Hope you like long chapters. I didn't feel like breaking this one into sections. Oh, and I changed some stuff in chapters 1 and 2 (I changed them after I posted this chapter), to make the ranger thing less out of the blue (I mention Harry in ch. 1 now). So…yeah. Enjoy this behemoth.

"So what's the plan for today? More training?" I asked casually as we ate breakfast. The cool morning air felt good after a night of restless tossing and turning, and the pancakes in front of me tasted divine. General and Sherman both must've enjoyed their food as well, having gone to town on it. Currently we were sitting at one of the outside tables at a café, enjoying the early morning.

Well, I was. Selene was busy trying to control Bubbles and Mooshy, as they were trying to steal her food, and April was had been staring at me the entire morning, not saying a word. It was getting uncomfortable.

"I dunno. I kind of want to –hey! Stop it, Bubbles! I kind of want to challenge the gym leader today." Selene said, snagging her toast back from the thieving Bubbles. Mooshy hissed and threatened to shoot electric webbing, which Selene resolved by recalling him.

"I like it. Even if you don't beat the gym leader the first time around, then we'll have the entire rest of the day to train, right?" I said, thinking it over. Selene shook her head.

"I'm not going to lose." She said confidently. I almost laughed at her childish confidence. It had taken me five tries to finally beat Roark, and even then only because General evolved midway through my fifth try. Had I been a lesser man, I would've gone out and caught another Pokémon instead of being bull-headed and sticking with one.

"Sure." I drawled, grinning at her and stretching a bit. Thanks to my arm I didn't get to do my morning routine, and I was a little stiff. "We'll go after everyone finishes eating." Selene nodded and dug into the rest of her meal with gusto, finally getting a break after fending off of her two Pokémon. If nothing else, it was her ravenous appetite that reminded me of her past.

"So, Ryan." April said after a minute, too casually picking at her pancakes with a fork. Her Umbreon poked his head up from her lap, eyeing her food. "Did you go to ranger school?" I blinked at the sudden question and then gave her a one-shouldered shrug.

"No. I attended normal high school." I said, slapping General's hand away from the table. He scowled at me and went back to picking at his empty plate. "For the most part I was a part-time ranger, y'know? I worked after school, picked up night shifts, did bigger missions on weekends, and then work full time during breaks. They're surprisingly lenient about scheduling, especially for high-schoolers." I explained, taking another bite of my food. The minimum age for becoming a ranger was fourteen, so high school aged kids were most of what they got.

I savored the syrupy taste and looked back at April, who looked relatively shocked. Selene paused from tearing into her eggs to listen, apparently interested as well.

"Really? I'd have expected…" She trailed off, and I nodded.

"I guess you would. My dad used to be a big trainer back in the day, and is a pretty big wilderness nut. It's really thanks to him that I rose as quickly as I did. I've been around strong and wild Pokémon practically since birth." I said with a chuckle, recalling some of his more hardcore lessons. My smile faltered a little and a shiver ran up my spine. He'd ditched me and my brother in the wilderness for an entire week when I was eleven, with nothing but a few matches, a knife, a hatchet, and a space blanket. It had been scarier than shit, even if I'd later found out that he'd been watching us the entire time.

"That's…well, that's more than impressive, then. I mean sure it's not impossible, but most of your high ranking rangers did go through ranger school." April said, her tone a little off-putting. I wondered what that was about before noting that she had at least some knowledge of rangers. At this point I'd pretty much deduced that she was an expert trainer of sorts, and it's really not that uncommon a trait in the 'ace' or expert trainers.

"So I've heard." I said quietly, taking another bite of my pancakes. With expert tact (at least I like to think it was), I changed topics. "What about you, April?"

"Me?" April asked. "I…I went to the International Battle Academy when I was twelve."

"That explains a lot actually." I said after a moment of silence. April gave me an odd look, like I was supposed to be star struck or something.

"What's that?" Selene asked around a mouthful of sausage or whatever the hell she was cramming into her face now.

"The International Battle Academy, or IBA for short, is supposed to be the most prestigious Pokémon battling academies in the world. They've produced a myriad of high ranking trainers, including most of the current gym leaders and elite four. Ethan Gold, y'know, the kid ranked number one out of all the Region Champions? Yeah, apparently he graduated from there too." I explained, looking at April for confirmation.

"Exactly. Though they don't only accept battlers. Contestants and researchers also get in." She said, nodding. "They accept only the best of the best. One year they only accepted twenty students total. In the battling community, those who graduate from the IBA are pretty much guaranteed sponsorships from global battling institutions, and attract a lot of attention. To say it's a big deal is an understatement." Selene wasn't sure how to take all this in, staring at April in a mixture of awe and confusion.

"Listen to her brag." I whistled. She shot me a dirty look and I chuckled. "Kidding, kidding. So what did you study?"

"Battle tactics, obviously." April said. "Though for the most part I studied Pokémon habits and habitats, along with biology. You need to know more than just how to attack to battle properly." I did not miss the pointed look she gave me, probably because of my unorthodox fighting style, and I smirked into my drink.

"That's so cool!" Selene said. "Can you teach me how to battle?" April smiled at her and nodded.

"Of course." She said. "Though you pretty much already know the basics. You're a natural, Selene. You just need to remember that type matchups aren't everything, it's how you command your partners on the battlefield." She sounds like a textbook. I mentally groaned, my eyes glazing over at the first few words. Damn, I hadn't taken her for the lecture nodded dutifully, soaking in the information April was giving her with eager eyes and open ears. As for me, I could feel myself nodding off a bit as April answered Selene's questions with detailed answers.

I'd never been one for following the "rules" of battling. It was just…boring.

"So then kind of like what Ryan does?" Selene asked with an utterly confused look on her face. The mention of my name drew me back into the waking world, where I answered with a slurred 'huh?' General cackled and Sherman rolled his eyes, leaping off of the table with the last of my food.

"No." April said the word with such force that I froze halfway out of my chair, my cry of protest frozen on my lips as I began to chase Sherman. "Do not do what Ryan does. It's stupid."

"Hey!" I protested, but April forged on.

