Like No One Ever Was (Pokemon SI)

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

lol being extorted by a bread-dog is adorable. btw if you're looking for more interaction on this site specifically, I would suggest posting in the NSFW section where the majority of local population congregate.

Loving the story. HyperDrill is a baller move. It pierces protect and is high dmg and is accurate.

 

[Skyfyre]

A small crack of light illuminated Nemona's room, showing her form, faintly twitching beneath her Pikachu themed bedsheet. I moved to open the door further, but Rotom hovered up from where they had been charging, doing a small shake to indicate it wouldn't help. It flashed the time towards me, showing it was still an hour too early for her to wake up.

With a sigh, I gently closed the door. Walking back down the hallway, I bumped into Hamber. "Oh! I'm sorry sir."

He didn't look ruffled by the impact. "It's nothing. Care to join me for a midnight cuppa?" The older man asked, and I nodded.

The house was quiet at this time of night. Most of the staff was gone and the few live-in members like myself had gone to sleep. It gave the place a very deserted feel, and with how dark it could be, might even make you think it was haunted, though I knew better.

In the kitchen we could have the lights on without potentially disturbing anyone else, and he began fixing us up some tea. "Why were you up so late?"

"I could ask the same thing of you." I fired back before biting my tongue. He was just curious, and as my boss, I shouldn't be so rude to him. The job here was a great one, by most metrics. Very easy chores to handle most of the time, plenty of free time in the day, and even the girls were well behaved. Well, mostly. I guess that's the real crux of the problem.

He didn't take any offense, steeping the tea bag and responding "I like to take a midnight stroll of the property occasionally. Gives a different view of what we manage from day to day. Plus, this is an excellent time to give Greavard a walkie." The dog in question poked his shaggy head out of a wall, gave a quiet bark, and walked to his food dish. His faithful hound Pokemon (and his other Ghost Type, a spooky Dusclops) was why I knew that the mansion couldn't be haunted. A shame. If it was just that, then there might be an easy fix to Nemona's nighttime troubles.

Hamber didn't press the question, but I caved in a few seconds. "I'm worried about Ne- the Young Miss." Have to remember to be detached, professional. I'd already noticed that the young girl treated my words as more rule defining than her parent's. It's nice that she respects me that much, and I get that part of it due to how overly permissive the Glitterati parents are, but I need to keep in mind my station, especially around the majordomo.

"She seems quite lively and intelligent. What's the issue?" I gave my superior a look at that as we were both well aware that there was more than that going on in our young charge. Why does he even need me to spell it out? Clearing his throat, he added "Despite how it may seem with the tight ship I run, I'm not omniscient. You might have seen something I haven't or have some concerns I could put to rest."

At that I winced. With how seamlessly he's integrated into the household, I can forget he hasn't been with us for too long. Only since the Glitterati family moved to Paldea. He might not get how Nemona was before now.

"Oh. Well, it has to do with… a lot of little things, I guess. She's smart. She's always been a bright young girl, but recently, it's downright unnerving how much she seems to understand. The battle skills are one thing; most kids are obsessed with battles at her age, she just has a better head for strategy than most." Better than mine even. I watched a new elite four battle with her and she accurately called out how Hassel, the newest of the Elite Four was setting up his opponent for a crushing defeat in ways I completely missed. "Her skills at reading people are eerily good for her age too."

"True, but being intelligent isn't a bad thing. The Young Master is also quite intelligent for her age," he countered.

"No, but Young Master doesn't have the same…" I searched for the right word, having no desire to insult Cyan or Nemona. "Drive. The Young Miss has a drive that pushes her constantly. If she's not looking up mechanical engineering online, she's studying history. If she's not looking into the past, she's working out - not just running around playing, actually working out." That's weird, kids shouldn't be thinking to do that, not without someone else trying to encourage them to do so, and no one here is.

"She watches international news and argues about civil rights on forums, and of course, the training. She trained for hours every day before the tournament, now it is sun-up to sun-down, every day! And the nightmares-!" He placed a finger to his lips and I cut myself off, realizing my voice was starting to rise.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be acting hysterically, but I just worry about her." I took a moment to calm down as he poured the tea for both of us. Oh! This is nice, he remembered I liked this Pinap blend.

"I noticed. Looking up books on child psychology was not the subtlest hint," he said dryly and I blushed. "Many children have grandiose dreams, few realize what it takes for those dreams to become reality at that age. Some will grow into maturity in time, others find different paths. It seems like she's a bright young girl, intelligent enough to realize what her goals will take and determined enough to pursue them anyways. You might be a bit young to remember it, but back in my day there was the occasional tale of children becoming champions as teenagers."

"Yeah, yeah, we all know about Ash and the like. But the nightmares, how she acts like there are huge problems that she has to tackle by herself… I'm worried about her. There are other things too, like her poetry, how I'll sometimes catch her humming a tune to songs I've never heard, or her stories. She used to have such wonderful tales."

He tilted his head slightly at that. "I've heard she still has quite the imagination. She writes that comic with her sister, no?"

"That's true but… it's different now. She talks less about the world and more on other things. Everything from board game ideas to philosophy." It was quite disconcerting to logically argue ethical values and the difficulties of using consequentialism as a set of moral guidelines with a girl less than seven years of age. I shook my head, trying to figure out how to best say it, figure out what exactly I even meant that bugged me so much. "The stories were the biggest change. They're full of detail and internally consistent, but often feel like she's trying to fit the story in, like a round peg in a square hole. Before she had far more fanciful, freeform stories, about Legendaries and rare Pokemon, epic journeys."

"Like?"

"Oh, things like Groudon and Kyogre fighting with 'Primal Revision' or something like that before Mega-Rayquaza stopped them. And then something about a meteor and an 'alien' Pokemon? Which she was insistent was different than extra-dimensional Uber Beasts."

He opened his eyes fully from his usual slit-gaze, or at least the one I could see that was not hidden by his hair curl. "Really? That does sound… quite fantastic. I might ask her a bit about that."

"Good luck. Any time I try asking her about such stories, she Clamperls up, and claims she doesn't remember anything like that, or forgot. But I can read her well enough to know she's lying. Do you think she's embarrassed about her previous stories?"

He took a moment to think it over. "That could be the case," the majordomo didn't sound very convinced, however. "Have you tried asking her about these changes in character?"

"I- no sir. I've hinted at it, and she refuses to talk to me about it. I… even asked Master O'Nare and Master Billy to ask, but they haven't had the time to bring such things up." I bit my tongue at how it seemed like they didn't care. Of course they laughed off my concerns as silly, it's not like I have anything concrete. Distortion, it might even be that I'm just working myself up over nothing.

Hamber let out a heavy sigh at that. "I wish you had talked to me about it first, but it does seem like there is something bothering her. However, we can only help her if she wants to be helped. You can lead a Mudbray to water, but you can't make them drink. Trying to pressure her further might be less than helpful."

There was silence as I finished my tea, taking it all in. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just worry about her. All of them, really."

"As do the rest of us. I'll inform Masters Billy and O'Nare that they don't need to pressure her and we're keeping an eye on the situation. Please, if anything else worries you or the situation worsens, come to me and I'll see what I can do. For now, just support her." He tapped the table for a moment, thinking before he said "Why don't you accompany her to the tournament? I'm sure she'll appreciate having you there to cheer her on."

"Really?" Considering Nemona's parents would be there, that meant I would basically be getting paid to take a day off and have some fun watching the tournament.

"I insist. We must support our charges in any way possible. I've noticed the Young Miss has come to rely on you a great deal."

"I wouldn't say that, she feels so independent already." I shook my head. "In any case, thank you for the talk." As I spoke he finished his tea, getting up from the table. "I think I'll try to be more open with her, in the future. At least that way we can avoid things like the Haxorus incident again."

The older man rubbed his hands together. "Indeed, it was quite the kerfuffle canceling the shipment of such a dragon, but she found her new partner so quickly that you were able to do so. Despite how mature they can be, children can also be fickle at times too."

"No, it wasn't that. Nemona has some unusual standards, I'll admit, but she sticks to them pretty firmly." Whenever asked about a specific Pokemon, she would always preface her opinions by saying how even if she didn't prefer some Pokemon over others, they were all great. Some of the Pokemon she liked were rare, or strong. A few were generally seen as cute. But some weren't overly popular, like Dun, who she would often extol the virtues of. "I think when she realized what was happening, she didn't believe she'd be able to handle a fully grown Dragon." She hadn't put up much decorations in her room since moving, but the fact that she had a big poster with a bunch of dragons, including a Haxorus front and center implied she hadn't given up on that dream.

"Yes, that would have been a bit much for her, no matter how smart she is. Luckily you managed to alert them and stop the transfer before the Haxorus would have been delivered here." He gave a thin smile. "It would have been a bit more difficult for me to find a Haxorus a good home than it was those Eevee's the Masters bought."

"Actually, I feel she underestimated herself. Given the training I saw her put her Dunsparce through? I believe she would have brought even a fierce Pokemon like Haxorus into line." He blinked, surprised.

"Really now?"

"Yes. The drills she had Dunsparce running were quite intense, drilling through boulders and snapping apart small trees with his body. And I think she might have even been holding back a bit on the training that I oversaw." Rotom is watching over her though, and they'd tell me if she was doing anything too crazy. "Still glad she didn't end up taking the Haxorus though, at least for my own sake. I'd have a heart attack every time I saw a Pokemon like that running through the house like Dun does."

Hamber made an agreeing sound, but seemed focused on my first point. "Hmm, I'll have to review her battles as well, when I get the chance. Might introduce her to some associates of mine that share an interest in battling and exploration."

"Oh? That sounds nice, she could use some more friends. She gets along well with that Arven kid, but she doesn't have anyone else she really plays with." Mostly what they did was battling (the Young Miss certainly has a one track mind), But I had also seen them talking about science or the world, or occasionally cooking together. At least they both seem to have fun together.

"Happy to help. Have a good night, Miss Odale." He left and I let out a long yawn. Probably for the best that I let this rest. I'm glad he invited me to air things out. Really takes a load off my mind.

Spoiler: A/N:

Another view from the outside in, this time with her closest maid. Nemona has not been the best at hiding how different she is, though it helps that only her mindset is changed now; she had the knowledge before the first chapter, it was just disjointed and didn't really click properly in her young mind. Oh and uh, some stuff that might be interesting if you've seen some of the other media. Don't worry if you don't know however; I started writing this story before watching Pokemon Horizons, so it'll all be just as much of a surprise to Nemona as it is to you.

 

[Skyfyre]

lol being extorted by a bread-dog is adorable. btw if you're looking for more interaction on this site specifically, I would suggest posting in the NSFW section where the majority of local population congregate.

Loving the story. HyperDrill is a baller move. It pierces protect and is high dmg and is accurate.

Click to shrink...

I thought about that, but it feels weird/slightly dishonest, especially since this story is safe for work. Idk.

I'm glad you're liking it! Yeah, it's a really great Move, I like it alot. And just how versatile Dun is. like most Normal Types, he can learn a lot of different Moves, and not being limited by a four Move set really helps.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Yakubi42]

I'm glad I happened to look at the SFW section when this was up front, I would have missed an awesome story otherwise, it's an unfortunate reality that the NSFW board gets most of the traffic on this site, but i'm glad we can still have SFW stories on this site, too.

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

I thought about that, but it feels weird/slightly dishonest, especially since this story is safe for work. Idk.

I'm glad you're liking it! Yeah, it's a really great Move, I like it alot. And just how versatile Dun is. like most Normal Types, he can learn a lot of different Moves, and not being limited by a four Move set really helps.

Click to shrink...

I only suggested it because the NSFW section also is where I found Hard Enough and The New Normal and they lack the lewds too. But yes I'm enjoying the pokemon journey. Keep up the good work!

 

[Yakubi42]

I only suggested it because the NSFW section also is where I found Hard Enough and The New Normal and they lack the lewds too. But yes I'm enjoying the pokemon journey. Keep up the good work!

Click to shrink...

technically SFW stories aren't supposed to be posted there. And some people will get annoyed if you do. I don't know if the mods do anything about it, but it's still not necessarily a good look.

 

[Skyfyre]

Huffing, huffing, "Gawd, why is that?" "Such a long climb?!" I groaned as I pulled myself another inch or so up the cliff.

"Gee, it's almost like this is so off the beaten path because no one goes up here for a reason, bzzt." Rotom drawled sarcastically. They were hovering lightly next to me as I made my way up the hill. A quick glance down revealed that it would be a long fall from where I was, but I wasn't too worried about the fall. No, what worries me, uff, is if my grip slips and I have to try to climb back up this cliff.

All of a sudden, a bit of dirt was pushed out of the side of the cliff, splashing dirt all over my hair. A spinning tail stuck out of the newly made hole. "A little close, Dun!" I shouted at him.

He gave a muffled reply and pulled himself back into the tunnel to begin boring a new path. Dunsparce was natural at digging tunnels and moving underground, but there was a certain skill to making them in battle.

Specifically, the ability to sense where was a safe area to return to, and to judge the position of their enemies by the vibrations in the ground. Exceptional ground types like Diglett could even get an idea of where a flying enemy might be just by the vibrations of the air hitting the ground.

This level of acuity would probably be too much for Dunsparce to handle, but I was hopeful that with time and practice, he'd be able to use it as another method of avoiding attacks and maneuvering around the battlefield. He trained it while I trained my strength and stamina to reach this peak.

"Bzzt, I really don't think you need to try this, young lady," Rotom said again, this time much more sincerely and with less of a smirk. "Especially with the way you were this morning..." I grimaced at the memory.

Waking up early wasn't something I enjoyed, but I could get used to it. Last night was bad though. Thoughts had been swimming through my mind, of different battle strategies, options to pursue in training, and the mounting pressure… it took me till well past midnight to get to sleep.

The sleep that followed was restless, with my dreams being plagued by visions of my past, friends, and family that were slightly distorted and off. Or were they even? Are my memories of them just going to fade into indistinct blurs over time?

Altogether it left me in a very tired and grumpy spot to wake up early too. Still, training had to go on. We only had a few days left before the three-day long 'break' I had planned before the tournament where Dunsparce would only go through light training. I didn't want him to get too stressed or overwork something right before the big day, so we were just going to stay home then. That might just be me being overly cautious and basing things too much on my previous life experiences. Pokemon recover a lot faster than I did when training for a martial arts tournament. Still, I think that it'll be good to give him time to decompress a little. Too much cramming isn't a good thing.

The flip side of that meant we had to put our all into the training right now, which is something I reminded myself of repeatedly as I scaled the cliff. Eventually, I pulled myself over the top, rolling on the grassy slope with a flop. "Ahhh, never doing that again." I groaned, just taking a moment to relax. Dunsparce had already drilled up to the top and Rotom was floating around looking disappointed but not worried for me, so I figured I was in no imminent danger.

My clothes were filthy, even more so than usual for my training, and I couldn't wait to get home and take a shower.

I cracked one eye open for a split second, trying to guess the time of day from the position of the sun. Only 10:00 am? I moaned again before I felt... something.

It didn't feel like touch or heat, more like weight without substance. I scrambled up and saw the green hills rolling down and up. A few other cliffs jutted up here and there, but they were much smaller than the one I had climbed to get here in the first place.

It was a vast, elevated expanse of land that stretched far beyond Porto Marinada. In this wild area, I could see all kinds of Pokemon. Foraging, exploring, some mingling and greeting each other. Many of them were of different types than the more common Pokemon below. The one that caught - no, demanded - my attention was a large, feline-like Pokemon with greenery built into its body. A Leafeon. Rare enough, but what made it special was the crystalline glow and the crown of flowers sprouting above its head.

It watched us intently from a cliff a few hundred meters away before leaping over and landing near us in an instant. It's fast! And not only fast, but graceful as well, I couldn't help but admire their movements.

