Valyrian_Reforged

Hi, Mindlack! Firstly, thank you for your feedback. It's much appreciated and I'm glad that you like this story so far. :) I'm not offended by your not-too-rude critique at all. I'll definitely add less hyphenated words from now on. I'll switch up the main character dialogue and the Reborn Trainer/s dialogue a bit, but I'll not stray terribly far from it if I feel inclined not to do so at times. I might just include a part of that dev dialogue. I do get where you're coming from in that it's used alot by other Reborn writers in their Reborn fanfiction and that I need to stand out on my own in that regard. Secondly, you've made my night with your response and critique. I had been hoping to receive some feedback so that it would help fire me up for a story continuation. Mission accomplished. Thank dog for that! xD I like your ticket inspector dialogue. I have applied that to my dialogue and revised its sentence structure. I am grateful for constructive criticism. In regard to Hoodlum the Zigzagoon being able to pick up items, my headcanon has him clambering out of Alisa's backpack from time to time to pick up items and carry them to Alisa, who would then collect the items from Hoodlum and then allow Hoodlum to roam for a time before she would place Hoodlum back into her backpack. If this doesn't suit, let me know and I will have Hoodlum simply dash around and pick up items. regarding Alisa's look/appearance, I'd added her Trainer ticket, which shows what she looks like, but I'll add a short description within my next chapter, in any case. All good. Now let's get this show on the road. Without further ado, here is Chapter Two. My apologies for the wait. I needed to get this chapter just right. * Chapter Two: Anything but the Booms! Alisa walked into Mosswater Factory with purpose, following some feet away from Fern. As she entered the factory, Julia commented that the Factory smelled funky, using some choice word that Alisa didn't care to decipher the meaning of. Approaching Julia, who stood to the right-hand side of Fern and to the left-hand side of Florinia, Alisa peered out over the railing that she idly leaned against, studying the corrupted water that seethed beneath it. Her forearms folded over the cold metal of the rail, Alisa listened as Florinia spoke. "The red wine hue indicates high levels of pollutants," Florinia said. Alisa tuned out the rest of what Florinia next said because she didn't much care to hear it. Well-aware that in her current attire of black and white corset-dress, purple stockings, black shoes and PokéGear, she looked like an out of place, Victorian-era heroine, Alisa mused that when in the company of such larger than life and brightly-attired characters such as Julia, Fern and Florinia, she alone looked to be the most decently-attired of the group. She was glad that she had chosen to wear this outfit. "And this is being dumped into Azurine Lake! No wonder it's so -," Julia said, but Fern interrupted her in mid-sentence. "Enough with the hippie, environmental bull that no-one but you cares about. Let's go!," Fern snapped irritably. "We have to stop this place from ruining the Lake!," Julia persisted, and then Florinia spoke. "The path diverges," Florinia said listlessly. "So we should split up! Duh. Alisa, you're with Fern. Rini and I will head due East and take point. And...go," Julia said, shaking her pom-poms in the direction of the left-hand side and then the right-hand side of the room. "Proceed with caution, Alisa," Florinia said, before she set off with Julia and left Alisa with Fern. "Right, let's get this done, kick grass and take those sweet names. What do you say, Fern?," Alisa said to her current partner in good crime. "We'll see who takes the most names by the time that we get through this dead-end joint. Hold me back at your own peril, Alisa. Move it!," Fern sniped, his tone waspish as he set off ahead of Alisa. Rolling her eyes as she made her unbothered way after Fern, Alisa felt a renewed sense of dislike toward the prickly boy with green hair. They made swift progress through their side of the Factory, knocking-down Team Meteor Grunts left and right as they battled to rendezvous with Julia and Florinia. They were promised a world of pain, but Alisa and Fern ended up meting out their fair share of suffering and ruin as they inched toward their final destination. Fern was useless in each double-battle, as he sent out his Pokémon and did not use them effectively against their opponents. His Pokémon ended up being pummeling-bags for the Pokémon of his Meteor opponents and Alisa found that more often than not, she would have to take the reins and cover for Fern as she decimated their opponents. Every now and then, screens located within the main room required a manual override, which Alisa made sure to provide them with. The way through this room was most-assuredly not difficult and at times, Alisa believed it to be a cake-walk. She was grateful for the additional experience that each double-battle guaranteed her in spades and she was sure that Fern likewise appreciated the experience boosts to his team. When Fern's Budew took out a Roggenrola with Mega Drain, Alisa actually felt happy that he had been able to contribute to their battle success, even though it was likely that this would be the only battle which he would be able to assist her with. He was utterly unreliable. It was really quite hilarious, Alisa felt, to be told to stop in her tracks. She never listened to that piece of unsolicited command prompt and she breezed her way through the team of the Grunt whom had really been audacious enough to try to sway her to listen to him. Each room looked the same to Alisa. Steel machines were everywhere, the floor was smooth and the colour of chrome and everywhere that she looked, there was something industrial to clap eyes upon. Of most intrigue were the computer terminals that had been deactivated within the previous room. Alisa had the satisfaction of watching this Grunt's face crumple and his shoulders slump from dejection as she made short work of his team, and when his doubles partner unleashed his Pokémon, she wrecked them, too. Alisa's shiny green kricket Pokémon, Decibel the Kricketot, utterly ravaged a Team Meteor Grunt's Tympole and his partner Grunt's Alolan Geodude with Absorb and Alisa couldn't have felt more proud of her 'mon than she did within that shining moment in time. Being a traded Pokémon, Decibel received boosted experience points. From then onward, it was battle after battle. Alisa and Fern finally pushed on through to the end of this room and the next room, reaching Julia and Florinia in record time. The dynamite duo were standing before a steel shutter door, with Florinia attempting to hack her way through a firewall of the computer terminal that she stood before and Julia advocating for a far less traditional method of getting through that shuttered door. "Why don't we just smash it? There's GOT to be some C4 around here. Who wouldn't bring C4 here? I would. Alisa, Fern, get out there and find me some sick C4, got it? I need it, pronto," Julia said bossily, looking from Alisa to Fern, then back to Alisa. "Firebombs, fireballs, why does it always have to be explosions with you, Miss Miscreant?," Fern groaned. Alisa merely nodded and entered the South room. She soon found what both she and Julia were looking-for, which was a box of explosives settled at the feet of two Meteor Grunts. "Slick moves, wise-grasses, leaving C4 sticks out in the open just like this. Top-tier in cleverness. Stellar job, nut-zoids," Fern sneered, as he and Alisa sent out their Pokémon. "Shut up, you insufferable bull-ant! We'll show you," one of the Grunts spluttered, his face suffused with mortification. She and her fellow Grunt then sent out their Pokémon and another battle was had. The battle was brought to its inevitable and expected closure almost as soon as it began, leaving Fern and Alisa victorious. "I swear, with each battle we have, these twerps just keep improving as they spread like wildfire. It's not what we'd all signed-up for!," the more-intelligent of the two Grunts grumbled as he made sure that he and his fellow Grunt handed over their share of the prize-money. "There goes half of this fortnight's paycheck! Miserable little bullies," the female Grunt griped as she passed Alisa and then Fern her share. "A pleasure doing battle business with you two. Bye!," Alisa said sweetly, and then she sauntered past the duo as she took point and led Fern to their revised objective. "I still don't like you, but I've got to admit that you surprise me sometimes, Alisa, in a pleasant fashion. Don't let it go to your head," Fern said offhandedly. Alisa merely nodded in response. Gathering up the explosives, Alisa made her way back to Julia and Florinia, with Fern hot upon her heels. Handing the explosives to Julia, Alisa watched Julia prepare to set the explosives, but then...the unexpected occurred. "Access granted. Proceed," Florinia said, as the shuttered doors opened before them all. "Um, whaaat? But my sticks of buh-bye-boom weren't even applied yet! No. Nuh-uh, what the actual Hail? Rini, you'd caused me to miss out upon my happy-snappy fun-in-the-sun kablam time. Blast it all, Rini, I won't forget this," Julia yelped, as Alisa, Florinia, Fern and her own self rushed through the now-unlocked door's open doorway. They were met with two black-hooded Meteor Grunts and an austere-looking man who looked to be the Team Meteor Boss. This man wore a sinister-looking, crimson red eye-patch over his left eye, a brown overcoat over a pigeon-gray long-sleeved top and jet-black jeans over grey boots. His black hair was slicked-back from his face, although one strand flopped over his forehead to stop at a point just beside his left eyebrow. "We are Team Meteor. And we do not relent. Ever. If I were you, I'd about-turn and march off to wherever you first came from. This is none of your concern," The Meteor Boss said snidely. He wore an expression of absolute contempt, his gaze dispassionate as he looked upon those that stood before him. His two, hooded lackeys stood to his left and right, wearing identical expressions of supreme apathy and utmost monotony. "We've deleted all mission-critical files from our systems. You won't get anything out of us!," one of the hooded minions pitched in, which made his boss and his colleague glare absolute daggers at him from where they both stood. The Team Meteor boss was disgusted with the break in protocol. "Why not just give them all of your socials and personal information while you're at it? Never mind. You haven't thrown our plans into disarray, Trainers. That includes you two Gym Leaders. Aster, Eclipse, deal with these minor irritants," The Meteor Boss said coldly, his expression morphing into one of chilling malevolence. "You got it, Boss," the hooded figures replied, and then they sent out their Pokémon in a penultimate Double Battle against Alisa and Fern while Julia and Florinia sent out their Pokémon to hold off the boss. It was the case of two Level Sixteen Rockruffs against Alisa's Level 15 Decibel. Two Absorb attacks finished off the female Rockruff, which left the male Rockruff still in play. "Absorb, Decibel!," Alisa shouted. "Razor Leaf, Rowlet!," Fern yelled. Working together, Alisa and Fern took down the final Rockruff to end the battle and win it upon their own terms. Aster and Eclipse grumbled and muttered beneath their breath. They recalled their fainted Pokemon and handed over their prize money to the victors. Julia's Electrode and Florinia's Cradily stood intimidatingly in front of their respective Trainers, doing an impressive job at remaining quite menacingly in place as they glowered at the villains before them. "Blast it all! Meteor, out. This is far from over. We will always prevail," The Meteor Boss said ominously, his expression veering into antagonistic as a deftly-thrown smoke-bomb