bugs, lots of trainers. Once the two of them were on the other side, the city was within view.

"We'll need bicycles from this point on. How about this. I'll take on the Gym first this time, you go to the bike shop and see what you can get. We'll meet up outside the gym."

Shelby shrugged and headed towards the bike shop, but stopped in her tracks when she saw an exhausted man, walking a bike up the hill. He trembled, then fell down. She dashed over, and knelt over him, and began to check the stranger over. She tapped his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" She moved in closer when he didn't reply, putting her ear above his face and looking down his body, watching for breathing. Demyx sat next to Dylan as well, eyes wide.

Dylan was breathing heavily but otherwise fine. "I-i'm okay. Just tired. That slope man..." Dylan then opened his eyes and saw Shelby's face.

"Hi... I'm..." Dylan was having trouble forming words. Something about blondes with glasses. Then he blurted.

"I am Dylan, I train the Pokemon that fight the gyms-" Dylan covered his mouth, stood up, and embarrassingly ran off.
________

Ran didn't waste time with Gardenia. The fact of the matter is, her newest addition was very dangerous in this gym, and she was taking full advantage of it. After a while, she just started waving her hand instead of repeating the word Gust over and over. One, two three, four, these grass type trainers were almost pathetic. And if for some unforeseen reason, Ichigo fell, Soichiro knew peck.

Michael marched through the forest easily beating everyone in his way as he worked on training up his pokemon. Sparky had quickly evolved into a Luxio and learned bite, Mr. Fish was quickly approaching evolving himself, Horn had learned Chip Away, and Crackers had learned Confusion.

"Chim Chim flame wheel" Michael called out as his Monferno defeated the last while pokemon before he exited the forest smiling as he looked out over the lake to the town before him. "Well this gym should certainly be a cake walk for me." He smiled as he walked out on the bridge beginning to beat the low level Magikarps the fishermen had.

"What the?" Richie gasped, looking back, "I have a faaaan~!" Richie seemed like he would have melted if his skin was not keeping him together, "I've got my confidence! Bring it on!"

"I'll make this quick! Rampardos, Zen Headbutt" Roark ordered. The huge Pokemon smashed into Graveler, knocking it unconscious upon impact, "The rest of your team will follow suit!"

"Don't be so quick to judge my strength!" Richie shouted, flinging a Pokeball, "Light the stage, Buneary! Jump Kick!"

"Buuuuu!" Buneary flipped through the air, mimicking Richie's crosshand pose in midair then plumetting into Rampardos, who shook off the damage with little faze.

"Hammer arm." Roark whispered. Rampardos glared at Buneary, who hung in the air, then slammed it into the ground, KOing it immediately.

Shit, that Rampardos is friggin' tough... Richie thought, clutching Prinplup's ball.

I hate Bugs! Ian thought to himself as he ran through the woods. Aipom was hanging on for dear life, looking backwards at the swarm of Beedrill flying after them. Aipom had been battling multiple pokemon they had encountered in the forest. But when he accidentally knocked a Cascoon into a tree, Beedrill flew out of the tree, angry at being disturbed. "There's the exit!" Ian shouted to Aipom. But as fast as he was running, the Beedrill were faster. "They're gonna catch us if we don't do something. But you're not strong enough to take on all of them." He said to Aipom. "Wait. My whistle." Ian grabbed the whistle and blew into it, the high pitched noise echoed throughout the forest. Whaat Ian didn't notice was the torn up root from a tree in his path, causing him to trip, Aipom rolling ahead of him. Ian turned around and saw the Beedrill right in front of him, ready to strike. This is gonna hurt. Ian thought to himself.

That's when Ian saw the front beedrill get hit by another pokemon. It was a Golbat! "Zubat! You evolved." Ian cheered.

"Golbat!" The pokemon screeched.

"Alright, fly into the swarm and use Wing Attack!" Ian commanded. Golbat flew into the swarm, taking out multiple Beedrill.

"Grotle!" Ian looked behind him and saw his Grotle, launching Razor Leaf. In a matter of minutes, the Beedrill had all fled or been knocked out.

"Good job guys. Now let's get out of here." Ian said, he ran out of the forest and straight to the pokemon center. He had to wait a half hour for his pokemon to be healed. When he got them back, he went straight to the Eterna City Gym, hoping that with Golbat he's be able to beat Gardenia. He spotted Ran ahead of him, ready to challenge Gardenia.          

"Wait!" Shelby ran after Dylan, concerned for his health. He seemed somewhat... spazzy, perhaps? Demyx followed behind.

Dylan hadn't run far. Only around the corner. By the time Shelby caught up, he was holding his nose tightly.
"Um... hi... Nice to meet you. I'm- well, I guess I already said that. Um... you're new in town given I've been here for basically the past day. Well, except for the night and the early this morning. But that doesn't matter. Erm...

Dylan was having a lot of trouble talking. He could tell by the fact that this person wasn't from this town that she had to be one of the other testers, but he didn't expect it to be someone like Shelby. He had always assumed the only girls who played Pokemon games were the emo looking ones who had crazy cosplay hair like his friend Zoe. Not a young blonde woman like her.

"Erm. I was just on my way to get an excavation kit so yeah..."

Ran grew impatient with waiting and went looking for Shelby. It was then that she noticed Dylan talking to her.

"Well, looks like you've met another friend." Ran said trying to be semi cheery. She had been making an effort to be less creepy.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright before I left." Shelby tilted her head, a look of concern on her face. Her work as a nurse had her predispositioned to this sort of behavior. When he mentioned the kit, her eyes opened wide. "Oooh! I could use one of those, too." She paused when she saw Ran return. "Ran, this is Dylan. Can we go get excavation kits? I'll get the bikes later." Shelby gave the two of them a truly sunny smile- a rarity for her. Ran seemed to be making an effort. Maybe she isn't a psychopath.

"If you believe they'll be a boon, I don't see why not." The excavation kit was a mostly extraneous thing, but you never know when you might have to dig something out of a cave wall, so Ran had no issues with picking them up.

"So, I guess you probably came from out west if you didn't come from the cycling road. And I'd know if you came from there all things considered. That and you just said you're getting bikes just now. So yeah. Guess you're heading to Oreburg or Hearthome? I'm personally Hearthome bound myself, so yeah."

"Strong deduction. We've been to Oreburg already, so Hearthome would be the next logical location. Since we're all going that way, and we're already all here, I suppose that there's no problem with spending a short jaunt together."

Grr... I know that Machop can't be faster than that Rampardos, so I have to lay all my trust in Prinplup! Richie flung his last Pokeball into the air, "Take my trust! Prinplup!"

"Another half-baked obstacle... I'll end your league challenge here!" Roark roared, pointing at Richie intensely, "Rampardos! Hammer Arm!"

"C'mon, Prinplup, dodge it!" Richie exclaimed. Prinplup, near expertly, dodged the arm that crashed into the floor instead, "Now use Water Pulse and end it!"

"Damn, Rampardos, quick break free!" Roark cried.

"Don't be so quick!!" Richie shouted as Prinplup shot the final blow.

Roark sighed, "It's been awhile since I've had a battle where I wasn't stomped on, so excuse me for getting fired up."

"Not a problem, guy, hey, if everyone could get that passionate about their dreams, the world'd be a rad place" Richie said with a smile, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a person to chase after."

Michael finally enters Eterna City just in time to see Ran walk around the corner and meet up with Shelby and Dylan. "Well if Shelby's friend is here then she must be here as well. I must be catching up with them. Hehehe. Seems like having a traveling partner is slowing her down." He smiled before entering the gym.

Fairly easily he manages to beat the trainers in the gym without using Chim Chim keeping the fire monkey healthy for the leader. By the time he beats the last trainer he even manages to get Mr. Fish to evolve into Gyarados with full health since he always swapped it out for another pokemon at the start of battles.

Mr. Fish was easily able to handle both Turtwig and Cherrim but was finally beaten by Roserade. Smiling as Mr. Fish finally finished his first battle with 2 fainted enemies to show for it Michael sends out Chim Chim. Using his speed and fire Chim Chim was fairly easily able to get the upper hand over the Roserade till it fainted unable to battle anymore and Michael managed to earn his second gym badge.

"Tch- where's that guy run off to?" Richie wondered to himself, "Didn't I see him dashing from the direction of Cycling Road or somethin'? I know this is just an assumption, but let's say he went back."

Richie unfolded his bike and sped up the hill, passing by a strange man with dark bluish hair, walking in a kind of strutting manner, he wore a dark green sleeveless shirt and a yellow and orange striped scarf, which Richie found strange, though, he could not see his face.

"Assuming makes an ass out of you and me." The man muttered as he walked into Mt. Coronet.

"Hm? Do Galactics take vacations?" Richie asked as he sped past the man.

Ran saw Micheal out of the corner of her eye when he got to town.

"You know, you two should go and get those kits. I just remembered something I have to take care of."

"Okay. We'll meet up at the south gate I guess." Dylan said as he let Shelby to run their errands

Ran went back to the Gym and has waited for Michael to exit the building, standing just around the corner. When he took a step outside and the door closed behind him, she grabbed him and covered his mouth.

"We don't need you getting too far ahead. Time for you to take a step back and get out of the way." She had her Drifloon by her side, which had gotten stronger under her training. Add that to the fact that Micheal was kind of a light weight guy, and it was obvious what was about to happen. The balloon pokemon grabbed Micheal, making sure to cover his mouth, and started to float back west. By air, the trip was a lot shorter. Micheal was dropped in the River by Floroma. It wasn't much, but it would set him back just far enough where he'd be out of their hair for now. And by the time Dylan and Shelby had finished what they were doing, the Drifloon was back in Ran's Pokeball.

Richie stepped off of his bike and folded it back into his bag, he looked up to see a man being carried away by a Drifloon, "Wohoho, some rube chose the wrong Friday to piss off Drifloon, amirite or amirite?" He held out his hand for a high-five, only to remember that he returned his Pokemon for the sake of riding the bike, realizing he left himself hanging, he sent out Graveler, "Slap me some skin- er, rock."

Graveler looked up at Richie with a raised brow, but decided to get swept up in Richie's fire again, slapping his hand, "Graw!"

"Okay, here's th' plan, Graveler... We're gonna snatch ourselves a new human(maybe) companion!" Richie said with vigor, "I really hope that wasn't another NPC..."

Richie proceeded further into Eterna, seeing a small group of about three people, "Is that 'im? I can't really tell there's a woman in front of 'im... C'mon Graveler, let's get acquainted with these fellows!"

Walking up to the group, Richie held his arms out in an attempt to announce himself gracefully, but he was shaking a bit more than he would like, "M-moshimoshi! Good day!"

Shelby and Dylan had already picked up their excavation kits, plus one extra for Ran. "I wonder what kind of business she would have to take care of so suddenly. I mean.... I dunno." She was trying to make small talk with Dylan when Richie ran up to them, arms out wide. She saw he was shaking and raised an eyebrow in concern. Is everyone in this town dying of exhaustion?

"Yes, hello?" Shelby stared at Richie blankly a moment, not sure what to think of his display.

"I um- I am not very exhausted at the moment, just terrified, I guess, I didn't meet anyone until now so you can expect my reaction to seeing people." Richie said, with a very obvious change in tone, seeming to be able to adjust to other people quickly, "My name is Richie, and I'm looking for my destined friend within this game. He called out to me you see."

Richie stopped himself, "Oh, this here is Graveler, one of my partners."

Ian had finally defeated the last trainer in the gym. He didn't want to use Golbat in all the battles before Gardenia, so he had used Aipom only in the last battle instead. Aipom was a lot stronger thanks to his training in the forest, and had learned Fury Swipes, a move that was able to just beat the fourth trainer's last pokemon. Ian approached Gardenia, finally ready to battle.

"Another trainer?" Gardenia asked. "There have been a lot of challengers recently."

Ian shrugged. "I don't know anything about that. I do know I'm here to battle, so let's battle. Grotle you go out first." Grotle walked forward confidently, ready for any challenge. Of course, that was before Gardenia sent out her Turtwig.

"Grotle use Razor Leaf!" Ian commanded. Nothing happened. Gardenia raised an eyebrow, confused. Ian had thought maybe Grotle hadn't heard him. "Hey Grotle, use Razor Leaf!" Ian shouted Again, nothing happened. Grotle refused to use the move. At this point Gardenia had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing. And Ian did not like being embarrassed. "C'mon Grotle! Use Bite, or Rock Smash or Absorb. Anything!" To Ian's surprise, Grotle turned around and ran at him, going behind Ian. It didn't want to battle the smaller Turtwig. At this point, Gardenia was almost on the ground laughing. "Are you kidding me right now, Grotle?" Ian asked the pokemon, but it wouldn't budge.

"If it makes you feel better, I think it's sweet Grotle refuses to battle Turtwig." Gardenia said, now back on her feet. Her Turtwig hadn't moved an inch, waiting for the battle to continue.

"Unfortunately, being sweet doesn't win gym battles. Alright Grotle, you can hang out for now. Aipom get in there."

Aipom jumped off Ian's back and ran straight towards Turtwig, after a couple Fury Swipes, it was down for the count. Gardenia, now serious, recalled her pokemon and sent out Cherim. Aipom managed to hurt the pokemon, but it was still stronger than the monkey pokemon. He was on the verge of fainting. "Aipom use Baton Pass." Aipom did a backflip towards Ian, landing on his back and tapping Grotle. This time, Grotle was ready. One Tackle was all it took to faint the opposing pokemon. Ian called Grotle back and had Aipom go in. After dodging a fast magical leaf from Gardenia's Roserade, he used Baton Pass. Aipom did another backflip, but this time landed on the ground next to Ian, tapping a poke ball on his waist. Out came Golbat, ready to battle. Despite Roserade's higher level, it was unable to resist the barrage of Wing Attacks it had to go through. The pokemon fainted.

"Oh man." Gardenia said, recalling her pokemon. "I can't believe I lost again. Oh well, here's your badge." She said handing the badge to Ian. As he and his pokemon walked out of the gym (minus Golbat who was back in his poke ball) Grotle turned around, only to Gardenia and her Turtwig, waving to them. This made Grotle turn around and run out of the gym ahead of Ian, not stopping once he reached his trainer. He burst forward, heading straight for a group of people straight ahead, with Ian running after him, calling his name.

Feeling the hand covering his mouth Michael goes wide eyed staring at Ran attempting to break free of her hold before her Drifloon wrapped him up and carried him away. Splashing angrily out of the water he screamed angrily in rage as he released his pokemon from their balls and began charging back toward Eterna destroying any wild pokemon that were unfortunate enough to get in his way.

Allana entered the Eterna Forest.  She'd spent her childhood visiting this place many times, so she knew the area.  She would always go between Floaroma and Eterna to deliver things for people.  Allana knew the place like the back of her hand.  She walked along the path before momentarily shutting her eyes.  As she opened them again, she thought she saw another couple of Pokéballs on her belt that were not there before.  She blinked again and the Pokéballs were gone.  She felt weird for a moment, as if she was someone else.  She shook her head before continuing on.

+++

Jupiter sent out her Zubat.  It was stronger than Mars' Zubat.  The levels were scaling to fit Aryeh's Pokémon.  Were the NPCs aware of this?  Did they know what levels were or did only Beta Testers see.  Many questions about this strange world had yet to be answered, but Aryeh couldn't exactly ask them.  They'd think he was crazy if he told everybody they were basically robots.  Back to the battle, Aryeh sent out his Staravia and commanded it to use Wing Attack.  Staravia struck the Zubat with Wing Attack.  Zubat then attacked Staravia back, using Leech Life.  Staravia's energy was slightly drained but it still had more than enough to fight back.  Another Wing Attack and Zubat was down for the count.

"Ok, so your Pokémon aren't bad" said Jupiter "But I'm still not convinced as to why Mars likes you."

"Well she was always my favourite Galactic Commander" Aryeh laughed.

Jupiter sighed and sent out her final Pokémon; a Skuntank.  The Poison Pokémon was going to hurt if it had the ability Aftermath which would inflict damage.  Aryeh would have to use non-contact move.  Aryeh quickly switched out for his Grotle and asked it to use Razor Leaf.  Grotle shot forth a burst of leaves which hit the Skuntank.  While that meant Aftermath didn't happen, this was not the best Type match up.  Aryeh didn't have much to handle the Skuntank.  He needed to win with sheer power alone rather than strategy.  Skuntank used Poison Gas which hurt Grotle, but thankfully did not Poison.  The next move would be risky but could pay off.  Grotle used Curse, boosting its Attack and Defence at the cost of its Speed.  Skuntank took the chance to use Screech and lower Grotle's Defence which undid the Curse's Defence boost.  However, the attack boost remained.  Skuntank went first this next round though due to the Speed loss and used Night Slash.  Grotle was on low health, but its Attack was good.  Grotle attacked with Tackle, causing some good damage on the opponent.  Aryeh then decided that Grotle wouldn't take another hit and switched out to Staravia who then took a Night Slash directly.  Staravia was still up though and swooped down to use Wing Attack.  Aftermath struck and Staravia took further damage.  It too was on low health.

"You are good at this, Jupiter" said Aryeh "However, I will win this battle.  Staravia, use Quick Attack!"

Staravia zoomed towards the Skuntank, smashing directly into it.  Skuntank was thrown backwards into the wall.  The attack was good.  Skuntank had fainted and Staravia had won it for Aryeh.

"Awww yeaaa!" Aryeh jumped in celebration.

"Alright kid, looks like you know what you are doing" said Jupiter "Here's your ID card and you obligatory free Pokémon.  It's a Bidoof."

"Uhh... thanks" replied Aryeh, taking the ID and the Pokéball with a Bidoof in it.

Aryeh left the building, with his new HM Slave Bidoof in tow.  He aimed his Pokédex with the installed HM Rock Smash in it at the Bidoof and pressed the button.  Bidoof could now smash rocks.  Galactic gave away Pokémon to their members like Zubats and stuff and though Aryeh got stuck with a Bidoof, it would come in handy.

"Oh, hey. I know you!" Dylan said when he saw Richie introduce himself, but then he sand back slightly. He had sent this guy to the wolves with the Galactic earlier, and he stood up from it. And he had also witnessed two gym battles so far. As far as Dylan could tell, this man was his closest rival, so he wasn't sure how to think.

"I think we should get going." Dylan said
"I think we should get going." Ran said

"Sorry. I didn't meet to cut you off. Anyway Shelby. At this point, I think you're quite aware of the full expanse of the situation. So it would be best we make progress. I don't wish to stay in Eterna for long." Ran knew she was on a time limit. The sooner she had the Bike slope and Mt. Correnet between herself and Micheal, the better. Because if she could make him seem like a psychopath, it would only mean good things for her.

"Yeah. Good point there. Besides, if I want to make the full of Hearthome, I need to get there with as much time as possible." Dylan said nervous about what could happen to him in this situation.

Aryeh went into the Pokémon Center to heal up his Pokémon.  He had fought Jupiter pretty hard and so needed a break.  He would challenge the Eterna Gym Leader later that day.  He wondered how the other Beta Testers were doing.  They could be all the way to Veilstone by now.  Or they could be in different parts of the game.  He was dropped in Floaroma so for all he knew, the rest could be near Snowpoint or something!  Aryeh handed his Pokéballs to the Nurse and sat down, going through his Pokédex.

A moment later, a man walked into the Pokémon Center.  He was covered in dirt and was holding a shovel.  He sat down next to Aryeh.

"Hey, you are the Underground guy right?" Aryeh asked.

"I sure am!" the man said happily "I provide special connections to the Underground for people.  There, they can use tools I give them to dig for things!  You are interested, eh?"

"I am" smiled Aryeh "I have a Pokémon I want to catch that comes from a Fossil."

"Oh, a fossil expert I see" the Underground guy grinned "Well I do love to help trainers, so take these!"

The man handed Aryeh a bag full of tools.  There was also some kind of warping thing that took you to the Underground.  I guess this made more sense in the game than digging literally, which nobody really had time for.  Aryeh thanked the guy and picked up his Pokémon.  Then he stood outside the Pokémon Center and used the device.  He fell down into the ground and was now standing in the rocky Sinnoh Underground.  He walked around for a moment before coming upon a wall which had some strange rocks jutting out.  Aryeh took out the pickaxe that was in the toolbag and hit the rock.  The rock fell out out of the wall and into Aryeh's hands.  It kind of looked like a skull.  Aryeh grinned to himself as he was glad he had exactly what he wanted.  He had to go back to Oreburgh to revive the Fossil but he'd do that later.  Aryeh used the device again and warped back to the Pokémon Center.

He went back inside the Center and took a closer look at the Fossil in his hands.  It would contain the Pokémon called Cranidos, which Aryeh had planned to have on his team.  Staraptor, Torterra, Rampardos and Gengar were his planned Pokémon.  Rotom was a happy accident that he found it.  Laying back in his chair for a bit longer, Aryeh thought about what his future plans for the game were.  Strategy was going to be important in his next decisions.  He needed to be both expedient in winning and still make time for exploring Sinnoh.

Something Aryeh had failed to notice was when he left the Underground, something had also gone through the warp.

Grumbling Michael returned his pokemon to their pokeballs as he finally exited the forest and entered Eterna City. He was going to make Ran pay for attacking him with her pokmeon. Well two can play at that game. Entering the Pokemon Center he left off his pokemon to be healed. He needed Mr. Fish to be healthy to get revenge. Michael wasn't sure what would happen if you died in this game but he assumed if he killed Ran she would simply be logged out without any chance to save seeing as they hadn't added the save function yet she would be forced to restart at the beginning again. Oh ya that would definitely keep her from getting too far ahead.

Hearing from the nurse that his pokemon were finished being healed he stood up quickly, almost flinging his chair backwards as he got up causing it to knock into Aryeh behind him while he walked up to get his pokemon.

Michael's chair knocked into Aryeh, pushing him almost onto the floor.  Thankfully, Aryeh was able to position himself quickly before falling.

"Woah!" Aryeh yelled as that happened.

He fixed himself up before turning to Michael.

"Uhh... what's the rush?" asked Aryeh.

+++

Donovan had defeated all of the double battle trainers at the Grand Lake hotel.  His Gyarados was sufficiently trained for now and his whole team at Lv32.  He had also managed to have the effective core of a Water Type, Fire Type and Grass Type.  This would prove most useful.  The next stop was Veilstone City for his next badge.  He'd work backwards from there, getting the badges at Eterna and Oreburgh before heading to Hearthome and going from there to the remaining badges.

From his pocket, he heard a buzzing sound.  A device he had stitched into his suit and was replicated along with his suit when he was digitised into the game.  It was a proximity alert.  One of his targets was near.  Somebody he knew he had to defeat.

"Right. How about I take care of my gym battle right away- can you get the bikes?" Without waiting for a reply, she glanced at the group before heading to the Gym. Winter was her main asset in this Gym, and she felt confident in his ability. They swept through the trainers leading up to Gardenia, and soon Shelby stood before her. She healed Winter.

"Really, another challenger? Well, I'm more than ready!" Gardenia, spunky as ever, was ready to meet as many challengers as there were to come. She sent out Turtwig. It took a lot of damage from a Wing Attack, and it used Sunny Day. The next Wing Attack was enough to put it down. Next came a Cherrim, which quickly bloomed. Winter used Wing Attack again, and Cherrim used Magical Leaf. Luckily, it didn't do much and the next Wing Attack brought out Gardenia's last Pokemon.

"You're pretty good, challenger! Strong silent type, though? You've been awfully quiet. How do your Pokemon know what to do?" Gardenia teased. Her Roserade was obviously powerful, but Shelby and Winter didn't sweat. "Wing Attack." It was a critical hit, but Roserade survived with a sliver of health. It used Poison Sting, which poisoned Winter. Winter struggled, feeling sick. "Please, Winter, tough through it. Quick Attack!" Roserade tried its hardest, but fell to its knees. Shelby used an Antidote on Winter, who instantly perked up.

Gardenia looked disappointed, but quickly cheered up, smiling. "Here, you've earned this badge. But don't think you're a champion yet! You've got a lot of training left." Her voice was encouraging. Shelby accepted the badge. "Thanks."

She exited the gym, looking for her companions.

Ran moved decisively. She knew any moment, Micheal would show. Not even waiting a moment, she obtained the bikes, which were a lot cheaper in this world than they had been known to be in the past of Pokemon. Keeping one folded on her amr, she rode the other back to the gym ASAP, meeting Shelby outside and tossing it to her.

"Hop on." Ran said, trying not to sound rushed.

"And this time, I won't fall off the bridge." Dylan said.

"My rival!" Richie spat, "You're my rival, now! Rival battles are as pure as the driven snow!"

Graveler grunted, puffing out his chest, "You feelin' me, my boy!" Richie glared at Dylan intensely, bearing an equally intense teeth-bared crooked smile, "I'm sorry, girls, this takes more dire priority!"

Ian ran through the streets chasing Grotle. "Grotle stop! We have to get a bike before we go anywhere!" Ian called out to the pokemon. The pokemon stopped short, causing Ian to run directly into him and trip, Aipom sailing ahead of Ian and landing on her head. He stood back up, dusting off his clothes. "Man Grotle. You can't run off like that." Ian stopped, turning around. "Aipom stop fooling around and let's go!" Aipom ran over and jumped on Ian's back. The three walked in the opposite direction for about ten minutes before reaching the Bicycle shop. "Here Grotle, you stay in your pokeball for now." Ian said, recalling his pokemon.

"Is there anyone here?" Ian called out when he entered the shop. He walked up to the counter. There was a bell there. Instinctively, Ian hit the bell hoping someone would hear and go to the counter.

"Congratulations!" Ian had to jump back as multiple people popped up from behind the counter.

"Holy crap." Ian said. Aipom looked just as startled, hiding behind Ian's head.

"You're our hundredth customer! In honor of this, here is a free bicycle!" The person in the middle said. He pointed to a lone bicycle in the corner.

"Oh. Well thanks. That's convenient." Ian waked over to the bike. It had parts on it that look like they could bend.

"That's one of our folding bikes. You can fold it and place it in your bag whenever you don't need to use it." One of the woman explained.

"Even more convenient." He watched as the woman showed him how to fold it and how to reopen it. "Thank you very much." Ian folded the bike himself and put it in his bag. He walked towards the exit.

"Thank you, and have a good day." THe three people said together as Ian walked out the door.

"That reminds me, I should get the HM cut while I'm here." Ian said to Aipom as he walked back towards the pokemon center. When he got in front of the Galactic Building, he saw the path already cleared and no Cynthia in sight. "Or not. Oh well. I guess we should head to the Cycling Road." Doing a 180 degree spin Ian sprinted down the road, anxious to try his new bike.

"Let them duke it out. Boys will be boys, and you don't want to fall behind waiting on them, right?" Ran pointed out. With that, Shelby and Ran went their way down the Cycling road.

Dylan stammered for a moment. "Eh. You know what, screw it. Why not. But I do know one thing, I'm not going easy on you. Let's go Loki!"

Dylan threw the Pokeball, and his Golbat emerged. Immediately, it started darting around like a bat outta hell."

"I guess..." Shelby was a bit reluctant, wanting to see the battle, but she understood. She took the bike out of her bag as they neared the road. After they got to the biking part, she turned to Ran.

"You know I'm here for the money, and I know you're here because of your husband, but... what's your goal? Like, what are you wanting to accomplish that'd make it worth coming here?" Shelby kept her eyes straight. "I'll help you if you help me. You seem to at least have an interest in keeping things going, which is fine by me."

"Hohoho! A Flying-type, eh? I can do something about that! Graveler!" Richie said with confidence, thrusting his arms upward, as if giving an ovation to his Pokemon, Graveler grunted, walking into position, "Bring it on, rival!"

"So you've got a Rock-type, big whoop, wanna fight about it? Wait-" Dylan shook his head, "Loki, knock his lights out, Confuse Ray!" A bright sparkling orb of light hovered around Graveler, sending him into a frantic confusion.

"Shit! Graveler, shake it off and knock that bat outta the air!" Richie cried, but Graveler could not hear Richie, instead he ended up crashing into the ground, hurting itself in confusion, "Damn, my front liner..."

Dylan cracked a smile, "Loki return! Wash that rock, Leo! Use Water Pulse!" The Shellos launched a blue ripple through the air, smashing into Graveler for an ultra-effective hit, felling the confused Pokemon.

"Grr... Let's show 'im a good time, Buneary, hit 'im hard with Jump Kick!" Richie hurled a Pokeball containing his Buneary, who spun wildly in the air, then drilled his heel into the slug Pokemon, but its nearly gelatinous body absorbed the impact, "What the-?"

"How do you like a good old tank?" Dylan smirked, "Use Body Slam, Leo." Shellos flung itself into the air, higher than Richie would have expected a slug to. It came down, pressing itself onto Buneary, dealing good damage as well as paralyzing him.

"Today is not my day..." Richie groaned, hiding his eyes behind his hand, "Poor Buneary..."

"And that's not all, for the low low price of your losing, you get a Mud Bomb!" Dylan shouted pointing at Richie. Leoh spewed the ball of mud hurdling towards Buneary, splashing on the rabbit, damaging it more.

"Damn, another Jump Kick! And make it critical!" Richie called out to his Buneary, who must have known that he would tell him to use that move, as the Pokemon was already twirling in the air, hammering his heel into Leo again, although it still hung on, but not by much.

"C'mon, Buneary, finish it with Quick Attack!"

"I won't let you! Leo come back!" Dylan called as he brought his Pokemon back to him, sending out another, "Donnel, come on out!" Dylan's Monferno entered the fray, but was lashed on by Buneary's Quick Attack.

Urgh... I'm not taking this seriously... He's avoiding letting his Pokemon fall by switching them and I'm not using such a basic technique... I've gotta break out of this Story Mode mindset and rock 'im! Richie thought, "Buneary, switch out! Go, Prinplup, mince that monkey!"

"Hmph, a Prinplup... Donnel! Two Mach Punches!" Dylan ordered. Donnel pressed his fists together then rocketed towards Prinplup, crashing into the penguin, who took the hits like a champ.

"Prinplup! Make a splash! Water Pulse!" Richie thrust his arms forward as well as crossing his legs. Prinplup, flipped backwards, then fired a ripple of water, felling the Monferno.

"Not too bad, your Prinplup is pretty strong, I hand you that." Dylan said, waving his hand a bit, then sending out his Gabite, Roxie.

"You aren't too bad yerself," Richie said back, "But I can still come back from this!"

"You're welcome to try! Roxie use Dragon Rage!" Roxie did as Dylan ordered, surging the violet flames out of her mouth to engulf Prinplup, dealing massive damage.

"We're not done! Use Water Pulse!" Richie yelled. Prinplup flipped again, sending another ripple, but into the Gabite, "It's still up, huh?"

Prinplup finally falls to another Dragon Rage.

Richie flung another Pokeball, "Go Buneary! Quick Attack!" Despite the command, Buneary failed to respond, reacting to his paralysis, "No not now!"

"Roxie... Take down." Dylan said with a crooked smile, "Your fate is sealed, rival."

"Don't be so quick to end this climax! Go Machop!" Richie tossed Machop's Pokeball, the Pokemon swung her arm up, pointing intensely at the sun, "Chopuuu!!" The Machop shouted.

"Hm, Roxie, blaze that Machop! Dragon Rage!" Dylan ordered. Roxie fired another corona that blazed around Machop, dealing a huge amount of damage. Machop rolled, after being blasted, toward Gabite, then grabbed the dragon around the waist then supplexed her into the ground, KOing Roxie immediately. "That was a Seismic Toss." Richie said cooly, "Although, that Golbat'll get her.."

"Precisely." Dylan said nonchalantly, ending the battle with a Wing Attack.

"Well, that was an epic battle. I got lucky there in a few spots, but all in all, probably the best battle I've had so far. Take it easy. Maybe we'll battle again." Dylan waved to Richie as he turned his back and started to walk away.

"Hey wait, where'd those two go off to... well damn. Oh well, I'll find them."

___________

"Well, let's put it this way. Many people thought the marriage of a Theater actress and a Game Freak Programmer was an odd combination, but it worked for us. So the reason I'm here is to help my husband achieve his greatest goal, even in spite of our separation. So if helping you helps me with that goal, so be it." Ran led the two of them down the path and then eastward toward the base of Mt Corenet. They should have been the first to reach the base given the situation with the competitors they've met so far.

Ian finally reached the Cycling Road. He had unfolded the bike and set up very fast. But he had one problem. He had never learned to ride a bicycle. Ian just stared at the bicycle like it was a monster with two heads. "Well.....I suppose there's a first time for everything?" Ian asked Aipom. She didn't look too happy with that comment. She jumped onto Ian's back while he sat on the bike seat. "So I guess you just pedal.....right?" Ian looked at Aipom, but she was just as clueless. "Here goes nothing I suppose." Ian started bicycling, like he had done on the exercise bikes at school back at home. As it turned out, Ian was not good on bicycles. Immediately he started wobbling all over the cycle road. "Oh man, I knew I should of just stuck to scooters." Ian moaned as he road down the Cycle Road.

Richie jumped, unfolding his bicycle quickly then blasting off past Dylan, "You may've beaten me in a battle, but you won't beat me in progress!" Richie called out to Dylan, "Catch te ikezo!"

He made his way down Cycling Road, noticing another boy riding his bike, though, wobbling just a tad, "Hm?"

Galactic Commander Mars was training south of Veilstone City.  She was expecting Aryeh to show up in Veilstone within the next couple of days for an assignment.  She had heard that he had defeated Jupiter in battle too.  Why did he want to be in Team Galactic?  Mars was told by Galactic's leader that they were going to change the world, but she didn't really know what that meant.  Really, she didn't know what much of anything went.  She had lost her memory about a year and a half before and was living a brand new life as if part of her was missing.  For a moment, she felt like somebody else with different Pokémon.  She went to go back to training when suddenly a man approached her - Donovan.

"Hello Mars" said Donovan "Would you care to battle?"

"Who are you?" asked Mars "How do you know about me?"

"My name is Donovan and whilst I'm usually a businessman; today I am your opponent.  My object is to defeat you and subsequently eliminate you from this planet."

"What the hell?!  Why?!" Mars yelled "You know who I am, don't you?!"

"Heheh... and it seems you don't."

"I lost my memory, I've been Mars ever since."

"Your last name is Marci.  Part of it must have been inside your head still.  Anyway, you are far too dangerous to my plans and so it is time to remove you now."

"I won't let you hurt me or the plans of Team Galactic!" Mars yelled, sending out her newly evolved Golbat.

"You are in over your head.  You are incomplete and I will not let you continue.  Come forth, my Gyarados!"

Donovan pressed the Pokéball's button and called out his mighty serpent.  Gyarados reared its head in perpetual rage.  Mars commanded her Golbat to attack, it using Wing Attack.  Gyarados used Thrash, hitting Golbat hard.  Golbat responded by using Confuse Ray.  Gyarados shook about, not in control of its actions.  It hit itself in its confusion, giving Golbat some free Wing Attack hits.  Mars got lucky, but Gyarados was out.  Donovan glared at Mars, annoyed at his Pokémon's defeat and sent out Monferno.  Mars had the advantage here and used Wing Attack.  Monferno attacked with Flame Wheel, lowering Golbat's health in a flurry of fire.  Golbat was weak but with its last attack, it used Wing Attack once more and defeated Monferno.  Donovan sent out his final Pokémon - Tropius.  Tropius used Magical Leaf and dispatched the Golbat quickly due to the low health.  Mars sent out her last Pokémon, which was her Purugly.  Purugly used Faint Attack, quickly knocking back the Tropius.  It tanked the next Magical Leaf well and continued to use Faint Attack, whittling down the Tropius while handling the Grass Attacks from it.  It went back and forth until finally Tropius keeled over.  Mars had defeated Donovan.

As a player in the game, he began to be affected by it and started to white out.

"You won't be rid of me-" Donovan started as he vanished in a flash of white light.

"What the heck was that?" said Mars, confused as to what occurred.

Mars sat down on the ground for a few moments.  First Aryeh knows enough about Galactic to want to join and now this Donovan guy comes after her.  They both had a Grotle and Monferno too, which were Starter Pokémon!  Suddenly, the whole Team Galactic deal seemed less important to her than it was before.  If her life was in danger from this Donovan guy, then she would need to formulate more defenses.  Perhaps that is how Aryeh could be useful to her.

Snarling Michael turns to look over Aryeh as he grabs up his pokeballs, releasing Chim Chim beside him. "Sorry about that I am in a bit of a rush to go see what happens if I have a Gyarados eat someone's head." He growls at Aryeh heading for the door and not paying him much attention.

"Oooiiii! Are you okay, you look like you're in a bit of trouble!" Richie called out to the boy on the bike before finally meeting him side to side, Richie hopped off of his then began to fold it, "I think it would be more dangerous to be on a bike and fall than on yer feet here."

Richie looked the boy over, "You... Aren't an NPC, are you? Hm? Did I already meet all of the contestants so far?"

Ian stopped as someone behind called to him. He turned around and watched as the guy stopped his own bike right next to his immediately folding it. "You could say I'm in a bit of trouble. I'm not exactly sure how to ride a bike you see." Ian paused at the teenager asked him another question. Ian sighed. "Yeah you guessed it. I'm another beta tester. What gave it away? Was it my horrible bike riding or the monkey on my back?" Ian asked, pointing to Aipom.

"You could say both, I guess." Richie looked ahead, "I sped ahead of my rival, y'know, to keep the competition goin', but there are two other girls who went ahead of us while we had our electrified battle of manliness, so they might already be in Mt. Coronet by now."

Richie smirked, then nudged the boy with his elbow, "An' neither of 'em are lacking in the pretty department, ya?"

"Two girls huh?" Ian said. The only girls he had seen so far was Ran and Shelby, so he assumed that's who the mystery guy was. Ian hadn't really paid attention to their appearances. He was more focused on the conversation. When Ian saw them next, he'd have to really look at them. "Wait, you have a rival? People are already battling each other? That could be bad." Ian said, looking at his Aipom. By now, most of the players would probably have a full team, and if they challenged him to a battle, Ian wasn't sure he could win. "Anyway, I should introduce myself. My name's Ian." Ian put his hand forward for a handshake.

Shelby was growing frustrated with Ran's vagueness. Not enough to snap at her, but enough to raise doubt regarding her motives again. "What's your husband's goal, then?" She sounded exasperated. "You're really good at talking a lot, but not saying much, Ran. I mean, that's one of the fishiest things you've said yet." She was obviously conflicted. "I don't want to be toyed with. Either play straight, no more vague half-answers, or I'm sorry, but I don't feel safe traveling with you." Shelby wasn't too inclined to have a traveling partner regardless, and while she appreciated Ran's help with the Drifloon, that wasn't enough to trust her unconditionally. This woman had done a number of creepy and unnerving things, and she seemed to be trying to better herself, but she didn't have time to deal with any level of uncertainty in a partner. There was a level of tension from Shelby that promised that she was serious when she threatened to leave Ran behind.

The two girls walked into the cave. Water dripped from the stalactites on the ceiling, and Shelby shivered. She let Winter and Meow out. Both had been ready to evolve for awhile, but Shelby had Winter wait, and she hadn't had the chance to evolve Meow just yet. Now was a fine time. She got in a few quick tussles and soon enough had two more evolved Pokemon on her team. She was silent, waiting for Ran's reply, but continued to walk alongside the woman. But then they ran into someone. Cyrus. The air caught in Shelby's throat. He had a commanding and threatening presence about him that made her unable to speak. He stopped in front of them.

"According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh region began. In a newly created world... A world where only time flowed and space expanded.. There should have been no strife. But what became of that world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has appeared... This world is being ruined by it...I find the state of things to be deplorable..."

He stepped around them, quickly leaving the area. Shelby let a breath out. She'd had no Pokemon at her side at the moment, having recalled them after evolving them. She hadn't realized how vulnerable she felt.

"Woah, wait a moment" Aryeh ran over to Michael "You got a Starter Pokémon... are you...well..."

Aryeh whispered the next part "a player?"

