Chương 2: Silver II

"I challenge you to a pokemon battle!" I let out a deep sigh of aggravation, that mostly stemmed from the fact I had only pulled a few hours of sleep last night. Man, what the hell? I barely even got to take in the scenery of something besides the forest, before being bombarded. Not even two seconds after finally stepping out of the forests of Route 29, I was instantly approached by some kid who seemed eager to battle. They were literal NPCs. Who even camped out over here?

What an inconvenient spot to choose as your base... It was a bland kid with a pair of shorts, a white tee and a reverse hat on. He looked to be a few years younger than me, but I was clearly not good at identifying ages so I wouldn't make an actual guess. Despite him camping my location (did multiple people come out of the forests?!) like he was a sniper, I couldn't stop the well of excitement from coursing through my body.

That intoxicating rush that I felt while robbing Elm, surged up at the prospect of my very first pokemon battle. Sure I had barely even done any training, but that would just make this all the more interesting. The best way to learn, was to actually practice so this battle would be a great learning experience. I had returned Zorua and Chikorita by now for obvious reasons and for even more obvious reasons, I wouldn't be using my grass type for this battle.

Logically speaking, battling right now wasn't the wisest of decisions... but I wouldn't be battling trainers for quite a bit. I would prefer to remain as anonymous as possible... I'd be handicapping myself in my mission by not gaining the comfort of battling trainers... so I'd accept just this battle and then continue on my path.

"Alright. 1 on 1," I said shortly, running through plans and the battles I had seen in the anime from years ago. Surprisingly, it came rather easy to me and I pursed my lips at that. My memory was excellent now, a far cry from my forgetfulness in my old body. The youngster grinned at me and pulled out a shiny red Pokeball before lobbing it.

"Sentret, let's go!" He shouted eagerly. I gazed at the brown mammal with a searching gaze, not quite sure what I was looking for but shrugging all the same. In terms of Pokemon, it looked rather basic and actually looked like it could fit in with the animals on Earth. A Sentret... I didn't say a word as I calmly released Zorua. The fox materialized, just as silent as me and perked up slightly at seeing the Sentret across from it.

"Woah?! What's that?!" The kid asked in awe, eyes sparkling at my first pokemon. I ignored him, too deep in my own thoughts to acknowledge him. I wasn't sure if Silver and Zorua had battled before, but this was my first battle and losing to a youngster would be a blow to my confidence that my ego would want fixed as soon as possible. Aka, training until I could crush all 8 gym leaders. I still planned on doing that but if I lost... I'd do that more.

There was a real chance, my inexperience with actual pokemon battles could make me lose this match. Sure, Silver was absolutely a prodigy, but I wasn't really Silver…... What am I thinking? I didn't have to be Silver. Silver was content to be second fiddle to Gold or Crystal. He was content to be a loser at the end of the day. I didn't want to be second fiddle to anyone. Who the hell was content to be in second place when you had the skills to go higher?

Since I knew Silver was a prodigy, I'd exploit his talent and become something he couldn't. Yeah... I'd be better than Gold and Crystal in any timeline. And if I were better than them, that meant I was better than Silver. Scratch that. They weren't even on my radar. I had no intention of staying in Johto and meeting up with those two repeatedly, but if we did ever meet, I'd crush either one for my own satisfaction to prove to myself that I am better than Gold, Crystal and Silver.

A cocky smirk made its way onto my face, as my blood began pulsing. Yeah that's right. I was going to take this body to places it had never seen before. No losing every single battle to my rival. Just for you Silver, I'd show you how it felt to be the main star of the show. I'd show you what it felt like being chased instead of chasing people. I'd gather and create my own army and I'd take out anyone who thought they could beat me.

Resolve set, I glared challengingly at the kid who was soon to become my first victim.

"Sentret, use scratch!" The kid shouted, snapping me out of my musings. There was no way I was losing this battle.

"Zorua, dodge then test it with scratch," I said after a short while. Credits to Zorua for not even hesitating to follow my orders. The little guy was a real soldier, deftly leaping to the left before lunging in like an assassin, landing sharp white claws directly on Sentret's midsection. Red claw marks appeared on the normal types skin and it squealed as it flew back, collapsing on the floor. … Should I push my advantage? … Why wasn't the Sentret moving?

"Aw man you're so strong!" The kid said, returning his unconscious Sentret with a downtrodden expression. …

"What?" I said dumbly, exchanging a confused glance with Zorua.

"That's it?"

"Zor," he shrugged helplessly, making his way to my side. I got myself that psyched up… for that? That whole speech earlier about becoming the star and getting chased by people I'd normally be chasing... for this? A one-shot… with my weakest attack move? No buffs or nothing… just a regular scratch… And it was down for the count?

"Are you serious?" I said incredulously, gazing at the kid in confusion. Was this kid taking me for a fool? Did he think he needed to go easy on me? Did I look like that much of a noob?

"You should have used your strongest pokemon, kid. Not some freshly caught one. At least get to know it better before challenging someone," I advised, looking a little annoyed. What a waste. Getting myself hyped up for no reason. My excitement had been stopped cold at this disappointment of a battle and I couldn't stop the scowl from forming on my face.

"Huh?" The kid blinked, looking a little shocked at my words.

"I-I didn't just catch Sentret! He's my first pokemon! I had him for 3 months now!" … What.

"You had that Sentret for 3 months?" I asked in disbelief, feeling a surging annoyance rise in me that I didn't realize was unnatural to me.

"What the hell have you even been doing? Do you train at all? Are you just camped out in this spot for no other reason than to lose battles?" The kid flinched back at my harsh tone, eyes wide in confusion at my annoyance.

"I took out your Sentret in one attack," I stressed, brows furrowed. I could practically feel the frustration pulsing through my body. It was odd. Normally, I wouldn't be so annoyed with something like this. He was just a kid after all... but maybe the disappointment and stress of the situation got to me.

"How can you be so satisfied being so weak? That's just so damn embarrassing..." I scoffed, snatched my prize money out of his hand (I read up on some rules last night about Pokemon battles!) and walked past the teary eyed kid.

"Waste of a battle. Waste of my time. C'mon Zorua, let's go," I muttered. Stupid. Why did I expect a youngster to be worth anything? I bet the kid still wore diapers. Calling them actual trainers would be a disgrace-"Hey." I paused and if possible, my annoyance managed to grow. I knew that voice. Wasting my time on this stupid youngster put me in a terrible situation, and I grit my teeth to avoid cursing everything around me.

Unfortunately for them, this first battle experience of mine had completely soured my mood.

"Fuck off," I said harshly, continuing my gait with Zorua by my side. A hand on my shoulder, stopped me in my tracks and I slowly turned to face the idiot, murder in my eyes. Silver eyes, as pale as the moon, clashed with gold eyes, as bright as the sun, both burning with a different type of anger. Righteous for one. Cold for the other.

"Stop being a dick first!" Gold snarled, looking dearly like he wanted to punch me. Seems like he and Crystal were traveling together because the girl was currently consoling the crying kid while glaring at me. Surprisingly —something I'd realize later was definitely unnatural— I didn't even feel a little bad. I was just really annoyed because one choice by me, made things very quickly spiral out of control.

"Get your hands off me," I warned calmly, eyes narrowed as I stared at the slightly shorter boy.

"Not until you apologize to Jimmy for being completely out of line, dude," the main character of the Johto region demanded. I sighed and lunged, gripping his arm and bodily flipping him over me with startling ease.

"Anime strength is bullshit," I thought to myself as he landed back first on the floor from my effortless throw.

"!" Gold gasped, eyes going wide as the wind was knocked out of him. I sneered down at the coughing trainer, a cold satisfaction filling my body at my actions.

"Gold!" Crystal shouted with a look of concern, rushing over to him and hoisting him up with a worried look. At the same time one of his Pokeballs rustled furiously, before a Cyndaquil burst out, glaring at me with a surprising amount of fury. Crystal's own Pokeball shook and a Totodile released itself. It snarled at me in some recognition and it basically confirmed my thoughts that like Chikorita, the starters knew who I was.

