Skyscrapers crowded out the winter sun like mammoth metal trees in the monstrous forest known as Celadon City. People, sometimes accompanied by pokémon, traveled along the sidewalks in clumps and streams, lonesome travelers dotting the space between the groups. Cars slipped by; the sounds of their engines lost to the white noise of the city.

Ash had been in large cities before. He had lived in Canalave for a full year after all, and that had been a major port city. But he couldn't recall ever being in a city as dense as Celadon. He had seen skyscrapers before, but they had never dominated the sky, never surrounded him. And he had rarely been around so many people at once.

It was new.

It was…. uncomfortable.

"You okay Aaron?" Misty asked as they came to wait at a crosswalk.

"Yeah," Ash replied with a wan smile. "Just…."

"Overwhelmed?" Brock asked, crossing his arms while waiting for the signal.

"Yeah," Ash shrugged, careful not to dislodge Pikachu from his shoulder.

"It can happen if you're not used to cities," Brock said, clasping a hand over Ash's unoccupied shoulder. "Don't worry, most people adjust."

And pokémon, Pikachu added. Ash remembered that Pikachu might have spent more time in cities than he had. He fought down an irrational surge of jealousy at the realization.

"I hope you're right," Ash replied. There was so much to take in, but most of it was just background noise. There was nothing to focus on. Nothing that was important. Just inputs clogging up his head.

The light changed, the signal shone, and they crossed the street.

"Don't worry," Misty reassured Ash. "We just have to go another block and then things will get better."

"How?" Ash asked, looking around at the crowded skyline, at all the people, and the constant traffic on the roads.

"You'll see," Misty said with a wink.

They walked the block, turned a corner, and then Ash saw a park. A park that was larger than any other park that Ash had ever seen. It was a vast expanse of short yellowed grass, with patches of what looked like small forests, and bare trees dotting the rest of the space. Paved paths carved their way through the plant life, with benches placed at strategic intervals. People and pokémon filled the area, walking the paths, running and playing in the grass and trees.

Ash looked over his shoulder at the city behind him and then back at the park. He almost balked at the juxtaposition, but the desire to get somewhere familiar spurred him onward.

Wow, this is really nice, Pikachu commented as they crossed the street and started down one of the paths. There would be so many places to hide after eating some electricity here.

"This is better," Ash agreed. He was still surrounded by people, but at least he wasn't squashed between skyscrapers.

"Hey, Aaron," Misty said, looking like she had been suddenly struck by a thought. "I thought you've been to cities before. Didn't you used to live in Canalave?"

"I did," Ash answered. "But it wasn't like this."

"Yeah, there aren't as many cities as dense as this one," Brock said. "I think it's in the top ten most populated cities in the world?"

"Really?" Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's been hard to get information from the other side of the world since the Great War, but that's what people have been saying," Brock told her.

"Huh," Misty replied with a shrug.

They wandered through the park, under the afternoon winter sun. Ash enjoyed his break from the hustle and bustle of the city.

There was a surprising amount of pokémon around as well, more than Ash had really seen together in the wild outside of a flock or herd. The Viridian Forest would never have flying types hanging around grass types without the former attempting to eat the latter. Ash figured that they must get enough food from the humans in the park that they didn't need to prey on each other, at least not all the time.

In the center of the park, there was a small collection of buildings grouped around an odd-looking structure that looked like the top part of a gloom.

"Is that the gym?" Ash asked, excited, pointing at the strange structure. He started to bounce on the balls of his feet as excitement at the prospect of another gym battle filled him. The boy hoped that there wouldn't be a wait.

"Yep," Brock nodded. "But we've got a stop to make first."

"Okay," Ash sighed, settling down. He didn't want to make a detour, but he could put up with it. As long as it didn't take too long. And as long as it wasn't something stupid.

"It better not be what I think it is," Misty said, giving Brock a sidelong glare. Brock looked away, locking his hands behind his head, and strode off, whistling. Misty glared at his retreating back and shook her fist at him before following.

Ash hoped that Misty's suspicions and Brock's reactions weren't confirmation that the former gym leader was making a stupid detour.

They entered in one of the smaller buildings by the gym, a shop. Ash glanced at the display by the window and saw bottles of something. They didn't look like drinks. He wished that he had bothered to read the sign before he came in.

Inside were a bunch of women in tight, short, pink dresses. Misty immediately turned to glare at Brock, who had a dreamy expression on his face.

"I love the uniforms here," he said shamelessly at her unspoken accusation.

"Hello!" One of the shopkeepers said cheerily, coming over to the trio. "What can we help you find today?"

"Do you have anything made with the essence of sudowoodo?" Brock asked the woman. "Specifically, calming scents for ground and rock type pokémon?"

"I do believe so- one second sir," the woman said, heading to the store's backroom.

"See, I've got a legitimate reason for being here too!" Brock told Misty with a grin. "The uniforms are just a bonus!"

"What's this place?" Ash asked, looking around. There were more glass cases filled with bottles of things that weren't drinks.

