《Shadowed Knowledge (Pokemon)》


 Chapter One

    In front of me stood a figure. It was large, taller than me. My eyes were having a hard time focusing on it because of the rain. And the concussion. At least I assumed I had a concussion, a safe assumption after getting beaten with a bat. It¡¯s not like I even had anything worth a damn in my wallet¡­ That at least made me feel a bit better about it.


    But this thing wasn¡¯t the person who hit me. Or anything that I really recognized. Or¡­no¡­I did recognize it, but I couldn¡¯t place it. ¡°Get up,¡± I heard. Well, not so much heard as I knew that¡¯s what it said.


    Getting up was no easy task, but as I made the attempt I found it was actually easy, and my headache was gone. And the rain had stopped. And I was now somewhere completely different. ¡°What- What¡¯s going on?¡± I looked around for a moment, taking in what appeared to be some sort of starscape, speckled with lights.


    The figure did not answer, remaining silent.


    My attention was brought to it. ¡°Llama?¡± I muttered, taking in its quadrupedal shape. It was mostly white, gray underside, with gold on its hooves and golden ring around its midsection. I blinked as I suddenly realized what I was looking at. ¡°Arceus?¡±


    That was a Pokemon. That was the Pokemon God of creation, if lore was to be believed. But what was it doing here? Was I having some sort of hallucination in the last moments of my life? Maybe this was death, taking a form that would be familiar to me that I would not cower at. I knew I played too much Pokemon.


    ¡°Get. Up.¡± I heard again.


    Which was confusing, because I was standing already. Standing before a Pokemon God. Something that was debatably one of the most powerful Pokemon. That was a debate that I had heard many times, on who was more powerful. Considering that in stories they got slapped by random kid¡¯s Pokemon, it made me wonder how powerful they could actually be.


    The llama looked at me, and I realized it was the first time that it had actually done so. ¡°Wake. Up.¡±


    Suddenly everything went dark. There was pain again. My headache returned, but not just that, the rest of my body also hurt. At least it wasn¡¯t raining. ¡°Wake up,¡± I heard again, though the voice was different this time, ¡°Oh please, wake up. If those Ranger guys find someone dead, they¡¯re gonna blame us.¡±


    There was something nudging my side. ¡°Why would they blame us? They¡¯d probably blame- whatever. What¡¯s he even doing out here?¡± There was another voice.


    ¡°You should go get your mom,¡± the first voice said. There was the pressure of something on me. ¡°She¡¯ll know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Just when we managed to get away.¡± There was something moving around in front of me.


    ¡°Mm,¡± I managed a small noise before shifting, finally being able to move.


    ¡°He¡¯s alive! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t leave me!¡±


    Two figures rushed away. I tried to open my eyes, but one was swollen shut, and the other was pressed into the grass. Trying to move my arms resulted in only one listening to me, the other one hurt too much to even try. Broken? Maybe? Wait¡­grass? Wasn¡¯t I on a sidewalk?


    I heard a distant excited cry of, ¡°Mama! Mama!¡± But I couldn''t tell from where.


    Slowly I tried to shift my good arm under me, doing my best to push my face off the ground so that I could look around. I was in¡­a forest? There were bushes and trees all around, and the grass I was in was quite tall. I rolled a bit to the side and up against a tree, managing to sit against it.


    Everything hurt. My arm was battered and bruised, but I didn¡¯t see any bones. It looked like I had¡­fallen? And tried to catch myself. It didn¡¯t actually look broken now that I saw it, but it just hurt too much to move. I started to try and feel for broken bones, but found none.


    ¡°There, there, mama look.¡± The voice caused me to look over to see¡­a small blue bipedal dog. A Riolu? And behind it, the much larger jackal dog Lucario. Now I was in pain and extremely confused. That was definitely a Pokemon. Was I a Pokemon? No, my hands looked normal. That¡¯s lame, being a Pokemon would be cool.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a Ranger,¡± Lucario said, looking over at me. I noticed how she was keeping a distance from me, assessing if I was a threat. Riolu was standing beside her, and just next to them was a red insect Pokemon with black markings, a large hump and lots of legs; a Venipede.


    ¡°Could you-¡± A coughing fit interrupted my request for help. This did seem to ease her worry about whether I was a threat or not, and she approached.


    I was trying to keep my focus on her, but it was hard. She knelt down in front of me, putting her hand on my chest to steady me as she looked me over. I was suddenly very aware that this was probably a wild Pokemon, and I could be in serious trouble if she decided to do anything. ¡°What did you say happened?¡± she asked back towards Riolu.


    ¡°He fell! Like, zoom crash.¡± They were animatedly gesturing as they spoke, which made me smile a bit. ¡°That¡¯s the hole he crashed through.¡± They pointed up and indeed there was a rather large hole through the tree canopies.


    We all sort of just stared at the hole for a few moments, before her attention turned back to me. The first thing she did was check my belt. She seemed¡­surprised? I was more disappointed than surprised, since there were no pokeballs there. ¡°You¡¯re not a Trainer? How did you get here?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± I managed to say. I was going to have to do my best not to lie, since Lucario¡¯s had that whole aura sense thing. ¡°I got¡­attacked and robbed¡­then saw¡­ Then I woke up here.¡±


    There was a moment of silence as she continued to look me over, before seemingly deciding something. ¡°The Pokecenter is pretty far, but I can get you there,¡± she said before rather unceremoniously hefting me up onto her back.


    It was a rather odd experience, being lifted by something quite a bit smaller than me. My head was actually above hers. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. Lucario shifted my weight, holding my legs in her arms. My arms were draped over her shoulders, and I did my best not to touch her chest spike.


    I watched Riolu get on top of the Venipede. ¡°To the Pokecenter!¡± they declared, and the little bug simply rolled their eyes.


    And then we were off. I¡¯m not sure how far it was, considering I passed out twice on the way there. It was not the most gentle of rides and Lucario was moving quite fast. But eventually we broke out of the trees and onto a road. The sun had gone down, and I could see lampposts in the distance.


    I had no idea what town it was, but it was large. Stone streets, and rather modern looking buildings was the first thing that caught my eye, but I didn¡¯t have much of a chance to observe as we came towards the Pokecenter. It was a familiar building, and I was trying to place the style when we rushed inside. Apparently Lucario had been here before. ¡°Wigglytuff!¡± she called out, before spotting the Pokemon and heading over.


    Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff immediately started to rush over. Both of them saying some sort of variation of, ¡°Oh my. Oh dear. Oh my.¡± Wigglytuff was the first to reach me and immediately helped me off of Lucario, who fell to one knee, panting softly from the exertion.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Nurse Joy asked, trying to help me onto my feet.


    ¡°Robbed,¡± I managed to say, standing was a struggle, but the pink Pokemon was strong enough to lift me to my feet and keep me there.


    I was rushed into the back and found out just how fantastical the medicine in the Pokemon world was. Apparently potions worked on literally everyone. Half an hour later, I felt so much better. Wigglytuff was there, taking care of my more serious injuries. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be broken,¡± she said as she was examining my arm.


    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s got a fracture, though,¡± I responded, and she nodded, carefully wrapping my arm.


    ¡°You have very good partners. But we couldn''t find any pokeballs?¡± She looked me over again, for probably the dozenth time.


    ¡°I¡­ They¡¯re not my Pokemon,¡± I admitted, watching as she wrapped my arm.


    That caused her to pause and look up at me. ¡°They¡¯re¡­someone else''s?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so¡­ they found me in the woods.¡± She looked nervous at my words. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Lucario¡¯s got a good personality and took it upon herself to get me here. I doubt she¡¯d cause trouble after that.¡± I reached out with my good arm and pat the pink balloon on the head softly.


    Her cheeks immediately puffed up, which caused me to laugh. She huffed at me before continuing to wrap my arm. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t touch a medical practitioner when she¡¯s working.¡±


    ¡°Aw, but cute Pokemon deserve headpats,¡± I said, still chuckling softly.


    Again her cheeks puffed up, but before she could retort, Nurse Joy came back in. ¡°I¡¯ve contacted Officer Jenny, and she¡¯s on her way.¡± She had left to make some calls. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Much better, thank you.¡± I gave her a bit of a smile before turning back to watch Wigglytuff. I was still trying to come to terms that I was now in the Pokemon world. And, I had a general idea where I was. ¡°Arceus, why am I in France¡­¡± I muttered under my breath. Only Kalos Nurse Joys used Wigglytuff¡¯s as assistants.


    Wigglytuff looked up at me in confusion, apparently having heard me. ¡°Hm?¡±


    I shook my head in response. ¡°Just talking to myself,¡± I said.


    After a moment she nodded and finished her work. ¡°Okay, so your arm is the worst injury you have. It¡¯s going to take a few weeks before it¡¯s fully healed. So no throwing. You also have a mild concussion, but surprisingly no skull fractures.¡±


    ¡°Weeks?¡± I mused as I flexed my fingers a bit. My whole arm still hurt whenever I try to move it. ¡°Alright, I can do that. Thank you.¡± I gave her another few pats.


    She puffed up, flailing her little hands to try and bat my hand away. ¡°Stop headpatting me! I am a professional!¡± she exclaimed, which only caused me to laugh.


    ¡°Of course you are. You¡¯re an absolutely amazing professional.¡± As much as I wanted to continue patting her head, I decided that that was enough teasing and instead fixed her little hat. ¡°You¡¯re a great nurse.¡±


    The balloon gave me a huff in response before turning away to clean up the tools. ¡°You¡¯re really good with Pokemon,¡± Nurse Joy said as she had been watching our interaction. ¡°Usually Wigglytuff would have been rough with anyone who treated her like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, I love Pokemon. And she¡¯s a cutie that I can¡¯t help teasing a bit,¡± I said with a smile as I saw Wigglytuff turn back to glare at me for a moment before turning away with another huff. ¡°Such a professional.¡± I chuckled a bit.


    Nurse Joy gave me a bit of a confused look. ¡°Professional? That¡¯s kind of an odd way of putting it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m just teasing her more. After all, it¡¯s what she called herself.¡± I made a few gestures towards the pink Pokemon.


    ¡°Called herself?¡± Nurse Joy asked, sounding even more confused. I looked at her a moment before we both seemed to realize it at the same time. Pokemon can¡¯t talk. Wigglytuff also seemed to realize that something was off as well as she turned back to look at me. ¡°You can understand her?¡±


    ¡°You can understand me?¡± Wigglytuff asked nearly at the same time.


    Slowly I nodded. ¡°Yes?¡± I had to think about it for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­¡± I was trying to figure out how to explain it. ¡°I can hear her say things and make noises, but I don¡¯t actually hear that, I hear words.¡±


    Wigglytuff was suddenly in front of me, grabbing my hands. ¡°You can understand me?!¡± she practically shouted. And I nodded. ¡°Good!¡± She pointed a flipper arm at Nurse Joy. ¡°Tell her that I want an egg! I have been trying for months to tell her, but she doesn¡¯t understand!¡±


    I blinked a few times, and then laughed. Wigglytuff shook my hands, trying to get me to stop laughing. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯m sorry, that was just a very sudden request.¡±


    ¡°What did she say?¡± Nurse Joy asked, moving a bit closer. ¡°I know there¡¯s something that¡¯s been bothering her for a while now, but I just can¡¯t figure it out.¡±


    ¡°She¡­¡± I paused, trying to figure out the best way to say it. I cleared my throat. ¡°She wants a child.¡±


    Nurse Joy blinked at me, while Wigglytuff nodded vigorously. ¡°Oh.¡± Her face had gained a slightly red tinge to it. ¡°That uhm¡­does explain her fascination whenever someone brings in a Pokemon egg, or a Pokemon who is close to laying.¡±


    I nodded and Wigglytuff nodded along with me, both of us with our arms folded.


    ¡°Wait. Wait wait wait. Not that that isn¡¯t important, but you can- you can talk to Pokemon?¡± Nurse Joy said, shaking her head a bit to try and refocus herself.


    I was still nodding, but before I could answer a rather familiar green haired police woman poked her head into the open door. ¡°Nurse Joy? Ah, there you are.¡± She looked around the room for a moment. ¡°This him?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Officer Jenny, yes,¡± Nurse Joy said as she turned her attention to the new woman. ¡°This is-¡± she stopped, realizing there was something important that was never asked.


    ¡°Jason,¡± I offered, ¡°Or Jace for short.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Jason, what happened,¡± Officer Jenny asked as she came into the room. She looked rather stern, but that always seemed to be how the Jenny Clan looked.


    ¡°I- I¡¯m honestly not sure. My memory of¡­well, anything, is pretty fuzzy. I¡¯m¡­not sure where I am. I was going to the store for a snack, when I was struck in the back of the head, I think? I remember them beating me for a while and then I passed out. And when I woke up I was in a forest.¡±


    Officer Jenny was writing it down, though there was a look of concern on her face. ¡°Do you have any identification?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°They took everything.¡±


    ¡°Even your Pokemon?¡±


    ¡°He has some, they¡¯re in a resting room,¡± Nurse Joy interjected. ¡°But they don¡¯t have pokeballs.¡±


    ¡°Ah, those aren¡¯t mine. They¡¯re¡­wild I think?¡± Both of them looked at me, a look of surprise and shock showing on their faces. ¡°I think Riolu and Venipede found me, and Riolu went and got their mother, who carried me here.¡±


    ¡°I think I know the Lucario,¡± Nurse Joy said, tapping her cheek. ¡°If it¡¯s the same one from a few years ago. She was really beat up, and a Ranger brought her here because he was worried.¡±


    ¡°Do you know which Ranger?¡± Officer Jenny asked, and Nurse Joy shook her head. ¡°Dang. Well¡­ I¡¯ll put out some bulletins. See if we can figure out where you came from, Jason. I¡¯ve never seen you around, so you¡¯re probably not from around here. I¡¯ll put it out to the other Jenny¡¯s. Hopefully someone will see it and recognize you.¡±


    I sighed a bit, but nodded. I felt kind of bad because I knew that was just going to be a waste of time and resources. ¡°Thank you.¡± I took a moment to stand, the Wigglytuff immediately moving to help. ¡°Heh, thank you, too.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Nurse Joy suddenly exclaimed as if remembering. ¡°I need to tell Professor Sycamore!¡± She moved to leave the room, but was blocked by Officer Jenny.


    ¡°About what?¡± she questioned.


    ¡°Him- he. He can talk to Pokemon,¡± Nurse Joy hurriedly explained, trying to get around the police woman.


    Officer Jenny just looked puzzled, but let the pink haired woman pass. ¡°Talk to Pokemon? Everyone can talk to Pokemon?¡± she questioned, turning her attention back to me.


    ¡°No, I mean he has full communication,¡± Nurse Joy tried to explain as she dashed down the hall.


    ¡°Is that rare?¡± I knew it was a thing that was possible, but I didn¡¯t know how possible it was in this Pokemon world. I had no idea if this was even based on anything or just a random Pokemon world.


    ¡°It is. It¡¯s about as rare as a Pokemon learning to talk to us. I¡¯ve only heard rumors of people who could do it,¡± she said, eying me with some suspicion.


    ¡°Mmm I see. Well, I¡®m going to go and thank my savior and let her know I¡¯m alright, okay?¡± The officer nodded and I looked at Wigglytuff. ¡°Could you show me where they are?¡± She nodded and led me out.


    The room that they were letting the others stay in was nice and cozy, some sort of lounge area. Lucario was sitting on a couch, drinking something warm, while Riolu and Venipede were running around the room and looking at all the new things.


    Lucario looked up as we entered. ¡°You look much better.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thanks to you,¡± I said as I moved over, watching as the other two were fascinated by a cardboard tube. There were paper towels everywhere. ¡°Are you planning to stay in the Pokecenter for very long?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No, we should head back before morning. I don¡¯t want to have to deal with Trainers¡­¡±


    I chuckled a bit, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s understandable. You¡¯re a very popular team choice.¡±


    There was a sort of exasperated and sad noise that escaped her as she nodded. ¡°I am well aware.¡±


    ¡°You¡­really can communicate with them well,¡± Officer Jenny said, looking between Lucario and me as we talked. ¡°I can only get a general idea of it, but you seem to really understand.¡±


    ¡°Are we leaving?¡± Riolu said, running over to their mom and jumping onto the couch. ¡°This place is weird.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can,¡± I responded to Officer Jenny. She seemed a bit on edge being around the wild Pokemon. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure how or why, but I just hear what they say as words.¡±


    Her expression became thoughtful. ¡°Maybe the Professor will know¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait. You can actually understand me?¡± Lucario asked, a bit surprised at that reveal. ¡°I thought you were just good at interpreting.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I can actually understand you.¡± I felt like I was going to have to repeat this a lot, if even Pokemon were caught off guard by it.


    ¡°Then, can you ask that one a question?¡± She pointed at Officer Jenny. ¡°I¡¯ve seen her with Rangers.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± I glanced at Officer Jenny who gave me a puzzled expression before I returned my attention back to Lucario.


    ¡°Where is my mate?¡± Immediately she sounded pissed off, like a switch was clicked. ¡°That- That trash left me to join some Trainers team!¡± She was gesturing with her hands. ¡°He left me, just after my daughter was born,¡± she pointed at Riolu.


    ¡°Ah, a deadbeat dad,¡± I nodded sympathetically.


    ¡°Deadbeat? Yeah, I probably am going to beat him to death when I find his smooth, lying, child abandoning ass.¡± She punched into her hand several times for emphasis.


    ¡°Why¡¯s she¡­so mad?¡± Officer Jenny asked, I could see she had a hand on one of her pokeballs.


    ¡°Her mate- the father of that Riolu- left her to join a Trainer. Is it possible for you to check if any Trainers got a Lucario around here a few years ago?¡±


    ¡°Three years,¡± Lucario added.


    ¡°Three years ago,¡± I repeated after Lucario.


    Her brow furrowed a bit as she looked back and forth from me and Lucario. ¡°I¡­could check the Pokemon registry, but I probably won¡¯t be able to give out the information.¡±


    ¡°Honestly I think we both would just appreciate you looking,¡± I said and Lucario nodded from beside me. I blinked, looking at the Lucario who had come up beside me without me having noticed.


    Officer Jenny looked between the two of us and then laughed softly. ¡°You sure she¡¯s not your Pokemon? You two seem to get along really well.¡± Lucario and I looked at each other for a moment before both shrugging. I turned my attention back to Officer Jenny. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­you don¡¯t have any Pokemon¡­ You¡¯ll have to come down to the station to fill out a report. Do you remember what Pokemon you had?¡±


    I shook my head with a sigh. ¡°No.¡± In truth, I didn¡¯t have any Pokemon, but saying that would be weird. Even children had Pokemon depending on what Pokemon universe this was.


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a problem¡­ I¡¯ll have to see what we can do, but I¡¯m sure Professor Sycamore will be able to help you with that. I¡¯m gonna make some calls.¡± Officer Jenny said before stepping away and pulling out¡­a Rotom phone? No, just a regular phone with an interesting case.


    A slight tugging at my pants leg caused me to look down. Venipede had pulled on them. ¡°Are you okay?¡± they asked.


    I crouched down, putting a hand gently onto their shell. ¡°I¡¯m fine, little bug. Thanks to you and Riolu.¡±


    As if on cue from her name, Riolu used me as a springboard and leapt into the air and landed on Venipede. ¡°Yeah! Team Speed Shell completes another mission!¡±


    I chuckled a bit. ¡°Team Speed Shell?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what these two troublemakers call themselves,¡± Lucario said with an exhausted tone. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea where they got it from.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they should be Team Trouble?¡± I suggested, and that got Lucario to chuckle.


    Riolu looked offended. ¡°You dare?¡± They took up a pose, pointing at me as if challenging me.


    ¡°Team Trouble is a good Pokemon team name,¡± I argued. ¡°Team Speed Shell is also good, especially with how speedy Venipede is.¡± I pat the bug Pokemons shell again. ¡°You easily kept up with Lucario as she was going full speed.¡± They wiggled under my words of praise.


    ¡°Veny is the speed, I¡¯m the muscle,¡± Riolu proclaimed, patting her bicep.


    ¡°Oh? Speed and muscle? Who''s the brains?¡±


    They both froze and slowly looked at each other. There was a silent argument between them for a few moments. ¡°Neither,¡± Lucario said with a huff. ¡°If those girls had any brains between them I wouldn¡¯t have to keep such a close eye on them.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    They both gasped, looking at Lucario as if she had just slapped them. ¡°How could you say that mamma?¡± I laughed harder, and Riolu leapt up, grabbing hold of my shirt. ¡°Dare to laugh at Team Speed Shell? I¡¯ll show you-¡±


    ¡°Rio!¡± Lucario snapped, and the little pup''s grip loosened.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said gently, putting my good hand on her back to help support her. She was extremely soft and warm. ¡°I¡¯m not laughing at Team Speed Shell. It¡¯s a good team name. It was your mothers reaction that made me laugh, and then your reaction to it that was funny.¡±


    She sniffled a bit in response. I reached up and gently pat her head, which was about all I could manage to do with my injured arm. Lucario gently took her from me. ¡°She¡¯s tired,¡± she said.


    ¡°Am not,¡± was Riolu¡¯s response.


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually let her stay up this late.¡± I watched as Lucario carefully held Riolu, being careful of her spike. Riolu was one of the baby Pokemon, one of the many strange gimmicks that was used once but then never again. I suppose that had some base of reality here.


    With a nod, I reached down and picked up Venipede. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Officer Jenny jolt slightly. Venipede were known to be brutally aggressive and highly venomous, but anyone who had heard the tone of her little voice wouldn¡¯t be worried. ¡°I suppose we could all use some rest. I¡¯m sure you can stay here as long as you need to.¡±


    Lucario hesitated, looking at me as if searching for something. After a moment she nodded. ¡°Yes. Better to stay here for the rest of the night, and leave tomorrow after hopefully getting some information on where that jerk went.¡±


    With a nod, I asked Officer Jenny about accommodations, and was actually surprised to learn that a Pokecenter doubled as a sort of inn for Trainers. And since it was near the end of the League season, and the actual Kalos League would be starting soon, not many would be staying here. That was something that I was interested in. Watching high level battles in person would be amazing.


    The room was nice, though very bare. Not quite like a hotel room, more just a place to crash for the night, a desk, and a little bathroom. I set Venipede down on the bed before settling into it myself. To my surprise, Lucario laid down on the bed as well and made herself comfortable. I was too tired to complain, not that I really would have, and slowly drifted off to sleep.


    ~


    In the morning I woke to a pressure on my chest and a lot of weight on top of me. Opening my eyes, I saw quite a sight. On my left was Lucario, having pressed her face into the crook of my shoulder. Venipede was lying on my chest, with Riolu between her and her mother. I could see Lucario¡¯s arm wrapped over both of them. The scene caused a smile to creep onto my face.


    A sudden knock at the door caused Lucario to jolt upwards, going from laying to standing and ready to fight in an instance. I didn¡¯t move, letting her get her bearings. Riolu and Venipede hadn¡¯t even twitched at the noise or movement. After a moment she seemed to remember where she was and looked around, seeing me looking at her.


    She quickly looked away, apparently embarrassed at her reaction. ¡°Someone is at the door,¡± she mumbled and moved to go answer it.


    ¡°Yes,¡± was all I said.


    When she opened the door, it was Nurse Joy. ¡°Ah, sorry, were you still asleep?¡±


    ¡°No, I was awake. I''m just under a pile of Pokemon,¡± I said with a chuckle. The movement of my chest and speech roused the other two, who grumbled about being woken.


    ¡°Good. Professor Sycamore will be arriving soon. He sounded really excited to talk to you.¡± She had not come into the room, simply watching as Lucario moved to get Riolu and Venipede off of me.


    Once I was freed I sat up. ¡°Alright, good. I wanted to talk to him as well.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Have you¡­remembered anything?¡± she sounded hesitant to ask, but as a nurse knew that it was important.


    I hesitated a moment, unsure what to say before I shook my head. ¡°No more than yesterday.¡±


    With a nod, Nurse Joy led me to a sort of cafeteria. Apparently Pokecenters were really designed to help Trainers on the journey in every conceivable way. A place to rest, recover, eat, gain information, and from the noises out back, battle. The food was pretty good, though I realized pretty quick that the meat in the dishes must be from Pokemon. Going vegetarian might be a good choice. But it was tasty¡­


    I saw Professor Sycamore before I had finished eating. He was hard to miss. That hairdo was so anime, and the labcoat was a dead giveaway. He was talking with Nurse Joy as I got up and approached the two of them. ¡°Ah, you must be Jason,¡± he said as he gave me a smile.


    I nodded. ¡°Professor Sycamore?¡± Even if I knew, it was polite to ask.


    He nodded, still smiling. ¡°Yes. I heard you had¡­quite a bit of trouble.¡±


    Again I nodded. ¡°Professor I¡­ I would like to talk to you, privately, before we discuss anything else.¡±


    He gave me a rather confused look, but nodded slowly. ¡°Of course. Nurse Joy, could we borrow an exam room?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said, also a bit confused.


    Nurse Joy led us to a small room, and I moved in and sat down before Professor Sycamore had even closed the door. ¡°I take it¡­ you do not have memory loss?¡± he asked after closing the door.


    ¡°I- I¡¯m not sure.¡± I sighed a bit, rubbing my face as I thought. There were going to be far too many lies to keep track of if I tried, and I knew Professor Sycamore was at least trustworthy. I would have much preferred Oak, or¡­ well honestly all of the professors were pretty trustworthy. ¡°As far as I see it, there are three possibilities.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Do tell,¡± he said as he sat down.


    ¡°First possibility is that I have some sort of memory inventing amnesia,¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how to explain it succinctly.


    Thankfully, the Professor asked, ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Well I¡¯m not sure of its actual name, I¡¯m just trying to explain it. But it¡¯s like, I have amnesia, but rather than it being blank, my mind filled in the gap with false memories. A life that never actually existed, from a place that doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°False memories¡­why do you think that?¡±


    ¡°Well, that would be more easily explained with the second possibility. That I¡¯m from a different world.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if he was silent because he wanted me to continue, or because he wasn¡¯t sure how to word a question. ¡°I have lived my entire life in a world that doesn¡¯t have Pokemon. Well, not in the same sense as here, anyways. They exist, but only in fantasy. Books, games, television shows. They are made up things there.¡±


    ¡°So you think that you are from some other world?¡± he said carefully.


    ¡°Or the first possibility. Or the third; that I¡¯m just insane.¡±


    That actually got a laugh out of the man. ¡°Well, at least you¡¯re aware that that¡¯s an option. But¡­another world¡­ That would be quite interesting.¡± He leaned back in his chair for a moment. ¡°Aside from your memories, do you have any proof?¡±


    ¡°I have nothing on me. I didn¡¯t lie about being robbed. But the fact that I don¡¯t have anything, no Pokemon, is another piece of the puzzle. If Officer Jenny can¡¯t find evidence of me in the system, that¡¯s something.¡± I ran my fingers over my hair. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know what would be scarier, if she didn¡¯t find anything or if she did.¡±


    ¡°Personally I think it would be more worrying if she didn¡¯t find anything. Because that would mean your other world theory would be more plausible.¡± He rubbed at his chin a bit.


    ¡°When I supposedly crossed over¡­ I saw Arceus, or at least I think I did.¡±


    His brow furrowed a bit. ¡°If it has to do with Arceus, I¡¯d have to talk to other Professors¡­¡±


    ¡°Professor Juniper,¡± I suggested. ¡°Maybe Oak or Laventon?¡±


    ¡°No, I think Juniper would be the best-¡± he stopped, looking at me. ¡°You know other Professors?¡±


    I leaned back a bit in my chair, trying to get comfortable. ¡°Like I said, Pokemon existed as fiction in my world. I¡¯m not sure how accurate my knowledge will be, but- Ah, Professor Laventon isn¡¯t from this timeline¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know what you mean. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard the name Professor Laventon before.¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s a Professor from a very long time ago.¡± I blinked, and then snapped, pointing at Professor Sycamore. ¡°There. That¡¯s another piece. If you can find information on Professor Laventon and his Galaxy Team, then it¡¯s true that I know something that most wouldn¡¯t know. It would at least be a strike against option three.¡±


    He chuckled softly, nodding. ¡°Well, that is the most worrying of the options.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°Speaking of worrying¡­ you not having a Pokemon is a problem.¡± I nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t give out any new Pokemon until the start of the next journey, but-¡±


    ¡°Wait. What¡¯s the journey?¡± I interrupted, that sounded important.


    ¡°Ah, right. Well, when a child reaches sixteen, they are given a Pokemon, either by their parents or by the Pokemon Association. Some get it earlier, but they¡¯re not allowed to battle in gyms till sixteen. They go on a journey for eleven months, to try and collect enough badges to participate in their local League. Ours is the Kalos League, which starts next week. After the League, Trainers will either give up on their journey and go on to other things, or continue and try to do better in the next League.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°So that¡¯s how it works here¡­¡±


    ¡°Is¡­that similar to what you know?¡± he asked, unsure if he even wanted to ask that question.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty close. Though in the games there¡¯s no like, time? You can just go do the League whenever you want and challenge the Elite Four.¡±


    His face scrunched up. ¡°That would be exhausting. The Elite Four would constantly be getting battles. Only the top ten in the League get the chance to challenge the Elite Four, and someone has to-¡±


    ¡°Beat all four to challenge the Champion,¡± I finished his sentence with a nod. ¡°I did that a bunch in the games,¡± I mumbled.


    He blinked at me several times. ¡°You¡­did what?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± I looked over at him, realizing I had been spacing out. ¡°Ah, yeah. Since they were games, you just trained Pokemon and then beat the Champion. Some of the games had more stuff to do after that, but usually that was the end.¡±


    There was a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°And you¡­ did this several times?¡±


    ¡°Technically? I don¡¯t know how well training video game Pokemon would translate to real Pokemon.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how to explain a video game to him, since I had no idea if they even had those in the Pokemon world, and he seemed to not understand what I meant.


    ¡°Well, sounds like you¡¯ll be a fantastic Trainer,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°But that will have to wait. We need to talk about the reason I¡¯m here. You¡­can understand Pokemon?¡±


    With a sigh, I nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Not just, interpret them really well, but actually understand them?¡± he pressed.


    Again I nodded and repeated, ¡°Yes.¡±


    He pulled a pokeball from his pocket. ¡°Go.¡± There was a red light, and in the room formed a rather large Venasaur, who took up most of the room.


    ¡°A Venasaur?¡± I complained. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have chosen something smaller?¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me fat?¡± Venusaur said with a tone of shock.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I said immediately, ¡°You are perfectly proportioned.¡±


    ¡°He is a bit on the chubby side,¡± the Professor added, which got a glare from the Pokemon.


    I moved over, hugging and patting the Pokemon. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. He just doesn¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°I am not fat. He¡¯s always saying that.¡± Venusaur leaned into me, as if finally having a comrade against injustice.


    ¡°Is he? That¡¯s so mean. You have incredibly healthy leaves, and your flower is absolutely vibrant.¡±


    The massive Pokemon nodded, huffing. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m a bit out of shape, but if he would let me out more often, I could enjoy some sun.¡±


    ¡°How cruel.¡± I turned to the Professor. ¡°You need to let him out more. He says he¡¯s not getting enough sun.¡±


    That immediately got the man¡¯s attention. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He says you don¡¯t let him out enough,¡± I said, and Venusaur nodded.


    ¡°What¡­what else did he say?¡± He was leaning forward in his seat.


    ¡°What¡¯s with him?¡± Venusaur asked, gesturing at the Professor with one of his whips.


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s just surprised that I can talk and understand Pokemon.¡± I gave the big guy a few more headpats.


    ¡°Oho? Tell him to wash his socks more often.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°And that I want to be sprayed with a hose more often, that¡¯s nice.¡±


    Still laughing, I nodded. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    The big guy seemed to think over it for a moment. ¡°I wanna see that lady again. The pretty lady who gave me berries.¡±


    I nodded a bit and turned back to the Professor. ¡°He says your feet stink.¡± I saw the smile on the Professor''s face fall, and he cleared his throat as he sat back up. ¡°And he wants you to spray him with the hose more. And there was a lady that fed him berries? He wants to see her more-¡±


    ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± He put up his hands, trying to get me to stop. ¡°I got it. I can¡­I can see you can at least understand him better than I can.¡±


    Venusaur and I laughed a bit, the large Pokemons laugh was deep and throaty, causing me to feel the vibrations since I was still hugging him. It was a nice feeling. The Professor cleared his throat. ¡°Return.¡± The red beam shot out and struck the Venusaur, returning him back to the ball.


    I moved to sit back in my seat. ¡°So¡­ Since I¡¯ve proven that, what next?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ First off, we need to get you a Trainer¡¯s license. Usually that would require you graduate from a Pokeschool, but I can bypass that.¡± He rubbed his chin a bit. ¡°And I think I can get you a sort of starter kit for new Trainers? I usually have a few of those around. Pokemon will still be a problem¡­¡± He gave me a look. ¡°Unless you can get a Pokemon before that. I hear you have some¡­friends?¡±


    A shrug was my first response. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re interested in that.¡±


    He looked at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°Right¡­ Well, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡± He suddenly stood up. ¡°I¡¯ve got some calls to make, and a bag to go find for you.¡±


    ¡°Before you go, is it possible to get me like¡­tickets to see the League? I want to see real Pokemon battles.¡± I was on my feet soon after him.


    ¡°Oh, yeah sure I can do that. I have tickets to a booth that I hardly use, you can have those,¡± he said with a smile.


    Opening the door, we found Nurse Joy, who was apparently about to knock. ¡°Ah. Officer Jenny uh¡­ called, asking him to go to the station.¡±


    Professor Sycamore nodded. ¡°Yeah, probably important.¡± He turned back to me. ¡°If a certain subject comes up, tell her that you talked with me about it and I suggested you not talk about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh good,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°That way, she can be mad at you instead of me.¡±


    His smile faltered a bit and he sighed. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    There was silence for a moment. ¡°Uhm¡­ So where¡¯s the station?¡±


    The Professor decided to lead me to it, walking through the town as we went. It was actually quite bustling. Apparently I was in Santalune, which was fitting since it was supposed to be a sort of beginning place for Trainers. It was also much, much bigger than in the games, looking more like it did in the anime. Which of course, was more realistic. A city only having like, thirty people was a bit absurd. That¡¯s a village. At best.


    The station was pretty obvious, even having a little police scooter outside. Officer Jenny was also apparently not the only person there. There were numerous other police officers. Or wait, this is supposed to be France, right? Weren¡¯t they called something fancy? Un policier? That was for a male officer I think? But then again, they didn¡¯t speak French in Kalos so probably not.


    I was about to go up to one of the officers at a desk when Officer Jenny appeared from a doorway. ¡°Ah, there you are. Come on in here.¡±


    With a shrug I walked over, following her inside. ¡°So, what did you want me for, Officer Jenny?¡±


    ¡°Well, a few things.¡± She sat down at a desk, gesturing for me to sit down in the seat opposite. ¡°Firstly, I need you to describe what events you can remember from the incident, and any bit of information that you can recall.¡± She pushed a little recording device towards me, an old cassette recorder that was already going.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­really not much, but I will do my best,¡± I said as I sat down. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± I thought for a moment, trying to decide where to start. ¡°I remember going outside¡­to a shop near where¡­I think I lived? I was staying?¡± That was a complicated situation that I wasn¡¯t about to get into. ¡°It was pretty late, dark out.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember the time?¡±


    ¡°Mmm no. I think it was after nine?¡± She nodded. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really paying attention, thinking about what to buy, when I was hit over the head. Someone struck me from behind.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what hit you? Was it a person, or a Pokemon?¡±


    I had to try and not smile at her implying it might have been a Pokemon in my pokeless world. ¡°No, I think it was a person. They hit me with¡­ I think it was a baseball bat?¡±


    ¡°Did you see the attacker?¡±


    That actually made me pause for a different reason. Had I seen them? Slowly I shook my head. ¡°No¡­ I just remember putting my arms over my head because they were continually striking me. Eventually they stopped, took everything I had, and then¡­ Ah, it was raining. Pretty hard. They even took my jacket.¡± It just occurred to me that I wasn¡¯t wearing it anymore.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± She was taking notes as well as having the recorder going. Officer Jenny was such a professional.


    ¡°Then I passed out. And-¡± I paused for a moment, wondering what to say.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°And I think I saw Arceus?¡± I said, not sounding very sure. She arched an eyebrow at me. ¡°Pretty sure I was just hallucinating or something. But he was telling me to get up. Wake up. And then when I did, I was in the forest.¡±


    ¡°Is that when you found those Pokemon?¡±


    ¡°Well they found me. I think it was their voices that I was hearing, telling me to get up and wake up. They ran off to get the Riolu¡¯s mom, the Lucario. Who picked me up and carried me to the Pokecenter.¡± I really needed to find a way to properly thank Lucario for doing that. It really could not have been easy.


    ¡°Do you know where you were found?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I would have to ask Lucario¡­but it must have been really far. They ran for a really long time and really fast. I passed out a few times during the trip, so I can¡¯t even estimate.¡±


    She nodded at that. ¡°I¡¯ve sent out a bulletin about you to the other Jenny¡¯s. I¡¯ll let you know as soon as we know something.¡± She reached over and clicked a button on the recorder before pulling it back towards her. ¡°And about that other thing¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, right¡­the other thing.¡± I looked at her for a moment, but I felt I already knew the answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t give you any information.¡±


    ¡°I kinda expect that,¡± I said, nodding a bit. That was unfortunate¡­ Maybe I could help Lucario in some other way? It would be hard to track down a random Lucario amongst the tens of thousands of Trainers, but maybe I could think of something.


    Officer Jenny made a soft noise of clearing her throat. ¡°On a completely and totally unrelated note, are you going to be watching the League battles?¡±


    I blinked at her. ¡°I am. Professor Sycamore is going to give me tickets.¡± So this is how she was going to skirt the rules?


    ¡°Good. Good. I¡­recommend you bring that Lucario. Would be good for her to see some high level battles. Some¡­very high level battles.¡± She gave me a look.


    Again I nodded. ¡°Oh of course. I¡¯ll¡­ask her. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be very interested.¡± It was at least something to go on.


    ¡°Although¡­there is a problem with that.¡± She leaned back in her seat a bit.


    ¡°A problem?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t have wild Pokemon at the League,¡± she said flatly.


    ¡°Ah. That- that might be a problem. I¡¯ll¡­have a talk with her about it.¡± That was going to be an awkward conversation. Although I would like to have her come along, I had no idea how she felt about that. She didn¡¯t seem to like Trainers, but she did seem comfortable around me considering how I woke up this morning.


    ¡°You do that. And I¡¯ll get started on looking for clues on your past.¡± She stood up rather suddenly, and I did the same without thinking. ¡°I really hope that everything works out for you.¡±


    There was a moment of pause as I looked at her before smiling a bit. ¡°Thank you, Officer Jenny.¡±


    With that, I made my way back to the Pokecenter. ¡°Ah, Jason,¡± Nurse Joy called out with a smile. ¡°Wigglytuff found some clothes for you, so you can get into something clean. She put them in your room.¡±


    It was at this moment that I looked down at myself. My clothes were a mess. ¡°Oh. Right. Yeah. That would actually be great.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s giving Lucario, Riolu, and Venipede a checkup right now,¡± she added, answering an unasked question.


    With a nod, I made my way back to the room. There were indeed a few sets of clothes, some dark blue colored t-shirts and¡­what looked like gray cargo pants. They would have to do for now. Thankfully my shoes were fine, though if I planned on trekking into the wilderness I would need some boots. The bathroom was actually pretty nice now that I took the time to look at it, though small. It was at this point that I caught my own gaze in my reflection, my gray-blue eyes looking back at me. It was the first time I¡¯d seen myself since coming here.


    The first thing I noticed was that I was younger. Early twenties, if I had to guess, rather than the forty I had been approaching. My hair was still the red-brown I remembered, long and tied back. I didn¡¯t have my short beard anymore, instead I was clean shaven, which just gave me an even more youthful appearance. That was a shame; I thought I looked better with a beard. Not that I would say I was unattractive, but I liked my beard.


    At least I looked in much better shape. I had let myself go in the last decade due to depression, but I had never let it get too bad. That was going to be something I would have to watch out for. How was mental health handled in the Pokemon world? Maybe I should ask Nurse Joy? It really seemed like Pokecenters were for both humans and Pokemon. I knew there were human only hospitals, they¡¯d been in the anime, but they seemed rare and only for the bigger things.


    But before anything else, I needed a shower. I had dirt and grime in places that I really wish that I didn¡¯t. I hadn¡¯t realized how caked in all this dirt had been. If I was taking a bath, the water would probably have turned brown; it was that bad. At the end of it, I had used all of the soap and shampoo that had been in the bathroom. I still felt like I hadn¡¯t gotten it all off, but at least I looked clean now.


    Exiting the shower, after drying off, I looked for a brush for a few moments but that didn¡¯t seem to be something included in the amenities. Nor was there a hair dryer. With a sigh I decided to air dry it, and laid down on the bed. I took a moment to fan out my hair and closed my eyes, relaxing. I was still injured, so I should try and do as little as possible.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how long I was laying there before the door opened. Glancing over I watched as Lucario entered, looking oddly exhausted. She walked over and flopped face first onto the bed, nearly impaling my arm with her chest spike. ¡°You okay?¡±


    ¡°That Wigglytuff is¡­thorough,¡± was her response. I chuckled a bit as I reached over and gently pat her on the back.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Riolu and Venipede?¡± I asked, noting that they had not come in with her.


    ¡°Battling.¡±


    ¡°Trainers?¡± I asked, a bit worried since they were technically wild and Lucario wasn¡¯t with them.


    ¡°Wigglytuff is with them. They need more experience.¡±


    I nodded a bit and gave her a few more pats on the back. ¡°That makes sense¡­ It¡¯s very important to be able to fight against Trainers.¡±


    To my surprise she shifted over and pressed her face into the crook of my shoulder, letting out a huff as she did. ¡°You smell different,¡± she said after a moment.


    ¡°I took a shower.¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­¡± was the only noise she made. Hesitantly I decided to rub her back.


    A few minutes passed as we lay there. Eventually, I remembered, ¡°I talked with Officer Jenny.¡±


    Her ear twitched, bapping me in the side of the face when it did.


    ¡°I have some good news, and bad news.¡± I was watching her, wondering what her reaction would be, but she remained motionless. ¡°The bad news is, she can¡¯t tell us who caught a Lucario around here.¡±


    Her whole body seemed to sag slightly, pressing more into me.


    ¡°But the good news is she did give me a hint.¡± It was honestly adorable how her ears swiveled slightly, while the rest of her stayed still. ¡°It sounds like he¡¯s going to be participating in the League. And I have tickets to go, thanks to the Professor.¡±


    She lifted herself up a bit, looking at me. ¡°Then we just have to go, and watch for him?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°But¡­there¡¯s a problem.¡± Her head tilted to the side. ¡°They don¡¯t allow wild Pokemon.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°So I can¡¯t get in.¡±


    Again I nodded. ¡°I can keep an eye out, and it sounded like they¡¯re pretty good. But the problem with that is, Lucario¡¯s are a popular Pokemon.¡±


    There was an unspoken solution between the two of us. I knew it. She knew it. Neither of us wanted to say it. While we were getting along really well, and she was being rather close to me, it was something neither of us wanted to bring up.


    She wasn¡¯t looking at me, instead she was looking at my shoulder. The place that she had just been laying on. That she had slept on. Suddenly she nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    It took another moment before she nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡­ I don¡¯t want to worry forever. About me being captured and taken away. Or for¡­or for it to be Rio. Or Veny. This way- this way we can all stay together.¡±


    ¡°And I can help you get revenge.¡±


    A smile crept onto her face and she nodded. ¡°Yes. I can finally find that jerk.¡±


    I smiled as well and nodded along with her. ¡°Though it sounds like he¡¯s pretty strong, or at least on a strong team.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see it for myself. I¡¯ve not been slacking in training just cus he¡¯s been gone. And if I can¡¯t¡­ If I can''t, I just need to get stronger.¡± There was quite a determined look on her face, but I could also see that she was more than just angry; she was sad.


    Again I started to rub her back. ¡°Well, I can help. I¡¯ll do whatever I can to help, since you¡¯re willing to join me.¡±


    There was an odd mixture of emotions on her face, but before I could really determine what it was, she pushed her face back into the crook of my shoulder. ¡°Yes.¡±


    I chuckled a bit, still rubbing her back. ¡°Though¡­¡± I hesitated a moment, but it was something that I needed to ask, ¡°I am curious as to why you warmed up to me so quickly? It really seemed like you didn¡¯t like humans.¡±


    A few moments passed in silence before she spoke. ¡°Your aura is nice¡­ warm¡­ gentle¡­ It¡¯s so soft, but strong. It drowns out all the other auras.¡± She took in a deep breath. ¡°I hate coming near towns, because so many auras mix together and it¡¯s so loud it hurts.¡±


    I was kind of glad that her face was down, as I could feel my own face getting a bit heated. Auras were a thing I had little knowledge of outside of Pokemon references, but it was honestly nice to hear about my own.


    ¡°But your aura soothes that. And when I¡¯m close to you I can hardly sense any other auras. They¡¯re muffled. I can still feel them, but they don¡¯t bother me.¡± It was at this point, when she finally fell silent, that I realized she had gotten embarrassed and had just started rambling.


    The silence continued, and I decided to gently pet her, running my hand up and down her back, which she seemed to enjoy. Honestly I couldn¡¯t blame her, I remember moments of having my back gently rubbed and it always felt good. Perhaps it was a bit too intimate, but she didn¡¯t complain. And the fur on her back was amazingly soft and warm.


    As I lay there, I began to zone out in my own thoughts. This was the Pokemon world, or at least a world extremely similar. It wasn¡¯t super important how I got here, though I was curious as to why. Maybe something to do with my mild obsession? Kalos wouldn¡¯t have been my first choice for locations to be dropped into. It wasn¡¯t the worst place, but I would have preferred Alola.


    Maybe I could go there eventually? That would be nice. I had only gone to Hawaii once, but it was the happiest I had ever been in my life. Something about being on an island was nice. Even though I¡¯m scared of water. Well, not water in general. But water where I couldn¡¯t clearly see the bottom caused me to panic. Aquaphobia is rough, and I hate that it¡¯s a thing. And no, it¡¯s not hydrophobia, that is caused by rabies or the property to repel water. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it Thalassophobia? That was the fear of deep water and large bodies of water, but not entirely accurate? Phobias are a bit weird.


    But it really sucks having it no matter what it''s called, because some of my favorite Pokemon are water types. Maybe having a few would help? Would having something so in tune with water beside me help me with my irrational fears? If that¡¯s the case maybe I should get a Spinarak, or a Joltik. That caused me to think about the fact that I was going to need my own team. Who would I have on it? Should I try for some sort of meta build?


    Immediately striking off any legendaries, I might be able to get some pseudo legendaries. That would probably mean getting a Garchomp or Dragonite. In the games you could get Gible and Dratini here in Kalos, so that is an option. But¡­ I never built my teams for metas¡­ Would those even apply to real life? I doubt Pokemon would be reduced to only being able to use four moves, and who knows if stats were actually a thing. I would have to pay close attention to the league battles. My game knowledge was only going to get me so far.


    If the Professor was going to give me a starter, Fennekin or Froakie were good options. I¡¯ve seen both Delphox and Greninja used really effectively. Though, Greninja just made me think of a Lickitung that watched too much Naruto. There were dozens of Pokemon that I could think of that I knew were good. The problem would be getting them. How do I go about being a Trainer? Did I even want to be a Trainer? I could be a Ranger, or a Researcher, or even a Photographer. I could just wander the world, meeting Pokemon.


    That honestly sounded nice.


    I¡¯m not sure how long we laid like that, but it must have been some time because I was thoroughly zoned out and thinking about things. However I was brought out of my thoughts abruptly by the door opening. Wigglytuff came in, carrying Riolu by the scruff in one hand, and Venipede by her rear feelers in the other. She looked pissed.


    Lucario was on her feet before the door had even fully opened, standing next to the door. Did she just use Quick Attack or Extreme Speed? ¡°What did they do?¡± she asked with a sigh.


    ¡°They were getting too confrontational with the Trainers after losing so much,¡± Wigglytuff explained, walking in and putting the two down on the bed. Riolu looked¡­rough, worn out and ragged like she¡¯d just been used as a chew toy. Venipede wasn¡¯t in any better shape. I wasn¡¯t aware that a bug could get a black eye, but she sure had one.


    ¡°Did they hurt anyone?¡± I asked as I sat up, looking over Riolu¡¯s injuries, much to her obvious displeasure.


    ¡°No. But they¡¯ve lost the right to battle without supervision.¡± She looked at Lucario, also glancing at me. ¡°That means you.¡±


    Lucario nodded, and I did as well, now taking a look at Venipede. While Riolu just seemed frustrated, it looked like the little bug had been humbled at being thrashed. Or perhaps she was stunned. ¡°Ah- she¡¯s unconscious,¡± I said, realizing what was wrong.


    They both looked over, taking a look at the little bug who was completely unmoving. With a sigh, Wigglytuff picked her back up. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get them healed up. But you-¡± she pointed at Lucario- ¡°Have to keep them in sight.¡±


    Again Lucario nodded and they all left. I was alone for a few moments before I decided that my hair was dry enough and I was hungry. So I tied my hair back and went to the cafeteria. I was still a bit put off by the¡­meat. But I did have to admit it was tasty.


    The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. I didn¡¯t see the three Pokemon for the rest of the day, finding out later that they were battling. Even Lucario got the chance to fight a bit, though from the sound of it, none of them did rather well. Fighting against Trainers was very new to them, and seeing Pokemon use tactics and techniques they didn¡¯t know had caused them all to lose their battles.


    They didn¡¯t know about type advantage, or weaknesses. At least, they didn¡¯t know the specifics. Lucario knew that certain things were more effective against certain opponents, but she didn¡¯t know many and it was mostly guesswork. Though that had also worked in her favor, as not many people knew she was a fighting steel type. It seemed like not many of the people she fought knew much about steel type, as many had tried poison moves on her. Maybe Lucario wasn''t as popular as I thought?


    Riolu hadn¡¯t been as lucky and had been hit by poison moves multiple times, which she was very grumpy about. Venipede also had it rough, but she was conscious this time. I took the time to help Wigglytuff clean them up, though the actual healing process was something I wasn¡¯t allowed to watch. It was apparently some sort of family secret among the Joy Clan.


    When it was finally time to go to sleep, they all once again piled on top of me. It was an interesting predicament. My mind flashed to a possibility of when Venipede evolved, and became the massive bug horse, that this arrangement could be a problem. But for now it was fine.


    In the morning I woke up slowly, finding Lucario warming up. She looked determined to do better this day than the last. Rousing Riolu and Venipede, they decided to join in when they saw what was going on. I did a bit of stretching myself, feeling much better than I had the previous two days. The Pokemon didn¡¯t seem to want much to do with me this morning, so after wishing them luck, I made my way to get breakfast.


    Eggs. There were scrambled eggs. I wondered briefly what type of eggs, but pushed that out of my head. They could have been from a Chansey, they had Soft-Boiled, but there wasn¡¯t a Chansey here. So I ignored it and just tried to enjoy the food.


    Again, I hadn¡¯t even finished eating when I caught sight of Professor Sycamore again. This time though, he approached me. ¡°Alright, so¡­ With Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy¡¯s help, we managed to scrounge up things for you.¡±


    He placed a sort of messenger bag on the table, pushing it towards me with a smile. It sounded heavy, and was a sort of black and red style that reminded me of the bags they would have in the video games. Moving my breakfast aside I pulled it closer and took a look inside. Immediately I was surprised at just how massive the inside of the bag was.


    ¡°It¡¯s a rather standard Trainer bag, pretty old, but Officer Jenny had it in their lost and found for years, so we figured you could use it.¡± As he spoke I was trying to take stock of what was in there. I could see notebooks, pens, books, a complete camping gear set, and a lot of other survival things.


    ¡°Wow¡­this is¡­ a lot.¡± I looked up at him and smiled a bit. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all.¡± He pulled out a sort of card from his pocket and put it down on the table. ¡°A Trainers license. Temporary. You¡¯ll have to get an official one when the new season starts, but this will work as ID in the meanwhile.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good. Yeah that¡¯s important¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll also act as your bank card.¡± I blinked, looking the card over. ¡°New Trainers receive five thousand dollars to start, but you won¡¯t get that till you officially register.¡±


    ¡°So I won¡¯t be able to do any shopping for the time.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yeah, but the Pokecenter will be providing for you in the meanwhile. I¡¯ve included a few textbooks on Pokemon, training, breeding, and general care in your bag. There¡¯s also a cellphone in there. I¡¯ve also put the league tickets in there. And finally¡­¡± He reached into his pocket again, and this time pulled out a small belt clip, which contained five pokeballs in their shrunken form. ¡°I was able to convince the Pokemon Association that you would need these.¡± He put them down. ¡°They¡¯re empty.¡± He slid them towards me. ¡°Ready to use.¡±


    I nodded, picking up the belt clip. ¡°Right¡­right¡­ I did talk with Lucario about it.¡± I took a deep breath, still looking at the pokeballs. ¡°Ah, I should ask¡­will I be receiving a starter?¡± There were only five pokeballs, when a full team was six, so it got me curious.


    ¡°Unfortunately, no.¡± He leaned back in his seat a bit. ¡°The starters that would be provided by the Pokemon Association have already been prepared for four months now. It would be half a year before you got one.¡±


    With a sigh and a nod, I replied, ¡°Yeah, I thought something like that would be the case. Shame, I kinda wanted a Fennekin.¡±


    He nodded in turn, but before speaking he put a hand to his chin. ¡°Hrm¡­actually¡­there may be a way.¡±


    I tilted my head a bit. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Well, every region has its own starters, as classified by the Pokemon Association. These starters are the nation''s Pokemon. I have Kanto¡¯s trio as well as Kalos¡¯. But there¡¯s a uh¡­ Well, one option. But the issue is that she''s problematic.¡±


    ¡°She was abandoned,¡± I said, posing it as a statement rather than a question. ¡°And she¡¯s aware she was.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°The Association calls her- well I think it¡¯s harsh to call her a stray, but she is a starter from a different region that was¡­ left here by the Trainer of her mother.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­pretty harsh.¡±


    Again he nodded, but with a somber expression. ¡°If you¡¯re really set on getting a starter,¡± he looked at me, and I nodded, ¡°Tomorrow, catch a train to Ambrette. That¡¯s where they¡¯re keeping her. I¡¯ll let them know you want to take a look at her, and possibly take her.¡±


    There was a purposeful vagueness in the way he was talking, but I nodded and decided to ask, ¡°What region''s starter is she?¡±


    He gave me a bit of a smirk as he stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s leave that as a surprise, shall we?¡±


    I scoffed. ¡°You think I¡¯d not take her if I knew ahead of time?¡±


    All I got was a chuckle and a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s all you got if you want an official starter.¡±


    I had no idea why he was being so cryptic like this, but I supposed it was just how professors were. They all just sort of gave off that vibe. Either way, I would not say no to getting a starter, especially because it sounded like she was having a rough time.


    My breakfast had gone cold. With a sigh, I quickly finished it off and went to the battle field behind the Pokecenter. Clipping my new pokeball belt clip to my belt. After slinging my new bag over my shoulder, I quickly made my way outside. I wanted to see what Pokemon battles were like in person, and this would be a good taste of it.


    What I found was a rather impressive sight. There were four fields set up, each one with lines of people waiting to battle. Although they were all children, probably all around the age of ten to sixteen. These were probably kids who had gotten their Pokemon early, or were borrowing their parents'' Pokemon.


    After spotting Wigglytuff, I walked over. Lucario was sitting on the ground, watching as Riolu fought. However when I got into a certain range, her attention immediately snapped to me and I saw how she visibly seemed to relax. She then looked back at the battle. I sat beside her, turning my attention to the battle as well.


    Riolu was fighting a Ledyba. ¡°Bad matchup,¡± I mumbled. Lucario glanced at me, but didn¡¯t say anything. I looked at the Trainer, a boy about sixteen, probably got his Pokemon recently but he knew his type advantage. ¡°If that Ledyba knows any flying type moves, Riolu is in trouble.¡±


    As if on cue, the little bug used Air Slash. That actually surprised me, as that was supposed to be a move learned at a pretty high level. Did that mean levels didn¡¯t matter for when a Pokemon could learn a move? This Ledyba didn¡¯t look like it was high enough level for that. Levels might not be a thing.


    To Riolu¡¯s credit, she managed to dodge. She even tried to counter it with a Vacuum Wave, but it hardly did anything to her opponent. ¡°Riolu, don¡¯t use fighting moves,¡± I called out, ¡°That bug has a heavy resistance to them. Use Quick Attack, close the distance, and follow up with Metal Claw.¡±


    Everyone turned their attention to me. ¡°And who the hell are you?¡± the other Trainer called out, obviously annoyed at me giving advice. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt my battle!¡±


    ¡°You call this a battle? This is just you bullying a child,¡± I retorted. ¡°Also, you shouldn¡¯t take your eyes off of a battle.¡± Riolu had hesitated, but when the Ledyba had turned its attention towards its Trainer, not knowing what to do next, the little dog had followed my instructions. Riolu closed the distance, hitting it with a little fist, and then following up with a glowing swipe from the other hand.


    ¡°Agh! Ledyba!¡± The other Trainer looked at his Pokemon, who had also not been paying attention.


    However, Riolu also made the mistake of looking back at Lucario and I, a proud expression on her face. ¡°Counter,¡± I said.


    Just as I spoke, the other Trainer called out, ¡°Mach Punch!¡± And immediately realized his mistake as his Ledyba turned and swung one of its arms. ¡°No! Wait! Stop!¡±


    But it was too late. The Ledyba struck Riolu, making contact with the side of her face. And then it happened, the blur of movement, and the little dog absolutely flattened the bug into the ground.


    There was a moment of silence as Riolu staggered back, reeling a bit from the hit she had just taken. ¡°Good job,¡± I said with a smile, looking at the rather stunned Riolu, who was looking at her paws. I had no idea if she would listen to me, or if she could take the hit, but it was her only chance. The two strikes had been almost enough to drop the Ledyba, so I could guess even with its resistance to fighting, Counter would be enough.


    Suddenly she jumped up, raising her hands in the air and shouting, ¡°Yeah! I did it! I won!¡± She ran towards Lucario and jumped. At least, I thought she was leaping towards Lucario, until she crashed into me and knocked me flat on my back. ¡°I won! You see that?¡± She was standing on top of me, pointing down at me. ¡°Team Speed Shell wins!¡±


    Ah, she was still holding a bit of a grudge from the teasing. With a chuckle, I reached up and pat her on the head. ¡°Good job.¡±


    She was absolutely beaming, a huge smile on her face. I realized that must have been the first time she had actually won. ¡°Hey, what the hell is your problem?¡± the Trainer said, having come over. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to interfere with other peoples battles.¡± He looked absolutely pissed.


    I grabbed Riolu, passing her to Lucario as I sat up. ¡°I¡¯ve nothing to say to some punk bully.¡± Looking past him, I could see his Ledyba, still on the ground. ¡°You know some stuff, but you¡¯re an awful Trainer.¡±


    He stepped up, grabbing hold of the collar of my shirt. ¡°Do you have an idea who I am?¡± How cliche.


    ¡°You¡¯re the type of Trainer who leaves their beaten Pokemon unconscious in the dirt to go and yell at someone,¡± I said, still looking at his Ledyba.


    There was a pause, before he slowly followed me gaze to the little bug laying in the dirt. ¡°Ah! Ledyba!¡± He let go of me, quickly running to his Pokemon.


    I looked over at Wigglytuff, who had a rather sour expression. Then I turned to the other three. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough battling for now. I want to talk to you all about something.¡±


    With a nod, Lucario stood up, holding the still beaming Riolu. I reached down to pick up Venipede, who looked like they had been in a battle just before, but had been healed up a bit. Wigglytuff nodded and made their way over to help the Trainer. The four of us went back to the room, and I set Venipede down on the bed. Lucario sat down as well, placing Riolu at her side.


    I didn¡¯t join them on the bed, instead I pulled out the chair that was tucked under the desk and sat down. ¡°First¡­ I want you all to know that this is your choice, and I¡¯m not going to force any of you.¡±


    ¡°What-¡± Riolu began, but her mother put a hand on her shoulder, which stopped her.


    I fiddled a bit with my new belt clip, and pulled off three pokeballs. Bending over, I expanded them and put them on the floor. Riolu looked a bit stunned, probably having not even thought about this, but Lucario nodded. ¡°I want to go on a journey,¡± I explained, ¡°I want to see this world, meet Pokemon, make friends, and just¡­have an adventure. And I¡¯m asking if you want to come with me.¡±


    The silence felt like it dragged on for several minutes. I knew Lucario¡¯s answer already, but we were both letting the other two decide for themselves. Suddenly, to my surprise, Venipede hopped off the bed, and made their way towards me. ¡°Veny-¡± Riolu started.


    But Veny interrupted her. ¡°Rio, I want to get strong.¡± There was a moment of silence. ¡°I used to think we were already strong. But¡­ How many battles did we lose yesterday? More importantly, how many did we win? We didn¡¯t win a single one. It was¡­so frustrating.¡±


    Riolu didn¡¯t have a response.


    ¡°But then, with just a few words, a bit of guidance, you won.¡± She turned to look back at Riolu who was still on the couch. ¡°I want to win. And the only way that¡¯s going to happen is if we get a Trainer. And- and he¡¯s nice. He¡¯s not afraid to touch me, or pick me up, or let me sleep on top of him¡­¡± I could see tears welling up in her eyes.


    A thought occurred to me, as I realized a common ability for Venipede was Poison Point. That would make anyone hesitant to touch her, even other Pokemon. Riolu and Lucario must be the only ones not afraid to touch her. Slowly I moved down from the chair, sitting on the floor. ¡°I can¡¯t promise you won¡¯t ever lose again,¡± I said softly. ¡°But I will do everything I can to help you get stronger, so that you can win.¡±


    She crawled over to me, and gave me a little nod. ¡°I¡­I want to come along.¡±


    I smiled and picked her up, putting her in my lap. ¡°I would be happy to have you come along, little bug.¡± Gently I began rubbing her shell. I wasn¡¯t sure what ability she had, but it wasn¡¯t Poison Point.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get stronger, right?¡± Riolu suddenly said, standing up on the bed.


    I nodded.


    ¡°And I¡¯ll win more battles, right?¡± she continued.


    Again I nodded.


    ¡°Is mama also comin¡¯?¡± She didn¡¯t look up at Lucario, but I could tell that most of her focus was there rather than on me.


    Lucario nodded. ¡°Yes. We discussed it yesterday, but we both felt you two needed to make the decision for yourselves.¡±


    There was a pause as Riolu seemed to think it over, staring at the pokeballs. ¡°And¡­ and you¡¯ll pet me, too?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°You pet mama, and Veny. And you pat my head when I won. I want to be pet, too.¡±


    It was a real struggle to not laugh; such an adorable request. ¡°Alright.¡± I held out a hand. ¡°Come over here.¡±


    She hopped down, looking quite embarrassed as she made her way over to me, staring at the floor as she did.


    Reaching out, I gently began to rub her head. ¡°You did a very good job.¡± She reached up, putting her hands over mine and began giggling with a big grin on her face. ¡°Do you two want to go on an adventure with me?¡± I reached over and picked up two of the pokeballs.


    They looked at each other, and both nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± they both said.


    ¡°Fantastic. I¡¯m Jason, but you can call me Jace. And from now on, I¡¯ll be your Trainer, and we¡¯ll grow strong and go on lots of adventures.¡± I held the pokeballs in front of them.


    ¡°I¡¯m Rio,¡± the Riolu said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m the brawn of Team Speed Shell.¡± She tapped the ball with her paw, disappearing into the ball in a bright red light.


    ¡°I¡¯m Veny,¡± the Venipede said, looking pleased, though it was a bit hard to judge her expression. ¡°I¡¯m the speed of Team Speed Shell.¡± She bapped the ball with one of her antennae and vanished in a bright light.


    Both balls only wobbled once before making a rather familiar sort of pong noise as they successfully locked. I looked up to see Lucario stand up, and walk over to me. ¡°I¡¯m Cara.¡± She had a rather small smile on her face. ¡°Please take care of us.¡± She picked up the pokeball and gently bapped herself on the shoulder, quickly being absorbed by the red light. Her ball didn¡¯t even wobble, immediately making the noise and locking.


    I took a deep breath, looking at the three pokeballs for a moment before I nodded. I quickly released all three of them, watching as they appeared in the room once more. They seemed a bit disorientated, but I figured that would be the case until they got used to it. Rio looked down at herself, and then up at me. ¡°That was weird.¡±

 Chapter Two

    The next morning I boarded the train, having to show my Trainer ID to the conductor as I did. I chose a middle seat on the left side of the car, near the back. Or should I say we? It was an odd feeling to know that I was carrying three Pokemon. We had had a long discussion about it, and it seemed like they were aware of what was going on around, though it also felt like no time passed. I had read theories about how pokeballs worked, and it seemed like it was some sort of conscious half-stasis. They could also release themselves, though it took a lot of effort to do so.


    Judging by the fact I now had a Riolu on my lap, it looked like Rio had the bad habit of releasing herself. ¡°We¡¯re on a train!¡± she said excitedly.


    Thankfully the car was practically empty, and the conductor didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°You can have your Pokemon out,¡± he explained after seeing my expression, ¡°We just ask that you don¡¯t release anything big, and if the train starts getting full to return them.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± I released Cara and Veny as well. Veny was immediately at the window with Rio, staring at the people walking by. Cara took the seat next to me, brushing off her lap as she did so.


    The conductor gave a smile and a nod before he settled into his seat. ¡°Hey, hey, when are we going?¡± Rio asked, bouncing a bit on the window seat. I had told them where we were going and why last night, but they seemed far more interested in the journey than the destination.


    ¡°The train will be leaving in a few minutes,¡± I said, patting the excited little dog on the head. There were a few other people on the train: a rather young boy with a Pidgey, two older women who were chatting about their grandchildren, who were apparently participating in the League, and a father-daughter pair sitting a few seats behind us.


    Rio and Veny seemed excited, and I hoped that would last till we got to Ambrette. The trains were a welcomed sight honestly. They were the quickest way from town to town if you didn¡¯t have a car or fast Pokemon. Apparently almost every town had two trains, and they would go on big loops to every town before it got back to the one it started in, while one train ran in the opposite direction as well. But this did mean some places you¡¯d be on the train for a really long time.


    Since we were starting in Santalune, we would travel through Odyssey Village, to Lumiose, to Camphrier, then Cyllage, and finally Ambrette. The fact that I saw Odyssey Village as one of the stops told me that places in the anime existed. Which I kind of expected, considering just how much bigger Santalune was compared to the game. Everything also just seemed¡­so much more. There was just more space than the games could show.


    The trip would take a few hours, and later in the day we¡¯d be taking a train back in the opposite direction, hopefully. I was actually excited to see Lumiose, since it was the biggest city in Kalos, and the second largest city in the whole Pokemon world.


    Technically we could go anywhere, but Officer Jenny had met us at the train station. She was there partly to explain how the trains worked, but mostly to tell us that we were technically wards of Santalune and until I had my official Trainer''s license I had to come back. It worked out because it was also the closest place to Kalos League City. Apparently it was an entire city, not just a place to go fight the Elite Four and the Champion.


    If you weren¡¯t participating in the League, you didn¡¯t have to go up Victory Road and could just drive, or take a train. So I would be commuting in in order to watch. That was a pretty common thing apparently. There were hotels and things, but they were all booked months ago, and the Pokemon center there didn¡¯t have any places for Trainers to stay. Apparently everyone who qualified got actual hotel rooms to stay in. This world was really favorable to Trainers.


    Finally the whistle blew and the train started to move, much to the delight of Rio and Veny. Cara looked uncomfortable though. She put her hand on my leg, gripping one of the pockets of my pants. I gently pat her hand and smiled, though I had to be careful of her hand spike. That seemed to at least calm her down a bit, though she changed her grasp from my pants to my hand.


    She had paw beans.


    Before I realized it I was very distracted, examining her paw. Touching and rubbing at the textured pads on her fingers and palm. However after a moment she pulled her hand away, giving me an almost horrifiedly embarrassed look. ¡°Sorry. I got distracted by your beans.¡±


    ¡°Beans?¡± she asked, even more confused.


    ¡°Ah- the uh¡­ the pads you have on your hands.¡± I gestured to her paws.


    She eyed me suspiciously before looking at her own hand. Her brow furrowed, not understanding. ¡°What¡¯s so interesting about them?¡±


    ¡°They have a nice texture, and are soft and warm,¡± I tried to explain, unsure if I could really justify the way I was fondling her hand.


    I looked over at Rio and Veny, unable to really look at Cara now. That had been embarrassing, but I did it without thinking. ¡°Beans?¡± I heard her mutter quietly to herself a few times. It was a struggle to not laugh.


    There wasn¡¯t much to look at in Odyssey, since it was a rather small village. But we did see the Rhyhorn race track. It looked like there wasn¡¯t an actual race going on right now, but there were some Pokemon running the track. The train only slowed for a moment to see if anyone was waiting to board, but there was no one so it quickly regained speed.


    Lumiose was more impressive than I thought it would be. There were a lot more buildings and people than I had imagined. The games and anime didn¡¯t do it justice in the slightest. And Prism Tower was even grander. I had never seen the Eiffel Tower in person, but I wondered which one was more impressive?


    The old women got off the train, and a lot of people got on. The car was almost full, and I was about to return the trio when a Trainer with a Delphox got on. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the way Cara tensed and I saw her hackles raise. I put a hand on her leg, patting her softly. ¡°That¡¯s a really bad matchup,¡± I said softly. ¡°You¡¯re weak to fire, and they¡¯re resistant to fighting and steel.¡±


    They didn¡¯t even look back at us as they sat down near the front. It looked like they were the last ones on, and the car still had plenty of open seats. The train waited for a few minutes before taking off again. ¡°I know that Delphox¡­¡± Cara said softly, still staring at them.


    I looked over at them and then at her. ¡°From where?¡±


    ¡°They beat me the other day,¡± her voice was low, obviously trying to hold back her anger. I guess mother and daughter really did not like losing.


    ¡°Do you know Bone Rush?¡± I asked, trying to get a good look at the Trainer.


    Cara tilted her head, finally turning her attention to me. ¡°No?¡±


    I nodded a bit. ¡°It¡¯s a ground type move that Lucario¡¯s can learn. It¡¯s super effective against fire types. It¡¯ll be a good move for you to learn.¡±


    That seemed to perk her up a bit. Though her expression turned to one of confusion. ¡°How do you know so much?¡±


    ¡°I like Pokemon,¡± I said honestly with a smile. ¡°Maybe a bit too much,¡± I added with a shrug. Who knows how many tens of thousands of hours I had playing Pokemon. For some reason it was a lot easier to remember things about Pokemon, and I felt like I knew even more than I had ever learned. Maybe that was my transmigrator power?


    I pulled out one of the Pokemon books that Professor Sycamore had given me. Apparently they were school books, the same stuff they were teaching kids about to go on their journey. They were extremely lacking. I had started to skim through them yesterday, and I immediately realized there were things missing. A lot of missing moves. Natural abilities were mostly unknown, something that was still being debated. There were still debates on whether fairy was a typing or just normal type.


    And let¡¯s not even bring up the breeding book. It was more like a small booklet. They didn¡¯t even understand egg groupings. Egg moves were just a theory and didn¡¯t even have a full paragraph of mention. It was overall useless. I knew more off the top of my head than was written in this book.


    Then it came to care. That was¡­extremely basic. A lot of it was how to care for injured Pokemon in the wild when you couldn¡¯t get to a pokecenter. How you need to feed your Pokemon. My Pokemon had been eating at the pokecenter, which made food for both people and Pokemon. The book included some basic recipes on essentially how to cook pokechow. There was a bit of information on berries, pokeblocks, poffins, poke puffs, and poke beans. But nothing on curries. Was that a Galar exclusive thing that hadn¡¯t spread over here?


    The book mentioned that diet was extremely important, and you should pay close attention to your Pokemon¡¯s nutritional needs. But it looked like most Trainers ignored this. From what I knew from my past life, diet was extremely important to athletes. And that¡¯s what Pokemon were; athletes. Taking in all that information I came to one conclusion¡­


    I was going to have to cook a lot.


    Half the car emptied when we arrived in Camphrier, including the Delphox and their Trainer. Only a few got on before we started off again. From the train we couldn¡¯t get a good look at Shabboneau Castle, but I tried to point it out to Rio and Veny as we passed it. Their excitement at seeing so many things and going so fast hadn¡¯t waned in the slightest.


    The final book I had been given was the biggest. The book on training Pokemon. Most of the first few chapters were all about type advantage. It explained what beat what, and tried to explain the why. There were more details on moves, though I did notice many missing, and again there were arguments about fairy type moves. A lot of ¡®In some researchers opinions¡¯ and ¡®certain people think¡¯ before pretty much anything that had to do with fairy type.


    A lot of the training tips actually seemed pretty useful, though the agility training reminded me a lot of dog show competitions. Which I suppose made sense. Weights and resistance bands were recommended. It explained that the more a Pokemon used a move, and the more ways they tried to use it, the better they would get at it. Teaching a Pokemon a new move was difficult, but Pokemon could teach other Pokemon moves fairly easily. It highly recommended the use of move tutors and TMs. But something that I found interesting was evidence that TM moves could be taught without the TM.


    Practically everyone got off the train when we got to Cyllage, even the kid with the Pidgey. And no one got on. It looked like it was just my little group, and the man with his kid, going to Ambrette. Cyllage itself was an interesting city, and it even had a view of- ¡°The ocean!¡± Rio exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. ¡°Look, look! Mama! The ocean!¡± She was flailing her arms and gesturing outside, hopping over me to get to her mother.


    Even Cara was fascinated by the water. It was probably her first time seeing the ocean as well. When the train turned and put the ocean on its right, all three Pokemon moved quickly to the other side of the car to watch the ocean. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little girl doing the same.


    I shared a look with the man and we both smiled and nodded. He had been reading something, the same as me. ¡°First time to Ambrette?¡± he asked after a moment, and I nodded. ¡°Same for her. We¡¯re going to the aquarium for her birthday.¡± He sighed a bit, and then said in a quieter tone, ¡°Least I could do since we can¡¯t go see the league in person this year¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, yeah I heard tickets were really hard to come by,¡± I replied with a nod.


    ¡°They get more expensive every year,¡± he said with a shake of his head. ¡°I remember when I was a kid it was free.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame. But they get more extravagant, too.¡±


    He nodded to that. ¡°Well, it¡¯s all about the kids and their journey. You know anyone who¡¯s participating?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Not personally. Professor Sycamore gave me tickets.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re a researcher,¡± he said with a nod, as if figuring out some sort of secret. ¡°That¡¯s why you look out of place. Where are you from? What brings you to Kalos?¡±


    That was a good question. Well, I knew enough that I could be from anywhere, but if I had to pick the place in the Pokemon world that was closest to my last world- ¡°I¡¯m from Unova.¡±


    He gave a whistle. ¡°Well that¡¯s real far. I was thinking Galar, but Unova. Wow. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met anyone from there.¡±


    All I could really do was nod. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m helping out Professor Sycamore, probably going to participate in this year''s journey and try and get the badges while I¡¯m here, see how I do in the League.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good idea. Yeah I¡¯d probably take a swing at it too if I traveled that far,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°An interesting team you¡¯ve found already¡­¡±


    ¡°Mmm it¡¯s more like they found me. But they all want to participate, so I figure I¡¯ll train them up and see how they do.¡± They were still excitedly watching out the window. There were a bunch of gasps as off in the distance there was a Wailord. It had apparently startled a group of Mantyke and Mantine, as they were now frantically making an escape.


    ¡°That sounds like a wonderful journey¡­ I¡¯m a bit scared about when it¡¯s my girl''s time. I still have five years, but it still worries me,¡± he said with a sigh. He was a rather expressive man.


    ¡°I can imagine. But, there¡¯s tons of resources for them. Rather than spending the energy worrying, you should spend that making sure she¡¯s ready.¡± I was looking out the window, but I saw him look at me out of the corner of his eye. ¡°The earlier you get a Pokemon, the better you get as a Trainer. You learn a lot of those teething steps while still in the safety of home.¡±


    There was a moment of silence before he nodded. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I know why the Association doesn¡¯t do it, but I think Pokemon should be given earlier.¡± It had been something I had thought about when I had been reading the ¡®How to Start a Journey¡¯ section from my book.


    Again the man nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, if they gave them too early, kids would want to start their journey early. If we¡¯re not careful, we¡¯ll have a bunch of ten year olds traveling the world,¡± he said with a laugh.


    I nodded and chuckled as well, it was what I had thought as well. The car returned to silence, aside from the Pokemon excitedly chattering to each other about the ocean and the Pokemon they could see. It was an amazing sight actually being able to look out and see Pokemon out there.


    Shortly we came around a bend and the view was blocked, much to the disappointment of everyone. But it also meant we were almost there. As we rounded another corner, Ambrette came into view. It wasn¡¯t a large town, mostly consisting of the aquarium and research center. The train came to a stop, and we departed, a few people getting on afterwards.


    ¡°Well, have a good time,¡± the man said as he pat me on the shoulder.


    I nodded and smiled. ¡°You too.¡± I looked down at the little girl. ¡°And, happy birthday to you.¡± She hid behind her father, but she smiled. Walking away from the two, there were a lot of people. ¡°Alright, return for the time.¡± Rio didn¡¯t seem to want to, but Cara and Veny both immediately returned. With a huff Rio did as well.


