It was the fourth day I had taken out a group of grunts to catch new pokemon and I was loving every second of it. Being out in the forest tracking down pokemon and guiding my 'students' on how to successfully catch a new friend was way better than being stuck in the caves all day long being stressed that Neptune would figure out that I wasn't actually her 'perfect soldier'. My only real worry at this point was the little side quest that Neptune had assigned me.

I've been meaning to train a new pokemon for a while. Won't you catch me one you think would suit me? Neptune's words were constantly ringing through my head as I took the grunts around the surrounding forests of Mount Coronet. Seeing the grunts catch Gravelers, the occasional Beedril, and one even managed to catch a Bronzor, I just couldn't see Neptune being thrilled if I showed up and offered her one of these pokemon. And I only had permission to do this for another three days, so I was kind of running out of time.

"Yipe! Just stay in the ball you stupid..." 

Heaving a sigh I turned around and made my way over to my least favorite pilot.

"Having trouble, Junpei?" I asked blandly. Junpei was trying to catch himself a Hoothoot that he had knocked out of its tree after getting blasted by a Graveler he had previously been trying to catch. The Hoothoot did not appear pleased to have its sleep disturbed and was giving Junpei and his Zubat a real beating with its psychic type move.

"Aren't you supposed to be the instructor, Killian? Knock this pokemon out for me so I can catch it already!" Junpei yelled out at me as he tried to physically run after the hopping Hoothoot.

"The whole point is for you to catch it on your own so you can bond with it, Junpei," I retorted, folding my arms stubbornly and watching the humorous sight in front of me. Pikachu was also watching from his perch on my shoulder and I wasn't surprised when I glanced to the side and saw him grinning with amusement.

"The dumb thing won't stay in the ball!" Junpei yelled out, obviously frazzled, and I sighed before moving a little closer.

"Tell your Zubat to use Supersonic," I ordered, coming to stand next to him and glancing up at his Zubat that was flying even more off-kilter than usual.

"But I need damage to...." 

I turned my head and leveled a glare at Junpei that immediately shut him up and caused him to turn noticeably pale. A brief flash of guilt went through me since I knew that Junpei still had the misunderstanding that I killed that trainer I'd knocked through the entrance of the mine shaft... but it really came in handy when he was being a dolt so I still hadn't corrected him.

"U-u-use Supersonic," Junpei stuttered out, pointing towards the Hoothoot that was flapping its stubby wings as it hopped towards a tree. Zubat flapped crazily towards the fleeing pokemon and let loose a high-pitched screech that released several multi-colored sound waves. Hoothoot turned to see what the noise was and the sound waves washed over the pokemon, causing its eyes to swirl with confusion and flop to its side from the disorientation.

"Now use Wing Attack," I instructed, feeling a little bad that the poor pokemon was going to become this jerk's pokemon. Junpei did as I said, without question this time, and after taking some damage he was able to successfully capture the stubborn Hoothoot.

"Just because you captured it doesn't mean it is going to like you," I warned him as Junpei scooped up his Pokeball.

"It doesn't matter if it likes me, it just has to do as I say!" Junpei declared with a hefty dose of arrogance. Deciding that it would be better to walk away before I got angry again, I turned and did just that.

Unfortunately, by the sixth day of these pokemon catching excursions, I still hadn't come across a pokemon that I thought Neptune would be happy with... Although I had to admit that part of my indecision was due to the fact that I didn't want to subject an innocent pokemon to becoming Neptune's partner. Everything was going really well with the grunts catching their own pokemon though, and I had noticed that some of the angrier grunts had actually started to calm down after they had started some basic training with a pokemon they had caught themselves instead of stealing.

Even though I was happy with the grunts' progress, in the back of my mind I was really worried because this was going to make going up against Team Galactic even harder when Director Falon came in with the IIA agents. I'm sure she has a plan though. She must, I told myself as I continued to guide the second to last group of grunts in capturing their new pokemon. One nice thing about being put in charge of training the grunts with their pokemon though was that I knew exactly what pokemon the entire organization of grunts had on them, so at least our IIA agents could come with pokemon that were tailored to hit them at their weakest points.

Once the sun started setting I gathered the rest of the struggling grunts, helping them end the battles they were in before shooing them like a flock of Ducklett back towards Mount Coronet and the secret base. Before we got to the back though, the group split into five smaller groups so that we could take different entrances.

I had to admit, I was impressed with the level of security and secrecy that Neptune had been able to create in this massive hideout. The entrances were all cleverly disguised so that even if you knew what you were looking for, you could easily miss it. And each of the entrances had a different password or code that had to be inputted, which changed once a week. Several times grunts had been left outside for an entire night because they couldn't remember the password and the guards wouldn't let them in

It would be a simple matter for me of course to get the passwords to Director Falon, but I had no idea if the entrances had any extra security like hidden cameras or motion detectors since I had never been put on guard duty. Which was probably why Director Falon wanted me to get even deeper into the organization so I could have access to everything and help the IIA infiltrate smoothly and put a stop to Team Galactic.

