Maxin Shepherd's Story

"Where are they at now?"

"The front of the Relic Passage. They're resting."

"Hmm...the boy is fine?"

"The boy will be fine. He sleeping. Recovering."

"That's a shame. I was hoping the Growlithe would give them more hell than that."

"We didn't call in those Growlithe though."

"No, someone else did...a possible ally for the future, you think?"

"Maybe...our enemy's enemy is our friend, right?"

"And this boy has a lot of enemies, it seems. More than our glorious leader."

"So it seems...they could also just be wild, too."

"No, their attack was too coordinated...too meditated for it to be wild. Someone had to call that one in...but who?"

"Wait...someone's coming up the path."

---

"Ugh, I can't believe you right now!"

"What?"

"You know we could've stepped in and helped. Instead, we let Radegast deal with it on his own and he get's injured!"

"You're not seeing the whole picture."

"Alright then, enlighten me. What am I missing?"

"We were told to keep a close eye over him, not aid him. While yes, we're protecting him simultaneously, we're not supposed to complete his quest for him. He and the Pokemon he travels with have to have the drive to do that on their own, without interruption."

"Come on! You know that Growlithe attack was pretty planned out to strike at Radegast, right?"

"I do, but those aren't the guys we have to defend him from."

"You sure? Cause there's more than just-"

"Hold on...someone's approaching him."

---

Maxin had quite the chip on his shoulder, that was for sure. Not only did he have two badges already, he was blazing through the gym leaders as if they were Paper-mâché . Cheren had been his teacher, so he knew what to expect from him and how to beat him. And Roxie was just too easy to take down with his Roggenrola alone, although the Drillbur proved to be excellent as well.

"Keep up Snips!" he called back to his starter, who was groaning in protest at climbing the mountain.

"Why couldn't we have taken the ferry?" the Snivy called back as she began to pick up the pace to catch up.

Maxin could hear the disdain in her voice, so he turned around, "Oh, come on now? You're not seriously against this idea, are you?"

"You have enough money to take the ferry!"

'This will be cool! Adventurous! The Relic Passage's probably gonna have some neat hieroglyphics in there," he decided to let the Snivy crawl onto his back, to which Snips heartily accepted. A Dragonite flew on the horizon.

"Sounds like a neat place for Smashball and our new Drillbur friend," Snivy began to look around him, examining the scenery.

They went back to the subject they were talking about, "So...how about Duncan?"

Snips shook his head, "A girl's name, genius."

"Alright, guess that's a no...how about Davia?"

The Snivy looked up in thought, "Well, that ain't the worst name, but I'd put it on a Fairy-Type."

"Edward Scissorhands?"

The Snivy bopped Maxin on the head, "Now you're just being funny!"

Maxin laughed in response, "Hey, it's a fitting name for a Drillbur."

"A female Drillbur?" Snivy couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice, "Also, it's not-"

"Hey, what's that?"

Snips peered over Maxin's shoulder to discover the carefully placed string shot strung out in front of their feet. Had Maxin taken another pace forward, he would've tripped over it, likely getting a nasty shock form the ordeal and alerting whatever creatures lay beyond. Snips sighed in relief.

"At least you've got an eye on you," he leaped off the boy's back and started heading back down the path from which they came, "Come on, then. To the ferry."

But Maxin didn't follow. Instead, he took a moment to think and then casually stepped over the string shot. Snips was baffled when he turned around.

"Hey! You can't be serious! There's obviously someone over there that doesn't want to be disturbed!" Snips snapped at the boy who was motioning for the Snivy to follow.

"The Relic Passage is public, Snips," Maxin protested, "That means no string shot should be guarding the entrance. I'm going to check it out. You're welcome to stay here if you wish." And with that, he proceeded up the path. Snips took a moment before finally stepping over the Electrowebbing himself.

"God dammit, Maxin, your curiosity is gonna kill you one day," Snips muttered to himself as he caught up.

When they got to the entrance, Maxin was not expecting the sight he saw. A teenager, obviously much older than him, passed out against the entrance way with six Pokemon surrounding him...no, protecting him. Both the boy and the Snivy froze on the spot as everyone turned to face the two.

"Oh shit!" Maxin couldn't help but cry out as he slowly approached the scene, "Sir, are you okay?"

“Someone approaches!” Crystal called. She had taken first watch, and already something approached. Was it the Growlithe pack?

The Fletchinder, who roosted in Radegast’s lap, flared her feathers menacingly and cawed savagely.

“Hey, hey, it’s a’ight,” Radegast slurred as he was stirred by the sudden commotion. “Just a trainer, dudes,” Elder eyed the young boy and the Snivy with his signature critical gaze. Two pokeballs. Another up-and-coming trainer? Possibly just beat Roxie as well. “Hey, sorry about the electrowebbing,” Radegast said while his eyes remained shut. He sat, initially sleeping at the corner of the entrance. “Operative’s thing. Sup?”

Maxin was taken aback by the teenager's calm nature despite the state he was in. Was he delusional? "Er...well, the webbing is no biggie. I just kind of stepped over it, so neither me nor Snips here was hurt by it. A clever defense strategy, though. Very clever."

The boy was glancing the teenager over from head to toe. He wore a dusty cap that hid his dreadlocks for the most part, but not entirely. His hoodie was somewhat wrinkled, but fairly sturdy. The same could be said about his jeans. His shoes were in one piece, but they looked like they traveled for thousands upon thousands of miles. Even laying against the wall, he had his hands in his pockets. The tone of voice he used was a hint to Maxin as to what was wrong with him, but it was the slight moment in which he opened his eyes barely and revealed that dizzying stare that told the ten year old what he was plagued with.

"You have a concussion," he noted, "I think I have some painkillers that'll dull some of the effects." He reached into his pack and pulled out the bottle of pills he got from the Pokemon Center before walking over to the teen and placing them in his lap. "Though rest is probably what you need most, huh?" He held out a canteen for Radegast to wash the pills down with.

As Maxin talked with Radegast, Snips meandered his way over to Elder, "Don't mind Numnuts over there. He means well. He's just a little too curious for his own good."

“Nah, I’m good,” Radegast replied as he rose a hand, “Painkillers don’t agree with me. Water sounds great though.” He accepted the canteen and took a gulp. The worst concussion he had, he fully recovered from within three days. This one was nowhere near the worst. Radegast knew he’d be fine. “Name’s Radegast,” he said as he returned the canteen.

Elder and the Snivy got to talking. “Curiosity’s a wonderful trait,” Elder replied, “But they say curiosity kills the Litten… Oh, not in this case, mind you.” The Haunter smirked. “You two doing the gym challenge? Looks like your buddy would be cool with joining the fray himself,” He eyed the shortsword. “The belt holding that sword seems frail. Looks like wear and tear from extensive running. He’ll want to replace it before he gets into a nasty brawl.”