    That was another interesting thing. Pokemon could willingly return to their pokeballs without you needing to pull them out or point with them. You only needed to do that to force them back in, like if they lost consciousness or something. There was a range, and it was about fifty feet. Beyond that and the pokeball wouldn¡¯t work. It also wouldn¡¯t work if there was anything in the way, be it an object or a Pokemon or person.


    Pulling out my cell phone, I called Professor Sycamore. It rang for a moment before he picked up. ¡°Hello, this is Professor Sycamore.¡± The familiar figure of the Professor appeared on the screen.


    ¡°Hey, Prof. I¡¯m in Ambrette. Where am I supposed to go now?¡± I asked, since he had refused to tell me any details yesterday.


    There was a pause, and then he laughed. ¡°Ah, right. Head over to the aquarium. Tell them who you are and who sent you. That should be it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    I hung up on him with a sigh and shoved it back into my bag. I hope he found his little game amusing. Although I had to admit it was kind of exciting. I could deduce that since it was in the aquarium, it was probably a water starter. Walking into the aquarium I found an information kiosk with a woman behind it, who was currently helping out another guest, so I waited. From where I was standing I could see a large statue of a Magikarp. Gyarados was a powerful option, but a risky one.


    How confident was I that I could raise one that wouldn¡¯t be consumed by anger? Was that possible? If I could find a Magikarp that was gentle, and raise it kindly, would it be possible? There were stories people wrote about that, which I had really liked, that had people go through a lot of effort to have a more gentle Gyarados.


    It was honestly no wonder that Gyarados was so full of rage. If I was a little fish that got nothing but abuse from literally everyone, I would probably be destructive too if I gained immense power. I was firmly in the opinion that just because it can¡¯t fight, doesn¡¯t mean that a Pokemon doesn¡¯t deserve to be happy.


    ¡°How can I help you?¡± The voice snapped me back to what was in front of me. I realized that the other guests had already moved off.


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡± I cleared my throat, having gotten completely lost in my own thoughts. ¡°My name is Jason, Professor Sycamore sent me here about a Pokemon.¡±


    She blinked at me a moment before apparently suddenly realizing. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re the one. One moment, I¡¯ll get Doctor Raily.¡± With that she turned and jogged off.


    I stood there, wondering what exactly the Professor had said to get that sort of reaction. After a few minutes, the woman returned with another woman. This woman had dark red hair, a big lab coat, and absolutely huge glasses. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re the Pokemon expert that Professor Sycamore sent?¡±


    I blinked, but before I even had the chance to respond, she continued.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. Come along.¡± She turned and started speed walking. I had to jog a bit to catch up, and once I did she again didn¡¯t give me a chance to talk. ¡°We can¡¯t find anything wrong with her, but she¡¯s also a Pokemon we have little detail of because she¡¯s from such a far away region.¡±


    She led me to an outdoor enclosure; there was a large pool and a mass of land. There were a few people looking down at the little blue Pokemon who had their large red nose in the water, and was blowing bubbles. ¡°A Popplio,¡± I said rather excitedly.


    ¡°Ah! Good! You know what she is.¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± The Popplio line was my favorite, but I didn¡¯t feel entirely comfortable telling her that, so instead I said, ¡°She¡¯s one of the starters from Alola.¡±


    We moved to the edge of the enclosure, looking over at her. She didn¡¯t even raise her head or acknowledge our presence. ¡°Yes. There was an Alolan Trainer who passed through here, and their Primarina had an egg. However when it hatched he seemed to lose interest in it because it didn¡¯t have the Torrent ability.¡±


    I frowned, looking down at her. ¡°That means she has Liquid Voice.¡±


    Doctor Riley¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°He said she had no ability? What is Liquid Voice?¡±


    I frowned a bit more, and looked around. I could see a number of kiosks selling all manner of things from food, to toys, to information books. ¡°It turns all sound-based moves into water type moves,¡± I explained as I made my way over to one of the kiosks. ¡°It¡¯s debatably far better than Torrent, but it sounds like the previous Trainer didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I see, well that explains one thing, but that¡¯s not the problem. She is extremely depressed and has hardly been eating,¡± the Doctor said as I suddenly grabbed something from the Kiosk before heading back. The man who was manning it looked like he was about to complain, but the Doctor quickly paid for the thing.


    ¡°Considering what happened to her, and her current environment, that doesn¡¯t surprise me.¡± I moved back to the edge of the exhibit and tossed my bag as well as the thing I had taken from the kiosk over. The noise drew the Popplio''s attention, but only enough for her to look over.


    However what I did next drew her full attention. I leapt over the edge, landing with a splash in the shallows of the water. ¡°Ah! We have stairs!¡± the Doctor exclaimed.


    The water wasn¡¯t deep, but it was enough to mostly absorb my landing. I moved over to my bag, under the gaze of not only the Doctor, but many patrons. But most importantly, I had the attention of the Popplio as I pulled myself out of the water. I quickly grabbed the thing I had taken; a bag with a balloon. It was one of those balloon toys with a rubber band at one end.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The Doctor asked as I began to blow up the balloon. That seemed to get the Popplio¡¯s full attention, and she even sat up a bit. I blew it up as large as I could, and then held the rubberband, beginning to bap at the balloon so that it went back and forth in the air. I did this for a few moments, watching the Pokemons reaction.


    ¡°Do you wanna play?¡± I asked, tossing the balloon towards the Popplio. She easily caught it on her nose, adjusting a bit in order to balance it. There was a bit of a smile on her face. With a flick of her head, she sent it back to me, and I hit it in the air, sending it back towards her. She made a noise of delight as she quickly moved to intercept and catch the balloon.


    Our little game lasted for almost an hour, my arms were a bit sore by the end, but the Popplio seemed in much better spirits, bouncing the balloon up and catching it for herself. She had also drawn a lot more of a crowd, who was delighting in the show. I had moved over to the wall, also enjoying her show off.


    ¡°Well, your methods are a bit strange, but I can¡¯t deny the results,¡± the Doctor said, having come in through a nearby door.


    ¡°All calculated,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. ¡°Popplio are a playful Pokemon that likes to play and show off. She¡¯s very young, and hasn¡¯t figured out how to blow her own bubbles yet.¡±


    ¡°So she needed a surrogate.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°And I needed to do something that would get her attention. Doing something out of the norm is a good way to get the attention of a playful Pokemon.¡±


    She nodded a few times. ¡°I had doubts when Professor Synclare said you were a Pokemon expert, but color me convinced.¡±


    I laughed a bit, which drew the Popplio¡¯s attention. Despite our play, she had not said anything to me, or approached me. She was still very cautious of people. I just gave her a smile. ¡°She¡¯s going to take a bit to warm up, but she¡¯s a good girl. Just bored and lonely.¡±


    ¡°Will you be alright here by yourself? I have some things that need doing.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯ll be fine. If you could just send some food? Something for me, Popplio, and my three Pokemon. She¡¯s probably really hungry after all that playing.¡± I was watching as Popplio had started to bounce the ball against the wall, delighting in the noise it made.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll have someone bring it for you,¡± she said before departing.


    Popplio watched her go, and looked at me curiously. ¡°Aren¡¯t you leaving?¡± she asked, finally speaking to me.


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m staying here. They¡¯re going to bring food for you and me, and my other friends.¡±


    ¡°Friends?¡±


    This time I nodded. ¡°Yeah. Would you like to meet them?¡±


    There was a bit of hesitation before she nodded. I smiled as I released the trio. ¡°Whoa, where are we?¡± Rio asked, looking around before spotting Popplio.


    ¡°We¡¯re in the aquarium. Literally. We¡¯re in one of the exhibits where Popplio is staying.¡± Cara moved over and sat next to me. It was honestly really cute how she consistently did that.


    There was a moment of silence before Rio looked at Popplio again. ¡°Hey, do you wanna play with us?¡± I had a feeling that Rio¡¯s outgoing personality would be a good choice, but I would have to reign her in if Popplio didn¡¯t want to play.


    Thankfully Popplio nodded, hopping over to them with her balloon ball. It quickly became a game of ¡®keep the ball in the air¡¯ between the three of them. They set the space into three different areas, and passed it around in a circle. As time went on, I really saw just how fast Veny was. I was sure she didn¡¯t have quick feet ability, due to the lack of a status effect, so she must have speed boost.


    After a bit longer, a few people dressed as staff came in carrying trays of food. ¡°Wow, who would have thought I¡¯d get to see that one so happy,¡± one of them said as he moved over to where I was sitting before handing me a tray, and putting the other one he was carrying down in front of Cara.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Sometimes you have to look at Pokemon as more than just creatures,¡± I said, looking into the tray to see quite an extravagant meal.


    The guy shrugged, the other two also put down their trays and pulled out bowls of pokechow, though there seemed to be other stuff mixed in with the food. Rio shouted, giving the balloon a rather hard punch into the air, ¡°Yeah! Food time!¡±


    Veny quickly rushed over to join as well, although Popplio hesitated. All the food was placed near me. She was balancing the balloon on her tail as she thought over the situation. ¡°Do you want to eat over there?¡± I asked, which drew the attention of Rio, who looked puzzled as to why Popplio was still over there.


    But before Rio could talk, I put my hand on her head and began to pet the little canine. Slowly, hesitantly, reluctantly, Popplio came over. She settled in front of her bowl and began eating, keeping her eyes on me.


    I paid her no attention as I began to eat. Those were some bad mental scars, and it was going to take more work to gain her trust. Rio and Veny excitedly talk about how to make their little balloon game more fun, like adding obstacles and things on the ground. It took a bit before Popplio added to the conversation, suggesting that they add the pool to the game area. They all agreed, and once they were done eating they ran off to continue playing.


    ¡°Looks like Team Speed Shell is getting another member,¡± Cara said softly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said honestly, watching the three of them play. ¡°I hope so, but that little girl doesn¡¯t trust me. I don¡¯t know if her mother was in agreement, but her Trainer ditched her here.¡± I could feel the jackals'' anger rise from that revelation. ¡°I want to take her, but if she doesn¡¯t want to go with me, then I¡¯ll have to figure out a different way to help her.¡±


    ¡°Even if she didn¡¯t come, you¡¯d still help?¡± She was looking at me.


    I glanced at her before nodding. ¡°I would have done the same for you, as I said. You coming along just makes it easier, and with better company.¡±


    She let out a little snerk sound, which almost sounded like a bark. ¡°You really just wanna help, huh?¡±


    ¡°I like Pokemon.¡± I turned my attention back to Popplio. ¡°And every Pokemon deserves to be happy¡­¡±


    ¡°Even if they can¡¯t help you?¡±


    I pointed a finger at her. ¡°Especially if they can¡¯t help me. Someone''s worth shouldn¡¯t determine if they get to live a good life.¡±


    She stared at my finger for a moment before she nodded. We both became quiet, just watching the three of them play. At one point I had gathered up all of the dishes and placed them onto the only tray that they left. The three of them had not taken a break, only making their game more and more elaborate. It was actually really good training.


    The nice atmosphere was broken by Doctor Riley coming back. ¡°The aquarium is closing.¡± She looked a bit bothered that we were still here. ¡°The last train to Santalune will be leaving in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Ah, alright.¡± I stood up, picking up my bag as I did. ¡°Alright everyone, we¡¯re going back,¡± I called out.


    Rio and Veny both slumped a bit. ¡°Awww¡­ Do we have to?¡± Rio asked, and I nodded. They both sighed, but nodded, Rio batting the balloon back towards Popplio, who caught it on her tail.


    Cara nodded before disappearing in red light and returning to her ball. Veny said goodbye to Popplio before skittering over and also vanishing when she got close. Rio was really dragging her feet about it, but eventually she sighed and waved goodbye before returning to her pokeball.


    I gave Popplio a smile as she approached, crouching down to be closer to her level. She held out the balloon to me. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. You can keep it. Doctor Riley¡¯s the one who bought it.¡±


    She looked over at the Doctor, who startled at the attention suddenly being turned to her. But she nodded, pushing up her glasses. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s perfectly alright that you keep it. And if it pops, we can get you a new one.¡±


    Popplio looked at the balloon. ¡°It was really nice to meet you, Popplio.¡± I gave her a really big smile. ¡°You¡¯re one of my favorite Pokemon, and getting to see you was wonderful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m your favorite?¡± she asked softly.


    I smiled a bit more at her and nodded. ¡°Mhm.¡±


    There were a few tears in her eyes as I stood up. I didn¡¯t get more than two steps before she suddenly rolled and sprang up in front of me, her flippers off to the side to try and block me. ¡°I-!¡± She was full on crying now. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here! I don¡¯t like it here!¡±


    Slowly I crouched down in front of her.


    Her arms fell limp to her side and her head drooped. ¡°No one plays with me! The people say mean things! They call me a clown! I can¡¯t even blow bubbles!¡± Tears ran down her nose, making a puddle in front of her.


    I moved forward slowly, gently picking her up. She pressed her face into my chest, loudly sobbing. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said softly, gently rubbing her back. I thought I was going to have to come back in a day or two before I was going to ask her to come with me. ¡°Do you want to come with me?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± she mumbled out, nodding her head.


    With a nod, I slowly stood up. ¡°Where¡¯s her pokeball?¡± I asked Doctor Riley. ¡°I¡¯m gonna take her with me.¡±


    She nodded, the shadow of something angry flickering over the woman''s face. ¡°Alright, this way. We keep it right over here.¡± Just through the door was a staff only section, and right beside the door was a little case that she opened, pulling out a pristine white premier ball.


    I had to shift Popplio¡¯s weight a bit in order to take it, but I didn¡¯t return her, instead I put the ball onto my belt. ¡°Thank you, Doctor Riley.¡±


    She nodded again, and gestured towards her right. ¡°The exit is that way. Have a nice day.¡± It really sounded like I had made her mad, but I didn¡¯t care. I made my way out of the aquarium, moving over to stand at the train station. There were a few people waiting, but it looked like the majority of people had taken the earlier train.


    Popplio was still crying, though she had quieted down. There wasn¡¯t really anything to say, I just had to be here for her now and take her away from this place. Honestly I don¡¯t understand what any of them were thinking. The Trainer abandons her and they just¡­shove her into an exhibit? Heartless bastards.


    The train came to a stop close by, and I double checked that it was going to Santalune before boarding. I made my way to the back, sitting down in the most empty part so that people didn¡¯t bother Popplio. It felt like the trip took longer, but by the time we hit Camphrier Town, the sun had started to set, and the little blue Pokemon had cried herself to sleep.


    ~


    It was dark by the time the train pulled into Santalune, and I made my way to the Pokecenter. As I entered I locked eyes for a moment with Nurse Joy, who immediately stood up and began to make her way over to me. ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± I said quickly, though softly. ¡°She¡¯s just asleep.¡±


    Nurse Joy¡¯s pace slowed as she nodded, still coming over to take a look at her. ¡°Okay. What Pokemon is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a Popplio. They¡¯re the Alolan water starter. She¡¯s exhausted herself, but tomorrow I want to get her an exam.¡± I was trying to speak softly so as to not rouse the little thing. I placed my hand on her back so that I could feel her breathing to make sure she was still asleep. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t trust the Ambrette Aquarium staff, but I don¡¯t trust the Ambrette Aquarium staff. Especially since their first thought was to shove her into an exhibit.¡±


    ¡°Did you steal her?¡± Nurse Joy asked almost immediately.


    I did my best to stifle my laughter, letting out a snort. ¡°No. But I probably would have if I saw her and knew the story.¡± After saying that I gave a quick history of the little blue thing''s life, as well as how she was being treated at the aquarium.


    Nurse Joy looked appalled. ¡°After that sort of trauma they just left her alone?¡±


    I shrugged a bit. We had moved over to her desk while we talked. ¡°A lot of people, especially researchers I¡¯ve noticed, don¡¯t see Pokemon as anything more than tools or dumb animals.¡± It really came across in the tone of how the books were written.


    She nodded a bit, frowning. She had probably seen a lot of that. It looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself and instead just sighed. ¡°I can do a checkup on her tomorrow.¡±


    After taking a deep breath, I nodded. I couldn¡¯t see or feel anything wrong with her, but I wasn¡¯t a pokedoctor. That made me have a thought. ¡°Nurse Joy? How hard is it to get a medically trained Pokemon?¡±


    There was a moment of silence where she just blinked at me. ¡°You mean¡­like Wigglytuff?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, nodding. ¡°I know that there are a variety of medically trained Pokemon. Other Nurse Joys use Chansey¡¯s, and they use Indeedee in Galar, Alola uses Comfey and Blissey, Audino in Unova, and here in Kalos you all use Wigglytuff. There are a bunch of individual cases of other things, but that¡¯s the generalness of it.¡±


    She continued to stare at me, blinking. ¡°Did your memory come back?¡±


    Slowly my smile fell. ¡°No. But for some reason¡­I remember every detail I have ever learned about Pokemon.¡± I looked down at Popplio, who was still asleep. ¡°Which is¡­ Which is a good thing, right?¡± I felt a bit bad about lying to Nurse Joy, but I didn¡¯t know if telling the truth would be a good thing.


    ¡°I wonder what sort of job you had? Professor Sycamore called you a Pokemon expert.¡± She had placed a hand on her chin with a thoughtful expression. ¡°Though¡­ returning to your question, I honestly don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been asked about someone wanting a medically trained Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°It was just a thought I had.¡± It was actually an idea I was stealing from some Pokemon stories that I had read, but it always sounded like a good idea, so I might as well try. ¡°It would mean being able to immediately treat not only my Pokemon, but others as well when battling out in the wilderness.¡±


    She slowly nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure but¡­ Doesn¡¯t hurt to ask, I guess? I¡¯ll give my cousin a call. She does all the Pokemon medical training for Kalos, Galar, Paldea, and Unova.¡±


    I gave her a smile. ¡°Thanks. I also thought it might be a good idea to have someone who was trained because of my uh¡­ condition.¡±


    Realization slowly dawned on her and she nodded a bit more enthusiastically. ¡°Oh, yes. That would be incredibly helpful in case anything happens later on when you can¡¯t get to proper medical facilities.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what are the chances of finding a Lucario that¡¯s willing to carry me to a Pokemon Center twice.¡± I chuckled a bit, trying to keep the movement to a minimum to not disturb Popplio.


    ¡°Right,¡± she said, giggling a bit in turn. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll contact my cousin and see.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Again, thanks for trying.¡±


    With that, I bid her goodnight and headed back to my room. Once inside, Rio popped out immediately without even waiting for me to close the door. ¡°Operation steal friend was a success,¡± she said, sounding very proud of herself.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t stealing. I was told to go get her,¡± I retorted. The other two also popping out of their pokeballs.


    ¡°But you weren¡¯t sure you were going to take her?¡± Cara asked as we all sat down on the bed.


    ¡°Oh I knew I was going to take her the moment I saw her. Heck, even before that when Professor Sycamore was being all mysterious about it, I was fairly sure I would take her.¡± I had to think for a moment. Was there any starter that I wouldn¡¯t take? I shook my head. ¡°No, there was no way I wasn¡¯t taking her. All the starter Pokemon are good.¡±


    The room fell silent after that, and I carefully laid down. Veny¡¯s spot had been taken by Popplio, so she moved to smush in under my other arm, since my left was taken by Cara. Rio snuggled into the spot next to her mother on top of me, half laying on both of us. When these Pokemon started to evolve, I was going to end up being crushed.


    ~


    In the morning, Popplio was reintroduced to everyone. Though she was a bit nervous at first, Rio and Veny quickly incorporated her into Team Speed Shell, though they didn¡¯t know what sort of role she would be in. I wondered where they got the idea for teams like that. Was it an idea they got from watching Trainers? Or was there some sort of mystery dungeon stuff at play? That would be a completely different concern.


    The three of them played a bit, mostly Rio was showing off her strength by lifting Popplio up, while Veny showed her speed by doing laps around the room. It was rather amusing to watch, though I could see that the little blue seal was concerned. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m good at¡­¡± she said after a time.


    ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out,¡± I said with a smile, which drew all of their attention. ¡°If you want to be strong, I¡¯ll do everything I can to help you be strong. If you don¡¯t want to fight, that¡¯s fine. If you want to do competitions, we can do that. If you wanna be lazy and get fat, that¡¯s fine too,¡± I said the last bit with a bit of a chuckle.


    Popplio made a face at me, and I could tell she was trying to blow bubbles at me, but nothing came out.


    ¡°I want to battle!¡± Rio declared.


    Veny nodded eagerly. ¡°Yes yes. I want to battle.¡±


    ¡°I agree. I want¡­¡± Cara stood up, standing in front of me. ¡°I want to win.¡±


    There was a large smile on my face, and I looked down at Popplio. ¡°It¡¯s okay to not want to fight, but if you have the drive, I will help.¡±


    She looked thoughtful for a few moments, taking the decision quite seriously. It was rather important. Pokemon seemed to have this innate instinct to become stronger, to fight. It was something that I had thought about in the game, but it¡¯s described in the book about Pokemon that the majority of them enjoy it.


    Suddenly Popplio nodded. ¡°Yes. I wanna fight, too.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll need to do some work on understanding your movesets. First, I want to-¡±


    A knock at the door interrupted me. I looked over at the door, which Cara opened. Professor Sycamore was on the other side. ¡°Ah, Jason. Good, you¡¯re awake- And I see you made a new friend.¡± He was looking at the new addition to my little group.


    ¡°Yes. Can I help you, Professor?¡± I asked, looking at the way Cara was eyeing him as if he was a potential enemy, moving over to me as if to guard me. The other three had gone back to playing. Wrestling was the current state of things, both Veny and Popplio having to team up on Rio to make it fair.


    ¡°A few things. First I wanted to check in. You haven¡¯t answered your phone.¡± He gave me a look.


    I blinked at him and reached for my bag. Pulling out the cell phone I had shoved in the bag. ¡°Oh no. It seems I forgot about it¡­¡± I muttered, seeing I had two missed messages from the Professor.


    There was a rather disappointed look on his face, but he shook his head. ¡°I got a rather irate phone call last night, about a disrespectful young man making a mess of an exhibit.¡± His expression changed to a rather amused one as he spoke.


    All I could really do was shrug. ¡°Maybe they should treat their Pokemon better.¡±


    He nodded a bit. ¡°Second-¡± He paused to look around the hallway before closing the door. ¡°After asking, I found out about Professor Laventon. I had to ask Professor Magnolia, who was quite surprised to hear about him.¡±


    ¡°Ah so he is from Galar, that was hinted at.¡± I nodded a bit.


    The Professor had a look on his face, one that I couldn¡¯t quite understand the meaning of but I knew he was thinking. After a moment he nodded. ¡°Anyways, it seems that your other world thing holds a bit more possibility. I¡¯ve asked Juniper and Oak about it¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, I bet Professor Oak took it very well. He was probably very interested.¡±


    There was a rather blank expression on his face now. He was quite expressive. ¡°Yes. He gave me a number that he wants you to call him at.¡± I watched as he took out his own phone and sent a quick message. After a moment my phone buzzed with a message, which was Professor Oak¡¯s contact details.


    ¡°Oh, awesome. Man, I¡¯d love to talk to Professor Oak. He¡¯s iconic.¡± I was tempted to call him immediately, but I felt that would be rude while Professor Sycamore was here.


    ¡°Yeah. Juniper said she would have to look at some things, but would get back to me.¡± His attention was turned to the three roughhousing Pokemon on the floor of the room. ¡°I¡¯m glad things worked out. I was honestly thinking about just going and getting her myself.¡±


    I took a moment to look at him. There was a question I wanted to ask, but I was worried about what the answer was. ¡°How long?¡±


    The smile faded from his face and he sighed softly. ¡°He participated in last year''s League.¡±


    I had to grab hold of Cara¡¯s wrist to stop her from going forward. She was pissed. I had seen the way her hand clenched and her aura flared slightly, she was going to attack him. That wasn¡¯t a thing that I could allow her to do, even if I thought he deserved it.


    The Professor noticed it, too, and took a step back towards the door. Cara turned her attention on me and I slowly shook my head. ¡°He let her be like that for over a year,¡± she argued, trying to convince me. It seemed she had already adopted the little thing.


    ¡°I know. And he gets to live with that,¡± I responded softly. ¡°Some people don¡¯t see Pokemon as anything more than things.¡±


    He cleared his throat. ¡°That¡¯s a bit harsh¡­ But I understand where you¡¯re coming from. I¡¯ve already scheduled for the aquarium to be receiving a surprise inspection rather soon. I misplaced my trust in that they would properly handle the situation.¡±


    That seemed to calm Cara down a bit, though she still looked like she wanted to deck the Professor. ¡°Hopefully that gives them the appropriate attitude adjustment.¡±


    He gave a slight cough and nodded. ¡°Yes. Well, I¡¯m going to be heading off now. Busy and all that. Try and keep your phone on, alright?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    After he left, I saw the way that Cara seemed to slump, sitting back down on the bed. This whole situation probably hit pretty close to home with her. My grip loosened on her wrist, rubbing gently at the back of her hand around the spike.


    She looked at me out of the corner of her eye before huffing and moving over to the other three, but I saw the way she smiled a bit. My attention turned to the phone. It was like a fairly early model of smartphone. There was a phone app, a pokedex app, a Trainer battle app that synced with your Trainer ID, and a banking app. But other than that it was pretty bare bones.


    I hesitated, looking at the contact information for Professor Oak. ¡°Hey,¡± I got everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°I want all of you to get a check up with Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff. And then after that, we¡¯ll do some battling.¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Rio was immediately excited, her fists in the air.


    That made me smile as I pulled out their pokeballs. Popplio immediately had a look, but the three of them immediately comforted her. ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Cara said, patting her softly on the head. ¡°He¡¯s good.¡±


    I was actually really glad that that worked, and that they all seemed to think of me that way. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take that long. And Nurse Joy will be happy to see you,¡± I reassured.


    There was still a lot of hesitation in the Popplio, but after a moment she nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    They all returned to their pokeballs, and I made my way out. I found Nurse Joy quickly at the front. ¡°Ah, Jason, good morning. Did you want me to check up on Popplio?¡±


    I nodded as I placed all four pokeballs onto the small tray in front of her. ¡°Yes, please. And if you could look over the others as well. They want to start battling more and I want to make sure they¡¯re in good shape to do it.¡±


    She smiled and nodded. ¡°Of course.¡± She picked up the tray, and was about to turn when she suddenly stood up straighter. ¡°Oh! I almost forgot. My cousin said that she might have a Pokemon for you, but you¡¯d have to come and meet them all in person to see if any want to go with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, that makes sense. Where do I have to go?¡± That was actually really exciting news.


    ¡°The Pokemon Medical Training Center is right outside Geosenge Town. She¡¯s a bit busy right now, but she¡¯ll be free once the League starts the day after tomorrow, so any time after that. Though she¡¯s probably going to get busy again when the next journey starts, so the visit will have to be during the League.¡± She was explaining all this while walking to the back, and I was following her.


    ¡°Alright. I can do that¡­ Probably the second week of the League?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°First two weeks are the Prelims. Third week is the actual Pokemon Tournament. And the last week is Elite Four battles, and maybe a Champion fight.¡± I was actually really glad that someone had explained it to me because I had been wondering how it worked.


    ¡°So, second week then. Outside of Geosenge.¡± That was really exciting for multiple reasons. There was Reflection Cave, which was supposed to be an absolutely beautiful sight. And there was also- I stopped walking. ¡°I¡¯ll be in my room when you¡¯re done, alright? I¡¯ve- I¡¯ve got a phone call to make.¡±


    ¡°Oh of course. Shouldn¡¯t take too long,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll let her know when to expect you, here¡¯s her contact information.¡± She handed me a piece of paper before heading off.


    I stood there for a few moments as I watched her leave. Team Flare. The Ultimate Weapon. Were those a thing in this world? Was I going to have to deal with that in some way? Should I even try? I had no idea about the timeline of events, or if they¡¯re actually going to occur. Guess I¡¯ll just keep an eye out for hints and help out if I can. Although I should probably take a look while I¡¯m there, just to see if it¡¯s there. I haven¡¯t seen any hints of Team Flare, but then again I haven¡¯t seen much of anything outside of the Pokecenter.


    With a sigh I went to grab some food quickly, before heading back to my room. I hadn¡¯t thought about it when I had called Sycamore yesterday, but using the phone to call was a bit interesting, as it was a video call and I had never really done those in my previous life. It didn¡¯t take long before it was answered and I saw an oddly nostalgic looking man on the screen. ¡°Hello, this is Professor Oak.¡± It looked like he was at a terminal, rather than having a phone, and behind him was a rather plane looking wall.


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile, finding it oddly comforting to hear that man¡¯s voice. ¡°Hello Professor, my name is Jason. I believe Professor Sycamore told you about me?¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± He smiled. ¡°The otherworlder! Yes, he did.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. It¡¯s honestly a relief that you sound far more accepting of the circumstances.¡± I sat down on the bed.


    ¡°Yes, well, I¡¯ve seen all sorts of stuff. But, I do have some skepticism, so I want to ask you some questions.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°There was mention that you know a lot about Pokemon, and the people in this world because of¡­video games and cartoons in your world, correct?¡± He was looking down at something, probably a little notebook.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. But that¡¯s only if what I know lines up with this world. There are a lot of¡­ things that could be off,¡± I responded, still not sure how exactly this world lined up. It seemed to follow more of the anime than anything else.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be worried if you can¡¯t answer any of them, but if what you told Sycamore is true, you should know some of them. But we¡¯re going to start with me, since Sycamore said I was one of the first suggestions you made. So you should be familiar with me, right?¡±


    I nodded again. ¡°Yeah, I think I am.¡±


    ¡°Then let''s begin. What¡¯s my strongest Pokemon?¡±


    ¡°Charizard, of course. Your Dragonite is a close second. Though I think your Tauros is probably a bit more dangerous,¡± I responded.


    He rubbed at his chin. ¡°Where am I from?¡±


    ¡°Pallet Town in Kanto.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s my grandson''s name?¡±


    ¡°Gary. You also have a granddaughter named Daisy. And a cousin named¡­ Melvin? Marvon? No it¡¯s an s¡­ Sss- Samson.¡±


    That caused him to blink a few times. ¡°Those cartoons in your world go into a lot of detail, eh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the most prominent professor in them,¡± I explained.


    He nodded a bit, again rubbing his chin. ¡°Though you could find out that information pretty easily¡­ Let¡¯s move onto some questions about Pokemon. How many Pokemon do you know about?¡±


    ¡°Over a thousand.¡±


    His brow arched. ¡°That many?¡±


    ¡°Well, some of them don¡¯t exist anymore, or don¡¯t exist yet?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Timelines are a bit muddled. But you¡¯d know all about that, wouldn¡¯t you, Professor?¡±


    He looked both confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Not that I don¡¯t want to spend hours answering questions, let me tell you something that no one knows about.¡± That seemed to pique his interest. I really hoped that the movies were canon in this universe. ¡°When you were a child, you met Celebi.¡± That caused the smile on his face to slowly melt away into a more stunned expression. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know where I am in the timeline¡­ but if Ash is on his Journey, then it should be about forty years?¡±


    ¡°Ash¡­started his Journey two years ago.¡±


    ¡°Then he should be in¡­ Johto? Or Hoenn?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure of how exactly timelines would match up.


    ¡°He¡¯s in Hoenn,¡± Professor Oak said, still sounding rather stunned.


    So it seems that the League¡¯s are staggered in some way. And the Orange League is probably different from official League¡¯s, if he even did that. ¡°So he¡¯s about to participate in the Ever Grande Conference¡­¡± I frowned a bit. He lost in that League, too. ¡°It¡¯s kinda sad he lost¡­but it was a good fight.¡±


    ¡°He loses?¡± Oak suddenly asked, seeming to snap out of whatever rut he had fallen into.


    ¡°Ah-¡± Should I tell him stuff about the future? ¡°Uh¡­yeah. He doesn¡¯t¡­ He doesn¡¯t win very many. But it doesn¡¯t upset him, and he actually has a lot of fun and does pretty well. The kids got a lot of heart, and though it was rough for him in- in the beginning, he really grows into a good Trainer.¡±


    There was a moment of silence before Oak nodded. ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s a good one.¡±


    ¡°And that Pikachu is a freaking monster. Where the hell did you get that thing from?¡±


    Oak actually laughed. ¡°He was¡­surrendered to me by a Ranger. He was deemed too aggressive to release, and too violent for Trainers. But¡­ I immediately knew it was Ash¡¯s when I saw it, so I held onto him.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah¡­ Also, total dick move to tell Ash you¡¯ve got no Pokemon for him, when you absolutely did.¡±


    Again he laughed, though this time it was more of a chuckle. ¡°Well, it was his fault for forgetting to turn in his starter request form.¡±


    ¡°Yeah he was¡­ a bit scattered at the start¡­¡± I remembered sitting on the floor in the living room, watching the anime. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll meet him one day¡­¡±


    ¡°If you do, you can¡¯t tell him anything about his future. Celebi warned me that knowing the future was far more dangerous than anything the future can actually contain,¡± he sounded a bit worried.


    But I nodded. ¡°Yeah. I honestly didn¡¯t intend on telling you, either, but I slipped up. Celebi would probably be upset with me. But I don¡¯t think I have to worry about Dialga, since it was Arceus who sent me here in the first place.¡±


    Oak nodded a bit. ¡°Yes, probably. But I think Celebi would be far more interested in you than upset.¡±


    I chuckled, and nodded. ¡°Honestly I would love to meet them. Maybe I¡¯ll get the chance when I go to Johto.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re planning to travel all the way out here?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I¡­ I want to see this world that I only ever got to see on the other side of a screen. Actually being here is¡­ so exciting. It¡¯s like being dropped into the world of your favorite story.¡±


    Again Oak nodded at my words. ¡°Yes, that would be very exciting.¡±


    Taking in a deep breath, I turned my attention back to Professor Oak. ¡°So? What¡¯s your conclusion, Professor?¡±


    He leaned back in his chair, looking off into the distance above whatever he was using to talk with me. ¡°I think that your otherworld must be a thing, because the alternative to how you have the knowledge that you have would be terrifying.¡±


    I nodded to that. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fairly worried about what sort of alternatives there could be¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, I am quite confident now that you are indeed from another world. Which is fascinating. When you come to Kanto, you¡¯ll have to sit and have a long talk with me about it.¡±


    I smiled at that and nodded. ¡°Yeah. That actually sounds pretty good. I don¡¯t know what sort of world route I¡¯m going to go, but I¡¯ll be there eventually.¡±


    ¡°If you need my help with anything, don¡¯t hesitate to call.¡± It sounded like Professor Oak was keen on getting to other work.


    ¡°Alright. Thank you, Professor. I will.¡± We said our goodbyes and he hung up. I stared at the phone for a moment, taking in the fact that I had just spoken to Professor Oak. That made all of this feel so much more¡­ real. I still had doubts. I still wasn¡¯t sure if this wasn¡¯t just some hallucination, or false memories, or maybe a coma dream. But at least right now, I felt better about it.


    While I was waiting for Nurse Joy, I looked through the pokedex app. It was surprisingly bare. Missing Pokemon, and missing information on the Pokemon that it did have. It was unfortunately completely useless to me. It actually gave me a bit of a headache how little there was. What were all these researchers doing?


    There was nothing else on the phone. It could make calls, the texting app was absolutely bare bones; I had to download a better one. I also had to download a camera app, even though there was a camera built into the phone it didn¡¯t come with one. There were hardly any other apps that I could download. A calendar app. A note taking app. There was no map? There weren¡¯t even any games. No games on my phone.


    My disappointment was interrupted by a knock at the door, and a large pink figure entering. In the Wigglytuff''s hands was a tray with my pokeballs. ¡°Everyone looks fine, though the Popplio is suffering from malnutrition. We¡¯ve given her some supplements, and they¡¯ve all been fed now, but she probably shouldn¡¯t battle today.¡±


    I nodded a bit, taking the pokeballs from the tray. ¡°I kind of figured she would be¡­ They said she hadn¡¯t been eating much.¡±


    She tucked the tray under her arm and nodded. ¡°Your Pokemon mentioned that they were going to battle, but I did warn her that she shouldn¡¯t battle today. I expect that to be followed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to argue against a nurse''s orders,¡± I said with a smile, standing up to put the pokeballs onto my belt.


    ¡°You better not,¡± she said, though her tone was a bit more playful than strict.


    I had to stop myself from patting her on the head, instead I held onto the strap of my bag to keep my hands to myself. ¡°I¡¯m going to do a bit of training with them first. I need to know what moves they have in order to battle effectively. Would something like that be alright for Popplio?¡±


    Her face scrunched a bit as she thought about it, but eventually nodded. ¡°Some light things should be fine, but just nothing rough.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Thank you, Wigglytuff.¡± I watched for a moment as she waddled away before I made my way out to the battle ground. A Wigglytuff would be a good choice for my team¡¯s nurse. Now that I was thinking about it, most of the Nurse Joy Pokemon were pink. Was that on purpose or coincidence?


    The battle fields weren¡¯t as crowded as yesterday, probably because the League started soon. But there were still a lot of people. It took me a while to find an out of the way area that was actually set up to be a training ground. It was a rather large area, with low fences all around. It even had a sign to designate it as a training area, and a request that no big moves be used here.


    There was only one other Trainer there, trying to teach a Chespin something. Rollout, if I had to guess from the way it was trying to tuck and roll. They seemed fairly young from a glance, probably starting their Journey after the League.


    That wasn¡¯t really my concern, so I headed towards the other end of the grounds and released everyone. ¡°Alright. So, before we battle, I want to get a feel for what moves you know. This will also tell me what we need to practice.¡± I pulled out my phone, planning to record their demonstrations. ¡°Who wants to go first?¡±


    Rio was the first to volunteer, doing a quick run through of all the moves she knew. It really showed me that levels meant nothing when it came to learning moves. She knew Force Palm, which was something she¡¯d learn above level thirty, but she didn¡¯t know Feint. Her Vacuum Wave was probably her strongest move, which probably meant she relied on it a lot.


    Cara was next, and though she knew a lot more moves than Rio, it was obvious that Rio had learned from her as she also didn¡¯t know Feint. But she did know some higher level moves that I wouldn¡¯t have expected, like Meteor Mash and Close Combat. And like I thought previously, she did know Extreme Speed. Her Aura Sphere was a vibrant purple, but rather unimpressive, at least compared to how it looked in the anime or games.


    Veny was probably the most surprising. Not only did she know a plethora of poison moves, but she also knew Rollout and Agility. She also definitely had the Speed Boost ability, because the more she showed off, the faster she got. But what absolutely shocked me was that she knew Extreme Speed. That shouldn¡¯t be something she can learn, at least by game logic. That would require later testing.


    Popplio was a different story. She hardly knew any moves. She did know Water Gun, but it was the only water move she knew. Though she was more than a little embarrassed to show them off, she also knew Disarming Voice and Sing. Sing got us all pretty good, but she stopped before any of us actually passed out. But this poor little seal was going to be needing the most attention when it comes to training. She was young, and with no interaction with other Pokemon, her learning had been severely stunted.


    That was actually good information. Young Pokemon seem to develop moves as they play. I had noticed this as the three of them played, and all three of them were using softer versions of their moves. Trying to make the training into games would probably be a good way to teach them things. But for now, I wanted to try out a little battling.


    We all sort of made our way to the battle grounds, watching the few battles that were going on. Though we didn¡¯t get to watch for very long before a kid came over and asked, ¡°You here for battles, or just to watch?¡± He was actually pretty polite.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, we were looking to battle. These three are ready,¡± I gestured to Rio, Cara, and Veny. ¡°But this one is just watching today,¡± I said as I picked up Popplio.


    He gave a nod. ¡°Cool. Can I battle that one?¡± He pointed at Veny.


    I nodded. ¡°Sure.¡± We moved over to one of the open battlefields, and I handed Popplio over to Cara before moving into position. It was an extremely intense feeling. My first battle. Even though I judged that this kid must be no older than fourteen, he was probably using his parents'' Pokemon.


    Veny quickly followed and stepped into the field in front of me. This was her first official battle as well. I could tell Rio was a bit upset that she didn¡¯t get to go first, but she would just have to deal with that. ¡°Go, Talonflame!¡± He tossed the ball out.


    Alright, young, but he knew type advantage. There was a moment of flash as the bird announced itself, ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do this!¡±


    ¡°Agility,¡± I said, before the kid could finish calling out his move.


    ¡°Flame Charge!¡± The flaming bird bounced off the ground, having struck the spot that Veny had just been in. ¡°Again!¡±


    ¡°Extreme Speed.¡± Veny rushed and sprang forward, slamming into the Talonflame before it had a chance to ignite itself again.


    ¡°Dang it, Ember!¡±


    ¡°Agility.¡± Bits of flame peppered the ground where Veny was, however she didn¡¯t escape fully unscathed this time. There were just too many little things of flame.


    ¡°Roost!¡±


    I blinked, looking at the kid. I guess I was giving him way too much credit. ¡°Toxic.¡± The bird was splattered in the purple goop that Veny spat out. ¡°Venoshock.¡± Veny prepared and spat out a more concentrated glob.


    ¡°Aerial Ace!¡± The Talonflame charged straight through the poison and slashed past Veny, knocking her off to the side.


    ¡°Rollout!¡± I called, trying to get her to take advantage of the momentum. It didn¡¯t quite work, as she had practically came to a stop before she had managed to curl up properly. Something to work on.


    ¡°Ah- uh- Agility!¡± The kid called, which caused the first Veny ball to miss, but she quickly rebounded and slammed into it on the return.


    The blow sent the Talonflame to the ground, getting up with a bit of struggle. There was purple goop dripping from its beak. ¡°Stupid kid,¡± it said, shaking its head. Just before Veny could strike it again, it leapt up, soaring into the sky.


    ¡°Wide circle!¡± I called out. ¡°It¡¯ll be coming down fast! Get ready for it!¡±


    In the sky, the Talonflame burst into green flames and began their descent. Veny rolled to the other edge of the field, having circled it twice before she straightened out, prepared to meet them head on. The two crashed into each other at a great speed, actually causing a small explosion of green flame.


    As the dust settled, I saw Veny, dizzy and bruised, but still on her feet. I looked over at the Talonflame, who coughed up a bit of purple, and let out a soft ¡°Damn¡­¡± before falling forward into the dust.


    ¡°Talonflame!¡± the kid cried out, rushing to the bird. He quickly picked the bird up and began sprinting to the pokecenter. I didn¡¯t even have a chance to say anything to him. Although I did hear his final words of, ¡°Dad is gonna kill me!¡±


    ¡°Did I win?¡± Veny asked, a little confused.


    I nodded. ¡°You did.¡±


    There was a moment of silence. ¡°I won!¡± she screamed, rushing towards us. ¡°Rio! I won!¡± The two practically collided.


    Honestly I was surprised that Rio not only stopped the charging bug but even picked her up. ¡°You won! We¡¯re winners! We can win battles!¡± they chattered excitedly.


    ¡°People these days¡­bullying children,¡± a voice said from behind.

 Chapter Three

    ¡°People these days¡­bullying children.¡± Those words caused me to frown, and I looked back to see an older looking man, giving me a disappointed look. How dare he. That was my line. How dare he try and apply that to me.


    ¡°You here to try and bully me, too?¡± I retorted. ¡°Are you going to choose one of my first stages, and then send out a second stage with double type advantage to fight them?¡± I looked the man up and down, he was dressed rather nicely. ¡°That kid wasn¡¯t dumb, he just panicked when he didn¡¯t immediately stomp me like he thought he would.¡±


    The man scowled at me, clearly not expecting to be talked back to. ¡°You should talk to your elders with respect.¡±


    ¡°Respect is earned,¡± I responded. There were a whole bunch of other things on my mind to say to him, but he wasn¡¯t worth it.


    However I seemed to only make him more upset. ¡°Then I¡¯ll teach you how to show respect.¡± He moved over to the other side of the battle arena.


    ¡°Cara, you¡¯re up,¡± I said as I moved back into the square. ¡°Fighting steel,¡± I called out to the older man. ¡°Her weaknesses are fighting, ground, and fire. Just in case you wanna try and double advantage on her.¡±


    To my slight surprise, the Pokemon he sent out was Pangaro. The large panda-like Pokemon towering over her at nearly twice her height. ¡°Hammer Arm,¡± He said before Cara had even finished getting into position.


    ¡°Meteor Mash.¡± The two blows struck almost simultaneously. I saw as the Pangaro winced at punching the steel covered fist. ¡°Force Palm.¡± Cara hit the Pangaro with both palms straight into its stomach.


    However the large figure didn¡¯t even stumble back. ¡°Low Sweep.¡±


    ¡°Extreme Speed.¡± Even as the Pangaro¡¯s leg swept under Cara, she flipped, palming the ground before righting herself and delivering a series of blows to the panda''s side. Thankfully Cara had a lot more experience with fighting than the others.


    ¡°Vital Throw!¡± The man shouted, it was apparent that he was getting frustrated. I didn¡¯t even have to order Cara as she leapt back and away to make space. She had heard ¡®throw¡¯ and knew the large Pokemon would try and grab her.


    However she tried to do an Aura Sphere as I called out, ¡°Extreme Speed again! Keep distance!¡±


    Unfortunately she was too focused on collecting aura and was grabbed. There was a moment of shock on her face as the two of them suddenly twisted and Cara was slammed into the ground. ¡°Hammer Arm!¡±


    Cara was still trying to get up as the Pangoro raised its arm and swung downward. ¡°Counter.¡± The blow struck Cara hard before she suddenly blurred and delivered an uppercut that actually sent the large Pokemon staggering back.


    She looked to be in rough shape, but the Pangoro wasn¡¯t fairing that well either. ¡°Work Up!¡± The man was confident that his Pokemon could take another hit, and then finish it with his next attack.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to let that oversized bear get another attack. ¡°Reversal.¡± I actually saw the ground buckle beneath Cara¡¯s feet as she lunged forward, delivering a palm strike straight to the chest of the Pangoro.


    ¡°Hammer Arm!¡± the man called out. But his Pokemon didn¡¯t move. It staggered one step back, and then was unable to get its other foot under it and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. There was an obvious mark on its chest, softly glowing with violet energy.


    Cara stood there, still in the pose that she struck, staring at the Pokemon on its back, waiting for it to get back up. I could see wisps of aura slowly rising from her paw. It took a moment before the man returned his Pokemon, grumbling as he speed walked away. ¡°Rude bastard,¡± I said as I made my way to Cara.


    She wasn¡¯t moving, aside from the heaving of her chest. No, I realized now that I was closer, her legs and arm were shaking. Gently I put my arm under her and her body gave out. I grunted a bit as suddenly her entire weight was dropped on me. ¡°I won¡­¡± she said softly.


    ¡°You did,¡± I said, smiling. Taking a good look at her it was no wonder reversal dropped that Pangoro. Reversal did more damage the less health a Pokemon had, so here, the more beat up a Pokemon was, the harder it would hit. And Cara looked like she could be taken out with a light slap. ¡°Take a break in your pokeball, and I¡¯ll go give you to Nurse Joy.¡±


    She nodded before disappearing back into her ball. ¡°That was awesome!¡± Rio exclaimed, running over to me. ¡°Mama is so strong!¡±


    I nodded. ¡°She¡¯s got some really good battle instincts, but we¡¯ll have to work on that Aura Sphere.¡± It had been slow, and not terribly strong. She didn¡¯t even get a chance to fire it off before she got grabbed. That was another thing that I was going to have to really plan for; moves could be interrupted.


    ¡°Why was that guy such a jerk?¡± Rio asked, looking towards where the man had gone.


    ¡°Honestly I have no idea.¡± I walked back over to Popplio and Veny, taking a look at how the bug was doing. ¡°Do you want to go back in the pokeball, little bug?¡± I asked, crouching down in front of her.


    She looked a little rough, but was still in high spirits. After a moment she made a cute little nodding motion. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m tired.¡±


    I reached out, rubbing her shell with a smile. ¡°You did a great job.¡± I returned her to her pokeball before standing up again. It was starting to get dark, and a lot of the Trainers were leaving. We had spent a lot of the day showcasing moves, so it made sense that we didn¡¯t get in many battles.


    Scooping up Rio in one arm, and Popplio in the other, I decided to make my way back inside. ¡°No battle?¡±


    ¡°Not today, Rio. Sorry. You all know a lot more moves than I thought you would so that took longer than I thought.¡± Popplio laid her head against me, closing her eyes. She was really quite a fan of being carried. It would be a shame when she evolved and couldn¡¯t do it anymore.


    Rio huffed a bit in response, but nodded. ¡°Okay. Can we play more tomorrow, instead of battling?¡±


    I blinked a bit and looked down at her. ¡°I thought you wanted to battle more.¡±


    ¡°I do, but I also wanna play. And now that we all have a win, we can all play and get better.¡± Apparently Cara had convinced Rio that playing and training were the same thing. Which was good, as it was going to save me the time of doing it later.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. We can go to the training area tomorrow, and we can play some games.¡± Popplio smiled a bit at my comment, probably having felt a bit left out since she couldn¡¯t battle. ¡°Nurse Joy,¡± I greeted with a smile as I saw the pink haired woman behind the desk, having apparently just returned from the back.


    ¡°Ah, Jason. How did your battling go today?¡±


    ¡°Pretty good. Veny and Cara need some recovery, but they both won, so it was good.¡± I had to put Rio down on the counter in order to retrieve the pokeballs.


    ¡°Did Rio not get to battle?¡± she asked, giving the Riolu a quick look over.


    ¡°Nope! But my mama was super cool! She beat this huge Pokemon!¡± Rio explained excitedly. Nurse Joy nodded politely; I could tell she didn¡¯t fully understand, but she got a bit of it.


    ¡°We spent most of the day checking on all their moves, so she didn¡¯t get a chance. And Popplio didn¡¯t battle at all because she needed a day of recovery.¡± It was honestly really surprising how fast Pokemon recovered, but it also made a lot of sense considering their tendency to battle.


    ¡°I see. And how do you feel?¡± She seemed to look me over for a moment.


    I had to think about it as well, gently touching my arm, which now felt fine. ¡°I actually feel pretty good? I got a bit of a headache this morning, but I don¡¯t think it was related.¡±


    She reached out to turn my head. ¡°Hm¡­ Well, it doesn¡¯t hurt to double check. Come back with me and we¡¯ll give you a quick look over.¡±


    It was more of a quick checkup, but she came to the conclusion that I was indeed doing much better. She still made a lot of recommendations, that I should rest more, to still not use my arm, and that if I feel any nausea I should immediately tell her. After that she had taken Cara and Veny¡¯s pokeballs and told me to go rest in my room.


    Again I thought it would be a good idea not to argue and did as she suggested. I put Riolu and Popplio down on the bed before deciding on cleaning up before going to bed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to take a shower.¡± I looked at the two of them.


    Then I had a thought. I picked up Popplio and brought her with me. ¡°Wha?¡± She made a bit of confused noise.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea. I want to see if I can help you blow some bubbles.¡± I set her down on the sink by the shower, before turning the shower on. After checking, I saw that the shampoo and soap had been restocked.


    ¡°Bubbles?¡± Popplio asked excitedly, actually jumping into the shower. I almost panicked before realizing that she was probably a bit dried out.


    Nodding, I decided to clean up first before showing her. Riolu seemed curious as to what was going on as well. ¡°Alright.¡± After I had finished, I grabbed some of the soap, lathering my hands. Creating a small gap in my fingers, I blew a bubble.


    Popplio let out an absolutely jubilant noise as she watched. ¡°Bubbles!¡±


    I sat down on the floor of the shower, showing her what I was doing, and blowing a few more bubbles. ¡°See, you create a small little film of stuff, and then blow air into it for the bubbles.¡± I knew what Popplio made bubbles with was probably similar to snot, though it sounded more like a special type of mucus that just happens to be from the nose. But it was probably snot.


    She tried to blow a bubble on her own, and was immediately disheartened when she couldn¡¯t. I took soap, and rubbed a bit of it on her nose. Her face scrunched up, but she tried again, blowing a little bubble that almost immediately popped. Her eyes widened. ¡°Bubble! I blew a bubble!¡±


    ¡°You did!¡± I rubbed a bit more soap on her nose and she blew another bubble. We did this for a few minutes, her bubbles slowly getting stronger and lasting longer. After a while, I didn¡¯t even have any soap on my hand, merely mimicking the action. Her progress almost reset at this, but the action had seemed to trigger some sort of process.


    And now her bubbles were starting to get more cohesive. She still waited for me to rub her nose after every bubble, showing more and more excitement as time passed. Rio had come in as well, getting excited alongside Popplio. I don¡¯t know if she really understood why she was excited, but that didn¡¯t really seem to matter.


    A sudden knock at the door interrupted our celebration. Quickly getting up, and wrapping a towel around me, I moved and answered the door. Wigglytuff didn¡¯t even give me a moment as she pushed the door all the way open. ¡°What are you all being so loud- why are you naked?¡±


    ¡°I was taking a shower. And showing Popplio how to blow bubbles.¡± She arched a brow at me. I took a few steps back and gestured. ¡°Show her, Popplio.¡±


    In her excitement, Popplio completely forgot about the soap trick and blew a large bubble. ¡°Bubble!¡± She looked so proud, and even Rio struck a pose, mimicking her announcement of ¡®Bubble¡¯. But when it suddenly popped she had a realization. She stared at the air for a moment, and then looked back at the soap, and then at me, then back to the soap, and then back at me.


    I smiled at her, nodding. ¡°Yup. You did it on your own.¡± I moved over to the sink, turning it on before washing off the slimy mucus that was on my hand. It reminded me a bit of slime I had made when I was young, though it was more liquidy and far less sticky. Like snot.


    ¡°I can¡­ I can blow bubbles,¡± she said, as if just realizing it. She must have seen her mother make bubbles and be so upset because she didn¡¯t know how to. I could only imagine how frustrating it must have been to know that you could do that, but didn¡¯t know how.


    ¡°Yes. Yes you can.¡±


    Wigglytuff seemed a bit confused, but also understood that it was very important. ¡°Good job.¡± She held out the small tray with two pokeballs.


    I chuckled a bit as I took them, releasing Cara and Veny. ¡°I can blow bubbles now!¡± Popplio proudly announced, and proceeded to blow another bubble.


    Cara nodded with a polite smile, but Veny rushed over. ¡°Whoa! You can make bubbles!¡±


    Cara looked at me, a bit confused. So I decided to explain to her and Wigglytuff, ¡°Popplio and their line are known for a few things. One of which is bubbles. A Popplio is capable of performing acrobatics using their bubbles as well as using them for offense and defense.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that explains her excitement,¡± Wigglytuff said as she tucked the tray under her arm.


    ¡°She¡¯s done very good then,¡± Cara said in agreement, nodding.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to let her battle until she was able to blow bubbles,¡± I continued. While Popplio could now do it, her bubbles weren¡¯t exactly strong. But that could be fixed through training. I was honestly surprised it worked, but if I could teach a Pokemon a move using fairly basic principles then I could teach them anything.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s very good then,¡± Cara said, nodding some more.


    ¡°Thank you, Wigglytuff,¡± I said as I saw the pink blob attempting to leave the room.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Of course,¡± she responded. ¡°Now put your clothes on before you catch a cold,¡± she added before closing the door.


    ¡°Ah. Right.¡± I cleared my throat a bit, though all the Pokemon seemed quite unbothered by my state of undress. Then again, Pokemon didn¡¯t usually wear clothes. But the pink one is correct; it would be bad if I got sick, so I dried off and got dressed. I didn¡¯t have many clothes, though all the sets I have now were given to me. They weren¡¯t exactly nice or comfortable, but they were free.


    Money was going to be a thing to worry about. I was going to need income. Battling for money was a thing, and what the battle app was for on the phone. But how much that would be I had no idea. Maybe I could use my knowledge in some way to my advantage? There was a story I read about having a Milotic farm for prism scales, but I didn¡¯t have the land to do that. Any sort of farm would be out of the question in the short term. Problems to think on later.


    Laying in the bed I was almost immediately dog piled. Everyone seemed to have their own spots now, Cara on my left, Rio squeezed between her and Popplio, and Veny on the right. ¡°You¡¯re all going to be so upset when you get bigger and can¡¯t lay on me,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°We will adjust,¡± Cara said, and I could practically hear the smile on her face.


    ~


    The next day after breakfast, we all made our way to the training ground again. Said training grounds were completely deserted. Moving to the same area that we had used the previous day, I released everyone. The three little ones all seemed rather excited, though Cara seemed a bit bothered they would not be battling again today. Almost immediately, Popplio began to excitedly blow bubbles, while Rio and Veny started to¡­well, I could only describe it as roughhousing.


    ¡°Cara.¡± I turned my attention to the blue jackal, who returned my gaze with a curious expression. ¡°Let me see your Aura Sphere again.¡±


    Immediately she looked hesitant. I could tell she was aware that it wasn¡¯t at the level it should be. It looked like she wanted to protest, but eventually sighed and began to gather the energy. It was slow and methodical. No, more like reluctant. She was¡­scared of it.


    She let it off, allowing it to collide with an object used for target practice. It did significant damage, but nowhere near at the level it should. ¡°Again,¡± I said, watching her form another sphere of aura. Again there was that fear until she let it go.


    She refused to look at me. There was a look of frustration on her face. I moved closer to her, kneeling down to be more at her level, and then offered my hand. Again she was hesitant, but eventually she touched my hand.


    Gently grasping her hand, I slowly turned it so that her palm was up. ¡°Again,¡± I said softly, and her face turned to one of confusion. ¡°But this time¡­don¡¯t let it go.¡± After a moment, she did so, slowly gathering up a small orb of aura. I could feel some sort of energy resonating off of it, not quite heat, but I knew that if I touched it, it might burn me. ¡°Hold it,¡± I said, keeping my voice low and soft.


    It wavered as the moments passed, though the fluctuations were barely noticeable. But it wasn¡¯t because it was difficult. Aura was second nature to Lucarios. It was part of their being. It was what truly made them unique in the Pokemon world. Yet she looked at it with fear, like it would bite her.


    Probably because it had. ¡°He hurt you with your own aura,¡± I spoke barely above a whisper, but my voice caused her focus to break, and the aura sphere was snuffed out. Her hand clenched, but she didn¡¯t respond. I hadn¡¯t put much thought into it, but there was probably a fight between the two of them when he left.


    After a minute she finally spoke, ¡°That Trainer¡­made us fight¡­¡± I was quiet, letting her talk. ¡°My mate¡­wanted to go¡­ I wanted him to stay¡­ And the Trainer¡­ That man¡­ said that if I won, he wouldn¡¯t take him¡­ But if he won¡­then they would leave together¡­ He didn¡¯t hesitate.¡±


    She was shaking slightly, her hand clenching tighter. That was honestly even worse than I had thought. It was no wonder that she was so upset about it all. It was no wonder her aura was a mess. I gently pulled her more towards me, slowly putting my arms around her, and she leaned heavily into me.


    She didn¡¯t cry. She was far too proud to cry over something like this. But it absolutely crushed her that that other Lucario had not just left her, but beaten her to make sure he could. ¡°I knew he was stronger than me. I knew I would lose. But he didn¡¯t hesitate to hurt me.¡±


    I could feel her taking deep breaths, doing her best to stay strong. There was this intense feeling that she didn¡¯t want to let it affect her. I could feel that from the aura that she was putting out. It was a rather strange and unfamiliar feeling; as if I could taste her emotion in the air.


    ¡°Rio was still an egg,¡± she added, which made things worse, but also better. I looked over at the little dog, who was being ganged up on by Veny and Popplio. She was struggling to figure out how to cope with the new found bubble powers. Popplio¡¯s bubbles were visibly getting stronger with every few attempts. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to think about what would have happened to us if that Ranger hadn¡¯t found us.¡±


    I was starting to get a better idea of the timeline of events. ¡°He heard the battle and came to investigate?¡±


    She nodded, rubbing her face against my shoulder. ¡°I just¡­couldn¡¯t do anything¡­ I was weak. I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m still so weak¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a lot stronger than you think. And you can get so much stronger.¡± She pulled away slightly to look at me. ¡°And I can help you get stronger.¡± I pulled away from her, sitting down. ¡°But first, you need to focus. I know it¡¯s hard. And it¡¯s going to take time. But I¡¯m going to be here to help you, as long as you let me.¡±


    Her gaze slowly went down to her hands, clenching and unclenching them slowly. ¡°You¡¯ll really help?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°As much as I can.¡±


    It took a few moments before she smiled a bit and asked, ¡°And you¡¯re not just¡­ just after my beans, right?¡±


    I blinked and stared at her for a moment before a smile crept onto my face. ¡°Well. Maybe. The lure of paw beans has been the downfall of many.¡±


    She let out a snort-bark, shaking her head. ¡°They¡¯re my beans. So you¡¯ll just have to suffer without them.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± I said with a bit of a smirk. ¡°Who knows what the future holds?¡± We both laughed a bit, the tension slowly easing, but I could still feel it there. ¡°Now. Let¡¯s see that aura sphere again.¡±


    She held up her hands between the two of us, and I watched as the energy gathered. While I could still see the hesitation from the way the basketball sized sphere wavered, she looked less afraid of it and more focused. We both watched it for a time as she tried to keep her hold on the energy. Eventually she looked from it to me. ¡°What¡­what am I supposed to do with it?¡± she asked softly.


    A soft chuckle escaped me. ¡°What do you mean what? Cara, what is aura?¡±


    She frowned slightly. ¡°It is¡­ It¡¯s aura?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s energy. It¡¯s a raw form of energy that exists everywhere and comes from everything that you can use.¡± I put my hands on either side of the sphere, which made her obviously nervous and the orb fluctuated. ¡°You can do far more with it than you realize. You can make it hot. Cold. Solid, or like water.¡±


    Her brow furrowed as her attention turned back to the sphere, trying to keep it under control. ¡°It fights me,¡± she revealed after a moment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t force it. Guide it.¡± For a moment its shape became more solid, before it began to waver again. ¡°It¡¯s raw power, but it is not wild. It¡¯s you.¡± Slowly I put my hands onto the sphere, and she flinched. It was hot, to the point that it hurt a little, but not to the point that it burned my hands. ¡°It will follow your will. You don¡¯t want to hurt me, so it won''t hurt me.¡±


    Minute after minute the temperature of the aura sphere lowered, becoming warm to the touch. The shape of it also became more cohesive. It didn¡¯t waver as much, now looking far more in form to what I remember from the anime. She looked far more relaxed now, gaining some shreds of confidence.


    Slowly her eyes closed, focusing more on the sphere of aura. There were a lot of things I wanted to test with aura, just to see what extremes it could be pushed to, but Cara needed to regain her confidence. I slowly moved my hands away from the sphere, rubbing at my palms to make sure she hadn¡¯t actually burned me. They stung a bit, which I had honestly expected since I¡¯m not a Lucario.


    Aura was honestly fascinating, and had numerous applications. Cara had said my aura was soothing, but I had no idea why. Humans could learn to use aura from what I knew, and it might be worth trying to learn how. Hell, if Ash could learn it, then I should be able to, right? Psionics was also something that existed in the Pokemon world. That might also be a good thing to look into.


    Refocusing my attention on Cara, I saw that she was still focusing hard on her aura sphere. I had given her a lot to think about. Suddenly there was a soft little jingle and I saw the sphere waver before she regained her focus. It took me a moment to figure out what the noise was until I remembered my phone.


    I had put the phone in an outside pocket of my bag so that I could hear it ringing. Pulling it out as I got up, I walked away to not disturb Cara more. The little display was of Professor Sycamore. I answered it and nearly put it up to my ear before remembering that that¡¯s not how phones work here. ¡°Morning Professor.¡±


    Professor Sycamore looked a bit haggard, like he hadn¡¯t slept. He appeared to be sitting on the deck of some building, holding his phone out. I assumed the building behind him was his laboratory. ¡°Ah, good morning. I heard from Professor Oak earlier. What did you say to him that made him so adamant you were telling the truth.¡± He had quite a confused looking expression.


    I laughed. ¡°If he didn¡¯t tell you, there¡¯s no way that I¡¯m going to.¡±


    He let out a sigh that sounded a bit like a huff. ¡°Well, I just wanted to check in since the League starts tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yeah. I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± I leaned against the fence of the training ground, watching my four Pokemon as well as Professor Sycamore.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    He nodded a bit. ¡°Right¡­ I also spoke with Professor Juniper last night. Professor Oak had apparently called her to explain that he believed you.¡± Apparently these Professors didn¡¯t have anything to do but make phone calls to each other. ¡°Not that it was really necessary as she has actually documented cases of otherworld travel, though they are extremely rare. They do happen.¡±


    That caused me to blink, staring at the phone for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not the only one?¡±


    ¡°Only one on record in the last three hundred years. But no, you are not the only one, nor the first. Which adds a lot more credit to your story.¡±


    I nodded a bit. That at least made me feel better, but it also raised a whole number of new questions. The biggest question being: Why? Though I did have another question that I might get the answer to, ¡°How many cases?¡±


    Professor Sycamore shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t get many details from Juniper, so you¡¯ll have to ask her. I¡¯ll send you her contact details.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± It took a moment before I saw the message notification. ¡°Was there anything else?¡±


    He scoffed. ¡°That eager? Well, the last thing I wanted to talk about is I have a potential ride for you to the League, that way you don¡¯t have to cram into public transport. And a hotel room has been set for you for the duration, and I managed to get you an advance on your Trainer payout, so that should be in your account.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that would actually be really nice. Thank you, Professor,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Though I do have to ask why you¡¯re going to such lengths?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Think of it as a future investment. And¡­ Well, you can also think of it as me trying to make up for things¡­ I really slacked off in certain places, and I¡¯ve got to start correcting that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Cara was going to deck you.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°Yeah I could tell. Honestly, probably a little deserved. But I¡¯m glad she didn¡¯t.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah. That probably would have been bad.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well, I¡¯m going to get back to work now. Juniper should still be up, so you can give her a call.¡±


    Again I nodded. ¡°Thanks, Professor.¡±


    ¡°Alright, your ride will be there at about eight in the morning. Have fun watching the League. Oh, and one more thing,¡± he said and disconnected the call.


    I blinked, staring at the screen for a moment before shaking my head. I took a few minutes to watch everyone. Cara no longer had an aura sphere, but she did have a visible glow around her. Popplio had managed to create bubbles that they could use as a ball, and were playing ¡®don¡¯t let the bubble touch the ground¡¯ with several bubbles. Mostly Popplio just kept adding bubbles while Rio and Veny ran around trying to keep them up. That was probably good training.


    It was still kind of surreal to watch Pokemon just doing their thing. It had only been a few days since I arrived, and would probably take a long time before I was accustomed to seeing them. All I could think is that it was wonderful.


    Turning my attention back to my phone, I decided to talk to Professor Juniper. It actually took a few rings before the call was answered. What I got was a side profile of the light brown haired Professor, who was sitting at a desk covered in papers and obviously typing on something and looking at some other screen. ¡°This is Professor Juniper,¡± she sounded a bit tired.


    ¡°Hello Professor. My name is Jason, who I believe you¡¯ve been hearing about?¡±


    She hit a few more keys before what I said seemed to sink in and she froze. Slowly her attention turned to look at the screen, giving me an almost crazed look. She suddenly leapt towards the screen, which actually caused me to flinch. ¡°Oh my. Jason? You¡¯re Jason? From the- the one Augustine and Sam talked about?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the one from the other world,¡± I said with a bit of a nervous chuckle.


    ¡°Oh my¡­¡± She started to shuffle through papers. ¡°What was your other world like? Are there really no Pokemon?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s no Pokemon,¡± I replied, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s¡­really different from here, honestly. There¡¯s a lot more people, bigger cities, the technology is¡­different.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating. Sam mentioned you wanted to travel, is Unova on that list?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yes, I do plan to go there. I want to see this world, and I¡¯m hoping to put myself in the position to do so.¡±


    She nodded a bit. ¡°When you do visit, I want an interview. I want to know all about your other world.¡±


    I nodded again with a smile. ¡°Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun.¡±


    There was a smile on her face as well. ¡°Truly that would be amazing. It¡¯s been over three hundred years since the last documented case.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I was wondering how many cases has there been?¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, there were twelve. You would be the thirteenth.¡±


    ¡°That many?¡± I was a bit surprised at the amount. It was both a low number, but more than I thought.


    ¡°Yes. They used to happen every few decades, but there is a large gap. Most of them claim that it was Arceus, or at least described seeing a Pokemon similar to them.¡±


    ¡°So he¡­what, just does that?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°Historically, yes?¡±


    There was a moment of silence as we both sort of just absorbed that realization. ¡°I knew he could just¡­ will people through time and space, but to actually pull people from other dimensions?¡± I muttered, my brow furrowed.


    ¡°Will people through time and space?¡± she asked curiously, catching at least part of what I said.


    ¡°One of the uh¡­ games. Arceus sends you back in time to Hisui,¡± I explained, and went into a brief overview of what roughly happens in that particular game.


    She seemed fascinated, writing everything I said down. ¡°I¡¯ll have to double check to make sure that these records matchup¡­but if they do, this could be valuable information. You¡¯re like a trove of knowledge.¡±


    I chuckled nervously, that had sounded like a compliment, but not quite? ¡°Thank you?¡± A rather loud pop noise drew my attention from the screen. Popplio had managed to make a bubble that was quite loud. Much to Cara¡¯s annoyance, as her focus was broken. She was glaring at the little trio, who were unaware and laughing at the noise.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll have to have more conversations in the future,¡± the Professor said, seeing that my focus was elsewhere and wanting to get back to her own work.


    ¡°Right.¡± I looked back at the screen. ¡°I do plan to visit Unova eventually, though I don¡¯t have an exact schedule or route.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Well, let me know when you plan on heading my way.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try and finish my work,¡± she said as she moved a bit away from the terminal, her focus turning back to the monitor.


    ¡°Goodnight, Professor,¡± I said, which only got a vague wave of her hand. I ended the call, and put my phone away. Her interest had so quickly faded that it was actually kind of funny.


    Cara had gone back to her meditation, though I didn¡¯t know what she was doing. I could see the wisps of aura around her, but that just showed how strong it was. Walking back over towards her, I could see the moment that my aura seemed to touch her, as she suddenly relaxed. Stopping when that happened, I estimated the distance at just over ten feet, maybe four meters?


    That was an interesting realization. Was this the range of my¡­what would it be? Aura pressure? The reach of my life energy? Maybe I could find an Aura Guardian? Aura was such a mysterious power to me, even though there were quite a lot of bits of information. Was it like ki? That would have some interesting implications. Suddenly a thought entered my head.


    If aura and ki did work similarly, and people could use it, then maybe¡­ I turned towards empty space, taking a deep breath. I set my feet into a stance that I had practiced as a child and brought my hands forward, slowly I went through the motions while saying softly, ¡°Kaa-mee-¡± Slowly bringing my hands back, I tried to imagine energy gathering, ¡°Haaa-meee-¡± I thrust my hands forward, ¡°Ha!¡±


    Nothing happened. I laughed at myself, obviously nothing would happen. Even if I could use aura, there was no way I¡¯d be able to fire off energy beams. As cool as that would be. ¡°What was that?¡± Cara suddenly asked, making me jolt upright.


    ¡°Ah- uh- well.¡± I cleared my throat, trying to think of a proper reason for my silly action. ¡°It¡¯s a move that I saw someone really strong do.¡±


    She tilted her head, but didn¡¯t ask anymore questions as she returned to her meditation. Honestly I was glad that she didn¡¯t. I also wasn¡¯t sure how long she was watching.


    Moving a bit closer to her, I sat down, watching the trio play. It really occurred to me just how rough they played. They weren¡¯t afraid of tackling, using moves, punching, kicking, or throwing each other. This sort of play was clearly instinctual, to help them learn to fight, to survive. Battling was ingrained within them.


    I sat there watching them for quite a while, losing myself in the act and thinking about how to train them. Popplio would be the most difficult. She had the hardest start of the trio and had no battle experience. Rio was strong for her size, which would catch people off guard. How that would translate when she evolved into a Lucario I had no idea. Veny was fast, and would only get faster as she evolved. Even though she knew Extreme Speed, it was nowhere near as fast as Cara, who was faster without even using Extreme Speed. Speaking of Cara¡­


    ¡°Cara,¡± I said softly, glancing at the meditating Pokemon. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked towards me. ¡°You want to beat him, right?¡± She gave me a rather firm nod, though she looked puzzled as to where I was going with this. ¡°Then you¡¯re going to have to make your aura better than his.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± she replied softly, looking down at her lap.


    If my thoughts were right, and aura was like ki, then I might actually be able to apply Dragonball logic to it. Dragonball had gone into more detail about how ki worked, than Pokemon did about aura. I had already leaned a bit in that direction with my earlier talk of aura and that seemed to work, but now I was going to just straight up treat it like ki. ¡°Your aura is affected by your emotions.¡±


    She clenched her fists in response, nodding.


    ¡°You can think of aura as something made up of three things.¡± I drew three little circles in the dirt between us. ¡°Vigor,¡± I tapped in the first circle. ¡°Courage,¡± I tapped in the second. ¡°And right-mindedness,¡± I tapped the third circle.


    Her head tilted to the side. It was apparent that she had never heard it described this way.


    Of course I couldn¡¯t know if anyone would have ever been this much of a nerd. ¡°Starting with vigor. You can think of it as what aura is. It¡¯s how much aura you can use, and perceive. If you don¡¯t have enough vigor, you won¡¯t be able to properly use aura.¡±


    ¡°Vigor¡­¡± she mumbled, looking at the first circle.


    ¡°Courage.¡± I pointed to the second circle. ¡°This goes with vigor, but it¡¯s how much emotion you put into aura. Aura is heavily influenced by emotions, and can be strengthened with them. And if you are scared of the aura, you won¡¯t be able to use it properly.¡±


    That seemed to really get to her, her ears folding back. ¡°Courage¡­¡±


    I nodded and then touched the third circle. ¡°Finally, there is right-mindedness. You have to be in the right mind to use aura. It comes back to courage, but it¡¯s more than just using emotions to empower yourself. Right-mindedness is about not letting your emotions control or overwhelm you.¡±


    ¡°So I have to¡­use my emotions, but control them?¡± she asked, her head tilting to the other side.


    ¡°Sort of. It¡¯s about balance. If you lean too much into one of the three, you can hurt yourself or others. If you let your anger overwhelm you, you¡¯ll hurt things indiscriminately.¡± Her expression looked thoughtful, and I saw her glance at me. ¡°If you let your fear overwhelm you, you can weaken yourself. But you might do the opposite and do something in your fear that you will regret.¡±


    Her brow furrowed. ¡°Something that I will regret?¡±


    I nodded. Of course, everything I had said was speculation, but from what I knew it should work? There was no reason that it shouldn¡¯t work, but time would tell. I just hoped that it didn¡¯t do any damage. But, it shouldn¡¯t, right?


    She nodded slowly. ¡°I¡­think I understand. It does make sense.¡±


    ¡°The most important thing for you is to decide your path.¡± She looked up at me. ¡°Is revenge your only purpose? Your mate chose his pride and desire for strength. Do you just want to beat him? What about after? You¡¯re going to have to choose something better to drive you. Your revenge is a single step in your life, not the final one.¡± I sat up a bit straighter, putting my hands in my lap as I watched her.


    It was clear that that thought hadn¡¯t occurred to her. She had wanted revenge, but didn¡¯t think it possible and was solely focused on surviving and raising Rio. But now? Now she had a chance. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    I reached over and gently pat her shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to decide now, you can think on it.¡±


    Her face was all scrunched up as she was in deep thought. This was a rather heavy decision and she couldn¡¯t just recklessly decide. But I couldn¡¯t help myself. I reached up and started to rub and scratch her jaw. She closed her eyes and smiled a bit as I did so, raising her head up a bit. I was honestly a bit surprised that she just let me pet her without complaints. I even saw her tail wagging.


    And then it was like she suddenly realized what I was doing and was suddenly standing several feet away from me, staring at me with wide eyes. I laughed. She narrowed her eyes at me, rubbing at the area I had been scratching with her paw. ¡°I guess it¡¯s a bit presumptuous of me to pet you?¡±


    ¡°You are very forward when it comes to touching me,¡± was her response.


    I shrugged and looked back over at the trio. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t realize it made you uncomfortable, considering that you sleep on top of me,¡± I said with a bit of a smirk.


    She huffed, sitting down again now that there was distance between us. We had such an interesting sort of relationship. It was obvious that more public forms of affection were too embarrassing for her, considering her previous reactions, but she didn¡¯t really seem to dislike it. I just couldn¡¯t help seeing her as a big dog sometimes, and I wanted to pet her.


    My gaze wandered up to the sky, looking at the Pokemon flying overhead. I could see Fletchlings and Pidgeys. There were really Pokemon just everywhere. On the other side of the fence I could see a little Oddish half buried and dozing in the sun. A few Caterpie and Burmy in the trees. A Plusle and Minun were running through the brush.


    Suddenly my gaze locked with a pair of eyes that were hiding in the dark of some bushes. It took me a moment to recognize the shape at this distance, but eventually I realized it was an Espurr who was staring at me. Those were cute cat Pokemon. Maybe I should get a cute Pokemon that I could shower with affection? That was kind of why I wanted a Fennekin, just getting a cute little fox. Maybe an Eevee? Those were adorable.


