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Chapter Text

Enya is a young girl hailing from the seaside Kanto port of Pallet Town. Her mother, Emilia, was her sole parent in her life. When asked to talk about her father, Emilia simply told Enya that her father was lost to the war that came to the region years ago. She did mention that he was a valiant soldier alongside their commanding officer, Lt. Surge, back when he was in the military, and back when she served as a nurse. Those days had long passed, and even though her father’s name was never mentioned, Enya did have a photo of him in his uniform, standing next to a very obviously pregnant Emilia. He was a handsome man who had such piercing eyes. Enya yearned to know more of him, and she only knew of one way to learn more. She would follow in his footsteps prior to being a soldier. She would become a Pokemon trainer, and she aspired to be the best among those in Pallet Town, if not all of Kanto.

Her neighbor, Calder, is the grandson of the famed Professor Oak, and he, too, yearns to become a great Pokemon trainer. Instead of being born from a desire to learn about those who came before him, Calder’s reasons were more selfish - he simply wanted to be the best for the sake of being the best, regardless of what it took to bring himself there. As such, despite being good friends and growing up together, the rivalry between Enya and Calder ran deep. They knew that, at some point or several, they would meet each other and battle their Pokemon to prove to the other that they were better.

Upon reaching the age of being allowed to travel alone, having been raised to sixteen years old, Enya and Calder were ready to prove themselves to the world. Both had packed bags ready to go, determined to be the first to leave town. Their intense preparations amused and worried both Emilia and Professor Oak, but neither adult figure got in the way. They understood their desire to become trainers and to leave home. They were young once; they had been there. Night passed and morning came, and Enya raced down the stairs to say goodbye to her mom.

“Well, today’s the day,” Enya said, a smile beaming across her face.

“I know,” Emilia replied, the trademark look of a worried yet endearing mother beaming across her own face. “Be sure to write often, okay? And don’t be afraid to stop by every now and then. You may be heading into a much larger world now, but this will always be home!”

“I promise, mom! Any last-minute suggestions?”

“Choose your starter wisely, for you only ever get one Pokemon to truly be your starter!”

“And how will I know which one to choose?”

“You’ll know, sweetheart! I gave you the name Enya to represent the fiery spirit that you had since birth! May that spirit guide you!”

“Alright! Thanks, mom!”

Mother and daughter shared one final embrace before Enya raced out the door, booking it to Professor Oak’s lab just down the road. She burst through the doors of the lab, startling the aides working there, and at the other side of the building, Enya could see the outline of Calder Oak, and he was smirking at her.

“About time you showed up, slowpoke!” Calder teased.

“Well, sorry for not arriving at the ass-crack of dawn!” Enya retorted.

“Fair, fair…”

“Where’s the professor?”

“Oh, gramps will be here soon.”

On cue, the doors opened again, and in entered Professor Oak. He walked with authority to the two teenagers, carrying three Pokeballs in his arms. He set them on the table before turning his attention to the eager trainers-to-be.

“Welcome, welcome!” the Professor greeted them. “Enya, Calder, it is time for you two to begin your very own Pokemon journey! As you can see, I have three Pokemon here to choose from. They are the children of three of my own dear Pokemon that I’ve had for some time. I know both of you are anxious, but Calder, you’ll need just a tad more patience! Let Enya choose first!”

“Fine by me,” Calder grinned.

Enya was wary of his lax attitude to being told to wait, but she was far more eager to see what the options were. She looked at the labels on the table, each one describing the Pokemon within. Bulbasaur, a Grass/Poison Pokemon; Squirtle, a Water Pokemon; and Charmander, a Fire Pokemon. She was struggling to choose until she remembered her mother’s words and considered her own fiery spirit. Therefore, the choice was made simple…

“I choose you,” she shouted, grabbing the Pokeball on the right, “Charmander!”

The Pokeball opened, and out popped the Charmander. Enya was instantly enamored with her little fiery lizard. While she admired her starter, Calder approached the table and grabbed the middle Pokeball containing Squirtle.

“Ready to test your starter against mine?” Calder asked, eager for action.

“Oh, you’re on!” Enya accepted, and the battle commenced.

Using what knowledge they had of each Pokemon, Enya commanded Charmader to use Scratch while Calder commanded Squirtle to use Tackle and the occasional Tail Whip. Despite Calder’s strategic approach, Enya’s all-out offensive stance led her and Charmander to their first victory.

“I’m chalking that up to luck!” Calder said before any cheering could be had.

“Oh, come now!” Enya teased. “Don’t be a sore loser!”

“Oh, no, you misunderstand me! Whoever won was going to have beginner’s luck! The day is yours, but I’ll still come out on top! Later!”

Calder rushed off with his Squirtle, now recalled to its Pokeball. Enya did the same with her Charmander, thanked the professor, and headed north to Viridian City. She pondered what to go about catching to jumpstart her Pokemon team when she realized that she needed Pokeballs to catch them. Making her way to the PokeMart, she entered, and the cashier, drawn by the dinging bell, took notice of her.

“Hey! You’re from Pallet Town, right?” the cashier called out.

“Yes, sir,” Enya replied curiously.

“Can you do me a favor? I have a package for Professor Oak, and my shift doesn’t end for another few hours. Can you take it to him?”

“Absolutely!”

She grabbed hold of the package, tucked it into her bag, and made her way back to Pallet Town. Along the way, she came across Calder, who was also returning to Pallet Town.

“Hey, there!” Calder greeted.

“Hi!” Enya returned the greeting. “Why are you heading back?”

“Gramps said he forgot to give us something. You?”

“I made it all the way to the PokeMart and got handed a package to give to the professor.”

“What’s in the package?”

“I have no idea!”

They returned to their hometown together, issuing waves to those who saw them leave and come back. They entered the lab once more, where Professor Oak was waiting for them.

“Hey, gramps!” Calder shouted. “Enya’s got a package for you!”

“Oh my!” Oak responded. “Must be the Pokeballs I ordered for you two!”

“Wait, really?” Enya inquired.

“Oh, yes!” Oak confirmed. “After all, they’re not exactly cheap, and if you want to help with my project, I’ll need both of you to catch as many Pokemon as you can!”

“Wait, a project for us?” Calder questioned his grandfather.

“Yes! Take these!” Oak instructed.

He gave Calder and Enya five Pokeballs each, followed by a PokeDex.

“While myself and other professors across the globe have learned so much about Pokemon, there’s still so much that we don’t know,” Oak continued. “That’s why, since both of you are young, eager trainers just starting your journey, I ask that you catch Pokemon along the way, and the PokeDex will register information on each Pokemon that you catch! If you’d like, you can split the work between both of you; I’ll collect the data at a later date!”

“In that case,” Calder interjected, “leave it to me, Enya! I mean, register what you can, but like gramps here, I’m an Oak, and we are always earnest with our research! I got this!”

“I’m sure you do, Calder,” Enya retorted, “but I’m not going to let you catch everything and leave me out!”

“That’s the spirit!” Oak jumped back in. “Along the way, of course, you should see about challenging the gym leaders across the region! Doing so will allow you to eventually enter the Indigo League!”

“Pffft!” Calder reacted. “I’m sure I can get in without defeating a single gym leader!”

And with that, Calder was off. Oak sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“You may want to go stop him,” he said. “Calder’s going to get himself in trouble, at this rate!”

“I shall, when I have the opportunity!” Enya replied. “After all, I’m sure he’ll want a battle if I pull him aside, so I need to be ready!”

“Fair point. Well, off you go, Enya, and safe travels!”

And with that, Enya was off once more, and upon returning to Viridian City, she asked around about the Pokemon in the nearby areas. Using what knowledge she obtained, she made her way north once more to Viridian Forest, where she kept herself to the southern tip of it. She had heard there were many trainers within the forest, but she did not wish to battle them at this time. Instead, she searched for a while before she found the two Pokemon that she was looking for - a Pikachu and a Caterpie. She caught both, took them to a Pokemon Center to heal up, and trained them a little bit in the wild before heading west of Viridian City, towards the Indigo League. It was there where she found Calder.

“Yeah…” he started, “turns out gramps was right. Apparently, gym leaders give out badges as proof of them being defeated, and without them, the guards won’t let you pass by them!”

“Did you really doubt the professor?” Enya smirked.

“Nah, but I had to try. Speaking of trying, ready for round two?!?”

“I had a feeling you’d say that!”

“Hope you have more than a Charmander this time!”

Calder sent out a Pidgey, and Enya followed his choice up with sending out her Pikachu. Thundershock was super effective, though Pidgey did not go down without a fight. It managed to pop off a couple Tackles that connected, weakening the Pikachu by the time that Pidgey fainted and Calder called forth Squirtle. Despite the type advantage, Pikachu lost against the Squirtle, getting knocked out by another Tackle. Avoiding type weaknesses at the moment, Enya called forth her Caterpie, who did little against Calder’s Squirtle. It had nearly fainted before Enya recalled it and sent forth Charmander. It was a tough battle, but Calder failed in the end with Charmander performing another all-out offensive with Scratches against Squirtle. Another victory for Enya!

“I have to ask,” Enya inquired, “shouldn’t your Squirtle know Bubble by now?”

“Yeah, why?” Calder stated.

“You would’ve done much better if you used Bubble instead of Tackle with Squirtle.”

Calder thought about it for a brief moment before facepalming.

“Dammit, you’re right!” he anguished briefly before returning to his normal self. “Well, lessons learned and all that! I’m off to Pewter City! Later, Enya!”

And with that, he was off once more. Enya did not see him at the Pokemon Center in Viridian City, so she assumed that he beelined it from the battle to Pewter City directly. Always got to be ahead, she thought, amused by her friend’s tenacity. Once Charmander, Pikachu, and Caterpie were fighting fit once more, she gathered them from Nurse Joy and began the trek north to Viridian Forest once again.

Chapter Text

Viridian Forest was just as those in Viridian City had described it to Enya. Full of Bug Pokemon and Bug Catchers. Recalling her last battle with Calder, she decided to try the switch-leveling technique to help little Caterpie grow. It worked wonders, having Caterpie come out briefly and fight very little, followed up by swapping over to Charmander, who would use Ember to roast all of the Caterpies, Weedles, Metapods, and Kakunas that came their way. Every now and then, a wild Bug Pokemon would challenge Enya, and she would use the switch-leveling technique Caterpie, but instead follow it with Pikachu, to ensure that he got some experience, too, while in this massive forest.

By the time she had reached the opposite end of the forest, Enya’s Caterpie evolved in Metapod, learned Harden, and evolved once more in Butterfree, learning Confusion in the process. She was able to learn the moves that her team knew thanks to a part of the PokeDex that Professor Oak gave to her, allowing her to keep track of her team, how they were holding up, and what moves they knew for battle. It was because of this that she learned that a Pokemon cannot hold more than four techniques to its battling memory at any given time, and replacing one move for another would cause the tossed away move to be forgotten potentially forever. She noted this, keeping in mind the types of coverage that she will likely need in her adventures.

As stated already, Viridian Forest gave way, and Enya was able to see ahead of her a new city, or at least it was new to her. The sign read “Pewter City”, and overall, she found it to be a rugged place. She could only make out two unique buildings in the city. The first was a museum. She was not all that interested in it at this time, but she made note of it, just in case she decided to return to Pewter City in the future for that exact purpose. The other building, however, caught her attention instantly. It was the Pewter City Gym, and she knew that her destiny would lead her there, but not before allowing her Pokemon to rest and heal in the Pokemon Center.

The Pewter City Pokemon Center seemed more peaceful than the one back in Viridian City, and she took notice of why that was. Off in a corner, there was a young man with his own Pokemon, a Jigglypuff, and it was singing a melodious tune. If Enya was not wary of the situation, she could have found herself falling asleep. Not that sleeping was a bad idea, especially in the Pokemon Center. It had been a few days since she had left home, and she could use a more comfortable place to rest. The Nurse Joy offered her a blanket, and Enya crashed on a couch, listening to the people in the building chat about Brock, whom she could only assume was the gym leader. After a good night’s rest, she got herself cleaned up, gathered her Pokemon and her belongings, returned the blanket and showed gratitude towards Nurse Joy, and made a beeline for the Pewter City Gym.

Once inside the gym, she saw a grand total of three people. The closest man to her was a spectacled middle-aged man who did not seem to be a trainer, but he did seem wise enough to consider talking to in a moment. The second person was a teenage boy, roughly about her age, wearing a green outfit that made him stand out in the rugged terrain of an arena. The third person was a spiky-haired young man with a nice tan, a vest, and cargo pants. This man had to be Brock, she figured. She also took notice of a couple statues that showed the names of recent trainers who came and earned a gym badge here. The latest name was Calder Oak, who was here only three days prior. Enya smirked, seeing her friend had a huge jump on her, before approaching the spectacled man.

“Hello, sir,” she greeted him.

“Ah, hello there!” the man beamed. “I take it you are here to challenge Brock?”

“I am, yes.”

“Well, I imagine you would like some pointers!”

“I’m certainly not opposed. Don’t spoil his team for me, but give me an idea of what to expect!”

“Of course! Wouldn’t want to ruin the fun, would we? Now, in case you didn’t know, gym leaders tend to favor a specific type of Pokemon, and that is true of Brock! Funnily enough, given his name, he favors Rock-type Pokemon!”

“Well, he seemed destined for his role, didn’t he?”

“Absolutely! Now, if you have Grass, Water, Ground, Fighting, or Steel moves on your Pokemon, you should be fine! Otherwise, best of luck! Oh, and I don’t recommend Normal, Flying, Bug, Fire, or Electric moves!”

This concluded the conversation, which left some food for thought for Enya. She pondered the attacks of her team. Aside from status moves, Charmander had Scratch and Ember, Butterfree had Tackle and Confusion, and Pikachu had only Thundershock. Considering her options, she figured her best bet was to use Butterfree’s Confusion like their lives depended on it. She stepped forward, intending to challenge Brock directly, but the trainer in all green got in her path.

“Hold it right there, miss!” he said, holding his arm out in a motion to halt her.

“What gives?” she questioned, somewhat annoyed.

“I’m a junior trainer here in this gym, and I’ll determine if you’re ready for Brock or not! I highly doubt you are!”

“Try me, then!”

And with that, a battle commenced, with Enya sending out Butterfree while the junior trainer sent out a Geodude. Enya knew that Geodude was a Rock/Ground Pokemon, so she prayed that it did not know any Rock moves, since Butterfree’s Bug/Flying dual-typing would not survive a single hit from one. If the Geodude did know a Rock move, she would never, however, as Butterfree’s Confusion was relentless and took down the Geodude, which only landed a single Tackle on the Bug Pokemon.

The junior trainer then sent out a Diglett, which Enya found odd. If this was meant to be a Rock gym, why was his second Pokemon a pure Ground type? Considering the opportunity too good to pass up, she recalled Butterfree and sent out Charmander, which proceeded to use Ember on her command while only getting growled at by the Diglett. The battle was won, and Enya’s PokeDex pinged. She took a look at it and grinned.

“What’s up?” the junior trainer inquired.

“I think I have a good chance at winning the gym badge now,” was all Enya said before retreating from the building for a few moments to have the Pokemon Center tend to her Pokemon.

Once they were healed and rested, she entered the Pewter City Gym once more, now bearing an air of confidence that was not present before. This intrigued Brock, or so she assumed, given his change in stance as she approached.

“So, you defeated my junior trainer,” Brock began. “I commend you on that. It is interesting that you chose a Charmander as a starter, though. Aren’t you worried about the type disadvantage?”

“Not at all,” Enya replied, “because I have faith in my Pokemon! Either we’ll win today, or we’ll win some other day!”

“That’s the spirit! As you already know, I am Brock, the gym leader of this rugged establishment, and I use the Rock type! I hope you are ready, because once this battle starts, there is no turning back until either all of my Pokemon are knocked out, or all of yours are knocked out!”

“I am ready!”

“Good! Let’s begin!”

Enya sent forth her Butterfree once more while Brock sent his Geodude. This Geodude gave a much more intense fight than the junior trainer’s Geodude, but in the end, it still succumbed to Butterfree’s Confusion. Brock was amused to see this happen, and he called forth his Onix, the ace of his team.

“Now’s your chance to show me that new move, Charmander,” Enya yelled as she called Butterfree back and sent out Charmander.

“A new move?” Brock mused. “Now I’m interested!”

“Charmander!” Enya commanded, “Use Metal Claw!”

Charmander obeyed, and his claws glowed as if they had become encased in steel before striking the Onix, which did not like that. It tackled the fiery lizard in retaliation, which prompted another Metal Claw attack from Charmander. Onix then went for a Bind and missed, allowing for a third Metal Claw to land. At this point, it seemed pretty much a given that Charmander was going to win, until Onix tried once more for a Bind and grabbed its opponent in a tight squeeze. Charmander tried to fight its way out of the rock snake’s grip, but all it did was hurt him.

“Hang in there, Charmander!” Enya cried out. “One more Metal Claw should do the trick!”

Charmander heeded Enya’s order, and it loosened its arms from Onix’s grip. It was just enough to strike the Rock Pokemon one last time before it went down. As Onix collapsed to the ground, Charmander jumped away to avoid the fainted goliath. Brock recalled his Onix, smiling as he did.

“That was a damn good battle,” Brock admitted, “and I am not ashamed to give you the Boulder Badge, proof of your victory here in this gym!”

Enya gleefully took the badge and pinned it to the inside of her bag, ensuring that it could not be lost.

“As a further token of good sportsmanship, I have this for you!” Brock said as he presented her a disk.

“What is this?” Enya inquired.

“That is a T.M., which is short for Technical Machine. It has the ability to teach a Pokemon a move that it would not learn until much later in its battling life, or even a move that it cannot learn by any other means! A word of caution, though: a T.M. can only be used once, so choose wisely before you use it! Anyway, this T.M. contains Rock Tomb!”

“Thank you, Brock! This is quite kind of you!”

“The pleasure is all mine, uh…I failed to ask for your name.”

“Enya! My name is Enya!”

“Lovely name! Best of luck to you in your journey, Enya!”

“Thank you again, Brock!”

And with that, she stepped away to retreat from the building. The spectacled man stopped from leaving, handing her a pen. Understanding what this meant, she took the pen and filled out her name right below Calder’s name, ensuring that these two, while currently miles apart, were still right on each other’s heels. She handed the pen back to the gentleman who gave it to her, took her leave, and returned once more to the Pokemon Center, where she would spend another night before continuing her journey in the morning.

Chapter Text

Putting Pewter City behind her, Enya ventured east, making her way towards Mt. Moon. Along the way, she encountered multiple trainers carrying multiple species of Pokemon, which allowed for some decent training for her own Pokemon. Before the end of onslaught of trainers seeking to whet their appetites in friendly Pokemon battles, Enya’s Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, and he proved to be quite the fiery spirit himself as they continued battling. Many trainers tried, but none proved victorious against Enya.

Before reaching the mountain in the distance, Enya decided to search the grass for a new teammate. It did not take before she laid eyes on a rowdy NidoranM, which did not put up much fight against Pikachu, who first weakened it with a Thundershock, followed by stunning it with a Thunder Wave. Doing this combination of moves allowed Enya to make NidoranM the fourth teammate in her adventures. Testing out her newly-caught Pokemon, she found that it only knew one damaging move: Peck. Odd, she thought, considering this was a Poison type that knew a Flying type move, but it proved super effective against a Mankey that they came across.

Finally, her journey had her reach a Pokemon Center that was near the entrance to Mt. Moon. The sun was going down, so she decided that this would be a great place to rest before attempting the passage through the mountain in the morning. Once inside the Pokemon Center, she saw a handful of people that also sought refuge here from the outdoors. In a corner, a man was trying to hustle some folk, claiming that he had a rare Pokemon for sale for $500. Upon hearing that it was a Magikarp, Enya was disinterested. They may be rare in this part of Kanto, but they were certainly abundant back in Pallet Town!

On the other side of the Pokemon Center, Enya saw a handful of people that were minding their own business, but one young person caught her eye. He was staring at a photo that was framed upon the wall, and the photo showed two soldiers from back in the war. She did not recognize the first man, but the second man was undoubtedly her father. She approached the young man that was eyeing the photo.

