Rust is just barely out of the emergency care ward, Paras on his hat and Pokedex between his very thickly-bandaged and gloved fingers— when someone nearly crashes into him at the front doors.

"OH! Oh yipe— ah! I am SORRY," the girl careens back and belatedly lugs the Staryu overhead right before they both collide, but Rust has already had the entire life startled out of him and he stumbles a heart-stopping step back and onto the ground, Paras slattering upside down onto his head before tumbling to the ground.

Rust has a Paras on his face and his eyes are wide in the direction of the Staryu.

The Pokedex in his hands loads up the information in his hands, and apparently that Staryu weighs like an asteroid. And yet she's so firmly holding it above her head with her vaguely toned arms and— oh, wow.

"ARE YOU OKAY."

"Ah," is his most eloquent answer.

"I'll take that as a maybe," she says, a hand stretched out for him, "come on up, kid. Look alive a little!"

Rust finds himself getting pulled to his feet before he even registers much else. The girl pats him on the shoulder, tuckers down to deposit Paras back on his head and then grins with a wave.

"Alright then, see you around!"

And just like that she passes him, lifting the Staryu up once more to loudly whine to the Nurse Joy, "Joy! Jooy, help! Aster got knocked out with poison!"

"What the— Misty! Don't cause a ruckus in the Pokemon Center! Put dear Aster back into its Ball and hurry in, quietly this time."

Well. What a whirlwind.

-

"Rust! My boy, you're already at Cerulean? What a diligent boy you are, reporting in on me. I only wish my silly grandchild could be half as responsible as you, sometimes..."

Rust nods. Professor Oak speaks to him proudly, but it's honestly a little jarring.

He tunes most of the conversation out once the professor starts recouping the data he's gathered so far. Apparently, Bell's barely gathered any information on Wild Pokemon (and now that Rust realizes Professor Oak gets sequential updates to their Pokedex records, he realizes it's intentional—) and he's very disappointed.

"What's the world come to? That's right... there's been a lot of crime lately. Daylight robbery, scams, breaking and entering— speaking of!" Professor Oak suddenly exclaims, coming close to the screen and eliciting a jerk backwards from Rust. "They even got my lab!"

They got what?

"The burglars! I can't believe the cameras couldn't catch much... but they stole from my laboratory, of all things," he sighs deeply. "My last Pokedex, as well as a Pokemon... oh, Charmander..."

What?

Excuse me, what?

Rust gets up immediately, shocked.

"Woah woah! Calm down, Rust, no one was hurt," Professor Oak assures. "And there haven't been any other robberies thus far."

No one got hurt? What about the Pokemon that was stolen??

Your lab is supposed to be secured! How could a burglar have gotten in and why are you doing nothing about it?

Professor Oak chuckles. "I must say! I am happy to see you such a caring boy. Luckily, it was just my lab. Nothing's of value in there."

Charmander is of value, sir!

...Isn't Professor Oak's lab supposed to have world-renowned research and data on Pokemon that can't be carelessly handled? What if someone takes that information for malicious purposes? It's classified until publication for a reason—

"Oh dear! That must be Officer Jenny," Professor Oak's attention is pulled somewhere off the screen, "haha, obligatory reports, you know? Well then, I won't take up more of your time. Godspeed, Rust, my boy!"

And it turns off.

Immediately.

Rust wonders why Bell hates his grandfather so much if they were both so frustratingly similar in the most unfortunate parts.

"Uhm... you okay, kid? You've been staring at that blank screen for the past two whole minutes with that scary empty look on your face. I thought you were sleeping for a sec!"

Let him go through his stages of grief in peace.

Rust turns around to a— very tall , but he doesn't look that much older. Shockingly enough he looks only a year or two older than Rust— he's chuckling, probably as Rust's eyes widen the higher he has to crane his neck to find his face. The distinctive black and sharp orange clothing is curious, though the Dratini draped around his arms is an unusual sight in this part of Kanto.

Rust's holding out his Pokedex before he knows it, and the little Dratini snakes over to sniff at it. Squirtle makes a warning growl, and Dratini sneers at his audacity.

"Oh hey, that's a cool thing."

