"This wouldn't have happened if you weren't so reckless!"

Vivian jolted from her spot on the couch. We were in the lounge currently discussing what move her second Pokémon, Paimon, would be taught. We turned our heads towards the angry voice and saw Bradley stalking towards us with an angry Caitlyn following him.

"Are you listening?!" she yelled."How could I not!" he yelled back. "They can probably hear you in District Nine! I don't need you to tell me I screwed up! Just drop it!"

"If you had just-" she began but was cut off by Bradley as he stopped and whirled to face her. "Will you let it go!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Stop!" I raised my voice. "What the hell is going on?!"

He whirled to face me. "Ask her!" he shouted. "I'm sure she'd love to explain in detail about how I screwed up! I'm going to the barracks! At least, she won't be able to follow me there!"

He turned and pushed past Caitlyn and left the lounge. I turned to Caitlyn and gave her a questioning look.

"Deci's dead!" she shouted.

"...W-What?" Vivian took the words right out of my mouth.

"Deci's dead!" Caitlyn repeated.

"...Wha-mmf!?"

I covered Vivian's mouth before she could ask another question. There were a handful of trainers spread out in the room, none of whom were bothering to hide their interest in our conversation.

"Not here!" I hissed. "Let's move this outside." And began to pull them out of the Lounge. My grip was firm so neither of the girls managed to break free. Only when we arrived at the training ground did I relax my grip on them. Before they could complain about their wrists, I gave a brief apology and an explanation between laboured breaths.

"...When you're ready," I motioned to Caitlyn. "Start wherever you'd like."

She took another breath before she spoke up.

"It happened on our shift," she began. "The supervising trainer split us up and paired us with more experienced trainers. I was sent to the apple orchard while Bradley went to the pear orchard. For the most part, my mission went the same way that your mission in the district went. I had several encounters with wild Pokémon that were after the apples but my Pokémon were able to handle most of them. The ones that I couldn't were taken care of by the other trainer. Things were fine until they there were only two hours left on the shift."

"The supervisor radioed me to go to the pear orchard," she continued. "I was worried that Bradley had gotten injured, so I ran there. When I got there, I found the supervisor there with Bradley and the trainer he was paired up with. Bradley was sitting on the ground cradling something in his arms. When I walked up to him, I saw..." she stopped and looked ready to burst into tears.

"Go on," I said gently as Vivian gave her a much-needed hug.

"...Thanks," she whispered and took another breath. "It was Deci," she continued sadly. "Bradley was ignoring my questions, so I asked the supervisor and the other trainer what happened. They told me that Bradley was doing well on the mission at first. He took care of most of the wild Pokémon by himself or with the other trainer. He didn't have any other problems until he encountered a Hitmontop."

"A Hitmontop," I stated, knowing what was coming. "He tried dealing with it himself knowing that Deci was at a clear disadvantage, didn't he?"

She nodded. "The other trainer ran over to their location when he heard the commotion. He saw Deci laying still on the ground and the Hitmontop getting ready to attack Bradley. His Pokémon quickly killed the Hitmontop and he radioed the supervisor before checking up on Deci. They told me he died instantly."

She stopped to get a grip on her emotions. Vivian gave her another hug. As I wondered what I were to do if one of mine were to... I tightened my fists.

Whismur, especially Exploud, were among my many favourites from childhood. Nostalgic memories of a loud alarm clock came to the forefront of my mind.

"I did my best to comfort Bradley," she continued. "The other trainers were very sympathetic to him. The supervisor even let him take over manning the guard station while he took over patrolling the orchard. This way Bradley wouldn't have an incomplete mission on his record, and he would still get paid for his mission."

"That was very nice of him," I noted dryly.

She nodded. We stood rooted in silence once more.

"S-so what now?" a certain redhead asked worriedly, breaking the silence. "W-will he have to retake his Ordeal a-and try to get another one by himself?"

Caitlyn shook her head. "The supervisor let Bradley bury Deci in the orchard before he sent him to the guard station. After Bradley was set up in the station, I had to get back to my patrol," she said. "The trainer I was partnered with asked me what was wrong with how distracted I was. I explained what happened and pretty much asked the same thing. He was very sympathetic like the others. He told me that since Bradley already passed his Ordeal once and proved himself capable as a trainer that he doesn't have to retake it."

"Even after this, they still consider him capable?" I asked.

