Swanna Song, Sung Throughout Sinnoh

“Hey mom,” Gary spoke quickly, smiling.

After letting out a little sigh, his mother nodded. “Hey.” She looked very tired, but also fairly pleasant compared to how she usually was.

Gary wondered how long this calm would last. “I just got my fourth Badge, I own new Pokemon, and I’m headed out as soon as I figure out the fifth Gym. And I just wanted you to know I’m fine and have been staying out of trouble.” Sort of, Gary kept to himself. Right? I haven’t done anything wild and crazy. Not like, since Isaac...

His mother breathed impatiently out of her nose. “Great. Glad to hear you’re alive. Clearly, so am I.” She snickered lightly.

Gary nodded. She looks so stressed, Gary saw. Tired. I really am driving her crazy. Killing... her... “No news on June, yet.” He swallowed.

His mother nodded. “Okay,” she replied simply.

It’s like she doesn’t even care... Truly, why do I keep contacting her? We have nothing to say to each other.

“Your grandmother hasn’t been doing too well, lately,” Gary’s mom spoke.

Gary gasped loudly in the Pokemon Center. “What do you mean??”

“She’s been having issues with her knees, that’s all. Your aunt took her to the hospital a couple of days ago.”

“Is she okay?”

She nodded. “She may need surgery at a later time, but she was released and your aunt will stay with her at her place for a bit to make sure she’s alright.”

“Okay, good.” Gary let out a breath, grateful it wasn’t anything more serious.

The silence returned for them.

Well, I guess that’s it, Gary thought. What else is there to say, now? Still, he waited a moment longer.

His mother also remained silent. Until, “How many of those things do you own now, anyway?”

“Huh?” Gary didn’t understand what had been asked. She can’t be talking about my Pokemon, right?

“Your Pokemon. How many have you caught now? A thousand, yet? Are there more?”

Gary couldn’t keep in the laugh that jumped out. “You care?” He laughed some more.

“No, but it is your life now, right? I really hate it, but there’s nothing else to talk about. I might as well ask.” She was smirking at him.

“Well, I’m far from a thousand, but I definitely did promise I’d catch ‘em all, right? All one thousand. Or more, even! Whatever is out there! I promised you that, mom.”

“I wish you’d made a different promise to me instead, Gary.” Her smirk was now gone, her face serious. “You can catch all the Pokemon, get all the Badges, and beat all the Trainers in the world, and I won’t be happy until it’s all over, for good. But you just won’t let it stop.” She inhaled shakily.

Gary inhaled as well, his eyes watering.

His mother sniffled and wiped at her eyes. Sniffling again, she asked, “Are you happy?”

Gary blinked as air left his body. He nodded while thinking about his journey. In other words, he nodded before he had settled on an answer. He nodded, but he had other thoughts about how he should answer that question. And he knew that the fact that he even had to dwell on it bothered him more than anything, so he just nodded some more, quickly. “Yes. I’m happy that I’m alive. That I’m here. That I can help others, and carry on the legacy of my sister. I can help discover the mysteries this world is hiding. I can make it a better place. Did you hear, by the way? Team Solace? They’re dead! It’s all over. The leader is done. All their evil and spreading terror is done!”

Gary’s mom nodded, closing her eyes. “I am glad.”

“I knew it! I knew you didn’t really support those creeps!” Gary let out happily.

Opening her eyes, she responded, “I’m just glad your life won’t be in danger of them trying to clean up the world.”

“What??” Gary couldn’t believe what she had just said.

She shook her head. “They were just trying to help. And their methods went too far sometimes, putting people’s lives at risk. But I personally believe that they were good people. But, at least with them gone, they won’t cause as much chaos. But, that only leaves the Pokemon to reign again. It just will never end.”

Gary swallowed and then shook his head as he opened his mouth to speak. I can’t believe you’re still like this. The words never came out. It’s like Kiwi said after all, he thought. Isaac being dead hasn’t killed the ideology off at all. And with that monster still around, it only confuses things further on what side to choose. For some people, anyway...

Gary’s mom sighed again. “So.” She stared at her son tiredly. “How many Pokemon do you have?”

*

“In the Sinnoh region you’ve captured twenty Pokemon so far. Altogether, you...” Kiwi paused, her eyes lowering from behind her blue-tinted glasses as she focused on something. “You’ve captured sixty-seven Pokemon in total since you began.” Her lowered eyes rose up to Gary again.

