BOOM!

  “Bwuh?!” Larry jerked awake in the middle of the night as the ground, the bed, and everything else around them momentarily trembled.

  ‘What the fuck?!’ Items vibrated freely around the table and shelves of Valerie’s room before the tremors subsided, just as quickly as they appeared.

  Clutching at himself, Larry looked around the room in confusion for a second. There was far less space in Valerie’s bed with Sybil’s new form, but the two were still fast asleep.

  Both Valerie and Sybil were apparently entirely unbothered by the sudden sound of an explosion, ‘What the hell just happened?’

  TINK!

  PATTER!

  KLANG!

  Something impacted the roof above them, but Larry didn't even know where to start, he was hardly equipped to deal with all of this alone. ‘Should I try and wake up the others?’

  Larry listened to the outside for another minute, but didn’t hear another peep from the outside world. The blinds of Valerie's room were closed, so he didn’t have a clue as to what had just happened.

  The clock on her nightstand read around an hour before midnight, and with the adrenaline of the previous shock slowly running out of his system, his motivation began to wane as well. Finally, he placed his head back on the pillow with a huff.

  ‘You know what? We’ll deal with it when we get there…’

  Sleep took him once again, surprisingly quickly.

  …

  When the trio finally stepped into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning, both Gustav and Michelle were standing in front of the television with concerned expressions.

  “Mmrg…Morning…” Valerie rubbed at her eyes blearily.

  The volume of the TV was turned low, but it still held both adults' attention, “-the suspects are theorized to be a part of the group our dear Gym Leader was connected to, though the authorities are still investigating at the current moment. We will update you as the case develops.”

  “To think they’d go so far…” Michelle muttered.

  “It is concerning….” Gustav agreed.

  “Hmm…?” His trainer stepped up at Michelle's side with a yawn as she rubbed at her eyes, “What’s up?”

  Larry read the headline as Valerie's drowsiness was shaken off in a single moment.

  ‘?A Sanctuary in Ruins: Viridian City Center Devastated’ The Center had been blown to pieces during the night, and nothing more than the remnants of a few walls and various piles of rubble were still visible between the groups of emergency forces strewn about in the live feed.

  “So that’s what I heard at night…” Larry could only sigh, ‘This has to be connected to the anime in some way…’

  “When did you come back home from the Center yesterday?” Michelle spoke seriously, her arms crossed as she turned from the TV.

  “A-Around nine or ten at night, I guess?” Valerie stuttered as she pointed at the TV, “W-When did that happen?”

  “Eleven-fifteen or so.” Michelle turned and took a seat at the breakfast table. “Apparently, Team Rocket did it.”

  The blood drained from Valerie's face as she flinched at the mention of the criminal group, her eyes transfixed on the aerial shots of the Center.

  Gustav turned away from the TV as well, taking a seat across from Michelle, “Come eat, Valerie.”

  Larry walked over to the table and looked at his portion next to Brio’s. With how much he could eat, it was more of a symbolic gesture for him to eat with Valerie and her family, but he still enjoyed it.

  Sybil looked down at the bowl on the ground next to his, before Gustav bent down, took the bowl, and placed it on the table at the seat next to Valerie's, “Here you go. You’re big enough where I think this is more comfortable, correct?”

  “Thank you.” Bowing to his trainer's stepfather, the Psychic-Type took a seat at the dinner table with them. Larry's bowl was still stuck at ground level next to Brio’s, and that would probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. While Tyranitar were bipeds, Larry doubted he'd find a chair that would fit him once he finally evolved into one.

  “Morning.” Larry waved at the Dachsbun.

  It barked back a happy, “Bon appétit!” before diving into its own bowl.

  “...”

  His trainer was still rooted to the spot in front of the TV, looking at the screen with a haunted expression. She finally spoke, barely a whisper as she turned to her mother, “...W-Was anyone hurt…?”

  A bite of premium soil between his gums, Larry realized why Valerie sounded so terrified, ‘Ah, right…Ash. He would've still been there…'

  Michelle settled into her seat at the table, quoting the news report, “‘Luckily, nobody was harmed or killed in the event.’ Now sit down and have breakfast, please.”

  “Thank goodness…” Valerie sped over to the table, taking a seat next to Sybil, “What about Ash?”

  “Ash?” Michelle repeated, “Did you make more friends- Y’know what, that's not what I'm even concerned about.” Her mother cut herself off as she pointed at the television on the other side of the living room, “You were SO CLOSE to being involved in that!”

  Gustav stuffed a toast with various toppings in his mouth before speaking nonchalantly, “Mmfgh- It wouldn't be the first time Valerie is involved in the destruction of a Pokemon center, would it?”