“Oh, hello,” the young man said upon noticing her.

“Hey,” she replied.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just looking at this photo of my dad.”

“I’m guessing he’s the one on the left?”

“Yeah. The one on the right is the man who saved him on the very mountain next to us.”

“Really?!?”

“Yeah! You know him?”

“Know him? No, sadly no. But my mom did. He’s my father.”

“Whoa! You’re the daughter of this legend?!?”

“Legend?!?”

“Yeah! Like I said, he saved my dad back in the war, but he did more than that! He held back the enemy while getting the wounded off of the mountain alive. He saved nearly two dozen people that day, and his and my dad’s commanding officer, Lt. Surge, made sure that he escaped the mountain safely, too.”

“Wow…my father was that amazing?”

“One of the best! I know it!”

“Thank you for sharing that story with me! My mom never mentioned that. Maybe she wasn’t here, and he never told her of it. Again, thank you!”

“Of course! And uh…I know a lot of people say he’s dead, but if he’s alive and you come across him, tell him I said thank you!”

“I will!”

And with that, Enya took her leave of the young man. My father was a true hero, she thought to herself, smiling as she did. She checked her Pokemon in for the night, allowing them to rest and heal in the care of Nurse Joy while finding herself crashing on a couch in the lobby. While resting, she overheard a man on the phone talking about a group called Team Rocket being seen in the area. She had heard the rumors. A group of criminals who used Pokemon to do their criminal bidding, such as using them to steal money, jewelry, and scientific and business papers. She swore to herself that if she came across any of those bastards, she would show them the might of her fiery spirit and that of her Pokemon. Despite this, her eyelids were heavy, and she drifted to sleep.

Morning came, and she collected her team and had them retreat to their Pokeballs. She thanked the Nurse Joy of this Pokemon Center and returned the blankets that she had borrowed the night before. She stepped outside and turned left, staring down the entrance to Mt. Moon. Steeling her nerves and her resolve, she stepped into the mountain, where she found dozens of Zubats flying about. On occasion, one would swoop down to attack her, but calling upon her Pikachu proved useful, as a swift Thundershock was enough to knock out any would-be biting bats.

She stumbled across a few more trainers, but only one of them caught her full attention. It was a girl who used a Clefairy, and Enya was enamored. She asked where she could find one, to which the girl told her that they were only found in this mountain, but they are particularly rare. Keeping that in mind, Enya decided that if she saw one, she would catch it. If not, then she would continue on without the fluffy pink Pokemon by her side. As she ventured further within, she came across a ladder that went down into the mountain. Despite being a clear detour from her current trajectory, she decided to let curiosity overtake her and proceeded down the ladder.

Chapter Text

Descending down the ladder, Enya got a bad feeling about her decision. She kept a tight hold on her Pokeballs, just in case something tried to jump out at her. Nothing did on this floor, but she found a second ladder that continued further down into the mountain. She took this one as well, and there she saw that the rumors were true. It was a member of Team Rocket, and he was searching for something among the rocks. She tried to sneak out of there, but he caught sight of her and began shouting at her. In a panic, Enya threw a Pokeball at him, beginning a battle that ended rather swiftly. As it turned out, he was a fairly new member of the gang, and he was not great at training his Pokemon to be fighting fit.

Once he was defeated, Enya quickly got out of there, making her way back up to the level where she had started. She pressed onward, now with more caution as Team Rocket could be anywhere. Along the way, she found a man who helped her learn what the Pokemon gang was looking for. As it turns out, there were fossils in the mountain, and while the paleontologist that she met had only the intention of studying whatever fossils were found, it appears that Team Rocket wanted to sell most of the fossils that they found to fund their criminal efforts, all the while looking for one particular Pokemon fossil. The paleontologist further added that he had no idea which fossil Team Rocket was looking for, but he was not going to confront him, seeing as he was not a trainer. Enya promised the man that, should she come across any more Rocket members in the mountain, she would deal with them.

She did find another down a second set of ladders, and like the previous Rocket grunt, this one was new to the criminal scene as well. He was swiftly dealt with, forcing him to book it from the mountain. She also encountered other trainers, which let her Pokemon stretch their legs and get a little stronger. The wild Zubats that kept barraging her also helped in that regard, as a swift Thundershock from Pikachu was enough to deal with them.

Right before taking a third and final set of ladders down, she noticed something shiny that was sticking out of the sand near it. She walked forward and pulled it from the sand, revealing a stone that shone dimly. She was perplexed by it, so she took it to the paleontologist, figuring this may be a fossil.

“Hm? This?” the man said. “This is no fossil.”

“What is it, then?” Enya inquired.

“This, my friend, is a Moon Stone.”

“Wait, that’s a Moon Stone?!?”

“Mhm! See the luminescent shine on it? It is reminiscent of moonlight. And I’m sure you know what they’re used for, right?”

“They evolve certain Pokemon. Let’s see…Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Nidorino, and Nidorina!”

“Correct! So, since you’re the trainer, you keep a hold of it! You may need it on your journey!”

“Alrighty! Thanks for letting me know what this was!”

“Anytime, my friend, anytime!”

Enya continued forward, once again returning to the third set of ladders, contemplating when she should consider using the Moon Stone. NidoranM was not likely to evolve anytime soon, but it was good to consider the options. There was also the off-chance of coming upon a Clefairy, though as she descended down the ladders, she began to think that she would not see one.

Once down the ladders, she was accosted by a third Rocket grunt, who was slightly better at Pokemon battling, but once Charmeleon came out to play, he stood no chance whatsoever. As the grunt ran away, Enya continued forward and came upon a sight that lit her eyes up. It was a Clefairy!  She challenged it directly, sending Pikachu out to Quick Attack it. What she did not account for was Cute Charm, Clefairy’s ability, which caused her Pikachu to become infatuated with the wild Clefairy. Even as Pikachu was immobilized by this infatuation, Clefairy managed to get itself paralyzed by Pikachu’s ability, Static. In a weakened state and paralyzed, Enya took a chance and chucked a Pokeball at the Clefairy, catching it on the first attempt.

“YES!” Enya's victory shout echoed in the cave, scaring off a couple Zubats and Geodudes before she calmed herself and kept moving forward.

She came across one final Rocket grunt that was looking for fossils, and he was pocketing something as she closed the distance between them. Of the four Rockets, he was certainly the most challenging, but he was still nothing compared to Enya’s team. He escaped into the mountain, and Enya continued forward, coming across a guy who was huddled over two fossils. She simply wanted to pass by, but he halted her.

“No!” he screamed. “No one touches my fossils!”

“I was going to-” Enya started, but was interrupted.

“Don’t lie to me! GRIMER! Deal with her!”

And with that, another Pokemon battle ensued. Enya had Charmeleon deal with the weird guy’s Grimer, Koffing, and Voltorb, and the guy backed down.

“Okay, fine! You can have one!” he yelled.

“I wasn’t even-” Enya tried to speak, but she was once again interrupted.

“But only one!”

Enya sighed out of irritation and just went along with the weird guy’s demands. She eyeballed both fossils. One was shaped like a dome; the other, a helix. Figuring that the helix fossil looked nicer, she took that one. The weird guy scrambled forward and snatched up the dome fossil.

“There, happy?!?” he snapped. “Now go away!”

“Yeah, sure,” Enya sighed once more.

She pushed forward in her travels, and she saw light ahead. She pursued it, climbing up yet another set of ladders before feeling the wind on her face. Mt. Moon was now behind her, and just in the distance, she saw the next stop in her Pokemon journey: Cerulean City. She crossed through the plain in between the mountain and the city and hurried to the Pokemon Center, where the Nurse Joy of this city tended to Enya’s Pokemon. She curled up in a ball on a couch in the lobby, and Nurse Joy stopped by with a blanket. Enya graciously accepted it as she dozed off to sleep, knowing that tomorrow would be the day that she obtained her second badge.

Chapter Text

Morning arrived, and Enya rose with a determination in her heart to claim the next badge. She gathered her Pokemon, returned the blanket to Nurse Joy and thanked her for the hospitality, and off she ran to the Cerulean Gym. Inside, she saw a small arena surrounded by a giant pool. Enya turned to a gentleman, who seemed to work in the same position as the one man from the Pewter Gym. She approached him to confirm her suspicions.

“I’m guessing this is a Water-type gym,” she started.

“Right you are!” the man confirmed. “Misty is the head of this gym, and she has no qualms with forcing trainers to run home crying! My recommendation? Electric and Grass type moves! Fire will do no good here!”

“Dammit!” Enya muttered under her breath. “Well, it’s up to you, Pikachu!”

Before she could face Misty, though, she had to fight her way past two swimmers who used their Pokemon to determine a trainer’s worthiness to face Misty. To Enya, though, it was merely practice. The first trainer used a Horsea and a Shellder, both pure Water types, and Pikachu’s Thundershock made quick work of them without any issue. The second trainer, on the other hand, showed Enya that her Pikachu was not yet strong enough to face Misty, with the trainer’s Goldeen putting up a decent fight despite the type disadvantage. This led to Enya running off briefly, back to the fields west of Cerulean City, where she trained both her Pikachu and her Butterfree. She had a plan in mind, and these two were the most important members of it.

After training them, she returned briefly to the Pokemon Center, getting everyone rested up and fighting fit for the Cerulean Gym once more. She entered the building and approached Misty with great confidence. Misty herself could not deny the fiery spirit before her.

“I watched your battles with my colleagues,” Misty began, “and I must say, I’m impressed! However, you’ll need a bit more than a few sparks to stop me!”

“Good thing my team and I have much more than that!” Enya retorted.

“We shall see, won’t we? Just know I won’t go easy on you! Go, Staryu!”

“You’re up, Butterfree!”

Butterfree came out ready to go and hit the Staryu with a Confusion, instantly confusing the star-shaped opponent. As the Staryu tried to make sense of what was happening in its confused state, Butterfree followed up with a Poisonpowder. Despite Misty’s efforts with her Super Potions, Staryu’s energy dwindled until it fainted, leaving Butterfree victorious.

“Not bad,” Misty commended, “but good luck bringing down my ace! Starmie!”

The Water/Psychic Pokemon got a good hit in with a Water Pulse, but Butterfree managed to tank it long enough to fire off a Stun Spore, paralyzing its foe. Even so, Starmie powered through the paralysis and took down Butterfree. Enya, seeing the power of Starmie firsthand, decided to switch tactics, choosing to use the other teammates to weaken the Starmie before sending out Pikachu. NidoranM was out first, and it managed to use Peck on Starmie once before being taken down in a single Water Pulse. Clefairy followed next, and it used Pound one time before suffering the same fate. Charmeleon came after, and it tanked one Water Pulse, allowing it to pull off two Metal Claws before succumbing to Starmie’s type-advantaged attacks. All that remained was Misty’s Starmie and Enya’s Pikachu.

“It’s down to the wire, so don’t let me down!” Enya cried as she sent out Pikachu.

Pikachu was lucky to have Butterfree as a teammate, for the Stun Spore kept Starmie from attacking as often. This allowed Pikachu free reign to bring down Thundershock after Thundershock. Trying to delay the inevitable, Misty kept commanding Starmie to use Recover, and it became a back-and-forth battle to see who would slip up first. In the end, Starmie could not keep up with Pikachu due to the paralysis, and it inevitably fainted after a couple more Thundershocks.

“That was one hell of a battle!” Misty stated. “You’ve earned the Cascade Badge fair and square!”

Misty handed the Cascade Badge to Enya, who placed it next to her Boulder Badge in her bag.

“Also,” Misty continued, “should you ever get a Water Pokemon - which I recommend that you do - give this T.M. a spin! It’s Water Pulse, which, after that battle, needs no explaining!”

“Thank you, Misty,” Enya graciously accepted her winnings. “You were a tremendous opponent!”

“Best of luck, uh…” Misty realized that she never asked for Enya’s name.

“It’s Enya!” Enya said as she began to walk away. “Take care!”

Enya made her way back to the entrance, where the gentleman held out a pen for her to sign off on being there and winning the Cascade Badge. She signed right below Calder’s name, who appeared to have been there a couple days ago. She could not help that she was right on his heels, but she did not realize how close to the truth she was. After healing her Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, she began to head north after overhearing a rumor about a prize for defeating five trainers along a bridge up that way. Before she could get on the bridge, Calder stepped off of it to greet her.

“Hey, Enya!” he called out. “Long time, no see!”

“Oh, hey Calder!” she replied as she gave him a quick hug. “So, is it true?”

“What? Nugget Bridge? Yeah, but I told them that I was uninterested in their prize. I just went and saw Bill!”

“Bill? Wait, you mean…”

“Yeah, THAT Bill!”

“He lives out this way?!?”

“Mhm! He helped me gather some info on some rare Pokemon! You should have him do the same for you! Oh, and ask about a ticket when you get there!”

“A ticket?”

“You’ll see! So, now that we’re here…wanna see how we compare?”

“Yeah! Let’s do this!”

And so, the two friends sparked their rivalry once more with a quick battle. Calder sent out Pidgeotto as Enya sent out Pikachu. Pidgeotto got a Quick Attack off, but Thundershock was too much for it. Calder recalled the bird and sent out Rattata. Enya responded by recalling Pikachu and sending out NidoranM. Try as it might, though, the NidoranM was too weak to compete against Calder’s Rattata, so Enya recalled it before it could faint, sending Butterfree to finish the job. Doing so allowed both NidoranM and Butterfree to gain fighting experience, which led to Enya’s PokeDex pinging her of NidoranM’s new move. Squirtle came next, so Enya sent Pikachu out once more. Unlike last time, though, Pikachu came out on top easily. Finally, Calder sent out Abra, which only knew Teleport, so Enya responded by sending out Clefairy. Despite the lack of fighting prowess, Clefairy’s Pound was enough to end the battle, leaving Enya at a 3-0 standing with Calder!

“Damn, you’re good at this!” Calder admitted. “Still, don’t expect me to give up! We’ll meet again down the road, and I hope you’ll be ready!”

“Oh, I will be!” Enya retorted. “Take care of yourself, Calder!”

And with that, Calder went south beyond Cerulean City’s horizon. Enya returned to the Pokemon Center to ensure that her team was ready for the five trainers along Nugget Bridge. She returned there immediately and blasted straight through them, with NidoranM, Charmeleon, and Butterfree doing most of the work. Clefairy tried, but unfortunately it was knocked out in one hit. Enya made a mental note to consider the switch-leveling technique for Clefairy so that it could become stronger simply from exposure. At last, she reached the end and was greeted by a mysterious trainer.

“Outstanding!” he shouted. “You defeated all five trainers without stopping! Here’s your reward!”

He handed her a solid gold nugget, which shone brightly in the evening sun.

“Now, I have an offer for you!” the trainer continued. “How would you like to join Team Rocket?”

“No thanks,” Enya flatly said.

“Oh, come on! It’s a great opportunity!”

“Yeah, a great opportunity to land myself in prison!”

“Seriously, just join us.”

“Not just no, but hell no!”

“Fine! You leave me no choice!”

The mysterious trainer, now revealed as another Rocket grunt, challenged her to a battle, though it did not go well for him. Enya had sent out Charmeleon because she did not want to deal with this nonsense.

“Seriously, though,” he said as he began to vacate the scene, “with your talent, you could’ve been an executive in no time. Your loss, girl!”

And with that, he bailed, leaving Enya to return to Cerulean City, get her Pokemon healed, and make her way north once more.

***

Elsewhere, a Rocket grunt approaches his masked boss with the fossil that he obtained in Mt. Moon.

“Hey, Boss,” he said in a slightly shaky voice. “I did it. I got what you asked for.”

“Let me see,” the Boss said as he took the fossil into his hands. “Yes, this is it. A Mew fossil. We can begin our genetic experiment on Cinnabar Island now. Go there at once.”

“Y-Yes, sir,” the grunt stammered as he ran off to his leader’s bidding.

Chapter Text

Enya found herself separated from her goal of meeting the famous Bill, the one who set up the Pokemon Storage System via PC, by quite a handful of trainers. Undeterred, of course, she pushed forward, ready to train her team to grow to greater heights. In doing so, her NidoranM evolved to Nidorino, and Enya was ecstatic to see her teammate grow stronger. As she continued onward, she did her best to have everyone grow, though given the specific types of Pokemon that trainers had on Route 25, she found herself relying much more on Charmeleon and Pikachu than she would care to admit. The others did get some exercise, sure, but it was clear who her two current powerhouses were!

Hikers, youngsters, and various teenagers dotted the pathway, but the two people who caught her eye before reaching Bill’s house were a couple who weren’t even trainers. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that they were a couple high school-aged kids on a date. Knowing that she would want privacy in that scenario, she showed herself out of the area, directing her attention to Bill’s house.

Once inside, she looked around but saw no one. Well, no human, anyway. A solitary Clefairy stood there in what Enya would describe as a laboratory. The Clefairy approached her. Enya prepared to send out a Pokemon to battle it, but the Clefairy waved its arms frantically.

“Wait! Don’t!” it shouted.

“Whoa!” Enya replied, startled. “A talking Pokemon?!?”

“Ha, if only. That would be quite the miraculous find, wouldn’t it? Anyway, let me introduce myself! I am Bill, and as you can see…I screwed up with a science experiment.”

“What kind of science experiment?”

“Well, I was trying to make this machine that would allow me to understand what Pokemon said. That way, I could freely speak with them without the worry of a language barrier. I guess I miscalibrated the machine, because instead of being able to speak with Pokemon, I ended up turning into one. So, uh…can you help me out real quick?”

“Of course! What do I need to do?”

“I’m going to attach the machine to myself once more. I just need to flip the switch in the opposite direction, then press the button. It’ll take a few moments, but it should reverse this situation.”

“Got it!”

Bill got himself attached and used his little Clefairy arms to give the okay. Enya flipped the switch and pressed the button. The machine lit up brightly, so brightly that Enya had to turn away. A few moments later, the machine dimmed down and Enya could turn and see a young adult man standing where the Clefairy had been before. He patted himself in the chest and stomach before letting out a sigh of relief.

“That’s so much better!” Bill exclaimed. “Thank you so much, uh…”

“Enya,” she responded.

“Enya! Wonderful name! It means ‘little fire’, right?”

“I believe so. My mom always said I had a fiery spirit.”

“Magnificent! Anyway, are you here for the Pokemon data I’ve got? I have tons of information on so many species!”

“I would like that!”

Bill retrieved his papers on well over 100 species of Pokemon. Enya was amazed and worried. How was she going to record all of this into the PokeDex? Bill set the stacks down then pointed to a QR code.

“If you have a PokeDex,” he pointed out, “just scan this code with it and everything will be added directly to your Dex!”

Enya sighed with great relief and did as Bill instructed. An electronic beep let her know that it was finished, and she looked at her PokeDex. Sure enough, she had information on so many species. There were a few gaps in it, which Enya chalked up to the fact that some species were harder to observe than others.

“Thank you very much, Bill!” Enya said with a slight bow.

“You’re welcome, Enya,” Bill replied, “and for further appreciation for your help, take this!”

Bill handed her a ticket for the S.S. Anne.

“I was invited to go on that ship to party,” Bill admitted, “and to bring a plus one. I already gave one ticket away, so take the other ticket. Even if you don’t plan to party, I know there’s a handful of trainers that travel on the ship from all over the world! Maybe that would be up your alley! Oh, and the captain of the ship is an astounding swordsman and can teach Pokemon the H.M. move Cut!”

“Cut?” Enya asked for an explanation.

“It allows Pokemon to chop down specific trees dotted across Kanto! Not only that, it’s an effective move in battle, albeit not the strongest. And, given that it’s from an H.M. and not a T.M., it can be used multiple times!”

“That could be handy! Thanks for everything, Bill!”

“And thank you again, Enya! Take care, and I hope we meet again!”

And with that, Enya rushed back to Cerulean City to rest for the night at the Pokemon Center before rising once more in the morning and preparing to head out. She learned of some Team Rocket activity in the area and decided to investigate it before leaving the city. A police officer informed her of the situation, that a member of Team Rocket had stolen a T.M. from a house in the northeast of the city, so Enya checked out what had happened. The couple who owned the house pointed her through the backdoor, where the Team Rocket grunt was loitering, looking as if he was waiting to be picked up. Why the police officer did not arrest this man, Enya did not know, but she dealt with him regardless, retrieving the T.M. The couple told her to keep it, saying it could prove useful in the future. She thanked them and went on her way.

