Well this certainly feels odd. I haven’t done this in a while, have I? It bears repeating that college and two jobs can eat up a person’s life, but hey…we all already knew that. But just bear in mind that I will never, ever discontinue this fic. I may not ever finish it, but I will always keep at it.
Can’t remember anything whatsoever from the past chapters? Doesn’t matter. I had the hiatus on a non-cliffhanger for a reason. So long as you remember who the majority of the characters are, and that this fic is about Jade who joined a TR Rebellion, got experiments, tried to keep Legendaries from being caught, and got involved in a crazy three-sided mess with double agents and ex-Rockets…seriously, that’s all you need to remember.
And read the post I made right before this one. Now. Or else.
~ Chapter 21: Moving On ~
Slowly I ran my fingers over the cool plastic, staring downward at what I was holding, half unable to believe it and half unsure of how to react. For so long, it had always seemed as if I would spend the rest of my life training illegally, but now…it was over. I felt kind of silly almost, like I was making far too big of a deal about it. How many countless numbers of kids obtained their training licenses every day?
Still, just holding onto it felt special. Finally a sign that Pokémon Training for me was not always going to for the sake of going against Team Rocket. It really was all in the past now.
I couldn’t help but let a sudden wave of euphoria rush over me as I pulled out my Poké balls to release all my Pokémon. The five of them appeared in a flash, a bit unsure of what to expect, since the last time they had been released was at the Resistance’s headquarters.
“*What now?*” Aros asked, glancing around.
“Check it out,” I said, holding out my newly obtained training license. “I know you guys might not really care, but…well, to me it’s a big deal.”
“*So regular trainers travel around after becoming official, right?*” Aros said.
“*Of course they do,*” Firestorm answered before I got a chance to.
Chibi smirked slightly. “*Don’t tell me that’s what you plan on doing, Jade.*”
I frowned. “Hey, I don’t know, okay? I never actually intended on going on a Pokémon journey for the sake of it, but I’ve always been dying to be a real trainer. I don’t know why, it was just…always something I wanted to do.” I pushed several of the buttons along the edge, going through the device’s various features. Trainer profile, Pokédex information, limited internet capabilities, full bios of every Pokémon owned…
“That’s one thing I’m not sure how I’m gonna go about…scanning you guys’ information into the thing. It keeps track of what level you were caught at and how long ago. That means it’ll probably read that I caught you way before I actually became a trainer…that might cause problems someday…”
“*But wait…if you’re official, don’t you have to get a starter Pokémon? At the place I was kept at, they said every trainer had to get one,*” Firestorm said, puzzled.
“Yeah, I knew they’d make me get one. At least this way, it’ll go down on my profile that I started with a Charmander. Hopefully everyone’ll assume that it’s you.” None of them really understood what I meant until I held up a Poké Ball.
“*Wait, so you had them give you a Charmander? That’s stupid—how are you supposed to train a team member so much weaker than the rest of us?*” Stygian said incredulously.
Ignoring her blunt tone, I answered, “No, you don’t get it. It’d look strange if my ‘starter’ were at such a low level compared with the rest of my team. This way, everyone’ll think I started with Firestorm, especially since he actually was from one of those League facilities.”
“*But…the other Charmander? What about it?*” Firestorm asked.
I grinned. “Don’t worry—I know just the home for it.” I’d had it planned out for a while now…and had in mind the one person dying to have a Charmander above all else. “They usually register your starter on your license and set it up as being owned by you, but I told them I already knew how to do it and that I’d do it myself. This way, I can have Firestorm go down as the first Pokémon registered in my name. It all works out!”
None of them seemed to entirely understand the way Pokémon ownership was regulated, so the point of my plan was somewhat lost.
“*Wouldn’t it have been better to get another teammate, though?*” Aros asked. “*Aren’t regular trainers supposed to keep six or something?*”
“That’s only in tournaments. It’s not like I’m gonna go into this professionally or anything.”
Stygian raised an eyebrow. “*Then what’s the point of getting those badge-things?*”
“*At least this way we’ll get to battle consistently. That’s what our whole lives have been about, so I doubt I’m the only one who’d have a hard time not doing it anymore,*” Chibi said.