It was one thing to be able to move that fast, but there were Pokemon that had sheer speed. To then land so elegantly? That took skill. The kind of skill that would take years to master under the best of circumstances. So it was disconcerting to see Dunsparce gathering violet energy on his tail, ready to attack the Grass-type.

"Aha, not this time, buddy," I said, waving a hand for him to stand down. While it's good that he's got a handle on his type matchups, this is not a fight we could win. This whole area, stretching out for a few kilometers, was wild, truly wild, not like the trails or nearby them that trainers would travel through. While wild Pokemon weren't necessarily violent or aggressive, they followed their own rules, and I could tell that this Leafeon was the one who set down the rules of this place.

"Hello. I'm Nemona. We've come to train against some of the Pokemon here, if you'll allow it." I moved to offer the Terastalized Pokemon a Berry, but they just shook their head. I guess a Grass type wouldn't have much problems foraging. Heck, one this strong might just be able to make whole Berry Trees instantly. The plants in this world grew unnaturally fast, with trees able to sprout up 3 meters and be laden with fruit in less than a year since planting, even without a Pokemon tending to them.

They gazed out at some of the Pokemon gathered around in the pseudo-valley below. A few of them were looking back, mildly curious at what Leafeon was doing. Glancing back at Dunsparce, they pointed with their paw at a pack of blue and black-furred canine creatures gathered around. Riolu! Wow, those are pretty rare, I'd never have imagined there would be a pack of them so close to where I live. "Eon." Then they hopped away to another high point, settling down to watch us.

"Well, that sounded like permission," I idly commented as I brushed some of the dirt off of me (a mostly futile process) and began walking down to the Riolu. "This should be a good challenge for you, Dun. Riolu are Fighting Types, your one weakness."

Rock and Steel types could be hard for him to hurt as well, but we'd already covered how to use things like Earthquake to check those counters. The enhanced damage he'd take from Fighting Types, especially using Fighting Moves, was a lesson he had to learn firsthand, and better to experience it for the first time now rather than in the tournament.

"Bzzt, are you sure this is a good idea?" Rotom asked nervously, eyeing not only the Leafeon but also some of the other powerful Pokemon around. There were a lot stronger Pokemon here than the ones on the route. We could see some Swablu and even saw a few Altaria gently drifting around.

"It should be all right," I said, trying to keep my voice even. "We'll do some training, then get out of their hair."

"I believe most of the Pokemon here had fur, not hair, bzzt," Rotom said, which caused me to giggle.

"Fair." I stopped conversing with Rotom as we approached the group. Of the slightly more than half dozen of them, three of them stepped forward. The biggest one had a small scowl on his face but seemed more concerned with how the smaller two were looking at him. The other two just seemed wary and confused.

Do they have Telepathy? No, I think that's just Lucario. I need to catch one of those. Something about my thoughts caused a slight shift in their stances.

Ah, but they do have Empathy though. Welp, I'm being honest about what I want. It should be fine.

"We'd like to challenge you. Anyone who's willing to spar against Dunsparce here is free to try. We'll heal up anyone after any round." I explained. This had mixed results. One of the smaller ones stepped back at that, uninterested, but another Riolu's ears perked up at that from where she had been meditating, stepping up to meet us.

The big one swaggered forward, ready to fight, and I stepped back to give Dunsparce room. He flexed a little, extending out small but sharp-looking claws. Calling "Begin!" The two Pokemon rushed at each other, Riolu reaching Dunsparce first easily, and striking with his Metal Claw.

Dunsparce cried out with pain but didn't let that stop him from Body Slamming the Fighting type right back. Riolu was shocked at the force the land snake had dealt him, staggering back. "Poison Jab!" I yelled, Dunsparce quickly capitalizing on the opening to stab Riolu with his tail. The Riolu stumbled back a bit, growling at us, before whimpering and falling to one knee, raising one paw in surrender and another clutching at the prick from the Poison Jab.

"The fight is over!" I called out, quickly rushing over with Potions and Antidotes. I tended to Riolu's wounds first, as he was the worst hurt and not wanting the Poison to get any worse. Our sparring partner collapsing on us would probably not make the others here happy. Not that it would entirely be our fault - this Riolu was weaker than he was trying to display himself as. An important reminder that being bigger was never a real determiner of power in this world.

Dunsparce puffed up a bit with his victory, but I could see him still warily watching the other two Riolu out of the corner of his eyes. Good, means he isn't letting it get to his head.

After the healing was done and the first went off to lick his wounds, the second Riolu stepped up, letting out an adorable a fierce battle cry. "Go!" I called out, and the two of them moved toward each other, but this time the wild Pokemon was a bit more hesitant in their approach.

The Riolu's speed was still much greater, however, and they eventually struck to the side. Dunsparce countered as we'd practiced, spinning his drill tail to ward her off, but that was the opening she had been waiting for! Sliding to the side, she struck his unguarded flank.

Darn it, a feint! "Quick, keep her off balance, then plow in!" Dunsparce took in the command instantly, flopping on the ground to make an Earthquake. He wasn't putting his full power into it, so it only jostled the Riolu around a bit, rather than doing any real damage, but he could also fire it off faster this way. That close to him, the Riolu had enough trouble staying standing, and no chance of dodging the Body Slam he launched into her.

"Wow, that was incredible," I said awed, and Rotom decided to chime in too.

"You have trained him quite well, bzzt." I was glad to hear him being civil, and even complimentary towards Dun after how abrasive they had been before. There was something more than politeness or even honest respect to their tone though. Maybe wistfulness? I didn't have time to decipher it further though.

"Thank you, but it's not just that- harass her! Keep up the pressure! - see what he just did there? He figured out a new way to combine his techniques. Using the aftershocks of the Earthquake, he propelled himself ahead, empowering the Body Slam, that's why she took so much damage from it. I never taught him that, he just figured it out on his own." My mind was already whirring with ideas on how to incorporate it into our training now, though.

Rotom went silent after that, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the fight to see how they were emoting to that. Dunsparce was tearing up the battlefield, pushing Riolu back, but they were used to it enough that they could dodge the attacks. I also noticed, the last challenger intently watching her fellow's motions. She's going to be the toughest fight yet, I'm sure of it. I can… feel it? Somehow, I just know it.

The current combatant finally gave up the defense, springing off a nearby tree to land a heavy blow with her paw that had Dunsparce rolling back in pain. "That's a Fighting Type move, they'll hurt a lot, but you gotta get focused!"

My encouragement didn't work right away; she followed up with another strike of the same kind - not a low kick or a sweep. Maybe a rock smash? It seems pretty weak, all in all. - and Dunsparce was once again knocked backwards, staggering in pain. I had a moment's hesitation before I saw the steely glint in his eye.

As Riolu, grinning with her success charged heedlessly in, I called out, "Jab now!" She had no chance to reverse her momentum before Dunsparce swiveled, jabbing in with his tail, instantly covered in the purple poison energy. She swayed for a moment before collapsing in a heap on the ground.

I took the time to patch everyone up again (Potions were amazing) and checked in on Dunsparce, to see how he was doing.

"So, that was your first time taking on your Type weakness. I don't, can't, know what it's like to be hit by that, but I'm proud of you for pushing through." Dunsparce gave a bright almost 'chirp' like sound at that praise. "There's no shame in calling it here if you think you aren't up for another fight." Before I could get the words out he was vehemently shaking his head.

"Alright then!" I pumped my fist up. "Just know that this will be a lot tougher than the other fights, so give it your all," I cheered.

"Duuuun!" He cried back, tail beating lightly against the ground in anticipation. I think we both know that we aren't going to be coming back here again for a while. That was a tough climb up, too tough for me to have tried it, if I'm being honest. And while the Leafeon has been accepting of our presence so far, I think it's more as a 'rare curiosity' than accepting us as frequent visitors to its domain.

Not that I thought that they would hurt us, but I was pretty sure he could bar any paths we tried to get back up. Today would be the only chance we got at this.

With that in mind, I could see why Dunsparce wanted to push it to end on a high note, taking on the toughest challenger… of the small pack of Riolu's we actually had a chance against. Still a big deal to us!

The final Riolu stepped up, no battle cries or bravado here, just a calm, measured gait as she stepped forward. Dunsparce wiggled his way over to square off against her "Go." I said and she began immediately. Not running towards my Pokemon, but instead punching the air. The force created ripples in the air, flying out and smashing straight into Dun! Dammit! I forgot that the Lucario line can do ranged Fighting Moves like that.

Dunsparce was valiantly trying to advance through the attacks, but there was no point - she could easily outpace him even if he wasn't trying to dodge the attacks (and given her precision, I doubted dodging would have worked either). Let's slow her down a bit. "Glare!" I called out, and Dunsparce responded, fixing her with a killer stare.

Her muscles immediately contracted, spasming and causing her next attack to go wide, despite Dunsparce stopping for a second to use his Move. The fact that it remained slightly cohesive despite the Paralysis was impressive.

"Poison Jab!" I called out as Dunsparce closed in. Riolu tried to dodge but still ended up grazed by Dun's tail as she retreated, her muscles still moving too stiffly. Dunsparce tried to follow it up with some Body Slams, landing solid hits as she moved to get away, but I saw her landing a few point-blank Fighting Type air bursts of her own. Darn, why can't I remember the name of that Move? It's not Aura Sphere, it doesn't deal nearly enough damage for that.

In fact, it was doing a fair bit less than I had first been worried about. Sure, it still hurt Dun, but he was tanking the hits well and dealing back more than he was taking now that the Paralysis slowed her down too much to move.

She proved herself to be a cut above the other Riolu, when she ducked down, perfectly dodging a Body Slam. Then, half kneeling and holding a forepaw to the ground, she was surrounded with green energy, the grass swaying all around her.

"Huh?" I said, looking confused, and Dunsparce did much the same. Our mistake, as she suddenly rushed towards him, blurring across the battlefield. He got knocked up into the air, flopping back down as she blew by him.

"Shake it off! Earthquake into Body Slam!" He tried to do so, but with the power of Trailblaze (That's the name of that Move! How did she learn it?) speeding her up, the Riolu was able to partially go back to her old tactics, dodging around and firing air bursts at Dun. Occasionally, with her muscle spasms and the shaking ground, Dunsparce was able to get close enough to land a hit, but those were coming fewer and farther between as she used Trailblaze to speed up.

"Whack a mole! 60 degrees, four meters!" Dunsparce drilled through the ground, hiding underneath the ground. Riolu aborted her latest charge, looking confused and wary. Almost exactly where I had planned, Dunsparce burst out of the ground beside her and swung his body around to smack into her. She bent back with the blow, but not enough to avoid it…

"BARREL ROLL!" I shouted desperately, sweeping my arms in front of me as if that would somehow help him move faster. The Riolu twisted back, taking the force of the hit she had taken into a devastating Counter that Dunsparce barely avoided. We were both somewhat shocked, but he had reacted fast to my shout, pushing himself away, propelled ever so slightly (but critically) by his little wings and just evading the strike that cracked the earth through its sheer force.

Riolu was breathing heavily, that last shot had taken a lot out of her, but she wasn't done yet. Dunsparce, for his part, looked quite battered. The fight would seem to be in my favor, but with a lack of ranged attacks, I felt it was tilted in her favor, even though she was on her last legs. Whack a mole won't surprise her again, she'll just detect next time (I'm almost sure that's how she dodged before Trailblaze). We can't catch her in melee with her speed boosts...it's not perfect yet, but we'll just have to try it.

"Dun, Yawn," I called out, hoping that the general weary state of both fighters would be enough. He let out a massive Yawn as she struck him with an air burst. He let out a cry from the pain as the compressed air glanced off his side. Used to the pain of a super effective Move, however, he was able to rush forward, even as Riolu swayed from the drowsiness.

"Earthquake!" Despite the proximity, sleepiness, and Paralysis, Riolu had enough celerity to jump into the air and avoid the Move. "Body Slam." I knew now how fast Dunsparce could push himself off of an Earthquake now, so he'd probably have time to hit her and at least tie, assuming he couldn't take one more hit.

Riolu elected not to meet him head-on, however, firing out a burst of compressed air to the side to push herself mid-air out of the way, rather than aiming at him. Smart, could have worked too, if he missed and overextended, but despite the look of them, those wings aren't decorative. "Glide! Swivel and crash into her!" I called out before Dun could drift past her.

The blue-furred Pokemon gave a small yelp of surprise as Dunsparce spun around mid-air and dived toward her like a ballistic missile. His large head slammed into her and she was down for the count, giving out a cry before hitting the ground, rolling around a bit, and lying still.

She doesn't have the swirly eyes. It was a truly minor complaint, and probably made sense that it wouldn't be a thing actually in the real world, rather than in the anime, but still. It would definitely be handy for telling when someone has fainted or not.

It was pretty clear in this case though, that she had fainted. Dunsparce wasn't doing much better overall, swaying a little and very bruised up. Despite his exertions and injuries, however, he was proudly calling out his name for the world to hear, triumphant. Good for you, buddy. I used a Revive, crumpling up the sharp-smelling crystal to bring Riolu back to clarity and then applying a few Super Potions to tend to some of her wounds.

She accepted the first few sprays, letting out a sigh of relief at that, but soon enough waved me off, before I was even finished, walking off stiffly. Pride? Or maybe something else. In any case, she was quite skilled, especially for a wild Pokemon. I'll have to keep that in mind, that more than just raw 'elemental' power, wild Pokemon can have plenty of skill and tactical knowledge too. She walked past her pack, ignoring them even as they were excitedly chatting amongst themselves, sometimes acting out making motions about different parts and Moves of the battles. The last fighter went to a nearby rock with a flat top, sat down, and began to meditate.

I used the rest of the potion on Dun and pulled another Super Potion to tend to the rest of his injuries. He gave a happy warble before the three of us (including Rotom) turned to face Leafeon as they stepped towards us again. "Lea. Fe." It wasn't said harshly or in anger, indeed, they seemed amused at our fights and maybe even slightly glad for what we did for the pack. However, it was clearly time for us to go.

"Thank you for this," I said, giving them a bow of my head. Dunsparce followed suit, and then followed me and left.

***

After the battles, we headed back down to the Pokemon Center beside Los Platos to get Dunsparce checked up. Potions were great, but it really helped to get properly looked at in a center after a couple of tough battles.

The Pokemon centers were a bit different in Paldea than in other regions. Part of that was the advancements in technology we had to allow for more compact centers with less space needed to be taken up, while still having all the standard amenities. That is, a healing machine and a small shop - you could trade in 'rare finds' for money or League Points, but there wasn't a direct Technical Machine Machine. Perhaps a later creation, like the Pokedex App, or maybe just an ease of game mechanics. They don't have the 'Choice' Items here, so things aren't 1 for 1.

The other side of the Center's design was an attempt to try and have further reach across the vast land. The cities were somewhat scattered, so for a weary explorer, it made sense to have more numerous, compact, safe places to rest up in than just one Center per city. Despite how the remoteness would seem like a potential risk from wild attacks, I knew that there was a barrier built into the edges of each Center. From there, a metal dome could pop up and seal the place off.

It wasn't perfect - if some really strong wild Pokemon decided to break through, I couldn't imagine much in this world being able to stop them. But each Center's locations were carefully chosen by the rangers to ensure that they would be in relatively stable locations in the wild, while also being well-spaced and accessible for travelers. The small area of the Centers also made it less likely for wild Pokemon to consider it an infringement on their territory. It was kinda crazy to consider all the work and consideration needed to create these basically outposts, but people found a way. I knew all of this from the research I had done on the Centers in my ongoing frustrations studies into the advanced engineering of this world.

"Your Dunsparce is looking fine, Miss." The Nurse Joy said, taking me out of my thoughts as she grabbed the Pokeball out of the healing device and passed it back to me. "He'll probably still be a bit tired however, so take it easy for the next bit," she warned

"Got it, thank you. We went through some pretty tough training this morning, so taking a cool down for the afternoon sounds good." I responded.

