FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

What had started out as an ordinary day had turned into quite the turn of events for Mark. He had come to the wilderness east of Mauville at the request of two Pokémon Professors, to assist them in a research project. But following the conclusion of the experiment, a stranger had appeared, looking for Professor Sycamore and offering him a position with a firm he represented.

Sycamore had refused, but the man, introduced as Marvin Gold, would not take no for an answer, and revealed his true colours when a pair of thugs accosted Mark and the Professors. With help from his Mightyena, Fang, Mark had fended them off, defending both himself and the Professors from harm, leaving only Marvin to face the Ex-Hoenn Champion alone, for an imminent Pokémon Battle.

The stare between the two was long and drawn out, the air between them silent except for Fang’s growling as he waited for his opponent’s Pokémon, tensions running high in the three. Finally, Marvin cast the Poké Ball forward, and it opened to let out its inhabitant, exiting as a white bolt of energy to strike the ground, which proceeded to take shape, taking on an arachnid form.

A body consisting of a head and abdomen materialized, standing on four long legs and waving two pedipalps –short limbs that could be used for grabbing prey- from underneath its head. Two large, blue eyes and four smaller eyes in a two-by-two pattern between the large ones stared back at him. Its body consisted of yellow and purple colours in various patterns, and with blue sections of its upper legs where they connected to its body. It clicked its mandibles as it waved its pedipalps tauntingly at Fang, who growled back.

Mark cringed. “It had to be a bug,” he grunted. “I hate bugs...”

The Pokémon Marvin had chosen was a Galvantula; a Bug/Electric-type, commonly found in Unova. Mark had never battled one before, only recognizing it due to having seen a trainer using one at the Hoenn Battle Resort. Marvin had made a good choice regardless; Bug-types were more effective against Dark-types like Fang. However, Galvantula were known to be rather weak; swift, but not powerful. He saw no reason to switch out Fang. Besides, the only other Pokémon he had on him was Tanker; everyone else was still at home.

‘Speedy, but not powerful; I can use that,’ thought Mark. ‘Fang should be tough enough to take whatever this bug dishes out. Should’ve brought Coal or Vitesse with me, though.’

_ _ “Galvantula, attack with Signal Beam!” Marvin called.

Between its mandibles, a sphere of energy formed in front of Galvantula, emitting a green light as it appeared. Within a few seconds of charging the attack, Galvantula fired the beam. Fang quickly darted out of the way, avoiding the attack narrowly, and then Mark gave him his first command.

“Snarl!”

Fang began to growl deeply, before opening his maw wide and unleashing a sharp, savage Snarl attack, striking Galvantula with unseen force and making it skitter backwards, shaking its head to clear it before stepping forward again. At Marvin’s command, it attacked with a second signal beam, but this time the light emitted by the attack was dimmer, and when Fang dodged it, its impact on the ground was less than the first one.

‘Perfect; Snarl lowered its Special Attack and made it weaker,’ thought Mark.

“Galvantula, use Electroweb!” Marvin called.

Galvantula jumped high into the air, arching its body forward as it produced some webbing from its abdomen, moving its legs at lightning speeds to spin a net of electrically-charged web, which it then hurled down at Fang.

“Shadow Ball!” Mark called.

A purple light shone between Fang’s teeth, and with a bark, a sphere of condensed, supernatural energy burst forth from his maw, striking the webbing and disintegrating it, but it failed to hit Galvantula, missing the spider by a wide berth. ‘Special attacks never were Fang’s forté,’ thought Mark, but the Shadow Ball had done what it needed to. “Fang, move in and use Crunch!”

The Mightyena complied, breaking into a run and chasing after the Galvantula, fangs bared. At Marvin’s command, the spider Pokémon attempted another Signal Beam; the closer range this time allowed it to graze Fang’s side, causing him some pain, but it was not enough to stop him. He lunged for Galvantula, attempting to bite it; the spider jumped to the side, narrowly evading him, but Fang was tenacious and continued to pursue, putting pressure on the spider Pokémon.

“Use Screech!” Marvin called.

Before Mark could issue an order to Fang, the Galvantula unleashed the attack; even if the Hoenn trainer could have issued one fast enough, Fang was too close to get out of the way in time. The Galvantula reared up on its back legs, mandibles clicking madly before it unleashed a horrid shriek that visibly distorted the air around Fang. The scream forced Fang to a halt, flattening his ears and clenching his eyes shut as he tried to resist the sound, but his hearing was too sensitive, and his ears were left ringing by it.