Now heading south of Cerulean City, Enya spotted some grass and decided to check it out. It was there that she found a wild Meowth, and she was instantly enamored with it. One Peck from Nidorino and a Pokeball later, and Meowth became her sixth party member. She continued going south, but she was turned away from the guard at the intersection between Cerulean City and Saffron City. He did not explain why the path was closed, but he mentioned being thirsty. Rolling her eyes, Enya took the underground path to continue her journey.

Once out of the underground path, she proceeded further south, encountering a few trainers with some decently strong Pokemon. It was nothing that her team could handle as a whole, though poor Butterfree was knocked unconscious along the way. Thankfully, right after these trainers, Enya had finally reached Vermilion City, and just a couple buildings down from the entrance was the Pokemon Center. She rushed into the building and got her Pokemon tended to as quickly as could be done. While waiting for the Pokemon to recover, she heard word of a man who ran a Pokemon Fan Club, so she promised Nurse Joy that she would return and went to check it out. It was an extravagant place, filled with fans of different Pokemon species. The head of the club was especially friendly to Enya. He went on and on about Rapidash, which surprised her with how this man never seemed to be winded from talking for damn near thirty minutes straight. He took notice of the time, apologized, and gave her a bike voucher for time. She took her leave, returned to the Pokemon Center, and took them east, where she had heard there were Pokemon trainers waiting for a new challenger.

Chapter Text

Having wrapped up training to the east of Vermilion City, Enya made her way back to the Pokemon Center to let her team recuperate. It did not take too long, as they hardly wore themselves out, but Enya wanted to be certain that they were ready for the next stage of their journey. Once they had fully recovered, Enya and her Pokemon made their way to the docks, where the party ship known as the S.S. Anne was moored for a brief while longer. She flashed the ticket that she received from Bill to the sailor, and he nodded, allowing her passage aboard the ship.

Once inside, the scent of saltwater disappeared and was replaced with the heavenly smells of whatever was being cooked up in the kitchen just down the hallway. In order to avoid being enticed to follow her nose to find out what was on today’s menu, she instead approached a sailor, asking where the trainers were.

“The trainers?” the sailor repeated. “Oh, they’re everywhere. In their rooms on this floor, the floor below, and the floor above, on the deck, and there’s even one who went to check on the captain. He’s not been feeling well.”

“I’m sorry,” Enya replied. “If that one trainer somehow doesn’t succeed in helping the captain, I’ll see what I can do!”

“How kind, just…whatever you do, don’t look in his garbage can!”

“Okay?”

And with that, the conversation ended. Enya checked into each room, looking for a battle. Most were open to the idea, though one grumpy old man battled her in hopes to chastise her for barging into his room. After the battle, she decided never to approach that man again. After all the trainers in their rooms along the hallway, she checked the kitchen and found no trainers, though the chef did let her try some of the soup of the day. It was slightly spicy and reinvigorating, which had her more pumped to keep finding trainers. She searched low and high for every trainer that she could challenge, and she won every single battle, though not without some difficulty in certain cases. Thankfully, there was a nurse in training aboard, and she healed Enya’s Pokemon freely. After some training, it became apparent that, while she still relied a lot on Charmeleon and Pikachu, Nidorino was making great strides to prove itself an invaluable member of the team.

With all that done, the time came to check on the captain. She hoped that the other trainer had been successful in helping the captain with whatever ailed him, but she received her answer as none other than Calder Oak approached her with a surprised look on her face!

“Enya!” he greeted her with a shout. “How goes it?”

“Oh, you know,” she responded, “kicking ass and taking names! Same for you?”

“You bet, though…well, poor cap!”

“Oh! You were the one who was helping him?”

“I tried my best, but nothing I did could get the job done. Maybe you can do something to alleviate his situation?”

“I could try, but first…how bad is it?”

“A standard case of seasickness, if I had to guess. Why?”

“Seasickness? For the captain of the ship?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Odd…anyway, I was asking because I wanted to know how your Pokemon were doing.”

“Oh, they’re doing great! Wait…are you wanting to have a Pokemon battle?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, then let’s go!”

In hopes of doing some switch-leveling with Clefairy, Enya sent it out while Calder sent out Pidgeotto. Enya swapped to Pikachu, and a surprisingly difficult battle ensued. Despite the type advantage, Pikachu was knocked out by the Pidgeotto, even when Pikachu’s Static affected the bird Pokemon. Figuring that Pidgeotto was in a weakened state, Enya sent forth Clefairy once more. Despite its best efforts, Clefairy also went down to Pidgeotto. Enya made a mental note in the future not to underestimate this bird as she sent out her battling novice, Meowth. Despite nearly getting one-shotted by Pidgeotto, Meowth remained standing and delivered the knockout blow to the bird.

Calder followed up with his Raticate, which Enya countered with her Nidorino. A couple rounds of Double Kick knocked it out. Calder then brought out Kadabra, and Enya sent out Charmeleon. She had it use Ember, and Kadabra used Disable, preventing a second Ember from being fired off. With that choice off the board, Enya settled with Charmeleon using Metal Claw. Finally, Calder sent out his Wartortle, and Enya responded by sending out Butterfree. It was a tough battle, but Butterfree fired off just enough Confusions to claim victory in the battle.

“Damn, Enya!” Calder exclaimed. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were kicking ass and taking names!”

“I know,” Enya shrugged it off like it was nothing, “but hey, your Pidgeotto is deadly! I’ll try not to underestimate it again!”

“Yeah…well, I’m gonna head out now. I’ve already defeated Lt. Surge and his Electric Pokemon, so I’m off to Rock Tunnel! I’d just go straight to Celadon City if I could, but those damn guards are being assholes about not letting people pass!”

“I’ve noticed! Well, I’ll go check on the captain now! You take care of yourself, Calder!”

“Will do, and you, too!”

The two friends parted ways once more as Calder made his way off the ship and Enya entered the captain’s cabin. She heard him groaning in pain, holding his stomach while leaning over a garbage can. She checked her bag to see if she had remembered to pack stomach medicine. She rarely needed it, but she wanted to have it on her to be safe. Sure enough, she had packed it, and she gave it to the captain who took the bottle and swallowed a couple generous swigs. Enya was certain that this was not how to take the medicine, but she did not speak up. Surely, the captain was in enough pain to follow medicinal protocol.

“Oh…oh!” the captain bellowed. “That’s so much better! Thanks, miss!”

“Oh, just call me Enya!” she replied.

“Say, if I had the energy, I’d teach you some sword-fighting techniques as a token of my appreciation, but that illness has worn me down. Instead, how about this? It’s an H.M. for Pokemon! It’s the move Cut!”

Enya graciously took it.

“Thank you so much, sir!” she said. “This is exactly what I needed!”

“Good to hear it!” the captain gleefully responded. “Now, do be careful! While it can be used over and over again, a move taught via H.M. is hard to throw away! Choose wisely!”

“Will do, sir! Thank you again!”

“You’re very welcome! Have a safe journey!”

As the captain began to straighten himself out, Enya happened to glance at the garbage can that he was huddling over just a few minutes ago.  After seeing what was inside, she wished that she had heeded the sailor’s warning. She walked off the ship and watched as it started to sail off into the distance. With it going over the horizon, she moved off of the docks and back onto dry land. Once there, she summoned Meowth and had it learn Cut. She then followed this with a new train of thought. She recalled Meowth and sent out Nidorino. Once out, she revealed the Moon Stone that she received from Mt. Moon.

“Hey, Nidorino,” she spoke softly, “this is a Moon Stone. If you touch this, you’ll become a Nidoking. I don’t want to force that on you, but if you want to become a Nidoking and rock the next gym, I would be happy to assist you! It’s your choice!”

Nidorino stared at the Moon Stone with great intensity, clearly weighing the options. It looked in the direction of the gym, then back to the Stone. It made its choice by giving a light boop on the Stone, evolving Nidorino into Nidoking.

“Okay, Nidoking!” Enya said, now fired up. “Ready to take on Lt. Surge?”

Nidoking responded with a mighty roar worthy of its new title.

“Then let’s go!”

Chapter Text

Before approaching the gym, Enya remembered to do one last thing. She pulled out the T.M. for Dig and had Nidoking learn it. Figuring that, since Nidoking was dual-type Poison/Ground, this would give him the advantage necessary to defeat Lt. Surge. Once the T.M. was used, she had Meowth use Cut to chop down the tree in the way and proceeded to enter the gym.

The building was a simple two rooms, both with yellow flooring and yellow walls. While she did not like the color scheme that much, she could at least admit one thing. This place was sterile, clean beyond the normal measure. She chalked it up to the fact that Lt. Surge was a retired military officer who likely kept up the standards of his life in the service.

She peered around to see three trainers dotting the pathway to the next room, and blocking the path there were two electrified fences. This confused her, so she asked the gentleman at the door about them.

“Oh, the fences?” the gentleman reiterated. “Those are there to test any trainer that desires the Thunder Badge. Look on the floor. See those garbage cans? In two of them, there are switches that will turn off the electricity, allowing you to pass. The only hint that I’ll give you is they are adjacent to each other. Good luck in here!”

“Thanks,” Enya responded, “I’ll need it!”

And with that, she proceeded, but she did not aim for the trash cans. No, she went directly for the trainers, doing so to get a feel for what to expect. The first trainer had two Pikachus, both of which went down to a Dig each from Nidoking. The second trainer used a Voltorb and a Magnemite. Dig dealt with Voltorb while Charmeleon’s Ember handled Magnemite with ease. The third and final trainer toted a single Pikachu, which he claimed was stronger than the other two that she had encountered. It did not matter, as one Dig was all it took to be knocked out. In doing so, though, Nidoking was paralyzed via Pikachu’s Static. As such, Enya ran off to the Pokemon Center to have him treated before looking for the switches.

Once the team was fighting fit once more, she entered the gym again and began looking for switches. It took her a while to find the first switch. She considered which ones were adjacent to this garbage can. There were three next to it, and she had already checked two of them.

“Well, guess that leaves you!” she said as she reached in and flipped the second switch.

The power to the fences went down, and she approached the second room. There stood Lt. Surge, who was more massive than she had expected. Based on her own size, she figured that he was slightly more than two meters tall. He looked down at her, and a grin spread across his face that slightly scared poor Enya.

“Another young trainer comes to challenge me!” Lt. Surge bellowed. “Say, are you from Pallet Town like the other kid who got his badge not too long ago?”

“If his name was Calder Oak,” Enya replied, “then yes. My name is Enya. Before we battle, I want to ask you something.”

“Go ahead, I’m listening!”

Enya reached into her bag and pulled out a photo of her mother and father from back when they served under Surge. She presented it to him and he took it, his eyes widening as he saw the photo’s subjects.

“Wait, I remember them!” Lt. Surge shouted. “She was one of the best damn nurses I’ve ever met! And him…so, are you their daughter?”

“I am,” Enya confirmed. “Can you tell me about my dad?”

“Gladly! What would you like to know?”

“Well…mom never talks about what happened on that day…”

“Oh…I see. I don’t blame her. It’s a painful memory, even for me.”

“Well, if you don’t want to mention it-”

“No, no. You deserve to know what kind of hero your father was. Take a seat.”

***

Lt. Surge knew that this mission was going to be a tough one, long before the battle began. He did not expect to be this bad, however. The enemy had become quite desperate to win the war, even though they had been pushed to their breaking point. As such, on this day, the last battle of the war was fought on the slopes of Mt. Silver. His soldiers were giving it their all. Bullet fire rang through the air as the enemy, no longer giving a damn about morality, began using their own Electrodes as weapons, dropping them from the mountain, down onto soldiers of both sides. It was Hell on Earth, and Surge knew this.

“Get to the airships!” he commanded, trying to get people safely into the air for a final aerial attack to end this war with no more bloodshed on their side. Men and women poured into the airships as explosions continued blowing dirt into the air around them. One soldier, however, was not complying, and Lt. Surge was initially angry until he saw that this soldier, this one man, was saving wounded soldiers and scared wild Pokemon from the carnage around him. He ran off one last time, scooping up a scared Meowth and racing towards the last airship. As the man boarded, though, an Electrode from high up came crashing down on the ship.

BOOM!

Left with no choice, Lt. Surge gave the order to fly high above the bombers and take them out from the air. In the end, the battle was won, but after investigating the bombed airship, they never found the bodies of the soldier, the Meowth, or a few others that were confirmed aboard.

***

Lt. Surge concluded the tale as he wiped his eyes from the stinging tears. Enya reached into her bag and retrieved a handkerchief, which Lt. Surge graciously took, wiping his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized.

“Don’t be,” she said, clearly holding back tears of her own. “I’m glad to know the truth now.”

“Yeah…he was a good man. A hero. The best there ever was. Without him, so many people would be gone. So many wouldn’t even have had the chance to be born.”

They sat in silence before Lt. Surge pushed himself up, and Enya followed suit.

“Now that we’ve discussed the past,” he started, “how about the present? Ready for a challenge?”

“You’re on, sir!” she confirmed, and thus the battle between them began.

Lt. Surge started with Voltorb, while Enya sent out Nidoking. Nidoking somehow outsped Voltorb, digging underground quickly. Voltorb did not know how to counter that, and it was taken out in a single Dig. Surge followed up with Pikachu, who went down in the same way as the Voltorb, though it left a parting gift - Nidoking was paralyzed by Pikachu’s Static! Lt. Surge brought out his team’s ace, Raichu. Despite three Double Teams used by the Raichu to avoid Nidoking’s Dig, it was also brought down in a single hit. Enya won the battle.

“You certainly have a fiery spirit!” Lt. Surge proclaimed, “Your father would have been proud of you! Accept the Thunder Badge and this T.M., which contains Shock Wave! It’s a great Electric move! If you have an Electric Pokemon, consider giving that move to them!”

“I shall,” Enya said as they parted. “Thank you for everything today!”

And with that, Enya proceeded to the entrance, where once again she was handed a pen to sign on the statue, proclaiming her victory for all who come after to see. Like always, her name was right below Calder’s name, and she smiled upon seeing her friend’s name there. I really need to catch up to him again, she thought to herself.

Once she left the gym, she made her way to the Pokemon Center to have Nidoking recuperate. Once he had, she bid farewell to the Nurse Joy of this Center and began to leave when she was stopped by a man in a white coat.

“Enya!” he shouted, huffing and puffing. “I’ve finally found you! I have news from Professor Oak!”

“Oh?” was all Enya said.

“Two things! One, head through Diglett's Cave to Route 2. One of the other aides will be there with a gift! Two, head to Pewter City from there! A scientist sent word to the professor that he found something that would be worth getting a hold of!”

“I’m surprised he didn’t ask Calder to get the second thing.”

“Initially, he was going to, but Calder was already long gone by the time I got here. Now the task falls to you!”

“Okay, I’ll do it!”

Professor Oak’s aide left, and Enya raced through Diglett's Cave, only fighting off Digletts that were insistent on fighting her and her team. She made it to Route 2 and found the aide in a building to the south of the northern entrance of Diglett’s Cave.

“Ah! Enya!” he called out. “Professor Oak said this would be useful on your journey! Take it! It’s the H.M. for Flash, which will light up even the darkest of places!”

“Thank you,” Enya said as she took the H.M. and bid the aide farewell, now racing towards Pewter City.

Once there, she asked around about a scientist who wanted to give something to Professor Oak. A kind gentleman pointed her to the museum, specifically the workers area. Using Meowth’s Cut to gain entry without a fee, she made her way into the building where she found a giddy scientist and deduced rightfully that it was him.

“Professor Oak sent me,” she stated.

“Perfect!” the scientist responded, handing her some amber. “I’m willing to bet all of my money that this piece of amber contains DNA of a Pokemon! I want you to have it tested in a lab, okay?”

“I shall, don’t worry!”

“Thanks again! Send the professor my regards!”

And with that, Enya made a long trek from Pewter City to Vermilion City via Diglett's Cave, then proceeded north through the underground walkway back towards Cerulean City. From there, she found a pathway that jutted eastward. She knew that this was her next step in her journey, and so she marched onward, preparing for the Pokemon battles that would come.

Chapter Text

Enya continued across the eastward path leading to Rock Tunnel. She had heard from trainers that she battled along the way that it was a dark and unfriendly place to venture, but it was her only hope to reach Celadon City. As she found herself nearing a river, she saw that the path turned south, straight to a Pokemon Center. As the sun was setting, she saw it fitting that she rest for the night here. She handed her Pokemon over to the Nurse Joy of the center, borrowed a blanket, and crashed upon the couch, slipping into slumber as the quiet of the night began to settle into the Kanto region.

***

Calder raced as hard as he could. His Raticate in his arms, he pleaded to whatever being would hear him that he could save his friend.

“Hang in there, buddy!” he cried. “We’re almost at the Pokemon Center!”

He barged right through the doors, startling everyone. The Nurse Joy of Lavender Town damn near shrieked as she noticed the blood on Calder’s shirt, but she steeled herself when she saw why.

“Please save my Raticate!” Calder pleaded. “He’s been shot!”

“Shot?” a person on the side repeated.

“Who would shoot a Pokemon?” someone else questioned.

“I-I’ll try my best!” Nurse Joy responded, carefully taking the Raticate from Calder’s arms.

Calder, with the help of a couple people in the Pokemon Center, found his way to a seat, where the shock overtook his body as his mind forced to recount what transpired before this event.

***

Calder had heard from Mr. Fuji that some Team Rocket members were seen skulking about, so he promised to deal with them. In a Pokemon battle, they were easily defeated, despite outnumbering him three to one. However, a glint came from one of the Rocket grunt’s hands, and Calder froze as he saw a gun in the man’s hand. The trigger was pulled, but Raticate, a loving Pokemon to his trainer to the end, leapt in the way, taking the bullet for Calder. The gunshot reverberated among the buildings of Lavender Town, which startled the Rockets into running away, swearing to return.

***

Morning came, and Enya rose after an uneasy slumber. She could feel that something was off. She could not place what the problem was, but she chalked it up to the tales from the trainers about Rock Tunnel. She retrieved her Pokemon, handed the Nurse Joy back the blanket that she borrowed, and bid farewell after teaching Clefairy Flash. From there, she headed straight into Rock Tunnel.

As expected, it was pitch black. Enya could not even see her hand in front of her face, even when it hovered a mere inch from her eyes. Having Clefairy come out and cast Flash brightened the tunnel, and they proceeded within.

There were quite a few trainers that Enya came across, though they were mostly hikers who favored Rock types and a handful of creepy guys who had Slowpokes that kept hitting on her. Each of them asked for a date if they won the battle; each time, Enya’s Pikachu ensured that she was spared their advances. Only one guy tried to get truly weird, but Pikachu, not liking the vibes of this guy, gave him a Thundershock, sending him packing out of the cave.

The path continued on and on, but, despite feeling weary, she kept going. Her Pokemon started to become worn down, too, but they persevered for Enya’s sake. Time passed, but with no end in sight, she could not tell if it was morning, afternoon, evening, or the dead of night. All she knew was that there were plenty of trainers and wild Pokemon who were insistent on challenging her and her team. She had definitely underestimated Rock Tunnel. Nevertheless, she continued onward.

***

At a Rocket hideout, the Rocket Boss had the Rocket grunt who shot Calder’s Raticate brought before him. The grunt could not see the Boss’s face for the mask that he wore, but he could see his eyes. Angry eyes. The grunt gulped in fear.

“So,” the Boss spoke, “you’ve been carrying a gun around with you, is that so?”

“Y-Y-Yes, Boss,” the grunt muttered, “but that’s because-”

“Spare me your excuses. Hand it over.”

The grunt shakily handed over his gun, a shiny revolver from the days of the war.

“I’ve heard that you’ve used this on Pokemon,” the Boss growled. “Twice.”

“The second time was an accident, Boss, honest!” the grunt made excuses for himself.

“I don’t care why you did it. By your hand, a Marowak has been injured and, according to the last reports I’ve heard, a Raticate is in critical condition and may not make it.”