Oddly enough, Rage was still fast asleep. He murmured at maximum volume, which everyone else was just as oddly used to. Everyone already knew it was a good idea to let a sleeping Rage lie. Radegast noticed this and chuckled. “Anyway, what brings you here?” Radegast asked, “Gym challenge? You also taking the Relic Passage?”

"Maxin," he greeted as he placed the canteen around his neck once more and turned to analyze him a bit better, "So what happened to you?" He was already noticing the color returning to his face, although he did see a scratch on the side of his head. It wasn't bleeding, though, and it didn't even look like it broke the skin. A tough scrapper behind a calm exterior.

"Yeah, we're doing the Gym challenge," Maxin sat down next to Radegast, "We're faring pretty well so far. Just about trounced Roxie. The only real annoying part was that we had to wait two hours for her to even look at us. And then we had to beat her band mates, which were just as easy. What about you though? What happened to you that ended up with you concussed?"

Snivy was examining the sword hilt wrapped around the sword belt, rolling his eyes, "I know, right? I keep trying to point that out to him, but he keeps insisting he uses it until it breaks. I mean, I understand being conservative with Poke and all, but that thing's gonna snap when he needs to use it in a jiffy, which is what the whole point of it is." He tsked at Maxin before looking back towards Elder and exhaling deeply, "But anyway, yeah we're doing the Gym Challenge. What about you guys? You doing it too?"

“Eh, it’s no big deal,” Radegast replied, “Accidentally wandered into territory marked by a pack of wild Growlithe. I’ve had worse.” He rubbed his temples, and his eyes opened. They were a lot less groggy than before. “Roxie was a bit of a challenge, but that’s because she brought out fighters who were around the level of my friends.

Elder, in turn, replied to the Snivey. “Yes, we are also doing the gym challenge. We felt we put it off for too long, plus we need the prize money.”

“Hey Suros?” Radegast winced as he turned his head down to face the bird. The Fletchinder relaxed her feathers upon hearing the voice of the Lord-Regent. “Uhm… I forget what I was gonna ask…”

“Sir, I feel it is getting cold!” the Operative chirped in the growing dark of night, “Elder and I will gather some firewood! Suros, you good for lighting it?”

The Fletchinder pecked at Radegast’s leg once and nodded. “Ah, right. a fire,” Radegast nodded slowly, remembering exactly what he was going to ask. “That’ll help.”

Soon enough, the Haunter and Joltik had made a quick bundle of small branches and twigs. They would be suitable for a fire to last one night. As Elder constructed the fire, the Operative hopped back onto Radegast’s hat for lookout. “Crystal, I’ll take next watch,” Operative called. The Seel nodded and moved next to Rage, who still slumbered. She too fell asleep.

“Just need some rest,” Radegast mumbled as he drifted off once more. “I just fell, is all…”

—

“Where do you get off telling people not to catch Pokemon?”

“It’s natural to catch Pokemon.”

“Stupid rich kid.”

Radegast whimpered as he lay behind the dumpster of the school. He felt his face, the swelling already obvious to the touch. He wondered if the bruise would be just as obvious.

“What happened to you?” The school nurse dropped her book at the sight of the eight-year-old boy stumbling into her office.

“I fell,” Radegast lied. Tears welled-up to complete his pathetic form.

“For the third time this week?” The nurse shook her head, “If you’re not going to tell any of the teachers, they won’t stop.”

Radegast didn’t reply. The school nurse stepped to the nearby freezer and produced a cold beanbag. She handed the bag to the eight-year-old boy. “Come on, Radegast, who did this to you?”

“No one,” Radegast insisted. His eyes welled up as the sensitive swelling spiked in pain on contact with the cold pack.

The nurse sighed, “I guess if I could heal from these kinds of things within a day, I’d be picking fights more often too.”

“I don’t pick them,” Radegast snapped, “They don’t understand.”

“Who don’t?”

Radegast almost fell for it. He clenched his jaw, “No one,” he stubbornly grunted.

“Radegast, if this is about your opinions about Pokemon, it’s silly,” the nurse replied, “If it’s resulting in… well, this… maybe you should keep them inside.”

“I’m not changing,” Radegast’s brow furrowed, "You can't tell me what to do."

“I'm not telling you what to do. In fact, I’m not saying you should change,” she said, “I’m saying you shouldn’t give them a reason to fight you.”

Radegast took that advice to heart. He said nothing more until the warning bell rang. The nurse informed the teacher about what happened to Radegast, and the class began without any reference to the black eye. The teacher didn’t do so much as look at Radegast. I don't give them a reason to fight me. They just don't understand. I'll make them understand, he vowed to himself. At the very least, I will stop them from beating me.

Four days later, his arms and legs burned. So many lifts, so many squats. He lay in bed, tired from the secret workouts he did at the family gym. Margriet, his ten-year-old sister, had already left for the Gym challenge. There was no one else in the house who knew the young boy was even pumping iron. He did not plan to stop.

A pack of Growlithe? Maxin turned immediately to look at Snips with concern at the mentioning of a pack of wild fire-types running around these mountains. He wouldn't have fared well against them. His eyes lingered as Snips appeared to converse with the Haunter.

"Neat!" the Snivy was saying, "We should totally do it together, then! There's more strength in numbers when going through the wilderness, anyhow."

Maxin smiled when he saw Snips's eyes light up while he talked with them. He seemed to be getting along with them fairly well. He knew Snips liked him, though he was a little over critical about some of Maxin's decisions, but it was always nice to have a change of pace, to talk to someone who could truly communicate with them. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to go on the rest of this journey with someone. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to travel with Radegast for now.

As the other Pokemon gathered kindling for a fire, Maxin prepared his own bed. A sleeping bag was laid out next to the right wall of the entrance. It wasn't much, but it would keep him and Snips warm for the night...especially in a place as cold as a mountain. He pulled out a pillow and set it down before crawling into it. Snips was soon to follow, snuggling up next to Maxin before shutting his eyes and letting sleep take over. Maxin turned to Radegast, who appeared to slur some words in his sleep. He couldn't tell whether the teenager was dreaming or not, but it seemed like a good time to follow suit.

Within moments, Maxin's breathing became regular, and he was fast asleep...

---

The dawn of the new day was overshadowed by clouds as Maxin was the first to awaken to the gray sky. Blinking his eyes open, he smiled despite the overcast sight in the sky as he got up and looked around. He was careful enough not to stir Snips awake.

He noticed first that the fire was smoldering out. Making a quick and quiet grab to his bag, he pulled out two sticks and set them on the embers, pulling out a match so as to not have to wake the sleeping fire bird. She probably wouldn't get up anyway.

When the fire was going hot again, he took out a pan from his pack as well as a packet of vegetables, some cooking oil, and sea salt. He threw on the standard portions when he looked around at all the sleeping Pokemon minus Elder, who was still awake and on guard, and realized that he was going to need a bit more. But he merely smiled, took out the rest of his food and placed it on the pan as well as started throwing the rest of the ingredients together. It was a rather simple, but very delicious sautee.

