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A new Start...

'Now that you know everything about me?' asked Blaziken with a bitter smile, 'What are you going to do, Ryan?'

'I...' mumbled Ryan, not knowing what to say. Blaziken's story still had not ceased to shock him.

'How can you be smiling. Blaziken? If you want to cry, just cry?' Ryan asked himself mentally.

...

Trapped in his thoughts, Ryan was't aware of Monferno, who had snuck around him, until he felt a trembling pokemon behind his shoulder.

'What are you doing, Ryan? Send him back to your father!' yelled Monferno, 'He's a killer! I don't want to see him anymore!'

Both Ryan and Charizard were dumbstruck. For a slit second, Blaziken looked shocked, but his face quickly broke into a sarcastic laugh, 'Do you really hate me that much, Monferno? Well then,' he then turned to Ryan, 'You might as well do what he said. At least he would stop freaking out like that.'

'Enough! Both of you!' Ryan snapped, 'He's not going anywhere, but _you_will, Monferno. From now on, you'll stay inside your pokeball, and don't expect me to let you out until you learn how get along with your teammates. You. Are. Grounded!'

'Ryan, wait! Please don-...' Monferno pleaded, but Ryan violently pressed the pokeball's middle button, which opened it and released a red burst of light, enclosing Monferno and sucking him into the ball.

'As for you,' Ryan said, glaring at Blaziken, 'Come here!'

'I really think I shouldn't...'

'Come here! That's an order!' said Ryan loudly, with a surprisingly authoritative voice which the trainer himself didn't know he possessed. Blaziken flinched at the order. He hesitated for a moment, but finally, and reclutantly, moved closer to Ryan when he noticed the trainer's frighteningly serious face.

Ryan signaled Blaziken to stop when they were just a few inches apart. The blaze pokemon braced himself when Ryan raised his hand, as he thought the trainer was going to slap him. But to Blaziken's surprise, he was swept into a tight embrace.

'Let it go...' whispered Ryan gently, 'Your past, your wrong doings, everything you don't want to remember. We can't decide how our lives would turn out, and I know you didn't choose to live your past that way.'

'Master...' sobbed Blaziken. He had sworn to never cry again, but why couldn't he help it this time? No one had ever given him this kind of affection before. It was just too warm, 'Why are you so kind with me?'

'Oh shut up!' smiled Ryan, holding Blaziken even more tightly, 'Asking something that stupid again, and I really will send you back to my dad. Isn't this the way a trainer and his pokemon should be? Beside, I can't affort to let you go, not until I find a way to melt that so called icy heart of yours.'

Blaziken continued to sob quietly as he let himself melt into the warm and soothing embrace. For the first time in his life, he felt hope.

Somewhere in the darkness, a little light had been created...

...

Charizard looked torn between sympathy and jealousy as he watched Ryan and Blaziken hug each other. (Oh boy, I wish there had been a mirror so Charizard could see his face right now!)

He knew Ryan was doing what he had to do as a trainer, and Blaziken needed this comforting, but really? Did they have to hug each other _that_tightly?

It took a while for Ryan to finally let go of the hug, and by the time he had, Charizard was on the verge of losing it.

Ryan suddenly sensed a murderous aura which sent chills down and his spines, and he inmmediately knew where it came from. Turning to Blaziken, he said, 'Hey, Blaziken, can you do me a favor?'

'Anything.'

'Good. Jake must be at the pokemon gym. I want you to go there and fetch him, together with the guy whom I ran into this morning.'

'Roger. I will try to be back as soon as I can!' said Blaziken enthusiastically, before disappearing behind the door. Ryan couldn't help but feel srangely happy, 'He sounded like a child. I wonder how long has it been since the last time he truly smiled...Oh shoot, I almost forgot about you, Charizard.' he said, scratching the back of his neck.

Charizard said nothing and walked towards Ryan, wearing a scary facial expression which was fury mingled with extreme jealousy.

'You look so tense...Is there a-anything wrong?' asked Ryan timidly, his confindence had completely vanished.

'Oh, a lot of things are wrong with me today, alright.' snarled Charizard, 'Now, which one should we talk about first?'