“I-I-I’m sorry, Boss! It won’t happen again!”

“You’re right. It won’t.”

The Rocket Boss swiftly aimed at the grunt and unloaded the revolver into him. The grunt lay on the floor, dead and spilling blood out. Those that had been in the room with them were frozen in fear.

“This is the penalty for harming Pokemon by means of man-made weaponry,” the Boss spoke once in a commanding voice. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir!” was the resounding reply.

“Good! Now, someone clean up this filth. I want this floor to shine when I come back. I have business on Cinnabar Island to attend to.”

The Rocket Boss left the hideout as the other grunts got to work on cleaning the place up and disposing of the body.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, Enya was feeling despair as she was approaching the end of Rock Tunnel. She exited the passage, breathing in the fresh air and following it with a sigh of relief. As it turned out, she had pulled an all-nighter, and the sun was rising. She looked to the sky and saw red clouds. She remembered an old sailor’s tale of how a red sky in the morning was a word of warning. She was unsure if that held true for those not at sea, but she remained cautious as she ventured forth, heading south to Lavender Town.

It was a quiet and eerie place, and the few buildings were overshadowed by one massive tower in the northeastern part of the town. It was there where she noticed an odd individual, who walked about as if in a daze. She approached the young man, wondering if he was okay.

“Excuse me, sir,” she started the conversation.

“Ah! A newcomer,” the man replied. “How quaint! Do you know this place?”

The odd man gestured to the tower.

“No, sir,” Enya admitted.

“That,” the man explained, “is where the dead Pokemon are laid to rest. At this time, though, some of the upper floors are in a state of unrest.”

“Why is that?”

“I do not know. Say, do you believe in ghosts?”

“You mean like Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar?”

“No, I mean like the ethereal spirits of those long gone.”

“No, sir, I do not.”

“Oh. I guess I’m just imagining that hand on your shoulder.”

This caused Enya to jump in fright, smacking at her shoulder. She did not see anything, though, and she turned back to the strange man in frustration. The strange man, however, had already wandered off, still moving about as if in a daze. Enya chalked it up to him being crazy and made her way to the Pokemon Center. It was there that she was once again reunited with Calder Oak.

“Hey!” Enya greeted him happily.

Calder lifted his head slightly, but he did not smile or say hello in return. Enya could see that his eyes were red and puffy. A shiver went down her spine, because the Calder she knew did not cry easily, even when upset or in pain. She sat next to him and took his hand. They sat there in silence as she let him take his time to start the conversation.

“Raticate’s gone,” Calder muttered.

“What do you mean?” Enya asked for clarification.

“A member of Team Rocket shot Raticate. He didn’t make it.”

Calder’s body started shaking, and Enya could see that he was trying to cry, but no tears escaped his eyes. She put her hand to his head. He was not quite running a fever, but he was warm to the touch. She rushed over to the desk and asked the Nurse Joy for a bottle of water, which she gave to Calder. He sipped on it little by little, and his unkempt look eased a little.

“I’m so sorry, Calder,” Enya whispered.

“It’s not your fault,” Calder responded. “It was that bastard who shot him. It’s his fault.”

“I know, and I’m going to find Team Rocket and throttle them in Pokemon battles.”

“Are you sure that’s wise? Look what happened to…to…”

“I’m sure, Calder. Consider this a vow of vengeance. Team Rocket will pay for this!”

“I should go with you, Enya. It was my Raticate, after all.”

“No, you stay. Let your grief run its course. I’ll be back to join you here once I’m done.”

“Okay. Well, last I saw them, they were heading for Celadon City. I was leaving there after obtaining my fourth badge. Raticate performed so well against Erika…”

“Hey, hey. Rest now. You need your strength. Do so. For me?”

Enya took his hand once more, staring at him with a pleading face. Calder relented with a silent nod, and she released her soft grip on his hand. She asked the Nurse Joy of the Pokemon Center to watch over him as best as she could, then Enya made her way west, heading for Celadon City, taking on trainer after trainer along the way.

***

The Rocket Boss had reached Cinnabar Island, but he could tell that it was too late. A fire sprung from a hole in the roof, and a couple people stumbled out of the doorway, coughing up a storm as their bodies tried to filter the smoke out of their lungs. Even though there was no one to tell him what had happened, the Rocket Boss was able to infer from all the visual evidence what had happened.

His cloning project was both a success and a failure. Whatever was created was long gone. He shook his head and boarded his helicopter once more, ordering for some of his grunts to head to Saffron City while he was to be taken to Celadon City.

Chapter Text

Enya made it to Celadon City, still fueled by the righteous rage of avenging her childhood friend’s Raticate. She knew that her Pokemon needed rest before they tackled anything related to Team Rocket, so she first stopped by the Pokemon Center. It was, just as all of the other Centers, a peaceful place. Very little noise, and there was always a friendly face in the form of the residential Nurse Joy to tend to the Pokemon. Enya handed off the Pokemon to her before curling up on the couch and falling asleep after having been awake for over 24 hours.

***

The Rocket Boss made his way to his Celadon City hideout’s office, where he demanded an item that was necessary to help retrieve his lost project. One of his grunts handed the item to him. He smiled, knowing that the infiltration of Silph Co. was a resounding success. He could not help but wonder, though…would a Ghost type be strong enough to deal with what escaped the lab?

***

Enya awoke the next morning, groggy as hell and with a parched throat. The Nurse Joy gave her a glass of water and her Pokemon, as well as retrieved the blanket that she had draped Enya in during the night. Enya stood up and stretched as she overheard someone mention seeing a Team Rocket grunt inside the game corner. Now with a heading, she pushed onward, locating the game corner and barging in.

As the person she overheard had said, there was a member of Team Rocket there. They were loitering by a sign that was hanging over something that Enya could not make out at the angle she was at. She approached the grunt with fire in her steps and her eyes and challenged them to a battle, which she won with relative ease.

“What the hell?!?” the grunt gasped. “I’ve got to warn the others!”

He pushed the sign aside, revealing a switch. The grunt flicked it, and a secret staircase was revealed. The Team Rocket member raced down, sounding the alarm, and Enya marched down as well, ready to knock them all down a peg.

The Rocket grunts kept coming at her, but none of them posed a challenge to her. The only Pokemon who struggled in this endeavor were Clefairy and Meowth, both of whom were weaker than the other teammates due to not being used as much in battles. Charmeleon and Nidoking especially rocked the Rocket hideout, fighting their way through numerous Rattatas and Raticates and Koffings and more. Team Rocket just could not measure up against Enya and her Pokemon.

***

The first Rocket grunt that Enya defeated found their way to the Rocket Boss’s office, panting as they passed through the door. The Rocket Boss stared at them through his mask.

“There’s an intruder, Boss!” the grunt panted.

“Is that so?” the Boss inquired. “And how did they find this place?”

“I- uh…”

“Get the hell out of my sight!”

The Rocket grunt ran for their life away from their boss.

“I’ll deal with them, should they come here!” the Rocket Boss mused.

***

Enya had just defeated a Rocket grunt that was carrying a lift key. Initially, they were not going to hand it over, but the angry face of Enya’s Charmeleon was convincing enough to the grunt to hand it over. This left Enya to go find the lift and find out who was behind the killing of Calder’s Raticate. Along the way, she came across some tiles with arrows on them. She stepped on one, and she was suddenly spun around until she hit a different tile. Seeing that this was a bit of a puzzle, she carefully judged which spinning tiles to step on and which ones to avoid. Along the way, she stumbled across a Moon Stone lying on the floor, undoubtedly from Team Rocket’s incursion at Mt. Moon. At last, Enya found the lift and made her way to a door guarded by two Team Rocket grunts.

“Ah, there’s the brat that’s been wrecking our hideout!” the first grunt shouted.

“Yeah! Let’s kick her ass!” the second grunt replied.

“Bring it!” Enya challenged.

The two grunts were vastly outclassed, with Butterfree handling most of their Pokemon and Charmeleon dealing with the rest. Upon their defeat, the door swung open, allowing Enya to approach the Rocket Boss. He was quietly sitting in an armchair behind a desk, wearing a white mask with a red R adorning half of it. All she could see of his face were his eyes, which gave off an emotion of amusement.

“So,” he spoke, breaking the silence, “you’re the one who’s infiltrated my underground lair and made my organization look like a bunch of nitwits. I’m impressed. After all, you’re quite young, are you not? Probably started your journey no more than a few months ago. Tell you what, kid, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you something of interest if you can defeat the three Pokemon I have with me. Deal?”

“I don’t care about that!” Enya retorted. “I’m here to avenge my friend’s Raticate!”

“Oh, that. Well, you’re too late on that. I dealt with the grunt who killed that poor Pokemon, as well as a wild Marowak. I may be running a crime organization, but I will not tolerate the murder of Pokemon!”

Enya was shocked. So Team Rocket’s Boss, for as evil as the organization is, does not condone the murder of Pokemon? She dared not ask what exactly happened to the grunt that was “dealt with”, as the Rocket Boss put it.

“Very well,” Enya conceded, “I’ll take your deal.”

“Good!” the Rocket Boss responded. “Show me what your team’s got!”

The Rocket Boss started with an Onix as Enya sent out Nidoking. The Onix managed to use Bind on Nidoking, but it did not stop Nidoking from using Double Kick a couple times to knock it out. The Rocket Boss recalled his Onix and sent out a Rhyhorn. Enya used Nidoking once more, and single use of Double Kick was enough to take down the second opponent. The Rocket Boss’s final Pokemon was a Kangaskhan, which came out roaring. Enya pulled Nidoking back and sent forth Charmeleon, who used its newly obtained Flamethrower to fight the Kangaskhan. This battle was tougher, but in the end, Charmeleon was victorious.

“I applaud your skill and knowledge, kid,” the Rocket Boss mused. “As promised, take this.”

He stepped forward and placed an object into Enya’s hands.

“That’s a Silph Scope,” he explained. “It lets you see ghosts. You may need it. Besides, I can always get another one.”

And with that, the Rocket Boss walked out of the hideout, and the rest of Team Rocket followed. Enya put the Silph Scope into her bag and made her way back up to the surface, exiting the game corner and stopping by the Pokemon Center for the night. There, she and her Pokemon rested once more until morning, when she was awakened by the Nurse Joy on duty.

“Pardon me, miss,” the Nurse Joy apologized, “but this just came in for you.”

Enya took the letter that the nurse handed her, which asked for her to enter through the back door of the Celadon Department Store for a thank you present for ridding the city of Team Rocket’s presence, further stating to make sure she had space in her team to take it. Enya retrieved her Pokemon and used the PC to put Meowth on the bench for the time being. From there, she left the Pokemon Center, followed the instructions listed on the letter, and climbed to a hidden spot on the roof where a man awaited her.

“Glad to see you got my note,” he said. “Here. Take this.”

He handed Enya a Pokeball.

“What’s in it?” she inquired.

“In this Pokeball,” the man replied, “is an Eevee. Raise it with care!”

And with that, the man excused himself, and Enya, now with a new team member, made her descent down the building, plotting her next step in her journey.

Chapter Text

The Eevee was adorable, but unfortunately for Enya, another tree needed Cut to continue her gym challenge journey, so she had to swap Eevee out for Meowth. It chopped down the tree with no problem, then proceeded to walk toward the gym. There, she saw an older man with his face against the window, chuckling to himself. She approached him and asked if he was a trainer.

“Trainer?” he retorted. “No, I’m just here for the women!”

“What?!?” Enya questioned, exacerbated.

“There’s lots of fine young girls in there!”

The man chuckled some more, but Enya was having none of it. She called out Charmeleon and glared at the man, prompting him to take a hint and get out unscathed. Charmeleon was returned once more, and into the gym they went.

Inside was a pleasant garden-like arena, and, just as the man had said, there were plenty of women in here. A lot of them were standard trainers, but one stood out from the rest. In the middle of the arena sat a young woman, whom Enya figured was in her mid-20s, sitting on her legs in a kimono, her eyes shut. Enya figured she was praying, so she decided not to approach her directly at this time. Instead, she turned to where a man would normally be standing to explain the gym, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, a note was pinned to one of the statues with tape, as was a pen. The note read: ‘Out of town. Sign your name if you win.’ The last winner was Calder, so Enya knew she was not far behind him.

She challenged all of the trainers and discovered that they specialized in the Grass types. Oddish, Bellsprout, Bulbasaur, Exeggcute, and more were sent to face Enya, and her Charmeleon dealt with the majority of them. Nidoking and Butterfree also helped quite a bit. Unfortunately for Enya’s Pikachu, Clefairy, and Meowth, they could not keep up and were knocked out. By the end of the challenges, Charmeleon grew bright and Enya watched as her starter Pokemon became a Charizard. She hugged her gargantuan firespitter before having him return to his Pokeball so they could all heal up for the gym leader.

Once the team had its energy replenished, Enya raced back to the gym and found the gym leader still sitting there, eyes still shut, unmoved by anything around her. Enya approached her and waved her hand in front of the gym leader’s face. That is when she noticed it. The gym leader was not praying. She was fast asleep. Refusing to be rude, Enya sat in front of her, waiting for the young woman to wake up. She did not have to wait long, as it turned out, as the young woman must have sensed her presence and began to open her eyes. She looked at Enya and flashed a cute smile.

“Oh, hello there,” she said. “My name is Erika. Sorry about that; it seems I dozed off while enjoying the sunlight.”

Enya looked up and noticed that the roof was entirely made of glass. It made sense, now that she thought of it.

“Are you here to challenge me?” Erika asked.

“I am, whenever you’re ready,” Enya replied.

“How kind of you to allow me to wake up fully before starting a Pokemon battle. By the way, what is your name?”

“Enya, ma’am.”

“Lovely name!”

“So is yours!”

“Thank you!”

Erika stretched her arms and legs, allowing her body to move fluidly like if a wind was blowing through leaves on a tree. Enya thought it was elegant; it added to Erika’s charm. Once the gym leader finished, she nodded to Enya.

“Okay, I’m ready!” Erika said.

“Let’s go!” Enya responded.

It was a quick battle. Erika had a Victreebel, a Tangela, and a Vileplume, but they stood no chance against Enya’s Charizard. Three Flamethrower attacks, and that was it. Erika simply nodded.

“That was quicker than I expected,” she admitted, “but you won, fair and square! Take these! This is the Rainbow Badge, and this is the T.M. for Giga Drain, a Grass move that weakens your opponent while also replenishing your own Pokemon’s strength!”

“Thank you very much, Erika!” Enya replied with a slight bow that Erika returned.

“Take care, and may your journey always lead to victory!”

And with that, Enya left the Celadon Gym behind. She first turned west after overhearing a rumor of a girl hiding away out in that direction that promised a reward to whomever found her. Enya did find her, and the reward that she received was the H.M. for Fly. Enya found this to be exceptionally useful, as Charizard could learn the move. She decided to test it out and had Charizard fly her back to Lavender Town. The wind in her hair felt amazing, and she could see so much as she flew overhead. Silph Co. Mt. Moon. On the horizon behind her, she could even make out the peak of Mt. Silver. Charizard began his descent, and Enya held on tightly as he stopped short of a few meters off the ground, flapping his massive wings to ease the landing. She planted her feet on the ground, recalled Charizard, and went into the Pokemon Center to find Calder.

The Nurse Joy of the Pokemon Center informed Enya that Calder had gone to the Pokemon Tower. Enya ran as fast as she could to find him, but it was not necessary. He was on the second floor, saying his final farewells to his Raticate. There was a look about him that said he had been changed by this event, a resolve that was not there before. Enya approached him cautiously, and he saw her, nodded, and pulled her into a big hug.

“I didn’t get to find the guy who killed Raticate,” Enya confessed.

“It’s okay,” Calder responded. “Karma comes in its due time.”

“Oh, I’m aware.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Rocket Boss dealt with the killer.”

“Really?!?”

“Apparently, he doesn’t approve of killing Pokemon.”

“So, he’s a criminal with a heart…”

“Still a criminal.”

“Well, if I ever see him, I’ll at least thank him for the sentiment. That’s fair, right? Enya?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Well, this isn’t the place for it, but would you like to step outside and have a quick battle? I want to see how far you’ve come since the S.S. Anne.!”

“Only if you’re up to it!”

“Let’s go!”

Enya and Calder descended the flight of stairs and exited the tower to do battle right outside its doors. Calder started with Pidgeotto while Enya started with Pikachu. Pidgeotto nearly knocked out Pikachu with a Quick Attack, but Pikachu remained standing long enough to fire off a Thunderbolt and defeat the Pidgeotto. Next came one of Calder’s newest additions to the team: a Growlithe, which Enya countered with her Nidoking. One Dig was enough to knock it out. Then came another new addition as Calder sent out an Exeggcute. Charizard made quick work of it with a single Flamethrower. Calder then sent out his Wartortle, and Pikachu came out to fight once more. Thunderbolt was not enough to knock out Wartortle, and so Pikachu went down with a Rapid Spin. Clefairy followed Pikachu, and it fired off enough Doubleslaps to take down Wartortle. Calder’s final Pokemon was a Kadabra, which took down Enya’s Clefairy and Meowth. Her Butterfree, on the other hand, defeated it with one final move: a simple Gust. Once again, Enya had defeated Calder.

“I have to admit,” Calder started, “I’m impressed! And you have a Charizard! Doubly impressive!”

“Thanks,” Enya replied, “but you did great, too! Don’t sell yourself short, okay?”

“Oh, I won’t! Next time we meet, be ready! I’ll be bringing the heat!”

“I’m counting on it!”

They exchanged a fist bump and Calder went on his way. Having nothing else to do, Enya pulled out the Silph Scope that the Rocket Boss had given her and decided to begin the climb up Pokemon Tower. If there was ever a place that had ghosts in it, it would be here. Of course, she was right, as she was soon accosted by Gastly after Gastly, and not just wild ones - there were possessed trainers within that attacked Enya with Gastlys, as well. Nevertheless, Enya refused to stop, knowing only one way to go. Forward.

Chapter Text

As Enya ascended Pokemon Tower, she came across even more possessed trainers. Their Gastlys and Haunters could compete with her, though, as her Pikachu and Butterfree were too powerful for them. Thunderbolts and Confusions besieged the would-be threats, though it appeared each defeated trainer was released from whatever possessed them and they could all recall three things.

The first was that Mr. Fuji, who ran a facility for orphaned Pokemon, was in Pokemon Tower. The second was that Team Rocket had followed him up to the top of the tower. What their goal was, the trainers could not say. The final thing that they could recall was that right before losing control of themselves, they saw a translucent skull coming at them. Enya, figuring out the puzzle behind the possessions, made it to right before the final floor and shouted out.

“Marowak! Come forth!” she yelled.

The spirit of a dead Marowak, the same one that the Team Rocket grunt had killed, appeared before Enya. A fiery glow emanated from it as it cried out in rage. Enya raised her hand.

“I know what happened to you,” Enya softly called to the spirit, “and I know you’re upset that you can’t be with your child anymore. I imagine it is with Mr. Fuji, who is at the top of this tower, and I know Team Rocket is up there, probably holding him hostage. Let me pass and defeat them, so he may return to care for your child. Please.”

Marowak’s spirit approached her, bone club in hand, fiery aura still glowing. However, it did not attack. Instead, it nodded in understanding. It calmed itself enough to let itself disappear once more. Enya took the opportunity to race up the tower once more, coming across three members of Team Rockets, all of whom were blocking her path to Mr. Fuji. This did not deter or slow her one bit, as they were easily defeated without remorse. They ran away, yelling about revenge as they did. Enya rolled her eyes at that as she approached Mr. Fuji.

“Mr. Fuji, sir,” she started, “it’s safe now.”

“Safe?” he replied. “Oh, I wasn’t in any trouble.”

“You weren’t?”

“Oh, not at all, dear! I was up here, praying for the spirit of the poor Cubone orphan’s mother to rest in peace.”

“I see. Well, I think it worked.”

“That it did. Come with me and tell me about yourself.”

