Like No One Ever Was (Pokemon SI)

[Skyfyre]

Its kind of funny how sad the other trainers here are. You're an established champion, and obviously know your stuff. You loose one battle to the top trainer of the area, who made you battle under duress of ruining a pokemon habitat like a villain team, and with a bunch of cheap trucks designed to harm you, and then everyone thinks you suck. Like what???

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They don't know that she was under threat.

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Indeed, they didn't know that she was underthreat, and kids can be dumb. Also, perhaps it was too oblique, but wI tried to hint that with some like the purple haired girl, that they still liked Nemona and thought she was good, but with the general attitude of the club against her, didn't want to speak up.

I liked the view into the smaller battle snippets that took place. Not too fast, or too slow. I think this was a good 'time-skip' method.

The battles did show many people leaning waaay too much into their one niche.
And those 'good weather friends' can stay away.

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Thanks, glad you like it!

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 57 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Athena stood proudly on the field, with Cataphract puffed up beside her, ready to take on the threats Cassandra threw our way. He did flinch a bit at seeing just how sharp the edges of Kleavor's axes were, as the Bug Type opposite us waved them menacingly in our direction. We could only see that display clearly for a few seconds however, as the other Pokemon Cassandra had called on, a Gigalith, had conjured a Sandstorm moments after landing on the battlefield with a heavy thud.

A shiny one too, if I'm not mistaken from the sparkling blue crystals jutting out of them. Hmm, didn't Chazz say that she had a special interest in Shiny Pokemon? Or at least that a decent number of her Pokemon are shinies.

The arena speakers gave us the countdown, announcing it over the roar of sand whirling around. "The battle will commence in three, two, one… begin!"

"Stone Axe, rip them to shreds! Block off an escape, Rock Tomb!" Cassandra shouted. It wasn't an opening she'd ever used before… however, I'd studied her extensively and I had seen her use this combo later on in battles. Despite being the weakest of the Elite Four, she's also the oldest student, set to graduate this year. That means there's the most footage and rumors about how she fights, unlike say Elsa, who is only one grade ahead of me.

"Tank and counter Cat, and meet them head on with a Meteor Mash! Inside their guard," I fired off. Despite Athena's command coming last, she was the first one to reach her target, assisted by a finely controlled Extremespeed to let her burst in, past Kleavor's raised axe-arms, but not wasting energy striking her with the Normal Type Move. Instead, Athena channeled Steel Type energy quickly into her paws, striking hard into Kleavor's carapace.

Cassandra wasn't on the Elite Four without any reason however, and her Pokemon proved it. Kleavor, rather than trying to absorb the super-effective blow, instead let it knock her backwards so she had room to properly swing them, cutting lightly into Athena's flesh. Only lightly however, as her double resistance to the Move had it doing little damage. Skittering away, several slivers broke off the axe and scattered themselves around the field.

That will make it trickier to switch out, but we should be fine. Especially with that new Battle Item I got from the store. On the other side of the field, Cataphract steadied himself, letting the rocks slam into him. Gigalith had some decent power behind the blow, managing to deal some damage to Cataphract despite his resistance. This only ended up hurting the rocky Pokemon though, as Cat hurled his shell forward in a powerful Counter that cracked one of the gems sticking out of her legs.

She leads with a slow Rock Tomb to try and equalize speed difference if it hits, but really, the goal is to set up a Stomping Tantrum for massive damage as the opponent dodges. I refused to play into that, especially with two Steel Types on the field.

"Copycat," I told Athena, utilizing a rarely used part of her arsenal to turn the tables on Cassandra and set up our own entry hazard. It was even better as I knew that despite being a Rock Type specialist, about half her team was actually weak to Rock Type Moves. Including Kleavor herself.

Unfortunately, Cassandra called for a hasty "Protect!" Which blocked the auric construct axes Athena had made, and in blocking the blow, stopping any Stealth 'Rocks' from being spread around the field. Perhaps if she had more practice with that Move, she could manage it even through the Protect; I know that Cassandra's Kleavor has done so. But Copying a Move for the first time and even someone as talented as Athena will likely miss a lot of the nuance involved in the technique.

Despite that, and the fact that Cat was limping slightly from where Gigalith's previous Move had hit him, I felt in a good spot. Rather than use a slightly weaker Ground Type Move, Gigalith opted to take advantage of Cat's other weakness. Jumping up in the air, she landed heavily upon my little Dragon, minorly cracking his shell.

It's fine, just a hairline fracture. Cat might not have taken worse than that while sparring with the Team, but he's taken just as bad. And it even gives us an advantage. My mind raced for an instance before I shouted, "Acid Spray!"

Gigalith tried to lumber away, but the sticky goo Cat secreted stuck onto the lumbering Rock Type, dragging her back just enough for Cat to unleash a gout of Poison down upon them. From that close a range, a few drops splashed back onto Cat, but his Steel Typing protected him from that, while the majority of the acid sizzled into Gigalith's tough body and blue vest.

Going for a color matching option rather than the traditional red one, Cassandra's Gigalith was wearing a vivid blue Assault Vest, which helped bolster the Rock Type's Special Defense. Which is on top of the Sandstorm boosting it further too. Gigalith's Physical Defenses are no slouch either, however, as shown by how much damage she did with that odd Body Press (though it might have just looked odd because I'm used to how Notch or Dun performs the Move, and they have very different body Types from Gigalith). Right now, my best bet is to wear down her Special Defense over time.

"Switch to the Dragon, he's the weak link! Close Combat, Stomping Tantrum!" Cassandra shouted. I raised my eyebrows, surprised for half a moment, then dismissed it. Your team is nowhere near fast enough for that kind of a trick.

"Protect," I called out, not bothering to waste a moment saying Cat's name as it was clear whom they were gunning for. The heavy, sweeping axe blows bounded off the barrier Cat erected around himself, and even as the ground cracked and erupted beneath him, the Protect formed a full sphere, blocking the attack entirely. C'mon now. Just because Cat is the least experienced member of my team doesn't mean I've slacked off in training him on the basics.

Steel Beam the Kleavor, I thought, projecting my thoughts forcefully at Athena. For a non-empath or Psychic, or even one not used to me, they wouldn't have picked up on it, but Athena knew me well. As Kleavor panted, momentarily exhausted from her futile assault on Cataphract, Athena drew her paws back before launching them forward in a pushing motion. From her paws, a solid beam of grey light erupted out, slamming straight into Kleavor and sending him tumbling into the wall of the arena where he landed in an ungainly heap.

"Double Life Dew" I called out, trying to take advantage of the fact that Cassandra would be down a Pokemon for a moment, but she surprised me… and not in a good way.

"Get back up! We can't lose here, so get in there and finish them off! If they're trying to heal they're weak! You too, Gig, hit them with an Earthquake!" Shakily, the Kleavor rose at her Trainer's words, then began running towards my Pokemon, a yellow liquid dribbling down her mouth. A Sitrus Berry, dammit. She must have been holding it inside her mouth since the start of the battle.

"Athena, Detect!" I called out, and she aborted the water she'd been gathering to heal. Her eyes glowed with a blue light as she began predicting the future, and I caught a faint frown from her as she stared at where Cataphract was. Yeah, I know how this goes.

Cataphract faced the oncoming foes boldly, not flinching from the surprising Reversal Kleavor launched into him, and even managing to toss out the Life Dew he had gathered on the tips of his antennas into the air. Then the Earthquake rocked the field, tossing my Pokemon around hard. It wasn't quite enough to knock him out though, not with the Life Dew landing mid-way through the damage he was taking.

Athena avoided it entirely, gracefully dodging around and riding the churning ground with ease, all while collecting a large amount of Dew as it fell, recovering from some of the damage Steel Beam cost her. While not massively damaging, Kleavor was still rocked by the Move as well, and looking to be in pretty bad shape once more.

"U-Turn!" Cassandra called out, trying to take out my Hisuian Pokemon while saving hers. She half succeeded. Kleavor dashed forward with surprising speed, going for a low cut into Cataphract that knocked him out before zipping back to her side of the field. Cassandra was raising her Pokeball to recall him before we interrupted.

"Extreme-" I began, and Athena was already on the other end of the arena, appearing mid-air in front of Kleavor. I could only imagine the shocked look in her eyes as she spun around, kicking our foe out of the way from the red beam of the Pokeball that would have saved her, and directly into unconsciousness. Do not pass Go, do not collect two-hundred Pokedollars.

