So when it comes to fan theories, I don't tend to dive too deep them unless I really get into them. There is one idea that has been picking at my brain for some time now and I do want to address it in one form or another, and considering what I am going for in this story compared to what I have planned in my other story, this seems like a very good place to talk about it. I don't have a lot of plans, but this can plant the seeds for future ideas.

Oh, and be look on a look out for a little cameo, and some other new elements I want to explore in this chapter.

Warning and Legal Notes: The following story contains excess nudity and copyrighted content. I DO NOT own the Pokémon series. All of the strange creatures and the world they habited are owned by Game Freak. The original story and concept is created by the Digger, while any original content is credited by me, Cory of PRIVATE Corp. Reading discretion is advised.

Chapter 07: Tales of Lost Shines

OOO

"How much longer will it be 'til we get out of this stinking place?"

The sun was burning brightly as usual, with the occasional clouds passing by to provide some shade. Although with a mostly covered roof comprised of thick vegetation, shade was the last thing you needed. There were also the various noises that were being orchestrated, one female groaning added with the Bug Pokémon that made their homes in the leaves and trunks of the trees. It was not exactly the most unusual of noises you would hear when you are passing through Viridian Forest.

Of course, this did depended on who was passing through, that is.

"We should be there," said Valentina, checking her surroundings. "I can see a clearing up ahead, and hopefully it'll be a clear shot to Pewter."

"Easy for you to say," Narcissa groaned, dragging her whole being while Scarlet was riding on her backpack. "How long has it been since we've been in this forest? Two weeks?"

"Actually, it's been two days," Adam answered, earning him a stink look from the Coordinator.

The nudist giggled, but kept her guard up in case there was a fight going to break out between the two Trainers. "Really I can see how one could go for weeks without finding the exit." And she rubbed the back of her head. "I guess it's good that I know distinct shapes and help navigate us through."

Narcissa straightened herself out after hearing that, brushing her clothes off in the process. "Really, because I thought this guy here should be the one who knows his way through a forest," she commented, pointing over at Adam and getting him to blush. "Seriously, how could anyone going into Rangerhood not know how to navigate through a forest?"

"Because I want to fe-focus more on my training at se-sea, OK?" the brunet replied, his cheeks burning hot from his lack of skills.

"Oh right, becoming an Oceanic Ranger. And I take you have some good swimming legs, hm? Those guys do swim a lot and it's not all about riding Pokémon like you see on TV."

And Adam's blush brighten in color, turning him into a Tamato berry, along with some gloom hanging over him. He hung his head low to prevent the Coordinator seeing his shame, while the nudist stepped up to cheer him up. "And that's where I come in!" she stated proudly. "With my help, I'll help Adam here go from a flopping Magikarp to a speeding Sharpedo in no time!"

There was a light scoff from Narcissa. "Sure, with how you are, I'm sure Mr. Speedy there isn't going to last too long against you Miss Endurance," she snidely commented. "And just where are you going to find a place to do your training? There aren't a whole lot of places around here for the two of you to do all of this."

"Perhaps, but we gotta make sure that Adam can float before he can go on to do a Lillipup swim," Valentina giggled. "Once he can float, then I can take him wherever he needs to go on his journey."

Adam blushed at the sound of what he was going to do for his training, and he reached over to grab onto the nudist's hand. Narcissa let out a sigh and all three of them continued on with their trek through the forest. They remained silence for the time, enjoying the peace of the Forest and taking in the beauty of everything green. Even with the Pokémon roaming on or around the trees, they kept their distance away from the humans and watched them from afar, making sure to get ready for any attacks to their home. All in all, their walk had been rather uneventful.

In fact, most of their time in the forest was rather uneventful after their run-in with the shadowy figure and its mysterious Pokémon. They had spent the two days wandering around the forest, keeping close to the path while navigating the natural maze to solve it, unlike the many Trainers and other travelers having to make their way through. Beyond some encounters with some Pokémon to get their own Pokémon a bit stronger and a couple of Trainers, there was nothing all that noteworthy from their time in the Forest.

Finally, the trio had made their way through, seeing the leaves were getting thinner and light was breaking its way through to brighten things up. As they got closer, more and more of the forest was lightening up on the vegetation and an open path going to their destination was revealing itself. They finally made it to the exit of the forest, and Narcissa broke away from the others to run up and basked herself in the sunlight.

"Oh thank God, we're finally out of that damn forest!" she stated, her arms reaching up in a victorious pose. The Coordinator let out a huff as she looked on ahead and saw that they are only a few more minutes away from Pewter City. "And finally, I can get to the Junior Festival on time as well!"