"He uses tactically disadvantageous moves, his commanding is sloppy and full of holes which leaves his Pokémon in danger of being attacked, and he can't even control them. The only thing Ryan's got going for him is that he's got decently strong Pokémon. I guarantee you that if and when he runs into higher-level trainers and Pokémon, if he doesn't take battling seriously, he'll lose spectacularly." April said.

"I'm not that bad!" I protested. "And what do you mean by 'take battling seriously?' I'm serious!" Selene giggled and shook her head.

"No you're not! You're always hopping around and making weird commands and stuff and yelling at your Pokémon. You're goofy." Selene deduced. April nodded, and I huffed. General cackled and I shot him a look.

"Well, ok I'll give you that." I admitted. I didn't hop around like Selene said, but I do tend to start battling weirder as the day wore on. Simply winning just wasn't enough for me. "But I won't lose spectacularly. I'm not that bad." I insisted.

"Then do you want to battle me?" April asked.

"Arceus no, that'd be a slaughter. Do you think I'm stupid?" I answered instantly. She may be a little stiff, but I'll be damned if she wasn't good. No, not good, bloody fantastic. April made a vague gesture and looked at Selene pointedly, a smug look on her face.

"I rest my case." She said. Selene giggled, and I frowned.

"That's not fair." I protested. "Your Umbreon is on a level all itself, even if General and Sherman attacked him together they'd still lose spectacularly." I had only seen the Umbreon (Zorro) battle once, and that was because April had gotten fed up with some guy that was gloating over having beaten Selene yesterday, and taught him a lesson by sweeping all four of his Pokémon with Zorro.

He one-hit-KO'd the Pokémon too, simply by using shadow ball. And acting bored while doing it. His opponent hadn't been a shabby trainer, either. April looked like she was about to say something, and then wisely closed her mouth.

"He's got a point." Selene said. "You did kinda beat that one guy into the ground yesterday…" April shrugged.

"That's because I actually use common sense." She said. Right, common sense and over powered Pokémon, maybe.

"Ha! Who needs common sense?" I boasted, puffing my chest up proudly. "I'm a proud non-user of common sense!" I looked down at my plate just in time to see General literally wiping his face on it, determined to get the last of the syrup. I recalled him and glared venomously at the pokeball.

"Everyone. Everyone needs common sense." April said flatly. "That's why it's common."

"Only normal people need common sense. And I'm not normal!" I declared. Selene was trying her best to stifle her laughter, and failing miserably.

"Yeah! Ryan's a ranger!" Selene interjected between gasps. April snorted.

"Yeah, well, I doubt he uses that strategy when he's being a ranger." She said. I gave her another one-shouldered shrug.

"It's not like I get the chance, though! Rangers don't do much standard battling, and we'd use a Pokémon assigned to us on missions rather than our personal ones." I defended myself. "Only rangers who break their stylers on a mission end up battling." April raised an eyebrow at me.

"Excuses." April said airily. "It's still not a sound strategy." I opened and closed my mouth, searching for a retort but drawing a blank.

"W-well…y'know what?!" I spluttered.

"Ryan's always having fun though." Selene piped up, setting down her spotless plate. Did…did she just lick it clean? I've never seen someone actually do that other than a Pokémon. I'm impressed.

"Yeah!" I yelled, pointing a dramatic finger at April once I was finished admiring Selene's plate-cleaning abilities. Selene giggled and continued.

"He's always smiling or arguing when he's battling. You just look mean." Selene tried to imitate April's battling face, scrunching up her eyebrows and scowling, making her just look comical instead.

"Exactly! Besides, everyone knows that having fun is more important than winning or losing." I declared. April's look startled me slightly. It wasn't necessarily a look that simply said "I disagree," but rather one that looked a little sad. It caught me off guard.

"Why don't you settle this battle with a gym battle? You're planning on challenging the leader anyways, right?" The lilting voice sounded from one table over. Three heads turned to look at the speaker, a blonde woman wearing a white tank top. Her dazzling smile was almost blinding, and I squinted at her.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Viola. I'm a photographer. Sorry, I just couldn't help but overhear your conversation, because one of your Pokémon has been trying to steal my breakfast." Viola answered, pointing at Sherman, who was munching on an apple from Viola's plate.

"Oh, crap! I'm so sorry." I apologized, swiftly returning the grass-type. She chuckled and shook her head, setting her camera back on the table.

"Don't worry about it! I get the idea your Pokémon don't listen to you very well anyways." She said. I ignored that statement, along with the pointed look that April gave me. "Now back to what I was saying; I have a proposal for you. See, I haven't gotten enough photos for my monthly release, there being a lack of material and all that, so I was hoping that you two might provide that for me!" She beamed at us and I stared at her. She said her name was Viola, right…? Where did I hear that name before…?

"Why would we do that?" April asked defensively. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, thinking that her reaction was a bit too harsh.

"To settle that argument of yours! Which battling style is the best! Of course I'd be the judge." She said happily.

"You said your name is Viola, and you're a photographer, right?" I asked. She nodded, her blond hair bobbing with the motion. I hummed and thought hard for a minute. "Are you…you can't be…that Viola, can you?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yep!" She said. I can't really say if my jaw dropped, but I was certainly ecstatic. I'd heard she lived in Kalos, but to think I'd actually run into her?!

"Um…who is she?" Selene whispered to April. April shook her head in response.

"Viola's a famous Pokémon photographer, especially in amongst rangers. Her staple's taking pictures of bug Pokémon, but she's also done a ton of work in bringing attention to environmental conservation." I explained, unable to keep the grin off of my face. "She's taken pictures for magazines like Regional Geographic, had her pictures displayed in art galleries across all of the regions, and has received a ton of awards. She was the one who brought attention to the declining populations of wild Pokémon, thanks to the recent rise in trainers." April looked nonplussed.

"Aren't you this town's gym leader?" She asked.

"You are both correct!" Viola confirmed. "That's why I'm getting so excited about this! It's been a long time since I've had a battle worthy of photographing, and I'm hoping that you three can spice things up for me! And as an added bonus you get to settle your little debate!"

"What do you say, April?" I asked. April narrowed her eyes a bit.

"I don't know. It seems kind of pointless. We're going to battle the gym leader anyways, right?" She asked.