A few minutes passed. Nothing substantial happened except the wind picked up a tiny bit. The smell of the delicious concoction drifted into the air and was carried off by the wind. Maxin examined the slightly browned vegetables before claiming that they were ready. Now all he needed was a test subject...

"Hey, buddy!" Maxin whispered, calling for Elder, "You were on watch a good portion of the night. You get first dibs!" He held out a bite enticingly for the Haunter to try.

Elder smirked, “I’m dead, remember?” he joked before gliding over to the vegetables. With a claw, he stabbed one of the vegetables and tasted it with his paralyzing tongue. “Mmm!” The Haunter nodded. “Needs some onion and paprika, Get some of this on pierogis with sour cream, grated cheese, and fresh chives. That'd be off the hook!” The Maxin kid, of course, would understand exactly none of what the Haunter was babbling about.

Radegast stirred, as did everyone else. “Man,” the human said, “Looks like I owe you lunch next city we get to,” he watched as the others seemed very interested in the vegetables. The group fed quickly and efficiently. Soon enough, Radegast was standing up as if last night never happened. Crystal and Rage combined efforts to extinguish the fire and spread the ashes around to better fertilize the ground.

“Yup, that concussion’s gone,” Crystal expressed a fanged smile at the state of her human friend. Radegast stretched his shoulders and knees as the team began to return to their respective pokeballs.

Elder and the Operative stuck around. The Operative’s electrical aura could provid a dim, yet perfectly usable light, while ghosts typically could see quite well in the dark. Despite that, the Seel was the one who took point. “Welp, I guess we’re headed to Castelia. Roxie told me it was through this Relic Passage and through a sewer tunnel under the ocean.” As Radegast said this, a blast of Aqua Jet emitted. The first wild Pokemon of the Caves had already been smacked down like a piñata.

Maxin chuckled at the Haunter's excited reaction, "I'm glad you enjoy it!" he saw that everyone was beginning to wake up, Snips included, and decided to serve everyone a hearty plate, even bringing out his Roggenrola and Drillbur to partake in the feast themselves (Don't ask how a Roggenrola eats his food. I couldn't tell ya).

The boy couldn't help but look over Radegast and his surprising ability to heal very fast. A typical concussion lasts more than a day, sometimes a week. Bad ones take months to overcome. But the dreadlocks wearing teenager had overcome his overnight. What kind of stimulus was he on?

As they began to explore the caves, Maxin let his Pokemon walk along side him. Meanwhile, he had pulled out a blank piece of paper and began sketching on it, "I'm drawing a makeshift map so we can see where we've been and where we need to go. I've been told the Relic Passage is pretty easy to get lost in."

His Pokemon were covering the tracks behind them, making sure any sneak attackers got their own comeuppance as Snivy's Leaf Tornado was enough to dig anyone out from under the ground. All in all, the passage seemed to give good training to all that dared entered it.

They ventured onward, Crystal taking down he front liners while Snips caught the stragglers behind them. Drillbur even sneaked around underground, taking down the Pokemon that liked to burrow their way under their feet. All in all, it was good coverage.

Soon enough, the two boys and their Pokemon were nearing the end of the caves and about to stumble upon the beginning of the sewers. They'd practically tore through the wild Pokemon in the area and were now walking calmly, no enemies in sight. Meanwhile, Snips and Maxin continued their discussion.

"What about Burrow?" Maxin was saying to the Snivy, who had hopped on his back. The Snivy turned his nose up in disgust.

"That sounds like a move, not a name for a Drillbur," Snips replied.

"Caldwell?"

"Where did you even pull that one from?"

"Torque?"

"Ugh...no..."

"Woobat!"

Snips literally facepalmed, "Now you're just naming other Pokemon."

But Maxin actually pointed at the left wall, "No, I mean a Woobat!"

Sure enough, the Woobat was swarming down from the tiny gap heading straight for the group. Snips immediately stepped in front and shot forth his Leaf Tornado. The attack misdirected the Woobat's flight pattern and sent it careening into a wall, fainting on impact. Maxin breathed a sigh of relief.

"A bit close, buddy," he said, "You're typically more observant than that."

"Well it doesn't really help that you're distracting me with names like Caldwell!" Snips shot back.

But Maxin had moved on from the conversation, examining the hole in the wall, "Hmm...I think it's hollow. Hold on, Radegast!"

He began to climb up the wall a little bit before peering into the hole, "Hey there's a whole room in here! It's got hieroglyphics on the wall!"

He leaped to the floor, taking a couple steps back to give some room, "Smashball, I think this is your territory, buddy!"

The Roggenrola nodded before taking a running start and smashing into the wall, breaking it down with apparent ease.

“Interesting,” Radegast’s only response to the discovery seemed like dull surprise compared to the general interest of the rest of the team.

“ANCIENT ART AND CULTURE, SURELY THEY MUST HAVE RECORDS OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING TECHNIQUES!!!” Rage bellowed.

“Secrets of the Past, oooh I could learn much from this,” Elder seemed more giddy than Rage.

The Operative and Crystal regarded the markings like one would regard a mildly interesting view, only they needed the Operative’s electric charge to light the place, dimly as she could manage. If only she knew Flash. Suros, on the other hand, really couldn’t care less.

“Pretty legit,” Radegast nodded. “… Uh… What is it?”

“IT IS NOT INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEFEATING COUNTLESS FOES!” Rage confirmed with his immense knowledge on the subject. Elder, on the other hand, silently examined the carvings.

“Very inefficient language…” the Haunter muttered, “Whatever civilization that had this sort of alphabet is probably dead because of it.”

“Or evolved,” Crystal added. She sprayed a jet of water at another Woobat, sending it careening into darkness.

“LO, A SEWER DOOR HAS BEEN FOUND BY THE INFINITE OBSERVATIONAL POWER OF RAGE!” The Primeape had gone ahead a few paces, though still close enough to be seen in the dim light of the Operative. “WE ARE CLOSE!”

“Careful dude,” Radegast called, “We’re still under the ocean."

"Hmm," Maxin knew that the lack of light was really making it hard for him to see what was on the walls. The Joltik could only provide so much and while his eyes have since adjusted to the darkness of the caverns, this secret room was strangely darker than the others. Whether that was for magical purposes or for just the fact that it was a secluded room was yet to be determined, but one thing was for sure...they need more light if they wanted to see the hieroglyphics in full glory.

"Gimme a sec," he called as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a book of matches, "Drillbur, can you find us a stick or something wooden and long?"

The Drillbur nodded, tunneling his way around the room looking for it. Meanwhile, Maxin had already taken one of his spare shirts and began crumpling it into a ball, leaving room in the middle for the stick to slide in. Snips shot a brow up at Maxin.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked. Maxin could hear the edge in his voice.