  In turn, Michelle gave the man a death glare, but Gustav seemed undeterred, “What? You said it yourself, going on a journey is dangerous.”

  “She isn't even on her journey yet, and she's already being targeted by a crime syndicate and helping in sting operations!” Michelle pointed out loudly as she rose out of her seat in anger, forgetting about her food momentarily, “What am I supposed to expect to happen once she is actually going on her journey?!”

  Gustav pulled his wife back down into her seat, “Calm down, it's not like much crazier things could actually happen. And remember, didn't Lance Blackthorn say he was going after Team Rocket personally?”

  “He still managed to let their boss, Giovanni, escape!” Michelle pointed out with a huff, “And now our local Pokemon Center is nothing more than a big, fat pile of rubble!”

  Valerie's mother buttered up her own piece of toast as she huffed in anger, “With how he handled this situation, I'd be surprised if he knew how to tie his own shoes…”

  Larry forced down his last bite, barely evading choking on the piece after hearing the woman's insult, but her daughter was far more hit by the scolding.

  Valerie had her hands clasped against the seat of her chair, her gaze locked onto the empty plate in front of her. Michelle placed a slice of toast on her plate, before ruffling through her bed-hair.

  “I know you’re going to keep going, Sybil and Larry are dedicated to protecting you, but…” She bit back a harsh comment, “With how the situation has developed, how can I not worry…”

  “Yeah…” Valerie nodded back meekly.

  Gustav could only sigh, “So you think this Team Rocket is going to stay a problem for Valerie?”

  “Of course!” Their trainer's mother argued loudly, “I know that Lance Blackthorn forced you into his little arrest attempt back in the Gym, but that idiot announced, in front of a live camera feed, that you helped him in stopping Team Rocket! You know how bad that sounds?!”

  Even Larry saw the way Michelle was talking about, “Everyone in Kanto can watch that recording back, every Team Rocket member still out there now knows you’re connected to the Champ, in some kind of way…And that you’re a brand new trainer out and about on your journey right now.”

  Gustav put down the toast he’d been about to eat, “Okay, now that you point it out, that does sound concerning.”

  “Right?!” Michelle turned to her husband, “It's what’s been on my mind this whole time. If this Team Rocket can blow up Pokemon Centers and evade arrest from a Champion, what’s holding them back from going after the girl who helped take their supposed boss down a peg? For all we know, what if this explosion was already some kind of retaliation?”

  “Then…” Gustav deliberated, “What about getting Valerie some training in real-life combat?”

  “Huh?” Both Valerie and her mother uttered dumbly, even Sybil and Larry’s attention was on her stepfather now.

  “I know Valerie strives to be a Pokemon trainer, but if you truly think she will be targeted by people with bad intentions, like this Team Rocket, then why not also work on combat training, which can be used in a real fight?”

  Larry was confused by what Gustav was trying to say, ‘Aren’t we already fighting though? We just had a Gym Fight yesterday.’

  “I see that look in your faces,” Gustav confessed, “I am not talking about the sanctioned Pokemon battles trainer fight, but about real battles, life-and-death fights using Pokemon. Fights in which both humans target the human behind the Pokemon instead of the Pokemon itself, with the intention to kill.”

  Both Michelle and Valerie recoiled at the admission, but Gustav held steady, “What? You’re from the Indigo Region, you must know Pokemon were used as weapons during wars, no? You just settled one a few years ago.”

  “Do you truly think a criminal will fight you in a fair two-on-two match in an arena if something is at stake? Will he give you some prize money at the end as well, hmm?”

  He turned to Michelle, “If you truly want to protect Valerie while respecting her wishes, then becoming more proficient at self-defense using her Pokemon will be important. It's the one thing she and her Pokemon can do to protect themselves while on the road.”

  Now it was Valerie’s turn to ask the questions, “It’s nice to hear you care and give suggestions, but…Why do you know about this, Gustav? You’re a baker, aren’t you?” Both Sybil and Larry agreed with her, nodding along with curiosity.

  “It’s connected to his past,” Michelle answered for him, “Specifically about Kalos, right? You told me a bit about it before.”

  “Right.” Gutav confirmed, “In Kalosian backstreets, especially the ones in Lumiose City, the capital, you can find battling arenas which have a different battling style from the norm.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “During my short stay in Lumiose City during my school years as a baker, I saw battles of that sort. They called it La Bataille Royale, or Royal Battling, if translated.”

  ‘What makes it so Royal?’ Larry wondered.