"Right, there was that," Valentina commented, putting a finger to her mouth. "So, you got any info about this Contest you're attending to?"

Narcissa took a moment to think about what was going to happen to her when this Contest comes up. She was taken a bit aback by this line of thought, trying to figure out what to say to the nudist. "Well, I know that there's going to be a big time Coordinator that's going to be there, and it's a two-day event. A lot of Coordinators are going to be there, since it's like a mini Grand Festival, and having a big name there is going to draw in a lot of people to check things out, maybe even participate to get a ribbon from him."

Valentina looked at Narcissa with a bit of a curious look, taking a moment to think about what has been said. "So, I guess you're heading there yourself so you can meet this Coordinator yourself?" she asked with a bit of a smile.

A blush appeared on the Coordinator's face, getting that smile of Valentina's growing a bit more devious. "There's that, but there's also winning this Festival, allowing me a chance to get into the Grand Festival. If I do well, I'll earn a shiny new ribbon and I'll be one step closer to entering."

Even Adam was smiling at the sight of Narcissa blushing. There was a glare coming from her, which got Adam to clam up from the sight. Narcissa focused back on the road ahead, rubbing her neck while hiding her face from the others. There was a bit of uncertainty written on her face, her mind wondering if there was anything she could but, but remained quiet to think about the coming competition. In only a few days' time, they will find out what will happen at the foot of Mt. Moon.

Again, the rest of the time was spent walking in silence, heading on down the path from the forest to Pewter. Along the way, they passed by a rock formation that has a cave leading down into darkness, and the faint sound of Pokémon cries could be heard from deep within. Something told them that going down there wasn't the best idea and only focus more on heading to the city. There was also a patch of grass to get some more Pokémon if needed, and there was some rustling coming from there.

A few more minutes have passed, and finally the trio made it to the outskirts of Pewter City. The city itself reminded the group of Viridian, only it's a tad smaller in size, and surely the businesses here are different. From where they were standing, they can get a good look around, pointing out the Center and the Gym off to the side of the limits. There was a lot to explore here, and Valentina was eager to get down and walking around to learn more about the life here in the city between rugged mountains.

Before the trio could head down into the city, they noticed someone down along the path sitting with a pile of rocks surrounding him. There was a sign on a mat with it written out that the rocks were being sold for a relatively low price, and the man was polishing off a few of them that were in his lap. As the teens got closer, he heard their footsteps and turned around to get a good look at his potential new customers, before shock hit him like someone threw one of his own rocks at his head.

And before the trio could react to him and help him out, the man recovered from his fall and used the sheet of cloth he was using to polish to wipe his nose of blood. "Uh, excuse me miss, but are you heading into Pewter like that?" he asked, looking directly at Valentina.

The nudist replies with a nod. "Right sir," she answered with a smile. "I am also hoping to go the Gym and compete against the Gym Leader." She took a moment to get a look at the man sitting there, tilting her head quizzically. "Um, you don't happen to be related to him, right?"

The man in question, an aging man with his brunet turning slightly grey and wrinkle under his closed eyes, or what could pass as closed eyes. There's something rather unusual about this, but none of the teens paid any mind to this. The man placed a hand to his chin to think about the question he was asked. "Yes, I am," he replied. "The name's Flint and you must be thinking of my son Brock, correct?"

Valentina nodded in response. "Yes, I know of Brock," she replied. "I take it he was a Gym Leader before he left, right? I was wondering if there is someone at the Gym, I could talk to them about battling it."

"Right now my son Brock is away to study up on being a Doctor," Flint replied, leaning back for a moment and just sat there thinking. He goes off into a mental tangent, thinking deeply about the son he is talking about while the trio watch his reaction. They can see that he was smiling, happy at first before it slowly turned darker, worried about what his mind was playing. The man even had some shivers running down his spine, really getting the trio to wonder just what is up with the man, or more likely what was this Brock going through that was getting his father so worked up over.

Eventually Flint snapped out of his spell and focused back on the group. "But enough about Brock," he started, rubbing a hand through his spiked hair, "currently the Gym is being run by son Forrest, who at the moment isn't there." He crossed his arms and went into a thinking moment to recall what he knows. "I know his class is attending an exhibit at the Museum, something about featuring the work done by Rosa-May…"

The trio looked at each other with a little bit of surprise, learning that the nudist running the Viridian Gym, a woman who is very promiscuous and adores country movies, has a degree in history. Then again, there was a mention on how the Gym Leader going to the city naked, so it was likely that she could be assisting in the exhibit, but that is all they know. A trip to the museum could provide them something to do before heading to the Gym, along with getting some information about this could lead them to know more about the Sand Madame.

