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Chapter Text

Pokemon AU timeline

This is the chronological timeline for those who want to read it that way but reading in release order works perfectly fine hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4 - Veevee's dense trainer (Yuupomu)

Chapter 10 - Baby dragon gang (Kanon)

Chapter 7 - The pride of a dragon master (Lanzhu & Kanon) (Hints of Shiolanz & Chisakano)

Chapter 18 - Brawl in the ruins (Mari)

Chapter 14- Exhibition match (YohaRiko Background SumiKeke)

Chapter 8 - To be a Generalist (Mari & Yuu)

Chapter 15 - Learning the ropes (Minor Yuupomu & Shiki & Mia & Lanzhu & Kanon)

Chapter 6 - Needy Maki (NicoMaki)

Chapter 3 - Kanon's flying giant scary friend (Liella) (Technically a backstory and can be read first)

Chapter 20 - Paradox Trouble (Liella)

Chapter 2 - Shiki's experiment log (ShikiMei)

Chapter 9 - Shiki's experiment log 2 (ShikiMei) (Other pairings mentioned)

Chapter 11 - Chisato's favourite sight (ChisaKano)

Chapter 12 - A day with Meloetta (Various)

Chapter 13 - Sea princess (ChikaYou)

Chapter 16 - Fiery Leader Meeting (Honoka & Chika & Ayumu & Kanon)

Chapter 17 - A scientific article on mythical and legendary Pokemon by Dia Kurosawa and Shiki Wakana (Dia & Shiki) (A lot more mentioned)

Chapter 21 - Just another day (Kinako & Emma, Airina & Natsumi & Shiki, YYY & Yu, Maki & Riko & Shioriko)

Chapter 18 - Gym battle: Kanan vs Kozue (Kanan & Kozue & Tsuzuri)

Not in any chronological order

Chapter 4 - Dark types are cute! (Kasumi)

Chapter Text

Shiki sighed looking through her notes of experiments. A sudden nudge on her hand alerted her to her Dreadnaw, Naw, brushing up against her in a comforting manner most likely sensing his trainer's discomfort. Shiki smiled at the pokemon petting it on the head while refocusing her attention to her notebooks.

Her experiments have not been going well recently with most of her ideas either being a failure or inconclusive.

Experiment 001 - Dreadnaw shell

Recreate dreadnaw's shell as a held item

Result: Successfully made a giant shell which had the same toughness as Naw's unfortunately it is very heavy and you can't really hold a giant shell in battle.

Experiment 002 - Multi-evolution???

Exposing an Eevee who is holding an everstone to the effects of other evolutionary stones

Result: Nothing happened, Veevee was not too happy that we borrowed it.

Note: That was disappointing.

Note 2: Don't bribe Natsumi to "borrow" Yuu's Eevee without her permission. Nijigasaki did not like it at all, that was an earful.

I don't think I've ever seen Ayumu more angry before.

Experiment 003 - Vulpix diff

Observe the differences between Vulpix and Alolan Vulipx

Note: I actually asked to borrow Summer and Winter from Lanzhu-senpai and Shioriko-san with their blessing although Lanzhu-senlai's Clefairy had to sit in.

Result: Differences extend to far more than their typings. Alolan Vulpixs tend to be much more anti-social as Winter tried to hide from me and Summer had to coax her out.

Addendum 1: This might be just a feature of Summer and Winter as they reflect their trainer's personalities. I should get more vulpixes to observe 

Experiment 004 - Do Jigglypuff's actually cause sleep?

Common wisdom is that Jigglypuff's singing instantly put people to sleep

Result: I am writing this entry live, Mia-san has lent me Puffball for this, she is starting to sing in 5, 4, 3 ,2 …. (Entry stops here)

Experiment 005 - How much does insomia actually stop sleep

Insomia is an ability that stops pokemon from sleeping in battle but does that stop sleep outside of battle the subject in this case is a Hoothoot

Notes: I borrowed noise canceling headphones from Mia-san for this

Result: The Hoothoot, Manmaru, fell asleep upon listening to Puffball sing

Comment from Kanon and Chisato: You could have just asked us we have seen Manmaru sleep before.

To be fair it was possible it would be immune to other Pokemon's sleep effects regardless of battle or not

Experiment 006 - The limits of Zoura's illusion

Zoura is the tricky fox pokemon known for its ability to cast illusions but what are it's limits?

Result: Inconclusive much like it's owner, Kasumi, the only Zoura around the area, Illu, does not cooperate often. Everytime I approach it, it will cast an illusion and escape.

Note: Maybe I could ask Shoriko-san to get Snap to locate Illu with its echolocation. (Experiment put on hold)

Experiment 007 - Pachirisu

Pachirisus are cute

Mei's note: Shiki was playing with Chip the entire day today, she's so cute when she gets distracted like that.

Note: Kinako was looking for Chip for the whole day. My error, I should have confirmed with Kinako that she knew Chip was here.

Note 2: Mei is also very cute 

Experiment 008 - Origin of Eevees

The Nijigasaki team seems to have a lot of Eevees and their evolution forms however I have not seen any wild Eevees around here and they are known to be rare. Where do they get them?

Note: Rejected idea, Nijigasaki are very protective of their Eevees I should not mess with them before I get a bunch of Eeveelutions chasing me.

Mei's note: Shiki please do not try to chase the secrets of other teams. I don't think they will like it.

Experiment 009 - Are Sableye really able to chew gemstones?

Sableyes are known to be able to chew right through precious gemstones 

Note: Rejected idea. It's too expensive to allow this expermiment

Comment from Dia-senpai: Yes Sableye can in fact chew through gemstones, Mari keeps spoiling Oda with random gemstones as snacks.

Note 2: Anecdotal evidence is not conclusive enough will arrange to witness this phenomenon.

Experiment 10 - Meowth produces infinite money?

The move payday is known to generate money that Meowth uses for it's attack my hypothesis is that this will allow us to have infinite income for liella

Result: Negative. Despite Natsumi's questionable naming convention, Money Maker can't actually produce the same kind of currency as we use. However, Wallet the Gimmighoul seems to enjoy the coins.

Comment from Natsumi: You could have just asked me, I would have told you how it worked…. For some money of course.

Experiment 11 - Celebi time travel express

The legendary Pokemon, Celebi, is know to be able to time travel but can it take passengers?

Result: inconclusive

Mei's note: Shiki… we don't have a Celebi 

Liella's note: Do not go out hunting for mythical Pokemon. We already tried that with Meloetta and she did not like it. She may hang out with us now but not all mythicals will be as nice as her.

Experiment 12 - Are Macargo's really as hot as the sun

There is a rumor going around that a Macargo is as hot as the sun. If we can harness this heat we might be able to generate infinite power.

Result: Negative, we found a pack of Macrago but Ren pointed out that if this was true we'd all be dead.

(A messy written note can be seen scrawled onto the notebook)

Natsumi's comment: I can't believe you actually thought that might be true I thought you were supposed to be smart!

Ok that one should have been common sense 

The sound of her lab's door opening forced Shiki's attention away from her notebook as she spotted her favorite person enter the room with her Mimickyu on her shoulder.

"Shiki, I know you haven't actually been doing anything today, take a break and spend some time with me. '' Mimi cried out in agreement to Mei's words, hopping up and down in a way that still confused Shiki on how that was possible.

That's a good experiment. I should find out what is under that cloth. Shiki's thoughts were broken as Naw made a rumbling sound that Shiki could tell was an agreement of some sort. Seems that everyone wanted her out of the lab for the day. 

Shiki got up returning beckoning Naw to follow as she nodded in approval to follow Mei out, there was time for more experiments later she mused.

Chapter Text

When one thought of Kanon Shibuya the words talented, cute, pretty, or even nervous might come to mind. This was why the new members of Liella were flabbergasted when everyone let out their full team for a little break.

Sure Kanon’s first few releases were expected. The first pokemon she released was her starter Manmaru, a Hootoot, then a baby Gible she has been taking care of adorably named Kadia, her elegant-looking Altaria named Floof, a Dragonair, an Axew and finally A GIANT VISCIOUS-LOOKING HYDREIGON. WHY DID SHE OWN A HYDREGON.

Kinako was having a nice day, the new and old members of Liella were finally all together with Natsumi joining and everyone was finally on the same page. After months of seeing the members of Liella and looking up to them as the stars of their small town, Kinako was finally one of them. She knew Kanon-senpai was a Dragon specialist after all the team members specialists were all very publicly known but all she ever used in battles were her Altaria, Dragonair and Hoothoot with her taking care of an Axew and Gible as well. So it came to an absolute shock to her when a giant black beast came out of one of Kanon’s Pokeball and that black blur charged toward her seconds after.

This is it im going to die. was all Kinako could think off as she closed her eyes her last sigh being Kanon’s previously unknown member making a mad fly to her. She prepared herself for the worst when she suddenly felt something sniffing her?

Kinako slowly opened her eyes and the sight that greeted her confused her greatly. The Hydreigon was hovering right in front of her sniffing her with its three heads and then it made a joyous sound and started to rub up to her as if wanting to be pet with each head wanting its turn. Well, this just turned from the most horrifying experience of her life to the most confusing. She hesitantly hovered her hand over the Hydreigon’s main head while it patiently waited for her to finally give it what it wanted. Hesitantly petting it Kinako finally tore her eyes away from the possible killing machine to see the other first years as stunned as her while the second years were wearing various expressions of laughter except for Kanon who looked a little guilty.

The silence well, silence minus Hydreigon making purring sounds even at the very hesitant pets was finally broken by Chip running up to the pokemon twenty times its size and engaging it in a conversation which cumulated in the Hydregon backing away from Kinako, instead allowing Chip to get on top of it and bounce on its head like a trampoline.

The first years all exchanged looks of bewilderment before turning to the first years for an answer “Senpai…if you don't mind me asking… why do you have a Hydreigon..?” Kinako managed to stutter out the other first years all asking the same thing.

Kanon looked sheepish as she raised her hand to scratch her face in a thinking manner. “Uhh well how do i tell this story”

Kanon was 10 when the incident happened, she and Chisato were playing a bit far out of town after picking berries with Manmaru and Circa. Kanon was holding out to Chisato as if her life depended on it “Chii-chan… don’t you think we’re a little too far out I’ve heard a scary pokemon lives here that made everyone run away. We already have the berries why don’t we head back” Patting the pouch she was carrying to emphasize the point.

“Don’t worry Kanon-chan we’re not going that far just a little bit further.” Chisato reassured her friend as they slowly advanced through the thick woods. The forest itself was actually not scary at all, it was a brightly lit area with lush greenery and lush with food. However, the lack of Pokemon or even the sounds of pidgeys and tailows that were normally in the area was absent. Crica suddenly raised her tail signaling the party to stop as the azurill was particularly sensitive to the environment having grown up in the area.

Suddenly, a loud roar permitted the area the telltale sign that everyone, especially young inexperienced trainers should get away from the area as soon as possible. Kanon, Chisato, Manmaru and Circa all froze as the roaring continued before all simultaneously turning around and starting to run as fast as possible.

That wasn’t too last as Kanon accidentally tripped over a branch scraping her knee, dropping her pouch and letting out a yelp in the process. The other three who were a little far ahead turned around to witness the most horrifying sight a giant black and blue monster with three head was approaching them at a rapid space managing to blast past the trees blocking its way without even flinching.

“KANON-CHAN!” Chisato cried out as the Beast landed right next to Kanon and picked her up by her shirt its main head and left head observing her closely as if assessing a delicious meal its sheer presence radiated power and its demeanor daring her or their pokemon to do anything,

To give her credit, Kanon did not yell, scream or even say anything. However, this was not because she was fearless, oh no she was absolutely scared out of her wits too scared to even make a sound as the great monster of the forest stared directed at her. Kanon could feel its eyes roam over her assessing her and judging her as if she was either a test or food. The left head of the demon looking creature turned away looking down for a few seconds before the main second lifted Kanon even higher such that it was face to face with her. Not even being able to move Kanon accepted her fate looking at the monster accepting it as the last sight she would see. The creature opened its mouth… and made a chomping motion all the well beckoning with its left head to the berries that fell out when Kanon fell earlier.

“You… want the berries?” Kanon managed to meak out hoping to whatever deity that existed the monster would somehow understand her. The main head nodded and even made a hopeful begging posture with its free heads.

“Umm go ahead” Kanon said. Upon hearing this the free heads let out a happy roar while it’s right head decided to hoist Kanon onto the dragon’s back. The creature then lowered itself to the ground and started to enjoy Kanon and Chisato’s harvest joyfully eating its fill all the while the four of them watched on Chisato, Manmaru and Circa for their friend and Kanon in confused horror.

The beast finished eating after a few minutes letting out a satisfied purr and picked Kanon back off its back to place on the ground sitting down. After which the three head immediately cuddled up to Kanon making a purring sound as it nuzzled with her.

For Kanon’s part, she was handling this remarkably well she slowly lifted her hands to pet the main head of the beast hopefully helping to pacify it more. “Uhh good, giant pokemon?” She said hesitantly. The response she got was a happy purr as the beast rose back to its full height and turned to Kanon’s injured knee making a questioning purr.

“Oh it’s uhh fine im ok i swear!” Kanon managed to eek out before attempting to stand to prove her point but immediately collapsed in a hiss of pain. The beast reacted immediately picking Kanon back up onto its back without allowing any objections and turning to Chisato as if asking her to lead the way.

Chisato was of course, bewildered by the entire series of events she had just witnessed and decided to just comply to the unspoken command as Manmaru perched onto Kanon head choosing to cuddle up to his trainer as if protecting her from the monster she was riding. The walk back was not quiet with Kanon for some reason that Chisato to this day could not fathom deciding to strike up a conversation with the monster she was riding.

“Umm thank you for carrying me back mr dragon” She said the, said dragon roared loudly as if it was proud to offer such a service.

“Were you just hungry?” She asked and the left head turn around to look at her to nod.

“Dosen’t it get lonely staying around there? There aren’t many other pokemon around” The head she was speaking to looked sad and nodded in agreement as it bumped up to Kanon again.

“Oh I know how about you stay with us! We can give you berries and you can play with us!” Kanon suggested seemingly having her fear replaced with a slight affection for the big beast. Of course, Chisato, Manmaru and Circa all looked at her like she was crazy but that wasn’t going to stop her.

The main head let out a sound of delight as the dragon took off high into the air in a joyous dance much to the horror of a newly acrophobic Kanon, when it finally landed all three head were all in agreement as its right head licked Kanon and nuzzled into her somemore.

Chisato gave up at this point.

Their return to the village took a lot longer after that with the monster they were bringing back stopping every now and then demanding pets or picking berries as they walked. By the time they had made it back to their village the sun was setting and their parents were likely worried for them. A little from the villages entrance Chisato stopped the party and reasoned with them “Guys, im not sure what everyone will say about the giant black dragon carrying Kanon-chan”.

Kanon let out a thinking sound before unclipping an empty pokeball from her pouch holding beckoning the beast to drop her off next to Chisato. Once safely on the ground, with Chisato supporting her, she held the ball up to the beast and said “Well, will you be my friend?” The dragon roared in delight as it bumped its head into the ball capturing itself.

“After that, we got a giant scolding from our parents about the dangers of going into restricted areas” Kanon recounted.

“It got even worse when Kanon’s parents asked to meet the so called ‘Scary giant friend’ she made” Chisato continued “They freaked out when she released a Hydreigon of all things.”

“Well they warned up to Joy fast enough isn’t that right Joy” Kanon said as she pet the head currently lying on her lap.

Liella had taken to having a somewhat tense picnic while Kanon and Chisato recounted their childhood exploits. The Hydreigon calming down after giving each new member its version of a nice to meet you hug.

“So let me get this straight. You met a Hydreigon when you were 10, didn’t die, BEFRIENDED IT, it gave you a ride back to your home and it became the second pokemon you caught” Mei questioned absolutely bewildered by the tale.

“That sums it up, he’s part of the reason i eventually specialised in dragon types” Kanon hummed happily sharing her sandwich with her pokemon,

“And… you named it Joy…” Kinako asked bewildered by this whole story.

“What its an adorable name” Chisato was the one to actually defend this decision earning a purr of approval from Joy himself.

“Still…” Kinako trailed off deciding to not question the two’s naming convention after all Circa was named just because it sounded like circle.

“Why don’t we know about it, and why don’t you use it for battles?” Shiki enquired this whole situation very bemusing to her.

“Well, Joy here actually dosen’t really like to battle he’s more of a companion pokemon but he definitely could fight if he wanted. You probably don’t know him because i don’t really let him out in public to not scare people” Kanon answered.

“Don’t worry you’ll get used to it” Keke commented from atop her Arcanine Sumire and Ren nodded in resigned agreement having heard this entire tale before. The first years just nodded seemingly out of question for now all learning a new side of their senpai today.

Joy smiled getting up and letting a playful roar up as it grabbed the smaller pokemon around for another play session and flying off with them Kanon just smiling at her big cuddly dragon in a look of deep enderment while it did so.

Chapter Text

Veevee was not the brightest, she knew that she wasn't the brightest with the others having to babysit her in her defense she was younger than them but she liked to think she wasn't dense. This was why she wanted to tear her fur out everytime she watched her trainer play will they won't they with Ribbon's trainer.

Her and Ribbon were up in Ribbon's little personal space in Ayumu's home, the little area positioned a little above the living room the occupants spent most of their time in. In every Nijigasaki member's house there was always a little hideaway for eeveelutions even for the members that did not own them. It was kind of an unspoken rule that she isn't sure how it started but she loves it nonetheless. Of course, other pokemon were allowed up as well but the space was mainly for Eevees.

Each Eevee space was always customized to reflect either the respective eeveelutions or their trainer. Case in point Ribbon's hideaway was neatly decorated in pink decoration and multiple comfy cushions one could just snuggle up in. There was also a pokemon sized couch near the edge that ribbon liked to spend time on as it gave her a full view of the living room.

Veevee was situated right next to ribbon on the couch tails intertwined as they watched their trainer's 'watch tv'

"So when do you think they'll finally get together." Veevee asked for the millionth time as was tradition whenever she saw ribbon.

Ribbon sighed as one only could after hearing the same question too many times "Veevee I think Flare would let himself get drenched before that happened"

Veevee chuckled imagining the Flareon absolutely drenched as she turned her attention to the two trainers below her. It was truly ridiculous in Veevee's opinion her trainer was literally cuddled up to Ayumu as they watched TV.

"Do humans really take this long to admit the obviou." Veevee questioned. She had met other human couples before that like Summer and Winter's trainers who seemed to be childhood friends and eventually became lovers. That was literally a blueprint her trainer could follow but she just didn't seemingly content to never step across the line into an actual relationship.

"No our trainers are just dense. Even Sasuke can't stand it anymore." Ribbon laughed looking at the Ekans who was taking a nap next to their trainer.

Veevee laughed as well before an idea for a little fun came to her head. She jumped from the perch landing on her trainer causing both of their trainer's to fall off the couch with a cry of shock.

"AHH Veevee why did you do that!" Ayumu yelled before suddenly realising the position she was in, Yuu and her were on the floor, limbs tangled and Yuu on top of her almost kissing. The two shared a quick momment of silence as they stared into each other eyes before Yuu regained her sense and yelped.

Yuu stuttered out an apology quickly getting up as she chose to glare at Veevee who was laughing joyously at the sight of the two blushing trainers. She felt something grab her as Ribbon grabbed her with her ribbons back up to the Eevee perch saving her from their trainer's wraith all the while giggling in amusement.

"Please don't do that again Veevee." Yuu pouted while helping Ayumu back up an opportunity for confession once again lost. Veevee just laughed more. Maybe one day her dense brick of her trainer would chase her happiness but for now her and Ribbon will enjoy teasing them relentlessly.

Chapter Text

Dark types were weak. That was something Kasumi knew since young. After all, take a glance at all the dark types and what would you see? Pokemon who are overall frail or otherwise not too strong by themselves. The only real exceptions to this rule was the fearsome tyranitar and hydreigon. The rest? They survived as a team or true trickery, dark types were not one of brute force. No, they are the masters of the night, the forefront of trickery and deception using their cunning to outsmart their oppodents both in the wild and in battle.

For this reason, dark types were generally dislike. Once even being known as evil types, many dark types had bad stigmas attached to them such as Absol being said to bring disasters or Zoraks being pokemon known for mayhem and mischief. In documentaries, dark types are always shown to get by as a pack such as poochyenas and hierarchies of the bisharp line. After all, alone they were weak, trickery can only get you so far in the face of true strength.

For these reasons, dark specialists were rare, perhaps the second rarest after ghost specialists afterall why use a type that was weak alone in a world where most offical battles were 1 vs 1. Sure, tyranitars and hydreigons were known as powerhouses but they were mainly favoured by rock and dragon specialists. In fact, Kasumi had even seen a hydreigon around belonging to the leader of Liella and she was a dragon specialist. Afterall, with power came arrogance meaning they were very different to train compared to other dark types who had pack instincts.

Despite all of this, Kasumi chose to specialize in dark type Pokemon, her friends joke that it was due to her sharing mischievousness with other dark types which was true to an extent. Unbeknownst to those she wasn't close to, Kasumi actually did so due to feeling a kinship with them as someone who has to fight her way to make a name for herself through her sheer efforts and not inherent talent nor power. To be the number 1 pokemon coordinator while showing the world dark types were cute and beautiful in their own way, that was kasumi's dream with the dark types she so cherished.

Her team was an embodiment of this idea, take her starter for example , Illu the Zoura. They got along famously with both being little gremlins with a penchant for pranks and tricks with a talent for using her illusions to dazzle people on stage. Her other team members, Umbreon, Galarian linoone, Thievul and Morepeko were all cute and energetic just like her.

Yes truly, they were all cute in their own way in Kasumi's eyes. The world be damned if they were biased against dark types. She will show the world through her performances, dark types aren't just evil pokemon, they are wonderful and should be respected as such.

Chapter Text

Maki sighed, the pokemon center her parents owned was especially busy today but it was finally the end of her shift. Her Chansey, Michelle, and her Gallade, Blade, were walking next to her as they made their way back to the reception area. The three coming back after a round of intensive care.

Finally reaching the entrance Maki stretched herself feeling the exhaustion in her bones. The pokemon center's doors opening filled Maki with dread at the thought of another round of intensive care being needed.

However, the door opened to nothing, no one, not even a tiny pokemon like a Pichu coming in, there was just nothing.

Was the door broken? Maki pondered before feeling the familiar telltale energy of teleport being used. She barely had the time to react before a Body was flinging itself to her and she had to catch the culprit.

"NICO-CHAN! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU NOT TO TELEPORT IN" Maki yelled looking down at the girl in her arms who had a sheepish look on her face. 

"Hehe sorry Maki-chan" Nico got out, turning to look at her Gardevoir, Kiki, in a silent show of approval of a job well done.

Sighing, Maki helped her girlfriend stand up straight and fixed her outfit for her. The coordinator blushed at the show of affection no matter how small in such a public area usually, she was the one to make moves in public.

"Ok let's go home" Maki said as she laced her hand with Nico's for their usual walk home.

Wow, Maki-chan is acting weird today, Nico thought. Usually she had to be the one to initiate everything from physical contact to hand holding. She glanced at Blade and Michelle silently questioning them on the actions of their trainer only to be met with small smiles from the two Pokemon.

Their house was a small one quite unusual for someone of Maki's family but it was a lovely one that was just nice for the two of them and their pokemon. The home was nearby the other μ's members but far enough that the two had their privacy.

Entering the home Maki immediately dragged them to the couch choosing to cuddle up to Nico in a tight hug. As cute as this was Nico did have to prepare dinner  "Maki-chan as cute as you are today I need to make dinner for us and our pokemon" 

Maki pouted choosing to tighten her grip instead of releasing her "Noooo just order in today I want to just rest with you"

Blade and Kiki just chuckled before leaving them alone, choosing to leave them alone and dragging Michelle off with them to give their trainers privacy.

Nico just sighed resigned to her fate either way they weren't exactly starved for money and it was rare to see Maki so docile and needy. Tired Maki truly was a wonder for Nico and Nico only.

Chapter Text

Dragons are fearsome, prideful, egotistical creatures known for dominating the battlefield and crushing their enemies. Well-known apexes of the food train many of the strongest Pokemon out there are dragons from ancient beasts like Tyrantrums to pseudo legends like Salamence to even legendary Pokemon themselves are dragons. You don't just share a typing with the overseer of the world without being strong yourself after all. 

Dragon specialists are known for their might after all to tame these creatures one must have an even more imposing presence to command these proud pokemon. To be a master of dragons was to be an inspiring figure one that everyone could look to and respect as a leader. One that could overcome all adversity or challenges that might come their way.

Lanzhu prided herself as a top-rank dragon master recognized far and wide as an unstoppable force being completely unmovable and taking every challenge on head first.

Her experience started since young although her starter was not a dragon type, her first experience with dragons was with a small bagon that kept trying to jump off various ledges in an attempt to fly. Shioriko commonly became exasperated by this act after all her floor could only take so many bagon head-shaped holes. However, Lanzhu was different she understood the bagon's plight and trained with it day in and day out. Her efforts were eventually rewarded when her little hopeful flier eventually evolved into a Shelgon and finally a beautiful Salamance the main powerhouse of her team.

She had worked hard for her pseudo-legendary partner and it was a sense of achievement to all dragon specialists to train one of these powerhouses. 

This was why she did not particularly like or respect the other dragon specialist among the groups, the leader of Liella, Kanon Shibuya. When Lanzhu first heard that there was another dragon specialist she bolted in search of her immediately eager to meet someone that could match her caliber and perhaps get an equal sparring partner for Dreamer. 

Which was why she was disappointed in her findings, really? She thought this is the supposed popular dragon specialist and leader of Liella?! Her pokemon consisting of three baby dragons… a small owl… an Altaria which was known as more of a fairy than a dragon, a mid staged dragon in the form of her Dragonair, and just one fully evolved dragon. The worst part was her only fully evolved dragon, a hydreigon, was a companion pokemon and didn't even battle much.

Her disposition wasn't anything impressive either, when she first met the leader she landed right in the middle of one of Liella's training sessions choosing to land in front of her on Dreamer greeting her with an exciting introduction that she couldn't even finish before Kanon was hiding behind that girlfriend of hers like a frightened cat.

Like are you kidding her this was her so-called equal? Someone who dashed away from a Salamance to hide calls themselves a dragon specialist??? 

To her and her Pokemon's credit, they had immediately responded with her Hydregien roaring out a challenge to Dreamer while her Altaria and Dragonair coiled protectively around their trainer while Kanon had quickly grabbed the baby dragons intending to shield them from a perceived threat.

However the rest? Disappointing would be an understatement after a quick chat with the girl introducing herself as a fellow dragon specialist Lanzhu decided this wasn't even worth her time. Kanon embodied zero traits of a dragon master and her team looked like a playtoy to hers and so she left after a short while with a disappointed sigh this was the only other dragon specialist and she had the demeanor of a baby dragon.

It was a few weeks later when she next talked to her again with Kanon asking her for a favour, as the only other dragon specialist around the area she was the go-to choice to take care of the three baby dragons for a day while she ran an errand with the rest of Liella. Of course, never backing away from a challenge Lanzhu accepted immediately after all she raised dreamer from young how hard could it be babysitting three young hatchlings. Besides she had her team and Shioriko to help her out. In fact, she proudly boasted "This would be no problem as all"

"Lanzhu I'm needed at the pokemon center today, I'll see you tonight ok." Shioriko kissed her cheek as the poison specialist left for the day. Ok well, she had her team this would be easy after all dragons had a hierarchy they abided to, and with multiple fully evolved dragons with her it would be easy to control them.

THIS IS NOT OK THIS IS NOT EASY SEND LANZHU HELPPPPPPPPP not even 2 hours in and Lanzhu has lost control. the Gible baby had started to gnaw on everything and everyone, the Axew was attempting genocide by challenging her entire team on repeat and even worse the Goomy was leaving gunk everywhere that she would definitely have Shioriko yelling at her if she could not get this under control and clean the house. 

Her team was turned into playsets for the baby dragons, poor Turtanator's shell had a few bite marks while Dreamer was covered in slime. Her Dracovish outright gave up and demanded to be returned to his ball while winter clearly made the right choice in going with Shioriko for the day.

Truly nothing worked on these babies she has tried everything from straight power displays to trying to entertain them with games. Nothing worked these babies were determined to cause as much trouble as their demonic but admittingly adorable hearts desired.

This is it, this is hell Lanzhu thought while getting her hair pulled by the Gible again. It was an embarrassment to her pride. Really, she couldn't control three babies?? Turns out, as much as dragons respected hierarchies, babies did not count and are primarily babies meaning they didn't listen to anyone much less adults. 

Ok maybe Kanon had other skills that make her worthy of being a dragon specialist

Kanon sighed today has been a long day, the rest have all returned home and Chisato decided to head back first to get an early start of her turn to make dinner.  Kanon just had to pick up her adorable baby dragons before heading back, deciding to follow Shioriko from the pokemon center back to the house she and Lanzhu shared. What awaited them was not what they expected, the place was a mess slime everywhere, the place adequately trashed and most confusing of all Lanzhu and her team all scattered around the room looking utterly defeated.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Kanon immediately apologized. with a quick whistle in a weird tune, Lanzhu did not know how she made all three babies came running out and jumped into Kanon's arms delighted to see her.

"I'm so sorry about them I'll help clean up" Kanon insisted before being interrupted by Lanzhu dashing to her and physically turning her around.

"No no no just get those three far far away from here please" she begged in desperation the pokemon in the room crying out in the agreement. Kanon nodding released her Hydregion to fly her back home. She had to hand to Kanon, Lanzhu had a newfound respect for her fellow dragon specialist, how the hell she handled three baby dragons will forever be a mystery to her. This finally allowed Lanzhu to finally relax… for a whole 3 seconds. 

Cough cough the sound caught Lanzhu attention as she slowly turned her head to her girlfriend being treated to a sight more terrifying than the three baby dragons or any dragon for that matter. A smiling Shioriko whose smile didn't quite reach her eyes with hidden anger shimmering underneath. Well, maybe there was something scarier than a dragon.

Chapter Text

The serene atmosphere of the relatively quiet town that Nijigsaki called home was destroyed by a loud screeching waking Yuu, Ayumu, and their pokemon on what was supposed to be their lazy day in. Frantically, Yuu and Ayumu dashed out of their house on high alert their Pokemon quickly following behind in frantic haste. The last time a loud sound like that happened it turned out to be “limit testing” of mega evolution where Ai decided it was a good idea to go all out in a battle against Lanzhu and her Salamance RIGHT OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE! They were NOT having a repeat of that disaster. Their budget could not handle another prohibitively expensive repair to the front of their house. 

Instead of an Elite-level battle what they found was a giant Van with a Revaroom piloting it. Its sound definitely waking up all their neighbors, the owner of said van leaning out the window with half their body out the van with sunglasses and shiny blonde hair there was only one person this could be the one and only Mari Ohara in front of their house… at 7 a.m. giant Revaroom mobile in tow, this couldn't be good.

“HIII, Ayumu~! I'm stealing your girlfriend for the day!” Mari yelled over the intercom system she somehow had attached to the van. 

The green-tailed girl just pointed to herself as if questioning the truth of the situation, the clutches of sleep still threatening to consume her odds are this was just one weird dream and there wasn’t a giant van outside their house currently parked outside their car with a crazy blonde looking as if she was about to have her go on a forced outing. Her hopeful dream wasn’t to be real though as a Toucanon grabbed her by the shoulder and flew off to the van, Veevee only managing to jump into her arms in the nick of time. 

Being dropped into the van’s open sunroof Yuu landed on a passenger seat barely having a second to process everything before the van zoomed off with its driver turning to face her with a fascinated glint in her eye. 

Ayumu just slowly waved goodbye still trying to process the events that just transpired with her and her pokemon being left to spend the day by themselves.

“WELCOME YUU” Mari Started hands off the wheel arms up in the air like she just didn't care… or like she wasn’t driving a giant van. 

Yuu just backed herself as far into the corner as she could hugging Veevee close as the only form of self-defense she could get in the den of her presumed kidnapper. 

“Not one for talking much in the morning eh? It’s fine Dia is like that as well welp no problem i can do the talking for both of us!” The other girl babbled not at all explaining why she had decided to pull a Drifloon early in the morning and take Yuu to who knows where, 

“Word on the street is you’ve decided to be a generalist! That's so cool you know no one else is a generalist in Aqours or in fact i don’t think anyone in μ's or Liella are generalists either. You know we’re a rare breed not many people put in the effort to raise a diverse team.”

Well ok that at least made sense… still didn’t explain why she was here at 7am inside a metal death trap. Yuu finally managed to find the voice in her “Yes I decided to be a generalist… but that dosen’t really explain why i’m here.” 

“AH WELL, that's simple! You see just like how pokemon of the same typings tend to stay around each other, we specialists of the same type have to stick together ya know!” Well, she had a point there… kinda, Yuu guessed it counted for generalists as well.

“So, i’ve decided to take you under my wing for a few days and teach you all there is to know about being a generalist! We’ll have quick little talk on each of the types of pokemon and i want to see your team!” Mari cheered hands still not in the wheel as she summoned a clipboard seemingly out of nowhere showing Yuu a schedule that seemed to be written by someone else but nonetheless included everything Mari described. Yuu just nodded in understanding brain struggling to keep up with the blonde’s ramblings.

Mari saw the nod and grinned that was all the approval she needed “Ok since you just agreed lets go! We’re going to my hotel for a few days get ready for the training camp of a lifetime!” 

“Wait what! I didn’t agree ye-” Yuu was cut off by Mari continuing her rambling

“Oh by the way we’re concentrating 100% on this for a few days! That means no outside contact for a few days! Don’t worry though I got my Volcarona to leave a letter explaining the idea on your doorstep” Mari smiled convinced of her full-proof plan.

Welp looks like Yuu had no way to escape this now, Yuu sighed adjusting herself and Veevee to at least be comfortable for the ride before noticing a key detail she hadn’t realized until now. “MARI PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE WHEEL!”

