Erika tried to scramble backwards immediately, but the ace was far faster, bolstered by the might of his aura to the point that he seemed to blur as his fist closed in upon her.

Unfortunately for Erika, the enhancements she had gained by developing aura were limited merely to somewhat sharpened senses. While she could vaguely sense his movement, she could in no way react fast enough, and wasn't able to do anything but watch as the ace brutally jabbed her in the stomach, sending her ragdolling helplessly across the rooftop.

Erika cried out in pain, doubling over despite already being curled up on the floor and loudly dry heaving.

For all Snivy's misgivings about her, watching Erika get pummeled without reason wasn't something his honor would abide by.

This time, five vines arose, lashing out at the ace at a speed and intensity far greater than he had previously demonstrated. With an ease Erika didn't know that Snivy possessed, he manipulated the vines mid flight to change direction, forming a sort of encapsulating net that blocked off the ace's escape routes.

Sadly for Snivy, the ace remained entirely unruffled and leapt towards the vines - wait, what was he doing?

Erika watched in astonishment as the masked man performed a series of bizarre contortions, twisting himself into an inhumane posture and splaying his limbs, which enabled him to slide through the pincer attack Snivy levied at him. He sailed harmlessly through the air past the vines, and then pulled a pokeball from his pocket and launched it at Snivy.

Snivy twirled and brought his tail to bear, arresting his motion and adding spin to drastically enhance the force. Like a rapidash whip, his tail smashed the pokeball to pieces with a loud crack and sent the remainders flying back towards the ace, who promptly shielded his face with his arm and let the harmless fragments bounce off his chest.

Perhaps it was Erika's delirious state, but she could have sworn for a second that Snivy's tail glinted with a silvery sheen.

Snivy had been holding out on her, was Erika's first hateful thought. That bastard knew Iron Tail and was sandbagging the previous fight.

Her second, less hateful thought was the fact that Snivy had smashed apart an empty pokeball. Why throw an empty pokeball at Snivy?

Erika struggled to think, her body in far too much pain to facilitate her mind. That punch the ace had given her practically knocked the wind out of her, and she was still reeling from the agonizing blow.

Through the haze of pain, Erika noticed that the ace had stopped attacking and backed up to release a snarling white bear, which loosed a roar of chilling air. Erika was prepared to make a run for it and dive off the roof when she realized that it wasn't moving towards her.

The bear made no attempt to attack either Snivy nor Erika, only standing protectively in front of the ace who also had come to a still.

Her mind raced, trying to understand what was happening. Why isn't it attacking me? Is it because it's waiting for orders from the man? No. That can't be. He's an ace. Surely he must have trained it well enough to react instantly to different situations upon release. So what's going on?

The white bear towered over her, standing at a gigantic five meters in height. Its lumbering frame was rippling with explosive muscle just beneath the skin, and was covered in a rich satiny pelt. Spikes of saliva stained ice trailed downwards from the bear's chin, forming a facsimile of a beard.

I only read about these pokemon passingly while researching the grass starter variants. They called it Beartic.

Inwardly, Erika cursed her lack of knowledge. Kanto is too isolated from the other regions, and Johto is our only trading partner. If only I could get my hands on more books! Most Kantonians would have thought it some kind of mutated Ursaring, or failed to identify it at all, but at least I know it's called a beartic.

Snivy retreated back to her side, forcing himself to his full height in a classic intimidation posture. He wasn't very tall, standing at just over a meter or so, but the sight of him guarding her warmed Erika's heart a little. She did her best to remain unfazed, despite being menaced by a bear nearly five times her height.

That was when it hit her. The ace wasn't trying to send out a pokemon earlier. He was attempting to capture Snivy!

As if to confirm her suspicions, the ace suddenly spoke up. "Yeah, I thought for sure that the snivy would refuse to bond with you. You've got your hands soaked with blood, girl." He smirked as if he had just told an inside joke.

"How did you manage to do it anyways?" he asked curiously. "These justice freaks are supposed to be ridiculously intolerant, and you've definitely violated at least several of his core tenets. It's frankly quite amazing that you were able to convince him to bond."

Erika glared at him. "You wish I would tell you," she coughed at him wetly. "It's far too late now though. The bond has been formed, and Snivy is stuck to me from now on."

He considered what she said for a brief moment as if he were making a decision, before reaching into his pocket. Erika immediately tensed up, preparing to dodge out of the way and release Oddish no matter the consequences to her health, when he pulled out a thin vial containing a clear liquid. Her concentration broke as she stared in fascination, mesmerized by the fog trails rising from the solution.

That definitely wasn't water of any kind. Upon swirling the glass, the vapor cleared up and faded away, leaving behind only the solution.

"Here," said the ace. He tossed over the vial to Erika, who fumbled and barely caught it with her ruined left hand. The smooth, slippery sensation of glass on her scorched flesh made her tremble, but Erika refused to show weakness.

"What's in the vial?" she asked warily.

"Blissey serum," the man said. "Use it on your hand. It won't bring back the nerves that have already been destroyed, but it'll halt any further damage and help you retain most of your hand's functionality."

Erika's eyes bulged. Blissery serum? You could buy an entire house in the upper districts for the same amount of money it cost! Why was he giving it to her?

She left her question unvoiced and eagerly uncorked the vial, pouring it over her left hand. Since I can't escape, I might as well take a risk and trust him.

Erika winced at the lukewarm sensation of the liquid, and she did her best to smear it across every location the acid had seared. The relief was immediate. Her hands stopped burning straight away, and she felt a pleasant cool wash over her palms and digits.

Once she was done, Erika lifted the glass to her lips and drank deeply, savoring the slightly sweet tasting nectar. She began to cough, and hacked out several mouthfuls of black blood. Her body started to feel instantly less feverish as Oddish's poison faded.

The ace frowned at her action, but didn't try to stop her, opting instead to chastise her. "You're a very greedy girl, aren't you? That was three hundred thousand pokedollars that you just consumed. Furthermore, you didn't even think to save any for your pokemon."