"It's a perfume shop," Brock explained. "They mainly specialize in cosmetic scents, but they've got some things that can come in handy for working with pokémon."

He turned to Misty. "Maybe you should get something for yourself while you're here."

"I'm not currently planning on dating any time soon," Misty replied, rolling her eyes, "and I doubt they've got anything that won't wash off in water for my pokémon."

"Actually, ma'am, we do have a few perfumes that aren't water soluble," one of the staff -who had been loitering nearby-spoke up. "I can bring out a few samples if you'd like."

"Oh, fine," Misty rolled her eyes again. "It's something to do while Brock gawks I guess."

The staff crowded around Misty, offering her small samples of their wares. Misty's initial reluctance faded and she began to animatedly discuss the various scents and their uses with the staff. Brock watched the staff go about their business with a hazy smile and reddened cheeks.

You've got an entire store for smells? Pikachu said.

No, I don't, Ash whispered out of the side of his mouth.

Fine, your species has a store for scents, Pikachu said, sounding like he was rolling his eyes. Though to be honest, this is crazy and stupid enough to be one of your schemes.

Hey! Ash quietly protested. My schemes work, so they aren't stupid!

Stupid things can work, Pikachu replied. I mean, you somehow manage to function.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ash rolled his eyes.

Ash amused himself by reading some of the displays and bottles while the staff fussed over Misty. At some point Ash turned back to look at Brock. Brock didn't have the expression Ash was expecting; instead of the stupid hazy smile and the blush, Brock had his arms crossed and he was smirking.

Ash had a sudden sense of danger, but it was too late. The front door chimed as another woman came in. She had blue-purple hair and was dressed in a short green and white green dress.

"Brock!" the woman called out, waving. "Welcome back to Celadon City!"

"Erika!" Brock replied, waving back and still smirking.

Misty's head jerked up in surprise. Her face went a shade paler and she shot another glare at Brock.

"Traitor," she hissed.

"Misty!" Erika exclaimed, beaming at the girl. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

"Yeah," Misty said with a little laugh. "Uh, you know, life's been busy."

"I can't wait to hear about it then!" Erika said, still beaming and clasping Misty's hands in her own.

"How did you know we were here?" Misty asked, wilting in the face of Erika's demeanor.

"Brock called ahead and told me that you would be in town," Erika told the younger woman. "And one of the trainers working here ran in to tell me that you three had arrived."

Erika let go of Misty, who then proceeded to shoot Brock the darkest glare of the day so far. The blue-haired woman then turned and went over to Ash, who had been watching the scene in confusion.

"And you must be Aaron," she smiled down at the pokéraised boy. "Brock's told me a little about you."

"He has?" Ash frantically searched his mind for a reason that Brock might do that. Where had he heard the name Erika mentioned before? She was the gym leader here and…..

Didn't Brock say something about having a person named Erika talk to him about stuff? Stuff that Ash really didn't feel like talking about?

Suddenly Ash understood why Misty was glaring at Brock.

"Brock wants you to talk to me about stuff, doesn't he," Ash said, also glaring at the dark-skinned young man. Brock shrugged and continued to smirk.

"I think I need to talk to all of you about 'stuff'", Erika said, looking around at the three of them. Brock's smirk vanished from his face.

"Uh, well, I don't know," Brock said, leaning back from Erika. "I've been out of the loop for a while so I don't have much gossip to tell you."

"Nice try," Erika's expression didn't change while she spoke. "I've been meaning to speak to you since I heard the news about Flint."

Ash looked at the shop door out of the corner of his eye. He felt like he could make it if he sprinted.

"Why don't you all come with me?" Erika beamed at the three of them. "I'm sure Aaron's eager to get his badge and I have so much to catch up on with you two!"

Misty shot another glare at a dejected looking Brock. Aaron sighed.

Ash was given a tour of the gym while Erika talked to Brock and Misty. While he wasn't looking forward to the stuff that the gym leader would probably want to talk to him about, he could at least laugh at Brock being caught in his own trap. Maybe this would teach him not to be such a McBossypants.

In the meantime, the guide, one of the women from the shop, showed him the various greenhouses that grew both plants and grass-type pokémon, the nurseries where the gym bred and reared pokémon to be given to new trainers, the various training rooms, the dorms, and finally the gym cafeteria. Ash found many of the rooms to be extremely peaceful, filled with sweet scents and a gentle warmth that just seemed to encourage napping.

The tour guide offered Ash an early dinner and the boy had never been one to pass up on a free meal. As he expected, the meal was heavy on the veggies, but it was delicious. Pikachu munched on the cafeteria's offering for pokémon, another vegetable-based meal rather than the usual fare of pokéchow.

Wow, Pikachu said between bites. Ash, you need to grab this recipe before you leave.

Ash rolled his eyes at the suggestion. If he had to put up with energy bars Pikachu could put up with pokéchow and like it.