    This really was the world of Pokemon. Slowly I stood up, and walked over to the fence. I wanted to get a better look at the Pokemon out there. Swinging a leg over I sat on one of the large fence posts, and I took a better look around. The Oddish wasn¡¯t too far away now, and I could see that there were also Metapod in the trees. Some of the plants that I had seen were actually Budew, and I could even see a blue Flabebe. Considering it was only four inches tall, it was no wonder I couldn¡¯t see it.


    There was a group of three Skitty following behind a Delcatty. A Ralts carrying something and looking to be in quite a hurry to wherever it was going. They all had their little lives, going about doing things. It was fascinating to just watch them. I could still see the Espurr, which I was a bit curious about since they weren¡¯t in this area in the game, but this was real life and they wouldn¡¯t be restricted to silly things like routes.


    A Ledyba buzzed over, landing on the fence a bit aways from me, which was quickly joined by four others. They seemed interested in the group of Pokemon that were playing in the training ground. I was trying to not move too much so as to not startle them. They seemed to be communicating with each other through scents, though I couldn¡¯t tell what they were saying.


    It didn¡¯t take long before one of them noticed me, suddenly freezing in place as it did so. I purposefully didn¡¯t react to it. Curiously it made its way over to me. Only as it did so did I actually turn a bit to get a better look at it. It looked like it must be a younger one, considering its size compared to the others. It stopped right beside me.


    Slowly I reached out and rubbed its shell. ¡°Hi there,¡± I said softly, smiling.


    It had a rather happy looking expression, apparently pleased at the feeling, and made a happy little noise that wasn¡¯t actually words. The rest of the group turned to look at me, obviously reacting to the sudden happy scent from their smallest member. I was worried for a moment that they might react aggressively, but instead they just seemed curious.


    They all slowly walked over to me, and onto me. I laughed a bit, petting and rubbing their shells as they explored. ¡°Well, you¡¯re all a lot more friendly than I thought you¡¯d be.¡± I again remembered what Cara had said about my aura being soothing, and wondered if that was what it was. But then again, living so close to the city they must be very used to people.


    To my sudden realization, I could actually understand their way of speaking now that they were this close, if only slightly. It was more that I could tell what the scents meant. Such as them being curious about me, wondering why I was here, that I was new but not a Trainer.


    That was interesting, that they could tell I wasn¡¯t a Trainer. ¡°How do you know I¡¯m not a Trainer?¡±


    There seemed to be a general conversation until they came to the conclusion that I didn¡¯t smell like one. Then one actually spoke up to try and explain, ¡°Trainers have a certain smell. You smell more like Pokemon. Like them,¡± it pointed at the rest of the group.


    I looked over as well. It was not surprising that I would smell like them, since we slept in a pile. I could also see how Cara was watching the situation carefully, making sure that I wasn¡¯t in any danger. ¡°Those are my Pokemon,¡± I explained.


    They all seemed to freeze. ¡°You¡¯re a Trainer?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No. They¡¯re-¡± I paused a moment to think of how to explain it. ¡°They¡¯re my friends, but in order to go around the city with them they have to be my Pokemon and have pokeballs.¡±


    They communicated for a moment, about how that made sense. I was gently rubbing two of the Ledyba who were very pleased from the petting. They felt very smooth. I honestly wished I had some little treats to give them. But those were expensive. Maybe I could go berry hunting? When I go to the Nurse Ranch I should keep my eye out for berries.


    There was a small little shout that caused my attention to shift. There was a Combee bothering the Flabebe. The Flabebe was angry at the Combee, who had apparently thought the Flabebe was just a regular flower, and had damaged it. The Combee gave a rather flat apology before simply floating off.


    The little flower Pokemon was still yelling at it, but it quickly left the range that it could hear her. I shifted to the other side of the fence to get down, my movement causing the Ledyba to scatter in surprise. I moved over to the little flower and knelt down; she looked a bit rough. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked softly.


    She screamed, immediately trying to get away, but with the state of her flower she was unable to float away. Though she really did try, only to fall over. I watched as she struggled for a moment before gently reaching down and carefully putting her back upright. Once she got past a certain point, she seemed to auto balance again.


    The little thing stared at me as I examined her. Her flower seemed a bit battered, but it still had all of its petals. From what I knew, she should be fine after a bit. ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t look too bad,¡± I muttered before standing up and making my way back to the fence.


    Cara was there, watching what I was doing. She gave me a puzzled look. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Just making sure she wasn¡¯t too roughed up,¡± I said as I gestured back at the Flabebe.


    ¡°Is she alright?¡± she asked.


    I gave a bit of a shrug before hopping back over the fence. ¡°She seems to be.¡± In the distance I could see the trio laying on a grassy spot, obviously worn out. They had been playing for hours and hours. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to call it a day.¡± It was some time after noon.


    Cara nodded. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s actually quite comfortable in the pokeball, so resting there is¡­ nice.¡± She was looking at her pokeball with a mixed emotion.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s by design.¡± I glanced back over the fence, seeing the Flabebe slowly, and with some obvious difficulty, float off. And the Espurr. Still staring at me. Was that actually an Espurr? They looked a bit off. Maybe a Mimikyu with an Espurr costume? Maybe a Ditto that hadn¡¯t quite got the hang of transforming?


    The Lucario nodded and made a noise of confirmation before returning to her pokeball as I made my way over to the other three laying in the grass. Popplio was the first to speak up, ¡°My bubbles are so strong now.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ll have to show me,¡± I said as I stood over her.


    In response she rolled over onto her stomach before blowing out a rather sizable bubble. She then proceeded to jump onto it and pose. ¡°Tada!¡±


    I smiled as I crouched down a bit. ¡°Wow, that is some amazing improvement.¡± I reached out, putting a hand into the bubble. It felt a bit rubbery, like a balloon, and had some give to it but didn¡¯t pop. ¡°Amazing.¡± She made quite a few happy little noises before using the bubble as a sort of springboard and colliding into me, taking me off my feet. I made a little- ¡°Oof-¡± sound, but managed to catch her.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna get so strong!¡± she announced.


    ¡°Team Speed Shell has bubbles!¡± Rio announced, raising her paw into the air.


    I laughed. ¡°Oh?¡± I looked down at Popplio in my arms. ¡°Are you part of Speed Shell now?¡±


    She had the biggest smile on her face. ¡°Yup! We¡¯re still figuring out my role¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­¡± I moved over to sit beside Veny and Rio. Veny was passed out. ¡°You could be the performer? Since your evolution line is known for that sort of stuff.¡±


    Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked over to Rio, who had managed to sit up. She looked thoughtful, but then nodded. ¡°Yeah. The performer of Team Speed Shell.¡±


    Popplio beamed. ¡°Yeah!¡±


    I chuckled a bit, nodding. ¡°Alright. We¡¯re going back to the Pokecenter, so everyone can return to their pokeballs.¡±


    Rio nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m really tired. Today was fun.¡±


    I smiled as I returned Veny and Rio before looking at Popplio. ¡°Did you have fun?¡±


    She had quite a grin on her face as she nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡­ I really did. I had lots of fun.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I rubbed her head a bit, still smiling. ¡°We¡¯ll all have lots of fun together. We¡¯ll see the world and visit all the places that all of us ever want to see.¡±


    Suddenly she had a thoughtful expression. ¡°Even Alola?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°Of course. Where did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°They said that¡¯s where my line is from. I heard them talking about it a lot¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said softly, still rubbing her head. ¡°We can go to Alola. I want to see the islands, and maybe try and get a Z-Ring.¡± I saw the confusion, so I continued to explain before she even asked, ¡°It¡¯s something that lets you channel power, with a crystal and Pokemon to unleash some of the most powerful moves in the world.¡±


    Her eyes lit up, practically sparkling in excitement. ¡°Wow. So like, a super move?¡±


    ¡°Yup. And your final evolution has one. It¡¯s really strong.¡± I wondered how Z-Moves worked in real life. Would I have to dance? Probably.


    ¡°Wow¡­ I want to do that.¡± Her eyes got a far off look, probably imagining what sort of powerful moves she could do.


    ¡°And you will. But right now, it¡¯s time to rest. The League starts tomorrow, and we have to be well rested so we can watch the whole thing.¡± She nodded and I returned her. Standing up, I dusted myself off, taking a deep breath before heading back.


    ~


    It had taken a bit of effort to get them to all go to sleep, even Cara. It was exciting. They were going to see so many battles. But eventually we had all turned in. And then there was a second struggle to get them all to calm down and go back into their pokeballs. I had to explain that we were getting a ride, and I would release them once we were there so they could watch.


    Much to my surprise, though honestly I shouldn¡¯t have been, it was Professor Sycamore who was there in the morning. ¡°So you¡¯re our ride?¡± I asked after spotting him in the Pokecenter¡¯s lobby.


    ¡°Well, just because I gave you tickets doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t have my own.¡± This man liked surprises and secrets. ¡°Now come on, we don¡¯t want to miss the opening ceremony. It¡¯ll be quite something,¡± he said with a chuckle.


    Professor Sycamore actually had a fairly nice car, at least as far as I could tell. It reminded me of a jeep, but not open. He was also a horrible driver. ¡°Do you even have a license?¡± I asked when we finally got into the city and he was forced to slow down and drive carefully.The city was quite large and bustling, and the arena was a huge building, but it was nothing compared to the large castle behind it. That castle was where the elite four and champion got to live, apparently.


    ¡°Of course I do. I just don¡¯t drive much,¡± he admitted with a laugh.


    We had to drive slowly through the city, traffic was pretty bad. I was watching out the window, seeing just how packed the place was with hundreds upon thousands of people. The Pokemon world had lots of sports, but pokebattles were the most popular and had been for a very long time. ¡°How many people are here?¡±


    ¡°The arena can hold about fifty thousand, and there¡¯s a few hundred other places in the city to watch via large televisions.¡±


    That was¡­ quite a lot. Not as large as some of the sports stadiums back in my old life, but definitely up there. Considering that the cities were smaller, and the overall population lower, that made sense. But that also meant that most of Kalos was here. ¡°Interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°Pretty big, huh? One of the largest in the world.¡±


    I looked over at him, arching an eyebrow. ¡°The largest sports venue in my world could hold over two hundred and fifty thousand people.¡± I could literally watch as he deflated as I spoke.


    ¡°That many?¡± he said rather wistfully. ¡°That could probably fit all of Kalos and not even be full.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ a lot less people here,¡± I said as I turned my attention back out the window. I had seen worse crowds than this. But that was interesting, learning that Kalos probably had less than two hundred and fifty thousand people. Then again, with how many Pokemon there were, and the sheer amount of wilderness, it wasn¡¯t surprising.


    As we got even closer to the arena we suddenly turned into a parking structure underground. We drove a bit in the large parking tunnels before he pulled into a spot marked ¡®Professor Sycamore¡¯. ¡°Here we are.¡±


    ¡°You have your own parking spot?¡± I commented as I got out, taking a look around. I could see Pokemon here and there. Some Rattata, which wasn¡¯t a Kalos native as far as I was aware, but rats are everywhere I guess. A Scatterbug that looked like it was on a mission to somewhere. A little group of Noibat tucked in a dark corner. Two Shuppet bobbing along.


    ¡°Of course I do. One of the many perks of being a Professor. Now come on, we have to get going.¡± He made a gesture for me to follow.


    As I did so I continued to watch for Pokemon, spotting a trio of Trubbish gathering trash from near a dumpster. They eyed me suspiciously, as if I would steal their trash. We didn¡¯t go very far, arriving at a nearby elevator and waiting for it.


    The elevator opened to the sight of a rather surprised Delibird wearing a scarf. ¡°Ah, pardon me,¡± it said as it gave us a nod and waddled off quickly.


    I watched it go as we boarded the elevator. The Professor was on his phone, responding to messages from the looks of it. ¡°There are really just Pokemon everywhere, huh?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Ah, yeah. It would be more difficult to get them out, so we all do our best to get along and live together. At least, we do that here in Kalos.¡± He frowned a bit. ¡°Some places don¡¯t like having them¡­ in the way, as they put it.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine why. Pokemon are great. Even those Trubbish serve a purpose.¡±


    ¡°Trubbish?¡± He frowned a bit more. ¡°You spotted some?¡±


    I gave him a bit of a look. ¡°They¡¯re hard to miss? Little green garbage bag. They were by that dumpster.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t spot them in the dark.¡±


    The underground area had had plenty of light. ¡°Maybe you just need some glasses.¡±


    He scoffed. ¡°I have great eyesight. I¡¯m just not looking for Pokemon in all the nooks and crannies.¡±


    ¡°And you call yourself a Professor,¡± I snarked.


    Before he had a chance to reply, the door opened and we stepped out. We were in a rather large opulent hallway, and there were hardly any people here. I was a bit puzzled. ¡°Come on, this way.¡±


    He talks like I wasn¡¯t going to follow him and just wander off. Eventually we came to a door with a rather tough looking man in a suit standing outside of. I had seen a few of these same types throughout the hall. ¡°Ah, Professor, good. You¡¯re here. And this is the guest you spoke of?¡±


    Professor Sycamore nodded. ¡°Yes, this is Jason. He and his Pokemon will be watching the tournament with me.¡±


    The man nodded before opening the door. It occurred to me when they were talking, and was confirmed when the door opened, that we were in one of those private booths. ¡°Ah, Professor. Good to see you.¡± There were other people in the room, so not that private of a booth. ¡°Who is this?¡±


    ¡°Jason, the one I talked about,¡± the Professor said with a smile, gesturing at me.


    The older man dressed in green reached out and I took his hand, shaking it without really thinking about it. ¡°Good, good. Glad to meet you. Names Ramos.¡±


    ¡°The Coumarine Gym Leader?¡± I asked, a bit surprised, but I took a better look at him. He didn¡¯t have his large shears on him, but he still had those huge chin beard whisker things.


    ¡°Ah, you know of me?¡± He stroked one of those beard whiskers. ¡°Augustine did say you were knowledgeable.¡±


    I nodded a bit, glancing around to see if any of the other gym leaders were present, but I didn¡¯t recognize anyone here. ¡°I try,¡± I said after a moment. The man then excused himself before heading off to talk with some of the other people in the room.


    The room was quite nice; several large chairs, couches, and tables. There was a bar taking up an entire corner of the room where three people were seated, talking. The far wall was a huge window with six large screens hanging from the ceiling. Each screen was showing battlefields of different terrains. Each one was labeled. Water: a large arena filled with water and large chunks of ice. Fire: rocky terrain with fire spouts and flowing lava. Earth: Similar to the fire field, but without the fire. Grass: an open field filled with grass. Forest: filled with trees and brush. Normal: just a flat area, looking to be covered in some sort of clay.


    ¡°The Prelims will be the first two weeks,¡± the Professor explained, seeing where I was looking. ¡°A Trainer must win one battle on every field to move onto the actual Tournament. When you get here after your journey, you get assigned a random field and time.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ll never know who or where you¡¯re going to fight. That¡¯s interesting,¡± I mused, moving up to the window.


    He followed. ¡°Yeah, we try to make it fair, but there¡¯s a rather rough discrepancy in most battles in the Prelims.¡± He had a bit of a frown on his face. ¡°They tried to balance it early on, but gave up because there was too much work.¡± He sighed, shaking his head.


    ¡°Well, with a few hundred Trainers, I can imagine that it would be hard to sort them all.¡± The view was impressive, and the arena looked packed, with thousands and thousands of people moving around. We weren¡¯t at the very top, but nor were we at the bottom. I could see every field without difficulty, but making out faces and details would be difficult.


    ¡°There won¡¯t be any battles today, just showcases and highlights from last year''s Tournament and Elite Four battles.¡± He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small keycard. ¡°This is for your hotel room. It¡¯s a few blocks away, called Fletch Roost.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I smiled a bit as I took the keycard.


    ¡°This is booth twenty one, just show someone your ticket and they¡¯ll be able to let you in.¡±


    ¡°Are you not staying?¡± I asked, looking over at him


    He shook his head. ¡°Nah, I won¡¯t watch till the actual League starts. The Prelims can be interesting, but anyone who¡¯s interesting will be in the League.¡± He gave me a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Your Pokemon are allowed out in this room, but not outside.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± He gave a wave as he left. I let everyone out after that, and settled into one of the chairs. No one seemed to even have a reaction as I released them, though I did see Ramos looking over.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Rio exclaimed as she moved to the window, looking down. Veny and Popplio joined her.


    Even Cara was there at the window. ¡°So this is¡­¡± she mumbled.


    ¡°There¡¯s so many people,¡± Popplio said, looking down at the crowd.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the opening ceremony started. As Diantha came and the other elite four members came out I was a bit surprised to see that they were all the people I recognized. Since this was before the anime, I had wondered if they would be the same or if there would be their predecessors.


    Diantha gave an extremely short speech, welcoming everyone and declaring that the Kalos League had officially begun. And that was it. Then they left. It was an interesting thing as the Professor had said. ¡°No wonder the Professor didn¡¯t stick around,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. With no actual battles happening today, I settled in and watched the highlight reels.


    The trio didn¡¯t find it too interesting, because they weren¡¯t active battles. And since they were still tired they decided to return to their pokeballs. Cara however, did not. She watched each and every fight no matter who was fighting. I thought it was because she wanted to learn, and know what others were capable of, but then I realized she was just looking for a specific man and Pokemon.


    She sat beside me and I saw how she tensed at every new match when the Trainers were introduced. All the clips were of the Elite Four battles, which were rather intense but purposefully done in a way that you couldn¡¯t really get more than a basic understanding. And after about forty minutes, it looped. I could see how she tensed up, glaring at the screen.


    Gently I placed my hand onto hers and she slowly relaxed. ¡°We¡¯ll see him. There¡¯s still a lot of tournament left.¡± She nodded and returned to her ball. I really hoped that he would show up. Otherwise it was going to be a lot harder to track him down.


    After that, we made our way to the hotel. On my way out I was given a schedule pamphlet, which just let me know the start and end times for battles. The hotel was nice, and I was not surprised to find out that it was the Professor¡¯s room, according to the person at the desk who stopped me. This was also apparently not the first time he¡¯d done this, so they weren¡¯t going to keep me out. I also found out that he would be charged for everything I ordered for room service.


    He likes surprises? Well, I¡¯m going to give him one.


    In the room, I released my Pokemon, and immediately went for the menu. Everything on the menu was actually pretty cheap. Or at least it looked cheap. From what I knew, prices were from the earlier games. For instance, a basic pokeball costs two hundred pokedollars, and an ultra ball is twelve hundred. Honestly if not for the Pokecenter offering food and shelter, the five thousand they give new Trainers would hardly help.


    I did eventually order food for everyone after a while. The bed in here was much larger, and the room in general was much larger. There was even a couch and a television. Immediately I was curious as to what sort of shows were in the Pokemon world, and picked up the remote. What I found were a lot of dramas. Like, an absurd amount of dramas. Nearly every channel was showing dramas. A few of them were actually Pokemon dramas, with translated subtitles. I noticed that the subtitles often didn¡¯t have anything to do with what the Pokemon were actually saying, and more often than not they were just talking about random things.


    The other thing I saw was a lot of news. So much news, and all of it was focused on the League. I left it on that, as they were talking about big names. Cara was interested as well, but they weren¡¯t showing pictures of the Trainers, or talking about their Pokemon. ¡°That¡¯s annoying¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know his name,¡± Cara said, obviously frustrated at it as well.


    Eventually I found some cartoons, which seemed to be in a very Mystery Dungeon style. They were of Pokemon, but used actual English for the language. The trio was immediately transfixed. That was what they wanted to do. That was what Team Speed Shell wanted to be. The cartoon characters even had guild badges. It was¡­actually scary how accurate it was to the Mystery Dungeon, including the main character being a human turned into a Pokemon.


    ~


    According to the time pamphlet, the first battles would be at eight. So I woke up a bit before seven, got everyone breakfast once again on the Professor¡¯s dollar, and went back to booth twenty one. I did have to show my ticket to several security guards who stopped me, since I didn¡¯t have that magic buffer of Pokemon Professor.


    I was apparently the first one there, aside from the bartender. After looking at their alcohol selection, I decided to just get a soda. Which was free apparently. All food and drink in the booth was free. These must be some serious VIP tickets.


    The first day was honestly boring. There was a match on every field every thirty minutes, but all of them were one sided. One Pokemon wiping out the opponents team with little effort. There were some good matches between some obviously newer Trainers, but by ten at night when the last match ended I came to one conclusion; the match order was rigged.


    It was almost painfully obvious. No one with any actual skill struggled. In fact, they were paired up against Trainers that obviously looked like they had struggled to even get here. Someone who hasn¡¯t even reached the third stage with any of their Pokemon? Surely putting them against a Charizard is a fair fight.

 Chapter Four

    As the days passed it became more and more obvious. The second, third, fourth, and fifth days were just a repeat. Those with powerful Pokemon were conveniently not put against anyone particularly strong. On the sixth day, I wasn¡¯t even paying attention. The trio and Cara were still interested, but I could tell they were starting to get bored. It was a good thing that we weren¡¯t staying for the second week.


    I had been spending my time going more thoroughly through the useless books I had been given, and messaging Professor Oak. I had asked him where I could find recipes on how to make certain things. I knew how to make curry, since the game went into fairly good detail on that and I wasn¡¯t a bad cook. But I wanted to know how to make things like pokeblocks, and poke puffs. Unfortunately he didn¡¯t know.


    Rather reluctantly I had asked Professor Sycamore, but he didn¡¯t know either. Or rather than not knowing, he changed the subject asking if I was that bored already. I informed him that it was hard to be interested when it was so obviously rigged. That had actually confused him, as he apparently didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. So I explained what I had observed.


    This apparently annoyed him. His annoyance wasn¡¯t towards me, but to the local Association branch that was supposed to be running the League. He hadn¡¯t watched the Prelims in a few years and I guess no one had ever brought this up to him before. It sounded like he had another thing that he was supposed to be checking on that he let slip through.


    I decided to not even stay for day seven, and instead I got on a train that was heading towards Geosenge. I was a bit surprised to find the train completely empty, but the conductor seemed more surprised to see me leaving early. The trio had decided to remain in their pokeballs, apparently still a bit tired from all the excitement of the Prelims. Cara however wanted to sit beside me.


    It was honestly rather adorable how she showed affection. She always sat close to me, and would sit practically against me if we were alone or she thought no one was watching. I could feel her lean into me. She wouldn¡¯t look at me while she did this, and would sometimes grab hold of my clothing. It was like she wanted to be close but was embarrassed.


    On the way I made the call to the ranch. ¡°Nurse Joy of Joy Ranch speaking.¡± It was interesting seeing a Nurse Joy not wearing some sort of medical outfit, as this one seemed to be wearing a more ranch appropriate outfit. Overalls and a red flannel included.


    ¡°Hi Nurse Joy, my name is Jason. I believe Santalune Nurse Joy told you about me?¡± I hoped that referring to them by what town they were in was the right thing, but I didn¡¯t know how else to differentiate them.


    ¡°Oh, Jason. Right, my cousin mentioned you would want to visit.¡± She seemed rather pleased that someone would actually take an interest in the ranch.


    ¡°Yes, well, I¡¯m currently heading towards Geosenge, so I was wondering if you would be available tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Oh, is it already the second week of the League? I totally lost track of time.¡± She seemed to lean a bit to the side, checking something that I couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Yeah, that would be fine. I can meet you at the Pokecenter tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°That works.¡± I was glad that it would be soon.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± She hung up before I had a chance to properly say a goodbye. She seemed quite busy.


    The rest of the train ride was rather uneventful. The train didn¡¯t even really stop at all, barely slowing at stations. The whole region was truly obsessed with the League. But I could understand that. The idea of watching Pokemon battles was exciting. But seeing what they were doing, and seeing hundreds of battles in the games and anime, it was rather boring.


    Seeing the ocean was nice. There were so many Pokemon out there. Even though the water made me nervous. I shook my head a bit, and Cara looked over and put a paw on my leg, apparently sensing my discomfort. ¡°Ah, I have problems with water.¡±


    ¡°Problems?¡± She tilted her head to the side.


    ¡°It just makes me nervous when I can¡¯t see the bottom,¡± I explained. She didn¡¯t seem to understand, but it was obvious that she was concerned and did her best to comfort me. Though her comforting simply consisted of petting my leg.


    The rest of the ride passed in comfortable silence. There was something about just sort of sitting there with a Pokemon. I really hoped that I would never get used to this feeling.


    Eventually we arrived in Geosenge, and Cara went back into her pokeball. I wasn¡¯t really surprised that she didn¡¯t want to walk around the town with me, especially after finding out I was going to go shopping.


    The Pokemart was actually really interesting. It was like a compact supermarket. Though the reason that it was compact was because there weren¡¯t many brands. There seemed to only be at most two or three brands for products, and many were only a single brand. The most variety was in Pokemon food, things like high protein meat for carnivore Pokemon, food with metals in it for steel types, special plant mixtures for grass types.


    Of the five thousand pokedollars I had, I spent four thousand. Rice, a few types of pokechow, spices, a large variety of curry blocks, and berries. So many berries. I wanted to buy some vitamins, but the cheapest one was ten thousand. I did see maps while shopping, but they were extremely expensive.


    I was going to leave when I spotted a clothing rack with dozens of discount jackets. It was rather chilly in Kalos and I had just been dealing with it. But a coat would be nice. I spent a few minutes looking through them until I found one that I liked. It was a black short trench coat with a hood. The coat part went down to my knees and flared backward niceley when it was open. I thought it looked pretty good on me. It cost eight hundred, which hurt my wallet, but I wanted a coat and this was my style.


    With all that bought, I headed towards the center of town, following a sign that indicated where the strange rock structure was. It was probably a rather interesting tourist attraction when the League wasn¡¯t going on. It was¡­rather unimpressive and I quickly made my way towards the north west side of town.


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what I was looking for, since it was just a large rock in the game. And that¡¯s actually what I ended up finding. It was an off looking rock formation just sitting in the open. This was supposedly the entrance of Team Flare¡¯s secret HQ. ¡°Cara.¡±


    She appeared beside me, looking around in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She was really good at sensing my emotions.


    Looking around, I was trying to make sure no one was looking. ¡°Can you sense anyone watching us?¡± Her eyes flashed violet for a moment before she shook her head. That was actually the first time I had seen her actively use Aura Sense. ¡°That rock. Can you sense anything in it?¡±


    Her confusion only increased, but she turned to look at the large boulder. Again her eyes flashed and she suddenly blinked, tilting her head to the side. ¡°Yes? There¡¯s a room?¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± I looked around again, trying to catch even a glimpse of a red or white coat, but it didn¡¯t look like there was anyone around. That probably meant that Team Flare¡¯s base was indeed here, or at least some structure was there probably containing the ultimate weapon.


    This was concerning.


    ¡°Alright¡­thank you.¡±


    She was suddenly touching my coat, curious at my new wardrobe addition. ¡°I like it,¡± she said after a moment.


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°Yeah I like it, too.¡± There was a moment of silence as she gave me another look over before she nodded and returned to her pokeball. I had a smile on my face as I turned and began to make my way to the Pokecenter. It was about noon, and lunch sounded good.


    Glancing back once again at the stone I caught a glimpse of something hiding in its shadow. I stopped, staring at the rough familiar shape of an Espurr. The same Espurr. Was it following me? Or did it just happen to wander here? It had been a while since I¡¯d seen it. And I was confident that it was the same one as it had that same feeling of being off, except now I could see what was off with it.


    It was pink. It was a shiny? Pokemon could be shiny in this world? Was it some sort of genetic thing? I had so many questions suddenly. Shiny hunting was something a lot of people did, and I had even tried it a few times but never had any luck even after dozens of hours. I had patience, but not that much.


    As I turned to head back and get a closer look at the Pokemon, it disappeared. I paused, waiting for a few minutes, but it didn¡¯t come back. Well, I suppose I will leave it for now. If it was actually following me, it wouldn¡¯t be long before I saw it again. Once is a chance, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern.


    ~


    It was actually kind of jarring to walk into an identical Pokemon center, seeing an identical Nurse Joy, and a Wigglytuff with a little medical cap. ¡°Hi there, how can I help you?¡± she asked with a smile.


    ¡°Uh- Hello Nurse Joy,¡± I said as I walked towards the table. ¡°Sorry, forgot where I was for a second. Spent so much time at the Santalune Pokecenter.¡± I rubbed my head a bit. ¡°I¡¯m going to chalk that up to the concussion¡­¡± I mumbled.


    She blinked at me. ¡°Concussion? Ah, you must be Jason. My cousin has been talking about you.¡± There was a concerned expression on her face. ¡°Did you want a checkup while you¡¯re here?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea. It can take¡­ a few months to fully recover from a concussion, right?¡±


    Wigglytuff was already making her way around the counter. ¡°Do you need your Pokemon checked on as well?¡± the pink Pokemon asked.


    ¡°No, they¡¯re fine. They haven¡¯t battled since their last checkup. We¡¯ve just been watching the League.¡±


    She frowned at me. ¡°It¡¯s still a good idea to get them checked while you¡¯re here.¡±


    I decided to quickly change my tune and nodded a bit. ¡°Right, right. Don¡¯t want to argue with a medical professional giving good advice,¡± I said as I removed the clip from my belt.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We know best,¡± she declared proudly.


    ¡°I would usually agree with you,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Usually?¡±


    ¡°Well no one is incapable of making mistakes,¡± I reasoned, though it was hard to simply not say that even a doctor can be an idiot. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have disagreed with Nurse Joy before, yes?¡±


    She had to think about this for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yes, there have been times. Like when she overreacted to a newborn Axew that got sick.¡±


    I chuckled a bit. ¡°Oh? Well it is concerning for newborns.¡±


    ¡°Gosh, don¡¯t talk about me like I¡¯m not here,¡± Nurse Joy said with a huff, having also come around the counter.


    This time I laughed. ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± I handed my pokeball clip to Wigglytuff, who waddled off with it.


    ¡°Alright, come with me,¡± Nurse Joy said as she led me to the back. It was a quick checkup and only took a few minutes. ¡°Well, you¡¯re healing well. Like, amazingly well. From what I heard you got hit with a bat or something?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, messed me up pretty good. But I¡¯m glad I¡¯m recovering.¡±


    She nodded, and a silence fell as she filled out a bit of paperwork. After a few minutes she finally spoke, ¡°Yanno, it¡¯s really interesting watching you talk with Pokemon. I wish I could get to that level of communication.¡±


    ¡°Ah- yeah. I sometimes forget that not everyone can¡­and it honestly feels like quite a gift. I wonder if it¡¯s because of the concussion. Or something else.¡± Since Arceus supposedly created the Pokemon language, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if he gave me this ability.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ but I doubt that it¡¯s because of the concussion.¡± She gave me a bit of a smile. ¡°Other than the residual head injury trauma, which not even Pokemon can just shrug off, you seem pretty healthy.¡±


    ¡°So a Pokemon wouldn¡¯t heal from this quickly?¡± I asked, curious as the sound of long lasting injuries was worrisome.


    ¡°Pokemon are hardy, and heal extremely quickly. Humans aren¡¯t that far behind, especially with medical treatment. It was only because it took so long for you to get help that it was this bad at all. If a Pokemon had received this injury, they would either need immediate treatment, or be put into pokeball stasis as soon as possible,¡± she explained.


    I nodded slowly. I had to admit that I honestly felt a lot stronger and tougher since coming to this world. Which seemed to be the norm? I guess in order to survive in a world of Pokemon you needed to be a bit tougher. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    She nodded a bit and Wigglytuff entered the room. ¡°Everyone¡¯s all good,¡± she said with a smile, handing me the belt clip.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Immediately she took a step back and put her hands on her nurse hat. ¡°No petting,¡± she said threateningly.


    I laughed. ¡°Yes yes, I know. No head pats, as much as I want to.¡±


    Nurse Joy smiled a bit and tried not to laugh, hiding her mouth behind her hand. ¡°Head pats?¡±


    ¡°Cute Pokemon,¡± I said as I gestured at Wigglytuff. ¡°Cute Pokemon deserve head pats.¡±


    Wigglytuff puffed up a bit before leaving the room as Nurse Joy broke out in giggles. ¡°Head pats, huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Santalune Wigglytuff doesn¡¯t like me patting her head either,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Hopefully the nurse I get will like them.¡±


    ¡°Right, my cousin mentioned you wanted a nurse Pokemon to travel with?¡± she asked, wanting to confirm.


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah. I think it would be a great idea.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever heard of a Trainer wanting to do that. You know she¡¯s probably not going to want to fight, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a typical Trainer,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°And it¡¯s fine if they don¡¯t want to fight. I don¡¯t want to force anyone to fight if they don¡¯t want to.¡±


    She looked at me for a moment, as if trying to confirm if what I said was true. Eventually she nodded. ¡°Alright. Go and rest up. You¡¯re still healing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Nurse Joy. Thank you.¡±


    ~


    After we all had lunch, we spent time sitting in one of the rooms provided by the pokecenter. It was extremely familiar, which felt nice. I actually preferred this small little room in comparison to the expensive hotel. The trio had found my new jacket interesting, but eventually lost interest and began their wrestling competitions while Cara watched from the edge of the bed.


    I awoke in the morning to find everyone piled on top of me again. It was always amusing to see Cara just laying with her face pressed into my shoulder. Though it suddenly reminded me of the same position someone would take when they cried into someone''s shoulder. Did she do that? Did she wait for everyone to fall asleep before crying?


    I wasn¡¯t given a chance to think about it more as there was a knock at the door. As usual Cara used Extreme Speed to get on her feet and into a defensive position. She really did not like when someone came to the door.


    Since everyone else was still asleep I simply returned them to their pokeballs before getting up. I threw on my coat as Cara opened the door. ¡°Finally. Come on, we¡¯re burning day-¡± the Joy stopped when she saw not a person at the door, but a Lucario.


    The two of them seemed to lock eyes for a moment before I walked up. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t expect you this early,¡± I said and then looked down at Cara. She was glaring at the woman in front of her, clearly annoyed at being woken up. I put my hand on her head, ruffling her fur a bit. ¡°So aggressive,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    She batted at my hand, but I noticed not with enough force to actually push my hand away. Maybe I should try petting her more when we were alone? ¡°Why is she here so early?¡± she grumbled.


    ¡°Well, at least you¡¯re good with Pokemon. Now, c¡¯mon, I gotta get back to the ranch,¡± Joy said, though the previous edge to her voice had noticeably dropped.


    ¡°Right.¡± Cara went back into her pokeball as I followed behind this Joy. I waved goodbye to the Nurse Joy behind the counter, and wondered if she ever slept, before exiting the building. There in front of the Pokecenter was the most obvious farm truck to ever truck on a farm. It was even that classic blue, white, and rust that I saw in movies.


    ¡°It¡¯s a fair distance outside of town,¡± she explained as she got in. I got in as well, noting immediately the lack of seatbelts. ¡°Hold on.¡± Then, much to my not surprise, she floored it. I grabbed onto the bar above the door, and held onto it just hard enough to keep myself from falling out of my seat. At one point I swear I saw Officer Jenny flash by, yelling something, but if she was there she wasn¡¯t in sight for long and I heard nothing.


    Cobbled roads quickly gave way to dirt as we flew out of the city. I wasn¡¯t exactly scared, I had been driven by some extremely bad drivers in my last life, and Joy was anything but a bad driver. She was just driving fast. ¡°You could have just told me where the ranch was, I wouldn¡¯t have minded the walk,¡± I said after a bit, doing my best to keep my voice level.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t want you getting lost,¡± she responded, thankfully not taking her eyes off the road as she spoke.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how that would have been possible since we were driving in a fairly straight line. It didn¡¯t even take that long before we pulled up to a large gate. I could see the sign beside it that said ¡®Joy Ranch¡¯. Looking out into the fields I could see a few Pokemon, but what really struck me was the massive school-like building off in the distance.


    After a moment I saw a Wigglytuff making its way from the school and down the road at a jog. I looked at it, then looked at Joy, and then at it. ¡°I can just¡­ get out and open the gate?¡± I suggested.


    Joy glanced at me, and then at the approaching Wigglytuff. She said nothing.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m just gonna¡­ Open the gate,¡± I said as I stepped out of the truck.


    The Joy watched me as I went over, unlatched the gate, and pushed it open. I saw in the distance as the Wigglytuff slowed down, already puffing from their attempted sprint. They practically doubled over, gasping for breath.


    Joy avoided looking at me as they drove through, and I closed the gate, making sure it was latched properly before moving back to the truck. Joy¡¯s face was quite an intense shade of red. ¡°They uh¡­ might need a bit more physical training,¡± I suggested as we drove over to the building, passing the Wigglytuff who honestly had not even made it that far.


    Joy just nodded, her face still very red from embarrassment. She didn¡¯t say anything until she parked, clearing her throat. ¡°Everyone is out back right now, so¡­ we should go there,¡± she said as she began to head that way.


    I followed her, looking over at Wigglytuff who was making their way back to the building at a seemingly more manageable pace.


    ¡°They were told last night that we would have a guest, who was possibly looking for a partner. They honestly seemed pretty excited, though I think that¡¯s just because we never get guests who aren¡¯t here for treatment,¡± as she finished we rounded the corner of the building. I was met with the sight of dozens of Pokemon; mostly Wigglytuff, but there were also some Audino and Indeedee.


    They were all chattering excitedly, talking about this or that, mostly medical things, how their schooling was going, where they were hoping to go, difficult recent patient¡¯s, and other miscellaneous things. However they all seemed to stop when they saw me. I saw their expressions light up and I watched as Joy quickly backed away before they all began to swarm around me, peppering me with questions.


    I had honestly not seen so many Pokemon in such close proximity before and it was quite a delightful experience. ¡°Hello, everyone,¡± I said, unable to keep myself from smiling. ¡°My name is Jason. No, I''m not a doctor. No, I don''t work at a Pokecenter. No, I¡¯m not here from the Association.¡± I did my best to answer some of the questions that I had managed to catch.


    None of that seemed to satiate their curiosity as to why I was here and they continued to ask questions, even the ones I had literally just answered.


    Their excitement was honestly a bit infectious, and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh a bit. ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone who would want to journey with me,¡± I tried to explain, but most of them seemed to not be listening as they chattered excitedly. ¡°Are they always like this?¡± I asked Joy with a laugh.


    ¡°Like I said, no one ever comes to visit. This group is the one that¡¯s going to graduate, so they¡¯re excited,¡± Joy explained.


    ¡°Yes, I can see that,¡± I said, unable to help from laughing a bit more.


    I spent the next few hours talking with them, Joy having to leave in order to do some work. She would obviously be very busy. I introduced the future nurse Pokemon to my own Pokemon, who all got more check ups than they probably would ever need. They were even quite interested in me, as I was recovering from a concussion.


    What I realized as I interacted with them, was they were all excited to be nurses and go work in pokecenters. All of them. Though some of them thought that exploring the world would be interesting, none of them were particularly enthusiastic about it. That was something they wanted to do later in life, after being a nurse.


    Eventually I managed to escape from them, moving away and leaning against the building. This was going to be more difficult than I thought¡­ I might have to give up on getting a nurse for my team. I could live without one, but it would have been extremely useful.


    One of the Audino approached me slowly, gently pulling on my coat. ¡°Jason?¡±


    ¡°Mmm?¡± I looked down at her. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Cara said you like helping Pokemon, right?¡± She seemed hesitant about something.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I try my best,¡± I said truthfully.


    ¡°All your Pokemon say you do,¡± she continued.


    I chuckled a bit, and nodded. ¡°I guess I do like helping, yes.¡±


    ¡°Can you¡­ help my mom?¡± They weren¡¯t looking at me, staring off into the distance. I followed her gaze, but she wasn¡¯t looking at anything I could see. ¡°She won¡¯t talk to us.¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± I said softly, smiling at her.


    She nodded. I noticed that there were a couple Audino behind her, all of them looking at me expectantly. ¡°This way.¡± She began to lead me away from the building, the other Audino simply watching us leave.


    Cara gave me a bit of a look, but I smiled at her. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll be back in a while.¡±


    After a few minutes of walking we came across a river flowing through the property. I could see a few water Pokemon swimming about, but the Audino pointed a bit up stream. There was another Audino sitting on the bank, staring at the water.


    I was about to make my way over when a hand was placed on my shoulder. I looked over to see Joy looking at the Audino that had led me here, frowning at her. ¡°She needs time,¡± Joy said, wearing quite the disapproving look. The look seemed to be enough to scare the little Pokemon away.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, looking back at the Audino in the distance.


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­¡± Joy hesitated before sighing. ¡°She¡¯s retired.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look that old,¡± I said.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with her age.¡± Again she sighed. ¡°She was a breeder while here in school. Raised a lot of talented Pokemon while doing her schooling. She also has a real knack for medicine. But soon after she graduated and got assigned¡­¡± she trailed off and it took a few moments before she started again. ¡°A few months ago, there was an attack on her Pokecenter.¡±


    Now it was my turn to frown. ¡°Who attacked it?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know. Some secret organization that hadn¡¯t revealed their name¡­ We don¡¯t know the reason either. She did her best, but she wasn¡¯t trained to be a fighter. The¡­ Nurse Joy there didn¡¯t make it.¡± I could hear the hurt in her voice, and her eyes were becoming a bit watery.


    I gently placed my hand on her shoulder.


    She took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m fine. But she¡­ she took it much harder, because she was right there. She was right there, and she blames herself for not being able to protect her. Or anyone there. Not many survived.¡±


    A slight, unpleasant, shiver ran down my spine and I was really forced to realize that this wasn¡¯t a game, but real life - my life. People and Pokemon died here. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t mind if I talk to her?¡±


    After a moment she shook her head. ¡°No¡­ My cousin said you¡¯re really good at understanding Pokemon¡­ maybe you can figure out how to help her better than I can.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say better. I¡¯m just lucky I can approach it from a different angle.¡± I pat her on the shoulder a bit before I started to walk over.


    The Audino didn¡¯t even move as I came over, sitting down beside her and looking at the river. She didn¡¯t even look at me, just staring at the water. There wasn¡¯t anything in particular that I could see her looking at. A few Pokemon swimming up or down the river, though nothing particularly large or unexpected.


    I just sat with her. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t know what to say, but it wasn¡¯t really for me to start this conversation. It was almost an hour before she finally spoke, ¡°You¡¯re the guest everyone¡¯s been talking about?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. My name¡¯s Jason, but you can call me Jace,¡± I said, looking at her. Her expression didn¡¯t change, nor did she shift her gaze.


    A few more minutes passed. ¡°You¡¯re here to get a nurse partner,¡± she stated flatly.


    ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you over here?¡±


    I looked at her for a moment before responding, ¡°Your children are worried about you. They wanted me to come talk to you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to talk about?¡±


    ¡°Oh there¡¯s lots to talk about,¡± I leaned back a bit on my hands. ¡°Like, the Pokemon in the river.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about that,¡± she said coldly.


    ¡°Then what do you want to talk about?¡± I asked, looking at her back. She had scars.


    There were several minutes of silence before she spoke again, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I came to the ranch hoping to find a nurse Pokemon who would want to come along with me on my journey.¡± I sighed a bit. ¡°But it¡¯s pretty obvious that no one wants to come along.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re okay with that?¡± She actually turned a bit, looking a bit towards me but not at me. ¡°You¡¯re okay with failing?¡±


    ¡°Failing? Is that what you think?¡± She didn¡¯t respond. ¡°I¡¯m not going to force anyone to be my friend, or leave their home, or go somewhere they don¡¯t want to go. That¡¯s not the type of person I am.¡±


    I waited a moment for her to respond, but she just turned her attention back to the river.


    ¡°Am I disappointed?¡± I continued, talking more to myself now. ¡°Sure. A bit, but I also got to experience something by coming here. I got to see the next generation of nurse Pokemon. Who gets to do that besides Joy?¡± I remained silent for a moment before adding, ¡°It¡¯s not comparable.¡±


    ¡°What isn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°My experience coming here,¡± I said before fully laying back. ¡°But I¡­ I do know a bit about how you feel,¡± I said softly. ¡°I am¡­ so far from home. And I don¡¯t think I can ever go back.¡± I watched the clouds for a moment before taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. ¡°My friends. My family. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll never get to see any of them ever again.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I opened my eyes to see that she had actually turned to look at me.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not from here. I¡¯m not¡­ not even from this world. Someone decided that what was in my pockets was worth more than my life. And for some reason," I continued with an unexpected, venomous edge, "for some fucking reason¡­ Arceus decides to throw me here. A place I don¡¯t know anyone. A place I have no family. No friends.¡±


    Again she was silent.


    With a sigh I sat back up. ¡°So I decided to make new friends. Make a new family¡­ And I think I¡¯ve done a pretty good job at that so far.¡± I looked at her a moment before holding out my hand to her. ¡°Audino¡­ You have friends¡­and family¡­ Who love you, and are worried about you.¡±


    I had expected her to ignore me, turn her attention back to the river. Instead, I saw her face scrunch up a bit as tears welled up in her eyes. Tiredly, like all the strength left her, she seemed to sag. Her head hit my chest, her hands weakly grasping at my coat as tears streamed down her face. I put my arms around her, rubbing her back.


    Closing my eyes, I simply held her. It was interesting that this was the second time I had a Pokemon sobbing in my arms. If someone heard about that they would think I¡¯m a horrible person, making Pokemon cry. But Audino was completely different from Popplio. Popplio had been sad because she had been abandoned and ignored. Audino was bottling everything up and pushing everyone away.


    It took a long time for her to calm down. She didn¡¯t fall asleep, just slowly becoming quieter with just a few sniffles every now and then. I had no problem sitting with her, gently petting her. She had short soft fur covering her body, and I tried to be gentle because I didn¡¯t know if her scars still hurt. It was interesting to learn that Pokemon could scar, and I wondered what it took to leave scars. Probably a lot.


    ¡°Why?¡± she asked softly.


    I made a little, ¡°Mm?¡± noise, not quite sure what she was asking about.


    ¡°Why would someone do that?¡± she mumbled into my chest.


    Closing my eyes a sigh escaped me. ¡°Someone who¡¯s more of an optimist would probably try and reason things out, say that there¡¯s a reason. But sometimes the reason doesn¡¯t matter. Sometimes¡­ people are just evil.¡± I rubbed the back of her head. ¡°And it¡¯s not fair. It¡¯s not fair that someone can just¡­decide to be evil and inflict that on others.¡±


    ¡°So there was no reason?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that,¡± I responded quickly. ¡°I¡¯m saying the reason doesn¡¯t matter. There is no excuse that they can make to justify what they did. Some acts of evil are beyond any sort of reason.¡±


    She was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    I had to think about it for a moment. ¡°Stealing a loaf of bread because you¡¯re starving is a reasonable evil. Hurting someone to keep them from hurting others is a reasonable evil. There was probably a reason for those people doing what they did, but it doesn¡¯t matter. What they did was so evil that no excuse or reason they could have could justify it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I want to know the reason¡­¡±


    I sighed a bit, petting her more. ¡°I can¡¯t help you there. You¡¯d have to go to Galar and find out.¡±


    It was a bit longer before she pulled away, sniffling and wiping at her face. I smiled a bit at her, petting the top of her head for a moment before offering my hand again. It took a few moments before she slowly put her hand into mine. I stood up, and pulled her up onto her feet as I did.


    She seemed a bit startled at my action, but realized my intent when I started walking, gently pulling her along. There was a bit of hesitation in her step, and I matched my pace to hers. There was conflict on her face, but isolating herself was not going to help her. Shutting yourself off when you¡¯re going through things is not good for your mental health. I learned that from experience.


    When we finally made our way around the building we were met with a rather interesting sight. The trio were fighting. Not play fighting as they normally did, but actually battling. I wondered for a moment if there had been some sort of argument between them when I realized they were surrounded by nurse Pokemon.


    ¡°Bunch of little battle junkies,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back,¡± Joy said. She was leaning against the wall not far from me, and I hadn¡¯t noticed her.


    I nodded a bit, glancing at the Audino, who was still holding my hand. The other Audino had noticed our presence and their focus had turned towards us. She looked at the ground, avoiding the gazes from the others. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said softly, smiling down at her. ¡°They¡¯re your family. They just want you to be okay.¡±


    With a nod she slowly let go of my hand and approached the group. There were a few moments of silence before they all seemed to collectively begin asking if she¡¯s okay and began to hug and touch her, crying as they did so. She started crying too, apologizing for how she had acted. There was a lot of discussion, many of them telling her she had nothing to apologize for, and that they understood she was going through a hard time.


    ¡°You really are good with Pokemon,¡± Joy said as she watched the interaction.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly glad that I am.¡±


    There were a few moments of silence between us. I was watching the trio battle, and were extremely rough on each other. Or at least Rio and Veny were rough, I did notice how they held back a bit against Popplio. Cara was also watching them, coaching from what I could tell. ¡°I¡¯m- I¡¯m sorry none of them wanted to go with you,¡± Joy said after a time.


    ¡°Hm?¡± I turned to look at her. ¡°Oh. No worries,¡± I said with a smile before turning back. ¡°I knew it was a possibility. And it¡¯s not like I based my whole life plans on it.¡± I turned my attention back to the group of Audinos. ¡°Besides¡­ I managed to do some good.¡±


    She also looked over at the group of Audino, who had seemed to have calmed down some. They were now talking to her about other things, catching her up on what had happened while she was recuperating. Like she had just been on vacation. ¡°Yeah¡­ You did. But I still feel kind of bad about it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± I said with a bit of a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not going to feel bad about it, so there¡¯s no reason for you to.¡± While it was true I didn¡¯t feel too bad about it, it was still a bit disappointing that none of the dozens of Pokemon were interested in coming with. Though another thought struck me. ¡°There is something else you might be able to help me with.¡±


    Her attention slowly looked over at me, a bit puzzled and a bit suspicious. ¡°What sort?¡±


    I chuckled a bit. ¡°I just wanted to know if you had information on pokeblocks and how to make them. Honestly I¡¯d even take information on how to make poffins, or poke puffs.¡±


    She arched a brow at me. ¡°Oh is that all?¡± She stood up from her position against the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t have poke puff recipes, since those don¡¯t really help with recovery or growth, but I¡¯ve got some books on pokeblocks and poffins you can look through.¡±


    That actually surprised me that she had them. ¡°Really? I¡¯d appreciate it. I asked Professor Sycamore, but he said he didn¡¯t know.¡±


    Giggles escaped her as she shook her head, leading me off towards one of the doors to the building. ¡°Doesn¡¯t surprise me. His head is filled with rocks.¡±


    I laughed a bit as well. Knowing his focus of study, it was a very appropriate thing to say about him. ¡°I see.¡± We entered the building which immediately reminded me of a mixture of hospital and school, clean white halls with fluorescent lights and those extremely familiar ceiling tiles.


    ¡°Although, I¡¯m kind of surprised you want to learn to make them. They¡¯re not easy to make, and most Trainers just buy them if they really want them.¡± We walked for a bit until we entered a sort of library. There were a few Pokemon in here, reading from books.


    ¡°It¡¯s partially curiosity, but mostly I want to be able to make them myself so I know exactly what I¡¯m feeding to Pokemon.¡± I had read some of the ingredients on some of the poke snacks and pokechow and some of them sounded dubious, or had way too much salt or sugar to make them taste better.


    She nodded a bit to that, pulling out a few books. ¡°That¡¯s understandable. I can¡¯t let you take the books, but you can look at them.¡± She placed them down on a table. ¡°Not many Trainers take diet into account when raising Pokemon, and in extreme cases it can be really bad for them.¡±


    I took a look at the books placed on the table, there were three books on pokeblocks, and one book on poffins. Flipping through them they were all just recipes. ¡°Diet is very important. With how active Pokemon are, they need the appropriate vitamins and minerals to properly replenish their energies.¡±


    Joy chuckled. ¡°You sound like a breeder.¡± She paused, giving me quite a peculiar look. ¡°Were you a breeder?¡±


    My hand stopped mid page turn, remaining still for a few seconds before I looked at her, a bit confused. Then I remembered that most people thought I had amnesia. My brow furrowed as I tried to think of a proper response. That question had caught me off guard. I suppose if you think about all the Pokemon breeding I did in the games, ¡°Maybe?¡±


    ¡°That could be a good clue,¡± she said as she leaned towards me a bit. ¡°If you were a breeder then you would be registered somewhere. And your knowledge would make a lot of sense.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°But¡­ then Officer Jenny would have already found who I was?¡±


    There was a moment of silence before she suddenly deflated. ¡°Right. Right¡­ your identity would have come up day one¡­¡±


    Shifting my focus back to the books I realized quickly why there were so many recipes for pokeblocks compared to poffins. Pokeblocks were a lot harder to make, but you could do so much more with them. High quality pokeblocks could actually improve the internal energy of a Pokemon. Of course, these types of pokeblocks couldn¡¯t be fed to a Pokemon too often or else they¡¯ll get sick. Pokeblocks also required some specialized tools to make, like a berry blender and a pokeblock press.


    It was all fascinating stuff. I had been super curious about how pokeblocks and poffins worked if they were real, and they seem like super-multivitamins for Pokemon. Something to help in growth and recovery. ¡°Hm¡­ Do you mind if I take pictures?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    I pulled out my phone and gestured to the books. ¡°Pictures?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Uh¡­ Sure, go ahead.¡± She seemed a bit puzzled, not quite understanding what I was talking about.


    Going to the photo app that I downloaded I began taking pictures of every single page. I did have to make sure the quality was good enough to read, but surprisingly it was actually really high quality. With that note app that I had I could spend downtime transcribing recipes. Maybe I could make my own app? I had no idea how they programmed in this world, but I could give that a shot.


    It took half an hour to photograph every page, and I put my phone away with a smile. ¡°There. Now I can look at all that in depth later.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a really good idea,¡± Joy said as I collected the books back up and put them away. ¡°Never seen anyone copy a book like that.¡±


    ¡°Really? It just came to me. I think I¡¯ve done it before,¡± I mused, knowing for a fact that I had done something very similar. I had no idea what copyright laws existed here, but I¡¯m sure whoever published those books would try and get me if they knew what I just did.


    ¡°Hm. Well, it¡¯s about lunch time, so let¡¯s get something to eat.¡±


    After gathering all the Pokemon up, we all had lunch. It was the exact sort of food they served in Pokecenters. Was there some sort of book that they followed? It was a bit interesting how every pokecenter was so similar, though seeing the place where the Pokemon are all trained it made sense that they would all be the same. Then it was time to leave.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to give you a ride back into town?¡± Joy asked for the third time.


    I shook my head. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s alright. I know you have a lot of work today. It¡¯s a straight shot back to town, and I can just catch a train back to League City. Gotta rack up more of a tab on the Professor¡¯s dollar.¡±


    That got her to smile a bit and nod. ¡°Alright. If you¡¯re sure.¡± We said our goodbyes, and she headed back inside.


    We walked down the long road to the gate. ¡°That was fun!¡± Rio said.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you had fun,¡± I said, chuckling a bit. Rio was sitting on her mothers shoulders, as Popplio had stolen her seat on Veny¡¯s back.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we did not accomplish our goal,¡± Cara said with a bit of a frustrated look on her face.


    I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. And I did get information that I wanted, so it was worth coming here.¡±


    A lot of padding noise behind us caused me to look back, to see quite a number of Audino coming. I stopped walking, curious to see what they wanted. They all seemed a bit out of breath by the time they caught up with us. One of them came forward and I recognized them immediately as the one who I had helped.


    She looked flustered. ¡°You¡¯re just leaving?¡±


    I blinked at her. ¡°Well, yes? Did you think I would be staying?¡±


    ¡°No that¡¯s¡­¡± She looked at me a moment before huffing and holding out her hand towards me. In her hand was a pokeball.


    I raised an eyebrow at her, looking at the pokeball for a moment, and then at her. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not leaving without me,¡± she said rather resolutely.


    I smiled at her as I held out my hand. ¡°I¡¯d love to have you join us.¡±


    She firmly put the pokeball in my hand, there was a smile on her face. ¡°My name is Deeno, but everyone calls me Dee.¡± The other Audino cheered and celebrated as they made their way back towards the school. It looked like they were happy that she had gotten better.


    ¡°It¡¯s wonderful to have you aboard, Dee.¡± I was still smiling as I shrank down her pokeball and put it onto my belt.


    There was quite a large smile on her face as she put her hands on her hips. ¡°I¡¯m actually kind of excited to go see some league battles.¡±


    ¡°Ah, about that.¡± I made sure that the group of Pokemon had gotten distance before I started to walk. ¡°While we are going back there, we aren¡¯t going immediately back.¡±


    She moved up to walk beside me. ¡°Then¡­ where are we going?¡±


    I pointed off into the distance towards the mountains. ¡°Reflection Cave.¡±


    The biggest reason I wanted to go to Reflection Cave was because it was literally right there. I honestly felt extremely restricted. Here I was in the Pokemon world, but I wasn¡¯t allowed to explore it. This was the perfect opportunity to do a bit of wandering.


    Everyone seemed rather excited about it as well, even Dee. She had been living so close for so long but had never gone. Though her excitement waned pretty quick after a few hours of hiking. She was used to walking around on floors, not hiking up a mountain.


    Eventually we stopped near a stream, much to her relief. ¡°It¡¯s our first night out,¡± I said as I started to pull things out of my bag. ¡°First¡­ we set up the tent.¡± Said tent was actually inflatable, and could be used as a raft. Following the instructions, I staked it down and then found the inflate valve. There was a small foot pump as well, which I hooked up.


    Rather than do it myself, I asked if the trio would like to help out while I make food. They were all on board and I explained what they were supposed to do. And then they made a game out of it. Cara and Dee had actually gathered a bunch of firewood while I was messing with the tent.


    As I was working to get the fire going, which was pretty easy since I had a firestarter kit, I had a rather concerning thought. I had never cooked anything over a fire aside from marshmallows. This was going to be a learning experience. Thankfully Dee actually knew how to cook, as it was something taught. And they were supposedly good at it.


    Using berries I did a nature test. By cutting up a berry of each of the four flavors into five pieces and asking everyone to try each one and tell me which one they liked. After the experiment I had a good idea of all of their nature¡¯s. Cara was neutral on every flavor, and judging from her personality she had a bashful nature. Rio liked sour and really didn¡¯t like spicy, so she had a bold nature. Veny liked sweet, and didn¡¯t like dry, so her nature was jolly. Popplio and Dee both liked the dry berry, but Dee didn¡¯t like spicy which made her nature modest, and Popplio didn¡¯t like sour which made her nature mild.


    It was interesting that only two of them had an overlapping liked flavor. I wasn¡¯t sure of the accuracy of nature¡¯s, but it was how I kept it in my head and for the most part it all matched up. I made notes of it on my phone, just in case I ever forgot. Mostly I did this to know what each of my Pokemon liked rather than knowing their nature. Now that I knew what they liked I would have to make the curry, portion it out into fourths with extra for Cara, and then finish it with the appropriate flavored berry.


    Wait. Six. I was here, too. I had to make food for myself, too. Well, I would make everyone else¡¯s portion and taste each one to determine which one I liked more. However in the end I didn¡¯t really dislike any of them, so I tried a spicy berry and a bitter one as well, but I didn¡¯t particularly like or dislike either. Do I have a neutral nature? Or do humans just not have nature¡¯s? That would be kind of lame.


    I decided that the best possible thing would be to make up four portions of each flavor, just making a bit extra of each, and then use the remains of all four for Cara and I¡¯s servings. It actually worked out pretty well, especially with Dee helping me cook. She asked a lot of questions, having never heard of a recipe quite like what I was trying to make. Which did make me realize all the food I had was rather basic things.


    Food was very important, and in the games and anime food could be used to help Pokemon. So I would ask everyone to tell me how they felt after they ate, if they liked it, if they felt any different. I wanted to know if there were effects from the curry.


    Personally I thought it was really good, but I was biased. Though judging by how greedily everyone ate the food, I had to assume everyone thought it was good. ¡°Better than the Pokecenter food,¡± Rio said, happily rubbing her stomach.


    Dee looked like she wanted to say something, but instead sighed. ¡°I do have to admit it is better than what we prepare¡­¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not really fair to compare it. You have to make it for dozens and dozens of people and Pokemon of all types and sorts, and make a huge variety of it.¡± I smiled a bit, I was about half way done with my plate. ¡°We can make it special.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s cus you and Dee made it.¡± Popplio said with a smile; she still had sauce on her face.


    I chuckled as I pulled out a napkin and reached over, wiping the sauce from her face. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you liked it so much.¡± I looked around at everyone, not able to see any physical change. ¡°So, how does everyone feel?¡±


    There was a bit of confusion on everyone¡¯s faces, not quite understanding what I was asking. Dee was the first to suddenly gain an expression of realization, and looked down at herself. ¡°My legs don¡¯t hurt anymore?¡± she said in confusion.


    That at least confirmed that it did have some sort of healing effect. In the game, curry would give an experience boost, restore health and energy, and make Pokemon more social. More testing would need to be done to truly know the effects.


    The other Pokemon seemed a bit confused, but there was a general consensus that everyone felt better after eating. If that¡¯s all it did, that would be good enough. ¡°When I have more money, I¡¯ll be able to make all sorts of dishes,¡± I mused, wondering again how best to make money.


    Everyone was already looking forward to the next meal. After washing all of the cooking pots, plates, and bowls, I put everything away. I did a quick washcloth wipe down of myself before going into the tent. When I entered I was immediately stunned; it had the same expanded space technology used on the bag. I was really going to have to thank the professor again for all the things he gave me.


    Although it was sparse and had no decorations or furnishings, it was an extremely large room. Clearly it was made for really big Pokemon to be able to be in here. Maybe a Wailord? It could easily fit four or five Onyx and have room for a snorlax.


    What sort of Pokemon did the Professor think I was going to get that I was going to need this much room? Once Veny reached her final evolution she would be the biggest Pokemon I have. But even then Scolipede were only just about eight feet.


    Either way, I set out my bedroll and laid on top of it. Thankfully it was warm enough in here that I didn¡¯t have to actually get into it. As per usual I was dogpiled by Pokemon once they realized it was time to sleep. To my surprise, Audino actually laid down above my head, scooting in close to the point that my head was actually resting a bit on her stomach. She was probably there because she knew I had a head injury and wanted to keep an eye on it.


    After breaking camp in the morning, we continued our hike up the mountain. If I estimated correctly, we would reach it in a few hours; well before noon. However, the walk was soon interrupted as my phone rang. I was a bit puzzled at who was calling, but glad that I had service. Pulling out the phone, I could see that it was Ranch Joy.


    I answered, ¡°Hello, Joy. What-¡±


    ¡°Is Audino with you?¡± she asked hurriedly, looking rather frazzled.


    I blinked, looking at her for a moment. ¡°Yes, she is,¡± I said as I shifted the camera view so that Dee was in the background, struggling to keep pace with the rest of the group but somehow managing.


    She let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Oh thank Arceus¡­ She wasn¡¯t at the breakfast headcount and I panicked. And I couldn¡¯t understand the other Audinos explanation.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± I looked back at Dee, realizing that she didn¡¯t tell Joy before leaving. And I could tell from her attempt at looking innocent she had done that on purpose. ¡°Well, she followed me out with her pokeball. Sorry, I thought you let her.¡±


    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. She¡¯s officially retired, so it¡¯s fine. I just¡­ I just would have liked to have been informed rather than finding out the way that I did.¡± She looked rather annoyed as she looked past me at Dee.


    ¡°Yes, I can understand that.¡± With how she had been dealing with her grief, I could imagine the first place Joy checked was the river, and not finding her there made her panic even more. Trauma can lead to people doing very stupid things.


    Dee looked a bit apologetic. ¡°I didn¡¯t think she would let me go¡­¡±


    ¡°You should have still told her,¡± I said softly, reaching out and rubbing the top of her head.


    She nodded, looking at Joy on the phone. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just¡­ I really wanted to go and was worried you would say no.¡±


    Joy sighed a bit, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just, don¡¯t worry your new Trainer, okay?¡± She smiled a bit.


    Dee smiled back and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry as well,¡± I added. ¡°I should have checked with you, but she showed up with her pokeball and a group of Audino so I thought you were aware.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. She¡¯s fine, you¡¯re fine. I¡¯ve got to get back to work now.¡± And then she hung up without saying goodbye.


    I blinked and then chuckled as I put my phone away. ¡°You¡¯re a bit more of a troublemaker than I thought you¡¯d be, Dee.¡±


    She huffed at me, but she couldn¡¯t really refute it. With that interesting interaction we all continued our way up the mountain. With such a group as ours, most Pokemon were avoiding us. I could see some run away, like Nidoran, Nidorinas and Nidorinos, though the vast majority did nothing more than watch us pass, like the large number of Starly and Staravias. There was even one of the many Pikachu clone Pokemon, Dedenne, sitting in a bush.


    At about noon, after walking through some rather rocky terrain, we came across a rather large cave opening, and I could see the shine of crystals. I decided that before entering, we would all have lunch and so I pulled out the cooking supplies, and Cara took the trio out to collect firewood. With Dee helping to set up, everything went rather quickly.


    As Dee and I made food, I could see several Pokemon watching us from a distance. In the game, making curry had a chance to draw in wild Pokemon who would want to join your team, though I¡¯m sure in real life the smell of food would attract all numbers of creatures.


    When the food was done and we sat down to eat, I started to do rough calculations in my head on how much each portion was. It cost about three hundred pokedollars to feed everyone, including myself. The most expensive part of it was the berries, the cheapest part being rice. I hadn¡¯t seen any berries while we were walking, which was to be expected considering how many Pokemon there were.


    If I had bought food specifically just for curry, I would have had about thirteen meals worth, but I didn¡¯t plan for that. I didn¡¯t know everyone¡¯s tastes, and I bought far more berries than I needed. I had enough ingredients to do four more meals of this quality.


    My thoughts were broken by the sound of a bell and my eyes focused from my food to the little bell floating in front of me. It was staring at me, floating there. It had little legs and arms, and two red and white tassels. ¡°Hello, Chingling,¡± I said with a bit of a smile.


    It made noises at me. Again, though they weren¡¯t words, I could understand what it was saying. It was demanding that I give it food.


    I arched an eyebrow at it. It wasn¡¯t asking, it was demanding. ¡°Are you going to ask nicely?¡± I asked as I put my food to the side.


    That seemed to incense it, and it let out a rather loud cry. I saw how everyone else flinched at the noise, and it even hurt me.


    ¡°Alright. Stop. If you want something, you have to ask nicely, otherwise-¡±


    It interrupted me with another cry, this one louder and even more painful.


    ¡°Enough!¡± I shouted at it. Which seemed to cause it to hesitate. I could see Cara getting up, clearly having had enough of the little bell. I rubbed a bit at my head, having a headache now. ¡°Do you not understand the situation you¡¯re in? There are five Pokemon here, and you-¡±


    Again I was interrupted as it suddenly slammed into my chest, knocking me over. It loudly claimed that since I was the weakest one here, I should give it my food since it was stronger.


    I blinked a few times. Despite knocking me down, it hadn¡¯t hurt. Standing up, listening to it gloat, I grabbed hold of the rope it used as tassels, which immediately caused it to stop talking. I began to swing it around and around and around and around as hard and as fast as I could. I did this for a good few moments before letting it go, watching as it shot into the distance, and pinged off of a rock before disappearing out of sight. ¡°What a little jerk,¡± I said before sitting back down and grabbing my food.


    Dee came over to take a look and see if I was injured. Clearly she was concerned since any sort of head injury, even a minor bump from falling over, could aggravate my concussion and make it worse. She was relieved to see that it apparently hadn¡¯t hit me that hard and had more just pushed me over. Still she used Heal Pulse, just in case.


    ¡°Thank you, Dee,¡± I said, trying to get her to stop fussing over me and go back to finish her meal. She seemed very reluctant to do so, but I just started rubbing the top of her head until she eventually did.


    Cara glared at the place the Chingling went, watching to see if it would come back. But it didn¡¯t. The trio also made vague threats in that direction, Rio quite vocal about how rude the bell had been.


    Once we had cleaned up, I made sure that the fire was out before turning my attention back to the cave. ¡°So, who wants to explore the cave?¡± I said with a smile. Though it slowly became a frown as all of them looked hesitant. Veny and Popplio immediately returned to their pokeballs. I sighed. ¡°Fine, everyone can go back to their pokeballs.¡±


    And all of them did. I rolled my eyes as I began to walk towards the cave entrance. I wasn¡¯t sure why they were so afraid of the cave, as it looked beautiful even from just what I could see.


    The walls were covered in chunks of crystals, entire walls were made from the stuff. It looked a lot like a highly reflective quartz, but I wasn¡¯t a geologist. The floor was rough and uneven, obviously this wasn¡¯t really the official path through the mountain. I would have probably had to go from the town, and there would have been a road, but I wanted to explore.


    I did my best to be quiet, just taking in the sight of infinite reflections and the way the light bounced around the cave. I passed under a group of Woobat, taking a moment to look at the little fluff balls of bat. Better than the aggressive Zubat, though I had to admit I had a special place for those flying buggers. A Zubat was my first shiny Pokemon in the games, and I had raised it all the way to a Crobat.


    Lost in my thoughts for a moment, I nearly tripped over a Roggenrola, who eyed me with a bit of annoyance. I bowed my head a bit. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said softly. I quickly realized that there were quite a lot of them, all looking at me. Well, not looking at me, but listening to me since the thing on the middle of their head is an ear not an eye.


    They all listened for a moment before they continued on their little journey. I realized they were going into a small hole in the wall. I waited for them to all leave before I continued down the tunnel. There were a lot of holes, offshoots, and crevices leading off from this larger tunnel, but I couldn¡¯t fit through any of them. At least it should be easy to retrace my steps to find the exit.


    The tunnel was twisty and seemed to go in a downward direction. However, it eventually came to a deadend. Or at least a deadend for me. I crouched down, looking into the two foot wide hole at the end. It looked like it went on for a while, but eventually it turned and I couldn¡¯t see further down it even with the reflective nature of all the crystals. What was really concerning though is I could see through the floor I was standing on, and it was quite thin.


    As I slowly stood up and turned around I was met with an interesting and concerning sight. Squeezing out of one of the nearby holes that I had passed was a tall, cyan colored Pokemon with a scrunched up face and rather jagged mouth. ¡°Oh, hey Wobbuffet.¡±


    It stood up in a strange way, though I was more curious as to how it had come out of such a small hole. Me talking seemed to cause it to realize that I was there and it looked over at me. There was a moment of silence as we sort of looked at each other.


    I knew that Wobbuffet was a rather docile Pokemon, so it was probably waiting to see if I would attack it. ¡°Do you want a berry?¡± I asked as I reached into my bag. I had several berries that weren¡¯t liked by the Pokemon in my group.


    That seemed to get its attention and it wobbled over to me as I pulled out a rawst berry. Hopefully this Wobbuffet liked bitter. As I held out the berry and it approached there was a sudden cracking sound. I blinked and looked down to see if that was the source.


    Much to my dismay, it was indeed the ground below me. Both I and the Wobbuffet looked down at the ground, and then at each other. It slowly reached out towards me, but rather than try and help, it took the berry and took a few wobbly steps away. ¡°Oh, I see how it is.¡± I pointed at them. ¡°I¡¯ll remember this.¡±


    And then the floor gave out.

 Chapter Five

    The trip down was not very gentle, but not as rough as I thought it would be. It was like going down a rough slide. The twists and turns were the hard part, as I was constantly being slammed into walls and jostled back and forth. Eventually it spit me out a few feet above the ground, not landing on my feet but not beefing my face into the ground.


    It took me a moment to get my bearings of which way was up as my head was spinning. I reached for my belt to grab Dee and have her check me over only to find the clip gone. Blinking and looking around, this part of the cave was darker but I could still see a bit from the small amount of light being fractalled in. I still had my bag, but it seems the pokeball belt clip wasn¡¯t as sturdy.


    Thankfully in my supplies I had a flashlight, which I fumbled a bit to retrieve. My hands were a bit shaky from the sudden tunnel slide. Flicking it on and looking around with it, I was in a small little room with two other tunnel offshoots. But I didn¡¯t see the clip anywhere. It must have gone down one of the other little tunnels. ¡°I really hope it¡¯s not stuck somewhere¡­¡±


    I did know that all of my Pokemon could release themselves, so I was sure wherever they were they were already probably trying to find me. The possible worst case scenarios were running through my head. I had food and water, but they didn¡¯t. If they stayed in the pokeballs they wouldn¡¯t get hungry for a long time, but what if the ball broke? What if they¡¯re stuck somewhere?


    Several minutes were spent crawling around on the floor looking around the small room and just trying to calm myself down, taking deep breaths and convincing myself things would be okay. My body was sore from my trip down, so I pulled out an oran berry and began to eat it while I thought. Thankfully oran berries worked on humans and tasted good.


    I quickly checked my phone, but of course I had no service. Which would honestly be really embarrassing because I don¡¯t know the emergency number, and would have had to call Ranch Joy and tell her what happened. I was already feeling dumb for coming here without preparing more, and having to explain my stupid decision would¡¯ve just made me feel worse.


    The question now was, what do I do? There were two directions I could go, as I could not go back up the way I came. Neither looked that different from the other. My best plan would be to try and find a rock Pokemon to help me find my pokeball clip, but if I ran into a Pokemon that was hostile I would be screwed.


    Although the only really aggressive thing I could think of in the cave would be a Sableye. But that would only be if it followed game logic. For all I knew I could find a Mr. Mime that would try and kill me. The encounter with that Chingling was a good reminder that not all Pokemon are nice or friendly.


    Sighing, I stood up and dusted myself off. My coat had held up quite well, and I was really glad I had bought it otherwise my arms would have probably been cut up during my tumble. Looking down both passageways I decided to go to the right, as it was more lit up and I could save the power of my flashlight.


    After putting it away I started to walk slowly and quietly. I was trying to listen in case I heard any Pokemon. This tunnel was much larger than the one I had been in above, and actually showed some signs of excavation. Although I couldn¡¯t tell if it was from Pokemon or people. Especially because either way it would be Pokemon doing the digging.


    A little noise caused me to pause and I looked over to be met with bright blue eyes. There was an immediate moment of panic as I thought I had come across a Sableye, however as I saw the large rock that made up this Pokemon, the blue crystals, and the white fluff I realized that this was a Carbink.


    I blinked at it as it stared at me, shaking slightly. ¡°Ah-¡± I took a step back, putting my hands up. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m not going to hurt you.¡±


    It simply stared at me, but seemed to calm down.


    After a moment I slowly sat down, putting my hands on my lap so that it could see that they were empty. ¡°My name¡¯s Jason. You can call me Jace. I fell down a hole. I¡¯m¡­ lost, and I¡¯ve lost my Pokemon.¡±


    It took a moment before there was a response. ¡°Hello¡­¡± it said softly. It¡¯s voice was quite clear despite being so quiet, with a sort of ringing tone to it.


    ¡°Do you want a berry?¡± I said softly as I pulled out another oran berry from my bag. It was extremely curious how all Pokemon are capable of eating berries, even when they don¡¯t have mouths.


    Its eyes looked at the berry for a moment before it floated over. I held the berry out at arms length so it didn¡¯t have to get any closer to me than necessary. It moved close and pulled my hand and berry into its fluff. It was amazingly soft. When it pulled away, the berry was gone, and it suddenly gave off an air of pleasure.


    That had probably been the first berry it had ever had. I watched how they ate it curiously. It had just been¡­absorbed by the fluff and slowly disappeared. They did a little twirl, moving closer to me. ¡°Good!¡± they exclaimed, bobbing around me as they celebrated.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you liked it,¡± I said with a chuckle. Maybe unfriendly Pokemon were the outlier?


    ¡°Come!¡± it suddenly called, and began to bob further down the tunnel.


    Curious, I stood up and followed. The tunnels began to branch out to a rather surprising level. There were lefts and rights and straights, ups and downs. I would have gotten extremely lost, but thankfully I had a guide. Hopefully they knew where they were going.


    After a few minutes, I was led into a larger room. The floor was almost completely made of the mirrored crystal, and slowly dipped into a rather large basin full of water. There were several more Carbink in here, of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Hopefully they didn¡¯t want me to feed all of them¡­ I didn¡¯t have that many berries.


    The one I had followed made noises at the others like crystalline windchimes. They were excitedly explaining how they found me, and that I was nice and gave them something delicious. Many of them were floating near me, looking at me curiously. Without thinking I reached out and rubbed the crystal on the top of one¡¯s head. It made a pleased noise, doing a little twirl.


    Rock Pokemon were fascinating. They were made from living stone, capable of feeling, and growing. But they felt just like I would have expected a gem to feel. Many more came up to me, now even more curious. I gave out little head pets to those that got close enough, which they seemed to like.


    ¡°Human.¡± I was startled a bit at the sudden word from behind me and turned to see a larger crystal and stone Pokemon, this one made from pink diamonds and wearing what looked like a white dress.


    I stared for a moment, trying to process what I was seeing. ¡°Diancie?¡± I questioned, not quite believing that I was seeing a mythic class Pokemon.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Its red eyes stared at me, as if trying to see through me.


    ¡°I got lost. My name is Jason, but I prefer being called Jace. I fell down a hole and lost my Pokemon. I was trying to find someone to help when I came across that little one,¡± I pointed to the Carbink that I had followed, ¡°And they led me here.¡±


    It had a look of disappointment on its face but eventually sighed. ¡°Why did you come to the caves?¡±


    My brow scrunched up a bit as I looked at them. ¡°Cus they¡¯re pretty?¡± I said, confused at its question.


    This time it was their turn to look confused. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I gestured around, trying not to bump any floating Carbinks. ¡°Just look at this place. It¡¯s beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Most do not come here for that. They come to capture, or harvest.¡± It floated towards me as it spoke.


