Like No One Ever Was

“Go, Crabhammer!” I shouted out. Nightwing, Terastalized with a water spout ‘hat’ above her head, slapped the riverbank hard with her tail, creating a tall splash of water up before it landed back down, joining the river stream. And she left a huge dent in the ground where she hit, very nice.

Dun smirked, using his own Aqua Tail to slam into the ground, making a mark just as large or slightly larger than hers. Nightwing glared, launching back into the training with renewed fervor. While not quite as bad as Riolu, she can be quite competitive too. Moreso, since her evolution.

I wasn’t sure if it was some new instinct, but thought it might just have been her reveling in her newfound power, and that clashing with the existing might Dun had. The fact that even with her evolution and the Tera Type change she had undergone before we went on our journey, she still couldn’t match up to him.

The two of them escalated, their attacks backsplashing onto me, even as I stood a good distance away. “Quit it, you two!” I barked out even as I called on my Aura to try and dry myself off. It wasn’t great since I wasn’t that skilled at air manipulation, or at least not in that manner. Aura really is a constant uphill climb. Speed and power for cutting air blades don't really help my precision or the temperature of the wind. And all of that doesn’t relate to enhanced vision.

Or at least, none of it had for me. It was entirely possible that there were other, more naturally talented Aura users or with different mindsets that could learn it better. Tulip had mentioned some interconnectivity between her skills, but I couldn’t tell if that was due to our different Auric Types or some other factor.

It would be interesting to study, though I do worry that any results I print might influence how others learn. If I say Aura works in one way, does it really work that way, or just for me because I think that way? I knew well that certain academic ‘facts’ could get entrenched in public perceptions long after they’d been disproven. It wasn’t as bad in this world as it was in my former one, but there were still infamous ‘Pokedex entries’ that plagued the world.

Pushing that out of my mind, I called Nightwing and Dun back, the two of them having stopped splashing me but descended into a small scuffle themselves. Even without using Moves, I can feel the ground shake from the strength each one has.

“If you can’t take training seriously, we’ll have to go back and spend another day here before we hit the road,” I said, jerking a thumb at Cortonodo behind me. That got both my Pokemon to straighten up and get back to serious training, particularly Dun. Honestly, we should probably head back at least for a moment to get the Tera Orb recharged. I don’t think we’ll need it before hitting Alforando, but better safe than sorry.

After a quick stop by the Pokemon Center to recharge it, we turned right around and headed straight back to the river. It ran around the edge of the city, and past it, a mountain towered above us. With several large flat sections, it felt more like a bunch of cliffs stacked on top of each other.

While not as famous as the Glaseado Mountain, it was still daunting enough that even I felt trepidation at the idea of trying to scale it. Which is why I wasn’t doing that! Instead, I began gliding across the river, sliding smoothly through the air to the other side.

Dun was the Pokemon I had out with me at the time, and he flapped his wings hard, flying over the river as well before slithering beside me. We walked on the edge of a long drop to the valley down below, heading to a slim bridge of land where we could cross over. From there, a cave could take us through the mountain and around to Alfornada.

There was another pathway all the way around winding hills to go over the bridge way further down the road leading out of Cortonodo, only to then basically backtrack this way.

Looking down at the ground below, I saw the fields were thinner, with the grass often dead or dying. “Why do you think the plants here are doing so much rougher?” I asked. “The fields around Cortonodo are even flatter than here, so it’s not like they’re getting more sun. Maybe the Charcadets?” I theorized, but was throwing the idea out of my mouth as soon as I said it. Nah, I can only spot a couple of Charcadets down there anyway.

“Un,” was Dun’s uncharacteristically disinterested response. While he doesn’t often get the point of the topics I bring up, he usually at least feigns interest. I wonder what’s wrong?

Thinking so, I decided to ask him. “What’s up? You haven’t been yourself recently.”

Dun responded by looking at me before rushing on ahead, charging towards a wild Arcanine that was lazing in the sun. So fluffy!

The lion-dog opened a lazy eye as my Dudunsparce approached, barking disdainfully. Dun hissed at her, prompting the fiery Pokemon to jump up, grass beneath her feet burning up in an instant.

Walking up, I held my hands up and open, saying, “Hey, can’t we all agree this is just a big misunderstandi-” Both Pokemon disagreed, vocally. “Ok, so we’re doing this.” I don’t get what Dun is trying to prove here. Sure, Arcanine is big and intimidating, but-

The two of them squared off, the wild Pokemon making the first Move, covering herself in flames as she charged ahead.

Dun made the last Move, surrounding his tail with water and spinning around. The Aqua Tail smacked into her, sending her tumbling to the ground with a loud crack. -she’s no match for Dun.

Wincing at the sound the attack made, I cautiously checked on Arcanine. She’d be fine, but just so there were no hard feelings, I sprayed her with a Potion and tossed a Sitrus berry in front of her before moving on.

“So what was that supposed to prove?” I asked, glaring down at Dun. “I don’t like wasting berries like that while we’re on the road; our supplies are going to be more limited here.”

“Dudun, arce. Un un unsparce.” Dun wiggled and let out a loud sigh.

“It’s the polite thing to do, to help out a Mon, especially if they didn’t agree to a battle in the first place. And yes, I’m practically made of money, but I’d still feel guilty if I had to ask a courier to deliver something while we’re out here.” Shaking my head, I added, “That’s still not answering what the point was.

My starter answered by waving his tail to the land around us. Huh? What is he trying to- oh. Looking closer, I could see all the wild Pokemon that could were scurrying away, not wanting to incur Dun’s wrath.