  Gustav answered his question without knowing, “It was connected to the Royalty of old who used to rule Kalos. For them, battles used to be ceremonial, nothing more than a spectacle to watch. They would stand in their boxes and announce moves for their Pokemon to execute on the opponent's Pokemon, practically taking turns to use moves instead of actually fighting.”

  “In turn, commoners came up with their own fighting style, to mock the royalty, La Battaile Royale, a wild style where trainers move inside the arena with their Pokemon, yelling out commands practically all the time while dodging attacks in sync with their Pokemon.”

  “But…isn’t that like…super dangerous?” Valerie asked dumbly as she took a bite of her own toast.

  “Oh, very much so.” Gustav confirmed with a nod, “That is why you’d only find it in back alleys and the more, how do you say…seedy parts of Lumiose City. Most normal people simply kept to the Pokemon battles all of us are used to, after all, not many want to put their life in danger while fighting in a Pokemon battle.”

  “Even in the few matches I caught in my time in Lumiose City, I saw a young boy get frostbite from an Ice-Type's Attack, a girl almost get impaled by a Rock-Type Attack, and an out-of-control Rollout crash into another trainer…I never did find out if he survived…”

  The man rattled off the life-threatening situation like simple bullet points before noticing the shocked expressions of the other people at the table. “I did say it was not for the faint of heart.”

  “Did you participate?” Valerie asked seriously.

  “With little Brio here?” Gustav put a hand on top of the dog's head with a laugh, “No, he is only trained in baking. I was only a spectator.”

  “You did tell me a bit about it before,” Michelle spoke in a concerned tone, “But I don’t think you told me that you watched a man die. I would’ve remembered that.”

  “I am unsure if he passed away,” Gustav confessed, “and we were still early in our relationship. I did not want to spook you with the things teenage boys and their friend groups concern themselves with, it was a wilder time of my life...”

  ‘So it's like a French backalley Pokemon MMA League?’ Larry rationalized, ‘At least I haven’t seen much human martial art in this world, it's bound to exist, but Pokemon battles are just that much more popular than their human counterparts seem to fall to the wayside.’

  “Well, you were right to do so.” Valeire’s mother crossed her arms, turning back to the topic at hand, “I think I have to agree with Gustav, Valerie. Teaching yourself some self-defense techniques wouldn’t hurt. I don’t expect you to enter the Kalosian Battaille Royale Leagues, but even just some simple fights with something more on the line than a loss might help.”

  “I don’t really like killing people, Mom…” Valerie argued, but just as quickly she turned around, “But…I understand what you mean. I don’t think I’m quite ready for everything Gustav mentioned, but I think it would be nice to learn some simple stuff to protect myself.”

  She addressed both Larry and Sybil, “You guys think this is something we can work on?”

  Sybil bowed, and Larry nodded back, “If it means some more battling experience, then I don’t mind!”

  “We will protect you,” Sybil added.

  “Great!” Valerie smiled back.

  “Now, eat your breakfast. Or it will really get cold.” Gustav added on.

  …

  “C-C-Congrats on your win…” Matt stuttered as they met in the forest on the outskirts of Viridian City, his gaze turned to Sybil, “A-And evolving…”

  “Thanks! It was really close in the end there, but we made it through.” Valerie thanked the boy, and Sybil, next to her, bowed as the two lounged in the small forest on the outskirts of town. The place had become their de facto hangout spot over Valerie’s time training, since she got too many stares when they tried to hang out in the training area of the Pokemon Center.

  ‘Not that there was much left.’ Larry thought to himself ruefully. His mother had only done some structural damage in her tantrum back at the League Reception, and the Center had been able to keep operating at reduced capacity while repairs were underway.

  This time around, there was nothing left of the Center to speak of except for the foundation and a few walls. The entire Center was out of commission. So for now, Pokeballs which were admitted in Viridian City to be healed, were sent over to Pewter using the Pokeball transportation system and then returned to Viridian to be handed back over to the trainer, ‘Sci-Fi Tech for the win…No idea how that is supposed to work though…’

  On their way over here, they also passed by the Center, with Valerie intent on finding out what happened to Ash in the end, but it seemed that it wasn’t to be. When Valerie finally found the rattled-looking Nurse Joy in between Police Officers, Firefighters, and other officials still preoccupied with cleaning up the mess, the woman told her that Ash had already set out into Viridian Forest. It seemed Ash was driven to get his first badge in Pewter City sooner rather than later.

  “Y-You heard about what happened at the Center?” Matt asked.

  “Yeah, I was almost involved in that.” Valerie mentioned, “I only got home around ten, by eleven it was apparently already blown up. I got pretty lucky there.”

