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Jake bolted through the lobby without saying a word to the bewildered clerk, Beelining the stairway upon seeing that the elevator was three floors up from the lobby and rising.\n\nThe person at the front desk was half-tempted to chase after what she thought was a wild pokemon, but decided against it after seeing how fast it was running. She wasn't getting paid enough to wrestle a fire-type out of the hotel, let alone chase one. As she was settling into her seat the door burst open again and more pokemon swept through the lobby like uncorked lightning.\n\nThese ones she actually recognized as they had left just as her shift started earlier, although they were without that handsome trainer she saw leading them. Quilava jumped up and smacked the elevator button over and over while Grovyle, carrying Tirtouga, struggled to keep up.\n\nThe door dinged and opened up, which the pokemon all piled in and rode it up to their floor. On the way up Grovyle had a pretty important revelation, one Jake was probably just figuring out as well. [i]He doesn't have his keycard for their hotel room anymore[/i]. Grovyle rummaged through his pack while waiting to reach their floor and gave the keycard to Quilava.\n\n``You're faster, if Jake is any indication.'' He huffed while lifting Tirtouga back off the ground. She didn't bother mentioning that only Jake was in a rush, only grabbed the card and dashed off with Pichu the moment the elevator doors opened.\n\nAnd true to Grovyle's words Jake was outside their room pacing with panic written across his face, thankfully still as a Quilava. The hope that shone in his eyes when Pichu and Quilava rounded the bend with a silver card in the latter's hand was blinding to see. Quilava rushed to open the door while Jake anxiously stood beside the door, each second agonizingly long while his savior struggled to slide the thin piece of plastic through the electronic reader.\n\nFinally she got it, a soft click signaling for Jake to scramble once more to open the door and burst into their room. Grovyle and Tirtouga arrived as a flash of light illuminated the doorway. From the light came a tumbling, naked, and very human Jake.\n\nEveryone piled into the room and slammed the door shut before someone saw him at the last possible second. Either by sheer luck or just good timing they had made it, with everyone plopping down onto the ground winded (except Tirtouga who felt as refreshed as can be).\n\n``Thank god, I thought we were never going to make it.'' Jake commented, sitting up with his hands over his junk. Most of them found it strange he was covering himself in front of [b]them[/b] of all people, but they didn't bother bringing this up. \n\n``Hey Quilava, could you, um, find my stuff in your pokeball? I kinda had to leave it all behind in there...'' He asked while pulling the zipper on Grovyle's bag open. At least he had kept a change of clothes in the backpack, carrying the handful of clothing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.\n\nQuilava gave a nod as he went in, letting Grovyle return her into her pokeball to go looking for Jake's things. The return to the scorched ruins of her forest wasn't pleasant to see after only a couple hours. From her burnt resting place she began to scour the ruins, picking apart blackened logs and sifting through piles of burnt wood.\n\nThe haunting silence that had once been a harmonious rusting of leaves was unsettling, yet as she searched more and more budding green sprouts began to peak up through the charred remains, which she treaded around lightly. Seeing them did give her a little hope her home would return after a time, hopefully soon.\n\nSearching for around thirty minutes yielded her Jake's Pokedex and belt of pokeballs, both thankfully unharmed. The rest she could not say the same, his outfit shriveled and black as they valiantly defended the only two surviving items. She scooped up the ruined clothes as well and willed herself out of the pokeball.\n\nDumping everything in her arms on the bed, the door to the bathroom opened and a less nude Jake walked out with a look of hope in his eyes. That hope was hampered upon seeing his charred clothing but regained itself when his eyes laid on the classical red of a trainer's entire life: his Pokedex and Pokeballs.\n\n``Oh thank god, I thought they might have been destroyed in the fire!'' He scooped up Quilava and hugged her tightly in relief, making her issue a muffled squeak. Quilava wiggled a little to breath but stayed in the hug. Jake didn't really show his affection physically like this, and she was reluctant to let him go, especially given her... issues this morning.\n\nOblivious to this, Jake released Quilava before he crushed the breath from her and sat down next to his stuff. A grumble from his stomach reminded him that he had yet to eat anything today, and by extension everyone else.\n\n``I'm gonna order some breakfast everyone. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I've run a marathon, and it's not even noon.'' The others all agreed with the plan, and Jake phoned in what everyone wanted and had it brought up to them.\n\nLater that afternoon Jake got a message on his Pokedex from Dawn.\n\n``Hey, is Jake awake yet?'' The message read, prompting him to scroll through the messages that spanned the prior week. When he asked about it, Grovyle spoke up.\n\n``Yea, she taught me to read your language over the week, so I could keep her up-to-date on your condition. Haven't gotten around to telling her the good news.''\n\n``Ah, gotcha.'' He replied, texting back that he was indeed awake.\n\n``That's great! Sorry I haven't visited today, been handling the witness reports since you weren't available. Hope you're doing good!'' She replied back a moment later, following which they chatted about this and that for a few minutes before she brought up meeting at the town's gym once she was done with something. \n\nHe agreed to the meeting before shutting his Pokedex and flicking on the TV to kill some time. In that time his hand idly glossed over the scuffed pokeball he had picked up and forgotten about almost a whole month ago. He plucked it from his belt and tried the button once more, and got much the same result. He grunted with mild annoyance as he slid it back in place, tacking another mental note in his head to find someone who can fix it, or at the very least take it a pokemon center and have it checked.\n\nHe shuddered to imagine that a pokemon was trapped in there for god knows how long. Eventually the allotted time came to meet Dawn, and both Grovyle and Tirtouga took the opportunity to return to their balls while Pichu and Quilava chose to walk with Jake to the gym, which was near the southeast end of town.\n\nDuring the early part of their walk, when Jake was occupied letting Dawn know they were coming and the ensuing chat that followed, Quilava nonchalantly closed the gap between her and Pichu to whisper into her ear.\n\n``Hey P-Pichu? I kind of have a problem...'' She started, immediately piquing the other's interest given the tone of her voice. The way she said it didn't seem like she was talking about any emotional issues. No, this sounded more... intimate.\n\n``Go on...'' The electric-type replied, her eyes glued to Jake's back so he didn't notice their conversation.\n\n``I.... um, I might be pregnant.'' Quilava dropped the bombshell just like that. And if it weren't for the fact that they were meant to be quiet, Pichu's surprise would have been an incredible ``What?''. Even then she still reeled back an inch in shock and almost getting Jake's attention.\n\n``Explain.'' She said with a grave expression. Quilava was Jake's number one fighter and probably the strongest amongst them, and if she was pregnant then that left a huge hole in their fighting potential!\n\n``.... I might have.... Um, gotten a little... overboard with Jake at the pool when everyone was, you know, getting in the ``mood''. `` What followed this statement was several harsh smacks to the head from the mouse, nowhere near hard enough to hurt but enough for the message to get across.\n\n``Being so brash after nearly cooking yourself alive! How long do you think it will take before the egg comes?'' Pichu finally let up only to scold her a little more, putting up a calm demeanor when Jake glanced back for a second.\n\nQuilava rubbed the back of her head, which actually did feel a little sore from Pichu's ``gentle'' hits. ``I don't know. A day? A week? Maybe even a month, I don't know.'' Quilava's voice contained both a hint of excitement and fear thinking about her very own child, with Jake no less!\n\nThis was the wrong answer to give, as Pichu delivered swift and righteously ``light'' smacks to the skull for the fire-type, this time fully getting Jake to pay attention to them.\n\n``Everything alright back there, girls?'' he asked, making the two's backs straighten like pencils as they gave a unified ``Yes!''. Naturally he didn't buy their answer, squinting slightly at Quilava. ``You better not be hiding something important again just to spare my feelings. You should talk about that sort of stuff.'' He reassured. After all, he didn't want one of his friends to be going through something like that again.\n\n``Naaahhhh, it's just some girl stuff you probably don't want to hear. Trust me.'' Pichu waved it off, bringing Jake's scrutiny to focus on her for a moment before he continued walking with a shake of his head. As he looked forward, a gust of wind kicked up the dust on the road, forcing him to close his eyes as it swirled in his face.\n\nYet when he opened his eyes, he didn't see the dusty road nor the trees and buildings that spanned either side of the road. No, there was just... grey. A grey plain was all he saw. Immediate confusion came as where just a second ago was a rainbow of colors before him. And now, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.\n\nHis hands clenched into fists, turning around to hopefully at least see Pichu and Quilava. But once again he was surprised as instead his eyes were met with a wave of blue flames that nearly blinded him right away.\n\nHe stumbled back, falling on his ass onto the icy cold and rock-hard ground; an ache in his backside becoming readily apparent shortly after. As it would turn out, a wall of blue flames had been sitting behind him this whole time, yet he hadn't felt even a lick of warmth coming from it. Jake rubbed his eyes as looking at the cyan light began to make his eyes ache, trying to piece together what in the world was happening.\n\nSuddenly the massive flame seemed to condense, then it parted like a pair of blazing curtains to show a new color to add to the mix: black. More than that, the flames continued to reveal more and more of this color as it seemed to take shape, growing rough and bony in texture.\n\nBefore long a car-sized mound of rugged bones formed a staggering chest, completed with ribs and all, before travelling upwards into an uncannily smooth neck that snaked upwards maybe eight feet high, while below were four tree trunk thick and equally bony legs that ended in disembodied and wicked sharp claws. \n\nThe flames seemed to cling to the bones like it were flash, as if it were radiating from the scorched skeleton itself. At the top, an extremely familiar skull of a dragon slowly revealed itself, its angular yet rounded appearance impossible for Jake to forget. After all, it had been the reason he got out of that cave when the cliff collapsed. The dragon's hollow eyes lit up with thin white pupils that flitted down to look at the human below.