“They’re all running away, and all of them are a good deal weaker than that Arcanine.” She wasn’t Terastalized though. I wonder if that’s because there weren’t enough Tera Crystals nearby? Doubtful- but back on topic!

“You’re upset about not being used for the Gym Battle,” I surmised.

Dun shifted, his wings flapping slightly agitated. Agreement, but something more. About where we are? No, the Pokemon around here. “You’re upset at not getting a challenging battle,” I clarified, and Dun nodded.

I sighed, seeing his point. If it was just being jealous over not getting to fight while the others did, I’d be upset at him being so immature, but this makes a bit more sense. Still though, I put the team that way for a reason. “I get that, but the others are going to need to stand on your level if we’re to take on the Elite Four, and well…” My voice trailed off as I looked back, past the city to the towering wall of stone and earth that served as a barrier for Area Zero and the rest of Paldea.

“Dun dun un.” They replied resignedly. “Arce?” They asked, and I laughed.

“There are plenty of wild Pokemon you can battle up here that’ll be challenging too. Honestly, we should face some pretty soon; the League just likes to keep these areas near Mesagoza clear of some of the more troublesome Pokemon.” While you could technically start anywhere for your Gym run, a lot of the challengers are students, and thus heading straight from Uva to either Cortonodo or Artazon.

That perked Dun up, the land snake looking ahead eagerly, a pep back in his… slither. I continued, “And I’ll put you in for the next Gym Battle, after Riolu is defeated.”

“Ar,” he comments, sharing a sidelong glance with me.

“Right, right, ‘if’ Riolu gets knocked out, then you’re up.” That was more just a reminder to be careful of my words around her, and not that Dun doesn’t agree with me. Not to say that she isn’t strong; she is. But we’re going up against a Fairy Type Gym, and will be facing the toughest team they have to offer. I have a lot of faith in Riolu, but I think eventually that will take her down. Probably not Dun though.

“I hope you’re ok with going third in this battle, Miles?” I asked, all of us aware that it was unlikely they’d get much time to battle, if at all in this match.

“Bzzt, that’s perfectly fine, Nemona.” They rose out of my pocket to face me and Dun. “I was actually just looking up the routes, and there is another pathway to Alfornada, bzzt. If you take the lower caves, there’s a long pathway up around the coast which ends up leading into the cavern and shortly through there to the city.”

They flipped around the phone case and showed me the details. “Oh, there’s even a travel advisory that there are much tougher and more territorial Pokemon here, so new Trainers should be cautious.” The excitement in my tone didn’t exactly match my words, but it did match the wide grin on Dudunsparce’s face.

“Alright, let’s go! If I remember right, I think there’s even a Terastalized Eelektross roundabouts those waters.”

***

There was not a Dragon Type Tera Eelektross off the southwestern shores of Paldea.

“Protect!” I desperately called out, Thunder striking down from the rainy sky upon Dun, doing his best to survive the onslaught from his foe.

What there was, was an Electric Tera Dragonair in the waters right outside the cave.

We had camped overnight outside the lower cave that cut a path straight through the mountains. It was an old thing, irregular in shape, likely due to being constructed by Pokemon. While relatively round, the middle section was elevated compared to the side, the gloom illuminated by a few packs of Salandits and occasional Salazzle spitting fire.

The outside hadn’t helped in terms of visibility, rain pouring down heavily. Upon getting outside, Dun and I were soaked, and seeing no reason not to get further damp, we marched down the hills to the beach and then out in the water. But with the rain, we didn’t see the clutch of Dratini we got near or the Terastalized Dragonair swimming beneath the surface, and now...

“Glare, then Hex!” I called out, hoping that those Moves would work well enough in the water. When Dragonair burst out, we made to retreat back to shore, but a combination of a well-directed Surf and Wrap had the Dragon dragging us back to sea.

Their efforts were mostly on Dun than myself, so I was able to scramble to solid ground while Dun was struggling against the Terastalized Pokemon. His Glare was met by Dragonair surrounding themselves in a faint green spherical energy, a barrier not unlike Protect, but too diffuse to be that Move.

And yet Glare doesn’t seem to have worked on them at all. Hex, however, pierced through easily, the Ghost Type Move causing the slender Pokemon to thrash about, hurting, albeit to a lesser degree than if they had been Paralyzed.

As I saw the energy field remain around Dragonair without their continued effort, I put together what it was. Safeguard. No point in going for status Moves, and a lot of his Physical Moves are right out too. Fighting in the water was a very different experience for Dun, and one I regretted not practicing enough.

“Hyper Voice!” I shouted over the storm, and Dun’s voice soon boomed out in response. Boomburst still eluded my starter, but the sound was enough to send Dragonair diving beneath the waves, their ear-wing things shaking at the assault. He’s in a bad position, but Dun still has the strength to win this.

Of course, this was a wild battle, not a League-sanctioned Trainer one. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the braver Dratini’s leading the charge to protect their stronger kin, the rest of the clutch trailing behind them. Sweet, but I do need to put a stop to that.

Releasing Notch from their ball, I said to them, “Go and keep the little ones from interfering - peacefully, if you would.” Then to my starter, I said, “Coil while you wait, and when they get close, get angry!”

The crystal-encrusted Rock Pokemon floated over the waves before dropping down a powerful Reflect between the battling Pokemon and the group of Dratinis. The wall of force cut through the water like a guillotine, causing the small Dragons to look up and fearfully behold the Fairy Type above them. Despite the barrier not being wide enough to stop them from swimming around it if they really wanted, the Dratinis got the message and hung back to watch the fight.