"Oh, c'mon! It'll be fun! Making it a competition will just spice things up, right? Here, Selene will participate too!" I said. April rubbed her face, glancing at the vigorously nodding Selene.

"….fine." She relented.

"Excellent! Follow me and we'll get started right away!" Viola said, grinning at us.

"We still need to pay though." I pointed out. On que, the waitress scurried over to us, holding the check in her hand. "Oh. There's the check." Viola waited patiently while I paid using the money I'd earned training yesterday, however meager that amount was. And then we were off, following Viola towards the gym.

As we passed by the ranger station I ducked my head a bit, positioning myself so that Viola and April would hide me. I didn't want to take any chances encountering someone from the Union. While I doubted it would bring about anything….it was better not to take that chance.

"By the way, what are your names?" Viola asked casually, opening the door to her gym. The inside was covered wall-to-wall in all of Viola's most famous pictures, and even ones I hadn't seen. There were pictures of trainers and their Pokémon, intense battle scenes, wild bug Pokémon feeding on flowers, and everything in between.

"I'm Selene!" Selene answered.

"April."

"Uh…Ryan." I told her, tearing my eyes away from the metal pole in the middle of the room, and the hole beneath it. Was that part of the gym, maybe?

"Oh, are you Ryan Taylor by chance?" Viola asked, pausing as she ushered us inside. I nodded, and she smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. It's not every day you get to meet a rank nine ranger. Though I probably should've figured it out from the sling." She laughed. I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head.

"So you heard about me, huh?" I said. "Well it's nice to meet you too."

"Yep! Oh, by the way, a few rangers stopped by earlier to ask me if I'd seen you. When I said no, they said that if I did happen to meet you to tell you that some rangers from the Union are looking for you, and to come find them at the local station." Viola told me. I flashed her a winning smile.

"Thanks for letting me know! I'll stop by after the battle." I told her. She smiled back and nodded, the door to the gym banging shut as she clapped her hands.

"Excellent! I'll be waiting for you guys at the back of the gym! Selene and April, you two slide down that pole. Ryan, because of your injury, I'll let you use the stairs." She smiled at us again and clapped her hands. "Don't keep me waiting too long!"

"Y'know, when she suggested this, I was kind of hoping we wouldn't have to go through all the gym trainers first." I grumbled, spraying Sherman down with some potions. That last girl's Combee had done a number on him, but he was soldiering on. It actually made me proud.

"Quit whining. If you had used General it wouldn't have taken nearly this long." April told me, hands on her hips. Selene was busy pulling webbing out of her hair with a muttered 'ew,' Bubbles croaking alongside her.

"And this stupid webbing!" I moaned, waving my hand in the direction we had just come. The entire gym floor was made of solidified webbing, probably some sort of bug Pokémon's, formed and woven into walkways and bridges that crisscrossed the underside of the gym like some sort of convoluted labyrinth. Aside from that, string shot webs hung all over the place, due to the abundance of bug Pokémon used by both gym trainers and leader alike. It's not like anyone came around to clean it all up anyways, so it was constantly getting in my face and hair and clothes. "I thought a wurmple's string shot was bad!"

"They have nothing on Ariados webbing. That stuff'll stick to you for months." The trainer I had just battled told me with a shudder. I glanced up at her and nodded.

"I feel bad for you, having to come here day in and day out." I told her, picking a strand of webbing off of my face. She shrugged.

"You get used to it." She said. I nodded and turned to April, who rolled her eyes at my theatrics. I stuck my bottom lip out.

"This suuuucks." I moaned, standing up straight into another patch of webbing. The gym trainer covered her laugh with a cough. "I'm glad you find this amusing." I drawled. She waved her hand dismissively, unable to contain her smirk.

"Hey, I think Viola's right up there!" Selene suddenly shouted, towards where our bridge of webbing led. She was right, of course. The web bridge thing, hanging over pure blackness that I was certain had fluffy mattresses at the bottom, led straight towards an open door, sunlight streaming through it. She ran ahead and I sighed, slowly trudging after her, Sherman at my heels.

April fell in step alongside me, Delphi trotting proudly next to her. There was obviously something bugging her, but I didn't press. It's not like I knew her that well anyways.

"So you finally got here!" Viola said as we emerged, Selene already standing in the middle of the battle ring. We were in some sort of greenhouse, with flowers all around, a battle arena in the middle, and bleachers off to the side. I had half a mind to tell Viola to clean up her gym, but Selene spoke up first.

"Yeah! I'm going to battle you first!" Selene shouted, hands on her hips. Bubbles croaked and looked up at her, the fluff around his neck puffing up slightly. Viola grinned at her, standing opposite the door with her hands on her hips and a fancy-looking camera setup in front of her. The camera itself had a large lens on the front, with a tripod holding it in place.

"We should head up to the bleachers." I said. April nodded in agreement and we moved off to the side, standing in the bleachers while patiently waiting for the match to both begin and finish. After the referee announced the rules; two Pokémon each, no substitutions on the gym leader's part, and the rest of the standard battling rules, the match began. Predictably Selene sent out Bubbles first, Viola countering with her Surskit. It seemed pretty evenly matched to me.

"I bet you all the money I have that Viola's answer to 'who wins' will be 'everyone.'" I said in an attempt to break the silent tension April was radiating. It was seriously beginning to get on my nerves.

"Ha. That's a bad bet. You'll easily win." April snorted. "She'll say something like 'every style is great, it's all a matter of preference.'" I chuckled and nodded, watching Bubbles pound away at Surskit, firing his bubble attack whenever the bug type got too far away. So far, Viola had yet to attack.

"That's for sure. Well, it is their job to teach trainers. I guess she saw our little argument as something like an opportunity." I said, nodding. April was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Why'd you agree to do this?" She asked. I gave her yet another one-shoulder shrug.

"Dunno. Sounded like fun." I grinned at her. "It made things more interesting." She paused and thought for a minute.

"Because we'd be focusing not only on the aesthetic value of our battle as well as technique, right? Since she's a photographer, a famous one at that, then she'll not only be looking for practicality but also for beauty." April mused.