I chuckled at my own thoughts, and Cassandra's face got red as she misinterpreted my humor. "What are you laughing at? You lost a Pokemon too, you know!"

Not the point, but if I can use this… I laughed harder, hoping it didn't sound too forced as I recalled my fallen Pokemon. Over the sand streaming by, I thought I heard her grinding her teeth together, so I felt I succeeded there.

We both released our next Pokemon while Athena attempted to use an Aura Sphere against Gigalith, who Protected against the attack. A Lunatone with glowing blue eyes took their place nearby the edge of the arena, spinning in the air once. While on my field, Notch calmly floated forward.

The Stealth Rocks Kleavor had scattered attempted to jump up at Notch, but all the rocks in the air stopped. Even the small, particulate rock based matter that made up the Sandstorm, now floating motionless in the air. Notch let their hand fall, and all the rocks did the same, landing with a heavy thump.

Okay, very impressive and cool Notch, but I think that's kinda undone the 'too angry to think clearly' thing I was going for. Indeed, Cassandra gaped for a moment before snapping her jaw shut and focusing again. Though, to be fair, I didn't let you know about this ahead of time, and frightening her a bit can be handy too, on top of removing that pesky hazard.

"Let's show her what you can really do, Notch. Diamond Storm!" Like a conductor, Notch waved their arms dramatically in the air, pointing up and raising a field of diamonds, which hung there until Notch swung their arms down, and the gems followed suit, whirling through the air.

Before they hit, Athena snapped forward with a Bullet Punch into Gigalith, then kicked off the quadrupedal Pokemon to avoid the diamonds as they cut into the enemies. Cassandra's other Pokemon leaned into the attack, using it to shave off and polish their rocky body slightly. After doing so, Lunatone was quickly zipping around the arena.

Gigalith meanwhile just tanked the blow, ponderously raising one foot to heavily stomp down with it, creating another Earthquake. It rocked hard into both of my Pokemon who were weak against it, though far harder against Athena who lacked Notch's sky-high defensive capabilities.

Signalling to Athena to Move in and fake an attack before Enduring, to set up a Reversal, I told Notch to, "Diamond Storm again! Show them what you're made of!" Lunatone attempted to dodge, only to find there was no escaping the splash of gems Notch created. Wresting the diamonds telekinetically out of the sky served them no better; there was no deflecting the attack either.

Gigalith didn't target Athena either, though a few errants shards from Notch's storm impacted her, leaving her ready to lay a brutal beatdown on our foes. Instead, they fired off a blast of Steel Type energy at Notch.

What? But I thought that Gigalith wasn't good at Special Attacks- oh. I realized the reason behind it as I saw Notch munching their Berry to take the attack better. Cassandra wanted that Berry out of the way for a Pokemon with a better Steel Type attack to take Notch out, and the bulk of its protective qualities fade fast upon consumption. Not all of it, as I knew from what Freddrick had tried way back, but still.

Lunatone got close and attempted a Hypnosis on Notch, but my Pokemon escaped, pushing the other Rock Type away with a quick and unfocused Psychic. It did little damage given Lunatone's secondary typing, but was enough to avoid being put to sleep.

"Steel Beam the Gigalith!" I called out, while slapping my knee. Athena readied a Flash Cannon in response to the signal. A second use of that Move is too obvious and draining - easy to counter. "Funhouse," I told Notch, who began conjuring diamonds to further enhance the attack.

Gigalith's Protect took the brunt of Athena's attack, but as sparkling diamond mirrors were pulled up, or foes realized that it was just the prelude. Not letting up on her beam, Athena directed it into the mirrors Notch had made, the blast suddenly bouncing and criss-crossing at unexpected angles to nearly hit the shiny Lunatone, and would have if she hadn't had enough of a speed boost from Rock Polish to pull out of the way. It still forced her to back off of Notch however.

"Fine, stay back Lune and just push that Diancie down with Psychic!" Lunatone's eyes glowed a deeper shade of blue from their usual and Notch found themselves crushed under Psychic power. Fighting against that directly will be difficult, but I think we can do it if- Then I saw Gigalith shuffle slightly, getting ready to jump.

They're going to get in close and hit Notch hard. Crud. In the split second I had, I made a choice on who to sacrifice. "Steel Beam Lunatone!" I shouted before calling "Protect!" For Notch.

Recognizing the urgency in my tone, Athena selflessly sacrificed herself, putting everything she had into the blast. This time, distracted by the Psychic pressure she was putting on my other Pokemon, Lunatone couldn't dodge the bouncing beam, and it struck her hard, breaking her focus. The Move and all the fighting beforehand had exhausted her too much, so Athena slumped to the ground, unconscious.

At the same time, Gigalith had leapt up in the air, poised to land on top of Notch with a Heavy Slam. Notch, freed from the painful Psychic grip likely could have used Protect to block the attack, except something strange happened. Gigalith suddenly fell far faster than I could have expected, crushing my diamond encrusted Pokemon.

"What?"

"Hah! That's our Self-Gravity trick we've been working on. It makes Heavy Slam hit even harder and faster. You didn't really think I wouldn't be prepared after your declaration of war, did you? Now you've lost your strongest… Pokemon…" Cassandra's jeering voice trailed off as her Gigalith shifted involuntarily, and then was dramatically thrown off, the lumbering Rock Type sent tumbling backwards.

['And you didn't really think that would be enough to take down a Pokemon trained by Saint Nemona, did you?'] Notch questioned as they rose up from the crater, eliciting shocked silence, and then massive cheers from the crowd. Their diamond armor was torn apart and several deep cracks ran throughout their body, but Notch was tough enough to keep on fighting despite that.

"1-A!" I shouted, before Cassandra could regain her bearings. Flying at the prone Gigalith, Notch rocked in with a powerful Drain Punch, healing back some of the damages they had caused to my Pokemon. "1-A, 1-A!" I called again as I returned Athena to her Pokeball.

Notch punched again, but any further punching was stopped by a quick Psychic from Lunatone, pushing my Pokemon away. Cassandra recalled her fallen Gigalith. Gigalith isn't looking too hot right now. My guess is that she's planning to use them to reset Sandstorm later and then Explode. It wasn't a bad strategy, but it being so predictable would give me options when the time came. Of course, we'll have to consider what other Pokemon she's using at the time. Speaking of which…

Cassandra tapped her foot impatiently. "Well? Why aren't you sending out your next Pokemon?" She demanded. In the arena, Notch was trading blows with Lunatone, swarms of diamond shards tearing through the air while she telekinetically assaulted my Pokemon in turn.

"Nah, I'm good for the moment." I replied, my right hand drifting over some of the Pokeballs on my belt. Technically the rules say nothing about me having to have two Pokemon on the field at a time, I just have to have at least one. This way, I can wait to see what she sends out and respond. Normally, that was a poor strategy as I'd still be giving her the chance to go for a 2 v 1, and if she didn't like what I sent out, then she could just switch to a more advantageous Pokemon. Especially because she could just swap Gigalith back in, resetting Sandstorm and in a better position to use Explosion.

She recognized that, and as she moved to one of the Pokeballs on her belt, I had my hand hover over the Love Ball. Here's where the mind games begin. I was certain Cassandra had seen the match between me and Atticus by this point, as well as having heard about some of the fights I'd used Anya in during the battle classes. She knows I can lock in any Pokemon she sends out, and since she just recalled Gigalith, she can't put them straight back in. So what will you do? What choice doesn't lock you in?

I decided to up the pressure by calling out, "Stealth Rock," openly. Notch pulled off their assault (something they were handily winning against the Lunatone at) to scatter the dangerous rocks around the field.

"Go, Owl!" Cassandra called out, ripping a Pokeball off of her belt and tossing it out, just before the Stealth Rocks could take their place in the field.

"Anya, let's show her what you can do!" I said, tossing the Love Ball out to the field. 'Anya' popped out, giving a dismissive stare at our foes. "Thief," I told her, pointing at Noctowl. A bit tricky, since she doesn't actually know Thief, but she does know Knock Off, so it should be easy enough to mimic.