“Hey, I never said I was totally sure on competing in gyms…I just was considering it,” I explained. “Besides, right now I want to focus on something more important, like going home and figuring out a method of explaining away the past five months.” It wasn’t like I had totally dropped off the face of the earth as far as my parents were concerned—over the last three months of my time with The Rebellion, I had sent fairly regular e-mails with falsely cheery news about traveling around with my Pokémon and my friends. But now there was no denying that I had to go back.
With a sigh, I announced, “No sense delaying it any further—might as well head back to Viridian.” I recalled Chibi and Stygian before turning to Aros, Swift, and Firestorm. “First things first, though: on the way back, you’re learning to fly, Firestorm.”
“*Huh?*” he said. “*Learning?*”
“Yeah, learning,” I said with a laugh. “What, you think just having wings is all it takes? You don’t exactly have experience on your side, so I figured Aros and Swift could help since they’ve been flying all their lives.”
Firestorm was still staring at me with this blank expression on his face.
I smiled. “Alright, come on—I’ll ride on Aros next to you, and Swift can help you through it, since the way Aros flies is totally different.” I climbed onto the emerald dragon’s back, and he immediately vibrated his wings and lifted from the ground. We drifted over to hover alongside Firestorm and Swift.
The Pidgeot spread an immense pair of feathered wings and flapped at the air a few times. After a few seconds of paused silence, Firestorm gained a look of realization and glanced backward at his own wings, which he had let hang limply at his sides ever since his evolution. After staring confusedly at them for a while, he strained a bit, and the massive leathery wings splayed outward all of a sudden, causing him to jump backward in surprise. Tilting his head with a look of wonder on his face, he slowly flexed the wing muscles, folding and closing them repeatedly.
I had to admit that I was trying not to laugh for his sake. But really…if I had found myself with an extra pair of limbs, I’d probably be confused on how to work them too.
Finally he began to flap his wings repeatedly as if expecting that he would just rise into the air and looking disappointed when that didn’t work.
“Alright, enough…just follow Swift and do what he does, although it’ll probably be harder for you since you’re so much heavier. Lean forward and push off from the ground while flapping. Maybe get a bit of a running start—you should feel the air under your wings. And really…you’re a Charizard, you’ll get the feel for it instinctually. Let’s try it,” I said.
He spanned his wings out horizontally to the ground, and once Swift saw that he was ready, the two pushed off—the latter already beating his wings quickly and the former struggling to keep up. Firestorm kicked against the ground, flapping wildly, with little result.
“*Angle your wings more…lean into it, and let the wind catch your wings,”* Swift said.
Firestorm glanced up at him, gritting his teeth and making one last effort to kick off before lifting off the ground for a few seconds. He widened his eyes, caught off guard by that, before beating his wings even more powerfully than before.
Swift swooped downward alongside him. “*Don’t flap as deeply…and pull back your hind legs.*”
The orange dragon glanced at him, leveling out his wings more and giving shorter, more frequent thrusts. He dropped to the ground once more, but this time when he pushed off, he was solidly airborne. Firestorm looked elated, but his expression quickly faded when he apparently tried to gain more height, but was unable to.
I laughed slightly with a small smile. “Give him a boost, would you, Swift?” And with that, the Pidgeot promptly whipped up a gust of wind, catching Firestorm and letting him rid upwards to soar alongside Aros and me.
“*Whoa!*” he cried out, both surprised and exhilarated from the sudden ascent.
“It should be easier now,” I said. “We’ve got a long flight ahead of us—think you can handle it?”
It was a bit pointless to ask, because I knew what the answer would be. Firestorm, as always, nodded resolutely.
The morning stretched on into late afternoon as the three Pokémon flew onward, spanning the distance back to Kanto. A couple times Firestorm found himself dipping too low and unsure of when to flap his wings and when simply soaring would be enough. He also couldn’t speed-fly yet, so we made our way there slowly, but it didn’t make any difference to me. As we neared our destination however, I could feel the suspense lingering in the back of my mind start to grow. It had been five months since I had left home on that day so long ago. How much had things changed while I was gone? How much had…I changed? It seemed like a bit of a silly thought—there was no way that all the Rocket experiences had changed me outwardly. And…I still felt like the same person. But at the same time, I wasn’t even sure on that.
The Tohjo Mountains loomed over the northern horizon as we closed in out southwestern Kanto. The four of us descended slowly upon reaching Viridian City, and I scanned the ground intently until I found the right major street, and from there, my neighborhood. Firestorm figured out how to slow his momentum well enough, and in the end, we touched down in front of my house.