Because of this, Fang didn’t hear Mark calling out to him, telling him to watch out for the Galvantula’s next attack. It had spun another Electroweb while Fang wasn’t looking, and tossed it over the Mightyena, enveloping him in the web and sending a painful jolt through his body. Fang yelped, falling onto his side as his muscles turned to jelly at the current of electricity surging through him. He struggled to get free, but nearly every time he moved, the web would shock him again.

“Now, Galvantula; Leech Life!”

The spider lunged for Fang, grabbing him in its pedipalps through the webbing that entangled him. Despite his struggles to keep the spider off of him, Galvantula sank its fangs into his side, making him howl in agony as he was bitten, renewing his thrashing to try and get out from under the web, but now Galvantula was holding him down, making it harder for him to get free.

Mark was about to issue Fang an order, but the words died in his throat; he didn’t know what to do! But why didn’t he; he’d fought hundreds of Bug-type trainers, but all of a sudden it was as if his mind had gone completely blank, and he started to panic, only made worse as he watched Fang’s energy be stolen from him to revitalize the spider Pokémon.

Desperate, Mark just shouted out the first command that came to mind, praying it would be enough. “Ice Fang!” He cried.

Hearing his call, Fang growled loudly and lunged for Galvantula, a cool mist creeping from his teeth as he clamped them, catching both web and Pokémon, in his powerful jaws, biting Galvantula on the leg. The spider pulled its fangs out of Fang’s body, rearing back and instinctively trying to pull away from him, but despite its tugging and Fang still being shocked by the web draped over him, he refused to let go.

Galvantula’s attempts to retreat eventually caused the web to be ripped free of the ground, pulling Fang back to his feet in the process, and when Galvantula finally pulled its leg free from Fang’s jaws, the Mightyena shook himself briskly, finally flinging the webbing off of him, and then went for Galvantula again. At Mark’s command, he finished the Crunch attack he had started earlier, this time grabbing Galvatula by the section of body between its head and abdomen, and lifting it from the ground.

Marvin was made hesitant by the turn of events, not sure what to tell Galvantula to do; Fang shook his head side to side, tossing around the spider a little before he rose up on his hind legs and hurled him into the air. Mark ordered him to use another Shadow Ball, and this time Fang did not miss; the sphere formed in front of his maw before launching forth, and it struck Galvantula in midair, sending it spinning as it fell back to the ground with its legs curled in on itself, landing dully and remaining still.

“Blast!” Marvin cursed, producing Galvantula’s Poké Ball and recalling it, glaring at Mark. “You’ll pay for that one, boy!” He stated, losing his earlier composure in the heat of the battle.

Mark ignored him, instead calling to Fang. “Here Fang,” he said.

The Mightyena turned, and hobbled over to his Trainer’s side, wincing from the pain in his flank where Galvantula had bit him, and still feeling the after-effects of the shock from the webbing. His last attacks on the spider had been driven by adrenaline and the need to show his trainer his drive to win, but now that the former was beginning to abate, the damage of the battle started to set in, causing him discomfort.

“I’m sorry boy,” Mark apologized to his Pokémon, kneeling down and gently stroking his neck. “Step back for now; Tanker can handle it from here.” ‘I should’ve used him from the start,’ Mark thought darkly, cursing himself for his foolishness.

Marvin was reaching for another Poké Ball, but just as he grasped one, he paused, tilting his head and listening. Seeing the man pause prompted Mark to listen as well, putting a hand to his ear as the wailing of police sirens filled the air, getting closer by the second; they were coming. Mark looked over his shoulder at the professors, knowing one of them had to have been the ones to call the police, and smiled triumphantly.

“Blast it all!” Marvin cursed, turning his attention to the two downed men Mark, Fang and Professor Sycamore had downed earlier, who were just now starting to come around. “You two; get up! The police are coming!”

At the mention of ‘police’ the two men scrambled to their feet, spurred by the contemplation of being arrested, and with that the three ran around the back of the trailer, the sound of a car engine starting soon following. While Mark watched, he saw a topless jeep speeding away, the three crooks its passengers as they fled the scene.

When he was sure they were gone, Mark turned to look over his shoulder, directing his attention now to Professor Sycamore and Professor Birch, who was now back up in a seated position holding his stomach where he had been jabbed by the stun baton of the thug that had jumped him. "Did you call the cops?” Mark asked, looking at Professor Sycamore.