"You've been training hard; I've never seen a Dunsparce so… fit before." She had a slightly confused expression on her face. I guess there aren't many trainers that use Dunsparce, especially since Larry isn't even an Elite Four yet. Not because they can't be strong, but because most would rather run away first than fight, so few people catch them.

"Yeah, we're competing in the Junior Tournament up at Mesagoza in a week and a half. We gotta work hard if we want to do well! But, I have no doubts. Dun is great." He must have heard me in his ball because it wiggled a bit in my hand.

The Nurse smiled. "It's great to see a young trainer with such a close bond. I might go and see you battle there." Oh wow, I hadn't realized my few visits had made such a big impression.

"Don't you live here?" I asked and she gave me a smirk.

"I don't live in the Pokemon Center, Miss Glitterati." I scratched the back of my head sheepishly at that.

"Ah, sorry. I guess I forgot how close it was." Looking out over the hills, it was easy to see the massive walls that surrounded the largest city in the land - perhaps even the largest city in the world. "Even when we're training, my guardians don't want me traveling too far from home." There was a suspicious look in her eyes at my unbelievably dirty clothes that told me she had some doubts about how well I had followed the rules. I studiously refused to answer the unspoken question. Instead, I changed the subject.

"I guess you don't live 'here' either," I said, waving my arms around at the Pokemon Center. "But what about the nurses and shopkeeps in the more remote Centers?"

"Well, you're right in that I live in town, but there is a shelter beneath the center." She admitted. I was surprised at first, but it made a lot of sense. They probably have a similar dome-type structure going underground all the time. It would stop any Pokemon that might accidentally burrow into it and give them more space to use. "It's kind of cramped, even for a few people, but it gives trainers that are really exhausted some place to rest without calling in a Flying Taxi. I'm glad I don't get stationed out there - they get more time off and get rotated out by the taxis and rangers, but I've heard from my colleagues that it can get pretty rough."

I almost asked her why she got into being a Pokemon Nurse… but held my tongue. It felt too personal, too awkward. Or maybe that's just an excuse for not being good at talking to others. In any case, I thanked her and gave my farewell, searching for a good spot to rest up.

I liked picnics as much as the next… well, the next non-Paldean because they seemed a little obsessed with them. I get that they're good for eating outside and that the dimensional pockets in my bag plus easily foldable tables make for an easy enough setup outside, but I don't know. Seems like a bit much to do every day when you're on the road. Though, I knew it was just because I didn't like sandwiches. Maybe I can blame it on being Unovan? And hope no one calls me out on it? I thought as I took out the meat and bread keeping them separate as I put the deconstructed sandwich on my plate.

Releasing Dun by his food bowl, I sat back and Rotom floated up, knowing well that I'd want to review the battles. Dunsparce liked it too, but he tended to be a bit more focused on the food right after training than the video. We both were there, but it helps to be able to go over things slowly, without the rush. A different angle also helps.

"Pause it right there." I said, right as the Riolu in our final battle was crouched. "Now play it at half-speed." I saw the green light bloom beneath their feet before they shot forward, ripping up the grass as they went. "That was a well timed Trailblaze." I totally forgot that Riolu could learn that. Can't believe I let myself get stuck in thinking she'd just use Normal Moves, or Moves of her own Type.

"Trailblaze, bzzt?" Rotom inquired.

"Yeah, it's a Grass Type Move that does decent damage, but more importantly, makes you faster each time you use it. I didn't even realize that Riolu could learn it." I recognized the Move this time from a few times I'd seen it in televised matches. "Hmm…" Isn't Trailblaze a TM Move? Yeah, I think it is. I guess that means that Riolu had a Trainer once. I wonder why they'd leave the Riolu- Or maybe I'm looking at it wrong. Technical Machines can't be learned by every Pokemon, they're limited, which means that aside from the device, there has to be a base level of compatibility with the Move in question. And while TMs can help teach up a Pokemon on a new Move fast with modern technology, they've had Move Tutors to help Pokemon learn Moves outside their base set as long as Hisui at least. Who's to say that only humans could help a Pokemon learn a Move outside their common knowledge? Like say, a natural Grass Tera Leafeon helping a Riolu learn a Grass Move without a TM.

"Dun Du?" Dunsparce asked, lifting his head from the bowl. I got the feeling that he felt the bowl was 'inelegant' after seeing our plates, but given his body, plate eating was… messy, to say the least. My answer was to get him a very fancy, gold-plated bowl. Was it gold-plated, or did they just make the whole thing out of gold? That feels like overdoing it, but I did ask my parents…

Dun shook me out of my thoughts again. "Sparce." He rolled his eyes slightly at my absentmindedness, while Rotom suppressed a giggle.

"Right, sorry. Just thinking we might see a lot of that Move in the tournament, so it was good luck to practice against it here."

"Bzzt, why do you believe you'll see it often in the tournament? It's a rather rare Move from what I can recall of the professional matches you've reviewed, bzzt." Rotom said, puzzled.

"That's right, good memory Rotom!" The ghost in the machine smiled at my praise. "It isn't used a ton in the higher level stuff, but given this is a low level competition, the trainers will only have 1 badge at most. Mesagoza is situated with two gyms nearby on either side. The Bug Gym to the West, and the Grass Gym to the East." As I spoke, I pointed out with my arms to the horizon on either side of the massive mega-city.

"The Gyms will often give TMs as rewards for winning, and the TM for the Grass Gym? Trailblaze." At least, I think so. Brassius isn't even leading that Gym right now, let alone if the rewards change based on badge level or other factors not in the game I never considered… whoops.

It was too late to take back my hasty words now, however, Rotom gasping in surprise while Dunsparce nodded his head in determination, just taking it as a matter of fact that I knew everything. Rotom, however, questioned me (though I suspected it was more on reflex rather than not really believing me). "How do you know that, bzzt?"

"Haha, well, I've just been studying a lot?" I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. That's not good enough to cover my meta-knowledge, I need something better. "Just, they say your Journey, or Treasure Hunt here, is a really big deal, so I want to make sure I get it right, you know? I'm probably overthinking things, but it doesn't hurt to make some plans for the future."

"Right, you probably have everything planned out, bzzt. Like every member of your team and how you'll beat all the gyms." Rotom said, an odd inflection in their voice.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing like that. Sure, I have Pokemon I like and think are particularly cool, but I don't have any specific plans set in stone or anything."

"Bzzt, I'm sure your parents could arrange for you to get any Pokemon you'd want."

"Arce?" Dunsparce added, turning up from the video to look at me too.

I shook my head. "There are too many Pokemon in the world that I'd love to train for that to work out. And some, even my parents couldn't buy for me." Like Legendaries or ancient Pokemon like Hisuan Zorua. Not that I'd really want them to try to, for a lot of reasons. "But more to the point, whatever type of Pokemon I could want, I wouldn't be sure they'd be compatible with me. That's what's most important. Any Pokemon can be strong, I want ones who will," I paused for a second almost feeling embarrassed before admitting: "I want ones who will be my friends too. You can't buy a love for adventure, a desire to get stronger, or a kind soul."

They were both staring at me now, Rotom having flipped over fully to face me and I felt my face flush feeling incredibly embarrassed. This is why I hate talking. I get overly dramatic. "Uh, but yeah, that's why I don't have a team planned out in advance. I don't know what any Pokemon I meet will be like, and even that isn't a guarantee; I could meet someone who was great, but not at all what I had thought a friend could be like."

"Am- am I your friend?" Rotom stuttered, losing their usual verbal tic.

"Wha-? Of course! You helped me out so much, and you've got a great snark and dry sense of humor- wait." I looked at Rotom, realizing what they were asking. "Do you want to be on my team?"

"... Yes." It took them a moment to say it, but their face was determined and serious.

"Of course! I'd love to have you on my team. This is something you've been thinking about for a while, haven't you?"

"Ever since you mentioned Rotom being 'strong Pokemon', bzzt," they admitted. Oh jeez, that was something I said on literally the first day I got here. Can't believe I missed that all this time.

"Ah. Sorry about that, I always thought you didn't want to fight. Which is fine," I added quickly. "You can still be our friend, even a part of the team if you don't want to fight. You already do a ton helping organize my days and record the matches-"

"I want to get stronger. To fight in matches, to help you become a Champion rank!" They declared proudly and I couldn't help but grin broadly. "But… I'm worried that I won't be good enough at it, bzzt. I don't have good fighting instincts like you, or Dun," they added begrudgingly.

"That's not a problem! Or well, it is, but it's dealable like any problem. No one is a perfect fighter to start, and I get that it's scary. You're willing to take the first step though and that's all that matters. We can work on your skills, help develop your reactions from here. Oh man, we're going to do great. I know it's a bit late so we'll have to do some training in these last few days, but I think I'll be able to use you in the first few rounds. I'll stick to Dun in the latter rounds-"

"Bzzt, I don't think that will be possible."

"No, I really think with even a few days you could fight in at least the first round-" I tried to explain before Rotom interrupted again.

"Actually you won't be able to use me because you won't be able to register me with a Junior license, bzzt." I put my hands in my face, utterly embarrassed at the idea that they were right. "But I appreciate it, bzzt. I'm- I'm going to become stronger, be the strongest Rotom in all of Paldea!" They announced with a shaky voice. Dunsparce rolled his eyes, but I could tell there was a fondness there - he wasn't upset with Rotom now that they had revealed their feelings.

"Heck yeah you will! We're gonna train you to the bone till you can crush anyone!" I cheered.

"Bzzt, I worry I have made a grave mistake," they moaned while I laughed and Dunsparce made a huffing sound that I knew was his equivalent.

Alright, I've got my second Pokemon! Even if I can't use Rotom in the tournament, this is awesome. It was days like this, filled with unexpected treasures and incredible discoveries that made me so glad to be reborn in this life. Reborn, right…

"Actually, there's one last thing. Something I should tell you about myself before you join. Honestly something I should have told both of you long before." I pulled my knees in closer and Dun tilted his large head at me. "I'm not- not from this world. Or maybe I just have memories from a previous life, it's confusing."

"What do you mean, bzzt?"

"You remember how I suddenly changed, that day that I told you Rotom could be strong and started getting really into battling?" They 'nodded' by hovering up and down. "On that day I suddenly found myself reborn in this life. Or maybe just I had memories of my old life, I still have fuzzy memories of my childhood here before, so perhaps I was always Nemona? But before that I was- well it doesn't matter. One day I suddenly realized I was in a strange new world."

Before I could go on, Dun slithered over and bumped me in the side with his head. 'You matter, you're important,' was the message I got, and I gave him a watery smile, scratching the top of his head. "Thanks. I was…" I told them my name.

"Bzzt, that's a nice name. Should we call you that?"

"It was. But I'm Nemona now. Oh! What about you Rotom? If you're on my team, do you want a name?"

They were silent for a long moment. "I wouldn't be opposed to a name, bzzt. It has to be the right name, though."

"So, 'Sparky' isn't going to cut it?" They gave me a very flat look in response and I laughed. "Alright, alright, I'll work on it. If you guys still want to be on a team with me. I know I shouldn't have hid this from you two, for so long but… it's hard."

"Dun?"

"My parents? What could I tell them? Sorry, I'm not really your daughter? Or I am, but I remember being raised by an entirely different family? No, I just- I can't tell them. Maybe it's cowardly, but even if they accepted me, I don't think I could deal with the way they would look at me after. It's easier with you guys; you've mostly only known me as I am now."

"Do you know how this happened, bzzt?"

"No clue. I mean, realistically, Arceus probably had some of their thousand hands in this-"

"Bzzt!" Rotom gave a surprised buzz. Name-dropping god might have been a bit much.

"Uh, I didn't get any divine messages from them or anything but, well in my past life there were a lot of stories. Games, media, merchandise, etcetera. That's how I 'come up' with a lot of my ideas. Just trying to remember great ideas - or ideas that I felt had a lot of squandered potential - and bring them to life here." Rotom gave a wide 'O' face, everything clicking into place.

Not sure if they truly believed me before this, but I think they do now. "One story I never told and never will to anyone else, was the story of one of the largest franchises in my first life. That of Pokemon."

Rotom made a small gasping noise while Dun narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to puzzle it out. "There were different versions, games and television shows were the biggest but each part of the franchise portrayed a world with fantastical creatures with incredible abilities, working side-by-side with humans. It was an incredible fantasy… until I found myself living in it."

"A world without Pokemon? That sounds as crazy as a world without humans, bzzt. No offense, Young Miss." Rotom tacked on to the end.

"Hey, none of that now. You're on my team now, so just call me Nemona. And there's a couple of games that covered worlds without humans and just Pokemon, though I never played them much." Hope that Mystery Dungeon stuff never becomes relevant to me. "Which is the other reason why I didn't tell anyone. They'll think I'm crazy, or if they do believe me, they might want to use the knowledge I have on this world for their own ends."

Most of my knowledge of Legendaries and the like is out of date, or maybe never accurate to this world, and a lot of it I can't say for sure yet. But some of it is definitely, dangerously accurate.

"Bzzt, that's a lot-"

"Dun un."

"I was getting to that, bzzt!" Rotom angrily buzzed at my starter, who huffed smugly back. "It makes sense why you didn't tell us."

"It's still not right! Other people I might keep it secret from, but you're my team. My closest friends. That was just the explanation, not an excuse. I shouldn't have kept this from either of you."

"Arce, ar?" Dun said, wiggling his body oddly and glancing down.

"What are you- oh. Do I know how strong you will be? That's- I've got a guess. See, when I said I knew about this world, I knew about… the original Nemona's team. She was a champion, probably the strongest champion in Paldea, and she did have a Dunsparce on her team. I can't tell if you're the same Dunsparce she would have picked up without my memories, or 'my' existence, whatever the influence was. But it doesn't matter. That day on the beach, I wasn't thinking about that life or what could have been. No matter who you are, I stand by that promise to make you the strongest."

"Dun spar, dunsparce." He said happily before crawling into my lap.

"Huh? Sorry, I didn't quite get that one."

"Bzzt, I believe he was saying that it doesn't matter who you are either, he stands by his promise to be your Pokemon too." The sly smirk Rotom gave me told me that they felt the same way.

"You guys…" The tears dripped down my face, but they were happy and I let them fall freely, hugging Rotom and Dun close. This is truly an incredible world I live in, to have such wonderful friends. I'm so glad to be here.

Spoiler: A/N:

And so concludes the training mini-arc, now with Rotom joining the team and Nemona coming clean about her past memories to them! This was a big one and I want to thank everyone for coming so far with me in this story.

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

The strongest pokemon is the pokemon that will stick with you no matter what.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Skyfyre]

The day of the big tournament finally came, and with it an onset of sudden nerves. Little thoughts, that I wouldn't do well, that they'd call me a fool, that I'd get Dun hurt, etc. lingered in my mind. Nothing that could stay for long though, or fight against my excitement for this day.

I know, realistically I'm not likely to win the whole thing, but I really hope I do well. Both for the good feeling of doing well, and also for showing off to prove myself to Tulip. Learning about Aura was hardly the most important thing in this world when Pokemon could manipulate it so much better than people, but it still seemed really cool.

Plus, making a good impression on a future gym leader and teacher wouldn't be bad I thought as I finished up my breakfast. I just had a bowl of cereal today, something light before we headed out to Mesagoza.

Leah was standing behind me as usual, but this time dressed in casual clothes rather than her maid outfit. Her white sundress had a floral design to it with a matching sunhat, the outfit brought together by a dark blue jacket she wore overtop the dress. I liked it, but it was weird, like seeing your teacher at the grocery store and remembering they had a life outside of the professional setting you usually saw them in.

My sister had a dark skirt and a pink blouse, a combination she had tried to sell me on previously which I had refused vehemently. I had a white T-shirt with red stripes and pale blue cargo pants. Unassuming, but you didn't need a cape or something extravagant like that to be a champion. I've still got a long way to go on that road, but this is a big step down that path.

