~Soutarou POV~
Soutarou shook his head and said, "Well then we're screwed either way… The only thing I see in every damned direction is… danger on the horizon."
Kaede sighed and shook her head saying, "What do you want to do then?"
Soutarou scratched his chin and said, "Send the information to the League. I'm guessing Team Plasma's involved. So I'll leave it to you to report to the League. While we're at it let's get Team Rocket, Team Galactic, and Team Flare involved. Might as well make the whole situation as messy as possible."
Kaede paused and stared dumbfoundedly at Soutarou saying, "Are you crazy…? As a member of the League I really shouldn't be saying this… As crazy as that idea is… It works. But…"
Soutarou grimly said, "But it means Johto's going to become a battlefield. A really messy battlefield."
Kaede nodded asking, "What should we do then?"
Soutarou thought for a moment before saying, "Seal off the Alph Ruins. And… Let it turn to rubble. Hopefully the plate gets buried with the ruins."
Kaede frowned and said, "That's a historical site Soutarou."
Soutarou frowned and said, "Then? What other options do we have? Let all the villain teams fight in Lake Rage while Team Plasma just steals the Icicle Plate and possibly uses it to get their hands on Kyurem and all of a sudden we have an enhanced Kyurem running around with an Arceus plate, on top of already being one of the strongest legendaries."
Kaede hesitated before saying, "Alright… I'll leak the information accordingly."
Soutarou just hummed before Kaede gently pulled him into a hug and said, "Don't stress. I believe in you, you'll always overcome adversity. After all you're Soutarou."
Kaede let go and left before pulling out a normal phone to call a dozen or so people…
Soutarou stayed back and Ralts, who was now perched on his shoulder, nuzzled his face softly, mentally saying, {Don't worry master. We'll be ready for whatever comes.}
Soutarou smiled and softly caressed Ralts, before pulling out his SummersDex and making a call…
Soutarou's voice flatly said, "Sebestian. Pull our people away from the Lake of Rage and Ruins of Alph. Just know that area's about to become a war zone."
Sebastian's voice came over the phone confused before Soutarou said, "I can't say anything else, but just know Kaede's investigation revealed something big, like big enough that I'm expecting at least three villain groups, maybe more and of course the League to get involved."
Sebastian in a serious voice asked, "I'll pull all the M. Corp researchers out as soon as possible. What about the Pokemon you asked for, young master?"
Soutarou calmly said, "The faster you send them over the better."
Sebastian hummed in agreement before saying, "The Gible and the Horsea are ready for transfer as for Dreepy we're having a bit of trouble locating one of high talent."
Soutarou thought for a moment, "That's fine Gible and Horsea are going to newer trainers, Dreepy's meant for Kaede so if you find a Drakloak that's fine too, she's a strong enough trainer to handle it."
Sebastian paused and then said, "As you wish young master. Though I must ask what of your own Pokémon?"
Soutarou simply said, "No need, I'll let the fates guide me. Pokémon aren't just battlers afterall, they're our partners, aimlessly catching Pokémon isn't my style, no matter how much I prefer how a Pokémon looks I'd rather have a story, a connection with my Pokémon. Don't underestimate the power of bonds, Sebastian."
Sebastian went silent over the line before saying, "Someone else once told me the exact same thing… Very well. Good luck young master."
Soutarou ended the call after Sebastian gave a few reminders and updates. As Soutarou put the SummersDex down Misty tapped his shoulder and he turned around to see her in the iconic challenger pose with a smile on her face saying, "You're worried right? Then let's train. Come on."
Soutarou's eyes flashed and he smiled before putting the Dex away into his backpack. Misty waited with her arms crossed before finally motioning for Soutarou to follow. The duo arrived at the Gym's training ground, where Yellow was having Chuchu, Chicky, and Froggy use their moves and get used to moving around while using them.
Yellow saw Soutarou and Misty enter and waved to them, but continued to focus on building rapport with her Pokémon instead of rushing over to them.
Misty put her hands on her hips and said, "So how are we going to do this?"
Soutarou's eyes twitched and he said, "How would I know? Weren't you the one who called me over?"
Misty glared and said, "You're the smarter and stronger one. You decide."
Soutarou sighed and said, "Some Gym Leader you are. I pray for the future of the League if all of our Gym Leaders are like you."
Misty sighed before pitifully saying, "Unfortunately the young masters of the League no longer pay as many taxes as they should and the state of the League has collapsed…"
Soutarou happily said, "Don't worry with the amount of money of mine you've spent, we could easily build a new Gym."
Misty retorted sadly, "Ah silly Soutarou… I was simply taxing you and getting back the League's rightful money!"
Soutarou calmly dismissed her saying, "Unfortunately our Morita Corporation pays its taxes in full and has done so since its establishment. As such I'm afraid I require a massive refund of the funds you've spent-"
Misty interjected and said, "Soutarou you must understand that donations and taxes are too separate-," Misty's expression tightened as she suddenly said, "TEAM ROCKET!"
Soutarou's eyes widened and jumped up a bit and turned around only to see nothing, but to instead see purple Starmie charging up a Hydro Pump.
Soutarou's eyes twitched and he immediately jumped to the side before Ralts on his shoulder reacted and threw up a Light Screen and a Protect simultaneously. Ralts began preparing psychic energy to retaliate before Misty threw her hands up in surrender.
Though not before Misty said, "You fell for it again. Too much confidence Soutarou… We've already been shown what that does a few days ago… You need to be able to react faster. I'm guessing we're going to be in dicey and dicier situations as time goes on, while we still have a chance… Maybe we need to get used to no bars held back type of combat."