"Uh…something like that." I said. I hadn't quite broken it down like that, but…that's the gist, I guess. I just thought it'd be fun. Bubbles advanced quickly, launching bubble attack after bubble attack in an attempt to slow the Surskit. And then….the stupid bug pulled an ice beam out of its ass and froze Bubbles solid. "Where the hell did that come from?!" I near-shouted, shocked by the turn of events. Bubbles had been doing well, too…

"That's Viola's counter against type weaknesses. Most Pokémon around here that she'll have to face will be either flying type, with a few fire types, and her Surskit covers both of those weaknesses with ice beam and bubblebeam." April told me.

"Well, yeah I know, but…still!" I protested.

"It's good strategy." April said sternly. "Something you know very little about."

"Ouch. I'm not that bad." I protested.

"You're not even unpredictable, which makes it worse."

"Hey! I am too!"

"I bet you won't even get the badge on your first try, despite your type advantage."

"Hah! I'll show you! I won't even use General's type advantage and I'll win!" I announced, almost interrupting the battle. Viola took her eyes off of the battle for a split second to look up at us, before turning her attention back to where her Pokémon was getting beaten. Mooshy was currently wrapping an electroweb cocoon around Surskit, the super-effective attack doing massive damage.

This caught my attention and soon enough I was enraptured, all but oblivious to the smirk April had plastered on her face.

Surskit fainted, and Selene cheered Mooshy on. The little bug and grass type cried proudly, spitting a little more webbing into the air.

Up next was Viola's Vivillion. Mooshy put up a brave fight, his electroweb doing massive damage to the beautiful flying bug, but the inevitable finally happened. After Vivillion effectively dodged a majority of the electroweb attacks, Mooshy ran out of webbing. It had been a battle of stamina, ground versus air, and Vivillion won. Using a devastating combination of poison powder and gust, Mooshy was tossed across the room, landed on the ground with a hard thud, and fainted. Selene recalled him and stared dejectedly at the ball.

"Mooshy is unable to battle. The winner is Viola!" The referee called.

"Don't worry too much about it, kiddo. I am a gym leader after all. Most trainers lose their first gym battles." Viola said in a reassuring tone. "But your Burmy's incredibly strong! As a bug Pokémon specialist, I have to give you props for raising it so well! How long have you had it?" Viola asked, her excitement gradually increasing.

"I didn't lose." April muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"Uh…about two days." Selene mumbled. Viola stared at her before smiling.

"Kid, you've got a bright future in training ahead of you." She said, wholly honest. Selene perked up a bit at that, squinting at Viola.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yep!" Viola nodded. Selene burst into a smile, clenching her fist.

"Next time I'll definitely win against you!" She declared. Viola nodded.

"I look forward to it!" Viola said, grinning. "Now, next challenger!" Selene silently walked up to stand next to the two of us, while we debated on who was going next. In the end, rock-paper-scissors decided that April would go next. April may beat me when it came to battling, but I have yet to be beaten at rock-paper-scissors. That's where my genius truly lies!

"Next up is April…no last name?" April shook her head at the ref, who shrugged. "Alright then. April from Pallet Town."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be that particular April, would you?" Viola said, suddenly sounding nervous. April smiled in a deviously kind way.

"Yes I am. But don't worry, I left my Charizard back in Kanto." April assured her. Charizard…that's a giant fire-breathing dragon, right? I heard the Kanto Champion uses one. What was his name again…? Some sort of color. Maroon? No, that doesn't sound right. I thought.

"Oh thank Arceus. I would've withdrawn if you had." Viola said with a sigh of relief. "I'm afraid my bug Pokémon would turn to ash!" The two shared a laugh, April's sounding a little force, and I wondered just what exactly was going on and who April was. For a foreign gym leader to know you were…well, I assumed it was pretty impressive. I wouldn't actually know. I don't follow the world of battling all that much.

"We wouldn't want that!" April laughed. "So what Pokémon are you going to be using?" Viola hummed.

"Well, against a trainer of your caliber I'll be using my second best Pokémon. Is that aright?" She asked. "Say…sixth badge tier?" Ah, this was a system I was familiar with. In order to keep balance between all the gym leaders, and seeing as how not everyone started in the areas marked 'beginner,' Gym Leaders actually had multiple teams used for battling. The strongest were eight badge tier Pokémon, and were reserved for trainers who had a total of seven badges, as the name implies. But to start off at sixth tier…that's impressive.

Of course strength of Pokémon still varied from gym to gym, and the League ranked them accordingly. That's why a gym like Lumoise is considered so much more difficult that this one.

"What do they mean sixth badge tier? What does tier mean?" Selene whispered, cradling her pokeballs.

"It's sort of like level. So they're talking about how strong of Pokémon April should fight. If she's fighting sixth badge level Pokémon, then it's like having a battle for your sixth gym badge." I explained. Selene stared at me.

"Does she have five badges already then?" She asked.

"I have no clue. I thought she just got to this region." I confessed. "But I've never heard of someone starting off with a gym battle like this."

"Actually, the only member of my team that I brought with me to Kalos is Zorro, my Umbreon. Do you think we could start with second or third tier? My Fennekin needs training too, you know." April reasoned. "I only got her a few days ago." Viola thought for a second before shaking her head.

"I have to do at least fourth tier, or your Umbreon will make a mess of my team." Viola reasoned. April nodded her assent. "Alright, then fourth tier it is. You start."

"Delphi, you're up." April said calmly, tossing out her pokeball. The little Fennekin appeared on the field and immediately began preening herself. Viola smiled and unclipped a pokeball from her belt, tossing it out onto the field. The Beedrill hummed as it flitted about, thrusting its stingers menacingly at Delphi.

"Start slow, Delphi. Use ember and keep your distance." April commanded, her voice completely calm. Delphi understood her command, spitting fire at the giant bee as she pranced about the arena. The nimble bug type dodged nearly all of her attacks, save for one that grazed its wing, before spitting poisonous barbs onto the field. I winced as Delphi froze in place, an ember half ready to be fired.

Beedrill had just used toxic spikes, effectively limiting Delphi's movements, while guaranteeing an advantage in the terrain for the rest of the battle. April's facial expression remained unchanged; it looked bored.

"Calm down, Delphi." April ordered. Viola smiled at her.