Gary’s own eyes lowered and then he closed them and nodded.

“I’m sorry, Gary.”

Gary looked up quickly and he squinted at her. “For what? It’s not a big deal, you know? Just tell me what I’ve captured. It’s fine. Losing a Pokemon doesn’t take away the fact that you once owned it. Right?”

“Of course not,” Kiwi responded.

“If anything, I was lying to myself all this time. Counting her out as if I never caught her. Mentally removing a number off from my total count. But, no more. It’s a dishonor to her service on my team. And why she was there. Absol protected me. She died saving my life. It was wrong of me to-” He inhaled shakily, his heart beating rapidly. “I shouldn’t have kept that hidden. I was lying to myself. I wasn’t ready to handle remembering her. But I have to. In total, I’ve captured sixty-seven Pokemon.”

“And Aly has one hundred and thirty and Rob has one hundred and five,” Kiwi brought up.

Gary’s body was stiff, and then wavered weakly, his face fallen.

“As usual, you’re behind.”

Gary was usually strong, especially around his friends. But now, he would have fallen to his face if he weren’t in his chair. Instead, his head collapsed onto the keyboard. Several pings and chimes from his collision jolted him back up with a start, but seeing Kiwi, he felt sad again. He lowered his head in shame. “You’re doing a great job as a fill-in for Prof. Oak...” Gary grumbled.

“You’re trying hard. Get a Poke Radar from my Aide when you reach seventy original Pokemon species.”

“What??” Gary looked up sharply.

“Work harder and capture seventy original Pokemon species. Afterwards, one of my Aides in Sinnoh will find you and give you something that might help make capturing even easier.”

“What do you mean? How?”

“I have a couple of Aides in the Sinnoh region doing research for me. You have sixty-one original Pokemon right now. If you can just get to nine more, I’ll let you have the Poke Radar. It’s a device that will help you find rarer Pokemon. I’m sure it will come in handy for you.”

For “me?” Gary thought sadly. “Do Aly and Rob have one...?” he asked hesitantly.

“I only have one to give. If not, I wouldn’t treat you any differently,” Kiwi answered without hesitating, staring hard at Gary.

“Yeah. Like Prof. Oak’s book, right?” Gary said moodily.

Kiwi breathed out, cocking her head and tilting her mouth. “Gary.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little mad right now. All these Pokemon I now own, and have to raise. I didn’t even catch them all myself. Melissa got me maybe half of them.” Gary stopped talking, slowly shaking his head as he stared down at the keyboard. “What have I really been doing that I’ve fallen so far behind my friends...?”

“Aly is still on her third Badge. She’s having trouble with the Steel Gym Leader, Byron, in Canalave City,” Kiwi brought up.

“No way,” Gary muttered.

“And Rob got his second Badge from Byron’s son, Roark, in Oreburgh City. You’re in the lead, Gary. How can you possibly be behind? You're doing just fine.”

“But-!”

“Not everyone’s goal, or even talent, is to capture a ton of Pokemon. And it makes the responsibility as a Trainer to raise them all, that much harder. You could possibly be the strongest in the team.”

“But I lost to Aly in the Indigo League!”

“I never said you were unstoppable. What I’m saying is, don’t let one thing hold you back from acknowledging your other achievements. Don’t chase those behind you in one field, when you’re leading in another. You’re you. Do this your way and figure out how to learn from others. But don’t let the urge to be the best at everything become an obsession and lead you into last place in all categories.”

Gary nodded, narrowing his eyebrows. “Right! I won’t!”

“Good,” Kiwi said. “Now stop moping and get back in the game!”

“I never left! I’m here!” Gary smiled determinedly.

“I’m really glad Porygon-Z was a help for you,” Kiwi added. “I miss it a lot. He was really fun to have around the Lab.”

“Really? Doesn’t it scream and act crazy?” Gary asked.

“It’s funny. Prof. Sketchit and Prof. Oak actually did seem to have some issues with it at first,” Kiwi admitted. “It would do wild, crazy things, jump into the computers and play pranks like scaring people from other regions who were friends with Prof. Oak, and destroy very important files; but not longer after I got back to Pallet Town and stayed with Prof. Oak and Prof. Sketchit, we really took to each other, and had a great relationship! When you took it away I was kinda sad. He was a great help in some ways. He behaved and everything.”

“Wow! That’s pretty cool! It’s been kind of a nuisance for me! Ha ha ha!”