Once she got what she needed out of the aging man, Valentina bowed to Flint. "Thank you very much for that," she replied, smiling. "We'll be on the lookout for your son if we head to the Museum. I'll ask him about to a Gym battle and hopefully get one step closer to becoming a Champion."

"Just one moment though," Flint added, stopping the teens from getting any further towards the city. He pointed towards Valentina, specifically at her clothe-less body. "I know that Rosa-May is a known nudist, but you are going to attract the attention of the police. Once you get to the Center, try to get some clothes on."

The nudist was disappointed on hearing about having to go back to wearing clothes, especially walking about the city, but understandably she knew why. "Well, since you are related to the Gym Leader, could you make this request that I battle naked?"

Once again Flint went into a thinking position, deciding on how to go about on fulfilling the nudist's request. "Even if Forrest is the Gym Leader, as a father it will come down to my decision. If anything, I don't see any problems with this, so you are free to come in as you are."

A smile grew on the young blonde's face and she leapt in to give the man a hug. "Again, thank you very much," she replied, before quickly pulling herself off of him to prevent Flint from going into shock from being hugged by a naked young woman. "Now, could you provide us directions to the Center so we can rest up after our trip through the forest?"

Flint nodded off to this, pointing in the direction and listing off all of the turns the trio needed to take to get to the Center. Once again thanks were given and Valentina waved to Flint as she and her companions headed on down the path to get to Pewter City. Finally they were moments away from entering the next step towards getting a new Badge to add in her case, along with getting Narcissa to Mt. Moon to get to her Contest there. All they needed now was to follow the directions to the Center and rest up there for only a few moments.

It only took them a few more minutes before the group found themselves outside of the city limits of Pewter. Immediately as they were heading up, eyes are looking onto them, especially on Valentina, leaving them feeling a bit awkward as they head on in. Understandably, these people aren't used to the sight of having a nudist Trainer coming into their city and heading in to take on the Gym Leader, but being in a large city with these many people watching them was getting to the young nudist.

With each step they took, more and more people are stopping in their tracks and watching them, curious as to who this person is, why she is here and why she doesn't have any clothes on. Whispers were being passed along, plenty of them a bit negative, but Valentina tunes them out. However there were a few of them that did get to her ears, mostly in the form of her victory over Rosa-May. Word seemed to be traveling fast about that victory, but then again when you have someone like Valentina taking down a Gym Leader like Rosa-May, how couldn't news flare up about it?

In any case, none of these citizens bothered the trio as they kept to Flint's directions and weave through the city to get to the Pokémon Center. There were a few officers roaming about, but again, none of them bothered Valentina. They did take noticed of her appearance, most likely going to inform the Jenny of the city and whoever else was in charge as well. Even if no one was going to help them, at least they had some directions to go by, and finally they made it to their destination.

Inside of the Center, the trio made their way through the lobby and got up to the desk to get all of them checked into a room. The nurse working there, who was bearing pewter stripes and cross on her uniform to match with the city's name, got all of their information so they could get their room and rest, along with taking their Pokémon so they can heal up. Now they got the key to a room, Narcissa took the key to go drop off her bag, explaining that she wanted to go through her outfits before they head on to Junior Festival, leaving Adam and Valentina in the lobby with other Trainers who are tending to their Pokémon.

Getting a look around at the lobby, Valentina noticed a section dedicated to video phones, all of them empty for use. Tightening her bag around her waist, the nudist looks up at Adam and smiled at him. "Adam, I'm going to make a few calls to the Professor and my parents, so if you hear from Narcissa let me know."

The aspiring Ranger replied with a nod, allowing the nudist to walk on over to the phones to go ahead with her calls. Getting herself seated at one of the booths, Valentina reached into her bag and grabbed her Pokédex. She was uncertain if she got Oak's number down, so she checked the one thing she got from the Professor to make sure that there was something to call the aging man. And sure enough there was something on the device that works as a phone number, and before Valentina could enter the number in, there appeared to be a contact listing for Professor Oak already in the device.