\n\n``Greetings Jake, I hope the transition wasn't too sudden for you.'' He spoke in that same hollow voice as before, save for the echoing that had accompanied it in the dead-silent ruins from before.\n\n``I-It was.'' Jake was hesitant to reply, arching his neck pretty far to see eye-to-eye with the behemoth of a creature. He could equate the size difference before as just the sculptor going for grandeur, but to think that the colossus of a statue was [b]smaller[/b] than the dragon actually was scared him a little.\n\n``I do apologize. I'm still growing acclimated to this plane of existence, more so with the process of bringing those I've marked to and from it.'' He replied nonchalantly. \n\nThe first words Jake latched to were ``plane of existence'' and ``mark'' like a leech, taking another glance around at the unending grey void.\n\n``First of all, what do you mean by mark?'' was his first question. Of many.\n\nThe dragon took a few steps back and lowered his head level with Jake's, the flaming skull more than three times his size, and lifted up a blazing talon to his chest. The human sucked in a breath at the motion, knowing the dragon had him dead to rights if he wanted to kill him right here and now.\n\nInstead he gently placed the blunt end against Jake's chest, making him fear being burned or cut just from the contact as the flames wavered against his clothing. A tingling warmth blossomed from where the claw pressed against Jake, a soothing heat beginning to pool itself against his breast.\n\nThe dragon pulled his claw back and watched an astral blue flame, not too dissimilar to the dragon's own (aside from a slight twinge of red that would sometimes appear), began to pull free from Jake.\n\n``This is a small amount of magical power I gave you, a gift to aid you in your journey. In more than a couple ways.'' He flicked his claw towards Jake and sent the ball of fire back into him along with that radiating warmth.\n\n``This is the rudimentary wary of keeping track of those who are important in the many worlds I tap into.'' He added, lifting a paw just as Jake was gonna start spouting question after question on what that sentence implied. [i]Which was a lot.[/i] \n\n``You will understand much more in time, but right now you are much too young to be knowing so much.'' \n\nJake didn't push his luck with the flaming beast, because no matter how polite it spoke and acted, he was scared shitless of it. And if he couldn't outright ask about other worlds and the existence of magic, he could at least ask about his presence here.\n\n``Alright, then can you tell me why I'm here at least?'' he asked as politely as he could, gesturing to the blankness around them. The dragon's glowing pupils thinned as he looked away and gazed off into nothingness for a moment, as if lost in thought.\n\n``For one, to see what your presence might bring if I were to call you here. Sadly it would seem nothing as of yet. This place was once not so dim and empty. There used to [b]be[/b] something her, a realm of limitless possibilities.'' He spoke with a serious tone suddenly, the flames wreathing him moving faster for a time before settling.\n\n``I do not know exactly [b]what[/b] it was that once presided this realm, yet all the same I feel the overwhelming energy lingering in this grey void. And yet now it empty. And in its place is I, a being chained in a prison barred with limitless windows I cannot bend nor break, merely look through.'' The dragon, despite being devoid of any possible facial expressions, seemed to exude an aura of sorrow into his blank surroundings. Jake took a glance at its burning form for the chains it had referred to just in case but conceded that it wasn't being literal.\n\n``You cannot stay for too long; this realm's effects may begin to seep into you if you do.'' The dragon turned back to Jake, returning to his calm demeanor once more.\n\nJake nodded back, having to take the dragon's words that only piled on more questions. ``So why am I here, why ask me for help?''\n\n``Ah, that one I can answer with ease.'' He leaned in close to Jake, the flames dangerously close to touching Jake's nose as it levelled its eyes with his. ``You have been marked because you are very talented, talents that are needed to return this realm to its former glory, and to save me from an eternity of lonesomeness. To do such a grand task you must awaken the powers dormant since your birth and save [i]your[/i] world from its soon-arriving doom.''\n\n \n\nJake's eyes widened with the dragon's statement. ``What doom are you talking about?'' He immediately asked.\n\n``I am glad to see you care more for your world than your own strength. A group of humans have begun gathering special pokemon for the sole purpose of capturing another known by the name of Giratina, a legendary creature banished to a chaotic realm. With it they hope to merge its realm and yours together under the foolhardy belief it will bring prosperity to humanity, when it will only bring destruction and death. They know not the danger they bring nor the world this beast resides within.''\n\nThe name didn't ring a bell to Jake, yet he branded it into his psyche beside each and every word the dragon spoke.\n\n``What do I need to do?'' Jake asked, momentarily not questioning a word the dragon said. His face was already scrunched up in a scowl as he deduced just [b]who[/b] it was referring to. The thought of Team Galactic, already a notorious group of vicious criminals and general scum of the earth, sickened him to the very core. This feeling only soured further into deep-seeded hate, thus the source of his ugly expression.\n\nThe dragon tapped him on the chest, the flames of his claw clinging to his shirt for a moment before pulling back to its owner. ``You must cultivate your power by pushing yourself beyond your limits.'' the dragon's voice was chilling and grim yet delivered with utter calm.\n\n``Exceed what you are capable of while casting a wide umbrella to shield all those you hold dear, pokemon and human alike. I warn you this: You cannot save everyone, and death will greet many people in the coming times. But you must know that none shall blame you for being weak or short-sighted, for even a being such as myself has failed many times in my life.''\n\nJake's expression softened, the words spoken so calmly shaking him. Cultivate his power? Can't save everyone? Those words alone haunted him the moment they slithered into his mind, yet before their venom could take root a calming presence sunk them to the bottom of his thoughts like anchors.\n\n``You have the heart to persevere, it is the mind you must hone to a shining point to protect those you cherish. For now, grow the strengths and bonds of your team, be they weak or strong, big or small, you must become what your predecessor had achieved within a years' time. Jake's brow furrowed.\n\n``Predecessor?'' The dragon nodded in response to his question.\n\n``A person you know quite well, having watched him every known step of his journey. Although the show was a far-cry from the trials Ash faced in his time.'' He stopped, head whipping up suddenly.\n\n``Our time is up.'' He said as a thin black line formed behind him, which formed into a spear before plunging down through his chest and pinning its point into the ground. The dragon gave a heavy grunt as its legs quivered slightly, black teeth showing as he gritted them together.\n\nHe hardly flinched as two more began to appear in the air, only this time the flames on his back shot out and shattered them before they fully appeared.\n\n``I apologize for taking up such precious time to blabber on before getting to our proper conversation, but I will have to call you back when the time is right. With a wave of his paw the human was turned around, the feeling confusing Jake as his muscles just seemed to move on their own. He couldn't even ask what the hell was going on before, just like it had appeared, the gray world was gone in the blink of an eye. Time seemed to stop as Jake found himself taking a step on the road towards the gym, then all of the sudden it started again, and he fell face first onto the ground.\n\nQuilava and Pichu were too engrossed in their whispering to catch their trainer before he hit the dirt, rushing to his side a moment too late and helping him onto his feet while asking if he was alright.\n\n``Y-yea, just tripped I guess.'' He rubbed his face to remove the tiny rocks that managed to get pressed into it, slightly embarrassed. The two helped him up like an old man, which Jake wasted no time joking about. ``How old do you think I am, 90?'' He jested, smiling briefly before picking up the pace.\n\nHis mind had too much food to chew on right now, so whatever those two were whispering about would have to wait. Keeping himself calm and collected wasn't easy given his mind was glued to the space that dragon was stuck in, each word being torn apart and deciphered as to what they meant or implied. And boy was there a lot to go through.\n\nFirstly, what realm had he been talking about that Team Galactic wanted to merge with this one, and why? Hell, if any of that dragon's words could be trusted, then what about that pokemon would create chaos in this world? And apparently they didn't know how dangerous this is, yet still know it exists and want to bring it here. Suddenly the thought that they [b]do[/b] know how crazy their plan has scared him more, since then whoever was leading those criminals had to be an utter maniac.\n\nFollowing that was something about Jake himself, an inherent power he was supposedly born with that he somehow had to cultivate. Was he talking about his transforming ability that he could do with some of the pokemon he's bonded with, or something else entirely? This was probably the only good news that dragon had given him, telling him that he could get more powerful if he could just figure out how to strengthen those powers.\n\nToo little to go off of, and nobody to turn to. Jake began to grow more and more frustrated the less he understood, which was a feeling he hadn't felt since middle school! It was when he felt something tug his pants leg that he stopped his tangenting thoughts and glanced back.\n\n``Did you hear me, Jake?'' Quilava asked, looking mildly annoyed.\n\n``Sorry, got lost in thought about the trip later. Mind repeating what you said for me?'' he apologized with a smile.\n\nQuilava huffed. ``You were walking past the gym, mumbling incoherent nonsense.'' Jake, surprised at what she said, looked to his right and found she was telling the truth!\n\nEntirely without realizing it he had meandered his way to the gym, a two-story tall building teeming with trees and flowery grass around it. A round metal roof made it look more like a miniature stadium, which was a short-lived comparison with the cobbled brick walls and clean blue plexiglass running across its top. One of the glass double doors opened and a waving Dawn leaned out, giving an excited ``Hheeeyy!'' to get his attention.\n\nJake shook the thoughts clouding his mind as soon as he saw her. He had to keep everything under wraps until he felt it was necessary to talk about... what he guessed was his ``destiny''. Not that he ever really believed in such a thing. Breaking into a light jog he greeted Dawn with a returning wave as he got closer. Unexpectedly when he got close she rushed to hug him, taking him by surprise.\n\n``I'm so glad you?re alright!'' Was her immediate response as she squeezed Jake tightly.