Dunsparce was finishing up his meal on the ground beside me (a mix of pate and Kalosian toast that he loved) when my parents entered the dining room, one after another. They were both dressed in golden business suits, rather than their more casual, still gold, and ridiculously expensive 'regular person apparel'.

That clue meant I wasn't surprised when they started tripping over each other with excuses.

"So sorry dear, an emergency at work-"

"Sudden recall of a new phone model-"

"Wild Pokemon were missed on the site, now the workers are in danger-"

"Somehow we only have five workers at the factory right now? I need to-"

"Hopefully it won't take too long-"

"I'll try to be back for your later matches-"

"It's fine," I said with a smile and if there was any bitterness in it, I wiped it away in the blink of an eye. They aren't my par- not my first parents. Shouldn't hold them to the standards of my first ones. My mom and dad were always there for me, but I hardly had the life of luxury I have here, where I can get anything I want just by asking for it. That's just the trade-off in life (lives?), right?

Leah stepped up "I'll keep a close eye on the Young Miss and Young Master while you're out, and record any of the matches you miss to watch later." Billy and O'Nare thanked her profusely, then each of them gave me and my sister a hug and a kiss on the head, before running out the door.

Things were awkward as we finished getting ready after that. Not because I was upset, but I think because Leah and Cyan were worried that I was, and didn't know what to say about it. Eventually, as we went outside to the Flying Taxi Leah had arranged to pick us up, my sister asked me "Are you excited for your first tournament?"

No duh, I am. Excited, nervous, happy, so much more. I didn't say that though, wanting to keep the snark to a minimum (and fearing my nerves might make me sound worse than I was). She was proudly carrying her Popplio Egg which had arrived during my training time in an incubator with straps to let her carry the egg like a (very secure) backpack. The incubator was filled with water, to help better simulate the aquatic environment a Popplio would be born in. Still feels weird that she was just able to order that, but I guess that's how things are in this world. Plus, the rancher said the Primarina mother was very specific in wanting her egg to go to someone 'absolutely loaded', and my family does fit that bill.

"Yeah! I'm not sure how tough it'll be, but we've trained hard and will give it our all!" I had reviewed the past five years of this tournament since it was a big enough event to be televised and well-discussed. Unfortunately, it being open only to the newest trainers meant it was very hard to measure. A few years back, the tournament was swept by some Alolan girl who didn't have any Badges but had completed the full set of island trials. Z-Moves are crazy strong, I'm amazed that the barriers held against most of them (though I think they reinforced them midway through that tourney). I'd like to go to Alola someday, and try my hand at the trials. Plus Alola has some great Pokemon.

If I would go, it'd be sometime in the far future - that tournament had been the last straw and led to Paldea equating the island trial to gym badges earned, much like many other regions had as trade and travel with the island nation grew more common. Some Alolans complained about that, feeling that the Island trials weren't the same as Gym battles, so treating trainers who passed them as having the same experience disadvantaged them on foreign soil. This was true, admittedly; the island trials were about forging a connection with the land around you, and any battle experience was incidental… However, it was also true that most trial goers gained a good deal of battle experience and a Z-Ring and Z-Crystals, so they had plenty of advantages beyond some newbies with a first-stage starter.

As we stepped into the Flying Taxi, the driver asked "Where to today, ladies?"

"Please take us to Professor Turo's house, then to Mesagoza." Leah said. The trip took a while since Turo (and more importantly, Arven) didn't live nearby in the Lighthouse where the Player met them in the games. At least not yet. I wonder if I've rippled that away?

I hoped I hadn't, but it wouldn't be a big deal if they didn't move closer; I could easily fly over whenever and had gotten Arven a Rotom phone for his birthday last month. Still not super thrilled about the idea of gifting people living, thinking creatures, but at least with my father's position, I was able to give Arven a tour of the company and let him meet all the Rotoms. He found the one that clicked with him most and really wanted to be his phone, so I think that's all good.

The flight passed by fairly quickly, with Leah and Cyan asking me about my strategies for the day ahead. I told them a couple of the tricks we'd practiced and the like, but couldn't say much more about my 'strategies' than that. "Tournaments are a lot trickier than Gym battles. You don't know what Pokemon all the other competitors are coming in with and there isn't much of anything to study. So I'll have to adapt somewhat based on what my opponents can bring out." There was a flip side to this of course - Gym Leaders had very strong teams, all their Pokemon kept to the highest standards, and each of them a master of their Typing, and thus able to counter much of the common (and at higher levels, even the uncommon) tricks used against them.

My biggest concern is a Ghost Type with Levitate, like Ghastly, Misdreavous, or even a Rotom (though Rotom is a lot less of a concern because it'll lose the Ghost Typing when it possesses an appliance). Earthquake and Normal Type Moves won't work on them and the only other Move we've mastered, Poison Tail, will be not very effective. Dunsparce can use Bite, as I learned from some of my matches with Arven after he copied Maschiff, but we didn't focus on practicing that during our big training stint. Might have been a mistake, but you can't do everything. The fundamentals we've improved are probably more important anyway. Hopefully his current abilities will be enough to give him solid coverage for this level of tournament.

A finger poked my cheek, disrupting my thoughts. "Oww," I complained, more from surprise than any real pain.

"Don't fall asleep before the tournament," Cyan chided in response, causing me to bristle.

"I wasn't falling asleep, I was thinking-"

"Children." Despite how lightly she said the word, her tone of voice was firm. "No fighting." A 'she started it' welled up on the tip of my tongue, but I shoved it down.

That'd just be immature. Besides, it doesn't matter. Focus on the battles ahead. "Yes ma'am," I said my sister begrudgingly followed suit.

When we touched down in front of Arven's house, I was mildly surprised to not see him waiting for us. He's usually so eager to come out and play. The house in question was a fairly ordinary brick house on the outskirts of Medali. If I didn't know it was the Professor's house, I never would have guessed from how normal it looked, but I was well aware of how past the red tile roof and white and beige bricks were all manner of half-finished devices and paperwork stacked to the ceiling from all the work Turo brought home with him.

Going up to the red wooden door, I knocked. I wasn't tall enough to see through the glass cut into the top of the door but could hear the sounds of conversation before Turo of all people opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Young Miss Glitterati?" He asked cooly, looking down at me, Arven standing behind him, slowly putting the pieces together.

"I have the big tournament today," I said, more to Arven than to him. The boy's eyes darted back and forth between me and his father.

Arven spoke up. "Oh right, I forgot about that." He probably got too excited over his dad being back in the house with him. I shouldn't intrude on their time together.

"It's fine. You're busy right now, we'll hang out later." I tried to say before being interrupted by Cyan, who had apparently followed me.

"What? No, it's not fine! C'mon, this is your big day sis, you've been training hard for ages for this!!" I almost face-palmed at that. Damn, I really appreciate the show of support sis, but this is not the time for it. Arven making close bonds with his dad could be important for the sake of the world. And even if not, at the very least this is some of the precious time he'll get with his dad before he gets way too engrossed in Area Zero. I couldn't say that out loud, however, and before I could think of something reasonable to deflect away, Turo asked me a question.

"You're participating in a tournament today? Will you be using the Tera Orb I sent to you?"

"Uh, I wasn't planning on it. The Junior Tournament rules state that I can't use battle items-" I began before he interrupted me.

"Tera Orbs have recently been ruled as 'Enhancements', and would not fall under the limits for battle items." That would make sense. For most 'Enhancements' at least part if not all of the items are held by the trainer, and they involve dramatic shifts to battles when activated. Z-Moves, Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and now Terastalization all fit under that description. Battle items are held by the Pokemon and give much more minor passive boosts, though those are still significant in a close fight. "I would be most interested in seeing you use it in a tournament setting," he continued, and I could practically hear Arven's heart breaking behind him. Despite it being worded almost like a request, the man was already walking past me and Cyan, towards the Flying Taxi.

"Uh, sure, I can do that. C'mon on Arven, it'll be a big multi family outing." The boy did seem to perk up a bit at that, eagerly following after his dad.

We got aboard and tried to pay for Turo and Arven to join us in our taxi, but Turo insisted on paying himself. Hmm, he begged pretty hard for our parent's money before, but that was before he made it big. I can see him not wanting to be more in our debt, or anyone's debt. He feels like a proud man. That was extrapolation on my part though; he was pretty difficult to get a read on. Nonetheless, I tried to pry a bit with some casual conversation during the flight.

"I didn't know they had made an official announcement about the classification of the Tera Orbs yet. I've been busy training the past month, working really hard to get Dunsparce ready for this tournament."

He raised an eyebrow "The announcement was made a few minutes before you arrived." It was that recent?! "I thought you might be an associate or reporter come to ask me questions about it." It was subtle, but there was a slight hint of frustration in his tone.

"Not a fan of the press?" I pressed.

"I have no problem with the news; reporting groundbreaking facts to the wider public is a noble endeavor. My issue comes from when they sully their 'reporting' with a fixation on asking about 'feelings', printing ephemeral fluff pieces instead of hard facts."

Awkward… It seemed that most of the other passengers felt the same way, no one talking for a moment until Leah spoke up. "Well, hopefully they'll be able to report on Young Miss Nemona's excellent battling skills today." I blushed at the praise.

"I'm really not that great yet." Real professionals do a lot more than me. Hidden commands, or variations on their spoken commands, planning out full team strategies to face other teams, how to deal with switches mid-battle, etc. All leagues above where I'm at. Despite that, I wasn't truly disappointed with myself, just having a realistic measure of how much further I'd have to go.

"'Yet'. You speak as if you will become great with time?" Turo asked, and even Arven jumped in at that.

"She will! She's really good at battling, probably the best! Besides you, I mean." Ah, he still has that fatherly worship. Still has the belief that Turo can do no wrong. I really don't want to break that innocence, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to someday. Otherwise, he might blame himself for all of Turo's screw-ups.

"You misunderstand; I'm not doubting her capabilities, but a scientist needs to come into any experiment with an open mind. Even as they present their hypothesis forward, they must be aware that the experiment may turn out differently than expected. So it is for the best that one reduces any biases they may have." The other kids just looked at him confused and even Leah gave him a second glance (and a pitying one at Arven, which the young boy missed, focused on his father).

Unknowingly, he was hitting on an issue I was quite worried about. Everyone might talk me up now, but that's just because I've got an adult's mind in a kid's body. The real Nemona, for all that people made fun of how obsessed she was with battling, truly was incredible. A very strong champion, and at quite a young age given she didn't have the advantages I do. I worry sometimes that even with that, I won't match up to her, won't be able to make it as far as she did, will screw up the 'plot' of the games. But…

"I guess the only way we'll find out is by seeing." I muttered, gripping my Pokeball tightly. Despite my words, I had faith. Even if I can't match up yet, I believe in my Pokemon. They'll do great.

The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, with Arven trying to get his father's attention, telling him stuff that he and Maschiff had done while he was out. He didn't seem too engaged but was nodding along. I was deep in thought, thinking about my strategies and how I'd approach things.

You would think that with just one Pokemon the strategies wouldn't get too complex, and while I'm sure they paled in comparison to full 6 v. 6 team battles, there was a lot to consider. Potions healed up tons and I was well stocked, but some hits would take time and dedicated resources like Pokemon Centers to fix up. On the other hand, I had to keep in mind Dun's energy. He was going to be fighting in a lot of battles in a row, and not having the endurance to go on would be as bad or worse than being roughed up from a previous fight.

Me fretting over these minutiae was mostly just nerves, I could admit. Dunsparce was a naturally tanky species, and our recent training had given him plenty of endurance. We can do this.

Lost in thought as I was, I barely noticed as we landed down, really taking in Mesagoza for the first time.

The massive proportions of the mega city were even more pronounced within its borders. People and Pokemon milled all over the city. The streets were built with solid bricks, wide enough that some even rode their Cyclizars within the city itself, though there were strict speed regulations to avoid accidents.

Buildings rose up high all around, offering housing, shopping, and all manner of entertainment. Given the topography of the city, how it all sloped upwards till the peak where Uva Academy sat, the height of the buildings on the lower levels didn't interfere with the view. And what a view it is. You can argue that the Pokeball at the top of the Academy is garish or not, but it sure is eye-catching. It's rare to see a building, an institution that can survive that long in this world.

I tore my gaze away from that structure to the street I was stepping onto. Mosaic tiles made up many segments of the street in beautiful patterns. There were two towers at the gates beside us that in times past I imagined served as watch towers for danger, but now were used for ornamentation. Clotheslines hung all above the streets and between the buildings, decorated with colorful triangles that waved in the wind, and street merchants sold balloons and candy in stalls nearby. Is this for the tournament or something that's just set up year-round here? I could see several fountains nearby as well, above the steps where we landed, and above them was the central plaza. The main battle court.

"Sorry I couldn't get you closer," the taxi man said and I blinked my eyes, bewildered. We're already fairly close to the main battle field and people on the street are being forced to go around us. Is this just because we're rich and have a Pokemon Professor with us?

"It's fine, thank you," came my distracted reply, still a little overwhelmed by the size of it all but regaining my bearings and stepping forward to the arena. Pushing through the crowd took a bit of work, especially as Leah understandably wanted us all to stick together (a particularly difficult challenge because Cyan kept on getting distracted by the stores and attractions nearby).

The press of people grew greater at the central plaza, many people gathered to spectate the tournament. The staff had set up stands for people to sit in, but many were watching from the ground, or for a few, in the air, on the backs of flying Pokemon. One of them was even flying on a Charizard! That's quite a rare sight in Paldea.

Leah stepped back with the others to watch as I joined the line to the registration pavilion. There were a few adults in the line, but mostly the other competitors seemed to be teenagers. I was easily the youngest person there, and could already feel a few eyes looking at me questioningly.

"Miss, do you need some help being shown around?" One of the staff came up to me in line and asked. She was wearing a white shirt with red highlights, evocative of a Premier Ball, like the rest of the staff. Given her shockingly pink hair, I suspected that she was also a Nurse Joy who worked at one of the Pokemon Centers nearby.

"No, I'm just waiting to get my registration affirmed." I had already registered online weeks ago, but this was another check they had to make sure that everyone who signed up would actually be here.

"Oh." She said, seeming surprised before just nodding and leaving me be. The boy in front of me however heard me and was decidedly more critical.

"You're competing? Go back home and play with your dollies, this is a serious tournament." He scoffed, turning around to face me. He looked to be about 15 years old, proudly wearing the Uva Academy uniform with three Pokeballs on his belt. He had dark eyes and a sharp angular nose, his expression one of disdain as he looked down at me. His hair was black, short, and spikey.

"I know it's serious, that's why I trained hard. I might be young, but-"

"You're just a little brat who is going to fail hard and get your Pokemon hurt." That caused me to clench a fist in anger. It's one thing to think I'm not ready, but to say I'd be hurting my Pokemon… That was a major insult in this world. "Don't come crying to me when your Lechonk or whatever gets hurt," he said, turning his back to me.

"Who are you to say that about me?" I asked, wondering where this jackass got off on saying things like that. He didn't respond to me, but instead to the man at the front desk taking in our registrations.

"Freddrick Van Grough," he enunciated, and the pieces clicked into place for me. The Van Grough family was a fairly wealthy one, with heavy market control over high-grade fertilizers and Berry Tree seeds. I think I saw his parents at the party my mother and father held. It would explain why he had such an over-inflated opinion of himself.

After the boy received his name tag and left with a smirk, I stepped up to get my registration sorted out. "Your name, miss?"

"Nemona Glitterati," I said as I passed over my ID. I didn't want to raise any special attention to myself but had to say my name, so I waited to see any reaction from him. He just raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say a word, checking it with the system.

Behind me, a girl spoke up "Don't worry about what Freddrick said, he's a jerk." Turning around, I saw a young girl, 12-14 wearing a purple sundress.

I'm really not 'worried' about the blowhard. Which might be me judging him too early, but hey, he did the same to me. What I said though was: "Ah, thanks. I'm Nemona."

