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The day Romi stumbled into the apartment in Calcenon City with a small purple creature under one arm after being away all weekend was not the strangest the resistance had seen since leaving Reborn City. All the same, it was definitely in the top five.
Serra opened the door and took note of two things: how utterly filthy- but happy- Romi was, and the cheekily grinning Pokemon they carried. And she closed the door behind her as she stepped outside.
"Okay, no . Brush yourself off first, or you'll make a huge mess."
Romi shot the little Pokemon a warning look and obliged, brushing dust from their hair and clothes. The removal of Romi's arm did nothing to disturb the Pokemon; it remained hovering, zooming up to join in the 'game' by swatting at Romi's hair. It was impossible for either Serra or Romi themself not to grin at this, until Serra finally announced Romi clean enough to come in, and reopened the door.
The room was as full as Romi had ever seen it. Cain, Taka, Shelly and Hardy were all seated around a game board on the table Noel usually read at, Noel himself watching something on TV with Anna and Lumi. Charlotte was watching over Eve's shoulder; the older girl was focused on a notebook she was writing in, but did not seem bothered by Charlotte's questions. And Radomus chose that moment to emerge from the hallway, stopping in surprise at the sight. When the door opened, everyone but Shelly and Anna looked over.
The Pokemon remained by Romi's head as they walked in, but when it saw the several surprised people in the room, it squealed and zoomed ahead. Romi made a horrified sound and grabbed for it, but it was too late. Noticing the board game it whistled and dove, snatched up Cain's game piece before anyone could react, and ate it. It went for the other pieces too, but Hardy had the sense to bend over the game board and cover it. He was rewarded by Romi's new companion sticking its tongue out at him.
It hovered over to greet Lumi and the twins next. To Lumi's delight, it lit on the hand she held out, and made polite noises in greeting. Noel grinned and reached out to pat it, but it was already up, investigating the fluffier parts of his hair and poking at his hand with its tail. Anna, watching, gasped in delight; the little Pokemon decided that her hair was even fluffier , and divebombed her, swatting at one of her pigtails and hiding in it.
The television made a noise and caught its attention; it took a glance at the screen, saw Radomus behind it, and flew like a shot over to investigate the large top hat he was wearing.
Radomus greeted it gently, lowering his head for the Pokemon to get a better look at the hat, and it saw the invitation and took it. It flew headfirst into the top of the hat, impaling it with its small head-spike and prompting an indignant rebuke from Radomus.
The tiny creature backed away, but the hat was skewered, and it tried to fly toward Romi, chattering frantically as the weight of the hat made it difficult to balance. Romi reached out and managed to catch the hat, but their new friend kept going, squealing happily once it realized it was free.
Eve, who had closed and tucked away her book as soon as the board game was interrupted, was greeted with a curious poke as the little creature discovered her barrette; then, more curious pokes, as it tried to steal the hairpiece and Eve subtly reached up to grab the Pokemon. At the first brush of her fingers on its foot, it chattered and jetted out of the room and down the hall. Four seconds later there was a crash , a sound of porcelain breaking, and a very loud swear; the purple being flew out, looking frightened, and made a beeline for Romi, diving into their bag. Moments later Laura and Saphira reached the room, Laura shocked, Saphira furious.
"What the hell was that ?" Her eyes fell on Romi. "What was that thing?"
"I'm sorry," Romi said, sounding exhausted. "Its ball is in my bag, I haven't had a chance to-"
"Was that a Poipole?" Cain asked, looking awed.
"Yeah," Romi said, handing Radomus back his hat. "I'm sorry, I'll pay to fix it."
"There is no need to worry," Radonus told them. "I believe I can manage. But I would enjoy hearing whatever tale you've brought; a thrilling one, no doubt."
"Got it." Romi looked up at Laura and Saphira. "If I clean up in there, can I make a sandwich?"
"Dustpan's under the sink," Saphira sighed.
Romi began, ten minutes later, by opening their bag and smiling, whispering something before they brought out a Premier Ball and held it while they spoke.
"This is only the second time he's gone in there, so I just want to know, if he's coming out," they explained. "...Maybe close the door just in case."
Charlotte shut it with her foot, not taking her eyes off the ball in Romi's hands.
"Friday. I went to check in on some friends in Tourmaline. Europa," they added, when Taka looked confused.
"Oh, nice," he nodded.
"Madison took me over. I was giving her a rest before we came back. Went to take a walk, was going to go back and have lunch with everyone before we came back here. But I ran into a Claydol out there and it teleported me."
"...Do they usually do that?" Serra asked Radomus.
"Not typically," he said gravely. "Go on?"