\n\n``Augh! Sorry for making you worry.'' He gasped, more than a little touched that someone he barely knew was so worried for him. Dawn pulled back and looked him up and down before finally letting him go.\n\n``What happened back when those crazy people ambushed us? You've been out for a whole week!''\n\n``I'm not really sure.'' He shrugged, ``I felt something hit me in the head at some point, so I can't remember anything after that. Internally he scolded himself for withholding the truth from her, but with the dragon's words in mind he didn't want to give such sensitive info to what was for the most part a stranger. Keeping a smile on his face, he quickly steered the conversation to the gym before them.\n\n``So, what's the gym like? I hadn't gotten a chance to read up on it lately.''\n\n``See for yourself!'' She said, taking hold of one of his hands and pulling him through the entryway, Pichu and Quilava close behind them.\n\nAlthough the outer appearance of the gym was somewhat lackluster, the inside blew all three of them away. Instead of a square lobby with all the dull furnishing that came with it, Jake and his team was greeted by a lush green field of grass and flowers that spanned the entire building's interior.\n\nA soft warm breeze rushed across the fields of flowers, greeting them with a flowery aroma that tickled their noses with its sweet scent. The lush foliage sprouted from the mossy ground in massive bunches, dancing on the line of natural chaos and meticulously pristine and well-kept. This harmonious balance was cut into neat gardens by thin dirt paths lined with short plain brown picket fences.\n\nThe glass roof above let plenty of sunlight shine in, with a crystal-clear view of the sky that, coupled with the similarly colored blue walls and the drawn clouds on, made it almost hard to imagine they were even in a building! The flowers bloomed everywhere their eyes could see, the air buzzing with cheerful cries of pokemon as they went about their day inside this wonderland.\n\nSeveral other people were walking along the paths, some trainers, some simply townsfolk enjoying the scenery, and a couple individuals dressed like gardeners itching to test the first's mettle.\n\nPichu sniffled and sneezed as she breathed in the thick scent of pollen, rubbing her nose several times to try and stop a second and third sneeze from surfacing. An idea popped into Jake's head as he admired the scenery, grabbing Grovyle's pokeball and brought him out to experience this scene with them.\n\nThe grass-type hadn't been paying attention to the outside world for the most part, too focused on training his moves, and formed from the ball's red light a little disoriented as his surroundings suddenly changed.\n\n``Weren't we heading to the gym, why are we in a meadow?'' He asked, glancing around at the line of trees at the edge of the field. His stance straightened as he inhaled the flowery aroma around him, eyes sparkling like diamonds as his chest swelled with that wondrous scent.\n\n``We are in the gym, Grovyle. Thought you might enjoy looking around a bit.'' He replied, smirking as Grovyle's pupils expanded like a cat's.\n\n``T-t-thank you!'' Grovyle practically shouted as he dove over to a flower-laden patch of grass, deftly avoiding crushing a single pedal as he buried himself in the flower bed. Seeing Grovyle's usually stoic appearance melt into a borderline blissful one like that was a sight to behold for everyone.\n\nJake chuckled, not expecting that Grovyle would enjoy the gym [b]that[/b] much and decided to not interrupt him for a while. Down a member of his team, Jake and Dawn walked down the dirt paths towards the massive central hill, one leading the other by the hand excitedly like a daughter would with her father. The comparison left Jake more confused than enlightened, but he ignored it.\n\n``H-hey, what's got you so excited?'' He almost fell as she practically yanked him up the hill. But when they reached the top he couldn't help but have his breath caught in his throat.\n\n``This is the real glory of Eterna's gym!'' Dawn answered finally, letting go of his hand since she had pulled him into the gym. At the top of the grassy knoll was a deep crater, the only location where Jake could just barely notice the dark, fertile brown soil beneath. Even for someone who knew nothing about gardening could guess that the soil was of premium quality, if the thousands upon thousands of perfect rosy pink flowers didn't give this away already.\n\nA sea of lush petals stretched across the hill's divot, a wondrous sight that was easily outmatched by what these flowers encircled. At the flower bed's center stood a singular behemoth of a flower, its stalk thicker than the trunk of a tree with two splayed leaves the size and shape of a wide canoe each.\n\nEight richly colored petals dwarfed everything beneath them in its massive shadow, four colored the same rosy pink as its ant-like children beneath while the others were a darker shading bordering on a pale crimson. Just barely visible was the flower's bud, a bumpy bead of golden yellow that perfumed the hill in a heavenly aura of sweet peace that eased even Jake's mind from the frantic thoughts he couldn't contain.\n\nThis time Pichu didn't sneeze from all the pollen in the air, although instead her ears twitched a few times like she was trying it hear something with an expression of curiosity. Another person opposite their side crested the hill and waved towards them. Dawn waved back while Jake noticed the odd outfit she was wearing, which was rather unique compared to the rest of the gym staff.\n\nThe olive-skinned lady wore a mossy green cloak that reached down slightly below her mostly flat chest, with a plain black tank top beneath that. Brown shorts, rugged hiking boots, and a pair of thin leather gloves with both knuckles and midway of the fingers onward exposed all tied in her forest-themed outfit quite nicely.\n\nHe hedged his bets that she was the gym leader and walked around the flowery divot with Dawn to meet her halfway.\n\n``Hey there, you're the gym leader I presume?'' He asked, taking her hand and shaking it firmly.\n\n``You presume correctly, my name's Gardenia. You look new thought, so I should mention you'll have to fight a couple trainees before you can challenge me, part of the rules.'' She gave a soft smile ``Wouldn't be much challenge if you could just waltz up to the leader right away.''\n\n``Yea, I was wondering if it would be that easy.'' He nodded in agreement. The gym leader turned to Dawn, her smile growing friendlier by the minute.\n\n``Are you looking to try for the badge again, since you're here?''\n\nDawn's cheeks grew a little red when Jake's expression became one of shock, having now learned she had lost against the gym leader!\n\n``Hey, not everyone can be a flawless trainer like you, Jake!'' She retorted with a slug to the arm that stung. Her comment passed the baton of surprise over to Gardenia, who turned her attention back to Jake with a bit of admiration in her eyes.\n\n``Ah, so this is the trainer who's been stirring some excitement into Sinnoh. Was wondering when you'd show up!'' Her tone had also shifted to one of interest, whereas her early one was professionally kind and reserved. ``Tell you what, I'll make an exception just for you, since from what I hear you've been wiping the floor with every trainer you've come across, and my trainees probably wouldn't like getting trounced today.''\n\n``Uhhh.... Alright, sure.'' He hesitantly accepted. Jake was confused why he was so popular just for winning a few fights. Is Sinnoh really that boring of a place?\n\n``Is... uh, just winning really that strange?'' \n\n``No, not at all. But you've been in the news twice now, and a friend of mine over in Oreburgh also put in a good word for you.''\n\n``Wait, what have I been in the news for?'' Jake wondered aloud, reeling at the thought of being [i]that[/i] kind of celebrity, or one at all for that matter. Although now that he thought about it, there was at least one incident, the ambush, that would probably cause some sort of stir, but what was the second one?\n\n``Well to start, the main event recently was a run-in with those nasty Team Plasma goons that closed Route 206 for about a week. Those guys have got more coverage since they're some vile fuckers, but having a hero, that means you, who stopped them adds some fame to yourself.''\n\n``Then there was the time a trainer, still you, went walking into Jubilife's main Pokemon Center looking like he had wrestled a Garchomp and lived to tell the tale. Plus there was that murder at the local Pokemart that also involved those Plasma goons.'' She rattled off just some of the latest news off the top of her head, all of which concerned Jake in some fashion.\n\nShe waved her hand. ``But all that isn't really important right now, I've been itching to fight you, buuut let's not do that in the middle of my gym's flower hill. There's an arena in the back, should be good enough unless your Quilava wants to use that spin move that Roark loved so much.'' Jake raised an eyebrow at the mention of Roark. Was he the one who put in a good word for him?\n\nHonestly hearing so much about himself was weird, especially when Dawn had been all but forgotten in the conversation and was just standing to the side awkwardly. Thankfully Gardenia also seemed to realize this and gave her an apologetic smile.\n\n``Sorry, it's just rare to meet someone who gets praise from Roark, double that for a fresh trainer.'' She gave a short laugh to lighten the mood.\n\nDawn nodded back. ``A friend of mine had a tendency to take the spotlight from time to time, so I'm mostly used to it.'' Jake's interest was piqued by the mention of her friend, having never elaborated on it from last time. Although since she had been rather distant on the topic he wouldn't pry.\n\n``About that offer, I'll have to decline the challenge for now. I'd rather just watch for today.'' Dawn answered finally, having been waiting to give her reply since the start. Finally Gardenia lead them to the back of the gym, where another dome structure, albeit quite smaller obviously, sat close to the sky blue wall, the glass looking less showy, harder, and reinforced for the exact occasion they had planned.\n\nInside was a simple battlefield: level dust dirt floor marked with white lines like any other, with the far side of the room dedicated to rows of bleachers that were surprisingly occupied already. On them was, strangely, several packs of Bulbasaur and their accompanying evolutions, with a few other similarly typed pokemon spread out over the metal benches. Most pokemon were resting or eyeing the new arrivals with interest, but some were playing with their neighbors in the crowded benches.\n\n``My gym doubles as a shelter for abused grass-types, save for the Bulbasaurs, they're just the family of one of my Venusaurs.'' The gym leader quickly explained once Jake gave her a curious look. \n\n``That's an admirable cause, will your Venusaur be joining us for this match?''\n\nGardenia laughed at the question. ``No, she's not much of a fighter nowadays, unless you harm one of her kids of course, then there'd be no stopping her!'' She spoke lightly, but Jake felt that she was deathly serious, and making him somewhat afraid of how powerful it might be.\n\n``I'll have to be extra careful then.'' He said with a fake laugh. Afterwards they split to either side of the field, which turned Jake's mind to contemplate his plan of attack. Gardenia's supposedly entire grass team would be a good matchup against his two fire pokemon, but one of them supposedly had literally zero battle experience, and the other might not be willing or capable of fighting right now.