Reborn fic pt 2

	"Finneon, Goldeen... is this all you have?"

	The fisherman sighed. "Yes, and you beat me in a battle to get to my pool. Well? Aren't you going to catch anything?"

	"These Pokemon are meant for food, not battle." A Goldeen swimming near the surface shot me a dirty look before swimming back deeper down. “No Magikarp? There’s a Pokemon I’d like.” It would take work, but who wouldn’t want a mighty Gyarados by their side?

	“’Fraid not. Now if you’re not going to be here long, please leave so I can let my Pokemon, who you injured, rest.” There was no arguing with the man’s quietly fuming face, and maybe all the fish Pokemon there I’d offended. The door slammed loudly behind me as I was almost shoved out back into the Peridot Ward’s dirty streets.

	“Well, that went well. What next, Presley?”

	Presley shrugged and sniffed before looking around for places we hadn’t been yet. The Snivy ultimately shrugged again before hopping back into his Poke ball. No answers there, either.

	My romantic affair with the big city had sort of calmed from the fiery passions of first love. A massive city like Reborn unimaginable in Sinnoh was rife with her own character. She had her charms even in the depths of her ugliness. There was something about cracked streets in disrepair, garbage littering the sidewalks while uncaring city folk  walked on preoccupied with their own problems in daily life. Over the few days I was here the sun rarely got too bright, blocked off by either the smog or tall buildings. Just like my late night television specials. Now all I needed was a trenchcoat and a fedora... and the ability to pull them off without looking like a fashion disaster.

	Of course, all this charm was shrouded in flaws. Shortly after the beginning of my adventure a conman had tried to sell me a Magikarp. I was willing to pay, but the guy ran off with my money. I managed to track him down and had Presley give his Pokemon a sound beating, but he said he'd lost it to someone else and I was still stuck without my Magikarp. Nevertheless I'd managed to pull together a working support crew for Presley, but only time would tell if these Pokemon would stay on my team for long. Despite Reborn’s lack of Pokemon, there was some interesting biodiversity. Pokemon more commonly native to Sinnoh and nearby regions like Rattata and Bidoof were found right next to Patrat, previously only thought to live in far-off Unova. Maybe it was just because all the trainers already caught everything good. I would just have to make the best of what I could get.

	Wandering further west to the shores of the filthy lake, I decided to explore a little closer around the factories. Maybe a decent steel type would be hiding somewhere. Unfortunately there was nothing but the stench of the water as I slipped around barrels and rubble. That, and a boy in green.

	“Maybe they meant the other old factory….”

	He looked like one of those ‘cool’ clique leaders in school. His manner of dress was a little juvenile to match. Opaque glasses, popped collar with an out-of-place magatama worn around his neck. It might have gone fine with a good pair of trousers, but he wore cargo pants over long socks that made him look more like a little schoolboy than anything. Still, with the green of his outfit matching his hair, it almost worked. Maybe it was that air of pride he carried himself with.

	“Hmm? Nothing, excuse me. Just looking around for Pokemon.” Gah, I should really have learned to hide my watching people a long time ago. The green boy wasn’t satisfied, and marched right up to me. He wore his glasses a little low enough so some of his eyes could glare at me over the top of their rim.

	“Got a problem? I hope not. You don’t quite know who you’re messing with.”

	“I’m afraid not. May I be enlightened?”

“Name’s Fern. I’m the cool cat, and the top dog, got it?”

He introduced himself in the manner of a senior student trying his best to impress his juniors before they heard less savoury aspects of him from everyone else who knew him. At least, that’s how it seemed to me. Maybe he was just being friendly

	“A charming house pet either way. I’m Alfred. Good to meet you, Fern.”

	I smiled and extended a hand. He was free to make another joke at my expense. This one seemed the kind to enjoy this sort of banter. Instead, he scoffed at my hand and turned away, walking forward till he was a good distance away from me.

	“No, no, I don’t think you do. You know what, get ready for a lesson in class! Lotad!”

	He turned, having drawn a Poke Ball into his hand before doing so. The air around him changed. Despite the slightly comic aspects of his appearance, it was clear he was serious here. Despite all that he kept a snide smile on his face, like when the kids in school tried to jockey what they called their... swag. Whatever that meant.