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t even have-¡± I stopped, my brow furrowing. ¡°Okay, well, I think I have one pokeball?¡± I had to check my bag, finding the last ball that Professor Sycamore had given me. ¡°Yeah, one pokeball.¡±


    There was this look on her face like it thought I was an idiot. ¡°You are lost?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I explained to them the events that led me here. While I did so the Carbink were constantly bumping into me, wanting more pets, which I happily obliged. Petting their crystal was like rubbing warm glass.


    ¡°Berries?¡± Seemed to be its only question.


    Glancing around for a moment, I pulled out a persim and held it out to it. It had come quite close as I talked. I watched as it hesitantly took a bite, immediately its eyes lit up as they stared at the berry. ¡°Do you like it?¡±


    They didn¡¯t answer, but took it from my hand and began chomping down on the berry with gusto.


    I chuckled a bit, and saw the look of those around. I hesitated. I didn¡¯t have infinite berries¡­ and there were at least twelve Carbink here. After a moment I pulled my last persim out, and then began to cut it up. I gave each Carbink a piece, aside from the one I had given a whole berry earlier. Berries were large, so it was easy to cut one up into enough pieces.


    They all seemed to love it. They made lots of different noises of celebration. Treats were truly the way to win over Pokemon. Maybe I could get a whole bunch of poke beans to use as treats for wild Pokemon? While berries were a hit, if a Pokemon didn¡¯t like the flavor it would be a waste. Another reason to go to Alola.


    ¡°We shall help,¡± Diancie said suddenly, having finished the berry.


    ¡°Oh! Thank you. I would really appreciate it¡­ They¡¯re all my friends, my family, and I¡¯m really worried that something bad might happen.¡± It nodded and we all started to make our way back to where I had fallen, with Carbink leading the way back to where they found me. Once we were back, I pointed up at the hole. ¡°I fell through there. I think they might have fallen down a different path¡­¡±


    Almost all of the Carbink suddenly went up and into the hole. I watched them, concerned but hopeful that they should be able to find them. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Diancie watching me. I sat down, knowing that it was probably going to take a while. ¡°You knew what I am,¡± Diancie suddenly said.


    I blinked and looked over at them. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re a Diancie, a mythic class rock fairy type Pokemon. Some people argue that you¡¯re one of the most beautiful Pokemon in the world.¡±


    It turned away, making a sound like it was clearing its throat. ¡°Not many know of me. Whenever most humans see me, they are shocked and wonder what I am.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re a rare Pokemon that¡¯s usually only ever found underground, it¡¯s no surprise that many don¡¯t know you.¡± Even though there was a movie about a Diancie, they were still a rather forgotten Pokemon.


    Several minutes passed before Diancie once again broke the silence, ¡°You Trainers confuse me.¡±


    ¡°Trainers are a strange bunch,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°You travel and battle Pokemon, capture them and bring them with you and make them battle. For what purpose?¡± It was staring at me, again like it was trying to see through me.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s different for everyone.¡± I turned a bit so that I was facing them more. ¡°Some just want to be powerful. Some just want to see the world. Some have something they feel they need to prove, or because it¡¯s what is expected of them. Some see Pokemon as friends, others just see them as tools. It¡¯s hard to really pin down why a Trainer is a Trainer without asking them.¡±


    ¡°And why are you a Trainer?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m technically not a Trainer. Sure, I have Pokemon, but those are my family. If the laws didn¡¯t say that I had to have them in pokeballs, I wouldn¡¯t put them in one. But if you want to know why I¡¯m doing what I¡¯m doing¡­¡± I had to pause to collect my thoughts. I knew the answer, but not quite how to describe it. ¡°I want¡­ to see the world and make friends, and help Pokemon along the way.¡±


    ¡°Help Pokemon?¡± It questioned, their eyes unblinking.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m helping Dee to deal with her trauma. Helping Cara to get revenge and move on. Rio and Veny want to get strong. And Popplio needs someone to take care of her.¡± Everyone in my group had a reason for being there, even if in the end it was because everyone wanted to be stronger in different ways and for different reasons.


    Again we fell into silence. This silence lasted for a few hours before suddenly one of the Carbink came rushing in from the other tunnel. And behind them I saw Cara and Dee. I barely had a chance to stand up before Cara nearly took me straight off my feet as she hit me with extreme speed, her arms wrapping around me tightly. Thankfully she was careful of the spike.


    Dee came jogging over quickly after her, carrying the broken belt clip that still had the five pokeballs on it. ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked rapidly and began to check me over.


    ¡°A bit bruised, but otherwise I¡¯m fine I think.¡±


    ¡°I was going to come out to help when you fell, but then the clip came loose and we went down a different tunnel,¡± Dee explained, holding out the clip to me.


    I took the clip and examined it; the part that kept it connected to my belt had snapped. ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re all alright¡­¡± I said as I started to pet Cara. She wasn¡¯t saying anything, simply holding me and pressing her face against my chest.


    ¡°Rio, Veny, and Popplio were freaking out so we got them to go back in their pokeballs.¡±


    I nodded a bit as I released the other three, wanting to make sure they were okay. All three of them came over, hugging onto my legs. I chuckled a bit. ¡°That was scary, huh?¡±


    All three were crying, or complaining, or a mixture of both. Popplio was crying and complaining, saying it was dark, and they didn¡¯t like it here, and it was scary, and they wanted to go back to the Pokecenter. Rio was annoyed that they made her go back in the pokeball and she wanted to help look for me. Veny was just crying a bit and saying how much they were glad I was okay and that they didn¡¯t like that we got separated.


    Cara let go and I knelt down to pet and comfort them. It felt pretty good that we had all gotten so close in a relatively short amount of time. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re all alright.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how to explain how much it had scared me when I realized they weren¡¯t with me. Standing back up, I looked over at Diancie and smiled. ¡°Thank you for your help.¡±


    There was a bit of a pause as it looked at me and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    I had to pick up Popplio to try and get her to stop crying. This was probably really traumatic for her considering her abandonment issues. So I just held her, rubbing her back. The Carbink were coming back slowly, talking to each other and my friends. There were quite a lot of animated conversations.


    While I couldn¡¯t follow the several conversations, there seemed to be a lot of discussion of what was outside. Most of the Carbink made the outside sound like a horrible place, but a few of them made it sound fantastical. They asked questions about trees, clouds, grass, and that sort of thing.


    It was all rather humorous.


    I noticed that Diancie was talking with Cara and Dee. It looked like they were getting along, which was cool. After thinking about it for a moment, I took out my camera, taking a few pictures of Diancie. They were a really pretty Pokemon and I wanted to have some proof that I actually got to see a mythical level Pokemon.


    After a few minutes of calming Popplio down, Diancie came over to me. ¡°May I¡­ Request your help?¡±


    I blinked, turning my attention to her. ¡°Of course. I can do my best.¡±


    They looked a bit frustrated, or perhaps worried. ¡°One of my followers¡­ wishes to go with you.¡±


    Again I blinked and looked around a moment before noticing that the first Carbink that I had come across was floating over. ¡°Ah, this one?¡± Apparently they really liked that berry.


    ¡°Yes. But I am¡­ I am concerned that they will be put into danger, and so I wish to ask for your help.¡± She looked at me, then at the Carbink, and then back at me.


    ¡°Well of course. I¡¯d be happy to look after them,¡± I said with a smile. Carbink was a pretty cute little rock Pokemon. Its ears and fluff always reminded me of a bunny. With its really high defense, it would make a good tank. Plus they shoot lasers.


    There was that look again as they seemed to look through me. I wondered if it could see my aura and that¡¯s what it was looking at. After a moment, they nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± They gestured for the Carbink to approach. ¡°I will intrust this one to you.¡±


    I smiled as I reached out and rubbed the head of the Carbink. ¡°Welcome to the family,¡± I said softly. They made some happy sounding noises in response, but didn¡¯t actually use words. I fished out the pokeball that I had, and held it out to Carbink.


    They eyed it curiously. I noticed how the room had become a lot quieter as everyone''s attention turned to watch. After a moment they touched the ball and were immediately enveloped in red light. It wobbled once before letting out the bong noise.


    Immediately I released them, smiling. The trio cheered, rushing over to greet the newest member. They excitedly introduced themselves, and gave their self given titles. Even Popplio jumped from my arms to excitedly declare herself as the performer.


    ¡°You take good care of your Pokemon,¡± Diancie said. ¡°As thanks for taking that little one, I would like to give you something. Come.¡± They turned and began to float down the well lit tunnel.


    I hesitated before following. Everyone else followed as well, chattering and welcoming our new member. I was really glad that they were so welcoming. I began to think of what sort of training methods to use for Carbink, but my thoughts were soon interrupted by Diancie.


    ¡°This is not something that is normally done,¡± it said as we entered the large pool room. There were gasps from the other Pokemon and I took some photos of Diancie in the room. Maybe I could become a Pokemon photographer? ¡°But I want to make sure that they are safe,¡± it continued.


    I followed them as they led us down another passageway. The light dimed before opening up into a massive room. Crystal structures hang from the ceiling, but the most stunning thing was the massive pink diamond in the center, emitting a bright glow. ¡°The Heart Diamond¡­¡± I muttered, staring at the diamond that was bigger than a building.


    ¡°You know what this is?¡± Diancie said, I could hear the slight worry in its voice.


    ¡°Only in stories,¡± I responded, looking around at the massive crystalline structure that made up the room. I had fallen into the Diamond Domain? That sort of explained how the only Pokemon that I had seen were Carbink and Diancie. This Heart Diamond didn¡¯t look like it was dying of old age like in the movie, so I wondered why they brought me here.


    That explanation seemed good enough for them as they floated towards the diamond, but rather than going up to it they went down below. It picked something up before coming back towards me. ¡°There is something that is not usually done at this time¡­ But since they are leaving, it is fine.¡± It really sounded like they were more trying to convince themselves than me. They put out their small hand, offering for me to take something.


    Slowly I put my hand out, and it gently placed a small object in my palm. It was round, and pink, with a swirl in it similar to a cat''s eye marble. My brain sort of fizzled, as I knew exactly what this was. ¡°Diancite.¡±


    Diancie nodded. ¡°Only one Diancie may live in the Diamond Domain, but as they are leaving, I will make an exception.¡± They closed my hand around the small marble. ¡°When you leave these caves¡­give this to Carbink, and they will evolve.¡±


    I swallowed, holding the little marble tightly. This was far beyond what I had thought was going to happen. This was a series of events harder to imagine as they came. ¡°Alright. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Make sure that you keep them safe,¡± it said earnestly, their eyes locked to mine.


    A smile crept onto my face. ¡°I will do my best.¡±


    It looked at me for another moment before nodding. ¡°They may come back to visit, but they cannot stay here while I live,¡± they explained, looking over at the Carbink. ¡°Only one Diancie may live within the Diamond Domain,¡± they repeated their earlier words. I noticed that they had the habit of repeating themself.


    I thanked them again, taking a few pictures of the Diamond Heart as we left. This was truly an amazing sight, and I had no idea if or when I would ever be able to see it again so I wanted to have proof of these memories.


    They began to lead us out of the caves, which took hours. Wild Pokemon avoided our group, and for good reason considering we were being led by Diancie. Eventually we entered a larger corridor, and Diancie gestured at one path that would take us out. ¡°That is the exit,¡± they said softly.


    I nodded, looking back and smiling. ¡°Thank you, for everything. Who knows how long I would have been lost without you.¡±


    It just nodded and turned away. All of the Carbink said goodbye to the one that was coming with me. They rubbed their fluff against each other, an action to serve as both a sign of affection and to polish their gems. It was quite a sight and I decided to take pictures. I needed to remember that I had this camera app and could just take pictures of stuff.


    As we parted ways, we made our way towards the exit. It was later in the day, but the sun was still shining. And we were actually on a road. This was the official path through Reflection Cave. But I had no idea what side of the mountain we were on. Since the sun was setting and to my left, I had to assume we were on the north side, which meant that the city off in the distance was Shalour.


    I looked over at Carbink, who looked back at me with a bit of excitement. ¡°Ready?¡± I asked as I held out the Diancite to them.


    They quickly moved to me, nodding. They pulled the Diancite into their fluff. After a few seconds they suddenly shone brightly. It hurt to look at the dazzling pink light, but I did my best to watch as their form shifted and they changed shape. I could see the Diancite shine the brightest within them, like a little pink sun. I imagined that this must be similar to how it looks when using an evolution stone.


    After a moment in front of us stood a Diancie. They looked at their hands for a moment, doing a few twirls before exclaiming excitedly, ¡°I¡¯m so pretty!¡±


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°Yes, you are.¡±


    They moved over to me, and placed the Diancite into my hand. I blinked, surprised that it had survived the transformation. ¡°Oh. This will be useful. But,¡± I held it out to Diancie. ¡°You hold onto it. It¡¯s your source of power.¡±


    ¡°Source of power¡­¡± they muttered softly as they took back the little marble. They took a moment to tuck the object into their collar, wedging it in what would have probably been a very painful way if they had not been made of stone. When they were done, I couldn¡¯t see where the marble even was. I reached out, rubbing the top of their head which caused them to giggle.


    With the events of the day leaving all my Pokemon tired, I had them return to their pokeballs; it was better to avoid any attention for the time being. I would need to hide Diancie for now. It was actually only an hour of walking to get to the city. I thought about stopping at the pokecenter, but I realized that that might raise a lot of questions as to how I left Geosenge and then appeared in Shalour a few days later when I was supposed to be in League City.


    So I made my way to the train instead, and got onto a train heading to League City. Again it was empty, as no one was going to the city this late, they were leaving if they were getting on a train. Unfortunately, due to how the train snaked its way around, it was almost midnight by the time I arrived.


    Sitting on a train for that long left my legs a bit wobbly, but the walk would help that. The city was still bustling, excitement from the tournament still having everyone in good spirits. I passed by a rather young boy crying, being comforted by their family. It looked like they had been knocked out today. But it was impressive they made it so far.


    Entering the hotel and going back to my room, I immediately ordered a ton of late night food for everyone before even releasing them from their pokeballs. The room was more than large enough for everyone, and Diancie was absolutely mesmerized by everything in the room.


    Veny immediately went for the remote, turning on the television to show it to Diancie. Their mind was blown. Veny seemed to be the one who liked watching television the most. I was going to have to make sure she didn¡¯t turn into a big lazy bug.


    The food arrived rather quickly, and I did my best to not let them see the group of Pokemon. There was a ton of food, but then again it was to feed seven individuals, most of which had large appetites. I was going to have to re-math my food budget. All of the Pokemon chattered away happily to each other, but there were too many conversations going on for me to follow.


    After dinner I washed up, taking a nice long shower. Popplio joined me, enjoying the water. Diancie was just curious as to what I was doing, which made it a bit awkward because she just silently stared. As soon as I was done I dried off Popplio, letting her go and join the rest as I dried my hair. At least there was a hair dryer here, so I didn¡¯t have to air dry.


    When I went to lay down I was a bit surprised to find everyone had already piled up on the bed, leaving an obvious gap for where I was supposed to go. Even Diancie had sort of laid down on the bed on Cara¡¯s side. Dee had laid herself at the top of the bed, placing herself where all the pillows were.


    Stolen story; please report.


    I looked at the position of everyone a moment, everyone sort of waiting for me to take my place. Chuckling, I laid down, resting my head a bit against Dee since she apparently wanted to be a pillow. Popplio and Rio took their place, and Veny put herself against my side, right in the perfect position to be pet. Cara took her face down position on my shoulder. As I was starting to drift off to sleep I felt Diancie place her hand on top of mine and I shifted it in order to hold her hand. Pokemon really liked to be close when they slept.


    In the morning, while everyone was eating breakfast, I planned to call Professor Sycamore. So I got everyone sorted, and settled down. The trio had really come to form a pretty good bond with the newest members, which was comforting. Dee and Diancie were being treated as if they¡¯d always been here. I mentally noted how it had been the same with Popplio.


    Once I was done eating, I pulled out my phone and called the Professor. ¡°Good morning Jason, what can I do for you.¡±


    ¡°Good morning Professor. I¡­ hm¡­ Would it be possible to have you come to watch the League today? I want to discuss some things with you. In person.¡± I needed to discuss Diancie with him as soon as possible.


    He gave me a questioning look. ¡°Alright¡­ Is this about something that happened at the Joy Ranch?¡±


    I made a wobbling gesture with my hand. ¡°Sort of? Not really? I don¡¯t even really know how best to explain it without just showing it to you. But I want to show you in person.¡± I wanted to judge his reaction in person.


    That just seemed to confuse him even more. ¡°Alright? Well, I can start heading there now. Shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Professor. I¡¯ll meet you in the private booth.¡± We both said our goodbyes and hung up. I gathered everyone up in their pokeballs before heading out.


    Much to my surprise, the Professor was already there by the time I got there. ¡°Ah, there you are. I was already in the building, so it was a short walk,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°Nice coat.¡±


    I rolled my eyes a bit and looked around. No one was here this early aside from the bartender, as that was how it normally was the last few days I was here. Most of the rich people who used this booth didn¡¯t show up until two or three in the afternoon for the free alcohol. ¡°Well, that makes this quicker.¡±


    Then I called out five of my Pokemon, leaving the one that I had concerns about in the ball for a moment. ¡°Ah, an Audino. Glad you managed to convince the Joy Clan.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is Dee-¡±


    He interrupted me, ¡°Well done. The Joy Clan is extremely particular about where they send their nurse Pokemon, and who they give them to.¡± He was taking a closer look at Dee, who was a bit puzzled at his attention, but recognized that he was a Professor and so was allowing him to examine her.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m really happy about that too, but she¡¯s not-¡±


    Again he interrupted me. ¡°Although, that¡¯s not really that big of a deal? You could have just shown her to me on the phone.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Professor,¡± I said a bit more firm in my tone which caused him to look over at me. ¡°She is not what I am concerned about.¡± I held the pokeball of the sixth member of my team in my hand.


    ¡°Ah. Right, sorry.¡± He cleared his throat and straightened up. ¡°So, what are you so worried about?¡±


    After taking a deep breath, I shook my head. What a reliable but unreliable professor. Are they all like this? How bothersome. ¡°Come on out,¡± I said and a second later Diancie burst forth, blinking and looking around at the new environment that she was now in. However upon seeing the familiar group of Pokemon she happily made her way over to them.


    Professor Sycamore looked like he was about to pass out. His mouth fell open like he was about to say something before he realized what he was seeing. I was fairly sure he wasn¡¯t breathing anymore. He had the look of a man that had just met God, and they told him that they were disappointed in his life choices.


    ¡°Yeah, so¡­¡± I cleared my throat, trying to get his attention. ¡°So this is Diancie.¡± Upon hearing their name, they turned and floated over to me curiously. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°It is the newest member of my family.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Was all he managed to say, struggling to even breath as he gazed upon the mythical Pokemon in front of him.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit of a long story. But, I stumbled upon it on my-¡±


    ¡°Her,¡± Diancie said.


    I blinked, and looked over. ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Rio explained what gender is, and she said I could be any gender. So I want to be a girl,¡± she said in a happy tone.


    ¡°Oh, well alright. So,¡± I turned back Professor Sycamore. ¡°I stumbled upon her on my way back from the ranch. Quite a lot happened, but I promised not to talk about it too much.¡± Even if that promise was to myself, it was still a promise. I didn¡¯t want people trying to dig out Reflection Cave looking for the Diamond Domain.


    ¡°How¡­ What¡­¡± He rubbed his face, taking a deep breath. ¡°Alright. Alright. Okay. This¡­ This is¡­ This is going to complicate a lot of things¡­¡± he muttered. ¡°Arceus, what have you been getting up to¡­¡±


    That was honestly a question I wanted to know, too. ¡°Well, stuff happened?¡± I reached out a hand towards Diancie, and she happily grasped it. She didn¡¯t quite have fingers, but she did have a thumb, and her hand was surprisingly soft for being made out of rock.


    ¡°This- This isn¡¯t the one from Reflection Cave, right?¡± He asked, glancing between me and Diancie. ¡°That¡¯s where it¡¯s been spotted in the past.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Yes and no?¡± I said, looking more over at him and making a wobbling motion with my hand, which Diancie watched with interest, mimicking the motion. ¡°She is from there, but not that Diancie. I did meet them, and they entrusted this one to me.¡±


    He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking hard. ¡°You¡¯re aware what you did was extremely reckless, right?¡±


    ¡°I was confident,¡± I said and he gave me a look. ¡°I am well aware this isn¡¯t a game, and I can be hurt. The concussion I got proves that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than that.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think you really understand just how dangerous things are out there.¡±


    I remained quiet, waiting for him to continue.


    ¡°Over seventy percent of Trainers who set out on their journey don¡¯t continue after the first year, and fifty percent of those are forced to quit due to injury, or death.¡± That immediately explained why the population was so low. ¡°Pokemon outnumber humans a thousand to one, at least. And most of them are mean and vicious, and see humans as nothing more than food. The farther your travel from civilization, the more brutal the Pokemon get. I¡¯m just¡­ shocked you made it back alright.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did have a bit of a problem with a Chingling, but that was dealt with pretty easily.¡±


    I think I gave him a headache judging by the way he pressed his hand to the side of his head. ¡°Okay. Well, it¡¯s not like you¡¯re the first person to do something stupid and obtain a mythic Pokemon, or a legendary Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°There are people with legendaries?¡± That was surprising, and a bit concerning.


    ¡°Well, legendary bloodline anyways. No one, to my knowledge, has a pure blood legendary at the moment. But there are people with their offspring. Like Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltress are the most common legendaries. But there are all sorts. The pure blood legendaries are supposedly immortal and don¡¯t often interfere with anything,¡± he explained. ¡°The pure bloods are also immensely more powerful than normal ones.¡±


    So this wasn¡¯t as out of the ordinary as I had originally thought. ¡°I¡¯m glad this isn¡¯t as big of a problem as I thought.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still¡­ kind of a problem, but not one that can¡¯t be dealt with.¡± He sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Professor Oak was right¡­¡± he muttered.


    ¡°Right? About what?¡± I asked, my eyes narrowing a bit at him.


    ¡°Nothing, nothing. You¡¯ll find out,¡± he said with a bit of a smirk.


    I frowned at him. ¡°Alright, well, I just wanted you to be aware of Diancie before I start showing her off.¡±


    He nodded a bit to that. ¡°Yes. Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ll be able to better field questions from the Association if I know about it ahead of time.¡±


    Diancie¡¯s attention was captured by the beginnings of today¡¯s battles, and she went over to join the others who were watching. Dee seemed really excited to be here, too. ¡°Speaking of the Association.¡± I gestured out towards the window.


    ¡°Ah, yes. About that.¡± He frowned, obviously annoyed. ¡°They said it¡¯s perfectly fine. They purposefully put strong Trainers against weak ones early on so that those weak Trainers don¡¯t get farther than they should due to sheer luck.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s like a free pass,¡± I said with a bit of a sigh.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s worse than that. Apparently they¡¯re allowing elite Trainers to simply not participate in the prelims.¡± He was pacing back and forth.


    ¡°Elite Trainers?¡±


    He paused, looking over at me. ¡°Ah, you might not be aware. So, there are levels to Trainers. Beginner Trainer, Trainer, Advanced Trainer, and Elite Trainer. It¡¯s a vague way to estimate the skills of a Trainer and is based on what badges they have and what type.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. ¡°So there are different types of badges?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°There¡¯s the basic badge, and then there¡¯s elite badges, also known as star badges. A beginner Trainer doesn¡¯t have any badges from a main gym, but can have them from smaller gyms. To become an official Trainer you need at least two official badges from one of the gyms approved by the Association. An advanced Trainer has eight official badges, and maybe some of those are elite badges. To reach the level of an elite Trainer you need all eight star badges from a region.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot more complicated than it was in the games,¡± I mumbled. But that was good to know. I wondered how difficult getting a normal badge was compared to a star badge.


    ¡°Star badges also don¡¯t have a time limit,¡± he continued. I gave him a questioning look. ¡°A normal badge is only valid for two years. You¡¯d have to go and challenge the gym again if it expires if you wanted to keep participating in the league.¡± I wondered how that worked, but they probably kept records.


    ¡°So the Association is fine with rigging the league,¡± I said after a while.


    He sighed and nodded. ¡°Apparently. They had a lot of excuses.¡±


    I sighed as well. ¡°Typical of governmental entities.¡±


    Again he nodded. ¡°Yeah, the Association has been flexing their power more, even as they lose influence due to more and more powerful Trainers coming up. There have been some¡­worrying signs that they have been suppressing Trainers who don¡¯t get in line. So¡­watch your back.¡±


    I nodded. We didn¡¯t talk about much else, just a bit of what happened on the Joy Ranch, before the Professor had to leave.


    The battles had apparently ramped up quite a bit in this second week, and were actually interesting. There were enough Trainers that now the Association couldn¡¯t so easily show favor. The matches were interesting, at a much higher level than anything that I had seen.


    ~


    The next few days passed quickly, and then the prelims were over, and the actual League began. The entire arena was transformed overnight. Now instead of having several smaller battle arenas, there was just one large one that took up most of the field. There was no special type of terrain on this one, and it was just a huge area that looked to be made of compacted clay or something similar. Six raised platforms, two at either end for the Trainers, and the other four placed at different spots for the referees. I got a rather hard pang of nostalgia as I saw the familiar painted lines.


    As the battles began and the tournament properly got underway I noticed one thing that really separated the good Trainers from the truly skilled; communication. Those who seemed to have high levels of skills barely ordered their Pokemon, and when they did it wasn¡¯t usually specific moves. It was techniques, battleplans, or vague tactics. Some of the best Trainers that I had seen were just calling out what their opponent was doing, warning their Pokemon of things that they couldn¡¯t see, or what to watch out for with a specific move.


    The reason this was the case was pretty clear. The battles were happening too fast. Pokemon were moving so quickly and throwing out such powerful moves that it would be impossible for a Trainer to give a complex order before their opponent had done something. I honestly couldn''t keep up with it. Thankfully the screens often displayed slowed down replays so that the audience could understand what happened.


    But the best of the best hardly said anything. They were practically silent the entire battle, simply giving basic commands that caused their Pokemon to spring into long complicated strings of moves and techniques. That was really impressive.


    Professor Sycamore had come to watch, as he said he was going to. This was when it was supposed to get interesting, and the Elite Trainers would show off. All of the Pokemon enjoyed watching it. All of them except Cara. She just sat beside me, watching the screen. Waiting. I knew what she was waiting for, and tournament went on, all I could do was hope it would happen soon.


    And we didn¡¯t have to wait long. It was the third match when a Trainer got up; Andrew. Immediately Cara was on her feet, staring at the screen, her fists clenched. It got worse when he sent out his first Pokemon; a Lucario. Her aura flared, and she was struggling to keep herself in check. Then something truly unexpected happened.


    The Lucario Mega Evolved.


    Immediately Cara sagged, her aura snuffed out as all the air in her sails was gone. I reached out and grasped her paw. ¡°Mega Evolution,¡± I explained. I could see Professor Sycamore out of the corner of my eye, his mouth open as if he was about to explain something but I beat him to it.


    Cara¡¯s mood worsened as the battle commenced, and the Lucario began to one-sidedly nearly solo the opponents team, taking out four of his six Pokemon before being put down by a Blaziken. The Blaziken managed to bring it back and nearly win, but it ended with Andrew still having two Pokemon he didn¡¯t even use.


    ¡°The road is long,¡± I said softly, squeezing Cara¡¯s paw. ¡°That height is not going to be easy to get to.¡± She gripped my hand slightly. ¡°After a show like that¡­ it¡¯s going to be even more satisfying watching you knock that bastard off his pedestal.¡±


    Her grip tightened a bit more and she took in a deep breath before nodding.


    Andrew¡¯s Lucario was powerful, heavily specializing in the use of aura, which was red. I was going to need to be able to Mega Evolve Cara for that fight. I looked over at Professor Sycamore. ¡°I know what you want,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°I can get you a key stone, but getting the Lucarionite would be difficult. I¡¯ve no idea where he even got it. He didn¡¯t have it last year.¡±


    ¡°Who is that guy?¡±


    ¡°Andrew Yellow. An elite Trainer. He got his star badges this year after taking some time in another region. He¡¯s one of the favorites to get to the Elite Four this tournament.¡± He took a seat next to me. ¡°Do you know him?¡±


    ¡°No, but Cara knows that Lucario,¡± I said with a glance at Cara, who was still standing, stewing in her frustration at not being strong enough.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± his voice trailed off.


    ¡°Rio¡¯s father.¡±


    He sighed, shaking his head. After a moment he said, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do about sourcing you some Lucarionite, but it might take me seven or eight months.¡±


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s before the next league.¡± I rubbed the back of Cara¡¯s paw with my thumb. Looking over at Rio, they just looked excited, having watched an amazing battle. They seemed pleased that there was a Lucario that strong.


    Reluctantly Cara pulled her hand free and went over to Rio and the others, explaining who that was. I could only imagine how difficult of a conversation that would be. I don¡¯t even know how I would go about that. Yeah, that guy is your dad and he¡¯s a jerk who left us to join that Trainer and beat me up. Whatever she had said, Rio was definitely upset, but the two of them sat together talking for the rest of the day.


    I lost interest in the tournament. Instead, I did a few other things. I made a spot inside my coat to store my pokeballs, so that they would be close to my chest and easy to get to, and harder to lose. I started making notes on different training regiments and ideas that I had. I also started to transcribe the pokeblock recipes to a text document so that they would be easier to read and search through. The road was long, and it was going to be hard. The first goal was to become an elite Trainer and get every star badge. That would mean beating the strongest team of all eight gyms. Rio, Veny, and Popplio needed the most work. Especially my little blue seal¡­


    Andrew was knocked out fairly late and took fifth place, which qualified him to challenge the Elite Four. Those were intense fights. He managed to beat Wikstrom and Siebold, but Malva knocked him out. His team had a weakness to fire. A few other competitors managed to beat two but lost to a third. The woman who took first in the League, Laura, beat three members and nearly beat Drasna, but in the end couldn¡¯t do it.


    There would be no champion battle this year. I didn¡¯t even know if Diantha was here as she didn¡¯t make an appearance. But watching those fights really showed me the type of gap that was between me and them. This was going to be quite a challenge. It made me excited.


    The day after it was all over, I found myself in Professor Sycamore¡¯s car heading towards his lab in Lumiose. ¡°So, what did you think?¡±


    ¡°All the challengers were lacking,¡± I said bluntly.


    He laughed. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°They were all too focused. They didn¡¯t have enough for their Pokemons hard counters. Like how Andrew¡¯s team is made up mostly of steel types. Or the challengers seemed to rely almost completely on type advantage and buckle when that fails.¡± I looked out the window. ¡°That woman, Laura, seemed to be the only one who knew what she was doing.¡±


    Again he laughed. ¡°Well, then I look forward to your performance.¡±


    We pulled into the large compound outside of Lumiose, which contained the Professor¡¯s laboratory. The place was absolutely huge and I wondered if all Professors worked in such places. It made sense, since obviously Sycamore wouldn¡¯t be the only one doing research.


    He led me through the building, exchanging snippets of conversation with other people in lab coats as we walked. There were a lot more people here than I thought, but many of them looked younger than me and were wearing badges that said ¡®intern¡¯. I got quite a few curious looks but no one said anything to me.


    Eventually we got to his office and he sighed as he took a seat behind the desk. ¡°Take a seat,¡± he said as he gestured to the seat across from him.


    I sat down, getting comfortable. ¡°So, I can be a Trainer now?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± He opened a box that had been on his desk and pulled out a rather large looking card that almost looked like a pokedex. ¡°Here.¡± He held it out to me.


    Taking it, it was about the same size as the phone he¡¯d given me, but it was indeed a license. But it wasn¡¯t a Trainer''s ID. ¡°Pokemon Expert?¡± I asked.


    He nodded. ¡°Professor Oak recommended that we skip making you a Trainer and move you beyond it.¡±


    I blinked at him. ¡°What¡¯s a Pokemon Expert?¡± I had heard people call me that a few times now, so it seemed that this was planned well in advance.


    He rubbed the stubble on his chin. ¡°You can think of it as a Trainer that¡¯s on the same level as a Pokemon Professor.¡±


    I continued to blink at him. ¡°Okay, but why?¡±


    ¡°Professor Oak suggested it. And after watching you just¡­ show up with a Diancie, I had to agree. With your¡­otherworldly origins and since you know more about Pokemon than some Professors, we agreed it would be insulting to start you off at the bottom.¡±


    ¡°So I just- I just get to be an expert for that?¡± It was an interesting prospect, but I felt like there was something he wasn¡¯t telling me.


    ¡°Well, kind of. To be a Pokemon Expert you have to be acknowledged by several Professor¡¯s. When this application was put to the Association, Juniper put her seal of approval on it as well, which pretty much guaranteed it. But of course the Association wanted to reject it.¡±


    ¡°Wait- Why? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done anything to get on their bad side. Yet.¡±


    His brow arched a bit, but he answered, ¡°There are only two Pokemon Experts in Kalos, and they belong to the Association. But, and I don¡¯t know how you managed this, but the Joy Clan stepped in to support you.¡±


    I blinked, tilting my head a bit. ¡°Ah- Wha- Wait, why would they do that? And why would that change it?¡±


    He sighed a bit. ¡°Well, they claimed that because you had a nurse Pokemon, you were practically a member of the Joy Clan, since only they can have nurse Pokemon officially. They hold immense power throughout the world, since they have control of most of the world''s medical knowledge. As for why? No idea.¡±


    Chuckling softly, I shook my head. ¡°I guess I left a positive impression.¡±


    ¡°Apparently.¡± He pulled a few pieces of papers and handed them to me. ¡°These are the official documents. The Association will pay you thirty thousand a month, and will give you a bonus for every completed assignment.¡±


    There it was. There was the catch. ¡°Assignments?¡±


    ¡°As a Pokemon Expert, the Association can call upon you to help them. Though I doubt they will, since the minimum bonus is ten thousand. Trainers can also request assistance, but they have to pay you at your own discretion.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, looking at the papers for a moment. ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to be a Pokemon Expert?¡±


    He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid without proper education, history, and place of residence, you wouldn¡¯t be allowed to have Pokemon.¡± It sounded like he had been prepared for that question. It did sound like I didn¡¯t have a choice in the matter.


    Thinking for a bit I asked, ¡°What if I want to leave the region?¡±


    Now it was his turn to blink at me. ¡°Well, traveling is no problem. You just have to inform the Association that you¡¯re leaving and where you¡¯re going. An Association liaison will be assigned to you whatever region you¡¯re in. Unless you go to a region without Association presence. But¡­ Don¡¯t do that. That¡¯s a good way to get killed.¡±


    ¡°Killed by who?¡± This whole conversation had mostly been just me asking short questions and his long explanations.


    He didn¡¯t answer, clearing his throat. ¡°Anyways. Your Association liaison is waiting for you downstairs, and they¡¯ll want to take you to their headquarters to make things official and¡­probably test you on things.¡±


    ¡°Well, as long as they pay me, I don¡¯t mind.¡± As I read more of the paperwork, I found it was similar to a contract. However, I didn¡¯t have to sign it. It was more just informing me that this is how things would be done now, and how I would be treated. The only thing I didn¡¯t like was that I was on-call. I could decline, but I had to give a valid reason. Seeing as how tournaments were a valid reason to decline, it looked like they expected me to participate.


    ¡°Honestly, the best part of this deal is you are exempt from the carry limit.¡±


    I looked up at him. ¡°I can have more than six Pokemon?¡±


    He nodded, chuckling softly at the excitement in my tone. ¡°Thought you¡¯d like that part. Since you¡¯re expected to move around a lot and have Pokemon for any situation, and possibly go places where you can¡¯t change out your Pokemon, it¡¯s necessary. However, you will have to declare what Pokemon you''re using for battling in tournaments and gym battles.¡±


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°But not for Trainer battles?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°No, Trainer battles aren¡¯t restricted. But battles through the battle app must still be recorded and logged.¡±


    That explained why the phone had such a good camera. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Most Trainer battles are three versus three, as most don¡¯t have a full six team because that¡¯s expensive.¡± That explained why a lot of newer Trainers didn¡¯t seem to have full teams during the first week of the league. He reached into the box again, and I wondered just how many things he had shoved in there for this meeting. ¡°Last thing.¡± Well, that answered that question. He reached over and placed a rather large marble onto the table.


    I looked at the colorful marble. ¡°A Key Stone.¡±


    A rather heavy sigh escaped him. ¡°Of course you know what this is¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± I reached over, picking up the marble. It was a lot lighter than I thought it would be, as if it was empty. ¡°It¡¯s half of the puzzle for Mega Evolution.¡± As I turned it in my hand, it reflected light in an interesting way, but the colors were always in the same direction and the symbol always looked the same.


    ¡°Do you¡­know how it works?¡± the Professor asked. This was his area of study.


    ¡°Only theories,¡± I said, studying the stone. It was pretty. ¡°Some say they came from space, some say they¡¯re something from ancient times. There¡¯s even a theory that they slipped in from another dimension. Some sort of technology designed by people who know a lot more about Pokemon than anyone else.¡±


    ¡°How would that even be possible?¡±


    ¡°Genetic manipulation through energy,¡± I said simply. ¡°I read in the books that Pokemon use the energies of their types to use moves. And once their capacity for these elements reach a certain point they can evolve. The stone just forcibly increases these energies temporarily by using the strength of the Trainer and as a result the Pokemon evolves.¡±


    ¡°But they revert.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible to revert a Pokemons evolution. The stone''s burst of energy is so intense that the backlash causes the Pokemon to devolve.¡± I paused. ¡°At least, that¡¯s my theory on it.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ It does sound similar to theories I and others have come up with¡­¡± He fell into silence as he started to think things over. I had no idea how accurate what I said was, but from what I knew from the games and what I had read it seemed like the most logical explanation. Though I had no idea about the stones origins.


    After a moment I asked, ¡°So when do I get paid?¡±


    ~


    As I entered the lobby I immediately knew who my liaison was. There was a very pretty woman wearing a rather tight suit, with a rather short tight skirt. She had long blonde hair that looked professionally done, and her makeup was flawless. She had this extreme corpo vibe that made it uncomfortable to look at her. Like she spent her free time writing reports for fun. Upon seeing me she immediately smiled a smile that did not reach her eyes, and I did my best not to grimace. While some would get excited seeing her, I could only think of one thing; honey trap.


    ¡°You must be Jason,¡± she said with the same rigid smile, extending a hand towards me.


    I returned her smile politely, shaking her hand. ¡°Yes. And you¡¯re the Association liaison?¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Emma,¡± she spoke in a rather sultry tone.


    She had an uncomfortable air about her. Immediately I disliked her. ¡°Let¡¯s be off to the Association,¡± I suggested. It was a good thing the Association didn¡¯t know my tastes, otherwise I might actually be in trouble. Sending a skinny, busty blonde at me? Not going to work.


    But I really shouldn¡¯t be so quick to judge. I think I was just on edge and suspicious because of what the Professor said. ¡°Yes, of course,¡± she said, still smiling. That smile definitely did not reach her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s a car right outside.¡±


    I nodded as I followed her out. It was a small limousine, and we both got into the back. There was a man in a black suit in the driver''s seat, wearing dark sunglasses. There was another nearly identical man in the passenger''s seat. When I sat down, she sat down across from me. Immediately I looked outside, noting how dark the windows were tinted.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too long of a drive,¡± she said just as we started to drive.


    I nodded, watching out the window. ¡°So what sort of things will the Association be asking me?¡±


    ¡°Oh not much,¡± she said in a cheerful tone. ¡°There¡¯s just a few tests the Association wants to do to test your level of knowledge. While we acknowledge that you are a Pokemon Expert, we need to know to what degree.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± I said, nodding. I was fairly confident that I could answer whatever question that they threw at me.


    However, I was annoyed.


    The rest of the drive was spent with Emma talking about the Association and what it did. Which was a whole lot of nothing, as they acted as a sort of higher management that managed all of the organizations that were already handling everything. They were the adults telling other adults how to act. My government comment wasn¡¯t far off, as they acted like an overlord government to all the others.


    I was so thankful when we finally arrived. I was led into a large government looking office building before being brought to a conference room. There were seven different people in there, now nine including me and my liaison.


    ¡°First test,¡± one of the men said. ¡°Please identify this Pokemon.¡± He slid a small photograph towards me that showed nothing but a footprint.


    ¡°Am I allowed to ask questions?¡± I asked as I picked up the photo. It had three large claws with a gap between the paw, which was rather long and rounded at the bottom. The mud around it looked wet and spongy, with what looked like moss in it. It wasn¡¯t a very good picture, and the print looked old.


    ¡°Of course,¡± said the man.


    ¡°How wide is the stride between footprints?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Unknown.¡±


    ¡°How large is the footprint?¡±


    ¡°Unknown.¡±


    I looked up at them. ¡°What region was the track found?¡±


    ¡°Unknown.¡±


    ¡°Who took the picture?¡± I said with a frown.


    ¡°A Ranger.¡±


    ¡°Can I have the full picture?¡± I said as I waved the photo in the air.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± one of the men asked.


    ¡°This is clearly zoomed in and cropped. Can I have the un-doctored photograph?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°Well, with the provided photo and lack of information, this could belong to dozens of Pokemon,¡± I said, trying to not get frustrated.


    ¡°Is that your conclusion?¡±


    ¡°My conclusion is that whoever provided this photo is clearly incompetent.¡± That seemed to cause all of them to go quiet, staring at me. ¡°There is no information aside from this doctored photo, which clearly shows a complete lack of any sort of competence in their job.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t know?¡± the old man said, and I could just barely see the smirk.


    ¡°Of course I know.¡± I tossed the photo at him, and it struck him in the chest. ¡°It¡¯s a Weavile footprint.¡±


    The slight smile was immediately gone. His mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to speak, ¡°How can you be sure?¡±


    ¡°The shape of the print is longer than it is wide, and there are deep divots with the claws. The claws are also too long to be something like a Gabite. Mostly it¡¯s the claws.¡± I gestured vaguely at the photo. ¡°That¡¯s also not a wild Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°And what makes you think that?¡± one of the other men said incredulously.


    ¡°The mud around those prints comes from a more jungle or marsh type climate, not a cold mountain forest. If it is a wild Weavile, it would be far out of its normal territory.¡± That seemed to get them to shut up. I had been mostly guessing about that second part, though I was confident that I was right, their reaction confirmed that I had nailed it.


    None of them had any words, looking at each other. The liaison looked uncomfortable, as if unsure what she should be doing.


    Leaning forward and placing my hands on the table, I looked the old man in the eyes. ¡°Next test.¡±


    One of the other men cleared their throat and I turned my attention to them. ¡°Please identify this Pokemon.¡± He put a picture on the table.


    The picture was of a blur. It looked like it had two green pigtails from its head, a white head, purple pink body, and a white almost bulb shape with two short purple legs sticking out the bottom of it. ¡°Steenee. Next test.¡±


    Another photo was put on the table. ¡°What Pokemon is this?¡±


    There was a large yellow flower, though it was at a far distance. I could see some red as well. ¡°Glossifleur. Next test.¡±


    ~


    The next few hours consisted of them showing me absolutely horrible quality photos and expecting me to know what Pokemon it was. There were more footprint identifications, all of them in varying horrible quality and cropped badly. I actually surprised myself with how easy it was. I knew I had a lot of Pokemon knowledge, but I was sure that I didn¡¯t know the answer to a lot of these questions. But somehow I just¡­ knew. It¡¯s like I had all the answers in my head.


    Eventually they had exhausted all of their photos, and were just standing there. ¡°Well?¡± I prompted after a few minutes passed without any more photos being presented. I waited a few moments more, looking over each person in the room before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±


    I took a step back and headed towards the door. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± said the old man.


    Looking back. ¡°Obviously I¡¯m leaving. Your whole attempt at bullying- or harassing- or hazing- or whatever you want to call it, has failed. Honestly I¡¯m disgusted with how I¡¯ve been treated.¡±


    ¡°Jason, I believe there¡¯s been some sort of misunderstanding,¡± Emma said, immediately trying to smooth things over.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°I expect to be paid for this absolute waste of time.¡± With that I walked out, making sure to close the door behind me so that the liaison couldn¡¯t follow. That was the most annoying thing I had to put up with since I got here. So far.


    By the time I exited the building and had made my way to the Pokecenter, I got a notification that I had a large deposit. I nearly tripped when I saw the number. They had given me seventy thousand. I also got a followup text, apologizing for how I was treated. Though I didn¡¯t know who sent the text, I guessed it was the liaison. I didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Good afternoon Nurse Joy,¡± I said as I approached the counter.


    ¡°Hello,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like a full checkup on my Pokemon, and a room,¡± I replied, putting my ID card on the counter as I started putting my pokeballs on the tray. I realized that Popplio was the only one with a special ball, and thought about buying better pokeballs for them.


    Nurse Joy hadn¡¯t moved, and I turned my attention back to her, giving her a quizzical look. She was just looking at my ID. ¡°Pokemon Expert?¡± she questioned.


    Ah, right, yeah. Since there were only two of those aside from myself, that was probably a big surprise. ¡°Yes,¡± I said with a smile.


    She seemed to hesitate for a moment. ¡°Would you be willing to help me with something?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I said without even hesitating. It was thanks to the Joy Clan that I got into such a good position, so it would be really disrespectful to ignore when they asked for help.


    Picking up the tray with the pokeballs, she started to head into the back. ¡°Please follow me.¡± As we walked down the hall, Dee came out of her pokeball, determined to help. ¡°Oh! You have one of our Audino.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s really easy. She has that studious look,¡± Joy said with a bit of a giggle.


    Dee looked proud. ¡°Of course. I studied a lot.¡± I just hoped she would be able to handle being in this environment. She took the tray from Joy, happily doing her job as we walked into a back hallway.


    We stopped at an observation window. Inside was a sort of hospital room clearly made for medium to smaller Pokemon. On the bed was a little brown canine Pokemon that looked to be suffering from a severe illness. ¡°This Eevee was found by a Ranger near a broken pokeball.¡±


    Was abandoning Pokemon just such a common thing in this world? ¡°Who in their right mind would abandon an Eevee?¡± I asked softly.


    Joy sighed, shaking her head. ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± her volume matched my own. ¡°But we assume with how sick she was, they just didn¡¯t want to take care of her.¡±


    ¡°Why not give her to a Pokecenter? Why leave her out there to die?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately we don¡¯t know,¡± she replied, shaking her head again. ¡°We tried asking her about her Trainer, if he left her or if she just got lost. But¡­¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t say¡­¡± I said with a sigh.


    Joy nodded. ¡°She cries a lot and often looks to be searching for something. Seems like she forgets where she is or what¡¯s going on. She hardly makes a sound otherwise. Since waking she has gotten worse and barely eats. It¡¯s a pretty severe disease called Manepox. We¡¯ve no idea where she got it, but she¡¯s well past the contagious stage and it can be cured with care and time. I¡¯ve never seen a case this bad... All we can do is hold and treat her till she¡¯s better¡­¡±


    ¡°The problem is she¡¯s not making an effort to get better¡­¡± I said with a sigh, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    She nodded to me as she walked off, and I went into the room.


    Eevee¡¯s head perked up as the door opened, but immediately fell again when she saw who had entered. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m probably not who you wanted to see,¡± I said as I approached the bed, kneeling down beside it.


    ¡°Go away,¡± she said, her voice weak.


    ¡°Not happening.¡± I reached out and gently rubbed her back. She was missing patches of fur, and what fur she did have was oily and thin. The bits of skin showing were dried and cracked, and there were bits of dried blood from where it was really bad. Her body was cold and I could feel every rib and bump of her spine.


    ¡°Leave me alone¡­¡± She was sniffling, trying not to cry.


    ¡°What¡¯s your favorite berry?¡± I said softly, pulling out an oran berry and holding it out to her.


    She didn¡¯t respond this time, looking at the berry with unfocused eyes.


    ¡°I like all sorts,¡± I continued to speak softly. ¡°They make great additions to meals.¡±


    She was just staring at the berry.


    ¡°Would you like this berry?¡±


    That seemed to do it, as her eyes welled up with tears and she began crying. ¡°Yes,¡± she sobbed.


    I didn¡¯t say anything for a moment, just gently rubbing at her back as I held the berry for her. She felt so tiny and frail. She was so weak she could hardly bite into the berry, barely even able to get some in her mouth. Much of it fell out as she tried to chew.


    ¡°Let me make this easier¡­¡± I said softly, pulling out a bottle and straw from my bag. With a bit of effort I squeezed the juice from the berry into the bottle and she drank from the straw. Even drinking from the straw was difficult for her, and a lot of it dribbled from her mouth.


    She still had that want to live, but she was just so upset and depressed that doing anything was so difficult that she didn¡¯t bother. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why people were so cruel? This little thing had obviously loved her Trainer so much, but because she was too much effort they had thrown her away.


    She didn¡¯t even finish drinking all of the juice before passing out. I put a little cap on the bottle and put it back into my bag. I knew what I was going to do. There was no chance I was going to leave her here.

 Chapter Six

    Who knew a berry blender was so damn expensive? At ten thousand pokedollars for a blender, it was no wonder people didn¡¯t make their own pokeblocks. And that wasn¡¯t even accounting for the pokeblock machine itself, which was twenty five thousand. How did anyone afford this stuff? At least the portable solar battery I got was only two thousand. A comfortable pair of boots also cost me a thousand pokedollars, which I felt was way too much but they were sturdy and comfortable.


    The person at the pokemart had been quite confused when I showed up with so much stuff, and an absolutely massive amount of food. Food took much longer to spoil in my spacial bag, and since I bought mostly shelf stable goods, it would all last a very long time. The only thing I had to worry about were the berries, but they weren¡¯t that expensive and I planned to turn most of them into pokeblocks.


    I also bought a few pokeballs, just in case. And some special vitamin powder mixtures and herbs to add to the pokeblocks. The powders weren¡¯t anywhere near as expensive as actual vitamins, so I had bought a variety. In the end, of the seventy thousand two hundred pokedollars I had, I had five thousand left. I felt like that would give me plenty of food for a long time.


    The last thing I did was spend four thousand on training things. Targets, certain types of tape, colored sprays to make markings, and durable striking balls. The striking balls were made of extremely hard rubber and of varying weights. Some were hollow, some were filled with sand, others were just solid. I had a feeling these were going to come in handy. The most expensive thing I found was a weight harness, which was a device you could put on a Pokemon and then increase their weight with a remote. It was interesting tech that could go up to one hundred pounds of extra weight, and made me think of weighted clothing.


    Nurse Joy hadn¡¯t made any protest to me taking the Eevee. Apparently Pokemon Expert held a lot more sway than I thought. I did notice that my ID actually had a little seal with a note, claiming I was endorsed by the Joy Clan. That probably held even more authority than I could imagine. She had given me the medicine that I was to feed her, and a special shampoo that needed to be used every night until it ran out. She had also warned me that it might take up to a year for her to fully recover. From the way she described the disease to me, and what I had seen, it was like a mixture of the worst kind of Mange and Hyperthyroidism.


    The last thing that Nurse Joy had done was complain a lot that I didn¡¯t warn her about Diancie. She had been extremely shocked to see her, and Diancie was a bit upset that I wasn¡¯t there until Dee managed to calm her down and explain things. I had honestly forgotten about how much of a surprise that would be when I had seen the Eevee.


    Thinking of the Eevee, I reached back, gently touching the little creature that I had put into my hood. I had tucked her in there, as it was the first place I could think of to carry her. Well, technically the second, but she didn¡¯t fit in my pocket. And I wasn¡¯t going to keep her in her new pokeball, which Nurse Joy had given me. Nurse Joy had said it would take longer for her to get better if she was in the pokeball too much.


    As I reached back, she bit me. She had done this every time I reached back if she was awake, though she didn¡¯t do it very hard. It was more her way of trying to interact with me without speaking, as speaking was apparently too exhausting. It was a good way to know if she was awake or asleep. She apparently liked her new spot in my hood. Though it could also be her expressing frustration that I had taken her.


    Not that she had a choice in the matter. She hardly had the strength to sit up. I didn¡¯t think a Pokemon could get to such a state. A normal creature would have died, but she was still alive because of just how tough and hardy Pokemon were. It was hard to tell if that was a boon or a curse in a situation like this. A Pokemon would have to go through so much more suffering before they finally died.


    After getting lunch, I went to the room in the Pokecenter that Nurse Joy had given me. It was actually a bit nicer than the others I had been in, and had a television. After releasing everyone, I sat on the bed and explained to them in a soft tone, ¡°We have a new member. But she is very sick.¡±


    I pulled out Eevee, who I took care to be extra careful with, and put her on my lap. Everyone was excited to have another in the group, expressing their own welcomes. The new one seemed conflicted, unsure how to act.


    ¡°Are you hungry?¡± I said softly, petting Eevee.


    She made a little noise in response. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was confirmation or denial, but I got out the bottle and straw anyways, offering it to her. She drank a bit from it before falling asleep again. I cleaned up the bit that she dribbled before making sure she was in a comfortable spot. Thankfully I didn¡¯t have to worry about feeding my other Pokemon thanks to the Pokecenter.


    Apparently as part of the checkup they fed them, which explained where everyone was getting food. Though I had also seen them in the cafeteria. Which was always an interesting sight, but considering most of the servers were also Pokemon, I didn¡¯t think too much of it. That was also another thing that I found interesting in Pokecenters; most of the staff were Pokemon, and there¡¯s apparently one ¡®head¡¯ Pokemon that works the front desk and is Nurse Joy¡¯s official assistant.


    There¡¯s also multiple Nurse Joy¡¯s in every Pokecenter. That had thrown me for quite a loop when I came across two of them in the hall. They had it split into day shift and night shift, and I just had never run into them during the change. They had laughed at my clear confusion upon seeing two Nurse Joy¡¯s, before they explained how it worked to me.


    ¡°Where did you get this one from?¡± Cara asked, taking a seat beside me and looking down at the little one in my lap. Cara had a very intense motherly personality that I had seen with the others. Any Pokemon that was smaller than her was quickly adopted.


    ¡°Her Trainer abandoned her,¡± I said softly. Popplio¡¯s attention snapped over to me, all the others also turning to take another look at Eevee. ¡°She took it really bad¡­¡±


    There was a moment of silence as Popplio scooted her way over to my feet, looking up. Cara picked her up and put her in her lap. ¡°Why?¡± the little seal asked softly.


    ¡°She got sick and they didn¡¯t want to take the time to make her better.¡± I paused as I continued to gently pet the little brown fluff in my lap. ¡°Since he didn¡¯t like her¡­ I took her.¡±


    ¡°Are you just going to¡­keep collecting abandoned Pokemon?¡± Cara asked softly, gently patting Popplio.


    I chuckled softly. ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have a lot to take care of.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°If I could, I¡¯d take them all in. Everyone deserves a loving family.¡± I put the bottle back into my bag after capping it. ¡°Sometimes you just gotta¡­ make it yourself,¡± I mumbled.


    Popplio nudged my leg with her nose and I reached over and rubbed her head.


    ¡°Tomorrow we start training,¡± I said, getting everyone¡¯s attention. I gently moved Eevee to the bed, making sure to wrap her up as I spoke. ¡°I won¡¯t force any of you to fight. I won¡¯t force any of you to train. I will take care of you all no matter your choice.¡± I sat down on the floor, looking at all the Pokemon around the room. ¡°I can guide you and make you strong, but you have to put in the effort. You have to want to be strong.¡±


    ¡°Team Speed Shell will be the strongest,¡± Rio said, her chest puffing up a bit. ¡°We won¡¯t lose.¡± Veny and Popplio seemed to be in agreement.


    Diancie seemed unsure, but did nod.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I want more than strength,¡± Dee said, standing straight. She had such a determined look on her face that was fairly ruined by how cute she was. But I wasn¡¯t about to crush her determination.


    I looked over at Cara. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, you already know my answer.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°The road is long.¡±


    ¡°And rough,¡± I said as I nodded. ¡°Alright. Rest up tonight, because the next few months are going to be rough.¡±


    ~


    We all relaxed for the night, as I blended berries and made pokeblocks. Pokeblocks were far more than just things for contests, as they had actual long lasting effects. Ever since I had read in the book that you can increase the strength of Pokemon with pokeblocks, I was determined to make them. With Dee¡¯s help, I was able to make custom pokeblocks for everyone that would best fit their nutrition needs. While curries were good, they needed more. I even made some for myself after confirming they worked for humans, though mine were pretty basic.


    A pokeblock would also act as a good meal replacement, as three pokeblocks would keep a Pokemon full for almost an entire day. Although only the first pokeblock would have a large impact, and anymore would lose effectiveness. From what I had read, three was the maximum before it started to become so little that it wasn¡¯t worth the resources. So the plan was pokeblocks through the day, and curry in the evening to restore their energy.


    For Eevee we made a sort of smoothie that she could drink that would help recover her strength, with her medicine mixed in. I had no idea what she wanted to do, but I would do everything I could for her. If she wanted to join the training, she could, if she just wanted to be a lap Pokemon, that would also be fine. And although I didn¡¯t like the option, if she wanted to leave I wouldn¡¯t stop her. I had told her this, but she hadn¡¯t responded.


    She did seem to like the bath, the shampoo apparently had some soothing stuff in it and actually made the tips of my fingers a little numb. While Nurse Joy said that the spots didn¡¯t itch, they apparently hurt. The stuff was very strong, and smelled of herbs. The instructions were to just put a large glob on your hand and scrub. Pretty simple. With the size of the container there was probably a few months worth.


    The next morning we all traveled off. I followed Cara to the area where her, Rio, and Veny used to live, as she knew of a large open area near a river that would make a perfect training area. It took most of the day to walk there, and so I had everyone out to walk. The trio also battled any wild Pokemon that we came across, though that was very few.


    Eventually we reached the location, and it looked perfect. We set up the camp at the edge of the open field, next to the river. The tent had some protection against wild Pokemon on it, similar to a repel, when it was fully up. Though I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it worked, as only Cara said that she could sense something about it.


    Just before making food, I did a nature check on Diancie. She didn¡¯t have any massively positive or negative reactions, so she probably had one of the neutral natures. Thinking about it for a few moments, the only one that I could think that fit was hardy.


    Dee helped me make the curry for everyone. Diancie was absolutely delighted at the taste of the food. It was unlike anything she had ever had and it made her very happy. Eevee was roused by the smell, but she couldn¡¯t have any. She was disappointed, but I promised that I¡¯d make her lots of curry once she got better. Thankfully she really liked the taste of the smoothie so it wasn¡¯t a battle to get her to drink it.


    In the morning I gathered everyone around to start explaining things. ¡°Today is the day we start. First off, everyone gets a pokeblock.¡± Dee and I began to give everyone their pokeblock. With Dee¡¯s help I had made enough pokeblocks for everyone to have three for three months. After that, we would have to reevaluate everyone''s nutritional needs.


    ¡°Oh these are so good,¡± Cara mumbled as she savored her pokeblock.


    Dee was the only Pokemon here that had ever had a pokeblock, and I was glad that they all enjoyed them. ¡°When do we get more?¡± Veny asked, a hopeful look in the little bug''s eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one after dinner.¡± I watched as Dee sat down and ate her pokeblock, a look of bliss on her face. ¡°The harder you train, the more beneficial the pokeblocks will be. But if Dee or I think you¡¯re going to hurt yourself, you¡¯ll have to take a break.¡± I didn¡¯t want any of them to go too hard and end up with injuries.


    They all agreed, looking forward to the idea of more pokeblocks.


    ¡°Now then.¡± I stood up, looking around the field. ¡°Dee, you need to work on your stamina, so you¡¯re going to be jogging laps up and down the river.¡± Dee grimaced. ¡°Popplio, you¡¯re also going to be doing laps up and down the river.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Dee mumbled as she stood up. Her and Popplio headed towards the river.


    ¡°Oh it won¡¯t be that bad!¡± Popplio said excitedly, clearly just looking forward to swimming.


    ¡°Cara, Rio, and Veny are going to be doing laps around the field. The key to this is speed, so I want you to do as many laps as you can, as fast as you can.¡±


    Cara scrunched up her face a bit, looking at me a bit confused. ¡°This will be helpful?¡±


    ¡°I want you to use Extreme Speed as much and as long as you can. I want you to be able to sustain it for long periods of time without getting tired. And Rio needs to learn it, so this will help her by following your example.¡±


    Veny and Rio seemed excited. ¡°Yeah! Team Speed Shell!¡± They immediately took off running, Veny instantly gaining the lead.


    Cara sighed and nodded, using extreme speed to catch up and pass them.


    I turned to Diancie, who looked rather eager to know what her training was going to be. ¡°We¡¯re going to the center of the field so you can show me all the moves you know.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± she said excitedly, obviously she wanted to show off.


    I paid a bit of attention as everyone did their laps, Cara was actually one of the runners to tire out first, since she was trying to maintain Extreme Speed for so long. Veny paced herself a bit better, though she had far fewer laps than Cara. Rio used Quick Attack to try and keep up, but it was far slower than all the others.


    Popplio was doing her best to match the pace Dee set, shouting lots of encouragement as she did flips and swam circles. Popplio¡¯s species was adept at moving in the water far more than I had thought, but I was glad to see she was making it difficult for herself by performing tricks. Dee looked like she was in agony. She had lived an extremely sedentary lifestyle, studying and helping Joy. But she also seemed like the most determined to improve.


    As that went on, Diancie showed me her moves. As I had done with the others, I recorded Diancie¡¯s moves so that I could watch them later. Diamond Storm had surprised me, as it left actual diamonds scattered about. She explained that it was hard and took a lot of energy, but she could absorb them to recover the energy it took to make them, and once they were made she could keep using them as part of the move. I asked her if I could take one, to have it evaluated to see if it was worth anything, and she readily agreed.


    Of all the moves she had, the one that made me the most excited was, ¡°Gravity¡­¡± I muttered, ¡°We can do Gravity training¡­¡± That had been a staple of the Dragonball series, and others, and it always showed such drastic improvement. If I could do that here, it would be of immense help. ¡°Alright, use Gravity and cover as much of the area around you as you can.¡±


    I immediately regretted not prepping myself as the Gravity suddenly hit me, forcing me to my knees. Breathing was harder, like the very air was heavier and thicker. It was all I could do to keep breathing, not even trying to get up. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Diancie asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­be¡­fine¡­¡± I managed to say, moving my mouth and talking was hard. It took a minute before the Gravity finally wore off and the world returned to normal. I gasped for air, nearly collapsing from the force. Slowly I got up, dusting myself off. ¡°Damn, that was effective¡­¡±


    Diancie did a little spin. ¡°Yes! It¡¯s very strong.¡±


    Looking around I could see a ring of flattened grass, with Diancie at the center. It spread about ten feet in every direction. ¡°A radius of about three meters. That was at least ten times the gravity¡­¡± I nodded a bit. ¡°Okay.¡± I looked over at Diancie. ¡°Again.¡±


    After a few more times, I asked Daincie to try and alter it. Lessen the force, increase the area and duration. After a few more times she managed to get to five meters and it could last several minutes at only five times the force. That was still a lot, but far more manageable. It still took an hour before I was able to stay standing.


    ¡°This is what you¡¯re going to be training,¡± I said, struggling to speak. ¡°You¡¯re going to work on widening the area, and increasing the duration. Once everyone gets used to this, we¡¯ll work on increasing the force.¡± This was good training for me, too. I needed to be able to withstand her Gravity at full strength so that I could help everyone else. And actually doing Gravity training was like fulfilling a childhood dream.


    We kept at it until lunch time, where I called everyone back. It was a few hours of exercise and everyone looked rather tired. Dee looked absolutely exhausted, barely able to drag herself back to the campsite. Popplio also looked a bit tired, but she also looked like she had a lot of fun.


    Cara looked extremely contemplative, as if she had realized something during the training. Rio and Veny looked like they had a blast, comparing how many laps they had done and how fast they could do a lap. It wasn¡¯t in a competitive way, but more of a ¡®whoa good job¡¯ kind of way.


    I checked on Eevee, who I had left at the entrance of the tent so that she could look out and watch. She didn¡¯t say anything to me, but happily drank more smoothie. It was going to take a long time before she started to get better, if she even let herself. From what Nurse Joy had told me, as long as she took her medicine and kept eating regularly she¡¯d recover, but to what that would look like at the end was up to the little Pokemon.


    Returning back to the group, I gave everyone another pokeblock, which they happily consumed. ¡°Alright, so next bit of training is going to be different. We¡¯ll take a break now for an hour, and then all head to the center of the field.¡±


    ¡°Is this the same thing you were doing with Diancie?¡± Cara asked, looking over at the diamond Pokemon.


    I nodded. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s going to be rough, but it¡¯ll be the best way to increase your strength.¡± They all seemed a bit nervous, but Diancie just smiled at them. Which did not help.


    After the break, we all made our way into the center of the field. Dee seemed happy that she wouldn¡¯t be jogging anymore, but I knew that they would all gladly go back to running laps once they feel this.


    ¡°Alright, Diancie. Gravity.¡± I had discussed a lot of things with Diancie once I was able to. She raised up her hand and brought it down in an almost lazy way. Everyone hit the floor. I barely managed to stay on my feet, even though I knew it was coming, it was still hard. ¡°Don¡¯t try and get up,¡± I said, watching as a few of them struggled. ¡°Focus on breathing.¡±


    It was obvious that most of them hadn¡¯t even realized they were holding their breath, but now they stayed mostly still.


    ¡°This is five times Gravity,¡± I explained. ¡°The weight of everything around Diancie has been multiplied five times. That means you weigh five times as much. That means your hand weighs five times as much. Your muscles aren¡¯t used to this kind of strain, and your lungs are under pressure and it makes it harder to breathe. Breathing is the most important thing you can do right now.¡±


    It was ten minutes before it would run out, however Diancie used Gravity again and again just as it was about to end. Cara was the first one to try and get up, not able to do it, but she had at least gotten up to her knees. I had cheated a bit, as I didn¡¯t have the constant pressure when I got used to it, and I was only barely standing.


    Diancie just danced a twirled in the Gravity, completely unaffected because this ability was how she was able to float around. It was interesting to think that she was just reversing Gravity on herself enough to float, but many Pokemon did that. For instance Geodude was a Pokemon that had a strange antigravity ability that it lost when it evolved.


    After thirty minutes I had Diancie stop to give everyone a break. Again Cara was the first to get up, clearly annoyed that she had so easily been taken down. It wasn¡¯t that Cara was weak, she was one of the strongest here. But Diancie was a mythic level Pokemon, and had a natural headstart on them.


    We continued this, thirty minutes on, thirty minutes off, until it was time for dinner.


    ¡°That was exhausting¡­¡± Cara said, rubbing her arms. She was able to stand now, but it was still a struggle.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± I said, unfortunately having to do most of the cooking by myself as Dee wasn¡¯t up to helping. I think she was a bit mad at me since I hadn¡¯t warned any of them what was going to happen.


    The trio had thought it was cool. ¡°I feel so light now!¡± Rio said, hopping around. Everyone agreed with that.


    Everyone felt better after dinner, especially when they all got another pokeblock. Before going to bed, I gave Eevee another bath, warming up the water from the river to clean her. Again she seemed quite pleased with the bath and being rubbed down, seemingly unbothered by the fact I was doing so in what was essentially a large cooking pot. The other Pokemon and I cleaned ourselves up in the river as well after. This was going to be our life for quite a while.


    ~


    Two weeks passed like this. Everyone was capable of standing up inside the Gravity, which Diancie had managed to increase the area of by a little bit. Using a move over and over again was a good way of getting better at it, as the books had said. Popplio was the one who struggled the most, since her way of moving around was mostly hopping and dragging herself.


    I could walk around, and so could Cara. Surprisingly it was Rio that adapted the fastest. She could move better than anyone else, even her mother. Her strength was honestly incredible. Veny also adapted quickly, though I considered it a bit cheating since she had several more legs than everyone and didn¡¯t have that high to get.


    Dee had the biggest leap though. She was actually running pretty fast now during her morning laps, and it took a lot to finally tire her out. From watching her I could tell that there was some sort of desperation to catch up, so she was pushing the hardest.


    Eevee was starting to show a lot of improvement. She was able to walk around a bit, though she would get tired pretty quick. She had started to warm up to the group, though she still didn¡¯t talk much and usually just gestured, or gave one word responses. I had found her multiple times sleeping very close to our sleep pile, but never touching anyone as if she was afraid to. I was worried that this behavior was the result of abuse.


    Once I realized this, I had started shifting her closer so that we were touching. I wanted her to know that it was okay, and that I wasn¡¯t going to get upset at her, but she struggled to overcome that fear. It was something that was just going to take a lot of time, but I was sure that eventually she would feel comfortable around us. She was still on her smoothie diet, as she still couldn¡¯t chew food. I expected that was also why she didn¡¯t talk much.


    The only part of the last few weeks that I was annoyed by was I had been getting quite a few texts from the liaison. None of them were asking for my help, mostly just checking in on me, asking what I was up to and where I was, trying to hype up the Association. From their side, records show me going into a Pokecenter, taking a sick Eevee, and then vanishing. I simply replied with ¡®training¡¯ to every message. I had expected followup questions, but they never came. Instead a few hours later I would get a repeat text, as if she had copy-pasted one of her previous messages.


    But now that everyone was starting to get used to the Gravity, I wanted to move onto the next step of training. During the lunch break I gathered everyone around. ¡°It¡¯s time for phase two.¡±


    Everyone seemed excited at that. ¡°Oh oh, what¡¯s phase two?¡± Veny voiced her excitement, wobbling side to side.


    I chuckled a bit. ¡°I want everyone to choose what type of defense they want to focus the most on.¡± They all seemed confused, which I expected. I drew three circles on the ground, which immediately drew Cara¡¯s attention, probably remembering the last time I had done this. ¡°There are three forms of defense. Dodge, block or deflect, and tank.¡± I gestured to each circle as I spoke.


    ¡°Tank?¡± Dee asked, not sure what the term meant.


    ¡°It means to take the damage. To be in front of everyone and simply take a hit; to be so tough that being hit doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Everyone seemed to nod a bit. ¡°Tanking should be the last thing on your mind when thinking about defense, though it is a path you can walk, it is painful.¡±


    That seemed enough to dissuade them. Truth was I don¡¯t think anyone but Diancie could be an actual tank in this group.


    ¡°The first one is dodge. The principle of it is pretty simple: you can¡¯t be hurt if you can¡¯t be hit.¡± I looked at Veny and Cara, they were the fastest in the group. ¡°The second is block or deflect. This one is hard, and it means that every attack that comes at you you have either hit it with your own attack and cancel it out or hit it to make the attack miss.¡±


    ¡°I like the sound of that one,¡± Popplio said with a nod. ¡°Overpower everything that comes at you.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Exactly. I want you all to think about which type of defense to focus on. You will practice all three methods to some extent, but you need one to prioritize.¡±


    ¡°When are we going to fight more?¡± Rio asked, clearly wanting to get into more battles.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long now. Once you can comfortably stand in Diancie¡¯s gravity and move around easily, you¡¯ll start practicing moves.¡± Using moves made you better at them, but it also made you better at using the energy that that move used.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    The next day I asked them what sort of defense they wanted to focus on. Rio and Popplio both wanted to use block or deflect, which was obvious. Cara, Veny, and Dee both wanted to focus on dodging. Diancie actually surprised me, saying she wanted to tank. While it was the best thing for her, I wasn¡¯t sure if she was aware of that.


    After a few more days, Cara was the first to move into the next phase. I explained to her that she had to use Extreme Speed while under the effects of Gravity. But not just that, she would have to focus her Aura Sphere while doing that, condensing it in her hands and holding it. I put several markers inside the area, and a target on two trees on the opposite side of the field for her to aim at.


    I had to tell her several times that it didn¡¯t matter if she hit. She would hit them eventually. She was to gather her energy, use Extreme Speed to hit every single marked spot, and then fire at one of the targets. Then she was to repeat and fire at the other target. There was a specific order to every place that she was to touch, and she had to fire immediately when she reached the final location.


    It was a struggle for several days, as she lost control of her aura before she could get to the final spot. When she finally was able to hold it, it had dissipated before even getting near the treeline. But we all celebrated her progress, everyone cheering that she had managed to hold her aura.


    Rio was the next one to enter phase two. She demanded that I push her harder, clearly wanting to catch up to her mother. I had agreed, and brought out the striking balls. She was not allowed to dodge, and had to block and deflect them. I¡¯m sure she had thought it was going to be easy, as I couldn¡¯t possibly throw them that hard or fast.


    Much to her surprise, it was Diancie who was throwing them, and she could throw them extremely fast and extremely hard. Rio was rather battered after the first few days before she started to manage to start blocking them. I had to remind her that she had moves like Force Palm, and Rock Smash, that she could use to hit them away.


    Veny was next, and I set two targets that she was to hit. I had her use a combination of Extreme Speed and Rollout to move around the field, and then hit the target with Poison Tail. She struggled for several days, until to my surprise she evolved. In the middle of training, she had suddenly begun shining with a purplish light and was finally able to succeed in a strike, shouting in celebration.


    All training had stopped to celebrate her evolution to Whirlipede. She had also declared that her name would now be Whirly, and she would change it again when she evolved. Training had ended early that day to celebrate. Evolution was an extremely big deal to Pokemon, as it was a big leap in power. When we started the next day, I made her add in Iron Defense before she started Rollout.


    Before Veny¡¯s evolution, Popplio had joined Rio in her training. At that point I added in that they could deflect the shots at each other, or at Diancie, and Diancie would just have to take the hit since she wanted to be a tank. I made Popplio use her bubbles and water attacks to deflect, rather than with striking moves.


    Dee reached phase two at the end of the third week of training. She had also changed her mind, and didn¡¯t want to do the nonsense she saw Whirly and Cara doing, instead she wanted to tank. I was honestly surprised, as I thought she would want to block, but it made sense because of her high defense and health.


    I had her stand near the group, and constantly use heal pulse while also throwing and taking blows. She had asked if there was a way for her to have more weight, so I had strapped the weight harness to her. It was clearly worse than she had thought it would be, but she was determined. There was a crazy amount of determination in this pink Pokemon, and it only took a few days before she was asking for more weight.


    By week four, Diancie had managed to double the affected area of her Gravity, which also increased the training area of everyone else. We had shifted from running laps to focusing entirely on Gravity training. Everyone was showing a lot of improvement, much of which must have been from the pokeblocks and curry. Eevee was finally able to start eating the curry with everyone, after I did a quick nature test to see what flavor she liked. She liked spicy and didn¡¯t like sour. A lonely nature.


    I also received the thirty thousand pokedollars from the Association, but this also came with another message. Thankfully this wasn¡¯t the liaison harassing me, instead it was actually a request. ¡°There is a problem near Laverre City. Please head there and speak with Valerie.¡±


    I simply replied with a ¡°kay¡± before turning my attention to my Pokemon. ¡°Everyone!¡± I called out, halting them before they even managed to really get into training. ¡°Gravity off. We have a mission.¡±


    It took a few minutes for us to pack everything up, and then start to head back to Santalune. The walk took much less time for everyone, and I had them all continue to train as we walked, practicing moves and such. I returned everyone but Eevee as we walked into town, the little brown Pokemon looking much healthier and riding in my hood.


    I made my way to the train station and got on the one heading to Laverre. It was a town well out of my way and I had not been there yet. It was well past noon by the time we arrived, and I stepped out of the train station, looking around the city. It was a town covered in leaves.


    I immediately started to head towards the gym, looking around as I did. All the trees were large and vibrant, but the biggest tree was the one behind the gym. That tree was supposed to be extremely old, if I remembered correctly.


    The gym was closed, which immediately looked odd to me since this was the second month of Trainers'' journeys, some would have to put this gym off for later. Of course, it being closed didn¡¯t stop me from walking in. There were very few people inside, but I did spot Officer Jenny and made my way towards her.


    ¡°Ah- You can¡¯t be in here,¡± she said as she started to make her way towards me. I saw how her hand moved back towards her pokeballs.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Valerie?¡± I asked, pulling out my ID and showing it to her. ¡°The Association asked me to come here.¡±


    ¡°The Association?¡± she questioned as she scrutinized my ID for a moment before her eyes went a bit wide and her posture stiffened. ¡°Pokemon Expert?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She stood up a bit straighter. ¡°Valerie isn¡¯t here. We had an incident on route fourteen. A rampaging Hydreigon.¡±


    I frowned a bit. ¡°This is pretty far from their territory.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not wild,¡± the man said, the one who had been talking to Officer Jenny. ¡°It belongs to my son. He evolved it with something he bought here in town, and it went berserk.¡±


    Something that evolved a dragon pseudo-legendary? What the heck could that be? ¡°Where¡¯s your son?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s in the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ I need details.¡± I looked over at Officer Jenny.


    ¡°It happened last night,¡± she explained. ¡°He did it just outside of town, and the Pokemon hurt him pretty bad. The pokeball won¡¯t work anymore. We¡¯re looking into the device he used to evolve his Pokemon, but we have no leads right now. We¡¯ve lost track of it, but it was last seen on route fourteen, and hasn¡¯t been seen since.¡±


    I nodded and turned. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll go see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Ah- wait!¡± She ran after me. ¡°I¡¯ll call Valerie and let her know you¡¯re on your way. She might have more information.¡±


    Again I nodded as I jogged south out of the town. Immediately I could see where it evolved. A lot of damage, scorch marks everywhere, and some really big footprints. I paused to look, it had used hyper beam, and dragon breath, but that wasn¡¯t what surprised me. Judging by the marks it made, it was two or three times larger than it should be.


    Looking around a bit more I could estimate which direction it went and quickly started that way. Cara jumped out beside me, not about to allow me to wander the wilderness alone. ¡°So protective,¡± I teased.