At that remark, Erika's eyes widened. She had totally forgotten about Snivy and Oddish. At a glance, it seemed like Snivy wasn't judging her. He only stood rigidly between Erika and the ace, prepared to use his body as a shield if necessary, such was his chivalry.

However, the two were bonded now, and Erika could feel his disappointment through the empathic link. He thinks me self serving and selfish.

If they were being perfectly honest, Snivy wasn't incorrect in his thoughts, but it still rankled Erika anyways to be judged by him. She was the liege in the relationship, not him! Cautiously looking at the ace before her and still paranoid that he would attack her in spite of the gift he had given, she released Oddish from her ball.

Erika tipped out part of the remaining blissey serum onto Oddish, and watched as her injuries began sealing up and quickly scabbing. In actuality, Oddish would have healed quickly anyways, as most grass type pokemon were extraordinarily tenacious. What they lacked for in raw strength, they made up for in endurance and staying power.

It was a waste in Erika's opinion, but not using it on Oddish would lower Snivy's opinion of her even further.

After confirming that her withering and injuries had been comprehensively treated, she bent down to pour what little was left into Snivy's mouth. He brokered no objection, also inhaling the serum just as she had done to treat the poison in his system.

Previously, Erika had ordered Oddish to indiscriminately poison everything in the room to force the guards into a kill zone, despite knowing that Snivy would be caught in the cloud. This wasn't just her being uncaring - she had done her research well, and knew that the snivy lineage was bred to be resistant to poison.

The snivy were the traditional companions of historical Unovan knights, who often had to deal with palace politics and petty noble squabbles. It wasn't unheard of for many a knight to die from poisoned food or wine, and eventually they turned to their partners for help. Over the course of centuries, snivy had been bred to tolerate poison, and would drink of their lord's wine and eat their meat to check for poison.

It was with this knowledge in mind that Erika forced Snivy to charge into the poison, knowing that the raticate would be hindered even more than he. She hadn't meant to be cruel, for it was just simple pragmatism.

Sorry Snivy.

Erika didn't know if Snivy would have been able to hold the raticate off alone while she killed the guards, so it was safer to just poison the entire room - the raticate included - en masse.

The complexion of her starter improved quickly after consuming the serum, and he returned to standing vigil against the ace. He drew his chest up and jutted it out, affixing himself into a rigid position that Erika thought looked quite uncomfortable. He does take his duties as a knight seriously, I'll give him that.

"Your attempt at stealing the snivy was cute, by the way," the ace said casually. Snivy twitched at his comment, disliking the implication. "It was an admirable effort, but I can sense heat signatures. You and your pet cabbage looked like blinding suns to my eyes, and I actually had to stop myself from laughing."

He paused, and then looked at her directly in the eyes. "Still though, I must say that I respect you. Not many have the daring, nor the guts to do what's necessary in the pursuit of power. Even if you knew there was a great risk of death, you still went ahead with the theft anyways. That's something that I can admire."

Beartic snorted by his side, and the ace laughingly patted his fur. The scene looked comical to Erika, seeing a man pet a monster nearly three times his height like it was a domestic animal.

"Nanook here seems to agree. You see, I too risked my life in my youth to become strong." The ace pulled up his shirt for Erika to see, revealing a mass of horrific scars. There was a deep depression in the left side of his stomach, as if something had caved it in and never healed back properly. Dozens of brown lines trailed across his belly, which she suspected were scars from old lacerations.

"Let me tell you a story," the ace spoke, suddenly releasing a second pokemon.

This time, Erika was truly unable to identify the pokemon. She had done her best to look into as many pokemon as possible, but there was a limit to what was publicly shown. Even the boxy library computers hadn't contained any information on Snivy, and she was forced to dig through manuscripts and old seafaring journals to glean the knowledge she sought.

The pokemon the man released was nothing like she had ever seen before. It resembled a sort of broken mirror, only with fractal grooves and lines carved into its body. Beady crystal eyes - at least Erika assumed they were so - peered at her as it hovered above the ground. Whenever it turned around or moved, it made tinkling noises similar to the sound of the wind chimes Erika always listened to when she would pillage the Plaza Market for food.

Upon settling itself, it began shining, radiating soft greens and light blues in a beautiful display of controlled power. Astonishingly, the light it emitted began to warp and twist, forming into wispy, illusory figures that Erika could clearly tell were humans.

The ace pointed at the first human figure, which began to run around as if it were in a playground. "Imagine, if you will, a young boy of fourteen years old. He's happy and content with his life, and he's doing well in school. While he comes from a struggling family, he's always optimistic and cheery, and believes that good things will come to him in life as long as he works and studies hard."

"Whenever the boy isn't studying, he helps his parents run their restaurant. It was his dream to go to university, get a good job, and support his parents. He worked hard everyday for this simple dream, and believed with all his heart that it would surely come true." The ace sneered at this final sentence, as if the very concept sounded preposterous to him.

With an exaggerated, almost accusatory point, the man levied his finger at Erika. "Tell me, what do you think happened to this boy after he graduated?"

"I suppose he grew up, went to university, and got the stable job that he always wanted," Erika replied snottily, watching the ace for a reaction that never came. "Although seeing as you're telling me this story, I'm going to assume that this isn't what happened. You're that boy, aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose so," the man murmured, sighing and looking up at the moon. "But I haven't been him for a long, long time. Not since my brother left, and everything changed."

To another, more emotional person, they may have found this conversation quite… saddening, perhaps. Even Erika could feel the melancholy rolling off the man in waves. However, Erika wasn't a very emotional person, so she thought he looked stupid. She didn't dare to voice her opinion though.

"Tell me," the man said, refocusing on her. "I want you to guess what my brother did. How did I go from being a poor, lower class boy who was destined to work a back-breaking blue collar job for the rest of his life, to being a three star ace that controls pokemon able to vanquish small armies?"