Without saying anything, I pulled out two Poké Balls to release Chibi and Stygian. I couldn’t explain why, even to myself, but for some reason, I wanted all of them to be there with me.
I had been so immaturely opposed to returning home before…and for no real reason, too. As I slowly stepped forward towards the front door…it felt awkward coming back, but deep down it felt right.
I rang the doorbell.
The seconds after that dragged on unnervingly, and an almost tangible air of anxiety hung over me, digging into my mind. Come on…just answer the door already… I could hardly stand it anymore.
There was the sound of a click as the doorknob turned. The door opened slowly at first, then swung open all the way.
My dad stood in the doorway, a look of stunned surprise on his face. It seemed to take several seconds for it to sink in that this was really happening—I was really here. He stared first at me, and then at my Pokémon, still trying to say something, but failing. Slowly, he called for my mom, and the two of us waited in silence until she arrived as well, her reaction not unlike his.
“I…”—I swallowed hard, my voice faltering—“I know it was wrong for me to be gone this whole time. And…please believe me when I say I didn’t mean for it to happen like that. I never meant to leave in the first place. And it wasn’t possible for me to come back until now.”
Their expressions were mixed. Dad looked somewhat like he was trying to find the words to scold me, but was too awestruck to do anything about it. Mom was on the verge of tears. “I don’t understand…” she kept saying. “Why…?”
I clenched my teeth. “I lied about the past few months. I wasn’t off traveling with my friends. I—I wouldn’t run away for something as stupid as that. I got dragged into accidentally joining a group using Pokémon to fight against criminals. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it.” It was a rather dumb way of explaining The Rebellion, but really…it was all I could say. “But that’s over with now, and I’m back.”
I used that opportunity to shift the focus to the five Pokémon standing alongside me. “These are Firestorm, Chibi, Aros, and Stygian…and Swift is a Pidgeot now.” I started to choke over the words. “We’ve fought together the past few months, and they’ll be a part of the family now that I’m home.”
Home…the word felt strange. Almost…foreign…for so long I’d only felt like I belonged with The Rebellion. And yet…in the back of my mind, the fact that I’d always wanted out of the Team Rocket mess… I’d never made the connection before, but had I actually wanted to go home?
I clenched my fists, trying to will myself further to look unmoved by the situation. I felt my resolve crumbling—I was only vaguely aware that I had stumbled across the doorway and collapsed into my parents’ arms.
Home.
That was then.
The events that transpired after the fall of The Rebellion, the strike on the Viridian base, and my leaving the Resistance…even my receiving the license and returning home—it all felt so distant…almost like a dream. In spite of this, it was those five months of my life that would always stand out the most in my mind, shoving other memories to the side even though there were so many parts of it that I’d rather have forgotten.
Over a year had passed. I had it stuck in my mind that the events of that year paled in comparison to the previous five months, but strangely that was what I liked about it. Everything finally working out the way I intended it to for once. I wasn’t sure whether or not I was unwilling to admit it, but in the end, everything had actually gone well, despite my earlier fears. I probably spent at least the next two months indoors, but that was to be expected. Sure, my parents hadn’t understood my attempts to explain away why I hadn’t come home for five months, (and I doubted they ever would), but the inescapable fact that I had gotten a license and trained five Pokémon ended up being the key.
Moving to Johto wasn’t anything I needed to concern myself with anymore. Of course…I had been unreasonably opposed to it all along, but with the means to fly to Viridian in a half hour, hardly anything changed for me. I hardly saw Ajia or Starr, but I suppose that was to be expected.
The biggest thing of all, however, was my continuation of Pokémon Training. Just months earlier, I never would have believed that I would go into it competitively, but somehow after being initially forced into training, I felt a need to keep at it. Given that I had five team members already, even my parents agreed that it was best, especially considering that I wouldn’t have to temporarily quit school or anything. In any case, journeying was what they had been opposed to the whole time—not the training itself.
Waves of nostalgia filled my head as I rode on Aros across the dusky late afternoon sky, open ocean filling nearly my entire field of vision. The salty air whipped at my face, and I held a tighter grip around the neck of the emerald dragon while he flew on, barely needing to flap his wings. Almost subconsciously, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the thing that I had only earned a mere half hour ago…
“Never thought I’d get this far…” I muttered, feeling the slightest trace of a grin. I held the flame-shaped Volcano Badge up to the sun, watching it glimmer in the light.
