Once again, work and school have delayed the release of this chapter. Smite too, but let's not talk about that. Here is the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy the added length!

The redheaded trainer quickly found himself on the other side of Gateon's large number of immense piers. Remembering the directions given to him by Ms. Forme, Michael scanned the cleaner side of the economic district of Orre.

"Lost?" came the friendly call from a young blond man approaching Michael from the direction of the world famous Krabby Klub. Michael looked at him, struggling to think of anything that would not make him look like a lost tourist.

Coming up with nothing, Michael hung his head with a simple "yes" in answer to the man's question. Michael then quickly told him the directions that he had been given.

The man nodded. "Don't worry, I'll show you to the Pokémon Center, and then the warehouse you're talking about isn't too far from there."

He then led Michael a short distance to a rather impressive two-story building.

Michael, seeing the large P.C. symbol identifying the building as the Pokémon Center, turned to the blond man and gratefully said, "I am in your debt. Thank you for your help."

The man shook his head. "No need to be so formal kid. You're welcome and all, but try to loosen up a little. Life's more than manners and Pokémon, kid. I'll see you around."

The man quickly walked off, not noticing the gleam of sweat that had quickly covered the teen's forehead or the dazed look in his emerald eyes.

Michael, enveloped in memories, fell into the past.

"Michael, strike now!" yelled the powerful and commanding voice.

Michael, facing off against the Hitmonchan that was his training partner, responded the only way he knew how. The young boy, his leg tucked up not unlike a strange flamingo and his hips and stable foot pivoting to supple more force, unleashed a devastating roundhouse kick towards his opponent's ribs.

The Hitmonchan, a Pokémon that resembled a human boxer in a purple tunic, blocked the blow with his impressive gloved hands as if it was nothing. However, the Fighting-type faltered slightly, and Michael took a chance. Michael brought his striking foot back into contact with the mat beneath him and prepared to turn into a rear kick - an action that was quickly stopped by the Hitmonchan's weakened punch to Michael's temple. Michael, of course, fell to the ground like sack of rocks in response to the punch. Held back or not, a punch by a highly trained Hitmonchan was easily enough to drop the twelve-year old boy.

"Excellent kick, Michael!" The voice stated as it slowly came closer to the boy. "However, you should have known to retreat out of Jeremy's reach once your kick was blocked. He even gave you a moment to do so! Most highly trained martial artists have trouble with Hitmonchan's punches, much less a twelve-year old who has only been training for a year."

By this point Michael had rolled over so he could see his teacher's shadow looming over him. "My apologies, Father. I thought the chance Jeremy gave me was an opening to strike."

With a chuckle, Michael's father reached down to help the young boy up. Once Michael was back on his feet, he looked towards his father for further instruction.

His father was truly a simple man. He was of average height, and his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes didn't make him stand out much. His clothing might be seen as strange by some, as he was wearing the same thing his son: A simple black gi, or material arts uniform.

Michael's father, seeing that his son was waiting for more guidance, simply chuckled. "Your class is over for today, Michael. You're free to go now."

The man walked over to his son, and clapped him on the shoulder, a glowing smile on the man's face.

Michael looked up to his smiling father, his expression mirrored on the former's face. That quickly fell when his father finished what he was saying with, "I need to go to Gateon Port today, but you still have your biology lesson with Professor Krane. I'll leave you to it."

Michael's father started to leave the building, but then turned back. "I also left you a present in your room. Feel free to go get it before you go to meet the Professor."

The boy, filled with joy yet not wanting to appear childish before of his father, responded with a curt bow and a simple, "Yes sir."

The man chuckled again, and told his son words that would haunt him for several years to come. "There's more to life than manners and Pokémon, Michael."

He then left the building, his task set out in front of him.

Michael simply let him go, not knowing the events that would occur in the next few hours.

Michael, finally coming out of his daze, shook his head to clear away the memories. He silently told himself that it was no good to dwell on the past, ignoring the fact that the day he had thought about had shaped his speech and actions for the following years, and began to walk towards the warehouse where he had been told his sister would be.

Yet, unknown to him, he unconsciously curled his hands into fists and his vision was slightly blurred with unshed tears.