ensured their hasty escape. Julia approached the back computer-bank and set up the provided C4. "Alright, let's Bounce like a Ponyta!," Julia advised, and everyone swiftly fled the Factory as though they had metaphorical ants in their pants. Which they didn't, because that truly would be both disgusting and unwanted, not to mention unwarranted. Everyone made it out of the building safely and the Factory blew up in spectacular fashion, although it remained a charred wreck. "All’s well that ends in devastating detonation! Go T - E - A - M, we pulverise and don't repent. We make that cash like we don't spend. It's us that you will recommend! Teaaaaaam Reborn, we'll always settle that score," Julia said exuberantly. Everyone rolled their eyes good-naturedly and had a laugh at Julia's cheer. Everyone dispersed after Florinia updated Alisa's PokéGear with a new Field Notes application. Alisa made her way to Peridot Ward Gym and made her way through it after switching up some of her team-members. She didn't subscribe to having more than one of each particular Type, as that restricted her Type coverage and her move-pool to a large and worrying extent. She would always have more than one Type in her Pokémon Party. After settling-upon a line-up of Decibel (her shiny Kricketot, a Bug Type), Hoodlum (her shiny Zigzagoon, a Normal Type), Grotle, (her Grass Type Starter,) Rider (her Psychic-Flying Type shiny Woobat), Daenerys (her newly-evolved and shiny Dark Type Mightyena), and Noxious, a shiny Gulpin (Poison Type), Alisa leveled up her new Party members to Level Eighteen and then set-about challenging each Gym Trainer. This Gym required her to blow up several grey shuttered doors in order to advance through the Gym and reach Julia. Alisa had fun defeating each Trainer and then blowing-up each door with the help of handy, supercharged Voltorb that followed her to each door and used Self-Destruct. Alisa managed to avoid any injuries. The path to Julia now cleared, Alisa made her way toward the cheer captain, moving briskly and easily. As with all Gym Leaders, Julia gave an unnecessary and in Alisa's opinion, thankless introductory battle-speech before she released the first of her six Electric Pokémon. "Should have known that you'd blaze a sudden and scorching trail through my Gym, Alisa. Well done. How confident are you, not just overall, but that you'll defeat me? I can't wait to find out in my battle with you. Bring it right on!," Julia announced, and then she sent out her Level 12 Minun. Alisa sent out her Level 18 Noxious before she then commanded Noxious to use Sludge. The Poison attack did decent damage. It was a downhill battle for Minun from that point on as the two traded attacks. Eventually, Minun was downed by a final Sludge and Julia sent out her secondary Pokémon, a Level 12 Voltorb. Noxious got the job done with Sludge as needed, necessitating a third Pokémon switch-in from Julia. This time, Julia sent out a Level 14 Oricorio, which looked the business, but which Alisa would take down with extreme prejudice. She wasn't going to let anyone in, nor outside of, the League crush her spirit and beat her team down. "Brilliant work, Noxious! Sludge and keep your attacks up. We've got this. Let's finish this battle with flair," Alisa called to her spherical, red garbage 'mon, whom acknowledged her commands with a nod and a renewed barrage of Sludge attacks. The Oricorio was defeated in three turns and then Alisa recalled her Noxious and switched-in her Decibel. Julia sent out her Level 13 Plusle. Decibel and the Plusle traded attacks. "Struggle Bug, Decibel!," Alisa commanded. "Charge Beam!," Julia yelled, hopping up and down upon the spot where she stood. It seemed that Julia didn't know how to stand still and Alisa could relate. This battle would be a deciding factor as to whether or not she had what it took to cut a swathe through this Region and its each and every challenge. After Decibel's Struggle Bug attacks took down Plusle, Julia sent in her Level 12, custom shiny Geodude, which looked for all of the world like a regular shiny Geodude, albeit a molten-gold one. It was clear that Julia was not making any effort to pull her punches, which Alisa admired and appreciated. "Decibel, Struggle Bug!," Alisa commanded, and her Decibel struck with the speed of a striking serpent, dealing a considerable ammount of damage to his opponent and OHKO-ing it via one-hit knockout. Decibel then leveled up to Level 19 and Julia sent out her final Pokémon, her Level 16 Electrode. Alisa switched in Noxious, commanded Noxious to use Poison Gas and the Electrode got poisoned by the attack. Alisa then switched in Decibel, which, along with the Poison chip damage, knocked-out Electrode with Struggle Bug. The battle was awarded to Alisa and she recalled Decibel, a look of utmost confidence upon her face as Decibel leveled up to Level 20, just in time to avoid level-cap disobedience due to his having leveled up in mid-battle. "SHOCKER, Alisa. Hot diggity dang, girl, you beat me every which way to Sunday and back. Take this Volt Badge. You earned it. Note that it allows TMX01 Cut usage outside of battle," Julia said, in a tone of acceptance and resilience that Alisa noted and was shellshocked by. Alisa claimed her new badge and pinned it within her Badge Case as Julia then proceeded to take a nap. Standing-up. As no-one save for Julia did. Go figure, Alisa thought, closing her Case and returning it to her Bag. She then made her way toward the front of the Gym, but she was shocked to a halt by an additional aside from a very familiar voice. "Wait up, girl. This is a parting gift. Teach it to one of your Pokémon to have it learn TM57 Charge Beam. It will increase Special Attack and hit like a thrown brick. Bye now," Julia said. Alisa turned back toward Julia, approached the Gym Leader and accepted the technical gift, storing it within her Bag's TM and HM section. After thanking Julia for her Badge and TM, Alisa left the Gym. She then ran into Victoria, who stayed just long enough to state her intention to check out the happenings of Obsidia Ward, where plants were apparently attacking people, before she left the scene. Deciding to check out the bizarre Obsidia happenings once she had healed her Pokemon, Alisa did just that and then trained her Rider, Hoodlum, Grotle and Noxious to Level 19, then to Level 20. Rider evolved into a Swoobat. Hoodlum evolved into a Linoone. Alisa met Florinia just outside of the gate that led to the Obsidia Ward. Two police officers blocked the way through, and Alisa stood idly by as she listened to Florinia state her case to the police officers. "Plant attack. Obsidia Ward. Recommended action: Annihilation. Stand aside," Florinia said to the officers, who nodded and stepped aside even as they took notice of Alisa. Florinia followed their gaze and likewise noticed Alisa. "Uncannily fortuitous timing. Alisa, do you attempt Ward access? Civilian access prohibited. Exception thanks to prior assistance: granted," Florinia said to Alisa. She then hurried off in the direction of Obsidia Ward. Alisa followed along in Florinia's wake. Upon entering the Obsidia Ward, Alisa immediately set about exploring its length and its breadth. She located The Pokemon Daycare and spoke to its caretakers. They grew aggravated with her prescence and attacked her with their Pokémon. This revealed their true, insidious identities as Team Meteor agents. Alisa took their Pokémon down via double-battle and the Meteor Grunts swiftly left the house, but not before mentioning that the real Daycare Couple were hidden away somewhere and that she would never find them. Alisa resolved to free them once she had cleared Obsidia Ward. Next, Alisa found and battled Victoria, who wouldn't allow her to pass into the Obsidia Slums without a battle to prove her worthiness to visit it. Victoria sent out a Level 17 Ralts, which Alisa decimated with her Level 20 Rider's Gust attack. Victoria then sent out her secondary Pokémon, a Level 17 Pichu, which Alisa countered with her Level 20 Decibel. He had reduced the Pichu to half-health before Victoria switched Pichu out for her Level 18 Torracat. Alisa switched Decibel out for Hoodlum, who took out Torracat with Headbutt attacks. Victoria then sent out her final Pokémon, Pichu, which Decibel eliminated with Struggle Bug. "Fine," Victoria huffed, as she recalled her Pichu, "just watch your step in that place." She gave a reverse-nod of acknowledgement and farewell as she walked away. Alisa made her way to the Slums entrance, where she was accosted by a slum-dweller who set his Pokémon upon her on sight. After the conclusion of the battle, which she had won by a landslide, Alisa collected her prize-money, took a critical look at her surroundings and walked past the downtrodden slum-dweller. To say that this place was a dump was to give every other dump a good name. Glass fragments and discarded papers littered the ground. The floor was cracked in places and contained many missing floor-tiles. The floor was a grubby shade of neglected cement-grey and a wall of dark-grey boxes were haphazardly stacked to the right-hand side of the doorway. Alisa entered the grubby Slums. Immediately accosted by two Trainers and their Pokémon, Alisa battled the duo and won by a long shot, continuing to make her way through the place once she had recalled her Pokémon. A man who hadn't battled Alisa explained that the spiky gold plant that sprouted out from a crack in the floor before his feet was a healing plant that she could use if she wished-to. Alisa let the gold plant lie, thinking that she wasn't in dire need of it as she walked past the trio and delved deeper into the Slums. Passing through a doorway at the end of the main room, Alisa was challenged by yet another slum-dweller and after a short battle with him, Alisa collected her prize-money from him and continued on her way. There had been a chain-link fence that had spanned the entire length of the right-hand side and beyond it, Alisa had seen a doorway and a nest which contained a pure-gold Pokémon egg. Alisa vowed to locate and pick up that Egg. Upon the capture of a Flame Body ability Fire Pokémon, she could effortlessly hatch that Egg in future. After successfully navigating a series of shadow-drenched ledges that formed a maze that led to the lower part of the third room in, Alisa ventured ever onward, soon making her way to the start of a corridor in which a cardboard box sat. To Alisa's absolute befuddlement, the box jumped in fright and scuttled off into the Slum depths. Moving at double-time speed to catch up to the strange box, Alisa navigated a secondary shadow-maze and found a Moon Stone, which she secreted-away within her Bag's Items pocket. She then kept moving through the Slums, eventually emerging from the box room and into the fourth Slums room. Yet another slum-dweller Trainer challenged her to a battle and Alisa rinsed and repeated her previous battle actions. Soon enough, Alisa was victorious. She recalled her Pokémon and then collected the man's prize money before she continued upon her way. This room, too, contained dark-grey boxes that were identical to those that were stacked before them. Alisa had to wonder about their mysterious contents as she walked down the end staircase and reached the fifth Slums room. Alisa quickly noted the West staircase to her right-hand side, the slum-dweller directly South of her current position and the twin dark-grey boxes located within this room's centre. Upon approaching the boxes, the first box instantly shuffled past the foot of the staircase, rounded its left side and vanished into a cracked hole that had been blasted or drilled into its side. The slum-dweller watched Alisa as she set off after the wandering box. Alisa entered the staircase room. The dark-grey box sat, open and empty, upon the ground in front of a chain-link fence. Yet another doorway loomed behind the box, which formed a