\n\nThat left very little room to work with, but he just had to play the cards he had to the best of his ability. Looking at his belt he was once again reminded of the scuffed ball, but sadly right now was not the time to use that. But it did remind him that he should probably find more members to fill out his team. Thankfully Grovyle arrived just in time to alleviate some of his worries, coated in fluffy pollen and smelling of flowers.\n\n``Hi there, sorry for keeping you waiting. I got... a little into it back there. How many?'' Grovyle asked, shaking his fluffy coat off as he looked to the gym leader opposite them.\n\n``Three to five, depends on what rules she goes for. I'm hoping for three since two of us won't be able to fight right now.''\n\n``You're talking Quilava and Tirtouga, right? Because the second one has been fired up to fight ever since the incident with those ``Team Plasma'' idiots.'' He grumbled the last part with annoyance. ``But yea, Tirtouga's been practicing ever since with managing his heat, and he wants to try fighting to alleviate some of that burning sensations he keeps getting.''\n\n``Oh, well at least he's determined. Does he know how to fight though?''\n\n``Yea, everyone sparred a couple times to kill time and, well, I've lost some leaf more than a few times, so he's at least a good shot.''\n\nJake pulled out his Pokedex to quickly gloss over Tirtouga's move set. ``Works for me.'' He said, looking over to the awaiting gym leader and flashing a thumbs-up. She returned the gesture and plucked two balls from her belt.\n\n``A simple two on two will be today's match, two matches with forfeits allowed.'' She hollered towards him just as the referee rushed through the doors and took his place at the center line.\n\n``Sorry for being late, Ma'am!'' He apologized loudly.\n\n``You're [b]five[/b] minutes late, Michael!'' She snapped back. Dawn meanwhile walked over to the seats and found an empty spot to sit, a Bulbasaur crawling onto her lap moments later to get some soft pets. The commotion woke most of the sleeping pokemon, who joined the rest in watching the two trainers on the field select their pokemon. The referee repeated the rules before looking to them both and signal for them to release their teams. Jake took Tirtouga's ball and released him, motioning to Grovyle to join him.\n\n``So how does a close-range and long-range combo suit you guys? Should give Tirtouga some time to get the hang of fighting.''\n\n``Works fine for me, up to him.'' Grovyle said nonchalantly, flexing his claws while sizing up their opponents.\n\nTirtouga didn't answer for a minute. ``How about I cover the ground around me in fire? Should keep the other guys away.'' He eventually suggested.\n\n``Could work, but that might hinder your guys' dodges. Same for Pichu if she ends up subbing in.''\n\nTirtouga thought for another second before conceding with a nod. ``I'll keep my distance then and try to avoid hitting Grovyle.''\n\n``I hope so.'' the grass-type quipped, stepping forward with the fire-type following behind. Across from them was two wildly different pokemon.\n\nOne looked like a blue ball with three cotton-balls protruding from atop it's head and both arms, barely standing three feet tall at best. Jake aimed his Pokedex towards it and learned its name was Jumpluff, although its description didn't give much away as to what it could really do.\n\nDwarfing it was a massive turtle-like pokemon with a fully-grown tree and several mossy stone jutting up the opposite side on its shell named Torterra and the next evolution of Dawn's Grotle. Before the fight could begin, the ground began to shake and tremble violently. Splinters of rock pushed upwards just outside the battlefield's lines as tree trunk thick vines shot up between them and the bleachers. Thinner branches spread out over the divide between each other and formed into a wide net, the leaves shimmering before turning somewhat translucent, like glass.\n\n``Just another precaution!'' was Gardenia's loud explanation over the sound of twisting vines. Jake hazarded a guess that it was meant to catch stray attacks, which he admitted would be dangerous depending on what, or rather [i]who[/i] it ended up hitting. Instead the thing that concerned him was what pokemon could possibly create vines that thick in mere moments, since as far as he could see from the Venusaurs in the stands their vines were maybe at best the width of a rope!\n\nA loud boom on the opposite end of the field cut his pondering short as he switched his mind to the ensuing battle. The plan to use Grovyle as a front liner with Tirtouga as firing support was basic as it could get, but he didn't know nearly as many of the fire-type's strengths and weaknesses as he did with Grovyle, so simple was probably best. Immediately that plan was proving to be a tough one to rely on as both of the enemy pokemon rushed forward straight away.\n\n``Tirtouga, move left and hit them with wa- fire gun!'' He began issuing commands. And what surprised him was that Tirtouga moved faster than Jake thought was possible, bounding thirty feet to his left the moment his words left his mouth. But now wasn't the time to think about his reaction time.\n\n``Grovyle, razor leaf followed by leaf blade!''\n\nA stream of fire and spinning leaves poured towards the charging pokemon, the Jumpluff hiding behind the Torterra who hardly broke its stride and took the hits head on, the spikes on either side of its face beginning to glow. The ensuing rumbles were both heard and felt as the battle heated up, with most battles going on in the gym taking a short break to glance at the arena in the back. Flashes of fiery light lit up the glass dome over and over, and beyond the outer dome a group of people were paying close attention to the fight.\n\n``How is that little shit still alive?'' Jerome swore through his mask. He, along with Emily and several Team Galactic members, were dressed in faint grey and green camo uniforms, specially made for this mission to minimize witnesses while they bided their time for a moment such as this.\n\n``Why do you care? We have a job to do right now and that kid has the leader busy. It's perfect!'' Emily shot back, lifting her goggles to get a better view of her partner.\n\n``I don't like how he's suddenly alive and a rogue variable. He's been too much of a headache to ignore.'' He whipped around, letting his fist unclench with reluctance. ``Nevermind that, are the lines secured?''\n\nOne of the masked goons tugged one of the ropes hooked against an air duct and nodded silently. Jerome turned back and unzipped the backpack laying at his feet, pulling out a black rectangle fitted with several buttons, one of which he pressed and lit up the display on the front, then gently pressed it onto the side of the glass dome. He did this several more times across a few feet of glass before stepping to where the rest of the team was.\n\n``Alright everyone. One last run down before radio silence. We're here for the bulb, nothing more and nothing less. Toss lines, test them, then jump to the flower field below. The stalk is around three feet thick, so my Durant will do the chopping while everyone else defends from any would-be heroes.''\n\n``That nectar command wants is one of a kind, so spill a drop and you can kiss your ass goodbye.'' He added, pulling a detonator from his pocket. A few of them shivered at the unspoken fate that he was alluding to, which helped to at least scare them into not fucking this op up. After their failed ambush, Emily and Jerome were in hot water with command, so much so that they got pulled from their original mission for Jake's Pichu.\n\nEveryone slipped on their cloth masks to further obscure their identities, save for the obvious Team Galactic logo plastered on all their chests. Everyone took cover as Jerome lifted the detonator...\n\nDown within the gym, Jake and Gardenia had just finished their first round of the match, which had been a surprisingly narrow loss for Jake. In the end both Jake's and Tirtouga's inexperience with each other left Grovyle with too much heavy lifting to do that eventually knocked him out of the fight.\n\nIt wasn't to say either pokemon, together or separate, performed poorly, quite the opposite. It was instead Jake's clumsiness with Tirtouga's move set, which he had neglected to give much thought, that ended up costing them. Jake sighed in defeat as he pulled out two full restores, the very same ones he had gotten so long ago and never needed until today and sprayed down both of their wounds.\n\nThey were both out of any future fights as well, which left him in a dilemma of whether he should just forfeit or ask Quilava if she was up to fight. Pichu walked over to the downtrodden Tirtouga and gave him a reassuring pat on the shell.\n\n``You did your best buddy, that's all we could ask for.'' She reassured, getting a meek nod from him in return.\n\n``I know, I just didn't want to be Jake's first actual loss.'' He moped. Pichu was about to begin comforting him again when her ears twitched wildly, her head bolting upright and looking towards the door that led out. \n\nRight after a ear-splitting explosion rocked the building, knocking everyone off their feet with the resulting shockwave. Loud plinking of debris hitting the roof above followed immediately after an even louder cacophony of glass shattering and crashing together outside. One passive piece of smoldering concrete hurled itself through the roof above, heading straight towards the benches like a hellish meteor. Dawn and the surrounding pokemon scrambled to get up and out of the way, but the speed of the rubble left no time at all!\n\nYet before it could crush those who stood in its path, blurs of green whipped after the car-sized cement missile and wrapped around it. Jake could hardly follow them with his eyes, but the vines that had fully withstood the fires of their battle had come to life in a flash, writhing for the briefest of moments before giving chase. And as soon as it had arrived, the rubble was ground to a halt mid-air, a few fist-sized chunks flecking off only to get caught as well. Echoing crunches followed as the vines twisted and tightened against it, cracks spider webbing through it until only small pebbles were left crushed and piled up on the ground.\n\nGardenia didn't pay the former projectile any mind and rushed to the door and looked to see clouds of thick black smoke filling the gym. Patches of fire were beginning to spread themselves through the gardens of flowers, which only fed the poor visibility further. Jake and his team were right behind her too look out at the destruction beyond the door.\n\n|\n\n~\n\nss\n\na\n\n}\n\n~\n\na\n\na\n\nlinger on the widespread destruction that expanded across the ground nor what remained of the dome. Through the thickening smoke he could see black lines running down the ruined edge, and most importantly the figures that were sliding down them.\n\nThere was only one group that would do something like this. And that was Team Galactic.\n\nTo Be Continued... \n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "The mad dash back to the hotel was thankfully uneventful. Jake bolted through the lobby without saying a word to the bewildered clerk, Beelining the stairway upon seeing that the elevator was three floors up from the lobby and rising.