Dun was doing his best to curl up in the water and still keep his head above the surface, and he did an admirable job of that, using his wings to help keep himself afloat. Dragonair sought to disrupt that, their tail lashing up and around his body, but Dun was prepared. Rather than resisting the pull underwater, Dun went along with it, thrashing into the Dragon with Outrage.

From beneath the churning depths, it was hard to make out what was going on, but the cloud overhead darkened, a lightning bolt striking down into the water and then… a stillness, before Dragonair burst out of the water.

Of course, I was less worried since I could see that Dragonair no longer had the light bulb Tera ‘hat’ above their head and was breathing heavily, their head hanging low. A few seconds later, Dun erupted out of the water. Though his scales were burnt and cracked in a few places, Dun screeched challengingly at the Dragon.

Slowly the Dragonair shook their head, turning and swimming away, gathering the rest of their clutch as they retreated.

“Woohoo! Good job, Dun! Now, can you get back here so we can get out of the rain?”

***

We traveled a good distance along the coast, not opting to go up the stone ‘road’ yet. The trek was by no means easy, however. Kilowatrels harassed us with their very presence, flying freely through the storm and generating vast amounts of electricity. The Bombirdiers, on the other hand, targeted us personally, dropping rocks from the cliffside down upon us.

Dun pushed through, blasting the troublesome birds away with Hyper Voice and Hurricanes. Few tried to push through one of his attacks, but the aerial Pokemon were plentiful here. The previous fight, as well as the storm, meant that these efforts were starting to sap even his prodigious reserves.

Luckily, towards the end of the path, there was a large opening to a cave. Finally. It’s better than getting caught out in this weather, and I can see the road above would have taken longer to get to shelter, but it’s still been at least a dozen kilometers.

Once we rushed inside, we saw that the cave didn’t go very far but was quite open and spacious. It was tall and round, creating a nice shelter where several types of Pokemon gathered. Sableyes, Makuhitas, Gibles, and more powerful Pokemon, like Toxtricitys, Hariyamas, and a Gabite. Of course, the most noteworthy of these was a Hawlucha in the center, shining with the light of Terastalization, a set of bug antennas above his head.

Immediately upon seeing us, the bird-wrestling Pokemon spread his arm wings out and began Naruto running towards us with a piercing cry.

“Ughhhh,” I groaned, looking to Dun. I asked, “You up for another battle, or mind giving Riolu a turn?”

Dun thought about it for half a second before shaking his head. He made no moves to go back to his ball, however, instead electing to remain out and puff himself up, challenging any other Pokemon that might think about coming close.

“Riolu, I choose you!” I shouted, aiming the Pokeball so my Fighting Type would emerge right in front of us. Which was good, because Hawlucha was only a half step in front of that.

Having heard her name already, even inside the ball, Riolu proved why she was possibly the most skillful of my team, using that short time and the slight surprise on Hawlucha’s part to turn the Terastalized Pokemon’s charge against him. Grabbing an arm one way, turning her body, and keeping her center of gravity low, she tossed him over our heads and into the edge of the cavern entrance, a picture-perfect Circle Throw.

Dun and I settled into the side, trying to get out of the line of fire and ensure that no one else could surprise us, placing our backs to the wall (though still decently close to the entrance if we needed to flee for some reason). Meanwhile, Hawlucha was tumbling through the air as he fell down, seemingly insensate. However, I saw the bird’s eyes glint in the stormy light from outside and knew what he was planning.

“Dancing Sword!” I called out, and she threw herself into an artful evasion right as Hawlucha swooped down, diving almost faster than my eyes could see. She spun around his strike, foreseeing it and flashing her claws as she did so. Her teeth were bared in a vicious smirk as her eyes glowed, and I knew the Move had worked.

“Now, Aerial Ace!” I shouted, and she flipped, striking down with the heel of her foot at the top of Hawlucha’s head. Despite making her leap as small as she could, her foe still moved swiftly, ducking out of the way so the blow only glanced off the top of his Tera ‘hat.’ Still did some damage, thanks to the boost from her new Move.

In attempting to speed up Detect and utilize it in the middle of other Moves if she needed to immediately dodge, Riolu had managed to combine it and Swords Dance. The Move only works now if they’re using a damaging attack against her and only increases her attack by one step, but still, it’s incredible.

Hawlucha disagreed, letting out a keening cry as they held a hand out and made a ‘come get some’ gesture. Crud, Taunt. That cuts out a lot of our combos. “Poison Jab,” I called out, hoping to debilitate the Tera Pokemon in another way.

Riolu darted up, poison dripping off her small claws as she ran forward. The wrestling Pokemon smirked, dodging her first blow with his superior speed and clamping a hand down on her wrist. Flipping her up and around, she was thrown to the ground before he jumped atop her with an elbow drop.

My Pokemon yowled, in pain from the blow, barely managing to push Hawlucha off before he could grab her again - and clawing his face with her still poisoned paws as she did so. Rolling up into a fighting stance, she threw a few Force Palms at him as well, the blows hammering in but doing little to slow him down as he rushed in again.

“You can’t Paralyze him! Vacuum Wave retreat!” I called out as I remembered one of Hawlucha’s possible abilities. Jumping up, Riolu blasted the air, pushing herself backwards around the cavern. Hawlucha swiftly pursued, with the occasional wince of pain, the Poison taking hold.