barrier to defend it. In the room off to the fence's West-hand side, a staircase led up to another part of the Slums. Deciding to see if she could get past the box and venture through the fence doorway, Alisa rounded the box's right-hand side and took a step toward it. This resulted within a light knock of her left toe against the box's side, which shifted the box to one side and freed up the doorway itself. Alisa then searched the room at the top of the staircase, finding this fifth room devoid of anything save for TM60 Quash, which she stowed within her TMs and HMs bag pocket before she returned to the light box and the fence doorway. Stepping through the fence doorway, Alisa encountered yet another shadow-maze. After navigating it with some difficulty, Alisa ventured through the doorway at its end and found the golden Egg. Claiming it as her own, Alisa sent it to Box 1 of her personal PC, which was accessible from the computer within any Pokémon Centre. Alisa made her way back to the light box room, then backtracked until she reached the foot of the West staircase. There was nothing else for it but to keep utterly-calm and carry on and so Alisa ascended this staircase and strode through its doorway. Emerging upon the rooftop of the Slums itself, Alisa trudged onward and healed her Pokémon with the touch of yet another gold, spiky healing plant that had grown through a crack within one of the roof-tiles that sat before a white satellite dish. Alisa then moved past the dish and entered yet another doorway, venturing back into the Slums. In this sixth room, Alisa found two Trainers. One was a Scientist, and one was a slum-dweller. Both challenged Alisa to a battle apiece and after she had swept the floors with them and their Pokémon, the Scientist informed Alisa of the existence of Pokémon that formed Pokémon gangs with their own kind. The Scientist then warned Alisa to be on her guard and to watch out for any suspicious Pokémon behaviour and activity before he let Alisa continue her journey. A short shadow-maze later and a Scraggy leapt out of a dark-grey box and disappeared into the continuous Slum depths, reinvigorating Alisa and making her hustle forth to catch up to it. In the seventh Slums room, below which snaked a serpentine labyrinth of steel-crossed shadow mazes that Alisa could only hope led to the exit of this incredible yet unpalatable and dingy place, sat yet another dark-grey box. This one snarled and growled at her approach before its contents sped off, still encased within its box as it vanished through a West-hand doorway. After navigating the maze, Alisa encountered a pink-capped Trainer whom had happened to steal the Pokémon that she had bought from a Fisherman within The Grand Hall. The Trainer admitted that he had sold said Pokémon to a North Obsidia person. This left Alisa both disappointed and heartsick as she promised herself that she would locate and claim her rightful Pokémon at all costs. Carrying on through this room, Alisa walked through yet another doorway and into an eighth Slums room. An empty, dark grey box sat within the room's centre, and one battle later, Alisa set off after the Scraggy that she suspected had emerged from the dropped box's centre. Another staircase led to a potential basement room off to the room's West-hand side, while to Alisa's direct North, a new doorway beckoned to her sense of curiousity, adventure and intrigue. A short stroll through this doorway revealed its contents to be a hallway with stacked boxes arranged to its left and right. At this hallway's end was a chain-link fence with a chain-link door inset within its centre which was locked. Its heavy duty padlock required a key which Alisa didn't currently have, and so Alisa backtracked back to the staircase and descended into the ninth room basement, within which were yet more slum-dweller trainers and yet another spiky gold plant at its end. The yawning chasm of yet another doorway promised further fun and fanfare as Alisa battled her way through to it. She made a mental note to return to this part of the Slums with the chain-link door key and discover what secrets it kept within its depths. Alisa availed herself of the spiky plant before she followed the Scraggy into the chasm doorway, only to find herself face to face with a Scrafty that then set itself and its Pokémon gang upon her. Sending out her first two Pokémon, Daenerys and Rider, against the first two Scraggy that were set against them, Alisa commanded Rider to Gust the left-hand Scraggy and Daenerys to Tackle the left-hand Scraggy. A short time later, the left-hand Scraggy was defeated, only to be replaced by the Scrafty. Rider and Daenerys worked together to Sand Attack and then Gust the right-hand Scraggy, which left only the Scrafty and a final, replacement Scraggy to be dealt with. Alisa switched-in Hoodlum, who, along-with the switched-in Grotle, finished-off the Scrafty and the Scraggy with Headbutt and with Absorb, respectively. The Scrafty and its gang disappeared once they had been defeated. One final room navigation later and Alisa and her team emerged within South Obsidia Ward. Upon discovering that North access to Obsidia Ward was currently prohibited, Alisa made her way to the Southern ward, Coral Ward. Here, she located the Pokémon Centre, healed her Pokémon, met a new Water-Type Trainer named Amaria, watched Cain rescue a stranded Popplio and then battled Cain. After this battle, Cain and Amaria left the Ward and Alisa was then able to venture up into Obsidia Ward. Once there, Alisa stumbled upon Amaria and Florinia, whom then entrusted her with TMX01 Cut. Alisa taught Cut to Decibel, rewriting it over its Fury Cutter attack. A moment after Alisa made use of it and Cut down a tree, Florinia and Amaria walked forward and were then captured by vines. Alisa was then thrust headlong into a battle with a shiny Tangrowth. This Pokémon had been bent to Team Meteor's will, been designated the name PULSE Tangrowth and it had been horribly experimented upon. Its eyes were hollow and tormented as it sought to do the bidding of its twisted masters. The Trainer made a collective introduction as Lumi, Eve and Zero, ZEL. They seemed to be co-inhabiting the same host body. They activated their PULSE machine and unleashed their PULSE Tangrowth. The Tangrowth underwent a physical change. Its cyclops-like, singular eye, encircled by a singular steel goggle that looked like a chain-free monocle, stared at Alisa while its tendrilled hair stood on end, spearing back from its temples and scalp in three spike-like, eerie tentacles. Two more spike-like tentacles stretched forward from a point that was just in front of its armpits. Steel pipes appeared to have been fused in place of its arms, leaving its slender gold hands and fingers untouched and poking free of its steel 'sleeves.' Two steel bands encased the place where its stubby, chubby legs met its lower torso. Each foot was tipped with the same gold feet and toe-like spikes that looked identical to the ones that happened to be its hands and its fingers. It looked radically different to its usual form and Alisa was at once fascinated and horrified. Alisa sent out Rider and then a fierce battle was had by Alisa and the Tangrowth's handler, ZEL. After some slick moves had been put into action, the Tangrowth was defeated. This led to Amaria's and Florinia's release. The Obsidia Ward then reverted back to its un-infested state. ZEL then recovered the PULSE Tangrowth and the PULSE machine which had transformed it into its PULSE state before they made their escape. While Amaria went to inform Ame of what had happened, where it had happened, who had caused it to happen and explain why it had happened, Florinia spoke. "Alisa. Brilliantly done. Crisis averted and ward restored. Challenge my Gym. Find it within Onyx Ward's School. Farewell," Florinia said, and then she returned to her Gym. Alisa, meanwhile, healed her Pokémon. A short trip past the park where the PULSE Tangrowth had hijacked Amaria and Florinia led to Onyx Ward's gate and the Ward itself. Before Alisa ventured there, though, she found a Warehouse Key in a house due North of the park. She then made her way back to Coral Ward, unlocked each of its South-Western, South and South-East Warehouses in their turn and rescued the actual Daycare Couple from the South-West Warehouse. Alisa then spoke to a Team Meteor Grunt, who then fled the scene, liberated a shiny Happiny and played hide and seek with a shiny Spoink, which she then captured. She nicknamed the shiny Spoink Boing and the shiny Happiny Serene. Once all of this had been accomplished, Alisa made her way back to the Onyx Ward gate. Hurrying through the gate, Alisa entered The Onyx Ward and swiftly sought to get her bearings. She checked out the Obsidia Department Store, The Onyx Arcade, the locked Move Relearner house and the Onyx Trainer's School itself. There was also an appartment that had a rooftop garden. Returning to the Slums, Alisa shiny-hunt for, then caught, a shiny Mankey and a shiny Pancham. She nicknamed the shiny Pancham Danny Rand and the shiny Mankey E4 Bruno, after the Kanto region's Elite Four member, Bruno. She then trained Danny Rand up to Level 22 in preparation of the upcoming Gym Battle and then, after she had shiny-hunted to her heart's content, she approached The Onyx Trainer's School. Upon entering the School, Fern pulled a fast one and ordered the School's Trainers to prevent Alisa from reaching his sister, Gym Leader Florinia. Alisa was then forced to run the Trainer gauntlet and solve the computer-terminal questionnaire gauntlet, which would unlock the final Gym door. Once she had done that, Alisa finally confronted Fern in front of the Gym Room itself. After giving Fern the sound battle thrashing that he had been very much overdue, Fern skulked away in defeat and the way to Florinia was unbarred to Alisa. * A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope that you have enjoyed Chapter 2 of this Reborn story. Stay tuned for further content. Please let me know what you thought of Chapter 2 and again, if there are any Pokémon recommendations and nickname recommendations, please don't hesitate to fling them at me and I will name some future Pokémon any nickname/s that I may like. Cheers.