"I ended up in a desert, but it didn't look like Tourmaline. It dropped me just outside this gated area, barbed wire and guards everywhere, I thought it was a jail. So I went to ask them where I was but they freaked out, said I wasn't supposed to be there, and next thing I know I'm in a bigger version of the Grand Hall's- basement." They glanced at the adults present for any sign of recognition; only Hardy and Cain's faces reacted.
"Confiscated my team and all my stuff, wanted to know what I was doing there. I told them about the Claydol, they thought I was lying. And then they said they needed to get in touch with Reborn's government for prosecution and that was when I realized that Claydol sent me right out of the region. But they still wouldn't tell me where I was."
"That sounds illegal," Noel said, sounding concerned.
"Very illegal," Laura agreed. "And awful, Romi, I'm so sorry."
"Well, they put me in a holding cell and said they were going to contact the authorities immediately, and I was mostly just mad at that point, I wanted my Pokemon back. And my PokeGear. But they ignored me, and there was nothing to do in there except listen to the weird sounds that popped up every now and then. It was. A little scary honestly. I eventually just went to sleep. To make a long story short, Peanut here got my Pokeballs back and my Pokemon busted me out of there, and then Peanut led me to a building- there aren't many guards inside the place. Anyway that turned out to be an office, and I broke in, found my stuff there and found out roughly where I was, and took off. I tried calling the Grand Hall, and then I tried you guys, but the PokeGear wasn't working, probably from all the interference. So I just started walking."
"Interference?" Eve asked.
"Okay, the little guy did a good thing," Taka conceded. "That's terrifying."
"Yeah, from the wormholes," Romi said. "Route 51. There was stationery in the office. It's an Ultra Beast nature preserve, I think. At the very least, they were everywhere , and I kept having to dodge out of the way of big groups of them so it was hard to be sure of my direction. Peanut disappeared, I assumed he took off. Around morning I saw the wall around the route- that thing is massive . But there were guards there, so before they saw me I basically let Madison out and asked her to just fly, any direction, since I had no idea where Route 51 was compared to Reborn. Of course, they heard me, and there was yelling and I think someone sent out a Pokemon because I swear I saw a Thunder Wave. Maddie had to use Agility... I never want to repeat that experience." Romi shuddered.
"Route 51 is real?" Shelly asked, eyes wide. "I- I've only read stories about it..."
"Man, I don't think I'll ever be surprised again," Hardy shook his head.
"Don't say that!" Anna said, sounding horrified. "That would just be awful. Everyone has to be surprised! It's one of the best things in the world!" She looked back at Romi. "Go on. How'd you get home?"
Noel grinned and shook his head, but he too looked curious.
"Well, once we got about 5 minutes out of Route 51, there was a monster sandstorm. Like nothing we ever saw in Tourmaline- almost. There was one place it was that bad. But that didn't occur to me, I just didn't want to get locked up again and I didn't want Madison to get hurt. We were going to fly over it, but this thing... it was huge . But being up there at least gave me a sense of direction, so we landed and headed east. And after a few hours my PokeGear started beeping, and when I checked it it showed that I was somewhere north of Tourmaline. So I just turned south and hoped it wasn't too far. That sandstorm... it wasn't safe. After a while it was even getting in my mouth. And I wasn't opening it."
"Romi, that sandstorm... how the hell did you get out?" Taka asked. "Thing's constant, north of Tourmaline," he explained to the others. "Even the people who live out in the scraptown don't mess with that thing."
"Nino," Romi said simply. "He came from the desert, he's got Sand Veil. You should've seen how happy he was to be out in that storm." Romi laughed. "It was like watching Faith in water. Anyway, Nino helped me get through there faster, and we popped out right behind the train town. It had to be... what, maybe four, by then? Nino was having the time of his life, but I hadn't eaten, I'd barely slept, I was exhausted . It was so close, but I was starving, so I went into my bag to get a snack, and guess who was in there?"
"Peanut!" Lumi gasped.
At the sound of his name the Pokeball in Romi's hand glowed, and Peanut burst out. Romi hurriedly dropped the ball and caught Peanut before he could zoom off; the little Poipole seemed content, for the moment, to snuggle into their arms.
"Sound asleep. He woke up once the bag was opened, and started talking- well, you know- and zooming around, looking at all the old trains. And then he came back and just sort of landed on me."
"Poipoi!" Peanut chirped happily, patting Romi's arm where it held him.