(Meanwhile, at the Eterna Gym)

'That's it, a little faster!' shouted Jake, running his eyes at the battlefield, where two objects were, apparently, chasing each other and moving so fast that they looked like blue blurs. They dashed around a few more times, before one of them stopped right in front of Jake, while the other stopped next to Jaden, both leaving behind them trails of dust and small rocks.

'Well done, Lucario. You're quite a quick learner. That was very damn close, you almost caught up with Latios.' complimented Jaden. He noticed Latios' grumbles of disapproval, as if the Eon pokemon wanted to be given some credits for his speed as well.

Smiling, Jaden began to caress Latios' cheeks, making the Eon pokemon murr in a small, lovely delight.

'T-thanks...' replied Lucario, who was on his hands and knees, panting heavily, 'I've never run that fast in my entire life! What did you call the move, again? Extreme Speed?'

'Aye,' Jaden nodded, 'Technically, it's an advanced version of Quick Attack. However, it increases the priority of a trainer's command. When two trainers give their orders, the one with a higher priority get to act first.' Jaden added as he noticed the blank look on Lucario's face, 'In other words, you'll get a better chance to hit your opponents before they get you.'

'Really? That's amazing.' asked Jake, who was kneeling next to Lucario and gently stroking the pokemon's back, 'Are you alright, pup?'

'Don't worry, he'll get used to it, as long as you two keep practicing everyday.' said Jaden, 'Now, let's try another move.'

'Wait, uhm...'

'Huh, you want to take a break?'

'No, I'm wondering if...if you can help me train my other pokemon as well. Lucario is my main pokemon, but I want a balanced team. Beside, I really haven't done much to utilize my other pokemon's strengths too.' asked Jake.

'Sure,' Jaden shrugged, much to Jake's delight, 'But I'll only give you the most basic instructions. The outcome still depends on how much you understand them and how hard you train.'

'Leave it to me.' Jake grinned.

(Now back to Ryan)

'Come again? Why did I hug Blaziken?' said Ryan, raising his eyebrowns, 'I thought you were the one to understand me the most, Charizard, and for you to ask a question this silly! I simply wanted to comfort him. Didn't you see Blaziken had almost lost his purpose to live, to the point of completely ignoring his own existance. Who knows what kind of crazy things he might do?'

'Yeah, but...did you really have to be that close to him?' asked Charizard resentfully.

'It was a hug! What do you expect?' scolded Ryan, 'That reminds me, why do you always seem to have a problem with Blaziken. The guy hasn't done anything wrong to you, and he even tried to befriend you. Care to explain to me, Charizard?'

'Well...' Charizard faltered, 'I don't know (Ryan glared at him)...No, honestly, I just don't like it, whenever Blaziken is close to you. I can't find an exact word to describe that feeling, but it's always there, and it makes me nervous.'

Ryan had a bewilded look on his face as he stared at Charizard. They exchanged gazes for a moment, before...

'You're jealous.' he said, then started laughing like a lunatic, 'I can't believe it. You actually got jealous just because I was a little close to him?'

'That's not funny!' grunted Charizard, but his face had already been decorated by flushes of embarassment.

'But it is.' scoffed Ryan while holding his belly, which was aching painfully because of the hard laughters, 'And quite frankly, pretty cute too. I didn't expect my mate...' he added an extravagantly long pause at the last word, winking playfully at Charizard, '...to be so sensitive. But from the way I see it, your jealousy can be explained in two different ways.

One, you were afraid that Blaziken was going to...err, how to put this, steal me from you, but we both know...yes, we both know that it's not likely to happen, because he hasn't tried to flirt or do anything funny with me so far; which leaves us with the second theory: You were afraid, that I was going to betray you and choose him. In other words, you doubted my feelings.'

Charizard blinked as if he had just been slapped. He shook his head, his mouth tried to open itself for an explaination, but something seemed to stuck in his throat, rendering him unable to say anything but a small, submissive whimper.

Ryan chuckled when he saw the guilty puppy face Charizard was making, and decided he should not tease the pokemon anymore. Running his fingers along Charizard's face, Ryan started to stroke the pokemon's cheeks, then his snout. The warm flesh felt slightly rough, but brilliant against his touch.