Soutarou grimly looked at Starmie and then Misty before softly nodding in agreement.
'Damn… I fell for the redirect and attack trick twice… and I have psychic abilities, aura, and supposedly superhuman senses… Not to mention the fact that Ralts didn't react either…'
'If this were a battle like that encounter me and Misty had with the Jessie, Cassidy, and Domino trio… I'd be dead or captured.'
Soutarou's shoulders slumped in defeat and he said, "Then…? What… What should I do? How should I train…?"
Another voice answered, "Isn't it obvious? You just pick up the pace, you battle, and you engrain the hard fought experience into your bones. Not to mention as it is you're being held back by your Pokemon's strength not your ability as a trainer."
Soutarou raised an eyebrow at Kaede and said, "You already finished…?"
Kaede shrugged and said, "It wasn't as complicated as you think, the League has a good system, for the most part, for reporting information."
Soutarou nodded and then said, "So what's our plan now? We're attracting the wrong crowd very, very fast. Faster than I can get strong enough to counter it."
Kaede scratched her chin and then said, "Let's finish up your Kanto Gym challenges and then we'll see from there. The saving grace is no one is making moves against us quite yet, meaning we still have a bit of time."
"Since that's the case… Let's start with what we can do."
Just as Soutarou was about to say something, Kaede suddenly closed the distance between and uppercut Soutarou with the force of a raging bull. Instantly he was sent upwards, before crashing onto his back and clutching his jaw in pain he glared at Kaede who then said, "Before we even start thinking about the rest of the Kanto Gyms… It's time to work on your reactiveness and combat awareness."
And without pause Kaede launched at Soutarou, to which he just rolled out of her straight path and swept his legs to try to force her back only to find a fist in his face.
Soutarou flinched and stumbled backwards clutching his aching nose, before blood began trickling out of it. Soutarou indignantly said, "Why the face?!?"
Kaede didn't respond and only charged at him again, all while Ralts' orange eyes glowed in psychic energy and rage, only for Misty's Starmie to blast her again with Hydropump. Soutarou's head whipped around only for a punch to jam straight into his diaphragm.
And Kaede disappointedly said, "Focus."
Soutarou dazedly got up and put his fists up near his face in a guard before pivoting his feet into a triangular stance. His eyes glued onto Kaede, while his psychic energy reached out to Ralts.
Kaede launched into a strike, closing the distance between them in a moment. Her fist closed in on Soutarou's face, but at the very last moment he ducked under and moved into her guard was about to punch her, before he hesitated and Kaede drop kicked his shoulder causing him to fall flat onto the ground.
Before Kaede grappled him into an arm lock seemingly about to pull Soutarou's arm right out of its shoulder socket. Soutarou cried out in pain, and Ralts finally lost it and tried to slam Kaede with Psychic energy only for a tall red figure with black stripes to Taunt her and stop her immediately.
Soutarou's vision began to blur as Kaede's legs choked him. Just as he was about to lose consciousness a cry of pain sent his mind reeling and he forced himself up with Kaede dangling off his arm and threw her off before gasping for air and looking over at Ralts who got ambushed into a corner by Incineroar and Starmie.
Kaede smiled and said, "Better. But you're not focusing on the right thing."
And a punch slammed into his cheek, but he used the momentum to spin around and whip his leg around in a whistling round kick towards Kaede who simply ducked under and immediately slammed his balls, making Soutarou's soul leave his body in pain.
He immediately collapsed in pain and agony, all while Kaede said, "Pay attention. That was a good response, but the answer was too easy. You need to be able to answer on reflex, without leaving gaps for your opponent to take advantage of like that."
Nearly ten minutes later Soutarou laid flat on his back still clutching his balls in agony, while staring at Kaede in subtle hatred, while she then just sat on his stomach and said, "Listen, Soutarou. I didn't hit you as hard as I could have. So stop whining and get up. We have time, yes. But like you said, you're attracting the wrong crowd and fast. And they won't particularly care that anything of you is intact other than you being alive."
"Though I doubt any of them would aim for your balls. Imagine them killing Ralts, Milotic, Servine. They'll do it. In fact some of them might even kill you too. You probably get the gist by now."
"Remember the pain you felt when Ralts cried out, remember this pain that I just gave you. Because I need you to get strong. The faster the better. Even though we have time, no one knows how long and I personally think the clock is ticking faster than we'd like to admit."
"So if we can close your gaps, then your pokemon can fill in the rest. And of all people you have the base to rip through other humans with ease. You're literally a fighting and psychic type pokemon mixed into a human vessel. Not to mention your extreme physique."
"So from now on we'll be working on your Aura sensitivity, your hand to hand combat ability, and your reactivity and guard."
"So please forgive me, Soutarou. I don't care what the price is… Keeping you safe is the most important thing to me… So please…"
"Please help me help you."
Soutarou's furrowed brows softened and he realized looking at Kaede's nervous and anxious expression just how worried she was, and why she was rough housing him to the point where he felt like she was an enemy not a friend, 'Because… She's so worried… That to fuel my growth… She's willing to become a villain in my eyes…?'
'I see…'
Soutarou's eyes seem to literally set a flame and Ralts felt it too and realized his determination, and Soutarou struggled up as did Ralts and both threw themselves back into getting thrashed. Ralts getting ganged up on by Incineroar's disgusting tactics, Starmie's sneak attacks, and Soutarou from being battered physically by Kaede and her freakish instincts that let her dodge and weave through everything that Soutarou could dream of throwing back at her…