Enya followed alongside Mr. Fuji and told him about herself, her lineage, and her journey. She finished regaling her tale thus far as they passed through the doors of his facility. They continued a little further to find the orphaned Cubone, and standing in front of it was the spirit of its mother. Neither Enya nor Mr. Fuji could understand the Pokemon, but they figured that the conversation between mother and child was a heartfelt goodbye, and this was confirmed by the mother hugging her child one last time before disappearing once more, never to return to the mortal realm.

“Don’t worry, little one,” Mr. Fuji said to the Cubone. “You will see her again, and she will always be in your heart.”

He then walked off and came back with an instrument and some spare reeds for it.

“This is a Poke Flute,” Mr. Fuji explained. “It wakes sleeping Pokemon. You’ll need this, as I hear there are two sleeping Snorlaxes blocking the paths to Fuchsia City. Keep up with your journey, Enya, and I know you’ll come out on top!”

“Thank you, sir!” Enya responded with a beaming smile.

She graciously took the Poke Flute and ran to the Pokemon Center to rest and let her Pokemon recuperate. The following morning, she flew on Charizard once more, this time to Cerulean City, where she cashed in her bike voucher for a brand new bicycle. The particular model that she got was one that had a brand-new technology to it - it could shrink to fit in her bag or grow to normal size to ride on with a single button press. Convenience at its finest.

Her next stop via Charizard’s Fly ability was a return to Celadon City. There, she bought a handful of Great Balls, a bottle of water, and a Water Stone. She decided not to use it at this time, because she wanted Eevee to be ready for it. The Great Balls, however, were needed immediately, as her target for them was due west of Celadon City.

Just as Mr. Fuji had mentioned, there was a Snorlax, simply snoozing away in the pathway between Celadon City and the bike path to Fuchsia City. She pulled the Poke Flute out of the bag, inhaled, sighed, inhaled once more, and began to play. Her ability to play instruments would be called into question if anyone was around to hear her. Thankfully for Enya, nobody was around. Just her and the Snorlax, and the Poke Flute had done its job. Snorlax woke up, and it was pissed!

Seeing this was a grand opportunity, she called forth Clefairy to begin wearing it down. It popped off a few Flashes before being knocked out. Pikachu came next, and it tried using Thunder Wave to slow it down. However, Snorlax had other plans, using Rest to heal up and remove its paralysis status. This annoyed both Enya and Pikachu, who began pelting the behemoth with Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt. In the end, though, Snorlax knocked out Pikachu, as well.

Butterfree came next. An onslaught of Stun Spores, Confusions, and Gusts hardly did anything to the massive Pokemon, and Butterfree joined Clefairy and Pikachu as Snorlax defeated it, too. Nidoking was sent out after that, and it used Double Kick numerous times, all thanks to Snorlax still using Rest. Out of desperation, Enya began chucking Great Balls at it. It took four tries, but the last one stuck. Snorlax was caught; she was victorious.

She ran back to Celadon City once more to heal her Pokemon and rest for the night, and in the morning, she made the tough decision to bench Clefairy for the time being to give Snorlax a try on the team, and it did not take long to find out how powerful it was exactly.

Plenty of bikers had gathered right at the edge of the bike path to Fuchsia City, and many of them were annoyed about not being able to go to Celadon City due to the Snorlax. While they were grateful that Enya did something about it, they still were irritated and challenged her to battle them nonetheless. After just a handful of trainers, she saw how much more powerful Snorlax was compared to her other Pokemon, despite not being trained properly yet. It was at this moment that she saw great potential with the growth of her team. She smiled as she biked back to Celadon City for Pokemon healing once more, as poor Butterfree had been poisoned among the battles. Snorlax, Enya thought, you have made yourself a fine addition to this team!

Chapter Text

Not much could be said about the bike route between Celadon City and Fuchsia City. There were plenty of trainers looking to fight Enya, but all of them either sported a team of Poison types or a team of Fighting types. Enya saw this as the perfect opportunity to train her Butterfree. It worked for a while, but Butterfree became tired and Enya was roughly about halfway to Fuchsia City. As a result, she alternated the rest of her team, which at this time consisted of Charizard, Pikachu, Nidoking, Snorlax, and Eevee, to give them all a little experience each.

Before long, she had reached the end of the massive downhill slope and reached level ground. To the east, she could see a building that she assumed would lead her to Fuchsia City. Her assumption was correct, and what a sight it was! The city was less about housing people and more about running a Pokemon reserve, and just as she entered, her eyes beheld a wondrously rare sight - a Lapras, a Water/Ice Pokemon that had nearly been driven to extinction due to poachers in the past. Enya could not fathom how anyone, poacher or otherwise, would want to hurt such a beautiful creature. It saw her as she approached its enclosed watery home, and it lowered its head to meet her gaze. Enya, seizing the moment, reached out her hand and gently patted the Lapras’s head. It let out a happy melodious sound, which Enya took for a sign of approval.

“She likes you,” a man said, approaching Enya and the Lapras. “She won’t do that with just anyone, yet she let you close to her as if you and her were best mates! I’m Stephen, by the way!”

“I’m Enya,” she introduced herself. “I hope it was okay for me to pat her head. I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s perfectly fine! Like I said, she won’t do that with just anyone! It took me a while to get her to warm up to me, but she and I are good mates now! And now, so are you! You’re always welcome here in Fuchsia City, if you ask me, because I trust Lapras’s judgment over anyone’s in town, even good old Koga himself!”

“Who’s Koga?”

“Oh, he’s the gym leader in this city! He’s a true ninja, able to disappear in a flash of smoke and can trick people with invisible walls! You might think that means he uses Psychic or Fighting Pokemon, but his specialty is Poison! You want my advice on him? Keep training your Pokemon! Due east of the city, there’s more trainers, some of whom I’m sure use Poison Pokemon! I recommend a good Ground type, or a Psychic type, or anything that knows moves of either!”

“Thank you very much, Stephen! I appreciate your advice! I’ll keep training my team!”

“You’re welcome, Enya! It’s been a pleasure!”

And with that, Enya first headed just west of the city to an outcropping where she saw three guys out there, one of whom was making weird bird noises. She rightly assumed that they used Flying type Pokemon, which meant this was three easy jobs for Pikachu. After that, she let her Pokemon rest while she slept in the Pokemon Center overnight and made her way east of the city.

Just as Stephen had said, there were a handful of trainers out here, and a couple of them did have Poison type Pokemon. This was made well-known when her Butterfree was poisoned not once but twice while battling these trainers. Of course, her usual backups of Charizard and Nidoking followed up behind Butterfree, but Snorlax also put in some work. This was just the beginning, and Enya knew this. The days of easy battles were behind her. The road ahead would become more challenging than ever.

Chapter Text

Enya’s team fought long and hard over the course of a few days. While the details all in all were more or less mundane, here’s a fair summation of what transpired.

Bikers, as it turned out, tended to lean toward Poison and Fighting type Pokemon, which were prime training targets for Butterfree to gain strength for the upcoming gym battle versus Koga.  At some point, Butterfree ditched Confusion, a move that it picked up long ago, way back in Viridian Forest, for Psybeam, a more powerful Psychic attack. With this increased power, Butterfree breezed through the rest of the bikers that it came across.

Bird trainers were also prevalent along this path, which allowed Pikachu to get some exercise as well. After a while, though, it would run out of charge, so it would be left open to attack. Thankfully, Enya had a whole team available to help Pikachu pick up any slack that it could not feasibly carry at any of the given moments.

Aside from those two particular training fests, Eevee also got to train a little, with Snorlax backing it up when switch-leveling was needed. As such, both Pokemon grew a little. Nidoking got to train a little, as well. Charizard, surprisingly, did not see any action. Instead, it played the part of fast travel, getting Enya back to the Pokemon Center in Fuchsia City each night to rest and let the team recuperate.

All in all, a whole lot and not much happened all at once.

***

The Rocket Boss stood at the window of the top floor of Silph Co., a brand new Silph Scope in one hand and a prototype ball for catching Pokemon in the other hand. He looked upon Saffron City through his pale mask, watching tentatively as his grunts slowly swarmed the city. With no sign of the girl who brought down his operation in Celadon City, the Rocket Boss could only assume one of three things.

The first was that she had somehow perished between their meeting and now. He deemed this as the most unlikely case. She had a pretty good Pokemon team with her, though that did not always guarantee safety. Still, something about her told him that she was still alive and training hard.

The second thing was that she found a way past one of the Snorlaxes on the roads and headed off to Fuchsia City. He considered this a very likely scenario, given her skills in battle. He could not help but ponder if she would just fight the Snorlax or if she could manage to catch such a behemoth. The Rocket Boss himself had managed such, though his was a bit on the weak side, and he preferred his Kangaskhan when using Normal type Pokemon.

The third and final assumption was that her journey took her elsewhere. This could be possible, he thought. He did not know where her journey started; he never did inquire of her hometown. He assumed Pallet Town, given that Professor Oak resides there, and he typically hands out Bulbasaurs, Charmanders, and Squirtles as starters. Even so, she could have started with a different Pokemon and lucked into obtaining a Charmeleon.

Regardless, the Rocket Boss tossed away the first assumption. Wherever this girl was, she was alive. She was training. And, eventually, she would come to Saffron City. It would be there that she will find him, for he will be waiting for her arrival.

Chapter Text

Enya spent the next couple days training her Pokemon team to the best of her ability. They made it across a great distance, to the point that it was wiser to have Charizard use Fly to Lavender Town than it was to return to Fuchsia City at this time. As a result, she found more trainers to the south of the town, most of which were fishermen. This turned into a great training fest for Pikachu, who grew to be stronger than Enya had anticipated. With the way that Pikachu was acting, as long as it had some charge for its Electric attacks, it could take on the whole region!

As she ventured further south, Enya came across a second Snorlax. Seeing as she already had one on her team, she did not need another one. This one, she decided, just needed to move back up into the mountains from whence it came. She pulled out the Poke Flute, replaced the reed in it, and played it as best as she could, which, again, was not that great, but it got the job done.

The Snorlax awoke in a fury for having its slumber disturbed. Enya sent forth Nidoking, who, with some difficulty, won the battle. Snorlax, taking the hint, wandered off. Enya never saw that Snorlax again, but she figured that either it made it back to the mountains or some lucky trainer managed to catch it.

After that, she continued south until she stumbled upon a familiar sight. She had cleared every trainer that was available in the routes between Lavender Town and Fuchsia City. Despite it taking a long time, she could not help but feel disappointed. Was this truly it? She shrugged, figuring there was nothing that could change the current situation. With Charizard’s impressive speed, she returned to Fuchsia City in a matter of minutes after the discovery of her completed training trek.

She rested for the night at the Pokemon Center once more, letting her Pokemon do the same. As she lay there, she could not help but think of the last few months. Calder was out there, no doubt tackling another gym and getting ahead of her even more. Her mom was back in Pallet Town, a stalwart supporter of her journey. Then there were the gym leaders that she had defeated along the way: Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, and Erika. Her thoughts eventually fell to her father. She had not found anymore tidbits of information on him since Lt. Surge, and she began to wonder if she ever would. That was the last thought on her mind when sleep finally took her…

Morning came, and with it a set of pamphlets that a gentleman was passing around in Fuchsia City. Enya took a look at it, and saw that it was about some event in town about the Safari Zone on the northern end of the city. There was even a prize promised to whomever reached the end of the Safari Zone first. Seeing no reason not to participate, Enya made her way to the entrance, where she learned what the Safari Zone was to its fullest purpose.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait,” she said as she shook her head at the gatekeeper, “it’s a place to catch rare and unusual Pokemon?!?”

“Mhm!” the gatekeeper confirmed. “Some of them are, of course, fairly common in Kanto, but there are a few rare Pokemon within! We do have some ground rules.”

“Okay, what are they?”

“First, no battling the Pokemon. While you are allowed to catch them, this is a part of the Pokemon reserve, so be mindful of that rule. Second, you only get to use these Safari Balls. You get thirty for the entire visit. Use as many or as few as you wish. Third, there is a time limit. We will inform you when it’s time to return to the gate. Do not attempt to ignore that, or you will be banned from future visits. Finally, and most importantly…have fun!”

“Sounds good! I’m ready and raring to go!”

“Off you go then! Good luck!”

While her primary goal was to reach the end of the Safari Zone and claim the prize there, Enya saw no harm in attempting to catch Pokemon along the way. On her jog to the finish line, she managed to catch a NidoranF and an Exeggcute that stumbled into her path. She also found some random man-made objects along the way. Whether they were prizes themselves or trash that previous participants had left, Enya did not know, but she collected everything that she found, including a couple healing items and a T.M. for Steel Wing. She pondered if it would be wise to teach Charizard this at a later date. At the moment, though, time was of the essence, so she saved that thought for later and pushed onward.

She figured that she would have been too late to win the prize, but as it turned out, she was the first one to reach the end of the Safari Zone, and with some spare time at that. The man in the rest house gave her the H.M. for Surf, which would allow Pokemon to ferry her across the water. Enya knew exactly what she would do with that, but before she messed with it, she would use her time wisely. On the way back, she found a set of golden teeth. She found it odd, so she carefully picked them up with a napkin that she had in her bag and continued on.

She returned to the nearest patch of grass and caught a Paras, a Rhyhorn, and a Venomoth. She stumbled upon a Chansey not once but twice, but it ran off both times. She never found it again before the call for her to return went off, and, keeping true to the rules of the Safari Zone, she returned without incident and gave the gatekeeper what few Safari Balls were not used in her little adventure.

“If I have time in the future, I might return!” she told him with a smile.

“And we’ll be here when you do!” he replied. “Have a nice day!”

Enya made her way through the maze of the Pokemon reserve, making sure to visit the Lapras once more. More headpats were given, which prompted a smile from Stephen, who happened to look over at the right time. He waved to her, and she waved back. That was the extent of their pleasantries at this time. Enya left the reserve, called forth her Eevee, and revealed the Water Stone that she bought back in Celadon City.

“Hey, Eevee,” she said in a calm voice to the Pokemon, “I know that this would be asking you a lot, which is why I’m giving you the option. Would you like to become a Vaporeon and be the Water-type powerhouse on the team?”

Eevee stared for a moment before its ears perked up and it began to prance around. Enya took that as a good sign, so she lowered herself and held out the Water Stone. Eevee ran to it and booped it with its nose. A flash of colors surrounded the Pokemon as it quickly evolved into Vaporeon.

“Now that you’re a Water type Pokemon,” Enya continued, “I’d like for you to learn this move. It’s called Surf.”

Vaporeon nodded and accepted the move graciously. With that done, Enya looked around to find a notice to see the Warden of the Reserve if some golden teeth were found. How lucky of me, she thought, as she entered the Warden’s office. She presented to him the golden teeth, which he took, washed thoroughly, and placed in his mouth.

“Oh, thank you, miss!” he bellowed. “Those have been missing for some time! I could not speak properly to anyone, and I was embarrassed. Here! Take this as a reward!”

He handed Enya her second H.M. of the day, which he explained to her was the Normal type move Strength. She proceeded to give it to Snorlax, who tested it out on a boulder nearby. It worked fairly well, so Enya was pleased. She left the Warden’s office and, with a feeling of dread while looking at Koga’s gym, she ran off into the wild to train her team some more.

Chapter Text

Enya had trained her team well, and she knew it. They knew it. The Pokemon that got their shit rocked knew it. Enya’s Pokemon were ready for the fifth gym. Soon enough, the gym will know it, too!

As she entered, Enya was confused by the sight before her. There was the gym leader, Koga, standing in the middle of the room. He seemed to notice her, yet he remained unfazed by her entering the building. The same could be said for some of the gym trainers dotting the room away from the door. There were two nearby that also took notice of her, and they waited to see what her first move would be. Feeling a bit disturbed, she turned her attention to the gentleman who tended to the front of the gym.

“Hey,” she started, “what’s going on in here?”

“Oh, that?” he replied. “Koga is a ninja, through and through, and he has employed a little trickery into his gym. He can see you, and you can see him, yet neither of you can approach the other directly. You see, he has invisible walls set up to bestow a perplexing and dizzying effect on those who wish to challenge him. He uses Poison types, though the same cannot be said for other trainers in here. However, Koga and the others all share a goal; use status ailments to slow down all opponents!”

“Duly noted! I will proceed with caution!”

And that she did. Just as the gentleman said, some gym trainers used Poison types like Koffing and Arbok, but some used Psychic Pokemon like Drowzee and Kadabra. There were even a couple trainers that used a Sandslash that used Poison Sting, which slightly amused Enya due to the fact that it was a Ground type Pokemon using a Poison type attack, and her Nidoking had both types to call its own. She made quick work of the gym trainers, mostly through the help of Butterfree and Vaporeon, with the former blasting Psybeam a lot and the latter using Surf and Bite as needed. Once she had found her way around and left only Koga standing, she used her hands to guide her way through the maze once more back to the entrance. From there, she sprinted to the Pokemon Center, got her team replenished, and entered the gym once more, maneuvering through the invisible maze as swiftly as she could. At long last, she was face to face with Koga!

“I see invisible walls and tough trainers are not enough to deter you,” Koga spoke in a slightly gravelly voice. “You have done well, by the way, to defeat them with your knowledge of type advantages and disadvantages.

“Thank you, sir,” Enya responded.

“However, knowing the types won’t be enough. What would happen, do you think, if I made my team impossible to hit? Or, perhaps, I made it to where your team weakened faster and faster over time? Let’s find out!”

Koga kicked off the battle by sending out a Koffing. Enya responded with Butterfree, which popped off a Psybeam and knocked out the Koffing in a single hit. Koga, now smiling, sent out Muk. Psybeam was fired by Butterfree once more, but Muk remained strong against the type-effective attack, and threw a move that Enya had never seen before - Toxic. Butterfree became poisoned, and Enya noticed that this was not an ordinary Pokemon poisoning. As Koga had threatened, her Butterfree was weakening faster and faster, so Enya made a call. She had Butterfree finish off the Muk with a second Psybeam before recalling it. Kong sent out another Koffing, and Enya, getting the feeling that Koga was hiding his most powerful Pokemon still, sent out Charizard. One Flamethrower was enough for the Koffing. Koga then sent out his ace, Weezing, the evolved form of Koffing. Enya took no chances and commanded Charizard to bring it down with Flamethrower. Charizard obliged, and Weezing went down in a single hit. Enya had won.

“I’m truly impressed now,” Koga said with a smirk, “because you knew when to be smart and when to be strong. Take this badge, the Soul Badge, as proof of my defeat, as well as this T.M. that contains Toxic. You’ve seen what it can do.”

Enya placed the Soul Badge right below her Boulder Badge, starting a second row of badges for her Pokemon journey.

“Thank you very much, sir,” Enya replied.

“Farewell, young one,” Koga concluded, “and may your travels guide you to victory.”

And with that, Enya made her way through the invisible maze once more. Once she had returned to the entrance, the gentleman at the door presented to her the all-too-familiar pen to sign her name off on the statue, right below Calder’s name once again. She wondered how he managed to get past her without noticing, but she shoved the thought aside. She knew they would meet again, and, if he was willing, he would tell her then.

With Charizard’s help, she flew off into the sky and landed in Celadon City, resting there for the night. It was there that she was greeted by an elderly woman who was being followed by a Clefairy, a NidoranF, and a Meowth. Enya smiled at her, remembering her own Pokemon of those same species, and the woman smiled back.

“I’ve seen you pass through here a few times,” the old woman said, “and I’m willing to wager that some tea would make you feel better. Here you go, honey!”

The old woman gave Enya some tea and revealed that she had some tea of her own. The two sat on opposite sofas and sipped on nice warm tea in silence.

“This is really good!” Enya exclaimed.

“I’m glad to hear it!” the old woman said happily. “Before you leave, I’ll give you some more for the road. That sound good?”

“Very much so! Thank you so much!”

“It’s my pleasure! I remember traveling when I was your age! Someone did for me what I’m doing for you now. Rest well!”

The two said their goodbyes and Enya slept while her Pokemon recuperated. The following morning, the old woman returned as promised, and she provided two thermoses with warm tea in them. Enya thanked her once more before departing east, determined to get past the guards blocking off Saffron City. As it turned out, it was much easier this time, as the guard noticed her thermoses and she relinquished one to the guard who was complaining of thirst. He graciously accepted the drink and enjoyed the tea with glee.