I won't be able to get closer unless I find Neptune a pokemon she likes though, I thought with a heavy dose of guilt as I walked through an entrance that was on the side of a natural cave. At this entrance, you had to arrange several stones into a specific shape before the guards would open it up for you. The grunts who were with me were all bragging about who got the most powerful pokemon between them, but I bid them a quick goodbye and peeled off towards the mess hall.

"Pika pikaaaaa," Pikachu grumbled pitifully as his little stomach rumbled loudly. I chuckled and rubbed his furry head.

"I know, buddy. Let's get some grub," I said, feeling abnormally tired after a half day out in the woods. When Pikachu and I grabbed an empty table with our loaded plates of food, I blinked in surprise when several grunts came over and sat down with us.

"Hey, Satoshi! When are we going to start training our new pokemon?" Ellen asked, setting her half-full tray down right next to mine.

"Yah, I can't wait to start leveling up my Bronzor! Thanks for helping me catch it, Killian," a guy who went by Carlton said as he came and snagged the other side of me. Soon the entire table was filled with eager grunts asking about how to care for their pokemon and make them stronger.

Pikachu sighed and turned his attention completely onto the food in front of him, which he was happily wolfing down. I, on the other hand, had to awkwardly steal bites between my explanations. By the time the questions finally stopped, the Mapo Tofu over rice that I had gotten for lunch was stone cold and everyone else had finished their meals. They bid me farewell, talking excitedly between themselves, and I looked down at my cold food with a sad sigh.

"Pikapi," Pikachu said consolingly while patting my arm. I shrugged and quickly shoveled the rest of my food into my mouth before leaving to head to the mock gym that had been set up farther down in the caves. I had found that not a lot of grunts actually used the gym, so if I timed things right I could usually be nearly alone during my workout sessions. To me, that was definitely preferred since when I practiced my martial arts or did strength exercises I used to gather a bit of a crowd which made me feel awkward.

I was halfway through my martial arts practice and seriously missing my pokemon that I used to train with when the sound of the door opening caught my attention. Not wanting to lose my rhythm, I continued bobbing and weaving in time while repeating six different punches in a cycle.

"Pikapi!" 

I instantly froze at Pikachu's terrified yell and I felt my eyes widen to the size of saucers when I realized that I had come within inches of smashing my fist directly in Neptune's face. Leaping back to put some distance between us, I was shocked at how heavy my breathing was and the fear that was racing through my entire body as the small woman looked at me with obvious mirth in her half-smile.

Glancing past her, I saw that Pikachu had flopped to the ground on his belly in relief that I had stopped in time. Making a mental note to find him some fresh oran berries as a thank you, I glanced back at Neptune who was wearing her typical purple suit and was just staring at me silently.

"Can I... help you, Neptune?" I asked while wiping the sweat that was pouring down my forehead with the back of my arm

"Perhaps," Neptune responded, her voice sounding even more silky smooth than usual. "It seems that my grunts have become quite enamored with you, Satoshi."

I grimaced at that comment and when she didn't say anything else I awkwardly turned away, walking towards one of two rowing machines. They were great all-around workout machines since you used your legs to push yourself, your arms to pull on the bar, and your core to stabilize yourself. Just before I went to take a seat though, I heard the sound of a throat being cleared and I turned to see that Neptune was raising one eyebrow up at me. I blinked a few times at her then looked around us at the empty room.

"Was there something else?" I asked, feeling awkward to have her watching me while I worked out.

"You haven't brought me a new pokemon yet. I've been waiting, Satoshi," Neptune said, something strangely hard in her voice. 

I turned around to see her narrowing her light purple eyes dangerously at me and I wondered if I had ever felt more intimidated in my whole life. It's not like she was physically strong, but something about the hardness in her eyes and the knowledge that she was capable of atrocious acts made me want to get as far away from her as possible.

Why is this such a big deal to her? I wondered as I slowly bowed my head apologetically.

"Forgive me, Neptune. I haven't found a pokemon that I thought would match you, yet."

Neptune blinked, her face hiding whatever emotion she might be feeling, but her one arched eyebrow slowly sank back down to its normal position. "So you HAVE been trying to find a suitable pokemon," Neptune said with a tiny smile.

"Yes. It's hard to choose when I don't know what your current team is though," I replied cautiously, wondering if she would give me some sort of hint. Neptune just smiled coldly though, ignoring my hint and shrugging elegantly.

"Perhaps your attention has been so focused on the grunts you've simply missed the pokemon that would suit me," Neptune commented, lifting one hand up and inspecting her fingernails.

