AN: There were some great reviews for the last chapter! I really can't express to you all how much each one of them means to me. I've seen multiple people talk about how this story could use a bit of a slower pace for a chapter or two, so I've done my best here to provide that. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to produce this chapter.

Again, special thanks to Noxy88 for betaing this story, he's been an incredible help. He sees stuff that I don't even think about in the first draft.

Chapter 11: Consequence & Contemplation

Finn awoke from a restless sleep. It had been one of those nights where warmth and comfort eluded him, forcing him to groggily rise and meet the day in spite of the deep weariness he still felt.

He shivered. Finn was lying in a cot in a tent outside the Pokémon Center. The tent-city had formed over the course of a few hours the day before, and was meant for displaced trainers and citizens. Many people had lost their homes, and no small number of trainers were either injured, or were recommended not to venture back out onto the routes so soon after the attack. Finn had used up all of his allotted time at the Center, so the tent was a better, more frugal option than anything else he had.

He peeled off a rough-spun wool blanket, and flipped his legs around so that his feet met the floor. Deciding that it was time to get moving whether he liked it or not, he began lacing up his boots. Hopefully the Pokémon Center would have a pot of coffee started.

Finn passed by the still slumbering forms of his friends, and parted the tent flap, making his way outside. The unseasonably cool morning air rushed over the exposed skin of his face, washing away some of his fatigue. To the east, the sun had not yet risen, but the sky was slowly beginning to blush with color.

Letting out a yawn, Finn strode through the Center's automatic doors, finding the place operating at a sedate, early morning pace. The nurse at the front desk sat quietly reading the day's issue of the Violet Interpreter. Finn followed his nose to where a staff member had made a fresh pot of coffee in the waiting room.

The television there was airing an old episode of Finding Suicune. The show depicted people chasing sightings of the titular legendary pokémon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the creature. To date, there was no photographic evidence of Suicune's existence, but the show's flamboyant host, Eusine, made the viewer believe that they were this close to finding it each week. As a kid, Finn had loved the show. Each episode had made him feel like he was on an adventure with Eusine, traveling through ancient forests to discover hidden lakes alongside the host's trusty hypno, and whatever person had purportedly seen the legendary that week.

While Eusine had never found the legendary suicune, he had found some other interesting pokémon along the way. There was one episode where he caught an alternate colored magikarp. Finn remembered how its gold scales glimmered in comparison to the normal drab red. Collectors called pokémon like this 'shiny,' and they were extraordinarily rare and could fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction. On another occasion, Eusine found a colony of beldum, which were a protected species in most regions.

A whooshing sound behind him signaled that someone else had come through the doors after him. Looking over, he spotted a scrawny teen close to Finn's age. He had disheveled brown hair, and dirty clothing. None of those factors detracted from the determined set to his jaw. The unkempt teen marched straight up to the counter and put forth a pokéball.

"I'm here to update my license and register my first pokémon," he all but demanded.

Finn was strongly reminded of when he had first registered Felix back in Blackthorn. He'd been so full of confidence to finally become a trainer. He took a sip of his coffee, letting the warm liquid send him the energy he needed to wake up properly.

"Good morning, sir. Very well, please hand over your current license, and your pokéball please," the Nurse Joy replied, while typing on the desktop computer at her terminal. "Let's see here, Mr.—?"

"Radcliff."

She looked down at his license. "That's right, Radcliff," she said. "As this will be your first pokémon. Let's do a quick scan and see what we're dealing with, ok."

The nurse placed the pokéball into a concave half-sphere scanner behind her.

"Hmm," she said, frowning at the machine. "Sir, are you aware of what pokémon you have here?"

"Of course I am!" he said. "It's a combee. It's a strong one too!"

At this, the nurse's voice took on a pitying tone. "Yes, but it's a male combee," she chastised.

"What's that got to do with anything?" said the teen, frustration leaking into his voice.

"Quite a lot, actually. Male combee are nothing but drones for the vespiquen to control. In catching one, you've managed to catch a pokémon that will fly around unaided, collecting pollen for honey, but that's about it. It will not learn attacks, and it will not listen to you. In fact, I hesitate to even grant you your pokémon license at all with a male combee as your first pokémon, even though it's technically within League regulations."

Something within the boy seemed to crumple in on itself. "But, but… I spent all of that money on the pokéball. This was my chance... You're saying that Combee won't be able to battle at all?"

"I am sorry Mr. Radcliff, but for you to challenge other trainers and take on the Gym circuit, you are going to have to try and catch something else. I would be doing you a disservice by telling you anything different. For now, I will heal your pokémon. Good luck," she said.

The dejected boy trudged out of the Pokémon Center with a sad sort of acceptance about him. Finn really felt for the kid. If his first pokémon had turned out to be something like that, he didn't know what he would have done.

Finn was on his second cup of coffee and his third Trainer Daily article on training ground types to manipulate their element, when his friends arrived. Now that it was a more reasonable hour, trainers had begun milling about the lobby going about their business. He put down the pokédex.

The night before, they had all discussed leaving the city on a training trip. They all wanted to get out of the city for a while. Violet was in deep repair mode, and Falkner was not taking challengers on for another week so his Gym could help with the reconstruction. Since Orion's challenge had been the one interrupted by the attack, he had the first available time slot when the Gym reopened, but it still meant that their group was set back once again.