“Birch did,” the Kalos researcher replied. “After he was hit with that baton, he merely pretended to be incapacitated and called for help while you distracted Marvin.” Sycamore rolled his eyes to stare off in the direction the thugs had fled. “You did well against him; his Galvantula was rather strong, wasn’t it?”

Mark nodded to the professor, but looked away after and did not voice his true thoughts to him, because the Ex-Champion was not convinced that it had been Galvantula’s strength that had caused him to nearly lose the battle...

The rest of Mark’s day was spent being interviewed by the police when they arrived to secure the scene, giving them all of the information they asked of him. He gave the most detailed description of Marvin that he could manage, but could not give much about the henchmen who had accompanied him on account of them concealing themselves; he couldn’t even tell the officers the colour of their hair because of the headgear and masks they had worn, so he could only provide them with a description of their outfits.

The weapons of the suspects were collected from the scene, having been left behind in their hasty retreat. The medic even offered to take a look at Mark, since he too had been shocked by one of the stun batons, but the trainer refused, assuring them he was fine, and asked him to check Fang instead. His Pokémon partner had suffered the worst of the ordeal.

Sycamore tried to apologize to Mark for having his afternoon ruined, feeling partly to blame. He felt as though openly revealing Tanker’s Mega Evolution had made the trainer a target for those with interest in the Professor’s research. “There’s no way you could have known they were watching,” Mark had told him in an attempt to alleviate his worry, and it was true; none of them had ever known anyone was there.

When the Police told Mark he was free to go, he said goodbye to Professors Sycamore and Birch, returning to his truck and helping Fang into the passenger seat before getting in, starting the engine, and driving away.

So much time had passed, the sun was already starting to set, leaving the sky bathed in twilight as Mark made his way to the road and followed it north along Route eleven. Fang lay curled up, paws tucked in and eyes shut and resting away his weariness from the battle as they made their way back home.

Mark’s mind kept drifting back to the battle though. His hesitation had caused Fang to suffer more harm in that battle than he should have, and it was all because he had hesitated. Mark had failed to act; a Pokémon depended on their trainer to direct them, and Mark had failed to do that. That had not happened to him in years, not since his ‘green’ days when he was an amateur trainer.

‘What happened to me today?’ He questioned in thought. ‘Marvin was stronger than an average trainer to be sure but he was nowhere near the level of others I’ve battled before, so why did I do so badly against him? Fang could’ve stomped that Galvantula flat but because of me, he ended up getting pulverized by it.’ He took a hand away from the wheel as he thought of Fang, placing that hand on the back of the dozing Mightyena’s head and gently rubbing behind his ears.

Fang rumbled in response to the touch, instinctively turning his head towards it to push into it, though still sleeping. ‘When I saw Fang in that web and getting leeched by Galvantula, I completely froze. It’s not like I haven’t been faced with that situation before; I’ve battled at least twenty Ariados, lots of those with Fang himself! So why the hell did I freeze up like that?’

He rubbed his eyes in annoyance before quickly taking his hand away again to keep his eyes on the road, ignoring shed strands of Fang’s fur coat that he had picked up with his hand. ‘Have I completely lost my edge? Has it been too long, or was it that battle I saw in Mauville?’

The battle he had seen was a live broadcast of a title match between Randy Calvin and a trainer named Brendan, whom, Mark had learned from Professor Birch, was the son of one of the Hoenn Gym Leaders. Although Mark had not seen the whole match, he was convinced Randy had lost against the trainer, and since witnessing that, Mark had begun to question the legitimacy of his own attainment of the Champion Title...

It wasn’t unheard of for champion titles to be short-lived, but Randy had only been the champion himself for half a year, and had been defeated by a Legendary Pokémon. If not even Randy could defeat Brendan, any remaining thoughts Mark had of going to reclaim his Champion title were gone from his mind...

‘I thought I was one of the best,’ his mind carried on. ’But maybe I’m just a fraud... maybe I only beat Steven through sheer luck and nothing more.’ He stared on at the road ahead, wondering what to do. ‘How can I be sure, though?’ He wondered. ‘What could I do to prove, as much to myself, that I really am the trainer I thought I was?’

A car horn honking caught his attention, and the trainer swerved back to his side of the road as a vehicle raced past. “Shit!” He cursed, realizing he’d been staring off into space and hadn’t been watching the road properly.

Fang jolted awake at Mark’s outburst, ears tall and looking up at his trainer as if to ask what was wrong. Mark let out a groan, once more petting Fang while apologizing for waking him. “Sorry fang; I’m okay, really.”