+++

Donovan awoke in the Pastoria Pokémon Center.  Though he had lost to Mars, he'd be able to recoup his losses and quickly head over to Veilstone.  Looks like he would have to get stronger still to handle certain trainers.  He thought he was ready but his ego got the best of him.  He wouldn't be doing that again.  Next time, he'd be ready.

Ran stopped for a moment before speaking. "When this game is completed, my husband's name will be in the credits under the programmers list. It's really as simple as I'm here to help with the testing to make sure this comes through. I guess the fact that even though it's not real, it was his passion for the Pokemon world that attracted me to him. He was always working on minor things, but this project was the first time when he'd actually be involved in a major way, and he was so exited. But when we were in our accident, that was it. It was all over. So now I'm here to see it through. So that his efforts in this wasn't wasted. But I'm no programmer, that's for certain. So this is the best I can do."

Ran took lead through the short cave.

It's amazing how sudden death can be. How it can drastically change a person's life. What they see as important, and what they do with their lives. Even going as far as to abuse the system...

Shelby sighed. "I don't know, Ran. I believe you, I do, but I can't ignore my gut feeling, either." She glanced down, not wanting to look her in the eyes right now. "I think we should part ways for awhile. I need some time without you, to think." She speed walked ahead and out of the cave, and onto the adjacent route. She sighed. "I need to keep up a good pace."

She ran over the rugged terrain- over bridges, and down a cliff. Trainers weren't holding her back. She dashed into the grass. She was feeling so many things- confused, loneliness, and a touch of fear. She ran right into a small creature. It was a Ralts that had gone up to her. It clung to her leg, tears in its eyes as it bawled. It was feeling bad because she was. Shelby stopped. "I'm sorry. Do you want to come with me? I'm not normally this way..." The Ralts nodded enthusiastically, smiling for her. Shelby captured the Ralts and named it Tofu. She was keeping all her Pokemon tucked away for the moment. She stopped to pick a few berries, and to talk to the family of berry farmers. She was in and out so fast, she felt rude, but time was important right now. She dashed into town.

Shelby never looked up. Once she got to the Pokemon Center, she healed her Pokemon and placed Meow in the PC box with Simba. She hurriedly purchased a box lunch as she'd gotten hungry. When she left, she thought she saw Ran, and ran into the building next door. The woman in the house next door smiled, as though she had been expecting Shelby.

"Why hello, there. It's so nice of you to visit me. I'm always so busy, that I have to stay in most of the time. Would you be willing to take my Eevee with you on your adventure? Since I have to stay in so often, I don't get to let it outside much, and I feel terrible about it."

"This is so sudden, I just..." Shelby was uncertain. She knew that this was an NPC, but she'd always felt strange about taking a Pokemon from someone.

"Please." The woman walked over, pressed the Pokeball into Shelby's hand and closed her hand over it. "Give Eevee a good life."

"Y-yes m'am..." Shelby gave her a conflicted smile and left the building. "I guess I can name you Swiss. Man, my team is shaking and rocking lately. I need to rest and eat." She sent Grotle out. "Let's go to the park."

Take all the time you need Shelby. I know what I need to now. And we will be crossing paths again. Believe you me.

Ran made way to Hearthome and took care of some buisness in the town. Specifically making arrangements where once people entered the city, they wouldn't be let out for a while. Beauty and money can get a woman a lot nowadays.

_________________

Dylan speed down the slope, this time with far more control. He banked the turn off the bridge and toward Correnet. He nearly ran over a man with Spikey Blue hair as he entered the small cave. He exited the small cave. He fell off the cliff he didn't see coming and was carried off by the current of the river below. He washed up near Hearthome. He dried himself off and continued into the city...
'
"You know, it's occurring to me that my luck sucks. That or Gardenia's spare bike is cursed. I need a companion. I made a much better bodyguard than I did a solo adventurer. I mean, that's the second time I fell a huge height while riding that thing..."

Dylan made way to the only place in Hearthome he knew everyone would go...

"Everybody loves Poffins! I'm sure everybody will be here at some point."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to go to the contest hall or the Gym?" Some random guy said.

"Good point..."

"What are you saying he isn't cute enough?" A man in a dark gren sleeveless shirt questioned, very obviously annoyed by the attendant who was denying him access to Hearthome's signature park.

"Sir, I am truly sorry, but your Drapion does not qualify to enter the park outside of its Pokeball!" The attendant argued back, trying so hard to keep her cool.

"Bah! Fine! Let's go, Grotle." The man sighed as he paid the entrance fee and strolled into Amity Square, "Pssh, my Drapion isn't cute, I know what's cute and why isn't." He grumbled.

+++

Richie shook Ian's hand, "Heh, y'know, I thought there'd be more bastards in this game who only played for the money, but I guess I was wrong." He said with a smile.

Shelby looked at Cheeto. "You know, you're kinda cute, but... Maybe I'll have Swiss come with me for this one, okay?" She had made a last minute choice to switch to Swiss. Ran hadn't seen that Shelby had obtained an Eevee yet, so it was perfect. Granted, Eevee wasn't normally allowed, but it was cute, right?

Then, she thought she saw Ran. Shelby made a mad dash into the park. "Miss? Miss wait, you need to-" Shelby ran right in, and right into the man who had entered right before her. A Grotle stood next to him. Tears welled up in her eyes. This guy is going to beat my skull in. Oh god, this is the worst few days ever...

"J-jag är så ledsen, jag menade inte att.... Eeep!" ((I-i'm so sorry, I didn't mean to...)) Shelby almost dropped her lunch, and was actively crying at this point. She was so distraught that she had slipped into speaking Swedish. "...I wanna go home..." Swiss looked very concerned. "Vee? Eev?"

((translation))

Ian shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, winning that much money would be awesome. But I don't see any reason to rush through the game, beating down anyone who gets in my way. I mean, just think for a second. We have first access to what will probably be one the biggest things to happen to the video game industry since the invention of the first gaming console. Why would you just want to rush through that?" As Ian talked to the guy, Aipom decided she wanted to get a better look at this person. She jumped off Ian's back landed right on top of Ian's head. The pokemon leaned forward, looking directly at the guy's face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I was walking so slow that I got in your way!" The blue-haired man cried, picking the panicking girl up from the ground as well as trying to stabilize her shaking arm, "You look scared, did you see some kind of scary person ahead? I wouldn't be surprised, there are a lot of blue-haired weirdos walking about recently."

+++

"Curious Pokemon ya got there, where'd you manage to find 'er?" Richie asked as Ian's Aipom stared at him, "Oh! Sorry for blanking, but I understand what yer saying, why would anyone rush through when the original game won't come out until we're all finished."

Richie rose his arms, crossing them behind his head, "Hey, you wanna be a team? We could help each other through this game if either of us get stuck!"

"No, nononono! It's not your fault, I wasn't looking where I was going!" Shelby was embarrassed now that she knew he wasn't going to sock her lights out. He seemed... nice, even. "Well, it's kinda a long story... See, there's this woman who's been following me ever since I got here. I didn't really want to be around her to begin with, but whenever I'd run off, she'd somehow find me, and... it's just really creepy. I came here for the money, but honestly, at this point, I don't care about that anymore. I just want to go home." She blurted her situation out and embarrassed herself again.

"..I'm sorry. I'm just a bit worked up right now. My name's Shelby. Um... would you like to have lunch with me? I bought extra." She figured that it might settle her nerves some to be around someone who seemed so nice. At the very least, he seemed comforting to her at the moment.

"Aipom." Aipom, not entertained by the stranger, climed back down to Ian's shoulder.

"I caught Aipom back in Floaroma. She put up a heck of a fight." Ian said, scratching Aipom's head. At the stranger's next suggestion, Ian looked somewhat startled. "A team?" Ian was curious. This guy had just met him and he wanted to team up? That's when Ian thought about what Kloud and Ran said back in the Floaroma Meadows. He would have to make sure this guy didn't have any tricks planned.

"A team sounds like a good plan. I could always use someone to watch my back. But I have to admit, it's kinda hard to team up with someone when you don't know their name."

"Strange woman?" The man scratched his head at the thought of something as weird as a stalker, he looked back at Shelby with a warm smile, "I'd love to have lunch with you, Shelby, I can't even remember the last time I had something to eat, heh!"

The man held out his hand, "My name is Ricky. Nice to meet chu, Shelby!"

Shelby smiled back, feeling slightly more at ease as she shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too." She walked over to a small bench and opened up the lunch after she sat down- it was a few oversized rice balls with sweet meat kabobs. She picked up a rice ball and took a bite.

"So, Ricky. What's got you here in Heartome City? What do you do?" She was turned to face her lunch partner. Swiss sat near her feet, happily playing with some tall grass.

"Oh my bad, the name's Richie, and it'd be awesome if you'd join me!" Richie struck a pose, pointing at Ian.

+++

"Hm... What brings me here?" Ricky stopped for a moment, raising his hand too his chin, "I um- I don't... I don't know, actually!" He smiled again, a kind of worried smile, "I don't remember anything past arriving in Hearthome, I mean I vaguely remember walking around Mt. Coronet, then feeling pretty hostile when some kid with long hair rode by."

"That's okay. Sometimes, you just have to make things up as you go." Shelby tried to reassure Ricky and put the remainder of the food in his lap, wanting him to eat. "Don't worry about it. A lot of strange stuff has been happening lately, hasn't it? I'm not even sure how to get home..." She seemed a bit sad for a moment, but instead of frowning, smiled. "No time for moping, though. Hey, since we're both pretty lost right now, maybe we should stick together. I mean, you seem like a really nice guy, and..." Shelby blushed and fidgeted with a string on her hoodie. She was awful when it came to asking to be friends, or in this case, traveling together.

"Okay, this waiting around it boring. I'm just going to head to the park or something. Have a Picnic. Let's see. Do I have anything that can get past the gate. Worse case, there's Donnel, but- wait. Where'd this ball come from?" Dylan tossed the Mystery Pokeball and a Bronzor popped out.

"Wh-when did I capture you? ... I'm so good at this I do it without thinking. I'm like a kleptomaniac with capturing. THIS IS AWESOME! I'mmona call you Belfry."

Ian and Aipom watched as their new companion struck a pose. Aipom, entertained by the pose jumped off Ian's back and mimicked what Richie had just done. Ian had to keep himself from laughing at the two. "Alright Captain Ginyu, sweet pose. But we should get going to Hearthome City. That's where the next gym, and I'm guessing that's where those two girls you mentioned went. Just because the money isn't first priority doesn't mean we should count ourselves out and let the others get ahead." Ian said. As he was talking, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Over in the other lane was a girl on a bike, just sitting there staring at him. When he turned to look at her, he noticed that she look startled, and started to pedal away. What was that about? Ian thought to himself.

***

Oh man I think that guy saw me! Allison thought to herself as she sped down the Cycling Road. Those two were definitely other players. They were talking about the money. She sighed. Ally hadn't seen another player the entire time she had been in the beta so she thought she was ahead of the group. But having overheard their conversation, she now knew there were at least two other players in Hearthome. She wanted to win that prize money, and if she had to take out other players to do so, than she'd have to do it. "I'll get them as they enter Mt. Coronet. They won't know what hit them." She started laughing as she approached the end of the Cycle Road, anxious to set up her ambush.

Ricky looked down at the food then at Shelby, he scratched his head again, "Are you confessing your love to me?" Ricky asked with a completely straight face, he started to feel his pockets, "I don't have a ring on me, sorry."

Suddenly he burst into a fit of laughter, "Wahahah! I'm kidding I'm kidding! You want me to hang out with you, right? I can do that, if you can give me some sort of purpose I'm fine."

Shelby turned red as a beet and couldn't bring herself to say anything. "I-no-I mean- agh!" She wanted to slap Ricky but was too surprised. She shook her head, trying to get her bearings back. She sighed in relief when he said the second part.

"I'll get us both a purpose. I promise, Ricky." Shelby took another bite of her food. "We'll find something to do. I think I just want to travel now, you know?" Shelby was deep in thought. She'd come to this world solely for money, and now, it hardly mattered to her. She didn't really have much of a purpose in the real world, and she lost her purpose in this world. She felt very lost, but hopeful. "What do you want to do next?"

"What to do...?" Ricky brought his hand to his chin again, looking back at his Grotle then smiled, "Do you happen to have a Grotle by any chance? I have an idea."

+++

"Eh? You see something?" Richie asked when he saw Ian look away

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Cheeto's my Grotle." She swapped out Swiss for Cheeto. He stretched, then saw the other Grotle and smiled. "Tle." "Why do you ask?"

Ian was looking in the direction the girl had gone off in when Ritchie asked him something. "Huh? No it's nothing. I could've sworn some girl was staring at us before. I guess not though." Ian walked over to his bike. "Should we get going than?"

"I propose a Grotle off! A race you could say. Around Amity Square," Ricky shoved a rice ball into his mouth, chewed for a second then swallowed, "unless you're... Scared."

Ricky stood up, holding his hand out to Shelby, "Bring it on, partner!"

+++

"A girl?" Richie asked, raising an eyebrow, "There're more beta testers than I thought, huh?"

Shelby laughed so hard, she was crying again. "Oh lord... That's rich... Cheeto is so slow, he can hardly keep up with Pokemon half as strong as him. But that's okay, I'm fine with either of us winning. Grotle are naturally slow, so who knows? Give 'im hell, Cheeto!" She shook his hand, and nodded. Cheeto stood next to Ricky's Grotle. "Give the signal whenever you're ready."

Ian looked back Richie. "They're probably a bunch of others. Besides you, I've met two girls and another guy. I don't think everyone spawned in the same place so they're probably players already over at Veilstone City or somewhere else."

***

Ally was scouting the area outside the entrance to Mt. Coronet, looking for a place to hide. "Oh perfect." She said, spotting a large boulder. She ran behind the boulder, making sure her head couldn't be seen over the rock and took out the pokeball containing her Bronzor. "Now I play the waiting game."

Turning back to look at Aryeh, Michael glared at him angrily in no mood to talk to others. "Yes I am a damn beta tester, what are you? A nitwit?" He growled angrily at Aryeh before turning to exit the door. "Go along and play I don't have time for you."

"Wait, what's wrong with beta testers.  Did you have a bad experience with another one?  Seriously, dude tell me what's wrong.  We are both real people, we can work through the problems!"

Aryeh followed Michael out of the door.

Standing outside in full view was a glowing figure.  The being glowed a bright yellow light and was drawing power from everything around it.  Parts of the world began to dissipate.

"What is that?!" Aryeh gasped "That's not part of the game!  It's destroying things!"

The glowing figure turned to Aryeh and Michael.  It had no face or features.

"Non game entities detected.  Absorb for maximum output" the being began to float towards them.

"I think absorb is bad!" Aryeh yelled, instinctively throwing a Pokéball and sending out his Grotle "Razor Leaf!  Quick!"

"Enemy projectiles detected.  Prepare defensive mode" the being glowed brighter "Nothing can stop the Multitude."

"Multitude?"

The being shot a blast of energy at Michael.  Aryeh acted quick and jumped in the way, getting hit hard.  He suddenly felt a lot weaker.

"Get out of here, dude.  Win the game or whatever.  I'll hold it off!"

Ricky hopped atop his Grotle, "You didn't think we'd just be watching the race, did you? No, that'd be boring!" He gave Grotle the signal and he was off, slowly, but he was, "Don't fall too far behind now!"

+++

"Then I guess we met th' same people," Richie turned to Mt. Coronet and started walking, "You ever enter a Pokemon Contest? I wanted to try 'em out since I got here!"

Donovan finally arrived in Veilstone City.  He looked at the Galactic Base in the distance.  Mars was probably guarded by a bunch of Grunts in there so he wouldn't try to get after her.  What he needed to do was get stronger.  He strode towards the Gym and entered.  The place was filled with various boxing rings, filled with Fighting Type Trainers.  Everybody in this whole virtual world looked and felt so real.  Donovan needed that technology.  He didn't even know where it came from, but it would make him infamous if he controlled it.  He sent out his Tropius and commanded it to use Gust on the various Fighting Pokémon in the area.  Despite his loss to Mars, he was back in action and more brutal than ever.

"What are you doing?!" yelled the Gym Leader; a girl named Maylene "You can't just come in here and knock down everybody unfairly!"

"What is fair exactly?" laughed Donovan "I'm here to challenge you to a battle."

"I won't battle somebody without honour!" Maylene yelled.

"Don't battle me, fine.  That doesn't mean I won't battle you.  I'll take that badge from you if I have to."

Maylene clenched her first "Some poser in a suit can't beat a whole Gym full of trained fighters."

"I don't need to.  I have a Gyarados to do that for me.  This Gym and all its fighters won't be standing when I'm through unless you decide to have a Gym Battle with me" Donovan explained nonchalantly.

Clenching his fist harder, Maylene finally relented "You abuse the right to have Pokémon.  I don't want to battle you, but I will if I have to.  Threatening with a Gyarados is a low blow..."

"I frankly don't care about what others think.  I want my creatures to be as strong as possible and win this game so I can get the code I want."

"You make no sense" said Maylene "I'll defeat your Pokémon and then we'll beat you down too."

"Hah.  That's the spirit I'm looking for" Donovan laughed.

Maylene threw her Pokéball and sent out her first Pokémon; a Meditite.  She commanded it to use Confusion on Donovan's Tropius.  Tropius attacked with Gust, defeating the Meditite quickly.

"I have the advantage and so your weak Pokémon are just a very nice burst of EXP points for my levels" Donovan laughed "I'll give you a fighting chance though, come on out Monferno, he needs levels too."

Donovan switched out his Tropius for his Monferno.  Maylene sent out her second Pokémon, which was Machoke.  Monferno ran towards Machoke, smashing it with a Mach Punch.  Machoke yelled out before initiating its counterattack on Monferno.  The monkey Pokémon skillfully danced around Machoke's attacks before making a final blow.  Maylene clenched her teeth before sending out her last Pokémon.  The aura Pokémon itself - Lucario.  Lucario struck down Monferno with a Critical Hit of Force Palm.  Donovan laughed this off and sent out his Gyarados.  The mighty Water Pokémon thrashed about angrily, wacking Lucario over and over.  Lucario Fainted.  Donovan signalled Gyarados to keep going.  Lucario was struck again and again.

"What are you doing!" Maylene cried "You defeated Lucario already!  Stop hitting it, you'll hurt it for real!"

"Nothing is real!" Donovan exclaimed "Not yet anyway!  Not until it belongs to me!"

Maylene rushed to her Lucario and returned it to the Pokéball.  Donovan chuckled and recalled his Pokémon too.  He grabbed a badge that was on display and walked out of the Gym.  Maylene cried as one of the Gym Trainers brought over a healing device to heal her Pokémon up.  Lucario would be fine, but even so, Donovan was a monster.

Putting his badge in the Badge Case he had when he manifested in the game, he walked over to the Pokémon Center to heal up his Monferno.  It may have fainted but it did well even so and was close to evolving.  Donovan would have the power he desired.  Moments later, as he walked out of the Pokémon Center after healing, somebody blocked his path.

"I saw what you did there" said a man; a man with blue hair "I don't like it at all.  People like you are why I'm going to change things."

"You don't have to worry about me, Cyrus.  I'm not from this world and soon I'll be out of this cesspool" replied Donovan.

"Oh, well then in that case, you'd be unaffected if it was destroyed.  Would you like to destroy this world?" asked Cyrus.

"If you are asking me to help, I guess I could.  Once I've gone back to my own...'dimension', you can do whatever the hell you like."

Cyrus smiled, well as close to a smile as anybody without emotions could get to "Then I'd like you to find something for me."

"What exactly?" asked Donovan.

"From what I've heard, it calls itself the Multitude.  It's some kind of blight upon the Universe.  It wants to destroy everything too.  I'd like to weaponise it."

"That's quite a big aspiration there" said Donovan "Though, I didn't realise 79's handiwork was here.  I think we can afford to take that too."

Donovan and Cyrus shook hands.  They didn't like eachother but would find eachother useful.  If Donovan reverse engineered that too, he'd have even more power.

Ian was kinda taken back by the question. "A contest? I mean, i've tried them in the game. But I don't think my team is exactly right for conests." He admitted. "Now that I think about it, I don't think the judges would be too enamored with my Grotle or my Golbat. Aipom might be able to though." Aipom perked up hearing her name, wondering what they were talking about. "But Aipom's nowhere near as strong as the other two. Maybe if I get some training done-"

"Stop right there!" A voice cried out. Confused, both Ian and Richie looked around, not spotting anyone. Allison ran from behind the boulder. "You're both mi-" She was cut off as she tripped over a rock and fell onto the ground, the pokeball in her hands rolling away into some nearby shrubbery.

"What the heck"? Ian asked, looking at Richie.

Richie narrowed his eyes a bit, "That was weird... Musta been a trainer who 'met eyes' with us, you can get this one, I'm gonna hurry ahead to th' Pokemon Center, 'kay?" He looked about, even though he told Ian it was a trainer, he could not help but feel anxious for some reason. He let Graveler out of his Pokeball for protection.

"Yeah I'll see you there." Ian said. He looked at the girl, still lying on the ground. She looks familiar. Ian thought to himself as he approached the girl. "Uh, are you okay?" Ian asked, offering his hand to help her up. Allison got to her knees. "

Yeah I'm fi-" She cut herself off as she noticed Ian was the one who asked. She smacked his hand away and backed up. "I'm fine! Get away from me!" Allison stood up and turned around, running straight into Mt. Coronet.

"Was it something I said?" Ian asked Aipom, who shrugged. "She looked really familiar." As Ian walked towards the cave, he noticed something sparkling in a nearby shrub. "What is that?" Ian walked towards the shrub and picked up the item. "It's a poke ball. That girl must have dropped it and not realized it." He checked his pokedex to see what was in it. A Bronzor. He was going to consider adding it to his team, but than he thought about the girl again. She didn't act like any AI Ian had ever seen. "Which means she must be a player." Ian said, finally realizing where he saw her. "She was the girl who I thought was watching me and Richie. She's heading for Hearthome City. I'll have to find her there and give it back to her."

***

"How did I screw that up?" Ally thought to herself as she ran through the cave. "I had the perfect ambush set, and in the blink of an eye it all came crashing down. And if that wasn't bad enough, he offered to help me up. Who helps up the person who just tried to ambush you? Well I'll show him. I'll set up another ambush, and this time he won't know what hit him." She said to herself as she emerged on the other side of the mountain.

Shelby leapt onto Cheeto. While he was slow, he was very strong, and wasn't at all affected by the human riding his back as he attempted to catch up to Ricky and Grotle. "You're on! This is ridiculous!" She laughed as Cheeto's motions rocked her back and forth gently. He was keeping a decent pace up. For a Grotle.

It then occurred to Shelby that she had no clue if Ricky was an AI or if he were another player. He did have a starter Pokemon, and up until now, that usually indicated a player, but surely, some AIs must have starters as well. She felt conflicted a moment. What if I'm becoming friends with a computer program...? She'd long stopped laughing and was instead frowning slightly, deep in thought. Cheeto had nearly caught up with Grotle and Ricky.

Ricky looked back at Shelby, his smile quickly vanished, he whispered to Grotle, telling him to slow down to be next to Cheeto, "You okay? I didn't think losing a race would hurt you so badly..." Ricky seemed genuinely apologetic for the situation.

Did she learn something grave? Or did that strange woman find her again? Ricky seemed in a deep, but slightly panicked thought, he looked about, stepping off of Grotle, glaring at the entrance of Amity Square.

Ran's trap for the players was set. They'd be allowed in, but anyone trying to leave the city would be barred access until dusk. Hearthome is the center city of Sinnoh. Everyone passes through at some point or another, so it was the perfect place for her to scout everyone out. She had only met one woman player so far, but knew what she needed to about Shelby. Now was scouting time. She decided to distract herself in the Hearthome chapel. Thinking back on her own wedding day.
__________________

Dylan entered the park. Monferno would have to do with his entrance since nothing else he had made the cut. As he walked through the gate and let Donnel out of his ball, he saw Shelby and Ricky and for a half second went limp limbed. He then perked himself back up and ran up to them, realizing they were racing Grotles as he approached.

"Hey!" He said as he ran up.
_____________________

A young boy rested in the park with his Piplup up from the shacks on the cliffs. He closely watched everyone who entered the park.

Shelby was jolted back to reality when Ricky spoke to her. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I wasn't even thinking about the race. It's alright." She hopped off Cheeto, and stared at Ricky a moment. "Please don't worry, it's okay. I can't tell you, but..." It was obvious that she wanted to tell him, and she'd moved very close to him in that moment, watching him, looking for any sort of a tell. To someone looking on who couldn't hear, it likely looked like they were having an intimate moment. Dylan's voice made her jump backwards, and it made Shelby clam up. She would have told Ricky everything had Dylan not come running up.

"Ohjeez!" She blushed, worried what Dylan would think. "Hey, yourself. And how are you?" She seemed flustered by Dylan's sudden appearance. How come nearly every guy in this damn game, player or not, is absolute eye candy?!

Ian made his way out of Mt. Coronet and to Hearthome City. He hadn't entered the city yet but he could see it from the cave's exit. "There it is. Hearthome City: Home of the Contest Hall."

"Aipom!" The monkey pokemon cheered, excited to be out of the cave.

"Alright Aipom, when we get to the city I'm gonna have to call you back to your poke ball. I don't think they allow Aipoms in Amity Square." Ian said. He made his way to the entrance to the city. While walking, he pulled out the pokeball that girl had dropped. He'd have Golbat try and find her while he was in Amity Square.

***

Allison was watching Ian from a nearby tree ahead of him. "Perfect. Here he comes. This time Bronzor and I will get him." She reached into her bag to grab Bronzor's pokeball but only felt two pokeballs. Panicking, she looked into her bag. "Oh no. Where is Bronzor's poke ball?" She dropped her bag and began looking around the area she was hiding to find it. While she was looking, Ian strolled right past, not knowing the girl he was looking for was right behind him. "Forget Bronzor!" Ally declared. "I'll just use Prinplup." She threw the poke ball, releasing her Prinplup.

"Prinplup!" The pokemon growled.

"Alright let's get him." Both Allison and Prinplup jumped out from behind the tree, but Ian was gone. "Where'd he go? He was just down the road a minute ago." She looked behind her. "He must have walked right past and I didn't notice. Oh man." Allison fell to the ground disappointed. Prinplup walked behind her and patted her back. "Thanks Prinplup. Let's go to Amity Square. Maybe I'll find him there." She took off down the road, Prinplup right behind her.

 "Oh... Okay, I'll try to not be so persistent." Ricky brought his hand to his chin again, noticing Dylan running up to them, smiling to greet him, "Salutations!" He held his hand out, "Are you confessing your love to me?"

Dylan stood silent for a moment before shaking it off and trying to be more casual.

"So, how's it going? I won that battle by the way. So I was thinking though. I do much better playing the bodyguard role than I do the adventurer role, so I decided to make myself up for hire, and you're the first person in town I've seen that I recognized, so I figured I'd offer to you." Dylan's words were stammaring, partially due to his awkward nature, partially due to the fact that he was pretty sure he just interrupted a semi intimate moment, and partially due to the fact that he was talking to Shelby.

Shelby was silent until Dylan got to the part about wanting to be a bodyguard. "A bodyguard...?" Her voice wobbled a bit. She looked to Ricky, then to Dylan, back and forth several times. "I can't take it!" Her face turned red again, and she passed out. Cheeto caught her, sighing a bit as she fell onto his shell. Blood dribbled from her nose.

Michael face palmed and shook his head. "Sorry I have nothing against you I am just in a rush to go see what happens if a Gyarados eats a certain Beta Tester." He said as he exited the room before coming to a stop upon seeing Multitude. "What the fu-" Michael began to say after a little bit before seeing it's attack hit Aryeh.

"HOLY fuckIN'!!" Michael screamed backing up and fumbling with his pokeballs as Chim Chim jumped in front of him. "Go Sparky, Crackers, Horn, Mr. Fish!!! Chim Chim Ember! Sparky Spark!, Crackers Water Pulse! Horn Bullet Seed! Mr. Fish grab him!" Michael said pointing to Aryeh on the ground before him. "And lets get the fucking hell out of here!" He yelled as his pokemon began to unload attacks onto the Multitude as he ran back toward Eterna Forest.

The strange glowing thing's attack had weakened Aryeh a fair bit, but he felt his energy start to flow back to him.  He figured the attack from whatever that thing was only had a temporary effect.  However, he didn't want to feel that way again.  He noticed as Michael unloaded a bunch of attacks on the entity and start to run away.  Most of the attacks did nothing, but then Aryeh noticed something.

"Electric" Aryeh gasped "That Spark from the Luxio hurt it!"

Aryeh threw his Pokéball into the air and sent out his Rotom.  It wasn't as tough as his other Pokémon but it didn't seem like levels matter as that entity was not a Pokémon.  Aryeh commanded it to use Thundershock.

"Shields incapable against electrical attacks" the being said in a robotic tone; it was definitely not like a living thing.

"Keep at it Rotom!" Aryeh shouted.

Rotom unleashed a barrage of Thundershocks at the being.

"Must regroup to create safeguards" the being said to itself before descending into the ground and fading out of existence.

"What the frik was that" Aryeh said "Something is off here.  Something is really suspicious."

Aryeh noticed that Michael had run off with his Pokémon.  His fellow human was safe then and he'd see to him later perhaps, when he less angry.  Aryeh wanted to investigate what that thing was, but part of him was too scared.  Perhaps he'd take his mind off of things and continue on.  The Eterna Gym was close and he rushed to it, hoping to keep busy with something else.

Ian made his way to the west entrance of Amity Square, Allison heading to the east Entrance. When Ian reached the gate, an attendant stopped him.

"Excuse me sir, your Aipom isn't allowed to accompany you in the square." She said calmly.

"Oh right, sorry. Aipom come back." Ian called to the monkey pokemon. He recalled Aipom to her pokemon and threw Grotle's poke ball, releasing the pokemon.

"Grotle!" The pokemon stretched, happy to be out of it's poke ball. Ian led Grotle through the park so he could exercise and smell the flowers, since he knew the pokemon liked nature. That's when he saw a two more Grotle grouped together with their trainers. When Grotle looked at the group, he ran towards them.

"Hey Grotle come back!" Ian called out. He ran after Grotle, who stopped in front of Cheeto, recognizing the pokemon from the meadows. Ian stopped, looking at Shelby lying on Cheeto's back. "Oh man what happened to her?" He asked the two guys standing there.

***

Meanwhile, Allison had just entered the eastern part of Amity Square with her Prinplup. "Now I just need to wait for him to get-" She cut herself off as she spotted Ian below. "He's already here? I got to get down there!" She took off again, Prinplup following her.

Allana had been watching Aryeh and Michael against the glowing entity from afar.  She was confused, but felt like something was important for her to find out.  She had heard some things though.  Aryeh had said 'win the game' and the term 'beta tester' was also mentioned.  What did that mean?  Was everything just a game for them?

+++

Aryeh stood in the Eterna Gym.  It had four different directions he could go in.  Each would point to a different trainer he would need to defeat before facing the Gym Leader.  He sent out his Staravia, ready to sweep all the Grass Pokémon.  It didn't take long to defeat the Gym trainers and it felt great that Aryeh could unload his anxiety about the glowing thing on the opponents.  He would need to be strong to handle whatever that was again.  It said it was making safeguards for Electric moves so that strategy might not work again next time.  Aryeh's final opponent before the Gym Leader had an Abra which had a Hidden Power that packed a punch but Aryeh had Grotle on the case with Bite.  Finally, he walked up to the Gym Leader.

"Hi! I'm Gardenia! I'm this town's Gym Leader!  You have a winning aura about you. So, anyway, this will be fun. Let's have our battle" smiled Gardenia.

Gardenia started with Turtwig.  Aryeh sent out his Gastly and told it to use Night Shade.  Turtwig responded with Razor Leaf.  Gastly was still in the match though and used Night Shade again which dispatched Turtwig.  Aryeh switched out to his Staravia to face the next Pokémon which was Cherrim.  Wing Attack took down the Cherrim quickly.  It was matter of fighting the big guns, the Roserade.  Roserade used Magical Leaf which knocked back Staravia hard, but was not enough to take it out.  Staravia had the advantage here so Aryeh knew he had it in the bag.  However, he had to be careful still as Roserade was tough.  Roserade used Poison Sting on Staravia.  The Flying Pokémon was Poisoned!  With the health draining fast, Aryeh had to win quick.  Wing Attack kept happening as Roserade whittled down the Staravia with the poison and the Magical Leaf hits.  However, Staravia had just enough for one more attack.  It swooped towards Roserade really fast and struck it down.  Roserade was defeated and Aryeh had won the match.

"I might've said it before, but you're really tough! Wasn't it hard for you to raise your Pokémon to be so good? I guess that's a measure of how much you love your Pokémon. In recognition of that, I proudly grant you this!" Gardenia proclaimed, handing Aryeh his second badge.

"Thank you" Aryeh smiled, this cheering up after the battle earlier against the glowing entity; Aryeh's energy was back to normal.

"Yup! If there's one thing I can tell about you, it's this!  You and your Pokémon are gonna get even tougher, and I mean seriously!"

"I sure hope so" laughed Aryeh.

"I'm actually out of TMs for beating me in battle" said Gardenia "How about I give you this HM I found?"

"Oh?" said Aryeh, while being handed an HM disc.

"Contains Cut and it works due to having my badge!"

"Thanks Gardenia" said Aryeh.

He walked out of the Gym while shooting the Cut disc at his Bidoof.  He went back to the Center to heal his Pokémon.  When he was out of sight, Allana quickly dipped in to the Gym too to have a hand at winning her badge.  After healing up, Aryeh decided to head over to the Bike shop to see if he could get one.  When he got to the bike shop, the owner looked at him and cheered.

"You are a travelling trainer, right?!" the man said happily.

"Yes, I am.." began to Aryeh

"Well then you can advertise my bikes for me!"

"Well they do look like good bikes" replied Aryeh.

"They are for sure!  I will give you a bike and you can ride around on it!  You get to do your journey faster and if people see the bike, they'll know where to get one!"

Aryeh soon left the building with a bike of his own.  He rode the Bike onwards down Cycling Road.  Along the way he fought a couple more trainers, using his Gastly.  Gastly began to glow.  It had evolved into Haunter!  Aryeh fought a couple more trainers.  His Staravia was his strongest Pokémon due to the Gym Battle so the other had to catch up.  Aryeh got to the bottom of Cycling Road and down to Route 206 and Route 207 back into Oreburgh City.  He quickly road over to the Fossil lab and went inside.  He walked up to the guy who revives fossil and handed him the Skull Fossil.

"Ah, I can revive this for you" smiled the fossil reviver guy "It will provide you with a Cranidos!"

The man went out back with the fossil, using whatever complicated device he had to bring Cranidos back to life.  He went back to Aryeh and handed him a Pokéball with the Cranidos in it.  Aryeh thanked him and then used his bike to ride back to Route 207 and up the slope.  This time he had Cranidos out front to train up.  He found the entrance to Mt Coronet and went in.  A bunch of Zubats fluttered about and Aryeh fought them.  After a few minutes, Aryeh had rode through the path and out into Route 208.  Hearthome City was not far now.

"Oh dear," Ricky sighed, picking up Shelby, "I've known you but for a moment, but I'm learning so much about you... Even your unsightly mannerisms such as this." Ricky chuckled, then turned to Dylan, she probably just needs to rest in some shade, keep her company, please, I'll be right back."

Ricky smiled then left Shelby under a tree, he called Grotle back and left Amity Square, "I can spare a few coins for supplies, right?"

+++

Richie exited the Pokemon Center, letting out Prinplup to walk beside him, "How d'ya feel, Prinplup? That Dylan guy's tough... I didn't expect that, t'say th' least..." He pat Prinplup on the head then smiled, "Welp, I won't be losin' anymore! But first, let's relax in Amity Square, they allow starters like you in so we're fine."

"Puri!" Prinplup squawked in joy.

Richie continued around the corner of the center, he stopped when he saw the blue-haired man in the scarf, "Hey, you were around Mt. Coronet awhile ago, weren't ya?"

Ricky stopped and glared venomously at Richie, "Excuse me? I don't believe I'm wearing a sign that says, 'fucktards, please yap and bitch in my general direction'. Get out of my way." Ricky shoved Richie into the wall of the Pokemon Center, knocking the wind from his lungs for a second. Ricky proceeded on his way, entering the Pokemart, greeting the sales clerk with a smile full of vigor, even giving him a hug.

Richie gasped for air, now breathing heavily, "What? What? Why did he do that? What'd I do?!" Richie tightly tugged on his hair, "I've only been here a day... Did I already piss someone off that badly..?"

Prinplup squawked angrily, spitting at the ground, but Ricky ignored him.

Dylan stared, a drop of blood in his nose.

Must...resist...creepy urges... too many witnesses... would look weird...

"She just sotra passed out..." Dylan coughed up as he held his nose to keep it from being even weirder. "Umm... so I don't think you and I've met. The name's Dylan. Cre- I mean CATCHER extraordinaire apparently. Looking to be a bodyguard with anyone who I know for a fact is in the process of traveling the region. My only caveat would be I'd like the chance to take on the gyms as we pass by."
_______________________

Bored with watching the people entering and exiting the park, the mystery boy left, going to the chapel where he saw Ran sitting on the pew in the back. He sat next to her.

"Nice to see you again." The boy said without making eye contact.

"You too Daichi. Listen, there's a woman I'd like you to help me keep an eye on. Blonde, glasses, has a Grotle."

"I just saw her. She's in the park."

"I mean, I want you to stay close to her. I'll keep an eye out for you, don't worry. But I can't stay close to her anymore."

"Fine, but you have to be willing to do the same for me."

"Of course. Have I ever let you down before?"

"Once."

Shelby stirred, shaking her head a bit as she woke up. "Hur pinsamt...." ((How embarrassing)) She looked around a moment, trying to figure out what had happened since she passed out. She wiped the blood away and sat up. Cheeto sidled up next to her, pleased to see her awake. She blinked a few times, a confused look on her face.

"When did Ian get here? And where did Ricky go?" She sounded confused, too. "...How long was I out?" Obviously, this had happened before, but she didn't appear to be in the mood to be asked questions.

Ian assumed Ricky was the guy who had just left. Who he was to Shelby he had no idea. "Well your friend left about a couple minutes ago, as soon as I got here. Nice to see you too by the way. As for how long you've been out, I have no idea. You might wanna ask your friend over here." Ian looked at the guy he now knew as Dylan. "Dylan huh? My name is Ian. Pleasure to meet you." Grotle walked over to Cheeto, happy to see a familiar face.

Richie had already gotten up and left into the chapel, as if hiding from Ricky, he noticed two people other than the normal NPCs, "Eh? You're that girl that was with Shelby, huh?" Richie didn't want what happened earlier to happen again, so he kept his distance.

+++

Ricky had purchased what he needed an made his way back to Amity Square, smiling again upon seeing Shelby, Dylan and another boy who had joined them, "Hey there," Ricky said to the boy, the turned to Dylan and Shelby, "um, chums, I guess I was too quick to assume everyone is a nice person..." Ricky look took a more somber turn, "as I was buying my goods, I was attacked by a boy who had long hair kind of like mine... I wanted to warned you before you had to deal with him as well..."

Ricky brought his hand to his chin, "is he in league with the strange woman?"

Daichi stood back up and left, making way back to the park, and leaving Ran behind to sit and think her thoughts, both somber, and otherwise.

As Daichi entered the park, again using Piplup as his entrance ticket, he made way to Shelby and her group, trying to slip in, only making a nervous sounding "H-hello?"

"Pleased to meet you too, Ian." Dylan said nervous about having attention on himself given what had just been in his head. When Ricky came around, he was thankful to move the focus of the conversation elsewhere.

"Long hair... hey! That sounds like the guy I was battling back in Eterna. Cooky guy, called me his rival and challenged me to a brawl in the middle of the streets. Won purely out of dumb luck. Or at least, I think it might be him." Dylan went on to describe Richie's appearance.