Phantasm (disguised as Anya), easily raced up, even adding a few sweat drops to the illusion to sell the effort of 'running really hard' as Anya in what was a casual jog for her. The Dark Type attack hit, slapping the Charti Berry out of Noctowl's claws. The illusion made it look like 'Anya' had stolen it, but my enhanced ears could pick up the 'plop' sound as it squished on the ground.

Noctowl, for her part, mostly ignored that, setting up a Tailwind to make their side faster. Lunatone conjured a Moonlight above her head to help recover from the damages Notch had inflicted, something my Pokemon was happy to do more of, a Diamond Storm ripping through the field and hurting both of them, Noctowl particularly got hit hard.

"Push through it, I know you can do it, Owl! Moonblast and Hypnosis! Lune, Rock Slide!" Noctowl sent a powerful sphere of condensed Fairy Type energy (drawn in no small part from the Moonlight Lunatone had conjured and made me wonder briefly if that combo I'd seen before had been taught to the other League Clubber by Cassandra) towards Notch. She sped in right after it, almost keeping pace with the attack as she tried to put my Pokemon to sleep with crooning cries.

"Trick Room!" I ordered, hoping to turn the speed advantage they held on its head. "Anya, Shadow Ball!" Phantasm launched a flurry of Shadow Balls at Lunatone, a few hitting before she had to dodge the rocks the Psychic Type tossed up in the air. Notch couldn't dodge them, or the Moonblast, but didn't flinch before setting up the Trick Room. It came at a cost however, with Noctowl's confusion putting them to sleep and seeing Notch drop to the ground like a rock.

"You think you're the only one who's ever used that Move? Stop looking down on me!" I feel like, she's perhaps projecting her issues a tad. I didn't get the chance to call her out on it as she made her next Move. "Lune, Trick Room. Defog," she told her other Pokemon.

"Shadow Ball, that Lunatone can't be doing well." Then, in a whisper meant only for Phantasm's ears I added, "On my signal, raise an illusion of Notch." With the enemies focused on affecting the arena, neither of them could stop the Shadow Balls, which did significant damage to her Lunatone, the shiny Pokemon barely holding on.

She did hold on though, which saw the twisted dimensions reversed at the same time as the Stealth Rocks were blown away. I imagine the Lax Incense will be less effective too now, though I'm not sure about the interactions between that item and Defog. "We've got them now, both of you, Dream Eater!" Swiftly, her Pokemon flew in, ready to drain Notch's health, only for them to suddenly reverse course as Notch sprung up, instantly awake (as far as they could see).

"What?! How- so soon! Dammit, Owl, Protect! Lune, you know what to do," Cassandra responded quickly. Her Noctowl shielded itself with Protect while Lunatone began glowing with a bright light before using Explosion. The blast was deafening, shaking the arena and kicking up vast clouds of dust.

As the dust began to clear, we saw Lunatone, unconscious (even as Levitate kept her aloft, indicating a high degree of mastery of that Ability), and no one else hurt… aside from the 'second' Notch, lying on the ground to the side, displaced and mildly damaged by the blast. It had the added effect of waking them up, as Cassandra stared at the scene, aghast.

"How- but- you're Zoroark!" She declared angrily, pointing at 'Anya' who cackled and revealed her true form. And did so by having it displaced a few meters away from where she's really standing. Clever girl. "You were supposed to be in the Fast Ball!"

"I got permission to change out which Balls they were registered to before the fight. Thanks for that hour you gave us," I taunted her. And thank you Colress for being a staff I could count on to get a quick change at the Blueberry Registry done fast.

"DAMMIT! Stop looking down on me! You rich bitch! Thinking that just because you have more money or a Legendary that you can beat me? Well you're WRONG!" She shouted, a deranged look in her eyes as she recalled Lunatone.

"Slicer, cut them to shreds," she said with ragged breaths, tossing out a Kabutops onto the field. "Owl, Reflect."

"Bitter Malice, Diamond Storm," I calmly ordered, pointing at the newcomer to direct Phantasm's attack. Unfortunately, the wind was still on their side, and the Kabutops managed to close, dispersing the illusion before the rage made manifest could sap his strength. While the illusion guarded Phantasm from Kabutop's attack, it didn't have enough fidelity to cover for Notch's Diamond Storm which conspicuously avoided a spot not far from Kabutops. The attack was reduced in power by the Reflect Noctowl raised, but it still did good damage, especially to the Flying Type now flagging in strength.

"Night Slash, sweeping blows! Airslash on the illusionist as well," Cassandra called out, switching focus from Notch and to Phantasm. Not a bad strategy, but too little too late. The Dark Type attack hit, cutting deep into Phantasm and disrupting her illusions. Air Slash followed up and left her stunned, open for Kabutops to continue her assault.

Notch called upon Diamond Storm once more, but Noctowl proved quick enough to draw a Protect around herself before the attack could land, and Kabutops, relatively fresh and covered with Reflect, tanked it as he took out Phantasm.

Returning her, I said, "You did great, we've got this in the bag now." I ignored the angry shouts contrary from Cassanadra as I sent Miles out. For today, I'd chosen the Mow Form. It had relatively few advantages and many weaknesses, but against a Rock Type specialist like Cassandra, I figured the Grass Type Move it gave access to would be worth it.

Kabutops hadn't wasted any time, rushing at Notch with an Aqua Jet to hit them hard and fast, before using the same Move to slide away from a Draining Punch counter. As Noctowl tried to use Psychic, I ordered, "Protect," before telling Miles: "Discharge."

"Protect!" Cassandra gave a desperate call. Kabutops was quick enough to cover himself, but Noctowl couldn't drop the Psychic energy she'd been building up fast enough to bring a shield against the powerful Electric attack. Twitching from stray jolts, Noctowl fell out of the air, Cassandra recalling her before she could hit the ground.

Wordlessly, she tossed Gigalith right inbetween Miles and Notch, a Sandstorm raging around once more. "Explosion!" She called out, recalling Kabutops at the same time.

"Protect," I told both of my Pokemon, hoping that Notch would be able to pull it off twice in a row. They sort of did, the barrier they conjured breaking, but clearly reducing the damage of the attack, enough that with the diamond armor they'd been covering themselves in again, Notch was able to just hang on to the fight.

"Why won't you fall? Whatever, this will have to be enough. Shell Smash." Cassandra called out, her voice ever so slightly wavering. My attention was drawn to her final Pokemon, a Minior, released into the sky and somewhat concealed by the Explosion.

"Taunt!" I called out, a bit of panic in my voice. Carmine told me how she shut down that Pokemon, but I know if they can build up, Minior can be terribly powerful. I just need- huh?

Miles let out a staticky laugh, a big shit eating grin on their plasmic face, but the Move failed.

"I did learn from your little friend's trick there," Cassandra commented. "I put ground up Mental Herb into the minerals making up their shell, so you couldn't pull off something like that." As she spoke, I saw the brown, rocky shell around Minior crack, then shatter apart completely. What-? Shields Down already? Dammit, she's not playing around.

"Liquidation, Acrobatics," Cassandra ordered, her Pokemon not needing direction on which Pokemon to target with the Moves they were extra weak against. Notch tried to raise a defense, but had all their diamonds broken through by the powerful Water attack as Kabutops crashed through, while Minior dived down upon Miles with blistering speed.

"Electroweb!" I called out, but even as I spoke, Cassandra was tossing her Tera Orb over Minior, Terastalizing them in a dazzling burst to become a pure Rock Type. Their attack hit hard, but my Pokemon still managed to spit out Electroweb in retaliation, sending a small shock through both of her Pokemon and slowing them down slightly. That didn't put a dent in her mood however, the older girl brightening greatly as she saw Notch finally unconscious.

"I did it! Ha! I beat your Legendary! No one can say I'm not strong enough now." Cassandra whispered the last part to herself.

"You're pretty strong, it's true," I said with a raised voice, startling her. Better than Tyme or several of the Gym Leaders in Paldea. "That doesn't mean you're stronger than me, though, and I'm the one you have to beat. Go, Radiance!" I shouted, tossing their Pokeball out onto the field.

Emitting a loud sound, akin to metal screeching on metal, my Paradox Pokemon entered the field. Immediately, the capsule attached just below their head triggered, sending a rush of invigorating electricity through their body. With that, they were off like a rocket, zooming through the sky to chase after Cassandra's Terastilized Pokemon.