He could see in the Mightyena’s red eyes that he didn’t believe him. Fang resorted to scooting closer to Mark and laying against his side in a comforting manner, resting his head over Mark’s thigh and whining at him. Mark was always surprised by how well his Pokémon could always read his thoughts, and –for lack of a better term, know when he was full of crap. He continued to stroke Fang’s mane, pausing only to shift gears as they carried on.

~~~~~

Mark pulled into the driveway of his home, opening the door and watching Fang as he climbed out, gently dropping to the ground and padding along at Mark’s side as he went to start gathering the groceries from the back of the truck. Just as he reached in for the first half of the bags, he heard the weatherproof door of his house banging shut; looking up, he saw Vitesse hopping down from the porch, jogging towards the truck.

Mark knew she intended to help with the groceries, but when she stepped around the truck, her eyes immediately fell upon Fang, noticing his bandaged flank. She jerked her gaze back up to look at Mark, eyeing him questioningly.

“There... was an incident at the lab,” replied Mark. “Some thug showed up and we ended up having to battle him.”

He knew Vitesse was scowling at him even when he returned to gathering the bags, probably wanting to scold him for not taking her with them –if she could talk that is. If he had been expecting trouble he definitely would have done so, but it was supposed to be a simple errand.

She dropped the subject though, proceeding to help Mark as she intended to do, taking a few grocery bags for him, minus two large bags Mark left in the back. While she carried the bags up to the house, Mark let Tanker out of his Poké Ball, letting the Steelix head out to find his own supper. From there, Mark retrieved the food he had bought for Siren and Palm Tree, heading out to the barn to fill their respective troughs. The Tropius was the only one inside the barn though, as Siren was probably still out in her pond.

The Tropius looked over and hissed gleefully when Mark entered the barn, stepping over him, watching hungrily as Mark tore open one of the bags of food and filled Palm Tree’s trough. He then pet the Tropius for a time while he dug into the fruit-filled bits of food, enjoying the attention and the meal. He even paused eating for a moment when Mark found that sweet spot on his neck where he loved to be scratched, hissing joyfully with his mouth hanging open in a big grin.

Leaving him to enjoy his food, Mark stepped out of the barn, just in time to see Siren making her way over to the building at the sound of food. He opened the door for the Milotic, letting her slip inside and slither over to her own feeding trough.

With his larger Pokémon fed and watered, Mark headed into the house to attend to the smaller ones next, stepping inside and letting Fang enter as well before kicking off his shoes. He let out a grunt as he realized he hadn’t taken back Tanker’s mega stone, but he didn’t feel like going after the Steelix –by now he was probably tunnelling through the ground consuming rock and minerals where Mark would never be able to reach him.

He shrugged it off, deciding it would be fine for tonight, and made his way out to the kitchen where Vitesse had finished unpacking the groceries and was putting them away.

‘You know a Pokémon is bored when you can teach them to organize groceries and then they do it without you asking,’ Mark thought, feeling bad that Vitesse didn’t have much to do since they were no longer on a journey. He looked around the house, searching for a certain red lizard that he had expected to see by now. “Hey... where’s Coal at?” He asked.

Mere seconds after he mentioned the name, a little growl filled the room as Mark was tackled from behind by something jumping off of what he assumed was the fridge, as it was the only thing in the room that exceeded his height.

“Rawr!”

“Whoa!”

_ _ Down he went, with the weight of the Charmeleon that had pounced him, landing on his stomach and almost losing all of the air in his lungs as Coal pinned him down and started licking his cheek, the trainer laughing and struggling with the playful Fire-type Pokémon until he was begging for mercy, eventually managing to turn over onto his back with Coal standing on his stomach, crouched down to look at him.

“I so should’ve nicknamed you ‘devil’,” he stated.

Coal blew him a raspberry, before he leaned down and nuzzled Mark’s chest, purring loudly in his throat. Mark could only laugh more, hugging the Charmeleon as the lizard snuggled him. Coal tended to be rash and a little prone to mischief, especially when Mark went somewhere without him, but it was impossible not to love that playful side of him, and it was just what Mark needed to brighten his day.

Vitesse joined the playful moment by coming over and beginning to tickle Coal from behind, and the Charmeleon cackled frantically as he struggled with the Blaziken, eventually being lifted off of Mark so he could stand up while Coal was held in Vitesse’s arms. He resorted to licking her face when she finally stopped tickling him, bringing another smile to Mark. Ever since Coal had hatched from his egg, Vitesse had practically adopted him as a surrogate mother. In a way, that made Coal see Mark as something of a father... uncle? Maybe a brother? Either way, they were a tightly knit trio...

Or, more like squad; hearing all the commotion, Fang had come trotting into the kitchen as well, and when Vitesse set down the Charmeleon, Coal went to rough-house with the Mightyena in the living room, finally giving Mark the chance to prepare some food for them and himself.