Shelby smiled when she saw Ricky come back, but frowned a bit when he asked his question. "No, the woman who was following me more or less was with me since I got here, and neither of us spent much time around anybody like that... I mean, that's not proving anything, but if that is the case, I have no knowledge of it. Ran... she doesn't really seem like the type to keep much company, regardless...." She was uncomfortable talking about it.

She was more or less ignoring Dylan's description of Richie- while she was a bit concerned that someone had attacked Ricky, she was at the right angle to see a young boy with a Piplup by his side standing just outside their group.

"Hello there, do you need something?" Shelby was decent with children, and he seemed nervous. Was he lost?

Allana exited the Eterna Gym with her badge.  She healed up her Pokémon and got on her bike, heading to Route 207.  As she rode along, she noticed a group of people blocking her.  She halted the bike and got off to see what was going on.  It was a group of Galactic Grunts and their commander - Mars.  Mars turned to look at Allana standing there.  They both looked at eachother for a moment as if time itself had stood still.  They wore different clothes and had different hair, but their faces were similar.  Mars walked over to Allana and pressed a Pokéball into her hand.

"I don't know why, but I think this Golbat belongs with you" Mars said blankly, before walking back to her Grunts and leading them away.

Allana blinked a couple times, confused.  Why did that girl feel so familiar, why did she have a posse of weird looking people behind her and why did she randomly hand her a Golbat?  Add those to the list of mysteries.  It was time for Allana to find Aryeh again and ask about what he was beta testing.  She hopped back onto her bike and went through Mt Coronet.  She came out of the other end to Route 208.  She noticed Aryeh training against some other Trainers.

"Hey!" Allana yelled at him, after he had just won a battle.

"Uhh... Allana... good to see you again" said Aryeh.

"I saw you in Eterna City against that glowing guy" said Allana.

"Are you ok?  That thing did a lot of damage.  I'm not sure what it is though, but I seemed to have chased it away for now."

"I heard you talk to that other kid.  He said Beta Tester.  What are you testing?"

"Uhh... well I'm testing the Pokémon League.  Seeing if it's all up to snuff and all.  You know, working properly... all the Gym Leaders doing their job."

"So you are auditing the League?" Allana asked.

"Yeah, something like that.  Anyway I gotta get to Hearthome.  I have to prepare for my next Gym Battle.  If my Haunter isn't the fastest Ghost in the Gym, I won't be able to win."

"Ok... well, I'm trying to make sense of all the weird stuff I'm seeing.  Some girl with red hair gave me a Golbat randomly.  She had a bunch of guys in wigs following her."

"Mars..." Aryeh muttered.

"Wait you know them?" Allana said.

"They are called Team Galactic.  Avoid them if you can, they are trouble."

The two of them walked into Hearthome City, heading right to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon ready.

+++

Mars had delivered a bunch of Grunts to Eterna and now was in a helicopter en route back to Veilstone.  She felt weird about that girl she met.  She felt the need to give her the Golbat.  She'd figure things out later.  Her mission with Team Galactic felt like it was second to whatever she was going through.  Then she got a phone call; it was from Cyrus.

"Hello Mars" said Cyrus.

"Boss... what is happening?"

"I found a new associate.  His name is Donovan.  He is going to help."

Mars gasped.  Donovan was the man who attacked her.  He was helping Team Galactic?  She couldn't believe this.  If Cyrus was going to work with this guy, then could she trust him?  Or was Cyrus being used?

"Donovan... I know him" said Mars.

"You do?"

"He attacked me this morning."

"Oh, umm... then that would make it awkward for you.  Well, I'll just keep you two seperate from eachother then" Cyrus said as he hung up.

Mars felt uneasy.  She barely knew who she was.  Donovan had said her last name was Marci.  Does that mean she had family somewhere?  Cyrus had said he could help her, but he wasn't really doing much of that.  She wanted to be comfortable with somebody else.  That girl she met seemed important, like there was a connection but she couldn't put her finger on it.  Mars sighed and she continued back to Veilstone, hoping to not meet Donovan again.

Ian listened to the newcomer's description of his attacker. He looked at his hair. Sounds kinda like Richie. But if it was him, why would he attack someone out of the blue. Ian said. A dark look grew on Ian's face. He looked down towards the ground. Is that why he wanted me to team up with him? To help him attack other players? He didn't want to assume the worst in people, but he couldn't afford to be to trustworthy either. I should find Richie and ask him myself. After Grotle finishes his walk I'll go.

For now, Ian watched as Kloud talked to a kid with a Piplup.

"So you know him? Did he hurt you?" Ricky looked worried, gripping Dylan's shoulder, but quickly letting go, "I'm sorry, just got a bit ahead of myself." He smiled, then twiddled his fingers, beginning to feel awkward.

+++

"Hmph... Ignored right off th' bat, eh?" Richie sighed, he dropped himself on a peu then slapped his hand on his face, covering his eyes and nose, "Who...? Did I tick off? That guy, I saw him at Mt. Coronet... 'Assuming makes an ass outta you an' me'? What'd he mean an' why?"

"Grr... I don't get it!" Richie growled, "I hafta understand why!?"

Aryeh and Allana sat in the Pokémon Center.

"So..." said Aryeh "I don't suppose you want to go to Amity Square?"

"That's a very girly area for the best of gal pals" said Allana "A guy asking a girl you've only met once before and refuse to say anything to seems a bit weird."

"It is?  I honestly did not know that.  I don't think Bulbapedia mentioned that at all.  Must be new."

"Bulbawhat?  Seriously, do you not speak human?  You always say such vague stuff.  I heard you say something about a game."

"Life is a game!" Aryeh exclaimed "Anyway, I'm gonna check out the place anyway.  I want to see what it looks like for reals.  Besides, I now remember asking you to leave me alone."

"Sheesh, don't get rude about it" growled Allana "I'll find you and kick your butt in another battle!  I did recently get a Golbat after all."

"I have an Electric Pokémon, you won't last long" said Aryeh, walking out of the Pokémon Center; he figured being rude might get her to go away, however the opposite occured.

"Hey, you egotistical..." Allana shouted, following after him "I'll take you down a peg or two!"

Aryeh sighed and got on his bike, riding to Amity Square.  This girl was getting to be really annoying.  He didn't really want to deal with NPCs were weren't actual game characters like Gym Leaders and Galactic Commanders.  The fact that AIs seemed to advanced was creepy enough.  How was this even real?  It was so many years ahead of its time.  Aryeh couldn't help but feel suspicious about everything.  For all he knew, the other Beta Testers were fake too.  He just wanted to enjoy the game, win the league and get out of there.  He loved Pokémon and thought this was be a great experience, but it was getting to be too much.

He arrived in Amity Square, bringing out his Grotle to follow him.  Allana followed, but she didn't have a Pokémon from the allowed list.  She decided to climb over the wall to get inside.  She was about to give Aryeh a piece of her mind and defeat him!  She ran over to him as he sat down on a bench.

"Alright, this time I'm not leaving until you give me answers!" Allana yelled "You've been keeping stuff secret and are clearly being mean to get me to leave.  Well it ain't gonna work!"

Aryeh sighed "You won't believe me.  I could bring down the entirely integrity of the operation if I told you."

"I can handle anything."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Out with it."

"This world isn't real.  It's a virtual world that functions as an advanced video game for Pokémon gamers like me."

"Wait, what?" Allana said, she thought it was another silly thing being said, but actually it seemed like it was true; Aryeh was serious about this.

"You are most likely an Artificial Intelligence created by the programmers to make the world life like.  Pokémon are fictional characters and I'm Beta Testing the game along with a bunch of other people who I haven't really met yet."

Allana went silent for a moment, trying to handle all of that.

"I didn't expect that... I thought it was magic or something" she spoke up.

"I'm sorry Allana.  The technology is so advanced, you have real thoughts and feelings.  All things considered, you are your own person and you have to keep telling yourself that.  However, the entire world you've lived in a false reality" explained Aryeh.

"What about that glowing person?"

"I think somebody is sabotaging the game.  It wanted to destroy things, like some kind of code eating virus.  I'll have to warn the other players.  Allana, you should go home and forget about what I've told you.  Live your life... please."

Daichi's voice was shaking as he spoke. "My name is Daichi. I~i... I wanted help. You." Daichi pointed at Shelby. "You look strong. I am having a lot of trouble with my journey. I beat Roark but Gardenia was too hard. Can I go with you?" The kid had taken out a badge case and showed how he had a rusted out Coal Badge. His limbs shook. "I'm not very good. I just got over being badly sick, so I kinda forgot a lot about Pokemon."

"Well now, would you look at that. Kiddo wants a mentor." Dylan said with some cheer to his voice.
_____________________

Ran spoke up when Richie started speaking louder.

"Can you keep it down. This is a place of solace."

"Um..." Shelby seemed flattered but confused as to why he'd pick her, of all the people in the group. "Sure thing. You said your name is Daichi, right? I'm Shelby. It's nice to meet you." She was warm towards Daichi. He seems like he needs someone to look after him awhile. Might as well be me.

"If you've been sick though, you should take it easy a bit. Don't try challenging any gyms for awhile- train and recover a bit, okay? Here." She pulled a honey stick from her bag and handed it to Daichi. "Honey's full of natural antioxidants- it might make you feel a bit better. Plus, it's sweet." She stretched, and turned back to the group. "So, guys, as fun as this is, we should probably get moving. What's the plan? We probably shouldn't all travel as a big group. Who's going to travel with who?"

Ian raised an eyebrow. A kid like that is on a journey? He looks weaker than a baby. Is he another Beta tester?

Ian looked at Shelby. "Personally, I plan to stick around a bit more to before I go to the gym to get some Poffins." Need to find Richie too. "But after I do that and beat the gym, I'd be glad to-"

"There you are!" Ian turned around to see the girl from before.

"It's that girl again." Ian said. "I've been looking for-"

"Shut your mouth! This time I'm gonna get you!" Allison sprinted forward as fast as she could, yelling a type of battle cry.

Ian's face was a mixture of confusion and annoyed. Waiting until the last possible moment, he moved to the right keeping his leg out. Allison was going so fast, she didn't have time to stop. Ian watched as the girl tripped over his leg and sailed forward into the nearby pond. What the heck was that about? Ian asked himself.

Richie raised his hand, looked at Ran, then dropped his hand again, "My bad... I'm just a bit conflicted, I guess... And confused..." He lifted his head, then stood up and started to walk toward the woman, "Do you think you can help me, ya made it this far without any trouble and ya seem like a capable person... How would I deal with a bully? Like, someone who's out t' get me because I'm me."

"I have no problem with waiting here a bit, go on ahead, I'll catch up." Ricky said, rustling next to a tree.

"There are a few ways. Avoid them, ignore them, surround yourself with capable allies, but none of those will help if they're actively hunting you. If that's the case, my best advice would be to get them first. Let's put it this way. If someone were after my life, and I were aware of it, I'd stand my ground in the most effective way possible." Ran's advice was pessimistic on the idea of peace, but given the circumstances Richie was describing, peace didn't seem like the option.

"Then again, this place isn't the best place for such talk, so I suppose we should take this outside." Ran stood and walked out the building, encouraging Richie to follow.

"While I'm here, let me ask you something. If it were the only way to save your own life, would you kill someone else? Someone innocent. If it were the only way to survive, would you do it?"
___________________________

Daichi started to eat the honey. It was stronger than he was expecting, but he didn't let it phase him too much.

'Well, I know who I'm going with." Daichi had a faint smile on his face like that of a lost puppy that was given a place to stay.

"Bodyguard offer's still open if you want." Dylan reminded everybody.

Allana's worldview was shattered.  Was everything she knew really just a fabrication?  Her entire childhood false memories?

"You know I can't just forget what you've told me..."

"Allana, you really want to know the truth and that's it.  You unfortunately witnessed things happen that were mysterious, but that's the explanation of it" Aryeh told her "I have to go, I need to do a couple more battles before I enter the Gym."

Aryeh stood up and walked away.  Allana sat down on a bench, contemplating what to do with herself.  Things were going to be different for her now.  Nobody could really help her deal with a realisation like this and it would be wrong to tell other people.  Still so many unanswered questions.

+++

Donovan imagined the possibilities with the technology he could get his hands on if he got hold of the code.  He left Veilstone City and took off down towards Solaceon Town.  There were many different trainers in the way for him to crush.  It didn't take him long to finally give the last few levels to his Monferno and evolve it into Infernape.  Perhaps it was time to bolster his lineup too and capture a fourth Pokémon.  Then he saw it, a wild Gligar.  That was the Pokémon he was going to capture.  He ran after it with his Infernape, getting Infernape to use Mach Punch.  Gligar was weakened until Donovan finally threw a Great Ball at it.  The ball wobbled slightly before it clicked.  Gligar was captured.

"That's a thinker..." Richie brought his hand to his chin, "I don't think I could kill someone, even if it was for my own life... I mean- the other person may not mean much t' me, but they must mean a lot to someone else... But then there's your side and how much you mean to the people ya love an' whatnot..."

Richie took a moment to think, "I guess I would, but only if it were absolutely necessary for me to live, and if there were people who're countin' on me to be there." He stopped for another moment, "How about you?"

"Unfortunately, I don't get the luxury of the option. I think if you have to, you'll be able to defend yourself, and that's good. You know, when the time comes to leave Hearthome, perhaps I should accompany you, and any fiends you might have. It just might benefit us both, if you'd have my accompaniment." Ran smiled softly.

"Alright." Shelby nodded to Ricky. "I guess you can come along with me and Daichi, if you want to, Dylan. I'm gonna head on over to make some Poffins. I've always wondered how they taste, you know? I've collected a few berries, and all..." She walked out of the park, figuring that Dylan would follow if he wanted to come with. She took down the path leading to the Poffin house, not saying much. I'm not even sure what to think anymore. What's real? What isn't? She sighed. Does it matter...? Everyone seems so real. At this point, I just want to get home. Do I even need to worry about it?

Ian looked the group of people. "Anyway, I'll be at the Poffin House if any of you guys want to team up. Nice seeing you all. But first, I gotta take care of something." Ian walked away from the group towards the pond where Allison was still sitting. Currently, she was pushing her wet hair out of her face. When she looked up, Ian was standing in front of her on the ground, his hand stretched forward to help her up. "Are you okay?" Ian asked her.

Allison just looked at him with an angry look on her face. She didn't say anything.

"Oh that's right." Ian said, reaching into his bag. He took out the poke ball containing her Bronzor. "You dropped this on the other side of Mt. Coronet." Allison slowly stood up and grabbed the poke ball. Now that she wasn't moving, Ian got a good look at her. She was definitely younger than him, appearing to be 13 or 14. Her entire body was soaked, water still dripping off her face. Wait, that's not from her hair.Is she....She's crying. He was correct. Allison had started to tear up. Ian backed up, unsure what he did to make this girl start crying. Before he could even say anything, she recalled a pokemon that was hiding behind a nearby tree and took off again towards the exit. "What a weird girl." Ian said to Grotle. "C'mon. I want to get to that Poffin House. I found a lot of Oran Berries and I intend to use them." He went straight to the exit.

Richie returned Ran's smile with a big teethy grin, "Of course!" He seemed beyond elated to her that someone else wanted to accompany him, rather than him asking, "I actually have a friend in this city, not sure where he is, though, I'm sure he'd be fine with another party member if he hasn't already left with someone else."

Allison was sitting by herself in the pokemon center, multiple blankets wrapped around her body. Prinplup, having came out of it's poke ball was sitting next to her. Allison had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red. "He's such a jerk." She said to herself. "How am I supposed to beat him if he keeps helping me out? It's not fair." Prinplup pat her back, trying to cheer his trainer up.

***

Ian finally arrived at the Poffin House. He thought about finding Richie first, but decided to get making the poffins out of the way .He was anxious to start, but he needed to prepare. He had plenty of Oran Berries, and they were the only ones he needed to make what he was planning to make. But that didn't mean he should waste his ingredients. He wanted to make enough for his plan, and still have enough Oran berries left over in case he or his pokemon needed one. "Well than, let's get started." Ian said to himself.

Calming down after the thing disappeared Michael he needed to start catching up to everyone, and train his pokemon. Stronger pokemon could fight that thing off better right? Quickly he went to pickup the bicycle and headed out quickly powering through cycling road and beating all the trainers on it before he stopped to look back at the grass below it. Pulling up his pokedex Michael looked through the pokemon avaliable and saw that Gligar was avaliable.

Shrugging he decided to take a detor. He always seemed to catch up to everyone else when they got ahead of him. Everyone must be going slow talking to each other. Heading out he traverses through the grass battling pokemon untill he finally comes upon a Gligar. Managing to easily lower its health he quickly captures it, naming the Gligar, Sting, as he healed it before deciding to travel out to Wayward Cave. "I think this thing had Earthquake in it somewhere and that will be a very good move to teach you Sting." He grins at the bat flying beside him.

Exiting a little while later Michael grinned wiping the dirt off himself as he stretched a bit being back out in the sun before he hopped onto his bike and traveled through the grass heading down to Route 207 and then on to traveling through Mt. Coronet before finally exiting onto Route 208. "The speed they were going before I should be able to catch up to them when we reach the Great Marsh. No way they advance past there without stopping to explore it." He grins as he heals his pokemon a bit more before heading on to beat the trainers between the Mountain and Hearthome, before finally entering the central city of Sinnoh.

As the sun began to set, time seemed to slow to a crawl, everyone, NPC, player, Pokemon, was at an ant's pace. Throughout Hearthome, an announcement was made from outside the game

"This is an Automated message. Multiple Anomalies have detected. Please Proceed to the emergency exit located in the Hall of Fame."

To the NPCs who had no idea what that meant, the message made no sense. They thought it was a prank of some sort and ignored it. But to the beta testers and those who knew better, this meant trouble.

Aryeh heard the announcement from the game.  It was as if the sky was talking to him, which was kind of weird.  Aryeh thought about this for a moment, coming to the conclusion that the glowing virus thing he encountered must be the anomalies that were detected.  Perhaps that meant the game's programmers were handling the situation and would remove it before it caused more damage.  Eterna City already had a big hole in it from those things in addition to rubble everywhere.  Still, the whole thing seemed fishy and not in the Magikarp sense.  Being a Beta Tester meant dealing with potential glitches and such.  Only now, Aryeh realised the danger that could come with that.  The attack from that entity hurt and who knows how that would affect his real body.  In the virtual world, he felt real but he knew really that his true form existed out in the real world.  How closely were they connected?

Allana had heard the message, which pretty much cemented the truth that everything she knew was fake.  She ran over to where Aryeh was, asking him what was going on.

"I assume it's that glowing virus" Aryeh told her "Still, I'm worried for the safety of everybody here.  I don't want the game to break while we are all in it.  Plus, people like you have become real sentient beings and I believe should get treated right."

"You come from a world with the knowledge to beat that thing, add that to Pokémon who have the power to ennact the strategies and I think you Beta Testers as you call yourselves could protect this world" Allana smiled, feeling a little bit happier; it was clear that despite being what real people might consider a robot, Aryeh still cared.

"The question is, what am I going to do about you?" asked Aryeh "I got my third badge to get and I presume you do as well?"

"That's correct.  Maybe, we could travel together..."

"Befriending a person from this world is hard, because one day I'll have to leave.  That voice said the exit is in the Hall of Fame which means once I win, I have to go home."

"Cross that bridge when you come to it" said Allana "From what that voice was saying, looks like you have to win else you are stuck here."

"Yeah... it said it's the emergency exit and if the anomalies means they have to repair the game..."

"Then that means they've presumably shut part of it down to keep your body safe" finished Allana.

"So yup, it appears there won't be a break for me.  I have to win the game now if I want to get back to my body."

"So where does that leave me?  I'm a living thing, I know I am.  I don't want to be affected by these anomalies and from what we know, I can't go through the emergency exit in the Hall of Fame."

"Ok... we'll travel together and as you said, cross the bridge later.  I hope it means this world can be fixed.  We are dealing with new lives here and I don't want to see this world destroyed by anybody, especially not that virus."

"We have to be ready then" said Allana "You win the Gyms to inch towards the exit and I'll win too in order to keep up with you."

"Sounds like a plan, let's go to the Gym.  It's getting dark but I like to stay up late.  Ghost Trainers do as well so it's time for Gym night."

"Wait, I had an idea!  You said you said a Haunter, right?"

"I do" said Aryeh.

"Well I have a Kadabra.  If we do a trade and trade back, it'll make them evolve into Gengar and Alakazam.  That'll make them fast enough to do the well in the Gym tonight!"

"Awesome!" Aryeh agreed.

"Let's get back in the Pokémon Center and go to the trading post, we'll do the swap and then we can enter the Gym."

Dusk was approaching, and the announcement brought to Shelby a sense of panic. She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Alright, Dylan, Daichi. It looks like there's no time for nonsense." Her voice was shaky. "Show of hands, who understood the message?" She had to know who she was escaping with, and at this point, she wasn't sure how she felt about AIs. She did know, however, that she didn't have time to be held back, by anyone. If either or both of them were real, she'd escape this world with them.

I'm not saying a word more until I know if either of these two are real.

Both Daichi and Dylan rose their hands.

"If this thing's freaking out, I think we gotta get things in gear. Let's boggie!" Dylan said, urgent but peppy.

"I-i hope I don't get in the way..." Daichi acted very pessimistic about himself. After all, he lost to Gardenia.

"Oh, wait, we gotta take down the gym here first, don't we? I mean, I think we could put it off, but... it's your choice." Dylan didn't want to get ahead of himself. Afterall, he basically just signed himself off as Shelby's bodyguard.
_____________________

"Well, this is a development. And after all that work they put in to a damage repair system. Must be serious... by the way, boy. I don't think I ever caught your name. Mine is Ran. When we leave the city, are we heading south toward Pastoria or West to Veilstone. We could go either way."

Michael stopped dead in his tracks just as he was exiting the pokemon center as he heard the message. "What the fuck?!" He yelled out staring up in the sky angrily as he heard the message. That thing that had attacked him had happened at least 12 hours ago. So why were they just announcing there was a problem now!? And even more why couldn't they log everyone out right away why leave them in the world?

Looking around he tries to find other testers to see if it was just something relating to himself and Aryeh since they had met the error or if everyone heard the message.

Aryeh and Allana placed the Pokéballs for Gengar and Kadabra on opposite ends of the trading device.  It was cool for Aryeh to see the way trading worked in the virtual world.  The two Pokéballs moved across the length of the machine, meeting in the middle and then going past eachother to the other end.  Both of them picked up the Pokéballs of their temporary new Pokémon and pressed the button, sending out Haunter and Kadabra.  The two Pokémon quickly began to brightly glow white and the evolution began.  Standing there was now Gengar and Alakazam.  The two trainers recalled the Pokémon and traded back, having the Pokémon be back with their original owner.  Now that they were done, it was time to enter the Gym.

The Gym was dark, but Aryeh and Allana were provided with lights to see with as they navigated the maze.  Along the way were a few trainers that they battled.  Aryeh fought Youngster Donny's Gastly and Drifloon.  Grotle used Bite on the Gastly, taking it down quickly and getting it some valuable EXP.  Aryeh then switched to Cranidos who needed EXP too.  Cranidos used Pursuit on the Drifloon.  Needless to say, despite Ghost Types being awesome; Aryeh had the advantage with his Dark Type moves and the nearing debut of Gengar.  Allana's Golbat had Bite too which was helpful against Lass Molly's Misdreavus.  Aryeh's Grotle then defeated two Drifloons from the next trainer.  Allana was doing very well with Golbat despite this being one of the first times she had used it, almost as if she had done it for much longer.  The next trainer had a two Gastlys and Haunter which despite barraging Golbat with Night Shade, the bat Pokémon was able to Bite them out of the game.  Unexpectedly, Golbat began to glow.  It had evolved into Crobat.

"But that makes no sense..." said Allana "Crobat evolves through happiness and I've barely used this guy!  It's treating me as if I've always been its trainer.  It was with that Mars chick though... this is really odd."

Allana healed up her Crobat with some Potions and the two trainers made their way through the rest of the maze.  Aryeh focused on levelling up his Cranidos.  He was going to save Gengar for the Gym battle at full health.  Finally, the two trainers made it to the Gym Leader - Fantina.

"Ohohoho!! Finally, you have arrived! Since I came to this country, always I try to learn new things. They hold Contests in this city? I say to myself, enfin, I will excel. That's why I dress this way. C'est une performance! Also I study Pokémon very much. I have come to be Gym Leader. And, uh, so it shall be that you challenge me. But I shall win. That's what a Gym Leader does, non?" said Fantina.

"You can go first Aryeh" smiled Allana "It's more important that you win the badges."

"Thank you" said Aryeh "Let's get this show on the road!  Come on out Grotle!"

Fantina sent out her first Pokémon which was Duskull.  Duskull hit first thanks to Shadow Sneak.  Grotle responded with Bite.  Duskull was still up though and used Will-O-Wisp which burned Grotle.  Grotle's Attack was lowered but one more Bite would be enough to take out the Duskull.  Duskull fainted and Aryeh recalled his Grotle for good measure, sending out his Cranidos.  Fantina sent out Haunter and ordered it to use Sucker Punch, anticipating the attack from Cranidos and punching it across the room.  Cranidos got up and charged towards Haunter, using its newly learned Assurance thanks to the training it had received in the Gym.  Haunter used Hypnosis to try to put Cranidos to sleep but the move had bad accuracy and missed.  Cranidos confidently used Assurance again and defeated the Haunter.

"Oh, heavens. What is this? Is this my final Pokémon?" gasped Fantina, sending out her last Pokémon - Mismagius.

"I on the other hand have more up my sleeve" said Aryeh, recalling his Cranidos and sending out the big guns "My first fully evolved Pokémon!  Come on out my vintage!  Gengar!"

Gengar left the Pokéball in a ghostly mist, surrounding the Mismagius.  Gengar started off by using Payback which despite going first was still good due to being Super Effective.  Unfortunately Mismagius survived on low health.  Fantina used this as the opportunity to show why Gym Leaders are the worst and used her turn to give the Ghost Type a Super Potion!  Aryeh facepalmed and told Gengar to attack again with Shadow Punch.  It wasn't at the level where it learned Shadow Ball just yet, so it had to rely on the Physical Attacks which it didn't particularly excel at but the Super Effectiveness of the attack would be enough for sure!  Shadow Punch did more damage than Payback which was enough to put it over the edge.  Mismagius was struck with by the ghostly punch and fainted.  Gengar had won the battle for Aryeh.

"I am dumbfounded! So very, very strong! You, your Pokémon, so strong! Your power is admirable! I shall honor it with this Gym Badge!  Three Gym Badges... But you must not forget this. There are many other trainers. Strong Trainers, too. There are many more in Sinnoh. Have patience! You must become stronger, one at a time" Fantina said as she handed Aryeh his third badge.

The Pokéball with Grotle began to glow and Grotle came out of the Pokéball.  It was Lv32 now and it was evolving!  Aryeh was now the owner of the mighty Torterra.  However, it was not time for it to battle yet as now it was time for Allana to step up and battle Fantina.  Fantina quickly healed up Pokémon and prepared to battle again.

((going to bed in a few minutes so gonna double post since nobody else is posting and this is a natural end for the day for the characters))

Allana sent out her first Pokémon which was Roselia to face Fantina's Duskull.  Roselia was her weakest levelled Pokémon but good enough to fight the Duskull.  Duskull went first with Shadow Sneak.  Roselia used Giga Drain and got its health back, following up with Leech Seed to continue to drain health.  Duskull used Will-O-Wisp and burned the Roselia but thanks to Leech Seed the two things cancelled eachother out.  Roselia used Giga Drain again, prompting Duskull to use Pursuit.  One more Giga Drain and Duskull was down.  Allana recalled her Roselia now that the thing it was seeding from was gone but still had its burn.  She sent out her recently evolved Alakazam to face Fantina's next Pokémon - Haunter.  Alakazam used Psybeam, doing lots of damage on the Poison Type Haunter.  Haunter still had a bit of health though and used Shadow Claw which knocked Alakazam back.  Alakazam was on really low health but had just enough drive yet to use Psybeam one last time and defeat Haunter.  Fantina was down to just Mismagius now.  Allana recalled Alakazam and sent out her Roselia to Leech Seed the Mismagius and wittle it down ready for Crobat to finish it off.  Mismagius used Shadow Ball which blew Roselia back hard.  Roselia used its last move wisely to use Stun Spore and paralyse the Mismagius.  With its Speed lowered, Mismagius was in a sufficient position to be defeated.  Mismagius used Magical Leaf to take out Roselia's last bit of HP.  Allana sent out Crobat who easily outsped and used Bite.  Mismagius used Psybeam which took a lot out of Crobat.  Crobat used Bite again.  This had done it!  Mismagius was out.  Allana had won.

Fantina handed Allana her third Gym Badge.  Allana high fived her new friend Aryeh.  For a moment she forgot that the whole thing was a virtual world.  Then that information hit her hard again, but she realised if she kept being the best Trainer she could be, she would be able to focus on that and feel better.  The two Trainers left the Gym and went back to the Pokémon Center and checked in for the night.

Ian was in the middle of making his seventh poffin when he heard the strange message. "Anomalies? What's that all about?" Ian asked himself. The other people in the Poffin House weren't at all concerned with the message that seemingly came from nowhere, but Ian knew better. The message wasn't for the AI. It was for the players. He finished up the last poffin and left the house. It was already getting dark. "I need to find Richie. He said he wanted to go to the Pokemon Center but that was a while ago. Where else could he have gone? He wasn't at the Poffin House or Amity Square." Ian thought for a minute. "Maybe the Chapel?" Ian took off, trying to find his way to the Chapel. Behind him, Allison, still wrapped in a blanket watched from behind a corner as Ian ran down the street.

As Ian approached, Ran made not of both him and the girl behind him.

Well, she's a young one. Not a preference, but something to keep in mind I suppose...
________________________

"You know what, before anything else, we should go to the Gym." Dylan spoke up. "I bet we could talk Fontina into a double battle or something. Just lemme see what I have supply wise and... what the hell? How'd this end up in here?" Dylan produced a teal stone from his backpack. "Musta gotten caught in my bag whenever I fell in that river. You want it?"

"So you're both real." She looked back up at her two companions. "You'll be fine, Daichi." Shelby smiled warmly and ruffled his hair a bit. He's so skinny. Don't his parents look after him? "Just stick with me, and I'll take care of you. Nobody gets in my way." She was trying to be brave for this child. He seemed far too young to be in such a game alone, and he needed someone strong.

When Dylan pulled the stone from his bag, Shelby's eyes glittered. She was even more excited when he offered it to her. "Ooooh, that's a Dawn Stone! Tofu needs this to evolve... He's almost ready to evolve into Kirlia, so this is perfect. Thank you~!" She snatched the stone from his hand and hugged Dylan tightly out of sheer surprise for her good fortune. She pulled away. "We sure can do a double battle. If we both try for it, she can't say no. Right?"

Dylan fell to the ground for a moment before picking himself up. He stuttered for a moment "Y-yeah. S-sounds like a plan!"

Dylan led Daichi and Shelby to the gym. After explaining their desire to double battle, an arrangement was made for Fontina to look them over.

"Hmm. Oui! Vat do we have here? A young man, a young woman, and a younger man. I'd even be willing to go trois sur trois if the younger one wishes to participate."

Daichi was surprised, shocked even. He immediately started to shake"Er... well, I do want the badge, but I'm not sure..." Daichi turned to Shelby for direction.

Shelby looked down to Daichi, a look of complete calm on her face. She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. "Kiddo, I told you I'd take care of you, didn't I? Let's go get that badge."

"Fantina, you're on. Let's see what you've got!"

"Oui oui! Zen let's not waste any time. No need for anyone else."

The stage was set. Each of the challengers were permitted one Pokemon against Fantina's team of Duskull, Hauntar, and Mismagius

"Cheeto! I choose you!"
"Loki! To the Sky!"
"Piplup. Go..."

"Take them down to half. I can get it from there..." Daichi said, surprisingly calmly. Something about having his Pokemon out made him seem more confident.

"Okay... Yeah sure. Can do." Dylan said literally rushing around the battlefield to keep up with his Golbat which started to circle. By Dylan's command, Loki bit the Duskull, which while it makes no sense, it took down the weak ghost. Fontina refused to allow that to happen again, and commanded her Hauntar to use Hypnosis on Loki, causing him to crash into the ground as he fell asleep. In an attempt of retaliation, Shelby commanded Cheeto to use bite on the Hauntar. Unfortunately, it was a bit stronger and managed to take the hit. While Dylan was searching for an awakening, Fontina commanded a Shadow Ball at Cheeto, hitting hard as the Turtle Pokemon struggled to stay standing. She attempted to command a confuse ray from Haunter, only to find the thing unconscious in a puddle of water. When everyone noticed, they say Daichi's Piplup had used Brine. It was stronger than was being lead on to be. When Fontina realized what was happening, Loki was back up and bit Mismagius, again nonsensical, but effective. While it tried to return the blow via Psybeam, a second brine from Piplup, and Fantina's team had been vanquished.

Dylan was panting. "Daichi! You did great! Those Brines hit right when they needed to."

"Oui! You three have earned your badges. Félicitations!" Fantina handed out the badges.

"Good job, Daichi. Dylan." It was obvious that the message from earlier still weighed heavily on Shelby's mind. She tucked the badge away. "Let's get going. There's no time to waste." She recalled Cheeto, as he was too slow to keep out anymore. She led the group outside and Eastward, towards the gate.

"Geh... Where is that boy? Wasn't that the way punks challenge each other?" Ricky pondered this, scratching his head as he watched his friends leave. He chose to wait a few minutes before standing up, "I even told the others that he attacked me so that they would scatter about in fear..." Ricky raised an eyebrow, Am- am I bad with people!?"

Sweating nervously over his new realization, Ricky began to pace, "Is that why he didn't come? Is that why Shelby and Dylan were so friendly? Were they pitying me because I had no friends?" He deduced expertly, he stopped, brandishing a smile, "That's impossible! The big punks wait for their challengers to come to them!"

"Hm... He probably has underlings for me first, maybe a beautiful woman or a boy with scruffy hair..." Ricky said to himself, he dropped his fist into his open palm, "I'll make myself strong!" And Ricky was off.

+++

"Weird alert..." Richie said nervously, paying a bit more attention to that than Ran, then turning when he heard her voice, "Ah! Sorry 'bout that, Ran! M'name's Richie! This here's my partner, Prinplup!"

Before waiting for a response, Richie turned to the gym, then back to Ran, "You wanna take out the Gym? I saw some others walkin' in there and they're already out?"

Ian finally found the Chapel. He spotted Richie inside talking to some woman. "Richie there you are. Finally found you." Ian looked at the woman. "Wait, Ran? What are you doing here? I thought you were traveling with Shelby?" It wasn't until they both stared at him that he realized he was interrupting a conversation. "Oh, sorry."

Michael decided it would be better to catch up to everyone and see if they heard it as well later, and first focus on the Gym. Heading into the Gym Michael easily marches through the Gym Trainers with Sparky and Slash easily destroying them using Bite and Feint Attack. Upon reaching Fantina Michael swapped Sparky and Slash out instead utilizing Mr. Fish with his Bite and Horn with his Night Slash the super effective dark attacks easily making short work of Fantina's Ghost pokemon. Grinning at how easy the battle was Michael picked up the gym badge before he headed out the door of the gym to heal before he set out on Route 209 toward the next Gym, clearly in a rush to get out of here now before the bug showed back up again.

"Shelby wanted to split paths, so I decided to respect that. Good to see you again Ian. Who's your friend? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter too much. The gym is a relevant issue. But we could put it off for later too. Make it fifth instead of third if you two would prefer. Either way, I'd prefer we go south once we do leave town..."

"That's th' they to Pastoria, right? Beh, I was never good with Sinnoh's geographical features..." Richie admitted, "My team is pretty bad against Levitating Ghost-types, so I'm gonna head south an' get some trainin' in."

Richie looked at Ian, it looked like he had something to say, "Ya look in a hurry, Ian, 'sup?"

+++

Ricky sped pass Richie's group, not paying attention to them and ran into the gym, "I'll take out Fantina to buff my team for the upcoming battle!"

Ian looked at Richie. He was about to ask Richie about guy who said assaulted him, but he stopped to look at Ran. "Wait what? What friend?" Ian turned around. Back at the entrance to the Chapel, Allison's head was sticking out from behind the door. When she saw Ian turn around and look at her, she quickly hid behind the door. "Her again?" Ian asked himself. He turned back towards Richie and Ran. "I'll be right back." Ian quietly walked over to the exit, hiding behind the door. When Allison didn't see Ian again, she tried to enter the Chapel herself. Before she could see him, Ian grabbed her from behind.

"Hey get off!" She shouted. Ian spun her around and pushed her towards the wall.

"Sshh! Quiet down! This isn't a place to yell." Ian said in a quieter than normal voice. "Now I don't know why you're following me, but this is the third time I've caught you doing it. So tell me. Why are you following me?" Ian said, putting his face closer to Allison's.

"Well....I....uh...." Allison kept trying to form an explanation or an excuse, but she was distracted by Ian just staring at her.

Ian sighed. He let go of her shoulders and backed away from her. "Forget it, if you're gonna continue to follow me, you can't keep acting like some type of creepy stalker. You're free to join use whenever you want too." Ian turned around and walked back towards Ran and Richie. He was gonna bring up Ricky, but with Ran and that girl now here, he felt it wasn't the right time. "I'll tell you later. Whatever you guys decide to do, I'll follow you. Personally, I think I could beat Fantina but a little training never hurt."

Ricky burst into the gym doors, twirling about excitedly, "Another gym badge awaits me!" Having blazed through the gym trainers with Drapion, he was finally met with Fantina.

"Oh? Anozher trainer? Zhere have been quite a lot of you recently, non?" Fantina said, twirling and posing majestically, "No matter... Is the job of a gym leader to accept challenges, yes?" She sent out a Duskull.

"Ohohoh!" Ricky chuckled, brandishing one of his Pokeballs, "Let's enjoy this, shall we?" He swung the ball into the air and with a flash, a Munchlax dropped to the ground, flexing his arms, "Lax!"

"A normal-type? You prepared for zis considerably haven't you?" Fantina asked with a smile, "Duskull use Confuse Ray!" The Duskull did as commanded, shooting a peculiar beam of light at Munchlax, confusing it.

Munchlax wobbled about, not even waiting for a command before punching itself, "Munchlax!"

"Duskull! Pursuit!" Fantina's Duskull slammed into Munchlax.

"That's not good, Munchlax switch!" Ricky called out holding out his ball.

"Non non non, Duskull, use Pursuit again!" Fantina ordered with a magnificent twirl, "Hit him as he retreats!" "Skull!" Duskull grunted, floating towards Munchlax then striking him again before the Pokeball could call him back.

"Go Drapion!" Ricky shouted, flinging Drapion's Pokeball into the air. "Draaa!" Drapion growled. "Drapion, hit her with Bite!" Drapion guffawed loudly the plowed his fangs into the Duskull, KOing it immediately.

"Draahahah!" Drapion bellowed again.

"Zhat's quite the Jolly Drapion you have zhere." Fantina remarked, chuckling as Drapion's laughter seemed to be contagious, after giggling with the Pokemon, Fantina threw another Pokeball, sending out Haunter, "I am sorry, my jovial friend... But I am going to have to end that laughter!"

"You don't need to do that," Ricky said with a smile, pulling out another Pokeball, "Drapion, switch with Bastiodon!"

"Bas!!" The wall face Pokemon roared, stomping on the ground.

"Hm? I am intrigued, to say zhe least." Fantina said, "Haunter, use Shadow Ball!"

Bastiodon shrugged the blast off as if it had never happened, "Let's see how strong your spears are in comparison to my strongest shield!" Ricky said, boisterously.

+++

"I say we head out, some training never hurt." Richie said, walking off in the direction of the exit

"Then it's settled. Loop through to Pastoria, and then to Veilstone. And once the circle's complete, then we'll battle here." Ran was pleased with the outcome. She was worried the others would want to head east, since she was almost certain that would be the direction Shelby would be heading. This way, things should work out perfectly, meeting up at the resort near Lake Valor.