Rust nods, showing the guy Dratini's Pokedex entry with extreme interest. It's very brief, and he wonders if he'll be able to study this little thing right now and add more to it—

"—ah, that's my call," the boy says, when the monitor lights up with an incoming call from a Dandelion Honestaff.

Rust quickly gets up, bowing in apology for hogging the machine.

"Ah, it's no big deal," he says, sitting down and scanning his card on the reader to take his call. "Ah hey there Dande, where've you ended up this time?"

The guy on the other side of the screen wails, "some place called Lavender Town... it's really creepy here Rai, come save me. I'm sorry for wandering off. I was wrong. I won't do it again. Promise."

"Dude. You're two towns away. How the hell does someone get lost that badly?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you promise to not move a damn inch from where you are until I get there, though?" Rai challenges. "Swear this on your blood and legal government name and in the name of the Lord God Arceus. Or I'm leaving you to the lycans whether you're scared shitless or not."

Rust excuses himself quickly, though not before Rai glances over and gives him a light wave as he catches him staring. He waves back, and hurries out, picking up Paras (that almost got left behind on top of the machine) as Squirtle finishes his sneering battle with Dratini to follow.

Guess he'll have to study Dratini some other time, then.

-

Rust had momentarily forgotten about that upsetting conversation with Professor Oak, but then he spots Bell at the end Nugget Bridge, stranded at the top of the steps, looking like he's reconsidering his life choices.

Trainers are usually gathered on that side, either catching wild pokemon or battling each other in the little hedge maze. But today, there's no one here.

"Huh?" Bulbasaur draws his attention, and Bell finds Rust and instantly morphs into a scowl. "Rust! Don't you dare come this way! I don't need your help!"

We're doing this again? Seriously?

Well, if Bell doesn't want any help, he can always have Bulbasaur tumble him down the steps. But even strapped in, that's scary, lurching too far forward for his comfort, unstable, and most of all, risks a high chance of punching a wheel out. Or landing headfirst, whichever gravity and physics feel like taking today.

It's not Rust's problem but unfortunately, Bell's good social skills to get anyone else to help has no effect on the lack of human beings in the vicinity.

"Dammit. If Officer Jenny didn't chase everyone away there would be someone here to help me..."

Well, Rust isn't in the mood to entertain that tantrum now.

He crouches down to Bulbasaur's side, picking up one of Bulbasaurs' vines before miming the form of something vaguely rectangular. Bulbasaur takes her time to interpret that, and Pidgey, who seems to have figured something out, flies off somewhere, while Rattata hustles off to scavenge.

"Oh come on!" Bell whines.

Well, what's he going to do, throw Poke Balls at his head?

"Professor..." Rust brings up, and Bell jolts. "He–"

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Charmander was stolen," Rust rushes out instead, and Bell's head jerks upward in surprise. The Poke Ball looks about 70% of the way to its target. Rust takes the moment of surprise as an opportunity to speak further. "And a Pokedex..."

"Wha— and they haven't found the culprit? But Charmander's still young!"

Yep. This is the reaction Rust wanted. Professor Oak had been the strange one, to not even be bothered by the fact that Charmander was lost and stolen from home .

(Speaking of a Charmander, didn't that girl...)

Rust frowns.

Charmanders aren't very common in these parts, they're very well-researched fire Pokemon and Professor Oak gives them out for each generation of budding trainers. He won't discount the fact she had one at all, but it seems a strange coincidence.

(But Charmander seemed protective of her...)

(Maybe if Squirtle had gotten a closer look back then...)

"Damn it, gramps," Bell grumbles, biting the nail at his thumb with a scowl. If they have no leads, then it's all they can do to worry. "I wish I could just chuck this thing down the river, maybe coming here wasn't the good choice."

Bell glares at his Pokedex as he says this.

He hands it to Rust, who dutifully takes the cord and starts exchanging data.

"I heard there was this guy called Bill, on the other side, with lots of information on rare Pokemon research from around the world. It'd have been a shortcut to some of the tougher data we'll get..." Bell scowls. "I don't think gramps deserves it anymore, though."

Rust sighs. How nice of Bell to still want to do something nice for his grandfather, like talking to an influential Pokemon Researcher for him, even with their relationship as estranged as it is.

Rust disconnected their Pokedexes and peruses the new information—

— wait a second.