He clenched his fist at the memory. "Go on. Give me your best guess."

Erika didn't have to think particularly hard, if she was being honest. The man's story hit nearly every classical betrayal trope, and given the details that he had told her, it became obvious. "Your brother probably ruined your family financially in some way or other, right?" Erika asked carefully. The man's face was all she needed to confirm her guess.

"I can't figure out exactly what he did, but it definitely destroyed your chances of going to university," she said with an air of finality. "That's my best guess."

For a second, Erika thought she had guessed wrong, for the man said nothing in response. Was his face earlier just an act? She had been so sure of herself though.

After a brief silence, he spoke up once more. "Yes, you guessed correctly," he confirmed. "Let me show you what happened."

The hexagonal pokemon floating by his side continued weaving light, this time sharpening the resolution of the image until it became nearly photorealistic. Only the color remained unaffected, staying a dim shade of blue and green.

Erika watched an older looking version of the first boy walk into a bank, sign dozens of papers, and then walk out. The image cut to reveal him with his hands in the air, apparently in celebration, as he held up a sickly looking Bagon - yet another foreign pokemon that regular Kantonians shouldn't have been able to get.

More figures began to condense out of the light. She saw a man and a woman crying, and the younger version of the ace sitting morosely as his parents argued. Workers came into the house and began taking things away, and the residents only watched in silence.

The final scene ended with the older boy dead, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Bagon wyrmling was missing. At this, the lightshow faded into nothingness, returning the surroundings to dim darkness once more.

That was the most anticlimactic thing I've ever seen. Erika thought. Sure, it was pretty cool, but I'm still stuck here with him. How am I going to wriggle my way out of this?

"So… your brother wrote his name on some papers and your life fell apart?" Erika tried. Seeing the veins crawling over the man's head, she stopped being sarcastic immediately.

"He sold off your home to buy a bagon as a starter, and ruined your family," Erika said hurriedly, berating herself for her lack of restraint in mouthing off. "The bank repossessed the house and took away everything that your family owned."

"Everything," the man agreed, echoing her words. "That fool brother of mine was so desperate to become a trainer - a famous one, that he approached black market vendors in the hopes of acquiring a rare starter. To this day, I still don't know who it was that sold the bagon to him. He agreed to use everything our family owned as collateral in getting a loan to buy the wyrmling, promising that he would soon earn the money back."

He clenched his fist in terrible anger. "My brother was an idiot. Who would willingly sell a random kid a dragon, even if they had the money? All dragons are at least Class VII, but the fool still went ahead with the deal anyways. They never intended to let him keep it. Before he could even bond with the damn thing, they killed him, and I came back to find our home gone, my parents distraught, and my brother dead."

"What's more, even if he did bond with the bagon, he likely would have died on the spot. They're Class VII for a reason," the man muttered angrily. "Before getting your first starter, you don't even have a smidgeon of aura. It's the affinity that catalyzes the bond - but you already know that, don't you?" He turned towards Erika, who could only nod.

Information on bonding was scarce, but Erika had long studied every publicly available book and guide on the topic. The ace was right. His brother was stupid - if he actually did succeed in forming a connection with the bagon, his lack of dragon affinity would have made his head implode. In her case, Erika had only dared to bond with Snivy because she knew her grass affinity was powerful. Otherwise, she would have never even dreamed of doing so.

"Not too long after, my mother died of shock, and my father drowned himself away with alcohol. He became a shell of a man, and I was left working to provide for him," the man said. His voice was completely flat, and became grating like sandpaper, as if each word had to be dragged out of his mouth. "What was left of my dream? My entire family was broken apart, and the sole survivor became a raging, incoherent drunk. I couldn't even go to university."

Beartic lumbered over after hearing these words, scaring Erika a little. The ice bear evoked a feeling of raw, primal fear in her, and she struggled to stand still. "That was why I decided it was time to risk everything, just as my brother had done," continued the man. "I had no family left to live for, so from then on, I would live only for myself. But how? I had no money, nothing to my name, and no education. How on earth was I to live for myself when I had nothing?"

"Pokemon training," Erika replied easily, without needing to be prompted. The martial path was one which didn't need education, at least not to a specialized level, and anyone with good instincts and a brain for strategy could do it. She'd be more surprised than anything if the man said otherwise.

He nodded his assent at her words. "Right. I decided to become a pokemon trainer, just like my brother had dreamed of doing. However, I couldn't even take the first step without a starter.

A slow smile began to climb up his face. "It was then that I decided to do something utterly crazy. If I was going to become a pokemon trainer, then I wanted to become the very best trainer possible, since this would be my life from then on.

Erika could already guess what was coming next, because his story sounded nearly the same as hers. "You went into the wilds to search didn't you?" she said softly, her tone lower and now less mocking than before. That's something I definitely can respect.

Rather than answer her question, he pulled up his shirt once more, showing Erika the scars that she already knew lay beneath. "Nanook gave these to me by the way," he said casually. The bear snorted and turned away, embarrassed.

"I lived in a small border city along the Sinjoh Demilitarized Zone, and opportunities to find pokemon were scarce. The city was heavily fortified, and every wild area near the DMZ had long been decimated by Johto and Sinnoh's border skirmishes." The man paused briefly to think, recalling old memories. "This happened long before I was born. I remember my mother telling me that the militaries of both sides firebombed the forests along the DMZ, and left the earth desolate and barren. Only one place was spared from this fate - Aachen Mountain."

Hearing that, Erika's eyebrows rose, as did her estimation of the man's daring. She was very familiar with that name, because it turned up several times in many of the trainer handbooks she had pilfered from the public library.

Aachen was a forbidden zone which hosted an esteemed Titled Pokemon called the Ice Father, a giant lapras that had apparently survived since the last great extinction. Military scouts who ventured deep into the heart of the mountain reported a slumbering lapras the size of a large island, resting peacefully in hibernation.