"Use poison jab." She commanded. Beedrill's drills began to spin and hum, toxins being secreted from the tips as it raced towards Delhi with astounding speed.

"Psybeam." April commanded. Beedrill's onrushing assault put it right in the line of fire of Delphi's super effective move, the rainbow colored ray blasting it backwards. "Flame charge." Cloaked in fire, the little fox Pokémon barreled straight over the toxic spikes, the heat of the flames protecting it from the poison.

Beedrill was ready for the attack, jabbing Delphi with three quick –albeit flame-weakened –poison jabs. I raised my eyebrows, impressed by April's battle tactics. I thought for sure that Delphi would be finished, but she managed to keep going thanks to flame charge weakening poison jab. Delphi leapt backwards and launched embers at Beedrill while dodging the toxic spikes.

Delphi was clearly outmatched by Beedrill, in power and experience. It was a testament to April's skill as a trainer that kept her going for as long as she was. Every move had a point. Every order was part of a plan with hundreds of different options, layering plan upon plan as she whittled down the bug Pokémon's health with super effective attacks, using flame charge when she could to up Delphi's speed. All in all, it was pretty dull. Neither Pokémon nor trainer looked like they were having fun. It was a perfectly safe way of battling.

Finally, Delphi made a mistake. She stepped on a toxic spike and poisoned herself.

The little fox Pokémon yelped, leaping into the air as the poison slowly began to whittle down her already flagging stamina. I perked up at this, hoping for some last-ditch effort from April, an all-out move to take out Beedrill once and for all before her Pokémon succumbed.

"Delphi, return. I am officially withdrawing Delphi from the match." April called, and I slumped forwards a bit, letting my eyes droop. Selene was watching with rapt attention, completely focused and utterly enthralled. Hmm. Maybe it was just me that thought this match was boring. "Good job." She praised her Pokémon. Viola frowned, looking up at her Beedrill. The bug type was breathing hard, the results of its battle showing heavily. For a weaker Pokémon, Delphi had inflicted massive damage. Viola frowned and looked back at April.

"That's it for Delphi?" Viola asked. "She was doing so well, too. I'm a little disappointed."

"Yep. It's pointless for me to put Delphi through more pain than necessary. She got plenty of battle experience here. To be honest, I'm impressed she did so well." April said honestly. I frowned. Well, I could certainly see the logic in that. But my dad had always taught me to push until I dropped, so I guess it was just my personal opinion that it was stupid to recall her Pokémon.

"Are you supposed to do that?" Selene asked. "Should I have recalled my Pokémon when he was about to faint?" I shook my head.

"It's a matter of personal opinion, but generally no. If they don't faint, or you don't vocalize that you are going to completely withdraw your Pokémon from the match, then technically they can still battle." I explained. Selene mouthed an 'oh' and turned her attention back to April, who smiled thinly.

"Zorro, let's finish this." She commanded, letting out her Umbreon. The dark type cackled, his rings glowing brighter than before. One half-hearted look with its red eyes was all it took to freeze the Beedrill in place, its wings pausing for split second as it hovered in place. "Use shadow ball."

All the stupid ball of black death did was nick the Beedrill, and it fainted. Viola sighed and recalled her Beedrill, taking out her next Pokémon.

"I'm going to use the strongest Pokémon with me against your Umbreon. It's only tier six, though." She announced. April said nothing as Viola clutched her next pokeball, tossing it out onto the field. "Masquerain!" I blinked as the bug type appeared on the field, its wings buzzing and glaring at Zorro. It was very impressive. I'd seen a few Masquerain before, but this one took the cake in size and presence. All eyes were on it and its gleaming wings as it took to the sky, flitting about while Zorro took poison damage.

Strange, he should be feeling effects from the toxic spikes, but he wasn't showing anything. Did Delphi burn off some of the poison during her battle?

"Zorro, use assurance." April commanded, taking the initiative. The dark type leapt to his feet with astounding speed, racing towards Masquerain.

"Silver wind!" Masquerain batted its wings, sending the gleaming wind towards Zorro. April hummed and tapped her foot on the ground, watching calmly as Zorro disappeared in a swirl of black energy. I had just enough time to think 'huh?' before he appeared again, slamming into Masquerain from the back. April nodded her head and Zorro launched three shadow balls, blasting Masquerain high into the air.

"Dark pulse." April commanded. "And last resort." Zorro leapt up to greet Masquerain's falling form. Darkness radiated from him, exploding forth in a burst as Masquerain fell back towards him.

"Silver wind!" Viola cried, but it was too late. Zorro rammed his head into the bug type, unleashing a massive amount of power as it flapped its wings once more, trying desperately to get a hit in. The resulting explosion was blinding, and on instinct alone I stepped in front of Selene. Explosions from two powerful Pokémon moves colliding were no joke, no matter how much people like to play it down.

Zorro landed on the ground with a huff, looking a little disheveled and panting, but otherwise none the worse for wear. The workings of poison were beginning to show themselves, sapping at his strength. Masquerain on the other hand was completely KO'd, all but twitching on the ground.

"Return. Good job, Masquerain." Viola thanked her Pokémon. Selene moved out from behind me to look at the battlefield.

"Great job, Zorro." April commented. Zorro made a noise that sounded like a snort, curling around April's feet as she accepted the badge from Viola. Viola whispered something in her ear and she shook her head. Viola raised her eyebrows and looked up at me, motioning for me to come down.

"That's how you battle." April whispered in passing, making her way up to Selene.

"It's great if you were trying to put me to sleep." I shot back with a playful grin. She furrowed her brows, obviously not understanding what I meant, so I dropped it and kept going.

"How many badges do you have?" Viola asked when I approached my side of the field.

"In Kalos? None. In Sinnoh I only got two." I explained. Viola nodded and motioned for the ref to approach.

"Then can you please hold on while I swap some of my Pokémon? Since you were travelling with April I assumed you would be stronger." Viola said with a laugh. I wasn't sure how to take that comment, instead making a mental note to ask April about her training career later. She must be famous or something. Viola whistled and the ref approached her. They spoke quickly, and he walked out of the greenhouse with a few of Viola's pokeballs.

"Just wondering, what level Pokémon will I be up against?" I asked.