"This is okay, I'm sure," Maxin replied, "It's not like we stumbled into a room of natural gas. There was a crack in the wall that was already there when we got here, so any gas that had the possibility of building up had an outlet. Besides, there'd be a funny smell, I think." He felt a small tug on his leg and looked down to see the Drillbur had returned with a stick in hand.

"Awesome! Thanks!" He picked it up and carefully placed it in the little crevasse within the shirt, then lit a match and placed it on the shirt. It caught immediately, the flames spreading and growing in size while the walls were illuminated further.

"Woah!" he gasped as the whole picture came into view.

What they had been analyzing and not interpreting correctly was the weird symbols and designs that didn't seem to belong to any race, not even that of the Unown. But put together, the lines formed a picture...one that could very easily be made out. A human stood on one side of the wall, a Pokemon on the other. They both seemed to be encapsulated in a circle, the end of which met in the center, the two side meeting at exactly one point. The lone point seemed to manifest, coming forth in the hieroglyphic and surrounded by his own bubble. The Pokemon in this bubble had a human drawn within it. Beneath that was a caption that they had glossed over:

"Duas animas in unum. Vinculum integritatis."

Trippy...

"So this is neat," Maxin commented out loud, "But what is it making out here?"

“Actually, most flammable gases don’t have a scent,” Radegast corrected, “We add the scents artificially so we can tell if there’s a leak.” Crystal braced herself in case there was gases. The torch lit up, and nothing terrible happened. Radegast wouldn’t admit that he was holding his breath.

“Like I said,” Elder tapped a claw on the caption, “Inefficient language.”

“Huh,” Radegast recognized the wording from his history classes. His memory was foggy, but rippled. “Elder, can you… wait... I’m remembering…”

Elder regarded Radegast with a newfound interest. “Well, of course I can read it,” Elder nodded with a grin, “But I won’t spoil your fun.”

Okay… duas means “two,” and that was easy. Animas… lives, or souls? unum… fffffuuuuuuuuu… unum… num-nums? No, that’s stupid. One... two... souls... one... Hm… unum… un-ee-um… union? two souls in one... Yeah, that makes sense… “Two souls in union,” Radegast strained as his mind raced… “I don’t know what Vinculum means, but integritatis is obviously the origin for “integrity”.”

Elder was quite impressed. “Lord-Regent, Viniculum means bond, Remember the ‘um’ at the end is the same as unum.”

Radegast chuckled, “You know I don’t really understand what you’re saying, right?” Regardless, he understood the gist of the quote and the ruins. He stepped up and wiped some dust off from the carving to get a look at the footprint of whatever tool was used to create this mural. It appeared to not be a man-made tool, rather hardened claws made for digging. “This is the Spirit Bond, remember that thing Garret was doing at the Pokken Club?” Elder cringed. He couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable it could possibly feel. Radegast continued, “Looks like this mural was made with the Spirit Bond. That’s a human root language,” he tapped on the caption.

Rage returned by then. “OF COURSE IT’S THE SPIRIT BOND! WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN COMBAT!!!! THAT IS WHY IT IS NO FIGHTING TECHNIQUE OF USE TO US!!!”

“Well maybe it’s useful to Maxin and his friends,” Crystal eyed Rage with a wink.

Rage quivered savagely, his eye twitched very characteristically. “DO NOT TAUNT ME, FRIEND-CRYSTAL! I WILL LAY WASTE TO THE COSMOS!!! WHEN SHALL WE DESTROY THE THIRD GYM, FRIEND-RADEGAST?!”

“No worries, buddy. We'll get to Castelia soon enough. We just wanna check this out,” Elder replied, “This is a very interesting mural.”

Maxin turned to Radegast wide eyed, "Hold on. You mean you know what this is? What is a Spirit Bond?" He'd never heard of such a thing being done and definitely thought it was impossible.

Snips was flabbergasted as well, "Not exactly what I figured was a thing, to be honest. And you guys have encountered this before? When? How?"

Maxin continued to look around, taking a glance at another inscription on the wall. This one simply read:

Clavem.

"Key," Maxin muttered, knowing enough of the language to figure that one out. He glanced up at the figure scratched out on the wall. It was clearly a Pokemon, he knew that much. He just didn't recognize it. While it looked like it had arms, it had an odd looking tail instead of legs. It's head looked to be made of horns, but they were too conjoined together. He couldn't quite tell where to place this Pokemon, Grass, Water, or Dragon?

"Any of you guys seen this beaut around before?" Maxin turned to Radegast, wondering of he did.

“It’s some sort of meditation that melds the mind of a trainer and their pokemon,” Radegast replied, “Not my kind of thing, but… this key…” He looked over the pokemon depicted in the mural, “I’ve seen some wicked stuff, but not this dude.” Elder, however, said nothing. He seemed to regard the depicted creature as if some ancient memory was jogged.

From his bag, Radegast produced what looked to be a five-year-old smartphone. It had a good camera. Using the torchlight, Radegast snapped a few photos. A keen eye would notice that the phone had no SIM card, as indicated on the screen. It was weathered, and the glass of the screen was quite scratched, but the picture was still clear, as was the input sensitivity of the touch screen. “Might as well get a souvenir, eh?” Radegast smirked, “We should tell a research lab in Castelia or something. You got a map drawn up? We should mark it.”

Might as well get moving to tell some scientists about it. Radegast pocketed the phone once more and began moving back out into the tunnel. Elder, Crystal, Suros, and Rage arrived at the door, with the Operative projecting a modicum of light over the huge metal door that sat before them further down the path. With collective grunting, Radegast and Rage twisted the old locking mechanism until the door clicked, and swung open. The light of the sewer flooded the immediate area of the tunnel. Tired from projecting the light, the Operative returned to her pokeball, alongside Chrome. Castelia Sewers had been reached.

"Huh," Maxin glanced back to the first carving with interest, "Wonder how the meditation process works then."

He watched Radegast take a few snapshots of the mysterious Pokemon on his phone, something that struck him as odd for Radegast to be carrying for some reason. He couldn't explain it with words. He just felt weird seeing it. Snips returned to hop on his back.

"Something wrong, Maxin?" Snips glanced at him with a concerned face. To which Maxin put on brave smile for.

"I'm fine, Snips," he winked at the Snivy, giving him a little bit of encouragement, "We should probably tell someone about this place."

He marked the entryway down on the makeshift map he was making and followed Radegast to the sewer entrance. Already the light in the sewer was brighter than that of the cave, making the torch unnecessary. He stuck the lit tip in the sewer water, listening to the satisfying sssssssss it made as the flames were extinguished. Drillbur returned to her own Pokeball, but Smashball stayed out. Snips was still casually riding on Maxin's back as they ventured onward.

"Daria?" Maxin picked up where they left off.

Snips thought about it, "That one isn't too bad. Anything better?"