'It's okay, don't be so tense. After all, love ain't that fun without a little bit of jealousy, and I'm now fully convinced that you truly care for me. However...' Ryan paused, his voice became solemn, 'There's still no excuses for your paranoid and immature bahaviors. Listen to me carefully, from now on, I don't want to see another fight between you and Blaziken, under any circumstances.'

Charizard let out a protesting groan, which made Ryan frown, 'I'm serious. Like him or not, Blaziken is my pokemon now, which means he's also your comrade, and I won't tolerate anything that threaten the solidarity of my team, even if it comes from you. I've accepted him, and you'd better do the same thing, or else...well, you saw what happened to Monferno.'

Charizard shivered at the prospect of being imprisoned for life in his pokeball, but more importantly...he couldn't believe Ryan would do such a cruel thing to him just because of Blaziken. That pesky chicken! Charizard wished he would just disappear from his and Ryan's lives.

'Fine, I'll try,' huffed Charizard, 'But you have to promise me one thing.'

'And that would be?'

'If Blaziken really has any funny intent with you, let me beat the crap out of him.'

'Hahah, fine, you have my words.' smiled Ryan softly, though he honestly doubted Charizard could ever beat Blaziken, especially in his mad, jealous-driven state.

'Nah, I do want something from your mouth, but not your words.'

Ryan blushed as he figured out what Charizard meant. Slowly, the distance between their faces was shortened and finally, their lips met in a long, well-deserved kiss.

However, their precious and loving moment was disturbed by series of knocks from the door, followed by Blaziken's eager voice, 'I'm back!'

Reclutantly, Ryan pulled himself away from Charizard, who looked as if Christmas had been canceled permanently.

'Damn you, Blaziken! Why do you always ruin my moment? Damn you!' Charizard thought angrily.

...

'We're in the middle of training when Blaziken arrived and said that you want to see us. Do you need anything?' asked Jake as he sat down on the sofa.

'No, I actually want to see Jaden.' Ryan replied.

'Me?'

'Yeah, I'm sorry for my rude and immature behaviors. I shouldn't have gotten angry with you for no reasons.' Ryan apologized.

Jaden smiled and tapped Ryan's shoulder, 'Don't worry, I don't mind those little things. Beside, it was my fault for comparing you with your father, and I know you were frustrated. Well, I have good news. Gardenia just sent me a message, saying that she had finished returning the pokemon to the citizens, and will be back to the gym this afternoon. I'll make sure nothing will get on the way this time, so you can settle your score with Gardenia once and for all.'

'Finally!' Ryan exclaimed, 'I can't wait to win my second badge and leave this obsolete city as soon as possible. The Sinnoh League will be held in about half and a month, and we've already wasted two days for nothing here.'

'That's the spirit!' said Jaden, clapping his hands, 'But first, I'm starving. Lunch, anyone?'

(Eterna Gym)

Ryan stood in front of Eterna Gym. Twice had he been here, and both times he returned empty-handed, but as the old saying went, 'third time's the charm', nothing could stop him and from getting the Forest badge now. Just that sheer thought made Ryan shiver in excitement.

Gardenia was seen waiting for them as Jake, Ryan and Jaden entered the gym's main part. As usual, there was no actual battlefield, only an empty area in the middle of the mini-forest which served as one, but there was a small change. The roof was removed, which allowed the sunlight to shine upon brightly.

'Welcome to Eterna Gym, brave challengers.' said Gardenia, smilling, 'I'm the gym leader, grass-type master Gardenia. Let's battle with everything we have and make this an experience to remember.'

'I'll be the ref, just for this special occasion.' Jaden grinned and walked to the left side of the battlefield, 'So, which one of you two will go first.'

'Go, Jake.' said Ryan, 'Show her the result of your training.'

"You got it.' Jake replied and gave Ryan a thumbs-up

...

'Now I think you two are familiar with the rules, but it won't hurt to reanounce them.' said Jaden, 'Three versus three, and the battle will only be over when all pokemon on one side are unable to continue. Furthermore, only the challenger can subtitue pokemon during the battle, got it?'

Both Gardenia and Jake nodded.

'Exellent. Let the battle...begin!'