"Fourth badge tier. You are a high-level ranger, after all. I'm not going to take you lightly." Viola said, eyeing me. I stiffened at that, forcing a slow breath out of my nostrils.

"For Mew's sake…I haven't even gone on a mission as a rank nine yet…" I muttered to no one but myself.

"What?" Viola asked. I shook my head, plastering a smile back on my face.

"Nothing." I lied, unclipping Sherman's ball from my belt. "Alright buddy, let's see what you're really made of." I tossed Sherman out onto the field, regretting not training him more. This wasn't going to end well for him, not against a severe type disadvantage against strong opponents. It was perfect for testing his mettle.

"Already? Aren't you going to wait to see what I send out first?" Viola asked. I shook my head.

"I've only got two Pokémon, so I'm going to end up using him anyways." I announced. Viola raised an eyebrow but said nothing as I knelt in front of Sherman, who was looking around at the beautiful greenhouse interior with awe. "Sherman, look at me." I ordered.

"Pin." He said, snapping to attention.

"We're going to be going up against a strong opponent, and you'll be at a type disadvantage. To be honest, I think they'll be way out of your league." I said bluntly, ignoring the skeptical look that Viola was shooting at me. "I won't be surprised if you don't do much damage. But nevertheless I'm going to have you battle. Even if you faint early on, it'll still be good experience." Sherman looked at the ground, the little grass type contemplating what I had said. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the ref coming back.

"Ches." Sherman said, sounding dejected. I patted him on the head.

"I'm not expecting much, so I've got one last thing to say; prove me wrong." I said, standing up with a wink. Sherman looked up at me for a second before a determined look appeared in his eyes. I may not be able to understand him yet, but he could certainly understand me.

"Pin!" Sherman loudly announced, turning around to face Viola. I smirked and nodded to her. The ref called out the rules once more, and the battle begun.

"Yanma, you're up!" Viola announced, tossing out the bug type. It flitted around wildly, never sitting still. It seemed like most bug types were like that; energetic and fast. Bad matchup for Sherman? Definitely. Did I actually care? No.

"Start with vine whip." I commanded. The vines lashed outwards, trying to strike Yanma. It seemed like a rerun of April's battle, with the more agile bug type dodging the attacks with relative ease. I ground my teeth. "Oh hell no. Sherman! Mix things up! Use vine whip and tackle!" I ordered.

"Sonicboom!" Viola retaliated. Yanma dodged another of Sherman's vines and flapped its wings, the pounding air slamming into Sherman and knocking him backwards. I ground my teeth again. We haven't had time to really come up with many combos, and our teamwork was out of sync. It'd take weeks, months of training even, for me to really get a feel for what Sherman was capable of. There were one, maybe two commands I could use.

"Sherman, unpredictability!" I ordered. Sherman struggled to his feet and glared at Yanma, once again lashing out with his vines. Instead of aiming directly for Yanma, he waved the vines around wildly, slamming them into the ground, roof, and just making a nuisance of himself.

Yanma dodged another of the vines, swooping into tackle Sherman.

"Uproar!" Viola called. I cursed as Yanma unleashed an unearthly screech right in front of Sherman, right before running headfirst into him. Sherman stumbled backwards, and I cursed.

"Sherman, you good?" I asked, watching him stand up shakily. He nodded, but anyone with eyes could tell that he wouldn't last much longer. I bit my lip, watching Yanma circle in the air high above Sherman. Viola was waiting for me.

"Ches Pin." Sherman breathed, clenching his fist and glaring at Yanma. That's what I like to see, but, at this point I didn't see any way to actually hurt Yanma. Bah! Since when do I care about what can and can't be done?!

"Sherman, you've got one, maybe two more hits before you faint. Let's make this count." I said. Sherman nodded, watching as Yanma circled once more before diving. Uproar was a continuous move, so we had seconds before it struck again. "Vine whip!" I ordered, but Sherman ignored my command. For a second I panicked, wondering if he had begun to disobey and disrespect me as well, until I realized he was simply using a new move. Sherman leapt forwards, rolling himself into a ball and spinning at a high velocity as he slammed into Yanma, knocking him to the ground and cutting off its next uproar.

"Nice, Sherman!" I congratulated him. That looked like rollout, so….I grinned. "Use rollout again, but this time use your vines!" I commanded. Sherman didn't stop spinning, circling around to run over Yanma again.

"Dodge and use sonicboom!" Viola ordered. Yanma leapt into the air, wings buzzing, but Sherman was already on the move. His vines lashed out in an instant, wrapping around Yanma and using him as an anchor. Sherman's momentum swung him above Yanma, where he retracted his vines and slammed the bug type into the ground. Damn that was cool. I couldn't help but grin like the idiot I am.

"Vine whip once more!" I called. Sherman stumbled backwards, away from Yanma and looking dizzy.

"Sonicboom!" Viola ordered. Yanma picked itself up off of the ground and launched the attack, knocking Sherman out. I frowned and recalled him, wondering what the hell just happened. Did he get dizzy from all the spinning?

"Sorry, bud. My fault for not coordinating with you well enough. You did friggin' awesome." I spoke to the pokeball once I recalled him. The truth was I was trying to use Sherman like I did General, and it just doesn't work like that. They are both fundamentally different, so I need a new strategy for him. I sighed and let out General, the fire monkey appearing by my side and rolling his shoulders. "Same rules as always I assume?" I asked. General nodded, and I sighed, waving him forwards. General cackled as he scampered into the arena, swishing his tail back and forth.

"Use-" Viola was cut off by General, who launched himself forwards and slammed a spinning, double mach punch into Yanma.

"Aren't you supposed to wait until I tell you to attack?" I asked with a playful grin. General cackled as he landed back on the ground, flipping backwards and letting Yanma right itself. "He's ignoring me now." General dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding a sonicboom before rushing in and using scratch. Yanma was ready, and retaliated with a supersonic. General stumbled backwards, weaving around in circles.

"Keep up sonicboom! Don't let up the pressure!" Viola called. Yanma screeched and began hammering General with sonicbooms, effectively smashing him into the ground while he was still confused.