She shrugged. "He said these things happen, especially to rookie trainers," she said. "The higher rank trainers are more forgiving since Bradley still technically a rookie. He should have retreated and gotten the other trainer once he saw that he was at a clear disadvantage. As long as he learns from his mistake today and understands that sometimes you need backup, they won't hold it out against him."

"I guess he still has Deci's pokeball with him?" I asked. "Is it still usable?"

She nodded. "Yes," she said. "He'll need to go to the Pokemart and pay $50 to have it reset and re-registered. We can go with him and keep him safe from wild Pokémon, but not help him capture the Pokémon by weakening it for him. Otherwise, he will lose face and the respect of the higher ranks. It's important that he does the capture himself."

"Right," I muttered. Silence reigned again. A few seconds later, a tug on my sleeves broke my concentration.

A young girl of twelve peered up at me, looking for reassurance. It wasn’t that hard to see that the girl has grown quite attached to me. Presumably because I was the eldest of the group.

"This is reality," I said, crouching to look her in the eyes, wiping away her tears just like I often did for Rosa. "We all knew that becoming Pokémon trainers would be a difficult road. Remember the quote?"

Vivian sniffed. "W-when ad-adversity comes, t-that's-" and trailed off, embarrassed that she couldn't say the rest.

I ruffled her hair gently. "When adversity strikes, that's when you have to be the most calm." I recited. "Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded and press on. That's how I survived. That's how we'll survive."

After a few moments of thoughtful thinking, I looked up to find Caitlyn staring sadly at the ground. I narrowed my eyes at her and asked something that had been on my mind for a while now.

"...Why were the two of you yelling when you entered the Lounge?"

Caitlyn didn't look up. I saw her face grow red then begin to pale.

"We were on the way back from the mission office after collecting our pay," she said quietly. "I tried getting him to talk to me on the magnet train on the way here. After a while of me talking to him, he finally snapped at me to shut up. He said he didn't want to hear my voice. He just needed some quiet. I don't know why but I got really angry with him and began yelling at him. I... I blamed him for Deci's death."

When Caitlyn finally looked up at us, there were tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what came over me," she said finally. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," I said coldly, tone softening as I realized that I was dealing with a teenager, one who has yet to deal with the vicissitudes of life, not that the hardships, if any, of my first life was worth mentioning.

"I know," she said sadly. "I'll go apologize to him."

"No," I stopped her. "You apologizing now won't help the situation. You need to give him some space. I'll go talk to him."

She nodded slowly.

"Why don't you spend some time with your Pokémon," I suggested softly. "No training, just go somewhere to relax together and try to keep your mind on something else."

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Don't accept any missions for tomorrow," I told her. "We're both going with Bradley tomorrow to protect him while he catches another Pokémon."

"So soon?" she asked, pursing her lips. "He just lost Deci."

"We'll give him tonight to mourn," I said. "He needs to move past this. I think getting another Pokémon will help heal the pain he's going through. Hopefully, he'll get another Pokémon early tomorrow and he can work on taming it quickly. That way he can start taking missions again. It's for the best if he moves forward."

"If you say so," she responded slowly. "I'm just going to wander the training grounds for a while until I head back to bed. I'll be up early so we can head out. Just... try to help him through this. At least one of us should be there for him."

I nodded. "I'll take care of him," I told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Caitlyn just nodded and started to walk away from us. We watched her go before I turned around and placed my hands on Vivian's shoulders.

"Follow after her please?" I asked. "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

To my sudden request, Vivian tilted her head cutely before nodding enthusiastically. Not long after she had left, trailing after Caitlyn, I released both Synin and Zatanna from their pokeballs. They must have sensed that something was wrong with me because Synin was uncharacteristically silent and Zatanna did not immediately bound up to me.

"Bad news," I told them quietly. "We lost one of us today. Deci's dead."

Synin flew in a circle. He squawked loudly thrice upon landing. Zatanna's ears drooped down, and she sat down. She began to howl mournfully at the sky. I gave them a debrief of what would happen tomorrow and recalled them. They weren't particularly pleased but understood that needs must.

When I entered the Centre, I headed straight towards the barracks. Bradley was laying in his usual bed staring at the top bunk. I sat down next to him and just waited. He didn't acknowledge me for a long time. Finally, after a long period of silence he spoke up.