One traumatizing car ride later Yuu was dragged through Mari’s hotel directly past the lobby straight into the lift the hotel staff just gave her looks of sympathy too used to the eccentric blonde's tendency at this point to question her. 

Extravagant was the only word to describe the scenery that Yuu witnessed when she stepped out of the lift a giant suite greeted her the key piece being the huge table in the middle of the room with multiple pictures hanging off the wall and on the table mainly of the owner of said suit and of the team she was part off. Multiple doors leading to what looked like doors to endless possibilities peaked Yuu’s curiosity to explore the place but she held herself back.

Stepping in front of her Mari spread out her arms wide in a welcome gesture stating “Welcome to my private suite here in the hotel which will be your home for the duration of this camp!” 

The next hour passed by in a whirlwind of activities for Yuu as she was shown the multiple facilities the suite had to offer including a luxurious shower, training room, living room, dining room, a dedicated room for Pokemon and a kitchen with equipment Yuu had only seen in movies. The suite was legitimately bigger than the cute home she and Ayumu shared. 

“Ok with that out of the way! Let me introduce you to my team” Mari said once again literally dragging Yuu and by extension Veevee to the lift in order to go to the next floor up which was simply titled “Pokeparadise”

The sight of Mari’s team greeting them was stunning to Yuu 6 pokemon all known for their rarity and difficulty to raise all scattered around a room that could pass for a giant terrarium with a lush forest and mini terrains built in even a running river somehow all enclosed by glass to let natural light in. She had already met her Revaroom earlier now she was going to meet the rest of the blonde’s pokemon. The first member released from Mari was a Volcarona known far and wide for their might and difficulty to both obtain and raise as one could not just stumble upon a Larvesta. Most people had to either be ultra lucky or have both eh connections and money to get one with Mari fitting comfy in the second category it was no wonder she owned one. The other members were no slouches either, along the fake river a Lapras was humming a tune she recognized as a song sung by Mari in the car as well while a kingdra was sleeping nearby its scales managing glimmering under the sunlight. An Armaldo stood tall plucking oran berries from a tree seemingly looking for its breakfast. A second melody joining the Lapras own alerted Yuu to a Swanna resting above one of the trees singing along to the Lapras. Finally, a Mamoswine inhibited the far back of the room presumably acclimatized to its comfort as there looked to be a chilled area just for it.

“I heard from the other Nijigasaki members you’re quite the scholar of pokemon so i presume you need no introductions so let me see your team besides your Eevee!” Mari Beckoned.

Yuu gulped this was the moment she was dreading for someone that was the sudo-leader/manager of a team her own pokemon team wasn't exactly amazing. She palmed a Pokeball letting it fly into the air and releasing her only other member an Emolga popping out of it before doing a dramatic spin in the air and landing on Yuu’s head. Truly a performer at heart.

With a dejected look, Yuu continued “Well this is my only other pokemon, Mari meet Momo.” The Emolga chirped happily atop Yuu’s head while taking a look at the environment around her. 

Insecure wouldn’t even begin to describe how Yuu was feeling right now Yuu knew that she just did not have too high off an ability to take care of pokemon without the ability to form too many bonds without starting to feel a significant strain on herself. 

Mari just tsked before slapping Yuu on the back “Ahh cheer up! Everyone starts somewhere, I know you have a problem maintaining bonds with a lot of pokemon I'm sure you can get through it!” 

Easy for you to say you can somehow maintain 7 bonds easily with pokemon of various types. Yuu thought.

“Huh! Right now?” Yuu questioned at the sudden speed-up of activities.

“Hmm, lets start with what I know best, being a generalist!” Mari chirped

“As you know, as a generalist we have to be attuned to many different types of pokemon while being able to form and maintain bonds with them as well. This means knowing everything you can about each type of pokemon and their preferences from the living environment to what they like to eat and more importantly how to train each of them to their max potential!”

Once again being too fast for any ordinary human being Mari called over her Volcarona deciding to jump right into her version of lectures.

“Saying that lets talk about each individual type! So as you know Pokemon come in 18 types, ets talk about each one at a time!” 

Ahhh this was going to be a long few days Yuu thought.

A few days and an intensive coaching session later, Mari and Yuu stood at the suite once again with Yuu preparing to be sent home. Mari approached with a dramatic bow “Well i have taught all i could to you little one I believe you are ready”

“Thank you Mari, really i really appreciate the last few days” Yuu replied within the past few days Really as tired as she was she had learned more about being a generalist probably than the last few months combined.

“With that, my young pupil I will bestow you with two gifts!” Mari said calling over a servant holding a Pokeball and what looked like a tray of computer drives? Mari took the Pokeball first dropping it into Yuu’s hand.

“Inside that ball is a pokemon created in a lab recently entrusted to me by the pokemon league to take care off. Butttt i don’t have the time and i think raising it will be good for both you and it so take care of him!” Mari said all too happy it seemed but with an air of confidence surrounding her words as well. 

“Ahh wait, are you sure you can entrust me with such a pokemon?” Yuu questioned palming the ball in her hand while staring directly at it as if it could stare back at her. This ball for some reason called out to her as if the pokemon inside it was calling out to her”

Grabbing the drives she placed them into a bag before passing them to Yuu “You will need these eventually trust me make sure you take very good care of them” 

Yuu took a peek into the bag seeing 18 different discs of varying colours that she could somehow feel were precious in a way she could not fathom.

“Well what are you waiting for say hello to your new friend!” Mari demanded a little gleefully anticipating Yuu’s reaction to her ‘gift’.

Welp here goes nothing Yuu thought letting the ball fly through the air the pokemon in materialising immediately tugging at her bonds demanding an enormous intake, more than anything Yuu ever felt causing her to drop to floor as she raised her head to see a silver beast stand in front of her what looked like a giant mask covering its head a giant axe looking item wedged into the mask as it growled loudly at her. The Syntehtic Pokemon, Type Null, stood in front of her. Her first real challenge as both a pokemon trainer and generalist awaited.

Chapter Text

Mei picked up Shiki’s experimental log, finally, she’s been looking for this for awhile now. It has been a strange few days with Shiki not having any new experiments for them to conduct the only thing happening was a bundle of flowers seemingly sent to her house for their next experiment. The log itself was unusually hidden away in a locked drawer requiring Mimi to get in and out using its properties as ghosts in order to retrieve it. 

The lack of experimenting has been making Mei increasingly worried after all this was completely unlike Shiki to do as such she decided a peak into the experiment log would probably answer some questions.

Experiment 013 - Driftloon’s kidnapping tendencies

• Driftloons have a stigma around them suggesting they cause children to disappear supposedly taking them far away, where are they taken to? 

Experimental method: Quite simple, since Mei has a Driftloon just borrow one of Kanon’s baby pokemon and attach a

Comment from Kanon: NO NO NO NO NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Experimental method 2: Very simple, pay a child from the village to hold a-

Note from Mei: VETOED, do not endanger innocent lives Shiki!

Experimental method: This was quite easy to test since Mei has a Driftloon all we had to do is attach a camera to it.

Result: Upon attaching the camera, Driftloon was unable to stay afloat for a prolonged period. It seems a camera directly attached to a Driftloon is somehow heavier than a Driftloon outright carrying a child.

(Experiment put on hold until Driftloon evolves)

Experiment 014 - The migratory patterns of Corviknights

• As a pokemon not native to the region, Corviknights and their evolutionary line seem to follow a migratory season however, we are unsure as to where they visit or their full path.

Result: Camera attached to a wild Corviknight was smashed by what seems to be a giant hammer? Although footage has been recoverd it is quite unusual looking to say the lesat Upon further research it would seem this was from a Tinkerton performing their usual high jinx.

Experiment 015 - The migratory patterns of Corviknight part 2

• As a pokemon not native to the region, Corviknights and their evolutionary line seem to follow a migratory season however, we are unsure as to where they visit or their full path.

Note: This time we got a camera attached to Chisato’s Rookidee, Ro, in an attempt to find out where they fly to.

Result: It would seem Ro does not actually know which path to take. It would seem that pokemon do not instinctually know migratory routes

Note 2: Although the experiment itself is a failure we did discover something new.

Experiment 016 - What is Mimikyu’s true form?

• Rumor has it that looking at a Mimikyu’s true form will cause illnesses, misfortune, or even death therefore it covers itself in a cloth in order to disguise itself.

Mei’s note: I’ve asked Mimi and she adamantly does not want to show herself. Please do not force her.

Note: Ok Mei.

Result: Experiment canceled

(A series of notes can be seen following this experiment)

Hah she’s so whipped, oh 100%, Wow she’s even more whipped than Kanon, Whats that supposed to mean!, Ahahahahaha whipped!

Experiment 017 - Can a Salazzale’s corrosion ability really badly poison steel types that seem to be solely made out of metal?

• Theoretically, something that is fully metal should not be able to be poisoned in a traditional sense.

Experimental method: To perform this experiment we have inducted the help of Shioriko and her Salazzle, Chisato’s Iron treads and Maki on stand-by just in case something went wrong.

Detailed log: Upon the experiment’s start Shioriko instructed her Salazzle to use toxic on Ion, upon the move landing Ion began to show signs of discomfort emulating a normal pokemon’s symptoms when inflicted with the poison status. Chisato called off the experiment soon after and an antidote was administered.

Result: Salazzale is able to poison fully metal pokemon.

Note: As a control we had Shioriko’s Crobat try to poison Ion however it was unsuccessful.

Note from Mei: Shiki we finally completed an actual experiment <3

Note 2: <3 Mei.

Experiment 018 - Multiple discs in a Silvally

• According to Yuu, Sivally can change its typing using specialized memories attached to it.

Experimental method: We can try to cram in more than one disc into Sivally’s head.

Comment from Yuu: NO ABSOLUTELY NOT! He won’t let you get near him anyway!

Comment from Mei: Shiki… 

Comment from Kanon: Shiki I’ve been getting notes from the other leaders that you keep trying to conduct possibly dangerous experiments please try to limit yourself.

Note: Dully noted

Experiment 019 - The science of Pika-clones

• There are many pokemon that seem to related or at least distantly related to the Pikachu line however, how similar are they to they to each other.

Note: As precedent, previous observations of Vulpixes showed that different types of Vulpixes behaved differently.

Note 2: WE managed to borrow a Plusle and Minum from Honoka, a Dedenne from Chika, a Pawmot from Ai, a Parchisu from Kinako, and a Togedemaru from Chisato

Mei’s note: No experiment was done, Shiki confessed she just wanted an excuse to play with the cute pokemon.

Experiment 020 - Mei

• This isn’t particularly an experiment however, I am recording my ideas here to ask out Mei and their results.

Note: I’ve temporarily hidden away this notebook from Mei

Experiment 021 - Asking out Mei by sending her flowers

• According to books i’ve read, flowers are used to show romantic affection to others

Result: Mei mistook the flower’s as some sort of material for the next experiment

Note: I should have requested a card to be delivered to Mei along with the flowers

Experiment 022 - Romantic dinner

• I have also read that many girls like to go out on romantic dinners with their significant others as such I got Naw and Blobby to distract her for the day while I prepare a romantic dinner

Result: The kitchen almost caught on fire, cooking is a lot harder than science experiments, Mei has instructed me not to step in there again

Experiment 023 - Ask my seniors for ideas

• A lot of my seniors are dating surely they have ideas on how to ask out a girl.

Comment from Kanon: Kanon was unable to answer becoming a stuttering mess everytime she attempted to speak with Chisato just chuckling and raising a finger to her lips in the universal message of a secret

Comment from Keke: You beat the confession out of your lover via a pokemon battle

Note: That might just be bullying

Comment from Natsumi: Bribe her

Note 2: Why did i even ask her.

Comment from Ayumu: Just confess to her, don’t dance around your feelings

(A messy scrawl can be seen right under the message)

SAYS YOU MISS-DANCE AROUND MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND!

Comment from Karin: Flirt with her relentlessly until they finally break and reciprocate

Note 3:I don’t think i can do that

Comment from Lanzhu: Disappear for an extended period of time before coming back and confessing your love

Note 4:I can’t live without Mei

Comment from Yoshiko Yohane: Conduct a ritual that will cause Mei to fall deeply in love with you

Note 5: Riko has said to ignore her girlfriend’s comment

Comment from Riko: Raising a pokemon together is a great way to bond and you can sneak in a confession along the way

Note 6: Precedent is there as Kanon and Chisato’s relationship seems to be doing very well

Comment from Shizuku: Get her a romantic gift

Note 7: Tried that with the flowers

Comment from Mia: Write a love song for her

Note 8: This idea might just work

Result: (In progress)

Mei closed the journal a blush forming on her face, her misunderstanding Shiki’s intentions lately laid before her in a completely unintended way. An idea came to her as she scrambled to grab a pen before writing on the log

Experiment 24 - She finds your experiment log and asks you out instead

• You really shouldn’t leave something you’re hiding from me in the lab even if its in a locked cabinet.

Result: I love you two Shiki.

Mei giggled satisfied by her little plan as she got Mimi to return the notebook back into the drawer she found it in before quietly leaving the lab.

Chapter Text

Kanon wasn’t exactly sure how this started, sure it had started innocently enough someone traveling through the village had heard she was a dragon specialist around, and after a quick impromptu meeting and bombarding Kanon with questions and ‘trials’ had decided to bestow Kanon with a pokemon egg saying that it would eventually hatch into a Dratini. Of course, Kanon had initially vehemently refused after all she had no experience whatsoever caring for pokemon eggs nor did she have any qualifications as a breeder. But alas fate had other plans and she was eventually convinced to care for the egg.

As much as she initially denied wanting any responsibility, raising the Dratini was an experience Kanon loved. Instantly bonding and forming an attachment to the Dratini since its birth, sure she knew she had an affinity to dragon types. Still, she had rapidly become accustomed to its needs, and taking care of it had been exceptionally easy for her even easier than raising Manmaru when she was young or the wild Swablu she had caught.

Soon enough, the little Dratini had grown up and evolved into a Dragonair that everyone in the village could just tell was taken very well off. Its scales glittered under sunlight and it shone brilliantly in battle and contests. She had done an excellent job in the eyes of onlookers and experts alike.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, it all spiraled out of control from there. After all, since she had done such an outstanding job with the baby Dratini, why not entrust her with the care of more baby dragons? Thus the town had collectively decided that she was the number 1 choice to take care of baby pokemon.

The second baby came by Pelliper. Ok well, they didn’t actually know where it came from but Chisato would forever joke that it did. How else would describe waking up one day with a basket in front of the door and a baby Gible snoozing inside? Kanon had to admit, even at the time it was ridiculously cute which was how the second baby dragon number came into her life.

The Gible itself is a rascal for a lack of a better word. Seriously how else would one describe a tiny terror who would frequently try to pounce on and naw anything it saw. Still if anyone were to ask her, the Gible was a little adorable angel that could do no wrong.

From there people in the town might have taken it a little far, Kanon was seen as the go-to ‘willing’ babysitter for their baby pokemon when they wanted a break from caring for them. Thus, Kanon became a semi-official babysitter for pokemon. If anyone were to ask Kanon why did she start doing this she would vehemently deny wanting any part of it. However, without fail she kept taking on these requests justifying them everytime. “Ok… I’ll do it just once” “But Chii-chan… look at him he’s so cute how could I say no?” “The money is kind of good though”. Excuses upon excuses but everyone could tell she just couldn’t resist the allure of spending time with adorable pokemon.

Of course, it didn’t take too much of her time, she had responsibilities as the leader of Liella and to her own pokemon of course. The other members of Liella have 100% gotten used to a random baby pokemon joining their training sessions or running across her taking a stroll with Chisato and baby pokemon in tow.

One might think her pokemon might be jealous of the attention Kanon gave to the pokemon temporarily under her care. However, turns out pokemon tend to reflect their trainer and her pokemon doted on the cute pokemon under her care just as much as her. For a giant scary looking pokemon, her Hydreigon sure loved playing with the babies constantly giving them rides or bouncing them atop his head. Her Altaria and Dragonair are also sweethearts constantly accompanying her to watch out for the babies when she’s distracted or had to attend to other matters.

Then just as she was getting used to her somewhat unwilling babysitting gig. Two more pokemon were gifted to her. First came her axew which was frankly a bad influence. It just loved battles frequently challenging any pokemon in the vicinity. The Goomy in comparison to the previous two dragons was a breath of fresh air. It actually behaved most of the time but…it also tended to leave slime wherever it went tho couldn't really help that one. The three including, her Gible formed 'the baby dragon gang' as Liella dubbed them, completely adorable but also a complete menace to society.

Kanon wasn’t exactly sure how this started.But she wouldn't have it any other way.

Chapter Text

Chisato was ok, she swore, her heart was not pounding out of her chest and she could definitely handle the sight before her. OK SHE COULDN'T TAKE IT! The sight was way way way tooooo adorable for her soul, Kanon was asleep in their backyard under a tree. Now, the sight of her beloved asleep was one she greatly enjoyed and one that she enjoyed every morning. So take that sight and combine it with one of her favourite things in the world, circles, in the form of her pokemon and conventionally cute pokemon and you have a recipe for Chisato’s brain short-circuiting.

Who could fault her though? Kanon was curled up on her Altaria hugging Circa close to her while Manmaru and her Togedamaru were cuddled up to her while her baby Gible, Goomy and Axew were on lying on different parts of her Altaria all close to Kanon though probably not wanting to be far from her. Even their bigger pokemon were all cuddled around her, Joy was laid close by with his heads resting on Kanon’s lap as if begging for her attention which is quite the weird sight if you weren’t used to a giant Hydregion being cuddly. Chisato’s Cuffant was laid out next to her with her Rookiedie on its head with her Iron threads nex to them perfectly simulating a sleeping boulder, truly perfection. Finally, Kanon’s Dragonair was curled up around the entire tightly packed group snoozing away as well but somehow looking perfectly pristine.

Truly this sight was what Chisato lives for. A slight movement broke her out of her trance, Circa had woken up and was waving her over via her tail while still trapped in Kanon's embrace. Clearly, her Marill wanted her trainer to join the cuddle pile. Chisato chuckled and maneuvered her way into the group. On the way she accidently bumped into Manmaru the Hootoot waking up with a huff but upon noticing Chisato flew up to her arms intending to take the same position as Circa did with Kanon.

Laying down next to Kanon on her Altaria's fluff and Manmaru in her arms with all their pokemon around them, Chisato felt truly at peace. "I love you Kanon" She whispered before joining her the group in Dreamland.

Chapter Text

Meloetta was bored. She'd been doing a whole lot of nothing lately, sure she has been playing with the other pokemon in the area but It wasn't enough. She’s been spending more and more time recently with the funny humans and their pokemon who managed to find her and they were always fun.

However, she hadn't visited them much recently,so maybe it was time to pay all of them a visit. She decided to start with the closest members, the ones with the funny-looking u as a logo.

—

The first one she stumbled upon was their orange-haired leader, Honoka, if she remembered right, seemingly out with someone she did not recognize. Hmm, could this be the fabled girlfriend from another town Meloetta thought examining the newcomer. She had heard that the orange-haired girls courting partner wasn't from around here and only visited from time to time maybe this was Meloetta's opportunity to introduce herself.

Meloetta sneaked up behind them overhearing their conversation first. "Tsubasa-chan where are we going" Honoka enquired.

Ok her name is Tsubasa got it, Meloetta filed that away for later during chats with the other Pokemon. "Hehe that will be a suprised" the girl she now knows as Tsubasa winked in reply guess that was the que for Meloetta to introduce herself.

She burst out from her hiding spot shocking the two trainers as she floated right up to tsubasa in a melodic greeting which was of course incomprehensible to the two humans. "MELOETTA! you scared us!" Honoka sighed before realizing she had to do introductions.

"Oh right, uhh Tsubasa-chan this is Meloetta she’s a pokemon that likes to hang out with us from time to time, Meloetta this is my girlfriend Tsubasa" Honoka briefly said pointing at each of the two as they introduced them. This just earned a stunned look from Tsubasa and a happy cry from Meloetta.

"Honoka... Are you telling me a mythical pokemon like to hang around you on a regular basis?” Tsubasa managed to get out although she really should have been used to this kind of thing by now.

“OK to be fair, she hangs out with everyone in the four groups,” Honoka replied completely missing the point.

“I-that's not.” Tsubasa answered her brain trying to take everything in and her girlfriend’s answer was definitely not helping.

Meloetta just laughed at them before deciding to leave the two alone on their date and find someone else to hang out with.

—

Turns out that the next person was the one Meloetta knew as Hanamaru with Meloetta spotting her relaxing outside, she and her Clodsire were just relaxing under the sun seemingly without a care in the world with the rest of her team who knows there.

So Meloetta did the only reasonable thing for a pokemon as elegant and refined as herself. Without saying a word she just laid down on the Clodsire’s back enjoying the sun with them.

Later that day Hanamaru would wonder why her dreams were filled with a beautiful song that while nice felt completely out of place in her dreams.

—

“Aren’t your trainers concerned for all of you?” The pokemon around her shook their heads in response to the Mythical’s question they were all gathered in Nijigasaki’s town’s square the humans barely giving them a passing glance as they carried on with their way although Meloetta herself was getting quite a number of looks of curiosity and even some looks that screamed wanting a battle though a quick glare from the gathered pokemon made the trainers and battle-hungry pokemon made them second guess their decision.

The pokemon were gathered around the fountain in the middle of the town all either playing in the water or hanging around it. The group consisting of the Nijigasaki’s club member’s eeveelutions and the honorary members which included the Vulpix ‘twins’, Puffball the Jigglypuff and Pawpaw the Pawmot.

“They know we can take care of ourselves.” Doze said the Espeon catching Veevee, who was jumping out of the fountain, with her psychic powers before Flare quickly dried her off with a few flames.

“Besides!” Upon landing on the ground Vevee turned attempting to jump but was grabbed by Ribbon’s ribbons the Sylveon preempted Veevee’s intent to jump back into the fountain causing the Eevee to giggle as she was brought to Ribbon’s side.

“Besides, this troublemaker over here, we can take care of ourselves” Ribbon said relaxing beside the Vulpix twins as they took a nap while slowly releasing Veevee from her ribbons.

Meloetta whistled landing besides the fountain dipping her hands into the cooling water

"Why not hang out at one of your trainer's places?" She looked around once again noting the increase in bystanders probably due to her own presence.

Ugh humans, always looking at her like some sort of rare commodity which was why Meloetta didn't like to appear in public much or appear to humans. The four groups were lucky she liked them.

"Mmm we do but sometimes we like to just go out without our trainers and the others" Moonlight said the Umbreon was relaxing besides Puffball the two taking refuge on the fountains steps occasionally dipping into the water.

Meloetta nodded that made sense even pokemon had to relax in their own way from time to time. Personally, Meloetta had spent the majority of her life in the forest after all mostly secluded but this group was fun enough to hang around even if they had tried to chase her down before.

The murmuring of the crowd around her interrupted Meloetta's thoughts as she noticed the number of people increasing even further this was getting ridiculous.

"Alright I think that's my queue to leave, see you all around!" Meloetta said receiving a barrage of goodbyes from the gathered pokemon and leaving in a hurry, shaking off any who tried to follow her.

—

Dusk came by the time Meloetta made her way to her last destination, she had already decided on this location beforehand unlike the last few, a visit to her favorite human the human with the pretty red hair shaped into a musical note similar to her own pirouette form.

Meloetta finally got to the two-storied house she's been to countless times, she hasn't really visited the bottom floor much as all the complicated things the red hair's mate said that confused her to no end, and the machinery in the area made it too noisy for her liking, in fact, even right now she could hear the sound of tinkering coming from the lower area.

The upstairs was completely isolated from this noise; she remembered the Dreadnaw downstairs explaining it as 'simulating the ability soundproof through the use of barriers' or whatever that meant.

Flying up to the second floor, Meloetta entered through a door specifically made for her marked out by a cute little music note which took her straight into the Piano room. Unsurprisingly, the room was empty except for the Piano in the middle kept in pristine condition as it waited for a player. Meloetta floated up to the piano gliding her hand on the smooth surface, she really liked this instrument the way it sounded just sounded right to her. Kind of funny to her that almost all of the red-headed girls in the groups played the piano along with two others. Stopping herself from lingering too long she set off from the room in search for the human.

The next logical place to check was the master bedroom the two house owners shared. Although the two of them had warned her to at least try not to come into the room especially at night or in the early morning, Meloetta didn’t really care if they were still asleep she could just wait for them to wake up after all. The bedroom itself was relatively simple compared to the floor below with a huge bed they shared in the center with reading lamps on both sides and cushions scattered about mostly for their pokemon to nap on. A wardrobe sat on the left side of the room though whenever Meloetta peaked into it, it was approximately half lab coats how they needed that amount confused her to no end especially considering they had more downstairs. The open door leading to the toilet and dresser/mirror signaled she wasn’t here either nor were her pokemon.

Meloetta grumbled making her way back out of the room, she really hoped the red-haired girl wasn’t below helping with the experiment or she would have to wait for her to finish before getting to have some fun. Passing by the common area and ruling out the kitchen left Meloetta with one more possibility, the spot where most of the red hair’s belongings were a room adorned with all types of memorabilia and other collectibles from contests with a television in the center and a few game consoles underneath though nowhere close to the amount the one Meloetta knew as Ren had. A sofa was the centerpiece of the room adorned with cushions and pokemon beds Meloetta remembered the other pokemon referring to it as their favorite place in the house and she definitely almost agreed if only the room had the piano in it as well.

Upon reaching the room, Meloetta could hear sounds coming from within most likely from the TV in the room. Smiling, Meloetta burst into the room in a cry of greeting earning a shocked yelp from the occupants which consisted of the one she was looking for and her pokemon.

“Meloetta! How many times have we told you not to do that!” Mei grabbed the remote from next to her pausing the video she was watching before standing up with a huff with her arms on her hips. Meloetta just giggled, Mei looked really funny today with some weird round things on her face that Meloetta saw her wear sometimes but she never wore them outdoors.

According to the other Pokemon and Mei herself, the objects were known as glasses and were used to help Mei see things from far away. Meloetta didn't really get that part, whenever she tried to use them all it caused was a headache worse than any kind of confusion she had ever experienced.

Calming her nerves down, Mei collapsed back into the sofa with a huff being joined by her Mimikyu, Mimi, jumping up to relax on her shoulder while her Driftloon floated nearby. Meloetta waved a greeting to the two pokemon as she floated over next to Mei while using her psychic powers to close the door.

Mei patted the spot next to her in a silent invitation which Meloetta immediately ignored the silent message instead choosing to plop herself right onto her lap cuddling up to her and leaning back on her to get comfortable while picking up the remote using her pshyic powers and placing it directly in her hand.

"Ok then…" Mei was more or less used to this by now, not that she really knew why Meloetta liked her so much but she did enjoy her company. Hugging the pokemon with her free hand, Mei pressed the play button as the two settled in for a comfy time.

Chapter Text

The soft sound of the ocean's waves around her filled You's ears as she enjoyed the breeze under the starry sky. You smiled, private nighttime cruises were some of her favorites. Sure she loved her job of ferrying people back and forth between the island of Uranoshi. It was an important one as well, not everyone had a pokemon that could carry them over the ocean or fly them over…or have a private helicopter in Mari’s case.

While her boat could carry a few dozen people, right now it was just her, her beloved, and their pokemon relaxing on the deck.

Looking down, she was met with a giggle and beautiful pink eyes which You always found herself getting lost in. Lying on her lap as she used it as a pillow, Chika reached out, tangling her fingers in You's ashen hair causing the girl to chuckle.

"What's up?" You grinned enjoying the feeling of her lover messing with her hair, said girl choosing to just smile and continue with her ministrations.

Ahhh I love her so much

This was truly the life, You could remain here forever, here under the stars, the love of her life lying on her lap as she played with her hair and their pokemon around them as they relaxed.

"The moon sure is beautiful tonight" the comment from Chika sent heat rushing into You's cheeks recoiling a bit from embarrassment as Chika just laughed more at her reaction.

She’s such a flirt!

Deciding to retaliate, she poked Chika's cheek, getting a whine from the orange head girl as she squirmed in her lap.

"Chika-chan." Looking up, Chika became face to face with You who leaned down capturing Chika's lips in a soft kiss. Parting from the kiss, You were greeted by Chika imitating a peach but smiling in a way that You wouldn’t trade for the world.

“Ne… You-chan…” You let out a quiet chuckle leaning back down. This really was life in You’s opinion as she began to absent mindedly stroking Chika’s head getting a content sigh from her girlfriend.

Parked in the middle of nowhere on the ocean with her boat the only thing around for miles. Chika and her own pokemon were either on deck or swimming around them. Looking around she could see her Pelipper perched on the front of the ship preening its feathers. Chika's Electross and Kilowattrel were circling the ship seemingly racing through the air; the only thing giving away their position were sparks of electricity. Her Ampharos was napping beside them, a little tired from acting as their navigation light. Down below, You could hear her Swampert and Floatzel with Chika's Alolan Raichu and Lanturn enjoying the ocean's water presumably just fooling around or surfing around in Raichu's case.

Finally, You turned to her right spotting her final pokemon, a young Quaxly she had recently received from Liella's leader sitting on deck hanging out and seemingly in deep conversation with…? You took her hands away from people petting Chika's head causing the girl to whine a bit choosing to rub her eyes in case of hallucinations.

"Chika-chan… do you see what I'm seeing?" You asked with disbelief filling her voice.

"Just the most beautiful girl in the world." That caused You to momentarily forget the subject at hand heavy with a blush.

"Chika-chan seriously look there" You pointed at the direction she was looking at finally getting Chika to sit up and see what she was seeing.

"...I see that as well You-chan" Chika replied.

There on the deck talking with You's Quaxly was the mythical pokemon Manaphy just… hanging out on her boat.

"What do we do?" You did not know how to reply to that question. Should they go up to the Manaphy and risk scaring it away? Or was just observing for longer be the right decision?

Unfortunately, their insistent staring caught the attention of the Manaphy as it turned to them entering a brief staring contest. But instead of dashing off the Manaphy instead trotted over with her Quaxly to them it's arms held up in a friendly greeting.

"Uhhh hello!" You greeted remaining seated but shuffling her legs as if unsure where to put them.

Manaphy replied by tilting its head in a questioning gaze before it did quite possibly the last thing either girl expected. It hopped up onto You's lap letting out a happy cry and making the poor girl freeze up.

The situation was really bizarre, having a mythical pokemon just appear on your boat was not exactly what one would call a common occurrence. Well, actually the prerequisites of having a boat were difficult enough but a mythical pokemon just popping up!? It wasn't as if they hadn't met a mythical before, by now Meloetta popping in was a semi-regular experience in their lives but they still had to actively find her first. Now, here was another mythical just showing up in the middle of a random night and hopping up and down on You's lap.

A glance to Chika told her that she didn't know how to react either, her poor girlfriend was opening and closing her mouth on repeat as if trying to say something.

Really who could blame her, Manaphys were known to be basically impossible to locate, usually favoring the ocean floor and definitely not known for jumping onto random boats. Even rarer that they would willingly show themselves to humans.

From what You knew. (From what she learned from Dia) Mythical pokemon did not like to show themselves to humans. Supposedly it was due to humans craving their power or specific abilities that most mythicals possessed. For example, as a water specialist herself, You knew that Manaphy was rumored to be able to bond with any kind of pokemon while Meloetta was known for being able to manipulate emotions with her song which You could for sure say was true. And with the way Manaphy had quickly become BFFs with her Quaxly, she could be mostly sure that was true.

A sharp tug of her hair broke You out of her thoughts as the Manaphy decided enough was enough and tugged to get her attention.

“Ow ow, sorry” You turned her attention back to Manaphy on her lap who was now wearing a pout which You had to admit was really cute. But clearly, for some reason, the Manaphy had wanted her attention and she had no idea why. The only clue Manaphy gave was pointing at her hand with its arms while crying out multiple times which only served to confuse You more.

A ruffle under her hand alerted her to her Quaxly trying to get underneath it. You knew what this meant, her Quaxly wanted pets and would not stop until he got them. Putting the sea guardian on her lap aside for a second You obliged her pokemon getting reply of content quacking in return. Manaphy let out a particularly loud cry following that catching the attention of the two girls where it then pointed with one arm to Quaxly and another to You’s free hand before it started to shake You like a needy child.

“You-chan… I think Manaphy just wants pets” Chika said in slight disbelief as if not trusting her own thought.

“There’s no way right?”

Manaphy pouted at what she said deciding to hop up and down and shake You harder upon hearing that statement.

There’s no way Manaphy just wants pets…right?

Deciding to just try it, You slowly moved her free hand to the Manaphy’s head with it looking at her in anticipation its eyes glistening as if about to receive a reward. Upon finally touching the Manaphy’s head it immediately rubbed its head against You’s hand prompting You to do it herself. A satisfied humm left the Manaphy as it closed its eyes enjoying You’s ministrations.

Well, this was officially the weirdest day of You’s life and her life was anything but ordinary. Her attention was taken yet again this time by Chika letting out a whine.

“No fair” Chika pouted. “Now Manaphy has your attention I wanted it!”

Manaphy upon hearing this stuck out its tongue at Chika mocking her

You blinked. Her girlfriend was kidding right…? Was she really jealous of a pokemon right now?

Of course, she is. Adorable.

You laughed, “ I’ll give you attention later, it's not every day we have a Manaphy here.”

Chika just let out a hmph “I’m holding you to that promise.”

—

Much to Chika’s annoyance, it was an hour later when Manaphy finally decided it had enough head pats with Quaxly having left a while ago to spend time with You’s Pelipper. Unfortunately for her, Manaphy had decided to monopolize even more of You’s time by demanding cuddles from her clearly enjoying You’s presence a bit too much for Chika’s taste.

Chika knew You was an amazing cuddler but that was for her not anyone else! Luckily it was at least late enough that they should start heading back and Chika could bet that Manaphy wouldn’t want to follow them back home.

“Ne You-chan, it's getting late we should go back.”