"General, drunken monkey." I said as more of a suggestion than anything else. I couldn't keep myself from laughing a bit as General slowly stood up, weaving around and dodging the sonicbooms drunkenly. This was our tactic to counter confusion. "Mach punch!" I called. General spun in a circle as he punched, over exaggerating the move as he stumbled forwards and completely missing Yanma. Yanma took this as an opportunity, and charged straight for his exposed back. I couldn't help but giggle. Here comes my favorite bit….

WHAM! General flipped over backwards at the absolute last possible second, a dopey expression plastered on his face, and slammed a mach punch into Yanma's back. He and landed on top of Yanma and proceeded to scratch the living hell out of it. I laughed. That was so friggin cool!

"Get out of there! Use double team!" Viola called. "And follow it up with quick attack!" The effect of which was akin to pulling a rug out from underneath someone. General flipped over backwards, landing flat on his back and seeing multiple versions of Yanma. He stared at the ceiling for a bit before shaking his head and standing up, his confusion finally wearing off. "Sonicboom! Keep hammering him!"

"Mach punch! Block them!" I called. General glared at me but obeyed, getting into stance and punching at the massive waves of air hurtling towards him. Most of them were illusions created by the double team, but a few were real, marked by how General stumbled when one hit. Damn. Blocking with punches didn't work as well as I thought. "Get out of there!" I ordered. General leapt backwards, flipping away from the danger zone and back towards me.

"Mon!" He barked angrily at me, wiping the corner of his mouth and glaring at me over his shoulder.

"Shut up! I thought it'd be cool if it worked!" I whined. He glared at me more, completely ignoring the Yanma flying towards him at full speed.

"Mon-"

"Don't get distracted!" April yelled angrily.

"Fer," General barked, sidestepping Yanma's quick attack and grabbing its thorax with one hand. "NO!" He roared, swinging Yanma over his shoulder and slamming it into the ground. He ground his teeth and pummeled Yanma until it fainted.

Viola recalled Yanma and frowned.

"That's….an interesting strategy." She commented. "Are you just not using fire moves on purpose, or…?"

"Monferno." General answered.

"Yes. We are not using fire moves on purpose." I answered. Viola narrowed her eyes.

"Bit conceited, don't you think?" She asked. I huffed and shook my head.

"Not really. Even if I were to order General to, he wouldn't use fire moves right now. He's funny like that." I commented with a shrug. "Only in special circumstances will he use a super-effective move." Viola studied me for a bit before nodding slowly, choosing her next Pokémon.

"I can't say I understand, however," The light flashed on the field, and out popped a purple butterfly. "I doubt that's going to work on Butterfree here. Use confusion!" My eyes grew wide as General was surrounded in a pink aura, lifted high into the air, and repeatedly slammed into the ground. For a second I locked up, unable to do anything. It's not a psychic type, calm down. Focus. I chided myself, letting out a slow, relaxing breath.

"General, mind breaker!" I commanded. General struggled against his psychic bonds, raising his arms slowly.

"Whatever he's doing, don't let him!" Viola commanded, but it was too late. General grinned, opened his mouth wide, and…blew a raspberry. The field froze for a minute, unsure of what the hell just happened. General cackled and broke free of the bonds, Butterfree's concentration momentarily lost, bounding forwards like the monkey he is. "Gust!" Viola ordered after overcoming her initial shock.

General leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the super effective move. He was hurt, that's for sure. He'd been slammed with a ton of attacks by now, he had to be nearing his limit. I nearly scoffed at the idea of us losing. How many times have we gotten to this point by now? A few thousand?

"Constrict his movements! Stun spore!" My eyes grew wide as Butterfree flew high in the air, littering the field with the paralytic powder. He dumped enough to stun a full-grown Wailord, leaving the orange dust everywhere. General gaped at the sky, the fire on his tail burning brighter than usual. His ability, blaze, must be kicking in then.

"Now! Use aerial ace!" Viola commanded as General's muscles seized up. He glanced back at me, a stupid grin on his face. I returned it.

"Sorry. Pyromania is a problem." I apologized, watching as Butterfree cut his way through his own stun spore. There was plenty of powder here. Plenty. Pleeeeenty.

"MONFERNO!" General cried with glee, his tail sparking and burning bright as he swung it towards a particularly dense patch of stun spore. Viola realized her mistake too late; stun spore was highly flammable.

KA-BOOOOM! Fire raced across the field in an instant, ignited by the fire on General's tail. I shielded my face, unable to keep myself from laughing as the entire field was set ablaze, flames literally falling from the sky. Butterfree shot shywards, smoke curling from his wings, with General chasing after him, the flames swirling behind him.

"MONFERNO!" He roared, hammer fisting the bug type with a dual mach punch, sending him hurtling back towards the ground. I grinned and bowed as the smoke and flames cleared, revealing a very injured –albeit still conscious –General, and an unconscious Butterfree.

I started to pump my fist but froze, realizing that it was still in a sling. General cackled and slowly scampered back over to me, rubbing his fists and dusting ash off of his back.

"You're still sloppy, General." I told him, grinning. "But I'll admit that battle was freaking awesome. High five!" He leapt into the air, slapped my face, and cackled as he scampered to the sidelines. I recalled him before he could do too much damage.

"Well, a loss is a loss." Viola said with a sigh, approaching me after recalling her Butterfree. "I never expected that last bit. It's not often you find a fire type that will willingly blow itself up." I grinned.

"Yeah. General's fun like that." I grinned, shaking her hand and accepting the badge. She laughed.

"It was an entertaining match though! To not use fire type moves….that's certainly interesting, if a little degrading…" Viola frowned before shaking her head. "Anyways! Thank you all for giving me such great battles! I got some excellent pictures!" April waved dismissively from the stands as she ushered Selene down onto the field.

"No problem." I told her. When Selene and April came to stand next to me, Viola decided to continue.

"So! I bet you're wondering who won your challenge?" Not really. I thought idly. Selene nodded vigorously. "Alright! Here's my thoughts; April and Ryan, you both have very distinct styles. Neither is correct, yet neither is wrong. Ryan, you're unpredictable and throw your opponents off with both your excitability and randomness. However, not using type advantages is stupid, especially in a gym battle like this, and will get your Pokémon unnecessarily hurt. Had I used a fourth tier Pokémon for my second, you would've lost spectacularly. And I'm not even going to mention your pep talk. The only saving grace there was what you said at the end." Viola glared at me.