    She huffed at me, but didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°I can feel something¡­big,¡± she said.


    I nodded. ¡°It is. I don¡¯t know what happened¡­but to forcibly make a Pokemon like Hydreigon evolve, it had to be something dangerous.¡± Immediately I thought about Team Flare.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone over there,¡± Cara pointed. ¡°They are injured.¡±


    Immediately we changed direction and made our way over. As we got closer I heard a phone ringing and got a really bad feeling. And my feeling was right as I came across Valerie, unconscious and propped up against a tree. I could see her Mr. Mime and Mawile unconscious nearby, and her battered Sylveon immediately got into a defensive stance when he saw us.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to help,¡± I said before opening my coat a bit. ¡°Dee, we got injured.¡±


    She appeared in a flash of red light and immediately ran over, using Heal Pulse and completely ignoring the angry protest from the Sylveon. ¡°Why should I trust you, huh? Who the heck are you, huh? Don¡¯t you dare underestimate me- ah.¡± They stopped when they felt the Heal Pulse.


    Looking around I quickly found the phone, picking it up. ¡°Officer Jenny, Valerie is hurt,¡± I said immediately, not giving her a chance to speak.


    ¡°Damn it, where are you?¡±


    I looked around. ¡°Not sure. But not too far outside the city.¡± I knelt down and pulled out Valerie¡¯s pokeballs. ¡°Whose who''s?¡± I asked the Sylveon, who was still glaring at me.


    ¡°That one is Mime¡¯s, that one¡¯s Mawile¡¯s,¡± he said after a moment. Once Dee gave me a thumbs up, I returned the two of them and put them back where Valerie had them.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Hydreigon?¡± I asked, looking around. There wasn¡¯t any damage to this area, but I could see that there was some a bit away in a clearing. Sylveon had dragged everyone under the cover of trees.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It came out of nowhere, started blasting, and before I knew it everyone was down,¡± He was doing a good job at keeping his cool, but I could hear the strain in his voice.


    ¡°We¡¯re tracking the phone,¡± Officer Jenny said suddenly. ¡°Don¡¯t hang up, and we¡¯ll be able to find you.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Be careful, it looks like the Hydreigon is still-¡± I was cut off by a nearby explosion. Without thinking, I tossed the phone onto Valerie and started running. Cara was already running, but Dee stayed behind to continue treating Valerie.


    Coming into the clearing I saw it. A Hydreigon that was twice the size as normal, it was the size of an Alpha. It was fighting a group of Quagsire who were attempting to shoot it down, but it was clear they were losing. However the massive dragon did look like it had taken quite a beating. It was covered in the marks of battle, and I could see froth at the corners of its mouths.


    I quickly called everyone out and quickly gave orders. ¡°Diancie, ground it. Whirly, armor up and hit it with all you got. Rio, close combat. Cara, Popplio, hit it from a distance.¡± Everyone immediately rushed to follow orders.


    Much to the Hydreigon¡¯s surprise, it was suddenly forced down and unable to fly. Thankfully, despite being a psychic type move, Gravity was one of those things that ignored type immunities. Just as it realized it couldn''t fly anymore, it got hit with an Aura Sphere and Water Gun. I made a mental note that I needed to teach Popplio Moonblast, as I rushed off to the side. I needed to move, otherwise I would be a prime target if it had any intelligence to target the Trainer. There were also a lot of Pokemon fleeing. That group of Quagsire continued to pelt it with Water Guns, though some of them were using Mud Shot.


    However, it targeted Cara and Popplio with Dragon Breath. Cara was able to immediately escape, but Popplio stood her ground. ¡°Popplio, move!¡± I shouted, but she didn¡¯t. I could see her annoyance, as her water wasn¡¯t stopping the flames. But this wasn¡¯t fire energy, it was dragon energy. Her Water Gun was doing little to stop the breath attack, but she just tried harder. More water, more force. More and more. Before it could reach her, there was an even larger surge of water.


    She shone bright in a bright blue light, the force of water and amount increasing exponentially as she solidified into Brionne. But it wasn¡¯t enough and she was engulfed into the purple flames. But just as the flames hit, a flying Rio bashed into the side of its head and changed the trajectory, followed by a full speed Whirly that knocked it to the side.


    Brionne screamed out in pain, disappearing in the flames. Cara was rushing back over when there was suddenly a burst of water. I nearly tripped over a fleeing Goomy when I saw the ring of water around her and realized that she had just used Aqua Ring. That was an egg move that she had never demonstrated before.


    ¡°Brionne!¡± I called out. Brionne didn¡¯t look to be in very good shape. ¡°That¡¯s not fire, it¡¯s dragon energy! Your water isn¡¯t going to put it out! Cara, help Brionne dodge!¡± I turned to the group of wild Pokemon. ¡°Oi, Quagsires! It¡¯s weak to ice!¡±


    Unfortunately my shouting got the Hydreigon¡¯s attention. ¡°Shut up!¡± it roared and batted Rio and Whirly away. Its mouth opened and a bright light shone to show it was charging a Hyper Beam. There was a moment of realization as I saw it was aimed at me and my muscles tensed.


    I quickly started to move out of the way when I caught sight of the Goomy, completely frozen in place and staring at its imminent destruction. Changing course I ran at it, scooping it up and dove out of the way in a rather fluid motion. Then the ground behind me exploded, launching me and the Goomy across the field.


    It took a moment before I stopped rolling, and Cara was there immediately helping me up. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Focus on the Hydreigon.¡± I reached back to check on Eevee, who I could feel shaking softly, but she was still here. Looking down at my arm I found I was still holding the Goomy. It wasn¡¯t moving, seemingly stunned. ¡°You¡¯re okay,¡± I said, and tried to put it down. However it refused to let go. ¡°C¡¯mon, get off.¡±


    I tried for a moment to get it to let go, but it refused. I sighed a bit and just sort of forced it to stick to my shoulder so my arms were free. It clung to my coat like its life depended on it. Turning my attention back to the battle, I just managed to watch as Rio and the Hyrdreigon clashed, attacks colliding and causing sparks of energy. However Rio was flung back.


    Whirly was doing her best to strike and use the Rollout Poison Tail combo that she had been practicing, but despite hitting several times she had yet to poison them. However before she had even landed, the dragon sent a devastating hit into her, using his arm to slam into her like a baseball bat. I completely lost sight of her and almost swore I saw a little sparkle appear in the sky where she disappeared. As I was looking over I saw a little pink Pokemon attempting to help, shooting off a beam towards the large dragon. Unfortunately, despite Espurr''s best efforts, dark types were immune to psychic. Wait, how was that little thing here?


    Before I gave it any more thought I turned my attention back to the battle. I could think about that later. Cara spent a moment to focus an Aura Sphere, but she took too long and the Hydreigon fired another hyper beam at her. She abandoned the energy in order to dodge. I guess she still needed more training on holding that energy as she moved.


    Brionne had switched to using Bubble Beam, which she had apparently gotten the hang of while evolving. That wasn¡¯t a bad choice, if she could succeed at lowering the enemies speed it would help everyone.


    There was a second clash between Rio and the Hydreigon, with a massive sparking of energy followed by Rio being flung back. I could tell Cara wanted to go help, but also knew that the best way of helping was to actually hit the thing.


    ¡°Rio!¡± I called out as she got up. She stopped, looking over at me. She had this almost betrayed look, like she was expecting me to tell her to stop and back away, like she was already preparing to argue with me. That was probably something Cara had done many times. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°You got this!¡± I shouted, giving her a thumbs up.


    Cara gave me a look, apparently having also expected me to tell her to back down. But this was something she needed. This kind of wall was the best thing to strengthen herself against. I had a hopeful thought, and I wanted to encourage her. ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah!¡± She started to run at them again.


    I wanted her to succeed. I wanted her to know that I had faith in her. I wanted to see her get that strength she wanted so desperately. And my gamble paid off. As she ran she ignited in aura, like a small violet fireball, busting into brilliant light.


    The shining light drew the attention of the Hydreigon, and it responded with a massive amount of energy in return. It used Outrage. As Rio leapt into the air, she solidified, having nearly doubled in height as she had evolved into Lucario. The clash between the two was far more than any other before. Outrage verses Force Palm. Hydreigon hadn¡¯t even been using any move before, but now apparently Rio was enough of a threat that it had to properly respond.


    The explosion was a magnificent sight of violet, causing the Hydreigon to real back, having lost the confrontation. But Rio was not without damage, also being launched back and falling to a knee after the blow and holding her arm. ¡°Cara! Now!¡± I shouted.


    Thankfully Cara was a lot closer this time, and delivered the most powerful looking Aura Sphere she had managed. The resulting explosion rocked the massive dragon to the side. Just in time for five Quagsire to hit it with Avalanche. Well, two of them used Icy Wind, but it had the same effect. Half the Hydreigon froze over almost instantly and it crashed to the ground.


    There was silence for a few moments as we all stood, waiting to see if it would get up. The silence was broken by an absolutely battered Whirly crashing through some side brush and flying into the field looking for a target. But she stopped when she saw that it was down. ¡°Did we win?¡± she asked, breathing heavily.


    ¡°I¡­think so?¡± I said, hesitant to say anything more. But either the dragon was good at playing possum, or it was really unconscious.


    A moment later a few more figures burst through the brush, and everyone turned to look at them. This time it was Dee, followed by Officer Jenny and Valerie. Everyone rather rapidly approached me. ¡°What happened?¡± Officer Jenny demanded, looking from me to the downed dragon.


    ¡°Well, thanks to the help of the Quagsire,¡± I gestured over to the group. ¡°We were able to take it down.¡± I turned to them, waving a bit. ¡°Thanks for the save!¡± I honestly don¡¯t think that my team would have been able to win this fight without those five constantly harassing him. This was an eleven on one fight, and we barely won. Rio was down, but not out. Brionne and Whirly were severely injured. Diancie had also taken some hits when I wasn¡¯t paying attention, though she didn¡¯t seem very hurt. Cara was in a similar state, not having been able to perfectly dodge everything thrown at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure it¡¯s out?¡± Officer Jenny said as she approached.


    ¡°Sure looks like it,¡± Valerie said with a sigh. ¡°That thing was¡­far stronger than I anticipated.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± I said as I walked over to it. As I started to look over it, I spotted something. I¡¯m not sure how I spotted it, as it was buried in fur, but I had managed it. After a moment of fiddling with it, I managed to pull out a small device. Almost immediately the Hydreigon burst into light, and when it faded there was a regular sized Zweilous.


    ¡°What? How did-¡± Officer Jenny began, but then noticed what I was holding. It was a small round device, with a flat side that had several screw-like protrusions. And these screws were covered in blood.


    ¡°A device that forces evolution?¡± I mused, pulling out my phone and taking a picture. Immediately I sent it to the Professor before calling him.


    ¡°Professor Sycamore here. What am I looking at, Jason?¡± The Professor¡¯s voice came back.


    ¡°Not sure. But I think it¡¯s a device to force a Pokemon to evolve. I pulled it off of a Hydreigon that had gone berserk, and it devolved back into Zweilous.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, Professor,¡± Officer Jenny said before he even had a chance to question me. ¡°It also made the Pokemon twice its average size, and several times more powerful and aggressive than normal.¡±


    I nodded, showing the unconscious Zweilous. ¡°Does it¡¯s pokeball work now?¡± I asked, looking at Officer Jenny.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Valerie quickly moved up, fishing out a pokeball. ¡°I¡¯ve got it.¡±


    The Pokemon returned without issue. ¡°Hm. Curious¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°So the device also prevents it from being returned¡­¡± I looked over at my team. ¡°Dee, how is everyone?¡±


    Dee looked up, having been checking over Cara last, since she was the least hurt. ¡°Brionne, Rio, and Whirly are going to need a Pokecenter¡­but everyone else is alright.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°We¡¯re going to head to the Pokecenter. Professor, you might want to head to Laverre.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°I¡¯m on my way.¡± And then he hung up.


    I put away my phone, checking on Eevee again, who had apparently fallen asleep now that all the excitement was over. I nodded, returning everyone but Dee and Cara. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I looked over at Valerie. ¡°That Pokemon is going to need a full checkup¡­ And I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be absolutely distraught when it realizes what it did to its Trainer¡­¡±


    ¡°Right. Are you okay?¡± Officer Jenny asked, looking me up and down.


    ¡°Hm?¡± I looked down at myself. ¡°Ah, yeah I¡¯m alright. Just gotta wash up and stuff,¡± I said rather nonchalantly before I began walking back to town. I looked an absolute mess, not just because I had taken a tumble and nearly been hyper beamed, but also because I¡¯d spent a month out in the wilderness. With how I look, I¡¯m shocked she wasn¡¯t more skeptical of me.


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡±


    It was a bit busy back in the pokecenter, but with Valerie there we got priority. I turned over everyone but Eevee and got a room. Valerie split off to deal with things, and make sure her Pokemon got healed. The Association gave me another fifteen thousand for resolving the situation. After about an hour, I was all clean and in some fresh clothes, giving Eevee her special bath when there was a knock at the door. ¡°Come in,¡± I called.


    Someone came in, and then I saw Professor Sycamore poke his head around the corner. ¡°Ah, there you are¡­¡± He spotted the Eevee, watching as I gently massaged the shampoo into her fur. Although he might also be curious about the Goomy that was stuck to my arm, as she refused to let go no matter what.


    Nurse Joy had informed me that it was a female, and was in rather good health. Though she heavily suggested I should give her a nice bath, because wild Goomy tended to carry quite a lot of bacteria. She had even given me the proper soaps. It was just that this little slug absolutely refused to let go of me, even when I tried to wash it off, it somehow was able to cling.


    Eventually I had given up and just washed it and myself. But now it was Eevee¡¯s turn. ¡°And who is this?¡± he asked as he came up beside me. Eevee eyed him suspiciously.


    ¡°The newest member of my little family. Although¡­¡± I glanced at the Goomy. ¡°I think she¡¯s going to lose that title pretty quick, considering this one,¡± I gestured at the thing attached to my arm.


    ¡°What¡¯s the story with the Goomy?¡± He asked, examining the slug attached to me.


    ¡°Not sure. Picked her up while avoiding a hyper beam, and she won¡¯t let go.¡± I paid little mind to the clinging thing, focused on washing Eevee. ¡°She also won¡¯t talk to me.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ Where¡¯s her clan?¡± he asked.


    I paused, the thought hadn¡¯t even occurred to me. ¡°She was alone,¡± I said slowly as I continued with Eevee¡¯s bath.


    ¡°Then¡­¡± he stopped, realizing that he shouldn¡¯t finish that thought.


    ¡°Yes. But it¡¯ll be alright.¡± I reached up and gently squished the slug. ¡°I¡¯ve got her.¡±


    He looked at me for a moment and then sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Yanno, when I said you had permission to have more Pokemon than normal, I didn¡¯t expect you to immediately amass a hoard.¡±


    I laughed, starting to rinse off Eevee. ¡°Not my fault this world is such shit that there are so many Pokemon that need my attention.¡±


    ¡°Do you plan on taking in every Pokemon you come across?¡±


    ¡°If they need me.¡± I smiled a bit down at Eevee, rubbing at a few spots that had healed nicely. Her coat had so few missing patches now, the worst part was her face, but even that was healing. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right little cutie,¡± I said softly, rubbing at her cheeks.


    She made a huffing sound at me, but I could see how her tail wagged a bit. ¡°So where is this device?¡± the Professor finally asked.


    ¡°On the desk,¡± I said as I grabbed a towel and started to dry off the wet little canine.


    I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he made his way over, picking up the odd thing. ¡°This was embedded in the Pokemon?¡± he asked, though it barely sounded like a question as the blood made that obvious.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± After the first towling, I grabbed a second towel that had been warming by the heater and wrapped it around Eevee as I left the bathroom. ¡°From my observation¡­ it seems to be some sort of mixture of a dusk stone, and an artificial mega stone.¡±


    He frowned at it, turning it slowly over in his hands. ¡°Who could even design something like this¡­and why give it to a new Trainer?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s pretty obvious,¡± I said as I sat down on the bed, petting Eevee absentmindedly. The Professor gave me a look that made it clear it was not obvious in the slightest. I sighed. ¡°Well, the second part is obvious. Live test. The first part is a bit less, but I have some ideas.¡±


    ¡°Live test¡­¡± he muttered, not even looking up at me. ¡°Who do you think it is?¡±


    ¡°The obvious culprit is Team Flare.¡± His head snapped up as he looked at me. ¡°Yes, I know who they are. I also know vaguely of their plans¡­ or at least I thought I did. If this is them, then this isn¡¯t anything I¡¯m aware of.¡±


    He seemed to mull that over a bit before nodding. ¡°Any¡­any other suspects?¡±


    I remained quiet for a moment. ¡°The Association.¡±


    Again he had to think over that, sitting down and thinking. After a few moments he asked, ¡°What makes you think that?¡±


    ¡°Timing, mostly.¡± I sighed a bit, and he waited for me to explain. ¡°Here¡¯s the events as I see them. The Trainer buys the device last night. He tries it, his Pokemon goes on a rampage. I¡¯m contacted and rush over here.¡±


    ¡°That seems like an appropriate response by the Association,¡± he said slowly, not quite seeing it.


    Why does everyone interrupt me when I¡¯m trying to explain things? ¡°That¡¯s not where the timeline feels weird. It takes me hours to get here, but when I arrive, Valerie has just recently left, and Officer Jenny is still doing her investigation.¡±


    He gave me a puzzled look, shaking his head a bit. ¡°Where¡¯s the weird part?¡±


    ¡°Arceus it¡¯s a good thing you¡¯re not a detective¡­¡± I mumbled before continuing, ¡°The events are out of order. Officer Jenny¡¯s investigation should have happened before I was contacted.¡±


    ¡°Unless¡­¡± His eyes went a bit wide as he came to the realization.


    ¡°Unless the Association was aware of it before Officer Jenny.¡± I sighed a bit and shook my head. ¡°Of course, I might also just be pissed off at the Association from how they treated me, but the timing of stuff rubs me the wrong way. Especially because Officer Jenny didn¡¯t know I was coming.¡±


    ¡°Which means she probably hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to talk to the Association,¡± the Professor said, pinching the bridge of his nose.


    ¡°It¡¯s also possible that the Association heard it through other channels, or Valerie,¡± I suggested, explaining more of the reasons I had my doubts.


    He nodded slowly, following my train of thought.


    Before he could say more there was a knock at the door. ¡°Come in.¡± I was honestly done with this conversation and didn¡¯t really want to spitball theories. There just wasn¡¯t enough information.


    It was a Wigglytuff who opened the door, with a tray. ¡°I have your Pokemon,¡± she said happily.


    ¡°Ah, you could have just sent Dee,¡± I said as I laid Eevee down and got up.


    ¡°No, no. There¡¯s proper procedures to this. Dee is very much aware of them,¡± she said as she held out the tray to me.


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± I said with a chuckle while gathering the pokeballs. She simply gave me a smile and wobbled out of the room. I had to resist the urge to pat her head.


    Without much thought I released everyone into the room. Rio looked absolutely ecstatic. ¡°Did you see that hit?¡± she said proudly.


    I nodded. ¡°It was very impressive. But it would have been better to deflect the blow and strike with your other paw,¡± I said. I could see the moment she realized that that was a much better option. ¡°I¡¯ve got suggestions for everyone-¡±


    The Professor stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to head to the lab with this,¡± he said as he held up the device. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what I find.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I nodded. ¡°Oh, and¡­¡± I looked at him, and then at the device. ¡°Depending on who comes demanding for that, we¡¯ll have our answer on who it belonged to.¡±


    He paused, but nodded and left without another word.


    ¡°Alright. So, Rio.¡± I sat down, picking Eevee back up and putting her in my lap. ¡°You forgot the second part of your training, which is deflecting. Block or deflect.¡±


    She nodded and punched a fist into her palm. ¡°Right. I could have knocked him down quicker if I had just deflected the attack and struck him while his guard was open.¡±


    ¡°Brionne,¡± I looked at the newly evolved water Pokemon. ¡°When I give you an order, there¡¯s a reason.¡±


    Her shoulders slumped a bit and she nodded. ¡°Right¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have gotten hurt if I had listened¡­¡±


    ¡°You still did fantastically,¡± I said and picked her up, putting her on the bed beside me and began petting her. ¡°It was a good idea to overpower the breath with your Water Gun, but you got tunnel vision and forgot that you can do other things.¡±


    She nodded slowly. ¡°But I¡¯m so slow¡­ What should I have done?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll work on that. Just know that you can use your Water Gun to propel yourself, and you have other moves.¡± I smiled and rubbed her on her back softly. ¡°Switching to Bubble Beam was a very good choice.¡±


    She smiled up at me, nuzzling into my side.


    ¡°Cara.¡± She flinched. Just from looking at her I could tell she was disappointed in herself for her performance. ¡°Your control has gotten so much better, but you panicked and let your Aura Sphere slip too easily.¡±


    Her gaze was locked on the ground as she nodded slightly, not answering.


    ¡°But that last Aura Sphere was extremely impressive. It showed off just how far you¡¯ve come,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re nowhere near the level you were before the training. Have more confidence in yourself, okay?¡±


    I could see her shoulders sag a bit, but she nodded. I¡¯m sure she was going to be extremely hard on herself.


    ¡°Oh oh, me next!¡± Whirly said excitedly. While I was pointing out their shortcomings and failures, I was also explaining where they were getting things right. Clearly the little bug wanted some praise.


    ¡°The only thing I can complain about your performance, little bug, is that you failed to poison them even once.¡± She froze, staring blankly at the air. She hadn¡¯t even realized it. ¡°You also spent too much time just doing Rollout. But that¡¯s because we¡¯ve only had time to train one technique. That¡¯s my fault,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Oh please, we wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance without that training,¡± Rio said, patting her mother on the shoulder. I noticed that Rio was nearly half a foot taller than her mother, though neither had seemed to notice.


    ¡°Right.¡± I sighed a bit, and then looked over at the last participant in this battle. ¡°Diancie.¡± She perked up at her name, smiling. ¡°Your Gravity is fantastic, but I know for a fact you can do other things. Right?¡±


    She seemed to think about this, nodding slowly. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What were you doing the whole fight?¡± I tried to prompt her.


    ¡°Gravity!¡± she exclaimed happily, putting her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded to her response. ¡°Gravity. But nothing else.¡±


    Suddenly she had a realization. ¡°Ah!¡± Gravity was a move that didn¡¯t need to constantly be managed, and she had gotten it so that the duration was quite long. ¡°I should have¡­ been attacking?¡±


    ¡°Or tanking,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°You could have moved in and taken some of the hits that Brione, Rio, or Whirly took.¡± It was a good thing she realized on her own what she had done wrong, even if it took a bit of prompting to have her realize she¡¯d done anything wrong in the first place.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± she said softly, looking down at her hands.


    ¡°But you still did a very good job. Your gravity let everyone attack it easier, and kept it from running.¡± I reached over and rubbed her head. ¡°Well, rest up,¡± I said as I smiled. ¡°We¡¯re going to start training more tomorrow.¡± Everyone agreed, eager to become stronger after experiencing a battle like that. We all settled in for the night, though it took a while for everyone to calm down enough to actually fall asleep.


    The sleeping arrangements had shifted around a bit now that certain Pokemon had increased in size and changed shape. Cara was the only one who didn¡¯t move. Rio had moved down off my chest and instead laid mostly on my leg using my thigh as a pillow. Brionne still laid on my chest, but she took up a lot more room. Eevee had actually joined into the pile, tucking her head into the side of my neck. Whirly remained under my arm, again placing herself so that my hand rested on top of her. My pillow was replaced by Dee, and finally Diancie laid on the same side as Cara, her hands grasping onto my fingers. Oh and there was the Goomy, who just clung to my arm.


    I was going to drown in Pokemon at this rate.

 Chapter Seven

    The clearing was just as we had left it, and I realized it had quite a few more battle scars than when we first arrived. They had accumulated so slowly that I hadn¡¯t noticed. I looked around the place as we set up camp, setting up things for the next day when we would once more throw ourselves into training.


    As I was making dinner with Dee¡¯s help, Cara approached me. ¡°What can I do to be better?¡± she asked, staring at the ground like it had wronged her. She had been stewing on this the entire hike here, hardly saying a word, but couldn¡¯t hold it back anymore.


    I looked at her and smiled, reaching out and rubbing her head. ¡°You¡¯re so hard on yourself,¡± I said softly. ¡°It¡¯s said that you are your own harshest critic, and I think that¡¯s where you¡¯re stuck.¡±


    She looked up at me with a confused expression, though she didn¡¯t try her feigned attempts to bat my hand away like she normally did.


    ¡°You know where your mistakes were, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Then that¡¯s where you need to work. Your speed is good, and it can be better. But if you ever want to reach the level you¡¯re aiming for you need to work on three things.¡±


    Her head tilted to the side as she waited for me to continue. It was nice that my Pokemon didn¡¯t interrupt me, usually.


    ¡°Speed. Control. Density. You need to gather your aura faster, control it more precisely, and increase its density.¡± Her brow furrowed as she mulled over my words. I looked over the rest of the Pokemon. ¡°That goes for every type of energy. Of course, that¡¯s easier said than done. But you just need to keep at it until you get it.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that I¡¯ll succeed?¡± she said softly.


    I moved my hand down, rubbing at her cheek. ¡°Because I believe in you. And it¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t believe in yourself, you just have to believe in me. Believe in the me that believes in you.¡± I almost felt embarrassed to use that line, but it¡¯s not like anyone would know where it came from.


    She leaned into my hand, her eyes closing a bit. This was the first time that she had really let me pet her when there were others watching. That fight had really opened her eyes, and I guess from the way that I encouraged Rio rather than trying to get her out of danger led Cara to rethink some things.


    Of course it wasn¡¯t long before she realized what was going on and quickly shuffled away, avoiding looking at me or anyone else. ¡°I definitely think bashful was the correct nature to assign her,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    Everyone enjoyed dinner. I wasn¡¯t sure what Goomy liked, so I simply fed her leaves. It took some coaxing to actually get her to eat, but I knew she was hungry. She¡¯d not eaten anything since I picked her up. In fact she hardly moved, I hadn¡¯t even heard her make a single noise. The only way I knew she was really even alive was that her antenna moved and she blinked sometimes. And of course the fact that she absolutely refused to let go of my coat.


    The next morning, everyone got a pokeblock. I even offered one to Goomy, but she wouldn¡¯t eat it. With a sigh I made my way out into the field. ¡°Diancie.¡± The rock Pokemon floated in front of me, smiling and twirling. I glanced at the Goomy. ¡°You¡¯re about to have a bad time,¡± I said sympathetically to the slug. ¡°Full range.¡±


    There was the sudden force as Gravity increased. Goomy actually let out a soft noise, but her grip was strong enough that she didn¡¯t let go, though she noticeably sagged. Her eyes darted around as she tried to figure out what was going on, and seeing everyone under the effects just made her more confused.


    I made my way around. ¡°Speed. Control. Density,¡± I repeated what I had said last night, now properly addressing everyone. ¡°You have to gather your energy as fast as you can. You have to control it as best as you can. And you have to make it as dense as possible.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Cara. You will continue your training.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± she said.


    ¡°But this time.¡± She looked over at me. ¡°I want you to touch every spot twice before launching your aura sphere. And Rio will be your target.¡± Rio suddenly straightened, turning her attention to Cara for a moment before looking at me. There was a look on Cara¡¯s face, but she nodded and jumped to the first position. ¡°Rio. You will be doing the same thing as Cara, but you will not be using Aura Sphere. Instead, you will be blocking or deflecting Cara¡¯s aura with your own and attempting to strike her.¡±


    Rio nodded a bit, moving over to the opposite position of Cara. She looked nervous, but also excited. This was going to be a harsh way to train the two of them, but it should also be extremely effective at sharpening their aura.


    ¡°And the other attacks,¡± I added. ¡°Whirly, you will be doing your poison rollout, your targets are everyone. You¡¯re not allowed to attack the same target twice in a row.¡±


    They all looked at me with a mixture of confusion and worry.


    ¡°What? You want to be stronger, right? The best way to do that is to actually attack, and be attacked.¡± I was definitely taking a rougher way of training, but I had confirmed that the curry had the full heal effect, as well as restoring their energy. The way I had been doing training was effective, but it could be better. Pokemon improved best through actual combat, so if I wanted to see more growth they would need to fight each other. ¡°Dee and Diancie will be using the striker balls to attack as well. And Dee will be using Heal Pulse as often as possible.¡±


    I picked up one of the balls, which was honestly not as much of a struggle as I thought it would be. I guess I had really gotten stronger as well. ¡°So, we¡¯re just supposed to attack each other?¡± Whirly asked, her eyes looking over the others.


    ¡°Pretty much. But, you have to do it in specific ways.¡± I looked over at Brionne. ¡°I want you to use Aqua Ring repeatedly, and practice using your Water Gun to move around. You¡¯re the least mobile right now, but that can be fixed.¡±


    Brionne perked up when I specifically called on her. She had been looking a bit dejected because I hadn¡¯t been including her, but now she realized why. ¡°Okay!¡± she said excitedly.


    ¡°Can I have more weight?¡± Dee asked suddenly.


    I blinked, looking at her in confusion. And then I realized I had completely forgotten that she was wearing the weight harness. I pulled out the remote, and noted that she was at forty pounds. She had started at five pounds and that had been a struggle, but she was already at forty before I realized. Looking at her for a moment I nodded and turned it up to fifty.


    She struggled for a moment to get her footing before nodding when she situated herself.


    And that¡¯s how training started. It took two weeks before I was confident that Brionne could move herself competently if the need should arise. She would have to train again when she evolved to adjust for her change in shape and weight, but that was a future problem. Before I had her join the others, I had her practice Moonblast. It took a day before she managed to do it, but by the end of the third week she could do it consistently. So I added her to the mix switching up between Water Gun, and Moonblast.


    It was actually interesting to hear her talk about how the fairy type energy in her body felt weird, but right. Even though Brionne didn¡¯t have the fairy type, her final stage did, so she was probably feeling the beginnings of that energy.


    Rolling back to that first week of training, it was in a word: rough. Many attacks didn¡¯t need to get blocked or dodged, as they simply missed, so it was a lot of random moves being thrown out randomly. But as accuracy increased, they all started taking a beating. That second week was probably the roughest for them, because they got thrashed every day. Thank Arceus for curry.


    The third week was when they all started getting the hang of it, and then Brionne came in the fourth week and completely trashed all of the rhythm they had gotten in. Which had been the plan. I knew that they would start slipping into patterns, so I planned to change things up every week.


    Week five I had Diancie also start using Moonblast, which started off rather weak but quickly became something that very much needed to be dodged or blocked. Or in Dee¡¯s case, tanked. Her weight was also now at seventy five. Her Heal Pulse had honestly gotten to an almost ridiculous range, and she could also now focus it in to make it extremely effective.


    By week six, Diancie¡¯s mastery of Gravity had gotten so large that it was now almost affecting the entire field, so I had her condense it down and increase the force over the training ground. Everyone had to stop training, as she had increased the Gravity to ten times normal. We had all gotten so used to five times that it honestly felt like nothing, but just that tick more had brought all of us to our knees, much to Diancie¡¯s delight.


    Unfortunately we didn¡¯t have time to do anything serious when we finally acclimated, as I got another request. The liaison had not let up from her multi-daily-check in-texts. I honestly thought about blocking her, she was extremely annoying. But that would mean that I wouldn¡¯t have gotten this request.


    ¡°Unknown Pokemon captured. Requesting input. Please come to Association Headquarters in Lumiose.¡±


    ¡°On my way,¡± was my response.


    I had Diancie stop her Gravity, and told everyone we had another request. To my surprise, everyone but Cara wanted to stay and keep training after learning what the request was. I hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed. I left two days worth of pokeblocks, and enough ingredients for two nights before heading off with Cara, Eevee, and the silent Goomy. I was starting to get worried about my little slug friend, as she still wasn¡¯t talking and I practically had to force her to eat.


    Arriving at the headquarters in the evening, I had to show my ID to no less than six different security people, who directed me where to go. ¡°This building is way too damn big, and has way too much security,¡± I muttered as I entered the room I was directed to. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m here.¡±


    There were four people in the room, one of which I recognized as the old man that had been there during my tests. He was in a deep conversation with the two that I didn¡¯t recognize. The fourth person was Professor Sycamore. ¡°Ah, Jason, you¡¯re here,¡± the Professor said with a smile, motioning me over. They were looking out of a window.


    ¡°Yeah, I am,¡± I said as I walked over, rolling my eyes. ¡°What¡¯s this-¡± I paused, my brow furrowing. ¡°Brute Bonnet? What¡¯s a Paradox Pokemon doing here?¡±


    The conversation immediately came to a halt. ¡°You know what that is?¡± the old man said.


    ¡°We were under the impression it was a mutated Amoonguss,¡± one of the unknown men said. He was taller than me, with brown hair and large glasses, wearing a sort of cheap looking suit.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not wrong. Though it would be more correct to say that Amoonguss is a mutation of it. Though that change happened over¡­ oh what was it¡­ ten million years? Some ridiculously long time like that. Or a different timeline, but all that is really complicated.¡±


    They were all staring at me like I had three heads.


    I just frowned at them. ¡°Well if you don¡¯t believe me, call Professor Sada and ask her if this Pokemon is in her scarlet book,¡± I said with annoyance. ¡°Wasting my time when you could ask other Professors,¡± I added as I turned and walked out.


    It took a moment before the Professor caught back up to me. ¡°So you really know what that is?¡±


    ¡°I already told you. How it got out of area zero, only Professor Sada, or Turo, would know. Depending on if they¡¯re alive.¡± I paused. ¡°Hopefully they both are¡­ At this point it might be her AI that¡¯s impersonating her¡­¡±


    Out of the corner of my eye I could see the completely blank look on the Professor¡¯s face like he had no idea what I was talking about.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Do you know Professor Sada or Turo?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ They¡¯re¡­ In Paldea. Researching something in the crater,¡± he said after a moment.


    ¡°Call Professor Sada,¡± I said, stopping in the hall and gesturing at him.


    He hesitated a moment before pulling out his phone. It rang for a bit before there was an answer. ¡°Professor Sycamore? What do you need? I¡¯m a bit busy.¡±


    ¡°Ah- well¡­ you see¡­ uh¡­ where to start¡­¡±


    ¡°Give me that,¡± I said as I snatched the phone. ¡°Professor Sada, is there a Brute Bonnet in your scarlet book?¡±


    I could see on the screen that she froze, not moving for several seconds before slowly looking over at me. ¡°How do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°I know everything. Professor Sycamore can explain it to you later, but please answer my question.¡± It didn¡¯t look like she was an AI, but I wasn¡¯t sure how advanced it had been so I don¡¯t know how well it could impersonate her. But if Professor Turo was also alive and in the picture, then that meant some interesting things.


    She hesitated for a moment. ¡°There¡­is.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got one here in Kalos, and the Association is freaking out about it,¡± I explained.


    Her entire body snapped towards me and she leaned towards whatever recording device she had, making her appear large. ¡°They what? When? How? What happened? Who has it?¡±


    I looked over at the Professor, who sighed and looked around to make sure no one was around. ¡°It was confiscated off of a Team Flare member.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s concerning,¡± I couldn¡¯t help but say.


    Professor Sada had a pained expression on her face. ¡°Damn¡­ Any other information?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not,¡± Professor Sycamore said, shaking his head. ¡°He won¡¯t say where he got it from.¡±


    ¡°I- oh, I¡¯m getting another call,¡± she said, obviously annoyed.


    ¡°Probably the Association,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°They¡¯ll be able to give you a lot more information.¡± I hung up before passing the phone back to Professor Sycamore.


    He blinked at me. ¡°Did¡­did you just hang up on her?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got some annoying memories of her damn AI. She was so picky about not having an assistant up to her standards that she made one, that was a copy of herself. That¡¯s taking narcissism to an extreme I don¡¯t want to deal with.¡± I sort of forced him to take the phone and turned away. I stopped before looking back and pointing a finger at him. ¡°Do not give her my number.¡±


    He laughed as he started to follow me out. ¡°I won¡¯t have to. I¡¯m sure the Association will do that.¡±


    ¡°Great, another person that I will have to ignore,¡± I muttered, shaking my head.


    ¡°Another person?¡±


    ¡°That-¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°That damn liaison the Association assigned me.¡± I waved a hand vaguely in the air. ¡°She sends me multiple texts a day to check in and ask what I¡¯m doing. You¡¯d think after more than two months she¡¯d get the hint.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow at me. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s just¡­being overly friendly?¡±


    ¡°Oh please, how could I not spot such an obvious honey trap?¡± He looked at me with a blank expression. ¡°Oh, what, you expect me to believe that she got one look at me, some random guy, and fell for me? As attractive as I am, I don¡¯t really believe that,¡± I said, gesturing at myself.


    A snort escaped him. ¡°Talk about narcissism.¡±


    I laughed a bit, shaking my head. ¡°Maybe a little. But I like to think of myself as more of a realist. Maybe a bit paranoid, but with the crap the Association has been putting me through I think it¡¯s more than warranted.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned that. What happened?¡±


    I sighed and explained the hours of stupid questions they had put me through.


    When I was finished with my explanation he looked thoughtful. ¡°Well, the type of questions seem to be pretty standard, but the degree of difficulty was very much over the top.¡±


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t care. But if they keep bothering me for stupid little things like today, I¡¯m going to leave the region,¡± I said before taking a deep breath. ¡°Like, this could have just been a text? Just send me a text and be like ¡®do you know what this is?¡¯ And bam, I tell them what it is.¡±


    A laugh escaped him, and he nodded. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think anyone has ever thought to do that. I know I didn¡¯t.¡±


    I stared blankly at him. I wanted to say that I question the average intelligence of the individuals of this organization, but I felt that may be a little harsh. My otherworldly knowledge and experience has me thinking in a very different way to the people around me. ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± I said after a moment and walked off.


    He didn¡¯t follow after me this time, and instead I made my way to the train station and headed back to Santalune. It was technically closer to where everyone was training


    Cara stood beside me as we waited on the train. ¡°Are we heading back tonight?¡±


    I shook my head. I honestly wanted to spend a night in a bed before heading back out. ¡°It¡¯ll be dark by the time we start hiking. We can just wait till tomorrow.¡±


    She remained silent for a few moments. ¡°You are upset,¡± she said softly.


    Sighing, I rubbed my face. ¡°I¡¯m a bit annoyed. I would have much rather spent the day watching all of you train than deal with this.¡±


    ¡°Why does it upset you?¡± she asked.


    I paused, trying to think of the right words to explain it. ¡°What if someone told you that you weren¡¯t allowed to see Rio unless you did everything they told you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d kick their ass,¡± she said without hesitation.


    I snorted. ¡°Okay, yeah. I guess that¡¯s an option,¡± I said with a chuckle, my mood was already starting to get better.


    ¡°But¡­ I think I understand.¡± She had quite an intense look on her face, glaring down at the ground in front of her. ¡°You don¡¯t get to be with us if you don¡¯t listen to them.¡±


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± I glanced at the Goomy attached to my arm, and reached back into my hood to check on Eevee, who was asleep. ¡°I just wanted to be a Trainer. But they put me into a position with responsibilities.¡± That still rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like the Professors knew something that they didn¡¯t talk about, and decided to use me to help.


    Silence fell, but it was a comfortable silence. Being in the company of Cara was pretty nice. Like hanging out with an old friend you¡¯ve known for years, just enjoying each other''s company. The train arrived after a few more minutes, and we boarded. It was mostly empty, but I got quite a few looks from the occupants. Not that I really blame them, since I probably looked like someone who had spent weeks in the woods. Which I had.


    Cara still seemed a bit uncomfortable with either the crowd, or being on the train, as she was gripping onto my coat. It could have also been that she just wanted to maintain some sort of contact. It had occurred to me that she might have some abandonment issues. From what I had found out, she relied heavily on her mate, and he had abandoned her. It was almost like she thought I would do the same.


    The thought of doing something like that hadn¡¯t even crossed my mind, but it was probably something she worried about. I had accidentally put myself in a position where she was heavily reliant on me. But that¡¯s what a Trainer was supposed to be, right? The person that the Pokemon relied on? The thought of how she would react if I ever left her was not a pleasant one. Her reaction from being separated back in the cave was good evidence of that.


    Gently I placed my hand on hers and she looked at me. I smiled a bit at her. ¡°You¡¯re stuck with me,¡± I said softly.


    Her face was completely blank as she just stared at me. Slowly her eyes widened a bit and she suddenly looked away and down at her lap. She didn¡¯t say anything but she nodded, shifting her grip from my coat to my hand.


    The train ride was short, since we were barely passing through one town before arriving. Cara and I walked to the Pokecenter. Immediately I noticed that it was a different Wigglytuff in the main area, though it looked like the night shift Nurse Joy. I was actually starting to get pretty good at telling Nurse Joy¡¯s apart, but it was something so subtle that I couldn¡¯t quite tell what it was. They just had different vibes. What was really interesting was there were other people dressed similarly to Nurse Joy. While I knew it would be impossible to run something on this scale by herself, even with multiple Joy¡¯s, it was still kind of weird to see other people doing her job.


    She also looked busy, so I had to get in line at a desk that had a sign that said ¡®Overnight Stays¡¯. It didn¡¯t take too long to get to the front and get a room key. It was always interesting to see a busy Pokecenter.


    Entering the room, I gently laid Eevee down. The special shampoo had done its job and repaired the damage that had been done to her skin. She was still very weak and slept a lot, but she could move around for a while just fine now. From the way she had been acting I wondered if she had a timid nature rather than lonely, but that seemed to have stopped. I still had to look after her while her body tried to recover from the disease, but she was a lot more outgoing.


    Then there was the Goomy. She was a problem that I was going to have to deal with. And I decided that now would be the best time to start on that, while there were less Pokemon around and we were in the safety of this room.


    Slowly I removed my coat, careful to not disturb her or let her know what I was doing. When she did realize, I had already laid the coat down on the bed and knelt down beside it, looking at her. I didn¡¯t reprimand her. I didn¡¯t chastise her for her actions. I just put my arms around her and pulled her in close to my chest, similar to when I had scooped her up.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said softly, ¡°I¡¯ve got you.¡± I could feel her grab hold of me, clinging tightly. ¡°I¡¯ve got you,¡± I said again, gently rubbing the top of her head. ¡°I know you¡¯re sad¡­and scared¡­ But I¡¯ve got you.¡±


    For the first time since picking her up that first time, she started to make actual noise. Unfortunately it was a noise I was fairly familiar with; sobbing. All I could really do was hold and pet the little slug who practically went limp in my embrace. She was sticky and slimy, but the sort of goo membrane around her didn¡¯t actually come off easily. It kind of reminded me of oobleck. I was fairly certain that she had the Gooey ability.


    We sat there for probably an hour, and I would have continued to sit there, comforting her, if my phone hadn¡¯t started ringing. I sighed softly, looking over at my bag. After a moment Cara went over, getting my phone and bringing it to me. ¡°Oh. Thank you.¡± I had honestly just planned on ignoring it.


    The number was not one I recognized. Unsticking my hand from the little slug, I took the phone, reluctantly answering it. Immediately I recognized Professor Sada. ¡°Is this Jason?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes,¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Can I help you, Sada?¡±


    She frowned a bit. ¡°The Association gave me your number.¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure.¡±


    There was a moment of silence before she got to the reason she was calling. ¡°How did you know about my journal?¡±


    I thought about making an excuse, but honestly I was just tired. ¡°Because I¡¯m not from this world.¡± Her brow furrowed, and I also saw Cara give me a look. I realized that I had not explained it to her properly and she had apparently not pieced it together from the other conversations I had had, so I decided to do so now. ¡°I¡¯m from a different reality. One where Pokemon, and this entire world, are fictional constructs in the form of games, cartoons, and literature.¡±


    There was just silence as Profesor Sada just stared at me. Cara just looked even more confused.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why I¡¯m here, but I was beaten nearly to death, or to death, and as I was dying Arceus for some reason grabbed me and dropped me in this reality.¡± I looked at Cara, seeing her realize that¡¯s how I came to be in the forest.


    ¡°I find that hard to believe¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah well that¡¯s not my problem.¡± I honestly wanted to just hang up on her again, but I knew that that was just because I was in a grumpy mood. ¡°Considering your research, you should be more aware of the existence of other realities more than anyone else. Well, maybe your husband could rival your knowledge.¡±


    She didn¡¯t respond for a moment, looking thoughtful. ¡°So, you know me?¡±


    ¡°Technically I know your AI.¡± I saw the way she jolted, her eyes snapping to me. ¡°You were already dead in the game by the time I interacted with you.¡±


    There was a pause. ¡°How did I die?¡±


    I thought about it a moment, wondering if that would be spoiling the future, or if that was some sort of alternate event. I decided that this would be a good event to try and test. ¡°You tried to stop a fight between powerful Pokemon, and died as a result. And the research station was destroyed.¡± I waited a moment, glancing around. If I was doing damage to the timeline, surely something would show up, right?


    But nothing did.


    ¡°I see¡­ What about my husband?¡±


    ¡°That uh¡­gets a bit complicated. There are two realities that I know of, one where he abandons you and you die, and the other you abandon him and he dies-¡±


    ¡°My husband and I are quite happy, thank you,¡± she interrupts, immediately irritated.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°We¡¯re talking about alternate realities. I¡¯ve found that my knowledge doesn''t match up one hundred percent, but it¡¯s close enough that I know a lot.¡±


    She glared at me a moment before taking a deep breath. ¡°Right. I suppose with endless realities, anything would be possible¡­¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else? I¡¯m rather busy.¡± I knew she could see that I was currently comforting a Pokemon, who was still noticeably sobbing and shaking in my arms. She hung up on me without another word. I snorted softly, tossing my phone to the side.


    ¡°You are from another world?¡± Cara said softly, her brow furrowed. She looked unsure how to process that information.


    ¡°I am. I was going to explain it eventually, but I didn¡¯t really think it mattered. You see, I-¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go back?¡± she asked, interrupting me. Her head had drooped and she was staring at the ground.


    ¡°No,¡± I responded immediately. And that was the truth. ¡°While I wish I could tell my family and friends that I¡¯m okay¡­ I don¡¯t want to go back.¡±


    She moved forward, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tightly. I could feel her press her face into my back, and I could also feel the slight prick of her chest spike.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to leave you,¡± I said softly. ¡°And that goes for you, too.¡± I gently pet Goomy. The little slugs grip had actually loosened, and I felt that I could actually pull her off. But I was fine just holding her.


    Before we all got settled in, I made sure to get everyone food, and took a shower. In the morning we would make our way back to the training ground, but for now we would enjoy the comfort of a bed. Goomy was still clinging to me, but I could tell she had relaxed. When we all finally laid down, Cara was quite quick to lay down, actually nuzzling into my shoulder. When I made a comment about her being extra affectionate tonight, she told me to shut up, but didn¡¯t stop.


    ~


    Before leaving town I bought more food, since my little family had grown and the rate they were eating would increase. Estimating my spendings, it cost five hundred for a month''s worth of food for each Pokemon, so I bought two months worth. That included berries for curries, but not for pokeblocks. Pokeblocks were quite costly to make at the quality I could do. Buying them would be even more expensive, but I could make a month''s worth of pokeblocks, three times a day, for about a thousand for each Pokemon. So I bought two months worth of pokeblock ingredients as well.


    Raising Pokemon at the standard that I was attempting was very expensive. But the results were worth it. Just seeing how much they¡¯ve grown from when we all first joined up was a bit crazy. They were all growing at a far faster rate than I had imagined possible. It was like I had found a nearly perfect way to power level Pokemon by accident, but a big part of that was thanks to the pokeblocks and all of it wouldn¡¯t be possible if not for them. The ones that were purchasable were generic, and being able to make them myself allowed me to give the Pokemon the most boost possible, although it was costly. Thankfully I had such an easy way to make money, at the cost of my nerves.


    The sight that met us the next day when we finally made it to the clearing was, to put it simply, a mess. The entire field was trashed. Diancie was throwing large boulders around, Ancient Power I believe, laughing as everyone else tried to fend off the assault. Well, Dee just took the hits like they were nothing and then used a Heal Pulse.


    It also looked like Brionne had learned Ice Beam, as she was currently attempting to hit Rio with it and much of the ground had already been frozen. Rio had somehow managed to figure out Bone Rush. Probably from observing all of the rock energy that Diancie was throwing around. Rock and ground seemed to have pretty similar energy after all.


    But the most shocking thing was the massive red object that was bouncing off rocks and carving shallow trenches through the earth. I knew Whirlipede was just a short middle evolution, but I didn¡¯t expect her to evolve while I was away. I could barely see her movements, but it looked like she was using some sort of combination of Rollout and Gyro Ball. The craters and trenches she left had hints of purple goop, so she was also using her poison in some way.


    I looked over at Cara, who was still standing stunned. ¡°Well?¡± I gave her a nudge. ¡°Get in there. See if you can figure out how Rio learned to form a Bone Rush.¡± She didn¡¯t move and it took a second nudge and shoving a pokeblock into her mouth before she snapped out of it and nodded, rushing in.


    Making my way over towards the tent I was intercepted by the appearance of an extremely large bug. She was much bigger than the average, standing almost ten feet tall. There was a pleased expression on her face. ¡°I evolved!¡± she declared, lowering her head so that we could talk face to face.


    ¡°I can see that,¡± I said with a chuckle, reaching out and rubbing at the spot between her horns. Her eyes closed as she made happy little noises at the attention. ¡°I guess I can¡¯t call you little bug anymore, eh?¡±


    Her eyes snapped open as she realized this as well. I guess she liked that nickname. ¡°Ah- uhm¡­ I guess not.¡± She almost looked sad about it. She was the only one in the group that I actually said the pet name I had for them out loud.


    I chuckled a bit more. ¡°I can still call you little bug if you want. But it¡¯d be ironic now.¡±


    She looked thoughtful for a moment before she suddenly leaned in, pressing her head against mine. ¡°You can call me whatever nickname you want. Or you can use my new name, Scoly.¡±


    It caught me a bit off guard that she was suddenly showing affection like this. But I just smiled, rubbing under her chin. ¡°Alright. As long as you''re happy, it¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m happy,¡± she said, rubbing up against me. ¡°I¡¯m big enough that you can ride on top of me now.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a slight snort. ¡°Oh yeah? I guess I could. You can be my bug horse.¡±


    She suddenly froze, and then straightened up. Looking up at her I could see that there was a slight blush on her face. She was embarrassed? She could blush? Before I had a chance to ask, she was suddenly a ball and bounded off away from me.


    With a laugh I simply made my way to the campsite, putting Eevee and Goomy down in the tent. I was actually a bit surprised that the little slug had actually let herself be put down, but after last night''s reassurances she had finally snapped her out of whatever sort of mental lock she had.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Looking at the spot I had left things for them, I noticed that there was nothing left. They had used both days of food, and gorged themselves on pokeblocks. I sighed, hoping that they at least split them up somewhat. I had hoped Dee would have been a bit more responsible, but I guess she was heavily outnumbered. Though I was more curious as to why all the food supplies were gone.


    While everyone was training, I decided to start making food. I did a quick nature test for the Goomy, now that she was far more receptive to interactions. She didn¡¯t seem to like or dislike any of them, though spicy got the most reaction from her. So she probably had a hardy nature.


    It wasn¡¯t long before everyone was done with their training, coming over to me. Dee had an almost guilty expression and couldn¡¯t look me in the eye. ¡°I¡¯m not a good cook¡­¡± she mumbled when she got close to me.


    ¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°She burnt it,¡± Rio said with a bit of a giggle. ¡°We had to forage, cus she couldn¡¯t cook.¡±


    Everyone else sort of nodded, and Dee hung her head, her face turning quite a surprising red. I reached over and pet her. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We can work on that if you want,¡± I said softly. ¡°You always help me cook, so I just assumed you knew how to. That¡¯s my fault.¡± It seemed that the way they were trained was to rely on someone giving out all the steps and orders. ¡°What I¡¯m more concerned about is the fact that it seems everyone ate their pokeblocks.¡±


    She just nodded, helping me to pass out servings to everyone, while the others either looked guilty or simply tried to avoid looking at me. Goomy and Eevee also get a plate, though I made the little slugs extra leafy since their diet is purely leaves. Eevee was in absolute heaven, fully able to enjoy her meal without needing help to eat. It was so wonderful to see her finally be able to do that on her own and not make a mess.


    Goomy seemed hesitant at first, but after the first few bites I knew she was hooked. The greatest way to win someone over, man, woman, Pokemon, whatever, all you need is good food.


    The current goal was to train for one more month, before moving on to the next step of my plan. I would be doing my gym run in the third to last month, and go for all the star badges. In the three months between the end of my training, and the start of my gym fights, I wanted to do one thing.


    Go to Alola and attempt the Trials.


    It was a rather obvious choice to make if we are talking about making Pokemon stronger. Getting my hands on a Z-Ring and a Primarium Z, or any Z-Crystals would be immense. Whether getting those would actually require me to take the Trials, I didn¡¯t know, but I would attempt to do them while I was there. ¡­maybe I could get one for Eevee? I had no idea if she ever wanted to evolve, or not. Hell, they could even gigantamax. I would have to talk to her about that later.


    The rest of this last month of training I shifted everyone¡¯s focus. Now wasn¡¯t about trying to rapidly increase everyone¡¯s power, now it was about increasing their combat awareness. We had to be on the same wavelength. I had explained to them that they should be able to fight autonomously, with minimal input from me. That wouldn¡¯t be to say that I wouldn¡¯t give them instructions, but for the most part they would have to fight on their own and understand what I wanted them to do without words.


    So we ran basic combat drills, talking to them and teaching them how to act under pressure, and how to react to situations. Not to wait for my instructions, but to drop everything in order to follow them. The most important thing we practiced was how to block out distractions. Every day for a whole week, everyone would get one hour of this. It consisted of everyone yelling at them, and attacking them, desperately trying to get their attention, while I would give them orders. Their only task was to do whatever I tasked them with and ignore everyone else. Because if I was giving an order, it was more important than anything else that was going on.


    To my surprise, Goomy actually joined in on the training, though it was more that she was just using the Gravity to get stronger. She had witnessed its effects first hand, and wanted to get stronger. She and Eevee had been getting pokeblocks to help with their growth, though Eevee was still too weak to start proper training. Unfortunately for the little slug, the Gravity had an even greater effect on her than anyone else, so she struggled to do anything. I had given her the task to do laps around the Gravity area.


    By the time the three weeks were up, everyone was fairly competent at fighting with minimal commands. Diancie struggled the most as she seemed less combat oriented than everyone else, but she still did a good job. Her response to me not giving orders was to simply use Gravity and then pelt everything with diamonds or rocks with the occasional Moonblast.


    On the morning that we were all traveling to Lumiose, as that¡¯s where the airport was, I texted my liaison to tell her I was heading to Alola for a few months. She absolutely freaked out, bombarding me with questions. Just to frazzle her more, I said that my reason for doing so was to see if other branches of the Association would treat me better. She didn¡¯t respond to that. I also messaged Professor Sycamore to let him know I would be out of the region for a time.


    When I did get a response from her, it was to tell me that a different liaison would be meeting me at the airport in Alola when I landed. I guess I had actually caused her to realize that I was not about to put up with their garbage forever.


    The actual ride to the airport was extremely fast. It was the first time I had ridden Scoly, and I nearly fell off a few times because of just how much speed she would pick up. Thankfully it was actually a pretty comfortable ride and I just needed a little padding. Still, riding bareback was not something that I ever enjoyed doing and I would be getting a saddle made so that she could really go all out in running. Though it was honestly smoother than riding a horse, since she had so many legs.


    The airport was rather small, all things considered, and fairly new. Travel by planes was seemingly something new, since most just used Pokemon. The ticket was insanely expensive, costing me forty thousand pokedollars. Thankfully at the time I had over a hundred thousand, thanks to the Association paying me again. But that was still incredibly expensive. And that was just one way. I didn¡¯t buy a return flight ticket because I didn¡¯t know when I would be heading back.


    Security at the airport was both super lax, and extremely strict in a way that I was unprepared for. I found out later that the reason was because I was a Pokemon Expert that I was essentially just waved through most of the checks. All of the security measures were for my Pokemon, rather than me. Every Pokemon and their pokeball had to be thoroughly checked and scanned. They didn¡¯t like that I was taking so many, but my identity really didn¡¯t give them the option to deny me.


    Unsurprisingly, Diancie caused the biggest fuss and got the most looks. I realized that this was the first time she had been displayed in public, not including the battle in the forest, and it was clear that she absolutely loved the attention. I could already tell my phone was going to explode with text messages as soon as we landed, and the Association was probably going to yell at the Professor.


    Annoyingly there was a strict ¡®No Pokemon on the Plane¡¯ rule, and I had to reluctantly return Eevee to her pokeball, promising that I would release her the moment that I was allowed. It also occurred to me that I had not captured Goomy. But after explaining to her it was either be captured and come with, or be left behind, she readily agreed.


    Yet even after all that, the most annoying thing was the actual flight. It was a fourteen hour flight, and there were hardly any people. I could have had my Pokemon out without problem, but I also understood that they didn¡¯t want to risk damage to the plane. But with how much I paid, and how few people there were, you would think that they would have at least mildly decent food.


    Vaguely I remembered that due to the altitude, things taste different. Which is why they served extra salty or spicy things. Or maybe I was just getting too used to my own cooking. In the last few months I had gotten a lot better at cooking, and I already thought I was pretty good.


    The most interesting thing that happened during the flight was when one of the other passengers went to retrieve something from the overhead storage. I wouldn¡¯t have paid it any mind, however when they did I was suddenly met with a rather familiar pair of purple eyes attached to a pink Pokemon. It seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see it. I was too stunned to react for a moment, and then they closed the storage. Immediately I stood up and opened it back up, but they were gone.


    The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, though I was constantly trying to see if I could spot the little thing somewhere on the plane. Either I was suffering from hallucinations due to my concussion, or they were just following me and were really good at it and remaining undetected. Espurr espionage? Eventually we landed, and I hadn¡¯t seen the little cat again.


    Stepping off the plane, where we had landed could barely be called an airport. It was more just an airstrip. Alola was apparently the newest member of the Association, and their teeth hadn¡¯t properly sunk into this land yet. They had just started to become a hot tourist destination, which is why the ticket had been so expensive.


    I immediately released Eevee, checking on her a moment to make sure she was alright before putting her in my hood. Then I released Goomy, since I felt like I was still bonding and earning the trust of the little slug. I held her in my arms for a moment, letting her know that everything was okay. She didn¡¯t seem to like her first pokeball experience.


    Once I was sure she was feeling alright again, I placed her up on my shoulder, allowing her to stick in a place where she could see around. All the other passengers had gathered their luggage and left at this point, and I looked up at the mountain. ¡°Mmm¡­ so this is Melemele.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± a voice said from not so far away.


    I turned and immediately recognized who was speaking. ¡°Professor Burnet?¡± The woman who was in front of me was tanned skin, with white hair, and a gray tank top.


    ¡°Oh? Were you expecting someone else?¡± she asked, giving me a smirk.


    ¡°Honestly, yes.¡± I looked around, just to see if there was anyone else. ¡°I was expecting your husband, or my so-called liaison.¡±


    ¡°Well, good news there, I am your liaison,¡± she said with a laugh. ¡°Alola. As for my husband, he¡¯s currently not on the island.¡± She looked me over, and I felt the way that Goomy flinched when she looked at her.


    I reached up and gently squished the little slug. ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said softly to her. ¡°Alola,¡± I added, remembering that the word was both a greeting and a farewell.


    ¡°Augustine said you specialize in traumatized Pokemon, so I wonder what brings you here?¡± she asked, watching the interaction.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that I specialize in them, but it is true that most of my Pokemon have trauma.¡± I reached into my coat for my only premier ball. ¡°As for why I am here, there¡¯s a few reasons. First, is this one.¡± Releasing Brionne, she made a happy noise, not liking having been in her pokeball for so long. I scooped her up, holding her in my arms. She was surprised, but nuzzled me, enjoying this particular show of affection. I should pick up my Pokemon more often, they seem to really like it.


    ¡°Oh? You have a Brionne? You-¡± realization dawned on her face and she snapped her fingers as she stopped speaking. Her mind raced for a moment. ¡°You have a Brionne. Shit¡­¡± she mumbled, her own previous comment causing her to come to what was the correct conclusion. ¡°Alright, come on.¡±


    We both started walking, and she looked pissed. ¡°I don¡¯t really care who the Trainer was, or the mother, or the father. I¡¯m here because I promised Brionne to show her the region she belonged to.¡± I had had a few discussions with the little seal about it all, and she seemed against finding out.


    She didn¡¯t answer as we got to her car and she walked around to the other side. I saw as she kicked the tire in annoyance before she got in and unlocked the door for me. ¡°Alright. So some punk ditched her?¡± she said once I closed the door behind me, Brionne on my lap. She wasted no time in getting the car moving.


    ¡°Yes. He was annoyed that she didn¡¯t have the ability he wanted. And then the aquarium¡­did not treat her well.¡± I was petting her softly as I spoke. And I could feel her shaking slightly at remembering it all. But she quickly settled down at my touch.


    ¡°Lap,¡± the little Pokemon said, looking up at me as if realizing where she was. I realized that I had only really ever placed Eevee on my lap. Were the others jealous that Eevee got spoiled more than they did? Probably.


    I continued to rub her head and back. ¡°Well at least she looks okay now¡­¡±


    ¡°I am very good with communicating with Pokemon, and I treat them very well,¡± I said with a smile down at Brionne.


    ¡°So, what else did you come here for?¡± she asked as we pulled into what appeared to be a mixture of laboratory and dockyard. The lab was very close to the airport. We could have just walked¡­


    ¡°I plan to take the Trials.¡±


    There was a bit of a jolt from the car as her foot slipped. She remained silent for a moment until she finally parked, taking a deep breath. ¡°The Trials, eh? Do you mind if I ask how you know about those?¡±


    ¡°Are they a secret?¡± I responded to her question with one of my own.


    ¡°Not necessarily, but we try to not spread it around. Especially to outsiders.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°That¡¯s pretty closed minded of you, Professor.¡± I paused. ¡°Or do you mean, you just don¡¯t want the Association to know.¡± The frown on her face told me that I was correct. ¡°Well you don¡¯t have to worry about that. Honestly, I despise the Association, or at least almost every member I¡¯ve had interactions with.¡±


    Her frowning expression turned into one of confusion. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°They locked me in a room and bombarded me with the most difficult questions that they could think of for hours, in hopes of denying me my Pokemon Expert credentials. They made a rather pathetic attempt to seduce me with an attractive liaison, who has texted me-¡± I pulled out my phone. ¡°Seven times since I left Kalos.¡±


    She let out a soft giggle. ¡°Perhaps she is just¡­overly enthusiastic about her job?¡±


    ¡°I would be much happier about the situation if that were the case. I don¡¯t need multiple check-ins a day. And with how much she messages me you would think that she¡¯d know a little about me but no, she has made no effort in getting to know me. Granted I have given her very little opportunity to do so, but all she does is ask me what I am doing, or where I am, or brags about the Association. That¡¯s it. Those are the only things she talks about, other than the two times they have requested me as an expert. Not once has she asked about any of my Pokemon. And she is just straight up not my type, which I have tried to be blunt about having no interest in talking or interacting with her, but she still won¡¯t stop texting me.¡± I continued my rant for a little bit, not having vented to this extent before.


    To her credit, Professor Burnet didn¡¯t interrupt me. Though I kind of wish she had.


    With a sigh, I got out of the car before she could even say anything, holding Brionne in my arms. She was looking at me a bit concerned. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said, petting her a bit. ¡°That plane ride really put me in a bad mood.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say it did,¡± the Professor said. ¡°Come, I¡¯ll show you to the area we keep the starters. Though we only have the breeders right now.¡± With that she led me over to the beach. I had expected to actually enter the building but instead we avoided it. We hadn¡¯t even gotten onto the beach when I saw six Primarina playing in the water.


    ¡°They¡¯re so pretty¡­¡± Brionne said, her eyes shining. Professor Burnet let out a whistle, which got all of their attention as they practically rushed the shore.


    ¡°Wow,¡± I muttered as they all quickly flopped over to us, happily greeting the Professor and asking a lot of questions about who I was and who I was holding. They knew immediately that it wasn¡¯t one of theirs.


    ¡°Ah¡­how do I explain this¡­¡± the Professor said, glancing at me and Brionne. She knew what they were questioning her about.


    ¡°Allow me, Professor.¡± I stepped forward a bit towards them. ¡°My name is Jason, but I prefer Jace. This is my Brionne.¡± I then went into an explanation of how I found the little seal, and what she had been through. It was also the Professor¡¯s first time hearing the whole story, about how the aquarium was treating her. I had to stop several times to assure Brionne that things were okay. She really didn¡¯t like remembering all of that.


    By the time I had finished the rather short story, the Primarina were all upset. There were some accusations of whose daughter it must have been, and one of them seemed to accept that it was probably one of hers, though she was very reluctant to take that burden and was just as upset about it as the others. ¡°Are you leaving her with us?¡± one of them asked.


    ¡°No,¡± I said immediately, shaking my head. ¡°I¡¯m keeping her. I just wanted her to see where her line comes from, and ask if you¡¯d be willing to teach her some things that her mother didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Can she blow bubbles?¡± one asked.


    Brionne turned a bit and blew a bubble, eager to show off. ¡°Yeah I managed that, at least.¡± All six seals clapped at the show, much to Brionne¡¯s delight. ¡°I¡¯m going to be on the islands for a few months. So, would you be willing to teach her?¡±


    All six of them saluted. ¡°Leave it to us!¡± one of them said happily as they moved closer to me. They weren¡¯t trying to take Brionne, just get a better look at her.


    I was more than happy to show her off to them. ¡°Brionne, show them your special movement technique,¡± I said as I put her down.


    It was obvious that she was extremely nervous. But after a few deep breaths she twisted a bit and used Water Gun to propel herself, launching herself quite a distance before using a bubble to soften her landing. She did a pose, having stuck the landing perfectly. Again there were a bunch of seal clappings and they immediately rushed over to ask her how she did that, and to show them again.


    ¡°That¡¯s an impressive trick,¡± the Professor said, coming up to stand beside me.


    ¡°She worked hard on it. She wasn¡¯t mobile enough in a fight, and so we had to come up with a method.¡± I looked at her. ¡°Do you mind if I release my other Pokemon?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, of course,¡± she said and gestured for me to do so.


    As I opened my coat, Rio burst out before I could even say anything. ¡°Freedom!¡± She declared, her fists in the air.


    I laughed and called everyone else out. Dee immediately started to check everyone over to make sure that everyone was in good condition. ¡°You have a medical Pokemon?¡± the Professor asked, clearly flabbergasted.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a Joy Clan approved Pokemon Expert,¡± I said, showing off my license that had the little Joy Clan mark on it. I introduced everyone to the Professor, but only Dee and Cara really gave any sort of respectful greeting.


    Yet again it was Diancie who got the largest reaction from her. ¡°Wow¡­ a mythic Pokemon¡­¡± Of course Diancie absolutely loved the attention she was getting, twirling a bit and showing off how she shined in the sun. ¡°You don¡¯t see one of those every day.¡±


    ¡°Uh, well. I mean, I do,¡± I said with a chuckle. Diancie came closer, wondering what I was laughing about. I just held out my hand so that she could play with my fingers, which seemed to be her favorite thing to do.


    ¡°Yanno I had my doubts when they said a Pokemon Expert was heading here,¡± the Professor said, looking at my group, who was now enjoying a sort of vacation on the beach after so many months of hard work. Suddenly she nodded as if making up her mind about something. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll help you get permission to do the Trials, but in exchange I want some help with something.¡±


    I arched an eyebrow at her. ¡°Depending on what it is, I would be more than willing to help. Just know that I help Pokemon, I don¡¯t really help people.¡±


    She arched an eyebrow back at me. ¡°Is there a difference?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a big difference.¡± I sighed a bit before continuing. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do anything that would be detrimental to Pokemon.¡±


    There was a pause before she asked, ¡°But you would do things that are detrimental to humans?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I just wouldn¡¯t stop anything.¡±


    There was a frown on her face but after a moment she nodded. ¡°Alright¡­ I think I can work with that,¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°Before I talk about my request, I want to make sure that as a Pokemon Expert, you can solve any problem when it comes to Pokemon? That wasn¡¯t just random hype?¡±


    I had no idea who would say such a thing about me, but I responded, ¡°I believe that I could at least come up with a solution, even if I might not be able to implement it myself.¡±


    ¡°Even if it involved one of the Tapu?¡± she asked, folding her arms.


    That caused me to pause for a moment. ¡°One of the Guardian Deities?¡± She arched a brow at my response, but I had to think about it. Could I solve a problem with a legendary Pokemon? ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I said slowly. ¡°Depending on who it was and what the problem was.¡±


    ¡°It involves Tapu Bulu.¡±


    My brow furrowed as I tried to search my memories for what sort of problem that could be. ¡°Tapu Bulu¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°Does this have to do with the destruction of Tapu Village?¡±


    The way her expression immediately turned into one of shock told me I¡¯d guessed right. ¡°What- How-¡±


    ¡°Deductive reasoning,¡± I lied.


    She stared at me for a moment before finally finding her voice. ¡°Yes. It does. You see¡­ the Association built a thrifty megamart-¡±


    ¡°On sacred grounds, and in response Tapu Bulu destroyed the town and left the mart in ruins,¡± I finished.


    She let out a huff. ¡°Are you going to let me explain the problem, or not?¡±


    I chuckled softly, waving my hand. ¡°Sorry, sorry. Continue.¡±


    ¡°Yes, well, Tapu Bulu didn¡¯t destroy the megamart, but left it in really rough shape. And now there¡¯s a bunch of talk about things happening in the area.¡±


    ¡°Probably ghosts,¡± I said with a shrug.


    ¡°Yes, well, it seems a bit more extreme than just ghost Pokemon,¡± she said with a sigh. Obviously this was an annoying thing that she didn¡¯t want to deal with. ¡°And no one I have asked will go and investigate the place.¡±


    I snorted softly. ¡°So you want me to¡­ what? Go in and rattle some cans? Throw some salt?¡±


    She stared blankly at me for a moment, though I could see the corner of her mouth was up slightly in the slightest of amused smirks. ¡°I just want proper confirmation of what¡¯s happening.¡±


    I looked at her for a moment. ¡°Cara,¡± I called over my shoulder. ¡°Scoly, Rio, Dee. Come over here real quick.¡±


    All of them quickly jogged over. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Cara asked, eying the Professor suspiciously. Still untrusting of humans.


    ¡°We¡¯re going on a quick mission. Rio, Scoly, Dee, I need you to watch everyone.¡± I pulled out a blanket from my bag, laying it on the sand. I laid Eevee down, before setting Goomy down beside her. Both of them looked reluctant. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll be back before dinner,¡± I said as I pet both of them. I learned my lesson with taking Eevee on missions that might involve combat, since I was a soft target.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with you?¡± Cara asked.


    ¡°Unless you want to stay, and Rio can come with me. A common pairing with ghosts is poison, and you both are immune.¡± I never knew until this moment that a Lucario could look pale. ¡°I can¡¯t take Scoly because of her size.¡±


    The large bug immediately narrowed her eyes at me. ¡°I¡¯m not that big.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like, four times bigger than me, Scoly,¡± I said with a chuckle, reaching out and rubbing the top of her head. ¡°You¡¯re wonderfully huge. And I don¡¯t think the building would last against your special technique.¡±


    She gave me a huff before turning and walking away.


    ¡°Mom doesn¡¯t want to go,¡± Rio said with a bit of a smirk. ¡°So I¡¯ll protect you.¡± She thumped her chest.


    I looked over at Cara. She immediately looked defensive. ¡°What?¡± She folded her arms and looked away. ¡°I don¡¯t like ghosts¡­¡±


    I laughed and gave her a pat on the head. ¡°Alright, take care of everyone for me, okay? Rio, you¡¯re with me.¡±


    ¡°What about your Diancie?¡± the Professor asked as we started to make our way over to the marina.


    ¡°If I take her, there won¡¯t be a building standing when she¡¯s done.¡± While gravity is a psychic move and would be very effective against the ghosts, I didn¡¯t know how structurally sound the building was. She was developing this bad habit of trying to make her Gravity cover as big of an area as possible, while also making it as heavy as possible. If she concentrated it, she could get up to twenty times ten feet from her. But she could spread ten times Gravity nearly fifty feet now.


    I also wasn¡¯t sure I wanted people to know what she was capable of. She was my secret weapon. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure. Should take less than an hour to get to Ula¡¯ula,¡± she said as she hopped up onto one of the boats.


    ¡°Good. This shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡±


    The ride took about forty five minutes, and I was reminded that I wasn¡¯t very good on boats. My problems with water and motion sickness made an awful combo, but thankfully it wasn¡¯t too bad and I didn¡¯t throw up. While we made our trip I tried to think of a few things. The first being, where is Acerola? She should be in charge of one of Ula¡¯ula¡¯s Trial, and that Trial involves the megamart. Was she still at the Aether House? Was that just a game thing, or was I too early in the timeline? I had to be too early, since it sounded like the megamart was a fairly recent thing.


    Although actually seeing it, it did not look like a recent thing at all. But it was in surprisingly good shape. Even the windows were fine. ¡°How long ago did it happen?¡± I asked, standing within the parking lot, the Professor on my left, and Rio on my right.


    ¡°A little over a year ago? It was never even opened. They were waiting on the rest of the stock to ship in,¡± the Professor explained.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know what you expect me to do,¡± I said with a sigh as I started up towards the building. It was definitely more like the anime than in the game. Just an absolutely huge building, almost mall sized.


    ¡°J- Just check it out, you know? Make sure there aren¡¯t any- any violent ghosts...¡± the Professor stammered, doing her best to keep her composure but it was clear that she was slipping.


    I glanced back at her. She looked nervous and a bit pale. As I got to the building, I knelt down, looking at the concrete pillars. I changed major¡¯s before I got my engineering degree, but I knew enough to judge that it was most likely structurally sound, there at least weren¡¯t any major cracks to be worried about. Plus it was still standing far later in the anime so I¡¯m sure it was fine. I gave the glass a tap with my knuckle, finding that it wasn¡¯t made of glass, but some sort of thick acrylic. That explained why none of the windows were broken. They were also covered on the inside, blocking anyone from seeing inside.


    As the other two approached, I caught a glimpse of something peeking out through the nearby pillar. It was gone before I could focus to see what it was. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go take a look inside then,¡± I said as I made my way to the door. It was an automatic sliding door, but the automatic part was either broken or turned off. Thankfully, as long as it¡¯s not locked, they¡¯re really easy to just slide open.


    Inside was a desolate shopping center, without people or much product. I also couldn¡¯t see any ghosts, but I could see plenty of little things shifting. ¡°You¡¯re just¡­ gonna walk in?¡± The Professor asked, sticking close behind me.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I looked at her and it was at that moment that I realized that I was doing her job for her. She was obviously supposed to check out this place and was too scared to do it. ¡°If you¡¯re too scared, you can wait outside,¡± I said as I walked in, making my way to the checkout counters.


    ¡°Wh-what? No. Of- of course not. Why would I be scared?¡± she said, following after me.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Jace¡­ This place is pretty spooky,¡± Rio said, quickly following so that she wouldn¡¯t get left behind.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said with a bit of a smile. ¡°Ghost Pokemon are just like any other Pokemon. Well, not exactly.¡±


    Without another word, I ducked down, hiding behind the counter. As I did, a purple ghostly figure shot up, making a face at Rio and the Professor.


    They screamed, immediately clinging to each other.


    Immediately the figure that had burst forth exploded into laughter, pointing at them like it was the funniest thing it had ever seen. Slowly I rose up behind it, a bit of a smirk on my face. ¡°Oh Haunter¡­¡± I said softly. It froze for a moment, and then I watched as it counted one, then two, and then looked for three. Slowly it began turning around. Just before it could completely face me, I got really close before flicking on my flashlight under my chin, pointing it upwards to illuminate my face. ¡°Boo!¡±


    It screamed in an almost primal way as if it had never been more scared for its life than at that moment. The noise was like a strangled train whistle. It leaped back and hid behind the other two, clinging to them as they also screamed.


    I couldn¡¯t hold it in and practically cackled as I turned my flashlight off, pointing at the terrified Pokemon. ¡°What sort of noise is that?¡± I cried out, trying to get my laughter under control. ¡°Oh jeez¡­¡± I had to actually wipe away a tear I was laughing so hard, before putting my flashlight away. ¡°Oh man, I got you good.¡±


    The haunter huffed, and puffed at me, sticking out its tongue to blow a raspberry. Before floating off it gave me a grin, disappearing from sight. ¡°What the heck was that for!¡± the Professor exclaimed. Her and Rio were still clinging to each other.


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s just a bit of fun. Most ghost Pokemon are playful and like little jokes like that. Especially the Haunter line. They like their jumpscares.¡± I watched as the Professor pat her chest, as if trying to restart her heart, Rio was mimicking the motion. I turned away from them, looking at the shopping center. ¡°Well, I can honestly confirm this is a ghost nexus.¡±


    ¡°Ghost nexus?¡± she asked.