"Tracy," she said, holding out a hand to shake. "Yeah, don't worry about what he said. It doesn't matter how well you do, and the staff won't let anyone get injured." I couldn't help but frown as I took my hand back. She's nicer about it, but she's underestimating me too. And she only spoke up against Freddrick after he left.

I was spared from having to interact with her further by the registration man clearing his throat. "Yes, I see you here. Go to battle court #4 for your first match."

"Not here?"

"No, this arena is reserved for the top 8 contestants." I nodded. That makes sense, even with the entry fee of 5000 Pokedollars (expensive for a lot of beginner trainers), they still have a lot of slots filled up, even with a hard cap of 512 contestants. Looking around I could see a lot of the people waiting around that looked like trainers themselves. Probably people on the waitlist hoping to get in if slots opened up from trainers that couldn't make it.

Tracy cleared her throat and I realized I was holding up the line. Stepping out I rushed out to Leah and the others. "It looks like my first battles aren't going to be here but at arena #4."

"Where's that?" Arven asked, and I opened my mouth… before closing it again. "Wha- I can't believe it! You don't know where to go?" He laughed at my plight.

"Shut up," I muttered before sighing. "I'm sorry, I forgot in my excitement. I'll have to go back and ask someone."

"No need, bzzt." Rotom floated up, a map of the city already loaded on the screen and then they stretched out to tablet size to give me a better view. It always feels so weird that they can just do that, but I suppose it's not really that much weirder than, say, them being able to conjure up a swarm of lethal leaves when possessing a lawn mower.

"Thanks," I said as I looked at the map and saw the park where the fourth arena was. Wow, they have a lot of parks, arenas, and poke centers within the city. Guess they need them though, for events like this, and everyday convenience in a city this big. "Alright, we need to go that way," I told the group, pointing in the direction we needed to go. "It's pretty far, so we need to move fast to get there in time." Before I could take the first step, Turo spoke up.

"I don't believe we need to leave. They're setting up viewing screens here so we can observe your battle with ease." Leah frowned, clearly not happy with this idea, but seemingly unwilling to speak up against him. Is it because he's a Pokemon Professor? I knew they were a big deal, but I never realized that they would have this much sway. But then again, Paldea is a bastion of knowledge; a Pokemon Professor is akin to how many regions would treat a Champion. I've just never seen him that way, because in my eyes, he's a Professor second, and a potential enemy first.

Turo frowned down at me, and I was shocked at getting the man to show real emotion, however minutely. Whatever expression I had must have been something else to get that. What he was going to say was lost to the wind, however. Looking up, I saw the Charizard I had seen before landing down beside us. On his back was a young man with shockingly white hair and a cocksure grin. He had a heavy brown jacket with yellow lining and blue goggles over his eyes, useful gear for someone who flew around a lot.

"My partner couldn't help overhear you. I could help take you there," he offered. I was immediately put on edge. A kind offer, but I'm still a child, and any offer like that gets my 'stranger danger' senses tingling.

"Professor Friede, I hadn't expected to see you here. Congratulations on becoming a Pokemon Professor, by the way," Turo comments, causing me to blink in surprise. Another Pokemon Professor?! And who is this 'Friede' guy? I've never heard of him before.

Friede took off his goggles to get a better look at us, frowning slightly when he saw Turo. "Hardly that great an accomplishment compared to you. Your Tera Orbs are all that anyone can talk about in the Academy." Pieces click together in my mind. Well, that might explain why he's down here, watching a beginner tournament.

Leah is the one who breaks the tense silence, using his sudden entrance to grab my hand and ask: "Could you fly me there to the arena as well, Mister Professor?"

He turned away from his standoff with the other Professor to look questioningly at his Charizard, who gave a small roar in response. "Looks like he says yes." He gave her a wink too, which caused the maid to blush heavily. Leah noooo. You can do better than this guy- ok he's a Pokemon Professor, young, and objectively good looking I suppose, so maybe he is as good as it gets, but don't flirt in front of me!

With his guidance, we climb on to the Charizard first, him hopping on after us. I marveled at the feel of his scales beneath my hands. They were tough, but not overly rough with heat radiating off of them. It was incredible, and the kind of thing you just couldn't get from the games or shows.

Charizard turned his head to glance over at me and I realized I was being a bit obvious. "Ah, sorry mister Charizard, I was just admiring your scales. They seem really strong."

He let out a happy roar in response, breathing out a small Flamethrower in the air as we flew. No one was nearby us, but several flying Pokemon made sure to give us an extra large berth at that. Looking down on the city from this close, I could really appreciate how big and beautiful it was.

"You like Charizard, do you?" Friede asked, and I blushed a bit, though likely not for the reasons he was thinking. I know it's kinda 'basic', but yeah, Charizard is my favorite of the Gen 1 Starters. Venasaur never really got me, and Blastoise is cool and all, but Charizard is just awesome.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. I wouldn't mind getting one on my team eventually." Both Leah and Rotom by now knew that didn't mean 'go out and buy me a fully grown Charizard', just 'I might catch a Charmander if I see it and it's compatible with me and my team.' Charizard himself gave another roar of approval.

"Oh? Who do you have on your team now?"

"Just Dun. I only have the Junior License right now. One day though… I'm gonna be a Champion. Be the greatest, like no one ever was."

"Impressive. It's good to have a goal like that. Have you thought of what you'll do after, though?" Friede asked.

"Probably be drowning in work from the responsibilities of being Champion," I joked, which got a chuckle from Friede and an exasperated sigh from Leah. "I don't know what comes after. I'm eager to see it though, the greatest battles that could take place. And hey, if it gets boring I might try to become a Professor, too."

"Ha! Maybe I should have thought of that," Friede said. "Perhaps if Professor work gets stale I'll try my hand at becoming a Champion too."

"Char! Zar zard!" His partner chimed in.

"What do you think? Think we could be Champions?" He asked me. I didn't just blurt out a response, instead closing my eyes and trying to focus on the feeling Charizard emanated. It was hardly like a scouter telling you about someone's power level, and Pokemon could hide it or it could be missed if you weren't observant/familiar with the species, but there were some tells about how strong a Pokemon was.

Like the Leafeon atop the cliffs near my house, there was a sense of power that came from Charizard. More than just heat, or the strength of his wings flapping (though both were counted to that measure too), he was strong. Maybe not Champion level yet, but he hadn't slacked in his training either. The potential was there, with absolute dedication. There was something more to the power he had as well, some quality to it that just seemed to slip my grasp. I didn't mention it since it didn't seem bad, just different.

"Yes, he could definitely be part of a Champion team."

"What, you don't think we could take on the Elite Four by ourselves?" I openly scoffed at that.

"Of course not! You need a whole team of incredible fighters to be a Champion. They have to be well-rounded, able to support and balance each other out." Both the adults behind me were quiet at my sudden impassioned outburst, but before anyone could say anything else, we had arrived at the arena.

It was in the center of a park, much greenery in this section of the city. Parts of the park were shaded from the tall buildings and streets that wound upwards beside it, giving it a minor sense of seclusion. There were benches nearby, but most of the other contestants and the audience had to stand to watch the battles.

Jumping off Charizard (and eliciting a shocked cry from Leah), I ran over to the nearest official. "Hello, I'm Nemona, I have a match here. I hope I'm not too late."

"No, a couple of people are running late, so we're postponing the matches for half an hour. This event never runs on time anyways," he complained and I stumbled. So all that rushing around was for nothing?

Marching back to Friede and Leah I said "So apparently the event isn't starting yet. Sorry for rushing over."

"No worries. I think I'll stick around to watch; gotta see what future Miss Champion can do." The Professor said, and I nodded my head resolutely. This is the time to show everyone what I can do. I don't think that Dendra and Tulip are here, so they're probably waiting at the Central Plaza. To really impress them, I have to get to the top eight, at least.

My first challenge to that came as match pairings were called and I saw a familiar name as my opening opponent. Tracy, a little out of breath from running over here confirmed it as she looked from her phone and around the crowd, locking eyes with me. Here we go.

Spoiler: A/N:

The tournament begins! With a bunch of OCs and a bunch of characters you might not have expected. Friede is going to be an interesting one to say the least - his characterization might feel a little off at times, but this is Friede pre-pre character development, before even the flashback scene in Horizons. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the battles to come.

Current Team Roster

Spoiler

-'Dun' (Dunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter)
- Tera Type: Normal
- Held Item: None
- Abilities: Run Away
- Moves known: Flail, Mud Slap, Rollout, Glare, Body Slam, Poison Jab, Earthquake, Bite, Yawn


- Rotom (Rotom)
- Tera Type: ?
- Held Item: None
- Ability: Levitate
- Moves Known: Astonish, Confuse Ray, Thundershock, Double Team

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

I wonder if she'll get a utility or ride pokemon like Cyclizar since she has been roaming a bit for training. Also Shed Tail is an amazing move. Substitute that switches out is amazing for survivability and set-up.

 

[Skyfyre]

Despite my eagerness (and my nerves, wanting to get it over with fast), my match with Tracy was not up first. The first match was between two young teenagers, each one with a Fuecoco.

"Looks like we've got a mirror match to start," the announcer began (I hadn't heard her name, too focused on Tracy). She had a clear, booming voice that carried through the entire park. There was a Farigiraf who had been chewing grass beside her that stopped at the sound of her voice, raising his head and making a near perfectly translucent barrier over the field.

"Frasier, Rossica, are you ready to battle?" The announcer asked, to which both teens gave a loud 'Yes!' in response. "Then let the tournament…" She paused, looking at her Rotom hovering at her side, likely letting her coordinate with the other fields. "Begin!" She shouted suddenly. I watched the match carefully. I don't know if they'll make it up to the fourth round where I would face them, but I should keep an eye out anyways, just in case they're a serious threat.

Both of the trainers scrambled, caught off guard by the sudden announcement. "Eh, ah, Ember!" Rossica called out. Hmm, it has same-type-attack-bonus, but the other Fuecoco will resist it. Perhaps her Fuecoco is heavily focused on special attacks?

"Not so fast! Fuecoco, counter it with your own Ember!" Fraiser said, grinning. The two small fireballs their adorable little crocodile-like guys spat out met in the center of the field, canceling each other out.

"Ember!" They both cried out again, and once again the flames clashed equally.

"I don't get what they're doing," I muttered out loud.

Friede crouched down to talk to me on a more even level, a fact that made me irrationally upset for a moment. I can't wait till I'm tall. Nemona was pretty tall from what I remember in the games, I think only that one wrestler girl was taller. "Oh? What's got you confused? Professor Friede knows everything, after all."

"I very much doubt that," I said dryly. "No offense, it's just… the world is a big place, full of mysteries no one's ever seen or have been lost to time. But anyways, this fight," I gestured at where the trainers were both calling out for the same attack again and again. "They aren't changing anything up. Are they both endurance specialists and hoping the other one will tire out first?"

He just let out a small chuckle at my confusion. "Nah, they just don't know enough about battling yet." I just tilted my head. How… how do people not know this?! I mean, I'm not expecting kids to be geniuses but… Looking at the battlefield, I saw the two Fuecocos both panting heavily.

"Let's finish this, Ember!" Rossica called out.

"Yeah, go Fuecoco!" Fraiser pointed his finger out at their foe.

The two once again met in the center without either side winning, but that was clearly the end of their stamina, both of them wobbling. Rossica's Fuecoco fell, defeated, but Frasier's Fuecoco just barely hung on, standing shakily.

"The winner, Frasier!" He let out a cheer, running towards his Fuecoco and hoisting him up high. The Fuecoco gave a tired cheer of his own. It looks like it did come down to a stamina contest in the end. Not that I think either trainer was cognizant of how this would end.

"I'd be embarrassed with a match like that," Friede scoffed. In many ways, I agreed with him. But looking out at the field and seeing Rossica rush up to her partner, hug them tight, and whisper her own words of encouragement and praise...

"They both have a ways to go, but everyone has to start somewhere. This was a good match."

"Everyone might start 'somewhere', bzzt, but you started a lot further than them." Rotom stated loftily.

Urk. I get that you're trying to show me off for a Pokemon Professor Rotom, but I don't need the scrutiny surrounding my past and sudden behavior changes. The Pokemon world is filled with mysteries, but I suspect even the people here would be skeptical of 'I remembered my past life.' Plus, I just didn't want to. At least not with this Friede guy I didn't know.

"I mean, even for me, I didn't know everything instantly. I had to study a lot." I got the feeling that my childish voice and appearance made me stress how much it sounded endearingly adorable, rather than agonizing, given the type of smile Leah gave me. It really is a bunch of work! "And even now, I'd hardly say I know everything about Pokemon or battling."

"Well, keep on training hard and you'll get there," Friede said. I shook my head.

"Nah. There's way too much to learn. So many ways I can grow. I could spend a hundred lifetimes and not get close to knowing it all. 'The only thing I know is that I know nothing.'" It was a quote from a man others called wise in my past life. I'd only just scratched the surface of this world in my time here, but I knew that saying to be oh-so-true here too.

Friede's face became serious for a moment, straightening up and frowning down at me. "Is that so?" The question wasn't really for me, I could tell. Just something he was pondering to himself. Not knowing his situation, I just turned back to the battles going on the field.

The other battles tended to be a bit more interesting, with some back-and-forth going on. The plays were still decently low level, as would be expected, but trainers would call out dodges and switch up their Moves to try and break stalemates/get out of bad spots. It was impossible to tell for sure, but I'd bet that most of the more advanced commands came from Trainers who had earned their first badge.

Most of the Pokemon are either regional Starters or are a bit rarer than the 'common' ones. A Dhelmise swung horizontally through the air, sweeping into a Sprigattito and hitting it so hard into the psychic barrier that I winced. The small feline Pokemon didn't seem critically injured and her trainer immediately rushed her off to the Pokemon Center.

"Atticus wins! What an impressive showing!" The announcer exclaimed. The young boy smirked, recalling his Dhelmise and waving to the crowd. He had dark blue hair, tinged with yellow at the ends. That's probably the weirdest thing I find about the anime hair here. The fact that individual parts like just the ends of someone's hair can be a different color 'naturally'. I reached up at one of my own two green locks of hair. Not that I can say anything or I'd be the one looking weird.

In about the middle of the round, my match was called up. I took my place on one end of the battlefield while Tracy took hers at the other. "Hey, uh, don't worry Nemona, they've got really good healers here. Just try to have fun." Resisting the urge to frown was difficult. I could appreciate encouragement, but she was just looking down on me.

Both of us drew and held up our Pokeballs waiting for the signal from the referee. There were several specific rules for battling like this. Technically you could ask for them in casual battles, but they tended to be ignored or forgotten there, but were strictly enforced in big tournaments like this. One of them was that trainers had to have the Pokeballs held out before releasing their Pokemon to prevent a trainer 'accidentally' lagging behind their opponent in releasing their Pokemon to see what the opponent sent out and then picking out there.

You could have your Pokemon released already, but you had to make it clear that you were going to start with it if that was the case. The move was colloquially called the 'Ketchum Clause', and was seen as a bold tactic in high-level play. Either a cunning strategy that caught your opponent off guard and caused them to second guess themselves… or more likely, an arrogant strategy that backfired as the opponent out-maneuvered your lead. Of course, plenty of people here are leading openly, but it's not really about them being strategic or arrogant here, too low level for that.

The referee gave us the signal and we both released our Pokemon. Dunsparce landed on the field with a small roar, eyes fixed ahead at his opponent. Which was a small odd engine-looking thing.

The top of its body was made of steel and looked very much like a motor vehicle engine with something that looked like a tailpipe out the back. It had yellow eyes on its sides and the bottom half seemed rocky with four stone-like wheels.

A few people 'ooh'd' at her Pokemon, something that seemed to upset Dun. I guess it's because her Pokemon is relatively rare compared to a more 'common' Dunsparce. "Don't worry Dun, you're the strongest out there and we'll make everyone see that."

"Dun dun!"