	He tossed it a little like that purple mess back at the Grand Hall did, except… it seemed like he was trying harder? Quite the character, this one. The Poke ball released a Lotad, gurgling as it watched me carefully.

	“Well,  why not. Pachirisu!”

	I drew my own Poke balls and released one of my new captures. This one was found wreaking havoc in a building, an outlet for its energy would do both of us good.

	“Show that rat its place! Water Sport!“

	“How frightening. Quick Attack!”

	Pachirisu moved first. In a bolt of speed, it rushed into the Lotad, staggering it as it tackled into its side. The Lotad did not return the favour, but instead sprayed water around the parking lot we were in. Fire type attacks would suffer… I was unfortunate enough not to have found any fire-type Pokemon, so I wasn’t affected.

	“Now, Absorb! Heal yourself!”

	“Let it. Bide your time.”

	As the Lotad began drawing green globules of… fluid from Pachirisu, it had already braced itself. Pachrisu was huddled against itself, holding steady on the floor.

	“Gaahh… Just Absorb again!”

	The Lotad repeated the attack steadily, despite or in spite of the anxiety in its trainers voice. This was a hard move to deal with for younger Pokemon.;

	“Whenever you’re ready!”

	Pachirisu, finally having had enough, sprung for the Lotad. The duck-weedlike pokemon’s eyes widened in fear as the squirrel pounced onto it, fury sustained from enduring its attacks fueling it as it slammed into the Lotad repeatedly.

	“Tchi...”

	It seemed to have had enough. It put up no more resistance as Pachirisu stood over it, breathing heavily over the wilted lily pad on its back.

	“Tch. Budew!”

	He drew back his Lotad, replacing it with another Grass type. A Pokemon like a germinating seed wearing a sleepy, smiling face.

	“Lame-ass rodent. Mega Drain!”

	“Try to get a hit in! Quick Attack!”

`	Despite Pachirisu being weakened, it manage to get a quick tackle in before the rest of its stamina got drained away. The Budew, at least, looked slightly hurt, even after refreshing itself with energy stolen from Pachirisu. The squirrel’s legs quivered before it fell on the ground, panting heavily.

	“Good work. Espurr!”

	Pachirisu was quickly swapped out for an Espurr. Wide eyed, it blankly stared at both the opposing Budew and Fern.

	“Stun Spore, Budew!”

	“Go on! Confusion!”

	Massive impact could be felt on both sides. On one hand, the psychic attack Espurr released did major damage to the Budew, sending it shuddering. That didn’t stop it from releasing a yellow cloud of dust for Espurr to breathe in, severely crippling it with paralysis. I was sweating more than I thought.

	“Do as much as you need to! Confusion!

	“Hah! Mega Drain!”

	This time the Budew was able to land its blow first. While Espurr was struggling to even see its target, the Budew was drawing more energy from it, healing itself in the process. Espurr did manage to land another strong psychic attack at it, refracting the air as the shockwave closed around and shook the Budew.

	“Mega drain again!”

	That was all it could do. The Budew drained out the rest of Espurr’s vitality and send it sprawling onto the floor. That last one couldn’t heal it much, as the Budew still looked very shaken from taking two super effective attacks.

	“You did well. Presley! The stage is set!”

	The Snivy came down onto the field in Espurr’s place. Stance upright and ready, looking his opponent in the eye unflinchingly. I knew I picked the right comrade.

	“Little more. Tackle it!”

	Fern didn’t even have time to think. A simple slap of the tail, and the Budew was unable to stand back up as it floundered panicked on the floor.

	“I’m just getting warmed up… Snivy!”

	He had a Snivy, too?

	Sure enough, another Pokemon like Presley came springing out of the Poke Ball in his hand. A thin green serpentine body with a tail that ended in a leaf. This one held an air much like its trainer, it was probably the Pokemon that had spent the most time with Fern. It was the little things that really showed. The way both of them gazed at Presley and I with their heads tilted up, as if looking down on us. The way they held their idle arms, their breathing, posture... I briefly wondered if Presley and I would start to reflect each other in the same way, too.