I gazed at them coolly, watching them growl threateningly at me but making no move to attack me yet. I snorted, lab raised mons sure were gentle.

"What is your problem?!" Crystal asked me, eyes narrowed in fury as she pushed herself up and jabbed a finger to my chest. She was also shorter than me, blue hair rustling as those crystalline blue eyes gazed up at me with a stern disappointment. Yeah, no. I easily grabbed her hand mid poke and squeezed with some force." My problem, is that you and your boyfriend keep touching me, after I just said don't touch me. Are you an idiot?" I stressed, squeezing tighter and tighter until she winced from the pressure.

I was already cursing myself for somehow running into these two without my hoodie on, thinking it would be suspicious to just walk around with it in a populated area. Not doing that again. This hoodie was staying on regardless of what anyone else thought. What were the odds that they were even in the area?! Was it that damn God making sure I run into my "rivals"? What type of heartless kids go on a journey one day after hearing their professor got sent to the hospital, with the starters!

This was way too convenient… I couldn't believe this terrible luck. Well, whatever. After this meeting, I'd be moving at a pace that made sure we'd likely never see each other again. This would be our first and last encounter… so I might as well make it one to remember. I was still super annoyed at that first battle so -"Battle me asshole," Gold demanded with a deep glare, as he snatched Crystal away from me. A battle between Gold and I.

An actual prodigy in battling if he was similar to any version of himself that was important. Might as well see how I shape up to the real geniuses of the world. I planned on being better than all of them after all. Also, I'll give Silver his first and only win against Gold. Least I could do for hijacking his body. I rolled my eyes.

"Up for another, Zorua?" I asked my first pokemon. The fox's eyes lit up at the fact I was consulting with him and he nodded vigorously, barking as he got into ready position.

"Alright Cyndaquil, let's teach him a lesson!" Gold barked, glaring at me with a cocky smirk.

"Once I win, I'll get you to apologize to Jimmy and Crystal." I shrugged, mind running through how I planned on winning this. Like it or not, this was the guy that had the potential to be a champion level trainer. It didn't matter if he just became a trainer, you either had the spark or you didn't... But Gold was underestimating Zorua's strength.

"Zorua, leer," I began, testing the waters.

"Cyndaquil, leer!" Gold retorted. At the same time, both pokemon began growling at each other and I had no interest in having this cute little stare off continue.

"Hone in," I said easily, eyes narrowed. We hadn't trained much, but I did explain my goals for each of them. My main goal, was for Zorua to become a master of his ability, Illusion, to the point no one could tell if he had them up or not. We were already practicing some keywords that let him know I wanted him to throw up illusions. Hell we could even condition them into thinking we were using illusions and fake em out. It was genius!

"Cyndaquil, Ember don't let him get close!" Gold ordered. Cyndaquil opened his mouth and fired out some pellets of fire at Zorua that the fox dodged. The fire type continued to fire at the fox, ensuing a chase of sorts that lasted up until the fire mouse let out a victorious growl at landing a successful hit. That growl, turned into one of confusion as the fire flew right through my pokemon.

"Scratch," I smirked. Gold's confusion turned into horror, as Zorua burst from the shadows and clawed Cyndaquil's back with ruthless precision.

"CYNDAQUIL!" Gold shouted in horror, watching the mouse tumble across the ground.

"Again. Make sure it doesn't get up," I said ruthlessly, pushing the advantage. Zorua let out a disturbingly similar smirk to mine (I kinda liked it) and dashed off to finish his target.

"Cyndaquil let out a widespread smokescreen!" Gold ordered with narrowed eyes. My eyes widened at the order.

"Zorua back off!" I barked. Turns out, Zorua and I were both pretty arrogant. We thought the match was as good as over. The big fog of smoke said otherwise. Zorua tried to pull back but the momentum carried him too far and he got a lung full of smoke in response.

"Zor!" He gagged, coughing harshly from the oily air.

"Tackle!"

"Cynda!" The mouse growled fiercely as it rushed and slammed its full weight into Zorua.

"Zorua!" I couldn't help but yell in slight concern as he was sent tumbling across the ground.

"You've got Cyndaquil all fired up! Let's finish this! Use Double Kick!" Gold barked, flashing a victorious grin as Cyndaquil began glowing with fighting energy." Double kick?!" I thought in disbelief. What the hell were these starters being fed?! If that hit it was as good as over… Not a chance in hell. I paused as I noticed the prone Zorua and I felt my eyes widen.

"Zorua, hang in there! Move and use Extrasensory!" I barked out. Nothing, all he did was twitch as Cyndaquil rushed him. As the iron mouse got closer and closer, my face got more and more concerned… Until it melted away in favor of a smug smirk. Gold actually caught the shift in expression and his eyes widened.

"Wait! Cyndaquil back off! It's a trick!" He shouted but it was too late.

"Zorua, Extrasensory!" I barked victoriously. My little fox wasn't just a fair bit stronger than Chikorita, naturally he was stronger than all three of the starters. He oversold that Tackle on purpose like the little genius he was! Zorua's play dead scheme worked perfectly and my dark type shot up with a vicious gleam, eyes glowing before he opened his mouth and fired a rainbow colored beam that hit the jumping Cyndaquil right in the gut.

"Quil!" Cyndaquil wheezed, getting sent flying back to Gold's side of the field like a deflated balloon. It crashed into the ground with a thud and laid there.

"No way… I lost?" Gold thought in shock, watching Cyndaquil not even let out a twitch. My body stopped pulsing as the sweet feeling of victory coursed through me and I smirked a violent smirk.

"Nice, Zorua!" I praised, picking the dark type up and settling him on my shoulders.

"You did fantastic playing dead there. That win felt good didn't it? Let's keep it up." Zorua puffed his chest proudly and accepted my praise with a pleased grin. Yes, this wasn't his old trainer… but he liked this version of him much more so he wouldn't complain.

"Gold lost?" Crystal said in shock, gazing at the cruel redhead with wide eyes.

"But he's the best battler in New Bark!" The gold eyed teen was looking at Cyndaquil in shock, not quite believing he had actually lost and considering who he was, he probably hadn't lost to anyone but Crystal back home. That made me feel even better. This battling thing would surely get harder but right now, I was on the same playing field. I had a bunch of time to improve and I'd use everything at my disposal to do that. Now if only I watched the anime more…

that was the source of pokemon content with the most creative methods of battling. I could have stole some stuff there. I pulled out a potion from the medicine section of my bag and sprayed Zorua with it, noting that I didn't have to use the whole thing before he was fully healed.

"Neat," I thought in fascination, watching his wounds close up. Still, if I'm right. That's the Cyndaquil that was just in the lab and already he and Gold were doing work. If I used Chikorita to fight him… the type advantage might have made it a one-sided slaughter. I scowled. I needed to get better. Winning felt good and winning convincingly, would feel even better.

"Give me my money," I demanded harshly. Gold flinched at that and mindlessly rustled around for the amount, handing it off to me and not reacting as I rudely snatched it out of his hand. Without so much a word, I began my trek towards Cherrygrove, glancing at a sign that confirmed that I was heading in the right direction. That snapped Gold out of his daze and he glanced up at the one who defeated him.

"Wait! You still haven't apologized to Jimmy," Gold exclaimed, shaking off his loss and glaring at me. I glanced in disinterest at him.

"I have nothing to apologize for. He should apologize for ambushing me and then wasting my time," I said coolly. As I was about to take another step, snarling interrupted me and Totodile stepped directly in front of me. I stared at the pokemon that should have been my starter and noted the clear recognition in its furious eyes. So I played the ignorant card.

"I'm not accepting anymore battles," I said, glaring at Crystal now.

"Get it out of my way." I idly noted that the little kid was gone now, probably running off to go heal that Sentret of his. The girl jumped at that, not knowing how to react to someone so callous and rude before she hesitantly returned Totodile despite his protests. Huh, that was surprisingly effective. This rude bit was a great way to avoid conversation and Silver had a natural resting bitch face. Gold glared at me, fury filling him in a way that he probably couldn't explain.