Kiwi smiled, nodding. “I mean, work for Prof. Sketchit got a lot easier, at least. Maybe you’ll see him around for a change.”

“Ha. Say, has there been any word on Prof. Cynthia?”

Kiwi looked sadly at Gary and then shook her head. “No. At this point it’s becoming a true concern, now. Everyone is aware of the situation, except you, as usual.”

“I’m so sorry I’ve been working so hard on-!” Gary tried to argue.

“Rumors are spreading so, since you live under a rock, try not to believe too much about what you hear online. Honestly...” Her eyes lowered. “I don’t know what to think about this, either. This isn’t like Prof. Cynthia. Not at all. I’m... really concerned. A lot of people are. But, she was the Champion. She’s powerful. Many think she must be okay. It’s even going around that she may have even been kidnapped.”

“That’s terrifying. But no one has made a ransom?”

Kiwi shook her head. She looked up at Gary and said, “Just keep your focus on your journey. Like I said, don’t fall off. Rob got his second Badge from Roark, and he told me he’s coming to Eterna to get his next Badge. He’s catching up. You can’t get distracted.”

Gary nodded. “I won’t. I’m headed to...” Gary thought for a second. “Um... I can’t remember. There’s been a lot of changes to this region, but especially geographically since Team Solace destroyed Mt. Coronet.”

“Yeah. I would have said Hearthome City was the closest Gym from Eterna, but the beauty, Fantina, retired to become a Top Coordinator instead.”

“Oh,” Gary nodded. “I was going to go for Snowpoint City, but apparently it’s a whole snow terrain that’s very difficult to travel through and I’m really trying to strengthen some of my newer guys up before making such a journey.”

“That’s considerate of you.”

Gary nodded. “Yeah. It looks like Sunyshore City is the furthest Gym, so I’ll head there last, I guess. Save Snowpoint for my seventh or something. But that also depends on where the Sinnoh League will take place.”

“Yeah,” Kiwi nodded. “Isn’t Daint City near you? The Fairy type Gym?”

“That’s where I was going to!” Gary now remembered. “Daint City! The Fairies! Yeah. It’s said to be in a hard to reach location in the woods. Might be a great time to change over some Pokemon, actually... Say, how’s Hoothoot been??”

“Hey! Kid! Team Solace is on the news! Check it out!” a voice called out.

“Huh??” Gary jumped and turned back to see a man in a black suit waving at him! He squinted in confusion, not recognizing the guy. “OH!” Gary’s shoulder was hit!

“Sorry!” another man in a gray suit yelled, looking back at Gary briefly and reaching the first man.

“Come on, Kid! They just got on!” The man was speaking to a guy who must have been named Kid!

When the first man’s initial words finally sunk in, Gary shook his head and leaped to his feet! Team Solace?! Wait! It can’t be! They’re back?!

A crowd was already gathering in the lobby as more calls and yells rang through the building, out the doors, and through the city.

Gary focused on the hanging flat-screen TV as more people piled in, his eyes and mouth huge with horror.

On the screen was a shaky, low-quality image of a man.

Gary squinted, a ringing of familiarity going off in his head.

The man adjusted the black tie on his all-white suit, standing in clean, shiny white shoes. His chest was strong and protruding, his hair looking freshly cut. He was a really good-looking man. But the situation was anything but. He opened his arms with a smile. “Ladies and gentlemen! Please. I kindly ask you to refer to me as Ray. I can all but hear the shouts and yells of you all trying to alert your friends and call your families to turn on their televisions and radios. Yes. But time is of the essence, whatever that means. Am I right?” He laughed, leaning his head back.

“Oh, my!” Nurse Joy had gasped, her hands clasped together at her chest.

She had a Blissey at her side with the same frightened position.

Ray adjusted his tie again.

Ray... Gary kept to himself, struggling to jog his memory about the man. Who is he...?

“Fear not, supporters of Team Solace. Our organization is now under my control after the passing of our great leader, Isaac. But it has fallen into my care, at the insistence, of Issac! I say, it was Isaac’s wish, that I continue the intended goals of Team Solace, as if he were still in command. And that I shall do! And should my demise come, many, many more are lined up to continue our, Team Solace’s, ultimate war! The attacks shall continue, and that demon Pokemon who still runs free, aided now by Legendary Pokemon, as we all saw in Canalave City, will be beheaded! Nothing has changed. Isaac died, for the truth you all have witnessed! There was once confusion as to what this monster is, but NOW! NOW we see that Pokemon are our enemies, and the Legendary and Mythical Legendaries have come to announce who they side with. Humans are helpless against such forces, but Team Solace is here to stop this opposition no matter what, for the future of human life prospering!” He stopped, smiling even more sinisterly. “And if you’re listening, child... If my young friend out there happens to get this message... Don’t forget. My offer stands. I know you’re still out there. Join us, my boy. Team Solace still stands.”