This time, Finn did not mind in the slightest. Similar to what he'd felt back in Blackthorn after being attacked by the pink-haired woman and her friends, Finn was beginning to rethink his plans for the near future. Benedict and his team deserved better.

"You guys ready?" asked Finn, standing.

"Yep!" said Orion, entirely too enthusiastically for how early it was. Alan grunted in the affirmative, and Lyra made a beeline for the coffee.

"Alright, well I was thinking we might drop by the PokéMart first to get some supplies. I want to take a look at some TM's too," said Finn.

"No offense, Finn, but can you afford a TM right now?" asked Alan.

Mildly affronted, Finn said, "Hey! I made a good bit of money on our way here, and even more at the trainer fields. Plus, there's what I won off of Falkner the other day. I might be able to get something useful."

After pouring herself a cup, Lyra looked up. "I'm just looking forward to getting out of town to train for a while. Violet doesn't quite have the same charm it did before."

"What are your plans Lyra? Are you going to stick around with us for a while or what?" asked Orion.

The girl smirked. "You'd like that wouldn't you? No, I'll spend a few more days around here with you guys and then I'm going to head out for Ecruteak. I think I'll face Morty and get my second badge out of the way."

Unaware, a small frown curled at the corners of Finn's lips. He'd really grown to like the blue-haired girl over the last day. She was capable, seemed to hold her own well, and was just fun to be around.

Trying not to let his disappointment show in his voice, Finn said, "Aw, well you're always welcome with us, Lyra. I think we're planning on hitting up Ecruteak for our fourth badge, which could be a while from now."

"I'll give you my dex number. That way we can keep in touch," she said.

The four of them exited the Center, traversing the short distance across the street to the PokéMart. A few of the navy-blue ceramic tiles that comprised the building's roof appeared to be in need of repair after the battle. Inside, trainers rummaged through the rows of shelves, likely readying themselves for trips out onto the routes. Passing by, Finn noticed that the aisle dedicated to antidotes used in treating common pokémon poisons lay empty. Finn winced and rubbed his palm over the raised skin on his arm where he'd almost been impaled by a beedrill. The wound felt a bit like a sunburn. It still boggled Finn's mind that he wasn't poisoned.

"Miss, are you Ms. Lyra Saba of Cherrygrove city?" a man wearing a white lab coat waved at Lyra, and pulled her over.

"I am, yes. What can I do for you?" she replied, inquisitively.

"I'm Mark Watts, one of Professor Elm's aides. He asked for me to deliver this to you."

At this, the man retrieved a glass domed incubator housing a creamy-white egg, covered in odd red and blue hollowed out triangles.

"Oh! That's the egg I delivered," said Lyra, a look of remembrance on her face. "He wants me to have it?"

"Yes, ma'am. If you shoot him a message, he will give you the details of egg care and upkeep for you."

It appeared that the Professor had made it a habit to dole out research projects to trainers he thought were reliable.

Finn heard the man ask for an autograph for his daughter before he moseyed his way over to the glass-covered case containing the TM's. His eyes bulged upon seeing the price tag for techniques like hyper beam, earthquake, and fire blast. They cost more than what his stepfather would make in an entire year. While moves like that could take years to perfect through natural training, a trainer with the right funds or sponsorships could hasten their team's development with a single purchase. That option was not without its own pitfalls. If a young pokémon was taught a move like hyper beam too early in their development, they could harm themselves just attempting to use the move. Finn didn't think his team could handle anything as strong as that yet.

Prices for those high-level TM's got inflated over time because of the sheer popularity of competitive pokémon battles. Sponsored trainers didn't have to purchase the moves themselves. This meant that Silph Co, who produced most TM's, could charge exorbitant prices for the items, leaving the rookies a high barrier to entry for the profession. Finn would have to start winning tournaments to be able to afford anything like that.

He continued browsing further down the case until he saw a few items with a more reasonable number next to their description. Finn cringed when he saw that 'double team' cost just a tad more than what he had on him at the moment. Finn really wanted that technique for his speedy combusken, but Dixie would just have to wait a little while longer.

A few moments later, he found something that looked promising. Priced at only 5,000pb, the 'rock tomb' technique looked to be something Felix could make use of. The price tag, which would have sent Finn reeling just a month or two prior, was now marginally within his budget. While it would still cost around half of Finn's savings, he thought the purchase would be worth it.

Over the past few weeks, he'd been trying to teach his swinub how to use the move bulldoze with little success. Felix was having trouble manipulating the earth into the wave-like structure that the attack required. It wasn't similar enough to his already perfected mud bomb for there to be much overlap. But, if rock tomb could teach him how to manipulate stone at a distance, maybe the technique would give his pokémon a good idea of how to finish learning the difficult ground type move. Additionally, rock tomb might aid Felix in learning the concepts behind more advanced rock type attacks.

Finn finished his purchases, adding some rations and a potion to his order. He then indicated to the rest that he was finished if they were ready to head out.

Lyra purchased 'aerial ace' for her pidgeotto, and some new supplies for the egg that the Professor's aide delivered. Neither Alan or Orion found anything they needed at the store.

The group had decided to train out on Route 36, west of town. That way, they wouldn't have to travel across the battlefield from the day before on their way out, dredging up terrible memories. Hopefully, a calm training session out in nature would help them clear their minds.

"Hey Finn, you're experienced with egg hatching, right?" asked Lyra.

"Yep," said Finn. "What was all of that about back there?"