"Trainers, are you ready?" The referee asked, and we both nodded. "Begin!" He shouted and we both launched into giving commands.

"Alright Varoom, let's make it quick!" The Varoom's wheels spun as it raced ahead and I distantly noticed that it was a good deal slower than Dun. Odd, Dun's weakest area is his speed. I didn't have too much time to focus on that however as I had already given my command and was watching it take effect as well.

"Earthquake!" Dunsparce immediately slammed his body into the arena, sending cracks branching out a few feet in various directions from where he landed and making the entire arena shake. More than just the arena, actually; I could feel my feet shifting and saw the spectators in the park gasping and trying to keep their balance.

Varoom had it the worst, each bump of the ground beneath it hitting hard into its body. Its path became uncontrolled as it was jostled around, spinning out around Dun, and crashing into the barrier at my end of the arena.

I drew a breath ready to give another command- then stopped as I saw that the Varoom was lying on its side, not moving. A shocked silence descended over the field before the announcer stammered out "Wh-what an upset! A surprising victory for Nemona Glitterati!"

Cheers erupted out of the audience and a grin started to break through on my face. We did it! We won our first match! I hadn't expected it to be that easy, but that's double Type weakness for you.

My good mood was interrupted relatively quickly by Tracy running forward, tears in her eyes. "Varoom! Varooooom!" She dived down to cradle her fallen Pokemon. Worry filled me for a moment that her Pokemon might have been seriously injured, but I saw that its weird metal mouth extrusion thing seemed to be wheezing and it was just knocked out.

Still, not wanting to be rude I offered "Do you need a hand getting to the Pokemon Center?" Rather than look relieved, she whipped around to glare at me.

"I don't need help from a cheater like you!" The sheer venom in her voice made me take a step back, aghast.

"What- but I didn't-" TM Moves are totally legal, I checked!

"How else could you have beat Varoom with only one attack?" Rather than wait for an answer she grabbed up her fallen Pokemon and marched off.

I was still a little distracted by all of that so Dunsparce had to slither over and nudge my leg so I would make way for the next battlers (though they had to wait too for some of the staff to fix up the field from the damage we made).

"You did great!" Leah cried out, sweeping me into a big hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of you." I couldn't help but smile at her joy, but something must have shown in my eyes as she put me down. "What's wrong sweetie?"

"Nothing. I mean, I'm really happy we won! Just… I wish she didn't have to be so upset about that. And we didn't cheat!" I pouted. I had never liked being accused of dishonesty or unfairness in my prior life and I didn't like it here either. "Learning Moves from Technical Machines isn't cheating."

Friede just chuckled, a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "That's just how it is, kid. People don't think you can do anything, that it must all be a trick until you outright prove them wrong. Then they turn around and start sucking up to you." Ouch. But I suppose this guy must have been hailed as a prodigy - a true genius, not a fake like me - from the start. Must be rough for a kid growing up like that.

Leah glared at Professor Friede for a moment, causing him to take a step back. "Don't worry about any of that, young Miss. I'm sure that other competitors will act with a bit more dignity in the future."

"Thanks." I wasn't truly convinced by her words, but just knowing that she was in my corner was nice. Besides, this is it. I took my first step as a trainer, and it was a success. That's what I'm going to focus on.

Spoiler: A/N:

Nemona's first battle ends in a very decisive manner! Turns out over leveling your starter in the first area can be pretty handy. Still, there are few curveballs she's likely to face in a big tournament such as this.

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

Ah Fuecoco, the only starter of this generation not to end up as furry-bait. A win is a great start to the tournament!

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapters

 

[Skyfyre]

It was somewhat easier to relax waiting for my next round now that I had a win under my belt. Hmm, should I wear a belt when I become Champion? Like a wrestler - no wait, Leon has that, and he's kinda tacky.

My next match was against a teenager with a Houndour, which ended fairly quickly thanks to Earthquake again. The Move didn't damage the arena or extend past it this time, but that was due to the Farigiraf extending its barrier to permeate the battlefield itself (something that the referee had scolded her about, and the Farigiraf had rolled her eyes as if to say 'how was I supposed to expect that?' before fixing it for all future matches).

The match after was a kid about my age with a Maril, his knees shaking as he approached me. His few stuttered commands were easily countered, and the Maril was taken out with a well-timed Body Slam (didn't even need Poison Jab). Am I really that scary? I hadn't thought so, but Dunsparce was stronger than most others. A few others were starting to get increased attention and even some bets were placed on the ones who looked like they were real contenders.

Paldea had some surprisingly strict gambling restriction laws. In this case, any official bets were capped at no greater than the entrance fee to participate. I thought that was another reason why the entrance fee was so high for such a comparatively low-level tournament; it let the gamblers bet a bit more while keeping the numbers down low enough that they could run the whole thing in a day. There were other loopholes as well, like being able to bet on one competitor per each round.

We were reaching into the afternoon as round three was finishing up, though the fact was that each round took less long than the previous ones due to having fewer people. Despite that, I was certain we'd be well into the evening by the finals.

Spectators were taking note of me, but I still wasn't the favorite to win yet. Likely, it was due to my age, or perhaps Dunsparce not being as striking in appearance as some others. Currently, it was a toss-up between Atticus and his Dhelmise and Katherine, an older foreign girl with a formidable-looking Golisopod, both of whom were just about to fight.

"Who do you think will win?" Friede casually asked as we watched the match. We'd chatted a bit in between my bouts, and I think he was surprised to find someone as knowledgeable as myself given how young I looked.

"Atticus. The Golisopod isn't battle-hardened enough yet." The Golisopod was a giant pale blue bug with thick armor plating covering its body. Pokemon evolution would clear up scars and injuries like that, and tellingly, Katherine's Pokemon bore no battle wounds.

"Oh? But doesn't it take a lot of work to evolve a Wimpod into a Golisopod?" Leah asked and I blinked with surprise. She blushed and added, "Ever since you've become so interested in Pokemon young Miss, I've been researching them too." I smiled. It's sweet of her to put such care and attention towards my interests.

"It does, and I'm not saying they're not strong but-" Friede cut me off.

"He still has the instincts of a Wimpod, to run and flee whenever hurt, warring with his newfound strength and power. That can be trained out, but it takes time and the Golisopod has to get used to the pain it can take in battle."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his interruption and nodded. "Yeah, that." So far, he hasn't been hurt enough for it to be an issue, but Dhelmise is in a different league than everyone else they've faced thus far. Bug/Water vs. Ghost/Grass doesn't favor either side Type-wise either. If switches were allowed it wouldn't be bad, but as is…

"Use First Impression!" Katherine called out, and her Golsiopod scuttled up, moving both fast and in a way that was hard to track. The Bug Type gave out a roar and raised its large foreclaws, causing the Dhelmise to flinch back, opening itself up to some swift strikes from its four smaller claws.

"Hit it back with Grassy Glide," Atticus called out cooly and Dhelmise did just that. Laying down a sheet of seaweed, it slid across the field and into the Golisopod.

They exchanged blows like that a few more times, but Golisopod had nothing as powerful as his First Impression to follow it up with, and eventually after taking a powerful Payback, the big bug ran back to Katherine, cowering.

"Wait no, get back in there! Golly, please!" She begged, to no avail. He just shook his head and tried to shrink down further as Dhelmise menaced closer. "I- I surrender!" She called out, returning her Pokemon.

"The winner, Atticus! Folks, this kid is on a winning streak! Can nothing stop his climb to the top?" The announcer said as the crowd cheered him on. The preteen basked in the praise before smugly walking off.

"Looks like your prediction was right. Are you worried about him?" Friede inquired. It was understandable since he was my next opponent, but I had relaxed a lot more since the beginning of the event.

"Nah, I'll win." Besides, this last round told me everything I needed to win. It's easy to get worried when everyone is unknown, but I've got a handle on how he fights.

"Kinda arrogant," Friede responded, causing me to scowl.

"Takes one to know one! You assume you know everything!" Leah sighed off to the side as we started arguing.

"I do. Or near enough. I know everything there is to know about Pokemon."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Ask me anything." He challenged, crossing his arms. He's one of the few people who doesn't look down on me due to my age. I shouldn't screw that up. But… I kinda want to wipe that smug smile off his face. Whatever, it's probably fine. If he gets distraught over being proven wrong I wouldn't want to know him anyways. He might be a Pokemon Professor, but I have Isekai cheats!

I thought about it for a moment, trying to think of something that would both stump him and be provable. It was a difficult exercise in these more modern times with plenty of technology and open borders of the world. Knowledge was eagerly exchanged between the League Nations, and even beyond. Something like 'How was the mythical Pokemon Magerana created?' might not work because it's something no one knows about and something like 'What types can Charizard Mega Evolve into?' would be too well known.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

"Alright. Dual Typing can cover a lot of weaknesses in either Type, especially when immunities overlap with what would be the other Type's weakness. What is the only Pokemon that has 3 Type immunities and only one Type weakness?" As he opened his mouth I quickly realized my mistake and added "And two resistances!" Almost forgot about Spiritomb there. It's a cool Pokemon and very tanky for a Ghost Type, but given what I know it would be so hard to control. Of course, the one I'm thinking of would likely be worse.

"That's- uh hmm. Three immunities has to be part Ghost Type at least…" He pondered it for a moment before shaking his head. "That's a nice try, but Dhelmise has more weaknesses and resistances than that. In fact-" I held my arms up in an 'X' cutting him off.

"It's not a Ghost Steel Type, I know. Dhelmise is not the Pokemon I'm talking about."

"Really?" Leah asked. "But it looks so- I mean, it's an anchor."

"True, and it's reflected in its Steelwork Ability, but it's a Grass Ghost Type." Seeing Friede was still stumped, I told him the answer. "I was talking about a Hisuian Zoroark."

"A wha- Zoroark is a Dark Type. Sure, they can cast illusions to pretend to be other typings, but that doesn't count."

"The modern day Zoroark, yes. But in Ancient Hisui, the Survey Corps discovered a regional variant." Or more likely, the settlers created a Regional Variant, through hate and mistreatment. "Hisuian Zoroark is the only recorded Ghost Normal Type. It's arguably the strongest Dual Type combination out there." Friede didn't look convinced so I added: "You can check out Laventon's notes."

"Where did you get the chance to read an ancient Professor's notes?" Friede asked, bewildered. To be fair, I get why he is treated that way. There wasn't really the designation of a 'Pokemon' Professor before Samuel Oak and the Global League made them a thing, both culturally and officially. However, Laventon is often cited as the precursor to that system and it's widely believed he'd be one if the League had been in place when he was alive.

I was spared from answering that question by Leah chiming in. "The Young Miss is a member of the Glitterati family and they have been quite supportive of her goal of becoming a Champion ranked trainer. However," she added with a steely gaze at me. "I didn't realize that she had obtained that particular rare research material."

"I mean, I haven't ever laid eyes on his work personally, but I've seen images of it through a screen. There's a lot of stuff online." Very true, especially online in my first world where I played through Legends Arceus.

Rotom had a question of their own to ask as well. "Bzzt, Is a Hisuian Zoroark actually the strongest Pokemon out there?"

"No. Ghost and Normal pair well together, but Steel and Bug have more resistances which might be worth even the double weakness to Fire. And Type combination isn't everything, you know? You could get Electric and Water in Wash form, which might not seem as strong on paper, but then you add in your Ability Levitate and you have even more resistances and only one weakness. Then there's each species' strengths and deficiencies, the Moves they can learn…"

My rant was interrupted by a chuckle from Friede. "I think if you became a Pokemon Professor you'd specialize in battling." I blushed at the joke. Technically, 'battling' is the domain of Trainers, so it's not something Professor's would 'specialize' in. Too broad a field as well, with how battling is such a major facet of Pokemon's lives. Kukui came close with his in-depth study of Moves and practical application with his team though, and I can't deny battling is something I've been fixated on. But the history of this world is interesting as well. Not sure what I'll study after I become a Champion.

Deflecting, I asked, "What do you specialize in?" There wasn't a requirement to specialize in any particular field for a Pokemon Professor. Indeed, most of the tests for achieving the title instead required an incredibly broad field of knowledge. Still, most Professors would make a name for themselves in a field they felt a certain affinity to.

"I don't know," he admitted and I could see his mask of arrogance crack for a moment, revealing a young man, unsure of his life. He was told he was a genius his whole life, and just as he made his biggest achievement, everyone's attention was grabbed by someone more successful in the field. Turo's Terastalization Orbs took the world by storm and now he's just kinda… adrift.

"Well, no rush. There's a lot to study in the world. I-" I cast a glance at Leah before continuing. "Honestly, achieving Champion level is only a means to an end. Sure, I want to be in the big tournaments, fans cheering my name, yada yada. But what I truly desire is strength. The strength to travel anywhere and everywhere I want, to uncover every hidden secret across the world. To just… see it all." I lacked the words, to fully describe exactly how amazing I found this world to be. I couldn't tell if I was put here for a purpose or not. If there was one thing I could decide for myself, it was that I absolutely loved it here, and wanted to enjoy every bit of it I could.

Friede had a strange expression on his face, one I couldn't decipher, but I thought there might be a sense of wonder there. Before he could say anything, the announcer called out "Nemona Gliteratti and Atticus Ordale, take your places on the field."

"Alright, gotta go," I said, quickly turning and racing off to my next challenge. Not sure how much I got through to him, but hopefully that's one Professor who's convinced to look a bit more into the wonder of the world. I've just gotta convince the other one to look into it a bit less.

Spoiler: A/N:

The tournament continues. So far it's going pretty smoothly for Nemona, but it's looking like a tougher challenge approaches. These chapters have unfortunately been a bit smaller than usual, but that's just how the tournament is breaking up, and we should get some large chapters soon.

Also, in case anyone is wondering, this Atticus is not the same Atticus as the one in Team Star.

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

Hmm, should I wear a belt when I become Champion? Like a wrestler - no wait, Leon has that, and he's kinda tacky.

Click to shrink...

No Leon has a dumb hat with a fluffy cape. Rock that Champion's Belt. Own being La Primera.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Skyfyre]

"Go Nemona! Woo!" I cheered loudly as her Dunsparce smacked around a Marill, sending the blue ball-shaped Pokemon bouncing around the arena.

My cheers were mostly lost amidst the other cheers (and a few curses) of other matches at the same time. I think I hear a few more people cheering for Nemona now, though. It was still faint, but as she won more often, more people in the crowds here started saying her name.

"Awesome! Go kick someone else's butt!" Arven cheered, and not for the first time today I wondered if she hadn't lightly traumatized the young boy. Oh well. I'm more surprised by how otherwise normal her friend/relationship with him is.

My little sister was adorable, bright, and incredibly weird. I was allowed to use Rock Throw - I freely accepted that I was weird too. Other kids my age (and especially hers) weren't as driven as we were. We were born for greatness, and that meant putting in the work to achieve those results.

A memory, possibly my first one, flashed into my mind. It was of Mommy smiling as she saw a drawing I'd scribbled out, praising me for my work before she had to head off to her important job. A smile touched my lips at the memory, but it changed to a frown as I thought about it more.

I get that they're busy with their important jobs, or trips to relax from those jobs, but did they have to miss this? I'd never been upset at them missing my recitals or the like, but it felt different when it was Nemona they couldn't see.

How funny, a year ago I would have been mad at how much attention they were paying to my sister. Back then I thought she was just showing off, spouting useless trivia while I did 'real' work. When we made that comic together I realized that she wanted me to succeed and be noticed by Mommy and Daddy too. And as we started hanging out more, I realized just how hard Nemona works.

Which makes them missing this suck even more. I let out a small sigh and shifted the incubator on my back around. She doesn't think it was bad for us to wait here, right? No way, she's been winning all these early fights, and I'd get so tired if I had to run all over to that other field and back.

"What's wrong? Are you tired?" Arven asked in response to my sigh, and I blinked. Didn't realize he would notice that.

"No, I'm fine. And I'm not tired. We've got these good seats and will be right near the action when Nims wins and the quarterfinals start."