Chapter One: Making My Escape This. Cannot. Be happening, Jester thought dazedly, as she awakened from her slumber. The young woman was suspended within a tank, a light yet murky green water that felt viscous and immovable supporting-her within the broad and tall expanse of steel, fibreglass and rose-gold chrome that encased her fully. She scrunched her eyes shut, drew in a jagged, ragged deep breath, then slammed her hands forward so that they slapped against the smooth, cool glass. Opening her eyes in time to aim her gaze at her hands, Jester gasped as she saw that her hands were drastically-changed from their regular appearance. Her hands, once human, now contained three rounded pads in place of her fingertips. These pads were attached to slender fingers, to a short palm, and then to long, slender forearms which were segmented at the elbow-joints. These elbow-joints connected to two muscular biceps, which in turn, were connected to a set of collarbones and a chest-plate-like set of pectorals. Jester didn't have to see her own reflection to realise that the pectorals connected to a short and slender neck, a broad and feline face and a nape that swept back to connect a tube to the middle of her muscular yet catlike shoulder-blades. As she idly swished the tail that she had never had in her once-human life through the sludge-like water around her, Jester realised that she was now trapped within the body of a Legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo. Sweeping her gaze down the rest of her body, Jester saw that in place of a regular Mewtwo's pristine white fur, her own fur was the dusty shade of charcoal, which was contrasted sharply with a lustrous and vibrant neon-bright, sky-blue tail. Although she couldn't see her eyes, Jester bet that they would be the same vibrant, lustrous, neon sky-blue as her tail was. Through the glass, Jester saw something that both enraged and enthralled her. It was a wrought-iron chair, upon-which sat a backpack and a Master Ball. Black, nondescript military combat pants, a black hoodie, a black basketball-jersey with the number 09 printed upon-it and a sky-blue belt with a pewter-grey Poké Ball belt-buckle were slung upon the back of the chair. This only served to further-infuriate and anguish Jester to the point of no return. They think that they can capture me, now that they have somehow transformed-me into a Pokemon? I. Think. NOT!, Jester thought, outraged, and she positioned her palms within the Kamehameha formation. Once she had calmed her mind enough to gather every bit of her latent Psychic power and energy into a fine-tuned and laser-focused beam, Jester struck. Psystrike!, Jester thought, as she fired the volleyball-sized ball of magenta-purple energy at the glass. As expected, the glass shattered as though it had been made of tissue-paper and Jester used her psychic powers to levitate herself swiftly forward, tendrils of her psychic abilities lashing away the residual broken glass-shards away from her person. She then cannonballed toward the group of scientists that barreled through a main doorway toward her. "Imbeciles! You seek to cage and restrain ME - you will NOT!," Jester snarled, projecting her words telepathically into the minds of those that would command her. Many human eyes widened and many gasps were emitted as Jester knocked every one of the scientists down as though they were ten-pins and soared forward through the path that she had just cleared for herself. "WAIT! You don't know who you really are - nor what you're truly capable of! Let me explain it all to you. Be my Pokémon!," a voice of absolute authority called from behind Jester. She risked a backward, over-her-shoulder glance at the voice's owner. A young man stood beside the wrought-iron chair, clad within an identical copy of the clothing that had-been draped so artistically yet steadily upon its head-rest. The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his left hand clasping his right wrist as he gazed imploringly at Jester. His fog-grey, molten-gold-ringed gaze was reserved solely for Jester. Every scientist froze upon the spot, in the midst of their intent movements toward Jester. The immobile yet attentive and elastic way that he stood reminded Jester of a military man, of a king cobra poised to strike. Military Man kept his spaced-apart feet as still as if they had-been glued to the laboratory floor as he continued to appeal to Jester. "Please stand down, X59-275-923-1! Your transition must be difficult, but believe you me, it had been necessary to save your life. Return to me, X59," Military Man commanded confidently. "My. NAME. Is. JESTER Chandler!," Jester growled, surrounding herself with a protective, magenta, psychic barrier. As she spoke, Jester telekinetically lifted herself well out of reach of her pursuers. Halting in midair, she turned slowly to face Military Man as she 'spoke' to everyone present. Positioned vertically above those that would enslave her, Jester glared at Military Man, her furry brows narrowed over her unusual eyes of blue sky. Ever so slowly, Jester floated toward the dual exit/entrance laboratory door, determined to escape this room and its occupants at all costs. "I am no-one's property - no-one's tragic and tormented victim. I don't know how I got here, when I got here, where I happen to be, who brought me here, nor why I am here, but right now, that's not important. What is important is finding out what was done to me. I won't stop until I figure out a way to reverse this process. I'm no-one's science experiment. Do not try to stop me," Jester sniped. Flinging her arms and her legs out in an X-formation, Jester sent forth a surge of psychic energy that coalesced into the shape of a flash that was akin to a flash-bang grenade's disorientating flash. Everyone screamed as the bright light seared their sensitive eyes, and Jester used this moment to spin in mid-air and make her escape. Flying through the laboratory doorway, Jester floated through the main corridor, taking turns down random corridors to further-disguise her movements toward her intended destination. Soaring through a corridor and entering a courtyard that looked as though it would never end, Jester swept one look around its space, took in its labyrinthine, off-shoot-like passageways, then looked up and saw a skylight that was as tall as she was and as broad as broad as she was. Taking a calculated risk, Jester aimed a blast of psychic energy at the skylight and as it shattered, Jester flew through the newly-opened egress point and darted off into the falling dusk. The sound of helicopters roaring into life galvanised Jester into further action. She took down each of the ten helicopter's rotor-blades with well-timed, well-aimed surgical Psystrikes before she zoomed off toward the glittering lights of a city that was just off the coastline. Jester didn't know where she was going, nor what she would do when she got there, but she knew how to survive, as well as how to thrive. It would be far less easy to do so as a Pokémon - let-alone one as rare and sought-after as a differently-hued Mewtwo - but she would rely only upon herself and stay out of the nefarious clutches of any and all Trainers, organisations and so on. Wind whipped through her fur and caused her feline eyes to water at their peripheries, but still Jester flew on until she could hear no further pursuit. She landed only when she found the highest building that was set within the most densely-populated part of the city, touching-down upon its roof upon three-toed, inhuman and furred feet that were completely-foreign to her. Making her way to a nearby Dumpster, Jester lucked-out as, under cover of evening darkness, she scrounged the materials that she would need to eke out a temporary living upon this building's rooftop. Firstly, Jester snagged a two-person tent from a nearby encampment of the homeless, which contained a backpack within which she hoped were medical supplies and the like, as well as several paperback novels, a nondescript manuscript, a torch, a booklight and several battery-packs. A secondary backpack was in the mix as Jester telekinetically-transported the material-containing tent back to the rooftop alongside of her. Secondly, Jester gathered two packs' worth of food and water supplies and brought these back to the rooftop in the exact same way. Jester then scrounged-up a sleeping-bag from someone-else's unoccupied tent and brought this bag up to the rooftop abode, before she called it a metaphorical day and set up her new living-quarters to her liking. She then sat in sit-up position upon her sleeping-bag, which she had positioned at the mouth of her tent in order to ensure that a quick getaway could be gotten. Jester scrubbed her face with her left paw, emitting a soft and beleaguered sigh as she did-so. From now on, there could be no-one that she could put her trust in, save for her very-own self. How well could she recollect those that she had placed her previous trust within. How well, too, could she recall just how deeply, how irrevocably and indecently, that those very-same people had betrayed her faith within them. There was no way that she would ever, nor could ever, allow-herself to believe in the goodness of others. She remembered her parents - remembered the one whom had named-her against the wishes of her mother, who, from that moment on, never referred-to her by her given name. Her mother would only call-her by her middle name - Elise - and nothing-else. Jester stayed awake until the sun began to rise, and then she yawned and curled-up upon her sleeping-bag, catlike and semi-content. Jester was awakened by the sound of bustling traffic, by the diffused light of early morning that lightly-batted against her feline, closed eyelids. Slowly opening her eyes as she uncoiled from her curled sleeping-position, Jester stretched to limber herself up, Jester began to put clear, calm and calculated thought into her next steps. The military man would not stop looking for her, Jester knew for a fact. With her rarity and her ability to 'speak,' Jester was too much of a hot commodity to remain at-large and out of his clutches and control. She had seen the pristine interiour of the laboratory of whatever military compound that she had-been housed-within, and this, too, meant that she could not remain in possession of those memories of her place of captivity. There would be nothing that the military man would not do, no resources that he would not exhaust and no contact that he would not call in favours from if his doing-so would lead to Jester's recapture. Jester could not believe that the military would have the audacity to capture her then-human, twenty-year-old self, perform whatever horrific experiments upon-her that they had performed to transform her into a Legendary Pokémon and then have the further moxie to try to sway her awakened self to their side and to their twisted cause. Jester felt like she had been reanimated into a Five Nights animatronic, just like Freddy and his cohorts had-been. This was a feeling that she didn't like, couldn't escape and feared above all other feelings. So immersed within her inner thoughts was Jester that, had it not been for her enhanced feline hearing, she would not have heard the rooftop access-door unlock and swing-upon with almost no sound at all. Moving fluidly and gracefully, Jester froze in place even as she erected a psychic barrier around herself and her swiped belongings. Positioned beside the squat, square rooftop stairwell entrance, Jester was confident that as long as the figure that had emerged from the rooftop doorway kept their gaze downcast, the figure would remain as unaware of her prescence on the way back across the rooftop as the figure had-been on their way forward, across the rooftop. The figure wore an oversized, maroon hoodie over a long-sleeved, cobalt-blue top, charcoal-grey acid-wash jeans that were boot-cut, cobalt-blue socks and jet-black Nike running-shoes with cobalt-blue shoelaces and a cobalt-blue tick. What Jester liked most about the figure was the Back to the Future, many-coloured, Marty McFly cap that was worn beneath the cowl of their hoodie. The figure was of above-average height, and of a willowy frame and a slender yet muscular build. A black-leather belt with an Ultra Ball belt-buckle completed the figure's look. Six Pokemon Balls were magnetically-affixed along the width of the belt and Jester wondered which Pokémon were individually-housed within each of the six red and white vessels. Because the figure had their back toward Jester as they reached the guard-railing that wrapped around the walls of the rooftop retaining-wall, Jester could not be sure of the figure's gender, nor of their physical features and appearance. She hoped, against hope, that this figure would not be a female and, additionally, would be teenage to young-adult in age, because if not, a young kid would be most-likely to see her and spread the tale of the rooftop Mewtwo so far and wide that she could be found, bagged and tagged even-faster than the speed of thought. The figure folded their forearms across the width of the rooftop's balconey-like retaining-wall railing and stared out into the middle distance, long-lost in thought. Jester did not move and she barely-breathed as she silently and stealthily studied the lone figure, hoping that the figure would not be met upon this rooftop by a colleague, or by a group of their colleagues. One Trainer here was bad enough - a group of them would be inescapable. When the figure finally spoke, Jester wasn't sure what the figure's