The dodging tactic we employed didn’t hold forever. While he had tried dodging the Vacuum Waves that propelled towards him at first, after a minute, he just tucked his head and started rushing through them. With his Bug Tera Type, they did little damage to him, and he swiftly approached the canine-Pokemon, jumping dramatically above her.

“Dancing Sword,” was my order in response, the Taunt having worn off. Hawlucha tried to control his dive down upon her, but to no avail; she saw all his motions ahead of time and easily spun around his assault.

Hawlucha landed on the ground gracefully enough despite the miss, but it was still a huge opening. “Copycat!” My Pokemon proceeded to perform the same Move Hawlucha had just tried. The Tera Pokemon looked shocked seeing his Move so perfectly copied, and then he was slammed into the ground by it. Flying Press is a pretty cool Move. It’s a shame it’s so based on Hawlucha’s physiology that Riolu probably can’t permanently copy it.

My smile quickly faded as the dust from the impact cleared, and I saw that despite the Move being neutral Type-wise against the Hawlucha and all the power Riolu had behind it, our foe wasn’t out of the fight yet. “Watch out!” I cried out, too late for her to dodge the green glowing claws that cut into her fur in an ‘X’ pattern.

Our foe sprung up, chasing after Riolu and began wailing into her with a punishing flurry of blows. I couldn’t even properly make out what kind of Fighting Move it was as she was pushed back, trying her best to defend.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dun slamming his body against the ground, making an Earthquake to ward off a Toxtricity that was rearing up to spit poison at us. Dammit! Have to focus on Riolu’s fight and just trust Dun has things handled.

“Detect,” I tried, hoping that would be enough to get her out of the way. While not as useful as our new Move, it was faster and easier to use in a circumstance where Riolu was already being pushed back.

Unfortunately, even that wasn’t to be, as Hawlucha Feinted right before going left, burying a fist in her gut. She doubled over in pain, and I was reminded of the frailty of my newest Pokemon. She’s incredibly skilled, which is a strength she wields well, but she just can’t tank hits like everyone other than Phantasm on my team can. Or maybe she can…

As her back hit the wall, I called out, “Endure!” Riolu snapped up a tight guard, weathering the blows that surely would have otherwise taken her out. I heard a cry of rage beside me as Dun was knocked off the Gibles, biting into him, and felt the cold as he spun towards them.

This is her chance! I thought as I saw Hawlucha panting, having finished his devastating combo. On shaky legs, Riolu still stood, much to his surprise as I shouted “Reversal!” Grabbing his own wrist the same way he did to her, she tried to pull him. With greater strength, the Tera Pokemon wrenched his hand back, but that was just what she wanted, the motion letting her secure a grip around his back. Arms around his waist, she pulled, leaning back to smash our enemy into the ground in a powerful piledriver.

That blow did it, and with one last cry of pain, the Terastalization effect shattered around Hawlucha, the Tera Pokemon defeated.

***

With the ‘boss’ of the area defeated, the other Pokemon backed off, unwilling to fight us but still clearly wary. That eased up a bit when I healed the Hawlucha alongside Riolu, our foe taking their loss in good spirits.

After a bit of charades, I was able to work out a deal with the Hawlucha, where we would get to sleep at a spot by the wall in the cave and the other Pokemon would leave us alone. Just in case, I left Notch outside the tent (after Miles in Heat Form had dried me off) to keep an eye on things.

My Carbink seemed quite happy too, the cave being a comfortable reminder of home for them while also being relatively new and interesting. There were many different species all living together in this cave and the rain outside, both of which seemed to fascinate Notch.

Upon waking up, I stretched, the hard, rocky ground uncomfortable on my back. Though I do have the tent, a sleeping bag, and a thick air mattress to sleep on. Honestly, I might have just gotten too used to the comforts of home. As I left the tent, I saw a few disgruntled Pokemon walking away from Notch.

“... What did you say to them?” I inquired, because they didn’t seem aggressive or insulted. Some of those Gibles looked at Notch like you might look at a crazy person ranting on a subway - probably harmless, but not like you want to be near them.

They chimed in response, and I couldn’t grasp the nuance, but Riolu nearby shook her head. She must have gotten up in the night and was doing some stretches in the early morning (it was still dark and stormy enough out that I wouldn’t have been able to tell it was if I hadn’t seen the time on Miles’ case). She turned to face me and barked.

“Yeah, I can join you for some stretches,” I replied, suppressing a groan. My body didn’t want to, but I knew it was important to keep up with practice, even on the road. While the travel might keep me fit, there was something to be said for technique. I’m in awe of Riolu’s form, even to this day.

It was humbling to see the kinds of rigors a dedicated Fighting Type would put themselves through. I admired Riolu in particular for her dedication to try and eke the last little bit of perfection on each motion as she went through her katas, constantly working on being the best she could. It’s a large part of what lets her keep up with evolved or single-stage Pokemon that otherwise outclass her in terms of sheer power, speed, and resiliency, and part of what will make her a true nightmare to fight when she evolves.

After our stretches, she extended a paw towards me, and I nodded with an eager grin, the prior stiffness shaken off. “You’ll have to go easy on me, but a spar sounds great.” Riolu gave me a toothless smile in return, taking up a fighting stance.

We traded blows back and forth, dancing around the cave, a small circle forming around as Pokemon, interested in the practice (particularly Hawlucha). Riolu stuck to only defensive Moves and regular jabs and kicks, which was still more than enough to compensate for the reach I had on her.

“Good job,” I said after calling for a break, half an hour later. “Dancing Sword is getting quite sharp; you’re using the motions of your enemy quite well. I think you’ll soon be able to use it and not even need contact with your opponent to pull it off.”