“This may sound weird,” the guard said, “but I’ll make sure the other guards get some. You’re free to go!”

“Why would it be weird?” Enya inquired.

“Because they’ll be basically kissing me in an indirect way.”

“Can’t be any weirder than all of you needing a drink at the same time every day.”

“I suppose. Anyway, carry on!”

Enya did so, and she found herself in Saffron City, and she noticed two things. The first was Silph Co., a massive tower that she had only seen in passing while flying with Charizard. The second was the abundant amount of Team Rocket grunts walking around the streets in broad daylight. It was clear to Enya what had happened. The city had fallen to Team Rocket, and she had a pretty good idea of where to find the Rocket Boss. Before facing him, though, she needed to prepare.

Her first stop was at a house labeled “Mr. Psychic’s House”. She did not intend to visit a stranger, but the name had her curious. He looked at her and held out his hand, prompting her to stop.

“Wait! Don’t tell me!” he commanded. “I think I know why you’re here!”

He presented her with a T.M.

“This T.M. contains Psychic, which will be helpful in your efforts to defeat Team Rocket, if you decide to use it!” he stated.

“Thank you, sir, this could help!” she replied meekly before exiting the building.

Her second stop was going to see if she could call for help from the Saffron Gym. However, the grunts had it blocked off. No one goes in. No one comes out. Enya turned and saw a second gym and entered it, where she discovered that it was more like a martial arts dojo than a Pokemon gym. Still, Enya proceeded forward, and in doing so was confronted with several martial artists and their Pokemon. Charizard, Butterfree, and Nidoking made easy work of all of them, including the leader of the dojo, who gave her a choice between two Pokemon as a victory prize for defeating them. Between Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, she chose the former and exited the dojo.

After a quick reprieve at the Pokemon Center, Enya’s third final stop was at Silph Co. itself. A singular grunt was standing next to the entrance. Rather than pay him any mind, she walked right into the building. The grunt did not even try to stop her. This made Enya somehow feel even more uneasy about walking into this particular lion’s den. The entire first floor was clear of people, which intensified her fight-or-flight response. It dawned on her. The Rocket Boss must have predicted that she would come to Saffron City, so he prepared for her.

“Very well,” Enya whispered to herself with a determined look on her face, “let the Silph Siege begin!”

She climbed the stairs to the second floor and began battling Team Rocket grunts and mad scientists that were awaiting her arrival. After defeating, she ascended to the next floor and continued this process. Along the way, she found a fair amount of locked doors. Perhaps someone was holding a key for her to snag? Only time would tell, she figured, as she continued climbing floors, kicking ass, and taking names.

Chapter Text

Up and up the skyscraper Enya went, battling multiple Rocket grunts and evil scientists who had been playing both sides of the law. She made it to the top floor, but she found an obstacle in her way. The way was shut to her to reach the Silph Co. President; he was locked in his office, and Enya assumed that she would find the Rocket Boss there as well. Seeing as there was currently no way to open the door, she returned to a lower floor to ask one of the employees that had been held hostage by Team Rocket.

“There was a card key,” an employee confessed, “but one of the Rockets took it from us. They said they couldn’t afford another blunder like they did in Celadon. Do you know anything about that?”

“I do,” Enya smirked. “So, if they’ve truly learned, then that means that they won’t be carrying it on them. Is there a way to hide it from people without having it on themselves?”

“There is one possible way. They might have hid it in a pathway blocked by a teleporter.”

“A teleporter?”

“Yeah. See those tiles over there? Those are teleporters. Two teleporter tiles are connected to each other. They’ll take you to their partner tile.”

“Thanks for the tip!”

“Of course! Godspeed!”

Enya ran for the tile and, in a flash, found herself in a different place. It was not where she wanted to be, but it was a start. She ran around, finding more tiles and being teleported to various locations around Silph Co. She found even more Rocket grunts and scientists, and she battled them, as well. Finally she found herself in a hallway where a card key was laying on the ground, unguarded yet inaccessible without the teleporter tile.

“Bingo!” Enya yelled.

She took the card key with her as she ran back to the teleporter tile, returning to a previous place. She began unlocking every door that she came across, looking for more challengers to fight and more tiles to teleport with, all in the hopes of reaching the President’s office. While she did not initially find the office, she did find a woman who healed her Pokemon and allowed her to rest for a few minutes before continuing forward, only to stumble into…

“Calder?!?” Enya cried out.

“Enya?!?” Calder replied. “Enya! It’s good to see you! You’ve been fighting Team Rocket, too?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“There’s so many of them! At least it’s good battling experience for my team!”

“Yeah, agreed!”

“By the way, since we’re here…”

“You want a Pokemon battle? Right now? In a dire moment?”

“So…is that a no?”

“You know I’m going to say yes, but let’s make this interesting: Whoever wins gets to fight the Rocket Boss!”

“Oh, you’re on, Enya!”

And with that, the rivalry between best friends continued as Calder sent out Pidgeot and Enya sent out Pikachu. It was a close match, given that Pidgeot had Pikachu beat on speed, but a couple Thunderbolts knocked that bird out of the air. Next was Calder’s Growlithe, who was knocked out in a single Surf from Vaporeon. After Growlithe came Exeggcute. It did not withstand Charizard’s Flamethrower. Next up with Blastoise, who was raring to go. Since Pikachu was in bad shape, Enya sent Snorlax to fight Blastoise. Blastoise annoyed Snorlax with constant Protects, but Snorlax still came out on top with use of Body Slam after Body Slam. Finally, it was Calder’s glass cannon, Alakazam. Enya sent Vaporeon out once more, who used Bite on Alakazam until it fainted. Victory for Enya!

“Woohoo!” Enya chanted. “I get to fight the Rocket Boss!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Calder said as he playfully nudged her, “you win the coin toss! While you do that, I’m going to go take on the next gym and stay ahead of you on that front! Good luck, Enya!”

“You too, Calder!”

They bid farewell once more, with Calder teleporting away. At that moment, a Silph Co. employee approached Enya.

“I’m glad you’ve been clearing out this place of Rockets!” the employee thanked her. “As a token of my gratitude, take this Pokemon with you!”

They handed Enya a Pokeball, which disappeared in her hand, signifying its transfer through the PC, courtesy of Bill’s system.

“I know you didn’t get to see it,” the employee continued, “but it was a male Lapras!”

“Whoa, really?!?” Enya said, shocked.

“Really! It’s incredibly rare, so my coworkers and I took care of it as best as we could! Now, though, I think it’s best in your hands! Take good care of that sweet boy!”

“I think I know someone better for the job, but I’ll visit him later!”

“Whatever you think is best! Good luck! That teleporter should take you to right outside the President’s office!”

“Thank you!”

Enya used the teleporter, healed her Pokemon with Potions, and proceeded to use the card key on the office door. It opened with a click, allowing her entry, where she saw the Silph Co. President, his Vice President, and the Rocket Boss. Enya’s eyes locked with the villain’s gaze, and they proceeded to cut the distance down between them.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to reach this place?” the Rocket Boss exclaimed.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Enya sneered. “Had to clean up a mess that you left behind.”

“And I’m sure you did well! I have to ask…have you improved since we last battled?”

“See for yourself!”

Enya sent forth her Pikachu, and the Rocket Boss countered with Nidorino. Thunderbolts did the trick, but not before Nidorino managed to get itself paralyzed with Pikachu’s Static ability. The Rocket Boss followed with Nidoqueen. Seeing a chance to show how opposite they were from each other, Enya recalled Pikachu and sent forth Nidoking. The Rocket Boss, despite wearing his mask, gave off the impression of smiling at this particular duel. Nidoqueen only managed to get a Double Kick off on Nidoking, for Nidoking used Dig twice to win the fight.

The Rocket Boss then sent forth Kangaskhan, and Enya countered with Snorlax. It was the battle of bulky Normal types, and Snorlax was nearly fainted by Kangaskhan. However, Rest healed Snorlax at the cost of putting it to sleep. What the Rocket Boss did not account for was Snorlax using Sleep Talk, which allowed it to pop off a Body Slam to knock out the Kangaskhan.

“Impressive,” the Rocket Boss mused, “but I’ve got one more Pokemon!”

He sent out a Rhyhorn, which prompted Enya to send out Vaporeon, who used Surf to end the battle. Another major victory for Enya!

“Bravo! Bravo!” the Rocket Boss applauded her.

“I hate to admit it,” Enya responded, “but you’re not bad yourself.”

“Well, I would certainly hope so! I do run an entire organization and more!”

“And more?”

“You’ll see one day. Here, take this!”

The Rocket Boss tossed a purple spherical object toward Enya. She inspected it. It looked like a Pokeball, but it was certainly different from one.

“The Silph Co. President will explain what it is to you!” the Rocket Boss stated. “For now, I think I better prepare for our final meeting. Take care of yourself, little girl!”

“It’s Enya!” she shouted as the man rounded the corner and left the premises.

“As awful as that man is,” the Silph Co. President butted in, “I think he was right about one thing. You should have that ball. It’s the Master Ball, a one-of-a-kind invention of Silph Co.! It should be able to catch any Pokemon without fail!”

“Whoa!”

“Indeed! Good luck on your journey, Enya! Hope the Master Ball works for you in a pinch!”

“Thank you, Mr. President! I must go now! I need to see a friend of mine!”

She ran to the elevator and used it to descend to the first floor. Once there, she looked around. Silph Co. employees were back to work already, as if the building and the city around it had not been taken over by a criminal organization. She left the building, made a quick stop at the Pokemon Center to have her Pokemon healed, then flew off to Fuchsia City. From there, she had Vaporeon and Lapras switch spots on her team temporarily to help make history. She ran north to the reserve, where she found Stephen tending to the female Lapras.

“Oh, hi!” Stephen greeted her. “What’s the rush?”

“I want you to take this,” Enya said with much excitement.

“What’s in it?”

“A male Lapras!”

“A male- A MALE LAPRAS?!?”

“Mhm!”

“That means-”

“If our lovely girl here approves, the species will grow!”

“Let’s find out!”

Stephen threw the Poke Ball up and over into the Lapras enclosure, and the male Lapras splashed into the water. It took notice of the female Lapras, who was staring back at him. The male approached cautiously and with great curiosity. The female did the same. Their noses bumped into each other, causing the male to be a bit bashful and pull back from the female a few inches. However, the female broke the ice, creating a high-pitched squeak of approval before nuzzling the male’s face with her own.

“Beautiful!” Stephen muttered, elated with what was transpiring.

“The species has a chance to come back, little by little!” Enya exclaimed.

“You’ve done a wonderful thing, Enya! I couldn’t possibly thank you enough!”

“Hey, no need for thanks, Stephen! I just wanted to do the right thing! Sure, Lapras could’ve been a great asset on my team, but if he was with me, then he wouldn’t have the chance to make history by helping his species come back from the brink of extinction. This, to me, is more important than winning any battles out there, including the Champion title!”

Enya looked at the two Lapras getting along splendidly. Stephen did the same for a while, though he was pulled away to attend to some other reserve matters. Enya eventually took her leave, but she knew that she would never forget the loving look between the two Laprases and how important this moment would be for the future of these Pokemon!

Chapter Text

Having gained valuable fighting experience from defeating Team Rocket at Silph Co., Enya found herself flying back to Saffron City to take on the sixth gym leader of Kanto. She marched her way from the Pokemon Center to the doors of the gym. She hesitated briefly, as if something was trying to ward her off from this place. She pushed on, anyway, refusing to give up on her dream.

Inside the gym were three walls, two statues, a teleporter tile, and a middle-age gentleman standing by for all newcomers. Enya was confused. There was no way this was all there was to this building. It was way larger on the outside! Well, these gentlemen at the door always had the intel, so she approached him about the situation.

“Is this a joke?” she asked. “Am I being pranked?”

“What do you mean?” the man inquired.

“Well, the outside of the gym is so big, but this room is so small!”

“Ah! See that tile over there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That will start your journey toward finding Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader. She’s psychic, and I don’t just mean her Pokemon! She can sense everything going on within this building. Yes, that means she knows that you’re here, and she knows your intentions.”

“I see…so all I have to do is start teleporting around to find her?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. Do be careful. Once you go in, you may become lost!”

“It’s a risk I’ll have to take!”

“Good luck, young trainer!”

“Thanks! I might need it!”

And with that, Enya stepped right onto the tile, teleporting herself to another walled-off room. It had a trainer in it, as well as three other teleporter tiles. Seizing the opportunity for more experience, she challenged the trainer and defeated his Psychic Pokemon. From there, she randomly picked another tile. This led to a similar situation as before, and as such, she found herself bouncing all over the gym, right into every room except for the one that she wanted. She faced seven trainers in total, all of which had some combination of Slowpokes, Slowbros, Kadabras, Mr. Mimes, Gastlys, and Haunters. It was a dizzying experience for Enya, but after a lot of trial and error, she found Sabrina in a room with a single teleporter tile, the one that Enya stepped off of upon entering the room, and a flashy chair that somehow suited Sabrina’s demeanor. The psychic had her eyes shut and her head slightly lowered. Enya began to walk forward, unsure if the gym leader was asleep like Erika had been.

“Greetings, Enya,” Sabrina broke the silence.

“Wait,” Enya replied, “how did you-”

“I have read your mind, Enya, and I have seen everything that has transpired on your journey. You have had quite the experience since leaving Pallet Town. Gym battles, Team Rocket, duels with your best friend Calder. He was a worthy opponent, before you ask. Took him two tries to defeat me.”

Sabrina stood up and opened her eyes. Enya could see an expression that baffled her. It was not one of determination or enjoyment. No, Sabrina was sad, but Enya could not understand why.

“I do not relish in battling,” Sabrina continued, “but it is my duty as a gym leader to accept all challengers. Tell me, Enya, is this the path you wish to take?”

“Of course!” Enya responded. “It’s been my goal, my dream, to travel all over Kanto and become a great trainer and learn more about my father!”

“I see…very well, Enya, then let’s begin this battle. Just know that I’ve seen the outcome of it the moment that you entered this building.”

The battle began with Sabrina sending out Kadabra and Enya calling forth Vaporeon. Kadabra set up a Future Sight right before being taken down by Vaporeon's Bite attack. The next Pokemon out was Mr. Mime, which prompted Enya to switch from Vaporeon to Snorlax. Mr. Mime was a tricky Pokemon to battle, but Snorlax did a lot of damage. Sabrina swapped Mr. Mime with Venemoth, which Enya did not see coming. She also forgot about Future Sight, which did some massive damage to Snorlax. The rotund Pokemon withstood the attack and finished off Venemoth with Body Slam. Sabrina once again sent out Mr. Mime, perhaps hoping to finish Snorlax off, but Enya recalled him, sending out Charizard this time. One Flamethrower was all it took to bring down Mr. Mime. Finally, Sabrina sent her ace into battle. Alakazam. It set up Future Sight as well, but its attack never came, as Charizard used Flamethrower once more and defeated the Psychic Pokemon. Enya had won!

“It is as I have foreseen,” Sabrina confessed.

“So you saw my victory and still fought me?” Enya questioned.

“The future is always moving, Enya. I can see all possible outcomes, so I knew that if you stepped away before battling me, I would have to wait to lose another day.”

“I think I understand. Thank you, Sabrina!”

“There’s no need to thank me. Take these with you. The Marsh Badge, a token of your victory in this gym, and the T.M. for Calm Mind. It works exceptionally well for those that use Psychic-type moves.”

“I shall consider it. Take care, Sabrina!”

“There is one other thing, Enya.”

Enya stopped and turned to Sabrina, unsure of what the gym leader could offer now.

“As I have said,” Sabrina started, “I can see all possible futures. If you continue on your quest to learn about your father, you will learn far more than you desired to learn. I do not tell you this to dissuade you; rather, I tell you so that you will steel yourself in the right moment and embrace reality, no matter how painful it may be.”

Enya pondered these words in silence. Was there something more about her father that she had not yet discovered? What could it possibly be? She shoved the thoughts aside for now. Thinking about it at this moment would do her no good. She had a journey to continue, and she was certain that Sabrina would not let her stand here forever while she deciphered every possible thing that could still be learned about her father.

“I will do my best!” Enya assured her, and Sabrina nodded in return.

Enya proceeded to bounce around the gym once more, hopping from tile to tile, teleporting around until she finally found her way out. She showed the gentleman the Marsh Badge, which prompted him to nod and hand over a pen. She signed her name on the statue, right below Calder’s name. She smiled at her friend’s name before returning the pen and stepping outside to run to the Pokemon Center to heal her Pokemon and rest for the night.

***

Emilia awoke once more to a quiet house. She got dressed, made a small breakfast for herself, and stepped outside to water the plants. She saw Professor Oak walking to his laboratory and waved at him, to which he waved back. Emilia sighed, for Pallet Town was always a quiet place to live, but without Enya and Calder around, it had become too quiet.

As Emilia finished watering the plants, she noticed a growing shadow on the ground. She looked up and saw a gigantic orange dragon coming in for a landing. At first, Emilia was afraid, but then she remembered Enya’s starter. Charmander. After all this time, if trained properly, that Charmander could very well be a Charizard. Emilia waved at the Pokemon, who proceeded to land just a few meters away from her. On the Charizard’s back was Enya, who seemed to be slightly tanner than she was before leaving home.

“Enya!” Emilia called out.

“Mom! I’m home!” Enya said as she had Charizard return to his Pokeball.

Mother and daughter ran to each other and hugged for several seconds.

“I’m surprised you’re home already,” Emilia admitted. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah!” Enya cheerfully replied. “I just happened to look at my map after learning this morning that Cinnabar Island had a gym. Turns out, this is the closest place to start my journey there!”

“So you’re not staying long?”

“Just overnight, if that’s okay!”

“Oh, honey! You’re always welcome in your own home!”

Enya giggled, which lit up Emilia’s heart. Several months had passed, yet Enya remained the same, despite all the various journeys that she had to have undergone.

“Come inside!” Emilia said. “Let’s have some lunch while you tell me everything!”

“That sounds good, mom! You have no idea!” Enya gasped.

The two women went inside and Emilia made soup and sandwiches while Enya told her about the six gym leaders that she had faced, all her run-ins with Calder Oak, meeting several important figures across the region, and even all the times that she tackled the crime syndicate that is Team Rocket. That last one worried Emilia, but overall, she was enthralled with Enya’s tale.

“Speaking of Calder,” Enya backtracked to that part of her story, “is he here in town?”

“No,” Emilia answered.

“Then he must have taken the other route.”

“Which route is that?”

“The one that crosses the Seafoam Islands.”

“Maybe! I wouldn’t know! I’ve never been there.”

“Well, that just means he’ll be ahead of me again! Oh well, it’s still a blast!”

“I’m glad it has been!”

***

Enya stayed overnight, just as she promised. In the morning, she enjoyed a hefty breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns with her mom before saying goodbye once more. She could tell that her visit made her mom’s day, so she promised to swing by more often, so long as she was able to do so. Her mom agreed to those terms and saw Enya off, who had Vaporeon use Surf to traverse the ocean. Along the southbound water path, Enya encountered several fishermen on tiny islands and swimmers who were out to prove themselves athletically, but none of them could defeat Enya in a Pokemon battle, especially the fisherman who carried six Magikarps. Enya could not figure out that guy.

At long last, she made it to Cinnabar Island. It was a small place, though certainly the largest island in the area. It sported a handful of buildings. There was the gym, of course, as well as a shop and a Pokemon Center. She also saw a few houses, a laboratory, and a massive dilapidated mansion with a giant hole in the roof.

“I wonder what happened here,” Enya mused, though she did not bother asking anyone on the island about it.

Before checking in anywhere else, she decided to visit the laboratory. It was there that she found a slightly goofy scientist who claimed to have created a machine that could resurrect long-extinct Pokemon using only their fossils. Enya was skeptical, but she was curious enough to hand over the Helix Fossil that she received back in Mt. Moon. If this went as the scientist had claimed, she would see about giving him the chunk of amber in her bag, as well. After that, she went to the gym to open the door, and…

“What the hell?!?” Enya exclaimed as the door refused to open.