Feeling a bit silly about going through the effort of trying to learn the man's number, Valentina got the call started and waited patiently on her seat for Oak to pick up on the other side. In the meantime, she goes back over her Pokédex and studied on that random encounter with the sword Pokémon they saw in the Forest and how it didn't registered. Whatever the reason, the Professor could enlighten her about the matter. And just like that, the man in question appeared on screen, sitting down to a cup of tea before realizing who it was before him and nearly choking on his drink.

"Oh! Why hello Valentina!" stated the professor, taking a moment to breathe from the shock. "Isn't this a surprise? How are you doing so far? I can see that you made it to Pewter City."

"Yes Professor, it was a pleasant trip here from Viridian," she replied with a smile, keeping her good demeanor up for the time. "In the meaning of time, I got myself some new Pokémon and a new friend as well!"

"Oh is that so? Well new friends are always great to have, people or Pokémon!" the professor stated, brushing off some of his desk with a napkin. "Also I heard about your victory at the Viridian Gym, which is quite a feat for someone starting out. Really impressive work there, Valentina!"

"Thank you Professor!" It was at this moment when Valentina dropped her happy mood and go a bit somber, all to let Oak know what happened in the forest. "Professor, my friend and I were in Viridian Forest and we came across this Trainer trying to talk about doing illegal trading, but he also attacked us with his Pokémon as well!"

"Oh dear, that's quite unfortunate," the professor added, looking very worried about what happened to the three of them."I can't exactly help you there, so you need to talk to the local police to see if they know anything about this."

"Not only that but this Trainer had a Pokémon that wasn't being registered to the Pokédex," and Valentina presents her Pokédex to the screen to show a question mark appearing on the book's screen. "I'm not sure what was going on, as we thought this floating sword wasn't a Pokémon. Maybe you know something about a floating sword that has one eye and uses its tassel as an arm."

Professor Oak asked for Valentina to present the Pokédex through the video phone, which got her confused about the matter before taking a look at the device to find a slot big enough to fit the book into. She fitted the Pokédex through the slot and let the professor do his work, extracting the data from what she has gathered. There are some hums from him, impressed by what she has gotten so far, but once it got to the sword, that smile disappeared.

"I'm sorry Valentina, but I have no idea about this Pokémon you are talking about," he replied with a disappointed look. This wasn't something the nudist was hoping for. She could believe that he couldn't have known about its existence, but she was feeling worried that this Pokémon they saw could be much more than just a sword Pokémon.

"However, this isn't exactly a problem I haven't heard of before. The Pokédex I've given you and Narcissa are a little out-of-date, with everything from Unova now registered, and we professors are doing our best to get every bit of info we can to feed to Trainers about Kalos Pokémon appearing in Kanto and other regions."

"Kalos?" the blonde echoed, tilting her head in the process.

There was a nod on Valentina's screen. "Yes, a region that's far, far away from our own," he added, smiling up a bit. "Apparently there are Pokémon that are only available there, and thanks to the region being so large, it's going to take a while to acquire every bit of information there." He crossed his arms to think about what else to add. "That and as I mentioned, we are working with those handling the database for all of this information so that all Pokédexes we issue are up to date."

Now feeling better about her situation, Valentina nodded off to the professor. "OK, thank you for that," she replied. "We're just not certain on what this Pokémon was and I was thinking you might have some information about."

"Certainly," he replied, "it's all right to be curious about new Pokémon, even me. But I'll assure that once we get the new data in, all you need to do is call me, send me your Pokédex and I'll update them."

"All right, sounds like a plan!"

"I don't have an exact date as to when this will come in, so keep me in contact until then?" And with that the feed on the screen cut off, bringing the end of the call. Putting her Pokédex back into her bag, Valentina got an idea on what was about to come for her. Once she got the data she needed, she could register that sword and learn what she can to help her friends take it down if they came across it again. However she wasn't too worried about it as that was a chance encounter, but something about that moment got her feeling that wouldn't be their last meeting.

Instead of focusing on that, the nudist got to work dialing up a number on the video phone. Once she got the number in, she once again gone back to waiting, this time going a bit longer. She knew it would be a while for the other side to get to the phone, seeing how hectic things were before she left, but she knew that they wouldn't passed up a chance to hear from her again. Eventually the other side picked up and a smile appeared on the teen's face, excited on who answered her.

"Hi Daddy!"

Valentina waved to a rather large man on screen, who took up most of it. There is a smile on his own face as well, grinning away to show off a bit of a jagged smile before laughing boisterously. "Vally-kins, how are you?" he stated with a deep, booming voice, enough to make some of the Trainers in the room look at Valentina with fear. "Oh it's been a while, hasn't it?"