"I helped deliver an egg to Professor Elm a while back. I guess he wants me to care for the pokémon that hatches from it now. I'll have to call him. Any tips?"

"Well, right now you're in the easy part. Just monitor the egg through the incubator until it hatches. If it's anything like my baby pokémon you're in for a challenge," said Finn, consoling.

They found themselves walking up to the gate guards at Violet's western exit. The men and women stationed there were busy letting in various cargo vehicles and buggies that were bringing desperately needed supplies into the city, probably from Ecruteak city to their northwest. One buggy was pulled by twin tauros, their many whip-like tails swishing as they trudged past.

"G'morning, hand over your trainer IDs, and state your business in leavin' the city," said the one stationary guard. He was standing behind a pane of glass at a kiosk window to the left of the roadway. The man was older, and his graying mustache twitched as he spoke in a thick Olivine accent.

One by one they each handed over their IDs, stating that they were going out to train their pokémon on Route 36 for the next day or so, and receiving in turn a small electronic emergency beacon to attach to their clothing.

The guard gave Finn a once over. "If you're hurt, and go too far outside Violet, those beacons won't do you a lick of good. Got that son?" His accent caused 'you' to sound like 'yew.'

"Yes sir, thank you."

Then, it was Alan's turn. When he handed over his trainer ID, it took a bit longer for the guard to say something. The older man took a few moments to read some information on his computer.

He gave Alan a hard stare. "Son, it looks here like the League's put a tag on your ID. Were you supposed to be somewhere yesterday that you ain't been to? Says you're in dereliction of duty."

Flustered, Alan replied, "What? That can't be right! I went to the wall, and a Ranger told me to go to the Safety Shelter."

"That'll be up'ter the League officials to decide. Now, since this don't look so serious that they'll be puttin' you in jail over it, you can go right on over to Violet's League building to get it sorted. For now, you can't leave the city," he said.

It would have been hard for Finn not to notice the gradual change in his friend's attitude ever since they'd been attacked out on Route 45 outside of Blackthorn, and even more so after the shiftry incident. Losing his first pokémon, and then almost dying really messed with the other teen's head. But really, that first night when he'd caught Felix, it had been Alan that had pulled him back home after he'd been bitten by that houndour. Alan had been the strong one, while Finn had been a mess. Had so much changed since then? Would Alan really lie to save face within the group?

Alan turned towards them, raising a placating hand. "Guys, I wasn't lying okay! I'm going to go get this all figured out. Come find me at the Pokémon Center when you get back."

The group watched in silence, as Alan turned away to find the Violet City League Office. Once he was out of sight, they slowly turned to exit the city. The feelings of doubt, disbelief, and defeat clung to the teens as they walked onwards. It appeared that the city was not yet done with them.

Lyra and her bayleef, Frond, were leading them to a training area off a secluded part of Route 36 that she'd found while she was training to face Falkner a couple of weeks prior. Orion and Finn trailed behind her slightly, a robust horsea and lithe combusken beside them.

"Dude, so I've been thinking, and there's something I wanted to talk to you about," said Orion, his face set more seriously than it normally was.

"Okay, what's up?" asked Finn, quirking an eyebrow upwards in curiosity.

"As your friend, I don't think I'd be doing you any favors by just ignoring what you did yesterday." Orion sighed, before continuing, "Look man, I get it. That pink-haired lady—Zeta?—really screwed us up back in Blackthorn, but you just went after her all on your own." Frustration was building in his brown-haired friend's voice. "What were you thinking man? Trying to be some hero with only two semi-functional one-Gym-badge pokémon with you? That was so fucking stupid."

Finn pulled back a bit, not expecting that. "Wow, well, I was thinking that maybe I'd figure out what they were up to? Maybe figure out where Ajax and Seymour were taken," said Finn, throwing Orion's stolen geodude in his face. "And I was careful. I wasn't seen. You guys had the pokédex, so I couldn't call for backup or anything. I wasn't about to do nothing."

Orion let out a breath he'd been holding. "Man, I just want to make sure you realize that if literally anything had been different, you might've been killed. What if those other trainers had been in there with her? That crawdaunt would've destroyed Dixie and Felix in a heartbeat. Don't go chasing legendaries, Finn, that never ends well."

Finn had been trying to ignore those facts. In the heat of the moment, he'd entered that building with less thought than was probably prudent for a sane person. It was part of a set of rash decisions he'd made during the battle, starting with using Benedict against the swarm.

"Look man, sometimes I get a little reckless. I'll try and not get myself killed okay?" said Finn.

"Good. I only brought it up to make you think about it," said Orion, lighting punching Finn on his shoulder, the other teen's jovial smile indicating that his mood was back to normal.

Finn laughed. "You just focus on you, man. Pretty soon that monster of a horsea of yours won't keep me from beating your ass in battle." At this, Darya shot some bubbles from her snout, popping in the air surrounding Finn's face, stinging his cheeks.

A meadow of tall grass filled with wildflowers spread out before him against a backdrop of rolling tree-filled mountains. A gentle breeze whirled about, and the occasional hoppip could be seen twirling through the air, the leaves on top of their small heads acting as helicopter blades. Pidgey were chirping in the trees, but even this wonderful weather felt somewhat muted due to the lingering memories of the day before. Further down across the field, Finn could see Orion and Lyra starting their own training routines. They had chosen a secluded spot off Route 36, where hopefully they wouldn't be disturbed by challenges.