Clearly, Manaphy did not like that statement clutching You even harder making a cry of disappointment. “Awww Chika-chan we can just sleep on the boat tonight right?”

Chika wanted to say no and insist they’d head back but one look at You’s pleading eyes made Chika relent and at least her girlfriend did look really cute cuddling with Manaphy even if Chika preferred if it was her in You’s arms instead of the little blue You stealer mythical pokemon.

—

By the time it was time to sleep, You’s and Chika’s pokemon returned to the boat to an unexpected sight, their trainers were spending time cuddling a mythical pokemon. Well, one was the other was looking on brimming with jealousy.

—

A few days later, Aqours met up for the day to spend it at the beach in one of their regular meetups.

“And you didn’t take a picture!?” Dia yelled at the ChikaYou duo after they recounted their story of meeting a mythical by complete accident leaving out the part where the following day Chika had thoroughly reminded You who she belonged to in quite frankly unjustified jealousy but one that You had enjoyed very much but the rest did not need to know that detail under any circumstance.

“Hmph, Manaphy is a jerk anyways! Who needs a picture of her!” Chika said completely missing Dia’s reason for wanting the picture in the first place.

“Chika-chan.. I don’t think Dia cares about your personal feelings in this case.” Riko facepalmed.

“She left not long after we all woke up, We’ll make sure to take a photo if we see her again” You assured Dia deciding to intervene before Dia decided to sick her Aerodectyle on them.

“I hope we don’t see her again!” Chika said earning ludicrous looks from the rest of Aqours as if she just cursed the entire group.

A familiar cry to You and Chika came from the ocean and caught the attention of the nine girls as they watched in disbelief as the mythical subject of their conversation launched itself out of the water. Immediately it latched onto You, greeting them with a cry and waving with its arms before turning to Chika and sticking its tongue out at her. Only one thought entered Chika’s mind.

You got to be kidding me!

Chapter Text

“An exhibition match?” Yoshiko questioned amid giving her Mighteyena, Nocturne, a scratch on his chin as he the two were kicked up on the hammock outside Yoshiko and Riko’s house. Her day was great, consisting of nothing but lying at home and relaxing with her Pokemon. Of course, it wasn’t perfect as Riko was out for the day doing Giratina knows what and now instead of coming back and immediately cuddling up with her she was instead talking about some kind of match.

Nodding her head, Riko took a chance to pet the Mighteyena as well before explaining more details. “I was at Yuigaoka earlier helping Shiki-chan with an experiment.”

“That girl’s experiments scare even me, is there something wrong with her? There isn’t a sane reason someone would want to test an Absol’s capabilities of causing disasters.” Yoshiko grinned before continuing “But for demonic rituals, they are perfect assistants!”

Ignoring her girlfriend’s little spiel Riko decided to elaborate “Shiki-chan wanted to see if Tinkaton’s really did just naturally want to hit steel types so she wanted to borrow Uriel for the day but of course, I wanted to supervise at least. Which turns out yes, even Uriel wanted to bash a wild Corviknight we saw.”

Yoshiko laughed as she pictured the normally rather stoic and quiet pokemon that normally acted as Riko’s bodyguard chasing a bird around with its hammer.

“Anyway, after the experiments as i was heading home, Keke-san and Sumire-san approached me asking if i was interested in a double battle with them.”

“Why?”

“According to them, they have been working on their teamwork although they run separate gyms they were thinking of the possibility of allowing double battles like us and just giving their badges at the same time. But instead of a 6v6 like us, they would do a 12v12 where the challenger had to have a partner if they wanted to attempt it.” Riko explained.

Well, that was an idea, technically nothing in the league’s regulations said they couldn’t do that but a 12v12 would definitely test the limit of one’s bond with not only their pokemon but whomever they decided to tackle the challenge with. Double the pokemon, double the badges won it made sense to her.

“So they want to do a full 12 on 12 against us?” Yoshiko raised her eyebrow at the thought. She meant, she didn’t exactly mind but, not to toot her own horn, She and her little demon Riri were more in sync than they would be having worked,lived and now dated for years. And last she heard and seen, The two Liella girls still had petty arguments now and then although it had decreased drastically since they had started dating.

“Just a 2 on 2. They just wanted to make it a more formal thing.” Riko said now having finished petting the Mightyena she silently released her own team as they spread out to either find Yoshiko’s team or relax as well.

“Normal league rules but no mega evolution."

“Sounds good!” Yoshiko hopped off the hammock with Nocturne barking beside her.

“Now before we strategize…” Yoshiko opened her arms out looking at Riko expectantly.

Riko chuckled before hugging her and sharing a quick kiss as they did. “ Hehe, I love you too Yocchan.”

Done getting her hugs, Yoshiko smiled as she took Riko’s hand guiding them into the house where they took the love seat, a much more comfortable spot for strategy talk in Yoshiko’s humble opinion.

“Did they mention if they wanted us to use any specific pokemon or is anyone fine?” Yoshiko asked now cuddled up to Riko resting her head on the redhead’s shoulder as she spoke.

“Nope, they did they say they were using their aces though.”

“That means it’s going to be Keke’s Arcanine and Sumire’s Golisopod right?”

“Yup!”

“The logical choice would be Abadon then, right? Even if he can’t mega evolve he’ll still threaten both of their pokemon easily” Yoshiko said, thinking about her Gyrados which was probably out of joy swimming or flying around their house.

“Yes but, I think we should go a bit easy, they just started doing this.”

“Then shall we just go with our aces? You know aces against aces kind of thing?”

“Sure let's do it.”

“I’ll let them know then, we need to book the coliseum and publicize the match.” Riko said attempting to go grab her phone but when Yoshiko refused to budge she sighed instead calling over her Audino to grab her phone for her.

The position was wayyyyy to comfortable to move after all.

—

“Word travels fast huh?” Yoshiko asked her fellow dark specialist. Kasumi responded by knocking her head with a look that just said OBVIOUSLY.

Usually, the specialists of each type had a get-together once in a while to exchange information or just having someone to talk to about their craft. Of course, there weren’t many dark specialists so they really just had each other to chat with. Although Dia had once described it as “A disaster that is waiting to happen.” Which was just rude! They weren’t going to cause any trouble… maybe. Anyway if they did anything wrong their girlfriends would talk their heads off and neither Yoshiko or Kasumi wanted that thank you very much.

And so, here walking down the streets of Nijigasaki with their Absol and Umbreon respectively as they chatted. Having arrived not long ago, Yoshiko had already spotted countless flyers and advertisements for the upcoming match.

“What did you expect? Four of the Nine gym leaders in the region are going to be in an exhibition match!” Kasumi basically shouted out. “Even here in Nijigasaki everyone’s excited and it's not even one of our gym leaders that are battling!”

“Of course, they're not nearly as excited as when the cutest coordinator, yours truly is performing but you’re kind of close.” Kasumi boasted puffing up her chest as the two passed the center fountain.

“Sure…you are” Yoshiko agreed absentmindedly as she tuned out her companion. The streets were rather crowded today, even for the shopping hot spot that was Nijigasaki, she supposed merchants were getting ready for the exhibition match. She could already see carts filled to the brim with products some of them even her own icon on some of the products which was always a joy to see.

“Have you decided who you’re using?” Kasumi asked

“Of course! A fallen angel must always be prepared for any situation! Me and my most elite demon Riri have decided to bring our oldest and most trusted companions for the battle.” Her Absol grunted in agreement from her side as it tilted its head up in slight pride.

“Not going easy on them are you?”

“Hey! It's a lot fairer than if we were to do a 6v6 at least in a 2v2 they could abuse typing matchups and brute force their way!” Yoshiko defended

“Sure it is…” Kasumi said with all the sarcasm she could muster.

“If anything Keke and Sumire are gym leaders so their individual strengths are nothing to scoff at!”

“Oh please, you and I know in a double battle coordination is more important than individual merit! Like take Karin-senpai and Ai-senpai! Their gym leaders as well but have you seen them try to double battle?” Yoshiko shook her head in response although she couldn’t imagine it ended up well the two’s competitive streak with each other were infamous throughout the region.

“All that happens is that they fight to do the most damage possible but barely work together!” Kasumi pinched the bridge of her nose something about a pokemon battle made their rivalry flair up even when they were supposed to work together!.

Yoshiko supposed she was right, just because one fought well in singles didn’t automatically translate to skill in doubles. She saw it countless times, some overconfident challenger barging into their gym only to get demolished in a format of battle they were completely unprepared for.

This was Riko and Yoshiko’s test to the trainers where all the other gyms in the circuit offered single battles theirs was the only double battle gym.

“Will Nijigasaki be watching as well?” “Of course!” Kasumi said before adding “Oh but I think some of them can’t make it Shioko, for example, said she’s going to be on duty at the pokemon enter but Lanzhu-senpai is trying to get her out of it.”

Yoshiko nodded, guess this would really be a big event.

—

The stadium was what Yoshiko would describe as obscenely packed. As far as she could tell through the cameras, every seat was filled with many more most likely watching on her stream.

Of course, my little demons will want to see me!

"You ready?" Riko asked slipping a hand in hers as the two walked out of the waiting room.

"Of course Riri let's go!"

The stadium's battlefield was expansive meant to accommodate even the hardest or most explosive battles. A barrier was always erected by psychic Pokemon ensuring the bystanders would never be hit or even feel heat from fire type moves.

The battlefield this time was just a flat surface but during tournaments or when requested the battlefield could simulate many different environments testing both trainers and Pokemons adaptability and ability to adjust their strategy on the fly.

Even from her spot on the battlefield, Yoshiko could make out the members of the different teams that had come to watch. Giving a quick wave to the other members of Aqours, Yoshiko met her opponents in the middle of the battlefield.

"Good luck, may the best trainers win," Keke said, grinning at the duo.

Shaking her hand Yoshiko nodded smiling at her fellow gym leader "May the best gym leaders win." She added.

With Riko also finishing up her formalities with Sumire the two headed back to their side of the field already palming their pokeballs in their hand.

"Contestants ready!?" The judge shouted.

"Ready!" Both sides shouted simultaneously.

"MAY THE BATTLE COMMENCE" The judge shouted which was met immediately with cheers from the crowd and the flinging of four pokeballs onto the field.

Always the showgirl, Yoshiko's most elite and longest member of little demons, Luci, appeared with a practiced entrance sending a wave of dark energy out as she did. The Absol sizing up it's opponents with a calculating eye.

Directly above, Riko's Togekiss appeared with a cry swooping up as it started to glide in the air.

On the other side of the field, Keke's Arcanine appeared standing proud with a deafening roar the proud beast stomped on the ground causing both of their pokemon to flinch slightly the effects of the ability intimidate taking effect.

Next to it, Sumire's Golisopod stood relatively silently although it's stance showed it was as battle ready as its opponents swaying its mandibles as it regarded its partner with a nod.

"First impression!"

"PROTECT" Yoshiko yelled, anticipating Sumire's first move.

The hulking insect disappeared from its side of the battlefield as it crashed it's claw against the translucent barrier of her Absol before quickly making space before She could retaliate. Thunder waves and Will o wisps chased after the insect who dodged out of the way in the nick of time.

Riko's togekiss immediately took up further into the air seemingly doing nothing but Yoshiko having this song and dance countless times could tell was using a combination of agility and nasty plot getting ready to put a hole through her opponents along with a wish just in case.

A barrage of flame went after the togekiss who managed to narrowly dodge out of the way of the incoming flamethrowers. Across the field the telltale signs of sword dance being used by Sumire's Golisopod caused Yoshiko to act immediately. At the command, Luci dashed forward summoning a myriad of clones in a double team.

This way the only way to pick out Luci's real body was the huge area of effect move which Golisopods were not exactly known for. Unfortunately for her, a heat wave stopped Luci in her tracks making her have to jump back unable to stop the Golisopod.

"Riko"

"Yup got it, quick air slash" Ariel responded immediately flying in close to the Arcanine and hitting it with a barrage of air currents causing the Arcanine to flinch.

"Go!" This time Luci managed to get in close taunting Sumire's Golisopod preventing more set up moves the beast growling in response.

From here on out, they will be forced into all out attacks

The charging of both flare blitz and X scissors were aimed directly at Luci who managed to get out of the way narrowly in time for the flare blitz but still got hit by the X scissor sending her flying back.

Just in time, Ariel's wish resolved healing Luci.

Glancing to Riko with a slight shake of her letting her know to buy more time. This was their way of communicating in battle, little shakes and nods were enough to tell each other their needs.

"Luci double team"

Once again the Absol split into multiple clones but instead of charging they quickly split into multiple directions. Although it seemed pointless as a flamethrower from above and a liquidation headed straight for Ariel who had gone back to continue to boost itself.

Picking the less dangerous of the two Ariel got hit by the flamethrower causing her to cry out in pain before she quickly swooped back down joining the clones of Luci using them as a cover as she dove in and out the crowd of Absols.

Yoshiko clicked her tongue in annoyance, it seemed Keke and Sumire had decided an all-out attack was the optimal strategy as right after attacking they broke into an extreme speed and x-scissors smashing through Luci's illusions.

"Reflect! Light screen!" Taking a break from boosting itself, Yoshiko could now see a small screen on both Luci and Ariel. This way even if they were hit at least the damage won't be too bad.

An Aura sphere fired out from within the crowd at the Arcanine which was beaten away immediately by an aqua jet from Golisopod which just shrugged it off.

The unrelenting assault continued shortly after the Arcanine covering its body in flame dashing towards her Absol with Golisopod following shortly after in its own coat of water both aiming to keep up the assault.

Luci, managed to dodge out of the way with clever use of detect appearing right next to where it was standing moments ago. Diving back into its sea of illusions, her Absol managed to distract her two opponents who resulted in smashing the clones one by one unwilling to just blow up the area an Aoe flamethrower or surf would risk hitting each other in collateral.

The time bought was exactly what they needed as Riko gave Yoshiko a nod.

"Ok! Pshyc up!" Luci immediately broke from her formation in the clones instead meeting up with Ariel and copying her speed and special attack boosts.

This was their special when using their aces in tandem, Luci would serve as disruption while Ariel set up in the sky away from danger covering for the Absol when necessary. After enough time, pshyc up would be used giving them the power and speed on both of their pokemon, and while Absol was usually a physical attacker the combo was still near unstoppable and Luci knew a myriad of moves to adapt to any situation including special moves.

It seemed the crowd knew this as well as cheers could be heard from the stands and especially the other members of Aqours who knew exactly what happened. It's not like this was the first time they had this with their gym battles being broadcast on Yoshiko's stream but it was still exciting enough that the crowd got whipped up into cheers.

Dropping her double team, Luci broke into a run using a combination thunderbolt and dark pulses as Ariel fired off Air slashes and gusts of fairy wind raining down the fury of heaven and hell on its oppodents.

Not willing to just sit there and take it, the Golisopod did something Yoshiko didn't expect: it slammed the ground with a focus blast in hand causing a dust storm to shroud the area. The dust obscuring the two's vision while it dodged the air slashes with the use of an aqua jet instead taking a light thunderbolt that barely phased the giant.

"BLOW IT AWAY YOU TWO" Yoshiko shouted. Normally one couldn't give orders to others pokemon but both her and Riko's were trained to take orders from both of them making battles much more efficient.

In response to the command, Luci and Ariel swept the field with razor wind and fairy wind respectively blowing away the dust revealing the Golisopod right next to Ariel landing a solid brick break on the togekiss sending it crashing into he ground although it recovered quickly using wish as it flapped it's wing preparing for take off again.

"Luci protect next to Ariel quickly!" Yoshiko heard Riko yell beside her, Luci reacting immediately safeguarding the two of them confusing Yoshiko for a second on why Riko commanded this.

Her silent question was answered moments later as Keke's Arcanine broke through the ground beneath the two as it sundered apart the ground in an impressive show of the move.

The Arcanine smashed into the two with The barrier of protect only held up due to the presence of reflect under the force that the Arcanine exerted.

This presented the perfect opportunity that Yoshiko quickly took charge with a commanding shout "Dark pulse! Ancient power!"

A flurry of dark energy and rocks collided into the Arcanine point blank sending it the Arcanine spiraling away howling in pain. Golisopod reacted immediately managing to catch the Arcanine although it put itself far away as a result.

This was what they were after, even with the power boosts, there was zero chance they would win a close-quarter brawl, but at far range? Well, that was their domain.

Unrelentingly, Ariel and Luci charged with the Togekiss flew up firing a myriad of shadow ball, ancient power and air slashes at the two opponents while on the ground Luci sent ice beams and thunderbolts alternating in between the two in the infamous bolt beam combo.

It seemed Keke and Sumire weren't ready to give up yet though as despite the both of their pokemon simultaneously casting protect blocking the initial wave of assault.

"Keep going!" Yoshiko yelled even though she could barely see what was happening at the point of contact.

An explosion broke out sending rocks and dust flying as a result giving their pokemon barely a second to react as a flame chage from Arcanine and liquidation slammed into Luci and Ariel respectively halting their attacks and causing heavy damage.

Although in doing so, Yoshiko could tell they had taken quite a beating from the earlier onslaught with visible damage and sluggish movements coming from even the Golisopod.

Ariel and Luci also looked battered the two struggling to stand and fly respectively. Their pokemon might have taken a lot less hits but each of those hits counted for a lot more for their relatively frailer pokemon.

On the offensive once again, another approach was taken this time with multiple focus blasts being sent out at Luci as covering fire while Arcanine once again closed the gap with extreme speed.

Ariel matching focus blast for focus blast which due to the stat boost managed to pierce past towards the Golisopod which unfortunately dodged out of the way just in time. This only left Luci once against by herself to fend off the Arcanine

This time however, Luci remained still right up to the moment Arcanine almost hit her but instead of making contact, a detect allowed Luci to jumping out of the way at the last second and using close combat striking the Arcanine down in a swift motion.

A red beam enveloped the Arcanine seconds later returning it to it's PokeBall leaving the battle as a 2 versus 1.

At this point, the battle was basically over, although Golisopod roared in defiance the at first stoic bug dashing towards Luci in what Yoshiko could identify as a leech life.

"Air slash" Riko called out the move now finding it's mark on the worn-down bug and with a signal from the referee decided the end of the battle.

"Winner! Yoshiko and Riko from Uranoshi!" The referee shouted to the applause and cheering of the arena.

Grinning Yoshiko ran up to Luci crouching next to her while petting her. "Good job little demon another victory!" She said getting a nod from the Absol in response. Never the one for over-affection eh girl

Nearby, Ariel perched on the ground receiving praise from Riko as the two shared their own moment of victory.

"Good battle." Sumire's voice broke her from her moment with her pokemon as Yoshiko stood up shaking her hand.

"You and Keke worked well together." Yoshiko complimented. Which was true, the two worked remarkably well together for a couple who was infamous for bickering. It's just that the battle had kind of been unfair from the beginning due to the nature of her and Riko's gym being solely double battles.

"Thanks, although we're nowhere near your level,” Sumire admitted having returned her partner to its Pokeball.

“You’ll get there if you keep it up the battle was remarkably close” Riko commented taking her spot beside Yoshiko as Keke joined Sumire as well.

“We should probably head back” Keke commented. They were in the middle of the arena after all. “Nonsense!, my little demons love to see me in the arena!” Yoshiko shouted getting the expected cheers causing a smug grin to appear on her face.

“Alright, alright enough of that Yocchan” Pulling Yoshiko away, Riko gave one last wave to the crowd and her opponents before the two left the arena to the cheering of the crowd.

Chapter Text

"You're kidding me" Ayumu stared in disbelief staring at the Synthetic Pokémon which Yuu had brought back after her “vacation” in the eccentric blonde’s hotel.

The last thing that Ayumu would have expected after Yuu got ‘kidnapped’ for a few days was for her to come back home a few days later looking exhausted. All the While a Pokemon she didn't know tailed after her looking as if it wanted to pick a fight with everything it saw.

“I wish, For some weird reason Mari-san said I was the best one for the job.”

“Maybe it's because you’re a generalist like her?” Ayumu said pointing out the only similarity between the two she could think of.

“But there are better options!” Yuu insisted. “For example there’s Shiki-chan and umm ok just Shiki-chan”

“You really want to trust a pokemon that got rescued from a lab to Shiki-chan?” Type: Null gave a growl of anger at the thought of a lab.

Oh… that’s fair enough. Yuu mused.

“Nothing we can do about it now I guess, although are you ok? You look really pale.” Ayumu said getting closer to her girlfriend eyeing her up and down. Ribbon and Veevee seemed to agree voicing discontent with Yuu’s state.

“I’m fine” Yuu gave out a ragged breath.

“Nope! We’re going to bed early and tomorrow morning we’ll be visiting Shiki-chan to ask her more about bonds ok?”

Yuu could only give a nod before turning to her new pokemon. “Sorry, you’ll have to sleep in your ball for now.” Type: Null only stood silently accepting its return to its without question.

—

Shiki’s lab was always a weird place to anyone not from Yuigaoka. Situated near the middle of the relatively small town the massive structure comprising of at least 3 normal houses wide. The lab stood on the first floor with the second floor being the professor’s home that she shared with her assistant. Behind it, a small fenced-off area for outdoor experiments stood right next to the ranch owned by another of Liella’s members, Kinako. How a lab and a ranch co-exisited nearby each other was a mystery to all.

Knocking on the door, Yuu wondered if anyone was home. The lab was significantly quieter than she remembered although the sounds of the quiet hum of machinery still could be heard when nearby. Type: Null had chosen to stay in its ball this time most likely wanting to avoid a laboratory environment again this left the Nijigasaki girls with their signature Eeveelutions as their companions for the day.

Shiki opened the door immediately putting her finger on her lips asking the two of them to be silent with her Reuniclus floating beside her mimicking her while her Dreadnaw stood nearby. She immediately led the two up to a room that looked like an enclosed room in her lab mostly like for breaks. A table with four seats and a whiteboard were the only thing in the room in the middle of it sat an orb beeping slowly with the words ‘OFF’ on its face.

Being Ushered in Yuu and Ayumu as quietly as possible took a seat opposing the whiteboard. Shiki closed the door silently before pressing a button on the orb covering the room in a purple shading before she finally spoke. “Ok, it’s fine to speak now, this device mimics the ability soundproof. It coats both this room and the lab so it should be completely safe now.”

“Safe from what?” Ayumu couldn’t help but ask.

“Safe from waking up Mei of course,” Shiki said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Mei-chan is still asleep? Its 1pm!” Yuu questioned. Usually nobody really slept in too late.

“Mei’s really exhausted from last night. I might have demanded too much from her last night.”

“You both stayed up doing experiments?” Ayumu asked although suspicion dripped in her voice.

“Sure. Experiments. Let’s go with that.” Shiki gave a suspiciously satisfied smile before reverting back to her poker face. “So, what can I do for you?”

“We actually came to ask what do you know about bonds. More specifically, do you know a way to strengthen one’s ability to hold them?”

Shiki hummed “Interesting, might I ask why you’re so curious all of the sudden? From what I know neither off you are really pushing to be strong battlers like Sumire-senpai or Keke-senpai.”

And so after a brief recounting of the previous week, Shiki nodded.

“Well, that's fascinating, I’ll tell you what I know but in exchange could you keep a log of how long you kept Type: Null out of its ball each day?”

“Sure thing Shiki-chan” Yuu agreed. That’s quite a reasonable trade. I guess Shiki-chan is in a really good mood for some reason.

“As you know bonds are a phenomenon that lets us connect to our pokemon. How or why are still quite unknown to researchers but many have described it as a feeling a tether or a connection to pokemon they’ve caught or otherwise befriended. Different pokemon take a different amount of bonds or strength depending on how close and how strong they are. For example, a Tyranitar will be a lot more demanding on one’s mind and body than a Caterpie.” Shiki explained as she pulled out a marker drawing a stick figure on the whiteboard along with a circle in the middle with the word bond on it beside the stick figure.

“Everyone is born with a limit to their bonds some a lot more than others. Take Kanon-senpai for example, at the age of ten she managed to befriend and catch a Hydreigon a Sudo-legendary known for its ferocity and according to her she barely felt different after that.” Shiki drew a second stick figure with a much bigger circle beside it labeling the figure as Kanon.

“Some are of course not so lucky, like yourself they are born with a lot less capacity. As you know, this means they have a lot more trouble with befriending both quantity and the type of pokemon.” Unfortunately for Yuu this time she was used as an example with another stick figure bearing her name and a much smaller bond circle next to it.

“Of course, most people sit somewhere in the middle. Let’s use Keke-senpai for example.” Shiki writing the gym leader’s name under the first figure.

“Many People’s bonds are also more attuned to a specific type of pokemon. For Keke-senpai and Kanon-senpai have a fire affinity and dragon affinity respectively.” Materializing a red and purple marker from her lab coat Shiki outlined the circles for Keke and Kanon in their respective colors.

“This means pokemon of that type, require a lot less bond power to maintain and befriend. It’s part of the reason we have specialists, for most people it is just easier to gravitate to a certain type of pokemon.” Shiki started listing down a few pokemon beside’s Kanon and Keke’s names, an Arcanine and Torkoal for Keke while for Kanon she wrote Hydreigon, Altaria, and Dragonair.

“I myself much like you have no such affinity and so there are two ways to look at it. Its either harder for us to bond with any kind of pokemon or easier to bond with all types of pokemon.” Shiki’s Reuniclus and Dreadnaw made noises agreement to her statement. Yuu gulped did she liked to think she fell under the second category.

“This is especially a problem when evolution is involved as a pokemon draws on a lot of strength from their trainer when undergoing the process. Affinity plays a huge role in whether or not a pokemon can draw upon the strength of their trainer to evolve. If the trainer can’t provide it the pokemon would have to evolve through natural means meaning through a lot more of their own strength which can take a large amount of time.” To emphasize this, Shiki drew a bond circle almost to the size of Keke’s putting the words ‘Evolution for Charmander inside.

Shiki wrote the word Manmaru in a bond circle making the circle bigger than Kanon’s own. “This is why some pokemon are left unevolved like Manmaru for example, He’s mainly a companion pokemon for Kanon-senpai and since he’s a flying type he neither can draw enough of Kanon’s bond or get naturally stronger that fast which is why despite being her starter, Manmaru remains a Hoothoot.”

“Although I’m sure you Nijigasaki girls are very aware of this more so than others since your partner is the evolution pokemon and its evolutions.” Veevee barked in agreement hoping on the desk in a flamboyant gesture although she was quickly taken back by Ribbon using her ribbons to drag the Eevee back down.

“Of course, type isn’t the only factor to pokemon-trainer compatibility. Take Umi-senpai for example, She’s a water specialist through and through, and yet her starter and ace is a Decidueye. There isn’t a specific reason that I can tell from my research but I theorize from only anecdotal evidence that these pokemon are usually very similar to their trainer like how Umi-senpai does archery in her free time and is much more calm and collected than most of us during battle.” A fourth stickman was drawn to signify this with a blue bond outline but a Decidueye being written in green highlighting the difference between the two.

“This can be exceptionally strong as well, for example, Mei’s bond with the wild mythical pokemon Meloetta is highly unusual for a ghost specialist but as far as I know the two are extremely close and Meloetta visits frequently,” Shiki explained thinking of her assistant and the mythical that popped by every so often although it tended to avoid her if Mei wasn’t around.

“An option some people take as a result is to limit the amount of pokemon they have to a few so they focus all their bond and strength to them.” Shiki said gesturing at her own two fully evolved pokemon that were and hanging out in the room with them.

“Of course, just because we are born with this limit doesn’t mean it can’t be improved, Keke-senpai was born with quite the average limit however through hard work and a lot of effort she managed to increase it.” Shiki said erasing Keke’s bond circle and replacing it with one roughly the same size as Kanon’s.

“But this requires discipline and determination to enhance. For Keke-senpai she said she pushed herself each day in battles to train her limit. As you know, these days she’s a gym leader, some of the best of the best proving her capabilities as a trainer in the league’s eye. Battles aren’t the only way to do this of course, many people do it by simply spending time with their pokemon outside their ball even if it gets tiring which is what i suggest you do since you aren’t too used to battles.” Shiki wrote the words Type: Null next to Yuu’s own bond bubble.

“For specialists, another way they train this is getting more in sync with their affinity. For different type and people this means different things for example, Natsumi-chan does this not on purpose due to her pursuit of rare metals in the unending search for money she is in. I believe, Mari-san gave you a crash course on each type?”

Yuu winced but nodded “Yes she’s surprisingly knowledgable. Although she couldn’t cover too much in the few days.”

“For us generalists, we require knowledge on only the pokemon types we care for, for me it’s three types, rock, water and psychic. For you, due to the nature of the Type: Null it will probably be a lot more. Might I suggest after this you start speaking to specialists of each type they will probably give you more insight on the type and their own experiences. I might be a professor but I can’t tell you nearly as much as those who live and breathe each day attuned to a type.”

Oh thats a great idea actually! I could start with all the other Nijigasaki girls. Yuu thought

“Unfortunately, I think that covers most of the information you need on bonds, my recommendation is to keep Type: Null out as often as you can so you get used to it and it gets used to you. And I would suggest talking to the Normal specialists first ” Shiki said as her Reuinclus cleaned the whiteboard via psychic on a duster.

At this moment the door to the room creaked open with Mei entering, looking disheveled like she just woke up growling at Shiki. Unfortunately for her, due to the room’s layout, she did not see Yuu and Ayumu before starting to complan. “Shiki! I told you not to be so rough last night! Do you know how sore I am and then you have the audacity to leave the room before I woke up! You better have a good reason for this!”

Proceeding further into the room Mei finally spotted the two guests before doing the only reasonable thing, turning around and sprinting out slamming the door in a loud thud as she did.

Yuu and Ayumu stared unblinkingly at the now closed door “Ummm maybe we should leave now thank you Shiki-chan.” Ayumu said in a hurry speaking in behalf of her girlfriend who looked like she was gonna explode from the secondhand embarrassment.

“Bye,” Shiki said her smug grin appearing once again as she led the two out before departing presumably to find Mei.

—

“Hmmm, what It means to be a normal type specialist? That’s unexpected Baby-chan” Having spoken to Shiki the previous day, Yuu decided to start her visits close to home, with NIjigasaki’s own normal specialist, the one and only Mia Taylor. Ayumu hadn’t joined her this time stating this was something she had to do for herself but saying she was rooting for her nonetheless.

Mia’s home was a small house situated nearby Pokestar’s studio where she worked as a producer making it highly convenient for her. The room was relatively messy with clothes thrown about. Her Jigglypuff was tightly hugged while her Chatot perched himself on her shoulder. Her Maushold was spread around the room attempting to help her clean up while an Exploud slept in another room.

“Don’t you already know quite a bit with the two normal pokemon you have?” Mia gesturing vaguely to Type: Null and Veevee the latter somehow hitching a ride on the Type: Null who was remarkably less aggressive with the Eevee.

“Kind of? I’ve never really thought about it to be honest.” This cause Mia to sigh and shake her head in disappointment.

“Baby-chan…” Mia sighed disappointedly. “Fine, I’ll tell you what I know.” “Yay thank you so much Mia-chan,” Yuu said attempting to give the younger girl a hug that was immediately rejected with Mia pushing her away.

“It’s Mia-senpai to you!” Mia shouted although she knew it would be ignored. “So. Tell me what do you think Normal types are about?”

“Umm, I guess that it’s basic or neutral? Mari-san mentioned Normal types were basically not having a type.”

“Nope wrong!” Mia exclaimed moving her hands into an X formation.

“Despite what the type’s name might imply normal types are not mundane or boring in any way.” Mia relaxed her body again.

“I’m sure Rin would agree with my statement, Normal types are the most flexible of all the types,” Mia said referring to her fellow normal specialist on this matter.

“Normal types are known for being able to fill a variety of roles while having a myriad of coverage moves in their arsenal. Like, take Veevee here.” Veevee perked up at her name being mentioned letting out a cry as it started to hop up and down only stopping when it heard a grunt from Type: Null.

“Eevees are a great example of this being able to evolve into eight different pokemon all of the different types. Their adaptable to all situations and can evolve to their trainer's wants or needs. Of course, this trait isn’t only for Eevee, from the top of my head Puffball here knows dark pulse, energy ball, flamethrower, ice beam, and thunderbolt.” The Jigglypuff responded by using psychic to pick up Veevee as she shouted in delight in flying in the air.

“Yea and more, thank you Puffball for the demonstration” Mia praised.

“Not that normal type moves are any pushover as well, much like dark types, you never know what a normal move could do. The moves Soft-boil or fake-out for example are very different from endeavor or extreme speed.” Mia reasoned.

“This is very different from some other types like let’s say fire which in my opinion is about bursting down things in a pure offensive strike. Not that Normal can’t do that with the infamous Boomburst as an option on some pokemon.” Yuu could get that, guess Mari’s initial teachings were incorrect on this one this all made a lot of sense to her. Veevee could also use a variety of moves although nowhere as close to her evolved counterparts.

“As for me, I relate to normal types through my music, ever noticed how i never stick to one genre of music? Rock, classical, pop, jazz. When composing for Pokestar studio I always like to keep myself varied and adaptable much like Normal types.”

A loud knock on the door broke the two’s flow of conversation.

“Ugh, who is it now!” Mia bemoaned so much for her day off.

“Miaaaaaa I’m bored! Shioriko’s busy and here to make sure you don’t spend your whole day cooped up in here!” Lanzhu’s booming voice entered the same way as her, through pure force, as the door opened in a loud clang one of the door’s hinges being obviously damaged in the process.

“WHAT THE HELL! Just enter normally!” Mia shouted at the grinning dragon master. “You’re paying for that and I’m billing it to Shioriko!”

“Uhhhh let’s leave Shioriko out of this. I can pay you back” Lanzhu sheepishly rubbed the back of her head before noticing that it wasn’t just the two of them.

“Oh Yuu! What are you doing here?” Lanzhu asked her Salamance sticking its head inside the house as it curiously sniffed the area only to be greeted by Puffbal floating out of Mia’s hand and onto its head in a greeting.