A giggle escapes from her lips. "It hasn't been a week, has it?" she answered. "You guys haven't been too heartbroken of me leaving you?"

"Of course not, we're excited that you're on your journey and wishing you the best of luck!" Her father added in another laugh, only tuning this down to prevent scaring anyone else. "So anyway, how are things going for you? Been training hard with your Pokémon?"

"Mmm-hmm, although I do wish I had them on me to show you," Valentina said with a cheek getting scratched. "We're at a Pokémon Center resting up before going to the Pewter City Gym to take on the Gym Leader there."

"Oooh, that sounds like a fun time! So, do you have any Pokémon that can defeat the Gym? It is a Rock themed Gym, so a Charmander isn't that good unless you taught him how to use Metal Claw."

She shook her head. "No, I got a Squirtle from the Professor. I also have a Sewaddle that I caught in Viridian Forest, along with a new friend that I found in a pond. He is a nice boy, someone you and Mom might enjoy once we get back to Cinnabar."

The large man folded his arms and nodded in response. "Well then, you have certainly done a lot so far in such a short amount of time. I would think that by the time you come on back, you'll be carrying a trophy and the title of Champion of Kanto!"

The young nudist giggled at her father's aspiration for her, even getting her to come home carrying a rather large trophy in her arms, assisted by a Blastoise right behind her, and a beaming smile on her face. As she was fantasying about her victory, there was the sound of two young girls in the background, getting louder before two girls appeared alongside their father. They both are identical and they bear a very similar resemblance to the nudist Trainer, like she was half their age.

Seeing the younger girls on the screen with her father brightened her smile and she gave the twins a small wave. "Hey there you two, I certainly haven't forgotten about you!" she stated. "I'm sorry if I don't have any Pokémon to show you, but how about next time?"

Both of the girls sighed out in disappointment, but they cheered up when their dad rubbed the back of their heads and chuckle. "Oh don't worry about that, I'm sure that once she comes home, you can play with her Pokémon!" And the twins cheered at the thought before saying their goodbyes to their older sister and leaving just like they appeared. The large man let out another laugh, easily enjoying his time having his daughter around him and getting his oldest daughter to smile.

"Oh, and speaking of Mom, how's she doing lately?" Valentina asked with a surprised look on her face, remembering that little detail.

"She's doing fine, just heading in to get some scans to see how things are going on," the man said, resting an arm on the table and propping his head into his head. "We are expecting at least in seven months, which I think that once you head back to Cinnabar you can meet up with the newest member to our family!"

Her smile continued to grow and she clapped her hands at the news. "That sounds fantastic!" she stated. "I wish Mom the best and hopefully I can have a baby brother to meet."

"Same here!" stated the large man, letting out a large boastful laugh in return. "While it's nice to have such beautiful girls in my life, having another son would be enough to make me happy."

Valentina watched her father enjoy his own little fantasy before looking over her shoulder to see what was going on at the desk. "Well it's certainly nice talking to you Daddy but I want to check out some things in town before I go take on the Gym. I'll talk to you when I'm at the next city."

Her father finished off his laugh. "Do whatever you want, as long as you aren't getting yourself into trouble with the law," he said, grinning. "I want to see my daughter making the headlines for her victories rather than anything else."

"You don't have to worry about that, I got a plan that has me using a Sewaddle for that," and with that, she gave her dad a small wave before shutting off the connection and stepping away to allow someone else to use the phone. The nudist got up from her seat and stretched out, loosening herself after the conversation, and she gave another check to see where everyone was at.

Finding Adam coming out of the hallway leading to the lobby, Valentina gave him as he approached the desk and joined back on up with the nudist. He explained that Narcissa was going to be in the room for the time being, turning the room into a studio to work on her dress for the Junior Festival, so they were not getting in any time soon. Valentina had a smile on her face, happy to hear that they were going to spend time together with just the two of them, but she wanted to have their Pokémon close by, especially since they are in a city with a Gym.

The nurse at the counter informed them that their Pokémon will be done in an hour, along with telling them about some locations for them to visit. The nudist was excited about learning about what was going on at the Museum, getting to know some of the exhibits and learning some info on what Rosa-May did during her time away from the Gym. With a smile on her face, Valentina thanked the nurse for her info and took Adam by the hand over to some empty benches to sit down on, watching whatever is playing on TV and chat up plans on what they want to do once they get their Pokémon back.