“*Seventh one, right?*” Aros asked.
I nodded unconsciously, though he couldn’t have seen it, as I was riding on his back. “And since I nabbed the eighth from the Viridian storage way back when, that makes all of them.” Even just thinking back to that small event always sent memories from the surrounding events flooding into my mind. I had tried to block out the rest of it, but…
A loud tune suddenly blared from my pocket. I grabbed my PokéGear and glanced at who was calling, unable to keep from chuckling at the sight of the name. “Damn, I knew I shouldn’t have told Rudy what time I’d be having my last gym battle. Hey Aros, slow up for a bit, kay?”
The dragon’s flight became considerably slower, and when we were at a calm soar, I answered the call.
“Hey Jade! Did you finish your battle yet?”
“For all you know, I could have still been in the battle—what would you have said to that?” I replied, unable to keep from laughing. “In any case, count me in the seventh badge club…eighth if you count the Earth Badge.”
Rudy snorted. “Cheater.”
“You explain to me how the crap I’d be able to fight Giovanni. I mean it—I’m open to suggestions,” I said. “You may have lost twice, but I’d be shot the second I set foot in the gym.”
“And you couldn’t have stolen a badge for me way back when? Seriously, each time I lose, I can’t do another challenge for a month.”
“Right…cause I really would have had the foresight to grab badges for everyone I know. You’ll get it eventually—it took me three tries to get the Volcano Badge, in any case,” I said.
“I don’t have ‘eventually.’ The friggin’ tournament starts in July!” he exclaimed.
“So you’re entering the Indigo Tournament after all?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? There’s no other point to taking the gym challenge. Come on—you can’t honestly not want to enter.” The tone in his voice was unmistakable.
“I dunno…” I said. “I guess…just because pretty much everyone is. I never exactly planned for this Pokémon training thing to go so far.”
“Yeah, yeah… Hey, I’ll see ya whenever you get to Viridian, okay?”
“Okay.” With that, I hung up and replaced my PokéGear in my pocket. I gripped Aros’s neck tighter and announced, “Okay, full speed now.”
The Flygon angled back his wings and put on a sudden burst of speed, and now the distant shores of Johto could be seen on the horizon. Aros rode the current and started gaining more altitude once we near to flying over land. The terrain below quickly changed from coastal to mountainous as we neared our destination, and sure enough, the now admittedly familiar sight of New Bark Town greeted me in the distance. Once Aros had cleared the peaks surrounding the valley, he soared downward and eventually touched down on the dirt path in front of my house. I pulled out his Poké Ball and recalled him in a beam of red before heading inside.
“I’m home,” I said after I had unlocked the door, but there was no answer. It only figures that no one would be home when I had returned from my last gym training endeavor. Oh well…I doubted that I’d have to wait long to announce the news to my parents.
Once I had jogged up the stairs to my room, I dropped my backpack on the floor and set my Poké Balls on the desk, immediately reaching towards where I had been keeping the badges I had earned previously. With the Volcano Badge alongside them, the set was complete…
Since I had Pokémon to fly on, all I really had needed to do was take a week off here and there during the year to train at the gyms. The gym system was already set up in a way that allowed trainers to at least get some education while on a normal journey, so in my situation, it wasn’t much of a setback at all. It made the process of earning badges a very slow one, but it was offset by the fact that I didn’t have to spend time traveling across all of Kanto. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for trainers to do a manner of part-time training once they had a bit of experience under their belt.
As a bit of an afterthought, I pulled out my trainer’s license and held up the new badge to the scanner, letting it make a record of my attaining it. Right afterwards, the device beeped, and the screen showed a notice to inform me that since I was in possession of eight official badges from a specific region, that I could be qualified to enter a championship tournament, and should check with League authorities.
I chuckled slightly…it wasn’t as if I didn’t already know all of that.
Absentmindedly searching for something to do, I felt my PokéGear in my pocket. Right, it would probably be best if I called Ajia. We hadn’t talked in awhile, and I wanted to tell her the news. I quickly entered her number and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Ajia,” I said.
“Hey, Jade, how’ve things been going?” she replied.
“Got my eighth badge,” I said, my voice a bit more expressionless than it should have been. Deep down, however, I couldn’t help but let a glimmer of pride show through.