  “I-I see, you did. Yeah…” Tapping away on his phone, Matt revealed a post on a site by a person. It showed a video of them out at night, when suddenly the sky behind them lit up before exploding into a giant blast cloud. The phone shook frantically as the person seemingly tried and failed to suppress their panic in the chaos.

  “Arceus, they didn’t show the explosion on the news…That really looks terrible…” Valerie commented.

  “C-Check this out.” Matt rewound the video to a point before the explosion and pointed at the background behind the person. Squinting, Larry caught what the boy was trying to show as the Meowth-shaped hot air balloon of the Team Rocket trio popped up behind the poster's shoulder, right above the Pokemon Center.

  “What kind of crime syndicate flies around in hot air balloons?” Valerie squinted at Matt’s phone screen.

  “N-No idea…” According to Matt, that hot-air balloon had apparently been spotted over the city just minutes before the explosion took place, all but confirming Larry's theories, ‘So this was actually something that was connected to the anime…considering the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth are somehow connected…It must’ve been one of their first appearances as well, with how early into the anime all of this takes place. Makes one wonder how they managed to blow the entire center up?’

  One thing was for sure, if anything, Larry didn’t need to worry about those three Team Rocket grunts. In the anime, the three were far from competent at their jobs. Larry doubted they’d be successful in stealing anything of note if they kept their eyes on Ash and his Pikachu.

  Matt continued on, explaining how some posters online are rightfully questioning how a hot air balloon was able to fly openly in the restricted airspace of the city, “D-Don’t you think it's, uh, it's weird that this happened? W-What would Team Rocket gain from this?”

  “Well, I think it happened because their boss almost got arrested.” Valerie explained, “What else could it mean? It's got to be some kind of retaliation.”

  “I-I wonder how big Team Rocket is…D-Do you think they’d come after me if I posted about them?” Matt asked carefully.

  “Hmm…I don’t know, you’d have to ask the League, wouldn’t you? They’re the most knowledgeable about them right now. I wonder when they’ll tell the public about them.”

  “B-Better they do it right about now, r-right?”

  “Yeah, that’d be nice.” Valerie tapped her chin, “I also decided to train myself and my team a bit in self-defense because of it. You never know if one of those guys will attack you, they almost stole my Pokemon once before, after all.”

  “W-What will you be training?” Matt asked curiously, Patrat on his shoulder, also suddenly curious.

  “Just some simple self-defense stuff to get myself out of sticky situations.” Valerie stood up, patting down her clothes before she held out her arm towards Matt, “You’re pretty tall, here, try and grab my wrist and restrain me.”

  “R-R-Really?!” Matt stuttered out in a flustered tone as he slowly rose, “W-W-Why me?”

  “I’m just showing you what I learned,” Valerie promised as she shook her arm, “Here, now grab my wrist as tightly as you can and try to pull me towards you. Don’t go easy on me.”

  “Ok…” The boy nodded as Patrat hopped off his shoulder and onto the tree stump they used as a seat, leaning back to watch the show, “R-Ready?”

  “Whenever you are.”

  Matt began pulling on Valerie’s arm, putting one foot behind and one in front to ground himself better, but by the second yank, Valerie took action, she pressed her foot into the side of Matt’s knee until the boy's leg folded under the strain, “Hey!”

  “Whoa!” He let out a yelp as Valerie yanked her arm free from his grasp. She turned on him, grabbing at his wrist instead as the boy fell to his knees. She locked the boy's arm behind his back and pushed a knee into his back as she stepped up onto one of his ankles to restrain him.

  “Ack!” Matt folded almost immediately, dropping down onto the floor as Valerie stepped off his ankle and pressed her knee into his lower back, right above his hip. His one arm was still restrained behind his back, while Matt finally managed to pull the other one out from underneath himself to tap her on the leg, “I give! I give!”

  “Wow, you’re kind of weak,” Valerie commented as she released the boy, “I couldn’t get that to work on Gustav the few times we tried it.”

  “I-I sit inside all day!” Matt defended himself as he rose from the ground, “W-W-What do you want me to do?!”

  Patrat slapped the log in uproarious laughter behind him as he pointed at his trainer, “Hahaha! He got beaten up! Serves you right!”

  “L-Laugh it up!” Shucking the dirt off his hoodie and pants, Matt sulked lightly for a second before he turned back to Valerie, “W-Was that all of it?”

  “Oh, not at all,” Valerie waved away his concerns, “I used the one I thought was the coolest. It's mostly avoidance and verbal defense rather than moves like that. You wanna avoid places that look suspicious, scream for help if someone does approach you, and if it really comes to an altercation, attack weak spots, like poking someone in the eyes or…”

  Valerie mimed a kick to the crotch, forcing Matt's face into a grimace.