The two of them spent their time switching between watching some news on current events happening in the world and discussing some details about training for the Gym battle. With the knowledge that Valentina is facing off against a Rock type Leader, she has Fontaine and Snips ready to go on dealing with whatever Forrest has on standby. She does question if they can handle themselves despite them having the type advantage, as Snips could be crushed by a rock. However she believed full well that after dealing with Rosa-May, they could handle Forrest and his Pokémon.

Eventually, they heard the sound of the chimes going off and the nurse calling them up to pick them Pokémon. Sitting on the counter is a tray full of Poké Balls, each marked with their stickers to help distinguish who owns what Pokémon. Valentina and Adam grabbed their balls and the nurse took Scarlet back to the room for Narcissa to pick up, and the two Trainers got Fontaine and Ohm out so the two Pokémon can join up with their Trainers. The Pikachu got herself perched on Adam's shoulder while Valentina picked up the Squirtle and hold him close to her body.

Now they have their Pokémon back, Valentina led Adam out of the Center and got their way over to the Museum on the other side of the city. The two of them stick close, with Adam looking down at the nudist, blushing as he is walking in public with her in a new city. Valentina has a smile on her face, eager about meeting up with the Gym Leader of Pewter City and getting to challenge him to another battle.

OOO

"What? But I left clothes back at the Pokémon Center…"

At the entrance to a grand two-story building, Valentina and Adam were standing right at the door with a desk receptionist blocking their path into the building. People around them were questioning just what is going on, who they were, and some of them were getting angry with the hold up. No one was getting in or out thanks to the receptionist, and she wasn't so happy with the fact that there is someone with no clothing about to enter her building.

"Please, we just want to explore the Museum, that's all," Valentina stated, looking at the receptionist with both her and Fontaine giving the woman a sad, innocent look.

The brunette receptionist has her arms crossed, a foot tapping on the stone surface as she stared down the nudist before her. "I'm sorry, but we have a policy for our museum," she replied with authority. "Please go acquire some clothes and come back when you are looking decent!"

Adam watched the argument unfolding before him and he stepped between them to hopefully get his side of the deal. "Madam, we just want to visit and leave," he said. "We're not here for any other reasons, just trying to pass some time and hopefully meet with the Gym Leader who just might be here."

"You want to meet the Gym Leader? I'm sorry, but he isn't here at the moment," the receptionist replied, sounding honest.

Valentina was feeling a bit disappointed, not only for hearing that the Gym Leader isn't here after being told by Flint he was going to be here, but also not knowing what Rosa-May have done for her exhibit. She grips on to Fontaine and hold him close to her body, hiding her provocative parts from the world, and she started to get Adam away from the woman. "Come on, let's head back and get my clothes," she said to him.

"Excuse me, but can these two enter the Museum?"

The receptionist jumped a little when she heard the young voice, and both Valentina and Adan looked behind them to see who spoke up for them. Behind them, a young man roughly their age was standing rather proudly, radiating a sense of authority from him. Interestingly enough, he looked very similar to Flint, even could be a younger version of the man. Fitting, seeing that there was a trail of blood dripping from his nose, and both Valentina and Adam can tell what spurted that.

"Oh! Sorry, but I'm just abiding by our rules here," the receptionist replied, a bit flustered in seeing the youngster appearing before.

"I'm sure they're just visiting for today and want to check out what is here," the newcomer said with a smile, wiping away the blood from his face. "By tomorrow, they should be on their way out and onto bigger and better things."

Valentina had a smile on her face. She can tell that this is Forrest, the Pewter City Gym Leader, and she was very excited about him coming to her aid. Fontaine had a smile on his face as well as they watched Forrest and a group of kids follow right behind him into the building. The nudist reached into her bag to get her money out, getting out the fee needed to pay for both her and Adam's entry. Handing over the money to the receptionist, Valentina gave the woman a friendly smile before getting Adam and heading on inside to see what lies inside.

The two of them head on into the Museum of Science, and they look on in wonder seeing the various exhibits that are on display. Everything that is out was related to the very name of the building, with each display having some sort of scientific connection to it. Fossils, space, aquatics, biology, every field was being explored here. With their two floors dedicated to the many exhibits, there is a lot for the two to explore, and to figure out where Forrest went so Valentina can challenge him to a Gym battle.

For now the two Trainers stick to being on the first floor and explore what was on display, before making their way upstairs and meeting up with the Gym Leader. Valentina took Adam over to where some rocks were and start exploring the collection of fossils that were out for everyone to see. There were the occasional glances, mostly from children curious with the surprising amount of pink walking around with a Squirtle covering up Valentina's front, but everyone kept their eyes on the exhibits and left the two Trainers alone.