Brock and Misty came into the cafeteria when Ash was nearly finished with his meal, taking seats at his table. They both looked tired, but not unhappy.

"See, this is why you should leave the plans to the Fuchsia gym people," Misty said to Brock.

"Yeah," Brock sighed, dragging his hand over his face. "But, well, at least you're taken care of."

"I was doing just fine," Misty huffed, turning her nose away from Brock, "thank you very much."

"And an expert can tell me that you're fine," Brock shot back.

"I think I'm able to tell if I'm fine or not," Misty said, anger suffusing her voice.

"And I can tell you, from experience, sometimes that's the last person who can tell," Brock told her. "Just trust me on this one, please."

"Oh, I'm not letting this slide," Misty growled. "You're going to owe me for this."

"I'll provide the usual reparations," Brock sighed and Misty's eyes glinted with a greedy light. "You can even call up the other gym brats in Saffron City when we get there, I'll pay for everyone."

"Really," Misty smiled wickedly. "Well, I know I'm going to order the most expensive thing on the menu." Brock let out another sigh.

Misty turned to Ash, still grinning evilly. "Aaron, it's time to start thinking about what fancy foods you've always wanted to eat, 'cause when we get to Saffron City, we're going to the Fancy Farfetch'd on Brock's dime."

"Is that a restaurant?" Ash asked.

"The best restaurant in Kanto," Misty licked her lips. "Very expensive."

"Okay!" Ash exclaimed. "Thanks, Brock!"

"Don't thank him!" Misty chided. "This is just to make up for siccing Erika on us."

"Uh…" Ash realized that he hadn't actually had to deal with the gym leader yet. He looked around the cafeteria, expecting to find her.

"Are you enjoying the food?" A gentle voice spoke up from right behind him, causing the pokéraised boy to start in his seat. He whipped his head around to see Erika standing right behind him.

"Sorry, about sneaking up on you," she said, sitting down at the table with him, "It's a bad habit I picked up from Koga."

"Who's that?" Ash inquired.

"The Fuchsia City gym leader," Erika told him. "He carries on a ninja tradition to complement his skill with poison types."

"Oh," Ash said and then returned to his meal, quickly finishing it off.

"A growing boy I see," Erika said, raising one eyebrow. "Will you be wanting seconds?"

"Yeah!" Ash replied, standing up. "But it can wait until after my battle!"

"Oh?" Erika kept the eyebrow up. "And just when do you think that's going to be?"

"Uh…" Ash remembered that he generally needed to at least check in to get a gym battle. "Soon?" He said hopefully.

"Mhmmm, maybe," Erika hummed. "I think I'll take a walk first. Why don't you come with me?"

"Okay," Ash said, almost shrugging before realizing that she would probably want to do all the talking about stuff on this walk. He shot Brock a quick glare while the Celadon Gym Leader was getting up, which the dark-skinned young man ignored.

I want to finish this, Pikachu said as Ash walked away. Just come back and pick me up when it's time to battle.

Ash nodded at Pikachu and then followed Erika out of the cafeteria and towards a part of the gym that his tour hadn't covered.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Oh, just my personal gardens," Erika informed him. "So, Aaron, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Uh…." Some part of Ash reflected that this was probably one of the scenarios that Poison Lance, Pocket Watch, and Flygirl used to have nightmares about. "Like what?"

"Oh, anything," Erika replied, opening a pair of doors that led outside to the back of the gym. "Let's start with where you grew up."

"Lots of places," Ash shrugged.

"Like?"

"Uh, Violet City, Canalave City, Fortree City, Lavender Town, and Pallet Town."

"Oh, so many towns. Why is that?" Erika led Ash into a large collection of plants that he guessed was her garden.

"Um…. my folks moved a bunch for work," Ash answered after a second.

"I see. That must have been hard."

"Yeah," Ash admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't like it."

"What made you want to become a pokémon trainer?"

"Well…. I like pokémon," Ash replied with another shrug.

"What about pokémon do you like?" Erika knelt down to sniff an exotic looking flower.

"Uh, lots?" Ash replied.

"Anything specific that you wouldn't mind sharing?"

"I…. like helping them."

"That's good to hear," Erika said, standing up from the flowers. "There are many valid reasons to want to become a pokémon trainer, but that particular one is my favorite."

Ash didn't say anything to that.

"Not very talkative today, are you?" Erika said with a little smile. "Do you want to get straight down to business then?"

"The badge battle?" Ash asked hopefully.

"Eventually," Erika told him. "Brock told me that he was worried about how you were handling things after your latest incident."

"I'm fine," Ash grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Maybe," Erika hedged. "But he also said that you were having night terrors."

Ash rubbed the back of his head while Erika waited patiently for him to speak.

"I think I've always had those," Ash eventually confessed. "They're not new."

"Ahhh," Erika nodded. "Brock simply wasn't looking for them before."

"I guess," Ash shrugged yet again.

"How old are you again? Twelve or thirteen?"

"I'm twelve," Ash answered.