"What am I to do now?" he asked quietly.

"This is what we're going to do," I told him, after gathering my thoughts together. "Tomorrow morning, you are going to the Pokemart to reset your pokeball and have it registered to you again. After that you, Caitlyn, and I are going into the Wilds to find you a Pokémon to catch. We will protect you, while you do the actual catching.

Once you have another Pokémon, we'll come back to the Centre to scan it and heal it for any possible injuries. Then, we'll go to the training grounds where you will do your best to tame it before sundown. That way you can get back up to your feet and continue taking missions the following day."

"Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," I confirmed.

We both stayed quiet for another long moment. Silence was golden.

"Dexter," he said quietly, after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Deci's dead," he said with a broken voice.

He covered his eyes with his arm. I could see tears falling down his cheeks.

"I know," I sighed. "I know..."

***

[Next day: North Gate]

Initially, we were shocked that Bradley still chose the mountains as his ‘Second Ordeal’. Soon tall grass quickly became rough terrain. Several times, we spotted small wild Pokémon, but they ran off as soon as they saw our group.

We continued walking towards the mountains occasionally stopping to stare at wild Pokemon from a distance. At one point, we saw a large group of Pokémon grazing far from us which Bradley recognised as a herd of Phanpy and Donphan.

He stopped to stare at them for a moment, but we were able to persuade him otherwise.

We continued walking for a while until we finally reached the base of the mountain. We stopped to stare at it. It was a fairly large mountain but fortunately did not have a steep climb. There was a winding path through the trees growing on the mountain that led to the top. We could see caves of different shapes and sizes spread out through the side of the mountain. I noticed that some of the caves had worn signs outside marking them as mines that the city state used.

"Let's go," Bradley said after staring at the mountain for a bit.

The rest of us turned to our Pokémon to get their attention.

"We're heading into dangerous territory," I told them. "You'll need to be alert to your surroundings. Be ready to defend against any wild Pokémon that may attack us."

Zatanna barked and the rest made some sound of agreement. We began our way up the mountain through the path. We walked for a bit before we had our first encounter with a wild Pokémon.

As we walked around a bend in the path, Caitlyn was tripped by what we thought to be a rock. She fell to the ground with a surprised yell and we all turned to her. She was laying on the ground, staring at a growling Geodude.

The Geodude picked up a large rock and prepared to use Rock Throw at her.

"Zatanna! HP: Fire!" "Paimon! Arm Guard!" Vivian and I yelled at the same time.

Zatanna launched her fiery orbs at the same time that the Geodude threw the rock. They met in mid-air and the large rock splintered into many smaller ones. While Paimon covered her back with Quick Guard and Arm Thrust, Caitlyn took the opportunity to run over to us.

"Bradley?" I asked.

"No!" he responded. "Take it out."

"HP: Fire!" I repeated. "Magical Leaf!" Caitlyn shouted.

Both attacks impacted the Geodude. When our Pokémon stopped their attacks, all that was left of the Geodude was charred gravel, diced and sliced. Bradley quickly turned to Caitlyn.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she said. "It just surprised me. I thought it was just a normal rock."

"We'll have to be more careful," I said. "That was too close for comfort."

Vivian and the rest agreed with me. We continued our way up. After walking for a bit longer, we suddenly hear sounds a few feet off the path behind some trees. After some discussion, we decided to take a look. We made our way slowly and quietly using the trees as cover. Eventually, we came up to a small clearing with a small cave on the side of the mountain. There were many metallic Pokémon entering and exiting the cave.

"...D-Durants," Vivian whispered in fright. She held onto me closely. "Leave!" she hissed quietly.

I concurred. Durants were much like Beedrill. Individually, they were not difficult Pokémon to deal with but lived in very large groups. They were small but very fast Pokémon. If they spotted us, they would attack us in force. We would be stripped down to the bones and meat to be taken back to the colony in a matter of minutes. Not even Nala, Caitlyn’s Litleo, with her type advantage would last long against a horde of them.

"Don't even think about it," I whispered to Bradley. "These metal pincers will slice through us easily. Let's go."

In agreement, we silently backed away from the area. Once we made it back to the original path, we took a quick breather. However, it was then that we all felt the ground begin to shake.

"Earthquake," Caitlyn yelled as Vivian clutched my arm for support.

"No!" Bradley said quickly. "Hide! Take cover quickly!"