"And I knew I was in trouble, but I was not going back through that storm, so he rode on my head as far as Train Town. At which point Al saw me, got Europa, and they more or less ordered me to sit and eat with them. And Peanut just wanted to see everything, he was all over the place. But Percy kept tossing him Snax, so he ended up sitting between us. That was where he got the nickname, Al called him a 'cute little peanut'. I ended up telling them the story, and then nobody would let me leave, because of that Claydol. So I tried to call Hardy, couldn't get through, tried Charlotte, no answer, and finally got through to the Grand Hall. Victoria started telling me about how Adrienn got a call from Route 51 saying I'd broken in there. They both thought it was some kind of prank call, I didn't really want to set her straight, but I did. And she told me Adrienn wasn't even there, xe was dealing with something in Peridot, but that she'd fill xem in. And not to do anything reckless like that again."
"Well, it was very dangerous," Shelly pointed out. "Although... it was the Claydol..." She trailed off.
"Also this is Romi we're talking here," Cain grinned. "It's okay, Victoria's nice but she's sooo not fun. Not like you. Haha, kidding," he clarified hastily as both Serra and Saphira gave him a look, Radomus shook his head and Romi rolled their eyes, amused.
"So I figured it wasn't the best time to tell her about Peanut. I figured I could tell her and Adrienn after. Said goodbye. And then I fell asleep. When I woke up, Peanut was hovering beside me and... well, look. Stay here, buddy," Romi told Peanut as they released him from their cuddle to reach into their bag. Peanut obliged, watching as Romi brought out what they were looking for- and started giggling, as they brought out more.
Handfuls upon handfuls of broken Poke Balls.
"Every ball I had. Almost fifty," Romi groaned. "He was playing with them, tossing them around, going into them, breaking out, and looking for more. This was almost the last one. He found it just after I woke up. And tossed it, bounced it off his head, and... click. He went in. And it didn't break. Somehow. He came out a second later sounding so loud and excited that apparently Steph heard it. Anyway, when Peanut got out he tossed me the ball."
"Popo-whee!" Peanut picked up the ball from the floor and scooped it toward Romi with his tail, as if to demonstrate.
"It was a game," Romi grinned. "Watch." They tossed the Pokeball back, careful not to click the button on it, and Peanut squealed as the ball hit him square in the cheek- and stuck there. Cheerfully he detached it and tossed it to Romi again.
"Okay, that's adorable," Cain stared. Peanut giggled.
"That was just this morning," Romi finished. "Had breakfast, then Maddie flew me here. I still haven't talked to Adrienn, don't know what I'm going to do with this little one, but I just. Wanted to get back here."
"That's. Awesome ." Charlotte, who hadn't spoken at all during the story, was the first to respond after it.
"Route 51," Noel said. "Did you guys know that was real?"
"I had heard rumors," Radomus shrugged. "But no more than that."
Romi wondered about that, but kept their gaze on Peanut. Taka came toward them, hesitantly, and Peanut zoomed right up to his face, startling him and making everyone laugh.
"Okay, hi," Taka grinned. Peanut squealed and flew around him- before noticing his scarf, and immediately rubbing his tiny face against it.
"I have to pet him too," Cain pleaded.
"Me too-" Anna began.
"Outside!" Serra said firmly. "...And I'll visit with the little brat, too."
And so the League trainers and friends of Calcenon City met the Poipole known as Peanut, and Romi attracted a number of jokes about how they had 'raided Route 51'. Their call a few hours later to explain the situation fully to Victoria and Adrienn was a long one, and their trip to Reborn City- with Peanut- was even longer. The authorities at Route 51- which, Romi learned, was a region-unaffiliated refuge for Ultra Beasts- had discovered a Poipole missing and correctly deduced where it had gone, likely due to the strange purple goo found on the cameras. They were furious- both at Romi for their presence at a top secret location and theft of a Pokemon, and at Adrienn and Victoria for not answering their call requests. Their protests- that it had been accidental, that neither Adrienn nor Victoria had known Route 51 was near enough to Reborn that Romi could possibly be anywhere near it- were utterly ignored. Eventually the authorities proposed that the situation could be forgiven if the Pokemon was returned, but this presented a problem: Romi did not want to let their new friend go, and Peanut flatly refused. There was much further discussion, and two meetings, but eventually it was agreed that a bond between a Pokemon and trainer could not be forced apart, and Peanut was allowed to stay with Romi- provided they not reveal where they found him. Romi wisely chose not to mention the situations in Train Town or Calcenon, and together they all came up with a cover story about Peanut being rescued from the ruins of the Glass Workstation. In the meantime, they would investigate the strange Claydol that knew their location.
And then Romi was free to go.
So they went home, and while he followed Romi around the most, Peanut became a sort of mascot around Calcenon. Charlotte and Cain even taught him to make faces toward the PULSE barrier. But nobody had to teach him how to beg food from Lumi; that is a trick that every Pokemon instinctively knows, even Ultra Beasts.
Chatot probably gave him lessons anyway.