Later on, Mark was seated on the couch with the TV on, turning it to the news as his other Pokémon joined him as they all ate their respective suppers, enjoying their meals in relative silence while he listened to the broadcast. To no big surprise, there was of course news about Randy’s battle that day, and just as Mark had suspected, he had lost... the new Champion was Brendan from Littleroot town, son of Petalburg Gym Leader Norman.

That damned sense of confusion returned to Mark once again as he heard that news, and he nearly switched off the television until the broadcast changed, leaving his thumb hovering over the power button of the remote as he saw the faces of Professors Sycamore and Birch on the screen. Much to his surprise, it was a broadcast regarding those thugs that had attacked the research lab while Mark was there.

Setting down the remote, he listened. He hadn’t expected this event to even make headlines let alone live news, especially not this soon; it had only been two hours since Mark had left the laboratory. ‘The reporters in Mauville are quick, I’ll give ‘em that,’ he thought.

“Earlier today,” the anchorwoman began. “A confirmed gang attack on a temporary lab hosted by Kalos researcher Professor Augustine Sycamore from Lumiose City took place; three men attempted to steal research belonging to Professor Sycamore and Professor Birch of Littleroot who was there to assist him. Professor Sycamore had this to say in regards to this event.”

_ _ The broadcast changed to footage of a live interview, on which Professor Sycamore, with a microphone held to his face and cameras flashing at random, appeared. “And how is it you managed to drive off these intruders, professor?” The off-screen reporter inquired.

_ _ “I didn’t, actually,” the professor began. “You see, Professor Birch invited a promising trainer here to help assist us with our research; when these thugs attacked, he stepped in to defend us and managed to drive them off. If he’s watching this broadcast,” Sycamore turned to face the camera as he continued to speak. “Thank you, trainer, for all of your help today, both with our research and for defending us. If you ever find yourself in Lumiose City, I’ll have some tea and a plate of macarons with your name on it.”

_ _ Mark smiled. “You’re welcome professor,” he said in a half-whisper.

The broadcast went on, and Mark’s smile faded when he then saw his face at the upper right of the screen. “After some digging, anonymous sources have confirmed that the trainer present at the lab, acting in defense of the professors, was actually former Hoenn League Champion, Mark Taylor. Unconfirmed reports state that he battled the thugs with only one Pokémon in his possession; a Mightyena. It appears the former champion has not lost his touch; Mr. Taylor, well done.”

Mark scowled. “Now how the hell did they find out it was me?” He wondered aloud; he hadn’t stayed there long enough for any news crews to have noticed him...

Vitesse and Coal, both seated at the other end of the couch, elicited curious sounds as they glanced at Mark and Fang –who was down on the floor by Mark’s feet, eyeing them questioningly. Mark let out a sigh. “Well, the Meowth is out of the bag,” he remarked. “Yeah, that happened to us today; it’s how Fang got that injury on his side.” He gestured to Fang’s bandaged middle, where Marvin’s Galvantula had bitten him.

Of course the two seemed perturbed by the news; Vitesse had already known something had happened but not the severity of it. She and Coal were especially concerned knowing that neither of them had been there to help out. They turned back to the broadcast as news about the thugs began, this subject of particular interest to Mark.

“Police are seeking the identity of the criminals who led the attack, and released this sketch of one of the perpetrators based on eye witness description.”

The picture appeared, and Mark saw a surprisingly well-drawn picture of Marvin’s face. He leaned forward in his seat, narrowing his eyes at the image. “The culprit displayed in this picture is confirmed to be a wanted felon named Marvin Gold, a confirmed former Executive member of the Kanto crime faction, Team Rocket, who were disbanded eight years ago by Ex-Kanto Champion, Red, and again after a short comeback in Johto where they were forced to break once again by current Johto Champion, Ethan only two years after. His interest in the research of Professor Sycamore is not yet understood, but the Police have not ruled out potential connections the world’s latest crime faction, known as the International Crime Syndicate. More on this as information becomes available.”

_ _ The news progressed through other topics that were of little interest to Mark, letting him lean back in his seat and consider what he had just heard. “International Crime Syndicate,” he repeated. ‘I’ve never heard of them before; last group of criminals I heard about were those Team Flare bozos up in Kalos,’ He rubbed his chin in thought. ‘If Marvin’s one of them, then I might’ve stirred a hornet’s nest when I took him on...’ he frowned. ‘Especially when the news just broadcast my face on the airwaves.’

_ _ He shook his head. “Nah... I doubt that they would come after me; it was just their bad luck I was there,” he muttered, deciding that would be the last he’d hear of the Syndicate. Dragging himself from the couch, he went to clean up the mess of dishes left in the kitchen, and then would head to bed...