"What is your deal?" He snarled, closing the distance again and threatening to butt heads with me again. I noted with an amused smirk, that he wasn't making contact with me this time. Despite feeling good about winning that battle. I didn't want to stay here any longer than I needed to. The only reason I left the forest, was because I noticed that there was a constructed road and man made guides that led you to the next town in a faster route then trudging through all those trees.

I had actually seen quite a bit of pokemon while traversing through the forests and I noted that some of them weren't native to the Johto region! It was rather fascinating seeing them mingling about and minding their own business. It was a type of immersion that was impossible to experience unless you were actually there. Starly, Wurmple, Budew… I even saw a family of Pansage, led by an intimidating Simisage. None were keen on attacking me, but I wouldn't test my luck or risk antagonizing them.

Of course the moment I leave, I run into Gold and Crystal… though I suppose they did take a shorter route so it made sense. Not to mention they had the other two starters… did that mean Elm was well enough to give them out? This world probably had really good healing… He didn't see me at all so I should be good for a bit longer. I shoved past Gold with a sneer and said, "Losers should know how to accept their losses quietly. I'm done wasting my time here so fuck off before I get violent."

Props to Gold for not stepping down for a second.

"You wanna go? Let's go then!" The Johto native growled. He missed the way I clenched my fist at my side but before I could raise it to slam into his temple, a hand pushed both of us back.

"That's enough!" Crystal said loudly.

"Gold, don't stoop to his level! You're better than that!" She chided. I scoffed as the boy loosened his stance and that prompted her to round on me.

"I don't know who hurt you but you shouldn't act so nasty to people!" She frowned deeply, glaring at me. My pale silver eyes glared coldly into her crystalline blue and I was satisfied to see her flinch.

"What? Do you want to battle too?" I asked warningly, taking a step forward and watching her instinctively take a step back.

"You aren't a loser yet but if you're anything like your boyfriend, save yourself the trouble." Zorua peered at her on my shoulder, a look of disinterest in his gaze.

"He's not my..." Crystal shook her head rapidly and glared at me, refusing to allow herself to be bullied any further. Kudos to her... but I still wasn't in the mood.

"I don't want to battle you... you'll just win. Totodile isn't strong enough and Misdreavus has a type weakness," she frowned. I rolled my eyes and turned away.

"So you're a loser but at least you're a smart one I guess. Congratulations, Crys," I said condescendingly. It was far easier to pick on Crystal than Gold. Gold was the type of guy to stoop to my level, but Crystal tried to remain levelheaded. Too bad for her. I wasn't from this gentle and soft world.

"Y-You are so terrible!" Crystal scowled finally, fed up with my tone.

"What is wrong with you?! You do not get to call me that! Only my friends do!"

"And what are you gonna do about it, Crys?" I questioned challengingly, perking a brow. She opened her mouth and shut it, at my questioning tone, at a loss for words. She had no clue how to deal with someone as foul as me. Awesome.

"See? Nothing. You're a coward. If you aren't actually going to do something, you can fuck off too. I've been trying to leave for the longest time now. I don't get how you keep mentioning my mood, but refuse to let me go," I sighed. Gold looked at our interaction, stunned into silence. He must have been the typical whipped character that always listened to the smarter and more assertive friend. Did he think Crystal couldn't be talked back to? Pathetic. These were my rivals?

I'm no hero and I was especially not interested in being as righteous as these two right here. My goal was entirely self serving and that wouldn't change. I wasn't here to save the world. I don't know what was even the reason for bringing me here but whoever did it, was in for a big surprise.

"See ya losers, hopefully we never meet again," I snorted, marching past the two. That seemed to snap them out of their daze.

"Next time we battle, I'll win," Gold declared with narrowed eyes, staring at my retreating back.

"Doubt it. There's a reason I said hopefully we never meet again. We aren't gonna meet again," I assured, most of my interest lost in my would be rivals. With that, Zorua and I left their company and continued our trek to Cherrygrove. Maybe I'd go back in the forest. I felt bad for confining Chikorita to her ball but we had to avoid suspicion. She'd understand. Instead, I'd speed up the pace and put as much distance between me and those two.

Gold watched the mysterious redhead go and clenched his jaw in frustration.

"I can't believe I lost to an asshole like that. If I had used Aipom, it would have been a different story," he growled, nursing Cyndaquil and getting an apologetic whine out of the fire type. The gold eyed teen sighed and assured Cyndaquil he did nothing wrong.

"Language, Gold," Crystal sighed, watching the back of the redhead disappear into the distance. She had never met someone so… harsh.

"Why did you let him talk to you like that, Crys?" Gold asked suddenly, turning towards the girl with a concerned frown. The girl frowned deeply.

"... I don't really know. His words were getting under my skin, but I couldn't think of anything to say. When he called me a coward, I just froze up inside," she admitted. Gold scowled.

"You should have let me kick his ass then. He's just a bully!" Crystal shook her head at Gold. She didn't want her best friend to stoop to that guys level. Besides, despite being a bully... the Zorua looked like he was being treated well. Was he really as terrible as he made himself out to be?

"I hope we really don't meet him again. He rubs me the wrong way," she said with a frown.

"No way, Crys!" Gold denied instantly, fierce glare on his face.

"I need to get payback and make him apologize to Jimmy. Next time we meet, I'll blow him away!" He promised. Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Gold… I'm pretty sure he's leaving Johto. We're all trainers so that means we're bound to meet again if we just keep traveling but he was sure we weren't. He looks like he's from Kanto with those clothes and he has a Kantonian dialect too, so he'll probably head back eventually," she explained. Gold frowned deeply at that. That sucked. He wanted to battle him again. A sudden flash of light, revealed itself to be Totodile who had forcefully released himself from the Pokeball.

The little crocodile was growling and snarling, stamping his feet as he made gestures.

"What's the matter Totodile?" Crystal asked in concern, looking at her water type with furrowed brows. Totodile pointed at the spot Silver had just been at.

"That mean boy?" She asked, furrowing her brows as he nodded his head in confirmation.

"I know you wanted to battle him, but we can't just force him. He already fought and beat Gold and he fought Jimmy right before... and we aren't strong enough to beat him yet." Totodile gained a look of frustration and stamped his feet, shaking his head repeatedly. The crocodile thought about how to explain it and nodded to himself. Crystal watched in confusion as Totodile pointed at itself and then her, before repeating the process with Cyndaquil and Gold. Love this story?

Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! Was he saying that he was her pokemon and Cyndaquil was Gold's? That confusion turned into horror, as he pointed at the spot the redhead had been at and then he grabbed the grass and viciously yanked it out before pointing at it.

"What?!" Crystal hissed in shock, wide eyes jolting towards the spot where Silver had just been. Gold looked on in confusion.

"What happened, Crys?" He asked in confusion. His best friend shook with wide eyes and turned a startled gaze towards where the redhead had been.

"Totodile… are you saying he's the one who stole Chikorita?" She asked in a near whisper. Gold's eyes widened at seeing the crocodile nod.

"Him?!" He hissed, pushing himself up to go give chase. Crystal's eyes widened at that and she grabbed Gold to stop him.

"Are you insane?!" She asked.

"We can't do this! You saw how he acted! He won't think twice about hurting us!" Gold shook his head furiously.

"So we just leave it to the Police? After what happened to Elm, I won't feel good unless I'm the one who catches him," He said firmly. Crystal stared at Gold like he were insane. The two made eye contact and her argument died on her lips, as she saw his resolve. Gold was hell bent on chasing down that redhead by himself...

"Well, we are Professor Elm's chosen trainers for this year. It would only be right if we bring him in ourselves," she sighed. To be fair, she did want to battle him as well after what he said. The thief looked to be the same age as them and Crystal had to wonder... what caused him to be so violent? He spoke to Zorua so kindly... but it was a different story when speaking to them. Crystal couldn't help but wonder if this was really his character... or if he had been raised to act like this. Gold grinned.

"You're the best, Crys!" He praised. She blushed at his praise and smiled.