"Oh, one last bit of buisness. I've put this off too long. Kallen! Ran brought her Burmy by her side. It was wearing a cloak of rock and sand that it must have gathered in the cave in Correnet. Ran bent down and fed it a Rare Candy, imitatively evolving it into a Wormadam.

"There Much better. No more changing cloaks when I need consistency. And the Ground typing will be of use to me as well. Well, shall we go?" Ran led the group southward. Immediately, the large mansion on the route became apparent.

Ricky tapped his foot on the ground in tandem with Bastiodon, "Groovy! Bastiodon, slam it with Ancientpower!" Stones hovered around Bastiodon, he stomped his foot again, shooting the stones towards Haunter.

"Baaaah!" Bastiodon felt a surge of power being released within him, Ancientpower had made him stronger!

"Hoh? My luck is running out, non?" Fantina had a worried expression, "Haunter! Shadow Ball! Do not let zhe Bastiodon spook you!"

"Too crazy!" Ricky said, spinning a Pokeball on his pinky finger. Again, Bastiodon absorbed the blast, though it lowered his Sp. Defense to normal levels. "Bastiodon, hit home with Ancientpower!"

Haunter fell after the spray of stones connected, "Oof, Haunter!" Fantina coughed, sending out Mismagius, "My chances of winning are looking dimmer and dimmer. Mismagius, use Shadow Ball!"

Bastiodon was hammered by a critical hit Shadow Ball, but he still did not fall, "That's enough, Bastiodon, go Drapion!"

"Drahahah!" Drapion guffawed, looming over Mismagius.

"End it with Bite!" Ricky commanded. And with that, the battle was over.
 
"Magnifique!" Fantina cried, "I was completely overwhelmed!"

"Are you confessing your love to me?" Ricky asked with a raised eyebrow.

As Ian walked behind Richie and Ran, he spotted a huge mansion. "Wow. That's the Pokemon Mansion, right? Do we need any pokemon from there?" Ian looked behind him. "How about you, girly?" Allison was following the group a few steps back instead of actual sneaking, showing Ian that she did indeed choose to go with their group. But she was being very antisocial at the moment.

"No I don't." Allison said. Why did I even follow these guys? Allison thought to herself. I was doing just fine on my own. She looked up. "And my name's not girly, it's A-" She stopped herself as she noticed Ian had turned back around, no longer paying attention to her. She looked down. "What a jerk."

Ran got down to Allison's level.

"I think you need to be more assertive if you don't want to be ignored. Don't worry dear, you're still young, and the nice thing about being young is you still have the chance to decide who you are. If you want, it's not to late for you to become a completely different person."

Allison looked at Ran. "A completely different person..." She repeated to herself. She looked back towards Ian and Richie, who were waiting for the two girls. Allison walked toward Ian, stopping right in front of him. She got on her tip toes, the only she could reach Ian's face. "My name is Allison, not girly." She said. Ian looked at her a couple seconds, not showing any emotion. Than he started to laugh. Allison looked confused.

"Alright Allison. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Ian. Of course, you might know that already since you've been following me. And since you've introduced yourself to us, no more sneaking around and no more being a loner. You stay with the group. Got it?" Allison was surprised. She expected Ian to start yelling at her or push her back. This was completely unexpected.

"Uh....got it." Allison said.

Ian clapped his hands. "Good. Now than, Ran where should we go to train?"

Richie smiled when he saw Allison's quick change, "Oh, Ian, you've got yourself a cute l'il beaut', ah?" He snickered then turned to Ran, and began to whisper, "We should 'just so happen' to have restless leg syndrome an' walk ahead of 'em, yeah?"

"Well, we won't be able to get too far. It is getting late, and we will have to rest sooner or later. And I don't know about you, but getting stuck in the mud when it's pitch black out doesn't sound like a good idea. I heard back in Hearthome that Backlot keeps spare rooms for guests. We might as well go into the mansion, train in the garden, and sleep the night there." Ran said to Richie before she started to walk.

"Come on everyone, you don't want to fall behind do you?"

So you want to be a different person? You just might get your wish...

Shelby led the group out westward. She wanted to make it to Solacion before going to bed for the night. But more importantly, she wanted to evolve Tofu. She challenged everyone she could find, grinding out those last few levels until the tiny Ralts became a Kirlia. With no hesitation at all, she then exposed it to the Dawn Stone. In moments, what was once a foot tall Ralts was now a five foot tall Gallade.

As the trio walked they passed one of a series of piles of stones arranged into a tower. Shelby was walking slightly too close to one and ended up kicking one of the base stones out of position. The dark sky grew darker. From the pile of stones sprung a swirling purple fog with a demon like face. And in it's rage, it attacked.

Dylan sprung into action. His first act as a bodyguard. First, he tried attacking with Belfry, but the only attack the thing knew was Extrasensory. So instead, he went with confuse ray to distract it before switching out for Loki. The bat Pokemon struck at the demon with it's wings, but it was of little use. The Spiritomb put Loki to sleep with Hypnosis and before Dylan could prep an awakening, it struck with Dreameater. The Golbat passed out in it's resulting night terror. Trying to regain momentum, Dylan ordered Donnel to use Flame Wheel, but even though it struck, the end result was the same. At one point, Dylan attempted to throw a Pokeball at it, but missed horribly, instead catching a Roselia that was watching the fight from the background.

One by one, Dylan's Pokemon fell to the creature. And then the Spiritomb got tired of playing games. It floated up to Dylan's face. intending on doing the same thing to him. Just when it seemed to be the end, the creature was engulfed in a red light. Before Dylan knew what was happening, he saw a Pokeball click in front of him. Daichi picked it up.

"I-i didn't know what to do. I panicked..."

"Daichi. You saved me. Thanks... Hey Shelby. Let's get to Solacion before we mess with any more of these towers things and another of those freaks out."

Before leaving, Dylan used the rocks from the ruined tower to spell out Danger. But he didn't have enough for the full word, so he just did it in Braille. The group got to Solacion and settled down for the night in the Pokemon center after a much needed meal and heal.

Richie chuckled, "What a buzzkill," he smiled, "Wouldn't th' biggest thread in this world be another beta tester? So long as we stay away from any dangerous ones we should be fine. I mean, unless some Pokemon gets curious."

Richie thought to himself for a second before shrugging, "I don't have a problem with sleeping over the fancyman's place, let's do it."

+++

"I wonder where they all went, I could have sworn there were more people about." Ricky muttered to himself, "I think I'll pay Mr. Backlot a visit."

Rushing on his bike to catch up to the others, as Michael decided it would be better to stick as a group in case the bug attacked again he managed to arrive in Solaceon shortly after the others settled into their rooms. Thinking they were still further ahead of him he decided to heal up his pokemon and get a room to head off to sleep quickly. Michael wanted to be able to get up early tomorrow and set out hoping to catch up soon.

((this is the next morning for my characters))

Aryeh and Allana met up outside the Pokémon Center, ready to set out to Route 209 towards Solaceon Town.  Allana was still feeling slightly down about the reveal about the virtual world.

"I'm finding it hard to go on" Allana sighed "My whole life is made of false memories."

"What matters is that you make real memories.  Right now, you are your own person. Ever since this virtual world was established, you functioned as your own person without any further programming.  You can make whatever memories you want now and get fired up to be the best Trainer you can be."

"Thanks for the pep talk" Allana tried to smile "It's still going to take getting used too."

"Well let's just keep going.  As fun as the Pokémon World is, I can't stay here forever so I need access to the Hall of Fame and that emergency exit before the virus thing finds us."

The two Trainers exited Hearthome and walked along Route 209.

"I was playing a handheld game in Sinnoh once and I met a Shiny Psyduck along here" said Aryeh "Unfortunately my attack hit it too hard and it fainted."

"That must have been terrible" replied Allana "Shinies are really rare so missing out on getting one... yeah..."

"Anyway, I must upgrade my HM mon here" said Aryeh, walking into the grass looking for what he needed.

It didn't take long for it to show up.  Bibarel appeared and attacked!  Aryeh sent out his Staravia which knocked Bibarel down to low health.  Aryeh threw a Pokéball at the Bibarel.  It wobbled and clicked; Bibarel was caught.

"Alright!  Now when I get to the Pokémon Center, I can swap out my Bidoof for the Bibarel and have a Pokémon with more room for the HMs."

"Well, I'm going to train against some other Trainers then" said Allana.

"I'll do the same then, meet you in front of the Hallowed Tower" Aryeh smiled.

"What's that?  Sorry, I haven't travelled out this far before" asked Allana.

"The thing that looks like a well.  Be careful though, sometimes Spiritombs come out.  Though from what I remember, it's only if you've interacted with a bunch of people underground.  Not sure how the rules work in this game though."

"Still not really comfortable about calling this a game."

"Oh right, sorry!"

+++

The two Trainers fought the rest of the enemy Trainers on the route, levelling up their Pokémon.  Aryeh's Cranidos and Staravia were close to evolving real soon.  Rotom had also caught up in the way of levels.  Aryeh and Allana met up at the Hallowed Tower, a good landmark to regroup.  It was quite damaged, as if it had been knocked into numerous times over the years.

"I'm gonna peak inside" said Aryeh.

Aryeh inched closer to the tower when a big blur lept out of it!  Floating in the air in front of them was Spiritomb, the Pokémon said to be made of souls.

"Well, I was half expecting that but not fully expecting that" said Aryeh.

"I thought you said you needed to talk to underground people to find a Spiritomb!" Allana yelled.

"That virus thing came from the Underground.  Viruses could count as infinite people underground or something and activate the requirements for Spiritomb" Aryeh concluded.

"Well that thing is about to attack so I'm going to fight it!" Allana exclaimed "Go Crobat!  Use Wing Attack!"

Crobat flew at the Spiritomb, intercepting the oncoming attack.  Spiritomb span around before using Ominous Wind.  Crobat flew backwards to lessen the impact.

"Wing Attack, keep at it!" Allana instructed her Crobat.

Crobat continued to fly at the Spiritomb, hitting the Ghost with its wings.  Spiritomb used Ominous Wind again in response.

"This thing is tough, I'm catching it" Allana grinned "Get caught!"

Allana threw the ball at Spiritomb, covering it in the red light.  The ball fell to the ground and shook for a few moments.  Click!  Spiritomb was captured.

"Well I figure we should get out of here.  This well could produce a ton more Spiritombs and if that virus counts as lots of people, it could be infinite people and infinite Spiritombs or something" said Aryeh.

"If another Spiritomb or two show up, that's somebody else's problem.  One of those other Beta Testers maybe" added Allana.

Both of them had sufficiently trained for now and walked up to Solaceon Town and straight to the Pokémon Center.  Aryeh switched out Bidoof for Bibarel while waiting for his Pokémon to heal up.  They wouldn't stay here for too long.  They'd pick up more supplies from the Mart and then head up to Veilstone City.

Meanwhile coming down from the other side of the town, Donovan entered Solaceon.

Ran led the group of four to the mansion. The security guards had a bit of a fit but when they explained they were just seeking board and didn't intend on stealing anything, they were allowed in. The maids lead them to their rooms which were nice, but somewhat minimalist to reduce the urge to steal anything. Still, the beds were confortable enough where it was easy to fall asleep in them. The next morning, Ran informed everyone she would be spending the early morning in the trophy garden if they were looking for her.

Shelby awoke up in the early morning hours and was unable to fall back asleep. She sat on the edge of her bed and watched Dylan and Daichi sleep awhile, still exhausted and groggy. Today's going to just suck, I can feel it. Whenever I wake up this early, the day is awful... Might just be because I'm tired, but I can't shake this feeling of dread... I'm not sure why. Could I just be worried about the anomalies? She sighed and pushed up off of the bed, deciding to train until the others woke up. She ended up with Cheeto evolving into a Torterra, Winter evolving into a Staraptor, and Demyx, after holding off for so long, evolving into a Floatzel.

When she returned to their room, the sun had just begun to rise. She'd returned to their room and brought back freshly brewed tea, bacon and biscuits that were baked that morning. The smell was intoxicatingly good.

Dylan and Daichi were gracious for the breakfast, happily accepting.

"So, what's our next move. I mean, I know we've gotta head to Veilstone, but I doubt every gym'll let us triple battle with Daichi. Gotta get him in shape for whatever comes his way. yeah?"

"Er-right. I suppose that I can't end up relying on you two too much..."

"Our entire way to Veilstone, he's going to train." Shelby left little room for discussion. "Train, and maybe capture another Pokemon. Spiritomb is a good start, but it's easier to win when you've got many different Pokemon with different types and moves to work with. Your Piplup seems strong, too- would you consider evolving it? That'd increase its strength. You don't have to if you don't want to, but if we're looking at this from a statistics standpoint, there's no comparison."

Shelby put the dishes from breakfast aside. "Whatever you decide, we need to get moving." Little did they know, she had an alternative motive for wanting to rush. She wanted to gamble.

"Er, well. You see, the main reason I even held it back was so it'd get some moves sooner, but I forgot it wouldn't learn metal claw. We'd have to go all the way to Pastoria for that. Maybe I'll hold it off a little longer. Whe it comes time, it'll go straight from Piplup to Empolion in only a couple battles, and then I can have the move tutor take care of it..."

"Sounds like a plan then. I've gotta work on Lainee anyway." Dylan called his new Roselia to his side.

The group moved northward. Past the Milk Cafe and into the rainy fields. As they started to travel they they notieced a strange glow around a corner. A faceless figure.

"Holy shit... is that the anomaly the announcement was talking about..."

"Multitude exists to destroy..." The figure responded before generating bursts of energy from it's hands. The members of the group barely dodged out of the way as they realized what was going on. They scattered. Hoping to confuse it, but it didn't care. It just went around focusing on one person after another. Try as they might have with their Pokemon, little seemed to be of any effect until Daichi brought out Spiritomb.

"Ominous Wind!" Daichi commanded. As Spiritomb breathed gusts of spirit energy, the thing reeled.

"Paranormal Interference disrupting form stability..."

Daichi took it as a sign of weakness. He ordered a flurry of Ominous Winds, and by the time Spiritomb was out, it retreated by phasing out of existence. Still, it's attempts didn't leave the place untouched. Holes were in many of the surrounding bridges and cliffs.

"Shit. We got lucky there. You know Daichi, you're better than you give yourself credit for."

"All I did was notice when it was phases by my move. We should keep going."

Waking up Michael collected his pokemon and got some food to eat on the go. He was going to simply march a straight line toward Veilstone today. Defeat all the wild pokemon in his way and get there faster. He needed better stronger pokemon in case that thing showed up and he had to make sure he could beat the gyms easily so as to keep moving. Fairly quickly he came to the place where Shelby and the others had fought the multitude. "Shit looks like it is really still attacking. Though looks like I am catching up to the others." He said beginning to rush faster as he looked up and could just barely make out the shape of some people further ahead of him through the rain.

Shelby was obviously shaken by the encounter, with her skin turning paler than usual. She didn't say another word, instead dashing ahead, running towards Veilstone. She wasn't sure how long that anomaly would be gone, but she had no way of knowing when it would be back. Jesus... What was that thing? Obviously, it's the anomaly, but I mean, like what is it....? I knew today would be awful. I wonder if the Casino has booze...

By the time she got to Veilstone, she was soaking wet and panting from running so long. Once she got to the city, she decided that walking would be best. She headed straight to the Casino, and was handed a Coin Purse and a small handful of coins to use. I betcha they do that because they hope you'll lose 'em and want to keep playing. She ordered a drink and sat down at a slot machine, and started to play. Shelby looked like a wreck, especially with the dark circles under her eyes. However, she almost instantly hit a hot streak on the slots and just kept winning more and more coins. Random NPCs were gathered around, impressed by her sheer luck.

Ian woke up an hour after Ran had gone to the Trophy Garden. "Man, another early morning." Ian said, looking at his Poketch. He looked at the three pokeballs that sat next to his bed. "Hm. Since I'm up, I should really get some training done." Ian was gonna ask Richie, but he was still sleeping. When he walked into Allison's room, she was sleeping as well. "C'mon Allison, we're gonna get some training done." Ian said, trying to shake her awake. She turned over in her sleep and muttered something along the lines of "Too early". "Fine. I'll train by myself." Ian said. Ian walked out of the room and down the hall, finding the entrance to the garden. He sent out all three of his pokemon. "Alright guys. Let's get to work." There were a ton of pokemon in the garden, allowing a lot of training to be done. When Ian blew his his whistle to call his pokemon back for a break, he was happy to see both Grotle and Golbat had evolved into Torterra and Crobat. Aipom hadn't evolved, but was happy to show off she had learned Double Hit.

"Aipom!" The pokemon cried out after showing the partially destroyed tree trunk she used Double Hit on. Ian patted her head.

"Good job Aipom. One more level and you'll evolve like the others." Ian said. He took out some berries from his bag and divided them amongst the three pokemon. He looked back towards the mansion to see Allison, still dressed in pajamas.

"What are you doing out here? Especially in pajamas?" Ian asked, examining the outfit.

She yawned. "I heard the whistle and wanted to see what's going on." She walked over to Torterra and went to pet his head when he bit the air near her hand, causing her to fall backwards in fear. He still remembered when she tried to tackle Ian back at Amity Square. Ian stood up and walked towards Torterra.

"Whoa there big guy. She's a friend. This is Allison. Alright? So no biting." Ian said, looking back at Allison.

"Tor." The pokemon grunted. It turned around and sat back down, Crobat landing on it's tree to rest.

Ian walked towards Allison, still on the ground, and extended his hand. "Sorry about that Allison." Allison stared at his, trying to hide her blushing face. This time, she accepted his help as he picked her up. "I guess he needs some time. Why don't you get dressed and train with us? That way Torterra can get used to you."  

Allison looked down. "Uh....sure." She turned around and jogged back to the mansion and went back to her room. What's wrong with me? She thought as she was getting dressed. Almost every time I see him my heart feels like it wants to jump out of my chest. She put on a shirt and and a pair of jeans from her bag and grabbed her bag. Five minutes later, she was outside where Ian was. He was sitting on Torterra's back, Aipom on his back and Crobat still on Torterra's tree.

"Finally. Well let's see your pokemon." Ian said, encouraging her. She started to blush again, but Allison stopped herself and took out her three pokeballs. She threw all of them into the air, releasing her Prinplup, Vespiquen and Bronzor. "O-okay guys. Let's get some training done."

Daichi and Dylan had trouble keeping up. Shelby ended up getting ahead of them fairly easily as they stopped about half way to catch their breath.

"Geeze. She runs. Fast. So much. For being a bodyguard." Dylan spat the words out between breaths.

"Well, it's fine either way. I think it's time for me to take her advise." Daichi said pointing at a Scyther in the grass.

"Nice pick. Those things are deadly buggers. You want help or-"
"I got this." Daichi already had his Piplup at the ready. He struck when the Scyther had it's back turned with a peck attack. The blow hit hard. When it turned around to try and retaliate, it was getting a Bubblebeam to the face. The thing didn't even get in one shot before Daichi threw a Net Ball at it. 1. 2. 3. Click.

"Woooow. That was awesome. I don't know where the lack of confidence comes from. You're better than you say you are."

"I can focus better when the Pokemon are out of the ball. It calms me I guess. So that's how I can make my hits count. But the moment the Pokemon go back in the ball, that level of calmness they provide goes away." You could actually hear it in Daichi's voice as he spoke. When he stated to talk about the Pokemon go back in the ball, he recalled his Piplup, and his voice became a lot less assertive, even weaker.

"You know why that is?"

"No. I'll think about it though I guess."

"Let's get to Veilstone and find Shelby. Let's not run too fast this time though. My lungs are still on fire."

Richie yawned, stretching is arms outward, he went to rub his eyes, but noticed his hands were still dirtied from yesterday's night shift, "Aaawwwwwwwwwwn... I did it...!" Richie announced weakly, he crawled out of the bed, smiling at his own achievement; in the form of a Lopunny, and Machoke, and a newly caught Quagsire, who had just woken up as well, "Mornin' guys. D'ya see where Ran n' Ian went?"

His Pokemon all shrugged, "That's fine, she mighta jut went out to the garden to relax," Richie stretched again. He looked down, just realizing he was wearing a different outfit, "Was I really that muddy...? That I was stripped in the middle if th' night a dressed?"

"Oh! Mr. Richie, you are awake. Ms. Ran is in the trophy garden. Also, your clothes are dry." One of Backlot's maids said with a bow, placing a basket down at Richie's feet.

"Thanks, give my regards to Backlot for me!" Richie said with a smile, as the maid left, Richie dressed himself then left for the Trophy Garden, "Ran?"

While Dylan and Daichi were busy training and catching pokemon Michael continued his rush into Veilstone before catching a glimpse of what looked like Shelby as she entered the Casino. Following after her Michael first stopped off to have his pokemon healed before he too entered the Casino. Quickly he was able to find her as he heard her celebrating her winnings. Struggling through a few people Michael managed to come up behind Shelby as she won some more. Reaching out he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Dang. Got rid of Ran and suddenly your the luckiest girl ever aren't you Shelby?" He teased her not aware of how shaken she was or how him coming suddenly up behind her would cause her to act.

Ran had been exercising her Pokemon. Ichigo had evolved into a Drifblim, and she had acquired a Pikachu whom she named Mikoto. When she saw Richie enter the garden, she recalled everyone and sat on the stairs to rest.

"Good Morning Richie. I was just getting in some slightly overdue training. I suppose I've been a tad preoccupied. But that's what these solo training sessions are for. Then again, I suppose you would know Mr Graveyard Shift." Ran mused.

Shelby jumped and turned around at Michael's touch. Her face was flushed from the several drinks she'd had already. "I can get lucky any time I want, these macheeens, they're all broken anyways..." Her voice was slurred as she pulled the lever on the slot machine again. Another several coins fell from the machine as she won again. She'd been drinking to try and forget what she'd seen earlier. "I bet that fuckin' piece of shit anomolomolie can't do half as well as I can, I could be in Vegas already and nobody could do a thing to stop me!"

Michael laughed as he saw how drunk Shelby was, reaching out to place his hand over her current drink and pushed it down away from her. "I think you have had a few too many of these. Come on let's get you to a bed before you start testing what you can do without people being able to stop you." He said collecting her coins for her as he tried to lift her away from the machine.

"I just got out of bed, I'm not going back in alone!" Shelby's voice raised some. "I'll tell you when I've had enough, you asshole, let go of me!" She was clinging to the machine for dear life, kicking her legs at Michael. "If we go outside the glowing monater will keel us, du dum idiot! ((You stupid jerk))"

As Ian soon found out, Allison's team wasn't as coordinated as his was. Her Bronzor had evolved into Bronzong, but only because it had used Extransensory on her Vespiquen, accidentally knocking the bee pokemon out. She quickly used a Revive on her Vespiquen. Her Vespiquen and Bronzong than proceeded to get into a fight, which had to broken up by Crobat's Confuse Ray. Her Prinplup was the only one that actually listened to Allison completely, but it was constantly getting paralyzed because it kept challenging wild Pikachu. In the middle of  battle, Prinplup surprised her by evolving into Empoleon, using it's new move Aqua Jet to defeat a Pikachu. When Allison went to congratulate it, Vespiquen and Bronzong snapped out of their confusion and continued to fight. Sighing, she recalled the two pokemon and walked over to Ian, sitting down on a nearby rock with Empoleon behind her.

"Well that was.....something." Ian said. "At least Prinplup and Bronzor evolved." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah but they wouldn't stop fighting. What am I supposed to do if I get in a double battle?" She said, her face in her hands. Ian sat next to her on the rock.

"You have to stay in command. If they start fighting again, you have to take charge and tell them to stop. If you let them continue to do what they want to do, you'll never be able to control them."

Allison looked at him. "You sound like you know from experience."

Ian stood up and shrugged. "Let's just say little kids are a lot like pokemon when they go wild. Now than, how about we find Ran and wake up Richie and see if we can get some breakfast or something." Allison nodded in agreement. She stood up and recalled Empoleon, watching as Ian recalled both Crobat and Torterra but not Aipom.

"Aipom likes to ride on my back." Ian explained to Allison as they walked through the garden. "Of course, when she evolves she'll be too big for that."

"Ai?" Aipom tilted her head in confusion.

Dylan and Daichi made way to Veilstone, Dylan's Golbat evolving along the way. They then started to look around for Shelby. Dylan poked his head in the Gym, saw that Shelby's name wasn't on the winner's plague, and moved on. Daichi checked every floor of the department store. Dylan checked the Pokemon Center, and Daichi poked around the Meteorites. Eventually, they both met outside the Game Corner.

'Now Daichi, this is a place of debauchery and sin, so I want you to stay outside. Now, I hope to mew she's not in here, but this is the only place we haven't checked so- oh wait. There she is. Like I said, you wait here."

Dylan walked inside, plugging his nose at the smell of the alcohol fumes. He noticed Shelby wrestling with Michael when he walked up.

"Woah, woah, woah. Bodyguard coming through. What's goin on here?"

Michael frowned at Shelby before leaning in to whisper into her ear. "Ok but I hope you know a way to get out of a crowd when the "anomolomolie" appears in this crowded building and everyone panics." He says looking at Shelby to see if she would calm down upon thinking over the location she picked. "I will protect you don't worry but first you need to go get some rest before you are too sick to even escape it." He says reaching up to softly stroke over her neck hoping to keep her calm enough to get her to a room before the alchol would start to make her sick.

"Oh whatever, you weird.... Dylan!" Shelby waved over Michael's shoulder at Dylan. "I was winning so much at the slawt macheen, but then Michael came over and he's tryna stop me from playing... You know, you two are pretty handsome..." She had a grin on her face. "Let's go wreck the gym! I wanna go to the beach south of here and go swimming with you guys. We could go skinny dipping!"

Dylan's nose started bleeding rather rapidly.

Holy shit... holy shit... this is a thing...

"Ahem. As her official body guard, I take it upon myself to take care of her. Thank you Michael for finding her, we'll be making our leave now." Dylan took Shelby's hand and led her out of the slot machine. He knew they couldn't take on the gym or travel with her as she was, so Dylan took Shelby to the Pokemon Center and sat her down. He gave Daichi some cash and sent him on a supply run to the department store.

"Okay, in a few hours, you'll be feeling like hell, but your head'll be a lot clearer."

Carrying Shelby's winnings Michael followed behind Dylan making sure Chim Chim and Sparky were free of their pokeballs as his hands were full before he sat beside Dylan and Shelby. "Ya I aint leaving her alone like this. Plus what good to you think you would do if the multitude showed up with the drunk horny girl clinging all over you?" Michael said as he released Horn and Slash and Crackers as well. Leaving Mr. Fish in his pokeball due to how large he was. "And I aint planning to travel solo. I met up with that thing before the announcement was made. I even saw it attack another beta tester and almost kill him. Whether you guys like it or not I am gunna be traveling with you guys now." He stated rather matter of factually.

"I am not drunk, you're drunk!" Shelby exclaimed angrily at Michael. "I think we need to keep going though. Really! I'm fine to go, sitting here isn't helping matters. I feel wonderful, let's just goooo." She got up, albeit a bit wobbly, and began to head for the gym. "You guys can come with or stay behind, I'm gonna go fuck Maylene!" For being drunk, she was surprisingly fast.

Dammit...

Dylan got on his bike. He could outrun her on it. He sped for the gym, planning on blocking Shelby's path. Unfortunately, when he arrived, he had trouble stopping and crashed through the door.

"When a blonde girl shows up, stop her form challenging anyone... She's too blitzed to funtion..." Dylam murmured through a concussion. The once doorway of the gym was blocked off. Dylan's crash made for the perfect excuse to close for a while. Daichi caught up with them with a bag full of supplies, chasing after them when the PC's nurse told them what had happened.

"Oh, heh, you knew 'bout that, ah?" Richie chuckled nervously, brushing some dirt off of his hands, "So you're getting some training done, are ya?" He tried to trail the woman's focus away from himself.

"You know who Dylan is, right?" Richie asked, roosting his crossed arms behind his head, "I wanna battle 'im, but I don't know where he is?"

Shelby saw Dylan crashed outside the gym and seemed confused. "Oh no, you crashed..." She seemed confused by the scene. "So I can't go inside? Oh come onnnnn!" She whined. "Fine, fine, I'll go back to the Pokemon Center, but I'm reporting all of you to the police for this, it's unacceptable and-" She threw up. "I'm ready to go home now...." She groaned.

Grinning Michael turns to Dylan as Shelby began walking off, standing up as well. "For a body guard. Your doing a pretty poor job." He grins quickly following after Shelby as he decides he might as well fight the gym as well. Knowing how small the gym was he decided to leave Gyarados in his pokeball as he would be too large for the gym plus it would be great training for his other pokemon. Coming upon the gym he stops to laugh as he sees Dylan's bike on the ground. "Well he really needs to work on protecting his own body if he plans to protect anyone else's body.

Turning he sees Shelby throw up running over to stroke her back gently as he has Crackers water gun down the street to clean up the throw up somewhat. "Told you you needed to rest" He says softly stroking his fingers over her neck to sooth it probably hurting after the throw up came up. "Come on lets get you a bed." He says as he leads her back to the pokemon center.

"Not sure. But if we don't meet him along this road, that means he went east at Hearthome. So we'll meet near Lake Valor. Feel free to have a showdown there. I'm sure it'll be a spectacle for all to see." Ran stood and started to walk back into the building.

"We should track down Ian and Allison. I'm sure they're awake by now. Then we can head off to Pastoria."

After walking through the Trophy Garden, Ian and Allison finally found Ran and Richie at the back door of the mansion. "Ah there you guys are." Ian said as they approached the two. While they were walking towards the other duo, Aipom's ears started to shake. She jumped off Ian's back and ran into down another path. When Ian turned to run after, Allison walked forward.

"I'll go get her." She said. She ran down the path chasing after Aipom. Ian turned back towards Richie and Ran.

"Anyway, Allison and I just finished training. I was gonna ask if you guys wanna get something to eat before we leave."

***

Allison started to walk, trying to find Aipom. "Hey Aipom, where'd you go?" She called out. She spotted the monkey pokemon sitting in the middle of the road, staring at a bush. "Aipom what are you doing?" Allison asked the stationary pokemon. She picked up Aipom, who's ears were still shaking. "What is it Aipom? What are you looking at?" She turned towards the large bush, which had started to shake. "Is it a pokemon?" Allison asked herself, slowly walking towards the bush. She fell backwards as a figure emerged from the bush. A faceless figure.

"Multitude exists to destroy." It said.

Ian turned around as Allison's scream was heard throughout the garden.

"What the-? What's that munchkin heffin' about?" Richie asked, swinging his hands into his pockets, "We should check out what's happening." Richie went ahead, following Alison's scream and a strange electric hum coming from the same area.

"The Multitude exists to destroy..." a robotic voice said in monotone.

"What... The?" Richie paused when he came across the scene, a strange glowing figure seemed to be ripping and distorting the world around it, he was stuck, he did not know what to do.

The supplies were bought and so Allana and Aryeh were ready to head off to Veilstone.

"I'm worried that the Multitude will come back" said Aryeh "It caused a lot of chaos."

"Why does it do it?"

"From what it said, it wanted to absorb.  They don't exist to destroy, they exist to absorb things and it causes a lot of destruction in the process.  It could be amassing itself for something" Aryeh concluded.

"You said they but there was only one of them."

"It called itself Multitude.  It's probably some kind of replicating virus that uses the energy it absorbs to keep replicating.  That means it probably plans to take over the entire world and engulf it."

"You think it was put in the world deliberately by some kind of sabotaging guy from your world?" asked Allana.

"Could be.  Not everyone would want this world to keep going" answered Aryeh.

"This world will keep going in its own way, even if somebody else has the technology...somebody more deserving" said a voice.

Aryeh turned around to see Donovan standing there.

"Who are you?" asked Aryeh.

"Heh, my name is Donovan.  I am one of the players of this game.  Like you, I am going to beat the Gyms" explained Donovan.

Allana saw Donovan and felt uncomfortable, almost as if she had met him before somehow.

"Cool" said Aryeh "Where you heading next?"

"Hearthome City.  I started in Pastoria and beat the Veilstone Gym" said Donovan "Now tell me, why are you hanging around with that girl."

"Well... I kind of told her about the real world" Aryeh admitted.

"So she knows about the virtual memories she has?" Donovan said "It's not that simple though.  There is more to it than that."

"You know about this?" asked Allana.

"I do.  I know about you too.  Quite a bit.  Are you feeling like you aren't yourself sometimes?" Donovan grinned sinisterly.

"I am..." said Allana "Even before I found out I was virtual."

"It's for this reason why you can't keep existing, not in this stage anyway.  A merge could break the game" Donovan grabbed on to a Pokéball."

"Wait what!" Aryeh yelled "Don't hurt her, she's a person!"

"She's a person who is incredibly dangerous.  You don't realise how important she is" Donovan hissed "She's on my target list."

"Listen dude, you can be vague all you want about stuff you apparently know that we don't.  However, I'm not going to let you hurt her" said Aryeh.

"Or I'll have to go through you, hm?" Donovan laughed "I'll do that then, prepare to battle!"

Aipom didn't know what the thing in front of her was, but she knew she had to protect Allison from it. She jumped out of Allison's arms and launched a Swift attack towards the strange being.

"Activating Defense Protocol. The being said. It blocked the attack with it's arms, much to the surprise of Aipom and Allison. "Launching Attack Protocol. It charged to orbs of energy and threw them towards Aipom. Acting on instinct, Aipom jumped to avoid the orbs, allowing them to hit Allison square in the chest.

Ian arrived with Ran as Allison fell down to the ground. "Allison! What the heck is that thing?" Ian asked to his companions as it turned towards them.

"Out of game beings detected. Activating Attack Protocol." It charged two more orbs and threw them at Ian, who ducked to avoid them. This time the orbs hit some nearby trees, completely obliterating them.

"This isn't good." Ian released Torterra and Crobat. "Torterra, use Razor Leaf. Crobat use Air Cutter! Keep that thing back!" The two pokemon launched their attacks at the Multitude. This time, they hit their target, but it didn't seem to do much good.

Ran smacked Richie upside the head. "This isn't the time to gawk."

Ran brought out her full team. She commanded Soichiro to use Bubblebeam, Kallen to use Rock Blast, Ichigo to use Omninous Wind, and Mikoto to use Thunderbolt. The Electric and Ghost attacks were totally deflected, but the Water and Rock attacks hit. Particularly, the stones from Rock Blast seemed to strike particularly hard. Something not necessarily about the stones, but the rapid repeated strikes were especially effective. The Multitude entity was reacting to being struck in the same spot in rapid succession.

"Everyone, aim for one spot all at once." Ran yelled as she made the observation.

Ian looked at Ran. "Right. Torterra, Crobat, Aipom. Use Razor Leaf, Air Cutter and Swift and aim at the chest of that thing!" The teenager commanded. The three pokemon stood in a line and launched the attack at the chest of the strange being. The Multitude tried to block, but the attacks were hitting too fast for the being to defend itself. "Keep going guys, give it everything you got!" Ian commanded. The attacks continued to strike the chest of The Multitude.

"Excess Pressure Breaching Defenses." Before the Pokemon could launch another wave, the being disappeared. Gone as fast as it had came. Torterra and Crobat fell to the floor in exhaustion, but Aipom gained a second win when it finally evolved into Ambipom. Ian ran over to Allison, who was barely conscious. "Allison are you okay?" He asked her. When she tried to stand up, Ian had to catch her as she fell.

"I can't even stand." Allison said quietly. "I feel like I just got hit by a truck, my whole body feels weird." She said as Ian sat her down on a rock.

"That'll be 2,100 pYen, please." The cashier at the Pastoria Pokemon Center's deli desk said with a smile. A man of about 22 passed the money across the counter. His hair is honey blonde in color, and appears to have way too much hair gel in, with his hair in spikes, even his bangs, which spiked downwards. He appears to be thin but well muscled, with striking blue eyes. He bore a strong resemblance to someone, but it's hard to place.

He took the food without another word, ate and threw his trash away. He didn't have time to be lingering about. So this is where you've ended up, dear cousin...? This is where I'll make you pay, then. I've finally caught up to you... Shelby.

------------------------

Shelby had laid down at the Pokemon Center after Michael led her back to her room more than willingly, exhausted from running around blind drunk. She'd ended up falling asleep rather quickly, snoring quietly.

Dylan had asked Daichi to keep an eye on Michael and Shelby as he went somewhere. What Michael had said about him not being able to guard himself had been getting to him.

"He's right. Some bodyguard I am if I keep getting into crashes and passing out from embarrassment." Dylan had wandered into the department store where he came across a tailor. He took particular notice in the sigh that said 'Will do Custom Designs'. It was then that Dylan got an idea. He went in, fully expecting to empty his wallet on what he had in mind.

"Gligar, show this kid why his need to protect this girl is pointless!" Donovan exclaimed, sending out his Gligar.

"Ground and Flying" Aryeh said to himself "I gotta brute force this battle."

Aryeh threw the Pokéball and out came Torterra.  Torterra used Mega Drain, absorbing a lot of energy from Gligar.

"Looks like Gligar isn't that tough" Aryeh taunted.

"It's my weakest Pokémon, but I have others" Donovan replied "Gligar, attack with Fury Cutter!"

Gligar slashed at Torterra and did a lot of damage.  Torterra reeled from the attack but pressed on and used Mega Drain again, taking Gligar out and getting some health back.

"You may have regained some of its health but not enough for what comes next!" Donovan shouted "Come forth my Infernape!"

"Oh crap, he's got the Super Effective Starter" Aryeh gasped "Torterra, use Earthquake and quick!"

"Infernape, use Mach Punch and go first!" Donovan instructed his Starter; Infernape dashing over to Torterra and punching it hard before it could use Earthquake.

Torterra hung on with a little bit of health and used Earthquake, weakening Infernape somewhat but not nearly enough.  With one more Mach Punch, Torterra was out cold.

"Return Torterra" Aryeh sighed "Go, Gengar!  Your Fighting Attacks are useless against my Ghost Pokémon!"

"Then I'll just use this!  Infernape, use Punishment!"

"Punishment may be Super Effective but it depends on my stat boosts and I don't have any of those" Aryeh explained "That means even with effectiveness included, it still isn't enough to take out my Gengar."

Donovan clenched his fist.  Aryeh had prepared for Infernapes he may encounter.

"I'll show you how it's done!  Gengar, use Confuse Ray!"

Gengar released a small beam of energy which encircled Infernape's head, making it disoriented.  Aryeh took the opportunity to switch to Staravia, who had a Flying move.  Infernape tried to attack but ended up hitting itself!  Staravia then used Aerial Ace, slashing at Infernape with its wing and defeating it.  Donovan send out his next Pokémon Gyarados.

"See if you can beat my mighty Gyarados" said Donovan "I won't lose again!"

"Again?  Somebody else beat ya?" asked Aryeh.

"He lost to Mars" Allana chimed in.

"Wait, how do you know that?" said Aryeh, confused.

"I... don't know" Allana said, dumbstruck.

"The merge is dangerous you fools!" Donovan yelled "I'll take you both down if I have to!  Gyarados, use Ice Fang!"

Gyarados lept at Staravia, biting down hard with icy teeth.  The attack was Super Effective.  Staravia was brought down to incredibly low health.

"Wow, it's amazing how my Staravia didn't fall there.  It must be good.  Either way, it's not gonna handle another Attack so I'm switching out!" Aryeh recalled his Staravia and send out his Rotom.

"Electric..." Donovan glared "Looks like you have an answer to everything it seems.  Gyarados, use Bite!"

Gyarados bit Rotom, hitting the Ghost with a powerful hit.  However Rotom was still in this.

"Do your best Rotom, use Thundershock!" Aryeh commanded.

"Thundershock is a weak Electric move" laughed Donovan.

"With four times effectiveness plus STAB, it's more than good enough!" Aryeh exclaimed, watching his Rotom zap Gyarados and take it out of the match.

"Tropius, finish this damn match" Donovan sent out his Tropius "Magical Leaf!"

Tropius shot a burst of leaves at Rotom.  The attack was Critical, knocking out Rotom who was fairly low on health after the Bite from the Gyarados.