intentions were toward-her, nor why they felt compelled to speak to her. "You really don't have to hide from me. I won't harm you and I won't rat you out. I just want for you to feel safe enough to at-least acknowledge that you're listening to me. Do you understand me?," The Figure said, in a breezy tone of nonchalance that swept over their left shoulder and carried their words all the way over to the still-concealed Jester in her Mewtwo form. Five minutes passed and Jester gave no response. "You're right to be cautious. Judging by your preternatural stillness and your residence here, I'd guess that you're a Pokemon. I doubt that even Poké Snax would be enough to draw you out into the open. That's only to be expected of the super-smart and resilient Pokémon that you have to be," The Figure said. Your candy-coated compliments won't undo-me, hoodlum hustler. You've got to do much better than that, Jester thought smugly, as The Figure slowly lifted their hands from the railing and held them in the placating gesture of surrender. "I really want to turn around and face you now, just so that you can see that what you see is what you just might get of me. I'm not going to do that, though, because a) it just might be the last thing that I would ever do and b) I'm sure that you're most-comfortable with my back toward you. I'll introduce myself. I'm Connor Kincaid Elder. I'm a Pokémon Trainer. These six Balls at my belt are not just for show - I'm the realest deal. You are?," The Figure said lightly, with more than a hint of natural swagger. Jester didn't know what it was about this figure, who, judging by their masculine voice and by their tone, was undoubtedly a teenage boy, but she liked him. She liked his confidence, his natural charisma and compassion, and she definitely liked his sense of personal style. The fact that he had respectfully-chosen to keep his back to her in order to respect her anonymity also helped to win him endless brownie-points and so Jester decided to answer-him and hope that he would remain where he was. Though it pained her to have to do-so, she answered him via Pokemon growl. "Mewtwo!," Jester snarled, and Connor jumped, but remained where he was, straightening up to his full height even as he swept his hood from his cap-covered scalp in astonishment. "No actual way! A Mewtwo, on a rooftop - on the rooftop where my dad happens to work? No-one is going to believe this. I can barely believe this. How did you get here? Does anyone else know that you're here? Are you a wild? When did you get here? Where did you come from? What in the actual funk?," Connor demanded, swaying from foot to foot and clenching his fists as he restrained-himself from turning to face Jester. Almost-startled into answering every single one of Connor's relentless questions, Jester kept her silence up and merely studied Connor with increased focus and intensity. Her silent deliberation only served to make Connor talk to fill the silence. "So...er, Mewtwo? Sorry about the twenty questions. I don't often happen upon a Pokémon as rare as you. So, uh, you wouldn't happen to be a relation of the Cerulean Cave Mewtwo? You could growl once for yes, or growl twice for no," Connor said awedly. Jester spoke. "Mewtwo, Mewtwo!," Jester growled, rolling her eyes as she did-so. He couldn't know that she was a human that was trapped within the body of a Pokémon, but seriously, she had to wonder just what had made Connor think that this could even be a possibility for her. "Oh," Connor said, in a disquieted and disappointed tone of voice, which made Jester growl ominously in response, her teeth set immediately on-edge. "I mean, er, oh, that's so. It's no big deal, it's what it is. Hey, do you want to meet my Pokémon, Mewtwo? I'll command them not to battle you. Company, yeah? No telling how long you've been up here, on your own. Consider it my apology for disturbing your peace - you Kanto Pokémon, you," Connor said casually, in an apologetic tone of voice. Jester considered this for a moment. If anything, knowing what Pokémon this teenage boy was packing would work wonders for her peace of mind. She also couldn't deny that this would be her first chance in however long she had been in captivity to be in the prescence of Pokémon. Even those scientists had baulked at the concept of challenging her with their own Pokémon. The fact that Connor seemed undaunted by her even despite his awareness of what Pokémon she happened to be boded well for the young Trainer. "Mewtwo," Jester assented, and Connor grinned. Connor nodded once, then in a flurry of movements that looked, to Jester, as though he was juggling, he tossed all six of his Poké Balls into the air over his shoulders, one at a time, releasing all of his Pokemon upon the rooftop upon which he stood. A magnificent-looking shiny Milotic materialised first, coalescing from a blaze of crimson light to hit the rooftop floor. It was followed by a shiny Tyranitar with battle-hardened eyes, then a glossy-furred shiny Ampharos. Next to emerge was a shiny Sceptile with two scars running in a multi-diagonal, X-shaped slash over its left eye, both of which trailed down to the right-hand corner and the left-hand corners of its lips. A shiny Charizard with long-healed, snow-white scars that looked like forked lightning studied Jester intently. Its scars criss-crossed the length and the breadth of its leathery wings flapped its wings and it belched a cloud of smoke, the second-last to emerge. His team was rounded-out by a capable-looking shiny Garchomp, which was his last Pokémon - although it was certainly not the least of them all. Jester fought to keep her jaw from dropping and her resolve from crumpling as she stared down each of the Pokémon in turn. "Milo, Tyra, Amp, Tile, Char and Chomp, do not battle Mewtwo unless I command you to do so. This is a meet and greet. Please remain where you are and say hi," Connor commanded. His Pokémon obeyed him without-question, granting a series of hisses, snarls, growls and shrieks of introductory response. Jester held absolutely-still as she roamed her gaze over each Pokémon in her turn, noting how well-preserved each Pokémon were under Connor's direction and attentions. "Mewtwo," Jester greeted in return. Now that she had revealed her ability to understand and to communicate with human speech, Jester wondered if Connor would now seek to use it to his own advantage and try to sell her to the highest possible bidder upon the Pokémon Black Market. She hoped that he would not. "OK," Connor said warily, "now that you've met my Pokémon and been assured of my on-the-level-ness, can I please turn to face you now? I have to hit up the next Gym before it closes this afternoon. It'll be difficult for me to back all the way up to the rooftop doorway." Jester considered Connor's request. She knew that the moment that Connor clapped eyes upon her, he would see that she was no ordinary Mewtwo. He would see that she possessed fur that not even Mewtwo's regular shiny variant possessed, and he would see that she possessed eerie blue eyes that were in place of shiny Mewtwo's pale-green eyes. But it was true that Connor would need to face her eventually and so with a roll of her eyes and a slight wave of her right paw, Jester growled her assent for Connor to turn toward her. "Thanks," Connor said, as he turned to face Jester directly. His eyes flared wide in absolute shock as he took note of her charcoal-grey fur, of her glowing, sky-blue eyes, of her sky-blue tail. Jester's eyes narrowed, almost to slits, as she took note of Connor's sand-blonde hair, which fell over one of his fog-grey eyes - eyes that Jester had seen once before...identical to Military Man's own eyes. So flabbergasted was Jester that she spoke, forgetting-herself in the instant of being-confronted by eyes such as Military Man's own eyes. "You - I'm not some THING that you seek to OWN!," Jester yelled, and then she zoomed into the air, spun around and then abandoned her rooftop home as she sought to put an immense ammount of distance between herself and Connor. She heard Connor swear in anguish and in stunned surprise as he recalled all but one of his Pokémon - his Charizard - then mounted it and commanded it to follow her. "STOP! You can talk? Were you just playing dumb before now? What else can you do? What more do you know?," Connor shouted, as he raced against time and against Jester as he sought to catch up to her. Jester gave no response as she sped-up, seeking to both outfly and outpace Connor to the point where he would give-up upon his pursuit of her and return to his Gym Challenge. As Jester flew, she realised that she recognised this place - this ravaged region. It was the Reborn Region. She had flown over a portion of the polluted Azurine Lake to get to her rooftop sanctuary, and it still pained her to have been forced to leave behind the things that she had scrounged for her own survival. Jester was determined to regain all that she had lost. Unperturbed by Jester's silence, Connor urged his Charizard on to greater agility, grace and speed and as Jester swooped around a building, Connor swept into position behind her right heel. "Mewtwo, stop! Hey, chill out. I understand how you feel. My dad's of that opinion about me - so is my brother, to a lesser extent. Why don't you join me? You could be my reserve Pokémon, and you would really turn the tide for me come League Challenge time. You'd also not have to worry about roughing-it. Think it over," Connor said cajolingly, "please." There was nothing for Jester to think over. Being someone's Pokémon - being anyone's Pokémon - ammounted to captivity. A humane kind of captivity, but captivity nonetheless. Her cage would consist of a brightly-coloured, tennis-ball-sized sphere that could be expanded to the size of half of a writer's journal. It was said that the interiour of a Poké Ball contained the most luxurious accommodations that were tailored-to each individual Pokémon's likes, climate and natural habitat. Jester was in no hurry to discover the truthfulness or the falsity of this personally. "No, thanks! I'd rather be my own boss," Jester called. "OK, final gambit - how about you join me, Poké Ball free - upon my journey? I could use your company," Connor proposed guilelessly. "Your father and brother - who are they? Describe them. Answer me and we'll see," Jester drawled, as she continued to fly away from Connor. At a loss to understand why the Mewtwo that he was chasing would want to know such trivial details, Connor rolled his eyes, sighed and then complied. "Dad's six foot five tall, with grey-flecked hair like mine, blue-grey eyes and a disarming smile. He's a Pokémon Professor who routinely visits this region to help provide Starter Pokémon to this region, as well as to our home region. My bro's in the military - a high-ranking, six foot three tall military man whose work I'm not cleared to know about. He's also the Champion of our region's Pokémon League, although great pains are made to keep his identity under-wraps up until the moment someone advances through the League ranks enough to challenge him. Their names are Professor Afton Elder and Colonel Artor Elder. I'm Connor Elder," Connor said evenly. "Your brother held me in captivity. Who's to say that you won't try to capture me?," Jester asked harshly. Connor gave a quick, unamused sigh. "I apologise upon Art's behalf. If I'd wanted to capture you - and believe me, I willingly want you upon my team - I could have tried that back at your rooftop. I didn't. I know better than to make you want to travel with me and my team. Please believe me when I tell you that you'd be much-better off with me than you would be without me. You can't trust the world and the poachers and opportunists in it, but you can trust me," Connor said pleadingly, stating his case to Jester. "Haven't you ever heard that you can't trust anyone who asks you to trust them? I can't deny that you hadn't