The person at the front desk was half-tempted to chase after what she thought was a wild pokemon, but decided against it after seeing how fast it was running. She wasn't getting paid enough to wrestle a fire-type out of the hotel, let alone chase one. As she was settling into her seat the door burst open again and more pokemon swept through the lobby like uncorked lightning.

These ones she actually recognized as they had left just as her shift started earlier, although they were without that handsome trainer she saw leading them. Quilava jumped up and smacked the elevator button over and over while Grovyle, carrying Tirtouga, struggled to keep up.

The door dinged and opened up, which the pokemon all piled in and rode it up to their floor. On the way up Grovyle had a pretty important revelation, one Jake was probably just figuring out as well. He doesn't have his keycard for their hotel room anymore. Grovyle rummaged through his pack while waiting to reach their floor and gave the keycard to Quilava.

``You're faster, if Jake is any indication.'' He huffed while lifting Tirtouga back off the ground. She didn't bother mentioning that only Jake was in a rush, only grabbed the card and dashed off with Pichu the moment the elevator doors opened.

And true to Grovyle's words Jake was outside their room pacing with panic written across his face, thankfully still as a Quilava. The hope that shone in his eyes when Pichu and Quilava rounded the bend with a silver card in the latter's hand was blinding to see. Quilava rushed to open the door while Jake anxiously stood beside the door, each second agonizingly long while his savior struggled to slide the thin piece of plastic through the electronic reader.

Finally she got it, a soft click signaling for Jake to scramble once more to open the door and burst into their room. Grovyle and Tirtouga arrived as a flash of light illuminated the doorway. From the light came a tumbling, naked, and very human Jake.

Everyone piled into the room and slammed the door shut before someone saw him at the last possible second. Either by sheer luck or just good timing they had made it, with everyone plopping down onto the ground winded (except Tirtouga who felt as refreshed as can be).

``Thank god, I thought we were never going to make it.'' Jake commented, sitting up with his hands over his junk. Most of them found it strange he was covering himself in front of them of all people, but they didn't bother bringing this up.

``Hey Quilava, could you, um, find my stuff in your pokeball? I kinda had to leave it all behind in there...'' He asked while pulling the zipper on Grovyle's bag open. At least he had kept a change of clothes in the backpack, carrying the handful of clothing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

Quilava gave a nod as he went in, letting Grovyle return her into her pokeball to go looking for Jake's things. The return to the scorched ruins of her forest wasn't pleasant to see after only a couple hours. From her burnt resting place she began to scour the ruins, picking apart blackened logs and sifting through piles of burnt wood.

The haunting silence that had once been a harmonious rusting of leaves was unsettling, yet as she searched more and more budding green sprouts began to peak up through the charred remains, which she treaded around lightly. Seeing them did give her a little hope her home would return after a time, hopefully soon.

Searching for around thirty minutes yielded her Jake's Pokedex and belt of pokeballs, both thankfully unharmed. The rest she could not say the same, his outfit shriveled and black as they valiantly defended the only two surviving items. She scooped up the ruined clothes as well and willed herself out of the pokeball.

Dumping everything in her arms on the bed, the door to the bathroom opened and a less nude Jake walked out with a look of hope in his eyes. That hope was hampered upon seeing his charred clothing but regained itself when his eyes laid on the classical red of a trainer's entire life: his Pokedex and Pokeballs.

``Oh thank god, I thought they might have been destroyed in the fire!'' He scooped up Quilava and hugged her tightly in relief, making her issue a muffled squeak. Quilava wiggled a little to breath but stayed in the hug. Jake didn't really show his affection physically like this, and she was reluctant to let him go, especially given her... issues this morning.

Oblivious to this, Jake released Quilava before he crushed the breath from her and sat down next to his stuff. A grumble from his stomach reminded him that he had yet to eat anything today, and by extension everyone else.

``I'm gonna order some breakfast everyone. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I've run a marathon, and it's not even noon.'' The others all agreed with the plan, and Jake phoned in what everyone wanted and had it brought up to them.

Later that afternoon Jake got a message on his Pokedex from Dawn.

``Hey, is Jake awake yet?'' The message read, prompting him to scroll through the messages that spanned the prior week. When he asked about it, Grovyle spoke up.

``Yea, she taught me to read your language over the week, so I could keep her up-to-date on your condition. Haven't gotten around to telling her the good news.''

``Ah, gotcha.'' He replied, texting back that he was indeed awake.

``That's great! Sorry I haven't visited today, been handling the witness reports since you weren't available. Hope you're doing good!'' She replied back a moment later, following which they chatted about this and that for a few minutes before she brought up meeting at the town's gym once she was done with something.

He agreed to the meeting before shutting his Pokedex and flicking on the TV to kill some time. In that time his hand idly glossed over the scuffed pokeball he had picked up and forgotten about almost a whole month ago. He plucked it from his belt and tried the button once more, and got much the same result. He grunted with mild annoyance as he slid it back in place, tacking another mental note in his head to find someone who can fix it, or at the very least take it a pokemon center and have it checked.

He shuddered to imagine that a pokemon was trapped in there for god knows how long. Eventually the allotted time came to meet Dawn, and both Grovyle and Tirtouga took the opportunity to return to their balls while Pichu and Quilava chose to walk with Jake to the gym, which was near the southeast end of town.

During the early part of their walk, when Jake was occupied letting Dawn know they were coming and the ensuing chat that followed, Quilava nonchalantly closed the gap between her and Pichu to whisper into her ear.

``Hey P-Pichu? I kind of have a problem...'' She started, immediately piquing the other's interest given the tone of her voice. The way she said it didn't seem like she was talking about any emotional issues. No, this sounded more... intimate.

``Go on...'' The electric-type replied, her eyes glued to Jake's back so he didn't notice their conversation.

``I.... um, I might be pregnant.'' Quilava dropped the bombshell just like that. And if it weren't for the fact that they were meant to be quiet, Pichu's surprise would have been an incredible ``What?''. Even then she still reeled back an inch in shock and almost getting Jake's attention.

``Explain.'' She said with a grave expression. Quilava was Jake's number one fighter and probably the strongest amongst them, and if she was pregnant then that left a huge hole in their fighting potential!

``.... I might have.... Um, gotten a little... overboard with Jake at the pool when everyone was, you know, getting in the ``mood''. `` What followed this statement was several harsh smacks to the head from the mouse, nowhere near hard enough to hurt but enough for the message to get across.

``Being so brash after nearly cooking yourself alive! How long do you think it will take before the egg comes?'' Pichu finally let up only to scold her a little more, putting up a calm demeanor when Jake glanced back for a second.

Quilava rubbed the back of her head, which actually did feel a little sore from Pichu's ``gentle'' hits. ``I don't know. A day? A week? Maybe even a month, I don't know.'' Quilava's voice contained both a hint of excitement and fear thinking about her very own child, with Jake no less!

This was the wrong answer to give, as Pichu delivered swift and righteously ``light'' smacks to the skull for the fire-type, this time fully getting Jake to pay attention to them.

``Everything alright back there, girls?'' he asked, making the two's backs straighten like pencils as they gave a unified ``Yes!''. Naturally he didn't buy their answer, squinting slightly at Quilava. ``You better not be hiding something important again just to spare my feelings. You should talk about that sort of stuff.'' He reassured. After all, he didn't want one of his friends to be going through something like that again.

``Naaahhhh, it's just some girl stuff you probably don't want to hear. Trust me.'' Pichu waved it off, bringing Jake's scrutiny to focus on her for a moment before he continued walking with a shake of his head. As he looked forward, a gust of wind kicked up the dust on the road, forcing him to close his eyes as it swirled in his face.

Yet when he opened his eyes, he didn't see the dusty road nor the trees and buildings that spanned either side of the road. No, there was just... grey. A grey plain was all he saw. Immediate confusion came as where just a second ago was a rainbow of colors before him. And now, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

His hands clenched into fists, turning around to hopefully at least see Pichu and Quilava. But once again he was surprised as instead his eyes were met with a wave of blue flames that nearly blinded him right away.

He stumbled back, falling on his ass onto the icy cold and rock-hard ground; an ache in his backside becoming readily apparent shortly after. As it would turn out, a wall of blue flames had been sitting behind him this whole time, yet he hadn't felt even a lick of warmth coming from it. Jake rubbed his eyes as looking at the cyan light began to make his eyes ache, trying to piece together what in the world was happening.

Suddenly the massive flame seemed to condense, then it parted like a pair of blazing curtains to show a new color to add to the mix: black. More than that, the flames continued to reveal more and more of this color as it seemed to take shape, growing rough and bony in texture.