"That might not be correct," Turo said suddenly. "Not the seats comment, these foldable bleachers have actually proven much more comfortable than I anticipated. Nemona however, is unlikely to win this round."

"What!?" I shrieked. How can he say that?

"While I'm no metallurgist, I think the flexibility of these bleachers comes from an alloy designed to mimic the inherent traits of Melmetal-"

"Daaaad," Arven whined out before I could explode. "We don't care about that sciency stuff, why do you think Nemona is going to lose?" He frowned, the otherwise hard-to-read Professor looking like he had been personally insulted.

Quickly shaking it off he said, only a bit colder: "While she might stand a chance if Atticus uses his Staravia, he'll likely choose his Dhelmise, recognizing it as the better choice versus Nemona's Dunsparce. Though even then, she'd still be disadvantaged from the Staravia's greater maneuverability and speed."

"But Dun is so strong, he's beat Maschiff so many times." The dog Pokemon in question at his feet gave a small whimper, remembering their matches.

Turo gave his son a small smile. "Be that as it may, Dun faces many disadvantages against Dhelmise in particular. As a Normal Type, his strongest Moves won't work against Dhelmise because of its Ghost Typing. The other Move he has utilized the most thus far is Earthquake, which is not very effective due to the Grass Typing. That dual combination, plus the sheer physical strength and variety of Moves Dhelmise has, I can't see any other outcome than Nemona's defeat."

Has he actually been watching these matches? I thought he was just fiddling around on his tablet and recording the fights on his phone, but it looks like he was paying attention. Don't get why he's so focused on the tech instead of cheering, though. His son was starting to look worried, his belief in Nemona's overwhelming strength warring with his belief in his father always being right.

It probably doesn't help that a lot of that terminology is going over Arven's head. I knew because a few months ago it would have gone over mine. It was only with the tutoring Nemona had given me to get my trainer's license. Which is why I know that she's still going to win. She knows all of this stuff and looks way too confident not to have some crazy plan ready for this.

"Don't worry Arven. Like you said, she's really strong and has been training super hard for this tournament. Think about all the training you've done with her, then times it by ten and she's worked at least that hard." The young boy gaped and shivered at the very idea of someone working that hard. "Nims is gonna win this whole thing, no problem." I glanced over at the Professor, challenging him to deny my words.

He shrugged. "There are unpredictable elements in any experiment." It was a non-answer to hedge bets, but he didn't seem to think it was likely, nodding to himself as he glanced at his tablet.

I don't get what's going on with those two. I had overheard Nemona talking to him at the party where she became best friends with Arven. Everyone else was willing to wave off her words as just 'things kids say,' but I knew better. She was deliberately trying to upset him. But why?

"Why don't you show me some of what Maschiff has learned after the tournament?" Turo asked his son, causing Arven's face to light up like a Lanturn.

"Really?" The boy asked and the Professor nodded his head, a goofy smile of his own on his face. Unguarded, in a way Nemona couldn't be.

Oh sure, my little sister could talk endlessly about any topic that interested her. She was way more open than the stoic Professor generally. It's a miracle his son didn't inherit that from him. But as much as Nemona is generally more engaged and considerate than him, there's a gap I see with her. A space between her that no one can seem to close. Not me, not Leah, not even Mommy or Daddy.

Before I could get more frustrated with Nemona and her weirdness, I got distracted as I saw her battle about to start on the screen. She and her opponent had been called up for their round and were releasing their Pokemon.

"Let's get this, Dun!" The yellow-winged snake gave a roar for the crowds, one that a few of the audience there returned with their own cheering.

Across her stood a tanned young man with long blue hair, accented with yellow tips. His t-shirt cut a slight v-frame on his torso and honestly looked quite cute. Sorry pretty boy, I'd be rooting for you if it wasn't my sis you were facing, but as is, you're going down!

"Go, Dhelmise!" The seaweed-encrusted anchor-and-wheel drifted onto the battlefield, glaring balefully from one of the eyes on its wheel at the smaller Pokemon. I hope Dun will be alright. I know what I said and how much Nims trained him, but looking at it live… that anchor looks scary.

"Contestants ready?" The referee asked, and they both nodded. "Begin!" The older child, Atticus, took the lead, shouting the first command.

"Rapid Spin!" Before the Dhelmise could even begin to whirl around, Nemona gave a counter command.

"Earthquake!" Dunsparce slammed into the ground, causing it to shift and bounce up and down. Dhelmise lowered itself, moving perpendicular to the ground as the anchor began to spin around the wheel. Before it could build up speed, some of the earth rose and hit it, disrupting its movements.

"Gah!" The boy cried out at his Pokemon taking a hit. Despite his exclamation, it didn't look like the Dhelmise was all that injured. But maybe I'm just not seeing something they are. Nemona had a sharp grin at the exchange. Atticus wasn't done yet, giving another command. "Alright, go for Rapid Spin again, but go high above the ground."

Nemona called out for an Earthquake again, clapping her hands together as she did so. She didn't give any more commands as the Dhelmise hurtled in, but, when it tried to cut in diagonally at Dunsparce he jumped well over the ghostly sea wreckage, the movement of the ground helping push him up.

"That Dunsparce is impressive," Turo commented as we watched him try to lash out with a Poison Jab at the Dhelmise under my sister's commands. The anchor was lightly grazed before managing to back away, even with the Dunsparce chasing after it, gliding through the air by furiously beating his wings.

"Told you~" I sing-songed, enjoying watching Dun's assault on the bigger, very solid-looking anchor. It's crazy how powerful a little guy like that can be. Nims would be the first to tell me that though - she can wax poetic about 'the infinite potential within all Pokemon.' About how even an electric mouse could fight a god and win. The weight of the incubator on my back felt heavy, and I wondered if my Popplio could be that strong.

"That being said, my preliminary hypothesis holds." Turo finished, and by the time I had parsed his words, Atticus had made a comeback.

"Frustration!" He shouted, and Dhelmise's ghastly eye narrowed, the anchor body swinging out from the wheel briefly to catch Dunsparce by the hook. Slamming into the little snake hard, it sent Dun flying across the arena and crashing into the barrier at the edge. He flopped on the ground, giving a pained cry and we could see a nasty red mark where the anchor had hit.

Atticus flashed a brilliant smile as the tables turned. "Ha! You're no match for my Pokemon."

My sibling remained undaunted. "As if! Dun would never give up so easily. C'mon, get up buddy. No matter how tough, you can do this!" Dunsparce rolled back onto his belly quickly before wincing and trembling.

"Oh no!" Arven cried out, biting his nails. I shook my head, knowing where this was going.

"Don't worry, I know that wince," Cyan said with a smirk. "That's how he looks when Nemona stops our chefs from giving him a third dinner." And he certainly doesn't wince like that because he needs the extra meals.

"Don't say I didn't warn you! Alright, Frustration again!" The Dhelmise glided across the battlefield at the behest of his trainer, in a collision course with Dunsparce. At the last second, Nemona gave her command.

"Dodge!" Despite the bruising from before remaining, any signs of weakness in his movements disappeared as he rolled to the side, deftly evading the powerful attack and catching the other side off-guard with the sudden speed. "Poison Jab!"

Dun's tail lashed out into the wheel of the ghost, causing it to recoil before moving in for another swing of its anchor. "Counter!" The call wasn't for a Move, but instead for Dunsparce to start spinning his tail and then raise it to deflect the anchor before it could crash down on him, pushing it to the dirt beside. "Earthquake!" Again, the ground shook, dislodging the anchor.

"Go Nemona, wooo!" I cheered, hearing Arven and a few others cheering along. Most of the crowd here was focused on Nemona's match, this one being the most exciting by far of the ones being broadcast to the central battlefield right now.

Turo wasn't cheering at all, however, his face looked like it was carved out of marble as he impassively watched the match. Occasionally he'd glance down at his equipment, type in some new code, then go back to watching.

"Great job Atticus!" Cheers like that had me whipping back to the match, to see that something had happened. Some crunching sound that had likely been Dhelmise breaking one of Dun's wings, the left one sticking out at an odd angle. The Dunsparce looked a bit roughed up in general, something that incited Atticus' fans to shouts of joy.

"C'mon Nemona, you can do it!" I cried out as loud as I could as if my words could reach her from here. They didn't, but Atticus gave a command I couldn't hear and something unexpected happened. The Dhelmise shrouded itself in a dark purple energy that swung into, and harmlessly through, Dun.

"Huuuuuuh?! What happened?" Arven shouted, echoing out loud my internal confusion.

"Another Poison Jab!" Nemona called out, and with the time from his failed attack before letting her Pokemon recover enough to strike back. Dhelmise was wary of that now, and reeled back, but was still grazed by the magenta-tipped tail.

Clearing his throat, the Professor explained. "Dhelmise Ghost Typing protects it from Dunsparce's Normal attack, but that protection goes both ways. As a Normal Type, Dun is immune to Ghost Type attacks." Right, Nemona mentioned something about that when testing me on Types. I never got that, what regular people just ain't afraid of no ghosts? And why do they resist Bugs?

"Gyro Ball! Crush it!" The anchor spun fast as it rose up into the air, looking like a solid circle for a moment.

"D- Tank it and Bite!" Dunsparce clenched up but didn't move, letting the Dhelmise slam into him. He gave a pained cry, before coating his teeth with a barely visible black aura and latching into the metal anchor. Dhelmise wailed but didn't flee.

"Lock him down, then Mega Drain!" Seaweeds extended from the anchor to stop the snake from fleeing and then began to pulse with light green energy. "Haha! Now my Dhelmise will heal while your Dunsparce is drained to nothing!"

I was worried, it actually looked like this might be the end but Nemona was smiling on the screen, for some reason.

"It's over. Dun, wiggle out your back half." Dun was quite slippery (something I'd found out when he'd wiggle out of my grasp with ease in the early days), so despite being wrapped up, he was able to comply with the command, even though the pressure holding him down was on his neck now. "Poison Jab repeatedly! Aim for the seaweed!" Nemona cried out, a vicious look on her face.

His tail jabbed back and forth, striking into the dense clumps of seaweed multiple times. The energy being transferred between the Pokemon took on a magenta tint as it was absorbed into the ghost.

"Ack! Dhelmise, retreat!" Dhelmise broke off the seaweed and floated away. There was an odd sway to its hovering compared to before and it had one of its steering wheel eyes closed in pain. "What? What's wrong?!" Atticus demanded wildly.

"Your Pokemon has just been Poisoned, that's what's wrong," my little sister taunted back. It's odd, in that it's not odd. Nims has a certain presence to her, that makes you forget that she's basically bullying someone almost twice her age. "His strength is being sapped away every moment."

"Fine then, I'll end this fast! Dhelmise-"

"Dun, dig down." Nemona interrupted him, holding a hand out, pulling it back, and then splaying her fingers again. The land snake quickly spun his tail and started drilling through the ground.

"Grrr, fine, wait for it to return and take out all your anger on it!" Atticus commanded, and Dhelmise got ready, looking for anywhere it might pop up from. And looking. And looking…

"Hey, what gives? You can't hide forever!" The boy pouted as his Dhelmise gave a pained cry, the poison taking its toll.

"That's correct, I can hide for 30 seconds at most before I'd be disqualified," Nemona explained, without giving any further comments. The look in her eyes made it clear she wasn't going to either.

"You're fighting dirty! Cheater!" Nemona frowned at the name-calling, clenching a tight fist, but didn't engage with him beyond that. The crowd over on my end started doing the same, booing her.

"Hey, shut up! It's in the rules, if he doesn't have a counter, it's on him!" I shouted at them, realizing after my outburst that I'd stood up at some point. Some of the crowd turned towards me, jeering- then Turo stepped in.

"The young lady is correct, it's an entirely legitimate tactic. Let's go back to watching the match in peace." His tone and fancy Professor's coat brooked no disagreement. Some of the adults looked guilty when they realized my age, a few still shot daggers at me with their eyes, but everyone quieted down to watch the match conclude.

"Fine, Dhelmise get ready for when-" At that moment (25 seconds into the count as shown by the referee), Dunsparce popped back up. The poisoned ghost had turned slightly to face its trainer before he had resurfaced and thus wasn't prepared to crush him right away.

"Outmaneuver!" Nemona called out, and Dunsparce fled the enraged Dhelmise. Not just fleeing, however. Whenever the Dhelmise got too close, he'd spin his tail and get ready for another Poison Jab, forcing the larger Pokemon to back off and try to hit it from another angle, giving Dun more time to evade and keep his distance.

Losing his cool, Atticus grabbed big clumps of blue hair on either side of his head and yelled

"Screw it! Giga Impact!" Everyone, even the crowds watching here gave a shocked gasp at that as pale green energy emanated in a semi-sphere in front of its body. I don't know what's so bad, but if they're all worried for Dun…

Nemona was panicking as well, for the first time in this tournament. Throwing her arms to the side as if to add force to the motion she screamed "BARREL ROLL!!" Dunsparce obeyed without hesitation, launching itself into a tumble that took it a third of the way across the arena.

Dhelmise rocketed forward with great speed, but little accuracy, missing by a fair margin as it drove itself into the ground, tearing up large chunks of dirt before it hit the barrier and broke through that too.

Some of the in-person spectators dove to the sides, but it didn't get near any of them. The friction from the ground and the barrier bled off enough speed that it only went a few feet past it before collapsing to the ground, defeated.

All was silent for a moment before the referee called the fight, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Even the people booing her name a moment earlier were cheering her on now. Everyone loves a winner.

Sometimes adults didn't realize just how much I heard, and how much of that I understood. So many times there would be some man calling Daddy a 'Drifloon headed fool', or disparaging Mommy's bold style of dress, out of their earshot. Such comments quickly changed with the recent success of the Tera Orbs and their companies.

Or maybe they were just won over by my little sister and her last-minute victory. I didn't care too much, just happy that Nemona grabbed victory and would be moving on to the quarter-finals.

Cheering alongside us, I saw Turo clapping politely as well. He also muttered something to himself, but I couldn't hear it over the din.

"What was that?" I shouted.

"Ah, your hypothesis was proven correct, well done." He stated loudly over the crowd, without seeming to strain.

I blinked, surprised at how cordial he was. "I thought you hated Nemona." Now it was his turn to look surprised.

"Why would you think that? Did she say something?"

"No, but- ah never mind. I guess you guys are over the party stuff, huh?" I scratched the back of my head, a nervous habit I was starting to pick up from my little sister.

"That. Yes, I'm entirely over it. More than that, in fact, I'm grateful. Her introduction helped me create my greatest project to date, a Spoink board to further marvels of science. To say nothing of the data she just gave me…"

"Woohoo! That was awesome Nemona! She was all like 'nuh-uh' and then 'bang' 'pow'! And then, then she was all 'I'm so cool, dodge dodge'!" Arven recapped the fight (and inaccurately at that) we had just seen, blissfully ignorant or inured to just how creepy his father sounded.

Weird, maybe that's why Nemona dislikes him so much? Oh! "Tulip and Dendra are here!" I exclaimed as I saw the elegant model and her friend on the other end of the crowd. Waving to them, I rushed over. I wonder if Tulip will have any more tips for me? Today is going great!

Spoiler: A/N:

This was a bit of an experiment for me, trying to show Nemona's battle from the outside (as well as drop a few breadcrumbs of hints for the future). Let me know how it went.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the interlude
The Journey continues
Cheers!

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

"While I'm no metallurgist, I think the flexibility of these bleachers comes from an alloy designed to mimic the inherent traits of Melmetal-"

Click to shrink...

Are Meltan and Melmetal so available that they are studied enough to get their metallic properties? Because if so, I'd grab one up as a battler!

 

[Skyfyre]

Are Meltan and Melmetal so available that they are studied enough to get their metallic properties? Because if so, I'd grab one up as a battler!

Click to shrink...

Helmet also themselves aren't but the results of some studies around them are, to the right people.