'Alright, Cherubi, let's go!' said Gardenia as she threw a pokeball onto the battlefield, which immediately opened and reveal a round-shafted pokemon.

Jake blinked as he set eyes on the new pokemon, because it was...uhm, how to put this: The most adorable little thing he had ever seen (not to be confused with Lucario, though). It was small, pinky with two stubby feet. On its head was a short stem with two leaves and something looked like a much smaller head growing from it. With that kind of initial impression, it was really hard for anyone to take the little cherub pokemon seriously (which would be soon proved to be a deadly mistake).

'Okay, I choose you!' said Jake, 'Go, Starly.'

As he released the starling pokemon, Jake shouted, 'Don't be nervous, Stary. Just try to focus solely on your opponent.'

'Lady first,' said Gardenia, 'Cherubi, Magical Leaf!'

Cherubi jumped up and flipped its body, releasing multiple glowing green leaves from the stem on its head which aimed at Starly.

'Dodge, Starly!' Jake commanded. The bird pokemon obliged and flied to his left, successfully avoided the assault, or at least he thought so, until...the leaves, as if being driven by an invisible force, changed their direction and hit Starly on the back, knocking him onto the ground.

'What in the world was that?' said Jake aggravatedly.

'Magical Leaf. They can track down targets, so unless you get rid of them, it's no use trying to dodge.' said Gardenia triumphantly, 'Now, continue with Solar Beam!'

The leaves on Cherubi's head started to glow as white energy currents could be seen gathering to them. It then fired a golden energy beam at Starly, who, apparently, still hadn't recovered from getting hit by the last attack.

'Starly, dodge and use Wing Attack!' Jake ordered. Staggering, the bird pokemon managed to get up and soared into the sky again, getting himself out of the Solar Beam's way just in the nick of time. Starly then descended at highspeed, his wings glowed white as he prepared to strike with them.

But he missed. For a split second before Starly's Wing Attack was about to hit its target, Cherubi sidestepped to the left, dodging the assault.

'Impossible! How can Cherubi move so fast?' asked Jake, his face showed nothing but frustration.

'For your information, my Turwig is even faster. That is Cherubi's special ability, Chlorophyll.'

'Come again?'

'Chlorophyll is an ability which is exclusive to Grass-type pokemon. Under the sunny weather, the speed of my pokemon will be increased.' Gardenia explained, folding her arms and smiled, 'So, what will you gonna do now?'

Jake instinctively brought his head up, and it suddenly struck him. The Sun!

'Of course, that's why she had the ceiling removed. Cherubi's speed and power, they all come from the Sun. She utilizes the weather to power up her pokemon, and there's nothing I can do about it...' Jake thought, bitting his lower lip, 'Wait...there's actually something I can do. If I can't change the weather, then I will prevent _you_from using it to your advantages.'

Smirking, Jake ordered, 'Up, Starly, as far as you can, then come down nice and slow!'

The starling pokemon gave Jake an annoyed look, obviously didn't quite understand what his trainer meant, but he shrugged and started flying up to the sky, until he had completely blocked the sun from Cherubi's vision.

As Jaden observes the battle, his lips curved into a small smile, I see. Good thinking, Jake.

Now Starly was descending at again, but slower this time so that his shadow was still covering the Sun. However, as he got closer and closer to the ground, Starly had to increase his speed, and that was exactly what Jake had been waiting for.

'Now, Wing Attack!'

'The same trick again, Solar Beam...' ordered Gardenia, but immediately after that, the gym leader gasped in horror when she relized that Cherubi had no access to the sunlight, for Starly's shadow had covered it, 'Oh no!'

'That's right, without any sunlight, Solar Beam is useless,' Jake smirked, 'And now that Cherubi can't even use its ability, it's nothing more than a prey for my Starly.'

As Jake finished his sentence, Starly's attack had also connected, sending a helpless Cherubi flying into a tree right behind it.

'Excellent. End this with Take Down!'

Wasting no time, the bird pokemon charged, a slightly visible aura surrounded his body as he slammed into Cherubi, knocking it out cold.

'Cherubi is unable to battle. Starly is the winner.' Jaden declared.

'Well done, Starly...' Jake complimented, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw Starly try to pluck Cherubi's second head off, 'Hey, what do you think you're doing?'

'No, someone stops that Starly!' Gardenia screamed, but it was too late. With a loud gulp, Starly had removed Cherubi's second head and devoured it, his face was masked by immense delight, as if he had just been fed the most delicious treat in the world.

'Why did you do that?' scolded Jake, but Starly didn't show any kind of remorse whatsoever.

'Cherubi's second head is nutritious, because it contains the energy for evolution, and it's apparently edible, so Starly, as well as several pokemon will try to pluck it off.' Jaden explained, 'Sorry I forgot to inform you about this. Don't worry Gardenia, it will grow back, but I'm afraid Cherubi's in no condition to continue fighting for the rest of the day.'

As she returned Cherubi to its pokeball, Gardenia shot a grudeful glare at Jake, who turned his head away to avoid it. She made it look like what had happened to Cherubi was his fault, while clearly it wasn't.

'Turwig, you're up!' exclaimed Gardenia as she threw another pokeball onto the ground, releasing a small, green turtle-like pokemon who also had a small stem on its head with two leaves grown from it. And just like its trainer, the small turtle didn't look like it was in a great mood.

'Let's get this over with! Starly, use quick attack!' Jake ordered. Starly body instantly became surrounded by an white aura as he charged at Turwig, ready to tackle it.

'Dodge it, then use Leech Seed!' said Gardenia coldly, but strangely, Turwig didn't move. It waited for Starly to get closer and, to the bird pokemon's, as well as Jake's surprise, jumped over Starly's head, thus easily avoided his assault.

'That thing's even faster than Cherubi!!?' Jake exclaimed, blinking in shock, 'Behind you, Starly!'

As Starly heard Jake's warning and turned around, Turwig lowered its head and launched a brown seed from the sproud on its head at the bird pokemon. The seed hit Starly's forehead, and from that spot, vines started to grow and wrap themselves around Starly. Soon, the bird pokemon was completely binded.

'That's not all. Watch this!' said Gardenia, and immediately, the vines around Starly began to glow scarlet. At the same time, the bird pokemon let loose a scream of agony.

'What's happening?' Jake frowned, looking at Starly concernedly, 'What have you done to him?'

'Oh, nothing, just drain some of its energy.' said Gardenia, smiling, 'Now, use Tackle!'

Snorting, Turwig began to charge at Starly, who was wriggling madly in a vain attemp to free himself from the vines' restrain, and slammed headfirst into the bird pokemon. The impact knocked Starly to a tree behind him, instantly rendering the pokemon unconscious.

'Starly is unable to battle.' said Jaden grimly, 'Turwig is the winner.'

'So much for a gym battle debut.' mumbled Jake as he recalled the defeated Starly, 'But you've done well enough, so take a good rest...I underestimated her. With Turwig's speed, even Typhlosion won't be a match for it. Look like there's only one choice left for me now...'

'Go, Lucario!' declared Jake, throwing another one of his pokeballs onto the ground. As the ball popped open, it unleashed a scarlet beam which materialized into a jackal-like figure.

Lucario stood proudly in front of Turwig, rolling his eyes coldly at the turtle pokemon, who didn't seem to scare the slightest bit.

'Turwig is a grass/ground-type. Lucario is a fighting/steel-type, so neither one of them has a type advantage against the other. This'll be a battle of speed.' said Jake, 'Are you ready, Lucario?'

'Born ready!' growled the aura pokemon, 'Let's kick some ass.'

'A battle of speed, huh? I won't lose! Turwig, use Tackle, maximum speed!' shouted Gardenia.

'Oh yeah? Try this on for speed! Lucario, Extreme Speed and Force Palm.'

As two pokemon received orders from their respective trainers, they started to move almost simultaneously. Turwig, just like earlier when he had been battling Starly, displayed an incredible feat of speed as it charged forwards Lucario, being surronded by a visible clear aura.

But Lucario's feat was even more incredible. Moving so fast that his whole body almost became a blur, the aura pokemon wasted little to no time approaching Turwig, and before the turtle pokemon even realized it, Lucario's paw had already pressed firmly against its chest.

'Say goodbye, kid.' smirked Lucario. Turwig only had enough time to gasp in horror, before it was blasted away by a powerful green beam from Lucario's palm.

'And that's that.' Jake grinned as he watched Turwig being launched to its master feet, staggering to get up, but failed miserably, at the same time, he could hear Jaden's voice, declaring that Lucario was the winner. He made a mental note to thank Jaden after the battle was over. Hadn't it been for his teaching him Extreme Speed, Lucario would have been a goner for sure.

'I can't believe how fast you took out my Turwig, but I guarantee you this next battle won't be that easy.' said Gardenia, sounding a little aggravated, perhaps hadn't expected her proud Turwig to be defeated so easily. The gym leader then proceeded with summoning her last pokemon, 'Roserade, it's your turn!'

Roserade wasn't like anything Jake had seen before. Its whole body was made up from dark and light green parts, with strange features that looked like dark green cape and mask, and two bouquet of roses in its hands.

'Let's get this over with. Lucario, advance and use Close Combat!' ordered Jake. Lucario wasted to time and started approaching Roserade at high speed.

'Grass Knot.' said Gardenia coldly.

Roserade's eyes glowed green, at the same time, Lucario suddenly tripped on something and fell over, his jaw bashed against the grassy surface.

Jake winced. Even from where he was standing, the trainer could feel Lucario's pain. His eyes then fixed to Lucario's feet, and Jake spotted a knot made of two blades of leaf tied together unnaturally.

'Now, blind him with Flash!'

As Lucario struggled to ignore the striking pain at his jaw and get up, Roserade had already made its move. Jumping forward and landing right in front of Lucario, the bouquet pokemon began to emit bright light from its body.

'My eyes!' Lucario yelled as he tried to cover his eyes, but it was too late.

'Does it hurt? Having your vision robbed?' Gardenia mocked, 'Well don't worry, I'll put you out of your misery right now. Weather Ball!'

Roserade nodded and help up both its arms, forming a massive orange ball with fire streams around it.

'Jake, I can't see anything! What should I do?' screamed Lucario hysterically.

'Don't panic!' scolded Jake, 'Remember, you can see things in more than one way. Try to predict Roserade's movements via its aura, and defense yourself with Bone Rush.'

The aura pokemon nodded and held out his hands, creating a long, green energy bone. Holding the bone firmly, Lucario went into a battle stance, readying to take on whatever that was about to come at him.

'It's pointless to struggle, you're finished.' said Gardenia, 'Go, Weather Ball!'

As Roserade fired its Weather Ball at him, the black appendages on Lucario's head started to rise as he tried to read Roserade's aura to locate it. At the same time, he could feel the approach of an intense amount of heat, and quickly visualized his counter-attack.

Finally, with a vigorous roar, Lucario launched himself into the air and swung his energy staff, effeciently knocking the Weather Ball back at its owner. The fierce ball exploded as soon as it hit Roserade, dealing it with a considerable amount of damage, as Roserade was grass-type, while under the sunlight, Weather Ball became a fire-type move.

'Roserade, no!' screamed Gardenia.

'Alright! Wrap this up with good ol' Aura Sphere!' called Jake. Lucario was extra pumped-up as he was finally permitted to use his signature attack. Running towards a serverely damaged Roserade, who was looking extremely dazed, Lucario joined his paws together, creating a transparent, blue energy ball and launched it at his opponent. Roserade made no effort whatsoever to dodge the energy sphere, and it was brought down for good as the attack connected and resulted in another explosion.

'Roserade is unable to battle!' Jaden declared, pointing his arm at Jake's side, 'Lucario wins, which means the victory of this match goes to the challanger Jake.'

'Alright! Another gym victory!' exclaimed Jake, literally jumping up in joy. He then ran to Lucario and gave the pup a bear hug, 'You were really cool, Lucario.'

'Thanks.' replied Lucario as he nestled up to his mate's warm chest, tail wagging happily, 'I'm just glad that I didn't let you down.'

Ryan smiled as he saw Jake and Lucario enjoy their victory in an affectional way, 'Well done, Jake. Now...it's time for me to win that badge, and teach that girl a lesson about respect.'

...

(To be continued)