“I’m asking around about people’s experiences with their specialization. Mia-chan (Mia-senpai!) was telling me about normal types.”

“Ahhh we’re just about done actually, I’ve said what i needed to.” Mia stood up stretching although her Chatot barely budged from the space on her shoulder. “Actually since you’re here, Lanzhu why not take Baby-chan here next.”

“Oh sure!” Lanzhu grinned immediately latching onto Yuu dragging her out of the house as her pokemon quickly followed after her. “Mia! We’ll be back soon and I’m dragging you out of the house!”

“Bye Mia-chan thanks for the info” Yuu called back.

With the two house invaders gone, Mia only had one problem… Where could she hide from Lanzhu.

—

“UMMM SO WHERE ARE WE GOING AGAIN?” Yuu shouted the sound of the wind brushing past her ensuring they had to shout to communicate.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE JUST HANG ON.” Lanzhu shouted back. The two of them were hitching a ride on Lanzhu’s Salamance although the safety of it was highly questionable. With little space on Salamance, Yuu was forced to return her pokemon and hang on to dear life by hugging Lanzhu close in a way that if Ayumu found out would definitely cause a dragon master hunt.

Yuu knew Lanzhu’s Salamence was fast but she guessed she just never really grasped it fully until now. Although being shielded by Lanzhu she could still feel the wind brush past her body in a frenzy akin to a shockwave passing by. The air pressure in her ears didn’t help with comfort as waves of cloud obscured her vision so that she had to bury her head into Lanzhu’s back who unfortunately did not have a spare pair of airplane goggles or in this case dragon goggles. Although, Summer got her own miniature airplane goggles and being hugged by Lanzhu from the front. She at least provided some warmth to the chilling weather.

Finally coming to a stop, Lanzhu’s Salamance landed with a thunderous roar beating its wing to clear its land. “Alright, we’re here.”

Sliding off the Salamance, Yuu Immediately released her companions Veevee and Type: Null appearing causing Yuu to immediately feel the strain although she was starting to be able to hide the strain better. Taking a look around Yuu was amazed. They had landed on a small plateau surrounded by mountains as far as the eye could see. Jagged rocks surrounded the small Plateau scratch and scorch marks littered the Plateu, some of the rocks looked as though someone had blown a hole through them. Around the Plateu, on the surrounding mountains, she could just make the silhouettes of Pokemon although she couldn’t quite identify them from this distance.

“Welcome Yuu to my training ground!” Lanzhu released her own team. Her team spread out immediately each pairing up to practice, summer withstanding who just decided to hang out with Veevee.

"You come here every time you train?" Yuu questioned. The notion that Lanzhu made the flight each time was kind of crazy.

"When I'm by myself of course!" Lanzhu proclaimed a grin on her face. "These are some mountains right outside Otozonkia. It is also where some dragon Pokemon call home."

Looking close, Yuu could identify some of the faraway pokemon as packs of Swablu and Altaria could be seen. Groups of the Bagon line inhabited one of the nearby mountains with the same going for the Gible line, Trapinch line and Larvatar line.

"This small plateu is the only completely safe area so make sure you don't wonder too far." Lanzhu warned. "We had to fight a particularly powerful wild Salamance to claim this spot as ours."

Yuu nodded, I know Lanzhu-chan said she would teach me about dragon types but her training spot is Soo cool!

Lanzhu beat her chest grinning "Alright Yuu throw everything you heard about dragons out of the window! Let a real dragon master teach you what it means to be a dragon specialist."

With a quick command, Lanzhu's Turtanator helpfully created a seat for herself and Yuu with a careful use of Rock tomb the two thanking the dragon before taking their respective seats.

"Now you need to remember the first rule of interacting, dragons are prideful."

"Prideful?" Yuu smiled giggling "Like you?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Lanzhu grinned. "Much like Lanzhu, dragons are powerful and prideful. You need to earn their respect. A dragon will never, ever respect you automatically you always have to fight for it. Whether by conventional battle, a display of power or even just throwing your weight around. You must prove to the dragon you're it's equal."

"Umm I don't remember proving to you, I'm your equal." Yuu pointed out did that mean Lanzhu didn't respect her or many of their friends for that matter.

Lanzhu laughed heartedely "I'm still human Yuu, just because I'm a dragon speciliast dosent mean in completely like them."

Yuu blushed "sorry that was a dumb question."

"Anyway moving on, to me, dragons are about power! The ability to crush your oppodents under your might!" Snapping her finger, her Salamence reacted immediately, firing a hyper beam at one of the nearby rocks shattering it into dust. The recoil causing Yuu to cover her eyes to block out the ensuing dust cloud

"Dragons are also smart though so don't think you can just trick them. Fast, cunning and deadly, a deadly combo that leave their opponents utterly devastated." Lanzhu paused seemingly in thought before she calmed down a little to continue speaking.

"Of course, this dosen't come easily! Dragons are notoriously hard to train as you have to be able to earn their respect and maintain it. Once a dragon has lost their respect for you it is very hard to get back." Yuu glanced to the side observing her Type: Null did it respect her? Her frist guess would be no mainly just tolerating her.

“That being said, dragons are fiercely loyal as long as they respect you, you can be sure they will be at your back and call when needed.” Lanzhu continued.

"They are also more demanding on one's bonds testing making it very hard for new trainers to raise a dragon. Many that attempt to do so fail horribly." Lanzhu sighed, carefully choosing what to say next. "A lot of people want to be dragon specialists but are simply not cut out for the task."

"Additionally, you know all those things I just told you? You can throw them out of the window when dealing with new babies. Those things operate by a different set of rules only they seem to know. A dragon should develop all the traits I talked about earlier after a while." Lanzhu shivered thinking of a certain incident where she had learned this the hard way.

Summer and Veevee had taken this opportunity to start running around the Plateau the dragons giving the two space to do so caught Yuu's attention. Pointing to the two Yuu couldn't help but ask. "How come all your dragons respect them so much to give them space then?"

"Well that's because they know hurting them will piss me off which since they respect me, they respect them by proxy, it's also why dragons owned by trainers don't just start rampaging or challenging any stronger pokemon they see." She explained throwing a small stone up in the air which shortly got sniped by a dragon breathe from her Noivern.

"In the wild, dragons live in packs as such there is always a leader, usually this is the strongest out of the group. With trainers, and especially dragon specialist this works as well making it so that each dragon is easier to gain respect from than the last."

Yuu supposed that made sense, a Gabite wasn't going to disrespect you if you had a Salamance next to you. Although that gave her a question.

"Then how did you get your first dragon to respect you?"

A small smile appeared on Lanzhu's face as she seemingly started reminiscing "well that would be because I had rescued a young brat Bagon from its own death when I saw it jump off a cliff into a river."

Her Salamence gave a roar although it tilted it's head away in what Yuu could only describe as embarrassment.

“Oh! Lanzhu forgot to mention! You know the fact we have this small area for training because we managed to win it from a Salamance right?”

Yuu nodded

“Well part of the reason it hasn’t tried fighting for it again, is because it’s territory expands a lot further this was just a small part! This brings us to Lanzhu’s final point! Dragons are greedy remember that. You know those fairy tales about dragons hoarding gold and treasure?”

“Ohhh I loved those!” Yuu replied.

“Of course you did.” Lanzhu teased. “Anyway, those stories are mainly true but instead of gold it's mainly territory and food they hoard.”

"Your Type: Null seems like the prideful type as well" the pokemon in question have a grunt of affirmation not even bothering to face who it was addressing. "I hope this information will be useful for you."

"Of course, it will be thank you so much Lanzhu-chan!"

—

Walking along the streets of Yuigaoka, Yuu lamented her choice of walking over to the lab just to pass Shiki the results of her progress with maintaining her bonds.

It had been 2 days since she had spoken with Lanzhu, instead of talking to more people instead choosing to take some time to try to train with Type: Null who was at least somewhat receptive to her. Her ability to keep Type: Null out improved as well with maintaining the bond for three hours being relatively simple or at least non-straining for her.

Shiki had insisted she'd come in person, wanting to measure her vitals for anything wrong with her or if she was pushing herself too much. Initially, Yuu had wanted to use the opportunity to ask Mei, the only ghost specialist she knew, about ghost types but unfortunately, chose the exact wrong time to do so as the redhead was running errands for the day and had headed out to Onoztonika marketplace.

Luckily, she had a backup plan. Taking a detour to the other side of the small town, Yuu arrived to her second destination for the day the small cafe/daycare Kanon ran in search of Chisato.

"Oh, Yuu-chan, what are you doing here?" Yuu entered the daycare to quite a strange sight. Kanon had her hands full quite literally with her Gible and Axew in each of her hands while her Goomy sat atop her head each of them seemingly vying for her attention. Although she seemed completely unfazed by this.

"Ummm well I was looking for Chisato-san but uhh are you ok?" Yuu asked, staring at the Gible baby who was now attempting to chew on Kanon's hand although its teeth couldn't actually hurt her which she merely shrugged off, poking at the Gible causing it to giggle.

"Mhmm, you don't have to worry about it. But Chii-chan is out right now sorry." A loud slam echoed behind Kanon causing her to immediately look back and shout, "Happiny! Do not play with the exercise ball without me there! Sorry about that, Yuu-chan, this is Happiny's first time here so she doesn't really know the rules."

"They'll follow your rules?" Yuu asked tilting to her side with Veevee mimicking her actions.

Kanon looked at her as if she was dumb, she'd been getting this look a lot recently. "Of course, they do, why wouldn't they?"

"When I was talking to Lanzhu-chan about being a dragon specialist. She said that it was impossible to get babies to listen to you."

Kanon blinked and then just started to giggle "Lanzhu-chan's just too proud to admit it isn't her strong side. Come in, I want to hear what Lanzhu-chan said."

Yuu compiled following Yuu deeper into the daycare type: Null trailing behind her. It seemed business was rather slow today as only the aforementioned Happiny was inside playing with a Pachirisu Yuu recognized as belonging to another one of Liella's members.

Grabbing two bean bags, Kanon took sat opposing her, her Goomy and Axew decided to allow Kanon to breathe instead of playing with Veevee, Happiny, and the Pachirisu the five of them chasing each other in circles. Her Gible decided to monopolize her, though still remaining cradled in her arms as Kanon nestled herself into her couch. Type: Null remained beside Yuu deciding to take the time for a nap.

"So what did Lanzhu-chan say?" Kanon asked still petting the baby Gible as it seemingly just basked in Kanon's touch.

"She told me a lot actually, she started off mainly boasting about how dragons are prideful and powerful." Yuu chuckled remembering what she said next "Much like her."

This got Kanon to giggle as well, sinking further into the bean bag. "Yea that sounds like Lanzhu, when we first met she ranted to me too."

"Then she talked about how dragons are hard to train and even harder to get respect from." To this Kanon nodded in agreement although not interrupting in favour of listening to Yuu.

"She was stressing the importance of respect between dragons and their trainers. She was talking about how it was best by earned by displays of strength. That dragons were powerful beasts and were mainly ferocious but that babies didn't really follow these rules." Yuu summarized.

Kanon didn't reply for a bit after that seemingly collecting her thoughts before speaking. "Hmmm, this probably comes from differences between specialists but I don't particularly agree with everything she said. For example, strength is not the only way to earn a dragon's respect. You know my Hydreigon right?"

"Of course! Who hasn't!"

Resting the urge to correct Yuu that most people actually didn't because Kanon didn't exactly let a Hydreigon roam about in town often she continued. "Right. So Joy was actually my first dragon caught, and all it took was feeding her. By accident in fact."

"I think this comes mainly from her misconception that dragons only care about pride and respect. While very important, dragons also have other characteristics." Kanon continued. "Take Joy for example. She just dosent actually like battling much, she prefers lazing around or helping around the daycare. She's out right now with Floof in the nearby field with a few other pokemon we're taking care of just enjoying the day."

Taking a pause to start bouncing the Gible on her lap as a mean to entertain it Kanon resumed her explanation. "Besides dragons have one more key characteristic I think is even more important than the others Lanzhu-chan talked about."

Yuu tilted her head to the side "What's that?"

Kanon chuckled and smiled pausing to tickle the Gible who just giggled happily in response. “Well, dragons are fiercely protective of their young and those they care for. Never ever try to mess with a dragon’s young. It’s kind of like dragon 101 when teaching aspiring specialist. Although perhaps Lanzhu-chan wouldn’t be the most in tune with that side of dragons she makes for ummm not the best babysitter, to say the least.”

Yuu just blanked at that it kind of went against what she had heard from Lanzhu well, she supposed they weren’t mutually exclusive. But thinking about it further it did make sense. Kanon and Lanzhu didn’t have much in common. The way they acted and carried themselves could not be more different with Lanzhu being one of the most prideful, bordering on arrogant person she knew even if that pride was sometimes misplaced. Although her cute side sometimes shone through. Not being afraid to take control of a situation or make herself stand out Lanzhu was almost the complete opposite of Kanon.

In comparison to the pink-haired girl, Kanon was a lot more mellow, actually the calmest and for the lack of a better word normal out of all the leaders besides Ayumu. Yuu had even heard from others that she was actually rather meek and could be easily flustered even to the point of having stage fright when younger. But Kanon’s take did line up with the fact Yuu knew she was very protective of her juniors and was incredibly good with baby pokemon.

“I guess part of it is that Lanzhu-chan and I just have different ideologies when it comes to being a dragon specialist. In my view, she cares most about individual strength. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but for me being a dragon specialist is about using that strength for others and protecting them.” Opting to stop bouncing her Gible Kanon hugged it close as she spoke the Gibble curling up in her arms in response.

“Although I suppose each being specialist of a specific type doesn’t mean the same thing to different people, everyone is going to bias to what they are good at,” Kanon added after seeing Yuu stuck in thought. “I heard from Shiki-chan that you’re talking to specialists of each type but you should probably just try to talk to as many people as you can having a variety of opinions is always a good thing. For example, If you ask Tsubasa-san her thoughts about being a dragon specialist I’m sure you would get a different answer from what Lanzhu-chan and I said.”

EHHHHH this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

Chapter Text

Dread filled her this was it, the letter in her hand signalled the coming of the end, her calm and relatively peaceful was over. Her Sylveon's ribbons wrapping around her hand in a show of support did little to calm her accelerating heart rate and dread.

The delivery Pelipper let out a parting cry before taking back off leaving Ayumu to her fate. Ok, maybe she was being a little dramatic but it was still promising to be a stressful time. Ayumu didn't even need to open the letter to immediately know what was in it. It was an obligation she had as the leader of Nijigasaki. Ok, maybe obligation was a little harsh, it was more of a tradition she had a kind of duty to uphold.

Once every two months, the leaders of the four groups would meet up in what Honoka dubbed a "bonding activity" meant to build a good relationship between the groups. The activity would be chosen on rotation starting with Honoka then Chika then herself and finally Kanon before repeating. There was nothing actually wrong with the concept. In fact, when Honoka first came up with it Ayumu had readily agreed it sounded like a wonderful idea and while there was no bad blood or animosity between the teams there was no harm in a little fun and bonding together.

All in all, it sounded like a fun time. Right until she showed up to the first meeting, where Honoka with an all too excited grin announced the four of them were going to explore a dessert. Ayumu could still vividly remember the scorching heat and sand in her shoes…

Next came Chika's pick which was an equally as horrifying pick returning to the dessert area but instead of going in, instead exploring the surrounding mountain which turns out was the habitat of at least one group of very unfriendly Onix.

Her own pick was a much-needed calm activity just watching a local contest although the four of them being together drew a lot of attention with hushed whispers and curious onlookers being a constant.

Finally Kanon's pick, Arceus bless her, was just a relaxing berry-picking trip. And so completed the first of many cycles, two borderline dangerous or stressful activities picked by Honoka and Chika then two calming and relaxing activities by herself and Kanon.

Since the latest activity was a very peaceful picnic at Yuigaoka picked by Kanon, this letter was definitely from Honoka detailing their next trip. Was a letter necessary? No, of course not, they all had phones and were in a private group chat but Chika had come up with the idea saying that it gave their meetings more flair and excitement.

The letter itself was an unassuming orange with the Honoka's icon on it. At first, Honoka just sent an orange letter matching her hair causing the other two orange-haired leaders to immediately point out a possible source of confusion. Much to Ayumu's amusement this led to the orange-haired girls including their icon on the letters where she just went ahead and sent a pink letter instead.

A sigh left her lips cracking open the letter reading its contents.

Hi Ayumu-chan!

Meet us tomorrow 10an at Uranohoshi Harbor! Our activity this time is a surprise :D

From: Honoka

P.s Make sure to dress light~

Ayumu just blinked speechless only one thought crossing her mind

Oh no this is going to be bad.

—

The next morning didn't calm her nerves at all, being forced to leave an adorable sleepy Yuu certainly didn't help as Ayumu left the house Ribbon in tow looking not too pleased as well.

Stepping out she released her Clefable. "Good morning teleport us to the pokemon center please "

A blink later the ground below her shifted as she the wind brushed against her skin materializing at a designated zone for teleportation at the center of the four towns. As much as she wished it was possible her Clefable couldn't teleport straight to the harbour the distance being just too great.

Giving a small wave to those that recognised her, Ayumu started her stroll to the harbour. The garden stretched far with flowers and greenery lining the walkway. Ayumu giggled watching as Ribbon skipped around the bushes getting a few flowers stuck on her fur.

Approximately halfway there and her peaceful stroll came to an abrupt end. The sound of loud running filled the air. Before she could even comprehend what was going on a yellow blur passed by her with a voice she recognized as Honoka yelling "Hi Ayumu-chan! See you there!"

Taking a moment to compose herself, Ayumu could barely make out the retreating form of what she guessed was Honoka atop her Manetric dashing ahead to the meeting point. Ayumu could only share a look with Ribbon before resigning herself to her fate and picking up the pace.

By the time she finally made it to the harbour, Honoka and Chika were already chatting near the shore. Their Raichu and Alolan-Raichu chittering away beside them.

It seemed Chika spotted her first waving cupping her hands over her mouth as a makeshift microphone "AYUMU-CHAN!" She shouted "GOOD MORNING!!"

Ayumu winced as multiple passersby turned to look at Chika and then herself. Closing the gap between them Ayumu greeted the two although much softer than either of her companions. "Morning you two" Ribbon echoed her sentiment waving at the two electric specialists with her ribbons before joining the other two Pokemon in their chat.

"Alright now we just got to wait for Kanon-chan and we can go!" Honoka grinned, swaying back and forth as she did.

It seemed they didn't need to wait long as overhead what Ayumu initially thought was a cloud came closer and closer eventually landing next to her as the Altaria sang a greeting. Its trainer hopping off.

"Good morning everyone" Kanon greeted taking off her flight goggles and moving her headphones around her neck. Her Hoothoot perched on her shoulder chirping out in greeting.

"Morning!"

"Good morning Kanon-chan"

"Good morning!"

"Alright let's go!" Honoka pumped her fist up before turning around and pointing at what Ayumu saw as a whole lot of ocean. It seemed she wasn’t the only one confused as looking to the other two for answers they both just stared out to the same spot as her.

“We’re going to the volcanic isle to explore!” Honoka clarified much to the horror of Ayumu. Was this girl crazy? Approximately one hour by boat away from the harbour to the left of Uranoshi laid a massive island, the centrepiece being a giant volcano that was rumoured to still be active but has not erupted anytime in recent history. The island itself was a paradise for wild Pokemon, most of which were incredibly territorial. Of course, she has visited before at the behest of Setsuna dragging NIjigasaki there but that wasn’t exactly something she wanted to do again.

Looking at fellow leaders, it seemed her fellow leaders were also horrified by the announcement, even Chika seemed dumbfounded while Kanon looked borderline ready to bolt.

“Honoka-chan we can’t do that you know,” Chika said.

Even Chika-chan doesn’t want to go, Oh thank you whoever is watching out fo- “The boats to the island aren’t running today we have to reschedule. They only open on weekends for guided tours.” So… so close

Swinging back and forth in place as she spoke Chika continued. “If you told us earlier, I could have got You-chan to bring us there. She sent me here after all.”

“How about we just not put ourselves in mortal danger?” Kanon tried to reason. Although it promptly fell to death ears as Honoka just exclaimed her apparent backup plan.

“We can just fly there!”

Once again this got dumbfounded looks with Ayumu helpfully pointed out. “Honoka-chan, neither you nor I have Pokemon that can travel that distance.”

This was partially true, in theory, her Clefable could use psychics as a method of flying and has done so commonly. But she absolutely did not want to try pushing her Clefable to its limits over the one-hour trip where failure meant a very soaked Ayumu.

Once again foiled Honoka just grumbled pouting as her Raichu patted her on her back before Chika snapped her fingers the horrifying look of having a plan on her face before she turned to Kanon getting a little too in her personal space as she excitedly asked. “Kanon-chan you brought your Hydreigon right?”

As much as Ayumu silently prayed she would lie, Kanon nodded. “Ok then! Honoka-chan can ride on my Electross while Ayumu-chan can ride on Kanon-chan’s Hydreigon.”

And with that, Ayumu started counting down their quickly shortening life spans.

—

If there was one silver lining to the trip was that the ride was incredibly comfortable for Ayumu. Instead of her Hydreigon, Kanon instead ended up loaning her Altaria for the duration of the flight saying it was probably best for her Hydreigon to carry herself and as much as Kanon assured them and demonstrated it was friendly, Ayumu still felt a pang of relief when the exchange was made.

She appreciated it even more that riding on an Altaria as expected was insanely comfortable. Turns out riding on what amounted to a cloud was incredibly soft and relaxing the experience nearly lulling her to sleep only stopped by an underlying feeling of restlessness.

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end, as up ahead she could see the island coming into view the volcano towering over them even from a far distance. The descent followed soon after with Honoka taking the lead landing close to the shore followed by Kanon, Chika and herself.

“Thank you Floof.” Ayumu cooed petting the Altaria after getting with it giving a joyful song in response before getting recalled into its ball after Kanon had a turn thanking it.

Now on solid land again, the four of them released their usual companions except Kanon who seeing the potentially dangerous area elected to send out her Dragonair the dragon curling around its trainer receiving pets and attention from the dragon specialist. The two Raichu’s much like their trainers immediately started to look running and surfing around the vicinity while Ribbon instead remained by Ayumu seemingly just as weary as her.

As far as Ayumu could see besides the shore a shoddily maintained path led deeper into the island while a dense forest surrounded either side of the path giving an eerie look to the path despite it being the middle of the day.

“Alright! Welcome to the thirteenth leader summit!” Honoka cheered spreading her arms out as she spoke. “Let’s go! We have a volcano to explore”

Chika eagerly agreed starting to walk alongside Honoka on the path. Ayumu could only exchange an uneasy glance with Kanon before the pair made haste to catch up.

—

A soft click then a louder one, birds chirping, the rustling of bushes and leaves unseen. Shadows overlapped and sunlight grew dimmer the deeper they walked. Admittingly, the path was very beautiful with exotic flowers being commonplace. Of course, she took plenty of pictures to show Emma when she returned.

The Pokemon were plentiful and varied as well not even an hour in and Ayumu had spotted countless evolutionary lines from the common Caterpies and Weedles to a wild Heracross foraging for berries. How none of them decided they weren’t welcome especially since Honoka and Chika had decided to use the stroll as a music studio humming along to a tune Ayumu was certain they had made up on the spot.

“Honoka-chan by any chance do you have anywhere specific you’re taking us?” Kanon asked from beside her still looking slightly skittish and jumpy as she walked along clearly having the least fun but taking it decently well.

“Of course not! It’s about the journey, not the destination!” Honoka grinned much to the dismay of Kanon.

“We’re going near the volcano so there’s that!” Chika added on, still all too cheerful as she somehow walked backwards while Ayumu had to be conscious of where she stepped if she didn't want to trip.

—

The ending of the path came not long after. Now at the base of the volcano, Ayumu strained her eyes in a futile attempt to peek further into the cave laying ahead. As far as she could tell, the cave itself was large enough to fit the four of them and their Pokemon. The only thing stopping them from entering was a single wooden sign.

Danger. Aggressive and powerful Pokemon ahead. DO NOT ENETER.

This didn’t stop Honoka who upon reading the sign shrugged and continued walking only stopping when Ayumu called out to her. “Wait! Did you not read the sign!?”

Honoka shrugged her Raichu echoing her sentiment as it waved Ayumu off from beside its trainer. “We are all powerful trainers, we can handle a few Pokemon.”

“Still! The sign was put up for a reason!”

Honoka pouted recalling her Raichu after a quick warning and fishing a Pokeball from her belt releasing her Manetric in its stead. “Ok how about this then, we go in but we bring out our Megas just in case anything goes wrong.” Her Manetric barked in response tilting its head up so the three girls could see the Manectite it was wearing around its neck.

“I assume everyone brought their keystone?” Brushing away some of her hair Honoka revealed the ribbon she normally used to tie her side tail with her keystone resting in the middle affixed to the accessory. “If we travel like this there’s no way we can’t handle some wild Pokemon.”

“Of course!” Chika agreed recalling her own Alolan-Raichu being replaced by her Ampharos wearing a mega stone attached to in the form of a bracelet on its tail. Chika wearing her keystone similarly to Honoka but on the ribbon tying her front braid instead.

Guess this is happening now. Ayumu shared an apprehensive look with Kanon before recalling Ribbon. The weight of her own keystone hanging attached to her earring being more apparent as her Mawile appeared her jaw snapping in greeting. The necklace around her neck serving as her location of choice for holding her Mawilite.

For Kanon, she had her Keystone affixed to her headphones slung around her neck while her Altaria reappeared with its Mega Stone in the form of a brace around its neck.

Ayumu sighed watching as Honoka and Chika went ahead. "For the record, I still think this is a horrible idea"

Opening her phone and firing a quick message Ayumu followed.

—

Turns out, it was a horrible idea, at least in Ayumu's opinon. Turning the corner she had tried to look into earlier sent them down a pitch dark hallway with little ability to even tell what was in front of her. At least it was spacious with everyone given ample room but it didn't exactly stop them from bumping into each other.

"Chika-chan…" Kanon's voice behind her echoed through the cave. "Can you just get your Ampharos to light up the cave?"

Silence ensued before Chika laughed as if guilty of a crime she committed and light engulfed the room. Blinking back the sudden light, Ayumu finally could see that the cave they were was huge the room being the size of a small battlefield. Stone pillars held up the structure of the room with clumps of minerals and sand dotting the area. Multiple different exits to the caves littered their front. Above her she could hear the sound of ruffling and… flapping?

Daring to peek up, Ayumu gapped, a ceiling covered in Zubats and Golbats hanging off presumably sleeping. Or sleeping right up till the moment they introduced what they most likely precieved as a flashbang and they looked incredibly unhappy about that.

"Ummm guys?" Ayumu squeaked out catching the attention of everyone else who looked up mouths agape.

"Run." Ayumu didn't know who said that but she couldn't agree more. The next moment she and her fellow leaders were running for their lives a flock of Golbats chasing the small group. Risking a peek, Ayumu saw the Golbats were gaining on them rapidly moving much faster than the small group.

"Thunder wave!" Honoka's voice was frantic as her Manetric turned around for just a brief moment to fire off a bolt of electricity striking a handful of the group only for them to be overtaken by more.

"Rock slide!" Her Mawile responded instantly slamming her jaw to the ground hurling boulders at the flock. A barrage of cackling webs from in front of her and the firing of dragon pulses from behind smashed into the purple death cloud of bats behind them as they all followed Honoka's lead.

Pained cries echoed through the room the impact of the combined assault being enough to momentarily stun the flock. "Quick, in here!" Honoka called turning a sharp corner into a random exit with the others following quickly behind.

"They're still coming!" Kanon said rounding the corner and prepping her Altaria for another round of attacks.

Attack, run, take a sharp corner, attack, run, take a sharp corner, as far as Ayumu could tell this sequence repeated endlessly as they went deeper and deeper into the volcano, the Golbats still in pursuit.

The deeper they went the hotter it became, as their surroundings changed from ordinary stone to cooled magma to pockets of active lava giving them a source of lighting that wasn't Ampharos as they continued running.

"Thun- wait wha?" Chika abruptly stopped her next counterattack the sudden break in pace causing Ayumu to risk another look back. The Golbats stopped chasing them? As if there was an invisible line the flock stopped as the pockets of lava became more apparent. The flock glared at them as if still wanting to tear them apart but ultimately remaining stationary.

“Maybe they're scared of the heat? It is getting a lot hotter here.” Kanon suggested.

Chika shrugged “As long as their no longer chasing us who cares?”

Ayumu supposed that was true but looking around and spotting only one way forward it was clear they now have a brand new problem if they didnt want to deal with angry Zubats and Golbats. “Ummm, how do we get out?”

“Teleport?” Kanon suggested a hopeful look in her eye as she turned to Ayumu. Unforetutely, Ayumu had to burst her bubble.

Shaking her head Ayumu responded “My Clefable can’t teleport us out of the volcano. She’s not familiar enough with the place to make sure we don’t end up in a lava pit and the mainland is just too far away.”

“Guess the only wait is forward then….”

—

Trudging along, behind her trainer, Spots wanted to snap. Running away from a pack of crazy Golbats was bad enough but the further they went the stronger she felt a sense of danger. As a Mawile living in caves and underground areas was the norm for most of her life but this was the kind of area she would avoid with all her might if she could.

The long tunnels kept going and going as they walked lava pits being their only accompanying sights. They hadn’t even spotted another wild pokemon since getting away from those crazy bats.

“Hey guys? Don’t you think there’s something wrong here?” She voiced out her concern to her fellow pokemon.

She didn’t exactly enjoy the company of too many other Pokemon, much preferring solitude or sometimes the solace of her trainer's other Pokemon but this group was a lot more tolerable than the two Raichus that usually accompanied the more excitable humans of the group. The two Raichus would usually drive her nuts due to their talkative nature but the current group were a lot more serious partly thanks to the situation.

Nodding in agreement, Floof was the first to speak her wings tucked close to her as she walked, “Might be the heat but I think there is another reason the Golbats didn’t follow us.”

“Of course there was! They were scared of me.” Bagel interjected with a grin. The Manetric all too confident despite the situation.

“Can you at least pretend to be serious?”

“Fine. fine, yeah there’s probably something here but I can’t really tell what it is.”

“Maybe that?” Amp finally spoke up, the Ampharos pointing out the center of the room they had just found themselves in.

The chamber was expansive, and definitely not natural looking. The round chamber was basically broken into half, with actual , solid ground where they were and on the other side a giant lava pool rested. In the middle atop a staircase of cooled magma sat a deep red stone laid atop a pedestal. Stone spikes jutted around the pedestal as if protecting it from its surrounding.

“Oooh, what’s that?” The human Spots knew as Honoka dashed up to the pedestal pausing right before the stone and placing her hand on it. “Hehehe it's really warm.”

“I really don’t think you should touch that,” Kanon commented.

“Your trainer might be an idiot.” Spots couldn’t help but comment as she watched the human for god knows what reason pick the stone up to examine it further.

As if adding insult to probably stupid decisions, Amp’s trainer joined her grabbing the weird stone as well. “Honoka-chan is right! Ayumu-chan, Kanon-Chan! You should feel it!” Chika said as if almost all the stones here weren’t incredibly warm or hot.

Doing the more sensible thing, her trainer decided to opt to just take a picture of the stone instead. “No thanks, I really think you should put that back, this area is clearly man-made who knows what it was used for.”

“Pfft, let’s just bring it up and ask Dia-san!” Chika suggested grinning as she made her way back down with Honoka strange stone in hand.

The room shook as if an earthquake tore through it making Spots struggle to stay standing. “Ahhhh… that can’t be good.” Spots heard Kanon say and she couldn’t agree more.

—

“Ahhhh… that can’t be good.” Ayumu heard Kanon comment as she helped the girl stabilise. Chika and Honoka linked up with the two before turning around as the room continued to shake. The ceiling above started to crack, boulders dropping into the lava pool causing the laval to jut out and spill out towards them.

Ayumu gulped watching the scene unfold in front of her, too scared to move, she witnessed the scene.

Behind the pedestal, a strange figure started to emerge from the lava. As if emerging from normal water, a figure of Molten steel slowly started to emerge from the lava the burning liquid sliding off it back. Four legs stomped out mostly made off magma but clad in some rugged steel showed itself lava sinking back into the pit revealing a steel faceplate and magma body two eyes looking all too angry at the four of them the creature being the size of at least a bus.

The Pokemon let out a bellowing roar that reverberated across the room magma dripping down from its jaw. What Ayumu could only describe as a fire spin on steroids shot out from the creature's body directly to them. “PROTECT!” Ayumu wasn’t sure if she was the one who screamed it out but all four of their Pokemon reacted instantly putting up a barrier that was just barely holding up as the torrent of fire continued.

“PUT THE STONE BACK!” Kanon screamed and Ayumu couldn’t agree more releasing her Clefable.

“Psychic! Put the stone on the pedestal quickly!” Not waiting for Chika’s permission, her Clefable did what was asked snatching the stone out of Chika’s hand and placing it back onto the pedestal.

The lava storm paused not a word was said their Pokemon dropped the protects and stared at the creature. Seconds passed Honoka being the first to whisper out “Guess its alr-”

The creature let out another furious roar summoning pillars of stone and chucking it at the girls.

“ELECTRO BALL!”

“THUNDER!”

“DRACO METEOR!”

“FLASH CANON!”

The four attacks Clashed against the rocks thankfully smashing them though not perfectly bits and pieces landing beside the girls. The behemoth gave them no time to rest making its surprisingly agile jump out of the lava pit crashing in behind them and stomping its foot the shockwave it released surprisingly not hitting them but behind them collapsing the entrance they had come from.

“Ummm, Honoka-Chan if you got any backup plans, now is the time to tell us.” Kanon stuttered out.

“Nope! All out!” Honoka said before continuing. “Just survive and let’s get out of here blast our way out here if we have to!”

Not wasting another second, Honoka tossed out the rest of her team all of them acting immediately with shocks of thunder waves washing over the titan.

