Into Their World AU

[Scarlet Spider]

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."

[Kinfin]

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.

[RIIKYUUUN~<3]

"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.

[Kloud]

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."

[Kinfin]

"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.

[lightball20]

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.

[Tuxedo Mask]

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.

[Kloud]

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.

[lightball20]

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.

[Tuxedo Mask]

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.

[RIIKYUUUN~<3]

"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.

[Scarlet Spider]

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.

[lightball20]

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.

[Scarlet Spider]

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."

[RIIKYUUUN~<3]

"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!"