Finn had always thought he'd taken his training seriously. He woke early, coaching his team for hours in the mornings, and then battled other trainers for money in the afternoons. It just hadn't been enough when it mattered during the battle at the wall.

This had Finn reconsidering his training plan. How could he quickly reach a level where his team could come out unscathed from something like that? The answer he'd come up with was to either train much more often, or potentially finding a high-level trainer to help out. Pokémon tended to grow faster when facing insurmountable odds, like fighting pokémon that were more powerful than they were.

Since high level trainers were not known to simply train beginner rookies for free, Finn decided he was going to start a three-a-day training schedule. Unless his friends had something specific in mind, mornings would be dedicated to calisthenics and attack power exercises, afternoons were for the training fields to make some money, and evenings would be for accuracy and move specialization.

Anxiously, he gazed down at Benedict's pokéball in his hand. It was time to see how bad the damage was. He nervously rolled the ball in a circle around the palm of his hand before dropping it to the ground. The small two-headed exeggcute materialized onto the ground.

Normally, whenever Benedict was outside of his pokéball, his exeggcute's emotions would glide comfortably across his mind. This time, things were different. It was as if someone was screaming in pain and betrayal, but the volume dial had been turned down to almost zero. It was odd feeling such intense emotions, but so subtly, like a feather's touch.

Finn leaned down. "Buddy, I know it hurts. A part of you is gone that will never come back, but we're going to get you better," said Finn, reaching out to pat one of Benedict's heads. As his hand neared, a sensation like two opposing magnets bumping into one another stopped his palm from moving forward.

In that moment, a part of Finn broke. What happened had stolen the trust and friendship that he'd nurtured with Benedict over the past few months, and Finn couldn't blame anyone but himself. He grimaced as he spoke, his words shakily tumbling out of his mouth. "Aw, please don't be like that, Benedict. I know that I put you in a tough position, but you can heal from this. We'll eventually be stronger than ever. We will get better."

He knew he was trying to convince himself as much as he was his pokémon. Even after healing at the Pokémon Center, what was left of his exeggcute appeared exhausted. Rusty green splotches bloomed underneath each of Benedict's four eyes, and the edges around where his egg-shell had previously cracked, looked wilted and soft. A chunk of light pink egg had been chipped away, exposing some of his pokémon's yellow nutty insides. Meanwhile, the unpleasant emotions that were roiling across Finn's mind never wavered.

He pushed his hand past the weak psychic repellant and gently brushed his hands against each of his pokémon's heads, trying to convey some form of comfort. Instead, his pokémon let out a distressed high-pitched humming noise that made Finn sharply retract his hands, a tightness forming in his chest as the guilt from whatever betrayal Benedict felt made itself known.

Gulping, Finn tried to keep his voice soothing. "Okay bud, let me spray you with your medicine. It should take away some of your pain. This is going to help you heal faster, Benny."

After applying the topical spray, the discomfort from his pokémon's psychic intrusion continued to burn at the back of Finn's mind until it became so much that Finn had to return him into his pokéball.

Finn could only imagine what Benedict was going through. Losing more than half of your intellect and half of your strength in one go would be devastating. All he could do was encourage him, and hope for the best. Maybe the Professor would know something to help.

For the rest of the afternoon Finn trained each of his pokémon one-on-one, albeit with a more somber air than usual.

He inserted the rock tomb TM into Felix's pokéball and downloaded the technique. When he released his swinub, the pokémon shrieked with delight, rubbing his head against Finn's shins, then rolled over exposing his furry stomach to the sky.

Bending down to give his pokémon a belly-rub, Finn noticed that Felix looked a bit different. Upon closer inspection, it became evident that the massive battle outside Violet had caused extensive changes to his starter. Pokémon physiology was amazing in that it could quickly compensate for a perceived lack of strength or speed against a more powerful foe, so long as the pokémon survived the encounter long enough for it to recover.

Felix, who was so small when he first caught him back in Blackthorn, was now nearing two feet in height and he'd put on a good amount of weight. The swinub's back had gained a distinctive arch, indicating to Finn that evolution was likely near. He honestly couldn't believe how fast Felix had grown; the changes noticeable from even just the day before.

"Look at you, Felix! You've gotten so big!" Finn gushed at pokémon, who was still squirming from his scratches.

Reeling it in, Finn grew more serious. "Alright Felix, we're going to get back normal training now, but just so you know, Benedict probably won't be joining us for a while," he said, trailing off.

Felix let out a mournful grunting noise. "Yeah, but we'll work through it, bud. He'll eventually be in fighting shape again."

His swinub nodded, rearing up on his hind legs for a moment before coming down, letting loose enough of his ground type energy into the dirt that Finn could feel the soil shift beneath his feet.

"Okay, just like you learned with protect, you now have the knowledge to use rock tomb. Do you feel any different Felix? For now, let's run through all of your techniques for practice, and then we'll focus on your new move."

Finn put all of his energy into the training session in an attempt to avoid thinking about Benedict's predicament. He and Felix practiced everything from tackle to his starter's still-unworkable icicle crash technique. Finn wanted him to get as much practice as he could with the powerful ice type move before evolving, where hopefully Felix would be able to use the move immediately. The ice that composed the swine pokémon's icicle crash was already much thicker and had more mass than it had prior to his match against Falkner. The excitable pokémon was performing better than Finn had ever seen him. Facing so many opponents at once had forced Felix to change, to get stronger. After using the move almost constantly the day before, Felix's protect was a shimmering impenetrable shield of power.