He holds out the page for Omastar's data, and with eyes wide and absolutely mortified, he thrusts the device in Bell's direction, demanding answers.

"What the— what?" Bell groans. Rust is rarely this genuinely taken by surprise. "Oh, that one. This weird girl had it..."

"Fossil!"

"What?"

The shell looked exactly like one of the fossils Brock had in the museum. And it had been the same one the girl had stolen from the Super Nerd Miguel in Mt Moon. But... but technology to revive fossils hasn't been completed yet. So quickly, too?

"...girl."

"Girl?" Bell asks, honestly a little concerned at this point.

"Girl!" Rust says, loudest he's ever spoken in his life, "Charmander!"

"Rust. Calm down, you're not making any sense. Not that you usually do, but it's worse than usual. What girl? Why is Charmander involved?"

"Thief!"

-

Explanations come rather jarringly, and by the end of it, Bell's entirely convinced that the girl was the one that stole Charmander.

"She stole five grand from me! Of course I believe it!"

Rust isn't sure if he wants the story behind that.

"That girl's part of Team Rocket... and haven't they been real sketchy these days?" Bell frowns. "They held that competition illegally, too..."

Rust thinks of the activity in Mt Moon, and the near miss in Viridian, and he can't help but agree. Not much is known about Team Rocket to begin with— they're a vague, profit-non-profit that works for the research, advancement, and betterment of Pokemon-Trainer harmony... or something.

No one really knows what they do except raise charities, propose regulations or amendments to the League rules, that kind of thing. Some see them as earnest protestors with valid opinions and workings, others see them as public menaces.

"Well, whatever. Doesn't matter to us, anyways."

Rust averts his eyes.

What Bell doesn't know, won't hurt him.

On the other side of Nugget bridge, Rattata scurries back with some thick branches. Pidgey had one too, and Bulbasaur has figured out how to weave while they were conversing. Together they managed to build a makeshift ramp, and though it was a little steep and bumpy, it worked, and Bell managed to get down from the bridge without much fanfare.

From there, they enter a hedge and get ambushed by some trainers.

"Hah! Now that we've locked eyes, it's a battle!"

To which Bell shrieks, Rust jumps, and Squirtle and Bulbasaur leap up with all intents of bloody murder. They unapologetically defeat the Youngster and Hiker, furious and hissing and— and Squirtle is now going off at the opponent's Rattata, who screeches back in offense. The Fearow swats at Bulbasaur and now they're all strung up in the greenery. Never make a Bulbasaur angry in a grassy maze.

"Uhm, in our defense," Bell says, denying the fact he's still clutching onto Rust's shirt, the latter of who is still petrified in place with hands locked on Bell's wheelchair handles, "you scared us."

The other trainers hiding in Challenger's Hedge simply poked their heads out and laughed.

-

"This place is a popular training spot for budding trainers or anything aspiring to challenge the gym," someone explains over a picnic mat as a lunch break is called. "Cerulean may be a lagoon town, but we're all very competitive here. Leader Misty is an absolute maniac for battles, and our population are mostly teens, anyways. We can't disrupt the peace of our touristy town's ambience, so Route 25 down to Cerulean Cape is a trainer's hotspot, where new Challenge Trials take place every day!"

The explanation is reasonable, but Bell is exhausted just thinking about it.

"We just had a whole round robin on Nugget Bridge and there's another here?"

" That wasn't legal," someone says, "I mean, we're not going to turn down a challenge, but that's an event that only happens when Officer Jenny isn't looking. The challenge of this hedge maze happens every day with different rules."

"Ah," Bell says, that's very exhausting.

"The Cape over there is a popular date spot, though," an Ace Trainer says, "usually people not looking to take the challenge walk around the hedge for the scenic route. Sorry about ambushing ya."

Bell chuckles. "No worries," he turns to Rust, who's giving Squirtle a sip of his cold drink without meeting anyone in the eyes, "speaking of, I heard a guy called 'Bill' lives in one of the Sea Cottages?"

-

It's a very noisy day today.

Bill's entire Sea Cottage lights up like a flashbang went off inside it, and when Rust and Bell rush in thinking something's happened, they find a whole mess, Bill toppling out of a machine, and a girl sucking on a juicebox, standing by a very important-looking computer.