The aura readings alone indicated that it had legendary-tier combat power. Sinnoh and Johto wisely decided to never disturb the mountain in fear of the great beast awakening, and kept their conflict to a minimum in Aachen's vicinity.

"You actually went in?" Erika asked disbelievingly. That was even crazier than even her attempt to rob the Celadon Claws! Even though most of the information regarding forbidden zones was classified, a decent chunk of it was still reported to the public - like warnings on what pokemon would appear along the edges and why people should never go near.

The ace looked at Erika as if she were stupid and ignored her question. "I only brought with me enough food for a week's time. If I couldn't find a pokemon to bond with by then, I would freeze to death anyways, and I didn't care enough to live longer if I didn't become a trainer."

A week's time? That's hard to believe, given the rumors about Aachen's magical temperatures. The cold is supposed to seep into your bones, disregarding everything and anything you wear, Erika thought to herself. Her craving for knowledge in the pursuit of power had led her to read through every article and publicly available book on the forbidden zones in Kanto and her neighboring region Johto, and Aachen was one of the more famous sites.

There were chilling reports of scouts returning frostbitten despite wearing heavy clothing and snow equipment, and even standing atop a roaring flame supposedly did little to stop the freezing. One of the old veterans at Roko Square talked about it once. His son was part of the Ranger Corps and died during the second attempt to map out Aachen.

It was creepy how on point the ace's timing was. He pulled out a thin, waxy looking paper with a circle inked into the center, and held it out for Erika to see.

Affinity Paper. Erika had only seen it once in person before, and that was when she had been given it by the veteran who told her about Aachen. The man wanted to thank her for coming to talk with him when no one else would, as she would always sit and patiently listen to his stories. Erika was always glad to talk to him regardless, for his stories were full of rich detail and information one couldn't normally find through public channels. Out of the blue one day, he pulled out a strange paper from his bag and told her to grasp it tightly.

When she touched the paper that first time, it became wet with sap, and sprouted tendril like roots that wriggled out like snakes. Erika grinned at the memory. She had been so freaked out that she dropped it onto the ground, and the paper took root deep in the earth, spearing through the concrete straight into the soil beneath. A mere few minutes later, it had grown into a sapling, and the next day, it began to flower and bear fruit, having already grown twice as tall as herself.

That moment had been the beginning of it all for her. Up until that point, Erika was just another street rattata, albeit a very educated one with an interest in pokemon. She scavenged dumpsters for food by day and slept under bridges by night, working only to survive to see the next dawn. Hers had been a sad and pathetic existence, and Erika lived like a truly base creature with neither ambition or pride.

The revelation that her affinity for Grass was so powerful that it could trigger a reversion in the paper and return it to life marked a turning point in Erika's path. From that day onwards, Erika knew she was special. It was her destiny to be great, and that knowledge gave her the courage to commit even more daring crimes and plunge herself headfirst into danger to seek a suitable starter to match her potential. The world would bend to her whim, and if it did not, Erika would force it to do so.

Through their bond, Snivy communicated his disgust at her narcissism, and Erika winced. She had forgotten again that they were connected now, and her feelings would overflow to Snivy. I definitely need to work on controlling what I send through the bond, she thought exasperatedly. Snivy's patience might wear thin if this keeps happening.

Erika felt a profoundly uncomfortable sensation as she explored their bond, feeling it quite literally weigh upon her soul. Her bond with Snivy felt like a heavy chain wrapped around her neck, pressing and dragging her down, such was the strength of his aura. In comparison, her bond with Oddish was light and airy, and felt as if it could be easily snapped if she willed it so.

It was a good thing that Oddish didn't have a strong auric presence, because Erika didn't think she would be able to support their bond otherwise. Snivy was simply too heavy for lack of a better term, and even with her incredible grass affinity, Erika still felt a little suffocated. This should hopefully go away once my aura grows in strength, but I'll have to be careful not to let Snivy's aura growth outpace my own. She grinned at the thought. If even I'm struggling this much, what about those Unovan trainers who get snivy legally? Forget making a second bond, they probably struggle to even support their first!

A few moments after the ace held the paper out, it began to slowly frost over, as the moisture in the air condensed and froze into thin icicles. Erika began smirking instantly, seeing the pace at which the ice appeared. My affinity is far superior than his.

On the surface, she merely voiced her understanding to the ace. "It makes sense now. You were able to bear Aachen's mystical cold because you had a strong Ice affinity! That's why you succeeded where so many others failed."

He smiled, gratified at her deduction. "That's right. With my Ice affinity, I plunged deep into the heart of the mountain itself, and walked for days in search of my promised starter."

"However, I caused an avalanche when I carelessly stepped onto a section of loose snow, and lost all my prepared food," the ace said solemnly. "I would have surely died if I didn't stumble upon a cave, where I found a hoard of berries and pokemon carcasses. But I was too happy at finding food to the point that I neglected to think about why there was food in the first place, and nearly died again when Nanook emerged from the depths of the cave."

Nanook sheepishly looked away, making annoyed growling noises. The man only laughed at that, scratching his muzzle and continuing the story. "Even as a cub, Nanook was already twice my size, and nearly disemboweled me. I tagged him with a pokeball after he crushed my ribs and pressed me into the ground of the cave, and thankfully, he was caught on the first ball. I'm not quite sure what I would have done if it didn't work the first time. Probably get eaten I suppose." The man laughed again at his own words.

He continued to speak. "Nanook-"

"Why are you telling me all this?" Erika interrupted in confusion. She had been indulging the man so far so she could recuperate and try to restore her aura, but her curiosity won out eventually. "By all rights, you should have eviscerated me by now, yet you've held off, given me serum, and are now spilling your life story to me. Why do all of this?"

"I want you to join me," said the ace, to her surprise.

…what? Erika knew he had an ulterior motive, but she hadn't expected that.