The view went completely gray with static before giving out to a newsroom. Two news reporters, the man in a black suit, the woman in a white dress, were looking out from the screen in complete shock, silent as worms. They looked to each other before turning back right before the screen went blank. The black words PLEASE STAND BY were now all that was on the white screen.

The entire building was quiet, but there were cries and noises from outside.

“I told you,” someone muttered. “I told you,” the man now spoke a little louder, a southern accent getting more recognizable the more he spoke, his voice also getting more frantic. It was an old black male with balding, gray hair. “I told you all that Pokemon were evil. And Team Solace has proved it. They won’t stop, because these damned evil monsters won’t, neither! They are Monsters. Pocket Monsters. Better yet, it fits better that they’re Pocket Demons if ya ask me! That evil woman Pokemon is the ruler of them all! The Devil is a woman, I tells ya!”

This caused more talks throughout the building, and some people started looking around. Some eyes even stopped on Gary, which resulted in more eyes on the child.

“It sounds like you need to get out of there, Gary,” Kiwi told him. “Maybe call me on that cell phone you’ve got. If you get out of this alive.”

“I’ll be in touch. Stand by for a couple of transfers.”

“As long as Deino isn’t gonna be sent back to me with a hole in his mouth,” Kiwi shot at him, leering coldy.

“Hey!” Gary cried, hurt by her words before the call disconnected, Kiwi hanging up on him. With a growl, he slammed the receiver down. “Come on, Kiwi... Not now,” Gary grumbled irritably and turned, focusing on a lot of adults glaring at him now. He sneered right back at them, silently daring them to make the wrong move.

Suddenly, he froze, his face full of shock, and he let out a loud gasp as he remembered exactly who Ray was.

*

Things are only getting worse, Gary thought. Far worse... Team Solace is back after all, and ran by none other than Ray. That creep I met in Celadon City when I was arrested and taken in for suspicion of kidnapping June back in Kanto. He had been in custody for some kind of Pokemon murder accusation and we happened to end up in the same cell. So. Who was he speaking to? A boy, he had said. A boy that he made an offer to. Someone he hoped was listening. He couldn’t possibly have meant... me? There’s no way.

Gary had managed to make his way out of the crowded Pokemon Center and leave Eterna City, now walking through the woods, trying to make his way through Route 211.

His Pokedex promised this would get him to Daint City, where the Fairy Gym was. The problem was, the Pokedex kept changing direction, saying to go one way, and changing up and saying it was a different way Gary had just passed, the locator then popping up in a different spot!

This must be why no one finds this place! Gary complained to himself. What’s wrong with this thing? He shook the Pokedex angrily.

“Electivire! Vire!” Electivire sent out a blast of lightning at something ahead.

“Hoooooooot!” Hoothoot cried out, flapping his wings in a panic, smacking Gary several times in the head.

Gary yelled out and swung his arms out wildly in return before falling to the ground.

The new creature Electivire attacked landed on the ground in front of them.

“WHOA!” Gary leaped up and stared down at a Pokemon. He grabbed up a Great Ball and threw it. “A Machop!”

The Great Ball took in the Machop and after a few shakes, stopped, the Pokemon caught, and it was sent off to Prof. Sketchit.

Gary let out a happy breath. “Just eight more to go, eh, Kiwi?” he said to himself, smiling slightly. Then, he turned to Electivire and frowned. “I guess you’re itching to battle, huh? Attacking on your own.”

“Electivire!” Electivire’s eyes widened and he smiled big.

“Hoooothooooooooot!” Hoothoot called out, resting on Gary’s right shoulder. “Hooooot!”

The Owl flapped his wings and Gary was rocked by the weight but kept himself standing. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” he smiled at him. Just looking at his old friend made him feel so nostalgic. Like he was back in Kanto with him again. What a waste to have two Hoothoot, though, Gary kept to himself. Nothing can compare to my old friend, here.

Hoothoot settled down some, going quiet.

“Okay, then how about we test out our newest guy, Onix! GO!” Gary sent out the towering Rock and Ground type Pokemon.