immediately flung a Poké Ball at me, your Pokémon don't present as having-been mistreated and you hadn't sicced your relatives upon me upon first sight of me. I'll accompany you - but only until I've found a place and a space to support myself. I won't get into any Ball and I won't battle for you unless there is no other alternative," Jester said decisively. "You'd best not double-cross me, nor disappoint me. My trust does not come easily," Jester added grimly, and Connor gave a cheerful cheer. His Charizard roared with delight and Jester gave a slight smirk as she followed Connor back to the rooftop that she had sought to make her temporary home. "You won't want to lose all of these things. Wait a moment. I'll pack as much of these things as I can into my version of a Bag - my backpack," Connor said, as his Charizard landed safely upon the rooftop in front of Jester's tent. Connor gracefully dismounted his Charizard. Jester inclined her chin and then Connor rolled-up and packed-up Jester's sleeping-bag, secured it firmly around his Charizard's midsection to hang beside its saddle, then dismantled and packed-away Jester's tent and secured it against Charizard's right-hand side. He then rearranged his backpack and made space for half of the books that Jester had managed to squirrel away-from its original owner, making-sure to only include Jester's specified books. Connor then packed-away the food and water supplies within the Items section of his Backpack and then he did a head-check of the space to make sure that he hadn't missed anything. Upon determining that he had packed-away everything that he could fit within his Backpack, Connor gave a swift, decisive nod of self-satisfaction and then he lifted his brows as he met Jester's speculative gaze. "See? I'm as good as my word - better, even. Let's go. I'm staying at my cousin's - miles away from Art's barracks. Dad visits upon-occasion, but he always calls before he drops-in. We'll be right as rain," Connor announced, as Jester hid the remainder of the items so that it appeared that nothing and no-one had ever lived-here. Jester swept a farewell look around her space before she nodded to Connor and he mounted his Charizard. They both flew away and made their way to Connor's current residence away from his home. This place turned out to be an excellent, top-floor suite of an Obsidia Ward appartment building. Jester managed to tail Connor so effectively and quickly that she managed to not be seen walking into the building upon her hind-paws. Charizard walked at her heels in an effort to further conceal-her from view and Jester growled her thanks to the orange lizard Pokémon, who huffed out a short growl in easy response to her gratitude. Connor's cousin turned out to be one of Reborn's Gym Leaders. As such, this cousin was often not home until just before light's out. This made it extremely-unlikely that this Leader would happen-upon Jester. She and Connor kept in regular contact, Jester was informed. * A/N: An original story by me, myself and I. Please let me know what you think of it and what you'd like to see happen next within this story. :) ************************************************************************* Upload Schedule: Three current works upon this site necessitates a lot of time spent writing and editing, switch-ups of dialogue and so on. I will Endeavour to upload new creative content here with regularity. I'll try to not let too much time pass during uploads. I play each game as I write my take upon their story and scenes. This can be a blessing and a curse at times as I multitask between gameplay and writing. There exists this pesky little thing called muse. It strikes when it strikes and as soon as it does, it must be acted-upon. We all also have a life to live in the meantime and so that compounds matters all the more, but we all do what we can, as best as we can, when and where we can. Reviews: I cannot stress the fact more that reviews are key. I'm not trying to be salty or a gaslighter, but reviews are what make our content here well worth the effort and dedication of writing and uploading them here. In my honest opinion, leaving a critique or even just dropping a "Hi, I like your content" does and would go a long way to pay it forward to your fellow, hardworking writer/content creator. I can lead a metaphorical horse to water, but I can't make it drink. It's up to you to review if and when you're moved to do so. Writing without reviews feels more like journaling to me. It is isolating and frustrating at times, but it is ultimately worth doing to chronicle your thoughts, feelings and take upon these games.

Chapter One: Arrival and Multiple Rivals The train was fairly-new for its time, with pale, wooden floorboards, fuchsia-pink compartment-seats, which were spaced apart with an odd, square table within their centre that looked like it could be folded-away if needed. Old-fashioned sconce-lamps inset into the train's internal walls. Alisa was keen to take her seat and while away what she deduced would be a boring train-ride to the region that was to be her residence for the forseeable future. "Take your ticket. For the love of Reborn, don't lose it to shenani-gains," the ticket inspector said, as he handed Alisa her ticket. "It's shenanigans, Sir, and don't worry, I won't," Alisa replied, baring her even teeth in a mirthless grin as she took her ticket from the grungy-looking ticket inspector. "Make sure you don't. And while we're at it, you shouldn't put on fancy airs in this region. Some people would knock you down a couple of pegs. Top tip," the ticket inspector said warily, before he gave Alisa a crisp, solitary nod and turned toward the next customer in line upon the train. "Noted. Thank you," Alisa said graciously, and then she made her way to her designated seat and sat down upon it. She immediately noted that a woman with vibrant, long and lustrous white hair was seated opposite her, upon the window-seat side of their compartment. The woman was not old, and so Alisa had to wonder about the origin of her hair shade. Had the woman simply not been of the inclination to dye it any other colour, or could it be that she simply preferred this shade of hair, Alisa mused. Perhaps the shade denoted the woman's status within this region. In any case, it was of no matter. She paid no further mind to it. The journey passed in simple fashion, with no further incident. The white-haired woman turned away from the window and she spoke to Alisa. "Hello there! My name is Ame. I'm the manager for the Reborn League. You want to sign up for it? If so, it would be great! After the incident a few years ago, the whole region was almost completely abandoned - by people and Pokémon. Our Gym Leaders are like nothing you've seen before, and Reborn region is like no other! Can I see your boarding ticket, please?," The Woman of White said benevolently and amiably. Alisa produced her boarding ticket and handed it to Ame, who immediately inspected it with interest. "Alisa? I've got you down. We're almost at Grandview Station. After we disembark, just follow me to the Grand Hall. Once there, I'll give you a Starter Pokémon to kick off your Reborn adventure. If you'll -," Ame said kindly, but in the middle of handing Alisa back her boarding ticket, Ame stared, transfixed, at something, or at someone, who was directly behind Alisa. Immediately claiming her ticket as she turned to face the very strange, Alisa saw a disembodied shadow of a man fade out of thin air and then Alisa turned back toward Ame. "Strange. Shouldn't we be decelerating already? Oh, no - MOVE!," Ame said, as she turned quickly toward the window to her right-hand side. Ame then lunged up from her seat and crash tackled Alisa and herself out of the window before the train crashed. Alisa heard the sound of breaking glass. She felt the searing pain of glass shards tearing slashes of dubious import into her visage...but then she hit the ground. Shock helped her to pass out. * "...y, are you OK? Wake up!." Alisa awakened. It wasn't the most glamorous of awakenings as she was slowly guided into a sit-up position by a frazzled-looking Ame, who immediately deluged her with a concern that could be considered to be motherly. "Oh, thank goodness you're alive! The train exploded as we pulled into the station. I'm - I'm just glad that I could get us both out of there in time, but the others...why? Who would even -," Ame said shakily. A peppy-sounding voice spoke up, its owner moving into view upon a bouncing step. "Hihi!," a teenage girl wearing a bright-yellow cheerleading outfit and sporting an outrageous, high-ponytailed mop of teal-green hair said brightly. "Julia," Ame said decisively, in an unenthused tone. Before Alisa could even get more than an "I'm okay" in, Ame and the cheerleader held a conversation before her. "Julia, what did you do?," Ame enquired, arching her brows as she spoke. "I didn't do anything! I was at the Gym-Gym. I heard a BOOOOM, so I ran here! If things explode, I gotta see it. It's so cool!," Cheerleader Girl said bouyantly. "Uh-huh. Based upon the timing, it seems like the train was rigged to destroy Grandview Station," Ame said seriously. "They did a pretty good job!," Julia said, and there was a reverence within her tone that set Alisa's teeth on edge. Alisa didn't like the way that Julia's eyes kept straying back toward the point of impact of the shattered wreck that had been a fully-functioning train, and she really disliked the fervour upon Julia's face. There was a veneer of glee that seemed to emanate quite palpably from the girl whom Alisa fully-suspected to be a past firebug. Ame nodded slowly. She seemed to be grappling with a resolution and a realisation. "This isn't the time to be admiring their work. We must catch the perpetrator before they can elude our grasp. I'll lock the perimeter down. Alisa, I have to go. Catch up with me later. Find Victoria in front of the Great Hall. She's tall and has long black hair. It's just down this path, you can't miss it. I'll handle all of this," Ame said gravely, and then she turned and hurried away. She moved with magnificent hustle toward what was presumably the aforementioned Great Hall of Reborn. Which left Alisa with Julia, presently. Its instigator could still be monitoring their handiwork, Alisa thought. "So, you're Alisa? I'm Julia, captain of cheer and pep, and all things bubbly and bright! Are you going to take on the Reborn League?," Julia said cheerfully - much too cheerfully for their surroundings and in the aftermath of what could have been the cause of Alisa's premature, teenage death. Put very-much upon the spot as she thought about letting her parents know that she had arrived safely, Alisa blinked, and then spoke. "Yes," Alisa said, more firmly than she felt right now, discombobulated as she was. Julia jumped up and down upon the spot, shook the green pom-poms that she was carrying with feeling and then spoke. "Yes! Then I'll be seeing you very soon - I'm the Electric Gym Leader! I look forward to your challenge. Get on down to the Great Hall already," Julia said bossily, and then she stood with her back to the obliterated train, leaving the way forward open to Alisa. Get on down to the Hall already? I could have broken bones - or even have internal bleeding. I might get ten steps forward, only to collapse. Oh, wait - I already did that. Fuuuuudge whoever caused this, Alisa thought bitterly, as she found a Normal Gem in the cracked centre of a nearby white rock, then made her quick yet cautious way through the station. She then overheard two police officers discussing the situation across from the train's metal corpse. "The device was remotely triggered. The detonation device had to have been in a fifty-foot radius," Police Officer One said gravely. "The culprit is still most definitely around here...," Police Officer Two said flatly, glancing at Alisa at the very end of his sentence. His expression