“Olu,” she responded, her chest puffed out a bit in pride. I could also see the happiness in her Aura. We discovered that Move together when we sparred in the past. When we tried testing out how fast she could switch from buffing herself up to using Detect to dodge and still maintain the effect. She started incorporating my punches into part of her dance, and we had a new Move on our hands/paws.

There were still some limits, sadly. Swords Dance was the only Move we’d found to be compatible with it. It was slower than regular Detect, and without an opponent attacking in close, the ‘dance’ wouldn’t work to get the boost. I wonder if she could still use it sparring against a human that doesn’t have their Aura unlocked; as she’s mentioned, it works in part by aligning her Aura with her foe’s. Though even unlocked, it's not like people don't have Aura, it just has less of an effect on the world around them.

I ran the rest of my team through some drills, with Hawlucha trying to show off as well, much to Riolu’s annoyance. Sorry, bud, I don’t think she’s interested in who can throw the biggest rock around; more about the technique behind that rock throwing. It’s probably why she gives Dun all those glances. For all that he can seem like a brute in a fight, Dun actually has incredible control and variation in the Type energies he can use.

Checking the weather, one of my phone apps said the storm would continue for most of the day, so I was surprised when I saw the rain outside suddenly stop just before noon. Not one to question the good fortune, I folded up all my gear and went to leave, stepping out into the bright light - only to have rain pour down on me, like a vast curtain falling down. What? Oh.

Looking over, I saw a large area where the rain refused to fall beside me and a Golduck looking curiously from the center of the dry area. Cloud Nine, Golduck’s Ability must be stopping the weather around them. For a moment, I was tempted to ask them if they could help cover us in our trek before waving off the idea.

It’s kind of selfish to ask that of them since it’s a pretty long climb up from here to the cave that leads to Alfornada. Plus, stopping the rain would do nothing to stop the moisture on the ground, and I don’t want to try climbing up a slippery, rocky path hundreds of meters above the ocean.

Trudging back inside, I released Miles into their Heat Form to dry me off once again. “This sucks,” I commented as I slowly warmed up for the second time in two days.

“Is it really that bad, bzzt?” Miles questioned, surprising me before I remembered that we had installed vocalizers on their combat appliances in preparation for this journey.

“Well… no, I guess it isn’t. We can do some training here, we aren’t too far off schedule. And sorry again that you haven’t had as much battle time yet.”

“Bzzt, it’s fine. And you’re taking on Brassius after all of this, correct?” I nodded, so they said, “Just put me in against him then.”

“I will. Hmm, Brassius... ” I paused, biting my lip.

“What is it, bzzt?”

“I'm just trying to think which of your forms will be the best choice. Grass Types have tons of weaknesses, but that means he probably has a lot of counters ready as well.” Brassius’ high-level teams don't have tons of coverage yet, but I should probably use Heat; unlike some Grass Trainers his teams don’t rely much on the Sun for his strategies, so I could possibly use Sunny Day. Though maybe that means that he has counters for it? If he has Rain Dance, that could shut down Heat Form. But if we use it ourselves with Fan Form, Hurricane could hit his team hard, Breloom in particular gets shut down fast by that. On the other hand…

Miles soft chuckles at my muttered theorizing brought me back. “Okay, okay, we can still spend our time here well. It’s not that big a delay.”

"Sounds good, bzzt. In fact... I think I'll try my hand at strategizing too! I'll try and pick out the Form I want to use for my battle against him. If that's ok, bzzt," they asked bashfully.

"No problem at all! Can't wait to see what you come up with."

In the end, we ended up spending a few more days after the storm had passed, waiting for the pathway above to dry out, as well as sparring against the wild Pokemon, both in the caves and outside. Mostly it was good practice for Phantasm to work on her illusions and generally getting faster and stronger (and learning a few sneaky tricks from the Sableyes in the cave), but there were some challenges even for my more experienced Pokemon. Nightwing was even defeated by a particularly skillful Cloyster, his icy barrage managing to take down my Gliscor.

After a second match, one my starter handily won, I asked if he wanted to join us, but the Cloyster was lukewarm on the idea before eventually declining when they realized how far we’d be traveling from the ocean. I didn’t bother asking anyone else; the others seemed generally disinterested in joining us, even if they were up for training against us. The ‘boss’ of the cave specifically was quite eager to fight and practice alongside us.

Using my Aura Sight, as incomplete as it was, I got the vague impression of Bug energy radiating off the Hawlucha over our stay, growing stronger bit by bit. I think in a week he’ll get his Terastalization back. Part of me was tempted to stay longer, but a larger part knew we had to get going. Phantasm has been getting particularly antsy, picking fights with some of the Gibles under illusion and getting the little guys to attack each other while she slips away in the chaos.

On the fourth morning there, I packed up my bags, bidding them all farewell and thanking the wild Pokemon for letting us stay there. There was a small hike up the hill, backtracking our way to the pathway up, which had fully dried out. From there (after a brief lunch almost using up the end of my rations), we had an even longer trek up the small winding stone pathway.

Before that, however, I spotted a boat parked on the shore to the North, where we’d fought the Dragonair. Hmm, no sign of the Dragonair or their clutch there; wonder what’s up with that?

I had already spent enough time here, so I didn’t bother to go back all that way. Something I was glad of as the sun beat down on me as we made our way up the narrow path. Phantasm was probably even more happy about it, given how she was panting from the tough climb. Hisui was much colder than Paldea. I wonder if that had some impact on her heat tolerance? Though, calling them a ‘Hisuian variant’ might actually be a mistake since it seems like it wasn’t actually the land of Hisui but certain other conditions that caused the change.