His caretakers had been fairly certain that his birthday was in the fall and it was now winter, so he was sure that he had gone from eleven to twelve. He made a mental note to look up the birth date that Pocket Watch had used to get him his trainer's license.

"You're handling this awfully well for a twelve-year-old," Erika said, looking at Ash. The pokéraised boy did his best to keep his expression neutral, but he felt like the gym leader was peering through him in a way that not even Pocket Watch could manage.

He knew how to guard himself against telepathy. He had no clue on how to deal with observation.

When it became clear that Ash wasn't going to say anything, Erika resumed talking.

"You're not required to tell me anything, but if there's anything bothering you, anything at all, I can keep it confidential," Erika said to him.

There were a lot of things bothering Ash. He just couldn't talk about them to any human.

"I'm fine," Ash told her.

"It doesn't even need to be any of the big things," Erika went on. "I can help, even if it's just to listen to you complain about your friends."

"They're-" Ash almost launched into his litany of complaints about them, but it didn't quite feel the same. "I used to not like being with them because they were bossy and I wanted to be alone with my pokémon," Ash told the gym leader. "But now I think I like being with them."

"What changed?" Erika asked gently.

"I don't know," Ash shrugged yet another time. "I guess I missed them when we were traveling apart."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Erika quoted. "Has their behavior changed at all?"

"A little," Ash answered. "But I just think that's because nothing's happened that they'd want to boss me about."

"Ah, yes, Misty and Brock," Erika smiled fondly. "They can both be overbearing, but they arrived at it from such different places."

"Huh?"

"Brock's used to having to be a substitute parent and a gym leader," Erika explained. "He's used to being in charge and taking care of people. It looks like he couldn't manage to leave that behind when he left Pewter City."

"It's annoying," Ash muttered.

"I can imagine," Erika said, still smiling. "But he does it because he cares."

"Misty's coming at it from the opposite angle," Erika continued. "She's always been the youngest sister, the one who didn't quite fit in at the Cerulean City Gym. Always feeling like she's had to fight to get any respect. She is so used to her sisters accidentally pushing her down that she sometimes treats any disagreement like another attempt to push her down."

"Really?" Ash thought back on his memories of the Cerulean City Gym and Misty's sisters. They had been nice to him and he thought that they had been nice to Misty too. But he also knew that at least one of them tried to force her to come back and that they bothered her frequently.

"It's something that she should work on," Erika went on. "Just like I've asked her sisters to work on how they treat her. And they have improved, it's just that they still have a ways to go."

"What can I do to make her quit it?" Ash asked. "To make them both quit."

"You can't 'make' them quit it," Erika informed him. "It's something they need to work on, themselves. And there will be times that you should listen to them."

"Great," Ash rolled his eyes. "You're on their side. It's 'cause all you gym people are bossy, isn't it?"

"Being bossy is a habit one picks up when they need to run something, yes," Erika laughed gently. "But I'm not taking their side. If they're being overbearing then you need to make that clear. Just remember where they're coming from and push back gently but firmly."

"Fine," Ash sighed.

"And make sure to try and come across as calm when you're doing so," Erika went on. "You might be surprised how big of a difference it makes."

"Really?" Ash asked, looking up at her.

"Really," Erika nodded. "It makes it harder for them to dismiss your objections."

"Why?"

"If you come across as calm, they can't simply say that you're being irrational because of your feelings or your youth," Erika explained. "Even if their own behavior isn't coming from a place of emotional maturity," she finished with a wry smile.

"You mean even though they're just stupid," Ash said.

"That's not a very constructive way to put it, but po-ta-to, po-tat-o," Erika shrugged. "Everyone's got something that they can work on."

"I don't!" Ash declared, puffing up proudly.

"You need to work on being a better actor and liar," Erika told him, causing the boy to flinch back. "You spend too much time thinking of what you're going to say. You can get away with that occasionally, but you do it too often."

"What?" Ash felt his eyes going wide with shock and a cold surge of fear wormed his way through his gut. He caught himself and did his best to force his expression to remain neutral. He resorted to his mental defense training to try and calm himself.

"It's fairly obvious if you know what to look for," Erika said casually, walking closer to Ash. The boy tried not to flinch away. "You fidget a lot, which could just be nerves, but you also spend too long thinking about your answers to simple questions. There's also your tendency to be vague."

"I- I- I," Ash stammered, mind blank.

Erika crouched down so that she was eye level with Ash and then reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Aaron, don't worry," she said gently. "I don't know why you're putting on an act, or why you're lying, but it doesn't matter. I told you that I would keep this all confidential."

Ash didn't reply. He was too busy trying to keep his expression under control.

"I'm not going to tell anyone," Erika reassured him, looking him in the eye and speaking gently, her face serious. "I can't know for certain, but I trust that you've got a good reason for doing what you do."

"Why?" Ash was proud that he managed to keep his voice from shaking when he asked the question.

"I've read the reports on what you've done, Aaron," Erika said. "They show me that you don't just like helping pokémon, you also like helping people. I don't know what you're hiding, but I don't need to know."