"Well, they do need a lot of looking after," I admitted, inching a little closer to the rowing machine. I could feel my muscles beginning to tense the more I rested and I still wanted to do fifteen minutes on the row machine before I ended my workout. "But I think the biggest issue is that the type of pokemon that live near Mount Coronet don't seem to match my image of you, Neptune."

"Hmmmm."

I was still inching towards the rowing machine as Neptune cocked her head to the side, appearing to be in thought. She then looked me up and down and surprisingly she turned her head and stared straight at Pikachu. My buddy met her gaze without fear, although he looked a little uncomfortable with the sudden staring contest. I knew what it was like being stared at with her cold pools of lilac purple and I did not envy my little friend.

"Can you find me a pokemon as loyal as your Pikachu?" Neptune suddenly asked, moving her gaze away from Pikachu and up to me. I saw his shoulders slump with relief out of the corner of my eye but I couldn't help but laugh.

"You may not believe it, but Pikachu hated me when we first met," I said, finally turning away from the rowing machine since it seemed like Neptune was bent on keeping my attention for a while. Neptune arched one eyebrow up in an unimpressed expression and I shrugged.

"It's true. Pikachu was always zapping me, I had to tie him up and drag him after me for the first few miles of my pokemon journey. But we went through a crazy experience where I tried to save Pikachu from a flock of Spearow but then he ended up saving me and got really hurt because of it. After that, we trusted each other completely and we've been best friends ever since," I recounted, looking back on the beginnings of my pokemon journey and smiling to myself.

"Hmm. So you're saying you earned his loyalty, he was not naturally loyal," Neptune summarized and I nodded.

"If you want a pokemon to be loyal to you then you have to be loyal to it. It's a two-way street," I explained with a grin down at Pikachu. He returned my smile, bounding over to me and climbing up my arm. He almost slipped because of how slick from sweat I was, but he made it and soon was sitting proudly on my shoulder.

"Hmmm," Neptune responded noncommittally. "Then how about after you finish taking out the last group of grunts you may stay out for as long as you like as long as you find a pokemon that will suit me."

I blinked in surprise at this sudden decision and tilted my head to the side in confusion.

"Wouldn't you prefer to come with me and choose your own pokemon?" I asked without thinking, but almost immediately as the words fell from my mouth I realized that I had essentially invited Neptune to come along with me ALONE for who knows how long to find a pokemon. I could feel cold sweat begin to slip down my neck but I tried to keep my expression the same since I didn't want her to realize how panicked I was.

Neptune's eyes widened slightly at my invitation, and then I was surprised to see what appeared to be a genuine smile quirk up one corner of her thin lips.

"You almost tempted me there, Satoshi," Neptune said, reaching up and flipping her hair over her shoulder while giving me a strange look. "However, Proteus is in the middle of an important project that I need to supervise closely. I will put my trust in you to return to me with an appropriate pokemon."

I had just opened my mouth to respond when her gentle expression darkened and a familiar wicked glint entered her pale eyes. I couldn't help but swallow nervously as she placed one hand on her hip and regarded me sternly.

"I'm sure you know what will happen if your choice was to disappoint me," she warned, her voice barely over a whisper, but it felt like her cold glare was shooting ice daggers into my body. She then turned away, waving one hand casually back at me. "Don't keep me waiting too long."

As she swished out of the gym I let out my pent-up breath in a huge sigh and I felt Pikachu's small paw patting my head comfortingly. Grabbing a towel that I had deposited earlier, I quickly wiped myself off and then reached up to scratch Pikachu behind the ear.

"At least we'll get to be alone for a while, huh, buddy?" I said, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere that Neptune had left behind.

"Chu pikachu," Pikachu answered, rubbing his head against my temple gently in a comforting expression. I was incredibly grateful that Director Falon had allowed me to bring Pikachu along with me. Honestly, sometimes I thought I would have gone crazy through the IIA training without Pikachu by my side.

"You're right. I just need to focus..." My stomach suddenly rumbled loudly and not two seconds later Pikachu's stomach gave an answering gurgle. We both laughed together at our synchronicity and I began briskly walking toward the showers.

"I'll get cleaned up then we can go get a late-night snack," I said with a grin and Pikachu lifted up one arm in the air excitedly before jumping off my shoulder and racing me to the showers.

* * * * * *

"Pikapi! Pika pikachu pi!"

I whipped around at Pikachu's desperate cries to get my attention, then dived to the side just before the razor-sharp talons of an irate Staraptor could sink into my shoulders. I growled in annoyance as several small twigs and rocks dug into my arms as I rolled across the forest floor, but I immediately jumped back up to my feet and glanced around quickly to try and find where Staraptor had gone.

"Crap. Come on, Pikachu!" I called out, holding a hand out for my partner that was up in a tree above me.