“Just try and focus on Ice Type energy,” I advised her. “We’ll see if you can pick up some TMs that work with the energy in the city, but for right now, just focusing on it will help.”

“Zor, orua, zor.” She spat out bitterly, and I frowned.

“Hey, no need for that. I think Ice Type is good offensively, but defensively it’s quite bad, while you have one of the best defensive Typings out there! Why would you think I’d want an Ice Type instead of you?” She sat down, turning her head away from me. Ugh, I want to ask where she gets this behavior from, but it’s probably the rest of the team. I love em, but Nightwing can be a bit bad about getting called out.

Taking out a small bowl and pouring some water from my bottle in it, I gave her the chance to take a drink. Despite her refusal to look at me, thirst won out, and she quickly lapped it up. While she did so, I thought about what could have brought this on. “You’re upset about the Cloyster thing, aren’t you?”

She sneered at me, conjuring up a caricature of my face, sobbing melodramatically. I don’t look like that. Do I? No, of course I don’t. “I was not that sad about it. And catching another Pokemon doesn’t mean I’m going to stop training you or the like.”

My words didn’t seem to convince her, and she growled, but I just crossed my arms. “C’mon, you didn’t act this way when Riolu joined the team.” Of course, when she joined the team, Phantasm was still new to everything, so it was easier for her to adapt to it. That, and we already knew Riolu before we knew Phantasm. Now she’s entering a jealous phase.

Scratching the ground for a moment, she surprised me by taking a second to think about it and coming up with an answer, floating an illusory number ‘6’ in front of me. Huh, hadn’t expected that. Then again, she’s smart enough to know that an overly emotional argument won’t sway me, so she’s trying to use logic (even if I don’t think that’s actually the reason why she doesn’t like it).

“Yes, six is the maximum you can have on a team for official battles,” I agreed. “However, every top-tier Trainer has more than that.” Her amber eyes blinked, surprised. “Yup, it’s true. No one sticks themselves with just one strategy, often switching it up. Gym Leaders and the like have to have more, to meet the different levels of challengers they face.”

Her wispy fur at the top drooped, looking defeated. Oof, not fair, feels like losing even when I win the argument. “That being said, I don’t plan on adding a bunch of Pokemon any time soon.”

“Zorua?” She asked cautiously.

“Yeah, I do still need to focus on my current team’s skills, so I won’t catch too many more for the time being. But I hope that you can trust that I won’t be neglecting you, even if I do find someone who’s a good fit for the team and wants to join.”

She barked her agreement out, perking up a fair bit. I hope that tiredness wasn’t all an act… though maybe it was so good a one it fooled herself? She is a Ghost Type afterall, some physical exhaustion can probably be ignored.

I kept the discussion light and happy from there on as we continued going up and quietly noted that my hypothesis seemed correct. Her body kept pretty much the same pace throughout it all; the only tiredness Phantasm felt was connected to the mental fatigue of the complexity and size of illusions she crafted.

There weren’t many other travelers on our path, but we did find one young woman in denim and a cowgirl hat who waved us down. “Hey!” I walked up to her, happy to meet someone new. “Let’s battle! If I win, you have to buy my demo track!”

“Uhh,” I could practically feel the sweatdrop on the side of my face. “Sure? Yeah, we can have like a Sky Battle.”

“Sky what?” She cocked her head to the side, clearly thrown off kilter.

“You know, Sky Battles, where we both use Pokemon that can fly or otherwise hover.”

“No, I don’t have no flying Pokemon, just my good ol’ Meowth. A regular battle will do us just fine, I reckon.” She said brightly, and I facepalmed.

“A regular battle where?!” I stretched my arms out wide, my fingertips almost going past the edge of the pathway.

“Oh, right. Guess I just got a little excited. This is my first time traveling down this path, got a little overexcited. Same for my music career. I’m Mireia,” she said with an embarrassed grin, and I shook her hand.

“Nemona.” That caused her to gasp and grip my hand tighter.

“Oh treasure, are you the Nemona Glitterati?” She continued rapidly before I could answer. “Ohmygosh, I thought your voice sounded familiar!” She squealed, hitting a note high enough that I could entirely buy her making forays into the music industry. “I have your album, could you sign it?”

It was my turn to be surprised. “You bought the physical copy?” I didn’t even know we sold physical copies of the album, I thought it was all just downloads online. I should probably have paid more attention to that stuff, but there was just so much of it, and I was gearing up for my journey…

Realizing she was still waiting for my answer (and worryingly, still gripping my hand), I nodded. “Sure, I can sign it.” Thankfully, she let go of me to pull out the CD case from her bag. Pulling out a pen from my own, I signed it for her.

“Do you have any advice for someone trying to make it as a musician?” She asked immediately afterward, thus condemning me to further conversation. Taking a step back, I almost ended up slipping off the edge of the narrow walkway we were on, much to Phantasm’s bemusement. Right, laugh it up. Though, I guess it wouldn’t really be that bad for me, given my Aura, just tiring.

“Well, hard to say. I had a lot of help in producing it from my family. But um, I’d recommend maybe trying to release your music online first; you can reach a large crowd that way.” Almost certainly larger than whatever you’d get by trying to force people to buy your music by beating them in Pokemon battles.

Mireia looked shocked and amazed by what I said, to the point where I wondered if she was distantly related to my family. Probably not given her business sense, but Mom and Dad have definitely looked just like that. “That makes a lot of sense! Wait, but why are you here then?”