was immovable, his countenance youthful yet hard-edged with a desire to do well. "The interiour has held up," a police officer to Julia's left said calmly, "but the exteriour is completely trashed." A boy just past the train spoke up, bravely yet quaveringly. "I was just outside the station. The train pulled inside. Not a second later, the engine erupted into flames...," The Boy said. Alisa nodded, thanked the boy for his contribution to the fragmented picture puzzle of the events that she was trying to painstakingly-gather into a cohesive whole, and then she informally-interviewed everyone-else that was present and willing to be questioned by her. "This area is on lockdown due to the destruction. Entry is prohibited," a police officer standing within the entrance to the next part of this city section said tensely. And so Alisa pressed onward. Alisa's way forward was impeded with broken glass underfoot, to be treaded-upon with the very lightest of steps. The way forward seemed to last forever, but this was only because every now and then, Alisa stopped to discuss the event with passerby whom had either also been through it or had been standing near enough to it to have spectated it from where they had stood. A woman not too far away from the crash spoke. "You were on the exploded train? So was my fiancé," the maple-haired woman said, fresh tear-tracks still visible upon her face. Her expression was grave as she then turned away. Alisa then made her way right past the houses and fences and entered Opal Ward, where a man in a brown suit, black shoes, black socks and a brown fedora told her that this city had once been marvelous. A blue-haired woman standing nearby Fedora Man spoke to Alisa as she made her way toward her. "You were on the train? Oh, you poor thing! Are you hurt? Here, take this Potion!," Blue Hair said intently, and then she handed Alisa a brightly-coloured Potion item. After Alisa had placed the Potion within her Bag's Medicine pocket, Blue Hair tipped up her nose and then spoke, her nostrils flaring with self-defence as she spoke. "I know that it isn't for humans, but just take it, OK?," Blue Hair said, in a spitfire tone of voice. Alisa nodded, thanked the young woman and continued past her, moving toward the right-hand side of this ward. "Every personal study confirms that this water is making people sick. Why does the city keep denying it?," a nearby scientist posited in a clinical tone. Alisa nodded to the young man, who merely pushed up the left-hand eye-frame of his glasses in response. With a faint smile, he turned away from Alisa to face the steps of a grand building that could only be The Great Hall itself. A tall, black-haired lady with incredibly-toned biceps and calves stood upon the steps outside of The Hall. As Alisa approached her, this woman's gaze seemed to zoom-in upon-her and sharpen like a hawk's would. Alisa smiled at the slightly-elder woman, who acknowledged her greeting and her approach by giving a sharp up-tilt of her chin. "Hey, Alisa? I'm Victoria. It's nice to meet you. Are you OK? Ame asked that I bring you in for registration. It shouldn't take long. Let's go inside," Hawk Eyes - Victoria - said grimly. Alisa followed Victoria into the Hall. They both then approached a counter at the back of the expansive Hall, where Ame greeted them in her turn. How she had managed to get there so quickly after her arrangement of lockdown, Alisa would never know. "You're here. We caught a suspect almost-immediately. He is undergoing interrogation downstairs right now," Ame said. "A suspect? As in, from the station? I'd heard of a situation there," Victoria enquired. "Yes. It seems that he is not working alone. It is being taken-care of. You're both here to get signed-up for the Reborn League?," Ame said briskly. "That's right. Kiki said that it would be good training if I start anew. She asked if I could get a new Pokémon, too," Victoria said. "Normally, Reborn starters are reserved strictly for Reborn newcomers, but upon Kiki's request, I suppose that we can make an exception for you," Ame said accommodatingly. Victoria thanked her and nodded in response. "However, Alisa will have the first choice," Ame said. "I don't mind," Victoria replied, and then Ame led Alisa to the Pokémon Laboratory room that was located downstairs of the main reception. "These Pokémon are all set aside for Trainers to choose from. The tables run from top to bottom according to Pokémon Types - Grass, then Fire, then Water. The Pokémon are arranged from left to right in order of the Pokémon Region in which they had been discovered. Take any one that you would like," Ame said professionally. This left Alisa within quite the quandary. Firstly, she swept the Grass section, moving from Poke Ball to Poke Ball, looking for just the right Pokémon that would help her to sweep the entirety of the Reborn League. Secondly, Alisa perused the Water section. The order ran thusly: Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treecko, Turtwig, Snivy, Chespin and Rowlet. The secondary order ran from: Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, Fennekin and Litten. The third and final order ran from: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, Oshawott, Froakie and Popplio. She did quite like Piplup. In her past experience, the penguin Pokémon had made for quite the solid Steel/Water battler and she did admire the trident spikes that served as its unique and intimidating facial mask. She also was partial to Chimchar, because its feisty final evolution, when paired with the Iron Fist ability, made for one awesome physical sweeper of a 'mon. It was a tough sell, all-told, but Alisa finally chose Turtwig. She didn't nickname it and unlike some, she did not soft-reset it until it was shiny. She did, however, soft-reset it until it showed-up with a great Nature. It was Adamant in Nature, had the Shell Armour ability and it had decent IVs and EVs. She was certain, as she returned to stand before Ame, that she would shiny-hunt every Event Pokémon that she would encounter throughout her journey. This would ammount to many soft-resets, but she was absolutely-fine with that, as Reborn had recoloured shiny variants. Alisa really liked shiny Numel and its evolution, Camerupt. In her opinion, its dusty purple and molten ruby colour scheme really suited the great Pokémon that could. Ame spoke. "Alright. Let's not keep Victoria waiting," Ame said casually, and then she led Alisa back down to the Hall reception desk. "So, which one did you choose, Alisa? I already know which one I want," Victoria said nonchalantly. "Shall we?," Ame asked. "Okay. Wait here, Alisa?," Victoria said to Alisa, who nodded in response. Victoria and Ame then entered the Laboratory Room so that Victoria could select her Starter Pokémon. Meanwhile, Alisa made her way toward the Hall entrance, where she was stopped in her tracks by a stranger. "Heyyy, you're cute. I didn't say anything! Ohhhh, Ame's with someone else. 'Kay. My name's Cain. How about yours?," the fish-netted, purple-haired young man with extremely-wild mischief and mannerisms said flirtatiously. "I'm Alisa," Alisa introduced herself cautiously, not knowing what this person wanted from her and why this person had approached her out of the blue. "Alisa...pretty name. So, you just got your first Pokémon. Are you going to challenge the League? Figure I'd start over and try to take this League on. Want to battle, Alisa?," Cain said sassily, and then he threw out his one and only Pokémon (thus far), a Poison-type Nidoran. Alisa summoned her Turtwig in response and she commanded it imperiously. "Turtwig, Tackle!," Alisa commanded decisively, and her Turtwig threw itself at Nidoran, landing the first strike. Its attack did a decent chunk of chip damage and the Nidoran recoiled, surprised by the Turtwig's focus and control. "Nidoran, Scratch," Cain yelped, and his Nidoran performed its Scratch attack, but it missed, sliding past Turtwig only to then return to its starting position. It then landed two further Scratch attacks, but it was swiftly taken-down by Turtwig. "Cute AND talented," Cain opined, before he recalled Nidoran to its Poke Ball and stood back to stare at Alisa admiringly. Feeling spotlighted and a little bit flattered by Cain's attention and compliments, Alisa recalled her Turtwig, which had levelled up one and a half levels due to its combat experience. "Very nice! C'mon, let's get your Pokémon healed-up at the Pokémon Centre. It's built-in right over there," Cain said firmly, and then Alisa followed Cain to the initial desk which housed a Pokémon Healing Unit and the Nurse Joy of this region. When asked if she would like to heal her Pokémon, Alisa replied in the affirmative, handed over her Turtwig's Poke Ball and watched as it was settled into a slot within the Healing Unit and healed instantly. After the green light flashed twice to signal its completion, the Nurse Joy retrieved the Ball from its slot, then handed the Ball back to Alisa, who accepted it with her thanks. After giving an airy wave of her left hand which meant 'Don't mention it,' the Nurse Joy resettled herself before her desktop computer. Ame and Victoria then made their way over to Cain and Alisa. "There you are!," Victoria said. "Sorry, I stole Alisa," Cain said apologetically. "Oh, right. Sorry. I'd forgotten that you were stopping by," Ame said coolly. "It's okayyyy. While you were gone, Alisa and I had some fun," Cain said playfully. "Some fun? I didn't know you were like that, Alisa," Victoria said tonelessly. "Haha, no, we just had a battle," Cain said reassuringly. Victoria looked visibly-relieved to hear that. "That's great! I want to test out my new Pokémon. Alisa, are you up for one more battle?," Victoria countered. In the spirit of 'I thought you'd never ask,' Alisa flung out her Turtwig and it rocked from side to side as it entered this new battle, ready for anything. "Cain, I'll register you for battle while they battle. Come with me," Ame said to Cain. "Ooh, yes, Master," Cain replied flirtily, and then the two went to complete Cain's registration. "Master?," Ame asked incredulously. "Nothing," Cain said innocently, as they walked away. Definitively sure that she didn't want to know what Cain had meant by that, Alisa watched Victoria release her own Starter Pokémon, which, surprisingly enough, was a Litten. So much for not choosing Type-superiour Pokémon, Alisa thought, as she took command of what she was determined to make her battle. "Turtwig, Scratch that Litten!," Alisa commanded. "Litten, Scratch!," Victoria demanded, and her Litten hissed as it performed its Scratch attack. There proceeded to be a Scratch battle as the two Starters exchanged attacks. After a Critical Hit from Litten, Turtwig emerged victorious with its penultimate Scratch, levelling up to Level Seven thanks to this combat experience. "Wow...I'm speechless!," Victoria said breathlessly, returning her Litten to its Poke Ball as she spoke. "You're no ordinary Trainer, are you," Victoria said calculatedly. Cain approached the two Trainers. "Heyy. Ame is waiting for you two. I'm gonna hit the road - see ya!," Cain said, and then he left the Hall. "Awesome! Let's get League registered," Victoria said, snapped out of her perusal of Alisa by Cain's arrival and summons. "Sorry to keep you waiting!," Victoria said to Ame, as she and Alisa re-approached the main reception desk. "No worries. I took care of the documentation. On to your Trainer Pack: Firstly, a PokéDex. You know the drill," Ame said, handing Alisa the Pokémon Index as she spoke. As Alisa glanced at it, then put it away within the Key Items section of her Bag, Ame continued. "Secondly, the PokéGear. This device lets you check the map and listen to music. There may be other apps for it. As a SilphCo bonus, take these Running Shoes. You can dash around as if you're The Flash!," Ame said, and handed Alisa the two items. Alisa put the PokéGear