Adam kept close to the nudist, out of fear of being escorted out, but a gentle touch from Valentina assured him that things were going to be all right. A soft smile appeared on his face, and he eased up on his worries as the two of them traveled along the exhibits and read up on what is on display.

They explored the fossils that were out, learning up some of the history of Pokémon that came from these fossils and the scientists doing what they can to revive and research. Some of the fossils were the ones many people are familiar with, and the main piece was the skeletal remains of two of these Pokémon. One of them soared above while the other had its scythe-like claws ready, both of them locked in an eternal battle to see who will get the first in. The fossils that the Pokémon came from were a part of the main exhibit, displaying where they came from and a little bit on the species in question.

Next to the fossils were some pieces of rocks featuring paintings of sort. Checking out the plaque in front of the paintings, it described the history of tribes and future civilizations worshiping two fossils. In truth, one fossil is revered to be a god of sorts while the other is considered to be a devil, responsible for several deaths on a singular day long ago, and those who follow their spiral god have a practice of consorting it for advice. The history got dark as the worshipers select one to be their champion and guide him through commands, hopefully that this one become their god's Trainer, and Valentina gripped onto Fontaine as she read on.

Adam guided the nudist away from the painting, telling her that was all in the past and will never happen again. Valentina sighed but kept the Squirtle close to her chest, a little spooked in the idea of having hundreds, if not thousands, of voices telling her what to do. There was also a mention that the ground skeleton had apparently gone missing some nights and returned with blood on its claw, and the staff had to bolt it down to prevent it from leaving. Valentina shook off the thought that the fossil could be alive and be the real devil that the legend spoke of.

To clear her head, the two Trainers eventually made their way over to the next exhibit, where they caught up with Forrest and his class and finally see what the Viridian Gym Leader had been doing in her spare time. Finding some room to squeeze their way in, Valentina and Adam got up to see what is on display and found more paintings and rather beautifully detailed illustrations on rocks, parchment and canvas. Plaques were there to explain everything, letting them know the history of the vibrantly colorful images that were before them.

Valentina took her Pokédex out and scanned the images, feeling that these illustrations contain Pokémon she hasn't seen or heard of. Once she got what she needed, she is surprised to find that these Pokémon are considered legends, much like the fossils. However, these were much different, with them being truly unique Pokémon and containing lore carried over the ages beyond than a simple legend of two feuding fossils.

Going in depth showed that these Pokémon on display were different than what was recorded in her Pokédex. The nudist was slightly confused at this, and reading up added on to her confusion. There are records of only one each of these beings in existence, at least from what is currently gathered on this display. Down the line showed different mythical Pokémon that exists in groups and the rare amongst them bearing a different color scheme compared to the others. What was getting to her was that these singular Pokémon have these color schemes despite one existing in the world, but reading up explains possible ideas of multiple of these Pokémon, but aren't confirmed.

To go along with these different colored Pokémon, lore was created based on these rare individual. Different Pokémon that have their own stories about them have a darker take on it, being the sort of antichrist, even some being far more destructive than their counterpart. However there were the positive stories, with some bringing prosperity to the flower fields if one were to encounter these certain Pokémon out in the wild. There are even positive stories attached to these singular beings, balancing out the negatives. Everything chronicling the history of man learning about these Pokémon and creating lore about a different color of them was documented here, and Valentina was excited in learning a little bit of history from this.

To think that not only there is the chance to come across a Pokémon having a different color scheme, but people believing in mythical Pokémon possessing the same property. If she were to personally see one of these creatures with her own eyes, it would be a completely unforgettable moment. Then there would be that urge to catch that Pokémon, not wanting it to escape and to have the bragging rights of owning a super rare Pokémon, and the nudist was bouncing in giddiness, smiling widely as she daydreamed of what she wanted to meet.

Forrest took notice of the excited Trainer and walked over to her to calm her down. "Hey, so about earlier…"

Valentina snapped out of her dream and focused on the Leader, blushing slightly. "Yeah, I…" she looked away for a moment, rocking on her heels as she patted her bag. "I usually keep my clothes on me, whenever I need to use them. Personally I don't want to, as I want to make it my mission to challenge all of the remaining Gyms while naked. Also being a nudist and all, it goes without saying..."

The young Leader put a hand to his face, mostly to prevent more blood from leaking out his nose. "I gotta admit, I don't think I've ever faced a Trainer like you before," he said, his other hand reaching behind to rub his head. "In fact, I don't think my older brother, dad or mom could handle knowing about you."