The instant and incessant beeping from their Pokedexes is momentarily forgotten.

There's startled staring for all of five seconds before Rust gawks and hits Bell and points , and Bell, activated by that slap, screams.

"You're the girl that stole my nugget!!"

"Fossil thief!" Rust adds.

Bill shrieks, "trespassers!"

And Lynn simply sips on her juice, staring between them as if she had nothing to do with it at all.

"You burlap sacks barging in like this are rude!" Bill yells, picking up a broom, "OUT! Don'tcha dare come waltzing back in, you punks!"

Cue more screaming. The beeping of the Pokedex only makes it all the more chaotic.

"We're sorry!" Bell yelps, "we didn't mean to— ow!"

"Who d'ja think you are, charging in and calling my benefactor a thief, huh? Hooligans, both of you!"

The broom almost comes down one more time, but Squirtle leaps out from behind Rust and spirals out a burst of Water Pulse which sends Bill freaking out.

"NO! MY MACHINERY! NO WATER!"

Which means Bulbasaurs starts roaring and there's a Vine Whip across Bill's cheek before Charmander finally pops out from its Poke Ball, yelling furiously at all of them with a spurt of fire in all directions.

In the ensuing silence, Lynn can only say one thing:

"Oops."

And then it all starts again, with Bell going, "that's Grandpa's Charmander!!!"

-

In the end, Bill had enough of their noise and kicked them out.

They had to beg to be let in again, promising to not raise their voices anymore and talk like sensible human beings on this planet.

-

"Can't you two be good for a second? See how well-behaved Lynn is. What are they teaching the younger generation these days?" Bill huffs, like some ancient grandfather. "So, what's the deal here?"

All three of them held up the Pokedex, and Lynn finally figured out a button to press to make the grating noise stop. Rust sighs in relief, and Bell turns toward Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, who are chatting it up over their cups of milk.

"That's what I wanna ask," Bell says. "So? You stole Charmander and the Pokedex from Gramps' lab, and now you're just here, gallivanting around with it?"

Lynn shrugs.

"How could you be so nonchalant about it? One call to Officer Jenny and you're going behind bars, girl!"

Bill reacts first, "hey now! I ain't letting you call the damn police to MY home!"

Rust decides to step in, "she can keep it," he offers, "Charmander looks happy..." and it's not like Professor Oak was desperate to get it back, anyways.

More importantly, Rust holds up the Pokedex entry with Omanyte's data, eyes twinkling with interest as he approaches Lynn.

"Fossil!" he's immensely interested. "Data!"

"Rust!" Bell raises his voice. "Do not fraternize with the thief!"

Lynn holds out the Omanyte in her hands. "You want to meet Lord Helix?"

"Lord Helix!" Rust squeaks, as Bell gasps at the first sound of the girl's voice. She finally said something and it's utterly ridiculous. "Bell, Lord Helix."

"I don't want to look at Lord Helix!" Bell snarls, exasperated, ignoring the way the girl deflates like that's heartbreaking news, "where's my five grand?"

She perks back up. "Bought Repels."

"Five grand's worth?!"

She nods.

Bell doesn't even know where to begin.

Rust makes an unprecedented high-pitched noise as he peruses Lynn's Pokedex. His eyes are absolutely sparkling with fascination as he comes across one rare Pokemon after another.

"Who said you could look at that?!" Bell yells, "you're so rude!"

"It's fine," Lynn ensures.

"No it isn't!" Bell snaps, snatching it from Rust and shoving it at Lynn, "take better care of your stuff, you're going to get taken advantage of like this! And Rust! Behave!"

Lynn contemplates reminding him she stole this Pokedex.

Rust pouts, cradling Omanyte. "Stuck-up."

"What the hell did you just call me?!"

"Stuck up?" Lynn asks.

Rust nods.

"Don't teach her weird things!" Bell snaps. He takes a moment to realize all the Pokemon are also staring at him judgmentally. "You're corrupting the impressionable children here, you weirdo!"

"Stuck up!" Lynn declares, with a sort of realisation. Rust nods sagely.

Bell hisses irately.

Watching this, Bill could only crack up. "What's with you three? You're like a clown act!"