The two of them traded shots back and forth. The black meteor Pokemon conjured glowing crystals to fire off Power Gem shots crisscrossing through the air. Radiance trailed like a comet behind them, the flames burning off their wings erasing the last of the Sandstorm that had wracked the arena. They met the Power Gem blasts with rapid-fire Flash Cannon counterfire, the Steel Type attack barrelling through the beams and destroying the constructs behind them. The enemy tried to shoot off chunks of rock coalesced from the stardust trailing behind them, but Radiance dodged them with contemptuous ease, gaining on the shiny Pokemon with every circuit they took of the arena.

While those two were shooting off, I had Miles fending off Kabutops, holding out against the Leech Lifes the Water Type tried to land. Protect and Substitutes as well as fancy maneuvering kept the prehistoric Pokemon at bay, while lightning fast clashes occurred above.

"Go low!" Cassandra called out, that desperation I'd heard earlier creeping back into her voice. She's scared - no one is supposed to be faster than her Ace and we're both down to our last Pokemon now. That doesn't mean that she doesn't have a plan here though… and I can see how to counter it perfectly.

"Time to use our secret weapon!" I called out. Radiance hadn't been used often in official battles, and while people had already figured out their Typing, there was still plenty we hadn't shown anyone. I drew my Tera Orb out, pulling back my arm as I aimed.

My Pokemon weren't the only ones who had been training; I'd been working on several things, including my throwing arm. Though for a situation like this, it was less about the speed of my toss (though that was helpful too) and predicting where Radiance would end up. Two, no, two and a half circuits should do, I guessed as I launched the Enhancement item over the arena.

My guess proved correct, though I felt Radiance must have done at least a little course correcting to so perfectly end up under it as the orb broke open and surrounded them in crystals. At the same time, the ground cracked underneath Radiance, then exploded upwards. The force of Minior's Earth Power broke apart the crystals and revealed Radiance, stunning with a bright green sheen and set of flowers hovering above their head in the form of a Tera 'hat' Jewel.

"That won't work! Energy Ball!" I shouted, my voice growing a little hoarse. Minior had slowed down for a second to use Earth Power in response to the unexpected Terastalization, and that would prove to be their undoing. Bursting forward like a hypersonic jet (not that they had enough space to build up to those speeds), Radiance rushed Minior, launching a point blank Energy Ball at the other Terastilized Pokemon.

With their Shields Down, Shell Smash, and the STAB on the Super-Effective attack, Cassandra's Ace was knocked out in one blow, crashing down into the ground. I thought I might need to send in Torkoal and turn on the sun for Solar Beam. Radiance has worked hard on furthering their mastery of that Move, able to fire those attacks off so fast, and even multiple at a time! Ah well, bit risky to send out a(nother) Fire Type against a Rock specialist, even if there's some fun combos it opens up.

My opponent was just staring at the scene, shocked. Cassandra didn't make any moves or give commands to Kabutops, she just looked ahead, unsteady. "Are you- are you okay?" I asked. I want to win, so it kinda feels bad to not take the opportunity, but it'd feel worse to continue when she's like this.

Evidently, she didn't appreciate my concern, snapping out, "I'm fine! Worry about yourself!" I raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Really?' given the situation. She blushed but didn't say anything else, recalling her fallen Pokemon and I didn't press. No point in adding (more) insult to injury here.

Kabutops took the initiative, charging recklessly towards Radiance. Before they could reach the now Grass Type Pokemon with his scythe-like blades, Miles released a flurry of petals in a Leaf Storm that took out her Pokemon.

The crowd (which I noticed now had grown since we'd started, the arena looking pretty packed) let out a massive cheer as I was declared the winner. "We did it!" I cheered loudly, running on the field to hug Miles and pat Radiance on the back. My Paradox Pokemon wasn't too keen on contact, but they accepted that, spinning their wings around for the crowd.

Crossing fully over to Cassandra's side, I offered a hand out. "Good job out there, you did-"

"Shut up," she snarled, smacking my hand aside. "I don't need your pity," she growled before stomping off. I moved to step after her, only to be stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Ignore her. If she wants to pout, whatever," Carmine said with a flick of her black and crimson hair. She and the rest of my friends had all gathered around me.

"Yeah, you did great out there!"
"Those were some sick Moves you pulled!"
"Oh boy, I'm so hyped from watching this that I wanna battle too! Anyone up for a quick match?"
"I hope I can be half as good some day!"
"The crowd is going wild!"

It's true, they are. Hard to even hear my friends beside me over the roar. Turning to the crowd that had gathered around me and was cheering me on, I focused my headspace to a happier place. I did it. We, my team, did it. We weren't 'just' a big fish in a small pond in Paldea; we're strong here too, and only going to get even stronger. This was our first step forward, and we didn't stumble.

I gave the crowd a big wave, grinning as I took a moment to bask in my victory. There would be hard fights and challenges still ahead, I knew, but this felt good, so I allowed myself to simply enjoy it.

Spoiler: A/N:

And we have our first of the League Club Elite Fours down! I hope you enjoyed that fight; I know I had fun with Cassandra's character and her team. Minior was a Pokemon that had been on my short list for a while, but ultimately didn't make the cut onto Nemona's team (due to both space issues and being too similar in type and what they could do to Notch). I had fun getting to show them off here though.

We've got a bunch more battles in the future, but thankfully we don't need to do them all in-a-row for this arc, so we'll have a bit of a breather before the next Elite will be tackled. Which fights are people looking forward to the most? Let me know down below or on the the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter
The Journey continues
Cheers!

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 57 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, Garreon LeFay, and Allison Simon, my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

"Have fun over the break everyone!" I said, waving goodbye to most of my friends. Drayton gave a lazy wave back as he stepped into the car that was taking him back to… wherever the Dragon Tamer Clan of Unova was. You know, I never asked. Does that make me a bad friend? Or would it be rude to inquire?... The fact that I don't know whether their location is actively hidden or just 'not public knowledge' probably does make me a bad friend.

I pushed that thought down, resolving to be better at getting to know the slothful young Dragon Trainer (atop of everything else I was trying to do) before turning to my other friends. Lacey was waiting for her father to pick her up from the docks, while Carmine and Kieran were going to take a bus to the airport.

Victor hadn't been on the same submarine as us going back to the mainland, but I said my goodbye to Judai and him there.

"We will! Have a good time too!" Lacey called out.

"Yeah, tell us all about the wacky stuff you get up to in Paldea," Carmine said too loudly for my tastes. I don't get into that much crazy stuff in Paldea. Or, at least no more crazy than I do anywhere else. It was just the Journey that had a lot of stuff going on, and they haven't gone on their journeys yet.

"Sure, try not to get into too much trouble yourself, okay?" I responded to Carmine, but my words were meant for Kieran. Sadly, the boy barely seemed to be listening to me, his dull eyes lost in his own thoughts. His mouth moved up and down, muttering quiet ramblings that I could barely piece together, but mostly about battle strategy.

I really hope he doesn't seek out Ogerpon. In this state, I can't see her being drawn to Kieran as a Trainer, and if she was to reject him, it'd crush him. I'd only played the first half of the DLC so I never saw how that plotline turned out, but from how I remembered the Teal Mask's ending, it wasn't good. Wasn't there a theory Kieran was being manipulated by the force behind the Jerk Trio? But he's been getting just as bad here after losing to Charlotte, and I think we're way too far away for anything from Kitikami to be affecting him here.

Carmine heard my words and nodded. Well, she'll probably keep Kieran on the right track for now, and I can look into addressing his issues in the new term. With that settled I turned to Sally. "You coming?"

"Oh, right!" She said rushing forward, only to bump into a larger boy striding across the street as if he owned the place.

Ares turned to look at who bumped into him and sneered down at her. "Woof, thought I smelled something rank. Watch where you're going, pipsqueak, don't wanna get your stink all over me."

"I think anything would be a welcome distraction from your attitude," I said, marching up to the boy. His sneer twisted, a hint of active malice added onto his expression as he stared down at me, his blood red eyes peeking out just over his sunglasses. My Aura sight, as imprecise as it was, pulled back another layer, revealing a sliver of fear that didn't obviously show on his face or body language.

"Hmph, and the brat squad too. Didn't the Ice bitch teach you a lesson about messing with your betters?"