Finn grinned. The tree they had been using to aim bent low, with chunks of broken wood splintering up into the air, covered in mud and ice.

Next, Finn had Felix try his new TM move. The resulting rock tomb was lackluster at best. Like a drunk dugtrio, three small-sized stones slowly emerged from the dirt encircling a nearby sapling. Nothing that took that long to work would be effective in battle, but it was a start. Felix was using the instinctive knowledge conveyed to him by the TM to grasp the ability to move stone from a distance, rather than simply what was immediately around his body. Finn really hoped that gaining mastery of rock tomb would eventually allow for his pokémon to find success with bulldoze.

Dixie was next, and her development post-bug battle was equally as impressive as Felix's. She emerged from her pokéball and immediately started bumping her head up against Finn's side, seeking affection.

The combusken could now use her ember technique at twice the volume she could before. The flames were so intense, it caused Finn to consider the attack a borderline flamethrower. It appeared that similar to Felix and his protect technique, the protracted use of her ember attack the day before must have greatly increased her endurance. The implications behind this development gave Finn lots of ideas for different training methods. Maybe instead of focusing solely on physical endurance, he could begin training his pokémon to hold their moves for as long as they could manage. Or maybe he could conduct mock two-on-one battles with his team, forcing them to strain themselves to keep up.

While Dixie was practicing, he'd had to have Felix out of his ball, putting out multiple fires that caught in the meadow with his snow.

He brought out Larvitar last. When the rock type landed on the well-trod ground in front of him, Finn was amazed. Instead of eyes narrowed in suspicion or hatred, Larvitar was regarding Finn with rapt attention. The life-or-death struggle they had faced together must have been what was needed to get the rock lizard on his side.

Elated, he squatted in front of his pokémon. "Alright Larvitar, we're going to start training for real now okay. Are you up for it? We won't be caught off-guard like we were against those bugs ever again."

A glimmer of interest found its way into Larvitar's eye, and he curled the corner of his lips in a smirk, revealing a few sharp teeth before nodding once. Finn felt like laughing and breaking out into a smile, but instead, he kept his stern demeanor and began instructing his pokémon. He realized that any overexcitement could be interpreted as a sign of weakness by his pokémon, and potentially cause the dark oriented creature to lose whatever had caused this sudden change in behavior. Finally, Larvitar was ready to get serious.

They started off with speed drills. While Larvitar's skin had almost fully hardened, Finn wanted to maintain their training to see if he could eek out any last bit of benefit from the regimen that Mr. Pokémon had recommended. The rock-ground type was easily keeping up with Finn, even surpassing him in a few of the sprints, which was pretty astonishing for such a small creature.

Larvitar then gave Finn a demonstration of his moves. The pokémon could tackle, bite, and use a pretty effective rock throw technique. When he used screech, Finn was forced to put his hands over his ears, and further away he saw Orion and Lyra get distracted by the startling noise.

"Okay, so we know what moves you can use. Let's go find a pokémon for you to train against."

Finn released Felix next to him for extra protection, and grabbed a repel from his pocket. Then, they ventured into the forest. He wasn't planning on going far enough away to get lost, but he did want Larvitar to get some more hands-on experience. Whatever pokémon they found would have the added benefit of being dinner for the three trainers later that evening.

It didn't take long for a sentret to skitter across their path. The furry brown monster had a thickly muscled striped tail, and a cream-colored circle covered most of its stomach, reminiscent of another much more ferocious pokémon that roamed the forests of Johto. The creature was clinging to the bark of a large oak, and as we approached, its head turned around in surprise.

"Start out with a screech! Knock it out of that tree!"

Larvitar's jaw opened, and the resulting noise had the opposing sentret running away in terror and Finn covering his ears. He called out for Larvitar to chase after it, and to use bite. To his amazement, the rock lizard caught up with ease, and chomped down on the normal type's side, a visible black aura coating its sharp teeth.

"Good job, back off and use rock throw!"

With a nimble jump, Larvitar scampered backwards, repositioning himself further away. He manipulated the soil beneath him and an apricorn-sized stone appeared, which Larvitar then hurled at the sentret. It didn't stand a chance.

Fire reflected off the faces of three teenagers and their pokémon. They ended up camping in the meadow they'd found, deciding that sleeping in their tents out in the wilderness might be better than the cramped communal situation inside Violet.

They were all munching on a supper of sentret and pidgey mixed with some foraged vegetables that the group had found. To Finn's left, Larvitar sat, the bottom spikes of his tail embedded into the earth. His reward for a good day of training was getting to stay outside of his pokéball for longer than he would under normal circumstances. The fact that the pokémon on his team with the most future potential was finally acting like part of the group lifted a huge weight from Finn's shoulders. He might just be figuring this whole training thing out.

Finn let out a contented breath. "It was nice to just do something normal today. Something to take our minds off of everything. Larvitar made some great strides too," he said, daring to reach over and pat the temperamental pokémon at the base of his horn. "In fact, now that he's officially acting like a member of the team, I've come up with a nickname for him." At this, Larvitar looked up confused. "You didn't think everyone else on the team would have a name but you, did you? What do you think about Quake, bud?"

The newly minted Quake gave a nonchalant shrug of his tiny shoulders before resuming his long stare into the fire.