"We need to be careful about this Gold. No recklessly charging him… and remember that he's probably not staying in Johto… No, he definitely won't." Gold's brows furrowed at that. He still wanted to complete the gym circuit… but he wanted to catch that redhead too. His gold eyes glittered and he stared at the crystalline blue of his best friend.

"I've got an idea," he said with a cocky grin.

"... I hate when you have ideas. They always turn out to be insane," Crystal sighed. She had known Gold for years. She already knew what he was planning. A motivated Gold was the scariest person to deal with." They probably know who I am by now," I thought to myself, glancing behind me to see if they would pursue. Maybe I should have battled Crystal. Dwindling down their numbers to two, would allow me to 2v2 with Chikorita and Zorua, against probably Misdreavus and whatever Gold's second pokemon was.

But now I risked a 2v3 with presumably, Gold's stronger Pokemon and both of Crystal's... But they never showed up. Strange. I was back in Silver's default outfit… but that would probably be the last time I wore it. No skin off my back. I had other choices and the all purple pants... was certainly a choice I made that I wouldn't be making again. I'd probably restyle my hair too... No sooner did I think the idea, did a strong negative feeling course through my body that was almost certainly not me.

Guess no changing the hair? Whatever. As for my silver eyes… Yeah, nothing to do about that but hide them as often as possible. Here's to hoping a lot of people had unnatural silver hues, combined with peculiar red hair, like mine. It was later in the morning and it would take about 30 more minutes for me to make it to Cherrygrove. Not gonna lie, I was kind of enjoying the route. I never really appreciated nature back home but here, you could see that the people of this world didn't dare tamper with it too much.

Offending the Pokemon, was probably a fast ticket to a far more difficult life I imagine. Trees were littered everywhere, the grass was low cut on the path for humans, but tall on the sides and the breeze was nice and warm. I marveled at the sight of two Sentret scampering around in the grass and peered at them with curious eyes as they played with each other.

They perked up as they saw Zorua and I but only warily watched as I walked past them, seeming to sense the difference in level or just not wanting to fight at all. That was another pleasant thing, you wouldn't get jumped by any random Pokemon just for existing in the grass. Pokemon were incredibly intelligent, to a degree that media didn't portray well. It seemed like more often than not, the normal ones just wanted to chill. I snorted. As if I wanted a Sentret.

I didn't think I was actually going to be catching another pokemon in Johto for the time being. Sure there were plenty of choices like Scizor or Mamoswine but they weren't high priority and would only delay me from my real goals... Maybe in the future once I figured out more things... Like the 6 limit rule. Was that still a thing here?

"We aren't gonna stay in Cherrygrove for long. We need to make a lot of distance. We don't have to stock up either since we got so much stuff from the lab," I muttered to Zorua. Silver was also an overpreparer. It was clear he didn't like stopping to go shopping and I seemed to have inherited.

"Zo!" Zorua barked on my shoulder in agreement.

"Your work with Illusion is awesome by the way," I praised genuinely.

"I want you to practice it in your free time. We're gonna need it for the future and if you can master it, you'll be real annoying to face." Zorua looked excited at my praise and nodded eagerly. I snorted. Zorua looked ready to give me the world and all I did was praise him… I wonder just what life he had to have had before I showed up. Must have been trash. Zorua was a cool pokemon, I'd treat him how he deserved to be treated. A thought occurred to me. This was my first pokemon.

Technically he was second in charge… I should set him up for the leader role shouldn't I? In the long run, I don't think he was going to be my most powerful Pokemon but he was still my first and so, I'd make sure he got the respect he earned. With the pokemon I was planning on getting, he'd need to be more assertive I imagine.

"What do you think of Chikorita?" I asked in a low mutter.

"Think she's a good addition?" Zorua was caught off guard by me deciding to converse with him but clearly, he was getting used to this personality shift and had no intentions of questioning it.

"Zor," the dark type nodded eventually. Zorua liked Chikorita. They talked for a bit and he explained what she should expect traveling with them. They weren't normal after all. Chikorita should know that they did… questionable activities. She didn't seem to mind at all, just pleased that Silver was their trainer so that was a plus. I nodded thoughtfully at his approval.

"Between you and me, I didn't actually plan on getting her… but I'm kind of glad for my mistake. She's very agreeable," I admitted in a low whisper. I had no idea how Silver managed to tame that feisty Totodile, but I probably would have been far less successful. Zorua nodded in agreement with my assessment and I found myself gazing curiously at the dark type. Any issues I had with Zorua being my first pokemon and not Sneasel, had been thrown out of the window by the little guys impressive display.

He saved my ass after all. I would be an ungrateful prick if I had a problem with it. Zorua was useful. Incredibly so… Silver lucked out getting a pokemon like this. I had a pet dog before when I was younger. He was awesome but his intelligence didn't even come close to Zorua's. The dark type understood everything I said and was able to respond in a way that made sure I could understand. That illusion translating Chikorita's problems to me, was absolutely genius of him.

Illusion was way more incredible then the games made it out to be. I was looking forward to learning the limitations and abusing it religiously. He seemed to expend almost no energy when using it on himself, but a lot of energy using it on someone else. As we headed to Cherrygrove, I decided to walk through the tall grass in hopes of finding something to do and got into a battle with a violent Rattata that scurried away after one hit from Zorua. Boring. Nevermind.

"I feel a little bad for keeping Chikorita in the ball…" I muttered, idly palming her ball. Something I should do, was invest in a way to differentiate my Pokeballs. Though I seemed to innately know who was in which one, it never hurt to double down. I should also think of nicknames to differentiate my pokemon... but that would take a while. I wasn't good with names so I'd have to dwell on it for a while.

"Zor," Zorua assured me hesitantly and I nodded.

"Yeah, once I get the chance, I'll let her get some air," I agreed. It would probably be after I left Cherrygrove. I wasn't planning on staying there very long because that was still too close to New Bark. Gold and Crystal could catch up to me at any point if I idled around. No, I couldn't fully relax until I was out of this region… And I was one step closer. Cherrygrove, much like Route 29 and New Bark, was a town dominated by nature.

Besides the buildings, and some few sandy roads, the area looked almost untouched by mankind. Grass was maintained at a reasonable level but dominated the area, the paved road lacked stone and concrete, using sand instead and the people bustled about with Pokemon of all kinds mingling with them. It was… nice. Back home, I lived in the city so I didn't get to appreciate sights like this very much. Still, I do miss my friends and family back at - Back at - I paused in confusion.... Where did I live again?

I tried to recall information about my home and while I had general knowledge… the moment I tried to recall anything specific, my mind blanked completely. I only knew vague information. I knew I had a family, I knew I had friends... but if I tried to pry deeper... Huh?

"Zor?" Zorua called in confusion, noticing my discomfort that was slowly increasing in levels. Why couldn't I remember anything? Where did I live? What was the name of the city I lived in? Hell, what state did I live in? Was it New York? Utah? Texas? I don't know. Who were my parents? I had both a mother and a father… but that's all I knew. I distantly remember having siblings... right? Didn't I mention an older sister yesterday? Or was it an older brother?... I don't know. Why? I remembered all of this yesterday…

didn't I?... No. I was now beginning to realize… that I never even once mentioned my old name. What was my name again? Oh that's right. My name's Silver- I let out raspy breath and stumbled backwards, holding my head in confusion. What was going on? The deeper I tried to peer into my memories, the more hazy they became. What the hell? Was I… overlapping with Silver? Did I not completely take over? When left to my unconscious thoughts... I only referred to myself as Silver as if I had always been Silver.

I felt a headache blooming and huffed. I'm not too sure about anything anymore. I thought it was just muscle memory carrying me earlier… but clearly that wasn't the whole story. The fact that I identified myself as Silver proved so. Right now, I can't even fathom the idea of having had another name. In my head, I've always been Silver. But at the same time, I knew I wasn't that Silver. Was that why my personality was so different? Was that Silver who made me so callously rude to everyone?

Was it Silver that didn't even flinch at the idea of almost killing someone...? What happened to me? This was so weird. At the very least, it did seem like I had full control. I just had to deal with mind shenanigans. I would hate to share a body with someone. I was beginning to think my mind merged with Silver's somehow but it was dominantly in my favor for the time being. What was the end result going to be? Would I progressively lose memories of my old world?