“Thinking of nicknames?” Radegast asked as he slowed down for Maxin to catch up, “Not sure how I could help. My friends’ names either came naturally or were already their own.”

Crystal and Elder took point while Rage kept close. Suros sat on Radegast’s shoulder, though the bird was a bit too big for the resting place. Radegast didn’t seem to mind, or even notice the three-foot bird taking up his peripheral vision.

The group passed through maintenance corridors until they came across a series of large-ish halls bordered with rusted metal walls. Every wall was dotted with more of those submarine-class vault doors. “Elder,” Crystal said, “Any way to tell if we’re going the right way?”

“Follow the flow,” Elder replied. Specifically, the opposite of the flow. Crystal was a water-type and would know this sort of thing, but the Seel had never been in a sewer, among other things.

The stench seemed to bother no one. Either they all lost their sense of smell, or they’ve simply been in worse-smelling environments. “Kinda weird how this is considered an official path going between gyms and towns,” Radegast commented, “You’d think there’d be a bridge that connects Virbank to Castelia.”

Rage and Crystal hopped over one of the two thresholds into a particularly large room of metal and extremely tough concrete. Up above was a skylight that made way to the deep blue of the relatively shallow depths of the bay. The shadows of many Pokemon swam and cut across the field of view. “Yo, that’s sick.” Radegast smirked as he stepped through. Suros lowered her head to allow clearance.

It was then that Radegast finally noticed Rage and Crystal standing off against a pack of Grimer. They did not seem to take kindly to the intrusion, and were planning to attack. “Sup?” Elder asked. The Grimer angrily attacked. Crystal and Rage charged ahead while Elder got into position to catch stragglers. Suros did what she did best: Keep roosting on Radegast’s shoulder.

Maxin analyzed everything. The murky brown water that flowed beside them. The metal walls that were rusting away. The very noticeable cracks along the pavement. It wasn't a very lit area as they passed by a weak fluorescent light every twenty yards or so. But it was lit enough. The stench was indeed bad, but Maxin once had the bad time of running into a Skuntank, so this was nothing.

He was deep in thought when Radegast made the note of the odd path choice. Maxin just shrugged, "I don't think it's designed to be. I think we were supposed to take the ferry. But, there's more than one way to get there. And it's way more fun going this way."

The two entered the large area, both him and Radegast noticing the skylight at the same time. "Yeah, that's pretty cool," Maxin noted. Snips kept task oriented, the task being to find a manhole cover for their group to climb out of here. Judging by their position, there wasn't one incredibly close since they were still under the ocean. But the fact that they could see the sun through the water was a welcoming sight. They were close.

Around this time, the Grimer were striking at Crystal and Rage, the front-running Pokemon. Maxin held back, not because he was scared but because he figured he would fare better by covering their flank. Sure enough, two Grimer had managed to get behind them and were rolling towards them. Maxin turned to the Snivy.

"Snips, hold back on this one." Snips nodded in agreement. That Grimer could wreck him if he wasn't careful and Maxin couldn't take that chance. He called out his Drillbur who rolled out of the Pokeball and stood in an offensive stance, claws at the ready. Smashball was already in position.

"Alright guys, let's send them back to their murky depths. Smashball, use Smack Down! Drillbur, hit 'em with Dig!"

Drillbur nodded and tunneled her way underneath the pavement. Smashball threw a rock at the Grimer on the left, who took the hit head on. The Grimer retaliated with Sludge, but Roggenrola didn't go anywhere. In fact, it didn't even seem to phase him one bit. The other Grimer, seeing that the Drillbur was gone, tried a different tactic with Mud-Slap. The move barely did any better in damage, but it removed some of Roggenrola's visibility, making him susceptible to miss more often.

And then Drillbur struck. Hard and fast. Like a large boulder smashing upward, she hit the opposing Grimer full force, causing it to reel backwards in shock and in pain. Another hit like that and it'd be down. Maxin knew this was set-up time.

"Smashball, Iron Defense!" he called. The Roggenrola literally steeled himself.

One of the Grimers followed suit, Hardening himself. The other Disabled Drillbur's Dig. Maxin knew he had them at this point, despite the setbacks. They just couldn't deal enough damage. Satisfied, Maxin made his next move.

"Smashball, Smack Down on the right one! Drillbur, Metal Claw on the left!"

Drillbur, being more mobile, literally flipped over the running Roggenrola, their two attacks landing at the same time. Neither knocked them out, but both brought them to the brink. The Grimer realized they were fighting a losing battle and quickly retreated. The Drillbur began to pursue, but Maxin called them back.

"No, let them go. You did great, by the way!" He turned to Radegast, seeing how he was faring in this battle.

Crystal’s icy wind caused the semi-liquid bodies of the Grimers to curdle and thicken, leaving them very vulnerable to Rage’s attacks. Each punch sent a Grimer flying against a wall, thanks to the solidifying nature of Crystal’s set-up.

The brawl continued where many Grimer were sent flying. Understanding how unmatched they were, several Grimer formed together and mutated into a huge Muk. The combination of level would probably be enough to overwhelm the pissed-off Primeape.

“PURGATORY IS TOO GOOD A FATE FOR YOU, FOOL!” Rage swung an immensely powerful blow. The uppercutting chop slammed into the Muk’s “chin”. The force rippled through the Muk… and rippled some more… then suddenly the air pressure from the attack kicked in. The Muk was blasted into droplets of sludge, and made way for an enormous updraft within the chamber. “HAHA!!” Rage bellowed in triumph, “I AM GETTING SO MUCH STRONGER!!!!”

But then the skylight cracked. The sheer force of Rage’s blow had popped some rusted bolts, and the pressure became horribly uneven. The fighting within the chamber stopped dead as the thundering sound emitted. Even Rage’s eyes lost all fury, and made way to a rare display of fear.

“Shit!” Radegast cursed as he dove to shove Rage from beneath the damage. The ceiling cracked more and more, and suddenly water began gushing through. The human shoved Rage out from under the damaged ceiling before becoming engulfed with a waterfall.

As the heavy stream washed over the ground, Crystal could’ve sworn the air began to taste salty. It was ocean water. The sewer system of Castelia reached farther out off-shore. Those particular sections contain multiple redundant paths and sealable doors graded for military submarines. The reason the sewers had this was for the unlikely event that the ocean above broke through the tonnes of reinforced steel and shell-concrete. Most of the doors automatically sealed when a breach occurred, but the blistering air had resulted in damaged circuitry.

Those Grimer that were still intact slid and slipped back towards the opposite doors. Rage bounded after them. “What are you doing, Rage!?” Elder shouted.

“THEY WILL NEED MY IMMEASURABLE STRENGTH TO SEAL THOSE DOORS!” Rage bellowed before he vanished behind a door after the last wildling. The first door slammed shut, followed by the second.