Ayumu huffed guessing that was indeed the only plan before copying Honoka her own team backing up Honoka’s as soon as they appeared with Chika’s joining in soon after.

“I’ll blast our way out then!” Kanon shouted releasing her own team as she did. The other three nodded though Kanon probably didn’t even register it, She had the most destructive power out of them, their job was to stall the magma titan.

“Going mega!” Kanon called out tapping her keystone her Altaria responded, shining in power before reappearing and firing a powerful Moonblast into a nearby wall. Her Hydreigon and Dragonair joined it and fired off dragon pulses making a makeshift tunnel angeled upwards.

Ayumu nodded turning back to the behemoth the sound of the wall being decimated was the only indicator she had that progress was being made to get out of there. The only ‘strategy’ now was to stall for time every second counted to allow Kanon to find a way out. In theory, they could also just take the unknown Pokemon down but judging by how it was looking barely affected by the thunder waves of two combined teams that plan was probably out the window.

Meanwhile, the behemoth managed to shrug off the combined thunder waves of Chika’s and Honoka’s team roaring in what Ayumu assumed to be frustration and summoning what She recognised as stone edge while simultaneously letting a torrent of flames from its mouth.

“Light screen! Smash any rocks that break past” Ayumu called out her Pokemon responding with her Carbink, Clefable and Sylveon placing up multiple translucent screens in front of their party while her Florges fired off Moonblasts at any stray boulders that threatened to flatten them and her Mawile hopped from stone to stone crushing the rocks into smithereens.

This was her strong suit, where Honoka and Chika had their offensive capabilities and Kanon could provide the destructive power to get them out, Ayumu’s strength shone as the premier defensive pillar of their little party.

"We're going mega as well!" Ayumu heard Chika call out admist the torrent of fire and stone. Moments later her Ampharos roared the sheer power of the mega evolution blasting away a few stray rocks in the process.

"Helping hand!" Honoka's Plusle and Minimum appeared beside the Ampharos boosting it as it fired a giant focus blast which tore through the storm of fire and stone smashing directly into the behemoth which actually let out a cry of pain.

"Nice!" Chika cheered for a whole nice second. The titan retaliated with the same move it started with this time mixing ancient power within cascading fire and stone once again in a display of strength Ayumu guessed could rival legends.

“DRAGON PULSE!” Chika screamed out her Ampharos responding in tandem with Ayumu’s Pokemon slamming into the incoming attack but instead of dissipating it, the fire wrapped around the chamber as if trapping them inside a fire spin only seen from the strongest of fire specialists.

Of course, the titan gave them barely anytime to process their new situation glowing a bright white the telltale signs of Overheat about to be used.

“BLOCK IT!” Honoka screamed out and Ayumu barely had any time to register that all their Pokemon took it to heart, there wasn’t any time to worry about whose orders you were taking if you were all trying to survive.

As the strongest Pokemon currently, Chika’s Ampharos took the lead slamming a focus blast directly into the ceiling breaking it apart causing boulders to fall in an attempt to intercept the oncoming blast. Her Alolan Raichu followed up using psychic to build the wall of stone. Ayumu’s Clefable, Sylveon and Florges supported with their own skilled usage of psychic the second they caught up to what Chika’s team was trying to accomplish. The rest of their pokemon blasted the ceiling as well helping build the defensive line.

Unfortunately, the wall held up for a whole few second the scorching heat of the Behemoth’s move starting to melt the rocks.

“PROTECT PROTECT!” The girls instinctive yell ringed through the cave once again just as the overheat breached the barrier. Truly, Ayumu thanked every second Ai and Karin drilled into her that Protect was a move worth perfecting as a get out of jail free card. It seemed Honoka and Chika also had good teachers as all of their pokemon managed to put a sizeable showing of protect blocking the flames until the titan had to recharge.

Of course, recharge just meant going back to flamethrower instead of Overheat as Ayumu’s pokemon went back to their previous task. "What is this thing anyway!"Ayumu yelled out hoping her team was able to continue blocking the onslaught.

"No idea ask Dia-san if we are alive!" Chika answered clearly starting to feel the exhaustive repercussion of mega evolution struggling to keep balance agmost the repeat shockwave off powerful moves colliding.

The smashing behind them stopped momentarily, Kanon shouting to the others her voice thankfully echoing throughout the make-shift tunnel "Quick! We found another cave system, let's get out of here!"

Turning back, Ayumu and her fellow leaders made a break forward behind then still a mix of electricity, and shield covering them as they ran.

“Earth power quick!” Ayumu’s Carbink sundered the passageway out momentarily dispelling the ring of fire that encircled them, everyone dashed out not a second later the fire closing the gap once again.

It seemed the titan wasn't just confined to the room as it chased behind them attempting to crumble the ceiling only being stopped by Honoka's well-timed thunder waves. That's when the worst happened, Chika's mega time was up exhausting both her and her Ampharos needing support by Honoka to stand, the repercussions of Mega evolution and supporting multiple Pokemon in searing heat-up probably taking a lot out of the electric specialist.

Kanon was probably no better, Ayumu guessed. They still hadn't caught up with her but if Chika was anything to go by, Kanon was probably at her limit as well she hadn’t seen the dragon specialist in awhile but typically, mega-evolution was to be maintained for a maximum of five minutes max. Any more than that was a risk to both the trainer and the Pokemon. It felt like its been hours of fighting and Chika’s own time already went out and Kanon had gone mega before Chika, if she had maintained it the entire time, well, Ayumu would be surprised if she was still standing.

The titan seemed to know they were now vulnerable resuming its assault with vigour unleashing a lava plume unlike any the group had seen before the torrent unfortunately managed to take out a majority of their Pokemon with the girls quickly recalling them. Back down to their mega-capable Pokemon minus Chika who had to recall her Ampharos too exhausted to keep it out.

"Guess it's our turn" Ayumu whispered to Spots as she gripped her earring in half panic and half fear she could feel the familiar drain of mega evolution immediately start to take effect.

Her Mawile wasted no time already getting a running start by the time it finished its evolution it slammed its now two jaws directly on the behemoth's head abusing its newly gained huge power ability. The impact radiated out causing cracks in the ground, the titan howling in pain and luckily stunned, allowing the now much smaller party to continue running. Spots rejoined shortly after every few moments, she would slam her jaws onto the ground using stone edge as a blockade to cover their escape.

Whenever the titan decided to try to crumble the ceiling above them a well-placed flash canon from Spots would blow it apart seconds later.

Finally, they managed to link back up to Kanon, the leader of Liella looking like she just ran a marathon. Relying on her Hydreigon carrying her, the dragon clearly wanted to just take its trainer to safety but Kanon had probably ordered it to remain not being able to leave in good conscience. In all likelihood, she exhausted herself as well only being able to keep her Hydreigon out through sheer willpower at this point.

Taking the safe option Ayumu cut her mega evolution early, still feeling slightly fatigued but she wagered not nearly as exhausted as Chika or Kanon probably were. If she wore herself out as well, Honoka would have to end up soloing the rest of the escape supporting the three of them. Luckily the barriers her Mawile put up seemed to work for a while though probably not for long the sounds of fire pounding against stone catching up quickly.

"Let me take care of her. Don't worry" Ayumu said supporting Kanon whose Hydreigon entrusted to protect her the dragon grunting when it was recalled as well. Quickly recalling her Mawile Ayumu dared a look back only to see the stone barrier start melting into lava once again.

"Let's go" Kanon said pointing down the hallway of the cave system they now found themselves in. "I sent Joy to scout out earlier there should be a way out that way."

That was all Honoka needed as a cue using up their final meta evolution her Manetric letting out a howl at the same time. Honoka hopped on helping Chika up as well. Ayumu quickly followed pulling Kanon up the four of them luckily managing to fit on the Mega Manetric just as Kanon adjusted herself the final barrier burst and fire engulfed the room once again.

"Go go go!" Honoka yelled and the next thing Ayumu knew was the wind blowing past them feeling the latent static electricity in the air that mega Manetric were known to exhibit.

Thankfully, the behemoth was barely able to keep up, halting most of its attacks instead using all its energy in chasing down the speedy electric. Still, the occasional ball of lava would cause a sudden turn or dodge that required Ayumu to balance herself and the girls in front and behind her, thankful that she didn't decide to push her own mega evolution.

"CRAP DEAD END!" Honoka yelled the cave eventually stopped and the behemoth was fast approaching.

Looking around in panic Ayumu wanted to scream there had to be an out right?

"THE WALL THERE'S A HOLE WITH LIGHT COMING OUT." She yelled out pointing at a small crack to the side.

"Electro ball!" One final time, Honoka's Manetric let out a roar forming a ball of pure electricity firing directly at the small crack which thankfully gave way. Behind them they could hear the behemoth gaining on them there was no more time to waste.

Jumping directly out of the hole as Honoka dropped her mega evolution, the smell of seawater never felt like such a blessing to Ayumu but now she wanted to worship it.

Getting off the Manetric, Ayumu watched as its trainer gave a quick thanks and recalled it the poor thing was probably exhausted as well carrying four times the normal passengers was probably tiring even for a mega.

"Never, ever again." Ayumu huffed out glaring at Honoka who at least had the decency to look sheepish rubbing the back of her head. Chika actually nodded in agreement this time no strings attached as she still relied on Honoka to stand fighting to stay awake and not just collapse onto the girl.

Kanon on the other hand just outright collapsed the second she assumed they were safe the scorching hot environment, adrenaline, sustained mega evolution and anxiety of the day probably taking too much out of the poor girl who now rested against Ayumu who carried the girl on her back thankfully she was light enough for Ayumu to support for the time being.

"So… how do we get off?" Ayumu pointed out looking around, she could only guess they were on the other side of the island back onto a forestry area.

The sudden feeling of heat made Ayumu made Ayumu scream in terror, the sound echoing out around the island, a fireball barely missing the group and smashing into a nearby tree. The hole they had made gave way slowly peeling away revealing the behemoth once again somehow still chasing them despite being out of the volcano.

Wel,l guess they had a good run. Ayumu gulped as she watched the titan emerge from the hole glaring at the four of them two of them basically completely out of the fight while the other two were tired in their own right with basically no Pokemon.

"Jet punch!" The sudden command was all Ayumu heard before a blue blur smashed itself straight into the behemoth shoving it back into the hole. The blur landed bracing itself before it launched itself back into the fray. In this time Ayumu managed to figure out it was a Palafin already in its hero mode that managed to save them.

"Hydro Canon!" A follow-up shot from the trees behind them a torrent of water crashing into the behemoth once again causing it to howl in pain and frustration. The steam being unleashed into the atmosphere somewhat blocking her view.

Stepping out from the forest, Ayumu was never happier to see another person in her life the Aqours gym leader Kanan grinning beside her mega blastoise. "Hiya we got your message!"

Releasing her Carracosta the ancient turtle didn't hesitate before firing a concentration of water directly into the air in what Ayumu recognised as a highly trained use of rain dance causing the area directly above the hole and a little of the surrounding to experience a downpour. At the same time, it released a hydro pump straight up high into the sky bursting apart before fizzling out.

Still somehow kicking the behemoth seemed as if it could control temperature itself the water surrounding it evaporating before it could touch it.

"Hydro pump!"

"Moonblast!"

This time the voices came from above her a Gyrados and Togekiss floated near the hole. Ayumu could barely make Yoshiko and Riko respectively atop their Pokemon as they joined in the effort to contain the behemoth.

With all three of Uranoshi's gym leaders now here their chances of pushing back the titan just shot up dramatically.

"Chika-chan!" A worried voice sounded out from where Kanan emerged from, You rushing last her fellow water specialist in favour of helping Honoka take care of her girlfriend. Her swarmpert joined the offensive efforts hurling a well-placed stone edge to start sealing off the hole.

"How did you all know we were here?" Honoka asked as she gave Chika over to You, the latter still looking all too tired but still softly smiling at the sight of her girlfriend.

"Yuu called very panicked so we came out here as fast as we could," Kanan answered for them as her Blastoise fired another Hydro Canon into the hole. "The hydro pump my Carracosta fired was a signal for everyone in the search party."

Oh right. With all the running away and fighting. Ayumu had completely forgotten she has sent a message to Yuu right before heading into the volcano. It simply contained their coordinates and to send for help if Ayumu hadn't contacted her in two hours.

Fishing out her phone for the first time in hours, Ayumu could see more than 300 unread messages mostly from Yuu and the rest of Nijigasaki no doubt Yuu had panicked and just alerted everyone.

"Alright let's wrap it up!" Ayumu heard Riko shout from above releasing her Tinkaton who slammed its hammer into the nearby ceiling collapsing the hole in before being swiftly recalled. A combination of stone edge from You's Swampert, flamethrower from Yoshiko's Gyrados and Hydro pump from Kanan's Blastoise melted down stone before quickly cooling it and filling up the cracks of the hole.

A deafening roar sounded out from inside the volcano making Ayumu horrified that the behemoth would just break again. She only allowed herself to breathe again once she heard the loud sounds of its foot steps start to echo away from them most likely it had finally given up and was returning to its shrine.

Reversing her mega evolution Kanan recalled her team and her fellow gym leaders joining the group.

"Can you guys not read!?" Was the first thing Riko said the second she got close enough to the group hopping off and recalling her Togekiss. Yoshiko followed after recalling her Gyrados in the process looking a little sorry for them as her girlfriend ranted.

The question was out to the whole group but the way she grumbled and glared was directed at the leader of Aqours who just chuckled looking all too embarrassed and fearful. "Oh…you wrote that sign Riko-chan no wonder the sign looked familiar."

"No, that sign wrote itself." Riko quipped back sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Of course I wrote that! It's so people don't go into that death trap volcano! We didn't know a HEATRAN was in it but it was dangerous enough as is!"

Ahh, so that behemoth was the mythical Pokemon Heatran… which they had bothered and irritated what was probably its magma stone… yea that explained why it wanted to drown them in lava. Ayumu decided to keep the fact they had no idea what it was until now to herself.

"Oh by the way…." It seemed Riko wasn't done venting yet. "Who's STUPID idea was it to come here?! You know you need clearance from us to even come to this island! And I for sure do not remember approving any unguided trips here!"

Ayumu was sure as hell not going to die on this hill immediately throwing her fellow leader under the bus. "Honoka-chan's turn."

Honoka gulped not exactly willing to refute it as Riko turned her attention to her as if gathering her thoughts before, as if possessed, whipped out her phone, typing something in then closing it and commenting. "Umi-chan will deal with you."

"Wait no! Please do anything but that!" Honoka cried out.

"Too late, good luck."

"Sorry to break the punishment session up, but we should go, Chika and Kanon-chan need medical attention there should be a medical team on the mainland." Kanan spoke up, having taken over the job of carrying the unconscious Kanon.

Ayumu couldn't agree more.

—

The ride back made Ayumu realise just how tired she was struggling to stay awake atop You's ship. The only thing keeping her awake was still needing to message the Nijigasaki group chat and the smell of ash lingering on the four of them.

Sending a quick message to the group chat, Ayumu chuckled at the influx of relief and well-wishing messages. She truly had good friends. With a promise to tell the story of what happened, Ayumu shut off her phone surrendering to her exhaustion and the calming sea breeze.

—

The next time she woke up, Ayumu found herself struggling to open her eyes only to be met with a white ceiling. The bed she felt below her and soft pillow made her conclude she was most likely a room in the pokemon center she mused. Her body felt unusually heavy as she craned her neck looking around the room she spotted the rest of Nijigasaki minus Yuu, Kanata and Shioriko all in the room presumably waiting for her.

It seemed Setsuna was the first to notice she was awake her voice filling the once quite room

“She’s awake!”

The next few seconds were a dizzying spur for her as nine different voices all sounded out at once though she barely caught anyones words. The door opening with a loud slam at least got everyone to keep quiet momentarily, Maki and Shioriko coming in with Maki’s Chansey in tow.

“Ah good you’re awake.” Maki commented. “You’re mostly fine, just exhausted, take it easy for a few days and you should be good. Your Pokemon are currently being looked after and are fine as well.”

“How about the rest?” Ayumu couldn’t help but ask.

Shioriko was the one to respond this time “Honoka-san and you got off the easiest, Chika-san and Kanon-san are going to be bed-written for a few days. They exerted themselves too much with mega-evolution. Also apologies for the noise” Shioriko levelled a glare at everyone else in the room. “I told everyone they should wait outside but they insisted to stay inside, the same happened with the other teams.”

Oh right, then “Where are Yuu-chan and Kanata-san then?” Ayumu couldn’t help but wonder where they were after all it was quite strange that Yuu wasn’t the first thing she saw when she woke up and she would never admit it out loud but she was a little disappointed by that fact.

Maki snorted “They are currently in the μ's room scolding Honoka.” She said matter-of-factly. “You and Chisato are there as well on behalf of being anxious lovers. Not that it’s not justified this time though.”

That got the rest of the room to chuckle at the mental image of Honoka being reprimanded by the trio of relatively good-natured but protective childhood friends.

“As for Kanata-san, she’s there scolding Honoka-san on behalf of Nijigasaki, last I saw, Eli-san, Dia-san and Ren-san were there as well. Though I heard the entirety of Liella wanted to scream at her considering Kanon-san was outright unconscious. I would have been there instead of Kanata-san if I didn’t have responsibilities as a nurse.” Shioriko added.

Ayumu may have been sore everywhere and incredibly tired. But was she thankful she wasn’t Honoka right now.

—

After the event, new rules were put in place so that such a stunt would never be pulled again. The Uranoshi gym leaders apparently outright barricaded the entrance to the volcano leaving holes for the wild Pokemon to enter and exit but erecting fences for any overeager adventurers to at least triple-think about trespassing.

The wild pokemon like the Zubat and Golbat horde were bad enough but especially with the newly surfaced knowledge that Heatran itself resided in the volcano. These measures were very necessary much to the disappointment of Setsuna and Keke the two fire specialists voicing their interest in seeing the Lava Dome Pokemon for themselves but ultimately being talked out of it.

Ayumu had heard Dia and Shiki complain as well only because none of them had the foresight to take a picture of the behemoth or snatch out samples of stone for the scientist’s research. But to be fair she gave herself a pass on that one, running for your life was slightly more important after all. They could live with the one picture Ayumu had taken of the Magma stone.

The leaders were now under obligation to send their itinerary for the day when they went out. Even Ayumu and Kanon had to do so but everyone knew it was really for Honoka and Chika. Though the next time they saw each other Honoka at least apologised for the series of unfortunate events when they visited Chika and Kanon during their mandated bed rest periods.

Technically speaking, Ayumu supposed this was only the second worst encounter with a mythical the groups had. She heard the first time they met Meloetta was somehow even more terrifying. The pixies were a lot more friendly once you got to know them but Ayumu wouldn’t exactly expect Heatran to be cordial if anyone else tried to meet with it.

Now it was that time again, the letter in her hand from Chika for the leaders to meet once again. This time though the letter actually filled Ayumu with relief.

NOPE NOT AGAIN. This time we’re just going fishing.

Chapter Text

A scientific report on mythical and legendary Pokemon.

NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Written by Professor Dia Kurosawa and Professor Shiki Wakana

Editing by Mei Yoneme

A note from Dia Kurosawa: To whomever it might concern, this document contains details about not only the legendary Pokemon and mythical Pokemon which inhabit our region. But also contains details concerning our colleagues, friends and family. Please do not attempt to contact any individual in this document unless given explicit permission. If needed please contact either Shiki or me and we will provide further details or handle enquires as we deem fit.

This report was prepared in short notice as a response to the four leaders' recent encounter with Heatran and while the details have been checked through they should not be considered as concrete due to the fickle and reclusive nature of most of these Pokemon.

A note from Shiki Wakana: Although Legendaries and Mythical Pokemon are not my main field of study, I have chosen to assist Professor Dia on this topic to the best of my ability. Most of the information gathered is hearsay from the members of the teams in the region. It is entirely possible that more of these Pokemon have been sighted and not reported.

As Professor Dia stated, please do not make any attempt to contact the individuals mentioned in the document.

—

Introduction

This report is intended for official use by Pokemon League officials on a need-to-know basis. It contains highly confidential information and is not to be spread without express permission from Pokemon League officials.

It is split into two sections, Section A is a short article intended for public release only containing general knowledge with no specific information. It will be released as a standalone article once approval is given and does not contain any information that is not already publicly available.

Section B is strictly confidential as it includes the known locations and habits of a select few of these legendary or mythical Pokemon. It does not include the known moves or battling capabilities of these pokemon. It also includes anecdotal accounts of these legendary Pokemon.

—

Section A

Legendary Pokemon are widely known as supernatural beings of unimaginable power. While some sources claim that legendary Pokemon are just myth or are significantly less powerful. We can confirm that a majority do exist and possess unfathomable power far exceeding ordinary Pokemon.

Sightings of them have varied thought history with some of these Pokemon having semi-regular sightings while others are seen once in a millennium. A few of these legendaries have not been sighted in written history only being known by sculptures and myths.

If spotted, caution is advised and we suggest immediately leaving the area and contacting individuals. DO NOT in any circumstance attempt to engage in a battle or catch them. There is no successful record of any individual capturing any legendary Pokemon and it is theorized normal Pokeballs do not work on them.

However, there are recorded cases of select trainers partnering with and befriending legendary Pokemon. These trainers are the exception and the legendary Pokemon are the ones to approach them and not the other way around. Although some Mythicals and Legendaries have a reputation for being friendly, the public is advised to not seek them out.

Furthermore, in professional fields, we do not consider Ultra Beasts as Mythicals or legendaries. However, they are still considered highly dangerous and the public should immediately flee from an area if one appears in your area.

—

Section B

This section is not intended for public release. If you are currently reading this without prior approval please stop reading immediately and contact the appropriate authorities.

The below section details the location, habits and connected trainers of known legendary Pokemon that frequent the region we monitor. This information is never to be released to the public to protect the Pokemon and the trainer. Any found leakage of information is considered an offence and will be dealt with accordingly.

Admittingly, the following section is less scientific and contains mainly anecdotal information.

Minor Legendaries and Mythicals

The Pokemon contained in this section are relatively less powerful compared to some of their peers. However, each individual Pokemon still possess a vast amount of power far exceeding even Mega Pokemon or highly trained Pokemon such as those trained by gym leaders, elite four and champions.

Articuno

The Elite four members, Sarah and Leah Kazuno have reported to have encountered Articuno during their journey to the icy mountains in the region. The two did battle with the legendary bird before quickly deciding to retreat.

When approaching the legend, it was reported the temperature dropped significantly and its very presence could cause water to freeze.

Celebi

Seldom showing itself, Celebi is mostly elusive with only Nozomi Toujou and Sumire Heanna having spoken to it regularly. Recently Eli Ayase and Keke Tang confirmed to have spoken to the pixie.

Its home is not known but it frequents shrines around the region including those maintained by the Toujou and Heanna family.

Suicune

Umi Sonoda has reported that on more than one occasion she has met Suicune usually occurring when she is out training. Suicune has never appeared in front of anyone else and will quickly leave if someone approaches the two of them.

Manaphy

Manaphy has been spotted multiple times by Chika Takami and You Watanabe typically when You is at or near the ocean.

Interestingly enough, Manaphy is completely uninterested in Chika and frequently competes with her for You's attention.

This is a frequent enough event that Chika has complained they couldn't go sailing for dates due to being 'third-wheeled'.

Shaymin

Shaymin spends the majority of his time in Emma Verde's garden. This is commonly among the Garcedia flowers Emma grows.

Shaymin is particularly friendly and would come out to greet Emma whenever she tends to her garden. This also applies to the other members of Nijigasaki who visit Emma.

Once in a while, Shaymin would instead be seen at Kinako Sakurakoji's ranch in his sky form. During these visits, Shaymin would seek out Kinako and usually spend time by playing with her Pokemon while Kinako attends to the ranch.

Heatran

A very recent sighting of Heatran was made by Honoka Kousaka, Chika Takami, Ayumu Uehara and Kanon Shibuya. Its primary residence is deep inside Uchiura island volcano. It was severely agitated when the party disturbed its magma stone sitting atop a pedestal and chased the party out of the volcano.

The incident exhausted all of the Pokemon that the four leaders had on hand and the issue was only resolved once Uchiura gym leaders arrived. Even then, they only managed to push Heatran back into the Volcano to the point where it had decided to stop giving chase.

As of now, the Volcano has been declared a dangerous area under the excuse of being active. The entryway to the volcano has been collapsed and the public has been warned that it is an offence to go near the area.

Cresselia

Cresselia is confirmed to be under the protection of Kanata Konoe. Currently, no other member has actually met Cresselia with the Pokemon preferring to be elusive to anyone who isn't Kanata.

According to Kanata, Cresselia is actually very friendly to her and would spend a considerable amount of time at her inn giving the guests a wonderful dream.

Its primary residence is currently unknown with Kanata refusing to disclose it upon Cresselia's request.

Victini

Chosen by the Victini, Setsuna Yuki is the current caretaker of Victini. As such, its current home is Setsuna's house and is commonly seen accompanying her.

Unfortunately, Victini's whereabouts is public knowledge due to his stage crashing one of Setsuna's performances. These days, Victini it's an open secret that wherever Setsuna is, Victini is most likely in the vicinity.

Meloetta

The Mythical Pokemon Meloetta frequents Shiki Wakana's lab mainly due to a desire to spend time with Shiki's assistant, Mei Yoneme, she generally has a very friendly personality. She is also commonly seen around Nijigasaki’s performance district and the various contest halls in the region.

Usually, Meloetta either spends her time in its home, the forest near Otozonkia. Sometimes it will venture out with almost all members of the four teams having been visited by her at least once. In particular, Maki Nishikino, Riko Sakurachi, Mia Taylor, Yuu Takasaki, Kanon Shibuya and Ren Hazuki have reported being in the company of Meloetta when practising various musical instruments.

Hoopa

We do not have any official confirmation of Hoopa's presence. However, objects have been disappearing from various houses of the members. These items later turn up in the possession of Kasumi Nakasu, usually as part of a prank.

We are fairly certain there is no feasible way for her to have obtained these items even through a highly skilled user of teleport. Furthermore, Umi Sonoda has reported managing to spot a golden ring disappearing with an arrow.

Upon too many occasions of this occurring, Ayumu Uehara has questioned Kasumi on her involvement and methods during a visit to her residence. However, she has vehmetly denied any assistance from Hoopa instead claiming it was a trade secret. Her partner, Shizuku Osaka has also denied any involvement.

During the house visit, Ayumu reported spotting a bottle in the shape of Hoopa decorated with six golden rings in their residence. However, upon looking away to question the residents, the bottle disappeared and Ayumu prefers not to dig deeper choosing instead to trust her friend.

It is recommended we let the matter rest for now for the sake of the privacy of the two and to allow Hoopa to continue with its alleged pranks.

Diancie

Diancie was spotted once by Ayumu Uehara in a cave near the outskirts of the desert, where she had entrusted a Carbink to her.

The cave has since been emptied and any traces of Diancie's presence has been erased.

Sivally

Sivally is currently still in possession of Yuu Takasaki who obtained the Pokemon as Type: Null from Mari Ohara and before it was classified as a legendary Pokemon.

Sivally is another legendary that is public knowledge due to its absolute unwillingness to leave Yuu's side and its preference to stay outside it's PokeBall.

Do not attempt to remove Sivally from her possession due to its highly protective nature.

It is currently the only known legendary Pokemon to be captured by a PokeBall.

Zeraora

Zeraora has appeared multiple times challenging different members to a spar. Its most frequent sparring partner is Ai Miyashita who has dueled the mythical upwards of 30 times.

It is unknown why Zeraora spars so frequently but our running theory is that it is just for enjoyment and a constant strive for strength.

Magearna

Magearna is currently under the care of Ruby Kurosawa and is very docile and friendly in nature. It commonly assists in tasks around the house and occasionally the lab.

Koridon and Miraidon

The two paradox Pokemon were seen briefly during Shiki Wakana’s brief experiments with time. Not much is known about the two as they were quickly sent back to their own times.

Major Legendaries and Mythicals

The Pokemon contained in this section possess the power to cause severe and possibly world-ending destruction if they so desired. For the purposes of absolute security, the location of these Pokemon are considered national secrets and are not allowed to exist in written form.

Ho-oh

We do not have any confirmation whatsoever on Ho-oh’s continued presence in the region. However, we have recently come into contact with a new trainer named Kaho Hinoshita who possesses one of Ho-oh’s feathers.

According to her, she had picked up the feather near the beginning of her journey around Otozonkia and has kept it as a keepsake.

There is no reason to take this feather from her although she has been told to report it to us if she were to see Ho-oh or find more of its feathers.

Rayquaza

It is quite common knowledge that our champion, Tsubasa Kira has semi-regular meetings with Rayquaza. Not too much is known about their meetings as she has stated she would rather keep those to herself.

To the public’s knowledge, the first appearance of Rayquaza was alongside her when the two fought against Deoxys. This appearance helped her eventually attain the rank of champion and earn public favour. However, in private she disclosed that they had met beforehand.

Deoxys

The only sighting of Deoxys was its fight against current champion Tsubasa Kira only being subdued due to the help of Rayquaza. It is particularly dangerous as it is rumoured to not actually belong to our world.

It possesses the power to change into four different forms at will and will attack without reason.

Xerneas & Yveltal

Xerneas and Yveltal are the charges of Riko Sakurachi and Yoshiko Tsushima respectively. The two Pokemon commonly remain in their hibernation state of a tree and cocoon. However, they will leave hibernation for a short period to communicate with the two gym leaders.

The existence and contact of the two is a closely guarded secret and even some members of the four teams are not aware of the two’s presence in the region.

—

A note from Dia Kurosawa and Shiki Wakana: We would once again like to reiterate NOT to contact any individual in this document.

Please send any and all enquiries to either of us and we will respond accordingly.

Chapter Text

She felt the scorching heat first. It seemed it was already aware of their presence. It was an absolute pain tracking it down, this little setback wouldn’t stop her. Mari grinned as the clicking sounds grew louder, the sand under her shifted as if somehow reacting to the blaze before her. All around her, the walls of the ruins threatened to crumble but she didn’t feel any fear. After all, it made it just all the more thrilling. Announcing its presence with an ear-splitting screech, her target, a Volcarona showed itself in all its splendour. Its six wings beat in unison as cascading fire and sand bathed its surrounding in an unlivable torrent.

Without a command, her Lapras beside her dropped her usually cheerful mood instead dousing the fires that came close with ease. Her Larpras was her companion throughout the journey down to the ruins, clearly, she was already slightly tired but she trusted that one more battle was fine.

Ordinarily, when trying to catch a Pokemon, she usually preferred single combat but with the way the Volcarona radiated power inside an environment that greatly favoured it there was just no way she could risk it. “Rock slide!” She gave out her first command right as she threw out her Pokeball.

An Armaldo emerged from the ball immediately slamming its claws into the ground the impact dissipating some of the flames that threatened them. The rocks fell upon the Volcarona which merely melted when it got too close. It was exhilarating really, the Pokemon was not disappointing. A wild Volcarona was an almost unheard off event. Such a demanding evolution was usually only accomplished with the help of a trainer’s bond. Which made the fight all the more exciting.

“Both of you, Brine!” Her Larpras leapt ahead joining her Armaldo as the two simultaneously caused the sky to rain on the Volcarona. Surprisingly fast, it darted out of the way letting its annoyance known with a Firey dance directed at Armaldo which was quickly intercepted by a hydro pump from her Lapras.

The Volcarona didn’t give much time for thinking, unleashing a heat wave directly at her as it flew up into the air following its assault with flamethrowers at her two Pokemon.

“Oooh, feisty one!” She mocked. The fire slammed into right as she finished although they passed by harmlessly thanks to the release of her third member.

Her Swanna ever the prideful one, swept away the heat wave driving it away with a careful application of hurricane. Well, this should be enough to take the overgrown moth down. Two Pokemon to take down the Volcarona while Swanna stayed back to protect her.

Her vision cleared up to what she expected, her Lapras and Armaldo were barely phased with Armaldo clearly having taken refuge behind Lapras.

A loud cry ringing in her head was heard followed by continuous applications of Fire Blast.

“Break past the fire!” Her command was generic, but she trusted her team to make the judgement call on their own. She wasn’t an 8 badge trainer for nothing.

Lapras and Armaldo worked together perfectly, Lapras using surf to generate a wall of water that Armaldo jumped on surrounding himself in an Aqua jet as it rode. Fire dispersed and gave way as it smashed directly into the Volcarona the beast letting out a cry of pain but quickly retaliated with a Flame wheel knocking Armaldo far back. Clearly, one move was not going to take it down.

“You alright?” Mari called out, Armaldo looked back and nodded before refocusing its attention. Slightly burn marks on its armour appear.

Again, the Volcarona unleashed its torrent of fire but this time it seemed it knew who was in control as it directed its attention to herself. Making a quick judgement call, Mari saw the hesitation in her Lapras’ and Armaldo eyes as she called out “I’ll be fine just go!”

Swanna took off, with her as the passenger the fire narrowly missed the two, Armaldo followed up, jumping at the Volcarona with an X-scissor only to miss as the Volcarona simply flew higher. Bursts of Hydro pumps from Lapras caused it to constantly be on the move as it dodged past leaving two pokemon on the ground instead favouring targeting herself.

“You ready girl?” She whispered. Being met with a positive cry as her Swanna darted towards the Volcarona with her still on it. “Get close! It favours ranged attacks! Don’t let it run away!”

Dia and Kanan would definitely chastise her later, but being right on her Swanna as she dove down for a brave bird was an experience to live for. A mix of flamethrower and bug buzz blew towards her only to be intercepted by Lapras’s hydro pump. Armaldo seized the opportunity managing to launch off the wall to grab the Volcarona and throw the Bug directly into the Brave bird.

It all happened in an instant, her Swanna bashed into the Volcarona causing the bug to screech in pain but still it managed to lock its eyes with Mari. She could just tell they just made a huge mistake. Volcarona’s pincers on its body glowed a bright purple before it used its proximity to pierce Swanna with a poison jab who immediately cried out in Agony.