Before long a car-sized mound of rugged bones formed a staggering chest, completed with ribs and all, before travelling upwards into an uncannily smooth neck that snaked upwards maybe eight feet high, while below were four tree trunk thick and equally bony legs that ended in disembodied and wicked sharp claws.

The flames seemed to cling to the bones like it were flash, as if it were radiating from the scorched skeleton itself. At the top, an extremely familiar skull of a dragon slowly revealed itself, its angular yet rounded appearance impossible for Jake to forget. After all, it had been the reason he got out of that cave when the cliff collapsed. The dragon's hollow eyes lit up with thin white pupils that flitted down to look at the human below.

``Greetings Jake, I hope the transition wasn't too sudden for you.'' He spoke in that same hollow voice as before, save for the echoing that had accompanied it in the dead-silent ruins from before.

``I-It was.'' Jake was hesitant to reply, arching his neck pretty far to see eye-to-eye with the behemoth of a creature. He could equate the size difference before as just the sculptor going for grandeur, but to think that the colossus of a statue was smaller than the dragon actually was scared him a little.

``I do apologize. I'm still growing acclimated to this plane of existence, more so with the process of bringing those I've marked to and from it.'' He replied nonchalantly.

The first words Jake latched to were ``plane of existence'' and ``mark'' like a leech, taking another glance around at the unending grey void.

``First of all, what do you mean by mark?'' was his first question. Of many.

The dragon took a few steps back and lowered his head level with Jake's, the flaming skull more than three times his size, and lifted up a blazing talon to his chest. The human sucked in a breath at the motion, knowing the dragon had him dead to rights if he wanted to kill him right here and now.

Instead he gently placed the blunt end against Jake's chest, making him fear being burned or cut just from the contact as the flames wavered against his clothing. A tingling warmth blossomed from where the claw pressed against Jake, a soothing heat beginning to pool itself against his breast.

The dragon pulled his claw back and watched an astral blue flame, not too dissimilar to the dragon's own (aside from a slight twinge of red that would sometimes appear), began to pull free from Jake.

``This is a small amount of magical power I gave you, a gift to aid you in your journey. In more than a couple ways.'' He flicked his claw towards Jake and sent the ball of fire back into him along with that radiating warmth.

``This is the rudimentary wary of keeping track of those who are important in the many worlds I tap into.'' He added, lifting a paw just as Jake was gonna start spouting question after question on what that sentence implied. Which was a lot.

``You will understand much more in time, but right now you are much too young to be knowing so much.''

Jake didn't push his luck with the flaming beast, because no matter how polite it spoke and acted, he was scared shitless of it. And if he couldn't outright ask about other worlds and the existence of magic, he could at least ask about his presence here.

``Alright, then can you tell me why I'm here at least?'' he asked as politely as he could, gesturing to the blankness around them. The dragon's glowing pupils thinned as he looked away and gazed off into nothingness for a moment, as if lost in thought.

``For one, to see what your presence might bring if I were to call you here. Sadly it would seem nothing as of yet. This place was once not so dim and empty. There used to be something her, a realm of limitless possibilities.'' He spoke with a serious tone suddenly, the flames wreathing him moving faster for a time before settling.

``I do not know exactly what it was that once presided this realm, yet all the same I feel the overwhelming energy lingering in this grey void. And yet now it empty. And in its place is I, a being chained in a prison barred with limitless windows I cannot bend nor break, merely look through.'' The dragon, despite being devoid of any possible facial expressions, seemed to exude an aura of sorrow into his blank surroundings. Jake took a glance at its burning form for the chains it had referred to just in case but conceded that it wasn't being literal.

``You cannot stay for too long; this realm's effects may begin to seep into you if you do.'' The dragon turned back to Jake, returning to his calm demeanor once more.

Jake nodded back, having to take the dragon's words that only piled on more questions. ``So why am I here, why ask me for help?''

``Ah, that one I can answer with ease.'' He leaned in close to Jake, the flames dangerously close to touching Jake's nose as it levelled its eyes with his. ``You have been marked because you are very talented, talents that are needed to return this realm to its former glory, and to save me from an eternity of lonesomeness. To do such a grand task you must awaken the powers dormant since your birth and save your world from its soon-arriving doom.''

 

Jake's eyes widened with the dragon's statement. ``What doom are you talking about?'' He immediately asked.

``I am glad to see you care more for your world than your own strength. A group of humans have begun gathering special pokemon for the sole purpose of capturing another known by the name of Giratina, a legendary creature banished to a chaotic realm. With it they hope to merge its realm and yours together under the foolhardy belief it will bring prosperity to humanity, when it will only bring destruction and death. They know not the danger they bring nor the world this beast resides within.''

The name didn't ring a bell to Jake, yet he branded it into his psyche beside each and every word the dragon spoke.

``What do I need to do?'' Jake asked, momentarily not questioning a word the dragon said. His face was already scrunched up in a scowl as he deduced just who it was referring to. The thought of Team Galactic, already a notorious group of vicious criminals and general scum of the earth, sickened him to the very core. This feeling only soured further into deep-seeded hate, thus the source of his ugly expression.

The dragon tapped him on the chest, the flames of his claw clinging to his shirt for a moment before pulling back to its owner. ``You must cultivate your power by pushing yourself beyond your limits.'' the dragon's voice was chilling and grim yet delivered with utter calm.

``Exceed what you are capable of while casting a wide umbrella to shield all those you hold dear, pokemon and human alike. I warn you this: You cannot save everyone, and death will greet many people in the coming times. But you must know that none shall blame you for being weak or short-sighted, for even a being such as myself has failed many times in my life.''

Jake's expression softened, the words spoken so calmly shaking him. Cultivate his power? Can't save everyone? Those words alone haunted him the moment they slithered into his mind, yet before their venom could take root a calming presence sunk them to the bottom of his thoughts like anchors.

``You have the heart to persevere, it is the mind you must hone to a shining point to protect those you cherish. For now, grow the strengths and bonds of your team, be they weak or strong, big or small, you must become what your predecessor had achieved within a years' time. Jake's brow furrowed.

``Predecessor?'' The dragon nodded in response to his question.

``A person you know quite well, having watched him every known step of his journey. Although the show was a far-cry from the trials Ash faced in his time.'' He stopped, head whipping up suddenly.

``Our time is up.'' He said as a thin black line formed behind him, which formed into a spear before plunging down through his chest and pinning its point into the ground. The dragon gave a heavy grunt as its legs quivered slightly, black teeth showing as he gritted them together.

He hardly flinched as two more began to appear in the air, only this time the flames on his back shot out and shattered them before they fully appeared.

``I apologize for taking up such precious time to blabber on before getting to our proper conversation, but I will have to call you back when the time is right. With a wave of his paw the human was turned around, the feeling confusing Jake as his muscles just seemed to move on their own. He couldn't even ask what the hell was going on before, just like it had appeared, the gray world was gone in the blink of an eye. Time seemed to stop as Jake found himself taking a step on the road towards the gym, then all of the sudden it started again, and he fell face first onto the ground.

Quilava and Pichu were too engrossed in their whispering to catch their trainer before he hit the dirt, rushing to his side a moment too late and helping him onto his feet while asking if he was alright.

``Y-yea, just tripped I guess.'' He rubbed his face to remove the tiny rocks that managed to get pressed into it, slightly embarrassed. The two helped him up like an old man, which Jake wasted no time joking about. ``How old do you think I am, 90?'' He jested, smiling briefly before picking up the pace.

His mind had too much food to chew on right now, so whatever those two were whispering about would have to wait. Keeping himself calm and collected wasn't easy given his mind was glued to the space that dragon was stuck in, each word being torn apart and deciphered as to what they meant or implied. And boy was there a lot to go through.

Firstly, what realm had he been talking about that Team Galactic wanted to merge with this one, and why? Hell, if any of that dragon's words could be trusted, then what about that pokemon would create chaos in this world? And apparently they didn't know how dangerous this is, yet still know it exists and want to bring it here. Suddenly the thought that they do know how crazy their plan has scared him more, since then whoever was leading those criminals had to be an utter maniac.

Following that was something about Jake himself, an inherent power he was supposedly born with that he somehow had to cultivate. Was he talking about his transforming ability that he could do with some of the pokemon he's bonded with, or something else entirely? This was probably the only good news that dragon had given him, telling him that he could get more powerful if he could just figure out how to strengthen those powers.

Too little to go off of, and nobody to turn to. Jake began to grow more and more frustrated the less he understood, which was a feeling he hadn't felt since middle school! It was when he felt something tug his pants leg that he stopped his tangenting thoughts and glanced back.

``Did you hear me, Jake?'' Quilava asked, looking mildly annoyed.

``Sorry, got lost in thought about the trip later. Mind repeating what you said for me?'' he apologized with a smile.

Quilava huffed. ``You were walking past the gym, mumbling incoherent nonsense.'' Jake, surprised at what she said, looked to his right and found she was telling the truth!

Entirely without realizing it he had meandered his way to the gym, a two-story tall building teeming with trees and flowery grass around it. A round metal roof made it look more like a miniature stadium, which was a short-lived comparison with the cobbled brick walls and clean blue plexiglass running across its top. One of the glass double doors opened and a waving Dawn leaned out, giving an excited ``Hheeeyy!'' to get his attention.