-

It took Bell about thirty minutes to figure out that he didn't really want to call the police on someone he found while illegally gambling, about a robbery three towns away for an ungrateful old man that would likely turn this into his problem somehow, and about a girl who's clearly already involved in Team Rocket for... some reason.

"So you were picked up by Team Rocket when you were young, and you've been in there since, huh..." Bill hums, "I guess they're not all ne'er-do-wells."

It's not like fosters or orphanages would do anything for someone already hinging on pilgrimage age. Much less a girl who remembers nothing about her life before then. She's much too eccentric for society in this day and age.

"You sure you're not calling the po-po?" Bill asks, jabbing a thumb at his TV, showing a news report about Professor Oak's lab being broken into and the jolly old man giving an interview about how he was glad no one got into his secret pun notebook collection.

"s'Not like he cares," Bell grumbles, his Pokedex connected to Lynn's on a cord as they share their data. "And... honestly, Charmander's better off out here than in that lab."

He glances to the side, where Rust and Lynn were huddled around with the Pokemon in their laps, sharing around Bill's notes of rare Pokemon. The three lab Pokemon murmured about their plights over a cup of Poke-tea, while Pidgey and Paras were sleeping against each other. Rattata and Omanyte were crawling curiously all over Bill's Nidorino, who was trying to be very patient with them.

"I get Charr for Charmander," Bell brings up, "by why'd you call that... Lord Helix? "

Lynn blinks at that, staring at Omanyte.

Then, "Lord Helix is Lord Helix," wisely.

Bell gives up.

"Wasn't it a fossil?" Rust asks. "How?"

And Lynn takes another moment to answer, "I think I have cheats on. I just give it to someone... it comes back immediately."

"Huh?"

They don't get an elaboration for that, either.

"Who are you giving it to?" Bell presses.

"I give it to Uncle."

Great. It's pointless to talk to her, she's utterly clueless. Bell can't even get frustrated, she's just genuinely so confused about what was wrong with her answer.

"Come on now, you kids, get along," Bill soothes. "You kids like rare Pokemon, don't you? Then if you help me clean up this mess, I'll show you guys some of what I've got."

Whatever complaints Bell had, it all died in his throat when he saw Rust and Lynn run over like excited Rattata with a pep in their step. He's too tired for this.

-

"Did the Nurse Joy not teach you how to do this? It's a mess!" Bell's scolding Rust so fervently and he's just sitting there and taking it as usual.

Rust had his bandages and taping replaced in the Pokemon Center, but as soon as he went out again it's gotten covered in mud. It even looks slightly loose, as if it came unfurled and he just spun it back around with tightening it properly.

"How are you going to survive a longer stretch of route like this? At least figure out how to retie them properly, or do you want to lose your fingers to infection, which is it?"

Rust had to gall to look sheepish about it.

"You complain so much but you're doing a darn good job fixing it for him," Bill hollers.

"He's Tsundere," Lynn says.

"What's that word mean?"

"He's in the Tsun phase," Lynn elaborates, incomprehensibly.

Bill accepts the answer as one would accept a mud ball from a toddler, with a sagely nod and a seamless continuation of the conversation. "So Bellboy, you're Professor Oak's grandson? I suppose you've grown up rather well-read?"

He reacts in utter disgust at being associated with his grandfather, earning a bark of laughter from Bill.

"I have to learn how to do this, because if this kid dies, I'll get blamed for it," Bell groused out, miserably. "I would rather die than stay stuck as his babysitter forever, but somehow this guy's always a step behind me. Why can't he just use his perfectly capable legs and rush faster ahead already?"

"That's great, kiddo! That's what the pilgrimage's for, after all!" Bill seems to take it in stride, which was odd to them all. "Break free from your family, find your own road and name, you know? That's why when you complete it, you get a new name."

Rust watches as Bell huffs, almost annoyed at that.

"Getting our courtesy names doesn't mean shit when it's still the same asshole that made it up," he mutters. "And I have nothing to do with his research. I keep getting in his way so I'm not allowed in the lab ."

He emphasizes those words with so much spite that Bill laughs all over again.

"We get new names?"

Lynn seems honestly curious about that, sitting backwards on the chair and staring at Bell expectantly, eyes never leaving his.

