We thought Kanto would be fun. We were right, but it wasn't as fun as we'd hoped. We'll just blame computer issues and leave it there.

Sun and Moon are scheduled, but we want to go to at least one other fandom first. And, yes, this Diana will be the protagonist, even though we chose her name for the Diana-saur joke and not the moon goddess.

Four years later…

"Does a Charmander's tail fire going out kill it? Or does the tail fire going out just mean it's dead?"

Leaf was really starting to regret this. Diana was still more knowledge-driven than other kids her age, and when Leaf agreed to take over babysitting duties from Daisy, she'd expected discussions on things that Professor Oak could explain and being able to distract her with dolls.

What she got was a girl who wanted to question everything the Pokedex ever said, and even do some mad science to test those theories. Leaf had kept her away from the dangerous equipment so far, but there's only so much you can do when a kid had her mom's pet Pokémon, access to the town border, and no sense of self-preservation. Luckily, Diana still enjoyed dolls and movies and games as much as her classmates, so distractions were possible.

"We really shouldn't test that," Leaf said, forcing herself to remain calm while she was screaming on the inside. "You don't want to kill an innocent Charmander, and even if it doesn't kill it, it might still get hurt. You don't want that, do you?"

"No," Diana admitted, "but shouldn't the Pokedex be as right as possible? It shouldn't tell people stuff like that if the writers don't know! It's supposed to be a research thing, not a myth thing!"

Leaf facepalmed. "Maybe some myths are true. Did you ever think of that?"

"Then do people in Sinnoh know for a fact that Arceus made the world? Were they THERE? Because my teacher said that the world is even older than Professor Oak, and he's pretty old. And where's the proof that a Phantump is a dead kid in a tree stump? That sounds like something my cousin would come up with!"

"Tell you what," Leaf interrupted, getting the child to silence immediately. "I'll put on a movie. Beauty and the Beast ok with you?"

"Sure," said Diana, who, at only six years old, found Belle more relatable than any other Disney princess because she, too, would fall in love with anybody who gave her a library as a gift. "And you can tell me how you do that trick where your brain turns into someone else's!"

"That's not something I can explain, and I need a graveyard to do it. That's why I'm packing up for a trip to Johto."

"And they'll tell you how to do it without a graveyard?"

"Probably. Ecruteak City has a lot of medium work, they'll probably accept apprentices."

"And then you can teach me?"

"How about I teach you how to cast witch spells instead?" Diana looked skeptical. Leaf smiled innocently. "That's how my brother and I kicked Team Rocket out of Kanto, you know."

Diana grinned. "Then I'll be a witch! Is there a spell to turn people into talking teapots if they make me mad?"

Blue had ended up winning the contest to be the next Viridian City Gym Leader, though from what he'd heard, Giovanni had not been caught. But, since he still hadn't returned and his son hadn't come to demand the Gym as his inheritance, Blue's claim was still legal. He even kept the Earth Badge despite using multiple types, which Red said was out of laziness but was, in Blue's opinion, just avoiding unnecessary paperwork.

Today's challenger was a strange one. She spoke like she grew up in Kanto, but most of her Pokémon were associated with the Johto region – Sudowoodo, Granbull, Jumpluff, and of course the Feraligatr she saved for last. Even stranger was the boy who followed her on this journey, and the Meganium that followed him. You didn't see many Grass-types chewing on their trainers' hats.

"Are you sure you're a Gym Leader?" the girl asked. "Don't you have to declare a type specialty?"

"Only if you have one." Blue laughed again, causing both the challenger and her Feraligatr to make the same annoyed face. Clearly, they'd been partners for a while.

That was fine. His Exeggutor had been his partner for a while, too, and they had the type advantage. "Back to battle, then! Use Leaf Storm!"

"Ice Fang!" the challenger ordered.

So maybe they each had an advantage, and the extra boost from the Ice-powering item she'd handed to her Feraligatr won her the Earth Badge, Feraligatr barely making it.

Still, as the challenger and her friend left, Blue was forced to remember the time he spent with Red as they were attempting to rescue Leaf from the Marowak ghost. He was happy that their friendship was fixed, but he wondered if the sight of two kids traveling together meant that another Team Rocket incident was coming.

He'd put it together later. Right now, listening to them talk about climbing Mt. Silver as the girl prepared to face the Champion, he decided it was probably best to call Red and warn him.