"What are you prepared to offer?" Erika said quickly, trying to stall for time to plan an escape. She knew it might be inevitable, but joining Fulton would definitely earn her Snivy's reproach and disdain. He wouldn't be willing to shatter their bond for fear of crippling his own potential, but Snivy might do something extreme.

Hearing her words, the ace frowned.

Suddenly, he formed a claw with his hand, plunging it into the floor of the rooftop. To Erika's utter shock, his fingers cleaved through the floor like butter, and he wrenched out a fistful of stone the size of his palm with a smattering of concrete dust.

The ace paused, perhaps for dramatic effect, and then violently squeezed his hands shut, crumbling the rock into fragments. "What am I prepared to offer? That's a hilarious statement, girl," said the ace. "You don't have any bargaining power, and it's impossible for you to escape. I know you aren't stupid, but you have no idea what a real ace trainer is truly capable of."

He beckoned his beartic even closer, making Erika feel nervous. Snivy stood firm, like a sturdy tower. "Despite inheriting Ice, I've already progressed my aura to the point that I can crush stone with my bare hands. If I really wanted, I could wrestle your snivy down with nothing but my body, and rip you limb from limb. Give up on escape. It's not happening."

Erika fell silent at that.

"I'll humor you though," he said. "Here, I'll throw you a bone - what I offer is legitimacy." At that word, Erika's eyes narrowed. Seeing her interest, the ace continued speaking.

"I don't know what you planned to do if you actually managed to get away after stealing the snivy, but you surely would have run into trouble with the League. Snivy are Class IV restricted, and a foreign regional starter," he lectured at her, drawing on his ranger training. "The moment you try to register for a trainer license and they scan your starter into the system you're going to get flagged down and detained."

She had nothing to say to him on the surface, only calmly listening to the ace speak. However, Erika was raging inside. That blasted fool. I DID have everything planned out! I was going to go to the media and be welcomed as a hero for 'busting' a crime den, and then legitimize myself as a rising star. It would have worked perfectly too, and would still work, if only I could get away. Being in the public eye would give me protection from those in the league who want to take Snivy away as well. Damn him.

Erika noticed Snivy looking at her oddly, and refocused her attention back to the ace. "If you join me, I can arrange an identity for you as my niece. As the niece to a three star ace, you won't get many odd looks if you're ever questioned about having a snivy. You can just give them my contact, and I'll talk it through with them. Simply telling them that I gave you the Snivy as a starter for your birthday is sufficient to ward off most officers."

Erika didn't want to admit it, but the ace was making a lot of sense. That was, if she didn't already plan to go to the media.

As if reading her mind, the ace smirked and laughed at her, saying "you won't be able to go to the media. I've already informed them that Ace Trainer Fulton has raided the building and successfully cleared out the den of Claw members hiding inside."

What the - how does he know that? Was he actually reading her mind? This time, the ace - Fulton, did confirm her guess. "I have a Jynx on the floor below who is scanning your surface thoughts. Now I'm no psychic, and Jynx can barely send what she's reading to me, but I caught the relevant parts about going to the media."

Ah, blast. Her plan had just gone up in smoke.

Jynx must have sent Fulton a general empathic impression of what Erika was currently feeling as well, because his grin widened like a shark. "Also, did you really think that you'd be able to get away? As one of the few people in Kanto with a snivy - a young one, no less, the Claws would be able to identify you immediately. By joining me, you'll gain both protection from their wrath, and legitimacy with the league."

"I also need to resolve this incident in a way that doesn't get me in trouble, Fulton said, distracting Erika from her growing feeling of dread. "The Claws do have a four star ace heading them like you suspected, and I report directly to him. It reflects badly on me, you see, to just let you escape after attempting to kill our entire cargo of trafficked pokemon."

"By the way," Fulton smirked, "ordering your oddish to poison everything was really ruthless. I didn't think you had it in you to attempt to kill off hundreds of pokemon. They were all either newly hatched pokemon or younglings with great potential, and you cut their lives short like a farmer scything through wheat. I don't think your Snivy approves, does he?"

Snivy in fact did not approve, Erika could confirm. Through their bond, she could feel disgust, condemnation and guilt - mixed guilt, both because Snivy couldn't do anything to save the poisoned pokemon, and because he ignored his instincts to tackle Oddish. If Snivy had done so, perhaps he could have saved the pokemon in the cages. However, his own life would be forfeit to the raticate, and his revenge was still unfinished.

How does it feel to be a hypocrite, Snivy? You could have saved those pokemon, if only you put them before your desires. At least I'm honest about my nature, Erika thought viciously. She hated being judged, and the schadenfreude she felt now was marvelous.

While they were being honest, Erika did feel a little guilty, but she quickly rationalized it away. Life wasn't fair, and those pokemon just had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain, for they would enable her rise.

"They're not all dead," he spoke suddenly, interrupting Erika's thinking. "I wouldn't actually let you kill off our entire cargo, because I would be in real trouble if that happened. You took out maybe a tenth of the weaker pokemon, but most survived despite being badly poisoned. A tenth of the cargo, especially the weaker and less valuable pokemon is still something I can waive off. Even then, it's not a good look for me to just let you walk away unscathed."

"Join me," said Fulton, holding out his hand. "I see great potential in you, and have already confirmed it for myself after watching you steal Snivy. I need capable subordinates, and you would number among the very best that I have recruited so far. Your ruthlessness, daring, creativity - it's rare to see such traits in someone so young. With my help, you could go far."

Erika was already convinced. She was a pragmatic person, and Fulton offered only benefits. Working with him would likely be a carrot and stick relationship, but she was content to bite the carrot. At least for now.

She was sure Jynx was still spying on her thoughts, but Erika was confident that Fulton expected her to betray him anyways in the future. Snivy agreed, sending her his impression of her as someone immoral and easily capable of betrayal. She snorted.