“Lord-Regent!” Suros flapped wildly in panic as a jet of water gusted in and continued to shove into Radegast’s back. Radegast blurted in surprise as the wind was knocked out of him. Multiple pounds of water slammed against his admittedly tough back every second. The force multiplied as Radegast tried to push himself up, until he was well and truly pinned down by the water pressure. The water flooded around him, leaving little room for air. He choked on saltwater.

All of a sudden, long brown vines of some sort reached through the cracks and wrapped around Radegast’s shoulders and torso. They gave a single tug, and the fifteen-year-old was pulled out of the waterfall, thrown backwards towards the rest of the group.

“There’s no time to get everyone out!” Elder hated to admit it. Without Rage, Elder and Suros would have difficulty carrying the fifteen-year-old boy.

As the vines vanished back into the cracks, the air began to grow frigid. In the chaos, no one had noticed the Seel glow white. Now that the water had slowed to a trickle, the others finally noticed a Dewgong hovering, sending a constant stream of an Ice Beam toward the cracks from her glowing horn. “This won’t hold for long!” Crystal shouted.

Rage emerged from the other doors. He had just bounded through the redundant paths at top speed, and was finally breaking a sweat. “WHY HAVE YOU NOT ESCAPED YET!?” he barked, completely dumbstruck at how slow everyone was. Thank goodness the Operative and Chrome were still in their respective pokeballs.

“Shut up and help us!” Elder lifted Radegast’s legs while Suros was still a panicking ball of feathers. Rage did not need telling twice. Within moments, everyone else got the knocked-out Radegast out of the chamber, and Elder and Rage sealed off the two doors.

Crystal panted, not used to the newly-evolved ability. She dropped to the ground and began to rest. Above them, warning lights were flashing red all across the narrow passageways. Castelia staff would be here soon enough to repair the damage. Elder helped Rage pick up Radegast and returned Crystal into her Pokeball.

“Let’s get out of here before we get in any more trouble,” Elder whispered. They eventually vanished into the shadows.

“What the hell was that, anyway?” Suros asked as she perched on top of Radegast’s hat. She was quivering in utmost concern for the human she roosted on. “Those… vines…”

“A friend,” Elder smiled, almost teary-eyed, as he pat a claw on the back of Radegast’s left shoulder. “That son of a bitch! He made do!”

---

“Well… that sucks…” Radegast’s hoodie flapped heavily and swayed slightly in the tropical winds that billowed over and around the deserted island of sand, stone, and a small patch of jungle. The boat he had taken was sinking out in the distance, under shroud of terrible storm clouds. Most life boats had already passed the storm before it could surround the island. Others were sunk, and assorted trainers were forced to rely on their water pokemon to stay afloat.

“Kinda… reminds you… of somethin'… doesn’t it?” Radegast asked between ragged breath.

Elder coughed up salt water in disgust. Being the only one of Radegast’s pokemon to be outside of the pokeball at the time, Radegast kept the Ghastly above-water as his arms and legs pumped and pushed to bring them both farther away from the wall of fog that disguised the devastating storm that had wrecked the ship and life boat they were on. The human stood, panting heavily. His arms and hands shook with the wind chilling the ocean water soaking his clothes to near-icy temperatures.

“Suros… Rage…” Radegast gasped as he tapped on two of the three pokeballs he had latched to his belt. Both opened, and the Mankey and Fletchling were out and at-attention.

“FRIEND-RADEGAST, YOU LOOK LIKE A BATTLE WELL-FOUGHT, ONLY WITH COST!”

“Suros, a fire, if you’d please…” Radegast collapsed in fatigue.

“Lord-Regent!” Suros panicked and flapped her wings wildly.

“Rage,” Elder choked, “We need some kindling for a fire. Come on.”

“I WILL GATHER THIS KINDLING ACROSS THE STARS A HUNDRED TIMES!” The Mankey savagely burst into a sprint towards the jungle, with Elder soaring close behind. "AND BACK AGAIN TWICE AS MANY!!!!"

Suros continued to panic and chirp in extreme concern for the boy. “Lord-Regent, hang in there!”

“Heh… No worries dude… I’m fine… just need a fire… warm up my clothes…” Radegast struggled to get his soaked, extremely cold hoodie and shirt off. He also removed his hat, belt, shoes, socks, and cargo shorts. The wind was still chilly. With the removed clothes under each arm, Radegast stepped bare-foot over to a section of beach that was covered from the ocean winds by large stone deposits. The area was also quite far from the shoreline, so the tide would not reach.

The human set up his clothes against flat surfaces of the rocks, ready to take in the heat once the fire got going. Elder swiftly returned, carrying a bundle of sticks on top of his spherical head, held in place by condensed gas. “Lord-Regent, for building a thatched shelter.”

“Those are some nice thin sticks, would be perfect for like… like some thatched roof or something…” Radegast picked out some of the longer sticks. His left shoulder- containing an unusually-shaped burn scar- flexed as he wedged the sticks solidly between rocks. Others, which would help hold the roof, were planted in relatively solid dirt close by. Elder left the remaining sticks off to the side and headed back to assist Rage.

The human was given pause when he thought he heard a commotion above the whistling of the wind. The air grew ever colder. “Icy wind?” Radegast wondered as he bounded out of the semi-shelter to investigate. Off-shore, a murder of Murkrow circled in a typically vulture-like pattern. Out here? He wondered, What with the storm? What are they…

There was a smooth figure laying afloat in the water. Some Murkrow dropped and tried to swipe at the figure. Most would abandon their assault when the waves got dangerously high for them. Before any of the others could react, Radegast broke into a sprint and dove right back into the ocean. Without the hoodie and heavy pants and gear weighing him down, he fared slightly better at swimming… at-first. The ocean was terribly cold. It burned like only the cold could, but the human’s pudgy build left him with the tiniest feeling of insulation. He figured it would be enough to save this figure. The figure had to have been from the boat, another survivor of the horrific shipwreck. Whoever it was, they needed to be pulled to shore, away from the Murkrow.

Radegast swam, and he swam. Being knowledgable at swimming in different conditions, he weaved with decent skill between waves, able to avoid wasting too much energy- especially what little he had left anyway. Slowly, but surely, his energy sapped anyway due to the bone-curdling cold. The Murkrow seemed to notice this human swimming towards their prey. Some even dove down to strike at Radegast. The human kept as low as possible, daring the dark birds to dive dangerously close to the water. As Radegast got closer, he choked with extreme fatigue, and tasted salt water. Cold, salty water. The taste was atrocious, but it kept the human awake.

Eventually, he reached the figure. The skin was white, and smooth like soap stone. Radegast immediately realised that this was not a human. It was an injured Seel. “Welp…” Radegast coughed out more salt water as his muscles screamed trying to keep his head above water, “Let’s… PEW! Ugh! Get out! Gotta-“ Radegast’s head submerged for a second. The salt burned his eyes as he found a good grip on the Seel. “Fuck this hurts!” Radegast shouted in pain as he breached the surface once more.