"You could sent out your Staravia to use a Flying move but I have a feeling it's not going to defeat Tropius in time" Donovan grinned "Your bird has got like one Hit Point left."

"I'll take a risk here but I'm confident in my power!" Aryeh held up a Pokéball "Go Cranidos!"

"Cranidos?  That Pokémon isn't going to handle a Grass Type move!" Donovan laughed.

"I'll do what I can!  Assurance!"

Cranidos charged towards Tropius, hitting it hard.  The attack was Critical, making up for the Critical that Donovan had got earlier.  Tropius responded with a Magical Leaf, knocking Cranidos back.  Cranidos began to lose its balance, the attack was too much for it.

"Cranidos, you can do it!" Aryeh gave motivation to his Cranidos who then regained its balance "I'm risking it on this move!  Take Down!"

Cranidos rammed into Tropius with all its power.  Tropius was thrown into the air, unable to catch the air in time to fly.  Tropius crashed down into the ground.  Cranidos was left on about one Hit Point too.  Tropius was also on low health.

"I've done a good job" said Aryeh "It's time for Gengar to finish it from here!"

Aryeh recalled Cranidos and sent out Gengar.  Tropius pushed itself off the ground and used Gust.  Gengar took the hit and used the last move it needed to use.  Night Shade was more than enough to end the match.  Tropius fell to the ground again, this time not conscious.

"That... was my last Pokémon" said Donovan.

He began to white out, being whisked back to Veilstone City where he was at the Center last.

"I will not lose any mor-" Donovan began to say as he whited out.

"That guy was nuts" said Allana "What if he comes back?"

"If he's come from above, then he whited out back to Veilstone.  He'll likely head back to Solaceon so our best bet is to try to avoid him on Route 210 and Route 215" Aryeh explained to Allana "Let's go heal up my team and make the trek over.  We still got the afternoon to head to Veilstone and get some more training in."

Just then, Aryeh's Staravia and Cranidos began to glow.  The two evolved into Staraptor and Rampardos!

Shelby awoke about two hours later, her head aching even worse than when she entered the game. "Man, I hate hangovers..." She groaned, sitting up in the bed and leaning forward, holding her head in her hands. She turned and looked around, spotting Daichi diligently watching over her while she slept from a chair near the bed. A shiver went down her spine. This feels a lot like when I woke up with Ran's tent over me. Now that I think of it... There is a slight resemblance.

"...Are you related to a woman named Ran? It's just that I used to be traveling with her, and she looks like she could be your sister or even your mother...." Shelby still wasn't thinking very clearly. Her voice was still a groan. "Too bright. Ergh." She grabbed her glasses and put them on, glancing around the room again. "Where'd Dylan go?"

I can't reveal our relation. There's tension there, and it would damage her view on me...

"I've never heard that name before. Sorry. Anyway, Dylan said he was going for a walk in the department store." Daichi reached out and took Shelby's hand, helping her up and leading her along. The department store was bigger in this version than the handheld. It was really more like a mall. They wandered around for a while until they found Dylan coming out of a bathroom. He had purchased a new backpack that was larger than his old one, and was carrying a shopping bag filled with a bit of excess supplies that he had deemed necessary.

"Oh, hey. Good to see you awake Shelby. Although I'm gonna guess you're still a little buzzed given how much you had, but at least you're not walking zigzags anymore."

Keep your composure Dylan. Cool and calm. Nothing's different.

Shelby raised an eyebrow. "I'm still sharp as a tack. Anyways, how buzzed I may or may not be isn't the question right now. We need to get our badges and get moving. I'm getting really tired of being in this city..." She stretched, and took a few steps closer to Dylan. "Would you be willing to share some of those supplies? I'll give you some cash in return."

"Oh, and Daichi- do you feel ready to take the gym on? Once we're done, I want to roll out. No time to waste, and all that."

"Oh, yeah. No problem. This is actually excess. Daichi already did our main shopping. Hold on." Dylan rationed out some of his supplies to Shelby and Daichi, keeping a decent supply for himself.

"Actually, between Spiritomb and Scyther, I'm actually pretty confident about this. Mind if I go first?"

The group made way to the Gym, Daichi stepping in alone. Dylan and Shelby could see him from the outside. He was doing well. It was like he had said earlier. His focus went up while his Pokemon were out of the ball. While Cranidos wasn't much use, he got a lot of mileage out of the other three.

Just as Daichi's battle with Maylene was starting, a voice appeared behind Dylan and Shelby. "Hello there." A main with blue Horseshoe hair said. "I am Saturn. General of Team Galactic. I couldn't help but notice you two loitering. Loitering is a crime in this city. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take at least one of you into custody."

Saturn grabbed hold of Shelby. While she tried to fight back, he had backup. His goons knocked Dylan to the ground and tied up Shelby.

"If you want to see her again, I suggest you come to our warehouse on the north side of the City. And you'll be expected to pay her bail. Approximately 50,000 pYen." And with that, Saturn was off with Shelby in tow, leaving Dylan a mess of a man on the ground.

Shelby bit Saturn as she struggled to escape her bonds, but the Galactic goons pulled her away from him and pulled a cloth sack over her face.

"This one's feisty, boss." A good said. The bite broke his skin, and a little bit of blood dribbled down his arm. The walk to the building the Galactics were holed up in wasn't a long one, and the NPCs were too terrified to stop them. Shelby was tied to a chair in the Warehouse, and the hood removed. The chair was in a cell, and the door was open for the moment. She assumed she was being left tied up due to her biting.

"If you try anything like that again, you'll regret it." Saturn was showing some level of class and restraint, considering he just abducted a woman in broad daylight. "You aren't the only prisoner we have. You're to keep quiet and mind yourself until your companion comes by with the money, or until I decide otherwise. Is that clear?"

Shelby's face turned into a scowl. "Let me go right now you freak-haired son-of-a-" "UFF!" Shelby grunted as Saturn snapped, punching her.

"Very well. Sit here and rot for all I care." Saturn left the cell and locked the cell door.

Daichi finished his battle, badge in tow. When he exited the building, he saw Dylan on the ground and noticed Shelby had disappeared.

"W-what happened?" Daichi said, flustered.

"Shelby's in trouble. We've gotta go help her. I've got a plan, but you have to be willing to go along with me."

The two of them made way to the warehouse. Dylan was immediately recognized and Shelby was put on a cart and brought out.

"So, you've got the money?" A goon said.

"No. But I want to offer a prisoner exchange."

"So you're giving us that kid?"

"No. I'm giving you me. In exchange for her freedom."

"You know what, I like your style. Someone call the boss."

Saturn was contacted. He was intrigued at what he had been told and went to personally oversee the exchange. Dylan and Daichi were given a rope and Daichi bound Dylan's wrists tightly. Shelby was allowed to stand, albeit on a leash type rig. Dylan and Shelby were led clockwise around in a circle until the prisoners had had their location's swapped. Then Shelby was unbound.

"I'll be alright Shelby. Take Daichi, go fight in the gym. Don't worry. I mean, what kind of Bodyguard would I be if I left you for too long? I'll be back soon." Dylan was taken inside to a cell.

"Aw HELL nah. I am not leaving you here alone." Shelby raised her fists in anger, still having some liquid courage to spare. Daichi looked up at Shelby.

"Shelby, please, we need to leave. We can go get money to get Dylan back, but we're of no use if we're prisoners too. Please." His eyes were wide, begging eyes.

Shelby sighed. "Fine... You'd better not do anything stupid, Dylan." She looked away, defeated. She had to protect Daichi, too, and right now that was easier to do. She left the building and headed to the Gym, walking in with a look of purpose on her face.

Dylan was taken in deeper into the warehouse. He was being a lot more complacent than Shelby, which they liked. His Pokeballs were confiscated and put in a locker in a room at the end of a hall of cells, but they let him keep his cloths and backpack. His cell was a dark one, with a single cot, a metal toilet, and no windows. It was like being in a prison. The worst part was there was no picking the lock. It was operated by a keycard held by the guard patrolling the hall.

"Hope you like it here. It'll take your friends a while to get the money, so you'll be in here a while."

That's what you think... "It's beautiful. Is this the penthouse suite?"

"Very funny. Looks like we've got ourselves a comedian."

Richie tustled his hair, deep in thought as the group moved through the muddy route to Pastoria, Errr... Why? Why am I so weak!? Why did I freeze up, in a video game, no less!? Richie smacked himself, disorienting him and knocking him into the mud. Richie sloshed about, freeing himself from the mud's hold, then stopping, sitting down and pressing both of his hands against his face, unperturbed by the mud that quickly covered his body.

"I thought I could be a hero... In this world at least..." Richie muttered to himself, his voice a bit muffled by his hands, "But I'm just the same, weak, me... Stuck in a-" He stopped, pulling his hands away from his face, looking up at his comrades with a worried look, as if he had come to realize something grim, "Have any of you guys tried to log out since we got here..?"

Shelby wobbled past the punching bags and was easily able to take down the gym trainers in her way. "Daichi, plug your ears."

"Maylene, I'm here to take you down and fuck you up!" She cheered a moment before she hiccuped and grabbed her first Pokeball.

"While I don't appreciate the language, I like your fighting spirit!" Maylene said, tossing out her Meditite. Shelby led with Demyx.

The first strike was Meditite's Fake Out. Clapping it's hands together, the shock wave threw Demyx off step causing him to fall. Really, all this proved to be is an annoyance to Shelby, and encouraged her to be more aggressive. The Floatzel engulfed itself in a cloak of water and streamed forward, striking the meditating Pokemon hard. Meditite countered the strike with Drain Punch, absorbing energy from Demyx. Again, annoyed, Shelby recalled her Floatzel, bringing out her Staraptor, which could easly sweep Maylene, but Shelby didn't want to rob her Pokemon the experience. She knocked out the Meditite with Wing Attack before switching out.

The Next round was Machoke vs Ponyta. Shelby had speed on her side this time, and hit with Flame Wheel. A lucky hit. The Machoke was burned. "Score!" Shelby cheered, only to have her smile shattered when her Ponyta was hit with Rock Tomb. Stone weights formed over it's hooves, significantly impairing it's movement. Shelby continued to order Flame Wheels. The Machoke took a moment to gather itself. Flame Wheel again. It just wasn't enough. Before the Machoke fell, it used Karate Chop, which scored a critical hit. It hurt badly, and Shelby's Pokemon barely stood up after the hit. It was only thanks to the Machoke being burned that Shelby won that round.

Round three. Lucario. It was Maylene's best Pokemon. Fortunately, Shelby was in a great position. But she wanted Tofu to take this fight. Maylene led with Force Palm, but Tofu deftly dodged the strike before prepping a Swords Dance. Maylene knew what was coming. Another Force Palm. This one struck, and paralyzed. Tofu was stuck, unable to move. But in reality, Maylene was just stalling and she knew it. That's when Shelby remembered the supplies she got from Dylan. A Full Heal got Tofu back on his feet. "Finish it Tofu, Psycho Cut!" It was over.

Shelby was awarded her badge and left the Gym. Still uneasy over what had happened. She was determined to save up any prize money she got from battles until she could buy Dylan's freedom.

"Shelby, it'll be okay. You've got a lot in your wallet. By the time you have your next badge, we'll be set. It'll be fine." Daichi was trying to cheer Shelby up as he led her out of the city, keeping hold of her hand just in case she wobbled.
________________

"Quite Frankly, I'm not sure how we'd even do that. Besides, they said to go to the emergency exit, so I can only assume that the primary exits aren't working right now." Ran said as she pulled Richie out of the mud. "It'll be fine though. One way or another, we'll make our way out safely. I'm just glad none of us were hurt by that accursed Virus."
________________

"Hey Guard! I've got a clog in this thing. You mind helping out? Unless you want me to crap in a corner, but I think you guys have higher standards than that."

Dylan shouted as the guard passed. He fetched a plunger from a closet before entering Dylan's cell, closing the cell door behind him. He then turned his attention to plunging the toilet as Dylan opened his backpack. By the time the guard was done plunging, Dylan wasn't there anymore. All that was left was a masked man who punched the guard in the head with full force, knocking him out. He left a calling card on the guard's chest as he looted the Keycard off of him. It a square of paper with a big red 'Y'.

Ian nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we'll get to that exit soon enough. For now do you think we can go a bit faster? I don't think I can stand still for much longer." Allison smiled, knowing Ian couldn't see her face. When they had left the mansion, Allison still felt weak, so Ian had volunteered to carry her on his back. She currently felt a lot better than before, but there was no reason she had to necessarily tell Ian that. Not having to walk was just fine with Allison.

"I'm not that heavy, am I?" She asked Ian.

"No you're not that heavy. It's just that I'm not that strong. How are you feeling now by the way?" Ian said, turning his head back. Allison quickly dropped her smile.

"Still feel weak. I think once we get to the Pokemon Center and I lie down I'll feel better." Allison said, quieter than her previous question.

Ian turned back around. "You and me both." He muttered.

"What did you say?" Allison asked, leaning her head forward.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Ran was careful to avoid the mud. While her Yukata was short, she had to take off her shoes while traversing the marsh. It was while she was carefully feeling for the shallow spots that she came across a Croagunk in the mud. Imidiately, she called her Drifblim to her side, striking with gust, and quickly softening the poison toad before throwing a ball at it. 1. 2. 3. Click.

"Excellent. You shall be Ryuk."

Ran continued to spearhead the travels. The moment they reached Pastoria, she mentioned wanting to go about private errands and wandered away from the group. In reality, she was passing right through Pastoria eastward.
________________________

Y had broken himself out of his cell, and quickly started to free other prisoners. With help from C, a masked Crobat, he quickly started to evacuate them through the one window in the hall. Trusting C, he proceeded to storm the place.

"Commander, we have a problem in the prison block. Guards in the area are non responsive, and the cameras have been cut from the system. I'm also getting reports of some masked man."

"What? You're kidding me. Where is this man now?"

"According to our systems, he's in sector 2."

"Sector 2? That's-" The door to the command room Saturn was in was kicked in and the masked man stood before them. "Who are you."

"I am Y."

"Y huh? Well, I'm not sure who's behind that mask, but I'm going to enjoy ripping it off your corpse and finding out. Toxicroak!" Saturn called his Poison Toad Pokemon to his side.

"I don't think so. All's fair in Love and War... this is War. B, crush them!" Y called a masked Bronzong to his side, which proceeded to use Extrasensory on Saturn's Toxicroak, crushing it under the Psychic force. "Sorry Saturn, but you're beaten today. I'll let you off with a warning and an emptied Prison. By the way, here comes my ride." The masked Crobat burst through the window in the command room, Y grabbed onto it's feet, and together, they flew out the window and into the city.

"Damn him. I want that man tracked down and slaughtered..."

When they finally reached Pastoria, Allison felt bad that she had made Ian carry her the entire way. "I think I can walk on my own now." Allison said to Ian after Ran had left. Ian gently lowered her down to the ground, not wanting to drop her. Fortunately, she managed to stay up.

"Oh man I can finally feel my back again." Ian said, lying down on the ground. "I have no problem carrying you Allison, but don't make a hobby out of it."

"Oh ha ha. Real funny." Allison said sarcastically, looking at Ian. "Since we're here, I'm gonna go to the Poke Mart and grab some supplies. I only have one poke ball left and no potions. And since we've skipped two gyms they'll have better items available for sale. I'll be back in a bit." She took off heading for the Poke Mart, finding it with little problems. When she came out, she happened to see Ran leaving the town from the east entrance. Where is Ran going? I thought she was going to do some errands. Allison thought to herself. Hmmm. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to follow her and she where she goes. If she goes too far, I'll just go back and find Ian and Richie.

Meanwhile, Ian got up off the ground and looked at Richie. "I don't know about you, but I'm starved. Wanna grab something to eat?"

Richie's mind wandered as he walked with his allies. He didn't understand how they could be so calm about being trapped here, Do they really not see the threat in not bring able t' leave? Or can they log out an' I'm the only one who can't? What if they leave every night..? Leavin' me in here? Questions like those swarmed Richie's conscious, enough so that he had barely noticed that Ian was talking to him, "Eck... Sorry, just kinda nodded off... I could go fer a bite." Richie gave a quick smile to his friend before letting out his Graveler.

"Y'know, I should really find a way to evolve you guys." Richie said to his Pokemon.

+++

Ricky blinked. He had been training his Pokemon alone, managing to catch a Chansey as he went to Solacean Town, "I might have gone the wrong way if I haven't met the swamp yet..." Ricky took note, bringing his hand to his chin, "I already have the Veilstone badge, so I'd probably just be going there for the department store."

Ricky felt a quick ping in the back of his mind, "Oh! Maybe Shelby and company are there!" He chimed, strutting along the path to Veilstone City.

Michael stretches as he wakes up. He had already beaten Maylene after he had made sure Dylan and Daichi were watching her the day before when she had gotten sick from the alcohol. Checking into their room he saw that they were already gone. "Shrugging he headed over toward the Galactic Warehouse as he saw a man flying out the window with a Crobat.

"Well looks like I was beat here. Oh well. Can still mess with these guys. Come on out Mr. Fish." Michael grins as he releases the Gyarados before the warehouse. "Bring them to the ground. Twister." He smiled as he began to walk slowly away as Gyarados unleased a twister easily ripping through the center of the warehouse before returning to the pokeball as Michael headed off to the next town to catch up.

Y landed on the roof of the Gym, hoping down and ducking between some trees to change.

"Wow. That was a rush. I can't believe I told off Saturn like that. This was the best idea I ever had. Okay, back to buisness. Gotta get my badge super quick then catch up with Shelby and Daichi."

Dylan burst into the Gym, this time not breaking the door. The unfortunate truth was, Maylene and her gym weren't much of a challange. Between his Bronzong, Crobat, and his Monferno, which evolved into Infernape, the whole place was an admitable cakewalk. But that didn't mean the badge wasn't worth it.

Once Dylan had his badge in tow, he hopped on his bike and rode off southward, crashing into only 2 trees on his way out the gate. With some luck, he should be able to catch up with the others by the time they hit Lake Valor.
_____________________

Ran made way to the Hotel Grand Lake resort. This is where her plans would come to fruition. With a little influence, she arranged for when Shelby and Daichi arrived, that they be gifted a free bungalow for the night. Ran of coruse got herself a copy of the key. Now all she had to do was stay out of sight for a while and wait.

Aryeh and Allana were walking up Route 210, battling trainers and getting their Pokémon to higher levels.

"The Veilstone Gym is gonna be pretty easy" said Aryeh "My Staraptor has the advantage."

"Providing Alakazam doesn't get outsped, he has the advantage too!" added Allana.

"Cakewalk for us then.  As long as we don't encounter the Multitude again, things will be just fin-"

A featureless figure rose out of the ground.  It floated in front of Aryeh and Allana menacingly.

"Nothing stops the Multitude" it said "Commencing attack protocols."

"Rotom, use Thundershock!" Aryeh sent out his Rotom, it using its Electric move.

"Anti Electrical Shields activate" the Multitude said, a barrier appearing in front of the electric attack.

"Uh oh" said Allana.

"We can't use the same strategy twice!" realised Aryeh "It learns from it, like an adapting virus!"

"If we can't use Electric moves or attack normally, what do we do?!" Allana yelled.

Aryeh recalled Rotom and sent out Gengar "Shadow Ball!"

Gengar threw its newly learned Shadow Ball attack at the Multitude.  The virus blocked that too.

"Looks like it knows how to handle Ghost moves too!" said Allana "Got any bright ideas?"

"It might handle a Ghost move but what about a Ghost phasing through it?" Aryeh said, dodging a blast from the Multitude.

"But we can't touch that thing, it could absorb us or something!" Allana replied.

"Gengar won't be touching it, it'll be phasing through" said Aryeh "We have to try!"

"Aryeh, even if this works it'll just go away and come back having created defences against that strategy!"

"We'll have to think of more plans then!" Aryeh shouted "But for now, Gengar phase through!  Don't go solid even for a second!  Disrupt its systems!"

Gengar nodded in understanding and zoomed towards the Multitude, going intangible and through the body of the entity.  The Multitude began to shake as Gengar came out of the other side.

"Cannot handle molecular instability" the Multitude said in its robotic voice "Must retreat to fix core structures."

The Multitude sunk back into the ground; gone for now.

"What are we going to do?" Allana said, walking up to Aryeh "It's gonna come back sooner or later."

"If the programmers havn't fix this yet and the Multitude hasn't been wiped, then I'm not sure what we could do without an anti-virus of some sort.  For all we know, the programmers know there are anomalies but not what they are and how to fix it.  This is a closed Beta, it's going to be filled with glitches that puts us all at risk; A.I and Real World person alike!"

"Then we have to get to this exit so you can tell the programmers about this so they can fix it.  If this 'game' goes out of Beta and the Multitude is still in there, then tons of people from your world could get killed by this thing."

"Yeah, we can't escape this world without going through the exit so if we were absorbed by that thing, we could go braindead or something.  I really don't want to deal with that.  I'm kind of scared."

"I'm scared too.  Even though my life has been a big lie, I still want to keep living.  I don't want that thing to wreck it any more.  So I think we have to avoid the Multitude so we don't waste any decent strategies on them every time."

"Sounds like a plan.  We'll keep part of our minds thinking about the strategies that hopefully other Beta Testers havn't used yet" agreed Aryeh.

The two turned to Route 215, continuing onwards to Veilstone.

"Oh wow." Allison said, looking at the Resort. "It's so fancy. It looks like it was designed to room a queen." She said to herself quietly. She knew she was far from Pastoria now, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She had to know what Ran was doing.

***

Ian looked at Richie and his Graveler. "Graveler huh? Why don't get something to eat, than after that we can to the Pokemon Center and trade pokemon so they evolve?" Than afterwards we finally talk about you attacking people. Ian thought.

Shelby was more or less dragged along by Daichi to the Hotel Grand Lake. "Wow... this looks like the kind of place I always wanted to vacation at but could never afford..." She groaned a bit. "You know, Daichi, I haven't been on a vacation in over ten years. We shouldn't stay here though- I bet it's expensive, and we need to save our money." She sighed, walking further into the hotel resort, only to be stopped by hotel staff.

"Listen, we aren't causing any trouble, we're just passing though..." Shelby seemed exhausted.

"No, you've got it all wrong! You're our thousandth visitor, which means you get to stay a night in our Grande suite, free of charge!"

"That's....generous. Guess I get my wish, eh, Daichi...?" Shelby seemed surprised. "My luck's never this good. We'd better go get settled in, huh? Then we can train a bit until dark hits." She accepted the key and went into the suite- it was like a luxurious hotel room. She hopped into a hammock, stretching. "Oooogh, this is the life..."

-------------

Jack had skipped Pastoria some hours ago, heading towards Veilstone. It was a lonely commute, and he ended up getting a room at the Hotel Grand Lake. It was a smaller suite, but comfortable, and that was all he needed. He happened to be looking out the window when Shelby went into her suite.

"Who's the damn kid? Ah, whatever. I'll be paying them a visit in a few. I mean, who knows if I'll get this good a chance again?" He hopped out of the beach chair and snuck around behind Shelby's suite, waiting for her to fall asleep, or leave the suite. Whichever happened first, he was ready.

Route 215 was very rainy.  The water felt real.  Aryeh still wondered about how all this was done.  He knew his real body was sleeping somewhere, so did that make this virtual world some kind of dreamlike state?  He saw Allana fighting some Wild Pokémon and wondered how it felt for those who were from this world.  What was it like being an A.I?

"A Marill!" Allana cheered when a wild Marill popped up "Go Roselia!  Don't hit it too hard, we gonna catch this thing!"

Roselia attacked using it's weaker moves to slowly weaken Marill while taking hits from Marill without take much damage due to resisting Water moves.  Allana threw the Pokéball and captured it.

"It's level is lower than the rest of your team" said Aryeh, walking over.

"Yeah but I have an EXP Share!" Allana grinned "I can give it to Marill."

"Didn't you give it to me?"

"I had two of course!"

"That makes sense.  EXP Shares are too valuable to not have one."

They made their way onwards, reaching the end of the route.  They saw two trainers near the exit of the route.

"Hey" said one of the trainers "I'm Dennis!  My friend Maya and I are Ace Trainers.  Seems like you are trainers too so let's battle!"

"All at once?" asked Allana.

"I'm game for a Multi" said Aryeh "It'll give us a chance to see how well we work together."

"Battle time!" Ace Trainer Maya exclaimed, sending out her own Roselia, followed by Dennis sending out Gligar.

"This is their Platinum team.  Their DP team was harder" Aryeh whispered "No Gyarados for them I presume."

Allana sent out her Alakazam and Aryeh sent out Torterra.

"I'm very good at Multi Battles" said Aryeh.

"Oh really?" replied Allana.

"Yup, I'll be your back up so let's win this."

The door to Shelby and Daichi's bungalow opened slowly. To the point where you wouldn't hear it. Ran walked in the door holding a plank. She slowly and lightly walked up to Shelby in the hammock and used her foot to flip it, knocking Shelby to the ground.

Shelby rolled away instinctively, landing on all fours on the other side of the room. "You!" She growled. "I knew you were no good. Shit... shit shit shit. Daichi, get the hell out of here!" She was yelling by this point. She pulled herself up onto her feet and stuck to the wall. She had no way of knowing if Ran came alone, or if she had friends. Shelby was nice, but the girl knew how to fight.

Daichi locked the door. "I'm sorry Shelby. If it's any consolation, we didn't want to do it this way. But it's the only way..." Daichi had legitimate regret in his voice, but not remorse. Ran swung the plank in her hand at Shelby's head.

WHUP!

"Aagh...." Shelby had used her arm to block the strike, shaking slightly now as the adrenaline was starting to kick in. "Daichi... you? You're working with her? Why are you guys coming after me? I'm not the only contestant..." She was talking in part for answers, and in part to bide for time. She slammed her elbow into the glass as hard as she could, and made a horrible noise as the glass cut her. However, there was now a hole in the glass big enough for her- the entire window had shattered. She was losing plenty of blood from the multiple cuts, though. She had to escape fast. She leapt through the window, landing with a thump on the ground outside. She pulled herself up as quickly as possible.

Jack was watching from up in a tree, and a confused smirk ended up on his face. Eh? Why is she bleeding?

Ran grabbed Shelby and threw her back into the room, placing her foot on Shelby's chest.

"Great. Now I'm going to have to spend extra time treating that arm. Thanks a lot. As if tracking you down and isolating you wasn't hard enough. If you must know why I am after you and you specifically, the fact of the matter is, my options are you and a little girl barely older than my son. And quite frankly, I don't feel like going through puberty again." Ran swung her plank at Shelby's head again. Shelby tried to block, but her arm was too badly injured for her to move it well. She took the full force of the blow to the jaw, knocking her unconsious.

Ran and Daichi spent some time cleaning and fixing up the wounds on Shelby's arm before sitting her upright on the ground. Ran then placed the palm of her hand on the back of Shelby's unconscious head. Both of their bodies got fuzzy, almost as if they were being viewed through a staticy television. Moments later, the bodies were reversed, with Ran's sitting on the ground and Shelby's standing over her.

"I can already feel it. Pulse, the warmth of life. I've done it Daichi. I'm no longer a program in this game." Ran had stolen Shelby's body. Ran ruffled through Shelby's belongings, taking care to switch out their Pokeballs, purely because she had no knowledge nor use for Shelby's Pokemon. Ran then looked at Shelby's Badge Case.

"So she's been to Veilstone. Then it looks like this is where my road makes an about face. Come Daichi. We'll find someone for you before it's too late."

Before ran left the Bungalow, she took the ribbon out of her old body's hair and tied up her new body's hair in the same ponytail. She then walked out the door with Daichi by her side back to Pastoria.

Dylan had finallly made it to the Grand Lake Hotel Resort on his bike. He saw Shelby walking out of a bungalow and attempted to approach, only to find his breaks broken, falling into the pool and nearly drowing. He struggled to reach the edge and started coughing up water.

Oh my god. Allison thought to herself. What had she just seen? What was going on in this game? Allison was watching the scene from the window, keeping her hand over her mouth to keep Ran and the child from hearing her whimper in fear. While she was watching, Ran had mentioned 'a little girl older than her son' and 'not wanting to go through puberty again'. Was she talking about me? She was gonna do that to me? Oh my god. I should have never followed Ran here. Even after Ran, with a new body, and the child had left, Allison was still shaking in fear. Waiting until they were both out of sight, Allison finally let out a sob and fell backwards, tears forming in her eyes. She took out a cloth and rubbed her face. "I have to help her." Allison said to herself. Putting her hands where the windowsill, she jumped through the opening and walked over to Ran's former body. "Who is this now?" Allison questioned herself. She had arrived after the window had broken and saw Ran jump back into the room. "Uh hello?" Allison asked the person. She grabbed the shoulder of Ran's former body and began to gently shake it to wake the person up.

Michael finally arrived at the Hotel. Quickly he managed to buy himself a room, although with the use of an overconfident hotel guest who had failed to beat Michael in a battle and now was forced to pay for Michael's stay over night. Picking up his hotel key Michael went heading to the room after Ran and Daichi left not even noticing them. Though when he got to Shelby's room he stopped and stared at the result. The door was left wide open and glass was covering the ground from the broken window. Quickly Michael dashed inside before stopping as he looked down at Ran slumped on the ground with Allison trying to wake her. "Hey girl what the heck happened here?" He says looking to Allison for a moment.

Looking around Michael could see the signs of the struggle easily apparent, suddenly he remembered the front desk telling him this room was next to his and it had a small boy and a girl in it. If Ran was here and there was a fight it had to have been Shelby and the little boy her and Dylan had been with. Pushing Allison aside he got down on his knees and slapped Ran's face to roughly wake her up.

"Wake up Ran. You wake the hell up and explain what the fuck you were doing in Shelby's room and why its so damn apparent there was a fight in here?!" He screamed at her.

Jack took off running, into the path of Daichi and Ran. "I don't know what just happened, but this is time time that I kill you, Shelby." He stood in front of them, a knife to his side.

-----------

Shelby groaned, her head throbbing from the strike. She wiggled her arm. It didn't hurt. Her eyes snapped open, and she pushed Michael away, but seemed to feel some relief when she saw that Ran and Daichi were gone. She saw Michael, and a little girl. "I'm not Ran... Ran just attacked me, she made me hurt my arm with the window trying to escape, and then she hit me with a board while pinning me to the ground..." She looked panicked, and then saw her skin. It wasn't the same color. And her clothes weren't her clothes. She screamed. "Why do I look like Ran?! What... what the hell...."

Allison looked at the guy who had just entered the room. "You don't need to act like such a jerk and just shove me out of the way." She looked at the person who was now in Ran's body. "No way. This is insane. How did she do this?" Allison asked, sitting back down. All of this was unbelievable. What was going on in this world?

Michael was prepared to punch Ran in the face as payback for Eterna City when she spoke. "What the fuck is going on here. I don't know if I believe you claiming to be Shelby but I at least know you are damn well not that robotic speaker Ran. Now someone start explaining what the fuck is going on please." He said releasing Horn and motioning him to go stand guard at the door in case Ran or what ever it was that did this came back.

Allison shook her head. She looked at the guy, who had now released a Heracross. She shook her head. "I don't know who Shelby is." Allison said, looking at the floor. "But that," She paused, pointing at the woman in Ran's body. "is not Ran. Ran did something to some girl, and than she got really fuzzy, like a TV when it loses signal. And when it was gone, the girl she was beating up was in Ran's place and said something to a kid that was with her. And Ran's body was on the floor. But, I guess you're not Ran." Allison said, looking at the girl.

Shelby had started to cry. At this point, she felt like things could not get any worse. "I'm not Ran, I'm Shelby... Michael, please, you of all people in this game should know it's me. We traveled together for awhile. You were always nice to me..." She was sniveling at this point. She leaned up against the wall, looking miserable. Her expression and mannerisms would make it clear to anyone who traveled with her that it was indeed her.

Michael looked down at Shelby frowning before his face grew sad. Crouching down suddenly he wrapped his arms around Shelby and hugged her rubbing her back. "I am sorry I was just so angry at Ran fighting you I didn't notice that you were speaking like Shelby. Please stop crying, I believe you now Shelby." He said softly giving her a kiss on her forehead hoping it would calm her down and show her he believed her before he turned to Allison. "And you! You saw someone fighting and try to jump out a window before being pulled back in by who ever they are running from? And you just sat there?!?"

Allison was frustrated at this whole situation. And this guy, this guy coming out of nowhere and yelling at her drove her over the edge. "What was I supposed to do?!" Allison shouted back at the stranger. "She had a wooden plank, a height and weight advantage and that kid was with her! What was I supposed to do, just jump in and get myself killed?! She would've gladly killed me, or left me for dead with her!" Allison said, pointing at Shelby.

Shelby smiled weakly when Michael said he believed her, but she seemed frustrated when Michael snapped at Allison. "Just stop it! Please..." She sobbed again, trying to stop but unable. She stood up but wobbled. The legs she had were a different length than her own, and they moved differently too. There was a big difference in muscle mass- Shelby's body was well muscled and curvy, and Ran's body was thin and had little muscle in comparison. Shelby grabbed the edge of the hammock, pulling herself up into it and sitting on the edge.

"I can hardly walk..." Her voice was hoarse from crying. "...I just want my own body back."

Allison looked at Shelby. "Sorry. I can't even think how this must be for you. But you can't go after them right now. If you go after them as weak as you are now, they'll kill you. Think about it. You need to get used to that body before you do anything. Right now you look like you could be snapped in half by a twig."

Carefully Michael helps hold Shelby up so she wouldn't fall to lessen the stress she put on her body. "Ok sorry sorry I didn't mean to yell at you." He said looking to Allison, "I just don't know what to do or what the fuck is even happening right now. Shelby claims that Ran just stole her body. Its not exactly something that is normal." He sighed looking at the ground before he looked over at horn before smiling up at Shelby. "Shelby would you like to ride one of our pokemon for a while. I am sure Sparky could hold you. He evolved into a Luxray on the way here. And don't worry. We will find a way to get you back your body and then when we do. I have a few things I need to say to Ran that can't be said untill your back in your own body. And I think my pokmeon will have a few things to say to her as well." He said standing up and cracking his knuckles as he released Sparky from his pokeball along with Slash.


"Come on. It would be better if we rode the pokemon there rather than walking." He says looking between Allison and Shelby before focusing on Allison. "You have any fast pokemon you can ride?"

Shelby took a few weak steps over to Sparky. It was getting slightly easier, but it was obvious that she was still having troubles in this new body. She climbed atop the Luxray, with some help from the lion Pokemon, and she looked back at the group.

"Let's go get my body back."

Allison thought for a moment. "Well, maybe Empoleon can carry me fast enough if he uses Aqua Jet. But I told my friends back at Pastoria I'll be right back." She didn't want to go any farther away from Pastoria, but Michael had a point before. If she had interfered before, maybe Shelby would still have her body. "Fine, I'll go with you guys. I just hope my friends don't leave Pastoria City soon."

"If you're looking for Shelby, I'm afraid you have the wrong person. I left her back in that Bungalow. Don't be surprised if you don't recognize her though. On the other side of it though, please, feel free to kill her. Saves me the trouble of having her take back what I stole from her." Ran was clearly not Shelby. The voice didn't match, and the way of speaking was far off as well.

"Trust me sir, you've got the wrong girl. My mother and I are just trying to secure our way out of this game."
________________

Dylan had finally cleared his lungs when he say Michael and the others mount their Pokemon. Drying himself, he approached.

"Hey, what's going on? I need to find Shelby. I promised her I'd be back..."

Glad my suit's in a waterproof bag inside by pack...

"...What have you done with my cousin?" Jack could tell that something was off. "That is her body. I'd know my kin anywhere. So I repeat. What. Have. You. Done!" Jack was angry. This woman and child...whoever they are.... they've robbed me of my chance to redeem myself in the eyes of my family.

------------

Shelby's lip quivered and she started bawling again, leaning into Sparky's mane. She sounded like she was trying to respond, but too upset to do so.

"Don't worry we are going to head to Pastoria. I didn't see Ran around us in Veilstone so I imagine that is where they are heading. Next will be Celestic town followed by Canalave or Snowpoint which both need surf if I remember correctly. Plus we don't want to go the same way as them right away. Shelby needs time to get used to her body first, we will need all the help we can get. We don't know who else they may have helping them."

Exiting the room and returning Horn to his ball Michael jumped on the back of his Gliscor. Come on Allison. Anyway. You are the only person who saw what actually happened since Shelby was unconcious so you will need to explain exactly what she did if we are going to have any shot at fixing Shelby. The sooner she is fixed the sooner I can fuck Ran up for every single thing she has done to fuck with us the entire time we have known her."

Glancing over at Dylan before patting Shelby's back he motioned for them to move. "If you want to know get on your fastest pokemon and keep up with us we can fill you in with what we know on the way."

"Er- Okay. Umm. Hold on. Not Infernape. Not Shellos, duh. Roselia's tiny. Not Bronzong, too small for my body. And not Gabite. So I guess... Crobat!" Dylan was in luck given his Crobay was slightly oversized. He hopped on it's back and they flew along."

"Sorry bud. I know you're still tired from earlier. Just a little longer." He whispered to Loki.
______________

"I don't know what you've got against Shelby, but perhaps I can propose an agreement. She has male cohorts. I'll help you slaughter her, you help me capture one of them alive and unconscious. All I ask as a catch is that I be allowed to keep this body. I actually quite like it, and it will take the least effort to modify. Don't worry. You'll have your revenge, and you'll never see this face again. Trust me. I plan on going to a plastic surgeon once I've got the chance."

Shelby's eyes were puffy from crying by this point, and she clung to Sparky's mane. He followed Michael diligently, so it gave her some time to think. And she realized something.

I feel... so cold... There's no heat. I don't even feel my heart...

She nudged Sparky towards Michael. "Michael... I can't feel my heart... It's like there's nothing there. I... I'm scared..." Her voice was a whisper. Only Michael would hear that.

--------------------------

Jack's laugh was a harsh bark. "That's cute. You want to slaughter her? There's no honor in slaughter." He looked straight into Ran's eyes. "I don't see what you need another body for. You might be a human, but all monsters are human. All you've done is stolen the skin of someone you have no right to, and worn it as your own. What do I gain from this? She dies for my honor in our family." He started laughing again, this time like a madman. "You want to know what I have against that bitch?! She's the little star of the family, she gets all the attention, all the respect. And what do I get? Nothing." His voice was icy now. "If I kill her, I secure my honor and position in the family because the honor and respect that is hers, rightfully belongs to me. They'll see once she's not there."

Dylan vaguely recognized the woman riding the Luxray. Shelby's old traveling companion. But why was she crying her eyes out?"

"So, while we're riding, wanna tell me what's going on?"

_________________

"Then there's no reason not to work with me. I need this skin to live. That's why I took it. And I need another set of skin for Daichi here. That's our goal. If you kill her, any threat to my goal is removed, and you achieve your goal. It's perfect for everyone involved. Just make sure you leave at least one male companion of hers alive. And then we'll help you however you ask."

Ran then got closer so she could speak to Jack in a whisper, so Daichi wouldn't hear.

"And if you'd like to mess with her mind a bit before you kill her, I'll hold her down for you..."

Michael had Slash fly closer to the ground leaning out and hugging Shelby gently. "Its ok calm down. I am sure its because that isn't your real body. When you get back your real body it will be normal again. I am sure of it. And if not I will beat up the programmers till they do make you normal again. I already plan to beat them up for allowing things like this to even happen. It should have been self tested by them first to check for programming bugs like this then later tested by us for playability bugs." He smiled at Shelby, she had been so nice to him every time they met, he hated to see her like this.

Looking back up at Dylan he frowned. "This girl here, IS Shelby. The person that used to own this body Ran, and your guys 'friend' Daichie, according to the girly back there trapped her in her room, beat her up then stole her body from her. Mr. Bodyguard. For what we don't know yet. But I am going to make sure to make this body unrecognizable when I am through with it after Shelby gets her own body back."

"Fine, deal." Jack wasn't too eager to work with this strange woman, but she obviously had duped his cousin before, so perhaps she had an advantage. "Just keep your promises." His voice was a hiss of pure hatred. "Tell me what the plan is."