"Hmm?" I pretended to look around for the so-called 'betters' he was referring to. "Don't see anyone like that here. Just an asshole." I heard a slight intake of air behind me, probably Kieran or Lacey, unused to such profanity, but they were standing behind me regardless. Touching, but I don't need it to take on this guy.

The show of force was enough to get him to slink off, towards… My limo?! No, wait, mine is the one behind it. It drove off quickly, Ares finally getting out of our hair.

"Ugh, guys like that are such a pain. So much bluster," Drayton complained.

"Yeah," I agreed distractedly as I offered a hand to help Sally up. I think Ares has had the run of the place for too long. Time to put him in his place… after the break. Properly saying goodbye to everyone else again, I led Sally into the limo and we headed off.

***

"Alright Sal, welcome to Paldea," I said, waving an arm out at the dusty field in front of us.

"Uh, 'Mona? I've kinda been here for hours already, since we landed at the airport and then took a flying taxi out… wherever 'here' is. Besides, is this really what you picture when you think of Paldea?" She asked hesitantly. It was understandable; the rocky mines of Zapapico were not exactly 'picturesque Paldea.'

"Of course!" I declared authoritatively. "And the swamps, and Lake Casseroya, and Glaseado Mountains, and the plains, and all of it! I found Dun on the beach not far from my house, met Haxorus on that peak up there, had a funny training accident on the mountain where Nightwing got her tongue stuck to a rock-"

"Gli!" The Pokemon mentioned said, bursting out of her Pokeball.

"But clearly, that's a story for another time." Nightwing gave a grumbling comment that I was pretty sure translated into 'Never would be a good time,' and I felt the other Pokeballs on my belt shake slightly in laughter from the inhabitants within.

"This may not have been what you envisioned when I invited you, but it's a part of Paldea, and to me, that makes it just as wonderful as any other part. And you should particularly like this, because it's where we're going to find you a new Pokemon! You still want a Revavroom next, right?"

"Yes," the usually nervous girl said, nodding her head resolutely. With my Pokedex (and a prototype of the Pokedex App Jacq had sent me) we had gone over different Pokemon she might want to catch to expand her team. She had instantly locked onto the picture of Varoom and Revavroom and decided she wanted one for her team.

We'd gone over it with Chumley too, though he hadn't been able to make the trip over to Paldea to catch an Ampharos to go along with the Komala he already had. Hopefully he'll be able to find one, but I'm not sure if Mareeps are native to his home. I pushed those thoughts aside to focus on Sally.

"This is probably the best place to find Varooms. They race all across the tunnels and slopes that make up this place! So now you just gotta find one that you connect with and make an offer for them to join your team," I said with a bright smile on my face.

"Wh-what if they don't want to? Do I really have to ask first? My sister just says I should catch first and then after I've proven my strength-"

"Yeah, that might work for him, but I don't think it'll be the best plan for you." Also, I think it's a rude and stupid way of doing things in general, but there's no need to insult the big brother Sally idolizes. At least he doesn't go to the same school as us. In a softer tone, I added, "Look, don't worry about all that stuff. Finding a Pokemon that matches you is important, and will help the two of you grow together well."

"But what if I don't find any Varooms that like me?" She asked, and I just shook my head.

"We'll worry about that if it happens. But we got a lot of land to explore first, so let's get searching!" Grabbing her by the hand, I led the charge, out of Zapapico and into the rocky, barren, mine-riddled wilderness.

Sally was reluctant at first, but with some encouragement from me, got into the spirit of things. Our bright attitudes did not preclude the need for sustenance however, so I took some time during midday to take out some food and give the smaller girl some much needed respite.

"Is this the kind of thing you do every day?" She asked, amazed.

"Uh, yeah, pretty much. You get used to it. This might be really tiring right now, but once you get stronger it'll be no big deal, and you get to see so much! The world really is fantastic, so much to see, so many cool Pokemon to battle." I let out a wistful sigh, remembering all I'd seen thus far and thinking about what might be waiting beyond the horizon, or even just around the corner.

"You sound like Big Bro," she replied, referring to Judai. I wonder if she calls him that because she wishes that she had someone who had that much strength and seemed cool but was also fun as an actual, biological elder sibling? And that I'm not seen in the same vein because I'm obviously too young to fit that role. I also wonder if I should possibly not try to psycho-analyze my friends? Hmm, thoughts for later.

"Heh. Yeah, he sounds like he'd be like that too. You two are planning on hanging out over the break, right?"

"Yeah!" She launched into an explanation of how there was an exhibit on an ancient pharaoh they were planning on checking out over the weekend.

"Cool. My folks are pretty busy with work, and my sister has a different break schedule than us at Uva so I'll mostly just be hanging out at home." The International League tried to impose a standardized set of holidays at some point, but Alola pushed back hard against that, and then the other regions did too. I can see why people wanted it that way as the uneven schedules between regions do make things a little complicated, but perserving regional identity is important too.

Shelving that thought, I continued with the task at hand, mentioning, "Assuming we don't spend all the time out here, anyways."

"Huh?"

"Well, we're going to spend as long as it takes to find you a Varoom that works for you, and there's a bunch of them out there, but it's a big place to cover, might take us a while." That being said, I'm hopefully we'll find some within a couple days so as to not mess up the rest of her holiday plans.

"Aww man," she moaned. Despite how she sounded though, Sally was willing to put in the work, searching hard for any Varooms. In the later half of the day we did find a few rolling around, but sadly, they were much too fast for Sally (and even I had trouble keeping up with them, and they were less inclined to listen to me trying to speak on her behalf).

Just when I thought we'd have to call it a night, with the sun sinking low over the horizon, Sally found a pack of a half dozen Varooms. These ones raced off like the others, but one of their number was left behind, the other five moving far too fast for him to keep up.

"Wait!" Sally shouted as she closed with the Steel Type. He tried to turn away, but Sally managed to corner him by an outcropping. As he realized he was trapped and turned to face her, Sally came to a halt, confusing the Pokemon slightly by not pressing forward.

"Hi, umm, my name is Sally and I want to be a Poison master, so would you please be on my team?" That seemed to confuse the little engine-shaped Pokemon even more, so I clarified.

"A Pokemon Trainer, like Sally, helps Pokemon grow and become strong. We also battle with Pokemon, so you can help her out in battles while she directs you." A spiel about symbiotic relationships would probably be a bit much for the Varoom.

He still looked hesitant, glancing around, but no longer looking like he was trying to immediately get out. "Va? Room room. Varoom," he said sadly.

"Uhh, little help here?" Sally asked, turning to me and I shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't actually have the ability to talk to Pokemon, it's just a knack for understanding them. And even then, I find the mineral group of Pokemon hardest to understand." Not entirely accurate, but there are several of the issues with Varoom that I first had with Notch.

I could, of course, release Notch (or Anya) at any time and get some translation from them, but I held off. If things go nowhere, I'll step in, but this is Sally's potential first meeting with her new Pokemon. Learning to understand him will be an important skill for her.

It took a few rounds of charades and Sally stepped back, watching as Varoom went back and forth in front of us. "You're saying… the others are faster?"

I snapped my fingers at Sally's words. "Slow Start. It's the Hidden Ability of Varooms. Varooms with that Ability take a while to build up speed and strength in a fight, which is why the others were able to leave us in the dust."

"Roo," Varoom said mournfully.

Sally kneeled down in front of him. "I know what that's like. People are always wondering why I'm not like my big sister, when they aren't calling me 'Stinky Sally'..." She shook her head before she could get caught on a tangent. "So maybe I've got a 'Slow Start' too, but I'll show the world that I can be great!" She declared boldly, stepping up with a clenched fist.

Then, she offered a hand holding a Pokeball down to the Varoom. "So, if you're up for it, I'd like to have you on my team, and we can take on the world toget- whoa!" Sally cried out as Varoom, who had already been looking at her with awe in his eyes, rammed straight into the Pokeball. Thankfully, he hit the button first and was pulled inside, rather than damaging it, though the shock of it still had Sally losing her balance and falling over.

The Pokeball clicked successfully almost immediately. I offered her a hand up, the girl still staring in a daze at the Pokeball in her other hand.

"I… I did it! I caught my first Pokemon in a new region!" She said, bursting with joy.