    I swiftly moved over to them, standing behind them as I started to point things out. ¡°Look, see the movement over there? That¡¯s a few ghosts playing.¡± I pointed to a different spot. ¡°Those are some Shuppet exploring those isles.¡± I gestured to the counter that I had hid behind. ¡°There¡¯s a Klefki under the counter here.¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡± She looked at me with a questioning look. ¡°But what¡¯s a ghost nexus?¡±


    ¡°To put it simply, it¡¯s a place that draws ghosts to it.¡± I walked back over to the counter, and knelt down to scoop up the Klefki who made a few annoyed little clink noises at me. I just pulled off one of the sheets covering the register, showing it the metal underneath. It happily began to mess with it. ¡°There¡¯s a ton of ghost energy in this place, which draws in ghosts. More ghosts mean bigger nexus. Bigger nexus means stronger ghosts.¡±


    ¡°How strong is this one?¡± Burnet asked, suddenly quite interested in what I was doing.


    ¡°Depends,¡± I said as I looked around, moving past the counters. ¡°If that Haunter is the strongest one in here, then it¡¯s not a very strong nexus. But¡­¡± I was trying to get a better angle to see if I could catch a glimpse of any stronger Pokemon. ¡°If there¡¯s a Gengar, or Banette, then it¡¯s pretty strong.¡±


    As if on cue, I spotted a pair of pink eyes and a gold zipper. Our eyes locked for a moment as it studied me. ¡°Is it bad if the nexus is stronger?¡± the Professor asked as she came over. Rio was still staring wide eyed at everything around her, clinging to the Professor.


    ¡°No more than any other place where lots of strong Pokemon gather,¡± I said as I looked over to the two of them. ¡°Is there anything else you want to look at?¡±


    She shook her head, looking around. ¡°No, I think that¡¯s- is that a Pikachu?¡±


    Immediately I whirled around and my focus immediately snapped to the yellow thing that was sleeping in a sort of nest on one of the shelves. In response to the words of the Professor, its head seemed to slowly rotate, making a sort of crickling and crackling noise like sticks being twisted and broken. Both Rio and the Professor, who had been making their way towards it, froze on the spot.


    However I couldn¡¯t help but smile, walking a bit towards it. ¡°Hello Mimikyu,¡± I said softly, crouching down near the shelf, and looking the Pokemon over. ¡°My, you have quite a wonderful costume. It looks so good.¡±


    ¡°Th-that¡¯s not a Pikachu,¡± Rio said, clinging tighter to the Professor.


    ¡°A- a- a-¡± the Professor was struggling to form words.


    However, at my words, the Mimikyu had perked up, looking almost bashful as I complimented it. ¡°Th-thank you. I m-made it my-myself,¡± the little thing stammered.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re very skilled.¡± I couldn¡¯t get the smile off my face if I wanted to. Mimikyu was honestly an adorable Pokemon, and I was actually struggling with the urge to not just snatch them up and take them with me. ¡°My name is Jason, but I prefer Jace.¡± I offered my hand.


    Slowly from under the costume came a rather large shadow hand which slowly reached out, hesitantly grabbing my hand. ¡°My- my name¡­ is Mikyu.¡±


    ¡°Mikyu,¡± I repeated, smiling even more. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful to meet you.¡± I had planned to just sort of give the little thing a sort of handshake, but it took the initiative and actually pulled itself up to sit on my hand. I should have expected them to not know what a handshake was. Without really thinking about it, I pulled the little doll into a hug. ¡°Oh you¡¯re just so adorable. Look at you.¡±


    It made a little noise of surprise, but what surprised me was when it suddenly wrapped its arms around me, hugging me back. It squeezed probably a bit too tightly, as I heard a bit of creaking sticks, but it wasn¡¯t enough to actually break one and cause a problem.


    As I turned I could see both the Professor and Rio staring at me in horror. ¡°Well? What were you saying, Professor? Nothing else?¡±


    ¡°I-¡± she seemed to find her voice. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°This is a Mimikyu. A ghost fairy type. Because it''s true form is weak to sunlight, and can cause fatalities if looked at directly, it makes a costume to hide itself in order to make friends,¡± I explained, rubbing the side of the little Pokemon, wondering if it could feel through the cloth. ¡°Most of them choose to emulate Pikachu, due to its popularity. And I think this one¡¯s done just such an amazing job at their costume that it even fooled you, Professor.¡±


    As I was talking about them, Mikyu had shifted around to face the Professor. ¡°I¡¯m M- Mikyu,¡± she said with a bow, which caused some crackling.


    ¡°Sounds like you need some new material for your neck?¡± I mused, looking down. All I got was some rather crackly nods that caused a shiver to run down my spine. I nodded back. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here now, okay?¡±


    We started to walk back, and Mikyu suddenly looked a bit panicked. ¡°Y-you¡¯re leaving?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are,¡± I said with a bit of a smile, clearly making no effort to put them down.


    ¡°M-me too?¡±


    Looking down at them I smiled. ¡°Do you want to stay here?¡± They rapidly shook their head, which sounded like a tree branch twisting on a stormy night. ¡°Then yes, you too. I¡¯ve always wanted a Mimikyu to be my friend.¡± Suddenly I felt them squeezing me tightly again.


    Suddenly my hand was grasped. At first I thought it was Rio, or maybe Burnet, but I realized that they were ahead of me and already outside. When I looked down, instead I saw the same pink eyes and gold zipper looking up at me. They were looking at the way that I was holding Mikyu.


    I smiled a bit. ¡°You too?¡± I asked, and they nodded. Leaning down a bit, I scooped them up. After that I made a quick exit, else I somehow caught the attention of another Pokemon that wants to go with me.


    The Professor just stared at me for a moment when I was finally outside.


    With a frown, I turned away a bit to block the two Pokemon from her sight. ¡°Mine. Get your own family members.¡±


    To my surprise, Rio came over and hugged onto my side. I put Mikyu on my shoulder so that I could rub the jackal''s head. ¡°That was so freakin¡¯ scary,¡± she said softly, burying her face in my coat. ¡°I can see why mama is afraid of ghosts¡­¡±


    I laughed, continuing to pet her. ¡°Well, now our family has two of them. So she¡¯s just going to have to get used to it.¡± With a smile I looked over at the Professor, who looked quite a bit frazzled from the whole ordeal. ¡°What¡¯s next, professor? Got any upset Vulpix around?¡± I said with a joking tone, though there was no way that I could say no to an ice fox.


    In response, she simply stared at me.


    ¡°Wait¡­ is there?¡± I asked, now a lot more serious.


    ¡°Sort of¡­¡±


    On the way to the Pokecenter, I offered pokeballs to Mikyu and Banette, explaining that they had to be captured if they wanted to come with me. I also explained that I would keep them outside of their pokeballs as often as I could. Both of them hardly hesitated when I told them they couldn¡¯t come with me otherwise.


    When we reached the Pokecenter, I was not surprised to find a certain pink haired individual. ¡°Alola, Nurse Joy,¡± I said with a smile.


    It took her a moment before her eyes went wide. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re Jace! Alola! My cousin told me all about you.¡± She moved around the counter to shake my hand, much to my surprise. Even her Comfey came over, excited to see me.


    ¡°Ah, am I really that popular?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said with a nod. ¡°My cousin who works at the Kalos ranch made such a fuss when the Association tried to deny your expert status. She actually threatened them. Said she¡¯d cut Association service.¡±


    I laughed a bit awkwardly. ¡°Goodness, I didn¡¯t think I made that much of an impression.¡±


    ¡°Well, everything that every Joy has said about you has been good. An amnesiac who has a way with Pokemon,¡± she said in an almost dreamy way, but then seemed to catch her blunder. ¡°Ah-¡±


    I put up a hand. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ve kind of¡­ well, come to terms with it.¡±


    She nodded slowly. Without lowering my hand, I reached over and rubbed the side of the Comfey¡¯s face, smiling as the little thing let out a giggle and shied away from me. ¡°See? Pokemon like you.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Not to interrupt, but we do have business,¡± Professor Burnet interjected.


    ¡°Ah, right, of course,¡± Nurse Joy said, blushing a bit as she realized she got carried away. ¡°What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re here to see the special case.¡±


    Nurse Joy suddenly made a rather sullen face and then nodded. ¡°Alright. She¡¯s out this way.¡±


    Out behind the pokecenter I saw the most one sided battle imaginable. On one side was an Alolan Vulpix, and on the other was an Absol, battling in a hail battered field. Even though the Absol was obviously taking it easy on the Vulpix, there was only so much that the little ice Pokemon could do. Her left ear was torn, the eye on that side looked damaged with three scars running down her face, and her front left leg was gone. Just¡­gone. She was scarred all across her left side, and was even missing two tails on that side.


    But I could see it. That sort of determination of refusing to give up. She wanted to fight, in spite of her condition. I could tell that she had some actual training, though minimal. The problem was the Absol wasn¡¯t attacking, just defending, as if it was afraid that it would hurt her. She was actually doing a fairly good job now that I was watching. It just looked like she hadn¡¯t gotten used to the missing limb, but when she got her footing it didn¡¯t slow her down.


    But it was clear that the Absol was extremely well trained and probably had more than a decade of experience on her. It could read her movements, even if they were fast, and was able to easily dodge everything she threw at it. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough!¡± Nurse Joy called out, her voice rather casual, as if she was calling them to lunch.


    Almost immediately the hailstorm ended, and the two of them came over. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Nurse Joy, but I just don¡¯t know how to teach her,¡± the Absol said when they got over. ¡°She¡¯s got that spirit, and good battle instincts, but I just don¡¯t know how to help.¡±


    Nurse Joy pat the Absol. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I know you did your best.¡±


    The Vulpix however just kicked at the accumulated hail with her good leg, obviously frustrated. ¡°I¡¯ve brought someone who I think can help,¡± the Professor explained to the Absol. This got the Vulpix¡¯s attention. ¡°This is Jason, a Pokemon Expert. He specializes in helping Pokemon.¡±


    The Absol looked me up and down. ¡°I¡¯m not sure-¡±


    ¡°You can help?¡± The Vulpix butted in, practically knocking the Absol out of the way.


    I knelt down, holding out my hands to the Vulpix. ¡°Let me get a good look at you.¡±


    There was a bit of hesitation, which was to be expected. But it eventually came closer so that I could get a good look as she sat down in front of me. I examined the wounds, being as gentle as I could. ¡°She got attacked a few months ago. Her Trainer¡­ was in bad shape and couldn¡¯t continue. He¡¯s still in the hospital, and gave her up. He probably won¡¯t ever walk again, but he¡¯s alive thanks to her.¡±


    The Vulpix immediately glared at the Professor, obviously pissed that her Trainer gave her up. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because she didn¡¯t understand that she wouldn¡¯t be able to battle if she had stayed with him, or if she was just mad that he abandoned her in general. She probably thinks that he didn¡¯t want her because of her injuries. The truth was he probably didn¡¯t have a choice and it was his parents that did it.


    ¡°This was done by a Weavile,¡± I said after a moment. ¡°Several of them.¡±


    Vulpix nodded. ¡°There were four.¡±


    ¡°Can you see out of this eye?¡± I asked, waving a finger in front of her left eye.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a bit blurry sometimes, but if I blink a few times it goes back to normal.¡± She blinked several times to demonstrate.


    ¡°Minor damage to the outer lens. That should heal eventually,¡± I said with a bit of a nod. ¡°Does it hurt anywhere? Even if I touch it?¡± I started to touch over the worst of the looking scars, looking for a reaction.


    But she shook her head. ¡°No. It did for a while, though. I couldn¡¯t even lay down.¡±


    I had to admit it looked like she was healing nicely. ¡°What¡¯s your name? My name is Jason, but I prefer Jace.¡±


    ¡°Keo,¡± she said, sounding a bit sad. Her Trainer probably gave her that name.


    ¡°Okay, Keo.¡± I sat down on the ground in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m confident that I can train you to become powerful, but it¡¯s going to be hard. Harder than any sort of training you¡¯ve done in the past.¡±


    She looked down at where her missing leg was. ¡°Even¡­with this?¡± There was even a little stump that she wiggled.


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Why would that stop you from getting strong?¡±


    ¡°I hear them talking,¡± she said, grinding her paw into the slowly melting hail that was left on the ground. I didn¡¯t look over, but I saw the way that Absol looked away out of the corner of my eye.


    ¡°Well, who cares what they think. Who¡¯s the Pokemon Expert here?¡± I said, sitting up a bit straighter.


    ¡°You?¡± she questioned.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Me. I¡¯m the Expert. And if I say you can be strong, that means you can be strong.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°As long as you work with me, and listen to me, you can become strong.¡±


    Her tails wagged a bit and she sat up straighter to match me. ¡°Right!¡± Without another word, she practically jumped onto my lap. ¡°I wanna be super strong!¡±


    I smiled even more as I started to pet her, which I could tell she immediately started to enjoy. People had probably been too scared to pet her because of her injuries. ¡°Here¡¯s her pokeball,¡± Nurse Joy said with a smile as she handed it to me.


    ¡°Thank you, Nurse Joy.¡± I took it, and tucked it into my coat. ¡°Now then, Professor. I think we should head back.¡± I stood up, picking up Vulpix as I did. I had a bunch of new family members to introduce when we got back.

 Chapter Eight

    ¡°Mmnnn¡­why ghosts?¡± Cara mumbled, eying two of the three new members.


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her reaction. Eevee was sitting in my lap while Goomy sat on my shoulder. Vulpix had joined Rio in meeting the rest of Team Speed Shell. I could hear her excitedly recounting how brave I was back in the megamart. Mikyu and Banette were leaning against my side, seemingly content. Brionne was still out with the Primarina learning how to be a seal; I wasn¡¯t sure she even noticed we left.


    Diancie and Dee were digging a hole. It was good to see that Diancie was getting along with someone. I had noticed that she seemed to just watch others do things. She had just been confused when I asked her about it. Though I was a bit curious how that became their little bonding activity. I did have to admit it was cute.


    ¡°They¡¯re just little cuties,¡± I said as I pet the two stuffed Pokemon, who were sitting on the coat that I had laid beside me. As I looked at the two little ghost Pokemon at my side, I thought quite a bit about them. Honestly Banette¡¯s personality surprised me the most. Since according to the pokedex entries from the game they were supposed to be abandoned toys given life through the grudge of being abandoned. But that didn¡¯t really make sense since they were the evolution of Shuppet; a Pokemon that fed off negative emotions.


    Cara let out a soft sigh. ¡°Alright. Fine. Three new girls to the family,¡± she said as she sat down behind me, leaning back against me.


    ¡°See? There you go. Don¡¯t think of them as ghosts. They¡¯re just new members of the family,¡± I said with a smile, leaning back against her. I realized that she was leaning quite heavily against me, her back was quite warm. ¡°Tired?¡± I asked softly, looking at her over my shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s exhausting to keep them all from getting bored¡­¡± she admitted. ¡°And I thought just the two of them were difficult when they were little... Oh how naive I was.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Well, it looks like you did a decent job.¡±


    With amusement, I watched as Mikyu curiously wandered closer to Cara, slowly making her way into the lap of the canine. I could feel the muscles in Cara¡¯s back tense for a moment before relaxing, and she hesitantly began to pet the thing in her lap.


    ¡°Mikyu did a really good job on her costume, didn¡¯t she?¡± I couldn¡¯t get a good look, but Mikyu looked pleased at the attention.


    Cara just nodded. I had introduced all three of them at the same time, and had emphasized Mikyu¡¯s special nature and the reason for her costume. I had been rather surprised to find out from the Professor during the trip back that Mimikyu was a completely unknown Pokemon to her. She had made quite a few phone calls as a result, only to be surprised that no one had information on it.


    It was apparently a new Pokemon. That I had just casually gone and picked up, while explaining it in detail to the Professor. When she had asked how I knew so much, I told her that I was from a different world. She had scoffed at me, complaining that if I didn¡¯t want to tell her, I didn¡¯t have to make stuff up.


    Not my fault she didn¡¯t believe me.


    Banette drew my attention as she shifted to lay her head on my leg. I used my free hand to gently start rubbing her head. She really just felt like a plush doll. Soft with that sort of false warmth that came from how the material reflected heat. She looked up at me for a moment before grabbing hold of my hand and just sort of hugging onto my arm.


    A sudden thought entered my head, though I¡¯m not quite sure where it came from. There were lots of Shuppet¡¯s in that place, but no people. What were they feeding on? Why were they gathered there? Both Banette and Shuppet were supposed to be inanimate object type Pokemon. Had toys been one of the things that was already stocked? That would make sense since they¡¯re goods that don¡¯t expire.


    So¡­ from what my knowledge was telling me, due to the influx of ghost type energy, some of the toys were transformed into Pokemon. So this Banette had been abandoned in a different way, and never actually experienced getting thrown away. Instead she was left to rot on a shelf.


    I had to close my eyes for a moment. That was a weird experience. The more time I spent, the more I realized that I really did seem to have some sort of knowledge based power. While I might have come to some sort of conclusion if I thought about it long enough and gathered information, the way that this information had just come into my head as if it was a fact that I already knew was interesting.


    And concerning. Interesting and concerning. It was concerning because that knowledge felt like my own. It was more like remembering something than being told something. I was going to have to stop thinking about it before I had some sort of identity crisis.


    The sun was starting to make its way down, and I quickly did a headcount. Twelve including me. First thing was to do a quick nature test on the three new members. Keo liked spicy, and surprisingly didn¡¯t like sweet, so she had a brave nature. I expected Mikyu and Banette to have a lonely nature, and while I was right about Banette, Mikyu actually liked bitter and disliked sour. That meant her nature was gentle.


    Something I found interesting as I watched Banette, was that she had a mouth above the zipper. Where I had thought that the zipper was keeping her mouth closed, it was actually more accurate to say that it was her lower lip. Or perhaps it was her lower teeth and her mouth was just always open. I wasn¡¯t sure. The zipper could also move around, as I saw it doing so sometimes.


    I called Dee over to help with the food, and to my surprise Banette actually got up to help me as well. What surprised me even more was how quickly she took to food prep. Then Mikyu joined in as well, the two of them using their shadow claws to great efficiency once I told them what they needed to do and how to do it.


    It wasn¡¯t until I was starting to pass out portions that Brionne returned, in probably the best mood I had ever seen her. She had leapt onto my back, wrapping her flippers around me to hang on as she began to excitedly talk about her day. Apparently she still had a lot to learn. Because she was abandoned so young, there were some rather basic things she didn¡¯t know how to do, or wasn¡¯t very good at. Like swimming in deep water and survival skills.


    She also didn¡¯t know how to use moves very well under water, which is apparently what they spent most of the day doing. The bull Primarina apparently didn¡¯t like coming to the beach and there was an underwater cave system that he lived in. According to Brionne he was huge and covered in scars. Apparently he got into a fight with a pack of Gyarados last year, and though he won, it put him out of commission for a while as far as fighting was concerned. She then went on to meet the three new members as we all had dinner.


    I wanted to see how our new members reacted to the food, so I paid close attention to them. I didn¡¯t expect it to work some sort of miracle on Keo, but I figured it would at least maybe heal some internal injuries. She absolutely loved the food and ate like it would disappear if she took her eyes off it. Mikyu was the most subdued in her reaction, though I could see the way that she got a sort of shine from her eye slits after the first bite.


    Banette had an interesting and rather concerning reaction, her eyes watering slightly. And it wasn¡¯t just from the spice of the food. I think it was at that moment when she started to eat and saw everyone eating around her that she realized she was one of us. Though she didn¡¯t start crying, I could see her sniffling a bit to fight back the tears.


    It was as we were eating that the Professor showed back up. ¡°Alola. That¡¯s quite a lot of food,¡± she commented, seeing them all indulge. ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°Special curry,¡± I said in between bites of my own food. ¡°Alola.¡±


    ¡°Do you feed them this every night?¡± she asked, looking at some of the cooking pots. I had overestimated how much I needed to make so there was a bit left over.


    ¡°Every night we¡¯re not in a Pokecenter,¡± I continued my explanation. ¡°They also get a pokeblock in the morning, and in the afternoon, and then one after dinner.¡±


    She turned to me with quite a perplexed expression. ¡°Every day? Those must get extremely expensive.¡±


    ¡°I make them,¡± I said before turning my attention back to my food. ¡°After the initial investment of a blender and pokeblock machine, it¡¯s not that much to make them.¡±


    Her face scrunched up a bit. ¡°Those recipes are pretty complicated and hard to get. We outsource ours to breeders.¡± She paused. ¡°Do you make them to suit every Pokemon¡¯s individual tastes? Not just dietary requirements?¡±


    ¡°I do, I think it¡¯s important if you want them to be strong and happy. Keo, Banette, and Eevee may all like spicy food, but each of them need slight additions to their actual dish. And the same goes with pokeblocks.¡± I explained while I finished off my curry. ¡°Eevee is still recovering from being sick, so she needs a lot more nutrients in her pokeblocks to help facilitate that. But Keo has internal injuries and is going to require a different mix to help her recovery.¡±


    The Professor looked over at Keo, a bit of a concerned expression. ¡°Internal injuries? Did they not completely heal her at the Pokecenter?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they were in the process, but it¡¯s just like me.¡± I tapped the side of my head. ¡°I¡¯m still suffering from the long term effects of a concussion. Not all injuries can be immediately fixed, even at a Pokecenter.¡± This wasn¡¯t like the games where things would just magically be healed back to one hundred percent. This was evident by the fact I was still affected by my concussion. It wasn¡¯t that serious, it just meant that I was more susceptible to getting another concussion.


    ¡°A head injury sure explains a lot,¡± she said with a nod. Several Pokemon nodded.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I said indignantly, which just caused everyone to laugh.


    She was still laughing when she continued, ¡°Well, if you can make pokeblocks, then you sure know your stuff about the diets of Pokemon.¡±


    I thought about it a moment and then shrugged. Each recipe was about a page or two, so it was a bit time consuming. ¡°You can have some of the curry if you want- ah but avoid that one unless you really like spicy stuff.¡± I gestured to the pot containing the remnants of the spiciest curry.


    Curiously she tried some, and immediately regretted it. Her entire face immediately went red, and desperately went for the water that I offered her. ¡°That is! Way too! Hot!¡± she complained, trying to soothe her burned mouth.


    Several Pokemon were snickering, or just straight up laughing from the display. ¡°I warned you.¡±


    ¡°I like spicy food,¡± she argued. ¡°But that was¡­ way more.¡± She was actually fanning herself, her face having gone quite red. ¡°What did you even put in that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a spicy curry mix, with cheri and touga berries.¡± I had been rather surprised to find the berries that used those weird e-reader things, but they were apparently a thing. Touga were extremely spicy, so much that even making those curries made my eyes water. If I had to equate them to anything from my previous world, they were like ghost peppers but worse, but not quite as hot as the hottest peppers.


    ¡°Okay, that explains the heat.¡± She seemed to calm down a bit. ¡°Pokemon have a much higher tolerance than we do. So since you''re making the curry catered to their taste, you have to take it to as extreme as possible.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Exactly.¡±


    She gestured at my plate. ¡°And what about you? What are you eating?¡±


    ¡°A mixture from three pots,¡± I said as I pointed them out, ¡°The sweet one, dry, and sour. And like less than half a spoonful from the spicy pot.¡±


    After my explanation she got a plate and joined us all to eat. Even though most Pokemon had finished, some of them, like Scoly and Diancie, were slow eaters. I was glad that I had taught them how to wash their own plates, though it was mostly Brionne doing the cleaning while everyone else just tried not to get wet. She found it hilarious.


    ¡°Did you have any plans for lodging?¡± the Professor asked after having her dishes cleaned, having barely gotten wet from Brionne¡¯s little game.


    ¡°Pokecenter. Or camping out,¡± I responded, also having gotten my plate clean. I was less lucky than the Professor and got pretty wet.


    She nodded. ¡°Well, our Pokecenters don¡¯t have lodgings. But you¡¯re free to camp out here on the beach.¡±


    I smiled a bit and nodded. ¡°Thank you. Ah, before you leave I wanted to ask you about something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll schedule a meeting with the Kahuna tomorrow. I¡¯ve got to go explain the situation to him.¡±


    ¡°Oh it wasn¡¯t about that.¡± I chuckled a bit, glad that things would be moving fairly quickly. ¡°I actually wanted to talk about pokebeans.¡±


    She stared at me for a moment. ¡°What about them?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to get a bunch,¡± I said as I started to pull out my camping things. ¡°Maybe some sprouts?¡± Seeing me starting to set up camp, Dee and Cara came over to assist.


    ¡°Hm¡­well, getting you a bunch of pokebeans wouldn¡¯t be difficult. Although I do have to warn you that they don¡¯t really grow well in other climates.¡± She put a hand under her chin as she thought about it.


    It wasn¡¯t like I actually had a place to grow them. I just wanted to know how open to the idea she was. Berry farms were apparently a rather heavily monitored thing, and you had to have special permission to set one up. The Association didn¡¯t want the price of berries to tank, as it would hurt their pokeblock monopoly. ¡°I¡¯m sure I could figure something out.¡±


    Greenhouses were an extremely under utilized technology in this world. They did exist, but they were for the purpose of keeping and raising grass Pokemon rather than growing plants. The problem would be getting a location, but with how much money I was going to be making and the fact I was in no hurry let me plan for something like that.


    Now that the tent was properly set up, I took a look at what everyone was doing. To my not surprise, Rio was being ganged up on in another play fight. However her opponents were now a very large bug horse, an icy fox, and to my actual surprise, a little dragon slug. The three of them were actually giving her quite a hard time, though it was mostly Scoly that was batting her around. I could hear her complaining that no one was on her side.


    Eevee, Banette, and Mikyu were sitting on the blanket watching the ocean, which Brionne was out in, playing and doing a few new tricks she had learned. Diancie was also out on the water, though not actually in it, seemingly enjoying helping to throw the little seal high up into the air so that she could do more flips and twists.


    Cara and Dee had gone over to sit on the blanket once the tent was up, split between watching Brionne show off and the battle. ¡°I¡¯m glad they all get along¡­¡± I said softly.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Professor Burnet looked over at me, and then out at the Pokemon. ¡°You¡¯ve got quite a lot of them.¡±


    I chuckled a bit at that and nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ And I¡¯m going to have so many more.¡±


    She arched a brow at me. ¡°How many do you plan to get?¡±


    I paused, thinking about it for a moment before I shrugged. ¡°A hundred? Maybe more?¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Someday I¡¯ll have a huge ranch full of hundreds of Pokemon of all sorts and regions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty lofty goal,¡± she said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Yeah. But wouldn¡¯t it be wonderful?¡± I waved my hand in a vague sort of sweeping motion. ¡°Pokemon that I love as far as the eye can see, all living happily.¡±


    There was a moment of silence before she nodded. ¡°It would be nice. But the Association would never let that happen. You¡¯d be too much of a threat.¡±


    ¡°Screw the Association,¡± I scoffed. ¡°I¡¯ll just go find a big island and make my own country if I have to.¡± I suddenly realized that that might not actually be a bad idea. Professor Sycamore said there were a lot of places that weren¡¯t under the Association¡­ I could just find some place.


    ¡°That¡¯s very dangerous talk,¡± she said, still laughing a bit. Clearly she was taking everything I said as an over exaggerated joke, but the more I thought about it the more it sounded like a good idea. Not something I could do within the next ten or twenty years, but maybe someday.


    ¡°Oh for sure,¡± I said as I joined in on the laughter, but for other reasons.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to go talk to the Kahuna now. I¡¯ll swing by tomorrow. Alola,¡± she said as she turned and made her way back towards the research center, or whatever the building we were next to was.


    ¡°Alola,¡± I said with a bit of a smile before I opened the tent, momentarily being startled by the sheer size of the inside before remembering. ¡°You¡¯d think I would get used to that¡­¡± I muttered as I moved in, putting down the large amount of bedding that I had slowly been buying.


    With more Pokemon came the need for a larger sleeping area. The ground wasn¡¯t particularly comfortable, but with enough padding I could sleep anywhere. ¡°Is it sleep time?¡± came a soft voice.


    I turned back to see Eevee, who was slowly making her way into the tent. Her footing seemed unstable, and her legs shook a bit every now and then. ¡°Not yet,¡± I said softly before sitting down and pulling her into my lap.


    She let out a sigh of relief at not needing to stand. ¡°This place is nice¡­¡± she said softly, looking out of the open tent flap. It was rare for her to talk, but as her jaw got better it became easier for her to do so.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ve always wanted to come here.¡± I started to pet her and she pressed into my hand. She¡¯d gotten so much more affectionate lately. A few minutes passed as we sat, watching the other Pokemon play in the slowly dimming light. ¡°Eevee?¡±


    ¡°Mm?¡± she made a little noise, letting me know she was still awake.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± I asked, gently rubbing her side.


    She looked up at me, tilting her head to the side.


    I smiled down at her. ¡°I mean, when you get better, what do you want to do? Do you want to battle? Do you want to just be a lap Pokemon? Evolve? Maybe-¡± I hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath, ¡°Find your previous owner?¡±


    Her ears drooped back and she put her head down. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want that¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­¡± I said softly, pushing my fingers into her mane and using them to brush out her fur. ¡°I just want to know what you want to do. What sort of future you want.¡± Thinking about my own future plans had made me think of the little brown fluff.


    ¡°Future?¡± she muttered, not quite understanding what I meant.


    ¡°What you want to do. Like, if you want to evolve there are quite a number of things we would have to plan for,¡± I explained. ¡°If you wanted to be a Flareon, we¡¯d need to get a fire stone. Or a leaf stone for a Leafeon. Or we can work on a friendship evolution, like Espeon or Umbreon, or Sylveon.¡±


    She seemed to mull it over in her head, though she seemed quite confused, or conflicted. Maybe both.


    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t need to decide now, or anytime soon.¡± I rubbed the side of her face and she leaned into my hand. ¡°You¡¯ve got lots of time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like being sick¡­¡± she mumbled.


    I scratched behind her ears, smiling down at her. ¡°You¡¯ll get better. You¡¯re getting better.¡± She closed her eyes as I rubbed and pet her. I had a feeling she was going to be a lap Pokemon.


    While I had the time I decided to make more pokeblocks for everyone. Everyone¡¯s dietary needs had changed, and with all the new Pokemon they needed their own. Thankfully I could easily tell what they needed, information that was provided to me like a mental guide. I didn¡¯t have all the ingredients I wanted, but I had more than enough to make some good quality pokeblocks that would get all eleven Pokemon through another month.


    I actually really liked making pokeblocks. It was less like cooking, and more like chemistry. You had to balance the ingredients in a far more precise manner. It wasn¡¯t just a vague mixture of berries, herbs, and vitamins, it required patience and being able to measure things properly. I had failed quite a few of those early batches, but now it was more a matter of how good they were. And of course higher quality meant that they would be more beneficial.


    As I was finishing up there was a sudden Pokemon flopped next to me, and I looked as Rio put her head on my leg, looking up at me. ¡°That little ice fox is tough,¡± she complained. I could see that most of her fur was covered in frost. I chuckled as I started to scratch under the jackal¡¯s chin.


    ¡°That was fun,¡± the little ice fox in question said as she came in, looking roughed up, followed by Scoly, who was equally a mess. ¡°It¡¯s nice fighting someone who actually fights back.¡±


    ¡°We still barely beat her,¡± Scoly complained with a sigh. ¡°Even with all three of us.¡± The bug horse laid down beside me, and I realized Goomy was riding on her back. I was nearly knocked over as the bug rolled onto her side and against me, much to the surprise of the slug on her back.


    ¡°Rio is good at close combat,¡± I said, trying to shift and not get rolled over by a bug. ¡°But her greatest strength is shrugging off hits. With a bit of training Keo could beat her solo by focusing her down with ice attacks.¡±


    ¡°Why are you against me?¡± Rio whined, softly batting at my arm as I continued scratching under her chin.


    I chuckled and smiled at her. ¡°It¡¯s something that you need to be aware of. You¡¯re slipping out of your block or deflect focus again.¡± I grabbed hold of her muzzle, wiggling her head a bit. ¡°You''re good at tanking, but you¡¯re not supposed to get hit that hard.¡±


    She stuck her tongue out at me, not being able to make a rebuttal because I was holding her mouth shut. Keo tilted her head. ¡°What¡¯s tanking?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s one of the three forms of defense.¡± I went into a brief explanation of the forms and how they worked. ¡°If you plan on battling, you need to choose one to focus more on. That includes you too, Goomy.¡± I reached over and started to squish-pet the slug, who looked quite pleased at the attention.


    Keo sat down next to Rio, her brow furrowed. ¡°Which one do you think I should do?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°You want me to choose?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the trainer,¡± she said, gesturing at me.


    With a chuckle, I nodded. ¡°True. But you¡¯re the only one who asked.¡± I thought about it for a moment, trying to recall what I had seen in the fight. ¡°I think dodge would fit you best. Losing a leg hasn¡¯t apparently slown you down, you just move differently now, and the injury would throw off opponents who would think you weren¡¯t fast. Your speed is really good, and with some training could get even better. Especially if you evolve-¡±


    ¡°I want to evolve.¡±


    I paused. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    She placed her paw onto my leg and nodded. ¡°My mother is a Ninetails. She¡¯s¡­ so powerful.¡±


    I nodded a bit. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡± I wondered if evolving like that would heal her¡­ My knowledge power wasn¡¯t giving me an answer. Evolution was something that was unfortunately not well known. Many evolutions were unknown, at least according to the pokedex app. Professor Oak¡¯s reaction to me saying how many Pokemon I knew of had been rather subdued, but when Professor Burnet had said that Mimikyu was an unknown Pokemon, I looked up how many Pokemon were actually in the pokedex. It had less than seven hundred listed. I should ask Professor Sycamore about it, he might know.


    There was a big smile on the little ice fox¡¯s face, and her tails were wagging. I reached over to rub at her cheek. It was at that moment that I realized that I didn¡¯t have enough hands to pet them all. ¡°I¡­want to do¡­that third one¡­¡± a small and unfamiliar voice said.


    Looking from where it came from I could see the little slug that was still sitting on Scoly and looking at me with a determined expression. That was the first thing she had actually said, and it brought a smile to my face. ¡°Tank?¡± I asked, and she gave a nod. ¡°That¡¯s a very good choice for you, since you have the Gooey ability.¡±


    ¡°Gooey?¡± she questioned.


    ¡°Rio, did you notice when you hit Goomy, a bit of slime got on you?¡± I turned my gaze to Rio, who had her eyes closed.


    ¡°Yeah. It was like¡­ if I hit her hard enough, it would kind of splatter me a bit and after a while it made it harder to move,¡± she said as she held up her arm, gesturing to a bit where there were some splatters left.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the Gooey ability does. The more you physically hit her, the more goo will get on you, which sticks and slows you down.¡± I could see the way that Goomy¡¯s eyes seemed to sparkle as I described the ability.


    ¡°I want to train more,¡± Rio suddenly whined.


    ¡°We can do some training tomorrow,¡± I said and looked up as Cara and the rest started to make their way into the tent.


    ¡°How will the new ones train?¡± Cara asked. She was carrying Mikyu in one arm, and leading Banette by the hand with the other. Her fear of ghosts could not overpower her extremely fierce motherly instincts.


    ¡°Well that depends on if they are interested in training.¡± I looked at the newest members expectantly. They wouldn¡¯t have to battle if they didn¡¯t want to, but training would help them get stronger. Unsurprisingly all of them wanted to train, especially Eevee, but she understood that she was too weak to start yet. With a nod I took a moment to think about how to start them off. ¡°I¡¯ll sit with them at the edge of the field. The Gravity is weakest at the edge, and if they¡¯re struggling too much I can get them out.¡± That seemed to satisfy her curiosity and she nodded.


    The sleeping arrangements had suddenly become very complicated. Cara still had her spot, with Rio sort of laying on her with her head on my thigh. Scoly now took up my entire lower right side, though she put her head under my hand and I felt some of her legs laying on mine. Dee made herself comfortable as my pillow. Eevee tucked herself into my neck above Cara. Keo put herself on my right side, laying mostly on my bicep, and Goomy was next to her on my shoulder. And then everyone else was on top of me. Banette and Brionne laid on my chest, while Mikyu laid on my stomach.


    I was well and thoroughly pinned. Thankfully the only heavy one that laid on top of me was Brionne, and she still felt pretty light. The only thing that I could really move was my left arm, but Diancie had laid down on the other side of Cara and grasped my free hand. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if she slept or just laid with us and held my hand.


    ~


    Waking in the morning wasn¡¯t a struggle, but getting everyone else to wake up was the hard part. Cara was the only one who got up quickly and helped unbury me. Everyone was rather reluctant to get up, until I mentioned that they wouldn¡¯t get any pokeblocks until they came outside.


    That got everyone moving, even those new to the group. Dee and Cara helped me pass out pokeblocks to everyone. The reaction from Keo, Mikyu, Banette, and even Goomy, from their first pokeblock was quite a sight. Their whole being seemed enraptured, a moment of utter bliss radiating off them. Of course, everyone had a similar reaction, but those who never had one before always had such a strong reaction. Of course I ate one from my personal stock. They were like super vitamin gummies and I had seen the fantastic results it had had on my physical abilities. I was stronger, and had a lot more stamina.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    In order to start training we had to move out of range of the tent, since I was fairly certain it wouldn¡¯t withstand the force. I put out markers for everyone, as well as the training balls. ¡°I want everyone to keep at it from their last session, but Scoly.¡± I pointed at the bug. ¡°I want you to try and do as little damage to the ground as possible. It¡¯s good training for your control, but I also don¡¯t want to mess up the beach.¡±


    She nodded after a moment. Everyone got into position as I walked back to the tent. I didn¡¯t even make it a few steps before Gravity suddenly spiked as Diancie decided it was time to start. It caused me to stumble, but other than that I was okay. Goomy started to do her laps, still struggling to move properly in the Gravity, especially now in the sand.


    ¡°Keo, Banette, Mikyu.¡± I stood at the edge of the Gravity field as I called them over. ¡°Your main goal for the time will be to get used to the increased Gravity.¡± They looked at me a bit confused. ¡°You¡¯ll understand when you cross that line,¡± I pointed at the clear indentation that the Gravity made in the sand.


    Mikyu was the first to venture in, immediately being crushed under the weight. ¡°Ah- heavy-¡± she whined, struggling. I heard a few cracks from the sticks inside her costume, but she otherwise seemed fine.


    ¡°Just try and keep breathing,¡± I said, mostly to Keo since I didn¡¯t know if the two ghosts actually needed to breathe.


    Keo entered next, immediately hitting the sand. I saw the panic in her eyes.


    ¡°Just breathe,¡± I said softly as I knelt down. ¡°I¡¯m right here if you can¡¯t take it. I can-¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she managed through grit teeth, looking at the rest of the group who didn¡¯t even look to be struggling under the weight. ¡°I can do it¡­¡±


    ¡°Just keep breathing.¡± As I spoke, Banette came in as well, hitting the ground harder than the other two. It was clear that Banette and Mikyu hadn¡¯t done any previous training. It was probably a bit too harsh to start them off immediately into the Gravity field, but I didn¡¯t really have any other options.


    It was a few hours before Keo actually managed to get up slightly. The Primarina had also shown up, watching the excitement with cheers and applause. They had enough sense to not try and enter the gravity field after testing it a bit. It wasn¡¯t long after that before Professor Burnet approached. ¡°Ah, training?¡± Her brow furrowed as she looked at the three on the ground. ¡°Alola. What¡¯s wrong with them?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Alola, it¡¯s their first day of training. So they¡¯re- ah! Wait don¡¯t-¡± but my warning came too late.


    The moment she entered the Gravity field her legs buckled and she nearly ate sand. She had barely been able to catch herself. I moved over quickly and pulled her out of the field. She was panting and gasping for air once I did. ¡°What¡­what the fuck was that?!¡± she yelled.


    ¡°Gravity,¡± I said as I gestured to the area. ¡°Diancie can create a large field of it, increasing the weight of everything ten times.¡±


    She was still breathing kind of hard as she stood up with my help, her legs were a bit shaky. ¡°How¡­ how are you fine?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been training in it, too. It¡¯s still hard, but after a few months it gets easy enough to move in.¡± I took a step back, reentering the Gravity field.


    The Professor stared at me for a moment before looking over at the training Pokemon. Then realization dawned on her. ¡°You train all of your Pokemon like that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an effective method.¡± I looked down at the struggling trio, making sure that none of them were struggling too much. ¡°Increases strength, speed, and endurance. Bit rough at the start, though.¡±


    She put her hand under her chin. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of this sort of training before.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that doesn¡¯t surprise me,¡± I said as I looked back at the training Pokemon. ¡°How did the talk with the Kahuna go?¡±


    ¡°Well, he wants to talk to you before making a decision¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright. When does he want to meet?¡±


    ¡°Right now,¡± came a voice from the side. I turned to see an older looking man in a blue shirt and yellow sort of flowery robe. ¡°Alola.¡±


    ¡°Kahuna Hala, Alola,¡± I said with a smile and a slight bow of my head.


    ¡°Ho? So you know who I am on sight.¡± It¡¯s not like it was difficult. He looked me up and down, or at least I think he did considering his eyes looked closed. He then looked behind me to see my Pokemon training. ¡°So this is how a Pokemon Expert trains Pokemon?¡± To my surprise he stepped forward, entering the Gravity field. He acted like he didn¡¯t notice the change, but I practically felt the way his muscles tensed.


    ¡°It¡¯s how I train them,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of using Gravity to increase the difficulty of training.¡± I was fairly certain he was looking at me out of the corner of his eyes as I felt a scrutinizing gaze.


    ¡°I will admit I didn¡¯t come up with it, but I saw its effectiveness. And I was lucky enough to have a friend who knew the move.¡± I gestured towards Diancie.


    ¡°A mythic,¡± Hala said. There were a few moments of silence as we watched before he spoke again, ¡°You came here for a Z-Power Ring.¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°And what makes you think you¡¯re worthy of one?¡± He turned to face me, folding his arms in front of him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I continued to watch my Pokemon, though I matched his stance and folded my arms. ¡°But it¡¯s not for me. It¡¯s for them.¡±


    ¡°Ho?¡± He arched a brow at me.


    ¡°They want to be stronger. And I promised that I would help them.¡± I smiled a bit. ¡°Z-Moves. Mega Evolutions. Dynamax. Terastallization. If it can help make them stronger, then I¡¯m gonna try and get it.¡±


    ¡°Hm. Well, I don¡¯t know what those are, aside from Z-Moves.¡± He sounded interested, but it was rather hard to tell as he was keeping his tone rather neutral.


    ¡°I would show you, but I don¡¯t-¡± I stopped, and then reached into my bag and pulled out my key stone. ¡°Actually, I can Mega Evolve one of my Pokemon. I¡¯ve not gotten the stones for the others.¡± I looked at the group of training Pokemon. ¡°Diancie! Gravity off.¡±


    The effect immediately ended and she looked over at me, blinking. I waved for her to come over. ¡°Yes?¡± she questioned as she floated over.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to show the Kahuna something,¡± I said with a smile. I tried to think back to the moment when Andrew¡¯s Lucario had Mega Evolved. He hadn¡¯t done anything special as far as I could tell aside from using energy. And it had looked like it had been the Lucario that had triggered the effect. ¡°I want you to empower your Diancite.¡±


    She just blinked at me.


    ¡°Push energy into it,¡± I tried, hoping that that explanation would be enough. It took a moment but there was suddenly a flash of light, swirling energy encapsulated her for a brief moment, and when it abruptly broke she was very different. I felt a massive pull of energy from myself that I hadn¡¯t been expecting. I should have, considering what I knew of Mega Evolutions. I was the source of the energy that allowed her to Mega Evolve.


    Her forehead diamond had taken on a more heart shape. Her dress had expanded, now having flowing lace. Her diamonds had grown and now took the form of a skirt around her. The rock that had been her lower half was now just a big pink diamond. ¡°Oh!¡± she exclaimed, doing a twirl.


    Everyone, including the nearby Pokemon, gaped at her new appearance. She giggled and twirled at the attention. ¡°That is a Mega Evolution. A temporary spike in her overall power.¡±


    ¡°How¡­how long does it last?¡± Professor Burnet asked.


    ¡°Till she can¡¯t maintain it, or reverts herself.¡± I held out my hand and she rushed over to grasp it, giggling.


    ¡°And¡­ all Pokemon can do this?¡± the Professor asked, taking a look at Diancie.


    ¡°Only if you can find a matching Mega Stone. Of the known Mega Stones that match those in my group, there¡¯s one for Lucario, Audino, and Banette.¡± I twirled Diancie around, much to her delight.


    ¡°How much of a power spike is it?¡± Hala asked, finally having picked his jaw up off the floor.


    ¡°It varies too much from Pokemon to Pokemon, but it should be a noticeable boost. Professor Sycamore might have more exact data.¡± I still wasn¡¯t sure if stats could actually be given numbers.


    Diancie suddenly burst into light, and returned to her original form. ¡°That was cool!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°Did you end that, or get tired?¡± I asked, a bit concerned at how short that had been.


    ¡°It was starting to feel weird,¡± she said. ¡°But I could have done it for a lot longer.¡± It sounded like it was a case of her just not being used to it, and it made her uncomfortable.


    I nodded a bit and looked at the Kahuna. He seemingly looked at me as well, scrutinizing me. ¡°You just want power?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No. They want to be strong, and I want to help them.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Professor Burnet asked, her brow furrowing.


    ¡°It¡¯s power for their sake, not my sake.¡±


    Hala watched me, scrutinizing me. It was obvious he was trying to keep his expression flat, but the shock of what I had just shown him had caught him off guard. After a few moments he nodded. ¡°I will give you one chance.¡±


    The Professor blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°That¡¯s all I ask for.¡±


    ¡°So now you¡¯re changing your mind, Kahuna,¡± the Professor said, frowning.


    He held up a hand with a laugh. ¡°Burnet. It won¡¯t be me he has to convince. He has to convince one of the Guardians that he is worthy. That will be his first Trial.¡±


    ~


    A few hours later I found myself in the Pokecenter, having just handed everyone over for a checkup. ¡°Here¡¯s the pokebeans that you wanted,¡± Professor Burnet said, handing me a pouch. I nodded a bit as I took it and put it into one of the outer pockets of my bag. I had been warned not to put a spacial bag inside of another, or they would both stop working. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about Hala. He told me he was going to tell you no. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d just give you an impossible task.¡±


    I reached up and rubbed at the Comfey that was sitting on my shoulder. ¡°You think it¡¯s impossible?¡±


    ¡°Only the Kahuna¡¯s are ever acknowledged personally by the Guardians. It¡¯s part of the ceremony.¡± She sighed as she leaned against the wall. She sighed again after a moment. ¡°I¡¯m going to go talk to him. Alola.¡± She left before I had a chance to say anything.


    I chuckled a bit. ¡°Oh ye of little faith.¡± I turned a bit to look at the little Pokemon. ¡°You believe in me, don¡¯t you Comfey?¡±


    They responded with a nod and a soft, ¡°Of course.¡±


    At that moment Nurse Joy appeared. ¡°Ah, Jason. Here are your Pokemon.¡± She had Dee beside her, who was carrying one of those little trays that had nearly a dozen pokeballs on it.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with a smile, quickly scooping them all up and tucking them inside my coat. Once they were all collected, Dee passed the tray to Nurse Joy who took it with a smile.


    ¡°I wish you luck, Alola¡± she said with a smile at me before turning away and going off to assist someone else.


    ¡°Alola,¡± I said, giving Comfey a pat before heading back outside. ¡°Does anyone have faith in me?¡± I asked the air as I rubbed the top of Dee¡¯s head.


    Suddenly there was a Rio standing in front of me, her hands on her hips. ¡°I do!¡± she declared.


    I chuckled a bit as I reached over and ruffled her head. ¡°Well I¡¯m glad you do.¡±


    ¡°I think we all do,¡± Cara said after popping out from her pokeball as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly not too worried about it,¡± I said as I retrieved Eevee from her pokeball. Since she was recovering from a sickness, the stasis that the pokeballs put her in was detrimental to her recovery time. She actually bonked her head into my chest after I picked her up, which brought a smile to my face. ¡°Either I succeed, or I don¡¯t. And while it would be beneficial to get it, it won¡¯t be the end of the world if I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so important about these things anyways?¡± Rio asked, her head tilting to the side. Everyone else came out as well, not wanting to stay in their pokeballs if they didn¡¯t have to. Brionne, Goomy, Mikyu, Banette, and Keo all riding on Scoly¡¯s back. The only one who didn¡¯t come out was Diancie, as I had warned her not to come out inside towns. Even without her, we were drawing a lot of looks. Most people didn¡¯t walk around with more than a single Pokemon out.


    ¡°Z-Moves are extremely powerful.¡± In terms of the games they were pretty broken and unbalanced. Neat gimmick, though. Before I could go into more detail a group stepped in our path.


    In the front was a rather young looking man, dressed in a white suit. He had purple hair, which matched his shirt and his shoes. Behind him were two rather large men dressed in black suits, wearing sunglasses and even had ear pieces. They were clearly there to be intimidating, but all I could think was how they must be suffering in this heat. I could see one of them whispering to the young man, looking like he was explaining something but from the expression on his face he wasn''t listening very much.


    ¡°Hey, you,¡± the young man called out.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I looked the young man up and down, though now that I actually got a better look at him there was no way that he was even old enough to start his journey yet.


    ¡°You have some strong looking Pokemon. How much do you want for him?¡± he said as he gestured towards my group of Pokemon.


    I looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what sort of nonsense did his parents do that gave him such confidence. My brow furrowed and I shook my head. ¡°Not for sale.¡±


    His mouth looked like he had suddenly sucked on a lemon. ¡°Not for sale? What do you mean? I want you to sell him to me,¡± he said with another gesture at the group. ¡°How about thirty thousand?¡±


    ¡°Look, kid. I¡¯m not going to sell any of my Pokemon to you.¡± I glanced at the two bodyguards that were doing their best to look intimidating.


    ¡°Fine, fifty thousand for him.¡± He was clenching his fists, clearly losing his temper.


    ¡°No. Look-¡± I paused as I realized something. ¡°Wait. Who- who are you even talking about?¡±


    The question seemed to catch him off guard as he stared at me for a moment. ¡°What? What do you mean who? Him,¡± he said as he gestured vaguely at the group.


    Now I was just confused. I realized why something about what he was saying was off. ¡°I don¡¯t have any male Pokemon,¡± I said after a moment of thinking. Of course that was the moment I realized it myself. All of them were girls. How did that happen? I was going to have to get some male Pokemon or people are going to think weird things and jump to ridiculously dumb conclusions.


    There was a moment of silence as he stared at me like I was an idiot. Eventually he seemed to snap out of whatever shock he had. ¡°Yes. You do, right- Whatever. The dog one, the taller one. I want him.¡±


    I paused as I looked over at my group again, a bit more confused at who he was even talking about. However I realized who when I saw the looks on Cara and Rio¡¯s face. I turned back to him, frowning a bit. ¡°No. Also, all of those Pokemon are female. I don¡¯t have any males.¡±


    He stared at me, still having that same expression. ¡°Are you stupid? That one. Right there,¡± he pointed but I didn¡¯t look back. ¡°Whatever! Just, sell him to me. I¡¯ll give you sixty thousand, and my bodyguards won¡¯t beat you up.¡±


    My eye twitched slightly. I took in a deep breath. ¡°First of all, this is not going to happen, you self entitled brat. Kids like you always make things so difficult¡­¡± He looked absolutely gobsmacked by my words. ¡°Secondly, that is a female Pokemon. All of them are female,¡± I tried to put as much emphasis on that as possible.


    His face was going red with how made he was getting, which was honestly quite impressive to watch him turn into a tomato. ¡°You-¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Professor Burnet asked, quickly coming over.


    ¡°Ah, Professor. Alola.¡± The way both of the bodyguards stiffened was honestly satisfying. ¡°This young man is demanding that I give him one of my Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°Is he?¡± It was an Officer Jenny that asked. I didn¡¯t even know she was there, but she practically materialized from behind the Professor, apparently they had been talking to each other nearby.


    ¡°I did not! I wanted to buy him!¡± the kid practically shouted.


    ¡°And I said no, you cannot buy her,¡± I said, putting emphasis on the last word. ¡°And yet you kept demanding and threatening me. That is attempted theft by coercion I believe, Officer Jenny?¡±


    ¡°Indeed it is.¡± She put her hands on her hips. ¡°You three. Come with me. Now.¡±


    For a moment it looked like the kid was going to argue, but then one of the men put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Of course, Officer. This is just a misunderstanding and I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to clear it up.¡±


    I didn¡¯t hear the rest of the conversation as I walked off. I wasn¡¯t about to be bothered with that. ¡°What was that about?¡± Professor Burnet asked when she caught up.


    ¡°Exactly as I described. That kid was demanding I sell Rio to him and wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer.¡± I glanced at Rio, who for the first time since I had known her looked a bit scared. Not the type of scared she¡¯d been by the ghost¡¯s, but an actual look of fear. ¡°But there¡¯s no way I¡¯m letting that happen. She¡¯s my family, and I¡¯m not letting her go,¡± I said, mostly to reassure Rio than to convince the Professor. Which seemed to work as both jackals eased a bit.


    However the Professor¡¯s eyes narrowed a bit. ¡°Feels like a bit more than that¡­ but alright.¡± She sighed a bit. ¡°Anyways, I talked to the Kahuna, but he¡¯s-¡±


    I interrupted her with a pat on her back. ¡°Have some confidence, Professor. You¡¯re talking like I¡¯ve already failed.¡± She just stared at me, and I gave her a wave as I headed off up the mountain towards the ruins of conflict. ¡°Alola,¡± I called out.


    I returned everyone so that they wouldn¡¯t accidentally draw more attention. Scoly asked if I wanted to ride her, but I just pet her saying that I actually wanted to walk the island. We¡¯d get plenty of running around later. She was a bit grumpy about that.


    Everyone was back in their pokeball but Eevee and Goomy, the little fox was placed back into my hood while the slug was placed on my shoulder. They seemed quite excited to see the place, and that made me feel bad that everyone else couldn¡¯t see it very well. But there were too many people and we were drawing too much attention.


    As soon as we were back outside of the city, I let them all back out and we got to walk for a while, heading up towards the mountain. Though most of them were being lazy and just riding on Scoly while enjoying the scenery. I took the scenic route around the island, listening to them chatter about the things they could see. As we approached Iki Town, I had everyone but Eevee and Goomy return again.


    ¡°You think it¡¯ll be that easy?¡± a voice called out, and I looked over at Hala who was standing in the middle of the arena. Iki Town was a nice little place, and would have probably been a lot more pleasant if everyone hadn¡¯t been staring at me. This was the last place I had to pass by before entering Mahala Trail and the ruins.


    I looked up at the man, standing on the battle platform. In response to his question, I laughed. ¡°No. But-¡± I spread my arms out, ¡°You gave me the Trial. What kind of person wouldn¡¯t even try when they¡¯ve been given a chance?¡±


    He glared down at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°If you want to access the trail, you must beat me.¡±


    ¡°Changing the rules because I won¡¯t back down, old man?¡± I said with a laugh as I got up onto the other side of the platform.


    A booming sort of laughter escaped him as well. ¡°You can think of it as this old man just being stubborn about tradition.¡± He took his place opposite me. ¡°How many Pokemon do you have that are ready for battle?¡±


    ¡°Full six,¡± I said.


    He nodded. ¡°Three on three, then.¡±


    There was a crowd forming. I could feel a bit of sweat on my palms¡­ this was my first official Pokemon battle, and it was not going to be a simple opponent. Another person came up on the side of the arena, putting up their hand. ¡°This is an official battle between the Kahuna Hala, and the Pokemon Expert Jason. Three versus three. No swaps. Any Pokemon that is returned will be considered knocked out. Kahuna, are you ready?¡± He nodded, pulling out a pokeball. ¡°Challenger, are you ready?¡±


    I wondered why I was considered the challenger when it was clearly Hala that initiated. But I nodded, pulling a ball of my own. ¡°Ready.¡±


    ¡°Release your Pokemon,¡± the referee called.


    We both threw our pokeballs at the same time. Both burst into light, revealing Brionne on my side, and Hariyama on the other. That was one of the Pokemon he used in the League battle back in the game. ¡°Brionne, eh? I was expecting one of your Lucarios,¡± he said with a chuckle. Hariyama was already using a buff move without any order.


    ¡°Moonblast,¡± was my response, and Brionne unleashed the blue-violet burst of energy without hesitation.


    Hala arched a brow at me, but his Pokemon simply palmed the blast, causing it to explode into a violet cloud.


    ¡°Up,¡± I instructed as the Hariyama lunged forward through the remnants of the swirling energy and struck forward, his fist colliding with nothing but the jet of water that Brionne had just used to launch herself into the air.


    That clearly caught both trainer and Pokemon off guard, but she had used too much effort when doing it and launched herself too high. Downfall of being so used to Gravity. But she managed an absolutely stunning pirouette to orient herself and an Aqua Ring burst around her before she came down right onto the fighting Pokemon, causing an immediate burst of smoke and almost comical sound effects to erupt out as she used Play Rough. Part of training was to keep using moves of the same type to the last one I called.


    I had sent out Brionne because fighting was weak to fairy. When the cloud disappeared and both Pokemon separated, they both looked battered. Unfortunately Hariyama¡¯s response to Play Rough had been Close Combat. I was starting to think that this might be a bit too much for Brionne¡¯s first official battle and I might need to pull her out, but she just looked so determined to keep going.


    ¡°Hariyama, throw her,¡± Hala called out.


    I smirked. ¡°Oh? Brionne, look at him going to give you a hug. I think he needs a kiss,¡± I said as I folded my arms.


    The moment the fighting Pokemon grabbed her, she gave him a big smooch on the cheek. Again both trainer and Pokemon were stunned at the action. But before Hala had a chance to respond, his Pokemon fell back, its eyes rolled back and very clearly knocked out.


    There was another moment of silence before the referee raised his hand. ¡°Hariyama is unable to battle.¡±


    Hala stared at his Pokemon, and then at me. ¡°Draining Kiss,¡± I explained, still smirking. Even though that was the case, and Brionne had clearly won, I could see that she was in rough shape. Hariyama had been on his last legs when the kiss landed, so she hadn¡¯t drained much health, and the only reason she was still standing at all was Aqua Ring slowly restoring her.


    ¡°Well, that was sure a surprise,¡± Hala said with a chuckle as he returned Haritama and pulled out another ball. He tossed it out and a Poliwrath appeared on his side.


    Brionne was in no state to continue, and even if Poliwrath was weak to fairy, he also had Water Absorb and would heal if hit with any water moves from her movement technique. So I pulled out her ball. ¡°Good job,¡± I said before returning her.


    I had focused on fairy moves because Hala¡¯s Pokemon were weak to them, and it had worked, but Brionne still nearly got knocked out by getting hit by just one Close Combat. If he hadn¡¯t tanked that initial Moonblast and instead dodged, the Draining Kiss wouldn¡¯t have been enough and Brione would have gone down from the Seismic Toss. ¡°Brionne has withdrawn. Jason, please send out your next Pokemon.¡±


    Tossing my second pokeball out, the burst of red revealed Scoly, already stanced up and ready to go. ¡°I apologize in advance for your arena. We¡¯re still working on her control.¡±


    He gave me a puzzled look, but the moment the referee dropped his hand to signal the start of the fight, the giant bug horse turned into a ball and immediately spun up. It occurred to me that if she was blue I¡¯d call her a hedgehog. But she was red, so an echidna?


    Poliwrath, unsure what to do braced himself and nearly put down the hands it had put up to block before he was barreled into by a red streak. To my surprise, the water Pokemon wasn¡¯t knocked over, but his feet left rather harsh grooves in the wood as he absorbed the blow, which he probably regretted when he saw his hands covered in purple goop.


    Scoly had had the best success with any of the experiments I had tried. She couldn¡¯t do it for long, but we had successfully created a new move by combining aspects from Rollout, Defense Curl, Iron Defense, Gyro Ball, Poison Sting, and Extreme Speed. It didn¡¯t have the benefits of all of the moves, but if she¡¯s given a moment to charge up her spin she was a bouncing poison metal ball of doom. She named it Venom Steel Ball.


    The next time the red blur shot at the blue Pokemon, he was ready for it. He delivered a rather surprising Sky Uppercut that shifted the angle of her momentum and caused Scoly to be shot upwards at even greater speed, quickly becoming just a red spot in the sky. I had to squint upwards, trying to see what she was doing next. ¡°End it,¡± Hala said, and I saw Poliwrath begin to slap its stomach. Belly Drum? A move that maximizes attack power at the sacrifice of half the user''s health.


    I didn¡¯t think that was a good move, considering the Pokemon was already poisoned and had taken two hits, even if it had blocked both. He was betting on mutual destruction? Then I heard a cry from above, and looked up just to see Scoly ramrod straight and plummeting towards Poliwrath. ¡°Meteor Horn!¡± she screamed.


    And then the arena exploded.


    My arms shot up to block the scattering of debris. After a moment I peeked over my arm to see that a good third of the arena was gone, and it had been replaced by a huge crater. In the center of that crater was a large red figure, attempting to get her head unstuck from the ground. I looked around, seeing Poliwrath a few dozen feet away and embedded in the wall of the Kahuna¡¯s house.


    She had missed.


    But even with a miss, the force of the blow and the damage the poor water Pokemon had taken was apparently enough to knock it out. Hala had also not escaped unscathed, having had to dive from the platform to not get hit by the blast, and he was now peeking over the edge to survey the destruction. ¡°I thought you were joking!¡± he shouted at me, clearly talking about my earlier comment about destroying the arena.


    I just shrugged at him, brushing some dust from my coat. Scoly had used Megahorn combined with her large size and weight, and amped up her defense while in the air to survive the air strike.


    She finally broke free of the ground, gasping for air. ¡°I live!¡± she declared, striking a pose on the center of the crater.


    I looked over at the referee, who had also dived back and was hiding behind part of the arena. ¡°Are you going to call it?¡±


    He startled, looking over at me for a moment. Then he looked at Scoly, and then over at Poliwrath. ¡°P-Poliwrath is- is unable to b-battle!¡± he managed to call.


    Scoly jumped up, landing in the arena near me with a sort of grace that seemed unnatural to her size and previous action. ¡°How was that? Came up with it myself.¡±


    ¡°You missed,¡± I said, pointing over at the Poliwrath.


    She froze, looking down into the crater. ¡°Huh. So I did¡­¡± she said sheepishly. Even though I was kind of glad that she did, as I wasn¡¯t sure if that Pokemon would have survived that.


    ¡°But, good job adapting and taking advantage of your situation.¡± She looked immensely pleased, though I did notice that she was swaying. ¡°You good for another?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m a bit dizzy,¡± she admitted. ¡°My head hurts.¡± It had been a struggle to make them realize that telling me they were hurt or tired was not admitting they were weak, but helping me to make them better. With the fact that Pokemon could have long lasting damage, pushing himself in a fight could have pretty severe consequences.


    I nodded and returned her before she could protest. Hala climbed back onto the arena, taking his position. ¡°Okay. Yeah, I admit that I really underestimated you.¡± He looked quite thoughtful as he spoke, returning Poliwrath. ¡°I¡¯ll forfeit,¡± he said with a nod.


    The referee opened his mouth, but I cut him off. ¡°Are you sure? You still have Crabominable and your Fightinium Z.¡±


    That caused him to pause, clearly wondering how I knew that. But after a moment he shook his head. ¡°This was a test, and you¡¯ve already passed. There¡¯s no need to continue.¡±


    I could immediately feel the annoyance coming from Rio, whose ball I was already holding, as the referee called out, ¡°Kahuna Hala has forfeit. The winner is Pokemon Expert Jason.¡± He held up his hand on the same side as me.


    To my surprise there were suddenly cheers. I blinked as I looked over, noticing that we had a crowd of at least fifty people. ¡°Huh. That¡¯s a pretty interesting feeling,¡± I muttered as I hopped down from the stage. I could see a Pokecenter, and that was my destination.


    But I was stopped. ¡°What was that big bug Pokemon?¡± a rather excited kid said.


    ¡°Her name is Scoly, and she¡¯s a Scolipede.¡± I was confused for a moment, as I was fairly certain that Venipede was available in Sun and Moon. Then I realized that it wasn¡¯t in Ultra Sun and Moon, so this was probably based on that? Or maybe they weren¡¯t available on this island? That was confusing.


    What followed was a bunch of people congratulating me on passing the test. It honestly felt weird because I didn¡¯t understand why it was such a big deal. Probably impressive to them, but Hala¡¯s Pokemon weren¡¯t on the same level as those that I had watched in the League finals. In fact all it has done is make me realize everyone still has a long way to go.


    Eventually I made my way through the crowd and to the Pokecenter. Nurse Joy was outside, as well as a Blissey. Had they also watched? ¡°Everyone is acting like I just beat the Champion or something,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Well. Hala is one of the strongest trainers on the island,¡± Nurse Joy said with a smile, leading me inside.


    ¡°Ah, well, I guess that makes sense then.¡± Though that was disappointing, since I felt he had taken it easy on me. It was like he didn¡¯t use his best Pokemon against me? I knew he still had a Z-Move if he wanted. Maybe that¡¯s why he was the strongest trainer, because he didn¡¯t have to rely on gimmicks to win fights. I placed all of my pokeballs on a tray, planning to have all of them checked on while I was here. Dee immediately burst out, determined to help out like she always did.


    ¡°They fought well,¡± Blissey said as she took the tray, her and Dee disappearing into the back.


    I had to agree with that. They had both done a very good job. They both fought opponents who were stronger than them, and had more experience, but used their speed and maneuverability to win. Well, in Brionne¡¯s case the reason she won was because of spamming type advantage, and I wasn¡¯t against using such tactics against someone like Hala. And in the end, a win is a win.


    As I sat waiting, continuing my work on my cell phone notes and continuing to ignore my Kalos liaison, suddenly the door was flung open. There stood a man with a white ball cap, sunglasses, a doctor''s coat without a shirt, gray shorts and green sandals. Professor Kukui. His eyes immediately locked onto me, lounging with my feet dangling off the side of the couch. ¡°Alola! You¡¯re Jason, right?¡± he said with a big grin as he made his way over.


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s me,¡± I said slowly. ¡°Alola.¡±


    ¡°When I heard someone was fighting the Kahuna I came running at extreme speed, but seems I missed the whole fight. You made a mess out of the arena,¡± he said with a laugh as he sat down in a nearby seat.


    I shifted a bit and sat up. ¡°Yeah that was Scoly,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Hala said it was one hell of a move, and if he didn¡¯t know better he would have sworn it was a Z-Move,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°But¡­ he also mentioned that he gave you a Trial.¡±


    ¡°He did,¡± I said with a nod.


    He frowned a bit and sighed. ¡°Damn old man making things difficult¡­ If you had asked me, I would have helped get you a Z-Power Ring.¡±


    That caused me to laugh. ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that? I came here to do Trials. To have myself tested and prove that I was worthy of it.¡±


    He stared at me for a moment before laughing and nodding. ¡°My wife did say you were quite the character. Glad it¡¯s a good one.¡± There was a smile on his face. ¡°Well, I¡¯d say you¡¯ve at least proven your strength to the old man.¡±


    I waved a hand. ¡°And what does his opinion matter?¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s the Guardians that will determine if I¡¯m worthy.¡±


    ¡°And what if they say no?¡± he asked, an amused look on his face.


    ¡°Then I guess I fail and move on.¡± I tucked my phone back into my bag. ¡°I feel like everyone expects me to give up if I fail.¡±


    ¡°Many do,¡± he said with a sigh.


    Team Skull immediately came to mind and I sighed as well. ¡°Professor. When you fall, what is the first thing you do?¡± Dee came out with Blissey, holding a tray with all my pokeballs. They were excitedly talking about things, currently about how Dee performed her medical duties out in the wilderness.


    He thought about it for a moment, his hand on his chin. ¡°Cuss out whatever I tripped over?¡±


    I chuckled a bit, smiling as I gathered up my pokeballs, returning Dee. ¡°Okay, yeah that¡¯s fair.¡± I shook my head, giving him a bit of a smile. ¡°You get up. And if you can¡¯t get up on your own, you ask for help.¡±


    Again he thought for a moment before nodding. ¡°A good way to look at it.¡±


    We wandered out of the Pokecenter after I thanked Blissey and Nurse Joy. We stopped in front of Mahalo trail, a few people were cleaning up the area around the arena and discussing what to do about the crater. Someone just suggested turning it into a pond, and many others agreed.


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll succeed?¡± Professor Kukui asked, looking up at the mountain with me.


    ¡°That¡¯ll depend on Tapu Koko,¡± I said before starting my hike. ¡°Alola!¡± I waved back at him before releasing everyone. A mountain hike would be some good training.


    ¡°Freedom!¡± Rio announced, her fists in the air.


    I laughed. ¡°Are you going to do that every time you have to spend time in the pokeball?¡± I reached over and rubbed her head.


    She had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed at her actions, but then she looked a bit sad. ¡°Jace¡­uhm¡­ about earlier. What that guy said¡­¡±


    I smiled a bit as I leaned forward, tucking my hand behind her head as I pressed my forehead to the top of her head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to defend yourself with me, Rio.¡± I gently rubbed the back of her head as I spoke. ¡°You¡¯re my good strong girl.¡±


    A giggle escaped her as she put her hands up, pushing my face away. ¡°Gosh, don¡¯t embarrass me in front of everyone,¡± she complained as she hurriedly moved away, her face had turned a bit red, but I saw that tail wagging.


    We hiked for a few hours before coming up to the rather simple looking entrance in the mountain. The path up continued, but I knew this was it. ¡°Are we going in there?¡± Scoly asked, a bit hesitant with going underground considering what happened last time. Most of the group was riding on her back.


    ¡°Well, this is ruins rather than a cave,¡± I said with a bit of a smile as I walked forward. Inside was a rather large chamber, the two pits in the center I remembered from the game were large pools of water, but the rest of it was how I thought it would be. A blocky figure eight surrounded by a drop leading to plants and flowers, trees climbing the walls.


    ¡°Whoa¡­¡± Eevee said from my shoulder. I reached up and scratched absentmindedly under her chin. The ceiling was more tree canopy than actual roof, but that wasn¡¯t very concerning to me as I made my way through. Behind I could hear the little clitter clack of Scoly¡¯s claws on the floor as she followed.


    Cara had chosen to walk beside me, having been uncharacteristically quiet since that kid approached us. But she had been clinging to the edge of my coat. She was trying to keep it under control, but every now and then I felt the wisps of her aura. Fear. Concern. Anger. Sadness. She was struggling to keep her emotions in check.


    Coming into the room at the end, I could see the grand stand above, though surprisingly the area below that I remembered was a large battle arena. I could see old marks of battle scattered throughout the room. But what I couldn¡¯t see was the Guardian.


    Slowly I crossed the room, and made my way up the stairs onto the raised platform. There was the stone totem. I slowly removed Eevee from my hood and handed her and my bag to Cara. ¡°All of you go down and wait. This is going to take a while.¡±

 Chapter Nine

    Of course when I said it was going to take a while, I didn¡¯t think it was going to take this long. I had sat for a few hours, gotten up and studied the totem for an hour, and then sat again. Was it too much to hope that Tapu Koko would just¡­show up? Did I have to summon them? The sun was crossing the sky and I hadn¡¯t thought of anything.


    Diancie had activated Gravity in the battle arena, and everyone was doing all sorts of workouts that Dee was instructing them on. They were rather basic things, like pushups, jumping jacks, running in place, that sort of thing. The three new pokemon were also getting in on it, and to my surprise, so was Eevee. For some reason Eevee seemed the least affected by her first time under Gravity than anyone I had seen, though she was struggling to do anything else but sit.


    Without much thought, I began to do the dances that accompany Z-Moves. I began with the one for Oceanic Operetta as it was the one I knew the best. Then I tried Guardian of Alola. Then I started to run through every type. Breakneck Blitz, All-Out Pummeling, Supersonic Skystrike, Acid Downpour, Tectonic Rage, Continental Crush, Savage Spin-Out, Never-Ending Nightmare, Corkscrew Crash, Inferno Overdrive, Hydro Vortex, Bloom Doom, Gigavolt Havoc, Shattered Psyche, Subzero Slammer, Devastating Drake, Black Hole Eclipse, and Twinkle Tackle.


    By the end I was sweating and out of breath. That had been oddly exhausting. ¡°What was that?¡± Cara asked.


    I felt my face turn a bit red, but I couldn¡¯t tell if that was because of the workout, or embarrassment. ¡°The- uh¡­ the movements that go with Z-Moves,¡± I said after a moment.


    She handed me a bottle of water. ¡°Is it like that Kamehameha thing?¡± she asked, her head tilting to the side.


    I cleared my throat before taking a drink from the bottle. ¡°Sort of¡­¡±


    ¡°Your aura was doing weird stuff,¡± she said, her brow furrowed. ¡°Shifting¡­¡±


    My eyebrows rose a bit. ¡°Those movements were actually doing something you could see in my aura?¡± She nodded. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ really interesting actually.¡± I thought about it for a moment before I cleared my throat. ¡°Alright. It¡¯s time for my secret weapon. Let¡¯s make lunch.¡±


    There was a fire pit in the room, probably for ceremonies, but I was going to use it to cook. Taking off my coat, I started to prepare. Dee, Mikyu, and Banette all started to help me, while Cara, Rio, and Brionne helped prep all the plates and bowls.


    I enjoyed listening to the chatter of everyone as I cooked, the conversation mostly being about the island and how exciting it was to be so far from where they were born. The three newcomers all seemed excited to know that they were going to go on such journeys, as Cara told them that my goal was to see the world. That shifted the conversation towards Kalos and what that place was like, which eventually led to the League battles.


    After everyone got their plates, before preparing my own, I made up one special plate. I made it a bit more on the spicy side, though it had a mixture of all of them. I walked up the stairs, putting the large plate down in front of the totem. ¡°You better eat it before it gets cold,¡± I said rather loudly to the air before I made my way back down to get some for myself.


    It wasn¡¯t five minutes before there was a burst from the canopy, and an orange, black and yellow Pokemon appeared on the stand. I only glanced up at it for a moment, before turning my attention back to my food. ¡°You have waited long-¡± it began.


    But I cut it off. ¡°Eat first,¡± I said, gesturing at it with my fork. ¡°And I better not hear you complaining, because if you¡¯d shown up earlier I would have known what sort of food you like and made that.¡±


    They stared down at me, clearly quite caught off guard by my statement. Most of the Pokemon had ignored their appearance, though Cara was watching them carefully, as was Rio and Keo. However I watched as they seemed to literally deflate, all the bravado that they had clearly shown up with smacked down by my indifference.


    Without a word, they turned around, picked up their plate and began eating. I knew they were defeated the moment they took that first bite. I could see it on their face. Their eyes went wide and they just stared at the plate. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ very good¡­¡± they said softly before they started to dig in with gusto.


    I was really finding out that people didn¡¯t give Pokemon good food. Honestly they barely had good food for themselves. I hadn¡¯t been to a high end restaurant, though I planned to go to one while here in Alola, but the food here didn¡¯t seem that good from what I had seen and tasted. And it was clearly from the lack of brands. Why make really good food when everyone is used to mediocre food, and you have no competition?


    The curry mixes that I bought were super basic, which is one of the reasons I needed to add so much to actually get the flavor up there. They weren¡¯t bad, but they were closer to cheap ramen flavor packets than the type of curry mix I was used to. That first batch I had made was garbage to what I could do now.


    Slowly the conversations began to pick back up. It was always fun listening to Pokemon chatter amongst themselves. They had a surprising amount to talk about. Stories mostly, either experienced or told to them. A lot of them sounded like imaginary stories they made up at some point, or play pretend things that they had done. It gave pretty good insight into what they all did on a day to day basis out in the wild.


    At some point, a less boastful looking Tapu Koko approached, carefully holding their plate. ¡°May I¡­ have some more?¡±


    I smiled a bit as I got up, holding my hand out for their plate. ¡°Of course. I made plenty.¡± They quickly gave it to me and I moved over to the pots, which did still have some left. ¡°What sort of flavors do you like?¡±


    They quickly moved up beside me. ¡°Can I have it spicier?¡± they asked excitedly.


    With a chuckle and a nod I went straight for the spiciest pot. Thankfully there was more than enough for one more plate worth, as I was still trying to get portion sizes right. ¡°Here.¡± I held out the plate to them.


    There was a bit of hesitation as they looked at the plate, as if realizing something. ¡°Why do you want power?¡±


    I blinked at them a few times and then chuckled with a shake of my head. ¡°It¡¯s funny how everyone just assumes that I¡¯m the one who wants to be strong. I don¡¯t want power.¡± I pushed the plate a bit more towards them, practically forcing them to take it, which they did. ¡°They want to be strong, and I want to help them.¡±


    There were a few moments of silence as Tapu Koko looked at me, studying me. It felt like they could see a lot more, and I felt like there was some sort of energy washing over me. Eventually he sighed. ¡°I know what Hala wants. He wants me to deny you a Z-Power Ring.¡±


    I frowned, cursing the old man in my head and aloud, ¡°Stubborn old man. Even after I beat him.¡±


    The Tapu just nodded. ¡°It is rare that we allow outsiders to partake in our Trials. He is following tradition, and caution, as history has shown those who gain it do not use Z-Power for the protection of Alola, they use it to destroy,¡± he paused, ¡°However. In this case I do not agree.¡±


    That caught me off guard. I was already planning on my next steps and where to go next since Z-Moves sounded like a bust. ¡°Really?¡±


    They nodded. ¡°However, I will give you a Trial of my own. I will give you the Z-Power Ring, but you must prove to me that you do not need it.¡±


    My brow furrowed a bit as I tried to think about how I would go about doing that. So a Trial for a Trial? Or was it a Trial for a Trial for a Trial? How many Trials deep was I now? And had I not already done that just by getting this far? ¡°Is there something in particular you want me to accomplish?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± They looked down at the plate for a moment before looking back at me. ¡°You must win your League tournament back where you came from, without using Z-Moves.¡±


    That got me to chuckle. ¡°So you want to make sure that I don''t use Z-Power as a shortcut.¡± They just nodded before starting to eat, clearly having been holding themself back until they got to say what they wanted. ¡°Well, that''s an easy enough thing to follow, but something difficult to accomplish. If all it takes is not using Z-Moves in the League, then I won¡¯t use them in the League. Or gym battles,¡± I added. It was better to not show them off at all if I could help it.