"We actually ran into your father earlier and he was perfectly fine with me being who I am," Valentina replied with her usual sunny smile. "I even asked him if it's all right if I can challenge you naked and he said yes!"

Forrest's face brightened up to the level of the illustration's colors, shocked to hear what his own father said. "R-Really, he said that? Well, i-it's my job a Gym Leader to accept a-any challenge being offered to m-me…" He takes a moment to breathe, clearing out his head of any perverted thought. "All right, tomorrow I should be free to challenge you."

The smile on Valentina's face grew wider hearing the young Leader's acceptance and she got ready to bounce… "I just need to know what badges you got before I can prepare myself for our battle," Forrest added, now getting serious. The nudist came back down from her excitement and gave him a nod. "I only got one badge at the moment, the Earth Badge," she answered, a hand reaching into her bag and pulling out her case to show Forrest what she earned.

Forrest's eyes lit up seeing the shiny green badge on the pillow. A hand returned to his face to rub it, thinking up a plan. "So you challenged Rosa-May? OK, I guess I'm gonna have to step my game up if you managed to defeat her," he said with a cheeky smile. "Of course with my family teaching me all I know, I shouldn't be a pushover. I may not have the age or the strength as Rosa-May, but I'm not going to go down without a fight!"

The nudist gave Forrest a reassuring chuckle, keeping her grin up as Fontaine was showing some determination himself. "Of course! It wouldn't be fair if I go in expecting a cakewalk," she replied.

"All right, it's settled. Tomorrow I'll be expecting you to show up with able Pokémon to battle?"

One firm nod from Valentina sealed the deal between her and the Gym Leader. Finally she was getting another step closer to her goal. She couldn't be happier at that moment. All she had to do was get back to the Pokémon Center, train up Fontaine and Snips to get them ready for the battle and psyche herself up for the main event. However she and Adam want to spend some time together, so she focused back on the exhibits, learn up on Rosa-May's exhibit and continue on exploring the museum.

The rest of the time was spent moving from one exhibit to the next, exploring all the different fields of science. There was a large section of the museum's second floor dedicated to space exploration, some of the displays showing off Moon Stones and other debris that came from traveling into the final frontier. There were also displays based on Pokémon and how some of them came from space, wowing the Trainers with the knowledge that there is life out there. Different piece of technology was also on display, showing the Trainers how they work and how they help the scientists discover new developments.

Eventually the sun sank down beyond the horizon and the intercom informed everyone that the museum was closing for the day. Valentina gave a stretch to her legs, tired from standing and walking around the building, and Fontaine hopped back into her arms after getting a chance to explore on his own. She and Adam made their way towards the entrance, when something got the nudist's attention behind her. There was a very light giggling, coming from where the skeletal fossils were, and a shiver went down her spine.

Something about that laugh was unsettling, perhaps unearthly, and the legend lingered back into her head. Adam called out to Valentina, snapping her out of her spell and she rejoined the Ranger-in-training to head on back to the Center to train and rest up. He assured her that the legend was just that, while the museum shut everything down and got ready to close up.

What's this? Valentina has a dad? What source of madness is this!?

Actually when I think about it, so far this story has broken a lot of clichés that you normally see in these kinds of fan-fics. So far Valentina has gotten a Squirtle, there's a new threat instead of an organized team, so far the order of Gyms is a little different, and now Valentina has both of her parents and multiple siblings. I know I'm following the same plot of her becoming a Champion, but I'm taking the Digger's plan by giving her a goal, and at least I can justify the Tournament since the universe is based on the anime, where gameverse doesn't have that.

Really this isn't all that new to say, but I do want to provide my own take on the matter. After all, not all families are going to be the same, and certainly while what I got for the parents are weird, how could that be any different from any other parents? I'll go more into detail about them as we get deeper with this.

And there's also something that I discovered slightly: if there can be shiny Pokémon, then how in the world can you explain shiny Legendaries? Seriously, that bugs me. If some of these Pokémon are meant to be one of a kind (Palkia, Mewtwo, the frakking God Arecus!?), then how come there's a shiny variant of them in-universe? Hopefully I can explore more about that as the story goes along, because that is really something no one really elaborates on… at least in story format.

Also kinda want to throw that TPP reference in just for giggles.

All credits go to the Digger on this, and once again please review thank you very much! Up next: we get on with the next Gym battle with the second oldest son of Brock's family and get to see Fontaine and Snips continue on with their advantage.