Ash closed his eyes. The cold worming fear was still there, but it had begun to fade under a wave of relief washing through him.

"You won't tell anybody?" He asked in a small voice.

"Not another soul," Erika promised.

"Okay," Ash took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Erika said. "But please, work on your lying. The next person to see through you might decide to dig deeper."

"Okay," Ash nodded. "Any tips?"

"Just try to avoid the behaviors I mentioned," Erika suggested. "And practice rehearsing some of your answers."

"I'll do that," Ash said, letting out a breath.

"I'm glad to hear that," Erika smiled at him again. "Now, I do believe you mentioned something about a battle and a badge….."

Ash retrieved Pikachu and then followed Erika to one of the gym's arenas. Unlike the plain and bare used industrial aesthetic of the Vermillion City Gym, the Celadon gym had bleachers all around the arena, and decorative plants all around those. The actual fighting pit was a dirt floor with chalk lines, with forcefield emitters, tall poles with round pads on the sides, in each corner.

"Swanky," Brock commented, looking at the emitters from his spot in the bleachers. "I wish we could have afforded those back in Pewter."

"Eh, we never needed them back home," Misty replied, sitting next to him. "They're overpriced. You can get the same result simply by having the trainers standing far away from the arena."

"Not everyone has their gym battles in a pool, Misty."

"Well, that's their problem then, isn't it?"

"Aaron, I'm told that you have three badges?" Erika asked Ash from her side of the arena.

"Yeah," Ash nodded.

"Hmm….. in that case, we shall do two one-on-one matches," Erika told Ash. "I'll decide whether or not to award you the badge based on your performance."

"Got it," Ash said, grinning eagerly.

"Standard rules. The battle continues until one pokémon can no longer fight and lethal attacks are prohibited." Erika informed him, holding up a pokéball. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Ash said, holding up a pokéball.

"Very well," Erika nodded. "Go Paras!"

"Go Charmander!" Ash cried out at the same time.

You can do it Charmander! Pikachu cheered from Ash's shoulder.

Light flashed and both pokémon were in the arena. A small orange crab like pokémon, with two red and yellow mushrooms growing out of its back, a paras, stood on the other side of the arena facing Charmander. There was a brief whine as the forcefields switched on. The arena in front of Ash was briefly tinted grey for a moment before the field stabilized.

"Very well, we begin when the buzzer sounds," Erika told the boy. "Do your best!"

"You too!" Ash replied.

"You don't need to say that to the gym leader!" Misty shouted from the bleachers. "They're the ones testing you!"

"I thought it was cute of him to say that," Brock said, crossing his arms and leaning back.

The buzzer went off.

"Spore!" Erika shouted.

"Fire Bloom until it's done!" Ash ordered in response. He hoped that the fire type's endurance would be enough to last out the Spore attack.

A hazy yellow cloud rose from Para's back sweeping through the arena towards Charmander. But Ash's pokémon inhaled before it could reach and then exhaled a blooming plume of flame. The haze was burned away from Charmander's face and the fire-type kept it burning until it had safely passed by.

"Charmander-" Ash began to shout but then Charmander stumbled. Ash squinted, looking at Charmander's cheeks, and there it was, the tell-tale purple patches that meant he had been poisoned.

I don't feel so good, Charmander moaned.

Ash knew that Spore was supposed to put Pokémon to sleep, not poison them, and the attack had definitely been Spore….. there must have been a poison move mixed in with the Spore attack.

He had to end this quickly before the poison knocked Charmander out.

"Charmander, get close!" Ash shouted.

Okay, Charmander exclaimed. He charged forward, claws raised and reflecting the overhead light, mouth open and fangs bared.

"X-Scissors!" Erika commanded in response.

"Bite to counter!" Ash shouted.

Erika's pokémon leapt forward at Charmander, pincers slashing at Charmander from either side. Charmander darted forward, striking with his fangs at the same time. The fire-type managed to catch Paras's pincers right as they crossed, trapping both in his mouth.

"Hold it there and Fire Bloom again!" Ash said, quick as he could.

Charmander's claws stabbed into Paras's pincers and sides. At the same time, he inhaled and then partially exhaled. He let the fires burn within, mixing the extra air with his own flames, before inhaling and launching his attack!

Paras was engulfed in Charmander's flames. The grass/bug-type went limp in the other pokémon's clutches before the attack was complete and Charmander threw it back into the forcefield. It impacted against the invisible barrier and slid to the ground, twitching.

"My Paras is unable to continue," Erika stated calmly and loud enough to be heard. The forcefield emitters flicked off. "Aaron wins this first match."

Erika recalled her pokémon and Charmander rushed over by Ash.

You did great! Ash whispered to the fire-type sweeping him up into a hug.

You were awesome! Pikachu agreed, hugging the top of the fire-type's head.

I'm getting so much stronger! Charmander exclaimed. One day I'll win all the time!