"Well sorry." I grumbled, drawing out the sorry. "That's what happens when you grow up in a family like mine." Sink or swim, dude, sink or swim. Viola didn't respond to my comment, instead turning to April.

"April, your battling style is…" She paused, searching for the right word.

"Textbook?" I supplied.

"Yes, thank you. Textbook. Every move is important, every plan has three more backing it up. You are an astounding battler. There's really no advice I can give you." Viola said. April shot me what I took as a smug look. "But! It's a little stale, don't you think? Try to mix things up, or else you won't be able to improvise when you run into a skilled, unpredictable opponent." She put emphasis on the skilled, probably to get to me.

"What about me?" Selene asked. Viola smiled at her.

"Well, once you beat me I'll tell you what I think. For now, just focus on getting stronger." She said. Selene deflated a bit, but nodded nonetheless. "Great! Would you like to see the pictures I got? Some are excellent!" She said.

"Yes please!" Selene chirped. I nodded and looked at April, who shrugged.

Viola was more than happy to show us the pictures, some of which were really, truly excellent. They weren't the finished products yet, there was still stuff she had to do on photoshop in order to make the pictures crisper and cleaner, but they were still fantastic. After that we said our farewells, even though I was certainly going to see her again for when Selene challenged the gym the second time.

After that we healed our Pokémon at the Pokémon center, and went out to do more training, me purposefully 'forgetting' about the rangers waiting for me. And I was blissfully unaware of the trouble I was stirring.

Somewhere in Sinnoh (3rd person POV):

Harry idly strolled through the Sinnoh Ranger Union HQ, his partner, a Metang, floating close beside him. He adjusted his red cap, the golden ranger pin gleaming even in the dim artificial light.

"Ah…Harry. Why are you here?" One of the passing rangers asked. Harry shrugged nonchalantly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Dunno. High Command asked me to come, so here I am!" He answered, grinning stupidly. Metang hummed next to him and Harry nodded. "Right. Sorry, but I'm already late as it is. See ya!" Harry called, wondering what that man's name was. He was sure he'd gone on a mission with him before…

Harry shrugged, continuing to walk as he approached the control room, where a few of the current leaders of the Sinnoh Ranger Union were gathered. As he approached he could hear voices yelling, and he sighed. This was going to be a hassle….

"Sooo…" Harry drawled, opening the door and peering inside. "What's the problem? I was on vacation, so it'd better be good." The three occupants whirled on Harry with varying degrees of irritation. The first, an old ranger from way back when, grumbled as he stood up, leaning heavily on his cane.

"You're too lax, Harry. Wasn't Ryan your charge?" He asked icily. Harry nodded in conformation, closing the door once Metang entered. "Then why is he in Kalos, and why didn't we know about it?" He snarled. Harry paused.

"Oh, right. I forgot to give you the documents. My bad." Harry chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh. He filled out all the right info and I forgot to give them to you. Whoops."

"You're too lax, Harry. He's in deep shit now. The Kalos Ranger Union is having a fit that a rank nine ranger came to their region without us letting them know. Not only that, he's gotten a commander fired. One of the Kalos high command's kids to boot." The second, a man in a business suit that Harry recognized as the one of the Sinnoh high commanders, said. What was his name again?

"So?" Harry drawled. "If he got him fired he was doing a shit job. That's nothing to worry about. Besides, Ryan's promotion to rank nine was a formality more than anything else, so it's not like they really need to worry."

"True, but Kalos doesn't know that. It's not readily available information. They think a rank nine ranger is there, mixing things up in their jurisdiction. They're understandably upset." The old ranger said. Harry hummed, thinking this out.

"Ok, so then what are they doing about it?" He asked.

"Well…we're not entirely sure, but it seems like they're going to try and send him on a mission to test his ability to come back into the field." The third, a man dressed in a doctor's outfit. "Physically I have no qualms about this. His injuries have healed well, even if he's not back in full yet. It's his mental state I'm worried about. Even if he was cleared, I don't think he's ready to be travelling." Harry sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. I suppose that's true. He thought. Ryan's tough, but he's still a little skittish around psychic types.

"The other problem is that we've told them all this, but the high commander there is refusing to back down, saying 'seven months is plenty of time for any true ranger to recuperate from injuries.'" The elder ranger explained. "And if they think he's a full-fledged ninth rank ranger, then…" Harry groaned, looking at the ceiling. This was going to be a mess.

"They'll start him off with a high-level ranger mission. Rank six or seven?" Harry asked.

"Seven. One particular high commander isn't very happy with him for getting his kid fired." The high commander explained.

"Right. Ok. So what do you want me to do about it? This is sort of your forte, I'm just a ranger." Harry said.

"A rank ten ranger." The old ranger reminded him. "And you did say that you would take care of Ryan."

"Nitpicking." Harry said airily.

"This is a mission directly from me. Since we can't send Ryan's documents electronically, we're going to send you over there to give them to the Kalos high command. They're stricter than here in Sinnoh due to size and the sheer variety of Pokémon native to the region, but once they look at the file they'll understand. Also, we want you to speak to Ryan, to get his final answer. We aren't going to wait any longer." Business suit man said, walking over to Harry and handing him a manila folder. Damn, Sinnoh's old fashioned. Harry thought idly, staring at the folder.

"Right, can do. Welp, I'm off then." Harry said, spinning on his heel and leaving the room with a yawn. Once out of the room he frowned, glancing at his partner Metang. "Maybe suggesting Kalos was a bad idea, huh?" He asked with a wry grin. "Oh well, at least we know he won't kill anyone." Though I wouldn't put it past him to maim someone if things go wrong…With that last thought Harry sped up, determined to get to Kalos within twenty four hours.

Wow. That was a long-assed chapter. Hope you enjoyed.

More of Ryan's past will be coming into the light soon. If you really, can't wait for answers or are confused PM me or post in the reviews and I will answer.

Also, if you know of any good Pokémon fics, let me know. I've been looking for some, but just can't seem to find any.