The impact of both sent the two in opposing directions with Volcarona being sent flying to the opposing wall with a sickening thud. Swanna started spiralling towards the ground, thankfully both of them were caught thanks to a timely save by Armaldo, letting Mari down as she recalled her Swanna.

Just one clean hit was enough to take out Swanna huh. Mari grimaced as the dust settled around where the Volcarona crashed revealing the bug clearly bruised and hurt but still having fight in it.

Volcarona let out another screech still ready to go as it once again summoned a fiery tornado barreling it towards her. It seems it learned as it intercepted Larpra’s hydro pump with applications of bugg buzz meaning she had to think and fast.

“Quick! DIG!” Not her at all her preferred method of escape but nonetheless it got the job done as Armaldo immediately grabbed ahold of her and she covered her mouth and nose as swept by and they reemerged next to Larpras.

This was bad, Armaldo and Larpras were starting to get tired and the other members of her party consisted of her Revaroom who had a terrible matchup here, her Mamoswine who suffered from the same problem with added stresser that it might collapse the ruin and finally her Kingdra who was limited by the presence of a pool of water.

An idea popped up to her head, it was stupid, and quite possibly just a bad idea but it might work and she was willing to try it. But if the Volcarona somehow managed to figure it out, she might have to abandon this whole operation as it might sap out the last strength from her Pokemon.

“Stone edge! Surround it! Brine from above!”

Armaldo once again slammed the ground this time jugged rocks spiking out from under the Volcarona in a circular formation all jutting towards the bug. As if showing off, the Volcarona covered its body in flames using Flare blitz to smash through the stone edge while simultaneously avoiding the brine and charging directly at them flapping its wings to generate another heat wave.

“Hydro pump!”

Once again water met fire bursting into steam although this time, the flames burned past with her Lapras starting to get tired. Muttering out a quick thanks, she recalled Lapras as she felt herself getting grabbed by Armaldo once again who managed to jump out of the heat wave.

Now here she was down to one, as she shared a glance with her Armaldo, it was do or die. This plan had to work. “Distract him ok?”

Armaldo nodded without hesitation jumping directly at the Volcarona its claws glowing brightly in a crush claw. The Volcarona met it in turn directly a flamethrower at Armaldo who tanked the blast managing to slam itself in to the insect. Just in time though, Volcarona released a hurricane, sending Armaldo spiraling into the wall with a loud slam.

Mari flinched a little hearing the slam as she quickly recalled her partner. They had done enough. Using the little time Armaldo had bought, she had relocated herself above where the Volcarona once was, the sight of where stone edge met brine. Or better known as the site where there was now a pool of water.

“End this!” Her command was accompanied by the release of her Kingdra which situated itself in the pool before letting out a massive Hydro pump catching the Volcarona off guard who was recovering from the earlier crush claw.

Finally, the Volcarona crashed into the wall once again this time unmoving. Tossing a Pokeball at the creature, the ball fell to the ground with a bounce. One shake. Two shakes. Three. With a satisfying click, Mari breathed a sigh of relief as she walked over to the Pokeball picking it up with a sense of pride filling her overwriting the exhaustion in her body. Her team did good work today. She saw a future of spoiling them just around the corner.

Looking around her, the sandy landscape of the ruins was now a mix of drenched water and scorched landscape. Which brought the question. How was she supposed to get out?

Chapter Text

Badge number 4. An important milestone in every trainer's journey. This marked the halfway mark if they won, a testament to their perseverance and skill to make it this far. However, it was just half of their journey.

Many trainers would go all the way from here, reaching for the stars to obtain all eight badges required to attend a conference. Even more would stop right after, either satisfied with their journey, giving up as the demands became too much or simply finding other things in life they wanted to pursue. She would know, plenty of the team members dropped out after this point, pursuing their original passions once they felt there was no need to continue.

It was, for this reason, four badge fights were some of her favourites. Sure, the lower badge fights were fun as she had the opportunity to guide young trainers at the start of their journeys. While the higher numbers allowed her to truly test the limits of the challengers and give them that little boost needed to bring them all the way. But there was just something about a four-badge fight that just made it all the more exhilarating.

Her fellow gym leaders probably agreed with her, even if no one said it. At four badges, they were allowed to get more crafty with their tactics, trainers on this level had to start getting used to whiplash or surprises. She knew for sure, Riko and Yoshiko enjoyed them as much as she did. The two supposedly had a 4 badge match as well just later on in the day.

Today's match was against someone quite interesting. Medium-length purple hair tied into a bun with a side tail and long bangs. Sharp green eyes already scanning the battlefield presented in front of her. According to the information taken when she registered for the fight, the girl’s name was Kozue Otomune, a girl from a remote village called Hasunosora. And much more importantly, according to the other gym leaders, a promising psychic specialist.

While not the rarest bias, it was still a rarity not quite as rare as fighting a Dragon or Ghost specialist but definitely not as common as fighting a fire, water, grass or normal specialist. Of course, this information wasn’t given when a trainer registered to battle. Instead, the gym leaders gossiped. A lot. How could they not when it was all too fun to talk about their recent battles or interesting people they met? And what was more interesting than a Psychic specialist travelling with a Ghost specialist?

In fact, if she was right, yup! Looking through the monitor, it seemed her travelling partner was here as well watching from the sidelines. Most likely that girl was Riko and Yoshiko’s challenger and they were just taking turns for their gym battles battling while the other watched.

Stretching herself, Kanan couldn’t help but feel a grin creeping on her face as she picked out as she left her waiting room. Purposefully, walking with a loud stride, she entered the arena announcing her presence with a welcoming smile and wave.“Welcome! How has Uranoshi been treating you?” Also being sure to acknowledge their spectator’s presence with a nod in her direction.

She always liked a little small talk before the battle. Getting to know your opponent was an important part of strategy and just the person’s demeanor could give away a lot of information on how they would battle.

Upon announcing herself, Kozue finally took her eyes off the water-filled battlefield in front of them. A polite smile and a short response followed. “It’s been very pleasant, people here are friendly. Shall we begin?”

Smart, straight to the point, she may know exactly what I was up to. Very well then.

“Not much for small talk I see.” She jested before nodding to her gym trainer that was going to serve as the referee. “You are already aware of this, but this will be a three-on-three battle, standard league rules apply.”

She waited to see if Kozue would say anything but when she didn’t she continued. “Since this is your fourth badge, I’ve prepared something a little more fun,” Kanan said gesturing with outspread arms to the battlefield before them.

Unlike a standard plain arena, her arena was basically a giant pool with a few floating platforms with little support interwoven between them clearly not meant to support much. On the centre, an actually structurally sound metal platform rested clearly anchored to the gym’s floor to not move. This was part of the test she liked to put the higher badge number trainers through. Sure, naval combat was rare and not at all common, but how would they navigate a battle with barely half the space they normally had?

“The gym battle by the challenger, Kozue Otomune, against the gym leader, Kanan Matsuura is about to begin.” Her gym trainer announced. “This will be a three-on-three battle with no substitutions from the gym leader. The gym leader will release her Pokemon first.”

Grabbing a Pokeball from her belt, Kanan enlarged it before tossing it out with bravado, winding her arm out before tossing as high as she could. Her Finzen materialized in midair, greeting the battlefield with excited clicking and fanciful spin as it landed into the water with a splash. Rather than being a Pokemon technically owned by the league, this Finzen was actually an offspring of her starter. Even so, she wasn’t connected to this Finzen via her bonds. Still was still confident in its ability to test young trainers just as well as the league-provided Pokemon.

Kozue regarded her with a nod, and Kanan watched as she moved her hand over the first Pokeball on her belt ghosting it lightly, before she seemingly changed her mind instead of moving her hand down the line.

“Let’s go, Kuro.” Grabbing the ball, she lightly swiped her arm from right to left releasing the ball in the middle the ball flying straight and true to reveal Hatterm greeting the world in silence, instead standing on its braids as it sized up the Finzen in the water.

“The battle may now begin!”

“Dive in!” Finzen immediately plunged itself into the water disappearing with only a light ripple on the water’s surface to where it used to be.

“Calm mind,” Kozue called out from across, Hatterm closed her eyes and Kanan knew she had to act fast.

“Water pulse!” Finzen appeared behind leaping of the water a beam of pulsating water shooting out from it.

Kozue remained calm surprisingly not speaking when Hatterm dropped the calm mind and ducked out of the way using its braids as a push-off point to hop over the blast. How interesting, already ahead of the curve, and dosen’t need to give commands for simple actions. Alright then.

“Aqua Jet!” She shouted out before the Hatterm could touch the ground, Finzen blitzed its way towards the platform a viel of water surrounding it.

“Protect.” Only for it to slam into an invisible barrier causing it to bounce back into the water around. “Psybeam.”

A flash of purple burst forth smashing into the water at her Finzen as if denting a piece of styrofoam drilling into it. The dolphin Pokemon expertly, manoeuvred away around the beam as it swam circles around the platform. The second the beam let out Kanan acted. “Surf, ride it!”

Finzen brought its tail against the water summoning a wave the size of at least two humans, riding on the top as it crashed into the island only for Hatterm to once again jump up. Perfect.

She waited until Finzen was just next to the Hatterm before calling out her next move.

“Brutal Swing!” Surprisingly, Kozue’s call echoed first

“Aqua tail.”

Hatterm’s swing landed true, smashing into Finzen directly who let out a cry of pain but nonetheless swung her tail directly down on the Hatterm which should have knocked it directly into the surf.

Should have. Instead, Kanan saw Kozue allow some emotion through for the first time smirking as a light purple enveloped Hatterm and launched her back away from the wave and onto a loose platform safe from harm.

Finzen landed back into the water shaking away its pain. Kanan couldn’t help but grin. This girl had improved miles, she hadn’t heard of Kozue being able to fight on this level from Keke when she fought her a few months ago. It wasn’t easy to train a Pokemon to catch itself via psychic in the middle of an onslaught. This just made it all the more fun.

“Gattling gun!” Not an actual move, but code. Finzen disappeared back into the water only to resurface firing a water gun before disappearing once again and repeating. Like playing Whack-A-Diglett Hatterm looked confused about where it should aim, instead focusing on dodging the multiple streams of water with some of them still catching the Serene Pokemon off guard and landing.

Kozue broke her stoic pose for the first time reaching out in obvious worry she called out. “Dazzling gleam!”

Blinding light enveloped the area smashing the approaching water but missing Finzen which remind hidden in the water. “Swift!”

From within the water bright stars flung themselves towards Hatterm though they were swiftly blocked when it dropped the dazzling gleam in favour of protect.

Kanan grinned, she’d fallen for it. “Acrobatics!”

Instead of any perceivable direction, Finzen sprung up from right below Hatterm, the unstable platform giving way almost immediately. To Kanan’s surprise, Kozue barely looked phased, instead shouting out. “Brutal swing! Right down!”

Curse psychic-type trainers and Pokemon for their perceptiveness. Just as Finzen broke through the platform, Braids slammed into the plastic platform using it like a shield, launch pad and projectile all at once as Hatterm landed safely on the main platform while the platform smashed into Finzen burying it back into the water with a giant splash.

“You alright?” Finzen responded with a soft click shaking itself as a person would after taking something to the head but Kanan could see, the attacks have taken a toll on the dolphin Pokemon. “Alright then, Aqua Jet.”

Finzen responded, but Kanan could see the Pokemon was moving slower than the first Aqua jet. Still, it skimmed the water directly towards the middle platform.

Unfortunately, it seemed Kozue had one more trick up her sleeve as she called out. “Magical leaf!”

The undodgeable attack sliced into Finzen who let out a cry of pain before landing back into the water, clearly too tired to keep fighting.

Her gym trainer raised a flag in favour of Kozue announcing. “Finzen is unable to battle! The battle is now 1 vs 0 in the challenger's favour!”

“Thanks for everything, you did well,” Kanan said as she recalled Finzen. Eyeing her opponent, she had returned to her calculative expression. Clearly, her analysing the battlefield earlier wasn’t just for show.

“Not bad!” She called out to her opponent as she palmed her next ball. “Let’s turn this up shall we?”

Tossing her next ball, her Clawitzer splashed into the battlefield announcing itself with the clacking of its claw. Ready go as always, this Pokemon was owned by the league but she kept around for the gym challenges.

“Dark pulse!”

“Magical leaf!”

The orders came out at the same time as the attacks flew at each other at the last second before contact, the leaves swerved dodging the dark pulse. “Protect!” Both voices shouted at the same time.

A barrier appeared just in time for Clawitzer the leafs fading into nothing. The same could not be said for Hatterm which got hit by the blunt of the Mega Launcher-boosted dark pulse. The battle earlier, clearly had taken its toll on the Pokemon’s reaction speed.

And yet, the Hatterm stood defiantly, still standing defiantly glaring at the Clawitzier. Yet it wobbled, on its braids teetering on itself. Kozue reacted immediately, recalling her Hatterm back before it could get injured further. A decision Kanan greatly agreed with.

“Hatterm is unable to battle further,” Kozue admitted to the judge who echoed the same statement the score now being 1 to 1.

“You’re next Jasmine.” The next Pokemon she sent out, according to the other gym leaders, was her starter. Her Meowstic, clearly a female from its predominantly white coat, appeared with grace elegantly floating down onto the middle platform and taking a bow.

“Fake out.” Meowstic launched herself from the platform taking advantage of its nimble feet, flinching Clawitzer as it moved too fast for Kanan to react. “Charge beam!”

Point blank, a ray of electricity cackled to life unleashing it into Clawitzer who took the blunt of the attack, crying out as electricity dispersed into the water. Taking the time, Clawitzer was stunned, Meowstic repositioned herself atop the middle platform.

Kanan grimaced watching Clawitzer shake off the remaining electricity as it crackled away dissipating into the pool, she knew that just had to hurt. But it would take a lot more to take Clawitzer down. “Aqua jet, fire away!” Enveloped in a veil of water, Clawitzer darted around the arena but instead of directly going for Meowstic instead circled around gathering the veil of water it rode on for water pulse after water pulse.

Unlike when she pulled the trick with Finzen, this time, Clawitzer was fully visible but in exchange firing the water pulses at a much greater rate. Blasts of water forced Meowstic to bob and weave around the platform except it wasn’t fast enough some water pulses not only grazed their mark but caused the Meowstic to lose its footing.

“Protect! Do it!” A barrier thrown up at the last second stopped a water pulse that was about to hit dead centre. But that was when she felt it, a slight change in the atmosphere. A feeling of impending doom. The telltale of the move Future sight.

“Keep it up but get closer!”

Protect couldn’t last forever, trust her, she tried. Clawitzer rapidly approaching meant her challenger had to act fast and to her amusement, she did. Just as she Clawitzer got close she shouted out her command right before Kozue. “Crabhammer!”

“Charge beam! Then psychic, fling yourself.” Once again, a beam of electricity fired off forcing Clawitzer to momentarily halt its advance to protect. Like a Ragdoll, Meowstic threw itself out of the way of the Pokemon-turned missile clearly not in full control of herself due to the emergency, as she bashed into a loose platform getting soaked in the process.

“Don’t let up! Dark pulse!”

“Light screen!” Kozue’s voice was now obviously panicked as she shouted out her command.

Dark energy once again fired from Clawitzer’s giant claw tearing through reality bypassing the barrier set by Meowstic but greatly weakened in the process as Meowstic shrieked in pain. Stumbling back as she caught herself and using a paw to support her ability to stand. Super effective hits were no joke.

It was at that time that precognition came true psychic energy assaulted from all sides of Clawitzer who screeched in pain. Smart, taking a risk to fire the charge beam so I couldn’t protect the future sight.

“Fire a charge beam if you can!” Kozue added the final nail in the coffin, as Clawitzer’s body spasmed before slumping over and a flag being raised.

“Clawitzer is unable to battle. The battle is now 1-2 in the challenger's favour!”

Recalling Clawitzer, Kanan considered eyed the state of well… everything. Meowstic was once again up on her feet floating back onto the main platform she definitely looked like she had much better days. A slight wobble on her feet, and bruised fur. Still, the Meowstic’s eyes shone with defiance and willingness to keep going.

Honestly, she could call the battle then and there. Kozue more than proved herself worthy of her badge. The girl’s knowledge of using the environment in battle, awareness and planning in the heat of battle far outweighed her expectations. She would expect this out of a six badge competitor not really a four badge trainer. Yes, indeed she would go far and she would watch the rest of her circuit with great interest. But nonetheless, the thrill of the battle and pride as a trainer demanded she see this to the end. Clutching her last Pokeball, she spun it on her finger before catching it in an act of fancy showmanship. Tossing it up lightly, she caught it in a side grip before swinging her arm in a wide arc. “Crawdaunt, time to finish this!” The aimed ball flew straight to one of the loose platforms.

When she first heard of a psychic and ghost specialist running amok the circuit she had prepared this family of Pokemon in particular. Yes, a worthy test indeed. Water and Dark, her speciality and bonded type combined with a counter to both types. A shame that the ghost specialist was definitely taking notes from the spectator’s side, but she could figure something else out when she came to challenge her. Maybe a Sharpedo? Or a Greninja would do fine. She shaked her head, this was no time to think about a future battle.

Heavy pincers snapped together as Crawdaunt announced its presence, the sheer weight destabilizing the inflatable platform it stood on. Narrowed eyes, zoned in at the Meowstic which also braced itself. A proud one, this Crawdaunt as it flourished its pristine pincers and puffed up itself for the battle ahead. Ordinarily, she would this one against five or maybe even six badge trainers, but she wanted to know. How Kozue would fair against something far stronger than any of her individual Pokemon.

Raring to go, Kanan gave the go-ahead with a light nod. She could see Kozue’s eyes widen immediately as, without a command, Dark clouds conjured around the battlefield in a swift rain dance while Crawdaunt leapt into water reappearing in front of Meowstic in a second Night slash primed. “Dodge backwards! Then reflect!”

Impressively the Meowstic managed to narrowly avoid the dark pincer before contact. Not even a setback for this Crawdaunt though. “Don’t let it!” Its other pincer swiftly opened up boiling hot water shooting forth with Scald.

A light barrier reappeared light screen helping to tank some of the blunt force of the Scald as Meowstic managed to also put up a reflect.

“Back on the offensive!”

Crawdaunt grunted in acknowledgement running up and flinging itself with a body slam.

“Protect then trick room!”

Fast on the draw, an invisible barrier summoned and stopped the bulk of the assault before a dark tint of purple engulfed the already raining battlefield. Crawdaunt didn’t take it too lightly to that, swinging a pincer down which she recognised as razor shell. The strike went through the second the protect dropped, but tossing the Meowstic far off the platform and into the water with splash.

One, two, three Kanan counted in her head, eyes on the spot where Meowstic took the forced plunge. From her peripheral view, she could see Kozue doing the same pokeball in hand ready to recall her starter if needed. Kanan wasn’t particularly worried though, she should know exactly where her Meowstic was due to their shared bond and sense as a psychic type trainer and could recall Meowstic before any true harm was dealt.

“Recall your Meowst-” Her ask was interrupted when miraculously, Meowstic managed to hover herself out of the pool, clearly much worse for ware psychic energy fading in and out requiring multiple light usages of psychic to keep herself from dropping back in.

She signalled Crawdaunt to pause for a second, before she witnessed Meowstic glancing back at Kozue and the trainer nodded in understanding. “Ok, one last time, charge beam!”

Kanan’s eyes widened, she thought that was an agreement to stand down. “Quick dodge it!”

The effects of trick room were evident with way the usually relatively slow Crawdaunt managed to dodge with ease plunging itself back into the pool. To her surprise, the bolt curved downwards with an application of psychic cratering into the pool and although she couldn't see it, Crawdaunt definitely felt that as a few bubbles surfaced.

“Ok enough!” Kozue called it then, and to her surprise, instead of recalling Meowstic hovered herself to the spectator’s line being caught just before she gave out by the girl’s companion who wordlessly started to treat the Pokemon with a potion.

“The match is now 2 to 2.” Her gym trainer announced. Crawdaunt hopped back onto the surface upon hearing that and Kanan could see the slight charring on its armor.

The flickering of purple light on the battlefield got Kanan to start reexamining. What was this girl thinking? Crawdaunts were not known for being a fast species in fact, speed was one of their weakest traits. Why would she set up a trick room right before being brought down?

Let’s see, against Ai-chan said she only had her Espurr. Kotori-chan said she used Espurr and Flittle. Finally, Keke fought against Meowstic, Hatterm and Flittle.

There was just no way Kozue was about to send out her Flittle right? That would be crazy to do after setting up a trick room. Even if it evolved to an Espathra it would be a horrible decision.

Kozue looked at her and for the first time spoke to her first. A polite smile on her face although, she could see the battle was taking a lot of the trainer as well as Kozue's eyes were unfocused and her movement looked a little more sluggish still she carried herself with confidence that if not for her expertise, she wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of bond fatigue clearly taking its toll. “Let’s end this shall we?”

Pokemon battles were not purely a battle of Pokemon but off both Pokemon and trainer, and Kanan was glad, the trainer part of the equation was clearly not lacking.

Raising up a Pokeball she held it with the palm of her hand clearly displaying it. It was no ordinary Pokeball instead, a grey hue of where red normally was and two small dots followed by surrounding bigger blue dots were engraved into a ball. A heavy ball. “I know, gym leaders share information with each other but I haven’t used this Pokemon in a gym battle.”

Copying the same motion she did with her first Pokeball, Kozue held the ball firm swiping her arm in an arc but surprisingly, releasing it atop the water. A floating behemoth made of pure stell announced itself with a metallic chime. Red eyes zeroed in on Crawdaunt as psychic power radiated off it in droves. Floating above the water, its bell-like body swayed back and forth the clangs above its head ringing as if announcing a war cry. Rain pounding on metal filled the stadium as Kozue’s last Pokemon, Bronzong hit the field.

The trick room suddenly made so much more sense as Kozue announced her move. “Gyro ball!”

Moving faster than any 200kg piece of metal ever should, Bronzong raced past the water swinging its body directly at Crawdaunt.

“Iron defense!” Steel striking Crawdaunt had to hurt as Crawdaunt took the blunt of the assault although a glisten of its shell signalled the iron defense made it in time. Crawdaunt grunted which sounded more like a huff of defiance to her. “X-Scissor!”

Pincers struck clean on the metallic body but there was a clear reminder of Meowstic’s actions earlier as reflect absorbed some of the damage. “Bubblebeam!”

Point blank, bubbles barraged into the Bronzong who barely looked phased at the attack as light screen appeared again although seemingly for the last time as it shattered upon the move reflect expiring with it soon after. “Crabhammer! Don’t let it rest!”

Earlier, she trusted Crawdaunt to make the decisions but now, she wanted fast actions and more importantly decisive ones in favour of the mystery which was not announcing her moves.

“Heavy Slam!” Abusing that pesky trick room, Bronzong managed to flip upon itself dodging the Crabhammer and bashing its giant body on Crawdaunt the cracking sound was surely not pretty.

“If you’re alright, hit it with a night slash!” Looks like this would be a close-quarters fight and she knew Kozue thought so as well, wordlessly, Bronzong charged itself up with another Gyro ball meeting pincer on steel. Again and again, they traded attacks, A pincer up cutting with crabhammer, retaliation with payback. At one point, Crawdaunt gripped the clangs of Bronzong catapulting itself up and slamming back down with a Superpower. The ear-deafening sound of a bell meeting platform rang throughout the building, demanding both trainers cover their ears and Kanan could see all the other people in the building doing the same.

Using the moment, Kanan called out with ringing in her ears, “Dive into the water!” Crawdaunt obliged splashing into it as Bronzong readjusted itself from being forcefully landed.

The pouring rain stopped soon after, and Kanan could already tell the effects of trick room were about to finish. Kozue knew that as well as she quickly shouted out. “Rockslide!”

Bronzong materialized rocks crashing them into the water on a crab hunt. Each one the size of a Mareep filled the pool forcing Kanan’s hand. “Dodge them, and dragon dance!”

A light purple glow momentarily shone in the water followed by rocks dropping into the location, again and again as the purple got slower some of the stones clearly found their mark on the source of the glow. Slower and slower, right until Kanan saw the last bits of purple shatter and the purple glow gained incredible momentum.

“Finish this! Crabhammer!” Kanan’s command was met with a voice just as loud as hers.

“Swing yourself! Heavy slam!”

Crawdaunt appeared from the pool meeting steel once again with a pincer, this time sending both parties flying and crashing into the wall, the protective barrier erected around it shaking as two massive bodies started slumping into the water creating massive waves. Kanan swallowed with rapt attention as she saw Crawdaunt managing to claw itself up from the water onto a nearby platform one pincer at its side, clearly having taken most of the damage as cracks appeared on its body.

On the other hand, a red beam stretched from Kozue to the pool beneath, Bronzong being recalled with thanks from its trainer.

“Bronzong is unable to battle! The winner is the gym leader, Kanan!” Her referee called out.

Exhaling a breath she didn’t know she held, Kanan recalled Crawdaunt. “You did good out there.” She whispered to the Pokeball.

Usually, right after the match was declared, the opposing trainer would shout out at her asking if they earned a badge. But she heard no such thing, instead, she looked back up only to see Kozue missing from the challenger’s stand. She found her already next to her companion cradling her Meowstic in her hand as she checked her for injuries. Yes she will go far indeed

Walking up to the spectator’s seats she caught the tail end of their conversation.

“Kozu, she’s fine.” Her companion insisted. A girl she heard from the other gym leaders as being named Tsuzuri. Short white hair with red highlights, an absentminded look and slow speech wasn’t her most defining feature. Instead, what stood out to her as she approached the two were how tall they were. Seriously! They had to be at least Karin’s height or taller! And that girl was taller than even Mari.

Kozue sighed before taking a seat next to her companion placing her Meowstic on her lap which purred in contentment as Kozue petted the Pokemon. “You did well girl, all of you did.”

“Indeed you did,” Kanan said catching the attention of the two. Walking up with a friendly smile, she smiled at the way Kozue seemed to so tenderly hold her Meowstic.

“Oh I apologise, I didn’t want to come off as rude!” Kozue immediately launched into apology taking a small seated bow. Now out of the fight, she knew for sure, it was just a battle face and the girl was not at all as stoic as she put on during battle.

“It's no problem!” Kanan chuckled. “A trainer’s number one priority should always be the health of their Pokemon and themselves.”

Reaching for her belt she presented her badge to Kozue with a grin. The green symbol of two dolphins encircling each other glinted with a shine as she spoke. “Here you go, the dolphin badge, the symbol you have proved yourself here.”

She knew a few of her peers wouldn’t award a badge if the competitor lost, those being Eli, Ai, Keke and Sumire. But she did. As long as the trainer showed they were deserving of it and the performance she had put up was excellent. Not perfect of course, but she already In fact, it would be unfair if she didn’t considering her last Pokemon was.

Of course, she had no problems with her peers that did. Sometimes, the only way to the top was through a hard-fought victory. It was just pure luck that about half the circuit had a more lax approach while the other half was more strict.

“Thank you,” Kozue said accepting the symbol and tucking it away in her badge case.

“Your display of awareness and planning was truly impressive.” She praised. “This marks the halfway point of your journey, I wish you the best in the rest of it.”

Kozue stood up still cradling Meowstic in her hand she bowed in thanks.

Turning to Tsuzuri, she couldn’t help but tease out. “What about you, will you be challenging me anytime soon?”

If Kozue was this good she wondered if Tsuzuri was just as strong. A ghost specialist was always an interesting fight and she hadn’t battled one since she had a fun battle with Mei. Unfortunately, she shook her head. “Other gym first.”

Odd way of speaking, but she didn’t mind, let Riko and Yoshiko have their fun, eventually she would come around and that was a battle she was looking forward to.

Chapter Text

It was a horrible idea really. Curiosity and all that. Who wouldn't attempt time travel if given the resources and ability to do so? Shiki certainly wasn't going to pass on the opportunity to at least try. She obtained permission from the league, borrowed a small plot of land from Kinako on her ranch and double-checked all her calculations. So with Mei by her side and Kinako and Natsumi watching from the sidelines. The attempt should go fine. It was just a small test and theory testing after all.

"So you're actually going to step into that thing?" Natsumi asked referring to the frankly giant platform interlaced with wires and bright lights surrounding two pods it was a wonder that she had managed to lug the thing here. Hiring a moving company was expensive! And these pods were the size of at least a fully grown Mamoswine.

"No, this is just a test run, it should bring something from the past and future here instead of us going there," Shiki answered running a few more checks before they actually started. "One from each of the pods. If everything works, we’ll try sending a test dummy next.”

"All the systems are in order," Mei interrupted from her spot at the machine checking through the base of it and the surrounding pillars.

"I can't believe you agreed to this," Natsumi pointed at Mei huffing and then turning to Kinako. "And I can't believe you actually let her use part of the ranch for this."

Weird hearing Natsumi be the voice of reason for once. But she was saying it for formalities seeing as how she had set up a few cameras to capture exactly what was about to happen. Shiki had her own cameras but grabbing extra footage was never a bad thing.

"For the record, I am completely against this" Mei said, returning back to the group via an application of shadow sneak from the everpresent Mimikyu in her shadow. "Shiki just decided to do it anyway."

"And Shiki-chan promised to clean everything up after she was done," Kinako added.

"Some risks have to be done for the sake of progress." Taking a sip from her drink, Shiki shrugged and glanced around one more time. The safety barrier between the time machine and the four of them was up, the machinery was fine according to Mei, Kinako and her Pachirisu atop her head were watching with rapt curiosity, and Natsumi was still being annoying.

Yup, all good. "Any more questions before we start?"

She got three headshakes.

“You both ready?” Shiki asked, turning to her Dreadnaw who gave her lazy grunt.

Upon getting three heads shaking, she braced herself. "Alright please put on your safely goggles I am turning it on in three, two, one."

She flicked the switch.

All at once, the pillars around burst into a mix of bright colours, whirling sounds and electricity crackling. Each of the two pods filled with blinding lights and incompressible sounds coming from each. Smoke and mist filled each pod as the machine did it's work. The light soon died down as a figure, slowly made its way out of the future pod.

"A Volcarona?" Kinako asked. The silhouette was definitely that of a Volcarona. Well that was disappointing. Well logically, Volcaronas probably didn't go extinct from the future.

Sighing, Shiki went ahead and went around the barrier beckoning her Dreadnaw to follow. "Apologies for the possibility of dragging you out of time, we mean no harm. We just want to ask a few questions then we will send you back." She said to the silhouette.

Instead of the expected clicking sound of a Volcarona. What replied her was… Ailen. Metallic screeching the grind if metal against metal and the unfurling of bright lights where wings should have been. No. Not light that was fire.

"Shiki!" Mei's panicked scream was all she registered before a torrent of flame burst forth, the heat of the flame almost burning her to a crisp.

Almost. Just in time, a Chandelure revealed itself out of her shadow, soaking up the fire with its flash fire ability. Oh was she never more glad Mei planted a ghost on her till now.

As the fire ahead toned down, a terrible screech tore through the area. Buzzing and beeping two sounds never meant to go together intertwined as the figure used its wing-like structure to gust out the smoke that once shrouded it.

Definitely. Not. A. Volcarona.

"Well, that dosen’t look right," Natsumi said.

That, Shiki greatly agreed with. The creature, at first glance, could be easily mistaken for a Volcarona unmistakable structure with a larvae-like body surrounded by wings. Except. It was all metal, wings not attached to its body somehow propelled it up as it took to the sky. Shiki didn't even know if she could classify whatever she was looking at as a Pokemon. It flew up and echoed a metallic roar raining down acid from above.

"Psychic! Throw it off us!" Natsumi’s scream tore from her throat as she tossed her Pokeball haphazardly, her Metagross materialising on the ground before catching the bulk of the attack that was about to land on the group, the rest of the poison landing in the field around them instantly corroding the land and killing the plant life. Even separated, the range of the psychic was at least enough to ensure no harm came to Shiki as well.

I really owe Kinako and Natsumi after this.

No words needed to be said to understand what they had to do. They had to knock whatever that thing was out. And fast.

"Teleport." Shiki released her Reuiniclus warping off the poison floating in the air harmlessly around them.

Metallic screeching. Then the sky was bathed in flames all at once, impossible to catch it all with psychic. "Hydro pump!". Shiki at least had Mei's Chandelure to soak up the fire. Her Dreadnaw fired directly above the group of her friends. Her eyes widened in horror as the fire barely got phased and the area was soon burnt to a crisp.

"MEI!" Shiki screamed out in a panic. Relief came soon after with Mei getting out via shadow sneak and appearing across her while Kinako and Natsumi materialised above the wreckage of the safety barrier riding Metagross their companion Pokemon clearly having been recalled.

"Shadow ball and Hydro pump" Luckily, Chandelure had no qualms taking orders from her as both it and her Reuiniclus formed balls of darkness sent flying at the hovering terror a gush of water soon following.

"Flash canon!" Natsumi ordered.

A Metal cry of pain echoed. Not above her. No, to her surprise, it came from Natsumi's Metagross, being beaten away at blinding speeds and crash landing into the forest nearby with its passengers on it. She could only barely see a silhouette of a grounded Volcarona chase after the tossed mass of metal.

Unfortunately, as much as her mind screamed at her to make sure her friends got out safely. The floating mess posed a more present problem. The metallic moth dodged out of the way of the Shadow balls and met the Hydro pump with flames evaporating it.

"We need to bait it down." Mei shouted from across, her Mimikyu firing off a dazzling gleam above the Iron Moth managing to push it slightly down.

"Again" Shiki ordered only for the attacks to once again whiff as it just beat away the Shadow balls with its wings as if they were a random rock.

Electricity crackled around the body and the next thing she knew the monster let out a giant discharge all around the surrounding area. "Protect."

Three barriers formed around her as she saw Mei do the same from the inescapable shower of electricity. "Rock slid-" her order was cut off as the sounds of powering up and machinery channelling suddenly filled the area again. Shiki’s stomach clenched with dread filling her. The time machine whirled to life. "We need to turn it off fast!" Mei shouted out.

The next thing she knew an explosion burst from the area.