Orion chuckled. "Yeah, it was good. I'm not sure if you guys, like, noticed the same thing as me, but my team grew a lot from yesterday's battle," said Orion, taking another bite from his roasted pidgey leg. Still chewing, he kept going. "—Darya and Tufts can hold their ranged attacks for so much longer now. Crazily enough, I think Tufts might evolve any day now, and I've only had the little dude for a week!"

Orion was speaking about his horsea and mareep. Finn had to agree. The all out war-like conditions had a serious positive effect on the strength of his team, so long as he didn't include Benedict's injuries.

"Me too," said Lyra, smiling. "Maddy actually did evolve today during training. I wasn't expecting it for at least another month, but somehow what we went through triggered something inside of her."

The two boys congratulated her on her flaaffy, before Finn said, "Yeah, my team's improved as well." His voice dropped. "-Except Benedict, he was worse than I expected. He's in a lot of pain."

When the other two trainers expressed condolences for his pokémon's injuries, Finn realized he wanted to change the subject. The wound was still too fresh. "Well, Orion, since Falkner was such a pushover, we all know that you'll be ready to beat him. What do you think we should do after that? Azalea right?"

"Well, there was something that Clair mentioned to me before she left," said Orion. "She has a good friend, Liza, who's a caretaker up in the Charicific valley north of here. She said that Liza would show us around if we went to visit her."

"Oh, wow man, that's awesome! You and Alan have talked about trying to find a charmander before, right? How far out of the way is it?"

Orion leaned forward on the overturned log he was sitting on. "Clair said it was a three to four day journey north of here into the mountains. So, depending on how long it takes to find a charmander, we could be back here in a week or so," said Orion, grinning. "With Liza showing us the ropes, I'm sure we'll be in and out in no time, and I'll have another dragon badass for my team!"

Lyra watched the other teen with interest. "Um, Orion, you do know that charmander don't evolve into dragon type pokémon right? Charizard is classified as a fire-flying type pokémon."

Orion stuck out his tongue. "I'm not stupid Lyra," he said, pointing at her with the pidgey leg he was still eating. "But just look at charizard, they're dragons."

"They're not, though," replied Lyra, confused.

Finn watched their back and forth, content to let them rehash an old argument.

Finn wasn't sure he was going to make the trip up to the Charicific valley with Orion. He wanted to do some training on his own, and this detour that the other boy wanted to take was the perfect time to do that. He could win some extra cash at the training fields here in Violet too.

"Well, we need to get that second Gym out of the way in the next couple of months to give us some breathing room with the League. You only have five or so months left, right? When did you get your first pokémon again?"

"Yeah man, I caught Ajax around six months ago," said Orion. "To keep my League benefits I need to beat another Gym leader pretty soon."

"I still have another eight months," said Lyra. "But I don't plan to take that long. I want to get my fifth badge as soon as I can so I can be eligible for some of the higher paying jobs out there."

"Oh?" asked Finn. "What sorts of jobs do you think you'd like to do?"

"Well, besides tournaments and the like, I think I want to join research expeditions. I like the idea of traveling to remote locations, and finding things no other person has found before," said Lyra. She was speaking normally, but the subtle inflections in her voice underscored the excitement she felt at the prospect of adventure. Finn enjoyed seeing someone so passionate. It made him feel like his obsession was much more normal than society would have him believe.

By the time they got back into Violet the next morning, many of the tents had been deconstructed. The glass and debris that had littered the sidewalks and streets had vanished. Still, there were pokémon and people continuing to fix the deformities that the collateral damage from the attack had wrought. Large bird pokémon soared above, carrying lumber and equipment from one place to the next. Finn was curious to see how much had changed outside the city's eastern exit.

The Pokémon Center was much less crowded than it had been the past couple of days, and they were able to get their pokémon looked after relatively quickly. Alan had sent them a message via the computer at the Center asking for them to meet him at the training fields. That Alan was at the fields battling came as a relief to the group. It meant that his punishment couldn't have been too serious.

With so many trainers stuck inside the city for various reasons, the training fields were packed. After paying the entrance fee, they looked for their friend near the one badge trainer arena. There were lines extending from the trainer boxes on both sides of the field where people were waiting their turn to battle.

Inside the psychic barrier, a goldeen was shooting swaths of water from its lips, aiming for a hoothoot that was flying in circles around the arena's pool of water. The owl banked towards the water, where the elegant koi-like pokémon dove further underneath the surface. Apparently, this water type hadn't learned to float above ground yet, and was playing hard to get.

After noticing Alan was close to the front of the line, Finn, Orion, and Lyra found a spot to sit in the stands to watch his match. A few battles later, Alan's luxio dominated a one badge trainer's bellsprout in only a few moves, and after receiving his money, their friend walked over.

"Hi, guys," he said, looking uncomfortable.

"Nice win," said Finn, genially. "It must have gone well with the League if you're here battling, right?"

Alan coughed. "Yeah, they said that not all of the Rangers made it through the battle, and the one who had taken down my info was one of them. They didn't recover his data pad until later in the day yesterday."

Finn was happy for his friend. He hated that he'd doubted his story for a while. Not putting oneself on the front lines of a major skirmish where many trainers died was not something he should judge his friend for. Finn himself had not known what he was in for when he'd responded to the League's summons. If he had, it would've been much harder to do what he'd done.

It was disheartening how numb he'd become to hearing about yet another death. Finn was getting angry. Angry at whatever group that Zeta worked for. The pink-haired woman's group was responsible for the deaths of so many trainers and pokémon that they cared for. If they hadn't messed with the cocoon pokémon, none of this would've happened. Benedict would be okay right now.