~~~~~

Mark was utterly restless that night, laying in bed and staring at the ceiling distantly, occasionally shifting beneath the covers. He just couldn’t get it out of his mind... the broadcast of Randy losing, and his own battle with Marvin –a battle he had nearly lost. It was sending his mind racing through all of the battles he had fought in his career as a trainer. No matter how hard he tried to relax, those thoughts just would not allow him too; his brain was just too active for him to sleep.

Eventually, he surrendered, sitting up in bed and pulling off the covers, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. Fang, who slept on the foot of the bed next to Mark’s legs, looked up as Mark got out of bed, tilting his head curiously as he watched his trainer leave the room, standing up and hopping down to the floor before following him out of the room. He could sense that turmoil again, for the third time that day and left wondering why Mark was so distraught.

Mark had wandered into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water from the kitchen faucet, leaning back against the counter before downing half of the contents. When he swallowed, he held the glass at chest height, staring down at the trembling liquid within while his mind continued to wander. He barely even noticed Fang stepping into the kitchen until he heard the click of his nails on the tiled floor, looking down at the Mightyena as he stared back up at him.

“Oh... sorry Fang,” Mark returned, setting the glass aside on the counter beside him and kneeling down to pet the top of Fang’s head. “I didn’t mean to wake you again.” He let out a long sigh. “I just can’t seem to relax tonight.”

Fang leaned back his head to lick Mark’s hand, stepping forward and rubbing his head against Marks chest, whimpering slightly. He didn’t like seeing his trainer in such a way, so lost and unable to find peace. Mark put an arm around the Mightyena, kissing the top of his head and petting his neck.

He heard footsteps from the hall; looking up, Mark saw Vitesse stepping into the room, rubbing her eyes before she looked up at Mark, tilting her head curiously. “Oh shit, did I wake you too?” He asked her.

She answered with a shake of her head, entering the room slowly and looking her trainer in the eye, just staring at him. He could see in those blue eyes of hers that she knew his thoughts and sensed his pain; even from a room away, that link they shared as Pokémon and Trainer was strong enough for her to sense what was in his mind.

It dawned on him right there; his restlessness, and how it was plaguing him. He had seen it in his Pokémon for weeks now. He had thought it was mere boredom up until this point but now he understood that it was more than that -they weren’t just bored, they were deprived; all of his Pokémon were trained for battle –an at home life was not for them. They wanted to travel again, satisfy their wanderlust, and they wanted new challenges; he had wanted the same for the last half year himself. To travel and battle again as he had for years. He wanted to give them that...

But where? Where could he possibly go?

He had been to every corner of Hoenn; visited every center of civilization from Littleroot Town to the Battle Resort, and seen every natural wonder from flying around Sky Pillar on the back of Palm Tree to putting on a scuba suit and visiting the ocean trenches near Sootopolis City, gliding through the depths being towed along by Siren. There was nothing else there for him to see there.

‘How do the other Champions handle wanderlust when they’ve explored their entire home region?’ Mark wondered.

He jerked so sharply, both Vitesse and Fang jumped, becoming alert as they wondered if their trainer was suffering some ailment, but they recognized from the smooth, wide-eyed look of his face it was not an illnesss, but an epiphany.

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” He wondered aloud. ‘Other Regions... other trainers; Champions! I’m such a dunce; why didn’t I think of this sooner?!’

Mark didn’t have to stay in Hoenn at all. He could travel to the other regions, see the sights they had to offer, and best of all, challenge their top trainers. Test his skills against the top trainers of the world; see how his strategies and his team stacked against those who had risen to fame before even he had. Then, maybe... just maybe, he would have the answer he was seeking, as to where he stood among trainers.

It was a challenge he could not pass up...

Slowly, he turned towards Vitesse and Fang, his eyes drifting between the two as he smiled, genuinely fuelled by anticipation.

“I think I’ve just decided our next adventure.”

The faces of his two Pokémon alit with excitement that matched his, and they listened attentively as he explained his idea to them...