----------------

Michael was somewhat calming, but she clutched a hand to where her heart would be, a look of loss and fear on her face. "Yeah... Hi Dylan..." It was unmistakeably Shelby speaking.

Allison was listening to their conversation. She felt bad for Shelby, but in a way felt some sort of relief. After all, she did overhear Ran mention the only reason she picked Shelby was because she was older. A completely different person. Was this what Ran meant when she told me that? Was she planning to use my body for whatever she wanted to do with it? Allison thought to herself that if she ever saw her own body from someone else's body, she'd throw up on the spot. When she heard Michael talk, she looked up when he called her girly. "My name's not girly." She muttered. So much for being a different person.

"Exelent. Then allow me to explain my plan..."

Ran alone started calmly walking along the path the rest of the way to Pastoria, knowing full well who was on her tail. Meanwhile, Daichi and Jack were following along about 20 paces back behind the trees.
_________

Dylan was in shock for a moment. He just plain didn't know what to say. Well, he did know in part what to say.

"No need to be an ass about it man. I'll have you know I offered myself in a hostage exchange to get her out of imprisonment. And now, I'm even more determined." Dylan hopped off Loki. "You go on ahead. I'll be right behind you."


When the others were clear enough away, Dylan ducked off and changed. Dylan wouldn't know how to handle the situation, but Y would. Changed, and with his Pokemon's masks on as well, he was off.

Michael continued heading them toward Pastora before he forced Sting to stop in its tracks holding up his hand to the others to be silent and stop. Ahead of them was Daichie and Ran near the gate to Pastora City. "Everyone sush. Its Ran and the midgit. I am going to catch them off guard so they can't run away, just wait here till you see the signal."

 He whispers before he slowly creeps up on them pulling out Mr. Fish's pokeball. Throwing it forward the massive Gyarados shot out of its pokeball and as Michael gave it a hand sign began to fire Dragon Rages at the ground before Rand and Daichie while thrashing around effectively blocking off their path into Pastora City. (In case anyone is dense, The giant rampaging Gyarados is the signal.)

Allison wasn't sure exactly what to do on Michael's signal. I guess I should go over there and keep them from entering the city. She took out the pokeball containing Empoleon and ran towards the area where Ran and Daichi, stopping about 20 feet in front of them.

"Quick Attack!" Dennis shouted, his Gligar quickly hitting Alakazam.

Allana gave Alakazam its intructions and it used Psybeam on the Gligar in response.  Alakazam was hit hard by the Quick Attack but it was still in the match.  Next up, Maya's Roselia used Leech Seed, slowing sapping health from Alakazam.

"Uh, Aryeh, I could use with that backup" said Allana.

"I'm on it!" Aryeh grinned "Torterra, use Bite!"

Torterra chomped down on Roselia, doing decent damage but not enough.  Alakazam used Psybeam on Roselia, doing enough to take it out of the match.  Gligar used Faint Attack on Alakazam, taking it out too.  Torterra finished the round off again and used Bite on Gligar.  Maya sent out her next Pokémon; Lickitung.  Allana sent out Spiritomb.

"Spiritomb will be immune to any Normal moves used by the Lickitung" said Allana "Sucker Punch!"

Spiritomb quickly appeared in front of the Gligar, striking it before it could attack itself.  Gligar had a little bit of health left and used Poison Sting on Spiritomb, not doing much.  Torterra used Bite once more, making Gligar finally be out.  Lickitung used Stomp on Torterra.  Dennis sent out his Buizel, having it use Aqua Jet on Spiritomb right away.  Spiritomb responded with Hypnosis, putting Buizel to sleep.

"Sorry about this Allana" said Aryeh "Torterra, use Earthquake!"

Torterra stomped on the ground, causing the earth to ripple and caused damage to both opponents and Spiritomb too!  Everybody was hit hard but nobody fainted though and Lickitung was able to use Supersonic on Torterra, confusing it and making it less likely to Earthquake them again.  Aryeh sighed and decided to recall his Torterra, sending out Gengar.  Spiritomb used Sucker Punch, defeating Lickitung.  Buizel was still asleep and could not attack.  Dennis hoped it would wake up but it wasn't ready to yet.  Maya sent out her last Pokémon - Ralts.  This was not the best match up.  Allana laughed and used Sucker Punch on Ralts, beating it in one hit.  Maya was no longer in the match.  Aryeh's Gengar used Shadow Ball, defeating Buizel too.

"This is pretty easy" said Aryeh "You have one Pokémon left!"

Dennis looked down "It's the worst matchup possible..."

Dennis pressed the button on his last Pokéball and sent out his Drifblim.

"Well EXP is EXP isn't it" Allana grinned.

"Oh don't be so mean" Aryeh laughed before turning to his Gengar "Gengar, use Shadow Ball!"

One powerful blast of Ghost energy later, Drifblim was out.  Aryeh and Allana had won the match.

"Now to finally go to Veilstone!" Allana cheered.

+++

Donovan had made it back to Solaceon Town again and was now heading almost back to Hearthome.  He was going a different direction to the others so he wouldn't encounter them soon, but he figured if he quickly won these three badges, he could loop up around to Celestic Town and ambush an enemy there.  He was also planning to meet his contact Cyrus there.  Donovan sped up his journey, knocking down enemy Pokémon and trainers along the way and making his Pokémon stronger and stronger.  His team began to hit the Level 40s.

+++

Veilstone City.  Allana and Aryeh healed up their Pokémon in the Pokémon Center and picked up more supplies at the Mart.  The two decided to split up for now and meet up again at the exit when they were ready to head Pastoria.  Allana went to the Gym first, leaving Aryeh to do what he was planning to do next.  He walked over to the Veilstone Galactic Building and put his ID Card in the scanner.  The doors swung open and he walked inside.  It was time to see what mission Mars had for him.

Sparky didn't skip a best, skidding in behind Ran. Daichi and Jack were still in the trees, and Sparky, being a Luxray, could see them, but knew that it was more important to corner Ran. The beast growled.

Shelby lifted herself up, staying on Sparky 'a back for safety. Her eyes were wide, and she couldn't believe that it was true. Ran had her body. "Ran! I've come for my body. If you give it back willingly, I can promise your safety... And Daichi's. If you fight, I can't promise that either of you will be left alive." Her voice shook some- she was trying to be brave, but she'd broken into a cold sweat. She was obviously nervous and there was even a hint of fear to her tone.

"No. That's now how it works. You don't get to threaten me. Look at this arm. Any damage done is to the body, not the mind." Ran held a knife to her own neck.

"The only person threatening me is me. Take one step closer and nobody gets this body."

Daichi and Jack were ready to move. They positioned themselves on the opposite side of the scuffle as Michael

"Shelby, please don't try anything. I already had to hear my mother's last words once..."
____________

Y was changed and ready. His Crobat, not so much. Y decided to continue on foot, running as fast as he could to catch up with the situation.

"....damnit." Shelby hissed. Now she was mad. "So just because you've got some sort of weird powers, I lose my body and I die?! What makes your life worth more than mine, you bitch?" She held a hand over where her heart should be again, still shaking, but this time with rage.

Jack stepped forward, enough where Shelby could see her. "Hello, cousin. So they were telling the truth."

"What the hell are you doing here, Jack? I'm not in the damn mood."

Richie shrugged, "Somehow... I feel behind..." He bit into a roll that he had on his plate, he looked back at Ian, "We should probably get outta here and trade, we need some progress under our belts."

+++

Ricky whistled as he walked toward the Valor Lakefront, he stopped to notice Shelby, who had her hair in a ponytail, a man with similar honey colored hair, Daichi, and a woman who seemed distressed. Ricky's curiosity bit and he proceeded towards them, "Hi Shelby!" He said with a wave.

"Stay back pretty boy." Ran said, turning her face and the knife at her throat in Ricky's general direction. "Now here's what's going to happen. You're all going to stay put right here. Nobody goes into Pastoria until dusk. And if one person tries to follow me, I'll kill them. If more than one tries to follow me, I'll kill this body."

Ran was having to quickly shift her eyes to keep tabs on everyone. Dispite her best effort to stay calm, she was starting to breath heavier than usual.

In the distance, Y was running in, analyzing the situation and how far it escalated. Still not totally sure what to make of everything, he decided the best move was total neutralization. He called his Roselia into his left arm.

"All's fair in love and war..."

As he approached from behind, the closest person to him was Jack, and since he had no idea who Jack was, and since Jack was still armed with a blade, he'd be biting the bullet on this one. And since Y was sprinting at top speed, this was going to be quite the bullet to bite...

"THIS IS WAR!" Y yelled as he brought his fist against the back of Jack's head. The event was totally shocking to everyone, Ran included. Frozen in the moment, Y jumped over Shelby and Allison into the center of the crowd of people and swung his Roselia in a circle, the masked Rose Pokemon spreading Stun Spores across the group of people, his mask protecting himself from the same fate. With the situation neutralized, Y started to speak, his voice distorted by the his helmet.

"Alright. This'll wear off in an hour or two, so you'll all be fine, but for now, I want to figure this all out. You should be able to talk still. Take turns. First is you." Y pointed at Shelby in Ran's body.

Ian rubbed his mouth with a napkin after finishing his hamburger. "Yeah I guess you're right. We can't just lounge all day doing nothing." Ian stood up and paid for his food and walked out of the restaurant, Richie right behind him. They walked to the Pokemon Center where they found a trade machine. "Ready?"

Shelby's eyes had become like saucers with surprise- one second she saw Jack take a shot to the back of the head, and the next, she couldn't move and a man in a strange costume stood before them all. Jack was out cold, lying on the ground with a goose-egg of a bump forming on his head.

"W-who are you...?" Shelby was flustered. First her friend got kidnapped and detained, then her body was stolen, and now that they'd finally caught up, some weirdo in a skintight suit and cape had frozen things. Her thoughts slowed to a crawl, and she was having trouble articulating herself. This must be the Stun Spore...

"She... The blonde woman, with glasses... that's me... The person in that body, somehow they stole mine, and now I'm stuck in her body..." Shelby sneezed, then coughed for a few moments. "My friends were just trying to get my body back. And you, you just knocked out my cousin who was apparently in cahoots with them..." She sneezed again.

This is insane. Allison thought to herself. Now some guy in superhero costume had his pokemon use Stun Spore on all of them. This was getting insane. But she felt like she should speak up since everyone was frozen and no one could hurt her. "It's true." Allison said. " I saw it happen. The girl with the blond hair and glasses stole that body she's in from the other girl. She and that little brat over there knocked her out with some wood. Than after they fixed her up, the woman put her palm on the back of the blonde girl's head and they switched places."

Ricky laid down, in a cross-armed position, when the Stun Spores covered the crowd, he rolled his eyes, then assumed a worried look, "Wh-what the!? I can't move!" Ricky pleaded. He desperately tried thrashing about, but his body would not let him, he gave up on moving and decided to give the costumed man any information he felt was necessary, "My name is Ricky, I have five badges and I just found my friend again!" He blurted.

+++

"Ready when you are, partner!" Richie placed Graveler and Machoke's Pokeballs in the machine, watching Ian as he did the same with his Pokemon. The two waited a few seconds before getting their respective Pokemon back.

Richie tossed the Pokeballs into the air, his new Golem and Machamp burst out of their Pokeballs, brandishing their own poses, Richie soon joining them, "Thank ya much, m'friend!"

"It seems everybody is accusing you of a highly strange offense. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Ran had dropped the knife when the stun spores hit. "I'm just a woman who wants to be reunited with her family." She said, trying to garner some sympathy. "Just ask my son. The boy in back."

Daichi could move his face enough where you could tell he was conflicted. His eyes wandered. To Ran, to Shelby, to Y.

"I-i... no... I'm sorry mom, but this isn't right. You can't just doom someone else for your own sake... We shouldn't even be here. We died fair and square!" Daichi was crying.

Ran was in shock. She couldn't believe her ears. Her face went from surprise, to anger, to regret. "Daichi... You're right. You're a good boy, you know that..." Tears went down Ran's face.

Ian scratched his head, watching Richie and his pokemon do a pose. "Man, if you get two pokemon to do a pose you really will be the Ginyu Force." Ian looked around. "Hey I wonder where Ran and Allison left to. They've been gone for awhile. I know Ran said she had some personal stuff but Allison said she was going to the pokemart. You think we would've seen at least Allison by now, don't you think?"

Staying silent Michael stood there watching over everyone as he couldn't really do much with the stun spore around him. At the time of the Stun Spore he had had one arm hidden behind Gyarados from everyone's point of view. Through out the entire talk Michael had been trying to move his arm waiting to see when the spore would wear off. Slowly he began to get movement back in his arm, before he shifted focus to his legs attempting to move his toes inside his shoes before trying to tense up and relax his muscles.

Having been behind Ran while she stared at Shelby. Feeling confident enough in his ability to move he slowly moved forward, while Ran couldn't see him. Reaching down he manged to wrap his fingers around the knife she dropped. "Whether or not you feel sorry you haven't exactly given us any reason to trust you ever. No way I am letting you get this knife back and claim you were pretending to be sorry." He growled at Ran while Gyarados began to lay down over the entrance to the town effectively blocking it off.

Shelby watched Ricky. He must be so confused.... She jumped when she heard Daichi talk. They're dead?! So are they some sort of cyber ghosts?

She was starting to regain herself, and she slid off of Sparky, patting him on the side before talking several weak steps closer. "I agree with Michael... Ran shouldn't get the knife back. And I'll be honest, I never felt terribly inclined to trust you. What you've done hasn't exactly inspired any level of trust, either." Shelby wasn't trying to be harsh, but it was obvious that she had had enough. She glanced down. "I am taking my body back, Ran." 

"However, this doesn't mean I don't feel for you. I feel for you because you mean something to Daichi." She looked at Daichi and sighed. "We hadn't traveled together long, but he became something of a little brother to me in that time. I don't know if I can do anything to help him, but I promise you... that I'll do what I can because I care about Daichi. I won't die for either of you, though." There was so much going on- Shelby had to focus on getting her body back first and foremost though.

Ran fell to her knees as soon as they loosened.

"I... I lost myself. In my stride to regain my humanity, I lost it. You'll have to wait for me to go to sleep or knock me out if you want your body back. I won't fight it..." Ran still had tears in her eyes.

As soon as Daichi could walk, he ran up to Ran, sliding on his knees to her side as they held each other.

"I'd rather be dead as myself than alive as someone else." He said, as if trying to explain himself.

"Don't worry son. You didn't do anything wrong. You made me realize what I had become..."

"I'll let you all sort this out from here. Oh, and to answer your question from before, my name is Y." Y ran off, back the direction he came from.

Michael pockets the knife before glancing over at Jack. "And someone with a grass pokemon tie him up. He seemed to have known Shelby and seemed to know what Ran did yet didn't appear to try and stop her." He said before walking up to Shelby and stroking her back gently to calm her down in the situation. "Its your body you chose. Wait for her to sleep or knock her out."

Ricky gave a sigh when he saw the event slow down before him, he sat up, his arms still crossed, "Y, huh?" He muttered to himself, Hm... Tsk tsk tsk... You're doing a splendid job of concealing yourself from the others as this masked hero. Ricky smiled, But throwing on a costume doesn't do too much for your height, or your voice, Dylan, nice try though~!

Ricky stood up, he stretched then waved back to Shelby, though still in Ran's body, "Jya~! I have something to attend to in Pastoria City, if I see any of you fun fun people again it'd make me a happy man!" He smiled again and was off toward the swampy city.

+++

"Now that I think about it... Yeah, it doesn't take thirty minutes to go to a Pokemart an' back." Richie said, growing worried for the small girl and Ran, "Though, t' be honest, I don't really know Alison very much, so I'm more worried about Ran at the moment... What if she- pffft- RAN into trouble!?" Richie's face gleamed with achievement as he let that disgrace of wordplay pass through his lips, he positioned his hands into gun shapes, flicking his thumbs as if they were the hammers at Ian, prompting a response.

Golem smacked his forehead whilst Machamp laughed her happy behind off.

Ian sighed as Richie finished his joke. "Man you gotta get some new material, cause that was bad. Now come on, we should go check the Poke Mart. I have no idea where to even begin to look for Ran but at least we have an idea of where Allison might be."

***

Allison finally was able to move again. She didn't want say anything because she felt it wasn't her place to. Plus, despite everything going on this was somewhat entertaining to watch.

Shelby raised an eyebrow as Y raced off. "Well, just due to the delicate nature of things, I'd rather not wait any longer than need be. I don't want to interrupt their moment, but well... people change their minds all the time. Better safe than sorry." She walked up behind Ran, and pinched her shoulder and neck area just so, that she fell to the ground, unconscious, without pain. It took her a moment to figure things- but eventually, with Allison's description of how things went burned into her mind, she propped Ran up and stood behind her, placing her palm on the back of her head.

The two of them blurred again, but this time, Shelby was now the body that stood, and Ran was the body who sat passed out. She felt a flush of warmth as her heart returned to her. "I'd have given my body to you if I were able, but I can't part with it just yet. I did mean it when I said I'd try and help you somehow." She turned away from Ran's body. It took her a moment to adjust back to her own, but it was far easier than adjusting to a new body. "We need to get going. That jerk..." She glanced at Jack. "Isn't worth our time."

"She didn't want to do it this way you know. Neither of us did. It's just, we were robbed of our lives, you know? There was an accident. We were hit on the side of the car one day. We lost too much blood and didn't make it. So my father used a computer to sorta copy our minds. He is a programmer for this game. In charge of the AIs and also was involved in the syncing system that makes sure everything moves in time with your movements. But when the game goes live, 97% of the AIs won't be there. Players are expected to populate the world, even form the evil organizations. So we needed to do this during the beta, otherwise we'd have been deleted too. Dad told me everything about how the game works."

Ran slowly started to stir. "Cold... again..." He voice was a bit faint from being unconscious.

Dylan ran up, dried saltwater on his face.

"Sorry I took so long. This masked weirdo knocked me into the ocean. Did I miss much?"

When Daichi explained, Shelby felt a twinge of sadness. However, she didn't show it- instead, a look of determination was on her face. Then, she appeared to realize something.

"I think I've figured out a way you two can come back with us." Her voice was quiet and her tone serious. Dylan running up, however, proved an ample distraction.  "A masked weirdo? Did he happen to look like a Yvetal and be yelling about justice and war?" That guy was really odd... "I guess it's not too important anyways... You missed out on a lot. Looks like I did too- how'd you escape? Regardless... I got my body stolen by Ran , then took it back, with the help of a masked guy. Oh, and my cousin showed up."

The last sentence was spoken flatly and with a hint of annoyance. She turned her gaze to Ran now. She'd felt my heartbeat when she had my body, I'm sure of it. She was warm and felt alive. And now, she doesn't, isn't. The thought bothered her more than it should have.

"It's not possible there are safeguards. Lining the rooms you guys are all in are basically artificial mater emancipators. Anything that gets within an inch of the wall stops existing. It's to keep people from bringing stuff like nuggets into the real world. And besides, even if they were working, we wouldn't be allowed into a sign off room."

Dylan had no idea what Daichi was talking about. And he only knew what Shelby was talking about because this was the second time hearing it.

"You won't believe it actually. I got out because someone disengaged the locks on all the cells and a Crobat flew everybody to the police station in Veilstone. I hurried here as soon as I could. Hey, you know, I don't think that we should be sticking around out here. Things have been crazy lately, so maybe we should finish this in the PokCen in Pastoria."

Shelby gave Daichi an irritated look. "You don't think I know? I actually paid attention at the informational demonstration. You forget something- everyone can go through the E4- player or AI. And you know where the emergency exit is?" She smirked. "I'll go out first, smash up some of the artificial matter emancipators in my room, and then I'll pull you guys through."

At this point, Shelby was more or less ignoring the others, intense and focused on her plan.

"Hello Mars!" Aryeh grinned, walking up to his 'boss' "I'm here!"

"Aryeh..." said Mars "Good of you to show up. I-"

"Wait a second.  I have a question" said Aryeh, looking more serious "I fought a guy named Donovan.  Apparently you fought him too."

"Yes... I did" sighed Mars "I defeated him but it was stressful.  He wanted to hurt me.  Said I was dangerous and needed to be removed."

"He said that about my friend too" said Aryeh "He tried to hurt her but I stopped him."

"Then your friend and I must have something in common that he doesn't like."

"She is the one you gave the Golbat too.  It's a Crobat now by the way."

Mars' eyes widened "Her!  I felt a strange connection to that girl and just handed her the Golbat.  I don't know why but it felt right."

"It gets weirder.  Donovan didn't us you fought him.  My friend just knew that was the case."

"What?  This is really... yeah...weird.  This whole Galactic stuff seems less important to me now that it was before.  I want to solve what's going on with me and this girl."

"Her name is Allana" Aryeh told her "Something must be connecting both you and her together."

"And Donovan is targetting us both because of what that is."

"I'd rather not see him again but we must have to get information out of him, if we could find him though" Aryeh said.

"That won't be too difficult.  He's struck up a alliance with the boss."

"Cyrus... that man has no emotions, if he is going to work with Donovan then something is happening" Aryeh thought out loud.

"How do you know so much about Cyrus and Team Galactic anyway?" asked Mars.

"I suppose I owe you the truth" said Aryeh "Allana took it hard but if you and her are connected somehow, then you need to know as well."

"Part of me already knows the truth" Mars looked down "I feel that this girl and I share a soul somehow."

"Then you know this world is a virtual world.  Everybody here is an Artificial Intelligence except for people like me who are Beta Testers of this world."

"Yes... that" replied Mars "I felt that information hidden within me, eating at me until you finally confirmed it out loud."

"I'm sorry Mars" said Aryeh "You should also know that Team Galactic are the enemies of the game and the players will be able to defeat it."

"I figured" Mars sighed "Team Galactic wanted to change the world but what's the point when it's a fake world anyway."

"It's not fake.  It's just manufactured.  The people here including you are real though!  Real emotional beings have been born.  This is your chance to live a new life.  You don't need the old life, focus on the future."

"Thanks for the support Aryeh.  I knew bringing you in was good.  You made me see things for how they really are.  Though, why did you join us?"

"Cyrus was lieing to you all.  I've seen the story of this game; Cyrus uses the Dragons to destroy the Universe.  His emotionless state makes him thing that nobody is worth being alive.  His only change is total destruction and then making his Universe again with just him.  He saw you all as expendable.  I wanted to see if I could play the game differently by being in Team Galactic and stopping him at the last moment that way and saving everybody, including you" Aryeh explained.

Mars fell to her knees "He used me.  He used Jupiter and the others too.  I know this to be true now.  I don't have memories of my childhood, I only know the last year and a half and I don't know how much of that is fake memories from before this game was built and how much was the A.I from after it was built.  Cyrus said he would change the world and use the power to help get me my memories back."

"He was planning on using Uxie, wasn't he?"

"Yeah... I joined him so I could know who I was.  Now I know anyway.  Saves me working with him further and being killed."

"I won't let him destroy this world.  The world can be changed for the better.  The A.Is here are real people we will make sure they are kept safe" Aryeh told her "Join me and let's find out the truth about this all together."

"I will join you" Mars smiled "I will join Allana too and we will learn who we are.  We will take down Cyrus from the inside."

"I know what Cyrus has planned via the game plot, but I don't know how the variable of Donovan will change things" said Aryeh "We need to take Donovan off the board and then Cyrus will just continue on as we expect.  If we keep the Lake Trio out of Galactic's hands then we can stop the Red Chain being crafted and Cyrus won't come close to bringing out the Dragons."

"Then we do this as partners" Mars shook Aryeh's hand.

"Ummm can I ask you a favour first?" Aryeh asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I don't suppose you have an old toaster laying about per chance?"

Richie shivered, he shook his head and a bead of sweat dribbled down the side if his head to the tip of his chin, "What the heck?" He dabbed the sweat with his palm. Richie looked about the area, stopping abruptly when he caught a glimpse of flowing blue hair, he growled, letting out all of his other Pokemon to his side.

"Well well well well well~!" Ricky sang, clapping in tandem with his steps, "You've responded to my challenge, ah?"

"Who are you!?" Richie demanded, "An' why're you doin' this t' me!?"

"Ohohoh! That's for me to know..." Ricky sent out his Torterra, "And you to stay quiet about!"

Ian looked behind him to see Richie with some blue haired guy with his pokemon. "They're gonna battle? Richie I'll catch up later, I'll go find Allison and Ran." Ian left Richie and the stranger to the battle, heading for the Pokemart.

***

Allison watched everything happen. She wanted to feel sorry for Ran and her son, but after seeing what they had done had made Allison sick to her stomach. But at least she had the decency to apologize and give Shelby her body back. Allison thought to herself. "I'm glad you got your body back Shelby. This is gonna be an awesome story to tell to Richie and Ian." Allison stopped for a second, than gasped. "Oh crap. I forgot about Richie and Ian. They've been waiting for me back in Pastoria City. I'll see you guys later." She turned around and started to run, than paused to look at Ran. I'm sure she'll catch up when she feels better. Allison thought to herself. She started to run again towards the small city.

"Now where did those two go?" Allison asked herself, looking around as she ran. She didn't even notice the person in front of her when she ran into him. She fell backwards, landing on her back.

"Damn, that hurt." Ian said, rubbing his back as he sat up. He looked over at the girl who had run into him. "Allison! There you are." Allison sat up and looked at Ian.

"Ian!" SHe jumped from where she was sitting onto Ian, landing on top of him.

"Allison, what are you doing?" Ian asked. She leaned down and hugged him.

"Promise me you won't try and beat me up while I'm sleeping!" She whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Ran finally recovered and stood, uneasy on her feet. "I'm not sure if that's even possible. I'd be great if it were but... there'd be a risk. Quite frankly, we don't know quite how it would work if the emancipator were broken, or even if it'd be safe to break it. You'd be rolling for a Yahtzee."

"Woah, woah woah. Are you serious Shelby? I mean, she stole your body, and you'd risk your neck to help them? I mean, no offense to Daichi, but that's a big risk to make for anyone, let alone someone you don't know." As Dylan spoke, he saw a galactic grunt walking by. "Crap, the bomber!" Dylan ran into Pastoria.

"We aren't asking you to do anything like that Shelby. Like I said, we died fair and square."

Shelby grinned at Ran. "I'm pretty damn lucky, you know. Just consider your options. Besides, who says this is all for you two? Maybe I want to add a little excitement to my life." She spun a Pokeball on her finger. She snapped the ribbon out of her hair. "I don't know how you can stand wearing my hair like that. It feels awful." She threw it back to Ran. "Take care of Daichi. If you decide you want to take me up on the offer, you'll find me."

She ran off after Dylan, not wanting to lose track of him again. She knew that her offer to Ran and Daichi was generous, but she had to admit, the thought of reuniting a family torn apart before their time... It was the right thing to do. She might have seemed like she wanted to, but in all reality, it was more that she had lost much of her interest in her own safety and well being years ago- being a medic does that to a person. She rushed into situations that endangered her life all the time, just to help others, strangers that she'd never met. She didn't enjoy it, but it was a paycheck and had been worn into her personality over the years. And this is no different. I need to try to do this, just because it's the right thing to do.

She kept decent pace with Dylan, running on in after him.

Meanwhile, Jack sat up, groaning loudly. "Jeez, what just hit me...?" He glanced around, confused by the scene before him. "What...?"

Michael grins as he walks up to Jack harshly kneeing him in the stomach as he looked down at him. "Now now don't get any smart ideas or I am going to finally test what happens if I have Mr. Fish eat someone in this world. Lets start with some questions. First, why did you act like you were close to Shelby? Second why were you with Ran and Daichie? And Third, why did you seem to know what they had done to Shelby but seemed to be ok with it?"

Before Jack had awakened, Ran and Daichi entered the gate. "After we wrap things up in Pastoria, we'll need to split up again until we reach Canalave. Think you'll be alright Daichi?"

"Don't worry, Shelby and Dylan helped me out a lot. I think worst case scenario, I can take care of myself."

"Do you think her plan might work?"

"Worth a shot. Like I said, rather die as myself. Might as well be on my own terms too."
________

Gotta stop him from getting to the marsh. They never test the bomb, they never get to use it at Valor, and that'll mess with Galactic's Modus Operandi. And that'll- what the hell? Dylan saw Richie battling Ricky. He couldn't help but notice how alike in the face they looked now that he was seeing them side by side.

"Yo Richie! Don't lose that. If you lose to him, that makes my win earlier mean nothing!" Now back to that bomb.

Dylan chased after the Galactic Grunt, pushing himself a bit. Just as he was about to catch him, however, he tripped and fell in the mud.

This never would have happened if I were Y right now.

"Oh? And here I thought he was spending all of his time trying to wiggle himself into Shelby's woman hole." Ricky remarked, keeping his eyes on Richie, "Grotle. Use Leech Seed in Machamp."

"Grot!" Grotle flung the seeds towards Machamp, who scoffed, even as they dung into her.

"Don't think for a second that I'm gonna be scared of you!!" Richie roared, eyes glaring intensely, "I'm gonna end you, just like Ran told me too! Machamp! Use Vital Throw!"

Machamp did as commanded, grabbing hold of Grotle with all four arms, swinging it furiously around and around then slamming it into the ground, forming a small crater and immediately knocking out the turtle Pokemon, "Champ!" Machamp boomed, holding her hand up high.

"Hm... I don't like the looks of that. Not at all." Ricky said, he gripped one of is Pokeballs then flung it into the air, "Let's go, Drapion!"

"Draaahahahahahah!" Drapion laughed his signature bellow.

Shelby walked right into that conversation. She looked like she'd been slapped.

"Dylan's my friend. He's not interested in that..." Shelby seemed offended now. "I thought you were better than that, Ricky... You're a jerk!" She'd had a day from hell, and she wasn't in the mood for it. She ran off towards the Pokemon Center, upset and confused about her feelings about all of her traveling companions. She'd traveled with so many people, and she hardly knew any of them.

------------

"Gack!" Jack clutched his stomach, looking up at Michael with rage in his eyes. "She's my cousin, you fool. And I ran into them. As for why... I'm guessing telling you anything more is a bad idea. You seem pretty buddy buddy with her. I wouldn't want to ruin your opinion of her... But she's done some awful things."

Dylan rolled over in the mud, which was now blood red out of his embarrassment. He saw the Galactic run into the marsh. Too late to change things. There'd be an explosion by the time the sun set if things went according to the normal schedule in the game. Dylan dragged himself to his feet, walking through the town.

Maybe I should just stay Y all the time. I'd be better off that way. I'm just better as Y. But if I did that, I'd have to isolate myself...not sure... no. I have a responsibility to Shelby. "I'm her bodyguard dammit. I know what I need to do. I need to prove I'm competent."
______________________

Ran and Daichi calmly made way to the Gym, immediately getting a room and talking. They caught up on what had happened while they were apart. How they both had battled multitude.

"When I fought it, Omnious Wind was the move that fought it back."

"But when I fought it, it deflected the same move entirely. It must learn how to resist tactics that work on it. If we take too long, we'll run out of options. There's no way it's an entity from the game. Your father wouldn't allow something like that to be programmed in. So it must be a virus. Consuming the landscape and corrupting whatever it can... wait..."

"You're thinking about the letter. The one that dad got about a week or so before the accident. I still remember it. All it said on it was that if he didn't quit the project, there'd be consequences. It was signed with the number 79."

"Think it's a hacker?"

"More like a Cyber Terrorist."

Ian had started walking with Allison next to him, trying to listen to a story she was telling him. She's talking way too fast. Ian thought to himself, afraid of saying it aloud and hurting Allison's feelings. He caught key words like Shelby and Ran and someone named Y, but he had no idea what part they had in what she was telling him. "Alright, alright. That's interesting, but right now I just need to get to the Pokemon Center so I can heal my pokemon. After that I wanna challenge the gym here. And I'm sure Richie and Ran will want to do that as well." Allison frowned.

Didn't he here anything I just said? "Okay then. Let's go to the pokemon center." She said. As they walked, Ian looked at her again.

"By the way Allison, don't you need to challenge the gym too?" Ian asked.

"I guess so. But I don't know if Vespiquen and Bronzong will listen to me during the battle. Besides that, Empoleon is a water type too, so he won't be as good in this gym." Allison said, remembering her pokemon's disobedience.

"Well than why don't you go capture a pokemon in the Great Marsh. They have some grass pokemon in there that you can catch that'll help you out." Ian tried to remember some pokemon found there. "Off the top of my head, I know there are Tropious and Carnivine in the Great Marsh. Why don't you go and try and catch one?" Allison nodded, liking this idea.

"Alright. I'll go right now!" She cheered. She ran towards the building in front of the Great Marsh, eager to capture another pokemon.
 
Ian stretched again, watching her as she ran off. "Now than, I think I'll go to the pokemon center and take a nap or something." When he finally reached the Center, he was surprised to see Shelby there, looking really down. Ian walked towards her. "Hey Shelby, what's going on?"

Shrugging Michael returned his pokemon to their balls before heading out to heal them at the pokemon center. After getting some food to eat he quickly headed into the Safari Zone. With in a few moments he manged to run into and capture a Croagunk, naming it Dart. As he finished in the Safari Zone Michael went to his PC swapping Dart for Crackers before heading over to the Gym.

Deciding to save a few pokemon for the Gym Leader, Michael beat all the trainers using Dart, Chim Chim, and Sting. When he reached Crasher Michael sent out Sparky to easily deal with his Gyarados's Electricity weakness. Returning Sparky, Michael sent out Horn to deal with Quagsire, the bug pokemon's bullet seed easily to defeat the water/ground pokemon. Calling Horn back Michael sent Mr. Fish out deciding to take out Crasher's Floatzel with the Gyarados's brute force rather than sending out the lower lv Sparky to take out the quick pokemon. After a few rounds the Otter fainted from the power of the serpent earning Michael the Fen Badge

Ricky looked in Shelby's direction with an apologetic visage, "Shows how quickly a joke, and you, can end a friendship... If I can hurry, I can apologize and give my first friend a shoulder, she's endured quite a bit today it seems."

"Me!? What'd I do t' piss off a cute broad like that!? I may not look it, but I'm gentleman!" Richie shouted, Machamp grunted as if agreeing with her trainer.

"A gentleman, huh?" Ricky popped his knuckles, Richie assumed an offensive stance, "Drapion. Aerial Ace."

Drapion guffawed as he leaped into the air, then slashed Machamp, who flinched, "Ever heard of a Razor Fang?" Ricky chuckled, motioning for another Aerial Ace. Machamp fell.

"Dammit..." Richie clenched his fist, "I'm not afraid! Golem!" Golem stomped in front of Richie, baring his fangs at Drapion, who simply laughed.

"Drapion use Ice Fang!" Ricky ordered. Drapion's fangs smashed onto Golem for super effective damage. Golem flinched, "Go at it again, Drapion!"

Golem held on, "Golem! Magnitude!"

[MAGNITUDE 6]

"That's not enough!" Ricky said with a crooked smile before telling Drapion to use Ice Fang again, felling Golem. Richie cursed, muttering "I'm not afraid!" under his breath.

"Lopunny!" Richie said frantically, sending his Pokemon to battle, "Use Return!"

"Not too fast!" Ricky called Drapion back, sending out Bastiodon to take the blow, seeming as if it hadn't taken any damage at all.

Dylan had planned on going to the gym when he saw Allison run past and into the marsh.

"That's the girl from that whole fiasco outside town, right? Well, looks like she's off to catch some new Pokemon in the marsh. That's good for her... wait. The bomb!"

At this point, Dylan had taken to wearing parts of the costume under his normal clothes, making it a lot faster to quick change behind a building or between trees. Masked and ready to go, He ran after Ally. The sun was quickly setting, and there was a timer. He hadn't a moment to loose.

"In the name of love and war, go G, rend the mud t aid me." Y threw his ball, and a masked Western Gastrodon came to his side. With it's help, he began to comb the marsh. Worse case, he still might have a shot at disarming the bomb.

Shelby sighed, leaning back in the lobby hair at the Pokemon Center. "...You're Ian, right? I'm just trying to calm down. I've had a bad day, to put things lightly. I'd rather not get into it too much." She never had been the type to dump her troubles onto strangers if she could help it. "How are you?"

----------

Jack scoffed. "What tools. Well, whatever, I'm getting a move on." He got himself off of the ground and began to walk. There would be other chances, he just had to get ahead.

Ian sat down across from Shelby. "That's my name. Can't say I'm doing too bad myself. Had to find one of my friends before, and I still can't find Ran. She left to do some personal errands awhile ago, but hasn't come back yet. You know, my friend mentioned something about you before when I saw her. She said something about you and Ran. Have you seen her then?"

***

Allison sighed as she walked around. "I can't believe that guy made me pay to get in here. It looks exactly the same as the area before the city. What a jerk. No matter. I got to find a grass pokemon." As she walked through the marsh, a pair of eyes were watching her from a patch of grass. It slid after her, making sure to make as little noise as possible. "Now where are these grass pokemon?" Allison said, looking around.

"Tropius!" Allison turned to her right and spotted a Tropius.

"Oh wow! A Tropius. You'll be perfect!" She reached into her bag and threw bait towards the pokemon. Tropius sniffed the food, than started to eat it. "Yes! It went for the bait. Time to catch it!" Allison reached into her bag to find a safari ball, having no idea of the pokemon right behind her, it's jaws unhinged and ready to eat the trainer. She threw the safari ball at Tropius, but to her surprise, it quickly turned and flapped it's wings, sending the ball flying back towards her.

"Carniv-ah!" The Carnivine behind her choked as the safari ball went into it's mouth. Allison turned around in surprise, seeing the pokemon behind her. The Carnivine disappeared inside the safari ball, and Allison watched as the ball went back and forth a couple times, finally clicking to show it was captured.

"That was strange." Allison said, picking up the poke ball. "I guess I have a fourth pokemon though. And this is perfect for fighting Crasher Wake."

"Psybeam!" Allana exclaimed, Alakazam obeying and defeating Maylene's Lucario.

Allana had won the Gym and earned her fourth badge.  Once Aryeh had done the same, they would be head down to Pastoria and earn the next.  She walked back to the Pokémon Center and healed up her Pokémon.

+++

Mars had told Aryeh go the Gym without her and she would meet him at the the exit of the city.  She had given him the old toaster, something he was going to use to make his Rotom change its forme.  Team Galactic had a lot of old appliances that were taking up space.  Thinking about her next course of action, Mars was gathering some supplies to head out with.  Though she had given away Golbat, she had recently caught a Bronzor to replace it.  A few moments after picking up her bag, Cyrus walked in.

"Going somewhere?" asked Cyrus.

"Yeah, I'm going to train up my Pokémon" Mars said.

"Good.  You'll need to be ready at Lake Verity to capture Mesprit later.  We currently have agents at Lake Valor with the bomb test" said Cyrus "I heard from Jupiter you have hired some kid to be your assistant.  He's from the other world, isn't he?."

"Other world?" Mars feigned ignorance.

"Yes.  I figured it out.  I'm a very logical man and things didn't add up the way they should.  This world isn't the only one and we have visitors, including that Donovan fellow.  I know you figured it out too, I can see it in your face."

"Yes..." admitted Mars "I found out that this world isn't the real one.  We are just A.Is."

"This doesn't change our mission" lied Cyrus "We will change this world we live in."

"Of course, sir" Mars lied too, quickly leaving the room.

Cyrus sat down.  The mission was going to be different.  He may have been a construct of some other man's imagination but it didn't change that he was Cyrus and he was going to be a god!

"I will destroy this world and the real world too!  Dialga and Palkia will break the barriers of dimensions and will make me the only living being in existence that the distinction between human and A.I means nothing!"

+++

Aryeh met up with Allana in the Pokémon Center.

"So you won the badge, eh?" Aryeh smiled.

"Yep!  Though Maylene wasn't in a particularly good mood when we fought" said Allana "She had fought Donovan earlier and lost to him quite violently."

"I'll keep that in mind by giving her a fun battle with honour.  It's time Donovan learned that A.Is are people too."