"You can't force me to do anything immoral, though," Erika said, "lest my relationship with Snivy be ruined any further. I'm willing to work with you, not under you. Let me propose a counter offer."

Although annoyed, Fulton seemed curious enough about what Erika had to say. "You mentioned that you wanted capable subordinates right? Tell me about your goal then. I need to know more before I can make my proposal."

"Very well," he said amusedly. "I plan to work my way up through the League, climbing the ranks until I become League Minister. As for why, I'm afraid I can't share that."

Erika's mind started to churn furiously, the great wheels of her brain cranking and turning as she tried to think of something worthwhile. She knew that she would only get one chance to convince Fulton, so she couldn't mess it up. Cmon, brain! All those years I spent reading and studying couldn't have gone to waste. Think Erika think! Finally, a brilliant idea blinked into existence in her head.

"Gym leader!" She finally cried out. "I want to become Celadon's gym leader. You already know that I have potential, and I'm smart and capable enough to make it as a trainer. We both are ambitious, and you said that you needed supporters. If - when I become Celadon's leader, you'll have the help of a gym leader in your bid to become Minister, and my eternal support in any political campaign or politicking."

Erika's words instantly caught Fulton's interest. His eyes gleamed at her statement. "How very audacious. Scheming to take over the gym leader position already? I like it! However, how can you guarantee that you'll succeed?"

What did Erika know about Celadon that she could use to convince Fulton? I know that there's been a divide in recent years. None of the rats were ever involved because people didn't care about them, but the veterans at Roko kept talking about it. Argh! What was it again? Something about bugs? Oh right!

"The conservatives!" Erika said quickly. "Celadon has always historically been host to a Grass type gym - it was only in the past two decades that no new grass specialists emerged to take up the role. Plenty tried, but they were too weak, and were swept out by the progressive faction's new bug specialists who enjoyed type advantages, and faster growth speeds."

Erika drew upon the bits and pieces that she picked up by talking to different people around Celadon to build her argument, and started connecting the dots. "The conservatives and progressives have completely opposing pokemon types and philosophies," she declared. "Grass types are slow to grow, but they can live extremely long lives and accumulate great power once they grow older and more experienced. Bug types live fast and die fast, but that also means that their growth speed is monstrous in comparison. For years now, the conservatives have been running out of grass specialists to fight against the progressive faction's bug users. They simply can't train their youth fast enough, and are being drowned in a tide of bug catchers and bug specialists who number in the tens of thousands each circuit."

She paused to breathe deeply, inhaling a massive volume of air. Erika had been talking rapid fire so long that she didn't get the chance to breathe. "I'm different! My grass affinity is first grade! With my talent and work ethic, even if Grass types are slow to grow, I'll surely erect a towering forest with my own efforts by the time the next general competition for gym leader comes around in five years time. Furthermore, I have a key advantage most trainers from the conservative faction don't have!"

"It's mentality," Erika said confidently. "I grew up on the streets, and had to be pragmatic with everything I did. I'm not stuck to tradition, and I'm willing to adopt radical new policies that even the conservatives might balk at. I can easily draw in moderate radicals to support me, and my battle style is fresh and new. I never received classical training in grass specialization, which will enable me to create brand new, never before seen strategies and tactics that will blow away the current generation of radical bug trainers."

Even as she spoke, Erika began to fantasize and imagine her future. "I can gather grassroots support for a Grass revival movement, and use them to push out the current gym leader! People want change, but they're too weak to enact the change they desire. The current head of the Celadon Progressives is bent on industrializing Celadon, but he's moving too far and too fast with his policy changes. Forests are being shredded, the city is being covered in smog, and rivers are being tainted black with chemicals. Even the building we're standing on was abandoned because of a nearby chemical factory explosion!"

Everything that Erika said was true, and more. She'd been born during the Progressive Faction's reign over Celadon and didn't know any better, but those old veterans complained constantly about the bug users. They had fought in an uncaring war on behalf of the Kanto League, and expected to return home to a woodland paradise. What they came back to was a monstrous metal city with factories that churned and spat out black smoke, and all their old haunts and childhood playgrounds obliterated to make room for new buildings.

"People are tired of industrialization, and they want a return to the old days of Conservative Grass rule. They want to restore the deforested regions of Celadon, and drive out the industrialists. They want to Conserve again, not Progress. As a powerful, young trainer and rising star, I'll be able to wield my popularity like a lance to pierce through the bug movement! The law of the jungle is the only law that is true, and he who holds the bigger fist is the most righteous," Erika declared grandiosely. "When I become strong, I'll smash the current Bug gym and use the support of the disenfranchised to ascend to become Celadon's new gym leader!"

Fulton was stunned. He hadn't expected her to say something so outrageous. He gave Erika a weird look, before grinning in amazed excitement. He could feel goosebumps and hair rising on his skin, and the air felt charged with electricity. Erika's passionate speech was so moving that even he had been convinced.

How very unexpected. Erika was more ambitious than he had given her credit for. Prior to this, he had just been humoring her. Hearing someone declare they would become a gym leader was one thing. It was something any random kid on the street could do.

Hearing a detailed plan to take advantage of local politics to raise a grassroots revival movement, gather disenfranchised political supporters, and use violence to suppress the Bug movement and forcefully oust the current gym leader was another thing entirely.

It only took him a moment to come to a decision. Seeing him loosen his posture, Erika heaved a sigh of relief, knowing she had convinced him completely.

"It seems like we will be partners after all," Fulton spoke excitedly. "Who could have thought things would end this way. I think I'm going to have to prepare for my political bid earlier than I previously thought, if you're truly going to attempt to seize the position of gym leader in five years time."

From what Erika presumed was the floor below, Jynx teleported up and appeared before her. She held a small, rugged backpack made from Tauros leather, and offered it to her trainer. Fulton unzipped it and rummaged through it and pulled out a sheaf of papers. "Here," he said, handing it over to Erika. "It's a league registration form. Take it home and fill it out."