    They froze mid bite, clearly not having thought about the gym battles. But they nodded, clearly pleased with me not trying to skirt around their Trial with a technicality. Or they were just pleased at how good the food was. Maybe both. Hard to tell. ¡°For doing that, I shall give you a Z-Crystal upon your return.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That would be a fair reward, though there are eight gyms that I must complete. And I plan to become an Elite Trainer, so I have to actually fight their strongest teams.¡± I was trying to see if I could convince the Tapu to maybe give me a little more, since the Trial was very difficult.


    It looked like they thought it over for a moment as they ate, or they weren''t thinking about it and were just eating. Once they were done, they nodded. ¡°Two Z-Crystals.¡±


    I snorted softly, and nodded. ¡°Alright. But I can get any crystal I want in the meantime, right?¡±


    Again they seemed to think this over before they nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± They held out their empty plate towards me, but when I reached to take it from them they grabbed hold of my hand. With their other hand they pushed up my sleeve before reaching into the space behind their mask.


    I was a bit surprised when they pulled out not the Sparkling Stone that I had been expecting, but an actual completed Z-Power Ring. It was black and gray in color, with the sort of white Z imprint in the center, but that¡¯s where the similarities stopped. The band itself appeared to be made from roots that hung limp. However when they placed it onto my wrist, there was a spark of electricity and the roots came to life and wrapped themselves around my arm.


    There was the instinct to yank my hand away that I almost gave into, but they didn¡¯t grip too hard, and quickly settled themselves to appear more like a decorative band. ¡°If you fail the Trial, I and the other Tapu will come to retrieve this, and all the other crystals that you have collected.¡±


    There was a rather large smile on my face, threatening to break into a grin. This was an extremely exciting moment and I could already think of how this would change my journey. I tested the band a bit, finding that I could remove it if I wanted to, before I set the empty plate down. The stone looked extremely old, scuffed and scratched. Clearly this had belonged to someone long ago. ¡°Thank you for this chance. If I fail this Trial, I will give it back without a fuss. Though I don¡¯t think I will fail.¡± At least I hoped I wouldn¡¯t. If I wanted to accomplish that goal, I¡¯d have to beat not only Andrew, but also that Trainer Laura.


    They looked at me for a moment before nodding. ¡°You may stay here tonight if you wish.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, I won¡¯t impose further. There¡¯s plenty of time to get down the mountain.¡±


    There was another moment of pause before they nodded again. ¡°Thank you for the meal.¡± Then they left, shooting up through the canopy.


    Turning towards the rest of the Pokemon, they were all staring at me. Cara, Rio, Keo, and Scoly were stanced up, as if ready to rush in and attempt to battle the Legendary Pokemon if things went bad. ¡°Let¡¯s clean up, and then head back down,¡± I said, unable to get the smile off of my face even if I wanted to.


    ~


    After cleaning up, I returned everyone but Eevee, Goomy, and Scoly, with the purpose of riding the bug horse down the mountain as fast as possible. I was reminded of just how fast this bug was, and that I really needed a saddle. I wondered where they got the saddles for the Pokemon transportation system here in Alola and decided to ask and get one made soon. The current plan was to head all the way back to the beach, but we stopped at the end of Mahala Trail as there were two people there. Kahuna Hala and Professor Kukui.


    Hala was wearing a rather blank expression, but Professor Kukui looked a bit concerned. I hopped down from Scoly, my legs a bit jellied from the ride, but I managed to stay standing. That was something I would have to get used to.


    ¡°Alola!¡± I greeted. Both of them looked at me expectantly, and I just rolled my eyes before raising up my arm and pulling down the sleeve of my coat to show them the Z-Power Ring. They both looked genuinely shocked. ¡°How¡¯s that, old man?¡±


    It took a moment, but eventually Hala laughed. ¡°Well. And here I was about to offer help with whatever task the Tapu gave you.¡±


    I laughed as well. Kukui just looked confused. ¡°You got it? That easily?¡±


    ¡°Not easily,¡± I said with a bit of a sigh. ¡°I have to win the Kalos League, or Tapu Koko and the other Tapu are going to beat me up and take it back.¡±


    Hala just laughed more. ¡°That sounds more like it!¡± he announced, wearing a rather wide smile.


    ¡°At least the League will be easier with Z-Moves,¡± Kukui said with a nod, folding his arms in front of him. ¡°Have you planned which ones you want to go for first?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to use the Z-Moves in the League, or in gym battles. That¡¯s part of my Trial.¡±


    Hala seemed to settle his laughter, though he was still smiling. ¡°The Tapu wants you to prove you¡¯re capable of grand achievements without the power.¡±


    ¡°Apparently beating you wasn¡¯t enough,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°I¡¯m hardly a challenge,¡± Hala said with a shake of his head. ¡°But, still.¡± He suddenly tossed something towards me, and I raised up my hand to catch it.


    I looked down at the object in my hand and arched a brow. ¡°That easy?¡± I asked, looking down at the little orange crystal in my hand, noting the little fist emblem that was in the middle. Fightinium Z.


    ¡°You beat me. And if the Tapu accepts you, that means I¡¯d be a really stubborn old man to deny you a reward for doing a Trial,¡± he said with a bit of a rough tone, but he had a smile on his face.


    With a nod, I moved it closer to the band and was slightly unnerved as some little things grew from the roots and grasped it. I wasn¡¯t sure if Hala noticed, but Kukui sure did and he came closer to examine the Z-Power Ring that I had been given. I held up my arm so he could get a better look. ¡°This one is¡­ very old. Hala, do you know who this belonged to?¡±


    From the expression on Hala¡¯s face, it was as if he had noticed something. But he shook his head. ¡°No. Before my time, I think.¡± He shifted his arm a bit so that he could hold his own Z-Power Ring next to mine. ¡°Without even looking at the band, you can tell it¡¯s very different. Look, it¡¯s even carved differently.¡± He was pointing out different spots.


    While comparing the two, mine definitely looked to be in rough shape. And it wasn¡¯t carved or polished as nicely. ¡°One of the first ones?¡± I suddenly asked, running a finger over the face and feeling the rough surface.


    ¡°Definitely one of the old ones,¡± he said with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s not the first one that was carved, or even part of that group. I¡¯ve seen them.¡± He paused, continuing to look it over. ¡°The real question is, why did the Tapu give you this one?¡±


    I smirked a bit at him. ¡°Maybe they didn¡¯t trust you to carve me one?¡±


    He laughed, and nodded. ¡°Yeah, that sounds like something I¡¯d do.¡± He turned away, still laughing as he waved. ¡°Alola!¡±


    The five of us just stood there, watching him go. ¡°He¡¯s weird,¡± Scoly said softly from over my shoulder, hoping to not be heard by the retreating man. ¡°Is he an enemy, or not?¡±


    I reached up and started to rub between her horns. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about Hala,¡± Kukui said with a bit of a nervous laugh. ¡°He¡¯s uh¡­ not really a fan of foreigners. The Association has been pushing really hard to get a foothold here, and they¡¯ve not been gentle about it.¡±


    ¡°With how much money there is in tourism, I can understand that.¡± We both watched as Hala went back into his house, the wall still had a Poliwrath shaped indent in it. With a bit of a laugh the three of us started to make our way back to the beach.


    ¡°But back to my other point.¡± Kukui looked at me as we walked, giving me a rather uncharacteristically scrutinizing look. ¡°How many crystals do you plan on getting?¡±


    ¡°Eventually, all of them. But for now, I¡¯ll settle for getting Primarium, Normalium, Dragonium, Fairium, and Groundium.¡± Considering what Trial Tapu Koko had given me, I was going to have to cut my trip here in Alola short. I had planned to spend the three months doing Trials and collecting all the Z-Crystals before trying the League without trying too hard the first go around, but now I¡¯d have to go all out. Maybe get some other gimmick for emergency use?


    I doubt they would allow Gigantamax in the Kalos league, but Terastallization might be a good idea. But the Terastal phenomenon has a lot more restrictions. Maybe hunting Mega Stones would be a better option?


    Or I could just wing it and hope for the best. Since this was supposed to be a Trial to prove that I wouldn¡¯t abuse the power I was given, it would probably be in poor taste to go seeking some other power to use. So Mega Stones then, since others would also have access to them.


    ¡°So a few of them then?¡± Kukui asked, a hand under his chin as he seemed to think it over. ¡°I might be able to help with the Normalium in a few days, but the others you¡¯re pretty much on your own.¡±


    I smiled a bit. ¡°Yanno, you¡¯re much more willing to help than everyone else about all this.¡±


    He laughed, and rubbed the back of his head. ¡°Well, I may not like the Association but¡­ I dunno, I think the islands having their own League is a good idea. And-¡± he hesitated before looking around to make sure there was no one around. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable.¡±


    There was a puzzled expression on my face. ¡°Inevitable?¡±


    ¡°This was always going to be the case the moment that the Kahuna allowed the Association to influence the island,¡± he said with a bit of a chuckle, though it was dry and humorless. ¡°With all the people coming to the island, it would be impossible to not have others be seen as worthy by the Tapu.¡±


    All I could really do was nod in agreement. I could think of figures that had done just that, Ash being one of them. We walked in silence for a few minutes, Scoly constantly bumping playfully into me, demanding I pet her more. Of course I didn¡¯t take much convincing, as I liked the feeling of her shell. It was smooth, and warm to the touch.


    Eventually I decided to break the silence. ¡°I don¡¯t like the Association.¡± They weren¡¯t part of the show, or any official media. They were something that existed here and made me question whether any of my knowledge or events were helpful. ¡°They give me such a bad vibe,¡± I added. It wasn¡¯t just because I had a problem with authoritative figures like that, but there was something about them that put me on edge. They weren¡¯t the government, but they sure tried to act like they held all the authority.


    This time all he did was nod in agreement. He decided to change the subject, ¡°How long do you plan on being in Alola?¡±


    ¡°In a hurry to get rid of me?¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°A few weeks, I suppose? I¡¯m on a journey to see the world, so I¡¯ll be taking my time with the Trials.¡±


    He rubbed his chin a bit with a thoughtful expression. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of world to see.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry. There¡¯s no point in going to a place and not experiencing it.¡± I waved a hand vaguely in the air. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going places just to say I¡¯ve been there. I want to see them, and the Pokemon that live there.¡±


    A chuckle seemed to escape him and he pat me on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re like one of those Explorers, eh?¡±


    ¡°Explorers?¡± I looked at him, furrowing my brow a bit. This was the first time I¡¯d heard about them.


    ¡°Ah, well. They¡¯re technically part of the Ranger Society so I¡¯m not surprised you haven¡¯t heard of them if you don¡¯t have a lot of interactions with Rangers.¡± That was true, I hadn¡¯t met a single Ranger in my time being here.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that Explorers go out and explore stuff?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°They¡¯re the ones who draw all the maps of places, and go out into the world. It was an Explorer who discovered Alola a few decades ago.¡±


    ¡°Maps?¡± I suddenly had an idea. ¡°Do you have a world map? I¡¯ve actually never seen one.¡±


    He arched an eyebrow at me, but after thinking about it for a moment he shrugged. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s not as surprising as I think¡­ We got one back at the lab as part of the ¡®Welcome to the Association¡¯ gift basket.¡±


    I could actually see the lab building not far off from where we were, as it was where we were heading. ¡°I¡¯d like to see it.¡±


    ~


    In the research center, I was now standing alone in a room, staring at the large map on the wall. It really opened my eyes to just how wrong I thought the geography of this Pokemon world was. I had thought of it in terms of my old world, thinking that Alola was far to the West of Kalos, with Unova between it. But no. Alola was South East. If we went West and a bit North, there were the Orange Islands. I was closer to Kanto than anything else. I was right about Unova being between here and Kalos, but that was extremely far away. No wonder it took so long to get here.


    What was oddly unnerving was that all of this was mostly the Northern hemisphere of whatever Pokemon planet I was on. Alola was South of the equator, while the Orange Islands were North. Outside of the established places in the games and anime, the rest of the map was blank. Though there were notations at either side suggesting another continent, as well as other marks scattered about to indicate possible islands.


    This world was so much bigger than I had thought.


    I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was larger than the world I had come from, since it wasn¡¯t fully explored, but just from this¡­ unless the other continent wasn¡¯t very large, it was probably bigger. Trying to equate it to my old world, the entire map spanned from Europe, through Russia, and then entirely across Canada. Even using that scale, the equator seemed lower as well, so it had to be larger.


    I could have probably mathed it out, if I had the Northernmost point, but that was unmapped as well. Another notation of some sort of frozen continent. Before leaving, I took several pictures of the map.


    As I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the beach, I looked down at all the training Pokemon. They had all been so eager to get back to training that they had taken my bag and gone and set up camp while I was studying the map. Their drive to gain strength was honestly fascinating.


    I watched them for a few minutes until they all suddenly stopped and looked over at the tent. I was puzzled for a moment until Cara ran over to the tent and retrieved my phone. With a bit of a wave, I got her attention so she knew where I was and she leapt over. She had cleared a surprising distance, but that was just one of the ways she''s figured out to use Extreme Speed. ¡°You have a phone call,¡± she said, standing on the railing and holding the ringing phone out to me.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with a smile as I took the phone. I glanced at the screen as she jumped back to the group, the railing buckling slightly from the force of her leap. It was Professor Sycamore. That caught me off guard, and I wondered why he would be calling. Hitting the button I opened with, ¡°Alola, Professor. What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Hello Jason,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°Sorry it took me a while to get back to you. You still in Alola? How is it?¡±


    ¡°Pretty good,¡± I said as I leaned against the railing. ¡°Good weather. Good Pokemon.¡±


    He gave a bit of a nod. ¡°I just wanted to follow up on things, and let you know that¡­ the device is gone.¡±


    My brow arched a bit. ¡°Gone?¡±


    Again he nodded. ¡°Disappeared overnight. All the footage is gone. No one saw anything. Or heard anything. Just¡­ poof.¡± He gestured vaguely with a hand. ¡°Can¡¯t say if it was Team Flare, or someone else but¡­¡± He shook his head.


    I frowned. ¡°That¡¯s annoying¡­ Did you find out anything?¡±


    ¡°I actually did. You were right about there being a dusk stone. As well as an artificial Mega Stone. Unfortunately it was broken in the fight, but there was evidence that it was already cracked when the device was activated.¡± He was leaning against the railing outside his lab, the same place he¡¯d called previously. ¡°I can show you a lot more when you get back. I¡¯m keeping a very close eye on the data.¡±


    That was another reason to cut my trip short. ¡°Do you think that¡¯s why they went berserk? Because it was a cracked stone?¡±


    He nodded and sighed. ¡°Yeah¡­ And what¡¯s worse is I can¡¯t find the kid, his Pokemon, or the father.¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± I stopped, unable to really form my thoughts into words. This was just more evidence that there were a lot of powerful people in this world who were not afraid of the consequences of their actions.


    ¡°I just wanted to tell you that.¡± I could see him look over at something and give a slight wave. ¡°I have to go. Be careful, alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright. Thanks Professor. Talk to you later.¡± He nodded and hung up.


    A rather heavy sigh escaped me as I put my phone in my pocket. Should I have gotten involved more in this? That was something I had been struggling with since I got here. Everything should be fine as long as I don¡¯t get involved, but what if it¡¯s not? This wasn¡¯t any sort of plot in the games or anime. But I could make things worse. What if I try to interfere and end up changing something that ends up dooming the entire world.


    I had been pushing all that worry to the back of my mind, because there was no way of knowing when anything would happen. I could assume that the anime events would follow Ash, but what about everything else? There were dozens of events that may or may not happen. Things that could have already happened, or would never happen. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    There was this slight nagging feeling that I should be trying to do something. That I should say something. But what if I made things worse? That was more of a real possibility than me actually being able to fix things. The problem with knowing the future is that if you tell anyone, you immediately change the future. You¡¯ve altered the perception of what time and the future is, and now the events will most likely be different due to the shift in perception from the person or people you¡¯ve told. I¡¯ve already been playing too loose with my information and have probably drastically changed things.


    Of course the argument could be made that my very existence had already altered the flow of events. But if I remained out of it, then things should still happen as usual.


    This was annoying. But what would I even do? I could sit and wait somewhere, preparing for an event, but what if something else happened and I missed the event that I was waiting on. All that preparation wasted, while other events happened.


    It¡¯s not like I¡¯m some hero. Not someone with the luck to be able to fight huge organizations. I couldn¡¯t even win a fight with the school board.


    And that¡¯s not even to say that anyone would believe me. Oak might, but it was clear that Sycamore was still skeptical of me being from another world. There are a lot of things he¡¯s not telling me.


    Then if I told someone who could actually do something and they did believe me, people would demand to know how I knew. The lengths that someone like Lysandre, Giovanni, Cyrus, or the head of the Association, would go through to have the knowledge in my head¡­ that scared me. At least it seemed like Professor Sycamore was aware of Team Flare.


    I didn¡¯t want any of that. I just want to have a journey and make friends with Pokemon. ¡°Arceus you better not have sent me here to try and save the world,¡± I said with another sigh. This was something to shelve and ignore for now.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Cara asked, having come back.


    I blinked a bit, looking over at her. She looked concerned. ¡°Nothing. Just¡­not good news.¡±


    She leaned against the railing next to me. ¡°Your aura fluctuated really bad a moment ago.¡±


    I laughed, and shook my head. ¡°You can see it all the way from down there, huh?¡±


    All she did was nod.


    There were a few moments of silence as I tried to collect my thoughts. ¡°It¡¯s not my problem, until it is,¡± I decided with a nod. I¡¯d not worry about any of it until it actually affected me or was placed in front of me. As far as I was concerned, the only thing I needed to worry about was this fake Mega Stone thing, since it wasn¡¯t a plot I knew.


    Cara just gave me a puzzled look and I reached over and scratched behind her ears. She leaned into my hand and I couldn¡¯t help but reach over and scratch under her chin with my other hand. Her tail thumped against the railing, though she had a passive expression on her face. What an adorable dog.


    Eventually we made our way back down to the beach, which was an absolute mess. There was a sort of four way battle going on between Rio, Scoly, Dee, and Diancie. And they were not holding back at all. Rio was still struggling with her aura. She was leaning into her abnormal strength to compensate, but she was getting hit a lot. When I asked Cara about why she was so strong, she didn¡¯t have an answer, saying that neither her father or herself were ever that strong.


    Scoly was mostly being used in a similar manner to the striking balls, and constantly pinging back and forth between the other three. Dee was taking a lot of hits, but she was just healing after everything, although I could see that she was getting tired. Even Diancie was starting to show that she was taking a beating and getting tired, not floating as high as normal.


    Brionne had gone off with the group of Primarina again. Mikyu, Banette, and Keo had joined Goomy in trying to do laps around the Gravity zone. I was surprised at their progress, especially Keo who could actually move better than Goomy already. The little ice fox was actually running, though not very fast. Eevee was doing her best to sit in the Gravity for short periods before retreating out before it became too much for her.


    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s enough,¡± I called out and everyone immediately came to a stop. It¡¯s good that they were all such good listeners. We had already eaten curry for the day, so I didn¡¯t want them to push too hard since they wouldn¡¯t be getting the recovery benefit. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be treating this as a vacation, and all y''all wanna do is train,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°It¡¯s fun,¡± Rio said with a bit of a huff.


    Looking around, everyone seemed to be in agreement. I just sighed, and nodded. ¡°Alright. But, if you¡¯re going to train you have to do it properly. Not just throw around stuff at random.¡± I looked around at them all again. ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll train for a few days.¡±


    That seemed to get them all excited, and a few of them cheered. Were all Pokemon like this, or had I just been lucky in getting a bunch of them that wanted to be stronger? I should ask them about that. Either way I made them all relax for the rest of the day while I worked out a new training regimen for them. We would train until Professor Kukui got me the Normalium, then I would see about getting the others. I¡¯d ask the Primarina about getting Primarium, and for the others I¡¯d go to Poni Island.


    Eventually we all settled in for bed, and left future problems where they belonged. In the future.


    ~


    A few days passed, and I had changed up everyone''s training. Cara and Rio weren¡¯t fighting. They were working on their aura. Cara was still a long way off of where she should be, and Rio was practically avoiding using her aura. I had to explain to her that was like entering a fight and keeping your eyes closed. That at least got her to realize it was important and try. But she was really bad at it. Was there some sort of thing where she sacrificed aura use for physical strength? After thinking about it, the best answer I could come up with was that she was subconsciously using her aura to empower herself, rather than manifest it.


    I had Scoly start focusing on other moves that weren¡¯t ball related. Which meant bug moves, like Bug Bite, Megahorn, and Pin Missile. Of course she wasn¡¯t just standing still while this was happening, since Dee and Diancie were attacking her. Dee really wanted to do more support things rather than fighting, so I had her use Helping Hand, Safeguard, and Protect. I was a bit surprised she knew Protect, but I also understood.


    Diancie was honestly the easiest to train, because she was already doing everything that she should. So I had her focus more on control of Diamond Storm, and had her try and intercept Scoly¡¯s Pin Missile attack with the diamonds. She definitely preferred Ancient Power and throwing large boulders.


    Brionne was spending all her time out learning from the Primarina. When I had asked them about Primarium they said I would have to talk to Alma for that. Alma was their bull. In the underwater cave. Which would mean I¡¯d have to go under water. Didn¡¯t like finding that out.


    Goomy and Keo were almost to the point they could join in the actual battle training. I was surprised that Keo was actually getting used to the Gravity at such a rapid pace. She was now running laps while the other three walked. There was an almost scary look in her eyes every time I told her she had to stop to rest. If I didn¡¯t watch her carefully, she would train until she hurt herself.


    Banette was also adjusting well, and the only reason she wasn¡¯t moving faster was because she liked to walk with Mikyu and Goomy. The little slug wasn¡¯t very fast at doing laps on account of being a slug, and Mikyu was struggling because her costume wasn¡¯t made to be under ten times Gravity. I would have to take her shopping for costume supplies soon.


    It was the morning of the fourth day before Professor Kukui showed up. I knew he showed up because there was suddenly someone behind me shouting, ¡°Alola!¡±


    I actually jumped a bit at the sudden shout. I had been far too engrossed in correcting small errors and giving encouragement to really pay attention to the area around me. ¡°Ah. Alola, Professor Kukui.¡±


    He reached into his pocket and tossed a small object towards me. I caught it pretty easily, looking down at the small white crystal, a circular pattern inside. ¡°Took a bit longer than I thought, but I managed to get one.¡±


    ¡°No Trial?¡± I asked as I moved it near my Z-Ring, which grabbed hold of it in an almost greedy way.


    ¡°Consider it a Trial of Patience,¡± he said with a chuckle.


    I gave a sharp nod. ¡°Thanks. One more thing off the list.¡±


    He was still chuckling a bit. ¡°So, what¡¯s your next step? Poni Island?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I wanted to ask if you had some diving equipment I could borrow.¡± I could already feel my heart start to beat harder at just the thought.


    ¡°Diving equipment?¡± he questioned, putting a hand to his chin with a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°Alma is going to give me a Trial for Primarium.¡± I pointed out towards the water.


    There was suddenly a frown on his face. ¡°Ah, Alma¡­ That¡¯s not going to be easy. There¡¯s a reason he¡¯s not an official Totem anymore.¡±


    ¡°He was a Totem?¡±


    ¡°Still is.¡± Kukui folded his arms in front of him. ¡°We just don¡¯t encourage people to go to him for Trials. He¡¯s¡­not got a good track record.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Hardest parts going to be getting to him.¡±


    He arched a brow at me.


    Before he could answer, I continued. ¡°I don¡¯t do well with water.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t swim?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I can swim just fine. Just have issues with it,¡± I said with a shrug.


    There was a moment of silence before he nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve got some equipment you can use. Come on.¡±


    ~


    About an hour later, I was standing on the beach, changed into a wetsuit. I had never worn one before, so it was a bit difficult to get on. Into? I wasn¡¯t sure of the proper terminology. Currently, I was trying to distract myself with the face mask and rebreather, rather than think about what I was about to do. It was an extremely interesting bit of technology that actually pulled the air out of the water and allowed you to stay under indefinitely. Or at least nearly indefinitely, as the filters did need to be changed between thirty and forty hours of use.


    Brionne was looking up at me expectantly while the Primarina were all out in the water. Waiting.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want anyone else to come?¡± Cara asked, looking down at the mask in my hands.


    I sighed and shook my head. ¡°No. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m fine. Everything¡¯s fine. I just¡­ I just have to go.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much of a struggle to move forward into the water. I was up to my waist, feeling the pounding of my heart. But looking out ahead was the worst. Seeing the massive and seemingly endless ocean caused my head to spin. I turned around, desperate to not look at it as I took deep breaths.


    Brionne was swimming circles around me. ¡°Do we really need the crystal thingy?¡± she asked, clearly noticing my distress.


    I sighed again, closing my eyes for a moment before putting on the mask. I spent probably longer than necessary putting it on and making sure it fit properly. Looking back at all the Pokemon on the beach I was trying to decide if it was worse to face it and walk, or step backwards.


    ¡°Come on, come on!¡± One of the Primarina was suddenly there, circling round me.


    ¡°This is exciting! No one ever comes to see Alma!¡± another said, and they were trying to guide me into deeper water.


    I let myself be guided, trying to pretend that I was doing anything by this. Before I got too deep, I knew I had to check the mask. I had to make sure it was working. Closing my eyes I dunked myself under the water and waited. The only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart as I tried to stay calm.


    Nothing happened.


    Hesitantly I opened my eyes, and it was like I was suddenly in a different world. Again. The water, thankfully, was extremely clear and I could see very far. Everything was sort of wobbly, and the sand below me looked oddly fake. But it was the bright coral not very far away that really drew my attention, and the hundreds of Pokemon.


    For a moment I forgot everything and was simply stunned. Schools of all manner of fish: Wishiwashi, Goldeen, Lovedisc, Finneon. Scattered other types, like Mantyke with attached Remoraids, a few Magikarp and Feebas. There was a pair of Crabrawler squaring up and making threatening gestures at each other.


    A few curious Gorebyss following an Alomomola swam nearby me as a current slowly pulled me over the coral, which was full of even more life. There were Corsola scattered about, Barboach peeking from their hiding spots, and a few little Inkay floating nearby.


    I¡¯d never seen so many Pokemon in one place before. There was nowhere to look that wasn¡¯t brimming with life. It almost made me forget that I was underwater. Almost. Not quite.


    My heart was still pounding as I looked around for the Primarina and Brionne. Brionne hadn¡¯t left my side, swimming around me happily. The current that was dragging me out was apparently being made by two of the Primarina.


    It took me a moment to regain my bearings and I began swimming towards the two. ¡°You swim like a Politoed!¡± one of the Primarina exclaimed, giggling. The other ones giggled as well.


    Well, it was a breaststroke, but it has been called the frog stroke before, so I guess she¡¯s not wrong. It was the form of swimming that I was most practiced in, and best at. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the only reason I even knew how to swim is there are people who don¡¯t believe that you can be afraid of water. I was a bit rusty at the technique, but it was good enough that I could get around on my own.


    I was just trying to keep moving, and distract myself by looking at the Pokemon around. We were moving farther and farther away from the beach and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.


    And then we found the shelf.


    Every muscle in my body locked up and I couldn¡¯t breathe. There was¡­nothing. It fell away into darkness and ahead was just vast emptiness. One of the Primarina was behind me, nudging me forward while Brionne put a flipper around my wrist and held on as I was dragged down.


    No.


    Nope.


    Didn¡¯t like this.


    This was bad.


    I¡¯m going to die.


    My body isn¡¯t responding.


    I can¡¯t move.


    I thought being paralyzed with fear was an exaggeration?


    Am I really such a coward?


    Does this count as cowardice?


    I would say no, but I couldn¡¯t speak right now even if I wanted to.


    Darkness was creeping in at the edge of my vision.


    I was going to pass out.


    Breathe.


    Breathe damn it.


    If I pass out I¡¯m going to die.


    Breathe.


    Please breathe.


    Now everything''s dark.


    I¡¯ve passed out.


    I¡¯m going to die.


    I¡¯m dead.


    No¡­


    Wait.


    I¡¯m in a cave.


    Suddenly I broke through the surface of the water. I tore off my mask, tossing it away as I scrambled onto the cold, wet ground nearby. I was gasping, my entire body shaking. I could feel tears streaming down my face and my heart was pounding so hard it was giving me a headache.


    I threw up.


    It took several minutes before I felt like I could actually breathe instead of just suck in air. That was when I noticed Brionne was beside me, clinging to me and desperately asking if I was okay. She was crying. Asking me what was wrong. I closed my eyes as I shifted into a sitting position and pulled her into a hug. ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­¡± I said softly, wiping tears off of my face and taking deep breaths. ¡°I¡¯m okay. That was¡­ That was just¡­ That was too much.¡±


    I felt extremely weak, like all my limbs were full of cement. Like Diancie had just cranked up her Gravity to twenty times. And I was still shaking. ¡°What a strange reaction,¡± came a voice, rather deep, though melodious. Sort of in the baritone range.


    Looking over I saw an absolutely massive Primarina. They were easily three times the normal size. This was clearly a Totem Pokemon. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m afraid of water¡­¡± I managed to say, still trying to catch my breath. ¡°It¡¯s¡­an irrational fear, caused by the trauma of drowning as a toddler.¡± Explaining and rationalizing it was a good way to calm myself down.


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid of water. And want to raise up a water Pokemon?¡± While his voice sounded a bit skeptical, there was also a sort of warmth to it that surprised me.


    I was still petting Brionne, who was shaking a bit. Or maybe she was shaking because I was still shaking, I couldn¡¯t quite tell. ¡°I don¡¯t see how those are related.¡±


    There was a rather intense musical laughter that suddenly filled the cavern. ¡°Unrelated? I do not see how you can have one without the other. But¡­ I believe that I understand.¡± There was a sudden shifting and he moved closer. The room was dimly lit by something that I couldn¡¯t see, but it meant that I couldn¡¯t get a good look at him. Now that he came closer I could see more of him. On top of being massive, he was absolutely jacked and covered in scars. ¡°I am Alma. This little one has told me much about you, Jace.¡±


    ¡°Has she now?¡± I looked down at Brionne. There was a rather intense pressure from being close to the Totem Primarina. It was a strange sense of just being able to feel how powerful they were by being in their presence, and I had never felt this way before.


    ¡°She has. And I have heard from others as well.¡± There was a pause before he nodded. ¡°I had first thought to give you a Trial. But it seems like in this case, the Trial for you was simply getting here.¡±


    ¡°I had help.¡± I wasn¡¯t about to claim that I had come here of my own wish.


    ¡°True. But you started the journey, correct? You stepped into this ocean despite your fear, for the sake of this little one. They have told me about you. What you have done. The lengths you¡¯ve gone for her sake, and the sake of the rest of your family.¡± He shifted a bit and then held out his hand. His hand was damn near bigger than me. But in his hand was a small blue crystal, with the symbol of a Primarina in it. ¡°But in exchange for this being your Trial, I have a request.¡±


    My hand stopped, as I was already reaching out to grasp the Primarium. ¡°If I can help, I will.¡±


    Again the cave filled with laughter. ¡°That is what this little one said you would say.¡± There was a smile on his face. ¡°Tell those outside that¡­ That I am sorry.¡± There was a moment of silence as the smile on his face became rather solemn. ¡°I am¡­old. And tired. My end is soon. And I wish for them to know that I say goodbye. To the Kahuna.¡±


    ¡°I-¡± I took a moment, nodding. ¡°I can- I can help with that. But it would be better for you to do it face to face.¡±


    He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, thinking over my words. ¡°It has been long since I have been to the beach¡­ I shall accompany you there.¡±


    We didn¡¯t leave immediately, instead he told me about what had happened. His injury. His age. He had lived an extremely long time, and while he considered that he could live longer, he was tired and in pain. He wanted this life to come to a close. So he wasn¡¯t going to fight it anymore. There would be one more generation of his offspring, and then someone new would have to take his place. We spoke of those who had come to him for Trials in the past, and particularly about those that he truly believed had a lot of potential. I realized a bit into the conversation that he was giving me time to calm down and regain my bearings.


    Eventually he decided that it was time to go and I had to have Brionne get my mask. This time before leaving the cave I shut my eyes, trusting in Brionne to guide me back. I didn¡¯t open my eyes again until I touched sand, and then I quickly exited the water. Everyone was going about their own thing until I arrived, and behind me was the massive Totem Primarina.


    Kukui was standing in the research center and rushed down when he saw them. I went towards the research center to get out of the wetsuit, planning to not engage him until I¡¯d cleaned up, but he intercepted me. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why¡¯s he come here?¡± Kukui asked me in a hushed tone the moment he got to me.


    ¡°You should¡­call the Kahuna¡­ He-¡± I hesitated, the words catching in my throat a bit. This sort of thing was never easy. ¡°He wishes to say goodbye.¡±


    I could see the way that the words Kukui were going to say caught in a similar manner to how mine had just done. Eventually he nodded and pulled out his phone. ¡°How long does he have?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say,¡± I said softly, shaking my head. ¡°He just said that his time is approaching.¡±


    Kukui gave me a nod as he walked away. I saw him hesitate for a moment before pulling out his phone and making a phone call. I turned my attention back to Alma, who was conversing with the other Primarina. From the looks on their faces and the tears in their eyes, he was explaining things to them.


    Cara and Dee had taken it upon themselves to round everyone up and explain things to them. Meanwhile I went back to the locker room that I had used earlier to shower and change back into my clothes. By the time I returned, the atmosphere was pretty solemn, and everyone had a rather sad expression.


    I took a moment to assess the situation, and eventually nodded to myself. ¡°Dee, Banette, Mikyu. Could you come and help me?¡± I asked as I tossed my coat into the tent before starting to pull out my cooking pots. ¡°Cara, can you ask all the Primarina what flavors they like?¡±


    ~


    By the time any of the Kahuna had arrived, the mood had shifted and there was quite a party going on on the beach. Kukui had actually gone into the lab, and with Burnet¡¯s help we had actually set up quite a lot. I was busy making plates of curry, while Kukui was barbecuing beside me. It was a bit of a contrast, and I didn¡¯t know what he was cooking, nor did I ask. But it turns out the man knows how to barbecue.


    Olivia and Hapu were the first to show up. Olivia was a rather tall woman with a darker complexion. Her hair was rather short, not touching her shoulders. Her outfit was more like a bathing suit than actual clothes, and she had numerous hoops and bangles around her wrists and ankles. Hapu was quite the contrast, short and on the younger looking side. A purple bonnet holding large ponytails, and a tan work outfit. Both of them seemed quite surprised to see the festivities. ¡°Kukui?¡± Olivia was the first to speak as she came over. ¡°What¡¯s going on? I thought this was¡­¡±


    ¡°It was Jason¡¯s idea,¡± he said, immediately throwing me under the bus to avoid any sort of repercussions.


    ¡°It¡¯s a celebration of life,¡± I said when their gaze turned towards me. ¡°A sort of living wake.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a wake?¡± Hapu asked, her prominent eyebrows furrowing.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s when you¡¯re not sleepin¡¯,¡± I said with a laugh. Only Kukui and the nearby Pokemon seemed to get the joke, since it was now my third time making it. Though I heard the way that Rio and Scoly groaned. I just smiled a bit before actually explaining, ¡°It¡¯s a celebration of the life that they¡¯ve lived, rather than mourn their passing. A sort of happier funeral that they get to attend.¡±


    I looked over at the Totem Primarina, who looked to be in a good mood surrounded by his little harem and being served food. Apparently the next clutch of eggs had already been laid, they just hadn¡¯t hatched yet. ¡°He probably won¡¯t make it to the next hatching,¡± Kukui said to the two of them, taking a bit of a more somber tone. He had gone and spoken privately with Alma earlier.


    ¡°Was it his injuries?¡± Hapu asked, also looking in the direction of the group. ¡°Or his age?¡±


    ¡°Both,¡± I said as I held out a plate to each of them.


    They took them after a moment, and I turned to continue prepping food. We were just about done making enough food for everyone, and the other Kahuna¡¯s who hadn¡¯t shown up yet. I had underestimated how much a Pokemon of that size could eat, and so the first few pots went straight into him. I needed to go shopping again¡­


    I had just sat down to eat my own food when Hala arrived. There were quite a number of people with him, and it looked like they had brought more food and things for a party. I guess Kukui had messaged them about it after I''d made the suggestion.


    Rather than sit with a bunch of people I didn¡¯t know, I sat with the Pokemon. From where I sat, I could see Hala and the Totem Primarina having a conversation. ¡°How¡¯d he get so strong?¡± Rio asked as she laid down beside me, resting her head on my thigh as she studied the large Pokemon in the distance.


    ¡°They were bathed in energy from a different dimension,¡± I said as I tried not to think too hard about the barbecued meat on my plate. I held up my arm, showing her my Z-Power Ring. ¡°These come from that place, too.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°So he cheated.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°You could look at it that way, yeah. But, if it hadn¡¯t happened, we wouldn¡¯t have Z-Crystals, and couldn¡¯t use Z-moves.¡±


    She folded her arms in front of her, her legs crossed as well. It looked like she was frustrated. ¡°Still feels like cheating.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But some will consider our training methods cheating.¡± Her face scrunched up a bit at that realization. ¡°Some will say that we didn¡¯t work hard enough to get to the level we¡¯re on and blah blah blah.¡± I shook my head, chuckling.


    Looking over at the Totem Pokemon, he and Hala were still in conversation, though Hala looked a lot more comfortable. Alma still had that sort of relaxed aloof air that he seemed to always have.


    Suddenly there was a Keo resting on my other thigh. She looked tired, and just sort of nestled in and closed her eyes with a bit of a huff. I arched a brow down at her, but started to pet her. ¡°Something wrong?¡± I asked softly.


    ¡°I wanna train more,¡± she responded in a similarly soft way, her eyes locked on the Totem Primarina.


    I rubbed the top of her head. Rio sighed and reached up towards the sky, her eyes also staring at the large Pokemon. ¡°The road is long.¡±


    I chuckled a bit, nodding. ¡°The road is long. But if a little mouse can challenge God, then anyone can.¡±


    Both of them gave me a puzzled look.


    But I refused to elaborate. As I ate I took the time to see what everyone was doing. Cara was meditating, with a rather intense expression on her face. Seeing a Totem Pokemon was an intense feeling, and I¡¯m sure her Aura Sense showed her just how wide the gap was. It wasn¡¯t like in the games where you battled the Totem, or if you did they probably took it easy on you to test you. They were bigger and immensely more powerful, approaching the realm of pureblood Legendary Pokemon, at least as far as Kukui explained it.


    Scoly, Dee, and Brionne were all playing in the water with the Primarina. Diancie was with them, but she was mostly just observing and not actually playing with them. Eevee, Goomy, Mikyu, and Banette were all building sandcastles. I¡¯m not sure where they got a shovel and pail, but they were making some rather impressive sculptures thanks to the two ghost Pokemon using shadows to shape them.


    As for the other humans, Kukui had been dragged back into barbecuing for the new influx of people. Nanu had shown up, but he was keeping his distance from everyone and remained near the research center rather than come out onto the beach. There was an Officer Jenny next to him, who seemed to be giving him some sort of report. I hadn¡¯t had any interaction with the International Police yet, but they didn¡¯t seem to have a good foothold here, or even in Kalos.


    Nanu seemed to feel that I was looking at him as his gaze turned towards me. There was a moment where we locked eyes, and I just gave him a slight nod. He returned the nod before going back to watching the Totem Primarina. I didn¡¯t know what the old Pokemon had done, but apparently it was enough to get everyone on edge.


    Rio went to join her mother in meditating after I suggested she work a bit more on her aura. And Keo went over to build sand castles, leaving me alone for the moment. However, I wasn¡¯t alone for long, as Hapu came over. It was a rather humorous sight, given that I was sitting, and she was standing, but we were almost face to face. ¡°Kukui said you plan on taking my Island Trials.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I decided to spend less time on the islands this trip, and your Trials give useful crystals.¡± The only one that wasn¡¯t super useful to me at the moment was Groundium, but Poni Island only had four crystals, and so it would be a short jaunt. I didn¡¯t quite know if I could get Poisonium on that island, but I was hoping that I¡¯d manage.


    She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been told by Hala to not go easy on you.¡±


    A smirk formed on my face. ¡°Honestly I¡¯d appreciate that. I¡¯m starting to feel like I¡¯m getting all these things too easily,¡± I said as I held up my wrist, showing the two that I already had. Which also reminded me that I hadn¡¯t gotten the Primarium from the Primarina.


    She took a moment to examine my Z-Ring before nodding. There was a smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it. Alola,¡± she said as she walked off.


    ¡°Alola,¡± I replied with a bit of a smile. She was at least not as aggressive as Hala had been. Though I figured if anyone was going to give me a hard time at this point it was going to be Olivia. Maybe Nanu, considering the other people he was associated with¡­ If I wasn¡¯t careful, I was going to end up on Giovanni¡¯s radar, if I wasn¡¯t already.


    As time went on and the sun started to go down, people started to leave. No one else had come to talk with me, so I spent my time watching over the Pokemon. Hala left once he was done talking with the Totem Primarina, and to my surprise it was Nanu who went to talk to him next. Though their conversation was short, Nanu seemed satisfied as he left.


    Eventually everyone had left, and Alma approached me. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, a smile on his face.


    I waved a hand a bit. ¡°I¡¯m just glad that I could help.¡± He shifted a bit and then held out his massive flipper of a hand, again offering me the Primarium. This time I didn¡¯t hesitate as I reached out to take it, allowing it to be grabbed by my Z-Ring. ¡°At least now I feel a bit more like I earned this.¡±


    He laughed softly as he laid down, settling into the sand. I hadn¡¯t noticed it earlier, or when we were in the cave, but he looked so tired. Every movement seemed to be a struggle. His gaze was far off, looking at the edge of the sea. ¡°Still. Thank you for indulging this old man.¡± For the first time he seemed to relax, a smile on his face.


    Silence fell between the two of us as we both looked out over the ocean. We just watched it as the sun set over the island behind us. As the last rays dipped over the mountain, I turned towards his massive figure, wanting to ask him a question. But I hesitated. There in the distance was a figure that I recognized immediately.


    White hair, sunglasses that had one lens squished. Gold chain with a matching gold skull emblem. White shirt and shoes, black coat, and black pants. He had a rather complicated expression on his face as he looked at the Totem Pokemon. As if he was trying to keep a fierce gaze, but also trying not to cry.


    To my surprise, Alma actually smiled more after turning to look at the new arrival. ¡°Ah¡­ Guzma.¡± He genuinely looked pleased to see him.


    However Guzma didn¡¯t respond, just staring up at the old Pokemon as he approached. He stood there, almost defiantly, trying to look tough. But I could see the way that his eyes were studying the Pokemon with an unsure glint. It took almost a full minute before he finally spoke, ¡°You¡¯re still alive.¡±


    ¡°For the time being,¡± Alma said with that melodious laugh.


    Guzma just stared for a moment, still searching with his eyes, until his gaze finally landed on me. ¡°You¡¯re that Pokemon Expert.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alola. I¡¯m Jason, but I prefer Jace.¡±


    He stared at me for a moment, very clearly looking down at me. ¡°Guzma.¡±


    Again I nodded. ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Did Hala or Kukui tell you about me?¡± he sneered, the look on his face becoming even harsher.


    This time I shook my head. ¡°No. From Alma,¡± I said as I gestured at the Totem Primarina. That seemed to take some of the fierceness from his face as he looked at him.


    Alma shifted, wincing a bit as he did, getting into a more comfortable position. ¡°I did not lie when I said you would be great.¡±


    That seemed to fully take the air out of him. It looked like Guzma was really good at interpreting what Pokemon said. He clenched his fists as he turned away. ¡°Whatever.¡± It looked like he was about to leave, but then he saw all the Pokemon. He seemed to hesitate. ¡°Are all those yours?¡±


    I nodded, even though he was turned away. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°And you beat Hala with them?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    He seemed to mull that over in his head a moment before he walked off.


    Again I was struck with that question of if I should interfere or not as I watched him walk away. Guzma and Team Skull were more like kids playing as thugs rather than actual villains. It was Lusamine who really twisted them.


    ¡°If you knew the future,¡± I said after a moment, ¡°And you knew it got bad, but everything works out just fine in the end, what would you do?¡±


    Alma shifted his gaze from Guzma to me. ¡°Is it about that boy?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Does he die?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No. But he loses a lot.¡±


    The large Pokemon seemed to think about it a moment. ¡°That boy has been through a lot already. Everyone looks down on him, and so he lashes out. He is still just a child, and just needs guidance.¡± There was a pause. ¡°I would help him.¡±


    ¡°Even if it made things worse? Even if, as it is now, everything is fine in the end. And your changes could bring about a worse future.¡± This had been nagging me for so long.


    ¡°That does make it difficult,¡± he agreed. ¡°But there is a chance you could make it better, right?¡±


    I sighed softly, and nodded as I stood up. ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah, I can.¡± I took a few steps and called out towards my Pokemon. ¡°Scoly!¡±


    There was a small explosion in the ocean as a red streak shot towards me, sliding through the sand and then past me. ¡°Yes?¡± the large bug horse asked excitedly, still not quite used to running at full speed on sand.


    ¡°See that guy down the beach?¡± I asked as I got up onto her back. She nodded. ¡°Get me over to him.¡±


    Although I couldn¡¯t entirely see her face, I knew she was smiling just before she started to kick up sand and practically fly down the beach.


    It took only a few moments before we slid to a stop just past him, startling him. I leapt from Scoly¡¯s back, landing in the sand a few feet away from him. ¡°Guzma. I challenge you to a battle.¡±

 Chapter Ten

    ¡°Guzma. I challenge you to a battle.¡± I stood in front of him, a smile on my face and my hands on my hips. He just looked annoyed, his arms folded across his chest. ¡°One versus one, my Scolipede against whoever you want. No swaps.¡±


    He glanced down at my wrist, frowning. ¡°Why should I accept?¡±


    I caught where he was looking and removed the band, tossing it into the sand at my side. ¡°No Z-Moves.¡± His brow arched, glancing at the Z-Ring in the sand and then back at me. I know Guzma wanted to prove that he could beat everyone without using Z-Power, and he had done a very good job of it. ¡°Just the strength of our two Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°What do I get if I win?¡± he asked, his eyes now looking over Scoly.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    It took a moment before a smirk appeared on his face. ¡°Give up your Z-Ring, and abandon the Trials,¡± he said, raising his chin a bit.


    ¡°Deal,¡± I said instantly and watched as he flinched, making quite a shocked expression. ¡°And when I win, you and I are going to sit down and have a long conversation.¡±


    His face scrunched up a bit as he looked from Scoly to the Z-Ring, and then to me. ¡°Fine.¡± He turned and walked away, making proper space for the battle. He was still eying Scoly over his shoulder, studying her.


    ¡°She¡¯s a bug poison type,¡± I said, knowing that he had a thing for bug Pokemon.


    ¡°I know,¡± he snapped, frowning at me. He had his hand in his pocket, a rather serious expression on his face.


    Ah so that was it. He was debating on who to use. I didn¡¯t know if he had his full team roster, but I would have to assume that he did. And if that was the case the question was, would he use Masquerain for the type advantage, or Scizor for the poison immunity. Or would he ignore all that, and simply throw out Golisopod to prove that he didn¡¯t need to rely on types to win, which was his style.


    I was taking a bit of a gamble with this. If he was the Guzma that I knew about, I had a pretty good idea of who he would choose. And if he did anything else, I would have to make him regret it and not waste anymore time on him. If he didn¡¯t do what I expected it meant that he was very different from the games or anime and I wouldn¡¯t be able to predict him. However, such thoughts were meaningless as he did exactly as I thought he would. The Pokemon he sent out was a large arthropod with a hunched posture, and several arms. Its purple body was covered with a silver colored carapace, and it has a sort of mask formed from its mandibles. Golisopod was a lot larger than I thought it would be, but Scoly was much larger.


    Scoly moved forward, entering the area for the makeshift battle area and entering a stance. She specifically stood off to the side, rather than directly in front of me. At least she had learned more about how sand worked. ¡°Ready?¡± I called out.


    He glared at me. ¡°Ready.¡±


    ¡°Plaay baaall,¡± I announced as I pointed up to the sky. There was a brief puzzled expression on Guzma¡¯s face before Scoly sprang up and curled before spinning up. Immediately a wave of sand sprayed out behind her, barely missing me.


    While he was surprised, Guzma didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Prep.¡± His Golisopod raised its arms, its shell taking on a far more metallic sheen.


    It took a few seconds for Scoly to rev up to max speed, as she was still getting used to sand it took a bit longer than usual, but the instant she was done she became a red streak. There was an ear splitting noise of metal grinding against metal as the two collided. The other bug tried to stand its ground, but the two of them slid back several feet past Guzma.


    Despite her still spinning, the Golisopod grabbed hold of her, or tried to, her form grinding into his hands. The thick purple goop of her poison splattering everywhere and causing Guzma to take several steps back. There was a sudden massive burst of water from his mouth that sent Scoly flying back, skipping and bouncing several times off the ground before she managed to regain herself. That had been an extremely high pressure burst, probably Hydro Pump?


    ¡°What move is that?¡± Guzma asked, his brow furrowed.


    ¡°Venom Steel Ball. Something she made,¡± I explained, Scoly rapidly trying to come back around for another assault.


    His expression changed, suddenly far less stern. It was contemplative, almost confused, as if the thought to do that had never crossed his mind. ¡°You made up your own move? Protect,¡± he finished with an order, and the sudden burst of shield caused Scoly to ping off and be deflected to the side.


    ¡°If you understand how moves work, and how Pokemon use their energy, it¡¯s possible.¡± I waved a hand vaguely. ¡°More luck than anything, though.¡± This particular move also didn¡¯t last very long, though from the look of Golisopod, it had done some damage and poisoned them. ¡°Hit in front and reverse direction,¡± I ordered. I had noticed a sudden glint around the edges of their carapace, giving it a razor edge.


    Guzma had trained his Pokemon very well, and they were quite in sync. If this had been the Guzma from the game, or from the show, I don¡¯t think I would have had a chance. But he was still young, and at least a few years from that level.


    The sudden change caught the gray arthropod off guard, as it braced itself for another hit and catch, instead it was blasted with sand. While not quite the same as using Sand Attack, it had a similar effect. Afterwards Scoly sprung up, wobbling a bit. That was also one of the drawbacks of her attack, she was dizzy afterwards.


    ¡°Venoshock,¡± I said, trying to get her to refocus on the match. Unfortunately due to her state, she missed, splattering the ground a bit away from her target.


    Fortunately the Golisopod wasn¡¯t in much better of a shape with sand in its eyes. It tried to grab her, but mostly just flailed in her direction. There were a few grinding noises as if a blade hit metal, each one leaving a little mark.


    She suddenly reared back, swaying slightly as her horns started glowing. The other bug stumbled as he overcompensated a swing and left himself open. ¡°Dodge!¡± Guzma shouted.


    Watching Scoly, I thought she was going to use Megahorn, which wouldn¡¯t have been the best move considering her opponent was also a bug type. I was even thinking of how to better explain it, but then I noticed that the light coming from her horns wasn¡¯t the dull green of bug energy, but a silver blue. Was she using Iron Tail with her horns? We hadn¡¯t practiced that, but considering how often she sparred with Rio, and she tended to lean towards steel moves, being able to harness some of that was interesting.


    Then she came down, twisting her body and aiming directly with the point of her horn. Then I realized what the move was; Smart Strike. That was better battle instincts than I had originally given her credit for. She was having trouble hitting, so she used a move that always hit. Or at least that¡¯s how it worked in the games. In reality it probably just translated to higher accuracy? The way that Pokemon learned moves was fascinating, it was like they were pulling the knowledge of how to use them from somewhere, or was that just how the energy worked? Either way, she hit Golisopod straight in the side of the chest.


    And that was enough to trigger his special ability. There was a sudden flash of red, and the arthropod returned to its pokeball.


    Guzma stared blankly for a moment as if not quite sure what happened. ¡°I lost,¡± he muttered before shoving his hands in his pockets.


    I moved over and pulled my Z-Ring out of the sand, spending a moment to clean the sand off before putting it back on my wrist. Perhaps it was a bit cheap to rely on Golisopod¡¯s Emergency Exit ability, but if he couldn¡¯t plan around that, it wasn¡¯t my fault. Turning back to him, I watched as he was slowly trying to walk away.


    ¡°Oi.¡± He froze. ¡°Pokecenters that way,¡± I said as I pointed. ¡°Come on.¡± Scoly came to my side as I began walking, clearly excited at her win.


    Guzma followed, but he was clearly sulking. His hands stuffed in his pocket and his gaze locked on the ground in front of him.


    Neither of us spoke the entire time, until we got into the Pokecenter. I returned Scoly before walking inside, she was a bit too big to get through the door easily. ¡°Alola, Nurse Joy,¡± I said with a smile.


    She returned my smile. ¡°Alola, Jason.¡± She paused, glancing at the other person. ¡°And Alola to you, too, Guzma.¡±


    He sighed as he put his pokeball onto the tray. ¡°Alola, Joy,¡± he mumbled before walking over and slumping into one of the chairs, folding his arms across his chest.


    She looked a bit puzzled, looking at me as I put Scoly¡¯s pokeball on the tray. ¡°He lost.¡±


    There was a look of understanding, and she nodded as she picked up the tray. ¡°I¡¯ll get these two looked over,¡± she said before turning around and walking through the door.


    I moved over and sat down a few seats away from Guzma, leaning back in my chair and pulling out my phone. There was a text from Kukui asking what happened, since he could see the battle from the research center. I asked him how he got my number before explaining things to him. He ignored my question.


    It was several minutes of me just working on my phone before my glum companion finally said something. ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to talk?¡± he said, clearly irritated.


    ¡°Do you want to talk?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± he snapped.


    ¡°Then we don¡¯t have to,¡± I said with a bit of a smile before returning my attention to my phone. With someone like Guzma, trying to force the conversation would just make him dismissive.


    It was a few more minutes before he spoke again, ¡°How did that Scolipede learn to do that move?¡±


    ¡°Trial and error mostly.¡± I put my phone down on my lap. ¡°A lot of the things that I¡¯ve tried with all my Pokemon haven¡¯t worked, but I¡¯ve had some success. It¡¯s still a flawed technique, as it requires a lot more energy than something like Rollout, or Gyro Ball. It takes a few seconds to ramp up to full speed, and leaves her dizzy afterwards.¡±


    He leaned a bit forward as I spoke, listening closely to my explanation. ¡°So she¡¯s vulnerable before and after the attack.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°But while it¡¯s going it¡¯s very hard to deal with. What did Golisopod use that made the edges of his carapace so sharp?¡±


    He looked a bit smug. ¡°It¡¯s a different way to use Razor Shell. Rather than throwing sharpened shells, he uses the energy to sharpen his own shell. I¡¯ve trained him to use it if the opponent keeps using physical moves and has a high defense.¡±


    ¡°That sort of thinking is how Scoly got Venom Steel Ball,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Moves aren¡¯t as rigid as most people think.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking when I first tried it out.¡± He sighed and leaned back. ¡°But it¡¯s the only thing that I¡¯ve managed to do, and it¡¯s just a different use for a move that already exists. It¡¯s not like I invented a new move.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same with Venom Steel Ball.¡± I pulled up my phone and opened it to the notes that I had on moves. ¡°Rather than being something completely new, it takes bits and pieces from half a dozen moves to make a new one.¡± I leaned a bit to show him. ¡°We started with just Rollout and Poison Sting.¡±


    He also leaned over to read over what I had written, his brow furrowing. ¡°So you just kept trying to add things until you got something to stick?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said with a smile.


    He chuckled a bit, shaking his head. ¡°And here I thought you had just pulled it out of your ass.¡±


    ¡°Things require work.¡± I put my phone down and sat back. ¡°Sometimes the world gives you things easily, sometimes it takes, sometimes you have to bash your head into the wall until it crumbles.¡±


    ¡°I feel that,¡± he said with a heavy sigh. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ All I ever wanted was to be a Trial Captain. And when Hala told me no, I ran off to Ula¡¯Ula Island to join their old Kahuna.¡± He rubbed his face. ¡°Then things just¡­ they happened so fast. I still don¡¯t even know what happened, but suddenly the Guardian Deities descended and sacked Po Town.¡±


    There was silence for a moment as I absorbed the information. This was a bit more information than I remembered.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t there. A lot of us weren¡¯t there¡­ Everyone who was is dead. And then the Guardian¡¯s made Nanu the new Kahuna.¡± He scoffed, leaning forward with his elbows on his legs, and his head hung forward. ¡°Putting a corrupt cop in charge? The Guardian¡¯s must really not be as good a judge of character as everyone thinks.¡± He was silent for a moment. ¡°And then we¡¯re all¡­ What? Supposed to just pick up the pieces and move on? Pretend a bunch of my friends didn¡¯t die because we weren¡¯t following tradition?¡± He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ¡°It just ain¡¯t fair.¡±


    ¡°No. It isn¡¯t.¡± I sighed softly, glancing over at the door to the Pokecenter, and then at the door Nurse Joy had disappeared behind. She was clearly giving us time to talk.


    ¡°I just¡­ had to get everyone back under the same roof, ya know? We¡¯re all rejects, so we had to band together. That¡¯s why I formed Team Skull. Then there¡¯s this whole League bullshit. We¡¯ve already got so many problems with foreigners. And then what? I get beat by some random punk from off island like it was nothing¡­¡±


    ¡°Your loss is your own fault.¡± His head snapped towards me and I met his gaze. ¡°You could have won if you chose another Pokemon. Or if you trained your Golisopod to only use Emergency Exit when it actually needs to.¡± I stood up, turning towards him. ¡°You¡¯re a good Trainer. I agree with Alma that you have great potential. But you¡¯re scared.¡±


    He was suddenly on his feet, up in my face. ¡°What do you know, huh? I¡¯ve got nothin¡¯ to be scared of on this island. There ain¡¯t a single person who¡¯d mess with me, not even the Kahuna. You think I¡¯m scared of you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re scared you¡¯re going to lose everything again.¡± Every muscle in his body seemed to tense at my words. ¡°I don¡¯t pretend to know everything. I know a lot, and I¡¯m good at using that knowledge to my advantage. You lost to me because your Golisopod can feel your hesitation and fear. You want so badly to keep everything you have that you¡¯d rather run away than risk it.¡±


    His fists clenched and I knew he was considering hitting me at this point. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like you know me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to be scared, Guzma. There¡¯s nothing wrong with being scared, it¡¯s when you let that fear stop you that it becomes a problem. You¡¯re a scared kid that life has been cruel to. And I¡¯ve seen a lot of kids in that kind of situation. The hopelessness. The constant feeling of being trapped. Like at any moment everything will disappear.¡± I reached up and put my hand on his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. Than the Kahuna give you credit for. Do you think people would follow you if you couldn¡¯t do it?¡±


    He stood there for a moment, a scowl on his face. Suddenly he shrugged off my hand and took a step back. ¡°I¡¯m not scared.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± I said as I put my hands into my pockets. He just looked confused. ¡°All the time. But when something scares me, I just do it scared. Like when I went to Alma.¡± There was an even more puzzled look on his face. I just smiled before explaining, ¡°I¡¯m scared of water. Large bodies of water like the ocean terrify me.¡±


    He snorted. ¡°You¡¯re scared of water?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yup. But I¡¯m not ashamed of it. There¡¯s nothing wrong with being scared. Some people are scared of bugs.¡± He frowned at me. ¡°But I love my big bug. Everyone has different fears, and sometimes they-¡± I shook my head a bit- ¡°Don¡¯t have a good explanation why they¡¯re scared. But¡­ sometimes they do.¡±


    He was still glaring at me, though not as harshly as he was. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that scares me.¡±


    With a bit of a shrug, I walked past him, patting him on the shoulder as I made my way to the counter. ¡°Then don¡¯t lose.¡±


    As I got to the counter, Nurse Joy finally came out. There was a bit of a forced smile on her face, as she had been listening while trying to give us time to talk. ¡°Here¡¯s your Pokemon,¡± she said as she put the tray down, indicating which one was mine.


    ¡°Thank you Nurse Joy.¡± I turned and walked past Guzma on my way to the door. I paused in order to add, ¡°Tradition is just peer pressure from the dead, but that doesn''t make it a bad thing. But when it is, you have to make it change. Rather than fighting against that change, you should embrace it and be part of it. Alola.¡±


    With that I left, releasing Scoly and getting onto her back. It was dark out, and I wondered briefly what everyone else was doing. As we made our way back to the beach I wondered if what I said would do anything. Had I been too harsh? Not harsh enough? Had I said the right words? Had I even made sense? These were always the thoughts that ran through my head when I had talks like this. At least I had tried. It would be up to Guzma if he actually listened at all.


    When we finally got to the beach, the only one still outside was Cara who seemed visibly relieved when she saw us. ¡°You could have said something,¡± she scolded as I dismounted Scoly.


    I just chuckled softly. ¡°Sorry, sorry. Spur of the moment thing.¡±


    Her arms were folded across her chest. ¡°Was it important?¡±


    That caused me to pause for a moment before I nodded. ¡°Yeah. I think it was pretty important.¡± She just looked at me for a moment before nodding and moving into the tent. Scoly was quick to follow. It was the first time I had been last into the tent, and what I was met with was quite a sight.


    It looked like Dee had mostly taken my position, as she was laying on her back, with Brionne, Eevee, Goomy piled on top of her. Rio was laying against Dee¡¯s side, looking like she was trying to keep awake, and failing, with Mikyu, Banette, and Keo on top of her. Keo and Eevee using Banette as a pillow was adorable. Diancie was sprawled out on the other side of Dee, just taking up as much room as she possibly could.


    It caused me to chuckle as I came over. Dee gave me a hopeful look, as if I would save her from her current predicament, but instead I just took off my coat and laid down beside Diancie, resting against Dee and getting comfortable. Cara sat down beside me and laid her head on my shoulder while Scoly laid down and put her head on my lap. It was a bit weird not being at the bottom of the pile, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    ~


    In the morning, everyone was more than ready to start training. As I watched them, I thought about what my immediate steps should be. I needed to go shopping now that Alma had eaten all my food. Oh and the massive Totem Pokemon was also here, though the rest of the Primarina weren¡¯t. He had been watching the sun rise out of the ocean.


    I walked up beside him. ¡°Alola, Alma.¡±


    He just smiled a bit. ¡°How did things go with Guzma?¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°He is¡­ stubborn. Something he got from Hala, to be sure.¡±


    We both chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s going to get quite loud around here, as most of my Pokemon will be training.¡± They had already finished setting up, and were just looking over at me expectantly, as I had not given them their pokeblocks yet.


    ¡°Oh? That should be entertaining,¡± he said amusedly, laying down in the sand.


    ¡°Just thought I¡¯d let you know.¡± I waved a bit before heading over to the group. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m going shopping today. I want Mikyu to come with me, does anyone else want to go?¡± As I spoke I picked Mikyu up, putting her on my shoulder.


    Banette came over, grabbing onto my coat.


    I reached down and gently grasped her hand. ¡°Alright. Anyone else?¡± I was a bit surprised that no one else, not even Cara, wanted to go. ¡°Okay, you all know what your training is.¡± I started to give out pokeblocks with Dee¡¯s help, and left a batch for the afternoon for them all just in case I didn¡¯t return before then. Mikyu and Banette were the last ones to get one, but they still got theirs. Even without training, it was a good habit to keep their vitamin levels high.


    Diancie activated her Gravity field as Banette, Mikyu, and I all made our way towards Hau¡¯oli City. While I had been through it several times now, it was mostly just going to the Pokecenter so I hadn¡¯t really paid too much attention to it. While it was big, it wasn¡¯t on the scale of towns I had seen even back in Kalos. But it did have a mall.


    I hadn¡¯t been to a proper mall in such a long time. All the ones back in my old world were pretty much dead, and there weren¡¯t many in this world. Did the Megamart count? It sure was the size of a mall, so maybe? I can¡¯t remember what the definition of a mall is. Probably something to do with multiple shops.


    Hau¡¯oli City Shopping Mall was a lot bigger than the Megamart, so maybe I was misremembering how big malls were. It was also a place where people seemed to walk more openly with Pokemon. There were a lot of kids and teens walking with the three starters, Litten, Rowlet, and even a few Popplio¡¯s being carried. Though there were also some mustached Alolan Rattata, and Pikipek. One kid even had a Pichu. And that was just outside the mall.


    Once I got in, there were even more and I realized there was a Pokemon Daycare here in the mall. I hadn¡¯t seen one of those around¡­ They seemed pretty rare, and from what I read they were run by Breeders. I should probably talk to a Breeder at some point and try to learn some of their tricks when it comes to making pokeblocks. Although that could wait for later. Right now I have shopping to do.


    My first stop was a crafts store, which was easy enough to find after looking at the mall''s map. It was called Scizor¡¯s Scissors which I felt was a pleasant Pokemon pun for such a business. There was even a Scizor behind a table cutting cloth. There was also an older looking woman with brown graying hair. ¡°Alola. Anything I can help you with?¡±


    ¡°Alola,¡± I said with a smile, approaching the counter. I could spend time looking around, but the store didn¡¯t look busy and clearly she wanted to help. ¡°I need a good sewing kit, and this little one is going to look for cloth.¡± I reached up and rubbed Mikyu a bit.


    ¡°I¡­what is that?¡± the clerk asked, staring at the little costumed thing.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Mimikyu. A ghost Pokemon that makes a costume to help fit in.¡±


    Mikyu made a sort of crackling bow motion that caused the clerk to flinch. ¡°H-hello. My name is- is Mikyu.¡±


    ¡°Her name is Mikyu,¡± I translated with a smile. ¡°The crackling is from the sticks giving her costume shape.¡±


    ¡°I- I see.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°Well¡­ it sounds like she needs some uhm¡­ something higher quality than sticks¡­¡±


    I nodded a bit. ¡°I¡¯m sure she would appreciate that.¡± I looked down at Banette, who was staring at the colorful cloth. ¡°Do you want some things too, Banette?¡±


    Her head twisted around to look up at me. It took a moment as if she wasn¡¯t sure what I was talking about, but she nodded.


    ¡°Alright. Find some cloth you like, okay? I¡¯m sure Mikyu would help you, right?¡± I glanced at Mikyu.


    ¡°Y-yes!¡± She hopped down from shoulder to the counter and then down to the floor. The two of them wandered off to look at more cloth.


    I just chuckled a bit. ¡°I hope that¡¯s alright?¡± I looked back at the clerk. The Scizor had stopped in its task and was watching me and the Pokemon. It looked on the older side, the colors dulled but it still had a good shine that showed it was well taken care of.


    She gave me a bit of a smile and nodded. ¡°Yes, of course. We get a lot of people in here looking to dress up their Pokemon.¡±


    That was a thought. Maybe that¡¯s what Banette wanted? If she was one of those dress-up dolls before becoming a Pokemon she might have a want for outfits. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°As for sewing kits, I assume that it would be for the uhm¡­ Mimikyu was it?¡± I nodded to her question. ¡°Right. Well,¡± She moved over to the side, pointing out where they were. ¡°All our kits are over there, so she can peruse them to see if she finds any she likes.¡±


    I nodded, and looked around for a moment before grabbing a small cart. It didn¡¯t take long to find Mikyu and Banette who were comparing different cloths. From the way that Mikyu was holding them up towards the other Pokemon it was clear they were looking for colors that would match her. The two of them were probably quite familiar with each other having lived in the same place, and I was sure that Banette talked to Mikyu when no one else could hear. Or perhaps they had some sort of nonverbal communication?


    ¡°Put everything you want in here,¡± I said as I pushed the cart beside them. ¡°And we¡¯ll look at sewing kits after.¡±


    Mikyu immediately looked pleased, and began to go around and look at different colored cloth and threads, occasionally shoving them into the cart.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I crouched down to be closer to Banette. ¡°Do you have a favorite color?¡± I asked, smiling a bit.


    She tilted her head to the side for a moment then started to look around. Eventually she pointed at a sort of pink colored cloth, though it was a bit darker. I shifted a bit to get a look at the label which read fuchsia. I grabbed the roll and put it into the cart. She looked a bit surprised, but smiled.


    ¡°What would you want made? A dress? Maybe a sweatshirt?¡± I crouched down again, although this time I picked her up and put her on the cart.


    Again she tilted her head, seeming to think for a moment before she reached out towards me and grabbed at my coat.


    ¡°Oh? You want a coat like this?¡± She nodded. I chuckled a bit and nodded, reaching forward and rubbing her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you and Mikyu could make a fantastic coat. I¡¯m not very good at sewing. I can do a basic stitch, but that¡¯s about it.¡±


    We spent a bit more time shopping, Mikyu getting all sorts of things before we went over to the sewing kits. It took her quite a while of looking at all of them, and then looking at them again, before she finally decided on one. I suggested that she could get two if one didn¡¯t have everything she needed and her eyes practically sparkled as she immediately started the process over.


    In the end she managed to pick out two that she said would be more than good enough for all of her needs. We also looked at other craft supplies. I suggested wooden dowling rods could be a good thing to help prop up her costume, and we got some of those. Then we came across the cloth paint, and she went on another frenzied search.


    It was adorable to watch how excited she was, even if we ended up taking two hours in the shop. And it cost me seven thousand pokedollars for everything she wanted. Some of the cloth was expensive, and one of those sewing kits was very expensive. But it was all fine, since Mikyu made it sound like she would never need more supplies.


    After paying and storing everything into my bag, we wandered the mall for a bit. We found a few of those coin operated rides, one was of a Horsea and another was a Ponyta. Both of them immediately wanted to ride, so we spent quite a long time there. We did draw a crowd, and I was more than happy to explain what Pokemon they were, and things about them. A lot of people were put off just by mentioning they were ghost Pokemon, but others just seemed really interested.


    I made sure to take lots of pictures, and a little video of them enjoying themselves. But after nearly an hour they got tired of the little machines, and we went on to shop. I had only a few days of food left thanks to Alma, so I would have to really buy a lot. Five hundred a month for each Pokemon meant that getting enough for everyone, including myself, was six thousand a month. So I bought three months of food.


    Moving onto pokeblocks, I found that a lot of the ingredients I needed were more expensive here. The herbs and vitamins were particularly expensive. I had about a month''s worth for every Pokemon and myself, so I would just try and leave before running out I suppose.


    Finally done with shopping, I left the mall with Mikyu tucking herself into my hood and falling asleep. I had to pick up and carry Banette, as her pace had been getting slower and slower. They were both exhausted from the excursion, but seemed very happy. How all this got them more tired than training I had no idea. They were probably on the young side as far as ghosts were concerned, though how exactly that worked I had no idea.


    I paused when I saw a restaurant. It looked like a high quality place, the type of place that required a reservation. Although it looked rather empty, and the hostess appeared to be chatting with one of the waiters. After thinking about it a moment I decided I¡¯d try and see if they allowed walk-ins. ¡°Alola, do you have any seats available?¡± I asked after approaching. Their hostess stand was actually outside.


    Their conversation stopped and both of them looked me up and down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we are by reservation only.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s what I thought.¡± I nodded a bit. ¡°Are there any open reservation spots that I may claim?¡±


    Her face scrunched a bit. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry. We require a minimum of twenty-four hours for a reservation.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see.¡± I continued to nod. ¡°Do you know of any nearby high quality locales that don¡¯t have such rules?¡±


    ¡°Any restaurant of this quality would have such rules,¡± she replied, lifting her chin a bit.


    ¡°Alright.¡± I turned and started to walk away. ¡°I just figured you¡¯d prefer having a paying customer over empty tables. Alola.¡±


    A rather similar discussion happened at three more restaurants. I knew I looked a bit haggard, but all of these places weren¡¯t particularly busy. What ever happened to don¡¯t judge a book by its cover?


    ¡°Jason! Alola!¡±


    I blinked and looked over, spotting Kukui and Burnet sitting at a table outside of a restaurant that just turned me away. ¡°Ah, Professors. Alola.¡± I walked over, standing on the other side of the little fence that separated the outside seating from the street.


    ¡°What brings you into town? And without your little army,¡± he said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Shopping. Alma ate all my food.¡± All three of us laughed.


    ¡°Yeah, he can put away quite a lot,¡± he said with a chuckle and nodding to himself.


    ¡°Have you eaten?¡± Burnet asked with a smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t you join us for lunch? We haven¡¯t ordered yet.¡±


    ¡°Ah- No, I¡¯ve not eaten. I was actually just looking for a restaurant to try for lunch. Though I¡¯m not having much luck,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°All the more reason to join us,¡± Kukui said as he waved over to a waiter. ¡°This place has some of the best food on Melemele.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our favorite place to have lunch,¡± Burnet added with a nod.


    The well dressed man came over quickly. ¡°Yes, Professor? Is this person bothering you?¡±


    Kukui furrowed his brow. ¡°This is Jason, a Pokemon Expert.¡± The waiter immediately stiffened. ¡°He¡¯ll be joining us for lunch, I wanted you to ask for another chair and menu.¡±


    To his credit the waiter recovered quickly. ¡°Yes, of course. If Mr. Jason would please head over to the entrance. I will be right there.¡± With that he dashed off.


    ¡°What¡¯s that about?¡± Kukui asked, glancing from the waiter and back to me.


    ¡°They just turned me away at the door not two minutes ago,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯ll be around in a moment.¡± I started to make my way back to the door.


    Kukui snorted. ¡°Maybe you need some better clothes?¡± he joked.


    ¡°Probably,¡± I called back with a laugh.


    Rounding the corner the hostess spotted me immediately, frowning. It looked like she was about to open her mouth and say something when the same waiter rushed up to her and began to hurriedly whisper to her. Just like the waiter had done, she stiffened for a moment, but recovered quickly and her entire demeanor changed. ¡°Alola, Mr. Jason. You¡¯ll be joining Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet, yes?¡±


    I just smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Please follow me,¡± the waiter said before turning and walking through the restaurant.


    Immediately I realized that this place was far fancier than I had originally thought and felt like I was more than just a little underdressed. Honestly it was clear why they had been turning me away as this place looked like a ¡®suit and tie¡¯ place.


    And yet outside I found Kukui and Burnet, simply wearing lab coats. Kukui didn¡¯t even have a shirt on. Maybe I could get a lab coat and have that same sort of social invulnerability that Professors seemed to have. ¡°Are there only fancy places around here?¡± I asked as I sat down, situating Banette in my lap.


    ¡°In this area, yeah. This close to the beach has all the fancy places,¡± Kukui explained. The waiter handed me a menu. The first thing I noticed was nothing had a price associated, which meant this was a really expensive place.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t like that twenty years ago,¡± Burnet added, ¡°But times change.¡±


    I nodded a bit, glancing over the menu. ¡°So what do you recommend?¡± I asked after a few seconds, having no idea what most of the items on the menu even were. The plush Pokemon in my lap seemed to have taken an interest in the menu and took it from me. I wondered for a moment if she could read or was just interested in it because it was new. It wasn¡¯t like it had any pictures on it.


    ¡°Oh everything is good here,¡± Burnet said with a bit of a smile at the little Pokemon in my lap, though there was still a sort of tense nervousness on her face from seeing the ghost.


    Kukui rolled his eyes. ¡°If you¡¯re not sure what to order, the Chef¡¯s Special is always good. It¡¯s what we get, since it varies, but it¡¯s usually something new and delicious that the head chef¡¯s cooked up.¡±


    I nodded a bit, though I wondered why, if they always got the same thing, had they not ordered yet? As if my question had been heard aloud, the waiter arrived with a bottle and two glasses. ¡°And what will you three be having this afternoon?¡±


    ¡°Three Chef Specials,¡± Kukui responded, glancing at me to confirm that is what I wanted. I nodded.


    ¡°Excellent choice. I shall go and place your order.¡± He turned to me. ¡°And what would you like to drink?¡±


    I hesitated a moment, looking at the menu. ¡°Just water. I¡¯m not a day drinker,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    The other two also chuckled as the waiter hurried off. ¡°It¡¯s just a bit of wine,¡± Kukui said.


    I nodded a bit, chuckling. ¡°True, but I still don¡¯t like drinking when the suns out.¡± I shuffled around in my bag for a moment to get a pokeblock for Mikyu and Banette. Banette happily exchanged the menu for the pokeblock, and leaned back against me to enjoy it. Mikyu still seemed a bit sleepy, but when I held up the little cube little tendrils of shadow came out of my hood to get it.


    ¡°Ah, your other ghost is here as well?¡± Burnet asked, glancing towards my hood.