If that's the case, why don't I have any memories that belong to Silver? Why did I remember the Pokemon related things from my old world so easily, but nothing else? Did it have to do with that earlier experience where I was freaking out in my own skin before everything clicked into place?... How old was I?

"Just turned 12," I thought instantly before shutting my eyes in annoyance. Fuck. Things just got a lot more complicated for me. That at least explained some things.

"Sorry about that, just got a headache," I explained to the worried Zorua.

"Let's not waste anymore time. We won't be staying here long. I'm gonna return you for now, don't need connections yet." Zorua looked very concerned but nodded and I stepped into Cherrygrove City with a pondering frown. Unlike in the video games, there was way more than a few houses and the stores. The city itself was massive in comparison and various buildings, both business related and just homes, dotted the area. There were stores besides the Pokemart too.

A clothing shop that I considered entering but discarded, a food stand, hell there was a market for just Pokemon related cosmetics too… It was way more alive than the games. More authentic. As I traversed the town. I decided to ask around for some directions. At first, the plan was for me to leave this place immediately but this was clearly a bigger world than the one in the games so I needed to plan a bit more. There might be places I never even heard about.

I couldn't rely solely on my memories when it came to the map. For instance, there was a town called Whitestone that was between Ecruteak City and Olivine City. That was as clear a sign as any that this trip could take way longer then I thought… But I was in luck. This wasn't the game world. There weren't random landmarks blocking areas, that the devs didn't want us going to, and that helped me notice something.

Cherrygrove City had a large body of water that was blocked off in the games, leaving only a small area to traverse around. That block did not exist here. And the best part? If navigated correctly, the water would take you directly to Olivine City, allowing you to skip a bunch of cities in the process. I just needed to find a way to get water transportation and if I could, I would cut down months of journey, to just a few days. That's why I was asking around for directions despite desiring anonymity.

This was incredibly important to saving time and accomplishing my missions as quickly as possible. The faster I made it to Hoenn, the quicker I'd get someone off my trail and the more smooth my sailing would go. Plastering the most fake and polite smile on my face, I approached a middle aged woman who seemed to be shopping for a Furret and she perked up at hearing my footsteps. The woman looked up in clear curiosity, a friendly demeanor radiating off of her.

"Hello! Sorry to bother, but I'd like to ask a question," I greeted with a short wave.

"Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing!" She gushed, holding her cheeks at how polite I was.

"Please, don't be shy dear! Ask away!" I continued to smile.

"I'm new to the Johto region so I'm not quite sure how things work around here… I wanted to go to Olivine City from here and I noticed the body of water that connected the two. Is there a way I can sail there?" I asked easily.

"So well articulated… why yes there is!" The woman nodded at my question.

"Near the shore there's a building and a small port. It heads to Goldenrod, Cianwood and of course, Olivine. I'm sure if you speak to someone there, they'll be sure to tell you when the next ship set sails," she explained politely. I nodded at the information and felt a small grin forming. Perfect! This would speed things up by a whole lot. I could take a ship to Olivine then from there, I'd look to see if there was anything headed to the Hoenn region.

I'm not sure how good regional relationships were between the regions in this world… but Ash was able to travel to new regions with effortless ease and I did do some research. If I wanted to get to Hoenn, my best bet was Olivine.

"Thank you! I appreciate that," I said, bowing slightly. She waved me off frantically.

"Oh no need to bow, darling! You're too kind!" she sighed.

"If you just follow this road and head south, you'll find the building. It's hard to miss!" I nodded, red hair jostling a bit at the movement and I idly brushed the bangs that nearly covered one of my eyes aside, scowling as it popped right back into place. How did hair even naturally get like this? My hair was a mix of smooth at the top and spiky at the bottom near my neck. To top it all off, I had a slight cowlick sticking out at the very top of my red hair that I already tried pushing down to no avail.

What a horror. The only thing more horrifying, is my body's staunch refusal to actually change the style. I followed the directions the lady left me, all while contemplating the wonders of anime hair, until I finally arrived at the building she mentioned. It was large, with a blue roof that had a Poliwag embedded into it and I wasted no time entering it. A gruff man with a sailor outfit gazed at me with bored eyes behind a counter as I calmly approached him.

"When's the next ship to Olivine?" I asked bluntly. I didn't feel like doing anymore small talk. Clearly this guy appreciated that.

"Tomorrow," he answered just as bluntly.

"If you want a ticket pay here. These are the prices." Nice. Straight to the point. One ticket to Olivine costed about 300 Poke (that was so cheap what the hell?) and I had more than enough. Seriously, just how talented was Silver? All of this didn't seem easy to steal. I seemed to have not only an account to my name with Poke Dollars, but actual cash besides the amount I won from Gold and that kid. Who set up an account for me? Did I do it myself? It made sense that banks were a thing in this world...

but it was strange all the same. I forked the money over and watched the older man count it, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Be here before 2pm or get left behind. No refunds," he added. I nodded, accepted the ticket and left without another word. Good to know not everyone in this world was a happy go lucky idiot. That would have gotten tiring real fast. Route 30 was fairly simple like its counterpart in the games. It was a straight path ahead but it was of course, far bigger than the games could probably scale. Seriously, if all the games were to scale, it would take months to beat a single Pokemon game.

If I kept at the same pace I took for Route 29 and used the designated roads this time, I'd make it to Route 31 in about 3 hours… I nodded to myself. I had time to spare. It was currently 12pm and there was something I wanted to do. Without any hesitation, I dipped into the forests of the route and released both Chikorita and Zorua out of their balls.

"Rita!" Chikorita trilled and rushed me, jumping into my midsection with a happy squeal. I rushed to put up my hands before she could drop and deftly caught her.

"Someone's happy to see me," I couldn't help but smile at the grass type.

"Sorry about keeping you trapped for so long. I'll let you out as long as possible once we leave the region." She nodded furiously and took her place atop my shoulder without any hesitation.

"Alright, we leave for Olivine tomorrow and hopefully, we get to Hoenn by the end of the week," I explained to the two of them. They both nodded, interest clear on their faces.

"Since we've got time to kill… there's something I want to do," I explained.

"But first, training." They perked up at that.

"Chikorita, I want to get you started on three moves. Razor Leaf, Poison Powder and Synthesis. For now, work on Razor Leaf so we can give you more offense," I muttered, showing her the video of all three moves being performed by a Venusaur on the Pokedex. Razor Leaf and Poison Powder were self explanatory, but learning that the Chikorita family had an easier time than most pokemon learning Synthesis, had me grinning like a lunatic. Poison Powder was to give Chikorita an easier time learning Toxic in the future.

I wanted her and Zorua to be very frustrating to battle. Chikorita nodded eagerly and trotted off to get started after a few more instructions from me.

"As for you, Zorua…" I muttered, flipping to the information on him. This Pokedex wasn't Johto exclusive. It was the national variant and it seemed to have information on Pokemon I didn't even know about. The ones I didn't know about seemed to be from regions I never heard of, named Galar and Paldea and I garnered a guess that those might have been the two games that dropped. Some of these looked pretty cool. Interesting…

Maybe in my spare time, I'd do some more research but for now, I had no further interest in the later regions. It was just something I discovered while researching the moves my team could learn. Something really interesting though, was Technical Machines. With enough practice, Pokemon could actually learn TM moves without the use of the disk. TMs just made them far easier to learn by implanting the memories of the move directly into their mind.

While that was infinitely more useful, you could still learn the moves without them. It wouldn't make much sense if a disk was the only way you could learn something now would it?

"I want you to learn Pursuit, Taunt and finally Snarl," I told the attentive Dark type. Pursuit was the easiest offensive Dark move that the Zorua line could learn. It would give him a good grounds to offensively harness his dark type energy and that would help in learning even more in the future. Apparently, since Zorua was born with Extrasensory, he had latent psychic abilities as well. Not all Zorua's had the capabilities to harness psychic moves, but it should help him learn the few he could faster. Neat.