"I, for one, am glad things are getting back to normal," said Finn, patting Alan on the shoulder. "What do you want to do while we're waiting on this snorlax over here." Finn jabbed his thumb over at Orion.

Alan laughed. "We haven't collected data for Professor Elm and Mr. Pokémon in a while, have we?" he said. "Let's get that done, and make some cash here, and we'll just have to hope that Orion will catch up to us one day."

"Ahh, come on guys, it's not my fault we have to wait on Falkner," said Orion, who then remembered something. "Didn't you say you always wanted a charmander?"

Things devolved into a mad conversation about how awesome charizard were, causing Finn to tune them out.

Later, Finn was following the others towards the exit when he spotted someone vaguely familiar. He was slouched over sitting in the arena stands near the zero badge arena, with his face in his hands. He didn't know exactly who it was, but Finn could have sworn that he'd seen him before.

Eyeing the teen's dirty clothes, he made the connection. It was the trainer from the prior morning who had caught the male combee. The scene was rather pitiful, and Finn was reminded of how much he'd struggled to get out of Blackthorn just months before.

"Hey! What's got you so down?" asked Finn, trying to sound encouraging.

"Just leave me alone, man. I already gave you guys all of my money. What more do you want?" he asked, a gravely tone to his voice indicating how upset he was. Although, there was something in his hazel eyes, a sort of defiance that spoke to how this setback would not be the end of him.

Based on his reaction, it seemed that the other boy had his share of confrontation for the day. Finn could only imagine how poorly the other trainer's battles must have gone with only a male combee to fight for him. Something about the kid's still-defiant demeanor in the face of defeat made Finn want to help him.

"Look, I don't know you, but I was sitting at the Pokémon Center when you registered your combee yesterday. If you're here at the training fields, I'm assuming that you didn't take Nurse Joy's advice?" asked Finn. "Do you need some help?"

"What? Oh yeah. She was right though. Combee can't battle. I just lost literally everything I had testing him out," he said, eyes downcast. "What do you mean help? I'm just going to have to try and sell Combee or trade him to a honey manufacturer or something."

Finn became a touch uncomfortable. He could remember his early days. The desperation to make a name for himself outside of Blackthorn's walls. He recognized that same spirit in this trainer. The other teen could probably recoup the cost of the pokéball if he got lucky, but nobody really bought male combee. Vespiquen were the only members of that species that were worth training.

Finn made up his mind.

"Here, let me take you out to Route 31 so you can catch something worthwhile."

"What?" he asked, shocked. "Why would you do that? I don't need your charity!"

"It's not charity, dude. Someone once told me that in this world there are many things that'll get you down. They taught me that the pokémon training community is tight knit, and that we help our own. Right now, you remind me of myself from four months ago. Let me help," said Finn. "It's not a problem."

"C'mon, man. You look my age. How many badges do you have?" he said, skeptical.

Finn opened one side of his jacket revealing Falkner's badge. "Just the one right now, but I've been out on the routes for over three months. I have it on good authority that I'd be able to take on a Gym leader for my third badge right about now."

Even though there was still a sliver of distrust shining in the teen's eye, a slow smile began to make itself known on his face, before disappearing. "But I don't have any money to pay you? I don't have any more pokéballs—"

"Don't worry about it. Just remember, when you get strong enough to travel around and win badges, find someone who needs your help, and give them a hand," said Finn. He was kind of proud of himself at how he was handling this. Helping out someone was kind of giving him a rush. Finn and his team were powerful enough that they could potentially change someone's life. "Come on man, let's catch you a real starter."

Since they were going to Route 31, that meant that they had to pass through the eastern gate of the city. He'd let his friends know he was leaving, and then they set out. It was amazing how much cleanup had occurred in the last forty-eight hours. All of the tents for the wounded and sick had been cleared away. The burnt bodies of the fallen bug pokémon were nothing more than a series of dark stains lingering on the cobbles.

"How'd you end up catching that combee anyway?" asked Finn.

"Heh, I knew I couldn't afford a proper starter, and only trainers are allowed outside of the wall, so I took the Code Red as my chance. I hid in a dumpster near the wall where everyone was getting ready, and waited until the battle made it into the city. Combee fell right out of the sky in front of me."

They walked for around twenty minutes onto the route before heading north into the forest. Finn showed Cameron, who had introduced himself on their way out, how to use repels and the beginnings of wilderness survival. He'd let Dixie out of her ball for protection while on the route, the combusken causing Cameron to stare wide-eyed in amazement.

"Look here," said Finn, pointing at a small shrub whose branches had been torn in places. "Can you tell me why this is something you should look out for?"

Cameron scrutinized the bush for a few moments, before shaking his head in the negative. "It's just a plant, why's it so special?"

"Look at where the branches are split apart. See how the leaves on the broken branches are still green? This shows that a pokémon passed through relatively recently. This is important, because whatever it was, was probably strong enough to do this without noticing, meaning that we want to avoid it," said Finn, who then reached down and pulled something off the branch. A clump of thick brown fur came off onto Finn's fingers. "This looks like ursaring fur. You do know what an ursaring is right?"

Cameron paled, and began swiveling his head around looking into the trees.

"It probably passed by relatively recently, so let's head this way okay?" said Finn.