	"Tackle it down! Show it its place!"

	"Let it! Wrap it down!"

	The two Snivys broke out of their pretenses at refinement. They both began charging at each other, surprising ferocity under their guises. Fern's Snivy slammed into Presley, giving him the opportunity to wrap himself around it, keeping it restrained.

	"Got him. Tackle it!"

	"Stupid wrap... Leer!"

	I couldn't help but smile when Fern gave that command . Held fast in Presley's grip, the opposing Snivy glared right into his face. Presley simply glared right back before throwing the Snivy into the ground, not letting go.

	"That Snivy's not quite on your level, is it? Leer!"

	"Guh... Tackle it!"

	 It wasn't just the boost that Snivy got that gave me an advantage, it was knowing that Fern didn't know about Contrary, which probably meant that his Snivy didn't have that ability. I was free to have Presley leer it down, and looking at the way it hesitated before headbutting Prelsey while held firm in its grip, it worked.

	Instead, something else happened with Fern's Snivy. it was beginning to tire, panting, but suddenly it grew quiet. The leaf on its tail straightened and its face suddenly relaxed, wearing an expression of focus.

	"Now! Vine Whip it!"

	The Snivy extended a vine from its arm and slammed them into Presley. Despite the type disadvantage, Presley yelped and fell back. He couldn't hold that Snivy for much longer anyway, but that still did quite a bit of damage for an ineffective move.

	That's right. Overgrow. I'd almost forgotten that since Presley didn't have an ability like this himself, but it was what his group of Pokemon were most known for.

	"You're fine, we'll have to end this quick! Tackle it down!"

	"This is my chance! Growth!"

	Even with Presley's strong tackle and the Snivy disoriented from the leer, there was no stopping it. It relaxed and seemed to draw a wellspring of power from itself, extending its body a little bit. Presley darted about and tried to charge at it again, but was intercepted by another vine whip. This one hit him right in the face, bypassing any of his efforts to block or turn away his vulnerable zones. He winced back, barely standing.

	" Come on, Presley! Don't let it fool you! You know it's weaker than it looks. Tackle it!"

	"You really letting this kid beat you, Snivy? Just one more! Vine whip!"

	Presley was barely able to stand, but knew he had it in himself for one more. It wasn't something I really observed like battling with school Pokemon in class, where I had to pay attention to the different tells of each Pokemon to know how they were doing. Here it was something that was simply... felt.

	Presley leapt at his foe, determined to take it down in this last move. A vine came swinging towards him. If he was hit, there wouldn't be a second chance. Presley looked so sure of himself... he was right to be. He dived under the vine, gliding on the ground to charge at Fern's Snivy. It knew what would happen, and could only cringe as Presley slammed it into the ground.

	Faintly, it tried to scramble up, but faltered. Presley managed to get up to his feet, looking over his fallen foe in victory.

	“Hah! Way to get lucky…”

	Scowling, he recalled his limp Snivy. I picked up Presley into my arms to raise his hand as the winner before I too recalled him.

	"Hah, I guess. That was a good battle. You're not bad–"

	“Whatever man, don’t have time for this." Fern swung away, although his movements were less animated than before.  "Unlike you, I have places to be, and people waiting for me. So what if you’re doing the gym leader challenge?"

	Was he even listening? His voice seemed to crack a bit.

	 "And you don’t even have a badge yet? Talk about lame. Maybe you should work on that . I, on the other hand, am required elsewhere.” He adjusted his glasses, having slid down his face a little in his tantrum, and stormed off past the factory gates.

	What a character. A pity battling skill didn't correlate with decorum. Still, he was fascinating. Maybe he had it in him to be someone great. Speaking of which, maybe it was time I head to the gym proper. Somewhere in the Peridot Ward, right That hazardous girl from a few days ago said she was the gym leader. Certainly not what I expected from this league.

	Once I had Presley and the rest healed up, it was finally time to head for the gym. I'd already passed it a few times but hadn't felt ready to really enter. The first gym challenge had to go well, you know? It's an important hallmark in the early stages of a League challenge journey. The feeling of having a first badge in my hand was almost here.