Jake shook the thoughts clouding his mind as soon as he saw her. He had to keep everything under wraps until he felt it was necessary to talk about... what he guessed was his ``destiny''. Not that he ever really believed in such a thing. Breaking into a light jog he greeted Dawn with a returning wave as he got closer. Unexpectedly when he got close she rushed to hug him, taking him by surprise.

``I'm so glad you?re alright!'' Was her immediate response as she squeezed Jake tightly.

``Augh! Sorry for making you worry.'' He gasped, more than a little touched that someone he barely knew was so worried for him. Dawn pulled back and looked him up and down before finally letting him go.

``What happened back when those crazy people ambushed us? You've been out for a whole week!''

``I'm not really sure.'' He shrugged, ``I felt something hit me in the head at some point, so I can't remember anything after that. Internally he scolded himself for withholding the truth from her, but with the dragon's words in mind he didn't want to give such sensitive info to what was for the most part a stranger. Keeping a smile on his face, he quickly steered the conversation to the gym before them.

``So, what's the gym like? I hadn't gotten a chance to read up on it lately.''

``See for yourself!'' She said, taking hold of one of his hands and pulling him through the entryway, Pichu and Quilava close behind them.

Although the outer appearance of the gym was somewhat lackluster, the inside blew all three of them away. Instead of a square lobby with all the dull furnishing that came with it, Jake and his team was greeted by a lush green field of grass and flowers that spanned the entire building's interior.

A soft warm breeze rushed across the fields of flowers, greeting them with a flowery aroma that tickled their noses with its sweet scent. The lush foliage sprouted from the mossy ground in massive bunches, dancing on the line of natural chaos and meticulously pristine and well-kept. This harmonious balance was cut into neat gardens by thin dirt paths lined with short plain brown picket fences.

The glass roof above let plenty of sunlight shine in, with a crystal-clear view of the sky that, coupled with the similarly colored blue walls and the drawn clouds on, made it almost hard to imagine they were even in a building! The flowers bloomed everywhere their eyes could see, the air buzzing with cheerful cries of pokemon as they went about their day inside this wonderland.

Several other people were walking along the paths, some trainers, some simply townsfolk enjoying the scenery, and a couple individuals dressed like gardeners itching to test the first's mettle.

Pichu sniffled and sneezed as she breathed in the thick scent of pollen, rubbing her nose several times to try and stop a second and third sneeze from surfacing. An idea popped into Jake's head as he admired the scenery, grabbing Grovyle's pokeball and brought him out to experience this scene with them.

The grass-type hadn't been paying attention to the outside world for the most part, too focused on training his moves, and formed from the ball's red light a little disoriented as his surroundings suddenly changed.

``Weren't we heading to the gym, why are we in a meadow?'' He asked, glancing around at the line of trees at the edge of the field. His stance straightened as he inhaled the flowery aroma around him, eyes sparkling like diamonds as his chest swelled with that wondrous scent.

``We are in the gym, Grovyle. Thought you might enjoy looking around a bit.'' He replied, smirking as Grovyle's pupils expanded like a cat's.

``T-t-thank you!'' Grovyle practically shouted as he dove over to a flower-laden patch of grass, deftly avoiding crushing a single pedal as he buried himself in the flower bed. Seeing Grovyle's usually stoic appearance melt into a borderline blissful one like that was a sight to behold for everyone.

Jake chuckled, not expecting that Grovyle would enjoy the gym that much and decided to not interrupt him for a while. Down a member of his team, Jake and Dawn walked down the dirt paths towards the massive central hill, one leading the other by the hand excitedly like a daughter would with her father. The comparison left Jake more confused than enlightened, but he ignored it.

``H-hey, what's got you so excited?'' He almost fell as she practically yanked him up the hill. But when they reached the top he couldn't help but have his breath caught in his throat.

``This is the real glory of Eterna's gym!'' Dawn answered finally, letting go of his hand since she had pulled him into the gym. At the top of the grassy knoll was a deep crater, the only location where Jake could just barely notice the dark, fertile brown soil beneath. Even for someone who knew nothing about gardening could guess that the soil was of premium quality, if the thousands upon thousands of perfect rosy pink flowers didn't give this away already.

A sea of lush petals stretched across the hill's divot, a wondrous sight that was easily outmatched by what these flowers encircled. At the flower bed's center stood a singular behemoth of a flower, its stalk thicker than the trunk of a tree with two splayed leaves the size and shape of a wide canoe each.

Eight richly colored petals dwarfed everything beneath them in its massive shadow, four colored the same rosy pink as its ant-like children beneath while the others were a darker shading bordering on a pale crimson. Just barely visible was the flower's bud, a bumpy bead of golden yellow that perfumed the hill in a heavenly aura of sweet peace that eased even Jake's mind from the frantic thoughts he couldn't contain.

This time Pichu didn't sneeze from all the pollen in the air, although instead her ears twitched a few times like she was trying it hear something with an expression of curiosity. Another person opposite their side crested the hill and waved towards them. Dawn waved back while Jake noticed the odd outfit she was wearing, which was rather unique compared to the rest of the gym staff.

The olive-skinned lady wore a mossy green cloak that reached down slightly below her mostly flat chest, with a plain black tank top beneath that. Brown shorts, rugged hiking boots, and a pair of thin leather gloves with both knuckles and midway of the fingers onward exposed all tied in her forest-themed outfit quite nicely.

He hedged his bets that she was the gym leader and walked around the flowery divot with Dawn to meet her halfway.

``Hey there, you're the gym leader I presume?'' He asked, taking her hand and shaking it firmly.

``You presume correctly, my name's Gardenia. You look new thought, so I should mention you'll have to fight a couple trainees before you can challenge me, part of the rules.'' She gave a soft smile ``Wouldn't be much challenge if you could just waltz up to the leader right away.''

``Yea, I was wondering if it would be that easy.'' He nodded in agreement. The gym leader turned to Dawn, her smile growing friendlier by the minute.

``Are you looking to try for the badge again, since you're here?''

Dawn's cheeks grew a little red when Jake's expression became one of shock, having now learned she had lost against the gym leader!

``Hey, not everyone can be a flawless trainer like you, Jake!'' She retorted with a slug to the arm that stung. Her comment passed the baton of surprise over to Gardenia, who turned her attention back to Jake with a bit of admiration in her eyes.

``Ah, so this is the trainer who's been stirring some excitement into Sinnoh. Was wondering when you'd show up!'' Her tone had also shifted to one of interest, whereas her early one was professionally kind and reserved. ``Tell you what, I'll make an exception just for you, since from what I hear you've been wiping the floor with every trainer you've come across, and my trainees probably wouldn't like getting trounced today.''

``Uhhh.... Alright, sure.'' He hesitantly accepted. Jake was confused why he was so popular just for winning a few fights. Is Sinnoh really that boring of a place?

``Is... uh, just winning really that strange?''

``No, not at all. But you've been in the news twice now, and a friend of mine over in Oreburgh also put in a good word for you.''

``Wait, what have I been in the news for?'' Jake wondered aloud, reeling at the thought of being that kind of celebrity, or one at all for that matter. Although now that he thought about it, there was at least one incident, the ambush, that would probably cause some sort of stir, but what was the second one?

``Well to start, the main event recently was a run-in with those nasty Team Plasma goons that closed Route 206 for about a week. Those guys have got more coverage since they're some vile fuckers, but having a hero, that means you, who stopped them adds some fame to yourself.''

``Then there was the time a trainer, still you, went walking into Jubilife's main Pokemon Center looking like he had wrestled a Garchomp and lived to tell the tale. Plus there was that murder at the local Pokemart that also involved those Plasma goons.'' She rattled off just some of the latest news off the top of her head, all of which concerned Jake in some fashion.

She waved her hand. ``But all that isn't really important right now, I've been itching to fight you, buuut let's not do that in the middle of my gym's flower hill. There's an arena in the back, should be good enough unless your Quilava wants to use that spin move that Roark loved so much.'' Jake raised an eyebrow at the mention of Roark. Was he the one who put in a good word for him?

Honestly hearing so much about himself was weird, especially when Dawn had been all but forgotten in the conversation and was just standing to the side awkwardly. Thankfully Gardenia also seemed to realize this and gave her an apologetic smile.

``Sorry, it's just rare to meet someone who gets praise from Roark, double that for a fresh trainer.'' She gave a short laugh to lighten the mood.

Dawn nodded back. ``A friend of mine had a tendency to take the spotlight from time to time, so I'm mostly used to it.'' Jake's interest was piqued by the mention of her friend, having never elaborated on it from last time. Although since she had been rather distant on the topic he wouldn't pry.

``About that offer, I'll have to decline the challenge for now. I'd rather just watch for today.'' Dawn answered finally, having been waiting to give her reply since the start. Finally Gardenia lead them to the back of the gym, where another dome structure, albeit quite smaller obviously, sat close to the sky blue wall, the glass looking less showy, harder, and reinforced for the exact occasion they had planned.

Inside was a simple battlefield: level dust dirt floor marked with white lines like any other, with the far side of the room dedicated to rows of bleachers that were surprisingly occupied already. On them was, strangely, several packs of Bulbasaur and their accompanying evolutions, with a few other similarly typed pokemon spread out over the metal benches. Most pokemon were resting or eyeing the new arrivals with interest, but some were playing with their neighbors in the crowded benches.

``My gym doubles as a shelter for abused grass-types, save for the Bulbasaurs, they're just the family of one of my Venusaurs.'' The gym leader quickly explained once Jake gave her a curious look.

``That's an admirable cause, will your Venusaur be joining us for this match?''