“Oh, that?” a passerby took notice of the situation. “Yeah, Blaine’s a little cuckoo. He likes to throw the key to the gym into the old mansion next door and force trainers to find it to challenge him. He figures if they can’t solve a ‘simple puzzle’ - his words, not mine - then they aren’t worthy of challenging him.”

“Very well, I accept this challenge of his.”

And with that, Enya made her way into the old mansion, where she learned a little bit of what had transpired here. As it turned out, there was a secret Rocket laboratory here, and they were working on resurrection as well. With a Mew fossil that they found in Mt. Moon, they ended up creating a new Pokemon with the DNA in the fossil - Mewtwo. After reading about this in the books left behind by the Rocket scientists, Enya came to a conclusion of what had transpired.

Her theory was that the Rocket Boss had asked for his scientists to create Mewtwo so that he could become the most powerful trainer in all of Kanto, allowing for him to become untouchable by everyone, even the Elite Four. However, given the dilapidation of the building and the massive hole in the roof, Enya deduced that this Mewtwo creation did not remain here long; it escaped, destroying a good chunk of the building in the process.

Since then, the Rocket Boss had been looking for ways to capture it. Hence the possession of the Silph Scope, which allowed people to see ghosts. Ghost type Pokemon are effective against Psychic Pokemon, so if the Rocket Boss managed to get a Haunter or Gengar, then he could theoretically challenge this Mewtwo that had escaped. However, he gave Enya the scope, took over Silph Co., and obtained a different item that may help - a Master Ball, a prototype Pokeball that could, hypothetically, capture any Pokemon. However, he gave that to Enya, as well.

Why did he do this?

Chapter Text

Enya could not believe this mansion. It had so many damned hallways and stairways that it was becoming difficult to tell where she had been and where she was coming from. When she thought she had it all figured out, she had arrived back at the beginning of the mansion. What had she missed? She must have missed something! There is no way that the key to the gym simply could not be found.

So she delved deeper within, hoping to unearth a new path, and, at long last, she did. As it turned out, some floors had holes in them that led to otherwise unreachable areas of the mansion. It was dangerous to drop down, but she did so, anyway, and she luckily did not sprain an ankle in the process.

Finally, after so many twists and turns and wild Pokemon and the occasional burglar looking to loot the place, she found the basement. It was definitely a laboratory, and, by the looks of it, it had been abandoned months ago. Undoubtedly, she thought, due to this Mewtwo creation that they conjured up in this place. There was a lot of broken glass and damaged tables down here, as well as more pathways that twisted and turned. She looked around until she finally saw what she was looking for. A key! However, this was definitely not thrown down here. It had been meticulously placed here. Enya had questions, and the gym leader would answer them.

Retracing her steps, she made it back to the outdoors. From there, she raced back to the Pokemon Center, eager to get some rest after stressing her mind out from the inner workings of the old mansion that also was once a laboratory for Team Rocket. She slipped into slumber for the night, and she dreamed of the Rocket Boss. She reached out and pulled off his mask, revealing a fleshy blank space underneath. No eyes. No nose. No mouth. This jolted her awake, not for being terrifying but for being unnerving. Certainly not what she wanted to dream about, but it did reveal an inner desire of hers. Just who was underneath the mask?

She grabbed her Pokemon and ran to the Cinnabar Gym. She unlocked the door and stepped in. A hallway stretched ahead, with a locked door down the way. As per usual, there were two statues and a gentleman waiting on standby to greet any challengers.

“Welcome in, welcome in!” the gentleman greeted her. “Tell me, young trainer, from where do you hail?”

“Huh?” Enya said with a confused look.

“Uh, where did you start your Pokemon journey?”

“Oh! Pallet Town!”

“Fascinating! Sorry to ask that, I just rarely see anyone come through here, though interestingly enough, a boy from Pallet Town was here a few days ago. He gave Blaine a hell of a time!”

“That must’ve been Calder!”

“Yes, yes, Calder Oak!”

“Yeah, that’s him! Anyway, what can you tell me about this gym?”

“This gym loves the Fire type! Expect literal heated battles! I hope you have a Water, Rock, or Ground type Pokemon!”

“I do! Thank you, sir! I’ll be back when I defeat Blaine!”

The gentleman nodded as Enya marched onward. As the man said, these trainers used Fire types, and her Vaporeon and Nidoking made quick work of them. Just to be cheeky, Enya even let Charizard come out and play once. Granted, she intentionally battled these trainers - they had given her the option to solve some simple Pokemon trivia to advance. She opted out of it, valuing the experience and the thrill of the fight instead.

Before facing Blaine, she left the gym to make a quick trip to the Pokemon Center, ensuring that everyone was ready to face Blaine. After that, she marched right back in and confronted him.

“So, you must be Blaine!” she stated.

“In the flesh! Ready for a fiery battle?” the older man asked, sporting a sly smile on his face.

“In a moment, yes, but I have a question to ask first.”

“Go ahead.”

“Are you aware that the mansion next door was once a Rocket hideout?”

“I am.”

“Did you have ties with them?”

“Admittedly, yes, I did. Mind you, I wasn’t involved with their criminal activities, but when the Rocket Boss approached me with a lump sum of cash in exchange for the mansion, I sold it to him with the promise that I could continue to hide my gym’s key inside.”

Enya could not believe how forward Blaine was with admitting his dealings with Team Rocket. Instead of marching out to inform any police officers, though, she asked one more question.

“Do you know who the Rocket Boss is?”

“I don’t know who he is, no,” Blaine confessed, “but I do know what he is.”

“And what is he?”

“Defeat me in battle, and I will divulge that information.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!? You’re admitting to have been compliant with Team Rocket over cash!”

“They never told me what they wanted with the building! I can explain in full later, unless you just don’t give a damn about having this Pokemon battle!”

“Fine. Let’s do this!”

“Hope you brought Burn Heal!”

And so the battle commenced, with Blaine sending out Ponyta while Enya sent out Nidoking. Dig took down the fire horse with relative ease. Blaine’s second Pokemon, Growlithe, on the other hand, managed to knock out Nidoking. Enya followed up with Pikachu, who finished off Growlithe with a single Thunderbolt. Blaine then chose Rapidash to dive into battle, and Enya countered it with Vaporeon. Surf, as expected, knocked it out in one hit. Then came Blaine’s ace, Arcanine. Deciding to be cheeky once more and fight fire with fire, Enya sent out Charizard. A combination of Fly and Slash did little to the gigantic fire dog, which had managed to whittle down Charizard’s strength. Enya recalled Charizard and sent forth Vaporeon once more, who brought down Arcanine with a single Surf.

“You’re just as tough as the last trainer, even if you are a bit bullheaded,” Blaine said. “I concede. Victory is yours. Take this T.M. for Fire Blast and the Volcano Badge.”

“Thank you, sir,” Enya nodded.

“And, as promised, here’s what I can tell you about Rocket Boss: I know he runs a criminal organization, but I don’t believe him to be an inherently bad guy. You see, he has two sides to his coin. There’s the side you’ve been seeing, and there’s the side that I’ve had the pleasure to witness for myself. He is deeply flawed, ambitious, and just as bullheaded as you. However, he has a heart of gold for Pokemon. Maybe that’s why, despite his status as a crime boss, he is a gym leader.”

“Wait, what?!?”

“It’s true. He’s been away for some time, at least for as long as the incident with the mansion. By now, he’s probably returned to Viridian City. And a word of caution: However tough you think your Pokemon are, make them stronger, anyway. He’ll be bringing his A-game to the gym battle. Best of luck!”

And with that, Blaine waved her away, and Enya pondered his words as she made her way back to the entrance. Once she had arrived at the entrance, she extended her hand to the gentleman at the door, who handed her the pen that she could use to sign her name on the statue, once again right below Calder’s name. She returned the pen and exited the building to see…

“Bill?!?” Enya gasped.

“Enya!” Bill shouted. “Long time no see! I was waiting here for my ride to the Sevii Islands! Wanna come with me?”

“Well…”

“I knew you would!”

And with that, Enya found herself aboard a ferry that took her and Bill to the Sevii Islands; more specifically, One Island. It was a warm place with salty air and off-white sands. Enya found the place to be calming to her agitated demeanor.

“Come with me,” Bill spoke aloud. “I want you to meet a friend of mine that’s working on a project to get my Pokemon PC setup to work out here, too!”

Inside the Pokemon Center, Enya met Celio, Bill’s friend, and they said a lot of tech talk that went way over her head. Seeing as she was no help here, she excused herself but not before Bill asked her to deliver a meteorite to a collector on Two Island and Celio gave her the Tri-Pass, which allowed ferry travel across Islands One, Two, and Three. She thanked Celio for the pass, healed her Pokemon, and proceeded to travel north by foot, where she found that, even miles off the Kanto shores, she could still find trainers to get her team the exercise that it needed.

Chapter Text

Enya discovered in due time that there was not a way to travel on foot or by having Vaporeon use Surf to hop from island to island. She made the wise choice to return to the Pokemon Center on One Island and, from there, run to the ferry and take off for Two Island. When she arrived, she found that it was, somehow, even less populated than One Island. All she could see was a Pokemon Center, a kiosk, a game corner, and a couple houses. She was not sure how this setup could be sustainable, but she shrugged it off and left the ferry.

Remembering her mission on this island, she proceeded to enter the game corner, which did not look anything like the one that Team Rocket had set up back in Celadon City. Instead, she was two men. One was at a desk, ready to greet newcomers. The other was a man who was panicking like his life depended on it.

“Oh, Lostelle! Lostelle!” he wailed.

“What’s wrong?” Enya inquired, curious and feeling bad for the man.

“My daughter, Lostelle, must be missing! She usually stops by at lunch time, and it is well past lunch time! I fear something bad has happened to her on Three Island!”

“I’ll go check for you!”

As Enya went to turn and leave the building, a biker busted through the doors, treading mud all over the clean tile.

“This is a game corner?” the biker sneered. “Yeah, right! Not this shithole! Anyway, have you seen any other bikers? We’re taking over Three Island.”

“This is Two Island,” Enya announced with a glare.

“Goddammit! These islands are so confusing!”

“Yeah, if you’re a toddler.”

“What was that, bitch?”

The biker jumped off his bike, ready to punch Enya’s face in, when Charizard bursted out of his Pokeball and slashed at him. The biker pissed himself as he ran back to his bike and took off into the distance.

“Sorry about that,” Enya said as she turned to Lostelle’s father. “I’ll be going now.”

She recalled Charizard and made her way back to the ferry. From there, she sailed off to Three Island, which was in an uproar due to nearly a dozen bikers running rampant across the seaside town. Enya stepped off of the ferry and prepared herself to battle with these fuckers. She found the majority of them taunting a couple shopkeepers into trying to fight them, but the shopkeepers were too timid for such actions. The bikers, bearing a heavy smell of booze and cigarettes, had a boastful laughter at the town’s expense.

“How about getting the hell off of this island?!?” Enya challenged them.

“Or what, little missy?” one of the bikers taunted.

“Or I’ll kick your asses in Pokemon battles, one after the other!” she further challenged them.

“Oh yeah?” the leader of the bikers bellowed. “Get her, boys!”

With that, Enya found herself in round after round of Pokemon battles, and the bikers soon learned their mistake. Enya’s Snorlax dealt with the majority of them on its own, with the leader of the bikers being brought down by a combined effort of Snorlax and Nidoking.

“What the hell is this girl?!?” the leader cried out in fear.

“Your worst fucking nightmare if you do not leave and never come back!” Enya replied with as sinister of a voice as she could muster.

The bikers took off, vowing never to return to the Sevii Islands. They had their fill of “fun”.

“Oh, thank you so much!” a shopkeeper sighed in relief. “How can we ever repay you?”

“No need,” Enya responded, waving a hand to further emphasize her stance. “I do wish to know where Lostelle is. Her father is panicking about her whereabouts on Two Island.”

“Oh…”

“Oh?”

“Lostelle went off into the Berry Forest to pick berries, despite everyone warning her that it was a foolish decision. Something in there has been kidnapping children. We never found the bodies.”

Enya felt a shiver run down her spine. Was it Team Rocket, perhaps? As much as she could see some of them doing this, she was unsure. The Rocket Boss did not seem to be the kind of villain to kidnap and possibly kill kids. Only one thing could assuage her worries.

“Very well,” Enya resolved herself. “Where’s Berry Forest?”

“Follow the path north, then head west,” the shopkeeper detailed the route, “but do be careful if you enter that place. It may have a pleasant name, but until the situation is resolved, I’m calling it a cursed place!”

Enya nodded and proceeded to take the path that was told to her. She encountered a handful of trainers along the way, which allowed her team to get a little exercise before delving into Berry Forest. The air was thick in there, and the overgrowth made it difficult to traverse the winding paths, but Enya was not so easily dissuaded from her goal. She pushed her way through the branches and avoided every root that was poking high out of the ground.

In the distance, she heard crying. It was a young child, almost certainly a girl, and Enya ran as hard as she could in that direction. There she found Lostelle, who had a basket half-full of berries. Her dress was frayed in several places where, as far as Enya could tell, Lostelle had brushed against a lot of rough edges trying to escape something. Enya knelt down next to her to speak with her.

“Lostelle?” Enya asked, confirming this was the girl that she was looking for.

“Yes?” she responded.

“My name is Enya. Your father sent me to find you. Let’s get you out of here.”

“But what about the monster?”

“I’ll protect you, Lostelle. I promise.”

The bushes shook violently in the distance, and whatever was making them shake was quickly approaching them. Enya got in between whatever it was and Lostelle.

“It’s coming back!” Lostelle wailed, tears of fear pouring down her face.

“Stay behind me!” Enya commanded. “I’ve got this!”

The monster popped out, revealing itself to be a Hypno. The look in its eyes was deranged, and Enya could get a sense that this Pokemon was no longer acting like the usual timid wild Pokemon. No, this one had fallen into some unknown insanity and was luring children away from their homes. For what purpose, Enya did not want to know, but given the red-tinted pendulum in Hypno’s hand, she had a fair idea of what had occurred.

Enya sent forth Charizard to deal with the Hypno. One Flamethrower had the Hypno on its last legs of consciousness. It retaliated by using Confusion to slightly damage Charizard and confusing it in the process. Enya considered knocking out the wild Pokemon, but she pieced together what would happen when it regained consciousness. It could very well return to its wicked ways, terrorizing Three Island more and more until none were left on the island, only deserted homes and a demented force of nature. Enya made a choice and threw a Great Ball at it, capturing the Berry Forest Menace.

“There,” Enya sighed, “now it can never harm another soul! Come on, Lostelle! Let’s head to Two Island and see your dad!”

Lostelle quietly nodded and followed Enya all the way to Two Island, where she reunited Lostelle with her father.

“Thank you so much!” he exclaimed. “How can I ever repay you?”

“No need,” Enya replied, feeling a sense of deja vu. “However, I was sent to this island to deliver a meteorite to a collector.”

“Ah! That must be from Bill! I’m your guy! Tell him I said thanks, from one maniac to another!”

“Will do! Take care, sir! Take care, Lostelle!”

And with that, Enya parted ways with them and returned to One Island, where Bill and Celio had finished their work on the machine that connected the Kanto servers and the Sevii Islands servers together. Celio thanked Bill for his help, Bill thanked Enya for her delivery services, and Enya and Bill returned to Cinnabar Island, with Bill telling Enya that, should she wish to return to the Sevii Islands, she only needed to find a ferry heading there from Vermilion City. With that, they parted ways, and Enya, knowing what was next in her journey, had Charizard use Fly to get her to Celadon City to buy some T.M.s and prepare for the final gym…

Chapter Text

Enya prepared her team for the final gym as best as she could. There was not much that she could do to ready herself for this possible final encounter with the Rocket Boss. She took a deep breath as Charizard landed in front of the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. She quickly recounted all of the adventures that brought her to this point. The gym battles. The Rocket encounters. Caves dived into, an ocean surfed across, and a handful of towns and cities visited. All of that led her back to the city that neighbored her hometown. She calmed her as she ventured into the gym.

If there was anything that she did not expect, it was the cleanliness of the place. She expected a criminal to have a darker, grungier abode. Such was not the case. The Rocket Boss ran a proper gym, and Enya could not deny that. To her left and ahead of her, she saw spinning tiles. Great, she thought, glad that she had not had lunch yet. She also saw the usual gentleman that stood by the statues, ready to help where he could. Enya nodded to him but asked nothing. She knew what to expect. She was certain that she was ready.

As it turned out, the gym trainers around the building had a varied set of Pokemon types, though they typically favored Ground types and Fighting types. Sandslashes, Machokes, and more fought her team, and all of them were knocked out by Enya’s Pokemon with relative ease. After she had defeated them all, she returned to the Pokemon Center, got her team healed back up, and entered the gym once more to confront the Rocket Boss.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he stated, “after fighting your friend from Pallet Town. He was also an admirable trainer.”

“So, Calder beat me to you, too,” Enya mused. “Why am I not shocked?”

“I take it you are ready to try and earn your eighth and final gym badge?”

“I am, but I have to ask something first.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you wear that mask?”

“I have a deformity underneath it that would make me identifiable to the police if ever I was caught. Not that they would mess with me, mind you. Money talks louder than justice to many ears.”

“That’s despicable of them and you.”

“That’s business.”

“Very well. I’d like to make a wager, because I am that certain that I will win!”

“Go on.”

“If I win, I get the badge and you reveal your face to me. If I lose…if I lose, I’ll join Team Rocket!”

“That is a very tempting offer! You would be an outstanding second-in-command! I have little to lose and much to gain! I accept your wager!”

And with that, the battle began with the Rocket Boss sending out Rhyhorn. Enya countered it with Nidoking, which used Brick Break a couple times to knock out the opponent. Up next was Dugtrio, which Enya attacked with Charizard. A single Flamethrower was more than enough to make the three-headed Pokemon faint. Then came another Rhyhorn, which shocked Enya, simply because she expected a Rhydon. Vaporeon finished it off with a single Surf. The same was true for the Rocket Boss’s next Pokemon, Nidoqueen. Finally, there was Nidoking, and Charizard fainted it with a single Flamethrower as well. Enya had won; the Rocket Boss was defeated once more!

“I applaud your tactics, your knowledge, and your impressive guts to challenge me time and again!” the Rocket Boss conceded. “A deal is a deal, but don’t say I didn’t warn you! It’s not a pretty sight!”

The Rocket Boss slowly removed his mask, revealing a scarred face that Enya recognized. Her eyes widened as the revelation hit her like a ton of bricks.

“It’s- It’s you…”

***

A young Enya was enjoying her soup and sandwiches with her mom when she asked, once again, about her dad.

“Is there anything you haven’t told me about dad?” she begged for an answer.

“Well,” Emilia sighed, ‘I suppose I could tell you his name. That way, if you ever hear the name, you’ll know that your dad meant a lot to a lot of people.”

“What is it? What is it?!?”

“His name is…”

***

“Giovanni.” Enya whispered just loud enough for the Rocket Boss to hear.

“Who?” he inquired.

“You’re Giovanni!”

“I have no idea who that is.”

Enya walked toward him and revealed the photo that she carried of her mother and father. Emilia, barely in her twenties and already a well-known nurse at the same, and Giovanni, the famed hero of Kanto who had supposedly died to save a Meowth from an explosion.

“I…I don’t understand,” the Rocket Boss mumbled, honestly confused. “I never knew my name. I was discovered by an elderly man who took me in, bequeathed his fortune to me, and then…well, I became the Rocket Boss. I never had a name, and my face was kept hidden by all except for that man.”

“Oh no,” Enya sadly replied.

She did not want to say it aloud just yet, but the answer to her goal of learning about her father came to an end. She pieced it all together in her mind, and she sat down with the Rocket Boss, explaining everything…

Giovanni, the famed hero of Kanto, did not die as Lt. Surge thought he had. His body lay unconscious after the battle, with the Meowth tucked under him for safety. The elderly man that he described must have took him and the Meowth in, and upon receiving that man’s wealth, Giovanni, believing himself nameless and needing to be faceless, reforged himself as the Rocket Boss and created a crime syndicate that, at its peak, held power over an entire city. And all of this was broken down by a kid. Not just any kid. His kid. His daughter.

“So, this is the truth of my lost memory,” Giovanni said with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Enya responded.