within Key Items, took off her casual running-shoes and put on her new Running Shoes, admiring them even as she packed away her casual shoes into the Key Items pocket. She then strapped the watch-like Pokémon Gear to her left wrist, zipped up her Bag, which was her black backpack with its Great Ball left side-pocket, Master Ball right side-pocket, Poke Ball zip and Reborn central-pocket and slung her Bag back over her shoulders. She then straightened up and met Ame's gaze as Ame next spoke. "You’re all set. I'm going to go check on the interrogation. Good luck to you both," Ame said, and then she went downstairs. Alisa made sure to thank Ame before she left, and then she spoke to Victoria. "I need to go now, but it was nice to meet you, Victoria," Alisa said to Victoria, and Victoria nodded. "I will tell Kiki, my teacher, that I'm on my way. I'm an Apophyll Academy apprentice. It's in Reborn's Azurine Region. They'll love it if you'd stop by, Kiki is Reborn's Fighting Gym Leader! These might help you," Victoria said. She handed Alisa five Poké Balls. Alisa packed the Balls away within the Items pocket of her Bag and then Victoria spoke. "People say that Pokémon are rare in the city of Reborn, but...you can still find them. They just like to stay hidden," Victoria said, and then she left the Hall. After having been informed that after she had gotten a good team going, she could then challenge the Peridot Ward Gym, Alisa left the Hall and made her way to the grass to the right of the Hall. She conducted a few wild Pokémon battles, levelled Turtwig up to level 10, caught a Level Five Pidgey and then she set about training it and a low-level Meowth. She wanted to have a decent Pokémon Party that would see her through to her First Gym Challenge. Alisa's newly-caught Pidgey, which she nicknamed Streamline, learned Gust at Level Nine. It had but one more level to reach before Alisa ventured up the East-side steps that would lead to Obsidia Ward and the South ward beyond that, as well as to the Third Gym in Onyx Ward. Alisa trained on and Pidgey finally reached Level Ten. Upon venturing East-ward, then North-ward, Alisa encountered a small group of thugs who were threatening to pitch a frightened and wild Zigzagoon into the muddy waters of Reborn. "Hey! We're busy here. Scram!," the leader of the pack, a teenager wearing a dawn-pink hoodie, shorts and baseball cap said menacingly. Pink Cap then sent out a low-level Trubbish. Alisa sent out her Turtwig. "Scratch, Turtwig!," Alisa yelled. "Pound, Trubbish, now!," Pink Cap screeched, and the two Pokemon immediately attacked one another. Turtwig took down the Trubbish and Alisa immediately confronted Pink Cap's pack-members. "Do what you want," Pink Cap said, as he stepped aside to let Alisa confront his two hoodlum colleagues. "Hey, little Pokemon," Thug one crooned, "you disobey us, we'll throw you over this balcony." Thug Two noticed Alisa. "Back off, kid. This is our find," Thug Two sneered. Alisa stepped in to defend the poor wild 'mon, sending out her Turtwig and her Streamline against the initial two goons' Mudbray and Fomantis. Streamline's Gust took down Fomantis in one critical, tactical sweep, while Turtwig's Tackle, combined with Gust, made short shrift of the remaining Mudbray, proving that you could go against type and still win upon occasion. The thug duo immediately recalled their Pokemon, then lifted their hands placatingly. "Eyyy...OK, already," Thug One said, while Thug Two said "Hmmph" and handed over his and his friend's prize-money for a battle well-fought. "Fine," Thug One said, and he stepped away from the beleaguered Zigzagoon. Thug Two made no move to stop Alisa as she soft-reset the Zigzagoon, keeping it only when it showed-up, shiny, in her Party. Alisa chose to nickname this Party-member Hoodlum (after its roguish appearance and after one of her favourite Pokémon YouTubers, the great HoodlumScrafty.) She saw that Hoodlum very-handily possessed the Nature of Pickup, which would be a tremendous boon in her travels around Reborn. Items were expensive and so free items - especially if they were of the healing and capture variety - would go a long way. The little black-and-white, blue-eyed Zigzagoon, Hoodlum, wagged his spiky tail as he rode shotgun within Alisa's backpack, its beady black eyes inspecting everything around it as its head poked out of the middle pocket of the Bag. Alisa made her way to the Lower Peridot Ward from here, backtracking past the destroyed train and finally granted access past the chain-link fence, which the police officer from earlier now stood beside. A look within the nearby houses proved fruitful - a battle within one appartment yielded an Old Rod, while another one yielded a wild Whismur, which Alisa soft-rest to get a sky-blue version of. She nicknamed this Whismur Boombox. Another battle nearby granted access to a rooftop garden, while another one yielded a Kricketot in need of a new home, which Alisa reset-for via quick-save. A few Trainers later and Lower Peridot Ward was all but clear for Alisa to travel freely within. Alisa visited the Underground Railnet via the Lower Peridot train-tracks side and soft-reset until she had encountered, and then captured, a shiny, white and red Woobat. She nicknamed her new Party-member Rider, after her favourite literary character and spy, Alex Rider. It had been the best that she could think of in regard to an on-the-spot nickname. She then tried to locate and shiny-hunt a shiny Noibat, but she was unsuccessful at that right now. Alisa meandered back to the factory where the fedora-wearing gentleman still remained. Only one Trainer remained for her to challenge and it was a dweeby-looking guy with silken, turquoise-green floppy hair, khaki-green shorts, a teal-green t-shirt, black running-shoes and glasses that perched upon the end of his nose and an obnoxious look upon his face. This teenager looked as though he considered the world to absolutely owe him favours and Alisa disliked him intensely at first sight. After clearing out the first alleyway in Peridot Ward that was East of its central tracks, Alisa remained there for a bit in order to shiny-hunt, as well as to finish-off her Pokémon's training-regimen. At this point, everyone was Level Thirteen, which suited Alisa to a tee, as she would only challenge the First Gym once everyone was at Level Eighteen. This was as close to the Level Twenty level-cap that she would let them get to, as she didn't want to risk having them lapse into disobedience. Alisa then approached the green-haired, male Trainer who was standing near the Peridot Ward factory. At Alisa's approach, the young man turned and tilted his left brow, slowly pushing his glasses up to rest against the bridge of his nose with his right pointer-fingertip as he did-so. "Ugh. They said to meet at the old factory. Maybe they meant the other one. Hm? Name's Fern. I'm the cool cat, and the top dog. Got it? Get ready for a lesson in class!," Green Hair said snarkily, and then he flung out a Poké Ball that opened to reveal his first Pokémon - a Level 12 Budew, which Rider took out with three super-effective Confusion attacks. Fern then sent out a Level 10 Sandile, and Alisa switched to her Kricketot, which she was considering giving a nickname to. She would call it Decibel after this battle. "Kricketot, Absorb!," Alisa commanded, and the Dark/Ground type Sandile was knocked-out of the battle. Fern then sent out his Level 13 Rowlet, which Alisa countered with her Level 14 Pidgey's - Streamline's - Peck attacks. It got obliterated. "Hah! Way to get lucky," Fern grumbled, and then he handed Alisa her hard-earned prize-money, which was surprisingly-worth the expenditure of her battle efforts at just above two hundred Poké Dollars. "I have places to be, and people waiting for me. You don't even have a Badge. You should go work on that. Later, loser!," Fern sniped, and then he left the scene. Alisa returned her Pokémon to their Poké Balls and then she headed to Peridot Ward Gym after nicknaming her Kricketot Decibel. She bumped into Julia, who was on her way out of her Gym as Alisa was entering the Gym. "Oh, hihi, Alisa! Sorry, I can't battle you right now. We've got trouble! The perp was working in a team. He said that the next place that they were going to retcon was the power plant - MY Gym! Nobody booms things without me, especially not my things. I'm going to school them. Gotta run!," Julia said, and Alisa stood aside to allow Julia room to pass her by. Julia stopped at the chain-link fence entrance - or 'fen-trance,' as Alisa liked to call it - and turned back toward Alisa. "Why don't you come along? Meet us at Mosswater Factory - it's by the train tracks. See you there!," Julia said intently, and then she moseyed on down to said factory. Alisa revised her previous plans and made her way to the factory that Julia had referred-to. Julia was congregated before the door of Mosswater Factory. "Alisa, you made it! The door is sealed shut, soooo...stand back!," Julia said expressively. Alisa made sure to stand well back, her eyes widening with sudden and dread-filled realisation as she watched Julia at work. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...," Julia intoned, and the door exploded, destroyed by one of Julia's improvised and effective explosives. "All better!," Julia said in a smug and satisfied tone, as Fern and another person whom Alisa had yet to meet approached Julia and Alisa, the latter of whom had moved back to stand not far away from Julia. "Hey, where did you guys come from?," Julia asked, puzzled, as she took notice of the latecomers. "Explosion detected. Julia's prescence - confirmed," the robotic-sounding newcomer who stood at Fern's right-hand side said in a monotone drawl. "Make things go boom - acquire friends. Alisa, this is Florinia. Back at Onyx Trainer's School, we were room-mates and BFFs. Aaaaand this is Fern. Hi, Fern. Okay, moving on!," Julia said excitedly, modulating her tone to sound much-less enthused when referring to Fern. "Hah! I get no respect. Alisa and I have already met," Fern growled. "Time wastes. Let us proceed," Florinia said tonelessly, and then Fern spoke once more. "Hey, Alisa - we got off upon the wrong foot, but it's cool, right? Don't mind my weird sister. People call her 'Flobot'," Fern said drolly. "I call her Rini. She's not a robot! Supposedly, this is their base. The guy who decommissioned the station is from this group, Team Meteor. If we don't boom their faces off, they're gonna keep booming everything else! Which is a practice I ordinarily approve of. Chaaaaarge!," Julia said heatedly, reminding everyone of their current mission. Everyone but Alisa did just that. Alisa checked her Party, rearranging it to suit myriad factors. She then visited a ward house in Lower Peridot Ward that had a blocked-off back room. The Fisherman that stood before its open doorway tossed his Pokemon into the metaphorical ring and Alisa battled-him for access to the back room. Her Level 11 Rider performed Confusion at her behest, and the Level 10 Goldeen succumbed to Confusion Status. It didn't hurt itself and fired-off a Horn Attack, which hurt Rider, but didn't cripple him. Rider then tanked a secondary Horn Attack and two Gusts later, Rider emerged victorious. The Fisherman handed over his prize-money and Alisa was granted access to the back room of this house, which contained a wide pool within which swam Goldeen for her to catch with her Old Rod, should she so choose to do-so. Alisa then returned to Mosswater Factory and she took a moment to stand before it, psyching-herself up a moment before she would enter it. * A/N: Thanks for reading, thus-far. Please let me know a) what you think of this creative work and b) if you have any Pokemon team-member suggestion/s and/or team nickname ideas - I will make sure that I apply any name/s that I like to my current Party post-haste. Cheers and boomies, Valyrian. :)