“That’s awesome,” Ajia said. “Even the Earth Badge?”
“Got that one way back when I was on The Rebellion,” I explained. “As of right now, my friend Rudy’s been bugging me to enter the League tournament this year.”
“Are you going to?”
I laughed slightly. “I don’t know…I mean, I’ve been considering it, but I feel like it would drag me even further into competitive battling, and I never even intended to go this far.”
“Even if you didn’t intend to, why not do it?”
Shrugging to myself, I replied, “Either way it doesn’t matter…I only used training as a distraction, and because I figured it’d be best for my Pokémon.” Having mentioned that, I was further reminded of what I had been using ordinary training as means to avoid… Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked, “So how’ve things been going with…the Resistance and everything?”
Ajia paused. “Actually, it’s been…well, not much has come up. There hasn’t been that much activity in either the Resistance or Team Rocket.”
I hated to admit it, but I actually had been checking the news to see if there were any “unexplained” occurrences or incidents that, to the general public, wouldn’t be readily identified as being Team Rocket-related. I figured that the lack of any was just a sign that the Rockets had managed to keep their operations secret. But a lack of activity altogether?
“What, do you mean that they’ve been lying low this past year?” I said incredulously.
“That’s just it,” Ajia said. “Ever since that strike on their Viridian base last year…nothing. No more Legendaries have been captured, no major missions have happened. The only things the Resistance has managed to get information on is that the Rockets have been keeping much closer track of ordinary members…both for the sake of loyalty and fear. The Executives still meet up every so often.”
“So…they’re planning something?” I asked, not liking how things sounded and letting my “I don’t care” mentality drop for a few seconds.
“I don’t know if it’s a sure thing that they’re planning something or not, but either way the end of this summer is gonna be big… I wouldn’t worry about it too much for now, though…if I find out anything for sure, I’ll let you know.”
“M’kay,” I said. “In any case, I guess I’ll look more into the tournament thing.”
“You should enter—it would be fun,” Ajia said happily. “In fact, I’ve even been considering entering it this year.”
I laughed incredulously. “What? That means we’d have to go against each other eventually—I doubt I’d do very well,” I added, even though there would probably be plenty of other experienced trainers I’d likely lose to as well. Still, it wasn’t as if that’d be any reason not to enter.
“Hey don’t worry about that,” Ajia said. “Besides, I’m gonna see if I can drag Starr along—she’s been complaining about not having the Team Rocket training to do. Talk to you later, okay?”
“Bye,” I said with a smile, hanging up.
In a way, it was hard to believe that it had really been a year. It sure didn’t feel like it, in any case. Mixed emotions filled my head as I replaced the PokéGear on my desk and reached toward where I had put my Poké balls. I released all five of my Pokémon one at a time, giving Aros, Swift, and Firestorm a chance to close their wings, otherwise there was no way everyone would fit in the room.
“*I’m guessing we ended up winning?*” Firestorm asked with a hint of strain in his voice, his arms and wings rather limp. He was still noticeably tired from having been knocked out in the gym match, even though I had taken him, Aros, and Chibi to be healed after the battle.
“Sure did,” I said, holding up the badge. “And I guess it’s a good thing that Aros pulled through at the end, cause I don’t think we all could have taken losing on our second rematch.” I laughed slightly with a hint of embarrassment. Aros looked complacent from the mention.
“*So what now?*” Chibi asked.
I turned toward him. “What do you mean?”
“*That was the last one to earn, right? What comes next? You always told us that this whole gym battling thing wasn’t just some time-wasting adventure.*”
“That’s cause it’s not,” I countered. “We’ve all grown stronger together, and it’s been a lot of fun.” I paused before continuing, “But if you really wanna know, we might be entering the Kanto League Championships this year.”
Firestorm looked stunned. “*Are you serious? I’d always heard that was for the most elite trainers—are you sure we’d be able to?*”
“We got all eight badges,” I pointed out, “so either way we’re eligible. But you’re right about it being a serious competitive event…that’s why I’m still unsure.”
Stygian shrugged. “*What difference does it make? Battling is battling, who cares if it’s ‘serious’ or not?*”
“*Even if it is serious we can handle it,*” Aros said resolutely.