Pikachu and I had left the secret base at the crack of dawn to start our search for Neptune's new pokemon. It was now early morning and we had gone farther than any of the expeditions I led with the grunts so I'd been hoping that we would find something that seemed to fit Neptune. But things took a turn for the weird about an hour ago.

We were just minding our own business, searching for pokemon tracks to follow, when all of a sudden an Ursaring popped out of nowhere and began chasing after us. Pikachu scared it off easily with a well-aimed Electro Ball, but not ten minutes later a Bibarel burst from the bushes and doused us with a Water Pulse. I couldn't understand what was going on, but I didn't want Pikachu to tire himself out battling all these random pokemon so I had been doing my best to just dodge and evade their attacks.

This Staraptor though was just NOT giving up! Pikachu leaped from the tree, grabbing onto my forearm and I tucked him against my chest as I ran through the trees. A familiar cry of "Starrrraptor" rang out from behind me and I poured on even more speed.

"Pikapi! Pikapika!" 

Glancing down briefly as I ran through the trees, trying to use the trees to keep the Staraptor from catching us, I saw that Pikachu was tugging on my Team Galactic jumpsuit that I was wearing and I frowned. Looking back up at the path in front of me, I just barely had time to leap over a fallen log in my path. I heard a crash behind me and dirt splattered across the back of my legs. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Staraptor had aimed an Air Slash attack directly where I'd been moments before and I let out an annoyed growl.

"I don't want to battle you!" I called back at the Staraptor even as I continued to dash through the trees.

An angry screech was my only response as the Staraptor slowly gained on me. I flinched as I felt several small shocks beginning to race from Pikachu's body into my chest. Looking down, I saw a familiar angry glint in his black eyes and I knew that if I didn't let him go then he was going to end up shocking me along with Staraptor. Heaving out a gasping sigh, I turned and tossed Pikachu up into the air.

"Use Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" I called out. 

Even before I finished speaking a huge bolt of lightning shot from Pikachu's small body and zapped the irate Staraptor. I watched as the large flying type pokemon fell to the ground completely unconscious after Pikachu's anger-fueled attack. Pikachu landed on the ground breathing heavily as he tried to reign in his own temper. I walked over to him, bent down, and patted him on the head gratefully.

"Thanks, buddy," I sighed with a hint of sadness. I really hadn't wanted to hurt the Staraptor, but there was nothing else for us to do at that point.

"Pikachu pika, Pikapi," Pikachu pointed at his chest, then mine, and then pantomimed removing a shirt. I glanced down at the prominent green G stitched onto the chest area of my dumb jumper. I frowned heavily for a second as I considered what Pikachu was saying and then I decided that he must be right. Unzipping the zipper until about my waist, I sloughed off the sleeves of the jumper and then tied them together around my waist to hold it up.

"Good thing I wore a shirt underneath this," I said with a chuckle, although I was sweating so much from my mad dash away from Staraptor that I was tempted to take that off too.

Pikachu and I continued going through the forest at high alert, but after twenty minutes without any attack, I began to slowly relax. I know Team Galactic is bad, but half of the grunts are terrified to battle pokemon by themselves and they steal other people's pokemon so they can skip training them. Why are the pokemon in this part of the forest so willing to attack me just because of my uniform? What's going on?

I had no idea what to think of this, but I knew that I would be reporting it to Director Falon. As we walked together through the forest, Pikachu and I discussed the different pokemon that we came across. It was crazy how much I could actually understand of what Pikachu said in his own language, and I briefly thought back on Team Rocket's Meowth who had taught himself to speak like a human. I'd brought up the idea to Pikachu before, but he didn't seem interested in trying to learn, and since we could understand each other well enough I decided to drop it as well. Meowth was probably just one of a kind.

A little later Pikachu and I climbed a tree to observe a passing Combee. As I tried to picture Neptune standing alongside a Vespiquen and wondered if she would approve of that pokemon, a distant noise caught my attention. Apparently the Combee heard it too because it zoomed in the opposite direction, but I frowned and closed my eyes so I could focus in on listening. After a few more seconds the sound of an explosion along with a woman's shriek made its way into my ears. Frowning heavily, I dropped down to the ground and began making my way toward the sounds.

"Ser... look o...!" Snippets of a woman yelling caught my attention and I felt my pace quicken on its own. I hadn't heard everything, but I could feel my chest clenching as the sound of pokemon moves colliding with rocks or other objects boomed through the forest. Soon I was sprinting forward with Pikachu right on my heels. I could see a break in the trees up ahead, signaling some sort of path, and my heart plunged down into my stomach when I clearly heard a woman's voice.

"Leave Serena alone!"

A/N Ummmmmm... I'm sorry for the cliffhanger ':P Thank you for reading though! I hope this wasn't too boring >.< I don't know why but Ash's chapters have been really difficult for me to write lately