The Murkrow dove towards the human, hoping to get a few hits in. Between the waves and Radegast’s haphazard swimming pacing, they found little to no chance to land a single hit. Thankfully, Radegast found the return trip a lot easier, for he was no longer fighting or trying to weave between waves. This time, he rode the waves closer and closer to the shore.

Elder’s shocked scream pierced the skies, forcing the Murkrow to back off in surprise. “Lord-Regent!” the Ghastly shrieked in alarm, “What are you doing out there?!”

Rage dropped a palm tree log he had been carrying. “FRIEND-RADEGAST! IF YOU DIE NOW I WILL KILL YOU!!!!”

Suros, however, was taking this sudden stupidity the hardest. She might as well be suffering an epileptic seizure. A bundle of panicking feathers flopping around in utter befuddlement. Loose feathers flew everywhere.

“Piss off!” Elder hovered over the water and billowed a poisonous gas up in the air at the Murkrow. The Ghastly then hovered low and condensed some gas into some tube-like appendage, for Radegast to grab on. The human complied. Though it felt like grasping a handle made entirely of a dry towel with no reinforcement, the condensed gas did not break from the rest of the Ghastly gaseous aura.

“What were you doing, dude?” Elder gasped for breath after Radegast reached the shore, with the Seel in tow.

“Dude was… hurt… dude…” Radegast’s eyes quivered, and rolled upward. He collapsed onto his side in the sand. If Suros was having a hard reaction to the situation, the Lord-Regent losing consciousness warranted an indescribable terror to cross her entire being. Shrill Fletchling screeches filled the sky. Even if they were not attack moves, it filled the air with a terrible dread.

…

“FRIEND RADEGAST!” The booming, screechy voice blasted not unlike a volcano. “FRIEND-RADEGAST! I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL YOUR NAME UNTIL YOUR BLOOD BROILS WITH THE EXTREME FLAMES OF TRIUMPH! RAGE KNOWS YOUR HEART BEATS YET! NONE WILL CLAIM YOUR SOUL BEFORE I CAN DESTROY YOU MYSELF!!!”

“Shit, that was a… stupid idea,” Radegast croaked. Everything hurt… everything from his eyes to unspeakable places. The salt of the water was absolutely nasty. He shivered uncontrollably.

Elder sat silently next to Suros- who had fainted soon after her initial reaction. The fire was now being tended to by the combined efforts of Rage and Elder. “You almost died, Lord-Regent,” the ghost stated simply.

Radegast sneezed, and shivered as feeling returned to him. He only needed to see the uncharacteristically somber look at the Ghastly to figure out what was said in Pokespeak. “Couldn’t just let it happen. You know this better than anyone.”

“Even so…” Elder glanced to the newcomer. The Seel lay unconscious at a good enough distance from the fire to warm up, while not drying out at the same time. “Well… Anyway, needs medical attention, that one.”

Radegast reached for the bag. His body refused to let him move beyond his seated position against a flat rock. “Could you get my bag, please?”

Elder complied. “I take it you’ll want to reach the Seel as well.” Radegast’s eyes met Rage’s, and the human nodded towards the Seel. Rage understood. Elder handed Radegast the bag, while Rage carried the Seel over to Radegast’s side.

“Thank you,” Radegast’s hands trembled, much to his frustration, as he fumbled with the zipper of his belt bag. Eventually he pulled the bag open, where assorted travelling supplies spilled out. A zip-lock bag of toiletries and a toothbrush, a small first-aid kit complete with a tiny plastic bottle of painkillers and a sealed stitching set. Among these integral supplies and more, out fell five potions, two super-potions, an ether, and a coupon for a free bicycle with no expiry date. He barely managed to catch one of the regular potions in mid-air, reached the potion over the seel with a shivering hand, and began to apply the spray. Rage swiftly caught the bike coupon as it started floating away on the wind.

The area was partially covered by a makeshift thatch-roof tent, entirely Rage’s handiwork built upon Radegast’s foundation. “I’m sorry, guys,” Radegast sighed as he applied the potion to the wounds, “Got you dudes worried… trapped on an island…”

The Seel stirred, as did Suros. The Fletchling scrambled onto her tiny taloned feet and stared at Radegast. The human looked positively ragged and also naked, save for a pair of boxer shorts. “Lord-Regent!” the Fletchling leaped up to Radegast’s stinging red face. Radegast winced as he chuckled.

“Suros was especially concerned,” Elder smirked.

“Yeah… sorry about that, Suros,” Radegast smirked as the Fletchling pecked at Radegast’s hair to untangle the short dreadlocks.

The Seel rose her head to see the fire, the Ghastly staring up and to the left of her, a Mankey to the right, lost in thought. She then turned her head to see a Fletchling hugging the face of a human. A human with an empty potion bottle in a shivering hand. “What happened?” she asked.

“The Lord-Regent pulled you out of the water,” Elder replied, “Murkrow were harassing you, and you weren’t moving.”

“A chunk of some human ship dropped onto me and knocked me out,” the Seel recalled, “Why was there a human ship sinking?”

“Nasty storm on the surface. We were on the ship when it sank,” Elder pointed at Radegast's clothes all flat, stuck to the nearby rocks for the sun to warm, if there was a sun unimpeded by clouds.

The Seel hummed thoughtfully.

“The Lord-Regent fainted again!” Suros squeaked as she hopped down onto Radegast’s knee.

Radegast twitched as he suddenly emitted a louder-than-normal snore.

“Doesn’t sound like a faint to me,” The Seel commented.

“Hey, that’s some wit there!” Elder chimed happily.

“So… the human pulled me out of the water…?”

Elder nodded.

“Why?”

Elder glanced at Rage, who could pull off an actual shrug.

“Is this some ploy to capture me?”

Rage burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“FRIEND-RADEGAST WOULD NOT CAPTURE YOU! FRIEND-RADEGAST NEVER CAPTURED US! WE ARE STILL WILDLINGS!”

“But… those are pokeballs on that belt. You must have been…”

“The Lord-Regent figured out how to break the capture lock on those balls. He must’ve learned about how pokeballs work in his old human school. We just use them as shelters in case we want to sleep while he travels.”

The Seel hummed thoughtfully once more. The wind finally began to die down. In exchange, the skies got darker and darker. The human began to shiver again.

“This shelter isn’t good enough,” Elder growled, “With all his clothes wet, he’s susceptible to exposur-”

Suddenly, icy sheets began to form along the rocks and sand. Rage, Elder, and Suros all flinched as the ice began to cover them in a dome, stopping very close to the top, to allow the smoke from the fire to escape.

The Seel lay on her side and flapped one of her fins back and forth. “How’s that for a shelter?”

Suros fired an ember at one side. With the single shot, the Fletchling blew open a small crawlspace leading out of the makeshift igloo. “Now it’s perfect.”

It was Elder's turn to burst out laughing.