"Yup! I think you're off to a great start, nothing slow about it." Soon enough, you'll be able to 'Filter' out what any hater has to say. Or is that pushing the metaphor too hard? Ah, well in any case, Varoom and Sally, I've got faith in you.

***

"Nemonaaaaaaa!" Arven yelled, running at me and tackling me in a flying hug. I laughed, easily strong enough to handle the emotional boy. "I missed you." he mumbled as I patted him on the back.

I could have pointed out that we had a phone call at least once a week, I texted him every day, sent out long form emails fairly often (as I did for all of my family), and that we talked over the winter break too (even if he had been busy back then looking after his dad) but I just said: "Me too." Because I had. Even if this wasn't quite as long as my Gym circuit was. But then again, I missed my family then too.

As I let him go, I waved at Leah, who was standing politely at the doorway. I can see the joy on your face though! It's good to see her too. Turning back to Sally, who was standing awkwardly at the garden gate, I waved her forward. "Sally, this is my oldest friend, Arven. Arven, this is Sally one of my new friends from Blueberry Academy. She came over to catch a Pokemon here…" I trailed off awkwardly.

I was about to say 'do you mind if she stays here a day or two till she has to head home,' but that's silly this is my home. But now I've left things to long and need to think of something else to say- I was saved by Miraidon, popping out of their Pokeball.

The large Legendary Pokemon drifted close to Sally, who was more than a bit shocked. The Paradox Pokemon sniffed the small girl a few times, and then as she seemingly passed the sniff test gave her a long lick, up her face and onto her spikey blue hair.

"Ewww!" Sally cried out. "No, stop it! I don't care how cool you are, stop licking me!" The girl wailed, and I tried to smother my laughter at the scene.

"You think Miraidon is cool?" Arven asked, surprised. "Well yeah, of course they're cool! Miraidon and Mabosstiff are the coolest Pokemon around," he puffed up his chest slightly, releasing Mabosstiff from his Pokeball too.

Hmm, looks a bit tired, I thought as I saw Mabosstiff amble over to the girl. Usually, he'd be outside his Pokeball anyways (not that he had an aversion to the Pokeball, just that he liked being nearby Arven). I was more focused on seeing how well Sally was getting along with Arven, though, the girl still staring starstruck at Miraidon. This is good. I know Arven can get a little clingy, so I was worried how he was going to react to Sally.

"They're sooo cool! Especially Miraidon!" Then the small girl whirled around to face me. "You didn't tell me that Paldea had Pokemon as cool as this!" She accused me, waving her arms to point at Miraidon after having wiped the drool off her face.

"Ha ha, well, you said you were looking to be a Poison Type specialist, so we only focused on them." I suspect that was from how it's more work to be a generalist, and how she loves her Trubbish but is worried about her own skills. Of course, you can be a specialist and still have one or two Pokemon out of Type, right?

"Miraidon is unfortunately one-of-a-kind," I said, and her face drooped. Before she could get too disappointed however, I pulled out my Pokedex. "However, Miraidon is strikingly similar to another Pokemon that's quite plentiful here: Cyclizar. A lot of people ride them around to get places fast." Looking at her face, I could see that she was hooked.

"That's awesome! But wait… I only got permission to catch one Pokemon here," Sally pointed out and I froze. Fuck. But yeah, the form we filled out only allowed for the capture of a single Varoom. There was a good reason for those restrictions, it would be easy for poachers to flout the laws if they could just come in for a few days, grab as many rare Pokemon as they wanted and leave, but it was unfortunate for Sally right now. And I don't even think I'd be able to throw my weight around as Champion here; Cyclizars are part Dragon Type, and the Dragon Clan could easily stop that if I tried to make an adjustment here, and knowing their leader, Dominic definitely would do so.

"It's okay, you can try to catch one next time. For now, you can focus on training up Trubbish, Slowbro, Muk, and Varoom-"

"- Speed Racer. That's uh, his name," Sally added and I smiled.

"That's great. Now, who's up for a nice, light bit of training?" I asked calmly, and not at all with a manic gleam in my eyes. My two friends exchanged a glance and shivered (clearly with anticipation), but Leah stepped in.

"While I'm sure you'd love to play with your friends, it's quite late. Perhaps, young miss, you should get inside and have some food?" My stomach betrayed me by growling loudly at that point, and I acquiesced, walking inside.

***

After the delicious meal (I forgot how much I missed the food here!) We went to bed, tired after a long day. In the morning, I got up well before anyone else and started my training routine. We can't slack off just because school is out. I'm sure Elsa is training at least as hard in whatever icy domain she resides in. Thinking on it, I realized I didn't actually know much about the girl.

She's quite skilled, but doesn't have a very public battle record, not outside of Blueberry Academy at least. I could probably pry further if I asked my parents and used their resources but… nah. I can win this on my own, no need for anything that invasive.

My team and I had been up for a few hours and were well into our training by the time Arven and Sally joined us, the two groggily directed to the beach by Leah. "Alright, you must be ready for some training, right?"

"Uh, sure/yeah, definitely." Despite the lack of enthusiasm in their voices, I could see a fire in their eyes. Sally wants to see what she can do, while Arven wants to show me how far he's come since I left.

"Hmm, alright then. Let's have a quick pair of matches to warm up."

Sally faced me in a double battle, fighting against Anya and Cataphract, with her Trubbish and Varoom. The battle was pretty handily in my favor, but we got to see her try out some good strategies, making use of Taunt to shut down some of my strategies and exceptional use of Speed Racer's Gyro Ball to make up for Slow Start. The fact that both her Pokemon knew Self-Destruct was a shock to both of us, even if it was well used.

Anya was busy picking out some gunk from the top of her head. ['Ugh, this feels gross,'] she told me. From the psychic link I could also tell that the double explosion stung more than a little, even after she used her Sitrus Berry to heal up right beforehand.

"Oh, that's a brilliant idea!"

"What is?" Sally asked as she returned her two fainted Pokemon.

"You should see if you can combine Self-Destruct, and later Explosion, with Moves like Toxic Spikes and Toxic! The blast should help spread the poisonous elements all over the field!" It's not something all of her Pokemon can do, but that's fine. Slowpoke and future Pokemon on her team having different roles will help diversify them.

['That was not what I said! I don't want more gunk on me!'] Anya wailed.

"Goo goo?" Cataphract asked, which basically translated too: 'Why not? This is great!'

I ignored that little byplay, and focused on Sally, who was smiling like she had just learned Nasty Plot. Perfect. I'm sure you'll go far, Sally. Then I turned to Arven, who had been waiting patiently just past the arena. "Alright Arven, show me what you're made of!"

"I want to be on the same level as you, so I'm going to win this time, no holding back!" He declared with an uncharacteristically serious look (which only clashed slightly with his adorable, kid face).

"Alright, show me all you got!" He released Miraidon first, and I sent out Radiance in response. There was no need to trigger the Booster Energy as Miraidon released a field of crackling electricity over the entire arena. Sally gave a shocked gasp at that, seeing the friendly, goofy Miraidon reveal some of their true potential.

Beginning with a few Acid Sprays, I started to chip at Miraidon's defenses. Arven started tossing out Parabolic Charges to at least heal the damage I was doing before going for a big Electro Drift, that would have done massive damage, had it hit.

"Wha- Radiance is so fast! Way faster than before, I even studied their fight against Turtle," he muttered the last part before he refocused, slapping cheeks. "Whatever, we still got this. Miraidon, time for our secret weapon!"

A secret weapon, eh? Well, two can play at that game. Radiance, shine bright! Dazzling Gleam!" Glittering lights gathered on their six wings, unleashing a powerful burst of Fairy Type energy right at the Dragon Type. It hit the psychic barrier around Arven's Pokemon, dealt impressive damage, nearly enough to take out the legendary with how weakened their scales were from the acid, and then reflected the damage back at Radiance. Wait, reflected the damage back, what?!

"Protect!" I cried, but it wasn't fast enough a warning to stop the extremely powerful Psychic counterstrike from taking down my Paradox Pokemon. "Well done," I said, returning Radiance to their Pokeball.

"Haha, we did it, we won!" Arven declared, rushing up on the field (and deftly maneuvering around the lingering acid) to hug Miraidon.

"Uhh, I do have another Pokemon to send out here," I pointed out, causing him to freeze. "Unless you plan on not giving Mabosstiff a chance to fight."