	We approached the yellow building that doubled as power plant. Neo Circuit Power Plant A, a Silph Co service, it stated on the sign outside. Nothing unusual, gym leaders often held positions aside their league ones. If memory served, Byron of Canalave was a miner of some kind... it was hard to imagine that explosive Julia managing a facility vital to the livelihood of a city.

	What was unusual, though, were the gaudy pink ribbon decorations along the building. They even had large stars hanging from the middle of each. A party of some sort going on to commemorate a few years of good service? There was a message scribbled under the building sign, too.

	'Neo -Circuit is such a LAME name! I officially retitle this place the Electro-Dazzle Happy Boom-Time House of Cheer!'

	Hahaha, vandals and their graffiti. Yes. I didn't really want to think it was the work of anyone else.

	"What do you think? Much better name than that boring old one, right?"

	When I looked beside me, she was already there. Julia, the gym leader, a girl in a cheerleader outfit and long green hair. The glass doors behind her were just swinging shut.

	"It... it depends on how one sees it, I suppose. Anyway, I'm here to–"

	"Challenge my gym?" I'd love to, but there's trouble! I got a report from Ame that they caught the perp' behind the train station bombing! He's not alone, there's a whole team!"

	She took a break to breathe deep.

	"He said the next place they're going to blow up was the power plant– MY gym!"

	"That's not good. Are you worried?" The threat of a bombing must be harsh on her. It was only decency to try and give her a shoulder to lean on if needed. Even if I'd have to wash off that shoulder later.

	"Nobody booms things without me, least of all MY things! So I'm going to hop over to their hideout at the factory to teach them a lesson! I've got a friend coming to help, too, so I gotta run!"

	...Not as worried as I would be, at any rate. Either that or she kept a brave front, even making sure to end her sentence in that sing song tone as she left.

	Wonderful. Plans for the rest of today gone. Still... maybe it was the resentment of boredom, or the tempting spark of adventure, but I found myself walking in the direction Julia went. Some sort of factory, right? Come to think of it, that Fern guy mentioned something about another factory too.

	I heard a loud explosion just as I turned around the corner. There was Julia, happily dusting off her hands as she looked on to the factory's entrance shutters blown off.  She waved me in, but not before two other people came up from behind.

	"Where did you guys come from?"

	"Explosion detected. Julia's prescence confirmed."

	One of those behind was Fern, looking none the worse despite having stormed off from a defeat just a bit ago. The other was a woman who looked a few years his senior. Like Fern, she had green hair and wore spectacles, but her demeanor was entirely different. Where Fern did his utmost best to make himself look like he owned the air around him, this woman  was simply a blank. Her face could be torn away and there would be no difference. Of course, a person's face only told so much, but even the rest of her body looked like it was like that of a doll's put up for display. There was nothing. Even her voice sounded like some sort of automatic text reader.

	"Well whaddya know! Make things go boom, acquire friends! Alfred, this is Florinia, she was my roommate and bee eff eff back in school! And that's Fern, hi Fern!

	"Hah! I get no respect. It's fine, Alfred and I have already met. Yo Alfred, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but it's cool, right? Anyway, don't mind my sister, she's kinda weird, people call her Flobot–"

	"Time wastes. Let us proceed." This Florina somehow even made her mouth look like a machine's movements. Were I not paying attention, I'd have thought she was someone's alarm.

	"I'm not bothered, we're all weird in a way. Shake on that to make up for earlier?" Once more I extended my hand to him. With Julia's expectant look waiting to detonate and Florina's cold stare both on him, Fern decided it was easier to just accept the handshake. His hand was firm, but not in a manner that was truly confident, nor was it exactly warm. It was the handshake of someone trying to compensate for something. It was more obvious with his face, his eyes were a little too intense for making an acquaintance.

	"I for one call her Rini, she's no robot! Now focusies, we have bad guys to boom!"

 	Julia had some good timing. That handshake was lasting too long, like some odd game of chicken that didn't really reward anyone with anything.

	"Supposedly this is their base! Guy who bombed the train is with this group called 'Team Meteor'... weird name, huh? But if we don't get in there and boom their faces off, they're gonna keep booming everything else! "

	Fern groaned. At least he seemed to be admiring her vocabulary as much as I did.