But that came with the caveat of having a very difficult time learning fighting moves other Zorua's could be born with. Well that was fine. I'd focus on the dark type moves for now. Snarl was to give him range, and Taunt was to supplement Torment and limit the Pokemon he was up against even more. All to irritate them even further. Until he became a Zoroark, he wouldn't quite have the power output it looked like. So I'd need to fight smart with him. He was already a tricky guy, we could do it.

"Rua!" Zorua nodded in confirmation, gazing at the moves with intent, before nodding confidently to himself. I gazed at the two throwing themselves into training and felt pretty awkward for just standing there. Well, no better time then now to start honing my craft.... How the hell did I hone becoming a better thief? Turns out, this body was capable of a lot of things when I was relying on muscle memories and not my own skill. I couldn't understate how good of a thief Silver was. He was silent, quick and efficient.

It was no wonder he was confident enough to waltz around without any disguise… Didn't make him any less of an idiot for doing so. Didn't the dumbass encounter Lance and they battled? How irresponsible was the champ? Or was everyone just that incompetent. I don't think there was much Silver needed to do to improve his craft besides learning entirely new things. That's where I came in. I couldn't consciously utilize Silver's skills.

I didn't spend years practicing the art of espionage like he had and it showed in my attempts to practice it. I was clumsier, louder and not remotely as talented like he was. It was like night and day, Silver's skills and mine. The kid was really good at what he did. At least I could fight… that's what I brought to the table. Bullshit... That's what this was. My best bet, was observing just how my body acted on autopilot, and try to consciously do the same things.

It was exceedingly difficult but I was getting there. I at least was able to walk quietly now so that was a small win I'd take. Slowly but surely, I'd reach those skills. It would be a waste to let them vanish into nothing. I leapt off the tree I was on and wiped the sweat off my brow. The afternoon heat was killer and I had long removed that coat Silver always wore. Currently, I had a normal black tee on that was matted to my skin from all the sweating. Silver was also pretty damn athletic for his age.

I already knew from earlier, but this guy put his body through quite the regimen. I don't know how much of that was his hard work and how much was the physiology of fictional characters evolving next to land destroying monsters... but I'd chalk it up to both. Might as well keep him in shape. It was fairly easy to go through a steady routine so I'd keep it up along with my other training. Not gonna lie, this physical state of this 12 year old was kinda nuts.

I don't know if this was how top athletes felt, but running through a workout and not being on the floor exhausted, was a pretty addicting feeling. I'm pretty sure in my old body I went to the gym a fair bit, but I wasn't a dedicated bodybuilder or anything like that. Silver felt like his body was at its peak. That was insane, I was 12! To think I'd be getting older... I didn't even hit puberty yet.... How bizarre.

We had been training for about two hours, before I called it quits and decided to go find some lake to bathe in because I smelt terrible. Zorua panted and nodded, banishing the dark type energy around him with a satisfied glimmer. He had gotten Pursuit down fairly easily and was working on increasing its power output because it wasn't quite strong enough yet. Pursuit in this world was strange. It's power didn't increase as you were recalling a Pokemon. The move increased in strength when striking from behind.

Pretty perfect for an assassin like Zorua. I'd have to make sure he didn't forget about this move. It had potential. As for Chikorita, the little Grass type managed to surprise me by throwing out some fierce Razor Leafs. She mastered it way quicker then I expected of her and I was pretty damn proud. I was impressed by how quickly the both of them got their respective skills down and while they weren't difficult moves, I would still give them the praise they deserve.

I returned them temporarily and headed to the water source I saw earlier, looking at the crystalline clear water with a whistle. That water looked so damn clear and healthy. The vitality of this world was amazing and I found myself once more basking in it.... Did my pokemon bathe with water? I'm not sure. I guess I could just find out. I released both of them and made sure there was no one else in the area before I rummaged through my bag and grabbed some necessary essentials.

I began stripping my clothes off and reluctantly got in the lake only for all the hesitation to melt away as I felt the cool water hit me. An unintentional sigh of bliss left my body at the feeling and I glanced back at Zorua and Chikorita for a moment.

"Feel free to join if you guys want," I offered, before turning towards the Wooper staring at me with a dumb smile. Zorua watched Chikorita happily accept the offer, by jumping right next to his trainer and sighed before following suit, shaking his head at seeing his trainer have a stare off with the strange Water type.

"Rita!" Chikorita demanded, causing me to take my eyes off the Wooper.

"Want me to wash you?" I asked in amusement. She nodded happily." I'm getting good at understanding what they're conveying," I thought, grabbing the Grass type and scrubbing her scaled hide down.

"Sure thing lil princess," I agreed easily and I proceeded to clean her to the best of my ability. I marvelled at the scales of the grass type as I cleaned her. It was hard to imagine that Chikorita was a reptile with scales. Thought she was made of leaves and all that but nope, she was actually a little dinosaur who I could hold like a doll... who could kill me without much effort. What a thought. Chikorita closed her eyes and sighed in bliss. My two current pokemon were pretty different in terms of personality.

Chikorita acted very much like a princess. She readily accepted all my affections and offers and sought them out just as much. It… was kind of adorable. I had a tiny little dinosaur that wanted me to spoil her and it was working out very well for her. Zorua was a lot more serious in nature. He was sensible and reliable with a good head on his shoulders and a crafty nature too. He also liked my affections as much as Chikorita but was more reluctant to accept them… I'd fix that eventually. I liked the little guy.

It was surreal to see such personality in these little animals. I wonder what my next members would be like... Would their personalities fit up with what I imagined they'd be like? Would personalities clash? Would they get along? Hate each other? It was interesting to think about. Team building was a little more difficult in this world, I imagine… in games you could say, put Zangoose and Seviper on the same team with no issues but here, they would probably try and kill each other. Huh…

well, at the very least I didn't think the next ones I planned on catching had any beef with each other. And if they did, I'd make them get along. I didn't wanna give any of them up after all. They wouldn't be easy to obtain in the first place.

"Alright, we've got time to kill before tomorrow hits so it's time to do another heist." Zorua looked up at me curiously at that before nodding. Chikorita was back in her ball and I was proud that she didn't fuss about it. She understood that if anyone spotted her with me, we'd probably get hunted and separated.

"Last time I… kinda messed up and you saved my ass so let's try to avoid that this time," I informed him with a sheepish smile. I needed to get better and experience was the best way. So I'd commit little acts of robbery until I was even better than Silver had been. Getting to his original skill level then surpassing it would be a goal of mine, even if I stopped my criminal acts. It was a pride thing now.

"We're headed to a house near the end of the Route. It should be owned by some guy named Mr. Pokemon and he might have something useful for us," I began. Zorua nodded thoughtfully, expression shifting into something fitting for a Dark type.

"In case we're being tracked, we'll head up and make sure no one sees us come back, alright?" I said, storming for ideas. I had no idea if Gold and Crystal reported me yet but I could throw them off my trail by having them think I continued through Violet City or even the Dark Cave on Route 31. Little did they know, I'd be headed to Hoenn.

"I have a little challenge for you," I said suddenly, gazing at my first pokemon with a glint.

"Zor?" Zorua repeated curiously.

"Yup. I don't wanna return you, but I don't want everyone knowing I have a Zorua just yet. So, I want you to transform into another pokemon with an illusion and maintain it." The Dark type nodded at my logic, green-blue eyes glinting with intelligence. After some thinking, I watched in fascination as the air distorted around him for a bit before suddenly stopping. Zorua was gone, replaced by a Wooper that looked strangely like the one I was having a stare off with earlier.

It jumped on my shoulder and I nodded in approval.

"How tiring is it to use?" I asked curiously. Illusion was insanely useful. The games did it no justice at all. The possibilities for this technique were endless!

"Zor," Wooper said with a shrug.

"Ah. It's not a big illusion so not much," I nodded. Wooper looked surprised that I was able to tell what he was saying and I flashed a cocky smirk.