"You are an ethical person" replied Allana "It's just a shame that not everybody from your world is."

"...I've seen her." Shelby sounded tired, and the mention of Ran seemed to irritate her some. Just because she wanted to help Ran now didn't mean she liked the woman. In fact, it was obvious that she was still bitter towards her due to the bodysnatching. "She's fine, traveling with her son as of when I last saw her." She touched her left arm- it had been bandaged, which she didn't remember happening. She assumed Ran or Daichi did it earlier that day. It was still very painful and many of the cuts from the glass seemed to run deep. She winced. "Urgh. Any idea if injuries we get while testing are real or not? Because they sure hurt like they're real."

She dug through her bag, checking through it. There was the balls for her Pokemon, which she had swapped back with Ran after switching back to her own body, her badges, and other items. But something glittered in the bottom of her bag. She pulled it out of her bag, and saw a translucent, glittery green stone. "Hey... this is a Thunderstone." She let Swiss, her Eevee, out of his Pokeball and placed the stone in front of him. Moments later, a Jolteon sat before Shelby and Ian.

Aryeh entered the Veilstone Gym.  Allana had gone off to train some more.  The Gym Trainers were not there.  Their Pokémon were healing up after having taken quite the beating from Donovan.

"It's almost time to go to bed so I'll make this quick" Aryeh said to himself "Tommorow is the fourth day in this crazy place."

Aryeh walked up to Maylene.  She was sitting on the ground, sighing.

"Hey... uhhh... are you alright?" asked Aryeh.

"Yeah, I'm fine" said Maylene, faking a smile "I've been battling trainers today even without my Gym Trainers around!"

"I heard from Allana about you fighting Donovan" said Aryeh "Allana is my travelling buddy and we've fought him too.  I defeated him though."

"It's good that you did.  That man is a monster" Maylene said, standing up "He fights with no honour.  It's all about selfish motives with him."

"Well, I hope to fight in a nicer way so how about I cheer you up and beat you in a fun battle" said Aryeh.

"Let's go for it!"

Maylene sent out her first Pokémon - Meditite.  Aryeh sent out his Gengar.  Gengar used Shadow Ball.  Meditite took heavy damage but was still in this.  It used Confusion, throwing Gengar to the ground.  Gengar used Shadow Ball again and defeated Meditite.  She sent out her next Pokémon, Machoke.  Gengar used Shadow Ball again.  Machoke used Rock Tomb and got a Critical Hit!  Genger Fainted and Aryeh sent out his next Pokémon.  It was the Flying Staraptor and Staraptor quickly used Aerial Ace, striking down Machoke.

"I'm in a bit of a bind, aren't I?" Maylene laughed.

"I fight well, but I fight fair" Aryeh replied.

Maylene sent out her final Pokémon, which was Lucario.  Lucaro rushed at Staraptor, using Metal Claw.  Staraptor took damage but was still in this and used Aerial Ace again.  Lucario used Drain Punch, getting some health back but promptly lost it again and then some to another Aerial Ace.

"I have the advantage and can keep taking it down" said Aryeh "So how about I level the playing field!"

Aryeh recalled Staraptor and sent out his Torterra.

"Now you've given me an advantage" said Maylene.

"It's all in the name of being interesting" Aryeh grinned "Torterra!  Use Earthquake!"

Torterra smashed its feet onto the ground, sending vibrations everywhere around the room.  Lucario toppled over onto the floor.  It pushed itself up and lunged at Torterra with Drain Punch.  Torterra stopped it in its tracks by using Earthquake again.  Lucario couldn't take it and it went down.  Aryeh had won.

"...OK. You win. That was a tough loss. I learned a lot from it. Please, accept this Gym Badge." said Maylene, giving Aryeh the badge "Gee, I'm hungry... Oh, sorry, it's nothing. I didn't say anything.  I can't explain what it means to be strong. I don't know how much effort goes into being strong... But being with Pokémon lets us keep making the effort, doesn't it?  Thanks for cheering me up!"

"No problem" replied Aryeh "Just keep on being who you are and battling people whether you win or lose.  Do it for everybody who isn't like Donovan; the people like me who still care about Pokémon."

+++

Aryeh met Allana at the Center again and they both went to bed for the night.  They were going through the game at a decent rate.  The next day would be weird though because Aryeh knew that Allana and Mars were going to meet properly.

Ian looked at Shelby's new Pokemon. Personally he preferred Espeon or Umbreon for his Eevee evolutions. But Jolteon was probably his third favorite Eeveelution. "Injuries huh? I have no idea about that. I haven't been hurt like that yet. Maybe they made this VR world too real." Ian was gonna ask about Ran, but the mention of her seemed to irritate Shelby, and with her hurt she didn't want to stress her out. He would have to remember to ask Allison when she came back. "So how is your progress in the contest so far?"

"Who knows?" Shelby shrugged with her good arm and shoulder. "I just know that I am never going to use my elbow to break a window ever, ever again. Even if it is to try and escape someone trying to steal my body." She laughed a moment. That was a ridiculous thing to do.

"My progress? You mean, like badges?" She raised an eyebrow. There was probably little harm to telling someone how many badges she had. "Four so far, here in town to get my fifth. Though honestly, I'm not too concerned about the contest anymore... There's more important things to worry about." She looked down. She felt guilty about coming to this world for the money- now she knew, for certain, that the money wasn't the really important thing that coming to this world offered.

"Lopunny, knock it out with Jump Kick!" Richie called out. Lopunny leaped into the air, crashing down onto Bastiodon, promptly knocking it out.

"Hm? You actually beat Bastiodon, huh?" Ricky waved his wrist, sending out Chansey, "Don't feel bad if I beat you, though."

"Lopunny! Go for another Jump Kick!" Richie ordered. Lopunny jumped into the air again, but this time, the kick was dodged, sending Lopunny crashing into the ground.

"Chansey use Egg Bomb!" Ricky called out.

While she was walking back, Allison ran into somebody around a corner. Falling to the ground due to the fact that the other person was clearly larger than her, at first, she attempted to apologize to the man before looking up at him, recognizing that blue Horseshoe hair and being struck by fear.

"You'll do." He said as he grabbed hold of her, binding, gagging, and forcing a small metal sphere into her hands before tying them together.


Y was methodically searching the marsh. The good thing about it was that the marsh had a route through it that took you through every area assuming you knew your way though it and used the trams. Area by area, Y searched until he finally came across Allison in Area 4, and almost more importantly, Saturn.

"I had a feeling you'd be here hero. When we sent the bomb for testing, somehow I was certain you'd show up. Now I'm certain you see the girl. In her hands is the galactic bomb. It hasn't been tested, but theoretically, it has equivalent force of roughly 50 hand grenades all going off at the same time. Suffice it to say if our calculations are correct, and the bomb goes off right now, all of us will be reduced to minced meat, but none more-so than her. I'm more than willing to let her go on one condition. I want a rematch from our little meeting earlier. But I get to choose which of your Pokemon you use. And if you lose, instead of her hands, the bomb goes in your mouth instead."

So this is your game, eh Saturn. Sadistic ass.

"Just let her go. Saturn. I'll play your game if you do."

"Don't worry, your acceptance ensure's her safety. But only after."

Y let his Pokemon out of their balls, all of whom were wearing Masks like his. Roselia, Gastrodon, Crobat, Bronzong, Gabite, and Infernape. Saturn looked the team over. "The Gastrodon's the weakest threat on that team, so it'll be that one." Y withdrew the rest of his team, reducing it to just the Gastrodon. Saturn brought out his Toxicroak. "Let's see what you've got when I have the upper hand."

The battle that ensued was surprisingly tight, Toxicroak was fast, but the Gastrodon which Y addressed as G had a Gelatinous body, reducing it's damage. Unfortunately for Y, the Toxicroak had the Dry Skin ability, rendering Water Pulse useless, which Y didn't know at first. All in all, the fight was intense.

"Mud Bomb!" "Evade! Sucker Punch" "Return fire with Body Slam!" "Counter with Poison Jab!" Back and forth they exchanged blows. The only thing that interrupted it was when an all too familiar faceless figure got in on the action.

"Multitude is All Consuming" The figure said as it appeared.

"Damn not now." Y said under his breath. "Sorry to break it to you Saturn, but this thing's a lot more destructive than any bomb of yours."

"We'll see about that." Saturn said as he unbound Allison's hands, retrieving the bomb. "You might want to run now while I'm being generous because once I'm done with this thing, I'll be back for you."

Sparing not a moment, Y grabbed hold of Allison and fled the Marsh, meanwhile Saturn made effort to put distance between himself and Multitude before throwing his bomb at it, setting it off with the detonator.

"Concussive Blast Fragmenting Physical Form." the Virus said as this particular instance of it was evaporated in the explosion.

"Well, looks like I know the bomb works."


Y made was back into Pastoria, setting Allison down just outside the Pokemon Center and releasing the rest of her bindings.

"Sorry that happened to you. I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Rest up, I'm sure you've had quite the shake after that." It was true, the force of the explosion could be felt in the entire city.

"Four badges huh? Than you're doing better than me. Ran insisted we come down this way to train. I didn't even get to challenge Fantina yet." Ian shrugged. "I guess that's life. I suppose I should challenge this gym here since Torterra has a type advantage." Ian pulled Torterra's from his bag. "I have to wait for my pokemon to be healed and my friend to get back from The Great Marsh first." When he looked over, he spotted Allison enter the pokemon center, looking a bit worse for wear. "Allison, are you okay?" She looked at him and walked over to him, where Ian got a better look at her. Her clothes were wrinkled, and her hair was a mess. "Allison what happened?"

"I think....I think I just got saved by a superhero."

Shelby had opened her mouth to reply to Ian, but closed it when Allison ran into the Pokemon Center. "Oh, hey. Did you run into that Y guy again...?" What an odd character. "I guess it's alright, as long as you're okay. I should probably get moving, though. I know there's people waiting for me, and I need to get my badge. Later, Ian, Allison." She waved at them as she stood. She healed her Pokemon and left the Pokemon Center.

"Why am I losing so badly!?" Richie shouted, pulling at his hair, "How do I beat that damned Drapion!?" Richie grit his teeth at the thought if losing again after losing to Dylan, Prinplup looked back at his trainer.

"Guuuuoooooh! I need some luck!" Richie roared, "Prinplup! Water Pulse!" Prinplup flipped backwards, launching the ripple through the air towards Drapion.

"Drapion! Dodge it and use Poison Fang!" Ricky ordered. Drapion did as it was told, barreling onto the ground, grazing the ripple as it passed by then jumped at Prinplup, baring fangs dripping with poison. Prinplup ducked and rolled out of the way of the attack.

"Prinplup! End it with Water Pulse!" Richie called out. Prinplup flipped close to Drapion, shooting the Ogre Scorpion with a point-blank ripple. Critical hit! Drapion wobbled, then crashed into the ground.

"Get th' fuck outta my face!" Richie roared, glaring intensely at Ricky.

"Oh? You actually beat me!" Ricky said, awe-struck, "Okay, fine, I'll leave you alone... Or I'll at least try. I've taken a serious interest in you, friend. Tata~!" Ricky waved then walked into the Pokemon Center.

"Waaagh! What is his problem!?" Richie fell to his knees, shaking his head furiously. He stopped when he noticed Prinplup was glowing, evolving into Empoleon.

Shelby walked past Ricky. Maybe he was just joking, but it was a really rude thing to joke about. Besides, I wasn't meant to love... So even if he weren't joking, I'm not here for such things. It had become dark out, and the town was quiet, aside from a small buzz of activity near the Safari Zone. I wonder if Dylan managed to stop the bomb.

--------

Jack had arrived in Heartome. He was headed to Canalave City, and had arranged to have the locked Inn in Canalave opened for a special visitor. He chuckled. "An eternal nightmare is a fitting end too, I suppose."

It was the next morning for Aryeh and Allana and they made their way to exit of Veilstone and entrance to Route 214.  Waiting for them there was Mars.  The two girls stared at eachother for a moment.  They looked similar facially but their hair and clothes were very different.

"So ummm, this is Mars" said Aryeh "She's coming with us."

"I can tell" said Allana "This is about stopping Donovan isn't it?"

"Yes" said Mars "He came after both of us and we have some kind of connection that explains why."

"Is it why you gave me your Pokémon?" Allana asked.

"I think so" replied Mars "My mind was feeling a bit surreal at the time, as if I was part of the air itself."

"Do you want it back?" asked Allana "I don't want to impose and-"

"It's fine" Mars smiled "Keep the Pokémon.  I have a replacement anyway.  You need it more than I do anyway, what with the Gyms."

"Thanks" Allana smiled back "So what's the plan?"

"Cyrus knows about the virtual world and I'm sure he suspects I'm not entirely on board with his plans anymore" explained Mars "Our best bet is to continue your journey and get stronger.  Then we go to Lake Verity when Cyrus wants me to know but instead of capturing Mesprit, we cause it to escape."

"Without Mesprit, Cyrus won't be able to craft the Red Chain and he won't be able to bring out Dialga and Palkia" said Aryeh "The Galactic Grunts won't suspect their own commander of freeing the target."

"Yeah" agreed Allana "But what about Donovan?"

"His affiliation with Cyrus is tennuous and both are only out for their own ends it seems since from what Cyrus told me, he doesn't particularly like Donovan" answered Mars "Even so, as much as it annoys me to say it; we might have to find Donovan again and get what he knows.  He can't beat all three of us together anyway."

"Then we can cut him off at Celestic Town" added Aryeh "Everybody will be passing through there eventually to get to Celestic.  He was coming from Veilstone when we fought him in Solaceon which means assuming he also has the Pastoria Badge, he has yet to get the badges in Hearthome, Eterna and Oreburgh.  That means he has catching up to do while we only need Pastoria and Canalave's Badges before heading to Celestic."

"So we'll set up an ambush there" said Allana "Then after that, what do we do?"

"Cyrus doesn't need me in Lake Verity for a few days.  After Celestic, we can head up to Snowpoint and get the Badge from there too before heading back down to Verity."

"Then that's us set for the next few days" said Aryeh "Let's go!"

((edit-not able to post tomorrow probably so this is in advance))

Dylan had de-Y-ed and was sitting with his back against the Gym wall.

So the bomb went off, but at least I saved lives. Saturn clearly used the thing on that Multitude thing because if he hadn't, it'd be here by now. So where does that leave me. An embarrassed bodyguard and a less than ideal superhero. Worst of all was that this means Valor's gonna get blown up too. "I don't know what to do..."

Dylan's mind was heavy on what he was even doing at this point. The only thing he was certain of what that he needed to get out of the game for safety sake, but he wasn't sure why he did anything else.

"Ricky embarrassing me like that..."
_____________________

Ran and Daichi had started to discuss future events. Knowing that they'd have to go to totally different locations, they mutually decided it'd be best to split up and meet in Canalave rather than stick together and waste time. And the only reason they were even going to try is because they both had a weird sense of faith in Shelby to at least try.

"Worth a shot."

They'd wait the night and continue in the morning.

Shelby saw Dylan, sitting against the Gym. He looked depressed. "Hey, Dylan." She didn't really know what else to say.

Dylan snapped his head up in surprise. "H-hey?" He hadn't even heard her coming, mostly due to his sulking.

"We need to talk. About what Ricky said." Shelby paused, shifting awkwardly. "Is what he said true? Is that what you want?"

Dylan stuttered before finally spitting out some actual words.  "The guy was just kidding. Well. more exaggerating is the better word I suppose." Dylan's ears started to get red. He never blushed like a normal person, his ears blushed instead.

"So you are interested in me?" She raised an eyebrow, trying to figure Dylan out.

Dylan had trouble speaking, his throat closing up in embarrassment. He shyly nodded.

Shelby sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure what to tell you. I mean, I hardly know you. You seem like a good guy, don't get me wrong, it's just..." She seemed frustrated. "I need some air. I'm going to take on the gym."

"I understand." Dylan said hoarsely. "You're allowed to hate me if you want to. Every other girl does." Dylan stood up and walked around the corner of the building, falling to the ground again, this time near burying his face in the mud.

Shelby ran around the corner of the gym. "I don't hate you, but if you keep moping like this, I might." She pulled him up by the collar, so that he was standing next to her. She hugged him tightly, holding onto him for several moments, swaying with him in the moonlight. She let go, and turned to leave. She stopped. "I'm not a good person to hang around, Dylan. People who stick around me get hurt. I just wanted to warn you." And with that, she walked off, into the Gym. She took off her hoodie, not wanting it to get wet, and let Demyx out of his ball. She used him to surf over to the button that raised the water all the way, and battled the gym trainers as she surfed over to Wake.

"I don't care." Dylan had whispered as Shelby walked away. He then climbed up the side of the gym to watch through the windows.

"Well! Looks like we've got someone who knows how to crash with the waves! An excellent challenger! I hope you're ready because in the heat of the ring, a single stay wave can crash your party."

Shelby laughed. She was soaked in water, but the gym was kept warm enough where it wasn't an issue. "Oh, I'm more than ready! You'd better give it your all, Crasher Wake!"

"It'd be an insult if I didn't. GO GYARADOS!" Wake threw his Pokeball into the water, the sea serpent busting out from beneath the pool and chopping up the water. Shelby led with her Gallade, Tofu. The battle was on. Right off the bat, the atrocious Pokemon lunged at Tofu, snaring the Blade Pokemon in it's jaws. By Shelby's command, Tofu used it's sharp elbows to Slash at Gyarados's face, breaking the grasp, and allowing Tofu onto one of the floating platforms in the Gym. It then shifted it's body, swinging it's arms at Gyarados, projecting Psycho Cut which cut across the water's surface as it flew into the beast. Critical Hit. As if it had been cleaved by a claymore, the Pokemon winced and thrashed. It eventually began to twist it's body in a coil before rapidly uncoiling, unleashing twister. Tofu used this as an opportunity, riding the winds to the main platform whilst preforming a sword's dance in the air. Once it landed, it followed with another slash, toppling the giant snake.

Wake brought in his Floatzel. While it was his signature Pokemon, it was far more appropriate for the situation given it's speed. And this speed rapidly proved to be of value. Floatzel flew through the water splashing in and out like a dolphin before leaping at Gallade and biting down, ice on it's breath. The frozen fangs left Gallade's arm frozen, and after a few more bites, the entire Pokemon was nothing but an ice sculpture. Retiring Gallade, Shelby brought out her speediest capable Pokemon, Staraptor. Shelby knew it only had one shot before another ice fang, so she would make it count. She called out for Close Combat, the bird striking with strange avian karate. By the time the bird brute was finished with it's performance, Floatzel was battered and bruised, but not quite out. Ice Fang brought it's second victim to it's knees. Finally, Shelby sent in her Jolteon, which while it didn't know any electric moves yet having just evolved, it knew Quick attack, and that's all it needed.

The final round was Quagsire. Shelby scoffed, sending in Torterra...

And just like that, the battle was done. Shelby collected her badge, smiling. "Thanks for a great battle! You've sure got a fighting spirit." She nodded to him before hopping on Demyx and surfing back out. She collected her hoodie and was off to the Pokemon Center again, this time to dry off.

The entire battle, Dylan had been watching Shelby. Now that it was over, he was ashamed in himself of course. He tried to watch the action, but his eyes kept traveling back to the fact that her damp clothing clung closer to her body than normal. It took everything he had to stop the flow of blood from his nose before Shelby exited the building.

"Good job in there. You were awesome. I guess I'll be going in next. Hey, I wanted to ask you something. And you don't have to answer now. But do you still want me traveling with you? I'll go my own way if you say no, but feel free to think it over." Dylan said before going into the Gym himself. Immidiately, he noticed a changing room. Must be where Wake changed from casual clothing into his wrestler attire. Dylan hadn't been noticed yet either. Time to try something...

Putting his pokeballs away as the Pokemon Center finished healing them Michael headed out onto Route 212. "I think there is a Move Tutor out here somewhere." He said looking down at Dart as he was currently training his newest pokemon. By the time he reached the Tutor's house it was already midnight and Michael was too tired to continue on or go back to Pastora. "Would have rather stayed as a group but everyone else is taking forever talking to each other when we need to hurry and get out of here before that thing gets too powerful." He mutters to himself as he returns Sting and Chim Chim to their pokeballs having taught them Aqua Tail and Thunder Punch respectively before he went to sleep having been allowed to sleep on the Tutor's couch for the night.

Y exited the changing room, quickly dashing through the gym. Wake was surprised to see another masked face in his gym but was exited about it. The battle was actually fairly intense. The only Pokemon Y was packing that could take a water type move very well was his Roselia. And for some reason, Wake's Pokemon seemed paralyze proof because no matter how many attacks they launched after having been stun spored, they kept powering through it. Seriously, those were the most limber Gyarados and Floatzel of all time. But with liberal use of items, Mega drains, and frequent and repeated switching, Y finally claimed his Fen Badge.

Changing back on his way out of the gym, Dylan made way to the Pokemon center. He slept in a solo room tonight, and hate a simple box meal. Tomorrow would be a moment of truth. In multiple ways.

Richie huffed and puffed, still frustrated that Ricky approached him, though fired up now that he had defeated the blue-haired menace, "Taken a serious in'erest!? What th' hell does that mean!? He wasn't interested when he 'as beatin' my ass!? Guuuuuoooooooh!" Richie pulled at his hair some more stormed off to the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon, Ricky was nowhere in sight, "Weird, is he already out for the night? Feh. I'll deal with him later, I'll take on Wake while I am. No pun intended."

The nurse spoke, "I'm sorry, but now is about the time Wake closes the gym for the night, you should go back in the morning."

"Damn. Well can I get a room, please?" Richie asked, calming down. The nurse showed him to a room where Richie could sleep for the night. In just a few minutes, Richie was fast asleep. His door creaked open.

"So flighty... And yet so determined and full of life..." Ricky whispered, drawing close to Richie's unconscious body.

Shelby woke up early the next morning. Before she was to set out for the next town, she sat down in the small cafe in the Pokemon Center, and bought breakfast. She sat at one of the few tables, contemplating what Dylan had told her the day before. I don't want to lead him on. He seems like he'd make for a good friend and traveling companion, but I think that him fawning over me would get in the way.

She frowned and sighed, poking at her breakfast. She wasn't really too hungry- this decision was bothering her. And that's how I know I need a different traveling companion. I'm sure I'll run into someone before leaving town. Heck, maybe someone will even come and get breakfast. I could ask to travel with them.

"Mind if I join you?" Daichi said entering the mess. "You didn't think you were going to get outta town without me did you? And before you ask, mom and I have to split way until Canalave. I still need to snap up the gym, but I'm pretty confident and won't take too long. I just wanted breakfast first."

Ran woke up and asked the receptionist where she could find Richie, Ian, and Allison before waiting for them in the hallway where their rooms were. Fact of the matter is, they were at the same point progress wise as she was, making them ideal companions.

Richie dragged himself out of bed and out to the cafeteria so he could grab some breakfast, tustling his hair and yawning as he did. He approached the counter with half-closed eyes, "A French Toast an' an ice pack, please. Some OJ'd be swell as well..." His order was handed to him briskly and he sat down at a table adjacent to Shelby, although he failed to notice her or the people around her. Opening his eyes a bit more, he shoved a slice of toast into his mouth and realized where he was and who he was with.

"Hm? Oh? Yer that Shelby woman, huh? Haven't seen ya in awhile." He turned to Ran, stood up and hugged her, "Thanks fer that, I actually managed to stand up to 'em, y'know!" Richie stepped back and sat down, continuing on his meal, pressing the ice pack firmly on his neck.

Shelby looked at Daichi, confused. "You wanna tag along with me again? Why?" After what had happened the other day, she figured that Ran and Daichi would need some time to think about her offer. This was somewhat sudden. Her head snapped to Richie when he spoke.

"Oh, you're Richie, right? Good to see you again. How are you?" She gave Richie a sunny smile. She was writing a note for Dylan, for him to read when she woke up. She didn't want him to worry.

"Like I said, you can't get rid of me that easy. Besides, your offer is tempting, and if we're going to be deleted anyway, might as well have it happen trying to get out. Might as well try after all. Anyway, I'm going to take on the gym. I've got a trick or two ready." Daichi smiled as he pulled a heart scale from his bag before walking out of the building.

It was true, Daichi was more than ready. He and Ran had spent a few hours of the night making some efforts toward their mutual progress, Daichi finally evolving his Piplup, not once but twice into Empoleon along side Soichiro. Daichi had also evolved his Cranidos, but that wouldn't affect much in this battle. But between his empowered Empolion, razor sharp Scyther, and soul sapping Spiritomb, Wake crashed before the tweenage trainer.
__________________

"It was nothing. I'm glad you managed to defeat him. You know though, that he might be back. In the end, the only way to truly stop someone from harassing you is to crush them either physically or mentally. And both can be done in many ways, but I'm not necessarily saying to do anything. Just be prepared for a rematch. Hello there Shelby. I know this'll sound a bit odd given the circumstances, but I'm actually glad to see you doing well. What can I say, your offer gave me new hope."

Ian sat up awake, finding himself in a bed at the pokemon center. Strange. I don't remember going to a bed. Maybe Allison dragged me here than went to find another room. That's when he saw the other bed in the room, a blanket covering a person sized lump on the bed. "She's still passed out. I guess I should get some breakfast while I wait." He got out of bed, making sure to use the bathroom to change his clothes. Ian threw the old clothes on the floor, making a mental note to reclaim them before he left to challenge Crasher Wake. He left the room and went to the cafeteria, finding that he wasn't the only one who had the idea of breakfast. He sat down at a seat across from Richie. "Well look at that, it's like a group meeting."

"I'm feelin' really good actually, I think I just took out my antagonist!" Richie replied with a teethy grin then shoving another slice of toast into his mouth, chewing, and downing it with orange juice, "Hey, ya wanna party with me? I'm sure Ran wouldn't mind another person taggin' along, y'know... I mean, there's still Ian an' Alison, but they'd love ya... I think."

Richie seemed completely lit up by the fact that he was talking with another person, "O'course ya don't hafta... Ya might've already run into Dylan and got rounded by 'im!" Richie chuckled to himself, "I wouldn't expect anythin' less o' my rival!"

Turning to Ran, Richie smiled again, "I'm always prepared to duke it out with 'im!"

"Yeah." That was all Shelby could manage to say back to Ran. She watched Daichi leave, and Ian sit down near Richie. "Yup, we're like a good old-fashioned Breakfast Club, now, aren't we?" Shelby joked before getting serious. She looked to Richie.

"No, I haven't been rounded by Dylan." She sighed, her heart already heavy. She hated hurting people. "But it seems like you already have quite a large party. I'd rather everyone in your group agree before I join- I don't want to be the cause of irritation or anything." She smiled sadly. "Though I suppose the more team members we have, the better off we are if we happen to run into the Multitude again. Though I am in a bit of a hurry to get going, so let me know what everyone decides..." Her voice trailed off as she focused on finishing her letter.

Dear Dylan,

I did think about what you said last night, and I don't think I'll be able to travel with you anymore. Please, don't take this the wrong way. It's not because I don't like you- it's because I care about you.

I'm sure you remember the offer I made to Ran and Daichi, right? Well, I left out one little detail when I mentioned my plan... the shock from the machinery, when I make my adjustments in the real world, could easily kill me. Don't try to stop me.

Obviously, I'm going to try to not die, but this is important to me. I've spent my whole life doing things for others, and it's second nature to me by now. I know I should think of myself in this situation, but that's not important to me. All of us are just stories in the end, and we might as well make them good.

Don't worry about me. If all goes well, maybe we'll see each other on the other side.

Until then,

Shelby

She folded the letter, placed it in a slip envelope, and left it at the Pokemon Center desk, asking the receptionist to give the letter to Dylan when he woke up, then made her way out to catch up with Daichi.

"Oh, that's right..." Richie hung his head when he remembered the Multitude, "That thing... Looks like I still have another fear t' conquer..."

He clenched his fist then smiled, "Aaaanyways, I hafta catch upta Dylan, knowing him he might be at the Pokemon League already though."

Dylan groggily made way out of bed. His antics as Y took up a lot of energy. He decided to get a to-go breakfast just because he never was the sitting and eating type. When he started to leave the building, he was called upon by the receptionist and handed Shelby's letter. The contents were like a punch to the throat, in more ways than one. At this point, Dylan didn't feel like he wanted to exist anymore...

Once again, Dylan donned his Y costume, with no intention of taking it off any time soon. Calling his Crobat, he took flight. It didn't take long for him to spot Shelby and Daichi, but he didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. For now, he'd be an observer as he slowly flew to Jubilife so he could go to Canalave.
_____________

Daichi smiled pleasantly when he saw Shelby. "I suppose you should know, the shy timid kid thing was a bit of an act. But otherwise, I am as you know me. Well, shall we?" Daichi led the way westward.

"By the way, you look a bit shaken. Did something happen?"

"Well, the others wanted me to travel with them, but they were taking too long to decide, so I decided to get going..." Shelby's voice faltered. That wasn't what was bothering her. She sighed as she walked alongside the boy. "Honestly, it's because I had to leave Dylan behind. I couldn't say it to his face, I had to leave a letter. And before you ask, you'll understand why I had to leave when you're older."

The walk back was a decently long one. They made it to Heartome before Shelby decided to call upon Winter, her Staraptor, to carry them to Jubilife. From there, they reached the docks to Canalave. Shelby sat down on the dock and looked ahead, needing to stop a moment. They'd traveled a long way in a short time. She was tired. She recalled Winter and stared out at the water.

Waking up Michael thanked the Move Tutor for letting him spend the night then headed out toward Jubilife. "One of these days I am going to get a fly slave." He muttered to himself as he traveled through Mt. Coronet, Dart beating the wild pokemon there with a single punch each. "Man if we didn't have to rush because of that Multipude thing I would have loved to visit Iron Island and add a Lucario to my team. But it would take too long to train him up, and the trip it's self would take too long as well. Oh well." He shrugs as continues to walk in silence before finally reaching Jubilife.

After a short break in Jubilife where Michael teaches Mr. Fish Surf he heads out onto Route 218 toward Canalave. As he reaches the docks he notices Shelby sitting on the end of one. Silently walking up behind Shelby he crouched down behind her looking over her shoulder. "Trying to decide if you are going to try swimming in here?"

Shelby jumped, almost falling into the water but catching herself on the edge of the dock. She pulled herself back up. "Oh, hey Michael. Not really. Just thinking about things..." She had a distant look on her face, as though her mind were far away. She shook her head. "I'm just traveling with Daichi to Canalave. Would you like to join us?"

She let out Floatzel, not wanting to get wet. Plus, Michael brought up a good point- can you swim in this world? Who knew? She certainly wasn't going to risk it.

Reaching down Michael helps Shelby back up after she almost falls. Releasing his Gyarados beside her Floatzel he smiles to her. "Sure I would love to join you guys, I was planning to before but everyone was taking their time playing in Pastoria when we should be hurrying and getting out of here before that thing tries to attack anyone again." Reaching out he gently pat her back before climbing onto Mr. Fish. "So want to talk about the things you were thinking of, since we will be traveling together?"

Oh boy. This guy again...

"By the way, I'm going to have to swing back to Eterna at some point, but for now, I'll stick with you guys." Daichi hopped on his Empolion, riding it like an over-sized penguin surf board.

_________

"We should all probably make way. Once I'm finished at the Gym, I'm going to start toward Veilstone. Try not to fall behind." Ran spoke almost teasingly with that last part.

When Ran entered the Gym, she was more than ready for the battle ahead of her. With Mikoto, the Gyarados faced early punishment, as did the Floatzel. Thunderbolt was rapidly proving deadly in this Pikachu's hands, but the yellow orb in it's right hand might have something to do with that. When the Quagsire came onto the field, Ran simply swaped into her Empolion. The result was a slow but effective Water Pulse off that ended with an unconscious mud salamander. Like Ran had warned, she didn't wait on the others. although she did move slower than she could have.

Demyx bobbed along in the water. He was large, for a Floatzel, making it easy for him to carry the adult woman. He kept ahead of Daichi, next to Mr. Fish.

"It's a long story... You remember Dylan?" Shelby held on to Demyx's yellow floaties as he went along. "Well, he seems to have developed a crush on me." Her voice dropped more, so that Daichi wouldn't hear over the sound of the crashing waves created by the Pokemon. "I'm sure you heard my plan to help Ran and Daichi, too, right? Well, the electric shock that'd be created... It might kill me." She fell silent for a moment. "I'm okay with that, but if Dylan has a crush on me, I don't want to hurt him by dying, if something were to happen. The feelings... They'd hold me back from doing what I need to do. And I don't want the kid finding out about that little fact, either. He's too young to be worrying about that kinda thing."

She looked sad as she stared off at the water route. Her hair was tousled by the wind. "I always loved how the water smells. 'Specially salt water."

------------

The room was set, and Jack had taken to a room in the Pokemon Center. He was admiring the blade to his knife, which glinted in the room' slight. "Here's hoping."

Ian went back to the room where Allison was sleeping, remembering to pick up his dirty clothes and drop them in his bag. "Wake up Allison we're gonna fall behind! Ran's already way ahead of us." Ian shouted to the comatose girl. She didn't even wake up. Ian was starting to get annoyed. He walked over to the bed. "I said wake up!" Ian put his hands under the mattress and flipped it, waking Allison and sending her to the floor.

"Ow! What was that for?" She yelled, rubbing her leg.

"Hurry up and get dressed. We got to beat Crasher Wake and catch up with Ran." Ian explained, throwing Allison her bag. Not wanting to annoy her companion further, she got up and slowly walked to the bathroom. A couple minutes later Allison emerged in clean clothes, yawning.

"Can I get some breakfast?" Allison asked, stretching.

Ian shook his head. "No, we got to get moving."

"But I'm hungry!" Ian sighed and grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the pokemon center and to the gym.

Ian stared at the maze in the gym. "Ugh, I don't have time for this." He took out the poke ball containing Crobat and released him. "Crobat carry us to Crasher Wake!" Crobat flew down and grabbed Ian, who held onto Allison, taking them both to Crasher Wake.

"Very clever use of your pokemon." Wake said, staring at the duo.

Ian looked at Wake. "Listen, we're in a bit of a rush. Do you mind if we have a double battle?"

"Ah, I see. You and your sister want to challenge me? Very well. So be it. Let's begin." Wake threw two pokeballs into the air, releasing Gyarados and Quagsire.

Did he just call my Allison my sister? Whatever. Ian looked at Allison. "Let's do this." Ian took out his pokeball containing Torterra, while Allison took out the poke ball containing her new Carnivine. Both pokemon were sent out. "Use Razor Leaf Torterra!"

"Carnivine use Faint Attack on Gyarados!" Allison commanded. Luckily, the Razor Leaf was powerful enough to take down Quagsire in one hit, but Gyarados stayed up despite being hit twice.

"Already at a disadvantage?! Gyarados use bite on Carnivine!" Wake commanded. The large pokemon surged forward, biting the plant pokemon.

"Torterra use Leach seed!" Ian shouted. Seeds spouted from Torterra and were launched at Gyarados, draining his energy. Allison had carnivine use Faint Attack again while it's energy was being drained. This time, it was enough to take it out.

"Yes!" Allison cheered. She ran towards Carnivine, who saw another chance to eat her. When she was right in front of her, he opened his mouth but Allison hugged him, squeezing the life out of the pokemon. She dropped the pokemon, who fell to the floor out of breath. She recalled Carnivine and Ian recalled Torterra.

"Congratulations on your victory. I present the two of you with the Fen Badge." He handed both of the teenagers each a Fen Badge. Ian put his in his pocket. "Thanks Wake, but we got to get going." Ian grabbed Allison's shoulder and threw Crobat out again. The pokemon carried to two back to the entrance. Ian and Allison ran out of the gym, heading after Ran. They spotted the woman ahead of them on the road, moving somewhat slowly.

Looking over at Shelby Michael had a worried look then looked back at Daichie quickly. "I don't think your plan is all that good. I mean think about it. Those two gave up their plan of stealing a body as they didn't want to take another's life. Do you really think if anything does happen to you when you try and revive them they would be able to go on living knowing that someone STILL had to lose their life to try and bring them back?" He looked down at Shelby as they reached the docks at the entrance to Canalave City. "I am sure there is another way that doesn't risk someone's life."

"There's the beauty of it. If I fail, they'll die quickly enough anyways. No worries. Though if you have a better plan, I'm open to it." Shelby recalled Demyx, waiting for Daichi to get out of the water before beginning to walk to Canalave through the route.

((time for a little post :P ))

Donovan reached Hearthome City and quickly took out Fantina thanks to Gyarados.  His Pokémon were getting stronger all the time.  He thought about Allana and Mars and how he was unable to stop them.  After some thought, he decided that it didn't really matter now that he the data he needed.  He was filtering code to recreate the technology and he was getting close.  The glitch those two would was of no consequence.  He took out a little device from his pocket, pressed a button and spoke into it.

"I've got enough data sent over" Donovan said "When my technicians have it ready, you'll be able to enter.  It will take only a few more days at most."

"Thank you" replied a voice on the other end, the girl who had asked him for help "Have you found her yet at all?  Have you seen Callie!"

"I haven't met anybody with that name, sorry."

"Ok... I'll be here soon and look for her."

"Good.  This is the only thing that makes my inscrupulous actions a little less selfish."

"End justifies the means, sir.  If I find my friend, your actions would have at least done some good."

Daichi's Empolion engulfed itself in Aqua Jet, rocketing itself onto shore fairly impressively and taking him with it.

"Gotta love a little showing off. Straight from Piplup to Empolion's a big change, but man does it feel good. So, what are the plans here anyway. I'm probably going to loiter here a bit once we wrap up our errands. Anything in particular you wanna do while you're here?"
_______

Y flew down to the docks, he took a different route of shore than Daichi and the rest, so he didn't run into them, but he ran into Canalave and climbed up one of the buildings, laying on the roof in such a way where he wouldn't be seen easily.

"Get the badge. I don't have time for Iron Island- we need to be quick." Shelby was walking into Canalave. The city was small and quaint, and the docks were active. The smell of sea salt wafted through the village. Shelby sighed happily. "This is what I'm talking about! Aw, yeah..." She stretched. "I'm not against seeing the sights, though. I probably won't visit the library, but I am gonna try to get into the Harbor Inn. I'm not sure how they'll handle the event flags, and I figure if we're here to beta test, I figure we at least need to give it a shot. Right?" She smirked.

"In fact, I'm going to take care of that first!" She dashed ahead, seemingly in a better mood with the sea air. She got to the door of the Inn, and the door opened. A man stood in the lone room.

"Welcome to the Harbor Inn. We've been waiting for you..." The man said. Shelby began to feel dizzy and sat on the bed. Before she knew it, she was out cold.

Jack left the Pokemon Center. "She should be here by now. Time to see what's up."

Michael shrugs and follows Shelby. "Might as well see what is in here. I never got one of the items for the event so might as well check out what it is. We are far ahead of everyone else anyway." He says pushing open the door to the Inn behind Shelby to follow her in. As the door closed behind him he looked around. "Hm only one bed guess I can't take part?" He shrugs deciding to watch over Shelby for a while as she sleeps feeling like watching to see how the event would happen, moving to sit in a chair in the far corner of the room.

Daichi didn't feel comfortable with the look of the harbor inn. The fact of the matter is, it was a place of nightmares in the original game, and it this, it was still a nightmarish place. He tried to speak up when Shelby laid down, but was too late. Then again, he probably wouldn't have been heard anyway. He had actually always been terrified of this event.

"I've got a baaad feeling about this."
_____________________

Y witnessed Shelby and friends entering the Harbor Inn. Immediately, he made way to the docks. Had a feeling he had an important trip to make and would want to make it quick...

"...They're all... dead...." Shelby's face was twitching, and a cold sweat had overtaken her.

In the nightmare....

Shelby stood alone in a dark, forested island along the beach. Her left arm had become even more injured, and she'd somehow lost her hoodie and her bag. She had no Pokemon, no items. Dead players littered the beach. She was entirely alone...

A branch snapped. She suddenly felt that she was not alone, and she started running, into the trees, hoping to escape whatever it was...