Bell's brow raises. "I see, you were picked up by Team Rocket before you were told your courtesy name, huh," he supposes that makes sense. "It's an old tradition. You're told what your courtesy name will be before you start your journey. You can only start using it after your pilgrimage, it's kind of the marker of adulthood."

Lynn's brows furrow at that, confused. Her head tilts, "like some kind of baptismal name?"

Now Bell's confused. "What's that?"

"No, nothing," Lynn says. "So what's you guy's?"

Rust's mouth opens and Bell slots his hand right over it.

"You're not supposed to share it with just anyone, especially not before your pilgrimage ends," Bell tells her. "Even then, I'm fairly sure the adults only use it in formal situations."

Bill hums, "yes, other than with family and friends, we use courtesy names when attending cross-regional conferences, competitions, and official documents."

Bill gestures toward one of the research notes that Lynn's perusing, and they find the name at the front of the file, by Bill 'Masaki' Sonezaki.

Lynn's eyes light up with recognition, "Japaneseee!!"

"What, no?" Bill says, "it's Traditional Kantonian."

"Okay," Lynn says, "then I don't think I have one."

"That's fine," Rust assures her, "you can come up with your own."

"Yeah, not everyone uses the one their parents gave them. You can write whatever you want on your Trainer ID when they reprint it with the star."

"The star?" Lynn reaches for her pocket but doesn't find what she wants, and also comes up empty when she upturns her bag. She settles on just asking a follow-up question, "the one we get when we win the League?"

"Or publish a thesis," Bill adds. "Since you have a Pokedex, you'll get one if you complete it."

"But did Team Rocket not tell you anything about the pilgrimage?" Bell's exasperated, "come on, I know they're weirdos and a company, but if they took you in can't they at least tell you this much? It's your basic human right."

"Oh, like an education?"

"A what now?"

"Like, a school..."

Bell frowns in confusion, "like a school of Goldeen?"

This is getting them utterly nowhere.

"What do we do in pilgrimages?" Lynn asks again. "If I'm only Ace Trainer after I finish, then what am I now? What about Youngsters? And and and. What happens if I lose my Trainer ID?"

"Oh someone save me. We have to start from there??"

Lynn gets sidetracked, leaning toward the other boy now with her slew of curiosity: "Also why are you Rust? Like isn't that the funny parody version—"

"Everyone calls me Rust because I ate some rusty metal as a kid and had to go to the hospital," Rust says like a length of rehearsed lines.

"Oooh, how did it taste?"

Rust grimaces. "Not very nice—"

"YEAH BECAUSE YOU ATE HALF A FENCE!" Bell howls. "You didn't stop! The adults had to pull you away while Kentauros and I watched in horror!"

"They told me I broke some of my teeth and ate that too. They were very mad at me."

"Didn't that hurt?"

"Oh, no, I don't feel pain. Wanna see the stitches?"

"Oooh!"

"RAYDEN FLORES, PUT YER DAMN SHIRT BACK ON!" Bill demands from downstairs.

The Paras in Rust's hands make a clicking noise. Squirtle and Bulbasaur sort through papers with all the expertise of Pokemon who've grown up in a lab; Charmander chases Rattata around while Pidgey trails after them on flight. Omanyte is leaving slimy trails across the floor while Bill's Nidorino chases after it with a cloth.

-

They ended up staying the night.

"Apparently there was a robbery downtown," Bill says, "so the Gym Leader put an order in that no one's allowed to camp out today, and we're doing a census."

Eyes turned to Bell, and he dryly explained, "they're closing the gates and telling everyone to stay home, and all travelers need to stay with a citizen or with the Pokemon Centre so we know who's allowed here and who isn't."

Rust and Lynn went 'oooh' in unison.

"They probably already have the culprit on chase," Bill chuckles. "But no going out tonight, it's dangerous. One of you, help me get the futon from the basement. Bluebell, you're the only one I trust to operate the bath, so do you mind?"

"What?" Bell pauses, looks at Rust and Lynn who were blankly staring at him, and then nods, reaching for his wheelchair beside the couch. "I see your predicament. I'll go fill the tub."

"Good," Bill affirms. "Are you okay sleeping with the boys, Lynelle? You can have my room, I don't mind."

"I am fine, I roomie with the big brudders at Rocket too."

"I see. Please never do that ever again. You're getting the couch."