Onix roared powerfully.

Electivire looked up at the intimidating Pokemon without the slightest sign of nervousness.

He’s at a pretty great level, and his Nature is enough, I guess. Honestly all the Stats on Onix except for Defense are pretty bad. But Lax is fine. He and Magneton had a great fight. “Onix, let’s start with Earthquake!”

With a roar, Onix’s tail rose and collided with the ground.

“VIRE!” Electivire stumbled backwards but then bent his knees, grinning with his eyes on the Onix.

Gary was down to one knee by now. He’s not fazed at all, Gary sneered. “Onix, Wrap!”

Onix slid along the ground to Electivire and wrapped his body around him, squeezing hard.

“Electiviiiiire,” Electivire grunted.

Got him. Thinking this, Gary kept a stern face, expecting the worst.

The worst arrived in the form of Electivire glowing white and with a shout, breaking out of Onix’s grip! He then grabbed Onix by the tail and started to spin!

It started off with Onix being dragged in big, slow circles. But eventually, Onix was spinning in the air in a complete circle, helpless to the power of Electivire! He roared out desperately.

“ONIX!” Gary called out.

Electivire released Onix, and then his eyes glowed blue!

Onix, already flying away, was outlined in blue, and then shot out at lightning speed into a tree before hitting the ground!

“ONIX! Use your Rock Slide!” Gary tried.

Onix groaned as he managed to get back up. He roared at Electivire.

Electivire grinned wider and nodded. “Vire.”

White orbs appeared around Onix’s body.

Electivire ran forward.

What’s he doing now? Gary panicked.

The orbs turned into gray Rocks outlined in white, and then shot at Electivire.

Electivire, still glowing white, swung at the Rocks with his fists! One by one, he punched away Rock after Rock after Rock! Yelling out, he then leaped at Onix once the Rocks were all gone.

“ONIX RETURN!!” Gary recalled his Pokemon.

Electivire landed on the ground and looked back at Gary, confused. “Electivire!”

“You’re really something else, Electivire. Believe it or not, I really just wanted to warm up Onix. I wasn’t looking for a full battle like that. You really are a bit too much for him.” He let out light laughter. “I’m not one to retreat, but I can’t put my new friend through that just yet. I just wanted to get him some Experience. After that, he could probably evolve!” He snickered.

Electivire crossed his arms, glaring, grumbling and growling at Gary.

“Hey, I’m sorry to use you like that, but it’s really hard training against you. You should be everything I want in a training partner, but if you beat up my newest guys, they can’t grow. I’m lucky to have you, but I can’t just send out anyone against you. As a soon-to-be Pokemon Master, I need to learn these kinds of differences. These distinctions. Please bear with me.”

Electivire rolled his eyes and kept on grumbling and complaining.

Gary smiled. “Look, I don’t know how long we’ll be out here, so I don’t want to waste my medicine battling you, win or lose, but once we get to Daint City, how about we-?”

“HEY! TRAINER!! We battlin’ or what??”

Gary and Electivire turned to the loud man approaching.

He was almost Gary’s height, only slightly taller. He had on a red, sleeveless shirt and blue jean shorts, his feet in brown sandals. His hands were in his pockets. His brown complexion matched Gary’s, his smile enormous. “Whaddaya say??”

“Electivire!”

Gary looked to Electivire.

Electivire was looking at Gary with such pleading eyes and a hopeful smile.

Why’s he so eager to fight this guy? Oh, fine. He must truly be bursting with energy. Electric types are like this. Gary turned to the man. I just hate that I need to raise June’s Pokemon, and mine! He counted something in his head for a second. “A four on four okay? Shift Battle?”

*

“Yano, Electivire, I asked for a four-on-four Shift Battle because I wanted June’s other Pokemon to battle, but you just had to taunt the poor guy and take out all of his Pokemon by yourself.” Gary took a bite of a sandwich he had bought in Eterna City. “Damn this is good!” he exclaimed. He inhaled, not able to get enough of that sweet, tangy, and spicy scent of Pignite and Combusken meat, and Miltank-jacked cheese. The sandwich was to die for!

Both Gary’s and June’s Pokemon were munching away in their separate bowls.

Electivire was chomping hard, ignoring Gary. He suddenly stood up and punched his fists together. “VIRE!”

“Digest your food and maybe we’ll fight later.” Gary rolled his eyes. “We can have one last battle before bed.” He stood up. “Like I said earlier, I’m really proud of all of you tonight. The matches we all had were great. You Electric guys I know need extra energy, and so do my Pokemon, so I wanna see some real spunk to tire you all out before bed, okay??”