—

Crashing through the trees was not how Natsumi was expecting this day to go. Actually, it was within the realm of possibility when she heard what Shiki's plan was.

Suddenly sent flying, Natsumi could barely react as her body was rag-dolled off her Metagross. "Natsumi!"

Arms wrapping around her midair were what her brain registered as Kinako secured her against herself and released her Toreterra. Their fall was caught as Toreterra summoned a bed of leaves managing to break their fall slightly as they tumbled into the Turtle's back.

"Kinako!" Dread filled her as she quickly got up checking on the girl who broke her fall.

"I'm fine. I'm just glad you're safe." Kinako rasped out. She was lying. Natsumi wasn't stupid, even broken no one could take a fall like that with someone else landing on them as well.

"Can you stand?" She asked helping Kinako to an upright position, her heart couldn't take it as a pained expression donned her face. Even her Pachirisu looked incredibly worried. But still, she got up strained but able to walk.

"I can manage"

Sliding off the shell of the living hill, Natsumi helped to catch Kinako supporting her as they stepped around. Still lightly replying on Toreterra for support, Kinako ordered. "Get ready to attack."

Grumbled affirmation was good enough as Natsumi called out. "Capi! Are you alright?"

She couldn't see where her Metagross exactly landed but the broken branches and torn foliage were a pretty good indication. Thankfully, her metal behemoth returned to her side soon after looking worse with for ware dirt and scratches dotting its body but still able to fight.

"Whatever hit us, it's fast."

The flash canon she ordered should have hit that futuristic Volcarona imposter dead on. Should have. If not for what Natsumi could only describe as an oversized bug literally kicking her Metagross off balance and sending them flying. A rustle from the bush set her on high alert as she palmed another Pokeball. "Flash canon"

Magnezone appeared firing off a grey beam shot out at the bush only for a red blur to jump to a nearby tree. What she could only describe as a grounded Volcarona with folded wings that did not look like it could open laid across its back. Its hexagonal eyes stared directly at her as it slowly made a clicking sound.

Whatever she wanted to do next wasn't heard as an explosion tore through the sky.

—

It was supposed to be a normal day. Just babysitting and taking care of her baby dragons. And it was! Spending some time outside in her field, it was serene really, just lying down under a tree, Chisato cuddled up to her while she watched their Pokemon play as they chatted the day away.

"How do you think Shiki-chan's experiment is going?" Kanon couldn't help but ask. Her juniors had said whatever they were doing was manageable with the four of them so she had let it slide but she couldn't help be curious.

"Kanon-chan they'll tell us once it's done," Chisato replied.

The deafening sound of something blowing up reached her ears, shockwaves of whatever blasted travelled out made the tree they were lying on almost topple with the way it swayed. Thankfully, her Altaria managed to catch all the little ones and shield them from the shockwave.

Almost tumbling over themselves, the two of them knew exactly where that had come from. Kinako's ranch. Running over to her Altaria she quickly addressed the three baby dragons. "Listen, I need you three to hide inside the daycare, don't come out until I come back ok?"

Her Axew, Gible and Goomy nodded knowing the severity of the situation they ran back indoors as Kanon called over her Hydregion and recalled her landbound Pokemon.

"Lets go girl." She said taking to the skies atop the three-headed dragon, her Altaria carrying Chisato following soon after. She just hoped they were all ok.

—

Racing out of her gym on her Arcanine, Keke, cringed as the initial shockwave sent out additional tremors. Jolting down the road, she spotted Sumire riding atop her Scollipede as they headed at the same direction.

"Hop on!" Keke shouted, offering her hand to Sumire as they overtook the insect. Sumire accepted with no time to waste hoisting herself onto the Arcanine and recalling her Scollipede.

Tossing out a Pokeball, her Charizard appeared with only one instruction told to him. "Find Ren and bring her."

Taking off without another word, Keke focused back up ahead as buildings and people whizzed by some, pointing at the explosion, some pointing at her. But that wasn't important.

—

Coughing her lungs out, Shiki couldn't stop the ringing in her head. She groaned in pain. The sudden explosion sent her flying into a tree only lightly cushioned by her Reuiniclus helping to catch her. Blurred lines were all she could make out for a bit before the world finally started to realign. Around her, her machine lay in ruins, bits and pieces of it scattered about. Agmost the kicked-up dirt and soil, she couldn't even make out that damn Metalic Volcarona. Even worse, she had no idea where Mei wound up and with basically only her Mimikyu as a combatant she wanted to find her fast.

Chandelure, Naw and Blobby were fine, having protected themselves through applications of light screen and withdraw but nonetheless blown back as well. "Can you sense Mei?"

Shiki asked only to be crestfallen when the Chandelier shook itself. All too familiar bright lights breaking past the dust told her she wasn’t going to get a break.

The onslaught resumed as a sludge bomb flew at them. "Flamethrower burn it away!"

The flames did indeed manage to torch the poison if only to blow past the direction of the Moth the smoke and dust dissipating just enough to see the immediate surroundings.

Aside it, just like how it was a mechanised Volcarona. The creature was a mechanised version of an all too familiar Pokemon she was very aware of the firepower it possessed. Glowing a bright pink around each its heads as it stared directly at her. A Metallic Hydreigon floated next to it.

Finally, what she could only make out as a bastardised Salamance spread it's feathered wings right at her forming almost a full moon as it's head gathered purple energy.

"Stone edge! Form a protective barrier!" Her Dreadnaw complied, tearing off the ground itself

It didn't last, the dragon breathe burst through the stone barrier followed closely by a Flamethrower and Dark pulse. Shiki acted fast although she wasn’t sure if it would work. "Teleport!"

Cast with this little time, teleport brought them just within a hair of the attacks flying past them cratering the contact point. Shiki tore her fear from the hole to focus back on her opponent only to see the three charging up once again for the next attack.

"Flame thrower! Stone edge! Psybeam! At the Moth!" If she could just interrupt one the attack would be much more manageable to dodge.

It worked, for a moment, the Salamance imposter, stopped its presumed dragon pulse, instead diving down directly at them purple enveloping its body. "Incoming dragon rush! Naw, aqua jet block it!"

Naw crashed into the beast head-on, the heavy turtle managing to hold its ground against the terrible power of the wild Moon. She didn't have time to take advantage of this, a sludge wave and dark pulse flew at her once again. "Blobby float us." Her body left the ground just in time as barely being able to dodge out of the oncoming blast. "Crunch!"

Naw bit down on the wing of the Salamance clone, getting a shriek of pain and retreat as it regrouped up in the air. She was never going to win this, while Blobby and Chandelure could fly up and meet them, they were pinned down and move would be knocked off.

More build up, moth flapped its wings a tornado of fire and posion appearing before it. The three heads joined together generating a deep purple orb. The winged beast, formed a purple mass of its own. Instead of firing it, the three built up their attacks. It was going to be a big one.

"SHIKI!" The voice of Kanon never felt more relieving. A Hydreigon and Altaria slammed into the mechanized version of itself and the Salamnce respectively while her Dragonair sent the Moth flying down at her.

—

She couldn't tell what the hell they were. Flying atop Kanon's Altaria, Chisato narrowed her eyes at the far away blur of purple and red. All she knew, they were definitely attacking something on the ground.

"Chii-chan! Below!" Peaking below, what looked like two circles clashing against each other on repeat trampled grass and trees alike. Concerningly close to town.

"Got it!" She replied tapping down at the cloud, to start a descent.

Landing and quickly dismounting, Kanon's Altaria quickly took back off to join it's trainer. She could trust her to save their juniors.

In front of her, a steel wheel slammed against a brown one each of them grinding against each other before breaking apart and repeating but moving closer to the town each time. The wheels kind of looked like what Ren's Donphan looked like when rolling around but not quite. Ordinarily, she would be drooling at the perfection of the shapes gliding across the field but right now she had to stop it.

"Circa, Liquidation!" The release of her Azumarill alerted the two but they barely cared instead once again slamming against each other. Her Azumarill bashed the brown circle sending it flying and sprawling it out.

"Definitely not a Donphan" Chisato spoke to herself, the circle unfolding to a figure that looked almost like a Donphan, but it's tusks were much longer covering its body. Pink spikes dotted its entire trunk and carried over to its tail. The metric ball bounced away unfurling itself into a perfect circle, it's face made of an electric board blinking in surprise at her.

—

Her Altaria joined her at the right time, coming into view, she saw three Pokemon? Kind of Pokemon, all charging up various attacks to the ground. A flash of blue surrounded by Pokemon she recognised sent her heart into overdrive as she yelled. "Body slam! Brave bird!"

Throwing out another Pokeball, she commanded. "Dragon tail!" Before she let her voice tear from her throat, her worries and anxiety not being able to be kept down.

"SHIKI!"

She braced herself as Joy threw herself at the weird futurised version of itself cutting off the dragon pulse. Her Dragonair whipped it's tail directly down sending the kind of Volcarona cratering to the ground while her Altaria caught the weird Salamance head-on. Flicking her Pokeball to recall her Dragonair, Kanon let herself breathe again.

She made it. Just on time.

—

Mei wanted to puke, the explosion was bad enough. But she hadn't felt this in a long time. She was being hunted. By a ghost. It was unmistakable, the chill in the air, the sense of impending doom, fears ghost types liked to implant on its victim. As a ghost specialist, she knew this well.

She had no clue where she wound up after the explosion, she could barely make out the bright lights of purple through the foliage. As much as she wanted to run back to Shiki, she knew she couldn't. She was honestly kind of glad it didn't decide to go for the others. She was probably the one who could best recognise it. An out-of-place shadow, shadow of leaves where they clearly didn't exist trying to twist and turn, blending in perfectly for anyone not attuned to ghosts and their mischief. She wasn't just anyone.

"Shadow claw." Her Mimikyu, Mimi jumped out of her shadow slashing at the Anomaly.

It got wrestled out as the long hair caught the claw emerging from the shadow. The figure appeared tangled up with her Mimikyu. At least the size of three of its normal counterparts. The abnormal Misdrevous cackled. That haunting melody carried in the wind as the thing pushed Mimi off.

"Swords dance"

The Misdreavus mirror fired a shadow ball interrupting her and forcing her to jump away.

This was bad. If this thing was just as strong as the futuristic Volcarona, she was doomed. Mimi could not defeat this by herself and her Chandelure was with Shiki, her last Pokemon, her Drifloon would probably be one shot. But, that explosion probably attracted a lot of attention. She just had to stall.

—

"Razor leaf!" Kinako commanded while being supported by Natsumi, her Toreterra firing off only to hit bark as the oversized insect moved at an obscene speed.

Next to her, Natsumi was also yelling out a string of attacks, having released her Magnezone as well, beams of electricity and steel were only meeting bark.

"Can this thing just stay still!" Natsumi grunted. Scanning the area for the insect again.

The dense forest was probably the worst spot for this fight. Giving ample hiding spots for their opponent despite its size while their Pokemon stood out like a Wiglett amongst a pile of Digletts.

Natsumi groaned in frustration as yet another flash cannon hit only leaves. "Are you ok if I just level this place?"

Rather than immediately deny the thought of it, Kinako actually glanced around. This area in particular wasn't crucial or near enough to any of the Pokemon populations she kept. And at the rate they were blasting the area the surrounding area would be destroyed anyway. The repair bill is not going to be pretty

Forcing herself to make a decision, Kinako gave the go-ahead. "Sorry," Natsumi whispered.

Natsumi flicked her wrist, recalling her Magnezone as she called out. "Capi, we're going mega!"

Her Metagross affirmed the callout, hovering above the group as a bright light engulfed it.

—

She heard it long before she felt it. But the second she did, Ren had almost kicked her door down, rushing out of her house to feel a shockwave almost slam her right back in. Blinking away the dust flying all around her. She started running before her mind processed. In Times like this, she really wished she had a flying Pokemon but for now, her Mudsdale would have to do as she fumbled out her Pokeball about to release it.

She never did, a Charizard she recognised as Keke's soon roared out calling to her before diving down and allowing her to jump on as they headed towards the explosion. Situated at the opposite side of town, the explosion had to be horrible if even she felt it. Approaching close, a bright light she'd seen from Kanon, Sumire, Keke and Natsumi, briefly shone and the next thing she knew, trees started being flung and beams of gray blew out others.

She could spot Kanon's Hydreigon and Altaria flying up ahead while she was literally riding Keke's mega option. That only left two possibilities and by the grey beams, she could adequately guess it was her junior.

"Head there!" Ren bent down, pointing at the light, Charizard complied, diving down at the hole in the woods she shielded her eyes as another mess of leaves and dirt kicked past.

By the time she got close enough to comprehend what was going on, the clump of trees that were present were blown away; only a single tree attached to the back of Kinako's Torterra stood.

"Earthquake!" "Meteor mash!"

At once, the ground below attempted to split open as Mega Metagross propelled itself at what Ren could make out as a severely oversized but grounded Volcarona. It jumped. Meeting meteor mash head on a cloak of fire surrounding it. Defying all expectations the hit was parried off, as the oversized bug jumped atop Metagross' claw dashing up to its main body.

"Toss it!" Flying close enough, Charizard ducked below the upper claws of the Mega, catching the bug by surprise and grabbing it by its wings. With a roar, Charizard sent the bug spiralling to the ground the impact kicking up a cloud of dirt as she made the judgement call that the thing wasn't down yet.

"Drill run!" Tossing out her Excadrill, the mole tucked itself into itself spiralling into the ground although Ren could't quite tell if it found its mark.

Jumping off, Ren shouted out. "Go back to Keke, I can handle it from here!" Charizard nodded, taking off once again without looking back.

"Kinako! Natsumi!" Running up to the two being shielded by Toreterra, Ren fussed over the two who definitely had better days. Their hair disheveled with leaves and sticks poking out at places and soil covering parts of their body, told her enough.

"Ren-senpai." The two echoed relief carrying their voice.

"I'm here, don't worry." Ren assured, turning her attention back, her Excadrill had gotten into a melee with the surprisingly physically inclined bug trading blow for blow, metal claw for low sweep and leech life. Mega Metagross brawled it out as well, at one point, managing to grab the oversized bug in its claws only to cry out in pain as it shrouded itself in fire.

"All the Pokemon evacuated from the area right?" Ren double confirmed eyeing the very artificial clearing with severed stumps and shredded grass only to spot one left, the top of its head slowly approaching. "That Amoongus needs to run!"

The Amoongus didn't, instead it came closer before crying out and firing a green beam striking her Excadrill off guard.

Kinako cried out "Not an Amoonguss"

Seemed that they weren't the only ones who could get back up.

—

Kanon had already engaged just barely, Sumire could make out Kanon's dragons engaging in an aero battle against two unidentified Pokemon. Approaching the forest which was part of Kinko's ranch, she strained her eyes at the fight above as a weird mix of dragon and dark energy was thrown around like there were common bubbles and embers.

"Watch out!" Keke yelled out, and the next thing she knew, the wind around her flew downwards and a focus blast flew past them, crushing an unlucky tree.

From the woods ahead, it stepped forth. Somehow completely silent and yet it's presence radiated out. A sleek metal figure looking like a cross between a Gardevoir and a Gallade stepped forth, brandishing it's blade at the two of them as if daring them to challenge it.

"Go up ahead." Sumire volunteered, jumping off the second she could and released her Scizor. "Bullet punch!"

Covering, Keke's advance she spared one more glance watching her ride off. Surprisingly, without any chase from the strange Pokemon, her Scizor got in close with claws meeting blade as the weird mix stared it down. "X-scissor"

It slashed down, swift as her eyes could see, as if it had already used agility, the blade sliced towards Scizor. The blade was caught just in time. Grabbing the blade in between one of its claws Scizor brought the other directly at its opponent.

—

Three beams of dragon pulse waved wildly out of control as her Hydreigon ducked and weaved past, the attempts to shoot it out of the sky by the metallic counterpart. It seemed to function the same as the real Hydreigon. Different attacks could be fired out of each head at the same time. The adrenaline and wind brushing past her didn't stop her focus as she gave command after command trying to strike the monster down. Unfortunately, her strongest option, Draco meteor, was firmly out of the picture in fear of hitting Shiki below her. That left one option. Brawl it out.

This was the furthest thing from a sanctioned match. So she had zero qualms when she palmed a third Pokeball shouting out her command. "Dragon rush!"

Her Dragapult swept it's tail as it materialised using it as a propellant as it dashed at the ancient Salamence who had beaten off her Altaria after it had taken a Brave bird.

Tearing her attention back, Kanon ordered. "Climb above, dragon pulse!"

One not-too-enjoyable feature of no-holds-bar fights like this was that she was kind of stuck literally in the middle of the fight. Rampaging wild Pokemon didn't exactly have rules to follow or collateral damage to worry about. Usually, Pokemon would target other Pokemon first but since she was literally on hers, that hope went out the window fast. In a fight like this, she was just as much of a target as her Pokemon.

Dragon pulse clashed against Dark pulse interchanging and causing a light explosion with neither move coming out on top. "Fire blast, Hydro pump."

Joy's main head fired off a fire blast while Hydro pumps supported it, the Iron version dodged out of the way being barely clipped by the Hydro pump and teetered off balance. "Dragon rush!"

Not wanting to let the thing rest, Kanon commanded something she probably shouldn't have. Her Hydreigon turned one of its heads as if confirming it heard the order right. "Trust me."

They couldn't let it recover. The thing was at least the strength of a Pokemon from a gym leader's main team. While she trusted that Sumire, Keke and Ren heard the explosion and immediately came over she really didn't want to take any risks when any of the girls could be hurt.

Hydreigon flew forward with her on it as purple energy started enveloping it, Kanon shouted. "Dora, shadow sneak! Distract it! Flood catch me!"

Trusting her Pokemon, Kanon leaped off, feeling the wind around her. In front of her, her Hydreigon crashed into the enemy pinning heads to heads and fired off a dragon pulse point blank. Whatever happened next she didn't see, her view being blocked by a moving cloud as her shoulders were caught by her Altaria's talons.

—

"Rock slide!" Jagged rocks fell onto the crash-landed moth as Shiki's three Pokemon surrounded it. "Fly up, don't let it rejoin the other two."

Reuiniclus and Chandelure flew up securing the exit with the space above distorted by trick room, there was no way for the metallic bug to get out of this. Now the question was, did she just trap it with her or was she now trapped with it?

The moth blew off the rocks with a strained Metallic cry, its wings spreading out as it screeched. A rough guess she would mark the moth as about as strong as Sumire's Pokemon.

She has never beaten Sumire in a normal fight. Thankfully, this was anything but a normal fight. It briefly attempted to abuse its much faster speed, only to significantly slow down once it crossed the into trick room. "Hydro pump, expanding force, heat wave. Beat it back to the ground”

The three moves descended and were met by an invisible barrier surrounding it managing to stop the Hydro pump and took off from the ground narrowly avoiding the expanding force while it got hit by the heat wave through that barely looked to phase it as it tanked the move with barely a shrug.

But that told her enough. It had deliberately blocked the water and psychic move out of its options. "It's a fire and poison type." She said to her Pokemon which they got as Chandelure stopped attempting to scorch the metal instead swapping to an onslaught of Shadow balls.

"Head smash" Naw ran up launching itself from the ground. The moth attempted to fly away only to be bogged down by a rain of shadow ball and psyshock. Screeching in pain when Dreadnaw barreled head first into its enemy the impact sending it flying into a tree the mechanical creek echoing out as it slumped against the bark.

Still, it recovered, sending out waves of posion from its wings that were stopped through psychic from both Chandelure and Reuniclus. “Stone edge.”

With nowhere to run, stone edge found its mark, crushing against the metallic wings making a horrible screeching sound from both metal and the Pokemon’s cry. “Liquidation!”

The metallic Volcarona cried out, Shiki mentally took note that these metal Pokemon could definitely feel pain.

"Shadow ball, Psybeam" rays of pink and pitch-black balls slammed into the figure not allowing it to recover or get up. A little cruel. Yes, but Shiki wasn't going to take any more risks.

Walking over to the deafted moth, Shiki tossed a pokeball, relived flooded when the Pokemon went in without hassle now it was up for the others to wrap up their fights.

—

The shadows were definitely not her friend here. The Misdreavus wannabe had faded back into the shadows after distracting Mimikyu and forcing a dodge with a moonblast. "Mimi, can you sense it?"

Mimi shook her little disguise. "Alright, just keep an eye out for strange shadows."

The long branch of a tree overhead, the cast by an oran berry hanging off said tree. The little spots where the sun was blocked out by leaves from a bush near the ground. Even her own shadow. Everything and anything could be used when your enemy was the shadows itself.

A rustle from the bush, the slight arcing of the leaf's shadow, grass waving as shadows stretched and returned. Echoed wails bounced through the grove getting softer and louder at random making it hard to tell where it came from. Although, all of that didn't matter. All red herrings. "Mimi, play rough above!"

Mimi jumped above just as a shadow ball came from the undecipherable branches’ shadow intercepting the ball by flinging herself into it, wrapping it's disguise as a way to hold it and send it flying back. She hopped from tree to tree as the oversized Misdrevous finally revealed itself once again. Mimi engulfed it tussling under the disguise before once again the Misdrevous flung her off a Shadow ball being the culprit this time.

It giggled as if it was just playing a game of hide and seek, before it dove back out of view all the while the world continued to help it shroud itself.. That damn Misdrevous was a menace.

A sound, not like the others, something running at top speed through the forest, ignoring trees and obstacles alike as it raced towards her. Orange amongst the sea of green gave her a good guess as to who it was. Her relief was cut short as a particularly dark spot from a nearby cluster of trees shot out. "Watch out on your right, Ghost!"

Too late, electricity crackled as it barreled forth from the shadows striking the Arcanine. Keke jumped off just in time, releasing her Talonflame who caught her just in time tucking itself down and landing with its trainer.

"Damn ghost," Keke complained, recalling her Arcanine as she stared out at the spot where lightning struck from. "What was that Pokemon anyway?"

"An oversized Misdrevous, very fast, very strong." Mei summed up in as few words as possible combing the area once again for anything out of place. With Keke now here, she didn't have to worry about being the firepower, what she needed to be was Keke's eyes. "Mimi, stay close to me. Keke-senpai get ready to attack.”

Each movement and subdued sound could be her target.

—

This had to be the weirdest fight Chisato ever had. Usually when interrupting a fight between wild Pokemon, the response was for both of them to turn on her angered that they were third partied. Instead, the mechanical Donphan thing ignored her, instead continuing to assault the spiked Donphan.

Well, Chisato wasn't going to complain, she'd rather not be the one having to fight a war on two fronts. "Aqua jet."

Azumarill got in close in a gush of water, she dropped it at the last second instead swapping in a Liquidation for the power. The tusked beast cried in pain. The metallic thing, curled into itself when ice formed around it spinning and spiralling, hitting the poor elephant head on, Chisato felt kind of bad for it as it collapsed.

"Wait!" Chisato shouted out, running up to the collapsed titan but not too close, she caught the attention of the weird metal Donphan who paused it's assault, unfurling and staring at her. "It can't fight anymore."

For a second, she thought it would ignore her and start the assault again but instead it's face turned into an arrow, much like Rina's board would, communicating expressions.

“Huh?” The face changed to a display of a Pokeball.

"Oh right" She plucked an empty Pokeball from her belt, tossing it at the fainted Pokemon. The ball clicked without resistance.

She shuffled over the the ball, picked it up, and stared at it feeling her muscles react and her heart calm. Thank Arceus that a normal Pokeball can catch one of these things.

Metallic footsteps came closer. Ah right, he still had a problem, pivoting on her foot, she braced herself to see a steel ball barreling at her. Instead, it just approached her with an unchanging look. Her Azumarill ran up to her, putting herself between the two. The two Pokemon stared each other down.

"You won't attack?" Chisato asked, reaching out her hand and stepped forward from behind Azumarill, giving a gesture to stand down.

She reached out, hand wavering as she got closer, when the Pokemon didnt react aggressively, she took the plunge placing her hand on teh supposed trunk of the metal ball. Smooth, like running her hand across Manmaru but instead of feathers, the metal trunk was like rubbing a gym badge till it shined. Truly the perfect shape.

She giggled, the Pokemon's trunk that started to roam over her was incredibly ticklish. "Hehe, you can stop that."

—

She already invoked mega-evolution. Could this thing stop being such a pain? Running along the forest half chasing, half attempting to decipher a fight was not at all what she wanted to do today.

The second Sumire had mega-evolved, the iron knight just took off, as if it knew they were on a time limit. She dashed past tree after tree, leaves and branches cluttering her vision as blinks of red and white clashed against each other before separating. She couldn't even give a command, instead barely keeping up with the blurs dashing amongst the trees. Claws against blade rang out again and again as bullet punch met spirit break before splitting off using each other's attack to break apart.

This time, the iron knight used the force of the disengage propelling itself onto a branch and pointed its blade at Scizor. At the tip, balls of light showed themselves firing off.

"Those are Aura Spheres! Beat them off!" Scizor braced itself, jumping up and briefly donning a screen of protect for the first few balls. Scizor grabbed a branch between it's claws, swinging off and snapping the branch in the process. It flung the branch directly at a ball which quickly got disintegrated by the aura sphere but took it out in the process. Landing on the same branch next to the knight, Scizor gripped the lance with both of its claws wrestling the weapon back and forth as the knight resisted.

Turning on itself, Scizor buzzed its wings, momentum allowing it to tear the blade off its enemy's grasp. It flew out, embedding itself into the ground next to Sumire. The knight turned it's attention towards her, or more accurately at the lance. Thinking fast, Sumire tore it from the ground shouting. "Go far!" Just as the knight leapt at her, she chucked the lance, bringing out every bit of strength she could muster.

Scizor jumped off the branch and swerved to catch it landing on the ground and brandishing the blade. The knight landed next to her, glaring at her. She braced herself, priming another Pokeball in case she was the new target. There was no point, as it dashed off the next second. So the thing has some honor guess I'll give it a fair fight then

The knight swung itself, close combat disguised its attempts to grab the blade back. Scizor flung the blade up, letting it slice the air as it returned its own close combat. One. Two. Three, full seconds of trading blows, before the blade started to fall back down. "Keep the blade away!"

Scizor jumped up, knocking the blade further up with its claw, swinging its other claw at the hard metal of the centre of the knight's body. It staggered, Scizor used the opportunity. Its wings glowed bright as it slapped the blade far off with a wing attack, gliding towards it right after. Not used to attacking without its blade, the mixed Pokemon fired off, much softer aura spheres from its hands not enough to hurt but enough to slow.

Scizor still reached first, kicking away the blade as the knight lunged for it, keeping it just out of reach. It stomped on the tip, sending it flying up catching it with a claw and pinning it on a tree. "X-scissor!" Sumire shouted.

Scizor striked down. The knight couldn't react in time. Sent into the ground, a pained cry tore from it. The knight attempted to get up, only to flinch down onto it's knee.

"Do you yield?" Sumire asked, walking up.

The knight glowered, head shifting to the blade stuck on the tree as if considering another mad dash. She stepped over it, daring it to try. It yielded, bowing its head.

Sumire sighed, releasing the Mega evolution, and feeling the weight of her was always nice. "Fetch the blade for me." Wings fluttered and the blade was in her hands. Toying with it for a second, she couldn't help but think it would make for an amazing prop for a production. Unfortunately, it was never hers to keep and she passed it back to the knight.

The knight inspected the blade, turning it over a few times before getting back up and nodding. It accepted capture soon after.

—

These things were freakishly strong. Kinako just wanted to nap, well maybe go get herself checked first. But then she wanted to nap. The weird Amoongus was just as strong as the ancient Volcarona but instead of hitting like a fighting type, the mushroom was as tanky as her Toreterra shrugging off an earthquake like it was nothing.

"Have you worked out what type the Volcarona is?" Ren asked, recalling her downed Excadrill who had suffered the most from the mushroom's surprise attack. Natsumi's Metagross continued it's melee against the weirdly physically adept bug.

"Nope." Natsumi said.

"It's probably part bug?" Kinako said uncertain. They didn't have quite enough information considering half their time so far was just weeding the thing out. "And fighting?"

Ren sighed, sending out her Hippowdon, sand gushed out of its shell the second it landed on the field, Hippowdon roared, whipping the sand up and around, controlling the sandstorm around the clearing but leaving a safe spot for them.

"I need you both to handle the new one, I can handle the bug."

"Capi, grab and toss it to the ground." Natsumi reacted immediately, issuing her command. Mega Metagross, managed to get a grip on the bug, throwing it directly into the built-up sand and jetted off, blocking a fired Solarbeam with a protect.

"On the Amoongus, seed bomb!" Kinako shouted, The grass type move barely had an effect on the mushroom who shrugged it off not even bothering to dodge.

"Natsumi-chan, drop it. You can't take much more." Kinako whispered, eyeing Natsumi's state. It was obvious, she didnt have a clock, but with the way Natsumi's breath became uneven and her eyes seemed to want to shut. Mega evolution was a demanding thing.

"Get ready to cover." Expecting Kinako to comply, directed her own Pokemon partner.

"A little more." She said, watching as Mega Metagross fired a flash canon at the mushroom who tanked the hit, a giga drain sent in retaliation.

"Sand tomb!" Ren said, barely giving the bug to rest as she sent out another Pokemon. "Push it back, high horsepower!"

Her Mudsdale materialised and immediately got to work, hoves attempting to crush the bug, only to be caught when the bug wrestled it with its little hands.

Still, Ren spun around taking her eyes off the bug throwing her Mudsdale off, eyes narrowed on Natsumi. "Drop it." She said, her voice giving no room to argue. "This is not a training session. Do not collapse here."

Finally, Natsumi relented tapping her mega stone. "Urgh, fine"

Once again a normal Metagross, the mushroom seized the opportunity, dark pulse created and shot. A leaf storm collided into it, breaking past but the spiky Amoongus barely flinched at the attack.

Getting its bearings back, Metagross bucked its right arm and swung a meteor mash at the brute. A sucker punch landed first, pushing back the living tank as it groaned in pain.

"Earthquake in 5, 4" Kinako counted down, projecting her voice and giving time for Ren to react. Not the prettiest tactic, but she would need to do a lot of major repairs anyway.

“Meteor mash!” Not meant to do damage, instead, Metagross pinned the Amoongus to the ground not letting it move.

Ren’s Mudsdale had since regained its footing, using a quick High Horsepower, it shoved the bug back into the sand tomb. Ren paused about to give her next order, instead upon Kinako’s call, she spun around once again bringing herself and Natsumi into her arms as she shouted at the same time as Kinako. "Earthquake!"

The ground split open, the moves were directed at their opponents but still, she could feel the world shake, the force of three Pokemon all exerting earthquake at once literally pounding at her feet. She was certain they would have fallen and hurt herself had it not been for Ren securing them against herself.

Shutting her eyes shut, all she could feel were the trembling of the earth itself and shrill cries of an insect and mushroom. Ever slowly, the shaking stopped and the world returned to normal. Ren released them shortly after, to a clearing that now needed a lot more work than replanting trees.

Two chasms opened up, like a minuture ravine stretching out and giving just enough space to bury the two Pokemon inside. The two wild Pokemon fell with a panicked cries. Metagross floated over one of them while Hippowdon and Mudsdale stood over the other.

The fact their Pokemon stopped their attacks was enough for Kianko as a queue to relax. She slide against her Toreterra exhaustion over taking over, Natsumi following suit resting her head on Kinako's shoulder. She didn't say a word. Only watching as Ren approached each of the holes, tossing a Pokeball down each one.

—

"Next to the branch on the Pecha berry tree," Mei whispered.

"Flame charge!" Talonflame dove at the shadows of the tree bursting through the branches, only to see that blasted ghost dash out of the Shadow, retaliating with a shadow ball after it had evaded the attack. “Protect!”

It just snickered, as if toying with its prey, the Misdrevous dipped itself back into the shadow much to Keke’s disdain. Keke groaned and signalled for her Talonflame to return. Fighting ghost types in a sanctioned league battle was difficult enough, slippery and hard-hitting at the same time. Fighting ghosts in the wild? Now that was just downright irritating. Of course, she had a preferred method of dealing with the current situation. But it wasn’t the most suggestible unless KInako didn’t mind a partially burned forest.

"Acrobatics" Another missed shot, the ghost diving in and out the shadows repeatedly as if a fish diving into different pools. It didn't even bother firing an attack back instead simply relishing in messing with her.

The weird Misdrevous cackled again, throwing its voice around that made it indecipherable where it came from. “Your six” Mei said still facing forward clearly not wanting to tell the ghost she knew where it was.

Copying Mei, Keke Inched her way to her belt, grabbing another Pokeball and palming it in her hand she flung it backwards with a flick of her wrist. “Stone edge!”

Her Torkoal appeared tackling a particularly dark spot amongst the bushes actually connecting the hit with the ghost with the thing crying out in pain. “Don’t let up, fire spin! Trap it!” Tackled into a small clearing between trees, Keke seized the opportunity, encasing the surrounding in flames. “Nowhere to run now,” Keke smiled,

Her Torkal grumbled and stomped its foot on the ground, its shell lit up drought coming alive, even through the forest’s shades, Keke started to sweat. Strange enough, the Misdrevous just continued to cackle, its appendages spreading out as it cried out in mockery.

“Keke-senpai, you need to finish it now!” Mei urged, anxiety in her voice as she stared at the scene in front of her. And she was right, chaos swirled at the point between its appendages as if it suddenly gained a power boost, it summoned a shadow ball almost as big as her Torkoal.

“Brave bird! Don’t let it finish!” Her Talonflame barged into flames, cutting through and interrupting the cast as it punted the ghost into the ground. Still, the Shadow ball fired, thrown wildly off course it crashed into a nearby tree, shredding the bark before exploding out and reducing the tree to nothing.

Throwing a Pokeball, Keke walked over as the flames died down, she picked it up and turned to the wreckage of the tree.

“It wasn’t this strong a second ago,” Mei commented, eyeing the destroyed greenery. Her Mimikyu nodded to that comment, before diving back into her shadow.