 

[Skyfyre]

The first thing I did after the referee called the match was race over to Dun, drawing a Super Potion from my pocket. I sprayed his bruised body and he gave a small hissing sound as the scrapes were stung before sighing in relief. Already I could see the wounds starting to close up, the bruising fading. His dislocated wing even snapped back into place.

The technology in this world is incredible. I knew that partially it had to do with the innate recovery ability Pokemon had as well as natural agents like Berries having potent healing properties, but there were a lot of astounding healthcare advancements they had here as well.

After seeing my Pokemon was taken care of, I turned to my opponent. The Dhelmise was being recalled to his Pokeball but the older boy didn't look worried.

I gave Dun a moment to give a victory cheer for the fans before returning him to his ball. He's become a real attention hog, huh? Well, I suppose it's not bad for him to have his own priorities to strive for in our march to the top. I'll make him the most famous Dunsparce in the world if that's what it takes!

Walking over to my opponent I offered my hand to shake. While they weren't the biggest sticklers on propriety here given some of the kids' ages, it was the proper thing to do. Atticus walked up to me, sighing. "Can't believe I lost to a kid like you."

A frown appeared on my face as I went to withdraw my hand. He saw it however and leapt ahead, shaking it. "I'm sorry, I got caught up there, it was a good match. You did well." Not disparaging me or Dun? And an actual compliment? Alright!

Smiling, I shook it back and the crowd cheered at the show of good sportsmanship between us two kids. "Thanks. You pushed me hard too, that Dhelmise is a real powerhouse."

"You want it?" He said as we stopped shaking hands, and I blinked as if he'd suddenly spoken French. Or rather Kalosian, a small part of my mind added. The rest of it was trying to understand what he was saying.

"I wha- no- I couldn't even, I'm a junior trainer, I can't have more- why?" I stammered.

"Ah, a shame. Oh well, I'll find someone else who wants them." Then he turned around and began to walk off.

"Why?" I asked, loud enough to make it clear to him that I still wanted to know. It wasn't quite loud enough to reach the crowd over their cheers though. He half turned back and said:

"I make it a point not to use someone who's lost. Later." Then he just kept on walking away.

Clenching my fists, I resisted the urge to scream, marching back to Leah and Friede. "You did wonderfully!" She said, and I tried to smile at that, not wanting to trouble her with my dark thoughts. She's right; objectively, that was an incredible battle.

"Thank you." I glanced up at the board and saw that there were still plenty of matches before the next round would begin. "I've gotta go, I'll be back soon." I turned to leave, but before I could take a step Leah's hand squeezed tightly on my shoulder.

"Where are you running off to?"

"I was going to go to a Pokemart and see if they had a Throat Spray. Dun's voice sounded a bit off when he was chanting his name at the end there." Even spraying some of the potion in his mouth hadn't helped fix him. Because of my strategy that had his throat pressed under a Dhelmise. I think it was the right choice in that fight, but still. It sucked to have to tell Dun to get hurt. Logically, it was the right choice, but emotionally… well I could see why many trainers never made it very far in their journeys.

"Don't go running off by yourself, we'll go together." She glanced over at Friede, unwilling to ask him directly, but clearly hoping he'd offer to give us a ride.

He gave the kind of long-suffering sigh only a teenager could before offering to help us. "I can give a ride to the Delibird Presents, they might have a shipment of Throat Spray."

"Thanks," I said.

"It's no problem. This has been much more interesting than the paperwork I've got back at my lab."

As we hopped onto his Charizard for another flight I asked "What are you writing papers on?"

"Hmm? Just boring busy work, double checking other scientific papers for inaccuracies."

"That's not- ok it might be boring," I admitted. "But it's essential work! Too rarely do those sorts of things get peer-reviewed and retested properly, which can lead to all sorts of incorrect information entering the public domain. They also get used in basing other studies wrongly, wasting more time, spreading biases-" I cut myself off as I heard Leah and Friede chuckling behind me and realized I was ranting again.

"You sure you don't want to be an academic after all?" Friede teased. Turning, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Nope, you can handle all that stuff. Besides, you saw how me and Dun battled, do you think we're fit for a desk job?" Maybe I'm showing off, but I feel we've earned it. That battle was tough! I was so worried I'd freeze up or call out the wrong command, but I think I did alright, and Dunsparce did great. For the first time today, I was feeling confident about not just 'doing well', but winning this whole thing.

"Ha, I suppose you're right," Friede said as Charizard started to land. It had only been a short flight over. "Those Throat Sprays are pretty expensive, you might be better off just going to a Center for treatment after the tournament."

Leah smiled serenely as she stepped off. "That's kind, but the Young Miss has no concerns on the monetary front." Friede scratched the back of his head awkwardly, likely having forgotten for a second that Leah wasn't a relative of mine, but someone hired by my family. In fairness, since we went on this outing she isn't in her regular maid uniform so she just looks like an average older sister or cousin cheering on a family member.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. I'm not going to hesitate over spending a bit extra to keep my Pokemon in tip-top shape. Not like some people," I muttered, but Leah's sharp glance indicated that she heard me. "I hope your paperwork goes well and that you get the chance to do what you actually want to do soon."

"What I want to do…" he pondered. "I've heard some rumors about the next project your friend Professor Turo has been trying to organize. Maybe I'll go join him. Would be interesting to explore-"

"You don't want to go on his next mission." There wasn't a trace of my previous joviality in my voice. I knew that I was a child, my appearance and high pitch could make it hard for adults to take me seriously but I needed him to listen to me now. "He's going down a path that leads only to ruin."

He gulped audibly, giving me an odd look before shaking his head. "I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to get some chow for Charizard, could use a stock up." Then he and Charizard flew off not very far away, just to the regular Pokemart up the winding street.

"What was that all-" Leah began.

"We better get Dun his medicine before my next match starts." I cut off Leah's words before she could question me on the subject, walking into the store. If she pressed me on the matter I'm not sure I could fake child-like ignorance and shake it off, I'd probably give in to proper manners and tell her something. Whatever I'd tell her would just lead her to ask more questions and I really don't want to break down about my past life right now.

Delibird Presents was a very colorfully decorated store, blue and red prominently painting the walls and ceiling with white trim and flooring to match the store's mascot. Rows of shelves covered the floor, knick-knacks, gadgets, and toys were stacked on them. In between aisles, there were often large cubes holding all manner of miscellaneous gear piled within. On the back was a glass case lining the entire wall with all manner of powerful, pricey battle items, evolutionary stones, and rarities for collectors.

Trash and treasure are all bundled up in one place. There wasn't really any place I can recall like this in my home, especially not in a smaller store like this one. Shaking myself out of my musings, I went to the front desk right away. It would be easy to lose myself here for hours if I had the time; there was a time and place for everything, but not now.

The sales attendant was a sandy-haired, bespectacled young man in a blue uniform with a small Delibird name tag pin with the name 'Dave' on it. "Hello little lady, what can I do for you today?"

"My Dunsparce got his neck crushed a little by a Dhelmise, do you have any Throat Sprays in stock that can help him?"

He blinked, a little surprised at the request. "Uhh, yes, we've got something that can help. Are you hoping to use sound-based attacks in battle soon?" He asked as he stepped around the desk and walked to the glass case.

"No, just something so his neck won't hurt and he can cheer out his name when he wins." Not many people know about Dunsparce learning powerful sound Moves. He might be a student at the academy, working here part-time.

He smiled at that and took out the keys to the case. Looking closer I could see a dusky tint to the glass. Probably some Dark Type-infused glass, to stop Ghost or Psychics from stealing the expensive stuff. I wonder how they 'infuse' objects with Type Energy anyway?

"That's good to hear. In that case, you probably just want the Throat Spray Lite - it should handle any issues he has in regular speech and any lingering pain."

"Sounds good, thank you."

Opening the case he pulled out the Throat Spray. In many ways, it looked much like a Potion. Regular Throat Spray had a neck brace and buttons so that a Pokemon could use it mid-fight for optimal effectiveness, but this one wasn't a Battle Item so it was just a red bottle with a slightly different spray nozzle than a Potion.

"That'll be 10,000 Pokedollars, ma'am." I blanched a bit at the price. That's over double what it costs to enter the tournament!

Before I could say anything, Leah stepped forward and said "We'll transfer the money right away. Rotom?" Rotom flew out of my pocket, hovering in front of the cashier, who didn't have his own Rotom Phone but a credit reader that apparently could receive money via Rotom transmission.

A glance at the screen as the transaction was done showed me that it wasn't my account they were using. "You have access to my parent's accounts?"

"Not exactly Nemona, bzzt. There's a limited fund I have permission to access on your behalf, and that fund was created by your parents."

"Wow, ok, thanks. Hmm, you know with how much you help me and the money, how does the name Pennyworth sound-"

"Bzzzzzt," Rotom buzzed in instant denial. I had told them about Batman, so it wasn't a case of them not getting the reference - in fact, I think it made the rejection stronger.

"Static? You'll put a shock to their systems!"

"Better, but still not clicking, Young Miss." Leah gave a small smile at the byplay between us, not saying a word.

With the spray in hand, we left, walking briskly up the street to where Friede had gone. Rotom was showing me some of the match streams beside me, so I knew we weren't in any danger of arriving too late. It was a lovely day and I was doing well in the tournament, but I couldn't help but feel discontent.

A fact that Leah noticed, asking "What's the matter, Young Miss?" I can't tell if she's really good at reading people, or if I just have a terrible poker face.

"It was my last opponent, Atticus."

"Did he say something mean to you?" Leah generally had a kind, soft face, but in the moment her eyes took on a killer steely glare.

"No, that's kinda the worst part. He was perfectly nice to me, but wanted to toss aside his Pokemon just because he lost a match with them!" Being disrespectful to Pokemon was a huge hot-button topic for me, but there was more to it than that.

I nearly thought about turning down the Throat Spray when I saw the price. It was just for a moment, and being money-conscious isn't a 'bad' thing, but… I've got tons of it. I shouldn't be holding back on my Pokemon in any way. Atticus used plenty of Technical Machine Moves as well, and I'm sure I'll face others at the top that have their own advantages.

Leah smiled kindly down at me. "I can see that means a lot to you. I'm glad you care so much, it's easy for some people to… take things for granted."

I nodded, the words resonating with me. 'Some people' like rich people. And more than even them, really. It's hard to truly appreciate a world as spectacular as this one without a frame of reference of a world without Pokemon.

She continued. "Keep a hold of that, it's good to care for others. But you can't let their actions drag you down. Just do the best that you can do."

I puffed my cheeks. Annoying to be talked to like I'm just a child, even if I am one right now. Even more annoying, she's entirely right. Sighing, I tried to let go of my frustration. "Yeah, you're right. I don't have to deal with him right now, so he shouldn't get to live in my head rent-free."

She chuckled. "You are your mother's daughter." I blinked, not understanding for a second before remembering where I was (why that wasn't a common saying). Who I was (the parents I had lost and the ones I now had).

"Right. Now let's make both my parents proud by winning this tournament!" That was just a saying from my first world, not meant to be a reference to O'Nare Reality.

"I'm sure they're already proud." That was true, though I could see how she might think that I'd need the encouragement if I was a six-year-old. My parents missing this probably doesn't help that. Truthfully while it was annoying, I knew how my Glitterati parents could be and could handle it a lot better than most children.

We waved down Friede who gave us a ride back on Charizard and we were at the arena with plenty of time. I made sure to thank the fire-breathing lizard for his aid. I might have made it running there and back, my stamina has improved tons over the past year with all the exercise I've been doing, but I would have been dead tired after.

Looking at the board I could see that there were only four trainers left here, but this was the last battle we'd have in this arena - the two winners would move on to the central arena for the quarterfinals there.

Letting Dunsparce out of his ball he gave a weak 'Dun' that turned into a cough partway through. "Hey buddy, got you something to help with that." Pulling out the Throat Spray, I gave one shot down his throat.

"Spar? Sparce Un!" He gave a happy shout, wiggling his body adorably. A girl watching nearby glared at us. Right, she's our opponent for the next round. She was a teenager with long pink hair.

"Rosemary Mato vs. Nemona Glitterati!" From the way she stiffened up at the other name being called, I assumed that she was my next opponent. From what I could recall, she had a Bronzor with some impressive psychic capabilities. Could be a problem, but I don't think it's worse than that Dhelmise.

The crowd seemed to think so too; I could hear snippets of the bets being placed, and they were weighted far more heavily in my favor than they had been before. Leah's been making quite a bit off of each win, good for her.

Rosemary had her arms crossed, standing on the other end of the field, chin jutted out while she looked down on me. She was trying a little hard, but I could tell she was nervous and trying to hide it. "Trainers, ready?" The referee called out, and the roar of the crowd died down to a light buzz of murmurs. We both nodded, I motioned for Dun to move forward, and she released her Bronzor. The Pokemon was a blue metal disk with two eyes near the middle and some bumps on the sides. It floated a few feet above the starting ring.

"Begin!"

"Body Slam!" I yelled, and Dun charged ahead. The space between them was too great, and she had the chance to give a command of her own.

"Confusion!" A pinky-purple energy surrounded Dun, holding him in the air and eliciting pain.

Damn it, they'll just telekinetically bash him around until he faints. I'd seen Rosemary do that in her previous matches. "Break out of it!" I snapped, just saying something while I wracked my mind for an answer.

To my surprise, he did just that, thrashing around mid-air to break through the energy field holding him. Impressive. I hadn't thought he'd get a lot of leverage from there. Must have underestimated his flight again or maybe just his strength in general- no! Focus! "Continue your attack!" I yelled out and he flew into Bronzor, knocking it back a bit through the air… but doing little else.

The battle continued that way for a minute, the Bronzor hurting Dun with Confusion for a moment before he'd break free and Body Slam at the Bronzor. Despite its range advantage, it drifted even slower through the air than my Dunsparce, but its Steel body meant his Normal Type attacks weren't very effective either.

All of a sudden, Dunsparce stopped listening to me, and after breaking free from an attack, started ramming his head into the barriers. While I was pleased to see the attacks were strong enough to force the Farigiraf managing them startle and have to focus on maintaining them, I generally wasn't pleased with the situation. Eyes are glazed over, he must be Confused. "Snap out of it!" I shouted. It might not be super helpful, especially if he isn't hearing me correctly, but I have to try something.

Thankfully, that proved to be enough, and his vision focused, taking in reality as it was again.

"Body Slam!" He hit the Bronzor again, it and its trainer not expecting Dun to break free so soon. It didn't do nearly enough to take our opponent out, however, and Rosemary called for Bronzor to retreat, setting up the same pattern we had been in before.

I can't use Poison Jab because it's a Steel Type, and Levitate keeps Earthquake away. Should I Terrastalize? I won't be able to recharge my Terra Orb before I get to the quarterfinals. We might even win this through attrition anyway without it, though if Dunsparce gets confused again- wait, it's levitating, but it might not be Levitating!

"Spin your tail and hit the ground with all your might, Mud Slap!" I yelled, testing my theory. Halting his advance, Dunsparce started rotating his tail like a drill before hitting the ground at an angle and sending mud spraying through the air.

A few globs of dirt smacked into Bronzorm hitting it in the eye and causing it to wince. Now's my chance! "Body Slam them into the ground!"

Dunsparce leaped up, twisting and landing like he was a wrestler about to elbow-drop someone.

He had no elbows, or arms, but the weight of his body was still a formidable force to hit his foe with, driving the Bronzor into the ground.

"Confusion!" Rosemary countered, seeing that his Body Slam had shaken loose the dirt in Bronzor's eyes. Another difference between the games and real life. Debuffs, arena traps, and the like won't last forever and can be cleared off by other Moves, depending on how they work.

The energy field surrounded Dunsparce as he landed, trying to hold him in place. Worse, I could see his eyes growing glassy.

I ignored it as I gave my command, knowing time was of the essence if I wanted my strategy to work. "Finish it off, Earthquake!" