[Congratulations! You are in Second Place out of 472 Trainers! Your prize is a Dragon Scale and a hold item of your choice!]
The message glowed on the screen in front of me, and I stood there for a moment—just breathing it in. Second place.... The boredom pulsed through me like a jolt, rushing down my spine and spreading to my fingertips. One question lingered in the back of my mind.
Who the hell got first?
"Hey! What place did you get? And more importantly, which evolution item did you got?" Khan asked, peering over at my screen like he couldn't wait another second.
Amaris leaned closer too, squinting slightly before sighing. "He's in second," she said, already stepping back as the prize screen shifted again—this time displaying a long list of hold items. From a Choice Band to something as niche as a Leek.
"Let me check the leaderboard!" Khan said, probably noticing the way my expression dropped just a bit. He tapped at the screen and a list began to scroll from the bottom up. 472st place – Riley, it read. Then it worked its way through the ranks first finding out names. 21st – Amaris, 5th – Khan, 2nd – Alex, and finally, sitting at the very top:
1st Place – Green
"Huh. Never heard of that trainer," Khan muttered. He leaned in, squinting at the name.
Amaris, though, stared at it longer—like something about it was pulling at a thread in her memory.
But I already knew.
I didn't need a face or anything more. Just seeing "Green" at the top told me all I needed.
"Aghh!" I grunted before continuing "Its annoying but there is no need to be sad about it," I said with a shrug as I began scrolling through the list of hold items. "I think I know who that is... and if I'm right, then her being first is the most normal thing about today."
A small smile found its way onto my face as I selected Leftovers. The screen accepted the choice with a soft tone, and five capsules clicked open below it. Inside three of them were my Pokémon—Aria, Oddy, and Dash. All three were fast asleep. Dash, still just an egg, looked... bigger than earlier. Just a little, but it was enough to make me pause and notice.
I clipped their Pokéballs back onto my belt one by one, careful and quiet. A Redsystemscreen lit up next to the Leftovers with a brief description.
[Leftovers: This item heals 1/16 of the Pokémon's health every 30 seconds during battle.]
"So they tried to nerf it, huh..." I murmured under my breath, slipping it into my inventory while making sure neither Khan nor Amaris saw it.
When I turned around, they were both reequipping their teams too. Khan tucked two Pokéballs inside the inner pocket of his worn black leather jacket. Amaris neatly placed three into the small white bag slung at her hip, zipping them in next to a few scattered trinkets.
"So... are we ready?" I asked, stepping toward the large metal door at the end of the room.
Both of them gave me small nods as they joined me. I reached out and pushed—the door groaned open on heavy hinges.
And just like that, we stepped back into the world.
Moonlight bathed Route 6 in silver. It rested on our faces and cooled the heat still lingering on my skin from the tournament. The air was crisp and fresh, filled with subtle sounds: the soft rustling of feathers as Pidgeys watched from telephone wires, Meowths batting around loose coins they'd stolen or scavenged, and the low rustle of Oddish wandering through the grass, scattering seeds with every step.
Not far off, a tranquil blue pool mirrored the night sky. Along its edge, a group of Slowpokes lay sprawled out, their thick pink tails hanging lazily in the water as they waited—patient as ever—for a bite from some unseen Magikarp.
It felt peaceful unlike the madness behind us was already fading into memory.
I walked along the grassy edge of the trail, the cool night air brushing against my face and clearing my head. Each breath felt like it rinsed away the tension that had built up during the Underground. Just as I started to feel relaxed—
*Wham*
I was tackled from the side, my body crashing into the grass as something buzzing and loud clung to me like a magnet.
[Alex Carter! How are you? Did you miss me? Which place did you get!?]
The robotic voice was unmistakable.
"Rotom—!" I groaned, struggling to push the electric ghost away as it hovered inches from my face. I managed to grab the edges of the Pokédex it possessed and gently shoved it back, holding it at arm's length like a misbehaving balloon.
"First of all, stop doing that!" I snapped. "Second, I placed second, alright? Third Yeah ı kinda did! Any more questions?"
I managed to sit up as Rotom hovered back with a little static buzz, still vibrating with energy. Nearby, Amaris and Khan were snickering, clearly entertained by the whole thing. Their laughter made my cheeks warm slightly—not from embarrassment, but irritation. I sighed and let Rotom go.
But now it had found new targets.
It zipped over to them like a kid at a party, circling fast and peppering them with questions in a single breathless burst.
[Hello? Who are you guys? What are your names? Did you meet Alex Carter in the Underground? What place did you get?!]
Amaris quickly ducked under Rotom's spinning path, leaving Khan alone in its line of fire. She flopped onto the grass with a long, dramatic sigh while Khan awkwardly tried to keep up with Rotom's interrogation.
"Where did you even find a Rotom?" Amaris asked, looking over at me. "I thought they were native to Sinnoh. Only researchers and some scientists can have them, right?"
"Oh, this is a Rotomdex," I explained, brushing some grass off my jacket. "The Rotom inside it isn't actually mine. Professor Cherry gave it to me—said it would help protect me... even though it hasn't really done much when things got actually dangerous."
Rotom spun around at that, a little spark of offense crackling from its casing as it let Khan go
[Alex Carter, please stop lying! I helped you on the way to Bill's house! I saved you from the Nidoking! And those weird men!]
Khan and Amaris watched us banter, eyes wide with amusement.
I crossed my arms. "First of all, you didn't defeat Nidoking. That was Oddy... and Aria. You only helped a little...only a little sure—but let's not get carried away."
Rotom's screen flashed into a smug little smile, then immediately shifted into an exclamation mark.
[Oh, by the way, Alex Carter! I got news from Miss Skyla about the—]
It cut itself off mid-sentence, glancing nervously at Khan and Amaris. For a second, the only sound was the gentle hum of Rotom's electric core.
Amaris, reading the tension, stood and casually grabbed Khan's hand.
"We'll go on ahead," she said with a sly smile. "You guys can catch up after your chat."
She turned to Khan. "Let's go, The kid that ı don't know the name of! We've got a long walk to Vermilion ahead of us."
"Wait—why didn't even asked my name before now?" he asked, eyebrows raised as she dragged him toward the road.
I laughed under my breath, then turned back to Rotom.
"So," I said, "what did they find?"
The breeze had quieted. All I could hear now was the soft rustle of leaves and the low plasma whir coming from Rotom as it spoke.
[Miss Skyla told me that when miss Yellow arrived, around the lab was crawling with police officers. They were searching the entire place top to bottom. After they left, she tried to go inside... but it was locked. Both from the inside and the outside.]
That made me pause.
Locked both ways?
[Miss Yellow said she broke the lock using something Bill gave her. When she finally got in, the lab was... weirdly clean. Completely organized. But you, me, and Mr. Sammy—we saw it destroyed.]
The air around us felt heavier, like even the moonlight itself had grown suspicious.
"Yeah... I remember," I said quietly. "You even blew a hole in the roof with Thunder. There was debris everywhere. Nothing was clean."
Rotom buzzed slowly in the air, its glow steady. The memory of the Pokémon inside the cages lingered in my mind—chaotic, sharp, disgusting and painful. It was impossible to forget.
Rotom hovered steadily in front of me, its glow pulsing faintly in the dark as it continued its report.
[Miss Yellow also said that she found a secret underground base beneath the lab.]
I blinked. "Wait—what?"
[She found it with the help of her Pikachu. Apparently, its tail reacted to some hidden electric current underground. It led her to a wall which she said was just an illusion.]
I stared at Rotom. My thoughts drifted to the ruins we'd left behind, the chaos we'd seen. And under all of it... there was more? My fingers curled slightly against my pants. A very small part of me burned with the desire to have been there, to see it with my own eyes.
Rotom continued, its tone growing more focused.
[She said that in one of many rooms she found a PC inside. A USB drive was plugged into it. She didn't get to examine what was inside—said she heard someone coming. So she grabbed the USB and got out before anyone could catch her. That's all she told Bill before ending the call.]
There was a short pause before it added,
[She's heading to give the USB to Bill. Until then, Bill told miss Skyla to keep her eyes open which is what she told us to do... just in case.]
The buzz in Rotom's voice faded into the night. I didn't respond. I couldn't—not immediately.
Instead, I lowered myself into the tall, humid grass. It was still damp from the evening dew, cool against my legs. I opened up the familiar red interface that floated before my eyes.
[MAIN MISSION: Get all 16 Gym Badges and become the Champion of Kanto and Johto]
[MAIN MISSION 2 : Get rid of the Evil in the Region]
Both objectives stared back at me like immovable mountains. I rubbed a hand down my face, trying to shake off the storm inside my head about what to do,and how to do it fast.
My hand lingered on my face as I stared up at the moonlight breaking through the leaves overhead. It was soft, silver, almost kind. And yet, I didn't feel comforted. I felt torn—between rushing forward and just stopping altogether. Between chasing strength to win battles and falling into everything I told myself to avoid.
I closed the red screen and let my thoughts drift for a moment, willing them to quiet before planning to join Khan and Amaris.
Right then, a notification that came from Rotom made me came back to my senses.