Erika felt a little insulted to be honest. "You were that confident I would end up becoming your subordinate?"

"Well, I wasn't really going to give you a choice. If you refused, I would have had to do things the hard way. No one likes doing things the hard way," he said snarkily.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what the hard way involves?" Erika asked him curiously.

Fulton only laughed heartily at that. "No. Forget about the hard way. You don't want to know about it. Either way, things worked out! We're partners now, so don't worry about it."

That was a little creepy. No, scratch that. It was very creepy. Even though Fulton said it in a joking tone, Erika felt her new instincts screaming at her not to press the matter. Aura really was a wonderful thing, she mused, especially when you had a lot of it.

There was one final problem to resolve, so Erika turned to Snivy. "I promise you too, Snivy, that I'll make good changes. The current Celadon is a hellhole ridden with crime, and people suffer everyday. When I become gym leader, the first thing I'll do is rid the city of criminals. I'll reverse Celadon's industrialization and restore the forests for the pokemon and people who grew up in it. You already have my oath - and you'll be by my side always to check my actions. With your power and my brains, we can make real change!" Snivy was shocked.

Erika continued to press him. "Think about it! On your own, your chivalry saves only the few. If you help me become leader of Celadon, we can save the many! You'll honor your ancestors by protecting and improving the lives of millions of people and pokemon! You'll be venerated forever as a true knight!

Snivy only scoffed. He couldn't trust Erika. Hadn't he just seen her order oddish to knowingly poison hundreds of pokemon? If he joined her, she would drag him down to her level and he would disgrace his family and honor by succumbing to vice.

Erika felt his emotions through the bond immediately, and gritted her teeth and continued to speak. "Alone, neither of us can get what we want. However, if we work together, even the sky cannot limit us!

She spread her arms wide. "Look at me Snivy. You know me as well as I do, perhaps even better because of our bond. I'm selfish, I'm egoistic, and I'm prideful. I'm aware of all my faults, and I'm not ashamed of who I am. You may despise my character, but you can't look down on my talent. Who else in this world would be able to bond with two pokemon - you included, within minutes of one another? I had no aura before, and only by the virtue of my affinity alone did I succeed in bonding with you."

"Those pokemon back there, what happened to them was truly a tragedy," Erika said sincerely. She did feel guilty, even if it was only a smidgeon. "But it was life or death for the both of us! If Oddish didn't force them into the elevator, they would have been able to surround and kill us. If you aid me, this need never happen again!"

"Believe in my ambition!" Erika shouted. "I swear, on my name, on my pride, on my very ambition, that we will climb to the top together! I have nothing to gain by working against you, and everything to lose. If you truly desire to help the world, then place your trust in me!"

For a second, Erika thought she had managed to convince him. Then, all of a sudden, her throat felt as if it had been seized by a great vice. Her bond with snivy seemed to instantly multiply in weight, and she began choking and gasping for air. What's going on?

Erika nearly keeled over upon the ground as she retched and retched, struggling against an invisible weight no one apart from her could feel. With terrible, heaving coughs, she struggled to force life-giving breaths of air into her lungs and continue breathing. It took momentous effort to inhale even once or twice, and the pressure seemed to get worse and worse as time passed. Her face began to turn blue and she was no longer able to support herself, falling to the ground with a heavy thump.

Erika was beginning to pass out and slip into unconsciousness when a chilly hand slammed onto her back, and she felt a sliver of aura seep into her body. It was unbearably cold - not like the pleasant cool of water splashing upon a face, but like the horrible chill of long winter nights spent huddling beneath bridges. She hated the reminder of her ignoble past, even as the aura relieved her from the crushing weight of the bond.

"It looks like Snivy doesn't approve," said a voice from behind Erika. Fulton stepped over and squatted to reach eye level with her, and then made a fist in Snivy's direction. Moisture in the air instantly condensed and froze into interlocking chains of ice, which then rocketed towards Snivy and bashed him into the floor.

The ground instantly depressed as the chains slammed him down, and the ice crept over him like hoarfrost, trussing him like a torchic. Through their bond, Erika felt him scream in agony as the chill dug into his very bones.

"Why… why attack Snivy?" Erika managed to force out. She couldn't understand what was happening. Her breathing was still labored despite the help Fulton gave her, and she forced herself back up into a standing position, leaning against the wall.

Fulton didn't answer her question, merely turning to stare at Snivy, who was still writhing in pain. "Examine your bond with him," he told her carefully. Erika turned her gaze inward and gasped.

The bond between a trainer and pokemon - especially the starter bond - was more than just a means to communicate or a method of gaining supernatural powers. It was a metaphysical bridge that connected their very souls, and was supported by both of their auras. At least, it should've been supported by both their auras. What Erika saw horrified her.

Like a great dam, Snivy had choked off the flow of aura from his end of the bridge in the analogy, turning what should have been a mighty ocean into a thin trickle. Their bond was now being supported nearly entirely by Erika. The burden of the bond was meant to be shouldered by both partners, and was symbolic of friendship, but Snivy had just forced the entire thing onto Erika's shoulders to bear alone.

You rat bastard. After all I did for you? I rescued you from the Claws! Erika thought angrily.

Hypocrite, Snivy seemed to be saying. Even now, you still try to lie to my face. You only rescued me so you could use me. And now, you're working with a Claw. You disgust me.

"Stop suppressing your aura and put it back into the bond," Erika furiously said to Snivy. "Cut out whatever it is that you're doing right now!"

No. I refuse. Snivy's intentions were clear as day. I won't bow to a craven liege who puts herself above others.

She continued to demand Snivy release his block on his aura a few more times, and each time she was met with a stony refusal. She didn't consider pleading with him any further, for her pride was much too great to allow that.

Erika pulled out her great ball and recalled Snivy, furiously clipping the ball back onto her pants. It hurt. A lot. Not just her body, but also her pride. Everything was supposed to work out! Snivy should have bent to me, and I should have walked out the victor in this! Damn him. Damn him!