The air was unusually calm. Mornings in Aspertia were typically very windy, the breeze from the ocean to their right blowing westward onto the city's inhabitants. However, a storm had raged the night before and into the next day taking the winds with it. Now there was an arid feel around Maxin as he stood on the lookout, gazing to the mountains just north of their current position. It was his favorite spot to be, even without the warm salty wind blowing across his face.

Nothing beat this view. From the lake that seemed to mirror the sky's color so perfectly across it's still surface to the snow-capped mountains in the distance, there was a lot to love about it. Especially when the seasons changed. The green and blue setting of summer would shift to a colorfully autumn one, the ground swirling with reds and yellows from the leaves. Then, the snow would fall, the lake freezing over and the place encapsulated in white. In spring, the trees were budding with bright green leaves with the exception of one tree in the far back that blossomed pink. The clouds never seemed to leave the mountain range, enshrouding the place in mystery.

Today, he smiled brighter than ever. It was his birthday...his tenth birthday. Now everyone in Aspertia City knew how important a tenth birthday was. It meant it was time for a young trainer to embark on his Pokemon quest...whatever that may be. It was time to move on from the streets they'd called home for so long and blaze their own trail into history, to make new friends along the way and form new bonds with the nature around them. To surpass challenges and to show their honor as they fought their way to the top. But Maxin wasn't worried about fighting his way to the top of anything yet. That would come later.

Right now, turning ten meant he didn't have to gaze this view alone.

Snips stood on his shoulder, gazing out into the wilderness in front of them. The two were practically strangers, having just met ten minutes ago. The Snivy had heard stories about awful trainers who abused their Pokemon's abilities for their own self fulfillment, to gain power and money and other things that they desired, ignoring the Pokemon that helped them do this as if they were tools. When the Pokeball enclosed around him, he felt true fear. Suspense was his agony for the next few days as he dreaded what was to become of him and what his fate would be. He replayed the awful nightmares those tales had given him over and over in his head, hoping for the better instead of the worst.

As it turned out, Maxin seemed okay. He never commanded him to do anything or test anything out upon them meeting. In fact, the first thing he did as an official trainer was take him up to this lookout to how him this view. And Snips had to admit, it was pretty. But it wasn't what made him enjoy the moment most. What did that was the occasional curious glance Maxin shot his way. The warm smile that would spread across his face sometimes. And that spark of energy in his eye that showcased his excitement, even when his other features didn't.

Like he just enjoyed Snips's company...

Maxin turned his head once more to look at the new Pokemon that was there, "So, Snips. What do you think?"

The Snivy smirked back, "Not bad at all. Kind of serene really. Everything's so still."

Maxin didn't understand exactly what he was saying. But he could tell by the tone of voice that he was content with the view at least, "Yeah, it's a pretty cool place. There's so much inspiration here."

Snips cocked his head to the side as he tried to decipher the sentence the boy had just uttered, "What do you mean?"

Maxin noticed the confusion on Snips's face, "I mean, look at it. It's like a reminder that there is more to this world than just Aspertia City. There's a whole region to be explored, Snips! A whole bunch of new faces for us to meet and everything!"

Snips smiled at the terminology. Us. "Well, at least you're optimistic."

Maxin exhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he did so, taking in the environment. Finally he shrugged off his backpack and pulled out the Pokeball the professor had given him, holding it out towards the Snivy. "Hey, Snips. I don't want to call you back into the Pokeball unless you want to. So if you ever need a rest or something like that, let me know and I'll bring it out for you, okay?"

Snips's jaw dropped at the suggestion. I get to choose when I go back in? he thought. This human isn't going to force me?

He nodded, still in shock as Maxin turned around to descend the stairs that led back to the city. Snips couldn't help but look down at Maxin, whose smile never wavered. He was genuine about that request, Snips realized. He suddenly felt a bit more natural standing on the boy's shoulder.

Maybe...maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all...

"Let me go!"

The sound of a young boy caught the ears of Maxin and Snips as both turned their heads at the exact same time towards the sound. In front of a house was an eight year old boy with bright red hair and a bright red shirt to match. He was laughing over a six year old boy whom he had just pushed onto the wet ground. Mud caked the boy's shirt so bad, Maxin could hardly tell it was blue. The boy had blonde hair, blue eyes and a face streaked with tears. The redhead scoffed.

"Don't be such a wimp!" he said as he kicked more mud into the kid's face. The kid was bawling as he got mud in his eyes.

Maxin froze as he saw the bully continue to dirty the younger boy without mercy. Snips growled and his tiny hands curled up into angry fists. He wanted vengeance, swiftly and justly. And he was ready to deliver it.

But Maxin bolted the other way, disappearing around the bend. On and on he ran, despite Snips's protests, running from that scene. He never looked back.

---

The air was still. Salt still lingered around them from the ocean water that had escaped into Castelia's sewers many minutes ago. The red lights gave an ominous sense of suspense around them as Maxin sat against the wall, hands cupped in his face while the prone form of Radegast lay a mere few feet to the right of him. He was still unconscious. The Fletchinder stood on top of the teenager, squawking and shaking from the ordeal, the Primeape and Haunter were talking, occasionally glancing over to their unconscious friend. The newly evolved Dewgong was resting after using her abilities to save her companion. On his end, Drillbur and Smashball had already returned to their respective Pokeballs. Snips was looking at Maxin with concern.

"You okay?" he nudged the boy's hand with his head. Maxin didn't respond. He was shaking all over, despite the fact that he wasn't wet. Snips wasn't sure exactly what to do.

Luckily, he didn't have to do anything. A large clanging sound from the far end of the sewers was heard followed by the sound of feet running towards their current position. A moment later, a team of plumbers and handymen had made their way over to their current position. One of them spoke into a walkie-talkie.

"We need a rescue team down here, pronto! Two boys, one of them's not moving. He appears to be unconscious. Five Pokemon are with them as well. Over."

There was a silence, then a crackling coming from the device, "Ten four. We'll get some guys down there to take them to the Pokemon Center. Over."

The man immediately made his way over to Maxin while the other men set to work examining the area, "Hey, son. You alright?"

Maxin looked up, a weary but blank stare in his eyes. He nodded slowly.

"Good," the man squatted down beside him, "Now, what happened?"

Maxin took a deep breath, "We ran into Grimer while trying to find our way to the manhole. In the fight, the wall burst open and the whole room became flooded."

The engineer inclined his head over to Radegast, "What about him?"

"He got caught in the water blast saving one of his Pokemon."

He whistled, "That's a lot of pressure to put on him. Enough to pin anyone to the wall. How did he get out and get here."

"I don't know."

The man stared at the teenager with a concerned look before turning back to Maxin, "Alright. We got a team coming down to take you both to the Pokemon Center. You guys just hang tight, okay?"

Maxin nodded and returned to the stance he had before. Snips continued to stare at him, concerned for his own companion's well-being.

(removed)