"Welcome, Michael! Sorry if you got a little lost on your way here," Ms. Forme told the teen as he entered the warehouse.

The fairly decently sized building was completely decorated with streamers and balloons, showing off the joyous occasion that was the reason people had gathered there. While not packed, a good twenty people filled the space, most of them sitting at a low table in the center of the room, the only exceptions being Michael, Ms. Forme, and two of the younger guests who were engaged in a friendly battle.

"It was no problem, Ms. Forme," Michael responded. "I just need to get my sister so that we can return to the lab."

"Of course," Ms. Forme nodded. However, she quickly continued with "But before you go, would you mind asking my father for a battle?"

Upon seeing the confused look on the teen's face, she then added "If you remember, this gathering is for his birthday. My brother just so happened to get him a Pokémon, and he wants to see my father use it in a battle before he heads back to the Kanto region for business. Sadly, no one here has any Pokémon trained for battle besides my father and my nephews, and they only have baby Pokémon that aren't ready for anything more than a mock battle."

The young woman then bowed her head to Michael. "Please?"

The trainer sighed, knowing that he shouldn't waste any more time but not wanting to be rude. "I would be honored to be the first to battle against his new partner," Michael eventually sighed.

With a yip of joy that was very unfitting for a woman of her age, Ms. Forme ran over to one of the older men seated at the table. After a quick whispered conversation, she and the man who could only be her father walked back over towards Michael.

Upon reaching the teen, the elderly man extended his hand in greeting. "My name is Carl Forme, young trainer," he said as he shook hands with Michael.

Carl was certainly not a young man, as evidenced by the "Happy 50th Birthday" balloons that floated around the warehouse, but his eyes sparkled with the energy of one thirty years his junior.

Michael responded with, "My name is Michael Vigreel. A pleasure to meet you. Shall we battle just outside?"

"Of course!" Carl responded giddily as the led the teen out to the street.

The rest of the group quickly followed them outside, and the two contestants faced each other from a distance of roughly twenty feet.

"We will each use two Pokémon in a single battle with no substitutions. Sound fair?" Carl asked Michael.

With a nod, Michael showed his agreement.

Carl's smile sprang forth as he yelled, "In that case, let's get started!" Carl plucked two Pokeballs from a pouch on his belt, morphed the first into active mode, and threw it into the air. As it opened, he whooped, "Come on Jessie, my old partner! Let's warm up before the new blood takes his turn!"

The Pokémon that appeared, whose name was apparently Jessie based on the shrill call it responded to Carl with, was an elderly Taillow. Unlike younger ones of the same species, this Taillow had a split tail that was only slightly longer than the rest of its body rather than the usual two-to-one ratio, and was significantly smaller than average as well. The blue avian didn't seem to care about its small size and took to the sky in preparation for the battle.

Michael gripped the two Pokeballs he had with him tightly. He wanted to see if his newly captured Teddiursa would listen to him, but he didn't want to endanger anyone in the general vicinity. Deciding that it would be easy to simply recall the bear if it became to unruly, he put his Eevee's Pokeball back into his hip pouch.

"Teddiursa, time to shine!" Michael yelled as he tossed the ball into the air.

With a flash, the Shadow Teddiursa appeared. Michael's eyepiece shot out, identifying Teddiursa's shadow status as well as its heart gauge. Michael raised his eyebrow as he realized that simply having the Teddiursa with him had lowered the gauge to a simple two bars rather than the five it started with.

The Pokémon merely gazed forward, its eyes glazed over as if it was unconscious.

Carl, noticing the distinct lack of excitement and energy the Teddiursa family is known for, asked Michael, "Is your Pokémon alright? I've never seen or heard of a Teddiursa this calm."

Michael, not wanting to involve any people he didn't know in his problem, simply responded with, "My Teddiursa is a bit special." Michael, after double checking the Pokémon's information with his PDA, finished with, "She will be fine to battle, though."

Carl simple nodded. "In that case, Jessie! Use Peck!"

The man's Taillow responded with another high-pitched cry as it dove towards Michael's Teddiursa. Michael, having just reviewed his Pokémon's information, knew a way to hit the Normal type without resorting to Shadow moves.