"I'm getting there," I bragged. I had taken my unruly hair and threw it in a messy ponytail for the time being because it was getting in the way too much and I threw my hoodie up. I should get a mask or half mask. Would be useful. Zorua and I walked at a brisk pace through Route 30 and I used my foul personality to ward off any potential challengers. Anyone dumb enough to approach me, quickly realized it was not for show as I rudely told them off.

At our pace, we had managed to make it to the location in about an hour and 30 minutes and I had slunk back into the large trees to remain hidden from anyone that could potentially be in the area.

"How're you holding up?" I asked Zorua, ensuring that none of my crimson red hair was visible. This little challenge of his, also doubled as training. I wanted him to completely perfect Illusion. Zorua, still disguised as a Wooper, was sweating a bit but didn't look utterly exhausted. He barked quietly to let me know that he was fine and I patted his head in approval. Good to know Illusion wasn't super taxing at this level. Considering it was every Zorua's innate ability, that made sense...

I took a deep breath and began scaling one of the giant trees, glaring at a lone Pidgey that quickly flew off before turning towards the house to inspect it. Much like the games, Mr. Pokemon's house was the only one in the area. Not many people wanted houses built in a route. A stray Pokemon attack could send it all crashing and overall, it was an unwise investment for all but trainers.

There was a small garden of apricots outside and a fence guarded the entire thing, though if a Pokemon wanted to get in, they would not be stopped. It was the the same for me but going that way defeated the purpose of what I wanted to achieve. His house wasn't huge, but it was bigger then the one I saw earlier in the route full of a garden of apricots. It looked to be two stories and it rested near the large trees I resided in. I smiled at that. Getting in wouldn't be hard at least.

I stealthily moved from tree to tree (I told you I learned a thing or two from observing Silver's body movements!) until I was on the one directly next to the house and took a deep breath. Securing Zorua to myself, I took a deep breath and jumped. I winced at the slight noise of landing on the roof and immediately ducked low, utilizing my dark outfit to sort of blend in with the roof.

A glance around, showed that no one was outside at least so I moved quietly to a window source, peaking my head over the roof to make sure I actually saw one.

"Bingo," I said. Palming the Pokeball in my gloved hand, I released Chikorita from the ball. I put a finger to my lips and she nodded immediately.

"Chikorita, I need you to use your vines to put Zorua right in front of the window," I whispered to her.

"Then, Zorua I want you to use a weak version of Extrasensory. Don't break it completely, just make a bunch of cracks appear." My two pokemon let out quiet noises of affirmation and I nodded, pleased at them. Two vines appeared from Chikorita and she carefully lifted Zorua, who had dropped his illusion, before slowly dropping him right in front of the window.

Zorua gazed at the window with a look of concentration and fired a weak Extrasensory at it, making the window crack and stopping right before it succumbed under the intense pressure.

"Chikorita, bring him back up and use your vines to gently push the glass. Avoid making noise," I instructed. The sauropod did just that, placing Zorua gently on the roof before using her vines to gently nudge and push the glass. It took a bit, but eventually they began falling piece by piece without making nearly as much noise as if I had smashed through with brute force. Eventually she made more than enough headway for a body to fit through and I returned them both and snuck through the opening.

I leapt from the railing to avoid the discarded glass, glancing around in the interior of the man's house. The smell of pine brushed against my nose as I inspected the nice furniture and I nodded appreciatively at it all. It was a nice home. I was currently in a furnished room that let me know the person had money to spend because said room didn't look like it had anyone who slept in here. Perfect. This was the home of Mr. Pokemon a friend of Oak in the games.

In Soul Silver and Heart Gold, this guy gave you a lot of useful items when you spoke to him. The most ludicrous, were the Red and Blue orb. Now I didn't expect him to have the two orbs of Kyogre and Groudon just resting in his home, but I imagine he'd have something of value. It was clearly not in this room. I closed the last cabinet in here and slowly stood up, making my way to the sole door of the room and quietly opening it. Before I took another step, I released Zorua and began inspecting the new area.

It was a hallway, with a staircase leading downstairs to the left and two more rooms to the right.

"Zor," Zorua suddenly said, nudging his head towards the staircase. I raised a brow at that and walked closer to the stairs. It was clear what Zorua was alerting me to, because I could hear the voice of a man down there. By the sounds of it, he was talking to someone over the phone or he was senile and having a conversation with himself.

"When do you think Elm will be able to accept visitors?" The voice asked, making me perk up. I leaned a bit closer to listen in on the conversation.

"That's good to hear… I hear his wife went ahead and distributed the two final starters to the designated trainers. Thankfully, they were the only ones qualified to receive the starters. It would be a shame if a child didn't receive their starter because it was stolen." I frowned at that. So Gold and Crystal were the only trainers capable enough to receive a starter in New Bark. Regardless of if I stole it or not, one of the Pokemon would have been left behind.

I wonder if it would have been Chikorita no matter what. Gold seemed attached to Cyndaquil in every single iteration that existed and I didn't know enough about Crystal. Wasn't she affiliated with Chikorita? Maybe Totodile would have been the one left behind this time. I snorted to myself. Guess we'd never find out. Chikorita was mine and I had no intention of giving her up.

"Still no idea who the thief is? Not to worry, it won't be hard to identify a Chikorita that doesn't wish to travel with its trainer. Signs of abuse should be even easier... Arceus, I hope it hasn't come to that." That's how they planned on figuring out who stole the Chikorita? God this world was so hopelessly naive. I guess I didn't have much to worry about if they were going to judge it like that. Chikorita adored me and I had no intentions of abusing her. But still, I was surprised.

Gold and Crystal didn't report me yet? Did they even know I was the criminal? No, they had to. I wasn't gonna underestimate the intelligence of Pokemon and Totodile looked like he wanted to bite my face off. So why didn't they report me… Hm… Crystal seemed smart and she was a coward. She would instantly report me if it was up to her. But she also deferred to Gold based on what little interactions I saw and my would be rival seemed reckless enough. Yeah, it was Gold's decision to not report me for sure.

Did he want payback? Idiot, I already said we weren't meeting again. I grew tired of the conversation downstairs and headed to the two rooms still up here. The first door was just a bathroom that offered nothing important and the second, was a room full of papers and documents. A quick search showed nothing that I could really use. Though, this guy really traveled around the world based on the documents I caught glimpses of. Kanto, Johto... Orre (what region was that?), etc.

Hell he had even been to a region called Galar. What the hell region was Galar? Was that the region with the fire bunny or the fire alligator? Well whatever it was, it seemed to utilize a phenomena exclusive to their lands named Dynamax. My interest piqued at that and I grabbed some documents to read over in hopes of learning more about this world. As long as it was interesting, I had no problem reading on my own accord. But once you forced me? Ugh, just sap the energy out of me while you're at it.

Stuffing a bunch of documents in my bag, I glanced around a bit more and didn't find anything else of not. I frowned in annoyance. Downstairs it was.

"We're gonna knock that guy out so we can explore downstairs," I muttered to Zorua. Zorua gazed at me and nodded, glowing with the power of his ability and wrapping us both in an illusion. I smiled at him. Yeah, I liked Zorua very much. He was quick on the uptake of things. Not a sound was made, as I quietly walked downstairs to assess Mr. Pokemon's situation. He was an old man, wearing a suit inside his own home (What the fuck was wrong with him?) and he seemed to have finished up his conversation on the phone while I was searching his other rooms. I didn't see any Pokeballs near him, so I decided to act quick while the illusion was still on me. We stealthily snuck up on the man and noticed that he was reading a document on something, muttering to himself in visible excitement.

"What a most interesting read! To think I was able to procure myself one. I know I don't have the full thing but just the opportunity to study it..." he muttered aloud. I couldn't see it from this distance but that was fine. Once I knocked him out, I'd see why he was so excited and take whatever he procured for himself, for myself. Mr. Pokemon never saw me coming. I tensed my muscles and lunged, hitting him directly on the temple with much less force then I used on Elm. He didn't even react.

The old man was instantly knocked unconscious from the gloved punch and I smiled in satisfaction.

"Nothing personal, old man," I shrugged, nudging him to the side. Alright, now that that was settled… I could explore this area of the house in earnest. I wasn't sure what I was here for. This was mostly to put my skills to the test again and so far, it was going exceedingly well. Zorua dropped the illusion, conserving his energy for later and I idly rubbed his ear. Out of curiosity, I picked up the document the unconscious man had been reading. Theory on Mega Evolution by Augustine Sycamore.

My eyes widened in clear interest. Wait a minute… was the reason he sounded so excited, what I thought it was? Didn't he say he managed to procure one? With renewed vigor, I began rummaging through the entire house of Mr. Pokemon with no more pretenses, all while Zorua and Chikorita (who I had released after knocking Mr. Pokemon out) confusedly followed me. It was like a hurricane was currently mowing through the house, as I searched for something. Clothes and papers were thrown around, as I ransacked Mr.

Pokemon's house without any hesitation. There was an almost manic gleam in my eyes as I entered yet another room.

"Zor," Zorua called me.

"Chiko!" Chikorita said as well.

"One second guys, I'm looking for something," I muttered, pushing through useless document after useless document. Was this guy a researcher? He had so many goddamn documents!

"Zor," Zorua repeated calmly.

"Chiko!" Chikorita followed suit.

"Hold on guys! I'm almost done with this room," I whispered, gazing at the Elixir with a scowl before stuffing it in my bag.

"Zor!" Zorua finally raised his voice.

"Chiko!" Chikorita shouted at me. I whirled around like I were being harassed by 2 of my children and resisted the urge to glare.

"What is so important that you keep calling me?!" I hissed at the kids. I blinked slowly at the sight I was seeing. Chikorita was looking at me with an annoyed expression. In her vines, she was holding an incubator with an actual Pokemon Egg dotted with blue and red marks all over. As for Zorua, there was a small rainbowish orb directly in front of him with a symbol inside of it. … … … I stared blankly at my two pokemon, who stared smugly at me in return.

"... Good job," I said gruffly as I played it cool. They snorted at me and I completely ignored it. I totally forgot that Mr. Pokemon was the one with the Egg of Togepi and Chikorita managed to find it. Would I keep it? I didn't really plan on adding the egg to my team but it wasn't a bad addition… It was a fairy type after all and that type was really strong too. Togekiss was a good addition, but not one I had thought of really. But...

this was a Pokemon that Gold got and that caused a smug smirk to appear on my face. Alright, it was mine now. Payback for not getting Cyndaquil and pissing me off.

"I'll probably add it to the team when they hatch. Any problems with that?" I asked curiously. Both shook their head and I accepted the incubator, before stuffing it in my bag. What type of technology did this world have? This bag was ridiculous. What was the limit? I shrugged and focused on the item in front of Zorua, eyes lighting up in clear recognition. This was what had me in a frenzy and I grinned eagerly as I accepted it. An actual Keystone. The same Keystone that allowed you to Mega Evolve a Pokemon.

If this was the replacement for the Red and Blue Orb, I would gladly take it. The idea of Mega Evolution seemed so far away from me that I never even considered it! Hell, I wasn't even sure this world had it! It wasn't one of those things you thought of, until it hit you right in the face. Sure, I was going to the Hoenn region, but I still had no idea what world I was in. To be honest, the more I learned, the more I got confused.

Maybe this was like what Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire mentioned and I was in a completely different timeline, separate from all pieces of Pokemon that we were aware of. That was the scariest timeline. It means I had no idea what to expect. But I digress, a Keystone was one half of the phenomenon known as Mega Evolution. It was introduced in the Kalos region which was why I never thought about it... because I never thought about the Kalos region. But this changed everything.

It would be unreasonably difficult, but if I managed to find a Mega Stone in the future, I could use it!

"Where did you find the Keystone?" I asked curiously. Zorua blinked, before nudging his snout in my pocket. Mr. Pokemon's... pocket?

"I'm not even going to say anything," I thought with a scowl before it was wiped off my face in favor of fondness.

"Seriously, great job guys," I praised, patting them both with a small grin on my face. They beamed at my affections and readily accepted it. Honestly, just these two were awesome. I never thought I'd find myself appreciating Zorua or Chikorita but my only Pokemon were doing a great job proving me wrong. I was fully on board with keeping them with me and just the thought of putting them in a box for all eternity, sent a flash of displeasure through me. I needed to do research on the 6 Pokemon rules.

These little guys weren't pixels on my screen anymore. They were living beings now so I didn't want them to be confined. It was a good thing I wasn't a Pokedex completionist kinda guy. I just caught my favorites and used them. The Keystone glowed with an unnatural light as I gazed at it, before I stuffed it in the spot of my bag I designated the "Important Items" section. Who knows when I'd use it, but it certainly wasn't anytime soon.

I had no interest in hunting down Mega Stones at the moment until I was strong enough to do it in a quick manner. Now, I needed to get a custom accessory to embed it into like all the other trainers. I didn't want something basic like a Mega Ring or Bracelet. Maybe a glove, earring or necklace… yeah that seemed pretty good.

"Alright, let's head out. We got what we wanted," I whispered. Zorua and Chikorita both nodded in approval, both pleased by the successful heist. We peaked out of the door and made sure the old man was still unconscious, before heading upstairs and climbing out of the broken window we created. I landed on the floor and didn't waste anytime vanishing back into the forest." 7 pm," I thought to myself, glancing at the time.

The heat of the sun was gone and a cool breeze had replaced it, brushing against me as night threatened to fully take over. Not bad. I could probably make it to the outskirts of Cherrygrove by 8: 30pm and then I'd get some sleep, train some, and be outta here by 2.

"Let's head out. Chikorita, you can stay out if you want since we're staying outta sight," I informed her. Chikorita cheered at that and used her vines to hoist herself up on my shoulder without any hesitation. Zorua followed suit and deftly leapt up with only a slight amount of hesitation this time. I gazed flatly at the two of them. They were just using me as their own personal taxi now.

"Enjoy it while it lasts. Once you become a Meganium, you'll become my taxi," I promised the Grass type. At least Chikorita's spoiled nature, was making Zorua relax easier around me. Seeing how I hardly reacted negatively from her actions, let him see that I wasn't a dick anymore. Good. He deserved to get spoiled for being so useful. Chikorita's eyes glittered in excitement at hearing me mention she was going to become a Meganium and she nodded rapidly.

"Ru," Zorua reminded me, nudging me forward so that I could begin the trek back to Cherrygrove.

"Fine, fine. We'll do some more training tomorrow morning before we head out so I'll let you guys be lazy for now," I conceded fully, even though I didn't plan on resisting.

"By the way, the egg is a Pokemon called Togepi," I decided to tell them, while walking through the forest.

"They're a fairy type that evolves and gains a flying type, so it'll be strong against the both of you type-wise." Both my Pokemon scoffed at that.

"Rua."

"Rita!" They refused to accept the fact that they could possibly lose to a Pokemon that hadn't even hatched yet and I thought that was hilarious. I snorted in turn. Their confidence in their strengths, pleased me. It made me confident in my next few captures and it made me confident that I could actually survive in this world despite the weird start. Still though, it was good to know I wasn't the only one with an ego here. Maybe they just picked up on it, but Zorua and Chikorita had quite a bit of pride themselves.

We were perfect for each other then. I was in a weird situation, with weird shenanigans and some mind tampering but despite that, I was pretty pleased with the plans I had mapped out. I couldn't help but also be pleased by my on the spot planning too. I never expected to take a boat to Olivine, or add a Togepi to the team but both were decisions I didn't hate at all. Togekiss would be a strong addition.

I'm not sure what role I'd assign for it yet, but I'd figure something out after yet another late night of studying this new world. I sighed to myself. Why did they pick such a weird place to put me in? Didn't most stories at least kind of cater to the person on the receiving end of this? At the very least, why didn't they put me in his body before he broke in. At least give me more control of my life! But nope.

I get put in a criminal's body, where his rival constantly kicks his ass but doesn't turn him in for some reason. At least I beat Gold in our one and only fight. If I ever saw him again, I would know for sure that whoever did this to me, has it out for me.