“Well, I don’t expect you to call me Dad anytime soon, if that helps any. Anyway, as promised, here’s the Earth Badge, as well as the T.M. for Earthquake. Give it to your Nidoking! Trust me on that, Enya!”

“I shall! What will you do?”

“I…I really don’t know. How does a hero-turned-crime-boss live his life after having all of that revealed? I suppose one thing is certain. I’ll make an announcement to the Rockets around the region to disband. Team Rocket is no more.”

“Good call!”

“Tell your mom that I said hi, at least when the time is right. I’ve got to determine my new path from this point onward. I think exile will suffice as a start. Relearn what it means to be a trainer. Clear my mind and, when I’m ready, return to Kanto, not as the Rocket Boss, nor as a hero, but simply as Giovanni. Take care of yourself, Enya!”

“You too…Dad.”

Giovanni smiled weakly at Enya’s acceptance.

“Oh!” Enya gasped. “One more thing! Do you still have the Meowth?”

“It’s a Persian now, but yes,” Giovanni confirmed. “Now go on. The Indigo League awaits!”

Enya did as she was told, and she extended her hand to the gentleman, taking the pen from him and signing the statue right under Calder’s name. She made a mad dash to the Pokemon Center, healed her Pokemon once more, and began to run west until she came across a familiar face in a familiar place.

“Well, well, well!” Calder called out. “Enya! Did you get your eighth badge?”

“I did!” Enya shouted gleefully.

“Fantastic! Does that mean you’re headed to the Indigo League?”

“Oh, you know it!”

“But first…”

“A battle!”

So they began a Pokemon battle, with Calder sending out Pidgeot and Enya sending out Pikachu. Thunderbolt did a lot of damage, but Pidgeot was too powerful. It knocked out Pikachu. Enya sent forth Snorlax, who Body Slammed the bird until it fainted. Up next came Alakazam, which Enya countered with Butterfree. After taking a hit from Butterfree’s Silver Wind, Alakazam was called back and replaced by Growlithe, who easily tanked the second Silver Wind. Butterfree was pulled back and Vaporeon came forth, using Surf to defeat Growlithe. Calder then sent out Rhyhorn, who was also knocked out by a single Surf. Exeggcute was next, but it did not stand a chance when Charizard faced it and used Flamethrower. Blastoise came next, and seeing no other option, Enya sent forth Snorlax once more. It was a close battle, but Snorlax defeated Blastoise in the end. Calder, having no other choice, sent Alakazam back out, who did not stand a chance against another Silver Wind from Butterfree. Victory for Enya!

“You really are going to become Champion at this rate,” Calder admitted. “That just means I have to get there first, so I can say that I had the title at least for a short while!”

“Well, I need to go heal my team,” Enya replied, “so that will give you a head start!”

“True, very true. And you know what? You earned these!”

Calder gave Enya a couple T.M.s.

“I won one of these at the game corner in Celadon,” Calder explained, “and I found the other one in the wild. I didn’t really need them, so you take them, okay?”

“Alright, Calder!” Enya concluded the conversation. “Thank you so much! I’ll see you at the top!”

“You bet!” Calder waved goodbye.

And they parted ways once more, with Calder heading west and Enya heading east, back to town to heal her Pokemon and rest for the night. The following morning, she used the T.M.s that Calder gave her; Vaporeon received Ice Beam; Charizard got Dragon Claw. From there, she ventured west then north, passing by eight guards asking for proof of the eight badges. She provided said proof, and she was allowed to pass, leaving her at the entrance to Victory Road.

Chapter Text

Despite its name, Victory Road was not a road, as Enya came to learn. Instead, it was a massive cave system filled with powerful wild Pokemon and even more powerful trainers who were itching for a battle. As such, Enya and her team of Charizard, Pikachu, Butterfree, Vaporeon, Nidoking, and Snorlax were put through the works. Not only was this place a test of her skills as a trainer and her Pokemon’s capabilities in battle, it was a test of her wits. When she was not battling trainers and fending off wild Pokemon, she was having Snorlax use Strength to push around giant boulders onto buttons that moved some seemingly natural (yet obviously not, in hindsight) rock formations to progress down Victory Road.

While her Pokemon were slowly getting tired, Enya remained as stalwart as ever. She pushed through the exhaustion and found herself at the end before long. As it turned out, Victory Road was massive, but the distance between the beginning and the end of it was not a long one. After a few hours of traversing the rocky path, she stepped forth once more into sunlight and fresh air.

She pushed onward, coming across a multitude of statues that, at first, confused her. She realized that that was their intended purpose. A final cheeky puzzle before the place that she had sought nearly a year ago, back when she left Pallet Town with nothing but a bag full of supplies and a plucky Charmander.

The Indigo Plateau. She had arrived.

***

Calder could not believe it. He had powered through all four members of the Elite Four and had just been pronounced the Champion of the Indigo League. He got his team rested up and sent a message to his grandfather to come see him soon. Something within him said that this victory would be short-lived, and he knew what would make it so.

Enya was coming, and he wanted the professor to congratulate both of them for their accomplishments, not just himself. With nothing else to do, he waited patiently, certain that the doors would open at any moment, revealing his childhood friend to him to finalize their rivalry in one final battle!

Chapter Text

After healing her team up at the on-site Pokemon Center and buying several Full Restores, Enya stared at the doorway. A woman stood at the entrance, awaiting to greet all newcomers and explain the rules.

“Are you here for the Elite Four Challenge?” the woman inquired of Enya.

“I am!” Enya exclaimed.

“Good to see that you’ve made it this far! Here’s how this works: You go beyond this door, and the door remains shut until you’ve defeated all four members of the Elite Four and you are proclaimed Champion of the Indigo League, or they defeat you and you’ll have to try another day! Are you certain about this? Once this door shuts, there’s no going back!”

“I am ready!”

“Then off you go!”

Enya crossed the doorway, and the way back was slammed shut behind her. She stood in an aquamarine-colored room where a redheaded woman with glasses stood, waiting for me.

“I am Lorelei,” the redhead said. “I’m the first of the Elite Four, and I will show you that Ice type Pokemon are not to be trifled with!”

“Bring it!” Enya retorted.

Up first came Lorelei’s Dewgong and Enya’s Pikachu. A couple Thunderbolts demolished Dewgong, which led to Cloyster coming out to play. Pikachu was recalled and out came Snorlax, who defeated Cloyster with a couple Brick Breaks. Slowbro followed Cloyster, and Pikachu came forth once more. After being nearly knocked out, Pikachu was recalled after tanking one hit and was replaced with Vaporeon, who finished the Slowbro with a single Bite. Jynx came next, but it stood no chance against Charizard’s Flamethrower. Finally, Lorelei revealed her ace, Lapras! Nidoking managed to pop off a couple Brick Breaks, but it was not enough, so he was swapped out for Snorlax, who finished the job with more Brick Breaks.

“Impressive!” Lorelei said while clapping. “You may pass!”

Enya saw a door open behind Lorelei, so after tending to her Pokemon’s injuries with Full Restores, she passed through the doorway. Like before, it slammed shut behind her. A vibrant orange dojo of a room was what she found herself in, and a muscular shirtless man had his eyes trained on her.

“I am Bruno,” he stated flatly, “and there’s no way you can defeat the raw power of my Fighting type Pokemon and my Onixes!”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Enya replied.

Bruno’s first Onix was called forth, as was Enya’s Vaporeon. It was a one-and-done hit with Surf, so Bruno sent forth Hitmonchan. Enya countered with Butterfree, which defeated Hitmonchan with a Psychic followed by a Psybeam. Machamp, Bruno’s ace, was next, and it went down to a couple Fly attacks from Charizard. Hitmonlee suffered the same fate, leaving only Bruno’s second Onix. Enya toyed with it with Nidoking, using Earthquake and Brick Break to defeat.

Bruno, devastated at the loss, said nothing as he sat down and gestured at the door behind him. Enya healed her team once more then proceeded through the open door, which slammed shut just like the rest after she passed through the doorway. What she entered could only be described as an amethyst-shaded indoor graveyard. In the center of the room stood an elderly woman.

“You must be Enya!” the woman announced. “I am Agatha, an old friend of Professor Oak! He has told me about you, as well as his grandson! He spoke highly of you! Try not to disappoint when you face the terror of my Ghost type Pokemon and Poison type Pokemon!”

“Oh, I promise not to disappoint!” Enya responded.

Agatha kicked things off with a Gengar, which was brought down by a single Psychic from Butterfree. Golbat came next, and Pikachu used Thunderbolt a couple times to bring it down. Agatha followed Golbat with Arbok, and Enya responded with Nidoking. A single Earthquake did the trick. Haunter was next, and Butterfree tried to defeat it. However, the damn thing kept using Hypnosis, putting Butterfree to sleep. After a couple times of this, Enya switched Butterfree out with Vaporeon, which used Bite to take down the Haunter, and it did the same with Agatha’s second Gengar, her ace on her team.

“Suffice to say,” Agatha conceded, “Samuel was right about you.”

“Samuel?” Enya inquired. “Oh, you mean the professor!”

“Yes, of course, who else? Tell the old duff I said hi, but not before facing the final Elite Four member!”

“Will do!”

Enya healed her team and ran through the doorway, which slammed behind her as she raced down a winding corridor that led to a stony room with dragon statues. She made an educated guess on the last member’s specialty and silently thanked Calder for the T.M. assistance once more.

“My name is Lance,” the fourth and final member stated, “and I’m the leader of the Elite Four. I’m also the greatest dragon tamer of Kanto and Johto combined! Are you truly prepared for this match?”

“Let’s find out!” Enya exclaimed.

Lance started the battle with Gyarados, who could not withstand a single hit from Pikachu’s Thunderbolt. Lance then sent out one of his two Dragonairs, which was brought down by Charizard’s Dragon Claw. Aerodactyl came out to play, but a single Surf from Vaporeon knocked it out. Ice Beam from Vaporeon also brought down the second Dragonair and Lance’s ace, Dragonite. Enya had victory over the Elite Four!

“Well done!” Lance shouted. “I would love to call you the Indigo League Champion, but…”

“Someone beat me to it!” Enya nodded in understanding. “Calder Oak, right?”

“Yes! You must be the Enya he spoke of?”

“The one and the same!”

“I’ll be honest with you, Enya. Calder struggled against me and the others more than you did. Yes, I know of the other battles. There’s a screen over there, showing where trainers are.”

Lance pointed to the eastern wall, and Enya took notice of the television screen.

“So, let me be honest with you,” Lance reiterated, “I think you have a damn good chance of defeating Calder!”

“I’m sure of it!” Enya agreed. “I’ve defeated him multiple times over our journey, so what’s one more time?”

“Good luck, Enya!”

“Thank you, Lance!”

And with that, she healed her team one last time and proceeded to the Champion’s Chambers, where Calder was waiting.

“Holy shit,” Calder said as he saw who it was. “I knew you weren’t too far behind me, but damn! I just became Champion of Kanto about a couple hours ago and asked gramps to come on over! Well, I guess this is it, isn’t it? The final battle. Who’s the true champion of the Indigo League? Want to find out?”

“You bet!” Enya replied, her smile beaming with excitement.

And with that, the battle for the championship began. As they had multiple times before, Calder started with Pidgeot while Enya sent out Pikachu. Thunderbolt nearly knocked out the bird, but it was not enough. A Quick Attack finished it, but not before Pikachu took some serious damage. Next from Calder was Rhydon, which went down in one Surf from Vaporeon. Exeggutor was Calder’s third Pokemon to come out and fight, but a Flamethrower from Charizard sent it back to its Pokeball. Calder’s starter, Blastoise, came out to play. Enya healed Pikachu and sent it forth once more, but despite the type advantage, Pikachu was knocked out. Snorlax tagged in after that and brought the water turtle down with a Body Slam followed by Strength. Alakazam was next from Calder, and Enya countered with Butterfree. It was a close battle, but Alakazam was defeated by Butterfree with a couple Silver Winds. Butterfree fluttered to the ground in exhaustion, so it was recalled as Calder sent out Arcanine, his last Pokemon. Vaporeon was sent forth once more. It tried Hydro Pump first, but that missed, so it went back to using Surf and defeated the Arcanine. Calder’s reign as Indigo League Champion came to an end!

“Well, damn,” Calder sighed, “all’s well that ends well! Congrats, Enya! You did it!”

At that moment, Professor Oak burst through the doors.

“Congrats to you, Cal-” he started, but then he noticed Enya. “Oh.”

“It’s okay, gramps!” Calder shrugged. “I got to be on top of the world, even if only for a short time! Enya earned it just as much as me!”

“Well spoken, Calder!”

“Mhm! Anyway, Enya, I’ll leave you two to chat about whatever! I’m going to head out! Before facing the Elite Four, I heard the Viridian City Gym has a vacancy! I wonder if I can fill it…”

And with that, Calder left the room, leaving just the professor and the new champion.

“Come with me, Enya!” Professor Oak spoke once more. “Let’s get your team registered as the best of the Indigo League!”

Enya followed him to a computer in the next room, which healed her Pokemon and displayed them on a screen as the newest champion’s outstanding team. Enya had done it! She obtained the badges. She became champion. She even learned everything she could about her father in her travels. She had accomplished everything!

Well, almost everything, she thought, recalling one final thing that needed to be done…

Chapter Text

Enya returned home, having obtained all of the dreams that she had personally wanted to achieve. She needed a rest before tackling her next quest, and there was, truly, no place like home. She stepped through the front door to find her mom sitting on the couch with…

“Dad?!?” Enya gasped.

“Hey, Enya!” Giovanni greeted her.

She looked at her parents. Her mom seemed sad, as did her dad. She was unsure why that was, especially since this was likely the first time they had seen each other in roughly seventeen years.

“What’s going on?” Enya asked.

“Well, your dad came to visit, and…” Emilia started, but her voice trailed into a sulking silence.

“And I have a decision to make, going forward with my life,” Giovanni continued where Emilia left off. “You see, I may have been a hero before the amnesia, but I stepped into a life of crime. As such, I’m planning on turning myself in.”

“I see,” Enya sighed.

“But your name,” Emilia stated, “and everything you stood for in the past…it’ll mean nothing to the people.”

“If that’s what must happen, then it should be,” Giovanni pointed out. “What do you think, Enya?”

“I think,” Enya started, but stopped for a moment.

If she told him to turn himself in, she knew that he would be doing the right thing, but to what extent would the law be carried over him? He was a war hero, but he was also a crime boss. Numerous counts of theft, corporate espionage, embezzlement, tax fraud, and even murder. Would he ever see the light of day again? Enya did not like that thought. Morality and familial desire warred in Enya’s brain and heart. In the end, the choice was clear.

“I think you should turn yourself in,” Enya replied with a voice that was straining itself from breaking under the deep sadness in her resolve. “However, I think you should find those who will speak well of your previous deeds to your time with Team Rocket to ensure that you receive some leniency.”

“I see,” Giovanni mused.

“Professor Oak. Lt. Surge. Mom, of course. And there’s a guy at the base of Mt. Moon that will advocate for you, as well,” Enya added.

“Of course,” Emilia said, taking Giovanni’s hand.

“Very well, that will be what I do,” Giovanni said, standing up with Emilia. “Let’s go speak with the good professor, honey.”

They started to walk out, but Giovanni halted his steps.

“Oh, one more thing,” Giovanni concluded. “I heard rumors that Cerulean Cave has a new tenant.”

And with that, Enya’s parents stepped out of the house. Enya knew what this meant. Mewtwo was northwest of Cerulean City. That would be where she would go next!

***

“And with that, all the paperwork is done!” the gentleman said. “Congratulations, Calder Oak! You’re Viridian City’s newest gym leader! Will you be specializing in a Pokemon type?”

“Is it required?” Calder inquired.

“Not really, but if you wanted a specific theme to your newly-acquired gym, it does help.”

“I think it’s fine as is, so I’ll decline the monotype cliche.”

Calder looked around his new gym. The trainers had already left it, but the spinning tiles remained. He actually liked that about this gym. It was a puzzle to reach him. He pondered if he could make it more of a challenge somehow.

“This is going to be a fun time!” he whispered in excitement to himself.

***

Enya recalled Vaporeon as it had finished surfing her to the entrance to Cerulean Cave. The entrance was intimidating. No wonder everyone she spoke with in the city to the southeast was hesitant to tell her anything about this place. She summoned her courage and stepped inside. It took her some time to weave around the various turns, avoiding not just the wild Pokemon but the cracks and the jutted sharp points of stalagmites and stalactites, as well. She soon learned that there were levels to this place. Three, in fact, and on that third one, she found what she was looking for.

There it was. Staring back at her with ferocious intensity.

“You must be Mewtwo,” she called out to the Pokemon. “My dad is responsible for your existence, and he tried his best to find you. He’s out of the picture, though, so the task is left up to me. Will you come join me?”

Mewtwo cried out, its roar echoing off the walls, with its gaze never leaving her.

“Very well,” Enya sighed with a tone of resolution. “Then let’s battle!”

Mewtwo came flying at her, and Vaporeon was first out to fight it. Mewtwo’s Psychic pummeled the Eeveelution hard, while Bite did some damage. However, Vaporeon was knocked out. After Vaporeon came Butterfree, who hit Mewtwo with a Silver Wind before being knocked out, as well. Nidoking was next, but it was not fast enough to land a hit on Mewtwo, who brought the king down in one Psychic.

“Goddamn, Mewtwo!” Enya shouted. “You really are powerful!”

Pikachu came next. A couple Quick Attacks got popped off, but they did little to Mewtwo as it used Recover followed by Psychic. Snorlax was up next, and it tanked a few hits while landing a couple Body Slams on Mewtwo, leaving the paralysis status effect in its wake. However, Mewtwo still came out on top, knocking out Snorlax.

“Down to one,” Enya murmured. “It’s up to you now, Charizard. Make me proud!”

Charizard came out roaring, using Fly to evade Mewtwo’s attack and striking down hard. It followed up with a Flamethrower, then a Dragon Claw. Mewtwo kept alternating between Psychic and Recover, much to the annoyance of Enya. The battle between the Psychic Pokemon and the Fire/Flying Pokemon raged on hard, but Enya could tell that Charizard would not hang in there for much longer. She had to think of something…

That is when she remembered it. The Master Ball! She searched her bag for it as Charizard was knocked to the ground. Mewtwo stood over it, ready to finish it off with one more Psychic attack, when it felt something bounce off of its head. It felt its body being pulled into a non-physical state as the Master Ball clamped shut around it. The ball shook around on the ground as Enya and Charizard watched it earnestly. The shaking finally stopped, and the light of it being sent to the PC system for safe-keeping confirmed Enya’s success. Mewtwo was captured!

“Holy shit, that was rough!” she cried out with exhaustion. “Hanging in there, buddy?”

Charizard weakly nodded. She got her whole team out and used the Revives that she had bought over the past few months to bring everyone back to a conscious state. She then used an Escape Rope to leave the cave, followed by having Charizard use Fly to bring her back to Pallet Town. There, she saw Emilia standing there, waiting for her.

“How did things go?” Enya inquired.

“The police took him in,” Emilia confirmed, “but they were very understanding of the situation. Maybe he will receive some leniency after all. How did whatever you left for go?”

“I caught the world’s strongest Pokemon. You know, nothing too crazy!”

“You really are your father’s kid!”

Mother and daughter had a good laugh at that as they entered their home once more, allowing themselves the rest that they deserved after such a trying time.

***

A couple weeks had passed, and Emilia had been looking for Enya. She could not find her anywhere. She checked her daughter’s room once more, and she found her answer. A letter sat on top of the dresser.

‘Dear Mom,

‘Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. I had sent out an email to Professor Oak, asking what I could possibly do now. He made a suggestion to see more of the world. So I am. I’ve gone to Vermilion City to find a ship heading for Johto. I will return in the near future, promise! Take care, and much love!

‘-Enya’

***

“Ready, Charizard?” Enya asked her starter as the ship headed for Johto began boarding.

The fiery winged lizard nodded with a slight huff, spewing the smallest of flames. Enya recalled her Pokemon as she boarded the ship. She was unsure of what the future held for her, but she knew one thing. Wherever the path takes her, there she will find her destiny!