"O-oh, of course!" He shouted, scrambling back to his end of the arena. "Send your next Pokemon out, we can beat anything you send our way."

"That's more like it! Go, Dun!" I declared, releasing my starter, who stared warily at Miraidon, his tail swaying in the air and spinning in a light show of aggression. "Now lets crank it up, Boomburst!" I declared, while pulling my Tera Orb free and tossing it over at Dun while he inflated himself for the powerful sound-based attack.

"Switch!" Arven called out, returning Miraidon and waiting. Dun, looking quite swollen, stared at him and waited. And waited, unflinching in the face of Arven's tactics. Trying to wait it out and release Mabosstiff immediately afterwards would be a clever play, but Dun can hold the Move for a good while now - you'll run out of the thirty seconds grace time to switch before Dun loses his grip. There were other slight weaknesses to his strategy, like how he hadn't used Volt Switch to try and get some cheap damage in first, but overall, I was proud of how far he had come as a Trainer.

"Alright Mabosstiff, I believe in you! You can win this time!" The dog-like Pokemon cut off his Intimidating growl as he was released to give his Trainer a questioning look. Yeah, Arven probably didn't need to add 'this time' to what he said. It didn't truly matter that the Intimidate wasn't done properly as Dun was wearing a Clear Amulet to stop anything like that.

Copying me, Arven used his own Tera Orb to boost his Starter. Mabosstiff did impressive damage, Biting and Crunching into Dun, but my Pokemon shrugged it off with a few Coils, then a Tailwind for speed before Hyper Drilling into Arven's starter repeatedly. The boy attempted a Reversal, but our training with Athena had us seeing that one a mile away, so I had Dun block it with a Protect before landing a quick Body Press to take out the Dark Type.

"Eheh, looks like we both had a Pokemon fall unconscious. Guess we call this a draw?" He said hopefully. I nodded.

"Sure thing." Though I probably wouldn't have if your fighting spirit was still up, Arven. Miraidon was hurt worse than Dun, but he's taken a beating too, and the Acid Spray I used to weaken the Paradox Legendary is gone too. I honestly don't know that we'd win that fight… then again, Dun don't quit easy. I don't know that we'd lose either, so a draw seems fine.

The training continued after that, the two of them, and their Pokemon, slightly exhausted by the end of it, but we had a lot of fun.

***

Sally had to leave early the next day (too early even for my training times), but she thanked me the night before for all of my help. Then it was just myself, Arven, and the staff at home. Scratch that, Arven is back at his place, helping his dad out. Hmm, I should go talk to them. On my way out the door, I saw Leah, attending to her duties.

"Leah, sorry I didn't get the chance to talk much earlier. How have you been?"

She smiled. "No worries, it's good to see you play with your friends." Leah always was worried about me not 'acting my age' or making enough friends. Can't say the former has really changed, but for the latter… I really do have a bunch of friends now. Probably more close friends than I ever had in my previous life.

She continued, oblivious to my slightly depressing thoughts. "I've been well. It was an adjustment, becoming the major domo, but I think I'm adapting well to the role. I do worry about Arven, though-" She cut herself off before she could go further, but I'd already latched on.

"What's up with Arven? Is it just his father or something else?" I asked Leah. The older woman hesitated before finally admitting:

"I believe he had some issues with his mother. She came by after his father's accident but things were… fraught from what I could tell. I did not inquire deeply." Makes sense she doesn't want to get too entangled in that. He had told me the same which is why over the previous break, I had decided not to visit while Turo was still recovering and just sent a get well card and some flowers.

"Well, thank you. For letting me know and for helping my friend while I was gone. I really appreciate it, and everything you do for us." I said, trying to convey the depth of my gratitude. She reached down and gave me a hug.

"I know, and I'm glad to help." As Leah let me go, she said, "I've heard you're facing some difficulties at school. Is it-?"

"It's fine," I said quickly before answering in a more thoughtful and measured tone. "I mean, it was frustrating at first, but I think I'm on my way to dealing with the problems there. And there has been tons of great stuff too - like, I don't think you've had the chance to properly meet Torkoal yet! I met her there and she's great…"

After spending half an hour regaling her about some of the high points of Blueberry Academy (mostly my friends and the Terarium, much of which I'd already covered in messages before but could go into more depth now), I head off to see Arven. And Turo, it's been too long since I've properly faced him.

"Nemona!" Arven said brightly as I knocked on his door. "C'mon!" He waved me inside. Taking a look around, I saw that the place was a little tidier than before. Not a huge amount, but some of the research notes and projects Turo had been working on had been removed.

Stepping inside, I saw the man himself, Professor Turo. For a moment, he looked just as he always had, but then I noticed how one of the sleeves of his labcoat hung loose,and his hand wasn't in his pocket. How his stubble on his five o'clock shadow was slightly uneven, and the bags under his eyes. Arven said he was better, but how much better?

"Nemona," he said flatly, and the two of us stared at each other, Arven awkwardly caught in the middle.

I'd thought long and hard about what to say to this man. I still wasn't sure it was the right thing to say, but I settled on: "Your research from the Area Zero Underdepths was quite helpful in setting up the Tera Sphere. I don't think it would have been anywhere near as possible without what you did. My condolences on your loss," I added at the end.

There. Short and simple, acknowledging his skills and work, while at the same time bringing up the dangers of going too far, but in a subtle way that shows that I bear him no ill will and want Turo to be well. The man didn't respond for a moment, then dipped his head. "That's good to hear. Would you… like something to eat?"

"Uh sure. Do you have any apples?" Turo nodded, grabbing one from the fridge and passing it to me. As I munched on it, he spoke up again. His words, while still crisp and clear, were slower now, some of the confidence lost to his cadence and demeanour.

"I've looked over the notes Friede and Colress shared regarding their work on the Tera Sphere. It looks… good. Solid. I hadn't heard much of Colress' work since that nasty business with Team Plasma." Arven looked slightly confused at what his dad was referring to, and I realized belatedly that I'd never told my friends about Colress' past, just what he was working on now.

"I've been learning a lot from him," I admitted. "He helped sponsor some of my experiments, checking safety measures and the like. I don't think his desires even changed since then, just the way he goes about his goals. He takes into account the safety of the Trainers and the Pokemon involved as he looks for ways to make them stronger."

"I see," Turo said. His eyes were unfocused, lost in thought. Which I was kinda going for. Hopefully he can see that he can still do science and research, just in safer ways, experiments that don't take him away from his son for years. He didn't speak up again for a few minutes, which left us in an awkward silence until Arven spoke up.

"Hey, we should play a game! We've got umm, oh I just got Sevipers and Archaludons!" He said, holding up the board game that looked somewhat analogous to 'Snakes and Ladders' from my first life.

"Sure, let's play!" Then, to my surprise, Turo sat down with us around the coffee table.

"I don't recall playing this one before. You'll have to tell me the rules," he said, and Arven nodded his head furiously.

Turo sounds so… broken. Defeated. For a moment, I almost wondered if I had changed things for the better, but then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught him smiling slightly at his son's enthusiastic (and slightly out-of-order) description of the rules of the game.

No, this is waaaaay better than the alternative. He might still need some time to recover, but Turo will. He has a whole life ahead of him with his son now. Oh, I better start paying attention, this is sounding a lot more complicated than Snakes and Ladders, more like the board game 'Life'.

We spent the morning playing together and it was generally quite fun. Lunch was fine, though I noticed how some things in the kitchen were still a bit difficult for Turo to manage. After that, Turo said, "I'll be going down to sort through my equipment."

"Again?" Arven whined, though he stopped quickly when his dad turned around. "I just mean, you've done it a lot, and you said how the League had 'taken your life's work,' already, so I didn't think there was much else to go through." In other circumstances, I'd have found it funny how Arven was adopting a posture and tone similar to my own when trying to convince his father. Given what he's talking about here though-

"Hey, Nemona! You're the Champion, can't you just order the League to give everything back?" Arven turned to me, his face bright, as if he had solved all the problems in the world. My mind froze long enough for him to ask a follow up with, "Well, can't you?"

"That might be a bit difficult, even for me. Besides, Turo might have just lost that equipment, right?" My smile turned a tad sharper as I faced him.