"Teddiursa! Intercept with Metal Claw!" Michael yelled.

The short orange bear's eyes, with their empty gaze, quickly turned to the approaching avian as its claws seemed to gain a strange, metallic sheen. With a barely audible growl, the Teddiursa leaped towards the Taillow. With a squawk, the Flying-type was within the Teddiursa's grasp. The Pokémon then quickly slashed the smaller bird several times across its fragile wings.

Severely weakened, the Taillow was nonetheless able to escape the bear's clutches with a well placed peck between the Teddiursa's eyes.

"Are you okay Jessie?" Carl asked his Pokémon, worry evident in his voice. A quiet warble answered him, and the determined glint returned to his eyes.

Michael, deciding to keep the momentum with his Pokémon, yelled "Again, Teddiursa!"

His Pokémon immediately responded, but what surprised Michael was the eyes of the Teddiursa. For a brief moment, a flash of emotion had shown in the bear's eyes. Michael looked off into the distance as he thought about what that implied.

"Could it be that battling with Shadow Pokémon makes them remember their true nature?" he quietly asked himself.

Making sure to remember the occurrence, Michael turned his attention back to the battle and was pleased to see Carl's Taillow had fainted. Michael quickly had to return his Teddiursa before it could continue to attack the defeated avian.

At this point, several people passing by had stopped to watch the battle. After both Pokémon had been returned, they briefly clapped politely.

"Not bad, lad," Carl called to his opponent. "But you lack control and dedication. Your Teddiursa was very wild. Things could have gone bad quickly."

Michael winced at this statement, but he knew that he could not explain why his Pokémon was so violent.

As a result, he simply said, "Thank you, sir. I will keep it in mind."

Carl grinned. "With that said, its time for the new blood! Ledyba, let's see what you can do!"

Carl's second Pokeball flew through the air for a brief moment before unleashing a bright burst of light. After the light disappeared, a large ladybug like Pokémon gazed forward towards Michael. The Pokémon's wings lazily opened, and it took to the air.

Before the young trainer could send out his Eevee, the unthinkable happened. The Shadow Monitor section of Michael's eyepiece activated and locked on the Ledyba across from him.

Michael couldn't help but let his jaw drop. Carl owned a Shadow Pokémon?

"No," Michael muttered to himself. "It was a gift." Suspicious, Michael looked towards Carl's son-in-law, but his attention was quickly snatched away by Carl's next words.

"Come on, lad! We don't have all day!" Michael's opponent yelled at him. Michael took note of how the crowd had started to get restless, and decided that speaking to Carl after the battle was the way to go.

With a nod to himself, Michael yelled "Eevee, rise!" as his starter's Pokeball flashed open. His Eevee looked towards the Ledyba, turned back towards Michael, made a cheerful chirp, and then prepared itself for battle.

Carl grinned, happy to see that the battle would not be stalled any longer.

"All right! Ledyba, we'll take the first attack! Use Supersonic!" Carl announced.

Michael, ready for anything, commanded, "Avoid the attack and then strike with Tackle, Eevee!"

The fox's ears twitched as it prepared to doge the sonic waves that were bound to appear from Ledyba's stumpy antennae, but instead the Bug-type rushed Eevee while coated in a purple aura invisible to all but Michael's Shadow Monitor. As the Pokémon rocketed towards Eevee, Michael gasped, knowing he would not have time to give his Eevee new instructions.

Luckily, Eevee's long ears were for more than just show. Picking up very quickly on the movements of its opponent, Eevee easily ducked the wild strike from the Ledyba and responded by throwing its entire weight into a full body tackle against Ledyba's fragile underbelly. The Bug Pokémon let out a pained call as it flipped backwards several times through the air until it landed flat on its back.

"Ledyba! Are you alright?" Carl called out to his downed Pokémon. With a grunt that appeared very strange coming from a bug, the Ledyba regained its footing

By this point the crowd was murmuring fairly loudly, asking many questions. Michael heard 'Why didn't that Ledyba listen to its trainer?', 'What's up with that machine over that kid's eye?' and 'Why was that Eevee able to dodge such an unexpected attack?'

Ignoring what he deemed unimportant, Michael gave his Eevee what he hoped would be the last command of the battle. "Eevee, move in and finish this up with Swift Bite!"

The fox immediately responded, quickly covering ground to the Ledyba. The Ledyba once again ignored Carl's cry of Supersonic and charged towards Eevee. As if predicting its opponent's moves, Eevee darted to the side of the Bug-type and surged forwards for a powerful Bite on Ledyba's left wing.

With a pitiful cry, the ladybug attempted to shake free. Eevee, however, refused to release the bug. After shaking its defeated opponent a few times for good measure, Eevee released its hold on the Ledyba, proudly pranced over to Michael, and leaped into his open arms.

Michael chuckled as he caught his starter, petting the Eevee's head as it started to purr. He then walked over to Carl, who had just finishing returning his Pokémon, and offered his hand.

"That was a good battle, sir," Micahel told his older opponent.

Carl smiled and accepted Michael's handshake and said, "That it was, lad."

The crowd started to cheer and clap, but the commotion quickly died down as each person in the crowd went off to do what they had set off to do before being distracted by the battle.

Once Michael, Carl, Jovi, and Carl's family were the only people left on the street not going about their daily lives, Michael told Carl what he had been hoping not to have to ever say to anyone. "Carl, I think your Ledyba is a Shadow Pokémon." Michael told the older man.

"What? Why do you say that?" Carl asked, obviously skeptical. By this point, Ms. Forme, Jovi, and Carl's son had approached the conversation.

Michael, along with Jovi chiming in, quickly explained to those around them everything that had happened since Professor Krane's kidnapping.

"How could such a thing happen!" Ms. Form gasped as soon as Michael had finished.

"In that case, here." Carl handed the Pokeball containing his Ledyba to Michael. Before Michael could respond, Carl turned to his son and continued. "Robert told me he bought two Pokémon from the same person. Said the second was a surprise for my daughter. Could you show it to him, just in case?"

Carl's son, who was apparently named Robert, responded with, "Sure, Dad."

The man took a Pokeball off of a keychain and activated it. After the light faded, a large Poochyena had emerged. Michael's Shadow Monitor responded, and he informed the others that the hyena Pokémon also was a Shadow Pokémon.

Robert recalled the Pokémon and gave the Pokeball to Michael.

"Please, help these poor Pokémon," Carl told Michael. "You and your sister need to deliver that Machine Part, yes? You should go ahead and get back to the lab as quickly as possible."

Michael responded with a proper, "Of course sir."

He then motioned to his sister, and the two began to walk back towards where Michael had parked his scooter. Before they went too far, they were stopped by Carl's parting words.

"Please help them, and then bring them back healthy, Michael. We are counting on you."

The trainer nodded, shushing his sister as she tried to act the hero. Again, they began to leave the Port, knowing that their presence at the Lab was now needed more than ever.

This chapter was easily my most favorite to write so far! I wanted to give a bit of backstory for why Michael is so polite, and I also want to delve into the mystery that is his father. So, why not wrap it up into one! (Btw, If anyone somehow guesses the reason behind the Hitmonchan's name, pretend I gave you a cookie) I ignored Poochyena's trainer from the actual game, as Michael and Co. really have no reason to go to the lighthouse and the trainer really had no point anyway. Because of that, we have to wait a while longer for the Snag Machine to be used again. Sorry, guys! Also, I must once again thank UP2L8 for their wonderful help. Anyway, y'all stay safe and I hope to get the next chapter out before Fire Emblem Fates steals too much of my life. Till then, I thank you for reading.

Michael's Team:

Eevee: Lv: 13. Moves: Tackle, Bite, Sand Attack, Tail Whip

(Shadow) Teddiursa: Lv: 15?. Moves: Shadow Blitz, Shadow Mist, Lick, Metal CLaw

Pokémon obtained but will be sent to the lab:

(Shadow)Ledyba Lv 12?. Moves: Shadow Blitz, Shadow Shed,

(Shadow) Poochyena Lv. 12?. Moves: Shadow Blitz, Shadow Hold.