	"Sooo... chaarge!"

	Julia rushed into the blasted doorway, while I, Fern and Florina followed with markedly less enthusiasm. The atrium we entered was a large platform over a massive septic tank, the sludge smelling even more vile here indoors.

	"The wine hue reads indicative of high levels of pollutants. Estimated toxicity: 90+%." Florina somehow mastered the art of standing perfectly still when she wasn't required to walk. 'Flobot' was an understatement.

	"And this is being dumped right into Azurine Lake... no wonder it's so poisonous!" It was interesting to see Julia's high spirits damped just a little for once.

	"Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah, enough with the hippie environmental bull, let's just get going." Fern groaned again so that I didn't have to. A beautiful friendship could develop. Maybe.

	"Fern's right, that explosion would obviously have drawn attention. If we're going to do anything about this, we need to move now." Everyone nodded, even Flobot. I felt quite proud, I did.

	"Alright, we have to stop this factory! Team Meteor clearly doesn't care about the well-being of the city!"

	Florina took a... I wasn't sureif it was a deep breath. Either way, she breathed heavier than usual. "The path diverges. The most efficient course of motion for facilitation of thorough investigation reclamation of this property remains a similar bisection of the party."

	"The most efficient means of speaking is brevity." Fern shot a look at me, though that remark was directed at Florina.

	"So, in English...?"

	"She said we should split up, duh! Rini comes with me, we'll take this wing.." Julia gestured to the corridor at her end. Alfred, go with Fern. Try not to let his attitude get to you!"

	"Oh, I believe I'll manage."

	"Excuse me..?" Admittedly, it was a little satisfying to poke fun at Fern.

	Julia was quick to laugh it off. "I didn't say anything! Come on, Rini, let's go!" Julia disappeared down the corridor, while Florina lagged behind.

	"...Proceed with caution."

	"I always do, sis."

	"You were not the intended recipient of my previous statement. Permission for you to be life-endangering reckless: Granted."

	Hah. Florina followed Julia, leaving me alone with Fern. Seeing his face, though, was enough to quickly break the mood her little thing resembling a joke set.

	"Well, as you can see she didn't get enough hugs growing up. Not my problem." Fern turned away, sulking.

	"You could always make up for them. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." These sort of people got easily hurt, really. I decided to hold back pouring salt on the wound.

	"Hmmph. Anyway, Alfred, it's just you and me. Just try not to slow me down." He stormed down our corridor, leaving me to stroll after him.

	"So... you like grass Pokemon?"

	The corridor led to a room of heavy machinery and strange devices, things you wouldn't find in an ordinary factory.

	"Yeah. My sister's a grass trainer, so I picked it up from her. What about it?"

	"Nah, it's interesting to have a favourite type. You like Snivy? We both have one."

	"Yeah, I do. Was my first Pokemon, too."

	Getting Fern a little interested, at least. "Same. I can tell you two are quite close, actually. It's the way both of you carry yourselves–"

	"Hah! So we do some rats to exterminate!"

	My pleasant conversation with Fern was quickly interrupted by a pair of thugs waiting around a corner. Both wore identical black military-style uniforms, complete with hoods for head protection.  They already had Poke balls ready in their hands, and released a Poochyena and Rattata.

	"Meteor Grunts! Budew, go!"

	"Pachirisu, ready yourself!"

	Fern and I sent out our own Pokemon in response. The grunts barely had time to issue commands while our Pokemon laid into them.

	"The Rattata first! Quick attack!"

	"Budew, Absorb!"'

	Our Pokemon knew enough about working together. Pachirisu dived into the Ratata , stunning it enough for the Budew to finish it off fast. That left only the Poochyena, already vulnerable without an ally.

	"Again!"

	Surgically precise, Fern's Budew coordinated its attack with Pachirisu's to take it down as fast as possible. The grunts were left stunned, and didn't seem to have more Pokemon ready.

	"We should hurry through. Come!" I gestured Fern forward, backing the guards into the corner with Pachirisu's grin. Luckily enough, they didn't have the means to alert the others.

	"Yeah, yeah..."