While his sister prepared for her trip to Johto, Red was on his own trip. He'd made it his goal to climb to the top of Mt. Silver, battling everything that got in his way, and he found that the wild Pokémon all ran away when they saw him coming. This had been going on for days.

"Where's the challenge in this?" he complained, and beside him, Ralph tilted his head.

"I don't see what you're complaining about. You have enough problems."

Red might not have understood the words, but he and Ralph had been partners for four years, and that could give you an understanding of the other that didn't need words. "Just because you're enjoying retirement doesn't mean that we all are."

"I'm not enjoying anything," Ralph pointed out. "You dragged me out here so you can have someone to talk to, not because I'd enjoy walking up a mountain with no battles or games to entertain myself."

"Shut up," Red groaned, getting an annoyed look from his Venusaur. "I didn't know that wild Pokémon would be afraid of us. I thought they were really strong up here."

"We're just stronger than they are."

"I guess we're stronger than they are," Red finished.

"Stop stealing my words!"

The sound of Red's phone startled them both, and Red answered quickly, trying not to let the other person know that he'd been caught off guard. Blue had only ever beaten him in the competition to be the Viridian Gym Leader, and he didn't want to end up in a situation where his friend would catch up to him and beat him again. "What do you want, Blue?"

"So rude," Blue said, the sound of his voice annoying Red again. "I have information for you."

"Well? Spit it out?"

"Not until you learn to respect your elders."

"I'm only a month younger than you."

"Still counts."

"No, it doesn't! Come on, I thought we were friends again!"

"So did I, but you started this chain of rudeness here. I'm just withholding information."

Red personally believed that withholding relevant information was much worse than using the wrong greeting when answering a phone call, but he knew how annoying Blue could be if they let this continue for too long. "I'm sorry," he said instead, pretending that he was in the wrong.

"That's better. Anyway, what I was going to tell you is that I took on a really interesting challenger today."

"So? That's your job."

Blue continued as if Red had never interrupted. "The kid spoke with a Kanto accent, but she had a Feraligatr. A Johto starter!"

"So maybe she went through another region first. People travel all the time. That's why there's so many bilingual people in the world."

"Yeah, probably. But there's more. She traveled with a boy and a Meganium that tried to eat his hat."

"Was the boy or the Meganium wearing a hat?"

"My point," Blue finished, sounding irritated, "is that she specified that I use my full strength against her, despite her only having seven badges. I still lost. They're on the lookout for strong trainers, and I told Gramps you were heading up to Mt. Silver. They're coming for you, Red."

It did seem that way. "Bring it on."

He closed the phone over Blue's laughter, and turned around just in time to see the children and Pokémon in question. The Meganium was not wearing a hat, but instead prepared to jump in front of the trainer protectively, mouth open like it was preparing to bite something.

The boy put a hand on its neck. "Down, girl," he commanded, and the Meganium's mouth closed, though she couldn't hide her disappointment.

Red didn't say a word through any of this. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the idea that a Meganium would attempt to bite anyone. The other boy decided to step in.

"So…um…I'm Ethan. My human friend is Kris, and this lunatic," he patted his Meganium again, "is Avery. Can we battle you?"

"And give us your autograph to prove we did?" Kris asked, and then she immediately covered her mouth, embarrassed at how much like a fangirl she sounded.

Red remained silent, this time in amusement. Ethan coughed nervously to fill the silence. "We stopped Team Rocket, too," he offered. "Our friend Lyra's still in Johto, working on puzzles and art. We want proof we met you."

Red looked down at Ralph. Ralph nodded.

"It's about time I had some fun on this trip."

"Pick three Pokémon each," Red told them. "We're doing this Hoenn style – double battle against my six. I'll give you the autograph, but you're going to have to tell me about when you went up against Team Rocket."

"What do you want to know?" Ethan asked.

"What didn't make it on the news?" Kris added.

"A lot, I'm guessing, but let's start with if you saw a pathetic excuse for a villain song."

"No."

"Then I'll have to show you that video." Red waved Ralph forward, and then chose a Pokémon that he'd borrowed for his mountain trip. "Let's go, Sheldon!"

Ethan pointed directly ahead. "We've got this, Avery!"

Kris seemed to have a better idea than using her Water-type when a Venusaur was present, but was torn about something else. She finally decided on a Granbull.

Red knew that these kids were going to be the best battle of his life. No matter who won, he knew that the fate of the world was in good hands.

Much better hands than his and Leaf's, at least.