Despite recalling her starter, Erika could still feel the bond pressing down her neck. The aura Fulton had generously donated to her was quickly fading, as her own aura rejected the foreign intrusion and tried to wipe it away. The terrible pressure of her starter bond returned slowly but surely, and her neck felt as if it were constricting and tightening like a turning screw.

This time though, Erika was prepared. She marshaled her aura and heaved, forcing the bond to release its grip upon her and give her breathing room. The deep jade of her aura swept through and away what little aura Snivy deigned to leave her with, until Erika felt that she had achieved a sort of equilibrium, and the bond finally stopped trying to smother her.

"That was a fairly mild reaction," Fulton told her as he leaned onto his beartic. He rubbed his hands together, miming an explosion. "I've seen people's heads explode when that happened. You really do have a monstrous grass affinity!" He started laughing uncontrollably. Erika was tempted to spit at him, but the eyes of Fulton's beartic followed her every movement, warning her not to try, and promised a swift vengeance if she did so. Erika wanted to do it anyway but held back.

"Supporting a bond of this level alone is impossible. Your affinity must have catalyzed part of it, reducing the pressure enough that you were able to survive." Fulton's face wrinkled in thought.

Fulton beckoned his Jynx over. "Carzi, go and grab one of the standard ranger kits for me if you please. Take a primer on aura from the corps library as well." At his words, Jynx vanished on the spot. Erika waited patiently for Jynx to return, counting down the seconds in her head as she continued to adjust to the new pressure bearing down upon her.

Jynx returned in a flash of purple, bag and book in hand. She levitated the items over to Erika and then returned to her master's side as if she had never left.

Erika turned the book over and looked at the title. "A Treatise on the Mechanics of Aura," she read aloud, turning to Fulton. "This isn't what I think it is right?"

"Oh certainly," Fulton smiled, "it most definitely is. That's one of the ranger corps' internal guides on aura training and manipulation. The league doesn't like it when the public knows too much about how aura works, so stuff like this isn't easy to come by unless you're from one of the old clans or great factions. They use it to incentivise people to join the ranger corps, because they wouldn't know how to progress their aura otherwise."

Sneaks, the lot of them, Erika thought. Withholding knowledge so they could recruit more people was a genius but scummy move. No wonder I couldn't find anything more than a basic introduction on bonding.

"Read the book and train your aura. It should ease your problem with bearing the bond alone, and maybe, just maybe it might let you bond with a third pokemon." Even Fulton seemed unsure at that last statement. "Your grass affinity is the strongest I've ever seen. I've never heard of anyone bonding with a snivy and then connecting to a second pokemon straight away, much less supporting a bond with a snivy alone. Most require months, if not at least a year of training before their aura grows strong enough to bond again."

"Your life is going to be tough until you can break in your snivy," Fulton told her. "But I expect great things from you anyways, even with your starter currently unwilling to obey. However, if you prove unworthy of my partnership, then I'll turn you into a subordinate and bring you to heel. Until that happens, you'll be free to roam unhindered."

Erika glared at him for his comment, but Fulton was undeterred. "Three days from now, meet me at the Celadon Embassy. We'll get you a passport and papers forged, and have you officially registered as my niece."

"Actually," Fulton corrected himself, "maybe it would be better to get you a change of clothes first. It would definitely look suspicious if I brought a scraggly looking girl into the embassy and claimed she was my niece. Meet me at the center of the Plaza Market at the pidgey fountain. You know which one I'm talking about right?" Erika shook her head at his words.

Fulton considered it for a moment and then called his weird hexagonal pokemon out again, and it began shining. The illusory light it emitted wove itself into a still image, which showed Erika a fancy looking porcelain fountain. "I don't recall ever seeing that," Erika admitted. "I only go into the Plaza Market to steal, and I don't go in very far. The guards might catch me if I can't run away in time."

"Fine," he mumbled. "Just wait at the front of the market. It's gonna be a pain to walk through the crowd, especially since you're not allowed to teleport, but whatever. Be there or be square. Farewell!" At that, Jynx enveloped her master and teammates in a concentric ring of purple, and they all flashed away, leaving Erika alone on the rooftop.

She was cold, miserable, tired, and hungry. But most of all, Erika was angry. She had held in her rage while Fulton was in front of her, not wanting to act immature, but now that he was gone she completely cut loose to vent the rage in her heart.

Erika grabbed Snivy's pokeball and violently smashed it against the door and threw it as hard as she could, watching it ricochet off the metal and onto the ceiling, and back down once more. She picked it up and noted how it was completely undamaged, the specialized casing completely absorbing the shock. Erika howled in anger at the realization, and began jumping up and down and beating her fists against the wall.

I can't even scratch his pokeball. Ah.

Erika had never lost her temper like that before. Ever since discovering her affinity, it seemed as if the world bent itself to accommodate her, and she had been riding a perpetual cloud nine ever since. From training Oddish and studying in the libraries, learning tricks from veterans and planning out her heist, to successfully stealing Snivy and negotiating with Fulton, Erika had never truly failed before.

She had succeeded in everything she did, which was why this failure hurt so much more.

Seeing Snivy reject her made Erika want to rage and scream and cry and do so many more things she couldn't voice aloud. He should've been convinced! I put so much passion and effort into that speech. I used an appeal to emotion to target his desires as a knight, an appeal to logic for him to believe in my ambition, and even an appeal to authority as a trainer with an amazing grass affinity! What went wrong?

Erika didn't know, and at this point, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Three types of argumentative rhetoric my ass. I knew those dusty old books weren't worth reading. Erika slammed her fist into the wall once more for good measure, and released Oddish onto the ground in front of her with a click.

Oddish was still bruised and exhausted despite the healing powers of the serum, but Erika ignored it as she walked away and her plant eagerly followed.

"Cmon Oddish," she muttered. "It's time to get to work."

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AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter lmao

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