We all rushed to obey. We all just managed to find hiding spots within some bushes when a large snake-like Pokémon burst from the ground. The anime certainly did not do it justice as the boulder-eating behemoth appeared in front of us. It’s said that around 100 years after its composition becomes even more diamond-like. it would evolve into a Steelix. How absurd is this world really, when such monsters can be captured in tiny balls of advanced technology?

"Nobody move," Bradley whispered to us. "Don't even make a sound."

We all stood frozen in fear. Even our Pokémon stood still. The Onix turned its head and scanned the area. When its head turned in our direction, I felt like my heart jumping out of my body. It continued scanning the area from up high until Vivian let out a small whimper.

Its head rotated 360 degrees, the Onix’s beady black eyes staring in our direction.

"Beleric," I whispered quickly. "We need you to vanish and make some noise to lead the Onix in the direction of the Durant colony."

For once, Beleric did not immediately resist. He quickly vanished and a few seconds later, we could hear some noises on the other side of the path moving away from us. The Onix then turned in that direction and roared, diving back into the ground. The ground began to shake again, and I saw a mound of earth moving in the direction of the Durant Colony. A few moments later, we could hear the Onix roaring again and the sound of fighting.

"It must have spotted the Durants," I said urgently. "Let's go while it's feeding on them!"

We all quickly left our hiding spots and ran in the opposite direction back down the path. We only stopped to catch our breath once the sounds of fighting could no longer be heard. Beleric appeared a moment later next to me. I thanked him for his actions before turning to Bradley.

"You actually volunteered to come here for your Ordeal?" I asked incredulously.

He gave me a crooked smile. It was the first smile I had seen on his face since before losing Deci.

"What do we do now?" Caitlyn asked. "If we go back up the path, we risk running into that behemoth."

"Let's try some caves on the way down," I suggested. "We might get lucky. Any suggestions, Vivi?"

The redhead had her head down. I frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked. Vivian remained silent. When she finally raised her head up, we could see tears in her eyes.

"Y-You're not m-mad?" she asked us timidly. "Be-because of me, w-we-"

"Vivi, no!" Caitlyn exclaimed. "We don't! I barely held myself back there. I was absolutely terrified too."

"Yeah," Bradley added. "Same here, even though I experienced this already, besides... didn't you have Caitlyn's back with that Geodude earlier? You did good, kiddo."

"Yes, I haven't thanked you yet for saving me." Caitlyn smiled. "So, thank you. To both you and Dexter."

"No problemo," I waved my hand lazily. "They're right, you know." I told Vivian. "You didn't have to come with us. But you did." I ruffled her hair. "You did your best."

"Really?" she asked wide-eyed.

"Really," I nodded.

After she had bawled her eyes out, into my jacket no less, we made our way back down slowly, going off the paths to occasionally check the entrances of the caves.

Some of them went deep into the mountain and were shrouded in darkness. Others only went in a few feet and the insides were visible from the entrances. After checking several caves, we found a small one that Zatanna immediately entered and began sniffing around. She turned to us and began barking.

In the corner of the cave, there was what appeared to be a nest, next to which were a small pile of nuts, berries, and tubers. I petted Zatanna's head.

"Good girl," I told her. She wagged her tail and followed me back outside where the rest of our group waited.

"Well?" Caitlyn asked, Nala and Rozera by her side.

"There's definitely a Pokémon living in that cave," I said. "There's a nest and a small hoard of food in there. The Pokémon is probably out scavenging for more food. It's clearly a herbivore based on the food it has stored."

"Should we wait for it to come back?" Caitlyn asked. "We don't know what Pokémon lives there or when it will be back. Maybe we should keep moving?"

Bradley was about to respond when I hear a noise moving quickly towards us. I turned in the direction of the noise and acted instantly.

"Get down!" I yelled.

I dove to the ground, pulling Vivian with me. Bradley dove for Caitlyn and covered her body as a small projectile flew over us. The projectile turned in mid-air and went back in the direction it came from. We raised our heads and found a small skull-headed Pokémon glaring at us from the other side of the clearing.

"A Cubone!" I exclaimed.

It was clearly furious at us for disturbing its home. It raised its bone and prepared another Boomerang attack.

"It's mine," Bradley declared excitedly.
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One blackmail later, the Cubone reluctantly let the brunette capture it.