They kept going, Finn occasionally pointing out edible plants, or instructing Cameron on how to spot where a spinarak might be hiding in its webs. Over the course of an hour, the two trainers had passed up the opportunity to catch many pokémon. Starters like sentret, rattata, or bidoof were fine, but pokémon like that had a low ceiling for potential. If he was going to set Cameron up for success, he was going to do it properly.

"Why haven't we caught anything yet? That sentret looked really strong," asked Cameron, as they pulled the larger than average squirrel-like pokémon into a bush to hide it while the creature recovered.

"Do you want a partner that will last your entire journey, or fodder for unsuccessful trainers?" Finn turned to the other trainer. "Look, sentret and rattata are fine. They grow quickly, but their potential caps out fast. Do you want a starter that will grow with you throughout your journey, or a starter that might not be able to hack it in higher tiered Gym battles?"

"What do you know about higher tiered Gyms, Finn? You're a one badge trainer!"

Finn remained calm. "Cameron, I'll just assume that you've watched some Gym matches before on TV, right? Think back. Have you ever seen a raticate or furret in an eighth tier Gym battle?"

Finn was speaking of the evolved forms of rattata and sentret, which were the two most common pokémon in Johto.

The teen thought for a moment, and then spoke slowly, "No, I haven't. So, you really think that I could make it that far?"

Finn gave him a hard look. "It'll only be possible if you believe it, Cameron. You decide your own fate. Study hard. Train harder. That's the only way you'll break through the medley of mediocrity that surrounds us. There's a reason that normal people look down on us trainers. Look at all of the zero badgers still in Violet, trying to gain their first badge against Falkner. They've clogged up the city for over a month trying to defeat the easiest of the Gym leaders, and yet, they're still here. If you want more for yourself, you have to actually convice yourself that you can do it."

Cameron eagerly nodded his head. "I can, I'll do it Finn."

"That's what I want to hear. Now, let's go find you a pokémon," replied Finn.

They made it to a lake, where a colony of poliwag scattered upon seeing the two trainers and the combusken, splashing from their perches along the bank into the water disturbing the lily pads and weeds. The commotion had one of the bright-green lily pads moving towards the shoreline. With a loud 'ribbit' sound, a lotad hopped up onto the ground in front of them, eyes locking with Dixie's in challenge.

Lotad were pokémon native to Hoenn that had naturalized in this part of Johto. They were grass-water types that grew a large lily pad on top of their amphibious bodies.

"Cameron, this is what you're looking for. You want a pokémon with a fighting spirit!" said Finn, turning to his pokémon. "Dixie, peck and then double kick!"

Shooting forward, the fire-fighting type made short work of the lotad, who made a valiant effort to dodge Dixie's first attack. His pokémon narrowly avoided a water gun that whoshed past her face, before knocking the lotad out with a well placed kick.

Priming one of his spare pokéballs, Finn captured the creature and handed the ball over to the newly minted trainer. The other boy was staring down at the orb in his hand with reverence.

Finn congratulated Dixie on a job well done with a treat and some head scratches, before turning back to Cameron.

"This is a responsibility that you'll need to take seriously. For the first few days, just try and gain its trust with food and affection while you research the lotad line. I don't think lotad are typically known to be dangerous starters, so you shouldn't have too much trouble," said Finn, who was really getting into his 'teacher' role. "Once you get its basic commands down, you can start training against wild pokémon and maybe a trainer or two. It's better to take longer and do it right then having a half-ready pokémon protecting you while out on the routes. Trust me, I know."

Cameron had a nervous look about him, the moment becoming real to him. "What if it doesn't like me, Finn? How long do you think it'll take before I can face Falkner?"

"Well, that could happen, but I'd give it some time before trying to trade it away though. One of my pokémon finally came 'round after a month of trying to kill me every time he was outside his pokéball," said Finn, thinking fondly of his and Quake's most recent training session. "How long will it take? To be honest, I'm not sure. If you're able to do well at the training fields and make enough money to catch another pokémon you could face Falkner in a month or so. I wouldn't suggest going with just your lotad though, it's part grass type, which is weak to Falkner's fliers."

"But that's so long from now," he said, glancing down. "After I caught Combee, I told my parents I'd be out of the house in the next week or so."

Finn could have guessed based on the other teen's attire and attitude that he wasn't becoming a trainer solely out of his love for pokémon, but that last comment really drove that point home.

He had already been thinking about staying in Violet to train while Orion and Alan went to catch their fire types up north. He'd wanted to start his three-a-day plan, but maybe he could spare a bit of his time on this.

"Look, man—trainers that start out too early tend to die at a pretty good clip. Just go look up League statistics for trainers of less than six months. There's something like a twenty percent death rate. It's the reason politicians want to raise the starting pokémon age."

"What?! It's that high?" he said, looking between the pokéball in his hands and Finn in shock.

"Look, I tell you what. I'll give you my pokédex number. Spend the next few days figuring out your new pokémon and give me a call from the Pokémon Center once you've got a handle on things. I'll give you some pointers."

AN: Please let me know what you think! I love reviews/follows/favorites! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/concerns/grammar issues/etc.

Finn:
Felix - Swinub
Benedict - Exeggcute
? – Larvitar
Dixie - Combusken

Orion:
Darya - Horsea
? - Magikarp
Drake - Grovyle
Tufts - Mareep

Alan:
? - Phanpy
? - Shroomish
? - Luxio

Lyra:
Frond - Bayleef
Whisper - Pidgeotto
Maddy - Flaffy
Bubble - Froakie Egg - ?