Ash didn't know what to say to that, so he just gave Charmander a squeeze before setting the fire-type down.

"Return!" Ash said, recalling Charmander.

"Are you ready for the next match?" Erika asked, getting out another pokéball.

"Yeah," Ash said, grabbing for the next pokémon. He wished that he had done a strategy session before coming to this match like he had done in Vermillion City. But between his discomfort with the city and Brock's little plan, there hadn't been any time.

He resolved that he would get the badge nonetheless.

"Go Bulbasaur!" He shouted as he threw the pokéball.

"Go, Omelet!"

Light flashed once more and two pokémon faced each other down from opposite sides of the arena. Bulbasaur stared at a collection of pale pink egg-like beings. Ash quickly whipped out his pokédex to scan it and found that it was the pokémon known as exeggcute, a grass/psychic-type pokémon.

Turn them into scrambled eggs! Pikachu shouted to Bulbasaur.

I think they're seeds, Bulbasaur replied over his shoulder.

"This match will begin when the buzzer sounds," Erika repeated her previous instructions as the forcefield flicked back on. "Do your best!"

"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed back.

"See that was a more appropriate response," Misty said from the bleachers.

"Not as endearing," Brock replied. "It's more fun to hear things like 'you too' from kids….."

"He's only a year younger than me!"

"As I said, kids."

The buzzer sounded, cutting off the conversation between Ash's two human companions.

"Bulbasaur, Leaf Attack!" Ash commanded right off the bat. A swarm of leaves flew out from under Bulbasaur's bulb. They filled the air, swooping and impacting all around and on Omelet. The exeggcute just watched.

At the same time, Bulbasaur had two vines slide from the backside of his bulb. They stabbed into the earthen floor of the arena and dug deep into the ground.

"Omelet, interrupt the distraction please," Erika calmly ordered while the leaves battered her pokémon.

Got it! One of the beings that comprised Omelet replied. Another egg/seed opened its mouth and a clump of grimy purple sludge was spat out. The sludge attack blasted through flying Razor Leaves and hit Bulbasaur right over the eyes.

Shit! Bulbasaur swore, attempting to rub away the liquid with more vines and his forelegs.

"Psychic Barrage please," Erika said as calmly as if she were ordering tea.

On it! All the parts of the exeggcute said as one. They all started glowing with a faint purple light and clumps of earth and stone were torn out of the floor of the arena. They began to shoot at Bulbasaur. Still blinded from the Sludge attack, Bulbasaur was helpless to stop them.

Ash's pokémon grunted as the projectiles thudded into him, battering his head around, knocking his body about. One caught him under the chin, knocking him into the air, exposing the two vines that were digging into the ground behind him.

"I see," Erika commented as Bulbasaur flew upwards. "That was your plan. Omelet, Psychic please."

The purple glow around the exeggcute grew more intense and Bulbasaur was engulfed in a similar light. He was suspended, helpless in midair and then an invisible force yanked him higher still, ripping his vines out of the ground.

"Finish him," Erika ordered, as calm as ever. Bulbasaur began to fly around the arena, slamming into the ground and forcefield, caught in the exeggcute's psychic power.

"Razor Leaf!" Ash shouted. "Vine Whip! Whatever you can do to hit it!"

More blunted leaves flew from under Bulbasaur's bulb and his vines lashed out, reaching for the ground and Omelet. The other grass type stoically endured the leaves and psychically threw Bulbasaur into the opposite corner of the arena before his vines could get close. It ping-ponged Bulbasaur off the opposite walls of the corner, raising Ash's pokémon high in the air as it did so. Bulbasaur hung for a moment and then shot down like he had been spiked, slamming face-first into the ground.

Ash winced. He could feel the vibrations from that impact through his feet.

Ouch, Pikachu said, also wincing.

I'm done, Ash heard Bulbasaur wheeze, his voice muffled by the pile of dirt he found himself in.

"I quit!" Ash shouted before Erika could have her pokémon attack again.

"My opponent has forfeited," Erika calmly stated. Ash wondered if their match was being taped and Erika was saying that stuff for the record. "This match goes to me."

After the match Ash, Brock, Misty, and Erika retired to a break room for tea and snacks. The gym people made small talk while Ash quickly tended to Bulbasaur and Charmander with a potion and an antidote.

Was it as bad as it looked? Pikachu asked Bulbasaur while Ash treated him.

Worse, Bulbasaur said, wincing as Ash applied the potion.

When Ash was finished, he recalled them and then took a seat at the table with the other humans.

"So, Aaron, what can you tell me about our matches," Erika said before Ash could ask about whether or not he got the badge.

"Uh…" Ash thought back on them. "You didn't, uh, what's the phrase, get, um, serious! You didn't get serious until the second one!"

"Partially correct," Erika said. "The Spore-Toxic combo that I had Paras use tends to catch most trainers by surprise. You did well to notice that your charmander had been poisoned so quickly."

"But you weren't really battling then, were you?" Ash said, almost accusing her.