Multiple shadow balls destroying a tree? Quite normal. One big one obliterating a tree? Not so much. “Maybe it was just holding back?” Keke said, staring at the pokeball. Seconds later, a roar caught her attention as the wind picked up and her Charizard landed next to her.

—

One down, one more to go, clutching a Pokeball with a caught metallic Hydreigon, Kanon was now face to face with the ancient-looking Salamance. Having been deposited back on the back of Joy, she had regrouped with her other dragons hovering beside them.

The rise in temperature around the area and harsh sun at least indicated that at minimum, Keke had also arrived. The Salamance roared. It fanned out its wings, leaving the shape of a crescent moon in the middle. It looked just like Mega Salamance just somehow more feral. Instead of the smooth curvature of a normal Salamance, this one was a lot sharper in each area, claws, tails even its head was framed by spiky fins. Most noticeably, its wings were covered with feathers which were somehow sharpening by the second.

“Stand down,” Kanon demanded and narrowed her eyes at the dragon. If there was one thing that should have been consistent with dragons it was that they respected displays of power. She had no idea why the thing was rampaging but hopefully it still could be reasoned with.

The Salamance stared at her, growling but it's eyes shifted back and forth between the three dragons between it. It's feathers shimmered under the sun, reacting to the presence of the heightened sunlight. And yet, it didn't attack instead as if it decided that the fight was pointless it nodded, retracting it's feathers and growling.

"Good, then let's-" before she could continue, the Salamance popped it's feathers back out, pointing it's claw at her and her Hydreigon it growled.

"You still want to fight?" The dragon nodded.

"But you want it to be a fair fight. So neither I or the others can interrupt? Do I have that right?"

Letting out an exhale through her nose, Kanon pinched her forehead. She tapped the main head of Joy, it turned back. "You still alright to handle it?"

An affirmative growl was enough for Kanon to once again do the frankly, quite horrifying thing of swapping Pokemon midair and found herself on the back of her Altaria while recalling her Dragapult.

"Fine," she said exasperated. "But whether you win or lose you're going to come quietly after got it?"

Surprisingly, the dragon growled in agreement. As much as she didn’t really want to waste time here, this was probably the fastest way to settle this without having the chance the Salamance might just run away. "Alright then. Joy go ahead."

Three dragon pulses fired off from each of her Hydreigon's heads started the fight. Faster than her eyes could trace, the Salamance ducked down folding wings into itself and slipped past each pulse.

It climbed back up sliding below Hydregion with purple enveloping its body as it started to wildly slash at the three-headed dragon. Outrage was a powerful move but one that Kanon personally hated relying on. Control of oneself and awareness of the environment were stripped away in favour of raw power. Wild trashing, bashing and frankly exploitable the Salamance combined Outrage with dragon claw and acrobatics in what she could only describe as a reckless assault.

Hydreigon steeled itself, blocking the first rush with protect before dropping it in favour of barely manoeuvring its heads away from the dragon claw. As much as Kanon didn’t like it. She had to admit it was a very legitimate tactic as Joy struggled to keep up with the Salamance taking a few light hits where it wasn’t able to dodge.

The ancient Pokemon roared the purple aura around it dissipating as it unleashed one last Dragon rush that Joy was just barely able to dodge summoning a gust of tailwind it rode on. Creating distance between the two, Hydregion used the precious few moments the ancient Salamance was confused, allowing itself to build up both dragon dance and nasty plot before it started its retaliation.

Even after dragon dance, the Salamance kept up with Joy, dodging around Dragon pulse, Focus blast and Dragon breath. Kanon could have sworn the thing was moving faster and hitting harder than literally minutes ago. Once again close, purple enveloped the Salamance as Dragon Rush clashed against Dragon Rush neither letting up although both cried out in pain. Elements burned through each of Joy’s head a combination of Ice fang, thunder fang and fire fang all at once bite down.

A cry of pain echoed. Still, the ancient Pokemon was strong, it wrestled out of the head’s grip and nailed a dragon tail right on the brutal Pokemon’s body. Both roared out, but Joy recovered first and a Dragon breath found its mark. With that, it was over.

—

An excerpt from a report on attempted time travel

Written by Professor Shiki Wakana and edited by Mei Yoneme.

Intended for record-keeping purposes only. Not for public distribution.

Section 4: Aftermath

With help from the Pokemon League and a few fellow researchers. I was able to take pictures and scans of the Pokemon we managed to catch. These Pokemon share a genetic makeup with many of the Pokemon we know now. For instance, the Pokemon we have now dubbed ‘Fluttermane’ is a far-off ancestor of our present-day Misdrevous possessing a much more ruthless nature and enhanced strength and speed. Each of these Pokemon has been given a name for their species for future reference which can be found in [REDACTED]. As a group, they are to be known as ‘Paradox Pokemon’

Each of the Pokemon retrieved from the past was found to have a strong reaction to harsh sunlight. As confirmed by both Keke Tang, Mei Yonnme and Kanon Shibuya, the Pokemon had substantial boosts in strength after the ability drought was activated. From testing, the Pokemon retrieved from the future had similar reactions to electric terrain. The current running theory is that they all share the same ability allowing them to react to these environmental changes.

If ever seen again, the sightings of any of these Pokemon or similar Pokemon are to be immediately reported and classified as a high-level threat. Each of these Pokemon were deemed to be wild and yet each was almost as strong as any individual Pokemon raised by an eight-badge trainer.

Following a grace period of a few weeks, these Pokemon were sent back to their original homes through a reconstruction of the time machine. The only one that remains is the Pokemon designated as Iron Threads, a futuristic version of Donphan under the possession and care of Chisato Arashi, the Pokemon refused all offers to return home instead electing to remain in our time. Presently, we can only assume it is due to a bond forming between it and Chisato.

During the transfer back, the time machine was reactivated due to an unknown error. Briefly, two new Pokemon were summoned. Both are guessed to have similarities to the Pokemon Cyclaziar although this is was unable to confirmed. These Pokemon have been dubbed ‘Koraidon’ and ‘Miraidon’. Upon appearance, Koraidon shattered the controls to the machine while Miraidon powered up what remained and sent them back while destroying the base of the machine in the process.

My current running theory is that these two are legendary Pokemon from their time due to their power exhibited being far and beyond the other Pokemon. We are not sure how they activated the machine from their end but it is clear they did not take kindly from interfering with their time periods.

Unfortunately, I’ve been told to halt any further attempts at time travel by both the city, my team and the Pokemon league, as such this will be the first and last report on the subject matter.

Chapter Text

"Ahhh Emma-san!" Sitting around a small terrace in her garden, Kinako finally found her!

Really, she might have missed the fact Emma was around if not for her Meganium and Liligant tending to the surrounding rows of flowers and a conspicuous Leafeon sunbathing atop the terrace.

The sea of flowers Emma called her garden was always stunning to her, beds of different varieties of flowers covered the landscape. Red, blue, yellow, violet anything she could imagine she could see.

Each flower swayed along with the wind, rhythmically in sync with nothing but each other, allowing for one to just lose themselves in it just watching the view.

Walking along the route to the terrace, allowed her to pass by her Meganium who briefly looked up in high alert before it realized who was visiting. The herb Pokémon went from high alert to soft greeting in seconds, attracting the gaze of Leafeon who opened its eyes for just a second and Liligant who waved briefly before going back to work.

Entering the small terrace, Emma immediately put a finger to her own lips pointing at the Pokémon which decided to take her lap as a pillow. A signal to keep quiet and refrain from raising her voice although Kinako was never one to do so even without the warning.

Nestled in Emma’s lap a deceptively powerful Pokémon slept, snoring away the day while it basically relished in the soft pets that Emma occasionally gave it. The grass fur and garcadeia’s on it glistened in the sunlight that just managed to reach it, achieving what Kinako could only guess as the dream comfort situation for grass types.

Kinako had seen Shaymin around of course, usually in its sky form but in its landform the gratitude Pokémon was downright adorable napping away on Emma's lap.

Kinako nodded in understanding, silently she unhooked her pokeballs from her belt allowing her own Skiddo to join Emma’s Gogoat on the field, who cried out in familiar greeting to the older Pokémon before they exchanged a light nuzzle.

Chip, her Pachrisu was already out and elected to use her head as a seat. The usual troublemaker was actually quiet, respecting the mythical’s napping time but was still basically dancing on her head where it vigorously waved his hands which Emma lightly waved back too.

Her Toreterra found a nice spot next to Meganium and Liligant resting it's massive body as it talked with the two Pokémon. Liligant even took a break from tending the flowers, instead helping to groom his shell plucking out small dead leaves that got trapped which Kinako herself would usually do instead.

Finally, her latest addition a little Sprigatito decided to mimic Shaymin’s position claiming Kinako’s lap curling up and closing her eyes.

“Kinako-chan! Good morning, anything I can do for you?” Emma immediately offered.

“Umm, no I actually just came here to visit.” Kinako admitted, shifting in her own seat. “I followed Natsumi-chan here, she went to visit Ai-chan and Rina-chan while I came here, I hope that's ok.”

“Of course it is!” Emma smiled, allowing Kinako to loosen up a little. It wasn't that she had a bad relationship with her fellow grass specialist, talking to seniors always had it's little worries. Although it was quite unfounded considering Emma was nice to literally everyone. “You don't need any reason to come by anytime.”

“Oh! I did want to thank you, your advice on how to raise my Skiddo helped a lot! I never knew a Skiddos actually love their horns being groomed I always thought it was more of a sore spot for them.”

Emma chuckled. “I can tell you're raising the little one splendidly.”

“You can?”

“Of course!” Emma replied the aforementioned Pokémon had since hopped up to the terraces handrails, allowing Emma to beckon it to her, running her hands underneath the small goat and earning a pleased baa in return.

“A nice shade of green for its hide, horns look and feel sturdy.” Emma smiled, patting Skiddo on its head. “And of course, very happy and cute. I would say you are doing a great job.”

“Oh! Umm, thank you!” Flustered, Kinako didn't know quite what to say but it wasn't nesscary as the sleeping mythical on Emma's lap started to stir.

Letting out a soft yawn, Shyamin’s eyes fluttered open, blinking a few times before it took notice of Kinako and called out in excited greeting. One that Chip returned as well, bouncing down onto the seat where it exchanged a quick nuzzle with Shaymin.

“Hello to you too.” Kinako replied as Shaymin hopped from Emma’s lap to go up to her and cried out in an adorable greeting. “Sleep well?”

Shaymin nodded and chittered.

“She's telling you to pick her up.” Emma explained

“Oh! Sorry I didn't realise.” Kinako said, carefully picking up the gratitude Pokémon who quickly brushed up against her hand allowing her to cradle the small Pokémon while avoiding her Sprigatto in her lap. The little Pokémon felt like running her hand through a little boquet of delicate flowers that just bloomed. Grunting a little, Shaymin quickly let out a chrip of approval, relishing the attention it was getting.

“You know, legends say Shaymin loves the company of those it deems are gracious or that a lot of Pokémon feel grateful towards..” Emma held Skiddo in her arms as it gave a sound of agreement. Shaymin joined in with an approving chrip of it's own. “I don't think I need to tell you think but your Pokémon clearly love you a lot.”

“Oh umm, thank you, Emma-san.” Kinako said barely containing her embarrassment at the compliment. “Come now, since you visited let me go prepare some sweets and tea.” Emma said as she stood up.

“Oh, let me help!” Kinako quickly followed but not before gently setting her Sprigatito onto the terrace balcony. With Shaymin in brought up to her chest she followed Emma out back past the sea of flowers.

—

“Alright, let's take a break and try again in about ten minutes.” Ai said, still as cheery and energetic as she was when Natsumi first arrived.

“Just give me a sec.” Meanwhile, Natsumi was panting, hunched over, she felt like every bone in her body wanted to shatter in on itself, grumble into dust, reform, shatter then do the process all over again.

In front of her, her Metagross looked just as tuckered out, well as tired as a metal behemoth could look, with slightly wobbly legs and a metallic groan. The big guy was just exhausted as she was, mega evolution was really hell to use.

After a certain inccident, Natsumi wanted to be able to control mega evolution longer. This led her to seek out some advice to extend it. Of course, she already seemed help from Kanon, Sumire and Keke but sometimes it was nesscary to talk to the best at what they did and, at least within the teams that was Ai and Karin.

While Karin was just as good as Ai in maintaining and extending her mega evolution, Ai was just a little more approachable in seeking advice from and since Shiki was on her way to have a chat with Rina, it was quite simple to just tag along.

She didn't expect for Ai to immediately jump on the idea, drag her out to the training ground and demand a light spar right then and there. The spar lasted a whole grand three minutes before Natsumi felt the drain become way too harsh and she had to call it. To add insult to injury, Ai was still grinning, barely a sweat on her with her Mega Lucario STILL in mega form looking barely phased.

When she had first begun learning to harness the power of mega evolution everyone around her had warned her it was incredibly draining on both herself and Pokémon but damn no amount of warnings did it justice how horrible to the stomach she felt after pushing it for too long.

Ok you know what, looking strong is pointless anyway not like any cameras are rolling. With that thought, Natsumi wobbled her way to her Metagross, collapsing onto it as it too, gave up and allowed itself to flatten onto the ground

“Aww come on, Ai can still go!” Ai cheered, punching a fist into the air. “I need to see your true limits before we start the actual training!”

What in Giratina’s name did she get herself into… “Just… five more minutes.” Natsumi grumbled, barely audible.

Meanwhile, watching the two from the comfort of the sidelines, completed with a light umbrella shade Shiki and Rina made idle chatter each on a beach chair Ai had her Pokémon help bring out earlier.

Around them, members of the Magnemite and Porygon family buzzed in and out of the house, either busying themselves with the various machinery lining the training court or just hanging around observing the guests.

These weren't members of Rina’s team instead just wild Pokémon that liked the environment Rina created so much that they hung around and helped with her projects in exchange for shelter and food in the form of her spare electricity and data respectively. Turns out, the home of a girl specializing in machinery of all kind was the paradise for electric types and porygons.

“So if my theory proves right, I will need both of your assistance.”

Following the leader’s exploration and subsequent narrow escape from the volcano and it's titan of an occupant, Shiki became curious. Exactly what was the repercussions of mega evolution? It was well known that the process of mega evolution was both straining on Pokémon and person alike, pushing their bonds to the absolute limit. It rapidly drained energy from both leading to a time limit of around five minutes for the average person.

After the recent inccident, Shiki wanted to know more about it. With all the leaders being effectively out of it by the end and Kanon having outright fainted it crucial to know more about it. Especially with so many of her friends and colleagues being in possession of mega stones and being able to use it in combat. Which led her to seek the aid of Rina and Ai from Nijigasaki. Being the foremost expert in mechanical engineering, Shiki would regularly collaborate with her whenever more advanced studies had to be done. In this case, needing a machine to monitor vitals while being non-intrusive to battles.

“Why me?” Ai shouted over, clearly having overheard, she jogged over leaving Natsumi to wallow in her exhaustion.

A stray Porygon approached her, head scanning up and down as if she was a computer programme. It didn’t resist when she reached up to it, petting it lightly on the head, the sharp corners of its body were deceptively interesting especially with the way it curved out upon evolution. Really, a perfect topic for research once she was done with her current interests.

Speaking of her current interests, Shiki pointed at Ai's ribbon which currently tied her hair into a ponytail. More accurately though she was pointing at the girl’s megastone. Most people, they kept their megastone in one place, usually an accessory they loved or treasured. Kanon kept hers on her headphones she slung around her neck, Keke and Sumire wore matching necklaces and Natsumi wore hers on the flower on her head. This helped with muscle memory as Mega evolution required touching the keystone to start.

Ai on the other hand, frequently swapped outfits and didn't have a permanent spot for her keystone.

“I heard you can keep your mega evolution up the longest, along with Karin-san and from what you are doing right now, I can see that's true.”

“Excuse you, Ai can do it for three more seconds than her.” Ai gloated. The rivalry between the two gym leaders was quite famous in the region.

Shiki ignored that. “So once Rina is able to help me create a system to monitor all nesscary vitals and bond levels during mega evolution, I would require data. This would ideally come from you and Karin-san as data points for the above average side of mega evolution.”

She couldn't help but add a little louder. “Natsumi can count as the other end of the spectrum.”

“I heard that!” Natsumi yelled back.

“So you just want to monitor Karin-chan and I the next time we have a spar?”

“Ideally yes.”

“Should be no problem then!” Ai grinned. “I'll just run it by her as well.”

“That would be ideal thank you.”

“I'll also get the machine done in a few days as well.” Rina added. “Anything else you need?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Alright, while you're here do you think you can help me obtain a sample of Electross sheddings?”

She learnt at this point it was better to not question what Rina might need. Actually that was mutual, if Shiki needed something weird, Rina wouldn’t question it and vice versa. She supposed they understood each other in and their pursuit of knowledge in their own way.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

—

The radio flickered to life, breaking the streak of boring advertisements that littered the airwaves.

“Hello everyone! Good evening and welcome back to YYY radio! Coming to you live from Uranishi, this is captain You Watanabe with first mate Quacksly and joining me today is my usual co-host Ruby Kurosawa.”

“Hi everyone!” Ruby cheered a chitter from her Slurpuff soon followed.

“And not joining me for now is our dear gym leader, Yoshiko, who is late to the point we let Slurpuff here take her portion of the cookies!” You exclaimed while giggling. “If you're listening, we warned you.”

“Yoshiko-chan should be joining us later though. She’s just late again.” Ruby added.

“Anyway, enough formalities. Tonight we have a special guest on the show! Hailing from Nijigasaki, we have Yu Takasaki joining us for the show tonight!”

A third voice made itself known with a somewhat nervous “Hello!”

“Aw, come on Yu, you can give us a louder one!”

With a little more confidence the voice replied. “HI everyone! Hope everyone is having a good evening.*

“There we go!” You cheered.

“As some of our listeners know, Yu-san here is a member of Nijigaku and trainer of the Pokémon Sivally, so we brought her on here to tell us a little on what it's like to live with a legendary Pokémon.”

A growl could be heard through the radio signaling the Pokémon in question was in the room with them now followed by a softer kind of scolding growl.

“Toki here is well…” Yu trailed off. “Actually very easy to live with, kind of like a bigger Veevee.”

“Oh for context for the viewers at home, Toki is Sivally’s nickname while Veevee Yu’s Eevee who is also in the studio with us. Do I have that right?”

“Yup!” Yu confirmed.

“But isn't it a little strange to live with a Pokémon that is said to go toe to toe with ultra beasts?” Ruby asked.

“Well, I don't really see it like that. I know in public we get some stares but to me Toki is just Toki, right?” A growl of affirmation could be heard.

“Oh come on, don’t you have some interesting stories or anything like that?”

The radio went silent for a bit before Yu was heard again. “Oh! you know some people say legendary Pokémon are like these gods that no one can dare to touch? Well, Toki here is not actually too different from Veevee. One time we caught him attempting to sneak some of Veevee’s snacks in the middle of the night.”

A growl of irritation could be heard through the radio.

“So like Puffy here?” Ruby chimed in refering to her Slurpuff.

“Yes! No better than a hungry Slurpuff! Toki has a huge appetite, Ayumu and I figured out our food budget nearly doubled after he joined us. That strength has to come from somewhere!”

A sudden slam came through the mic, the last member of the usual three hosts of the show yelled out. “Im here!”

“Yoshiko-chan…”

“Oh! Good evening Yoshiko-chan.”

“It's Yohane!”

“Oh, dear Yohane, why were you so late?” You teased.

“Ummm, I was closing up the gym?” That answer came out more as a question.

“Riko-chan mentioned the gym was closed today.” Ruby chimed in.

“Ugh, uhhhh, Luci wanted, Ow! Ow! Ok, ok I can't blame this on you, I got it.” Presumably, Yoshiko’s absol had refused that claim possibly with violence. “Ok, fine I just overslept.”

“Knew it! You heard that right viewers, gym leaders are just as competent as You or I, much like how apparently some legendary Pokémon are just like normal Pokémon.”

“Yea, yea.”

“Aww, Yoshiko-chan don't give us that, but now that you're here you can hear more of Yu-chan’s stories!”

“Oh? Then let us let hear some tales!”

Shuffling of furniture could be heard, with Yoshiko joining them it was obvious more space was needed.

Yu’s voice was soon heard again. “Oh, one thing about Toki is, well actually this is less with him but more with people. I've gone from easily blending into the crowd to drawing as much attention as the other girls in Nijigaku. Since he dosent really go back into his ball usually I have him and Veevee out when I go out.”

“We know we read the news.” Yoshiko said in jest.

“Hey it's not my fault! Toki’s presence just kind of turns heads.”

“I don’t really feel anything now.” Ruby commented. “Actually, he's just laying there like an oversized poochyena. It's kind of cute actually.”

A growl was heard through the radio.

“He's concealing it. Anyway, sometimes in public he likes to exert his presence cause he's vain.”

A growl.

“and haughty.”

Louder growl.

“And of course a show off.”

A rustle was heard then loud shouting from all the girls and a squeal from Yu. “Ok! ok! I give, you are reasonably proud of yourself!”

More shouting and squealing mixed with giggling. “Im sorry! I give! I give!”

A triumph growl was soon heard and deliberate footstep near the mic before it all settled down.

“Well, everyone listening at home, we were just hit by the pure ferocity of an overgrown poochyena.” You picked up once again sharing a small laugh with the others in the room.

“Overgrown poochyena.” Yoshiko scoffed. “More like agg-”

A growl. “Ok, I'll shut up.”

“Why are so many legendary Pokémon so prideful!” Ruby whined. “Why can't they be li-”

“Ruby, we’re on air.”

“Oh! Sorry!”

“Back to the story please.” Yoshiko interrupted before anything else possibly confidential could slip out.

“Ah right! So we were walking around Nijigasaki on our way to Pokéstar studios, Toki likes to show off but actually dosent like fighting much, this of course leads me to have to decline a lot of random challenges from people wanting to test their strength against a legendary Pokémon.”

“I thought people would get tired of it after so long.” Ruby commented.

“Some people are very persistent and Nijigasaki gets a lot of visitors so some people just don't know I would decline the request. This one surprisingly wasn't one of the declined request. So picture this, we were walking around a packed street of Nijigasaki, Veevee was napping on Toki’s back, who was in turn exerting pressure around us making a actually decently continent route although I don't like scaring people much. A lot of the younger and weaker Pokémon would stay clear but that day, someone was walking around with their Haxorous.”

“Oh I see where this is going.” You snickered.

“The Haxorous I think just took it as a personal attack. You know how dragons are, some of the more temperamental ones take anything as a challenge. So before I knew it, I there was a roar, loud stomping and someone shouting for their Pokémon to come back from my right.”

Ruby squeaked. “Ah! It must have been so scary to see a Haxorous charging at you!”

“Actually I didn't see it, by the time I turned around, Toki was standing atop the Haxorous, pining it to the cracked ground with dust everwhere.”

“Ouch.” You’s scrunched up face was basically visible even through the voice.

“Yea, the Haxourous didn’t look very well. I think its pride got wounded.”

“Oh no, I mean the bill for the sidewalk.”

“Oh! Toki applied just enough force to pin the Haxours down but didn’t damage the sidewalk.”

The room was silent for awahile clearly in disbelief.

“Ok, there was a tiny-”

“Knew it!” You exclaimed.

“But the other person had to pay for it since their Haxorous was the aggressor!”

Yoshiko interjected. “Didn't you say Veevee was sleeping on Toki? How was she not flung off?”

“That's the amazing part! Toki managed to ground the Haxorous in three seconds flat and never wake Veevee up and keep her securely on his back! The trainer was really apologetic and mentioned that it just evolved so it was probably just itching to fight!”

“Ugh, to our viewers at home please be aware of your Pokémon at all timed when in public especially if they are particularly large or powerful.” Yoshiko grumbled. “I had to clean up some guy who lost control of their Gyrados a few weeks ago.”

Yu chuckled. “Anyway, the best part of the story is that Veevee stayed asleep for the entire quick fight but right after, the Haxorous was still growling at Toki who started growling back louder and louder which did end up waking up Veevee.”

“Aww, poor Veevee.” Ruby said with said Eevee in the room echoing in agreement.

“With that, the weirdest thing to the bystanders probably happened. Veevee, hopped off getting in front of the two all angry and started just scolding the two.”

“That guy does not look like he would listen to an Eevee.” Yoshiko commented, referring to the Sivally in the room.

“Oh, Toki would listen to Veevee its really cute.”

A growl of disagreement was heard.

“So imagine in the middle of the city, a small Eevee is just scolding the daylights out of a Legendary Pokémon who looked downright remorseful while the legendary was standing atop a giant dragon.”

Laughter was heard through the radio.

“Ahahahahaha, big baby.” Yoshiko said through chuckles.\

A growl.

“I think it's really cute they're so close!” Ruby added. “Its like Veevee has a legendary Pokémon under its control.”

Another one louder.

“Yea, under control.” You chuckled. “Or just whipped.”

The girls screamed, the sound of static exploded outwards followed by terrible sound of feedback from the microphones falling on the ground. The broadcast cut off.

—

Stepping out of the emergency room and wiping the sweat off her forehead, Maki sighed feeling the exhaustion from the day's work taking its toll on her.

"Long day today?" The voice stepping out from the room came from one Riko Sakurauchi, the gym leader looked a lot less tired than her, still able to offer an encouraging smile with her Audino trailing behind her and closing the door.

"Long wouldn't even begin to describe it" Maki grumbled. "Sorry for having to drag you into this mess. The hospital was a little too short-staffed today."

"It's fine, the gym is closed for the day and Yocchan is busy as well," Riko responded, passing Maki a bottle of water in the process which she readily accepted.

Finishing the bottle in one large gulp, Maki couldn't help but rant a little. "Seriously though, people these days just don't know when to be sure to not overexert themselves and their Pokémon! Have people never heard of restraint?!"

"Aren't you the one who slept here?" Riko couldn't help but quip.

Maki huffed glaring at the other girl as if she was being challenged. "And you're the one whose girlfriend called me to get you away from the piano."

Riko glared back at her before both of them broke out in light laughter. Calming herself down, Maki rolled her eyes. "Fine, admittingly most of us work a little too much".

“How about we take a break from all this and go for dinner?”

“Sure.” Maki replied after a brief consideration.

"Shioriko-chan is in today right? We should get her to come as well." Riko asked.

Maki took a second trying to see if she had seen the poison specialist before replying. "I remember spotting her today probably a few hours ago."

No words were needed for what had to be done next, the two girls nodded to each other before making their way to Shioriko's office.

Knocking the door and hearing no response, Maki slowly nudged open the door. Shioriko's office was rather small but pristinely organised. A few files and books lined the shelves on the right of the office. The other side was a small display containing a poison gem and various diagrams of the makeup of varying types of toxins. Two sofa seats surrounding a small table were set to the side for the rather rare times the girl had discussions in her office.

Finally, directly opposite the door was Shioriko's desk, just like rest of the room it was kept spotless. The desk only had two things on it that weren't paperwork, a few framed pictures and a small round bed that could have been mistaken as a pillow if not for the Alolan Vulpix peacefully sleeping on it.

Behind the desk, the owner of the room was clearly a little too engrossed with her work. A thick stack of paper, piled on in front of her while she typed into the computer in front occasionally changing her attention from paper to computer but never once looking up.

Maki lightly cleared her throat catching the attention of Shioriko who finally looked up. Standing up and putting a finger on her lips she approached the two uhsuring them out before whispering. "Maki-san, Riko-san is there something I can help you with?"

Maki shared a glance with Riko before silently pulling out her phone, switching it to her lock screen and more importantly the time. Flashing it to Shioriko with a silent look of faux disappointment.

"Don't you have a girlfriend that will smash the Pokémon center door looking for you. If you don't make it back home on time?" Riko commented.

At least looking a little guilty, Shioriko shook her head, "Lanzhu is out late tonight."

"You still shouldn't overwork yourself. I've said this before but you are under no obligation to be here outside of normal working hours." Like a broken recorder, Maki recited her usual spewl on not overworking before a thought came to her mind.

"Wait a second, you're not technically an official employee, you don't have hours. Why are you even here instead of just working at home?"

Shioriko blushed a little nervously chuckling. "I wanted to use some of the lab equipment I don't have at home. But I ended up staying behind to write the report on my findings."

Maki huffed hearing Riko's giggling to the side she turned to the other red head a questioning look on herself. Riko seemed to be enjoying her time covering her mouth lightly with one hand as she jested. "See, I told you, all over workers."

“Ugh, whatever.” Maki turned away, much to her own Chansey’s amusement. Betrayer. “So are we going for dinner or not?”

Chapter Text

General team building reasoning:

If you haven't read chapter 15. This AU is based on the concept that bonds with Pokemon are an actual power source constraining and dictating people's ability to raise different kind of Pokémon. Very heavily inspired by one of my favourite fanfics Eldritch which is probably my favourite system I ever read as it gives legitimate reasons on why most people are <6 Pokémon.

Each girl has their own bias to a type, leading to a Specialization in that type. This means they generally have a much easier time raising said type and bonding with them and to an extent understanding their body language and intent. Of course, this has exceptions which I'll talk about when we get there. The Specialization of each girl I chose is based on either aesthetics my perception of their personality or what Pokémon I think they will work well with. Obviously, this is completely subjective.

As for individual Pokémon choices. Their chosen based on the same. Aesthetics and what I think works well. I also deliberately made sure to not have dupes of Pokémon which was actually very restraining when making teams (there are only so many ice types that fit). But this lets me use underutilised Pokémon that I think are interesting and lets me write them in battle or daily life when I don't see much of them in other fics.

If I were to do this again without the restrictions a lot of teams would be quite different especially due to the overlap thing. However, that rule is sometimes broken by using pre evos where they fit thematically.

Then comes power. This is something mentioned but not deeply explored by Kanan in chapter 19. I belive not everyone can be an 8 badge, beat the champion at 10 years old trainer. Most get capped out at 4 or find other things more interesting to them than strictly battling. Pokémon count, evolution and strength reflect that to a certain extent here. So Pokémon are chosen with badge constraints in mind. But as for the individual Pokémon some are chosen for thematics while some are chosen because I think they're an interesting write.

Nicknames aren’t shown in this doc cause well I’m not done picking them. I don’t actually nickname Pokemon in my own playthroughs but I also firmly believe in the Pokemon world it makes complete sense to nickname all Pokemon because you wouldn’t call any human just ‘human’ or dog, ‘dog’. Especially if you were emotionally attached to them. I'll just keep writing around them until I decide the nicknames for some of them.

Finally, the teams not pictured here are the Hasunosora girls + Magerete and Tomari

μ's

Honoka Kousaka:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Electric

Kotori Minami:

Badge total: 8

Specialization:Flying

Umi Sonoda:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Water

Rin Hoshizora:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Cat.

Hanayo Koizumi:

Badge total: 2

Specialization: Grass

Maki Nishikino:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Healing-centric Pokemon

Nico Yazawa:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Fairy

Nozomi Toujou:

Badge total: 5

Specialization:Psychic

Eli Ayase:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Steel

A-rise

Tsubasa Kira:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Dragon

Anju Yuki:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Normal

Erena Toudou:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Poison

Aqours

Chika Takami:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Electric

You Watanabe:

Badge total: 6

Specialization: Water

Riko Sakurauchi:

Not pictured: Fidough

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Fairy

Yoshiko Tsushima:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Dark

Hanamaru Kunikida:

Badge total: 2

Specialization: Ground

Ruby Kurosawa:

Badge total: 2

Specialization: Fairy

Dia Kurosawa:

Badge total:8

Specialization: Rock

Kanan Matsuura:

Badge total; 8

Specialization: Water

Mari Ohara:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Generalist

Saint Snow

Sarah Kazuno:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Ice

Leah Kazuno:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Dark

Njjigasaki

Yuu Takasaki:

Badge total: 2

Specialization: Generalist

Ayumu Uehara:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Fairy

Setsuna Yuki:

Badge total: 6

Specialization: Fire

Ai Miyashita:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Fighting

Lanzhu Zhong:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Dragon

Kasumi Nakasu:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Dark

Shizuku Osaka:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Water

Rina Tennoji:

Badge total: 6

Specialization: Electric

Shioriko Mifune:

Badge total: 6

Specialization: Poison

Karin Asaka:

Not pictured: Pancham

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Ice

Emma Verde:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Grass

Kanata Konoe:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Psychic

Mia Taylor:

Badge total: 5

Specialization: Normal

Liella:

Kanon Shibuya:

Not pictured: Gible, Goomy, Axew

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Dragon

Keke Tang:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Fire

Sumire Heanna:

Badge total: 8

Specialization: Bug

Chisato Arashi:

Not pictured: Rowlet

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Steel

Ren Hazuki:

Badge total: 6

Specialization: Ground

Kinako Sakurakouji:

Badge total: 2

Specialization: Grass

Mei Yoneme:

Badge total: 3

Specialization: Ghost

Shiki Wakana:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Generalist

Natsumi Onitsuka:

Badge total: 4

Specialization: Steel

Explanation on some stuff that might not make immediate sense

I broke the specialisation rule occasionally when it just made a lot of thematic sensee to me. Explained in Universe by Shiki in Chapter 15 some people just get along with a particular species particularly well.

So this is for example, Umi - Decidueye, Shizuku - Meowscaradam, Kanata - Slaking, Chisato - Azumarill

But this rule isn’t broken for some Pokemon that are just meant as companions and not fighters. These are quite easy to tell as they are left in their first stage.

Examples: Hanamaru- Lechonk, Dia - Piplup, Ayumu - Ekans, Lanzhu - Vulpix, Shioriko - Alolan Vulpix, Shizuku - Yamper, Rina - Skitty, Kanata - Woolo, Kinako - Pachirisu

Minor rules I used when teambuilding

Each Aqours girl has at least one part water type.

Each Nijigasaki girl has an Eeveelution or suitably small/cute Pokemon cause there aren’t that many Eeveelutions.

Each leader has 5 combat-ready Pokemon.

Fossils are restricted to the Aqours third years, Sarah by proxy and finally Lanzhu cause rich girl.