Gardenia laughed at the question. ``No, she's not much of a fighter nowadays, unless you harm one of her kids of course, then there'd be no stopping her!'' She spoke lightly, but Jake felt that she was deathly serious, and making him somewhat afraid of how powerful it might be.

``I'll have to be extra careful then.'' He said with a fake laugh. Afterwards they split to either side of the field, which turned Jake's mind to contemplate his plan of attack. Gardenia's supposedly entire grass team would be a good matchup against his two fire pokemon, but one of them supposedly had literally zero battle experience, and the other might not be willing or capable of fighting right now.

That left very little room to work with, but he just had to play the cards he had to the best of his ability. Looking at his belt he was once again reminded of the scuffed ball, but sadly right now was not the time to use that. But it did remind him that he should probably find more members to fill out his team. Thankfully Grovyle arrived just in time to alleviate some of his worries, coated in fluffy pollen and smelling of flowers.

``Hi there, sorry for keeping you waiting. I got... a little into it back there. How many?'' Grovyle asked, shaking his fluffy coat off as he looked to the gym leader opposite them.

``Three to five, depends on what rules she goes for. I'm hoping for three since two of us won't be able to fight right now.''

``You're talking Quilava and Tirtouga, right? Because the second one has been fired up to fight ever since the incident with those ``Team Plasma'' idiots.'' He grumbled the last part with annoyance. ``But yea, Tirtouga's been practicing ever since with managing his heat, and he wants to try fighting to alleviate some of that burning sensations he keeps getting.''

``Oh, well at least he's determined. Does he know how to fight though?''

``Yea, everyone sparred a couple times to kill time and, well, I've lost some leaf more than a few times, so he's at least a good shot.''

Jake pulled out his Pokedex to quickly gloss over Tirtouga's move set. ``Works for me.'' He said, looking over to the awaiting gym leader and flashing a thumbs-up. She returned the gesture and plucked two balls from her belt.

``A simple two on two will be today's match, two matches with forfeits allowed.'' She hollered towards him just as the referee rushed through the doors and took his place at the center line.

``Sorry for being late, Ma'am!'' He apologized loudly.

``You're five minutes late, Michael!'' She snapped back. Dawn meanwhile walked over to the seats and found an empty spot to sit, a Bulbasaur crawling onto her lap moments later to get some soft pets. The commotion woke most of the sleeping pokemon, who joined the rest in watching the two trainers on the field select their pokemon. The referee repeated the rules before looking to them both and signal for them to release their teams. Jake took Tirtouga's ball and released him, motioning to Grovyle to join him.

``So how does a close-range and long-range combo suit you guys? Should give Tirtouga some time to get the hang of fighting.''

``Works fine for me, up to him.'' Grovyle said nonchalantly, flexing his claws while sizing up their opponents.

Tirtouga didn't answer for a minute. ``How about I cover the ground around me in fire? Should keep the other guys away.'' He eventually suggested.

``Could work, but that might hinder your guys' dodges. Same for Pichu if she ends up subbing in.''

Tirtouga thought for another second before conceding with a nod. ``I'll keep my distance then and try to avoid hitting Grovyle.''

``I hope so.'' the grass-type quipped, stepping forward with the fire-type following behind. Across from them was two wildly different pokemon.

One looked like a blue ball with three cotton-balls protruding from atop it's head and both arms, barely standing three feet tall at best. Jake aimed his Pokedex towards it and learned its name was Jumpluff, although its description didn't give much away as to what it could really do.

Dwarfing it was a massive turtle-like pokemon with a fully-grown tree and several mossy stone jutting up the opposite side on its shell named Torterra and the next evolution of Dawn's Grotle. Before the fight could begin, the ground began to shake and tremble violently. Splinters of rock pushed upwards just outside the battlefield's lines as tree trunk thick vines shot up between them and the bleachers. Thinner branches spread out over the divide between each other and formed into a wide net, the leaves shimmering before turning somewhat translucent, like glass.

``Just another precaution!'' was Gardenia's loud explanation over the sound of twisting vines. Jake hazarded a guess that it was meant to catch stray attacks, which he admitted would be dangerous depending on what, or rather who it ended up hitting.  Instead the thing that concerned him was what pokemon could possibly create vines that thick in mere moments, since as far as he could see from the Venusaurs in the stands their vines were maybe at best the width of a rope!

A loud boom on the opposite end of the field cut his pondering short as he switched his mind to the ensuing battle. The plan to use Grovyle as a front liner with Tirtouga as firing support was basic as it could get, but he didn't know nearly as many of the fire-type's strengths and weaknesses as he did with Grovyle, so simple was probably best. Immediately that plan was proving to be a tough one to rely on as both of the enemy pokemon rushed forward straight away.

``Tirtouga, move left and hit them with wa- fire gun!'' He began issuing commands. And what surprised him was that Tirtouga moved faster than Jake thought was possible, bounding thirty feet to his left the moment his words left his mouth. But now wasn't the time to think about his reaction time.

``Grovyle, razor leaf followed by leaf blade!''

A stream of fire and spinning leaves poured towards the charging pokemon, the Jumpluff hiding behind the Torterra who hardly broke its stride and took the hits head on, the spikes on either side of its face beginning to glow. The ensuing rumbles were both heard and felt as the battle heated up, with most battles going on in the gym taking a short break to glance at the arena in the back. Flashes of fiery light lit up the glass dome over and over, and beyond the outer dome a group of people were paying close attention to the fight.

``How is that little shit still alive?'' Jerome swore through his mask. He, along with Emily and several Team Galactic members, were dressed in faint grey and green camo uniforms, specially made for this mission to minimize witnesses while they bided their time for a moment such as this.

``Why do you care? We have a job to do right now and that kid has the leader busy. It's perfect!'' Emily shot back, lifting her goggles to get a better view of her partner.

``I don't like how he's suddenly alive and a rogue variable. He's been too much of a headache to ignore.'' He whipped around, letting his fist unclench with reluctance. ``Nevermind that, are the lines secured?''

One of the masked goons tugged one of the ropes hooked against an air duct and nodded silently. Jerome turned back and unzipped the backpack laying at his feet, pulling out a black rectangle fitted with several buttons, one of which he pressed and lit up the display on the front, then gently pressed it onto the side of the glass dome. He did this several more times across a few feet of glass before stepping to where the rest of the team was.

``Alright everyone. One last run down before radio silence. We're here for the bulb, nothing more and nothing less. Toss lines, test them, then jump to the flower field below. The stalk is around three feet thick, so my Durant will do the chopping while everyone else defends from any would-be heroes.''

``That nectar command wants is one of a kind, so spill a drop and you can kiss your ass goodbye.'' He added, pulling a detonator from his pocket. A few of them shivered at the unspoken fate that he was alluding to, which helped to at least scare them into not fucking this op up. After their failed ambush, Emily and Jerome were in hot water with command, so much so that they got pulled from their original mission for Jake's Pichu.

Everyone slipped on their cloth masks to further obscure their identities, save for the obvious Team Galactic logo plastered on all their chests. Everyone took cover as Jerome lifted the detonator...

Down within the gym, Jake and Gardenia had just finished their first round of the match, which had been a surprisingly narrow loss for Jake. In the end both Jake's and Tirtouga's inexperience with each other left Grovyle with too much heavy lifting to do that eventually knocked him out of the fight.

It wasn't to say either pokemon, together or separate, performed poorly, quite the opposite. It was instead Jake's clumsiness with Tirtouga's move set, which he had neglected to give much thought, that ended up costing them. Jake sighed in defeat as he pulled out two full restores, the very same ones he had gotten so long ago and never needed until today and sprayed down both of their wounds.

They were both out of any future fights as well, which left him in a dilemma of whether he should just forfeit or ask Quilava if she was up to fight. Pichu walked over to the downtrodden Tirtouga and gave him a reassuring pat on the shell.

``You did your best buddy, that's all we could ask for.'' She reassured, getting a meek nod from him in return.

``I know, I just didn't want to be Jake's first actual loss.'' He moped. Pichu was about to begin comforting him again when her ears twitched wildly, her head bolting upright and looking towards the door that led out.

Right after a ear-splitting explosion rocked the building, knocking everyone off their feet with the resulting shockwave. Loud plinking of debris hitting the roof above followed immediately after an even louder cacophony of glass shattering and crashing together outside. One passive piece of smoldering concrete hurled itself through the roof above, heading straight towards the benches like a hellish meteor. Dawn and the surrounding pokemon scrambled to get up and out of the way, but the speed of the rubble left no time at all!

Yet before it could crush those who stood in its path, blurs of green whipped after the car-sized cement missile and wrapped around it. Jake could hardly follow them with his eyes, but the vines that had fully withstood the fires of their battle had come to life in a flash, writhing for the briefest of moments before giving chase. And as soon as it had arrived, the rubble was ground to a halt mid-air, a few fist-sized chunks flecking off only to get caught as well. Echoing crunches followed as the vines twisted and tightened against it, cracks spider webbing through it until only small pebbles were left crushed and piled up on the ground.

Gardenia didn't pay the former projectile any mind and rushed to the door and looked to see clouds of thick black smoke filling the gym. Patches of fire were beginning to spread themselves through the gardens of flowers, which only fed the poor visibility further. Jake and his team were right behind her too look out at the destruction beyond the door.

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linger on the widespread destruction that expanded across the ground nor what remained of the dome. Through the thickening smoke he could see black lines running down the ruined edge, and most importantly the figures that were sliding down them.

There was only one group that would do something like this. And that was Team Galactic.

To Be Continued...

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