Listening to Karen's decision, Stephen and Will both turned their heads to stare at her intently.
"This path isn't going to be easy, is it?"
After a brief moment of contemplation, Will was the first to speak:
"To participate in the Indigo Conference, you need to register in advance. But now..."
As he spoke, Will pointed to the blackboard they usually used to plan their actions.
On it were three wanted posters.
"You're a wanted criminal now. How are you going to participate in the conference?"
Will pointed at the wanted poster of Karen wearing a mask and asked helplessly.
"That's simple."
Stephen immediately offered a solution. "Do you know about Pokémon that can transform into humans?"
At these words, Will and Karen simultaneously shouted the same name:
"Ditto?"
Exactly. If there's one Pokémon with high fame and the ability to transform, it has to be Ditto.
After all, it's the most famous sex doll.
It's also one of the Pokémon most coveted by Stephen's fellow die-hard back in his previous life.
According to their logic, once you had a Ditto, you could switch between idols, Hollywood actresses, or famous models every night without repeating...
Cough cough! Enough of that.
Stephen reminded himself that as a person, he shouldn't—at least, he shouldn't.
"Ditto is indeed a good option. If it sticks to Karen's face and uses its transformation ability, it can make her look like someone else at any time. But... Karen, you've already decided to specialize in the Dark type, right?"
Karen nodded, then crouched down and placed her hands on Houndoom and Murkrow, one on each side.
"They're Pokémon that have suffered the most discrimination and unfair treatment from humans, just like me. So I want to walk this path with them."
Stephen temporarily ignored Karen's poetic outburst and returned to the main topic:
"Then there's another Pokémon that matches your aesthetic perfectly. It's called Zorua."
"Zorua?"
Hearing this name, the two were momentarily stunned.
It was no surprise. After all, the Dark type had only been discovered a few months ago.
And Zorua was a particularly rare Pokémon.
Naturally, Karen and Will hadn't heard of it.
"It's a rare Dark-type Pokémon with a special ability called 'Illusion.' It can..."
Stephen gave the two a detailed explanation of Zorua's ability.
If Ditto's ability is Transformation, allowing it to mimic other humans or Pokémon, then Zorua's ability is Projection, making others perceive it as something else.
But either ability works, as long as it helps Karen deceive the league.
"As for the fake Trainer license, that's even easier. Don't forget, we know someone big."
At this, Will immediately caught on.
"Hehe~ You mean Mr. Giovanni, right?"
This time, only Karen was left dumbfounded.
Giovanni? Could it be that Giovanni, the strongest Gym Leader in the Kanto region?
Do they even know him?
"Once we sort out these two things, you can use a fake identity to challenge the gyms."
Stephen laid out the plan for Karen's revenge.
When Karen nodded, Stephen suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Don't challenge the Mahogany Town Gym."
"Huh?"
Karen was stunned. "W-Why not?"
"Yeah, why not?" Will was also puzzled.
Stephen didn't explain in detail because it was hard to put into words.
It was because of Pryce, that overpowered old man.
If they went there, they'd probably get caught!
There was no choice. That old man wasn't as easygoing as Giovanni.
For the sake of two Lapras, he would have no problem turning the entire Johto region—or even the entire Indigo League—upside down.
Truly, he was half angel, half devil.
Unless necessary, Stephen didn't want to deal with someone like that.
...
After a day of training, Stephen and the others returned to their seaside cabin.
After dinner, Karen washed the dishes, Will cleaned the room, and Stephen opened his computer to check the day's data for their Pokémon, analyzing whether the training plans needed adjustments to better unlock their potential.
But it didn't take long for Stephen to notice a problem.
Umbreon's stats over the past two days had hit their lowest point in the past month.
What's going on?
If it were just one or two stats, it could be chalked up to an off day.
But every single stat being low was unusual.
Stephen didn't immediately call Umbreon over for questioning.
Instead, he observed for a few more days.
He noticed that Umbreon's recent training had mostly focused on support moves.
This wouldn't normally be strange.
After all, Umbreon's inherent strength lies in its incredible defenses.
And Stephen's Umbreon was no exception.
Its primary development path was defense-oriented.
But Stephen observed that recently, Umbreon had been focusing mainly on support moves like "Helping Hand" and "Baton Pass," which enhance teammates, rather than self-buffing moves like "Curse" or "Calm Mind."
Moreover, Stephen felt like something was off about Umbreon's state.
...
"Umbreon, what's going on lately?"
Late at night, after confirming that Will, Karen, and the other Pokémon—including Maria, Rose, and Sina—were all asleep, Stephen brought Umbreon to the beach. The two of them sat by the sea, just like old times.
"Umbree~"
Umbreon let out a soft cry in response.
Stephen placed his hand on Umbreon's head, sensing her thoughts.
Umbreon expressed that she wanted to switch from being a tank to a full support role.
Like Lance's two Dragonair, whose sole roles in the team were to provide buffs.
"...Is this idea because of Maria and the others' performances?" Stephen saw through Umbreon's thoughts immediately.
He understood that with Umbreon's pride, there was no way she'd willingly accept being just a supporting role on the team.
But she felt that the three younger Pokémon were catching up to her at rocket speed.
It wouldn't take long before they surpassed her.
So, rather than waiting to be pushed to the sidelines, she thought it better to transition early and take on a support role.
This was Umbreon's pride at work.
"Umbreon, don't lie. Be honest with yourself. Do you want to play support?"
Stephen locked eyes with Umbreon, his gaze so piercing that she couldn't look back.
Willing? How could she be willing?
As Stephen's first Pokémon, saved by him long ago, Umbreon had vowed to fight for him.
Though playing support was still fighting for Stephen, how could Umbreon truly be content?
She wanted to fight!
She wanted to battle on the front lines!
She didn't want to be a background character to the other Pokémon!
But... what choice did she have?
Umbreon suddenly recalled something Giovanni had said over half a year ago:
"That Umbreon has already hit her ceiling."