"... I hadn't realized you'd heard me complaining," he said in a softer voice to his son before addressing me. "You're correct Nemona, I have no need to blame the League for that. I've probably just… lost those pieces. I should work on cleaning up the lab properly; it'll help me focus better and not lose things in the future."

Before he left for his basement lab, he stopped at the door and asked, "About that Tera Sphere… I have some ideas on how to improve it. The Stellar Terastalization I discovered down in the underdepths, I have some ideas on how to synthesize the Tera Crystals to change ones Tera Type to it. I might be able to modify the Sphere to induce 'natural' Stellar Terastalizations within the Terarium. If you think they would be interested in that."

"Of course! That sounds amazing. So long as it's what you're interested in pursuing." This would be great for me and battling in particular but I don't want him to feel like he owes me or he's pressured to work on what I want.

"I offered it," he said bluntly. While it could be seen as a bit snappish, I was used to it. He acted like this all the time before. Hopefully it's a good sign.

With that, he shuffled off. Arven looked confused, but shrugged it off a second later, the way kids could. "Wanna play tag?"

A few minutes later, after complaining about how fast I was, we switched to a different game (hide & seek), with which he did pretty well (after I deliberately didn't use my Aura at all). As we were playing, I asked him, "What happened with your mom coming here?"

"I dunno. It was… rough. Dad was yelling at her, she was yelling at him, but he was hurt and I was upset… She helped around the house for a bit, then when Dad could get out of bed again, she left." He was quiet for a minute before adding, "I didn't want to be mad at her, didn't even realize I was. When I saw her in-person for the first time in a super duper long time I just felt angry."

"That happens sometimes. It can be hard to accurately predict even how we'll feel about something. I think if you let her know how you were feeling, and how you still love her and all, it'll help a bunch."

"Okay. Do you think Mom and Dad will ever say that to each other?"

Oh boy. "Umm, I think that's really up to them," I said as diplomatically as I could. "Now, do you want Miles to show you some of the cool photos we took of the Terarium?"

"Yeah!"

***

That was one awkward family dynamic, but thankfully things were much better with my own family. Mother and Father had been busy over the weekdays, barely seeing me then, but with my sister free on the weekend all of us were able to come together.

"Ahh, our darling daughters, we've missed you so much!" Mom said, hugging us both tightly. Cyan squirmed a bit in her grip, in the way that said she was a teenager and felt she was too old for such public affection but also deeply glad to see our mom again.

"Ineed, our lives are missing some of their luster without you! Ah, I wish we could have taken you with us on our trip."" Dad declared as he hugged me. "And you as well, even if we've seen you more recently," he told Cyan.

"I already said it was fine," I told him, laughing as we got settled in the living room. "How was your time in Kalos?"

"It was wonderful! Oh, we have so many photos to show you! Come, let's go to the theatre room now, I'll put them on the projector," my mom declared imperiously, sweeping through the house. I think you've already shared a lot of these when we chatted.

My prediction was proven mostly true, but it was still fun to see what they had to say about them all.

"Ahh, this is from-"
"And here's where we-"
"Oh, show her this one next, Nims is gonna love this!"

"Wow, that sounds awesome." I said, and I noticed a flash of guilt on Cyan's face. "What's wrong?"

"Just- I'm sorry you didn't get to come with us on the trip."

I waved her off. "It's fine Cy, I knew we wouldn't all be able to make it on a trip together, and I'm glad you guys had fun. Besides, we can always visit again. And you didn't see all Kalos has to offer over your Regi week, did you? We can go to Lumiose in the future, maybe check out the Tower of Mastery, that kind of stuff."

"That's right," O'Nare chimed in. "I'm surprised the remodeling is taking so long in their city. No offense to them, but I think if we had been given the redevelopment contract over Quasartico Inc., we would have had it done by now!"

"Ah, that's Glitterati excellence for you!" Billy said, clapping his hands at his wife's boast.

"Huh, why didn't you develop things there?" I asked. "Did Quasartico offer to get the job done for less?"

"No, or rather, we never got to that stage. The Lumiose League was rather circumspect about certain aspects, but fairly early on they made it clear they wanted to keep it within Kalos." Guess that makes sense that they wouldn't want a Paldean realty group to be deciding the development of their capital city, though it is kinda weird how things are taking so long there.

"What have you been up to?" My sister asked, and now it was my turn to feel a pang of guilt, which I quickly smothered.

"Well, I helped my friend Sally catch her second Pokemon, here, I think I've got some pictures of her Varoom zooming around," I said as I pulled up my phone to project some of those onto the screen. "There he is, zipping around the canyon, there's Sally catching him, ah, don't worry about the marks on the kitchen floor there, I think the staff has mostly scrubbed those out by now. Arven, Sally, and I played a ton before she had to go. Oh, and I said hi to Arven's Dad. Turo's not great, but it sounds like he's getting better…"

I'm not upset about the time I spent with my friends, but being honest with myself, and I probably could have left school early for the trip to Kalos. I've just been so focused on Elsa and the Elite Four that I-

"You okay Nims?" Cyan's question brought me out of my thoughts, and I saw that my sister and our parents were looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine. Just… thinking about school and the League Club." I had been tempted not to worry them about that, but then I remembered Cyan's words before we left.

"You sure you don't need a hand dealing with them? I could transfer over-"

"No! Thank you," I told her, touched by her determination. "But things are fine. I won my first battle against the League Club! Ares was a jerk just as we left for the break, but I'll deal with him soon enough. Once me and my friends win we can make the League Club and school a better place. And we will."

"Alright honey, we trust you. But if anything like that incident with that Death girl happens again, let us know," mom said. Let you know so you can leverage your connections and economic might to crush her. It was an amusing fantasy, but I didn't indulge long, turning my attention to happier thoughts.

"I will. Hey, I haven't properly introduced you to my newest teammates, have I?" They had seen them via video calls, but that wasn't the same. "Presenting, the tough, tenacious, Testudinidae! And the youngest member, the stalwart Cataphract!" I called out, releasing the two Pokemon.

They burst out, proudly strutting (or in Cataphract's case, slithering) about. My parents reacted with appropriate levels of awe, handing out much praise. Seeing everyone adoring them and the two of them fitting in with my family easily filled my heart with much joy. Well, almost everyone. In the background, I saw some of the staff twitch at the sight of them - or rather the charcoal shaking out of Test's shell and the slime trail Cat left behind. I'm sure it's fine; there's got to be plenty of tools to clean up after Pokemon in this world, right?

"Oh, here's some photos of Cat when they were a Goomy- no, Cat, stop it!" I cried, laughing slighting as my newest Dragon tried to desperately cover up my phone with goo to stop my parents and sister from seeing his 'baby pictures.' "You know they've already seen some of these, right?"

"Sliggoo?!"

"Yeah, it's the same as how you heard Arven before you met him," I informed my youngest Pokemon, explaining how the internet and text messages worked. His antenna drooped down before I patted the top of his head. "Don't worry about them seeing you without a shell before; it just makes your transformation even more magnificent!"

"Goo goo!" Cat declared proudly, perking up.

"Indeed," my sister confirmed. "And you're not the only one," she said, running a hand over Testudinidae's warm shell. "Got a new theme going huh? The Great and Powerful Turtle would be proud" Cyan said cheekily and I shook my head.

"Ha ha, very funny. But Cat is more snail-themed than turtle-" then I paused, an idea coming to me as I processed her words. "However, he might have some defensive tips for them. And the school is about to implement a new system to invite tutors in…" Looks like the new year will be shaping up in an interesting fashion.

Those were thoughts for the future, however. For now, I decided to enjoy the time I had with my family, regaling them and being regaled in turn with tales of what we had done since we were last together. It left me with a wonderful fuzzy feeling inside that I could never articulate better than 'home.' It's good to be back.

Spoiler: A/N:

A brief foray back home before Nemona heads back to the frontlines school. With a side order of Sally and her growth as a trainer too! Oh, and for anyone not familiar, Varooms can have the hidden ability Slow Start, which is very bad in a fight, but when they evolve to Revavrooms, it becomes Filter, an amazing Ability, so that's where the pun/metaphor above came from. I feel it's kinda a good descriptor for Sally herself too (and I do love it when the Pokemon on the team reflect the trainer and vice versa). Let me know what you thought of this event down below or on the the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a a Kofi and a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next ten chapters. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.