    ¡°That¡¯s the new species, right?¡± Kukui asked, suddenly rather excited. ¡°I wanted to take a look at it, but it completely slipped my mind.¡±


    I reached back to fish the sleepy Mimikyu out of my hood. She narrowed her eyes at me as I set her on the table, clearly wanting to be lazy and nap while she had the chance. ¡°This is Mikyu, and she¡¯s a Mimikyu.¡±


    It seemed like she suddenly realized where she was and started to look around, recognizing Burnet and giving one of her crickle crackle of a bow to the two of them. ¡°H-hello.¡±


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s cute,¡± Kukui said with a big smile on his face as he leaned down towards her to get a better look. ¡°I¡¯m Professor Kukui.¡±


    ¡°The Association has been pestering me ever since I submitted the discovery,¡± Burnet said with a sigh, watching as Kukui examined the costumed ghost in front of him. ¡°They want scans and photos for their archives.¡±


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s nothing under the costume. I¡¯m not sure if a picture would have the same deadly effect, and honestly would rather not test it.¡± I was also watching Kukui, though I did it because I didn¡¯t want him to die because of his curiosity. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if looking at a Mimikyu¡¯s true form was deadly like it said it was in the game and anime, but I had a strong feeling that it was.


    She shrugged. ¡°Still, do you mind if we do that before you leave Alola?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Sure. We can do that after lunch, if you have time? I plan to head to Poni Island tomorrow.¡± I paused. ¡°Actually, I¡¯d appreciate a ride over there, if you can.¡±


    Kukui now had a pair of Mikyu¡¯s shadow hands in his hands and was completely focused on them. ¡°Sure,¡± Burnet said, sighing at her husband''s antics.


    ¡°They feel a bit like high quality silk,¡± he suddenly said.


    I had to think about it for a moment and then nodded. ¡°Yeah. Cold silk is a good way to describe her hands'' texture.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty rare for a ghost Pokemon to use a move like this,¡± he continued, glancing at me and then at Mikyu. ¡°She¡¯s using the Shadow Claw move to give herself arms so that she can interact with the world around her. Most Pokemon can¡¯t maintain it for long periods of time.¡±


    That hadn¡¯t really occurred to me. Thinking back and comparing it to how Banette used her Shadow Claw, they seemed to retract and disappear quite often, but with Mikyu it was as the Professor said. ¡°Maybe due to the nature of her true self? I¡¯m not sure what she is under the costume, nor am I keen on looking, but she seems to be made up of shadows or ghost energy. Much like the Gengar line?¡±


    We continued to discuss the little Pokemon, and I did try to get her involved in the conversation, but she was a bit too nervous and didn¡¯t really know how to explain anything. She probably didn¡¯t know.


    When I spotted waiters coming with food I put Mikyu back into my hood. As expected of really fancy places that are incredibly expensive, the plates didn¡¯t have much on them. There was a scoop of some sort of white sauce pasta that had¡­ some sort of meat that looked a bit like grilled chicken. There was a small salad, and a sandwich.


    Curiously I examined the sandwich, which had a lot of cheese, lettuce, shredded meat, and a sauce that smelled tangy. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Burnet asked, and I realized she had been watching my examination of the food.


    ¡°Ah. No, just wasn¡¯t sure what to expect,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    Kukui was already eating his sandwich, though it looked like Burnet was starting with her salad. ¡°Not used to eating out?¡±


    I shook my head, glancing at the silverware and thankful that there was only one fork. I started with the pasta, since it was probably the closest comparison I could make to the curry. It was a cheesy alfredo sauce with something that most definitely tasted like chicken. And it was very good. Easily leagues better than my curry. The salad was pretty good, with a sort of blue cheese dressing. The sandwich was good as well, though not as good as the pasta. It had a sort of barbeque sauce taste to it, though it wouldn¡¯t be far off to call it sloppy joe sauce.


    ¡°Well, how is it?¡± Burnet suddenly asked with a clearly amused expression.


    ¡°Hm?¡± I looked up. I must have been making some kind of face. ¡°Ah. Well, it¡¯s not bad. The pasta is very good. Makes me think about making pasta instead of using rice for my curry.¡±


    She nodded, clearly agreeing that that was the best part. ¡°There¡¯s quite a few pasta dishes on the menu, and they¡¯re all good.¡±


    ¡°The Chef is apparently from Paldea,¡± Kukui added, having finished his plate.


    ¡°Paldea, huh?¡± That was interesting. I wondered how cuisine was spread around this world? As I considered this I gave a bit of my sandwich to Banette, curious to see if she would like it. From the expression she made, she did not. I saw as Mikyu snuck a little piece as well, though I couldn¡¯t tell if she liked it. Hopefully she didn¡¯t leave crumbs in my hood¡­


    There was a small argument happening nearby that caught my attention. Two waiters were arguing with what looked like¡­ well a dish boy. What was that French word the little blue rat had used? Plongeur? Wait, wasn''t that also the word for submarine? Not important.


    They looked like they were trying to not draw attention, keeping their voices low and not making many movements. But it was a habit to watch for that type of behavior because it can rapidly escalate and before you know it people start swinging.


    When I tried to ignore it and reach for the last bit of my sandwich I found it gone. Apparently Mikyu did like it. They never complained about the taste of the food I made, but as I got better and more consistent I would need to start varying it up or they might get tired of the same thing every night.


    ¡°Pardon me,¡± a voice said from beside me, breaking me from my thoughts. It was the dish boy. He was very young, definitely before his journey. ¡°You are a Pokemon Expert, right?¡± His tone was extremely polite.


    I blinked, and then nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± I pulled out my identification card to prove it. ¡°My name¡¯s Jason, but I prefer Jace.¡±


    He nodded a bit as he looked at the card. The two waiters seemed to have gone back to whatever they were doing. ¡°I- uhm¡­ the Chef would like a moment of your time.¡±


    My brow arched a bit but I nodded as I stood up, picking up Banette as I did and situating her into a comfortable position. ¡°Alright. Professors, I will meet you at the research center, alright?¡±


    The two of them nodded, pouring what had to be their third glass of wine. Each. ¡°Go on,¡± Kukui said with a smile. ¡°If we¡¯re not here, we¡¯ll see you there.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I gave a nod before following the boy back in and through the restaurant. There were a lot more people in here now, and I felt even more out of place. Everyone was dressed up quite nicely. Definitely not a place that I¡¯d ever be comfortable in.


    The noise hit me the moment we entered the kitchen, the sound of things cooking, clattering of pans and plates, the occasional shouts. In the center of the room was an absolutely massive man, easily head and shoulders above me. It would have looked quite intimidating if not for the short little green Pokemon on his shoulder with two large olives for its hair; a Dolliv.


    The dish boy went up to him and tried to say something, but the older man cut him off. ¡°Oliver, what are you doin¡¯ over here? There¡¯s dishes to clean, boy.¡± Then his eyes caught me and he turned to me. ¡°And who the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°Yes Chef, sorry Chef. Th-this is the Pokemon Expert,¡± the boy managed to say.


    ¡°And I told you there¡¯s nothin¡¯ wrong with Skeld. He¡¯s just tired from overworkin¡¯.¡± I tried to mentally work out what type of Pokemon that could be and, since he was from Paldea, figured it was probably a Skeledirge with a nickname like that.


    ¡°But¡­ Nurse Joy said-¡±


    ¡°Dammit, boy. Don¡¯t you think I know my own Pokemon?¡± He had quite the scowl on his face. ¡°Now, get back to those dishes before I tell your mom you¡¯ve been slackin¡¯ off again.¡± The boy paled slightly and then quickly rushed back over to the dish pit. The Chef watched him for a moment before letting out a huff through his nose and turning his attention back to me. ¡°Sorry about this.¡±


    I just shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Mind if I have a look while I¡¯m here? I¡¯m always keen on meeting new Pokemon.¡± The Dolliv was staring at me, their little eyes absolutely focused.


    He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before he shrugged. ¡°Sure.¡± He moved a bit towards what looked like a few dozen different heating elements that were all currently off. ¡°The boy loves that old man, and I¡¯ve just been pushin¡¯ him a bit too hard.¡± He walked to the side of the elements, and slid open a door.


    There was a sort of outdoor area, and laying in the center on a pile of stones was a massive red and white crocodilian Pokemon. There was a little round bird on its nose made of fire that seemed to be napping. His eye opened and it glanced at the Chef before huffing out a spurt of flame and closing its eye again. He didn¡¯t even look at me as I stepped out into the little courtyard.


    ¡°The Nurse said there¡¯s nothin¡¯ wrong with him. He¡¯s just old and tired. Just like me.¡± He pat his chest, letting out a deep laugh.


    ¡°So, you were a trainer?¡± I asked, watching as the Skeledirge huffed out fire with every exhale.


    ¡°Long time ago. He and I went pretty far in the Paldea League, but never managed a win.¡± He leaned against the doorframe. ¡°I was always a better cook than a Trainer¡­ And now it¡¯s just me, Skeld, Dolly, and the restaurant.¡± He paused, ¡°And the wife and kid, of course,¡± he added with another laugh.


    I turned to look at him and the Pokemon on his shoulder, who stood up straighter, as if acknowledging her importance. ¡°A Dolliv, right?¡±


    He blinked and then nodded. ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s the daughter of my Arboliva.¡± There was a far off look in his eye for a moment before he shook his head.


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to talk, go somewhere else to do it,¡± came a low rumbly voice, and I turned towards the Skeledirge, who had an eye open and was glaring at me.


    ¡°Sorry if we¡¯re too loud,¡± I said with a bit of a smile, watching his movements.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to hear that damn fool''s voice,¡± he said with a huff, letting out a large plume of fire as he did.


    ¡°Did you two have a fight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No,¡± said the Chef.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Skeld.


    I laughed softly. ¡°What did you fight about?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t have a fight,¡± the Chef protested, folding his arms across his chest.


    ¡°I want to go home.¡±


    ¡°Home?¡± The word seemed to catch in the air and even the kitchen went silent. That sounded like I struck a nerve.


    The old Chef looked pissed, but before he could say anything, Skeld shifted and turned to look out at the water. ¡°I know the old man likes it here, but I don¡¯t. This restaurant was his dream, not mine.¡± He let out a heavy flame filled sigh. ¡°I wanted to keep fightin¡¯. I wanted to keep goin¡¯. I never saw where my limits were, and now I never will. Then he starts up all this nonsense about me retirin¡¯ and I just¡­ what¡¯s the point in even tryin¡¯ anymore?¡±


    There was a moment of silence after he finished speaking and settled back down. I turned my attention to the Chef, who was staring at his Pokemon. Eventually he spoke, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ever say anythin¡¯?¡±


    There was another bit of silence before the rumbling voice gave an answer, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to ruin your dream.¡±


    ¡°To hell with my dream,¡± he said as he stepped over, kneeling on the ground next to the big croc. ¡°You know you were always more important.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I never said anythin¡¯. I knew that if I complained, you would have dropped it. And then what? No Anna. No Olive. And maybe no Dolly.¡±


    ¡°You think our future wouldn¡¯t have been as good? Keld we could have done countless other things.¡± He placed a hand on the Pokemon¡¯s back. ¡°You¡¯re my partner. You should have spoke up.¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t bother me till now.¡± He huffed out a bit of fire. ¡°I thought it was just my imagination, but¡­ I¡¯ve got to admit that¡­ I¡¯m too old. My fires a long way from burnin¡¯ out, but it sure doesn¡¯t burn as bright.¡±


    The Chef sat down on the stones, rubbing the back of his Pokemon. ¡°We¡¯re both in that boat, friend¡­¡±


    Silence fell again, and I just stared at the two of them. Why am I even here? They resolved this just fine. Just two old men that didn¡¯t want to air their grievances and needed a little push, I suppose. Just a couple nudges. I did eventually think of the best way I could probably help, but I gave them a few moments before speaking up, ¡°What sort of diet do you have him on?¡±


    The Chef looked back, a bit puzzled. ¡°He gets the high end carnivore pokechow, and a fire type pokeblock every week.¡±


    I had to shift Banette a bit to one arm in order to pull out my phone and quickly searched up the recipe for that type of pokeblock. Thankfully she was pretty light. ¡°Fire type pokeblock¡­ fire type¡­pokeblock¡­ hmm¡­ Ah, here it is.¡± I took a moment to read over the ingredients. ¡°Okay, I have two suggestions.¡±


    They both blinked at me.


    ¡°One,¡± I held up a finger, ¡°More charcoal in his diet. There¡¯s a bit in the pokeblock, but a Pokemon of his size needs more than a few grams a week. Second,¡± I held up another finger, ¡°Give him a ghost pokeblock as well. He¡¯s a fire ghost type, and so he¡¯s probably missing out on some nutrients that he needs. If you have the money, you might talk to a breeder and get a custom pokeblock recipe for him.¡± This was probably the weirdest part of my knowledge ability that I was becoming more aware of, being able to tell what a Pokemon¡¯s nutritional needs were if I focused and thought about it. It didn¡¯t tell me if there was something in particular a Pokemon was lacking, but it did give me an idea of the overall needs.


    This was also the first time I actually really thought about the fact I was doing it. It had felt so natural before when I was making pokeblocks for my Pokemon that it hadn¡¯t occurred to me that it was odd that I could do it. Was that part of my ability? Some sort of seamless integration so that I wouldn¡¯t notice and it would be difficult to question if I didn¡¯t focus on it?


    The Chef suddenly stood up, which broke me from my train of thought. ¡°How much charcoal does he need?¡±


    That I had to think about for a moment, but thankfully my knowledge kicked in. ¡°About a chip a day, roughly this size,¡± I made a vague size of half my palm. ¡°Too much won¡¯t hurt him, any less than a pound a day is fine, but it won¡¯t be beneficial.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯ll¡­ help, right?¡± He sounded a bit unsure.


    ¡°He¡¯s still old,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. ¡°But it should put a bit more pep in his burner.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He nodded and gave me a rather hard clap on the shoulder that probably would have caused my leg to buckle if I hadn¡¯t been training in Gravity. The little Pokemon on his shoulder reached out and pat me on the head, telling me in her own way that I¡¯d done a good job. Then it was suddenly as if he had a revelation. ¡°Ah, have you eaten? Please, let me treat you to lunch.¡±


    ¡°Oh I just ate, actually. Your Alfredo was extremely good.¡±


    His brow arched. ¡°Oh? You actually know what that¡¯s called?¡±


    I blinked at him, trying to not look too visibly confused. ¡°Yes?¡±


    He seemed to think for a moment and then he laughed. ¡°Right, you¡¯re probably really well traveled, so of course you¡¯d have heard of it. It¡¯s a really old dish in Paldea.¡± He started to lead me back into the kitchen. ¡°A woman a few hundred years ago invented it. Said it came from some place called Italy.¡± He laughed even more.


    ¡°This was over three hundred years ago, right?¡± I asked, trying to not sound too eager.


    There was a thoughtful look on his face for a moment before he nodded. ¡°Yeah. Sometime about then, I think. I dunno, I¡¯ve never been big on history, but that sounds right.¡±


    So someone who was dragged over by Arceus introduced Italian food to Paldea? I wonder how many other things from my old world are here only because of one of those transmigrators¡­ ¡°Well, it was extremely good. Any chance I could get the recipe for the noodles and sauce?¡±


    His eyes narrowed. ¡°You a cook?¡±


    ¡°I¡­uh.¡± For some reason this was the first time that the man in front of me actually felt intimidating. ¡°I am. I make a lot of the meals my Pokemon eat.¡±


    ¡°Show me.¡±


    Before I even realized what I was doing, I was preparing curry. Of course I used none of my ingredients, and didn¡¯t use berries, but this was a fully stocked high end restaurant so it had more than enough of everything else I needed. The old man hovered over me the entire time, watching my every move closely. He was quite interested in the way that Banette and Mikyu helped me with prep work. He commented that it was like having extra arms.


    At the end, I had a small pot of curry, and a plate already dished up. For a moment I felt like I was on one of those cooking shows, and was about to receive the harshest criticism of my life. He took a bite, then another. They were large bites, and it was a small plate so it wasn¡¯t long before he finished it.


    He gave a nod. ¡°Well, you¡¯d never survive in a real kitchen working at that speed, but it¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    Suddenly I had an odd sense of relief. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty good, and my Pokemon really like it. But it¡¯s nowhere near as good as that pasta.¡±


    There was a pause before he suddenly moved over to a different area, scooping some of the recently mentioned pasta onto a plate and walking back. I saw the utterly incredulous look of the cook that had been about to use that pasta, but against the head Chef, what could he do?


    Coming back to me, the Chef scooped the curry up and dumped it onto the pasta, barely mixing it before taking a bite. He took a moment. ¡°Ah. So that¡¯s why you want my pasta,¡± he said with an oddly knowing nod of appreciation.


    ¡°Rice is good, but I don¡¯t know any tricks in preparing it.¡± I had all sorts of different types of rice in my last life, and some of them were clearly better. I made a mental note to try and learn some of those in the future. I knew there were tricks, like there was something with butter?


    He nodded slowly, looking me over for a moment. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give you my recipe, as long as you don¡¯t share it with anyone.¡± He stuck out his hand.


    I smiled a bit and nodded, grasping his hand and firmly shaking it. ¡°Deal.¡±


    ~


    I was going to have to go shopping again. I would need a pasta maker, and ingredients to make the pasta. Not now, but eventually. Right now I was on my way to the research center. Or laboratory. I had heard it been called both, but I wasn¡¯t exactly sure which it was. I guess it was a research center and had a laboratory in it? Burnet was standing outside as I got there.


    She glanced at the Banette. ¡°Are you just gonna¡­ carry her everywhere?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not a fast walker,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. I heard Banette make a soft huff noise and bonked her head against me softly, which only made me laugh more. ¡°And I guess she doesn¡¯t like being teased.¡±


    Burnet rolled her eyes, though she had a smile on her face. ¡°Come on. Kukui is preparing the examination room.¡±


    She turned to enter the building and I followed after her. ¡°Just remember, don¡¯t look under her costume. I¡¯d rather not watch anyone die today.¡±


    ¡°I know. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just going to be you, Kukui, and I in the room. And I told him that if he tries, and it doesn¡¯t kill him, I¡¯ll kill him myself,¡± she said with a bit of a giggle to her tone.


    I let out a bit of a snort. ¡°Hear that, Mikyu?¡± I felt the Pokemon shift in my hood. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± I could practically feel how nervous she was when Kukui was examining her, fully ready to prevent any mishap from happening.


    But as far as people went, I trusted Kukui to not do anything stupid on purpose. On accident, however¡­ Well, who can tell. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to keep an eye on him,¡± I muttered.


    Burnet laughed and nodded as she pushed open a seemingly random door. Inside was what looked like a large medical operating theater. The type that had raised seating all around, which thankfully were empty.


    Kukui was standing in the center beside a large table. There was an odd looking machine nearby with four display screens, as well as something that looked like a large adjustable light. It looked like something out of a cheap sci-fi movie. But then again, a lot of this world''s technology could be considered science fiction in my old one. ¡°Ah good, you¡¯re here.¡±


    I put Banette down on a nearby chair. ¡°I am. So, how does this work?¡±


    ¡°We put her on the table, and this-¡± he pat the strange looking adjustable light- ¡°Will take readings of her energy as well as take pictures.¡±


    Moving to the table, I nodded a bit as I fished Mikyu out of my hood. ¡°Alright. Just nothing under the costume.¡±


    ¡°Right right.¡± He started to shift the device as Burnet moved behind him to the machine.


    When I tried to put her down on the table, she suddenly clung to me, looking up at me with pleading eyes. I rubbed the side of her face with a smile. ¡°Is it alright if I¡¯m here? She¡¯s nervous.¡±


    ¡°Should be fine,¡± Burnet said. ¡°Might skew a few things and ping some false readings, but we can filter those out by getting different angles.¡±


    Kukui started to move the machine around, pausing it for a few seconds at several different places, keeping Mikyu as its focus the entire time. She eyed it suspiciously, as if it would attack her. ¡°Very high ghost energy,¡± Burnet said with a nod. ¡°And¡­ Ah, here¡¯s that odd stuff. Fairy energy. And- hm¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kukui paused to look back.


    ¡°There¡¯s a noticeable spike of dark energy. Does she know dark moves?¡± Burnet asked as she turned to face us.


    ¡°She does,¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s very common in the ghosts I¡¯ve scanned,¡± Kukui said as he moved to look at the screen. He seemed to have more experience with using the machine. He turned a few things. ¡°Ah, looks like I tuned it a bit too high...¡±


    Burnet moved to his side, looking over his shoulder. ¡°Right... This machine is such junk¡­ I wish the Association had actually given us a tech that knew how to use it.¡±


    I was extremely curious about the machine. ¡°Maybe her main body is made up of dark energy?¡± Kukui questioned. ¡°But that would make her a dark type, not a ghost type? This is very interesting.¡±


    ¡°The machine is just junk,¡± Burnet said with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s probably confusing ghost energy for dark energy because of how similar they are. See? Now it¡¯s not showing any dark energy spikes.¡± She came over, and started to repeat the process, going through the same motions Kukui had.


    ¡°Yeah, no dark energy spikes at all,¡± he admitted with a sigh. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to run every test multiple times when we use this machine¡­¡±


    So they had gotten equipment from the Association¡­ That made sense, since that¡¯s also how they got the map. But this also raised a bit of a problem. That map was probably out of date. I made a mental note to talk to Professor Sycamore to see if I can check his map, if he has one.


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s all we need.¡± Burnet pushed the device away and Mikyu seemed to sag slightly, clearly having been stressed out.


    ¡°Do you want to go into your pokeball, or in my hood?¡± I asked with a bit of a smile.


    ¡°Hood¡­¡± she said softly. I picked her up and put her on my shoulder so that she could move her way back in.


    ¡°The Association is going to be mad we didn¡¯t take pictures under her costume,¡± Kukui said with a sigh, adjusting the pictures to try and remove me from them as much as he could. ¡°We¡¯ll use your explanation for the pokedex entry, if that¡¯s alright?¡±


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°Yeah, of course. When more are found, it unfortunately won¡¯t be long before it¡¯s confirmed.¡±


    They both sighed at the same time, nodding in sync.


    That was a rather amusing sight. ¡°So who¡¯s taking me to Poni tomorrow?¡±

 Chapter Eleven

    ¡°Can¡¯t we go some other way than boat?¡± I grumbled as I held on and tried not to be sick.


    ¡°It¡¯s fastest,¡± Kukui said with a bit of a laugh.


    There was really something about the way he drove a boat that aggravated my motion sickness. Eevee seemed to be enjoying herself, though. She was half out of my hood, standing on my shoulder and looked like she was enjoying the wind. She let out little cheers every time we hit a wave and nearly left the water. I wish I was having any fun, but at least I could see the island in the distance. Goomy was on my other shoulder, clinging to me and also not having fun. She didn¡¯t want to go back in her pokeball for some reason, not that I could really blame her. Though I think she was regretting that choice.


    Right now it looked like we were heading towards a cluster of docks and floating buildings. That had to be Seafolk Village. It was startlingly larger and more complex than both the games and in the anime. There were probably a few dozen boat buildings scattered around.


    I was glad I had packed up and taken everything and everyone with me, since it would probably be a few days to complete all three Trials, or however many I could get done on the island, and have a proper look around the village. I also had to hope that I could somehow get Poisonium, but that seemed unlikely. Was Plumeria even around? Wait why was I even trying to hope for a random encounter. ¡°Professor? Where would I get a Poisonium crystal?¡±


    He glanced back at me for a second before turning his attention back forward. ¡°Thinking about adding more to your first bit of Trial runs?¡± he joked. ¡°Well, you can either ask for a Trial from a Kahuna, or a Trial Captain. Or try and find a poison type Totem. I¡¯m surprised you''re only asking now. You seem to know about all the Trials and Totems.¡±


    ¡°I know a lot of them,¡± I admitted, thankful that we were finally pulling into the dock. I would have much preferred Burnet had given me a lift over, as she seemed to know how to drive a lot better. ¡°But what are the Totems and where are they?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± He looked around as if trying to make sure no one was watching. ¡°There¡¯s a Totem Toxapex on Akala Island, though it¡¯s hard to recommend his Trials. He likes to say participants fail even when they clearly succeed. Then there¡¯s-¡± Again he hesitated to look around. ¡°There¡¯s a Totem Arbok on Melemele.¡± His expression turned a bit sour as he tied the boat to the dock. ¡°And a Totem Muk at the waste-disposal site on Ula¡¯ula.¡±


    I was getting off the boat as I listened to him talk. ¡°Quite a few options.¡± I was thankful to be on the dock, as was Goomy.


    However Eevee complained, ¡°I want to ride on the boat more¡­¡±


    ¡°There are some others, but they aren¡¯t official Trial Totems. Then again, you managed with Alma,¡± he said with a laugh.


    ¡°Nothing here on Poni Island?¡± I asked, looking up at the massive mesa that made up most of the island.


    ¡°Well-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be giving out secrets, Kukui.¡± Hapu was suddenly there. Due to her height, I hadn¡¯t even seen her approach.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± he lied. ¡°He wants to try and get Poisonium, so we were discussing Trials he could take to do them.¡±


    She folded her arms, frowning up at him. ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She walked over to him, with her eyes narrowed. Suddenly she kicked the rope that he had just tied. Which immediately came loose.


    Kukui tried to grab it, but it slipped off the dock into the water. He chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°I guess you¡¯re still mad?¡±


    ¡°Get off my island,¡± she said with a huff before turning to me. Her mood seemed to instantly shift and she smiled. ¡°Ready for your first Trial?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I hesitated as I looked at Kukui, who had retreated to his boat.


    ¡°Alola,¡± he called out and then proceeded to spend the next minute getting the boat turned around and away from the dock.


    We just watched him fumble about with it without saying anything.


    Eventually he got it going and began to sail off into the distance. ¡°I don¡¯t trust that man around a boat¡­¡± Hapu said after a moment.


    ¡°Is he that bad?¡± I asked, turning to look back at her. She was short, and I knew that it was probably because she was young. She was supposed to be the youngest Kahuna, but I had no idea what her age was.


    ¡°Just the other day, we had to go to Exeggutor Island, and without warning he goes ¡®watch this¡¯ and like¡­ tries to spin around?¡± She sighed, shaking her head. ¡°Tossed me off the boat,¡± she grumbled.


    I had to put my hand over my mouth in order to not laugh. ¡°I see. So not the most reliable of captains.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded a bit. ¡°But enough about that. You¡¯re here for Trails.¡± She clapped her hands together, sounding quite excited. ¡°I know you beat Hala, but I also know that he forfeit before getting serious. You won¡¯t get that sort of treatment around here.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that sounds good,¡± I said with a chuckle.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to do at least two Trials on this island before you can take the Grand Trial against me.¡± She stood up a bit straighter, almost puffing out her chest. ¡°One against my Island Captain Mara, and another from a Totem Pokemon.¡±


    Immediately my mind started to run through things. Mara? Not Mina? Wait that made sense, Mina would be too young at this time, right? But who was Mara? ¡°Alright. Where can I find Mara?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where we¡¯re going now.¡± She pointed at the large houseboat in the shape of a big blue fish. Whiscash always had such a happy look on its face, though it also looked incapable of having a thought in that big head, and whoever had stylized the boat had captured it perfectly.


    Out on the dock in front of the house was a rather young looking girl, blonde hair with paint in it, and a white paint covered shirt. She was painting over a large canvas that was spread across the ground.


    Standing near the door of the boat was a large pink dog with tusks. It was a Granbull that was attentively watching the girl. When it spotted the two of us it eyed me for a second, but seemed to recognize Hapu and it pushed the door open. ¡°We have visitors!¡± they called back into the building.


    This also got the attention of the little girl and she looked up. She just watched the two of us as we approached. Before we got much closer a woman appeared in the doorway. She looked extremely like the little girl who I assumed was Mina, so this must be Mara? ¡°Alola Kahuna?¡± she asked as she stepped out. She was dressed in a rather large blue and frilly dress.


    ¡°Alola Mara. We have a challenger.¡±


    Mara frowned a bit, looking at me. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware there was a Trial Journey going on.¡±


    Hapu nodded. ¡°The Tapu have made an exception.¡±


    That caused the woman to stand up a bit straighter and then nod. ¡°Alright. Mina,¡± she turned to the little girl. ¡°Could you head inside for a little bit?¡±


    Mina just nodded, having already started to clean up the moment the adults started talking.


    ¡°This Trial will be a battle for a Fairium Z crystal. Three on three,¡± Mara said as she turned back to me, stepping out onto the boardwalk. It was then that I noticed that it had markings of a battle arena. I hadn¡¯t noticed it earlier because Mina¡¯s things were hiding the iconic center symbol. ¡°That fine?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± I said as I walked a bit forward to my position in the arena.


    There was a bit of a noise at the edge of the dock that drew everyone¡¯s attention, and I watched as a man crawled out of the water and onto the dock. He pulled off a similar rebreather mask as to the one I had used. ¡°This is an official battle between Captain Mara, and the Pokemon Expert Jason,¡± he announced, pointing out both sides. ¡°Three versus three. No swaps. Any Pokemon that is returned will be considered knocked out. Captain, are you ready?¡±


    Was he just waiting there? Under the dock? His clothes are soaked¡­ Mara was positioned opposite me in the arena. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Her Granbull moved into the arena in front of her.


    ¡°Challenger, are you ready?¡± He pointed at me with a flat hand.


    ¡°Ready, I guess,¡± I said as I tossed out a pokeball, releasing Rio. She had been really upset that she hadn¡¯t gotten to fight Hala, so I promised her that she would be first out. I¡¯d also told her how she should fight ahead of time.


    ¡°Begin!¡± the referee called.


    The boardwalk buckled under both Pokemon as they lunged at each other. Rio¡¯s palm burst into the silver blue of steel energy and collided with Granbulls forehead as it used Headbutt. Rio clearly won the exchange as the pink dog flew back, rolling across the ground, while Rio merely slid back a few steps.


    It took a moment before the Granbull managed to get on its feet, though it looked a bit wobbly. Fairy was weak to steel, so I had told her to focus on using steel energy until I said otherwise. That was also what she was best at, so this was going to be a rather unfair battle.


    ¡°Fire up!¡± Mara called, clearly able to see how this was going to go if she didn¡¯t try and focus on type advantage. The pink dogs fists and tusks immediately burst into flames. They were using Fire Fang and Fire Punch at the same time? That was interesting. I wondered if it was because they were of the same energy that they both could be used at the same time, or if any move could be done like that. Or perhaps this was the same type of thing I had done with Scoly, where we just combined moves. But this was using multiple moves at once rather than combining them.


    Rio launched herself forward in response, stopping just a bit in front of her opponent before dashing to the side. She wasn¡¯t able to use Extreme Speed yet, but she was capable of Agility. She blurred as three different figures of herself formed around the Granbull. Rather than try to figure out which one it was, the dog jumped up and breathed downward, spewing out flame that engulfed the area around.


    For a moment Rio vanished into the flame before appearing above the Granbull. She had a leg out, her foot already covered in steel energy as she was twisting in the air. The dog managed to use its Flamethrower to turn itself in the air and blast Rio before her leg managed to connect. However when it did it snapped their jaw shut, forcing it to swallow the flame and sent it straight into the flame weakened boardwalk, which buckled from the impact and let them punch through and into the water below.


    Mara ran to the edge of the dock to look under as Rio landed, taking a leap backwards to make space away from the hole. She was in the same sparring stance that she would face off against her mother that reminded me of some sort of martial arts pose. As I took a good look at her I could see that there were quite a few spots of burnt fur, and there were soft wisps of smoke rising off her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare return me,¡± she growled softly. I had only just started to think about that and glanced at her pokeball, but apparently her aura sense was good enough that she could see me do it. Or she was just guessing. ¡°I¡¯m nowhere near done.¡± Maybe I was a bit too quick to return them when they got hurt? I¡¯d have to talk to them about that.


    ¡°Granbull has been returned!¡± the referee called out, which drew my attention back to the battle. Mara was returning back to her position. I could practically see her trying to work out a strategy. If she read Rio right, she would know that her strength was her strength, but her speed wasn¡¯t the best and she wasn¡¯t good at range. ¡°Captain, please send out your next Pokemon.¡±


    The Pokemon that appeared had a pale yellow pokemon with a large black jaw extending from the back of its head. A Mawile would mitigate the steel advantage. I watched as a wave of steel energy washed over the smaller Pokemon as it immediately used some sort of defensive move; Iron Defense if I had to guess.


    Rio¡¯s hands were already shining with silver blue energy and she was about to charge. ¡°Shift to ground,¡± I said. With a flex of her hands the energy disappeared and was replaced with a long staff shaped object made of a dull brown energy. Cara hadn¡¯t quite been able to use Bone Rush yet, but Rio had gotten a fairly good grasp of it.


    ¡°Fire up!¡± Mara called again and I was reminded that Mawile also had several fire moves it could learn. So she mitigates the steel weakness while keeping the fire advantage. The large maw behind the yellow Pokemon was suddenly filled with flame. That was a good technique to practice. After observing the way that Granbull had used its fire energy, Mara had taught her Pokemon to channel their energy into its physical element so that they can shift it to use in several ways.


    The Pokemon on my side lowered herself to the ground, one hand placed on the ground as she held the staff behind her back. ¡°This again?¡± she muttered.


    ¡°Probably. If it bites you, you¡¯ll be toast,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. She didn¡¯t respond and instead rushed forward. The Mawile twisted and sent out a gout of flame from its large mouth. Rio dashed to the side, boosting her speed with Agility to properly avoid the move. This whole boardwalk was going to need some serious repairs after this fight.


    Mawile tracked Rio as she ran, the Flamethrower following after her and trying to get ahead of her. Rio had almost done a ninety degree shift around the other Pokemon, closing the distance as she did, but just as she got within range, the flame stopped and Mawile lunged, jaws open.


    I could see Rio¡¯s eyes widen as the massive jaws threatened to completely engulf her, but she thrust the staff forward, striking the Mawile in the back of the throat. It staggered back, coughing. She then twisted the staff and slammed it on top of the jaw with enough force that it buckled the boards of the dock.


    However she made the mistake of relaxing, apparently thinking that that was enough, just in time for the Mawile to twist using its mouth like appendage for balance and delivered a Mega Kick to her side. This was her inexperience in real battles showing. I would have to explain the idea of tunnel vision to her and everyone else.


    She did recover quickly, landing on her feet after being launched away, and she hadn¡¯t lost concentration on her staff. The Mawile hopped back onto their feet as well and pulled their jaws free from the boards with surprising ease. They looked unharmed, where as Rio was covered in little burnt patches and holding her side.


    ¡°You good?¡± I called, turning her Pokeball in my hand. She just nodded. I nodded as well. ¡°Don¡¯t focus so much on the jaws.¡± As if on cue, said jaws burst back into flames. ¡°The whole Pokemon is the threat.¡±


    ¡°Mawile, keep distance,¡± Mara called out with her own response. Immediately the Pokemon leapt backwards and let loose with Flamethrower again. Rio was quick to get out of the way, but this time their opponent kept moving in an attempt to maintain the gap.


    That was a bit annoying to deal with, but I wondered how long it could actually keep that up for. A Pokemon only had so much energy, though I had noticed that every Pokemon had different amounts. Even if the type didn¡¯t match, like how Rio could use Bone Rush easily, but Cara could not. Cara just didn¡¯t have enough ground type energy to use the move yet.


    As expected, Mawile¡¯s Flamethrower did eventually run out, though it was hard to tell if it was because they were out of fire energy, or if they were trying to conserve it since their current technique wasn¡¯t working and Rio was just letting them burn through their energy stores.


    Then I spotted Mara suddenly start making strange movements, with Mawile sort of copying her while still keeping distance. I immediately recognized it. ¡°Rio,¡± I said, which caused her ear to twitch. ¡°You remember when you were asking questions about Z-Moves? Well, you¡¯re about to see one.¡±


    Mara hit the final pose and there was a sudden burst of energy from around her Z-Ring. The burst rushed into Mawile, who suddenly had a visible aura like they¡¯d gone Super Saiyan, but pink. The air around them was filled with glitter and sparkling little motes of lights as they rushed forward.


    Rio braced herself for the impact, but the other Pokemon suddenly stopped in front of her, and swayed side to side for a moment. I could see the confusion on her face, and then there was a burst of brilliant pink energy as Mawile shot forward and slammed into Rio. She had tried to block it with her bone staff, but it shattered like it wasn¡¯t even there and the little yellow Pokemon collided with her stomach.


    There was a second when nothing happened, and then Rio was gone. I looked over to the side just in time to see her skip across the water three times before finally coming to a stop. There were a few moments of silence before the referee spoke up. ¡°Challenger. If your Pokemon is still capable of battling, they need to return to the battlefield.¡±


    I nodded as I walked over to the edge of the dock, looking at Rio who was floating dozens of meters away, her eyes wide as she stared upwards. I cupped my hands around my mouth before shouting, ¡°Rio? You good?¡±


    It took a moment before she raised a hand, giving me a thumbs up before twisting around and beginning to paddle back.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe she¡¯s okay after all that,¡± Goomy said softly.


    ¡°Her staff had probably absorbed some of the blow,¡± I mumbled to her. ¡°But she has to be hurting something fierce.¡± She definitely couldn¡¯t take another serious hit, but if she wanted to keep fighting, I was going to let her. With a nod I walked back over to my position. ¡°She¡¯s swimming back,¡± I said to Mara and the referee with a bit of a smile.


    Mara looked flabbergasted that she hadn¡¯t been knocked out by that. ¡°You sure she¡¯s okay?¡± she panted softly, obviously tired from the use of the Twinkle Tackle.


    I shrugged. ¡°Won¡¯t know for sure till she comes back. And she wants to keep fighting.¡±


    She just nodded before turning her attention back to her Pokemon, which also looked tired; not just from the move, but also the battle. While they seemed to shrug off the previous blows, their effect was starting to show now.


    Seconds ticked by and eventually we could hear the soft splashing of a dog paddle getting closer and closer. Then it suddenly stopped. I saw the way that Mawile tensed, completely focused on the direction they¡¯d sent their opponent flying.


    Then in a burst of water, Rio appeared. Not from the edge of the dock, but from the hole she had made with Granbull. Which was behind Mawile. As the Pokemon tried to turn around, Rio used the edge of the hole for leverage and sprang forth with a move I recognized immediately: Reversal. Her paw met Mawile¡¯s side, who was still trying to turn around to defend themself, and was promptly embedded into the boards of the dock.


    Rio took a few shaky steps back, breathing hard, a bit of froth at the edges of her mouth from over exerting herself. But she also had a rather dopey smile on her face, which was only getting wider and wider the longer it took for Mawile to move.


    ¡°Mawile is unable to battle!¡± The referee suddenly called. He pointed his hand flat towards Mara. ¡°Captain, please send out your next Pokemon.¡±


    She hesitated, slowly lifting the Pokeball and retrieving Mawile. I could see the look on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare¡­¡± I mumbled.


    But she shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no point in continuing. That was my strongest Pokemon, and you still have two unused. I forfeit.¡±


    ¡°Damn it,¡± I cursed, letting out a sigh.


    ¡°Captain Mara has forfeit,¡± the referee announced, now pointing his hand flat towards me. ¡°The winner is Pokemon Expert Jason!¡±


    Rio staggered back several steps and I moved forward to put a hand on her back and help support her. Her fur was still wet with salt water, and I could feel how hard and fast her heart was pounding through her back. ¡°That was fun,¡± she managed to say, still breathing hard and sporting a cheshire grin.


    Dee suddenly appeared in a flash of red light. ¡°Goodness you¡¯re a mess,¡± she mumbled as she started to use Healing Pulse.


    I glanced at Dee before smiling a bit down at Rio and rubbed between her ears. ¡°You did a very good job,¡± I said with a bit of a smile. ¡°Excellent maneuvering and use of the terrain.¡±


    ¡°I let my guard down,¡± she said with a bit of a frown. ¡°Twice.¡±


    ¡°Lessons learned the hard way,¡± I said with a nod, reaching into my bag and pulling out a small washcloth and wiping the froth from her mouth.


    Mara came over, examining the state that Rio was in. ¡°Are they alright?¡± She glanced at Dee, who was busy checking Rio over to make sure she didn¡¯t have any severe injuries.


    ¡°Lots of minor burns, and the worst thing are some rib fractures. But those can be healed up at the Pokecenter,¡± Dee explained.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°Mostly. She said it was fun.¡± I gave the woman a smile.


    ¡°Fun, huh?¡± She seemed to think about this for a moment and then nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small pink crystal with a symbol that looked like a little winged person. ¡°She trounced my poor Granbull¡­ But he¡¯s used to taking it easy on Trial goers.¡± She held out her hand which contained the Fairium crystal. ¡°Is she your strongest Pokemon?¡±


    I had to actually think about that for a moment. ¡°I think so? At least physically. She¡¯s not the fastest, or the toughest, or the best at controlling her energy, but when it comes to raw strength she¡¯s higher than everyone else.¡±


    Rio batted at my hand that was trying to clean her face up a bit, clearly annoyed that I just casually listed the areas she struggles with. ¡°Mean,¡± she protested.


    A snort escaped me as I rubbed her face a bit harder. ¡°You gotta know your weaknesses so you can watch out for them.¡±


    She just huffed at me in response, wobbling a bit away to escape my reach and hide behind Dee.


    I took this opportunity to reach out and take the crystal Mara was offering. ¡°Thanks for not holding back.¡± I wanted to chastise the woman for taking the easy way out of the fight and not seeing it to the end. Maybe that was just me thinking about it like the games again, where you couldn¡¯t back out of fights with other trainers.


    But here, when it¡¯s a reality, it makes sense to not throw a Pokemon into a fight that you think you¡¯ve lost. It may make come from behind victories less likely, but it also has less risk of your Pokemon getting seriously injured. Even though the best way for Pokemon to get stronger was to fight.


    Still. It was hard to not be annoyed.


    ¡°Good luck on the rest of your Trials.¡± She had a bit of a smile on her face before she turned away and looked at the hole. ¡°Now I¡¯ve got to have someone repair the boardwalk¡­ again¡­¡± she mumbled as she pulled out her phone.


    ¡°Come on, Rio,¡± I said as I held up her Pokeball.


    She hesitated, glancing back to Mara, and then at me. ¡°I can do that, right?¡±


    I blinked, furrowing my brows for a moment. ¡°You mean Z-Moves?¡± She nodded. I smiled and nodded as well. ¡°With practice, you can.¡±


    That seemed to be enough to satisfy her question and her tail started to wag. ¡°Good.¡± She disappeared into red light as she returned to her pokeball. Dee quickly followed as she returned to her own pokeball.


    When I turned around, I had expected to find Hapu. However she hadn¡¯t stayed for the battle, so I just made my way straight to the Pokecenter. Rio definitely needed it. However as I was walking my phone rang. I let my Z-Ring grab hold of the Fairium before pulling out my phone and looking at the screen; it showed that Kukui was calling. ¡°Alola, Professor. What¡¯s up?¡±


    He had a rather conflicted look on his face. ¡°Alola,¡± he said but hesitated before continuing, ¡°Is it alright if I give Guzma your number?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°Guzma?¡± From the way that the Professor was occasionally glancing away, Guzma was probably not far away waiting for an answer.


    ¡°Yeah. He was waiting here at the research center when I got back, and wanted your number.¡± That explained the sort of strained look on the Professor''s face. The two of them had a rather complicated history.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°You can give him my number.¡±


    ¡°Alright. He seemed pretty adamant that I just give him your number, but I wanted to check first,¡± he said with a chuckle.


    I chuckled as well. ¡°Well, I appreciate it. Seems like some people are really loose with passing out other peoples numbers without asking.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Anyways, good luck on your Trials.¡±


    We both said Alola before he hung up. This was a very good sign that I had at least managed to get through to Guzma in some way. Now it would depend on how long it would take for him to actually call, and what he would want to say.


    The Pokecenter being a boat was quite interesting. Though it felt a bit precarious, as it seemed like it was more just placed on top of two large boats and floating there with an almost drawbridge leading to the door. I was a bit hesitant in stepping across it, but I convinced myself that it had to be safe. ¡°Alola, Nurse Joy,¡± I said after entering and made my way to the counter.


    Joy looked very tired, but gave me a smile in return. ¡°Alola. How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°This one just had a rather rough battle,¡± I said as I put down Rio¡¯s pokeball onto the tray. ¡°And I would also like these other Pokemon looked at.¡± Eevee and Goomy were still out, so I decided to skip turning them over for the moment, but I put everyone else''s pokeballs down.


    Dee jumped out again, giving Nurse Joy a slight bow before picking up the tray. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re Jason,¡± Nurse Joy said with a smile at Dee. It was rather humorous that I was getting recognized more for Dee than I was for anything else. Then it looked like she suddenly had an idea. ¡°I¡­ uhm, I hope you don¡¯t mind me asking but is it alright if I borrow your Audino for a bit? We¡¯re rather behind at the moment¡­¡±


    I blinked as I looked over at Dee, who looked up at me with a rather eager expression. I smiled a bit and nodded. ¡°Sure. What happened?¡±


    She sighed. ¡°Some kids- Team Skull I think they called themselves? Anyways they got in over their heads and caused a ruckus. We were still dealing with the cleanup of the problem at Exeggutor Island¡­ At least Professor Kukui and Kahuna Hapu managed to solve that quickly, but then these Team Skull kids riled up a flock of Murkrow. So now we have a bunch of injured wild Pokemon to deal with.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    I just nodded slowly. ¡°I don¡¯t mind letting her help out for a bit,¡± I reached over and rubbed the top of Dee¡¯s head.


    Nurse Joy bowed a bit to me. ¡°Thank you.¡± With that the two of them disappeared through the door behind the counter.


    I had barely taken two steps towards the seating area when another door opened slightly and two people looked out, a teenage boy with blue hair and a girl with pink hair. They were dressed in mostly black with white details, and white caps. They had black bandanas around their faces and wore large silver skull pendants around their neck.


    ¡°She gone?¡± the pink haired girl said, peaking around the boy.


    The two of them looked around a moment before the boy nodded. ¡°Yeah, looks like it.¡± They quickly moved out of the room before both freezing mid step when they saw me. There was a moment of silence before the boy said, ¡°Yo, the heck you lookin¡¯ at?¡± While making exaggerated movements with his arms.


    It was a bit hard to keep the smile on my face while trying not to laugh. ¡°You should probably go back to your room until Nurse Joy discharges you,¡± I said.


    ¡°What? We ain¡¯t gotta listen to you,¡± the girl snapped back, also with exaggerated movements.


    ¡°Yeah, we ain¡¯t listenin¡¯,¡± the boy added and folded his arms in front of him.


    I let out a soft snort. ¡°I¡¯m just saying. There¡¯s probably a reason she had you waiting.¡±


    The girl suddenly slapped the boy over the shoulder. ¡°Show this punk foreigner what happens when they get in Team Skull¡¯s way.¡±


    He hesitated before looking back. ¡°Why I gotta be the one teachin¡¯ the lessons?¡±


    She leaned in a bit and whispered harshly. ¡°Cus my ¡®mons are still knocked out.¡±


    ¡°I ain¡¯t much better,¡± he whispered back. Though in the empty room their voices were carrying quite farther than I think either of them realized.


    ¡°You still got Tatta,¡± she argued, giving him a nudge. ¡°All his ¡®mons are probably with the nurse, and all he got is that slug.¡±


    He paused for a moment before looking over at me, and then seemed to gain some confidence as he pulled out a pokeball. ¡°I¡¯ll show you what happens when you get in Team Skull''s way.¡± He released his Pokemon, the dark gray and mustachioed Alolan Rattatta appearing.


    I looked at the little thing, who looked like it had already been in a fight. But there was a surprisingly fierce and determined look on its face. It clearly had a strong fighting spirit. Although I wasn¡¯t sure if I should back down, considering Goomy¡¯s lack of combat experience¡­ But this was the perfect opportunity.


    She jolted a bit in my hands as I lifted her off my shoulder and placed her on the floor. Looking back at me, she made a soft, ¡°Huh?¡± noise.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna battle,¡± I said as I gestured towards the Rattata called Tatta, and took a step back.


    She continued to stare at me. ¡°Huh?¡±


    I gave her a thumbs up. ¡°You got this.¡±


    She let out a third ¡°Huh?¡± noise.


    ¡°Tatta! Tackle!¡± the boy called out, pointing at Goomy.


    The Rattata let out a rather loud scream as it charged. Goomy just turned at the noise to see the approaching rat and closed her eyes. Tatta hit her, causing her to squish from the impact. Then to everyone¡¯s surprise, including mine, the little rat was launched away several meters.


    Tatta laid on the floor on its back for a moment, its legs up in the air, seemingly trying to work out what just happened. Even from where I was I could see a bit of goop on its face and shoulder. Goomy hadn¡¯t moved, her eyes still clenched like she was still waiting for the hit.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what?¡± the boy muttered.


    The two teenagers exchanged looks. The girl again slapped on his shoulder. ¡°Do- do something.¡±


    ¡°Tatta! Uh¡­ tackle!¡± he ordered after a moment.


    To its credit, the Rattata rolled over, recovering from the surprise and brushing it off as some kind of fluke. Again it screamed as it charged. Goomy flinched from the noise, slightly opening an eye to see what was happening just in time to get struck again. She squished and then again Tatta was launched away.


    I was trying to figure out what was going on. It was like she was made of rubber. She also looked confused at what was going on and looked back at me. The only thing that I could think of was that her defense was so high that the Rattata couldn¡¯t get through it. Or maybe the pokedex entry about punches and kicks just sliding off was accurate? Maybe some combination of the two? This was going to require testing.


    The moment I opened my mouth to order her was the moment that I realized I didn¡¯t know what moves she knew. That was a rather large blunder on my part that I¡¯d have to correct eventually. ¡°Well?¡± I said with a bit of a smile, deciding to leave it up to Goomy. ¡°Attack back.¡±


    She just stared at me a moment before turning around to the Rattata that was trying to get the slime off of its face. The two Team Skull members were just staring in shock at the little slug, who started to move towards the rat.


    ¡°Tatta,¡± the boy said, an odd tone of worry in his voice. ¡°Use Bite.¡± The little thing looked back at the boy, and then at Goomy, clearly hesitant to put something like that in its mouth. But it was obedient and a sort of dark light coated its teeth.


    However, it hesitated again as it watched Goomy swell up, nearly doubling in size. I don¡¯t know who was more surprised at what happened next, me or everyone else. When she opened her mouth I caught a glimpse of the edge of a dark blue energy ball that suddenly burst into a gout of colorful gold and purple flame that shot across the room and collided with Tatta.


    I guess that dragon typing wasn¡¯t just for show, but who would have thought she could use Dragon Breath? It wasn¡¯t very large, and she didn¡¯t seem to be able to maintain it for very long, but it was still a surprise that she could use the move. However even though it wasn¡¯t that strong, it was still more than enough to knock down the already battered Rattata.


    ¡°Tatta!¡± the boy shouted as he ran forward to pick up the small thing. ¡°Aw man¡­ I didn¡¯t realize you were that roughed up¡­¡±


    I moved forward as well, picking up Goomy. ¡°Good job,¡± I said softly as I squeezed her in my arms a bit.


    ¡°What in Arceus is going on here?!¡± Nurse Joy shouted as the door flew open. All of us jumped, looking over. She looked around for a moment and at all of us. ¡°No fighting inside the Pokecenter,¡± she said with an exasperated tone.


    ¡°Sorry Nurse Joy,¡± I said with a bit of a nervous chuckle.


    ¡°Sorry Nurse Joy,¡± the two teens echoed, bowing their heads a bit.


    She huffed a bit, looking at the Rattata in the boy''s arms. ¡°Give them to me,¡± she demanded. The teen obeyed, walking over and returning Tatta to their ball before handing it over. ¡°And that goes for the rest of your Pokemon as well. I was about to get started on them, and what do I find? Them all gone.¡± She glanced at the girl, who quickly moved forward and joined the boy in handing over all their pokeballs.


    ¡°Sorry Nurse Joy,¡± they said again.


    I put Goomy back on my shoulder, who seemed rather shocked that she had actually won a fight. ¡°And you!¡± Joy suddenly pointed at me and I started a bit, standing up straighter. Her eyes narrowed a bit, but there was a slight smile on her face. ¡°Keep an eye on them.¡± With that she turned and disappeared back through the door with all the teens Pokemon.


    Both of them shoved their hands in their pockets in near perfect synchronization. That was clearly something they¡¯d learned from watching Guzma. ¡°Man. We almost got out,¡± the boy grumbled.


    ¡°And would have if not for you,¡± the girl added, glaring at me.


    I just shrugged as I walked over to the waiting area and slumped onto a couch against the wall. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal anyways? Just sit and wait for your Pokemon.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s gonna tell the Kahuna,¡± the girl said as the two of them walked over.


    ¡°Well you two did cause problems.¡± I looked at the two of them for a moment. ¡°Sit down.¡± There was a bit of hesitation as they looked at each other, but the boy shrugged and they both sat down across from me. They both sat slumped in the seat, their arms folded. It was actually pretty funny to watch them pout.


    I pulled Goomy down into my lap and checked on Eevee, who was asleep. Seems that she had fallen asleep at some point and missed all the fun. I started to rub and squish Goomy, who let out a few little noises at the attention. She looked exhausted, apparently having put everything she had into that Dragon Breath attack.


    Suddenly my phone rang. I pulled it out, noting that whoever was calling wasn¡¯t in my contacts. I answered with an, ¡°Alola.¡±


    On the other side of the screen was the very familiar face of Guzma, who was frowning. He took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°Alola.¡±


    ¡°What can I do for you, Guzma?¡± I noticed how the other two immediately tensed, their eyes locking on to me.


    ¡°I just¡­ About what you said yesterday,¡± he started, clearly struggling to figure out what to say.


    ¡°Which part?¡± I said with a bit of a smile. ¡°The part where I think you¡¯re a good trainer?¡±


    He paused. ¡°No¡­ The other thing.¡±


    I glanced up at the two teens. ¡°Ah, the other thing. About you being a good leader.¡±


    If looks could kill, I¡¯m sure I would at least be wounded. ¡°No. The other thing.¡±


    ¡°Ohh that. Yeah. Tradition is just peer pressure from the dead,¡± I said with a bit of a nod.


    Now he looked absolutely pissed and I wondered if he was going to hang up on me. ¡°Not that.¡±


    I was just smiling, trying not to laugh at the situation. ¡°Oh, Guzma, before we continue.¡± I turned the phone to show the other two who immediately flinched and tensed up when they saw Guzma. ¡°Ran into some people from your team.¡±


    ¡°Tupp? Rapp?¡± I could practically hear the scowl on his face. ¡°Where¡¯s Zipp? What are you doing in a Pokecenter with Jace?¡±


    ¡°I well-¡± the boy known as Tupp started but his voice faded.


    ¡°We were¡­ uh¡­¡± the girl that was Rapp also struggled.


    ¡°We had a battle,¡± I said before turning the phone back around. Both of them seemed to relax as I didn¡¯t immediately throw them under the bus.


    He looked at me for a moment and then sighed. ¡°I see. So you were giving them a¡­ talk as well?¡± He put a lot of emphasis on the word talk.


    ¡°I was about to before you called,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. ¡°As for where the other one is¡­¡± I looked over my phone at the two of them.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± Tupp hesitated.


    ¡°He¡¯s guarding the boat¡­¡± Rapp said.


    I nodded a bit. ¡°Guarding the boat. He¡¯s probably wondering where you are.¡±


    ¡°I sent him a text earlier,¡± Tupp said, fumbling a bit to get his phone out of his pocket. He was quickly sending another text, probably to tell Zipp where they were and what was going on.


    Again I nodded and returned my focus back to Guzma. ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡± he hesitated for a moment and then sighed. ¡°Look. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re right. But I-¡± he paused, ¡°I think a lot of what you said made a lot of sense. I don¡¯t like it, but I¡¯m used to dealing with crap I don¡¯t like. And today when I ran into Kukui, and he mentioned his league idea again I remembered some of what you said.¡±


    There was a conflicted look on his face, but I was going to remain silent until he finished and said what he wanted to say.


    ¡°They said it would take a few years before they finally got it going. And I just¡­¡± He hesitated again as he seemed to think about what he was going to say next, ¡°Are you gonna be in it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I paused for a moment and then smirked a bit. ¡°Do you want me to participate?¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything for a few seconds before he tilted his head up a bit. ¡°I wanna beat you when it really matters.¡±


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°Then I look forward to it.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Right. You better be here for it.¡±


    His gaze suddenly went somewhere in the distance and it looked like he was about to hang up, but I wanted to say one more thing, ¡°Wait.¡± He stopped, looking back at his phone. ¡°If you really wanna prove me wrong, about what I said¡­ You better not lose.¡±


    He let out a snort before hanging up.


    Another chuckle escaped me as I put away my phone, now turning my attention back to the other two sitting across from me. ¡°Now then¡­ Back to you two.¡±


    They both stiffened.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re expecting some kind of lecture, about safety, and staying out of trouble, and all that nonsense.¡± I waved my hand a bit as I leaned back in my seat. ¡°But I know I don¡¯t have to. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve both been talked down to a lot today already.¡±


    I could see the way they both relaxed a bit, Rapp even let out a sigh and a nod. ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°What I want you to do is learn,¡± I said with a bit of a smile. ¡°Where did you go wrong? What was the mistake you made that led to it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if-¡±


    Immediately I put up a hand to stop Tupp from talking. ¡°I¡¯m not asking whose fault it is, or telling you to blame each other or something else, or asking about what if scenarios. You made a mistake. You don¡¯t have to say it out loud, but you know that you did. You know that somewhere you personally made a mistake. I want you to think about that, and know that everyone makes mistakes. That¡¯s part of life. I make a lot of mistakes. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that. It¡¯s not a bad thing.¡±


    Both of them sort of just stared at the floor as I talked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t watching where I was going,¡± Tupp said after a moment. ¡°I knew the area was bad. I even mouthed off about it.¡±


    Rapp shifted a bit before she spoke, ¡°I panicked. When Tupp tripped and started sliding, I just locked up when I could have helped him. If I had, he wouldn¡¯t have fallen on that nest.¡±


    ¡°Nah, there was nothin¡¯ you coulda done, Rapp,¡± he said as he pat her arm slightly.


    She just stared at him, and I could tell that she was frowning at him under her mask. ¡°Tupp, I have three Zubat. They could have easily grabbed you.¡±


    He stiffened slightly, his eyes widening at the sudden realization. It seemed he¡¯d forgotten. ¡°Ah. Right. Yeah¡­ That woulda helped.¡±


    There was a moment of silence before the two of them started to laugh. ¡°You really don¡¯t think, huh?¡± Rapp said as she shoved Tupp slightly.


    ¡°I was falling off a cliff, that makes it hard to think about stuff,¡± he retorted, clearly thinking about giving her a shove in return but thinking better of it before he did so.


    She let out a sort of snort like laugh. ¡°It was hardly a cliff, more like a steep slope.¡±


    ¡°Well maybe you should take a trip down it,¡± he snarked back. ¡°See how much of a cliff it feels like to you.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± I interjected before they started to fight. ¡°So you weren¡¯t paying attention when you knew you should have been. A simple mistake to make that can lead to some pretty severe consequences.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yeah¡­ Won¡¯t make that mistake again.¡±


    ¡°Oh you probably will,¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s one of those mistakes that¡¯s really easy to do without realizing.¡±


    There was a puzzled look on his face. ¡°Then what should I do?¡±


    ¡°You just keep an eye out for it.¡± I waved a hand vaguely. ¡°Try your best to remember this lesson, and not get overconfident. You should still have confidence, because as you said you knew the danger but went through it anyway. The most important thing when you do that is to be prepared for things to go bad. Expect the best, prepare for the worst.¡±


    He nodded slowly, doing his best to take in my explanation. ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Rapp folded her arms in front of her. ¡°I don¡¯t know how talking about my mistake is going to help.¡±


    I shrugged a bit. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You got scared and locked up, that¡¯s hardly anything that you could have helped.¡±


    She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to argue about how she wasn¡¯t scared, but when she thought about the situation it was hard to deny that she had been.


    ¡°There¡¯s the concept of fight or flight when you enter a dangerous or scary situation.¡± I held up two fingers. ¡°But what a lot of people don¡¯t acknowledge is there¡¯s a third category.¡± I raised a third finger. ¡°Freeze.¡±


    ¡°Fight, or flight, or freeze¡­¡± she muttered a bit, leaning back in her seat. ¡°But how do I prevent it?¡±


    Again I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s different for everyone. Unfortunately it¡¯s just something you have to figure out on your own. But the best way is to have someone around you. The more the better.¡±


    ¡°So we should have brought Zipp,¡± Tupp said with a sigh.


    ¡°That would have helped. But¡­¡± I gestured at them and then around. ¡°How many Pokemon do you have?¡±


    There was a moment of silence before they both seemed to realize it. Tupp began speaking, ¡°We could have-¡±


    ¡°-Had our Pokemon out,¡± Rapp finished, and both of them slapped their forehead at the same time.


    I nodded. ¡°Exactly. Your Pokemon are there for you, just like you need to be there for them.¡± I gently pat Goomy a few times, who had fallen asleep in my lap. ¡°They¡¯re your partners, and your friends. If you¡¯re going into a situation you know is dangerous, why would you do it alone when you could have friends by your side? Bravery? Bravado? What you should really worry about is how your actions will affect the people that care about you.¡±


    Tupp leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. ¡°We¡¯re Team Skull, there ain¡¯t anyone that cares about us.¡±


    ¡°What about Guzma?¡± I said with a roll of my eyes. ¡°Or Rapp?¡± I gestured towards her. ¡°Or Zipp? Or your Pokemon? You don¡¯t think that they would care if you got hurt?¡±


    There was a moment of silence as the two of them looked at each other before looking away. ¡°Okay, fair. I would care if Rapp or Zipp got hurt,¡± he said with a sigh.


    ¡°Yeah, and I don¡¯t wanna see Tupp get hurt¡­¡±


    I leaned forward a bit. ¡°All of you in Team Skull care about each other. Guzma gathered you all up after the incident because he wanted you all to be able to support each other. You can do things alone¡­but why would you when you could do it together and make everything easier?¡±


    They were both quiet, sitting with their arms folded as they mulled over my words. After a few moments the door opened and Nurse Joy walked out, followed by Dee who was carrying a tray. ¡°Well at least it looks like you all stayed out of trouble,¡± she said with a bit of a smile.


    I stood up, picking up Goomy as I did and placing her on my shoulder, amused that she easily stuck there. I returned Joy¡¯s smile. ¡°We¡¯ve just been talking. Though I did end up getting a bit more lecture-y than I planned to.¡± I walked past the two teens and gave them each a pat on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯d say stay out of trouble, but that¡¯s no fun.¡±


    Nurse Joy gave me a disapproving look as I started to tuck my pokeballs back into my coat. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t encourage them.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, they¡¯re just kids. Making messes is how they learn.¡± I glanced back at them with a smirk. ¡°You just gotta make sure they help clean up so the lesson really sticks.¡±


    Suddenly she had a smile on her face again. ¡°Oh? You know, that makes a lot of sense.¡± The two teens gave me a look of betrayal as Nurse Joy approached them. ¡°Come on you two.¡±


    ¡°Alola!¡± I called out with a laugh as I quickly made my escape from the Pokecenter, Dee quickly waddling after me to keep up. The two of us stood on the dock and I reached over and rubbed the top of her head. ¡°How was it?¡±


    Dee took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she pressed a bit into my hand. ¡°It was¡­ nice. But I think I like helping everyone with their training more.¡±


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°Alright. Well, let¡¯s get going. There¡¯s a lot of work to do for that next crystal.¡± We started to walk off through the city, walking towards the actual island. The town was extremely interesting, since it was made up entirely of boats. Most of them were shaped like Pokemon.


    Stepping off the dock and into the area known as the Poni Wilds I had to pause. I didn¡¯t spend much time exploring Poni Island when I played the games, and I don¡¯t remember a lot about it. What I did remember was that this is where you got a Key Stone from Dexio. And if I looked to my right I could see¡­ yeah, the ruins of Ancient Poni Path.


    That was the way to Vast Poni Canyon. Which was honestly a silly name. Why didn¡¯t they just call it Poni Canyon? Was that a translation thing? That was a thought, but it didn¡¯t really matter, since I was looking at the real thing. And it was an absolutely huge rock formation that took up most of the island. I could even see the tip of The Altar of the- ¡­ would it be Moone or Sunne? I think it was Sunne in the anime, so that was probably what it was. But then there had been that short series of things, and that had been Moone. So maybe it was both?


    Maybe I¡¯ll take a look after doing the dragon Trial. It was a place that I very much wanted to see, along with countless others. Although there were just too many places that I wanted to see to even list them. Some of them extravagant like the Altar, some of them were things that some people would think mundane. Like Hapu¡¯s radish farm.


    Did Hapu even have a radish farm like in the anime? That was a thing about her story, that her parents left but she had refused to go and stayed on the farm. She also hadn¡¯t been a Kahuna when Ash showed up, but she was now. That was an interesting change. I wondered how she had earned the approval of the Tapu. I should ask her about that after completing her Trial.


    Of course that would have to wait, as right now I wanted to take a look at those ruins. As I walked I opened up my coat a bit. ¡°Everyone can come out,¡± I said with a bit of a smile. There were few people around.


    Everyone was keen to get out, and suddenly there were nearly a dozen Pokemon in front of me. ¡°Freedom!¡± Rio declared, stretching her arms up to the sky. Diancie and Banette mimicked her pose, though she didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long,¡± I scoffed. ¡°You were just in the Pokecenter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I couldn¡¯t do it earlier because of the battle, and the Pokecenter doesn¡¯t count,¡± she retorted smugly. ¡°That boat ride was long.¡±


    ¡°That fight was awesome!¡± Scoly exclaimed. Brionne, Mikyu, and Banette all were in the process of getting up on her back, all of them working together to make it go faster. They all looked ready to go.


    ¡°Yeah! That was awesome!¡± Brionne shouted, doing some odd mock fighting moves with her flippers. ¡°You were like, woosh and bam.¡±


    I moved Goomy to join them, asking Dee, ¡°Could you check her over?¡±


    Cara nodded as she moved to Rio¡¯s side. ¡°Indeed. It was a good fight.¡± She put a hand on Rio¡¯s shoulder, a smile on her face. ¡°You¡¯ve improved a lot.¡±


    Rio had that big cheshire grin on her face again. ¡°That Z-Move thing was intense. I think I actually blacked out for a second when it sent me flying.¡±


    ¡°That was Twinkle Tackle,¡± I said with a nod, stepping over to join in the conversation. ¡°It¡¯s the fairy type Z-Move.¡±


    ¡°Which ones do you have?¡± Rio asked excitedly.


    ¡°Well, now I have Fairium, so I can do that move as well.¡± I held up my arm to show the Z-Ring. ¡°This is the Primarium, which is a Pokemon species specific crystal that Brionne will be able to use when she evolves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a special one?¡± Brionne said excitedly, bouncing around on top of Scoly¡¯s back.


    ¡°That¡¯s cool. Are there other special ones like that?¡± Scoly asked as she leaned over to look more at the Z-Ring.


    ¡°There¡¯s a bunch of them, like one for Eevee and Mimikyu¡¯s,¡± I explained, chuckling a bit.


    Mikyu crawled on top of Scoly¡¯s head to get a better look at the bracelet. ¡°One¡­for me?¡± she said softly, her head tolting from side to side. I reached over to rub the side of her costume, smiling and nodding.


    ¡°What¡¯s mine do?¡± Eevee asked from my shoulder.


    ¡°Yours is Extreme Evoboost. It boosts all of your abilities, making you stronger, faster, tougher, and all that.¡±


    ¡°Whoa¡­¡± she said softly. ¡°That sounds cool.¡±


    ¡°I plan to ask Tapu Koko for a crystal for you when I¡¯ve finished his Trial.¡± I pointed to the other crystals. ¡°On top of those two that I have, I¡¯ve also got Normalium, which uses normal energy to do Breakneck Blitz. And the Fightinium that I got from Hala will let us use fighting energy for All-Out Pummeling.¡±


    ¡°We can do that one?¡± Rio was practically vibrating with excitement.


    I chuckled a bit and nodded. ¡°With some practice. Did you see how Mara and Mawille did some odd movements before they could use the move?¡±


    Her brow furrowed a bit as she thought about it a moment before shaking her head. ¡°No¡­ I didn¡¯t.¡±


    Again I chuckled. ¡°Well, it requires a certain amount of synchronization and combining the will or wish of the Trainer and Pokemon to unleash powerful moves. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have any problem, but I¡¯m sure there are going to be a few problems when we first start.¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­ I see¡­¡± She had quite a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°So it requires both Trainer and Pokemon?¡± Cara said, wearing a bit of a frown. ¡°So we can¡¯t use it on our own.¡±


    ¡°Maybe?¡± I had to think about it. Testing to see if a Pokemon could use it with another Pokemon would be an interesting experiment. The same would go for the other things, like Mega Evolutions. Was a Trainer really required? Could I give the Z-Ring to Cara and have her use it? I also wanted to see if I could sync up with both Rio and Cara to have them both perform All-Out Pummeling together at the same time. ¡°We¡¯ll have to test stuff out when we do another long term training session.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we train now?¡± Rio said with a huff.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got Trials to do,¡± Cara said, chastising her a bit. ¡°You can¡¯t just train forever.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± she argued back. ¡°It¡¯s fun, and it makes us all stronger.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I interjected with a smile. ¡°But what¡¯s the point of all that strength if you don¡¯t use it?¡±


    She opened her mouth to retort before closing it and folding her arms across her chest with a huff, unable to think of a rebuttal.


    I snorted softly before giving her a bit of a nudge. ¡°You¡¯re already plenty strong. You practically solo¡¯d that Trial Captain.¡±


    ¡°But I could be stronger,¡± she responded immediately. ¡°That way-¡± she stopped, frowning. She glanced at Cara before she turned away. ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s just do these Trial things so we can go back to training.¡±


    Cara took a step forward to follow after her, but I put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s alright. She¡¯s just being impatient.¡± As I had watched her, it was fairly apparent that Rio wanted strength in order to protect the ones she cared about. It was why she kept slipping back into tanking when she was supposed to be deflecting. It was easier for her to take the hit and focus on protecting.


    Since it was about lunch time now, I gave everyone their pokeblocks before we started to actually walk through the Poni Wilds. I could see a few Pokemon around, mostly Rattata and Yungoos, though it was clear that most of them were avoiding the designated path towards the ruins. It was actually a fairly well maintained dirt road. I assumed that the lack of Pokemon was due to the incident that Team Skull had caused. Occasionally there was a Raticate or Gumshoos leading a small little group of young ones, but considering my group they all just took a look and immediately moved away.


    Everyone had started to excitedly talk about where they were and what was going on. I was walking beside Scoly, with Keo in front of me. She was probably the most animated, as this was the third island that she had now visited and was talking about the differences she had noticed between them all. Eevee had also woken up and was now sitting partially out of my hood to join in the conversation, which turned into a discussion of different climates and what they preferred.


    Scoly started to complain about sand, and everyone seemed to agree that it made everything difficult. Rio just said it was good for training because it made stuff harder, which some agreed, but the general consensus was that they didn¡¯t like it. The only one who disagreed was Diancie, who said it was just like little rocks. Diancie was constantly drifting and twirling around the group, just happy to be out in the sunshine. She really sparkled in a beautiful way in the light and cast light onto the ground and surrounding area.


    As she was doing so I caught a glimpse of Dee and Cara, who were discussing something on the other side of Scoly, purposefully out of my earshot. That was a bit curious as I wondered what they were talking about. Cara seemed to be trying to demonstrate something, but I couldn¡¯t get a good look because Scoly was in the way.


    The moment we entered the ruins I suddenly had to stop walking when I saw a rather large Pokemon appear not far away. It was a huge suit of bipedal armor colored teal. The reason that I had stopped was that it sort of appeared from behind a wall, holding what looked to be a large radish. That was Hapu¡¯s Golurk. I wondered if she would use it in her Grand Trial against me. At least this confirmed that Hapu did indeed have a radish farm. Or at least someone did. I spotted the house, as well as a rather elderly lady sitting on a porch and watching the Golurk work out in the field.


    Along the wall was a large group of purple birds that looked to be holding feathered fans. That was the Sensu style of Oricorio. I was a bit surprised that this was the first time I¡¯d seen one of those birds since being on the islands. Each island was supposed to have its own type of Oricorio, and back in the game I had actually had one on my team. It was fun to use nectar to change its typing and appearance.


    The birds were currently chattering about recent events. I heard the word Murkrow a lot, as well as them saying, ¡°Those Skull kids.¡± It seemed like even the Pokemon were a bit bothered by what they had done.


    ¡°Afternoon,¡± I said with a nod to them as we passed.


    They all turned to stare at me, most of them giving their own little greetings. And then immediately went into a flurry of discussions about who I was. One of them actually brought up that I was a foreigner doing the Trials. When some of the others tried to rebuff them, they insisted it was true as they had watched my battle with the Trial Captain.


    Cara was eying them as if assessing if they were a threat, while Rio immediately jumped into the conversation, claiming that it was true and that she was the one who had battled the Captain. Scoly and her ride along gang also went over to corroborate the story, and tell about how she and Brionne fought Hala. Rio even started demonstrating some of the moves she had used, although in a rather slow and exaggerated manner.


    From the way they were talking, I immediately knew that they were going to be doing so for quite a while. Behind them I could still see the Golurk, who occasionally glanced over at our group, but was mostly focused on his task of gathering radishes. ¡°Alola,¡± a voice called and I looked over to see the old woman waving at me.


    I smiled and waved back. ¡°Alola!¡± She made a gesture for me to come over. I gave Cara a few pats on the head to get her attention and let her know what I was doing before heading over. ¡°Sorry if we¡¯re disturbing you,¡± I said once I got closer.


    She waved her hand. ¡°No, no. Nothing of the sort. I was just curious as to why someone would be wandering about this area looking like they were ready for war,¡± she said with a chuckle. Now that I was closer and getting a better look at her, she was probably twice my age judging by her appearance and wrinkles on her face, but she had that sort of comforting expression.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m participating in the Trials.¡±


    She nodded at that. ¡°I see, I see. Then you¡¯ll be battling my granddaughter eventually.¡±


    I nodded in return. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m looking forward to it, and hoping that she doesn¡¯t hold back like Hala did.¡±


    She just chuckled a bit, nodding. ¡°He¡¯s too used to battling children, so he tends to hold back once he''s satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Well my Pokemon sure wasn¡¯t. Rio, my Lucario over there showing off,¡± I pointed her out, ¡°Was really frustrated because she was next and didn¡¯t get a chance to fight. So she pushed herself really hard in the fight against Captain Mara and ignored a lot of her training. She has a habit of doing that that I¡¯m trying to break her of.¡±


    The old woman nodded along as I spoke. ¡°Sounds like a rather rambunctious one.¡±


    ¡°They all kind of are,¡± I said with a chuckle. Several of them were looking over towards me now. ¡°Ah, it looks like they¡¯re done talking with the Oricorio. Alola.¡± I gave a bit of a wave as I walked off back towards my Pokemon.


    ¡°Alola,¡± she said with a chuckle.


    When I got back, they were all looking at me like it was my fault we were delayed. ¡°Ready to go? We¡¯ve got a lot of mountain hiking to do."


    Which I honestly wish was an exaggeration. Making our way through the Ancient Poni Path didn¡¯t take long at all, since the moment we got past Hapu¡¯s radish farm there were literally two buildings before we got to the entrance of Vast Poni canyon. The game and anime both really undersold this place, as it was huge.


    I was a bit cautious when standing in front of it, looking up at the massive stones. It would take a long time to explore it and find the tablet. There should be a large stone tablet that marks this as a Trail and explains it. If I remember correctly this was supposedly the first Trial to exist, and it was not not very easy. You constantly get jumped by Jangmo-o and Hakamo-o, until you reach the pedestal with the Dragonium, guarded by a Totem Kommo-o.


    None of which I could currently see. I did see a lot of Murkrow, and I was fairly certain the little glint of metal I saw up on a cliff side was a Skarmory. Cara was standing beside me, with Dee on the other side. Scoly and Rio were on my right, also looking at the large canyon that we were about to enter. ¡°Those are some big mountains¡­¡± Rio mumbled.


    There was a general murmuring of agreement. I looked around a moment, seeing that there were a few places that people had set up camp in the past, probably Trial goers. That sounded like a good idea, and I decided to go with that decision. ¡°We¡¯ll set up camp, call this day early, and then set off in the morning.¡± I started to head towards one of the old campsites that was set up in the remnants of an old building.


    The rest of the day was spent with the Pokemon lightly sparring with each other, while I showed Cara and Rio the movements for All-Out Pummeling. Neither of them really got it and I knew I was going to have to try and figure out a way to explain it. I should probably ask someone, but it was honestly kind of fun trying to figure it out on my own. Diancie had joined the three of us and got it almost immediately, clearly enjoying dancing with us more than actually trying to do anything.


    Eventually the other two got most of the movements down just before we settled down for dinner. But they were still struggling. After I served everyone food and sat down, they were still discussing it. All of the Pokemon had joined in on the discussion, since they would all eventually be able to use Z-Moves of some sort, they all wanted to figure it out.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± I said with a bit of a chuckle. ¡°At least, in concept. We just have to combine our wishes, and unleash our full power.¡± My comment was met with a lot of frowns, but I just chuckled more. ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out. Afterall, you said doing those movements caused my aura to shift, right Cara?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yes¡­ it did strange things.¡±


    ¡°Even now, when I was demonstrating it, my aura was shifting, right?¡± Again she nodded. ¡°Then just try to copy that. If there¡¯s anyone here who can visualize and apply the movement of the aura, it¡¯s you.¡±


    I watched as her face scrunched up a bit in embarrassment and she quickly turned her attention back to her food. With a bit more practice, I was sure we could get it. But it would have to wait for when we figured it out in the future.