"I certainly wasn't giving it my all, if that's what you're asking," Erika said. "But I'm not supposed to. My gym as a gym leader is to evaluate you and your performance, not to win battles."

"Then why are you asking me how I did?"

"I'm currently evaluating how much you actually understand regarding those battles," Erika explained. "What else do you have to say about our matches?"

"I won the first one using type advantage," Ash said after a moment, looking down at the table. "If charmander didn't have that he would have lost."

"That's probably true," Erika agreed. "But even if type advantage is a very basic tactic, you were still able to use it to secure a victory. While it never pays to be overly reliant on it, neither should you ignore type advantage, or feel guilty using it to win."

"I guess," Ash shrugged. For some reason, it felt fine to use type advantage in a real fight, like when he was guarding Aoba and Melanie, but using it in a gym battle, where you were supposed to show how good you were, made him feel small and unpleasant.

"What can you tell me about the next battle?" Erika asked.

"I think what I had Bulbasaur do didn't let him move enough," Ash said, after taking another moment to think about it. "That's why he couldn't dodge the Sludge and that's why we lost."

"That was certainly a factor," Erika agreed. "But can you think of anything else?"

Ash thought for another few seconds before shaking his head.

"No," he told her.

"Very well," Erika took a sip of tea and then gagged. She spit out the offending liquid. "Wrong flavor," she said, sticking out her tongue. "I hate it when they switch drawers."

"Anyway, Aaron," the gym leader continued as she got up to empty her cup into the sink, "why did you use that plan in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"You would have stood a much better chance if you had simply attacked directly instead of trying to be tricky like that," Erika said as she began to make a second cup of tea.

"I would have?" Ash asked, looking down at the table again. "Is your pokémon, uh, weak-bodied?"

"No, Omelet's got an above average defense for a grass-type," Erika told him. "But if you can scatter an exeggcute then they're much easier to fight."

"So, I should just attack when things are like that?" Ash asked. Erika finished brewing her new cup of tea, took a sip, and sighed in contentment.

"I think sometimes you might need to be pushed into direct action," Erika said. "I haven't seen you battle enough to say for certain. Tell me, was the only reason you had Charmander charge because you realized that he had been poisoned?"

Ash frowned and squirmed in his seat, "Yeah, I guess."

"Tell me, do you start most of your battles off with long-ranged special attacks if you can?" Erika continued to probe.

Ash thought back on his battles. She was right, whenever he did tend to try long-range special attacks first if he could.

"Yeah," Ash said. "That's a bad thing?"

"Only if you're unaware that you do that," Erika said, shaking her head. "It's no better or worse than any other habit. You just need to make sure that you are aware of it and you know to adjust your tactics when needed."

"Like with Bulbasaur," Ash replied.

"Yes," Erika said, nodding before taking another sip of tea. "It wasn't a major mistake or anything. You can't be expected to be familiar with every pokémon. Just be aware of that habit."

"Okay," Ash nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Maybe." Erika held her teacup in front of her mouth, but Ash could see from the corners of her mouth that she was smirking. "Aaron, how would you like to join the Celadon City Gym?"

"Oh, wow, you really do not wait to jump on new talent, do you?" Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But I'm not a, uh, specialist! I'm not a specialist," Ash protested. "I've only got one grass type pokémon."

"So?" Erika shrugged. "All the gyms have a few generalists and off-type trainers around. It's how gym specialties change."

"Well, that and open tournaments," Misty pointed out.

"Do I even have enough badges to be a gym trainer?" Ash asked.

"That's up to the gym leader's discretion," Erika said, continuing to hide her smirk by taking a sip of tea. "And I think four badges is more than enough."

"But I've only got three badges."

"Oh, dearie me, did I forget to tell you that you've earned the Rainbow Badge," Erika rested her hand against her cheek in an exaggerated expression of shock.

"I did!?" Ash exclaimed, standing up and almost knocking over his chair.

"Oh, yes, you did," Erika nodded. "You put on a fine showing to earn your fourth badge." She reached into her pocket and took out an eight-sided rainbow trinket. She handed it over to Ash who almost snatched it out of her palm. The boy held it up to the ceiling light, inspecting it.

"We did it!" The boy cheered to Pikachu. "We got the badge!"

It was all thanks to my expert leadership, Pikachu said, closing his eyes, crossing his forelimbs, and nodding.

Ash just stuck his tongue out at Pikachu.

"Anyway, about my offer to join the gym," Erika interrupted.

"No," Ash shook his head. "I want to keep moving."

"Too bad," Erika sighed. "Well, when you're ready to take root, just remember the Celadon Gym."

"Oh please," Brock snorted. "If he continues collecting badges at this rate, he'll probably start getting more offers before the year is out. You'll actually have to compete with all the other gyms."

"Can't blame a leader for trying," Erika shrugged. "Now how do you want your advancement?"

Sabrina sat in the corner of the café, head leaning forward, allowing hair to veil the sides of her face. The swinging fluorescent lights overhead cast her face in a pallid shade, contrasting with her dark hair.