I opened my mouth to snap at her about having other priorities before remembering my album had been released not that long ago. I guess most people don’t have the same priorities as me. “I’m focusing on the Gym Challenge right now. It might not be as glamorous as going on a tour, but-”

“But think of how many people will see your battles and then check out your music! Of course! I’ve got to do the same!” With that, she rushed off past me, racing down the path towards Cortonodo.

Chuckling lightly, I shook my head. “Not what I’m doing at all, but whatever works for you,” I said to myself before starting back on the climb, only to feel a faint but distinct buzzing from my pocket. “What?” I asked Miles.

“Bzzt, well, it kind of is what you’re doing,” they said. Floating up, they pulled up some clips from my battles, which my parents had posted online, making music videos with my songs.

“What?! But that’s- oh. Wait, they’re using The Pretender for my battle theme? It was supposed to be Megalovania!” I pouted. I mean, it’s not that bad, Pretender is a pretty bangin’ song too, and it does admittedly fit well for Phantasm’s fights, but still.

With a sigh and a promise to talk to my parents about this later, I continued my ascent.

***

The sun had just started to set as we made it to the entrance to the Alfornado Cavern. I elected to camp just inside the cavern, the torches planted nearby giving light and the roof above us providing some shelter from the elements.

“Why do you think the ‘detour’ up to the caverns looks like that?” I pondered aloud, curious to hear what my team had to say.

Nightwing, predictably had very little, yawning sleepily as she was still waking up. She totally can operate during the day, but she prefers to sleep then and be active at night. Those nocturnal traits had only intensified after her evolution, so I’d often leave her out to keep watch then.

Of course, Miles and Notch don’t need to sleep in the same way we do, so I like leaving at least one of them out as well. The latter had something to say on the matter, chiming softly, the sound echoing in the cave.

“You think Arceus made it that way?” Notch nodded, and I scratched my chin. “Well, the path certainly is a little unnatural looking; I’ll give you that.” Looking down at it, it did just seem sort of weird. Aside from this point connecting to the cave, the entire road was separated from the sheer cliff face it ran parallel to. Massive pillars of stone stuck out from the ocean to support the road, but without any sign that they had once been connected to the larger mountain.

“But I don’t think Arceus micromanages every little thing. People can do things They don’t approve of or would be bad, but only in the worst of situations do They get involved. And even then, it’s just like Arceus sending down a human in the right time and place.”

That got some curious looks, not just from Notch but also from Riolu, who cracked an eye open from her meditation. “Wha- no, nonono, I’m not talking about me.” At least I hope I’m not. Theoretically, it could be that there is no ‘protagonist’ for this world to deal with Turo’s plots, so I was sent in to deal with it, but I doubt it. That’s not to say I can’t try and fix things here, but…

“I didn’t get any mysterious Arc Phone or the like. No mission from Arceus like the Hero of Hissui.” No chance to reach the divine llama and get back to my old life either. In some of my worst moments, I could understand Volo’s rage against the heavens. But that time’s long past. I am truly happy with where I am and who I’ve surrounded myself with, I thought with a smile as I looked down at my team.

Kneeling down, I said to my Fighting Type “On that note, that makes me think of what item we might get for you. While we’re planning on giving you the Expert Belt for this fight, in the future, we can try and find a Fighting Plate.”

She cocked her head to the side, curious. “A Fighting Plate is a replica of the Origin Plates, the Plates that can be used to change the Typing of Arceus; or at least, change the Typing of Their Avatar on the planet. The Replicas just give a boost to Pokemon using those Types of attacks.”

Riolu was interested, and Notch was practically frantic, chiming and hovering around. “Ok, ok, I’ll put out alerts for a Rock Type one for you too.” At some more chimes, I clarified, “Rock over Fairy because Rock is the Type for Diamond Storm, the unique Move that Diancie’s get.”

Progress had still been slow on that front. I had some other plans, but placing pink diamonds on their body to get them to ‘grow’ the differently colored gems had gone nowhere, as had attempts to get them to conjure diamonds from thin air. Notch can make rocks quite well now, but diamonds are just a step beyond what’s possible for them, at least unaided.

“Bzzt, I’ve put those items on your watch list for the Porto Marinada market,” Miles pipped up. I have a few other specialty items on that list, and thanks to my family’s connections, we have someone that can bid on those if they show up there. But if I get the chance, I would like to check out the market myself, even if it’s not really in the path of any of the Gyms.

“Thanks. Oh, what were we talking about again?”

“The alternate path to Alforando, bzzt,” Miles reminded me.

“Right. So, I think that this path was made by some warlord a long time ago. Well, probably on the orders of some warlord a long time ago.”

“Dudun?” My starter asked, half-gazing over at us even as he kept the other eye peering out into the gloom, alert for any threats that might approach us from the dark.

“I don’t think it was ever used by some warlord or rival clan or the like, but it’s too unnatural not to be specifically constructed. Personally, I think that someone wanted to make an alternate path to attack Alfornada. Someone who was too powerful and important to be denied, but whoever made it didn’t want to make something that could work. For whatever reason, be it a desire for peace or just not wanting to spend what it would take to create a viable attack route for an army to march through.” The current pathway would leave any troops easy pickings for any Alfornadans defending themselves. Or even just riled up Bombirdiers or the like.

“Interesting theory,” a new voice said, causing all of us to whip around to see a young woman with wild blue hair stepping out from the shade and into the flickering torchlight. She was wearing flared blue jeans and a pale blue western-style jacket with short red fringe. On her belt, she had a buckle in the shape of Lunala, and on her left wrist, she had a bracelet that looked suspiciously similar to Tapu Koko.