  She rummaged through her backpack, “Yeah, I also got this on the way here, a self-defense spray. It's made of Figy Berry. It said one spray will even get some more fearsome Pokemon to stop in their tracks. It's better if I’m gone when they catch their bearings, though, because they’ll be mad once they manage to work through the pain.”

  “I-I get it,” Matt nodded along, sitting down next to his Patrat, “B-But what if someone attacks you with a Pokemon? T-The spray can’t be the only thing, r-right?”

  Sharing a look with Sybil, Valerie continued, “We haven’t tested this yet, but Sybil knows Teleport. Best case scenario, she can simply teleport us out of any dangerous situations.”

  “A-And if she can’t?”

  “Xatu primarily support other Pokemon in battle, so I doubt it's impossible for us to find a way to apply that to protecting me. We’d still have to learn shielding moves like Reflect and Light Screen or others like Ally Switch or Trick Room, but I think Sybil will get the hang of new moves sooner or later, right? I say all of that is something we can work on while on the road.”

  Sybil bowed in response, and Valerie turned to Larry, “Worst case, I can always rely on brute force to rough ‘em up a bit or use a Sandstorm to make my escape, right, Larry?”

  “You bet it!” Larry smacked his chest proudly, ‘Anyone who wants to hurt us is going to be sent packing!’

  “T-Then better to try it now than in the heat of the moment, r-right?” Matt argued.

  “Sure, there’s just one issue…”

  …

  Valerie stood side-by-side with Sybil, holding onto her wings with one of her arms, “Alright! I’m ready!”

  Sybil focused for barely a second before she and Valerie appeared just a few steps to her left, her hair billowing upwards for a short second with the flash of Psychic-TE from Teleport, which rolled off of her and her Pokemon.

  Immediately following that, Valerie clutched at her mouth with wide eyes as she stumbled over and into a bush and began violently throwing up, “Bluugh! Bleeegh!”

  “I-Is it that bad?” Matt questioned in a worried tone, looking between Larry, Sybil, and Patrat.

  Valerie adjusted her ponytail out of vomit range as Sybil and Larry put a worried wing and arm on her back, still fighting to regain control of herself, she cried out between convulsions, “Bllaargh! What-pft! Bluurgh! Do you think?!”

  ‘Oof, that looks bad…’ Larry comments as he pats her on the back. It turns out, while Pokemon were entirely ok with being teleported, humans didn’t share the same inclination. The sudden motions of a teleport were like a rollercoaster ride on the circulatory system and stomach of the human being teleported.

  It was the main reason why people shied away from it when possible, even a short and simple teleport like the one performed on Valerie would disorient and, most importantly, force someone to heave up the entirety of the contents of their stomach. If one were susceptible to motion sickness, it could even force someone off their feet.

  Matt pulled at his collar as he averted his eyes from her, “S-Sorry…”

  “Pfeh! Pto!” Spitting away the leftovers of the experience, Valerie finally rose from the bush, “That. Sucked. That was all of my breakfast…”

  “People online said you needed to get acclimated to teleporting, but I didn’t know it sucked THIS much.” Quickly retrieving a bottle of water, Valerie rubbed her mouth clean before washing her hands off with the rest.

  “Y-You’re supposed to do multiple, right?” Matt questioned, “I doubt another is, uh, in the cards for you?”

  It was a given that some people put up with the disorientation of the experience, simply gritting through it until the feeling of teleportation was normalized to them. Many Ace Trainers and other professional trainers put the work in to get used to it.

  Valerie grimaced harshly, like she’d just sucked a lemon, “Uuurgh…I don’t wanna, but I need to get used to it if I wanna teleport regularly. Being able to travel quickly using a Psychic-Type is the biggest reason to get one…”

  “W-When are we leaving for Pewter City? Maybe you can, uh, split up the workload until then?” Matt reasoned, “Train on the road, or, uh, something?”

  “Tomorrow or the day after, I want to have that call with Larry’s mom before we leave, since I don’t know how the phone reception is in Viridian Forest. But I guess I’ll have to pace myself with the Teleports…” Valerie deliberated for a second as she shared a look with Sybil. Grabbing the bird's wing, she closed her eyes in determination, “But give me another one! Right now! Last one!”

  FLASH!

  Valerie was back in the bushes before Larry could even register, “BLUUUGH! It's even worse -BLUURGH! The second time!”

  Poketoon was released on the Pokemon YouTube Channel, which really had me reevaluating the way I saw some stuff about Pokemon.