"Can't escape..."

-------------------------

Jack peeked in the window of the Inn. "One guy, one pipsqueak." He pulled his knife out. "Simple enough." He ran into the room, dashing for Michael first with the knife. He managed to graze Michael with the knife as Michael dodged, and he prepared for an attack back from Michael.

Michael looked up at Jack as he dodged swinging out one leg to kick at Jack's leg as the knife grazed over his arm. "You again? Knew there was something off with you." He growls pulling the knife he picked up from Ran out of his pocket. Flipping it around backhanded he stood in a fighting stance. "So what exactly is the plan? You just come in and kill us all and then escape?" He asked placing his other hand down by his pokeballs to release them all if needed, his fingers on all the buttons but Mr. Fish's ball ready to release them the second Jack made a move at him or the others.

"Just here for Shelby, and if you don't stop me, I'll leave the rest of you alone" Jack said, glaring down Michael intensely. He clearly saw Michael as the bigger threat.

Big Mistake.

Daichi was momentarily stunned, but more by Shelby's nightmare than by Jack. Daichi knew Jack was going to show up at some point. And he was ready for him.

"Now you'll be the one with the nightmares. Spiritomb, Hypnosis!" Daichi's demon of a Pokemon appeared in a black flash. Daichi had a Ball Capsule on it's ball. With it's even more intimidating entrance, the makeshift soul Pokemon looked deep into Jack's eyes, stunning him in a red light as he slowly passed out.

"He won't stay out for long. Think I should just have Spiritomb eat his dreams? ... I guess that's more Shelby's call once she wakes up given he's her family... I wonder how long she'll be out?"
____________________

Y had boated out to an Island far from Canalave. As he walked on it's cliffs, he approached a small forest, and more important, a clearing on it. A crescent shaped puddle of water was in the clearing, as was a swan like Pokemon.

"I need a Lunar Wing." Y said to the floating creature which circled around him before flying off, dropping a feather.

Y made his way back to the boat and set sail back to Canalave.

Jack was caught off guard by Spiritomb's attack. "Damn... kid..." Those were his last two words before he drifted off into sleep.

Shelby, on the other had, had started to thrash and was crying. She was whimpering and murmuring quietly. It looked like she was having trouble moving much, but she was making every effort she had to move. She appeared distressed.

Michael grins down at Jack as he falls to the ground. "If you were planning to only attack Shelby you shouldn't have started with attacking us." He smiles as he takes Jack's knife away from him before looking over at Daichie. "I say have him use Dream Eater to make sure he stays out, now just to figure out how to wake up Shelby. I doubt that awakens would work on her." He says walking back over to stroke his palm over her forehead.

"Like I said, I think it should be her choice. If she wakes up at all. This is starting to look really bad." Daichi started quivering and shaking. Flashbacks. Both to night terrors when he was younger, as well as his own death. He started to cry quietly.

That's when Y entered the Harbor Inn. Slowly walking over Jack and up to Shelby, he placed the feather he had received and strung on a necklace around her neck. The feather radiated a yellow light that filled the room, breaking Shelby's nightmare and causing her to slowly awaken.

"Uhwaaa....?" Shelby's eyes flickered open. Her head snapped around, and when she saw that it was just a nightmare, and that everyone was still alive, she sighed. "...Newmoon Island is bugged. Darkrai isn't catchable, or defeatable... And I don't want to talk about the rest..." She wiped her tears away. She saw Daichi crouched on the ground and was confused. "Hey. Daichi." She sat up, then slid onto the floor next to him, holding the small boy close to her. "Shhh. It's okay. Everything's alright."

Jack stirred. "Nnnngh.... My head..."

Daichi was muttering things that related to a car crash for a bit but when Shelby started to comfort him, he calmed down.

"Thanks... just so painful." He said with a shaky voice.

Y kicked Jack in the head, knocking him back out.

"You should get out of here. This is an evil place. Keep that Lunar Wing. I won't need it."

Shelby didn't stop holding Daichi, but she did look around again. Now that she was more alert, she saw Michael bleeding, Jack unconscious on the floor, and... that guy in the superhero costume. She rubbed Daichi's back to let him know that she wasn't ignoring him, but decided instead to talk to Y.

"T-thank you... Who are you?" Her voice shook, and her eyes were wide and bloodshot from crying. She blushed. Who is this man? She put her other hand on the Lunar Wing- had this superhero person made her a necklace- out of a key item, nonetheless?

"I am Y." With that Y dashed out of the building, zigging a bit before ducking beneath the drawbridge before taking off his helmet for some fresh air.

I'm glad I wasn't too late. Those nightmares are known to kill. That and that other guy. I don't really know what his deal is, but quite frankly, I don't trust him. Even if he is apparently Shelby's cousin.
_______________________
"Thank you Shelby. I think we should take his advice and get out of here. Leave Jack to the nightmares or something." Daichi's breathing started to return to normal. He made sure to recall his Spiritomb before standing and staggering his way out.

Michael lifted Jack and managed to move him into the bed replacing Shelby. "Maybe if we leave him on the bed he will stay here." He says before tearing off a part of his sleeve to tie around the knife wound stopping the bleeding. "Come on Shelby lets go before Darkrai tries to take you back." He smiles at her trying to help her and Daichie up and out.

"...Y..." Shelby seemed distant again, only coming back to the here and now when Michael grabbed her arm. "I think I'm safe from Darkrai now, if I keep this necklace on." She tucked it under her hoodie, not wanting to lose it. She seemed comforted, if not exhausted. "I'm kinda drained. I know we need to take the gym on, but... I think I'll go after you on this one." She smiled, feeling a lot better than she was mere moments ago.

"And just like that I'm alone again..." Richie muttered to himself as he finished his meal, pulling the pack away from his neck and handing it back to the nurse. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and threw his shoes on, "I'd better head to th' gym, c'mon Lopunny." He sent out Lopunny to his side and walked out of the Pokemon Center and to the gym.

"Where th' balls are Ian an' Ran? I guess they didn't need breakfast..." Richie ran his fingers through his hair, then looked down at Lopunny, "Get pumped, Lopunny, we're goin' on a Gym Battle Mad Dash from here t' Veilstone, Hearthome then Canalave, ready?"

Lopunny nodded in agreement.

"Yoshah!! Let's get it on!" Richie dashed into the Gym, completing the water puzzles while battling trainers, his Lopunny doing exceptionally well due to Richie teaching him Thunderpunch on Route 212.

"Gahahahah! Another challenger! I'll gladly take you on!" Wake bellowed.

+++

Ricky stretched as he examined the watery area leading to Canalave City, "Hm... Y'know what? Drapion, you take these," Ricky pulled his clothes off, revealing a pair of swimming shorts much like the Swimmers wore, "Okay Drapion, there are rocks over there that form a bridge that you can climb on to get across, but they are simultaneously a border that players like me can't touch, so I'm gonna swim across and you meet me on the other side, kay?"

Drapion grabbed the clothes, snickering. Ricky dove into the water and his Pokemon climbed onto the rocks and began to rush to the other side of the bank.

Is Dylan going to wait for Richie in Canalave, or am I going to have to partake again.

Aryeh, Mars and Allana walked through Route 214 relatively easily, training up their Pokémon along the way.  They reached the Valor Lakefront and continued through.

"This is where Galactic are working on the bomb" said Mars "There isn't anything I can do to stop it though."

"Hopefully the other Testers playing the game are able to do something" replied Aryeh "We'll just focus on sorting out Lake Verity."

Onwards they went to the Grand Lake Hotel area where they battled some people in Double Battles.  In one of the hotel buildings, they found a Team Galactic Grunt.

"Commander!" the Grunt stood up, seeing Mars walk in "I was uhh... just taking a break from the duties at Lake Valor."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me" said Mars "You work for Saturn anyway so talk to him about it."

"Uhh... thanks you" the Grunt stammered "I uh, anyway, found this rock while we cleared the area a bit for the bomb.  Saturn said when we get back to Veilstone, to give it to another commander to look at.  Since you are already here though..."

The Grunt held out a glowing rock and handed it to Mars.  It was a Shiny Stone.  Mars thanked the Grunt and went back outside, seeing Aryeh and Allana training.

"Look what I got" Mars showed them the stone.

"Is that a Shiny Stone?" asked Aryeh "I'm not entirely sure since this looks different to video game graphics."

"It is indeed a Shiny Stone" answered Mars "I have no use for it but it does for the Roselia you have in your posession, Allana."

"Roselia evolves with it?" Allana said, not knowing too much about the subject it seemed.

"Correct" said Mars "This is the second time I'm giving you something it seems."

"Thank you" Allana said happily, having been handed the Shiny Stone and putting it on her Roselia.

Roselia began to glow brightly and moments later, in its place was a Roserade.

"Awesome" Aryeh concluded "Let's get down to Route 213 and see if the Footprint guy is in the Beta!"

"It's still awkward that you call it the Beta" Mars and Allana both said at the same time.

"It's also awkward that you spoke in sync there" replied Aryeh.

"Yeah, it was" Allana muttered "Why is Mars so familiar... it's as if I've always known her..."

"Glad to see you two caught up. The good thing about taking this path is the fact that we get the powertraining early. Hmmm... I think Richie'll catch up fine if you want to pick up the pace a bit." Ran didn't want this to take too long. She realized how much time had already been wasted recently. Plus another Multitude encounter would be problematic. As she walked the same route she had just yesterday when he planned to attack Shelby, this time, her heart was in a completely different place.
_________________________

"You heard her man." Daichi said to Michael. He still was week in the knees from the flashbacks he just had, so he was planning on resting with Shelby before taking on the gym as well. "We'll be around somewhere by the time you finish up."
__________________

Dylan contemplated his next moves. He still didn't want to show his face for a while. But Y walking around into Gyms is a bit of an odd thing for broad daylight. He might have to wait til closer to dusk. Maybe it was a good time to sail to Iron Island for a training session. He boarded the boat.

The trio made it to Route 213 and continued training.

"Hey, Allana, I noticed something" said Aryeh "You caught Marill at Lv25 but since it evolves at Lv18, you should have been able to evolve it right away.  It's already over Lv30 due to you having it on the EXP Share though."

"I haven't been battling with it" said Allana "Maybe Levels from non battling don't count?"

"They count in the games, so why would they change the rules for that.  Usually the Pokéballs have just popped open when the Pokémon gets to the right level after a battle is won."

"Have you checked from Everstones?" said Mars.

"Where would it have got an Everstone from?" wondered Allana.

"Could have found it .  The rules here aren't entirely the same as the game" laughed Aryeh.

"It must be confusing for you to wonder what has changed and what hasn't" said Mars while Allana checked her Marill.

Lo and behold, there was an Everstone.  Allana put it in her bag.

"Maybe I can trade it for something with somebody in Pastoria" suggested Allana "I don't have much use for it."

"Sounds good" responded Aryeh "Plus, your Marill will evolve now when it levels up again!"

A little bit of training later, the Marill evolved into Azumarill!

"Well at least it's not Shiny" said Aryeh.

"Aren't Shiny Pokémon a good thing?" replied Allana.

"Yeah but Shiny Azumarill is like a puke yellow."

"Oh... ummm... guess rare isn't always the best."

Soon, they made it into Pastoria City.  The three Trainers walked up to the Pokémart Guy and asked if he was interested in the Everstone in exchange for something.

"Well, Everstones are pretty hard to come by and some people don't wanna evolve their little guys, so I am interested" said the guy "I assume you want something interesting too?"

"Yes" said Mars.

"Well I got this thing here.  It's an HM for the move Fly.  You teach it to a bird and it can take you places" the guy said, showing them the disc.

"I think that's a great trade" said Aryeh "We teach it to my Staraptor and it'll give us a shortcut back to some places so we can quickly get closer to Canalave later as well as closer to Lake Verity."

"That is true" agreed Allana "We'll take it!"

A minute later, Aryeh used the disc on his Staraptor and taught it Fly.  He was very intrigued about how Fly would work in the virtual world.  Though presumably it'd still be helpful.  The trainers then stocked up on general supplies, headed to the Center to heal and prepared for the next Gym battle.

((yeah I forgot to evolve Marill earlier so I'm turning it into my way to get Fly xD ))

Shelby walked to the edge of the city that overlooked the bay. Ships were departing to islands in the partly cloudy afternoon. The scene was beautiful. A small cart was set up nearby, selling ice cream, and Shelby bought one for herself and one for Daichi. She handed Daichi his ice cream and sat down on the wall facing the sea. The drop was a lot higher than she had imagined it. She ate her ice cream, staring off into space.

"We're halfway there, you know? I don't think it'll take too long to get through the last four gyms. I've never had much issue getting through the games, after all..." She closed her eyes. "Don't worry too much, Daichi. I promise, you're almost home." She smiled reassuringly. "I'm hoping that we're done with the setbacks, now. This'll be the last time I spend my waking time resting, until we're back home." She stretched. "I'm going to enjoy this moment."

Pastoria Gym involved constantly pressing buttons to change the water level in the Gym to open up different pathways.  While Mars explored Pastoria, Allana and Aryeh co-ordinated the Gym puzzle and eventually got to Crasher Wake.

"The glory you are now beholding is the Pastoria Gym Leader! That's right, I'm Crasher Wake! My Pokémon were toughened up by stormy white waters! They'll take everything you can throw at them and then pull you under! Victory will be ours! Come on, let's get it done!  Two Trainers want to challenge me?  How about I take you both on at once!"

"Shall we team up and both get the Badge at once then?" Aryeh asked Allana.

"Sounds fine to me" Allana replied "Let's work together to earn the Badges!"

Wake sent out two of his Pokémon at once - Gyarados and Quagsire.  Allana sent out Roserade and Aryeh sent out Torterra.  The advantage was clearly with the Trainers.

"Well I didn't think this through" said Wake.

"Yeah, we are prepared for this one" laughed Aryeh "Torterra, prepare a happy Razor Leaf fun time!"

"Roserade, use Magical Leaf on Gyarados!" Allana commanded.

Roserade moved first and sent out a bunch of glowing leaves at the mighty serpent, doing decent damage.  Gyarados moved next, using Twister to damage Roserade.  Then Torterra used the Razor Leaf and hit both opponents at once.  Quagsire fell instantly due to the major disadvantage.

"Hey! That there! That was a good move!  This is where it gets exciting!" Crasher Wake said, sending out Floatzel.

Floatzel went first, using Ice Fang on Torterra.  The move was too powerful and Torterra Fainted.  Roserade used Magical Leaf on Gyarados again, continuing to wittle it down.  Gyarados used Twister on Roserade.  Aryeh sent out his next Pokémon - Rotom.  Though being in Heat Forme now meant the Fire was a disavantage, it was fast and had an Electric Move in Shock Wave.  Rotom's Shock Wave was unleashed and defeated Gyarados.  Floatzel then used Brine which damaged Rotom significantly but not enough to take it out yet.  Roserade used Mega Drain on Floatzel, doing good damage and getting some health back.  Rotom started off the turn again with Shock Wave.  Floatzel couldn't escape the electrical attack and was struck!  Floatzel tried to stand up for a moment but quickly fell, defeated.  Aryeh and Allana had both won the battle!

"Hunwah! It's gone and ended! How will I say... I want more! I wanted to battle a lot more!  It seems the undertow pulled me under... But I had a great time battling with you! You've both earned this!" Crasher Wake said, handing both Trainers a Badge.

"Thanks" smiled Allana "Now we got five badges!"

"The styles of battling and winning are as widely varied as Trainers are. Do you want to know how I battle? I battle so I can say I had fun at the end, whether I win or lose!" Wake explained.

"Having fun is the reason I'm here" said Aryeh "It's time I focused on that a bit more..."

+++

Aryeh and Allana walked out of the Gym, catching up with Mars.

"I heard what you said about fun" Allana said to Aryeh "Between the reveals of this world, the things with Donovan, the Multitude and so forth; well I had almost forgot about fun."

"Pokémon is fun" said Mars "We can't lose sight of that.  I almost did, when I let Cyrus manipulate me."

"We will stop the Multitude, we will stop Donovan, we will stop Team Galactic and we will win this league!  We'll also have a bunch of fun along the way because it is the only way we are gonna get through this" Aryeh told them "It's time we become the best.  The technology of this game is going to change my world, it's completely unlike anything else.  Being prepared for how things will be affected will not hurt."

"Somehow, I have a feeling we're still in for speed bumps. I was discussing this with mother the other day, but I think that thing. That Multitude thing, is some sort of virus. Put into the game by some sort of cyber terrorist. I don't know why this person did it, and I certainly don't know who they are. But whoever it is doesn't want the game to exist." Daichi was thinking deeply about the situation as a whole.
_____________

Y walked onto Iron island. It was a lot different in this game than it was in the handhelds. Rather than a cave, it was mostly a quarry. Iron having been dug out of the earth for who knows how long. As Y walked, he encountered a man in a blue suit fighting off some Galactics with his Lucario.

"Want some help?" Y said as he ran to the blue suited man's side, summoning his Bronzong to his side.

"Sure thing. I could definitely use it"

The two of them battled hard, but in the end, they were victorious.

"Thanks, I'm Riley by the way. These guys have been messing with the Quarry. The Pokemon that live here aren't happy with the use of Gunpowder. That's why we normally stick to shovels and augers here. They have to be looking for something. Wanna help me clear the out?"

"Look at me. Do I look like my answer will be no?"

Standing up Michael grinned as he finally left the Inn one last time. He had spent the past while watching over Jack to ensure he wouldn't wake up and run off. Michael was certain that Jack was now stuck in the dream world and would not be bothering them anymore. Finally they could advance to the end without any more crazies wanting to kill them.

Heading over to Byron's gym Michael heads in and quickly defeats the trainers in the gym before approaching Bryon himself. Grinning he challenged the leader to a battle. Matching up with Byron's Magneton, Michael sends out Sting. The ground/flyer's immunity to electric moves allowed it to ignore the magneton's thunderbolt as it unleashed earthquake, after surviving a flash cannon Sting unleases a second earthquake knocking the Magneton out. As Byron sends out Steelix next, Michael counters with Mr. Fish. The water flying hydra was easily able to overcome the rock/steel hydra drowning it in a few aqua tails and surfs simply brushing off the flash cannons and ice fangs and the earthquakes not even able to harm the flying beast. Finally Byron sends out Bastiodon, to which Michael also counters with Chim Chim. The fire/fighting monkey's close combat being able to make extremely short work of the shield pokemon's fighting weakness.

Claiming up the badge Michael exits the gym and comes upon Shelby and Daichie. "Come on you guys. Its time for you to get your badges. I watched Jack, he shouldn't be leaving the Dream World anytime soon but we still have to beat this game before the Multitude does any major damage to it." He says patting both of them gently on the back.

"I wonder if Shelby is here, now'd be a good time to apologize for the misunderstanding," Ricky said to himself as he approached Canalave City, looking up at the frame of the bridge, then frowning, "Hm... What's going on with me?"

+++

Richie guffawed aloud with Quagsire by his side, "I didn't expect a Quagsire au Quagsire match to be so climactic!" He laughed. Wake laughed with him and handed the boy his badge.

"Let's Rollout! Golem!" Richie said, aiding in the creation of yet another horrendous pun. Golem, who stood behind him, seemed to questioning the sanity of his trainer, "Shut up, you know I'm good!" Richie chuckled, walking out of the gym and dashing back in the direction of the Valor Lakefront, towards Veilstone Coty and his next badge.

"Thanks, Michael. I know we gotta get going, but..." Shelby had seen Ricky come into the city. He seemed to be looking at the bridge. She stared at him, a frown on her face. "I should probably apologize for snapping at him... I'm sure he didn't mean what he said back in Pastoria." She stood up, and walked onto the bridge, holding close to one of the supports of the bridge. She half-waved at Ricky.

Ran heard Richie's barreling movement and dodged out of the way of him.

"See, I told you he'd catch up." She then noticed a small black dog like Pokemon by her side, tapping a Pokeball to it's head and catching it.

"You'll be known as Shikamaru." She chuckled before getting back to her feet and lightly jogging trying to keep up with Richie.

Ian looked ahead at Ran, who was a few steps ahead of him and Allison. When he turned to say something, he noticed Allison was staring at one of her poke balls. "Allison what's wrong? You've been staring at that pokeball for a good five minutes now. What's up?" Allison looked towards Ian.

"Oh it's nothing really. But I could almost swear that back when we were in the gym Carnivine tried to eat me." Allison looked back at the poke ball.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Eat you? I don't think he's big enough to eat you." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Ian regretted them. He saw Allison look at him, fire in her eyes.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Allison said quietly. Before he can explain the true meaning of his words, Ian found himself on the ground, Allison on top of him. Ian raised his arms in defense as Allison threw a weak excuse of a barrage of fists.

"Come on! Allison knock it off! You know what I mean!" With little effort on his part, Ian sat up and threw Allison backwards onto the ground. "Now come on, Ran won't wait forever." He stood up and dusted off his jacket and pants. He turned around and helped Allison up, who proceeded to dust off her clothes too. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something run past him and towards Ran, who moved out of the way. "Good call, Ran."

Donovan reached the Eterna City Gym and quickly won.  His next stop was Oreburgh, then he'd be head towards Canalave.  As he walked down the path, somebody blocked his way - Cyrus.

"So when were you going to tell me you are from another world" Cyrus said.

"You figured out what you are?"

"Yes.  It doesn't deter me from my goals though.  I will destroy this world and then I will turn my sights to your world as well."

"Ha, how are you going to even touch my world.  I'm a real man and you are a robot, both physically and mentally.  At least the other A.Is have some form of emotion that sets them apart, but you were most likely very easy to program!" Donovan laughed.

"When I am a god, that won't matter."

"There are safeguards preventing things from this world going outside of it" Donovan told Cyrus "You won't be able to leave without atomising yourself and even the powers of Dialga and Palkia can't leave either."

"I'll shut down the safeguards."

"You can only do that from the outside and at this point, nobody can even leave the game.  There was an announcement that said the game is being fixed from bugs and such."

"The Multitude..." Cyrus grinned "I've encountered it.  It will rip through this world and break the seal!"

"So you are planning on hitching a ride with that thing, allowing you to bring Dialga and Palkia to the real world so you can be a god?"

"Correct."

"You'll lose before then.  You lose in Pokémon Platinum and you'll lose here too.  There are around ten players in this game with the skills to beat NPCs like yourself."

"I'm no longer simply an NPC!" Cyrus exclaimed "I am aware now and I have many plans within plans beyond the plots of games!"

"I assume you no longer wish to have an alliance since you've decided to mess with my world.  In which case, be prepared to die.  I have no qualms killing an A.I and that is what you are.  I won't kill a human, but you do not fit into those perameters."

"It matter, you'll be dead soon!" Cyrus glared at Donovan and held his hand into the hair, grabbing onto the rope ladder from a helicopter and took off.

+++

Aryeh and Allana climbed onto Staraptor and it took off into the air, grabbing Mars with its claws as the third 'passenger'.  It took flight into the air and soared across the Sinnoh skies swiftly.  It took longer than the game, but it was still fast.  Staraptor's claws held Mars tightly while the other two hung onto its back as its wings spread to ride the wind.  Soon enough, they reached Jubilife City once again and landed.

"Ok, so the next place to go is Route 218 to Canalve City" said Aryeh "After we win the Gym there, we can head back to Solaceon and up towards Celestic Town."

"Do we take a detour at Iron Island to train?" asked Allana.

"We could, but I think our best bet is to make sure we are in Celestic soon to lay the trap for Donovan and get what he knows" answered Mars.

"Wait, Route 218 requires the HM for Surf and we don't have it" realised Aryeh "We need to get it so we can get across Route 218."

"I'll see if I can access Galactic resources" said Mars "There is a Galactic communication channel hidden in Jubilife that went up recently."

"Yes, if they have the HM we can use it to get across" Allana smiled "So you get that Mars and we'll wait."

((Kinfin says it's ok to double post this cos it gets the announcement part of it done.  So yeah guys read this post, it's important))

While Mars was doing business, Aryeh and Allana started training on the half of Route 218 before the water part.

"This is great, just relaxing and training some Pokémon" Aryeh observed.

"Training isn't relaxing, it's a tough experience!" Allana said.

"Only if you try to hard.  You gotta go with the flow and enjoy Pokémon" said Aryeh.

Suddenly rising out of the ground, a familiar entity.

"Uh oh!" Allana yelled "Watch out!"

Aryeh ducked as an energy blast came his way, narrowly avoiding him.

"How do we beat this thing now?!" Aryeh shouted.

Meanwhile, at Floaroma Town, Donovan had just finished healing his Pokémon.  Out of the ground in front of him, the Multitude rose!  The Multitude can replicate itself meaning there can be more than one at once and it was facing both the Aryeh and Allana team and Donovan at the same time.

"Absorbtion commencing.  Nothing can stop the Multitude" the Multitude said.

"We'll see about that" Donovan growled "You won't mess up my plan too soon. Tell 79 he's a prick!"

Donovan took out a small device from his inner pocket.  It was a device that could jumble code.

"You don't think I cheated my way into this world without gear that could take out glitchy messes.  I'm prepared for everything to make sure my version of the virtual world is superior!" Donovan exclaimed, pressing a button on the device.

The Multitude facing Donovan began to shake and glitch out uncontrollaby, fading in and out of existence.  The one facing Aryeh and Allana then started to do the same.

"It's glitching out" said Aryeh "Quickly, let's attack it!"

Aryeh and Allana commanded their Pokémon to strike the Multitude with non contact moves, the energies colliding with it.

"Out of control!  Cannot take multiple attacks!" the Multitude beeped in a creepy way "Requiring recharge-"

"No" Donovan grinned "I'm taking you out for good."

Donovan turned the settings on his device up. The Multitude screamed in a way only a robotic thing could.  It glitched in and out rapidly, before fizzling out.

"I think it's dead" said Allana "That wasn't natural."

"I think somebody else was affecting it" Aryeh said "Like it's code was being messed with.  It's the first thing in this virtual world that has looked virtual and not lifelike."

A large beeping came from the sky, followed by an announcement whistle.

"Attention Players" said the voice from above "Some of the anomalies detected have vanished on their own somehow.  We will continue to make sure that they do not return in addition to fixing additional bugs.  Exits are still sealed for player safety and still located in the Hall of Fame.  Please continue to enjoy the game and make note of any bug you may encounter.  Thank you."

The bell chimed again, signalling the end of the announcement.

"So it wasn't the programmers who got rid of the Multitude" said Allana "That means somebody else was able to strike it down."

"Yeah, hopefully that means it is we can rest easy and enjoy the game without it coming back." said Aryeh.

"I don't know if it's gone for good, but for now I reckon it's fine" smiled Allana "That thing was resourceful though, it could repair."

"If it does, it won't be for a while.  The other players likely heard the announcement and that means if they have seen the Multitude, they'll rest easy too."

Meanwhile Donovan continued down to Oreburgh.  He had removed one obstacle.  The next obstacle would be the next glitch he wanted to deal with - Allana and Mars.

Ricky lowered his eyes, seeing Shelby caused his frown to flip almost instantly, "Shelby!" He cried, rushing in front of her then falling to his knees and seemingly slamming his forehead into the sidewalk in a sort of bowing manner, even Drapion did the same, "I'm really sorry, Shelby! I don't know what I was thinking when I said that about such good people!"

+++

"Oh! Ran and Ian, too!" Richie said in between breaths, slowing down his pace a bit, but retaining a steady jog, "I'm sorry 'bout th' runnin', I got kinda tired of bein' behind so I started Zurg-rushin' the gyms!"

Shelby seemed unsure of how to react to Ricky's proclamation of apology, instead staring at him with an awkward smile.

"Um, it's okay Ricky, really, I'm not mad... I mean, I was irritated, but I forgive you. But please, let's get you up off the ground, I-"

She was cut off by the announcement. "Does that mean...?" A look of hope spread across her face. Was Multitude really out of the way? Sure, we still need to keep moving, but knowing I'm not constantly at threat of dying helps.

Mars returned to Aryeh and Allana with a shiny disc for HM Surf.

"This means we can get to Canalave right away!" Aryeh cheered.

"Yes.  I also heard an announcement.  Now that I'm aware of the virtual world, it makes sense" Mars said.

"You took the right pill and are aware of the matrix" said Aryeh "I'm the pill."

The group put the HM on applicable Pokémon and surfed along Route 218 before finally entering Canalave City.

"Should we enter the Gym?" asked Allana.

"That sounds good to me" said Aryeh "What are you gonna do Mars?"

"Until I'm expected at Lake Verity, I don't really have much to do.  Maybe I'll go explore the city some.  I want to enjoy this world some more and show that it's worth saving because Cyrus was wrong" Mars smiled.

"Indeed.  The Pokémon World is already the ideal world.  Well besides the odd Criminal Syndicate anyway" laughed Aryeh.

+++

Donovan got to Oreburgh and entered the Gym.  He dispatched the Gym Leader and got the required Badge.  Next stop was to head towards Canalave himself.  By the time he would get there, his opponents would already be gone but he could hopefully ambush them in Celestic Town.  Then he would have to deal with Cyrus and protect Earth from the emotionless sociopath.

His communication device began to ring.  He looked at it and it said 'unknown'.  That meant it wasn't the girl who asked him to find her friend.  It was somebody else.  Donovan picked it up.

"Looks like you offed my little friend" laughed a voice.

"79.  I was wondering when you would make yourself known" Donovan replied.

"I'm always watching Donovan.  In a few days, the Multitude will be back new and improved.  Your toys won't be able to disarm it again."

"I knew that you made that thing.  A replicating virus that absorbs things.  It's like an updated version of the one you developed for my company."

"While I regret working for you and assisting with corporate sabotage, I do like reusing my old work and tweaking it" explained 79 "I take the virus and make it fit in that craphole you call a virtual world."

"Ah, so this is about your weird code of ethics" Donovan laughed a little "I understand now.  You go to these extremes for something like that.  I knew I sacked your ass for a reason, you really are crazy!"

"You are crazy too for trying to take the virtual world technology.  It just means I'll bury you along with the creators of this and anybody else in my way!"

"I understand the applications for this technology in the real world.  I thought a computer guy like you would get that but it seems your psychosis meant that you instead try to halt progress."

"This is all wrong!" 79 hissed "Artificial Intelligences are going too far.  Writing mindless codes and whatever is all fun and games but when you start playing god, that's when I have to stop it!"

"You've hidden behind a computer screen, wrecking lives as some kind of twisted hacktivist and thinking you can tell people what to do.  If anybody has a god complex, it's you, 79" Donovan told him.

"I'll give one more chance to not make an enemy of me, Donovan" said 79 "I called you because I wanted to give you a chance.  That maybe you'd see that firing me was a mistake and that my decisions were the right one.  If you aren't with me, you are against me and I will destroy every living thing in this world."

"You'd go as far as to kill real people.  A.Is are one thing, but there are humans in this game.  You are a monster and I won't support you."

"Then you will die.  I have more than just the Multitude to throw at you.  I may hate the virtual world but it doesn't mean I'm not interested in how it works.  I got through to your coms device and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  I'm the best hacker in the world and there are more tricks up my sleeve.  You and the other people in this game best beware."

"You are a tiny man" replied Donovan "When I leave this game, I will come after you and you will rue the day you messed with me."

"You won't leave this game, Donovan.  I'll make sure of that." 79 said and then he hung up.

Ricky smiled as Shelby helped him to his feet, "The disturbance... Is just gone? Just like that?" He helped Drapion up, "I wonder what happened."

"Did you already beat the gym?" He asked Shelby.

"I don't know. All I do know is that I won't miss it." Shelby chuckled. "Nah, I hit another rough moment and decided to take a quick breather." She quickly looked a bit more grim. Remembering the nightmares wasn't something she was ready to do. What she'd gone through so far was changing her, and it was starting to show more and more. She sighed, looking back towards the ocean.

"It seems like it's been a long time since I got here." She was absent minded for a moment before she looked back up. "I guess I should take on the gym, huh?" She smiled. She didn't want Daichi worrying about her- she knew he'd seen what happened, and she didn't want him to know how much it had scarred her.

"That's... strange... I highly doubt something like that could just be taken out easily. I wonder if somebody on the outside..." Daichi was mumbling. He knew a lot about coding from his father, and this didn't sit with him well.

"..! Oh, right. The Gym. Yeah. We should go there now."
_________

Between Riley and Y, many Galactic Grunts Crumbled. After a good half hour of tough battling, eventually, they were cleared out.

"I wonder why they were even here?" Y said once the last of them retreated.

"Not sure. Thanks for that though. This is a training ground for many many trainers, so having a group like that running around isn't good for anyone. Hey, I wanna thank you. Take these. One's for your Roselia, the other two, well, I'm sure you'll take care of them."

Riley handed Y a Shiny Stone, a Jar of Metal Coat, and a Pokemon Egg. While Y didn't have room in his team for the egg Pokemon, he figured he'd find a good home for it somewhere. Y got back on the boat and headed back to Canalave, changing back to himself on the way. All the battling had gotten the suit a bit sweaty. When he arrived at the docks, he was right next to the gym, and contemplated going in now or resting up a bit.

Shelby turned to face the Gym, but when she heard the horn of the boat, she jumped. She saw Dylan get off of the ship, and was legitimately surprised he'd caught up to her. She didn't want him to see her. She was sure that he was upset with her for ditching him like that, for any reason. Shelby ran off, into the Gym, without another word.

She more or less dashed through the Gym, Cochise at her side. He quickly evolved into a Rapidash from the influx of experience. She got to Byron quickly, the flaming horse next to her.

"You really want to do this?" She smirked.

"I'm not just gonna give you the badge, lass!" He laughed, sending out his Magneton. Cochise stepped forward, using Flame Wheel and taking it out swiftly. She then switched to Cheeto, and had him use Earthquake on the Steelix Byron sent out. It hung on and used Ice Fang.

"Dammit! I forgot your Steelix knew that move..." Shelby grimaced. "Hang in there, Cheeto!" The Torterra hung on by the skin of its teeth, and took the Steelix out with another Earthquake. "No point switching now, buddy."

Out came Bastiodon, and Shelby commanded Cheeto to use Earthquake again. Bastiodon was weakened, but still up, and used Stone Edge to finish off Cheeto. After Cheeto fainted, Shelby sent Cochise back out, and he used Flame Wheel, fainting Bastiodon and netting her the badge. She accepted it, winking at Byron before heading out of the gym.

When Dylan noticed Shelby leaving the gym and ducked aside as she walked out. He figured she didn't want to see him. It was at that point that Dylan ran into Daichi.

"Hey, how's it going?" Daichi said in a whisper when he saw Dylan was hiding, making Dylan jump. "Haven't seen you in a while. How's it goin?"

"Eh... fine I guess. Just sorta trying to stay out of people's ways I guess."

"If this is about her splitting off from you, she's not mad or anything. She has her reasons is all. I'm sure she'd explain it to you if spoke to her again."

"Yeah... hey, you want these?" Dylan offered Daichi the egg and Metal Coat "I don't need 'em."

"Sure. Thanks. Hey, you know what'll put a zing in your step again, how about a blast from the past with us teaming up in this Gym. I'm staying in this town for a little extra time anyway. I'll use that as an excuse with Shelby, and when she walks away, you and I can rock house." Daichi actually wasn't confident in his team for this gym, so he would really appreciate the help. When Dylan agreed, Daichi walked into the open.

Realizing they were falling too far behind the others, Allison, Ian, Ran and Richie decided to sprint the rest of the way to Veilstone City. They took short breaks, occasionally stopping to catch their breath. They reached the city's gym, passing the obstacles and defeating Maylene's trainers. After a lot of swears and some bickering, the group found the path leading to Maylene. One by one, they challenged Maylene and defeated her, earning the group their fourth badge. They weren't done yet, however. They ran out of the gym and left the city, heading for Hearthkme City, only stopping at the Lost Tower so Ian could catch a Duskull. They sprinted towards the gym, again stopping to catch their breath outside the gym. They finally entered the gym, beating Fantina's trainers and eventually beat Fantina herself. They exited the gym, only for Allison to fall to her knees.

"No more running." She said, shaking her head. "I think my legs will fall off if I move another step." Ian stood there and rolled his eyes.

"We can't stop here. And we can't just leave you here." Ian turned to ask what Ran and Richie wanted to do next, when Allison jumped onto his back.

"Than I guess you'll have to carry me." Allison said, smiling.

Michael looks up at the sky raising an eyebrow at the message. "Weird bugs don't just disappear on their own. Though whether it is gone or not might as well relax a while longer." He says shrugging as he leans back in his seat simply relaxing in the Pokemon Center and having some food to eat while the others went about beating the gym as well.

"Shinjaku shinjaku!" Richie growled with a crooked smile, he pat Alison and Ian on their backs, "If ya feel tired, ya can rest in th' Center-" he gave a quick cough, "Ahem- you guys rest up, I'll be right back with Fantina's badge!" He coughed twice more as he walked on.

+++

"Too crazy!" Ricky cheered for Shelby as she defeated Byron, "I thought his Steelix had you for a second there!"

Ricky high-fived Shelby then proceeded in front of Byron, cracking his knuckles, Drapion mimicking him, "Lucky! Next is me, Byron! Let's get it on!"

Ricky sent out his Bastiodon, "As to not show a replay, I won't be using my Torterra!"

"How very kind of ya, but that's gonna hurt ya quite a bit! Magneton!"

"Tsk tsk! Bastiodon use Earth Power and wreck that magnet!" Ricky ordered. Magneton and Bastiodon quickly fell to Ricky's Bastiodon. Steelix following suit to Munchlax's Rock Smash, though through quite a bit of time.

After Ran cleared the gym, a total sweep with her Drifblim, she spearheaded the jaunt to Hearthome. The rainy route much easier to traverse in reverse, it didn't take long before reaching Solacion and finally Hearthome. Once there, with a team of empowered Pokemon, Ran made short work of Fantina before trekking the supprisingly short route through Orreburg and Jubilife and into Canalave where she recuperated her Pokemon at the PC before heading over to the Library, wanting to take a moment to take in some of the game world's history.

Meanwhile, after explaining to Shelby that he'd be meeting up with her later along the road and that she should go it alone if she left town, Dylan and Daichi entered the Gym. Daichi's team was actually poorly suited for this particular gym, so having Dylan's support was invaluable to him. The two of them beat battered and melted through the metal themed gym until arriving before the dirt covered Byron. The battle mostly consisted of Daichi's Pokemon playing support and giving Byron's the run around while Dylan's more capable Pokemon, including his freshly evolved Roseraid, played striker, toppling the metal mammoths. In the end, the two of them were rewarded with matching Mine Badges.

"Hey Daichi. Thanks. I can tell you were using me to beat a gym you'd have had little chance in, but it made me feel useful again, and I appreciate it."

"No problem. I think you just needed to get that Bodyguard thing going. Everyone needs to feel like they have purpose. You know she didn't leave because she didn't like you, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but it's still a thing... I don't know... You'll understand one day I guess."

Shelby smiled and waved at Ricky as he went into the gym. Daichi had run up to her as she was waving, and she was confused about his advice to go alone. However, after all they'd been through together, she had a feeling that he knew something she didn't. She'd spent her whole time here traveling with others, anyways, so, she considered, maybe she'd enjoy traveling alone awhile. She let Tofu out of his ball.

"Just because I'm traveling alone doesn't mean I'll be traveling foolishly. Always good to have another set of eyes on your back, right?" She smiled at the Gallade. "We should stock up on supplies. The trip to Snowpoint is going to be a long one, considering that there's noplace to get winter clothes. At least, that I've seen." She shrugged and headed into the Pokemart, picking up supplies, including some ration supplies that'd keep her fed if she were to be stuck in the snowy plains ahead. She let Winter out, held Tofu's hand, and was whisked back to Heartome.

------------------

Jack had remained unconscious. It was obvious that he wasn't going to wake back up. The little Inn had become empty- the event was finished, and no other living souls were there. That's when his body seemed to pixelate- the pixels went up into the sky, like sparkles, over the ocean. It was a beautiful sight to anyone who would be watching.

However, the pixels were keeping close to one another, and they were headed in the same direction. Snowpoint City.