“Oh!” I said, with a surprised glance over at Dun, who was frowning. How did she sneak up on us? “Umm, Alola,” I tried, doing the hand wave to go along with it, earning a bemused smirk from the pretty lady. “Uh, sorry if I made an assumption, just some of your accessories.”

“Ah, yes, a few of them have ties to Alola. The stories from that land pique my interest, I must admit. The idea of having such a close connection to those long-lived figures. Oh, the stories they could tell…” She sighed wistfully before shaking her head slightly. “Sorry, I should introduce myself; I’m Raifort.”

“Nemona,” I replied, noting how her eyes trailed towards Phantasm. The Pokemon in question was sniffing rapidly, staring off past Raifort to the darkness of the tunnel. Isn’t that tunnel a little too dark? And Raifort! She’s the history teacher at Uva, isn’t she? And I think I recall her having a Zoroark as well, though not too much else about her at the moment.

“You want your Zoroark to say hi? As well as your other friends.” I offered, causing a small flicker of surprise on her face before she smoothed it out.

“C’mon out,” she said, and the unnaturally silent and dark zone faded away, her Zoroark and several humans stepping forward. The Zoroark stepped up to Raifort’s side, quickly greeted by Phantasm, who was all but jumping over one of her kin.

The humans were a rather rough-looking group, wearing sailor’s clothes. Four guys and a girl, most of them with tattoos and few scars. I mentally designated them as ‘Baldy’ (a bald man), ‘Shaggy’ (a younger guy with a cap and shaggy brown hair flowing behind it), ‘Shorty’ (the shortest person of the group), ‘The Girl’ (the only girl of the group), and ‘Middle Finger’ (a man who’s right hand middle finger appeared to have a large bite taken out by it).

“Where did you find a Hisuian Zorua?” Raifort asked, looking down at my Pokemon with wonder. This was contrasted by Baldy’s leer over Raifort’s shoulder at my team. He seems particularly interested in Notch and Phantasm.

“Can’t say,” I replied with a brittle smile. “She’s the youngest member of my team; your Pokemon must remind her a lot of her parents.” I added, just to dissuade her from the idea of some ancient secret Hisuian group.

“Did you all come from that boat?” I continued, trying to inquire where this suspicious group came from.

Raifort hmm’d. “My associates did. We’re doing a bit of exploring of the lesser-known parts of Paldea. So many secrets hide within these tunnels, just waiting to be unearthed. Ah, you can forget I said that.”

To quote a certain game company/series, ‘Nemona will remember that.’ But there are other things to focus on. Like: “Did you guys have trouble docking your boat there? There was a Dragonair in the area that was a bit territorial.”

Shaggy snickered. “Wasn’t too much of a problem. Honestly, a bit of a perk-” he began before The Girl elbowed him.

“It’s fine,” Baldy said in a gravelly tone. “Where did you find those rare Pokemon?”

Middle Finger muttered, “Some of them don’t look that rare. Who even uses a Dunsparce?”

“A Dudunsparce, actually. He’s evolved,” I pointed out before Dun could Hyper Voice them for the affront. Not that I’d be too upset with that. “As for the others, I’ve traveled a fair bit.”

There were some mutters about a ‘pipsqueak’ and ‘rich brat’ that they probably thought I couldn’t hear. Before I could press them, Raifort spoke up. “Well, it was enlightening talking to you, but I think we best be on our way. So much to do, so little time.” Her final sentence appeared to be directed more at them than me, as she turned and left.

I quickly scooped up Phantasm, so she couldn’t follow after the Zoroark. And also because I don’t like that look in Baldy’s eyes and how his gaze lingered before following after her. Without any proof, I finished setting up camp but made sure to have Nightwing, Notch, and Miles all out, patrolling farther down the tunnel.

My precautions didn’t make sleep come any easier, which meant when Nightwing swooped into the tent, I was instantly alert and awake. I sent her to go back and round up Notch and Miles while I focused.

Stretching out my hearing with my Aura, I was flooded with sounds of scratching claws and scuffling feet on stone, as well as general Pokemon sounds. What caught my ears was the familiar sounds of humans talking in hushed tones, and I focused on that.

“Should we really be doing this? Raifort told us to keep focused-” Shaggy was cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

“Shut up, wimp. What she don’t know won’t hurt her, like those Dratini’s we snared.” Probably Shorty, he didn’t talk last time. “Sides, she’s off looking for that thing, so we got plenty of time for a side gig.”

“Just think of the payday we’ll get for that Zorua! It looked so fluffy, I bet some old rich bitch will pay us tons for it!” The Girl squealed.

“What’ll we do with the girl? Do we take her too?” Shaggy questioned. Middle Finger snorted.

“You getting soft, kid? We’re gonna off her, of course!”

There was a grunt from Middle Finger as Shaggy retorted. "Oh, shove off! I just meant she might know where a bunch of other rare Pokemon are. Keep the Golden Sirfetch’d and all the Eggs it lays and all that jazz.”

The Girl giggled. “Look at you, trying to sound all philosophical and junk. But really, do we keep her?”

There was silence for a minute, save for the sounds of them stomping closer before Baldy spoke up. “Nah, too much risk. We toss her body into the water below; anyone looking into it thinks it was an accident. But all you lot, stay quiet now,” he growled. “We catch her sleeping, take her Pokemon, and do this cleanly. Let’s not mess shit up here.”

Oh. Oh fuck.