Every single Pokemon cheered.

Gary grinned big in response, already tired from his own personal basic workout routine he’d been trying to stick to lately.

*

Gary stared up at the starry sky, listening to Electivire, Raichu, and Hoothoot snoring. His head was full of so many thoughts from his adventures today.

He turned to the phone in his hand, seeing the notifications that he had unread messages on his Log-A-Graph. He’d been far too busy to see what he knew had to be posts from Scientist Gary. But honestly, he didn’t understand the hype of the app. The last time he had checked it, his post about his one Badge had only just reached nine Plusles, and he got a new Supporter. In his frustration, he decided he would post his four Badges he had gotten! Surely I’ll do better with this, Gary was sure. There wasn’t any reliable service at the moment where he was at, so he just turned off the phone and his hand fell, his eyes turning back to the dark sky.

This team of mine is a mess, Gary confessed to himself. And it’s all my fault. I need to work better with Tyranitar, not ignore him. And I need to rotate more. It’s impossible for me to raise everyone equally, but I need to work on having all types of Pokemon readily available at any given moment. At least one of each. Do I own every type? These are the things I need to know. I need to know who I have to battle with. And it’s more than just that. Different, individual Pokemon of the same species can have different Abilities, skills. If I’m gonna be a Pokemon Master, I need to know all this! Gary sat up in his sleeping bag.

“Rai!” Raichu jumped up, startled awake, his cheeks sparking for a second.

Hoothoot called out and fluttered his wings as he also awoke, his feathers puffed out as he turned his head in a nearly full circle before slowly returning back, his feathers finally settling.

Electivire kept on snoring.

Gary stared at Raichu and smiled. “I’m gonna become a Pokemon Master, Raichu!” He got to his feet, amped up. “I don’t have time to sleep right now. Not with the way I feel, now! I have to battle to burn all of this sudden energy off! What do you say to a late-night Pokemon battle?” The eager boy had an idea of who he wanted to fight Raichu with, and started to turn to Hoothoot. But then...

“Vire?” Electivire was sitting up, staring at Gary with wide eyes. “Electivire??”

Gary smiled and pointed at Electivire. “Electivire! Let’s battle! Raichu and you! This can’t just be about me anymore. I have my own journey, but I also have you guys accompanying me on it. I need to power up my own Pokemon, but I want June’s to be in perfect shape for when she returns! We’re gonna kick that monster’s ass the next time we see her and save June!!”

“RAI RAI!!” Raichu leaped in the air excitedly.

But Electivire was silent.

Gary’s smile faded, and he walked over to Electivire. “Hey. We’re gonna sort out this issue between you two, too. Okay?” Gary started to reach out to the Pokemon.

Electivire frowned and his body was suddenly surrounded by sparks! He then growled low.

Gary pulled his arm back and let it fall. With a sigh, he whispered, “Electivire...”

For the rest of the night, Gary decided to burn off his energy by himself. Rather than having the Pokemon battle, he decided he needed to seriously commit to the training of his own body!

He started by running through the woods, back and forth, to and from the Pokemon until he was out of breath.

Not having a clue what he was doing, he later moved on to shadowboxing, occasionally purposely snapping thin branches he was sure would break easily with minimal pain to himself, until one branch survived the blow and he ended up with a couple of injured knuckles.

If my Pokemon are gonna get stronger, I, too, have to get stronger, Gary told himself while doing push-ups until his arms ached.

I want to get so strong, when I meet that monster, I’ll be able to punch her right through a wall, Gary pushed himself while doing sit-ups until his stomach burned.

It was after an improvised kickboxing against a tree trunk that seemed motivated by rage and exhaustion, that Gary finally stopped, collapsing to his knees, completely exhausted.

When he finally got back to his sleeping bag, he was still heaving and trying to get his quaking body to relax. That helped, he told himself. This issue with Electivire and June is a lot bigger than me, and honestly, I don’t know how to go about it when we finally get June back.

Should we ever... he added regrettably, but knew it was a possibility. And this is why I took that run and worked out, Gary continued. Because it’s this crap that I didn’t want to have to think about...

And he finally fell asleep.

Electivire sparking, his back towards Gary.

Raichu secretly watching, his own cheeks sparking in reaction to Electivire.

Hoothoot keeping as silent as possible, but also wide awake.