"Good grief," a man in a black uniform and white apron groaned. "Sabrina, it's always nice to have you as a customer, but do you have to sit there each time?"

"What's wrong, Jim?" Sabrina shrugged, smirking.

"You know you scare the other customers when you sit there," Jim told her, getting out a notepad. "And you scare the living daylights out of me when you sneak in like that."

"It's part of the fun," Sabrina said with a little laugh. "If I'm going to be creepy, I might as well own it."

"Owning it is very well and good, but if you keep scaring away customers, I might not own this place too much longer."

"You've been saying that since I've been a creepy little girl who snuck in here to try and get coffee," Sabrina grinned at him.

"And you never figured out that I was giving you decaf the whole time," Jim retorted, flipping open his notebook and getting out his pen. "That seems like something that would be embarrassing for a mind reader to miss."

"I told you I didn't even know what decaf was," Sabrina laughed again.

"Sure….. now will you be ordering to help make up for the lost revenue or should I just start looking into closing the place?"

Sabrina smiled, shook her head, and placed her order. Jim left to go make it and then Sabrina got out another sheaf of papers.

She looked at them and sighed. When had stacks of paper become her life? Oh, right, when she had decided to take the lead investigating a case. Something gym leaders weren't supposed to do. She had nobody to blame but herself.

She began going through her new stack of papers.

Junichi Tajiri had been a Silph Company executive who had risen through the ranks as a brilliant scientist. He had pioneered many of the projects that had helped the company reach its present heights.

He had also been in charge of the MasterBall project.

Sabrina had been asked to help with some early tests that they had been running several years ago. That was why she was the only one in the League outside of the Elite Four who knew about the project. They had needed her to stress test some of their early innovations and proof of concepts.

She and Mindlight (Sleepyhead had insisted on a name change after their first evolution) had called upon the power of all of Sabrina's team and the gym pokémon in an attempt to break the various fields Junichi's team had created, or overload the various mechanisms that they had been working on. More often than not Sabrina and her team failed.

Sabrina had realized the implications of the project right away, before she stood in front of the barriers that not even her full power could break. A capture mechanism that no amount of raw power could defeat. An ultimate weapon of sorts.

If they included pokéball overrides, to allow the Masterball to capture pokémon that already had a pokéball, then nobody would be safe fielding an elite pokémon against Kanto.

But Kanto didn't seem to have an external enemy and it didn't look like it would for a very long time. Instead, the Masterballs would probably be used in emergencies, to safely restrain rampaging pokémon and resettle them. It would make the task so much safer, as not even legendary pokémon would be immune to the Masterball. So much would change.

It would have come in handy two years ago, Sabrina reflected, when something or someone riled up the three legendary beasts of the Burned Tower in Johto and drove them into a rampage. It had taken the combined efforts of Johto's Elite Four and their Champion to quell the beasts and they had paid a heavy price to do so. Only one of them had survived the battle, the dark-type specialist Karen.

It had been the catalyst for Johto to finalize the terms of the unification that they had been negotiating with Kanto for the better part of a decade; the only silver lining of the event.

If Masterball technology could have been available back then, so many lives could have been saved.

And if Masterball technology fell into the wrong hands so many lives could be lost.

Which brought Sabrina back to the files she was looking at. A collection of reports about the death of Junichi Tajiri. At the time she and everyone else had thought it to have been due to natural causes, but Sabrina wasn't so sure anymore. Team Rocket had been able to assassinate far too many people under the League's radar. What if they had killed him too?

She went over the autopsy report again. Nothing jumped out at her. She went over how his estate had been disposed of. Nothing jumped out at her. She went over medical reports about his last days. Nothing jumped out at her.

Sabrina sighed. She wished that she had the files about the current status of the project, but it would take more time to get access from Silph Co. If something suspicious was happening there then she would have a lead.

She flipped through the reports again, looking for something, anything that didn't fit. Something that would tell her if she was just being paranoid or not-

One of the last documents. It was an incident report. It wasn't directly related to his death. It was about a disturbance near his grave. It had happened recently, after Aoba had reached the Yin-Li Pokémon Center.

The night watchwoman at the cemetery, alerted by the sounds of wild pokémon, had stumbled across a pair of apparent grave robbers, a man with purple hair and a woman with red hair. They had been carrying shovels and it looked like some of the dirt on Junichi's grave had been disturbed.

A man with purple hair and a woman with red hair….. the description pinged something in Sabrina's memory…. Something to do with Pewter City…

AN:

I'd like to thank Laurwest and Amationary for beta reading this chapter (Also, check out their fics, they're really good).

So, bad news folks. My buffer is bone dry. This is the first time that I've released a chapter without having the next chapter ready to go. So, in order to rectify that I will not be releasing a chapter for the next two weeks and will instead focus on rebuilding my buffer. Which means the next chapter of Symbiotic will be released on the 26th of August.

Anyway don't forget to comment/review!