“Hey, I’m not against this because I’m afraid of losing or anything,” I countered, although the more I thought about it…was there even any reason not to enter? I really couldn’t figure out why I was so reluctant, and somehow knew all along what I’d end up doing…
“Well…” I said finally. “Considering that Ajia and Rudy also wanted me to enter, I guess it’s unanimous.” I forced a grin. All five of them, even Swift, looked glad about the decision—Firestorm in particular.
“*This is great—I’d never imagined we’d get to battle in one of the highest-ranked tournaments there is…it’s almost like an honor,*” the Charizard said, his voice brimming with excitement.
“*It’ll be a chance for you to prove yourself,*” Aros said to me. “*To sort of…show how far you’ve come since we all first started battling together.*”
“Me?” I said, laughing. “Hey, it’s not just me who’s needed to improve.” It didn’t really make much sense to say that to him since for the longest time he had been one of the most useful members of the team, but I didn’t really care.
Aros snorted. “*Yeah, whatever.*” The edge of a smirk crossed his face.
I laughed again. “Alright, in any case, that’s all I wanted to say for now. It’s prob’ly best if I don’t keep you out too long in here,” I said, referring to the fact that I wasn’t allowed to keep Aros, Firestorm, or Swift out of their Poké Balls while indoors, due to size limitations. “I’ll let you guys out later tonight, okay?” With that, I recalled the three of them.
Stygian made her way over to the side of my bed and promptly lay down, burying her face in her mane. Like always, she didn’t make contact with or acknowledge the rest of us unless she had to. Chibi hopped up onto the chair next to me.
As an afterthought, I turned on my computer and proceeded to look up information on the upcoming tournament, figuring it would be best to get some information on it beforehand.
“*So you said you talked to Ajia earlier, right?*” Chibi asked.
I glanced at him, nonplussed. How had he known that I had—no…almost immediately I remembered mentioning that Ajia was in favor of my entering the tournament. “Yeah, what about it?”
He paused, contemplating what to say. “*Did she say anything about Team Rocket?*”
So that’s what this was about. With a sigh, I responded, “Not this again. I keep forgetting how many times you’ve asked about this. Honestly, why does it concern you so much?”
“*That doesn’t answer the question,*” he pointed out flatly.
I guess he saw through that…in any case, it didn’t matter if he knew. “Alright, I asked her and she said there hasn’t been any activity in Team Rocket for a long time.”
“*So you brought it up first then? *” He snorted. “*You were curious too.*”
I bristled. “Yeah…I guess so…anyway, it doesn’t really matter.”
Chibi’s expression hardened. “*If there really hasn’t been any activity in Team Rocket, then I wouldn’t say so. They’ve got to be lying low for now, is all…did she say if they have anything planned?*” Why did he always have to guess right on the first try?
“Yeah…that might be the case, but I don’t think it’s something we should worry about,” I said, trying to reassure both him and myself at the same time.
“*It’ll be something to worry about if they launch a major attack,*” he countered.
“Except that the Resistance will be ready,” I shot back. “It’s not our job to get involved with things like that anymore.”
The electric rodent folded his arms. “*Whatever…it’s your call, I guess.*”
I watched him jump off the chair and make his way over to my bookcase. He pulled one of the smaller ones off the bottom shelf, no doubt intending to practice his limited reading knowledge.
I smiled faintly. In any case, now wasn’t a time to be thinking about Team Rocket matters. I turned back to my computer, bringing up a list of information. In order to be eligible for the Indigo League, you had to have earned all eight official Kanto Badges before July 1, and likewise had to register with the League by that date. The Tournament itself began on July 7, and would likely run through August, depending on how many entrants there were.
Two months from now… I’d make sure we were ready by then.
~End Chapter 21~
This chapter was fail. I’ll be the first to admit it. Hopefully, however, it accomplished its purpose: summarized the transition with minimal confusion, and set the stage well enough for the League Arc, leaving enough room for the plot to loom in the background. I’ve had chapters full of nothing but transition, but the one thing I will never do is write a filler chapter.
The plot really starts in 23, and the second arc of the story kicks off in chapter 27. Part 2 is a lot slower than Part 1 was. (By comparison, Part 1’s plot started in Chapter 1, and the second arc started with Chapter 4) However, the mixed side of this is that I have already outlined and summarized every chapter up to 26, and have already written most of 22 and 23, and nearly all of 24.
~Chibi~;249;;448;
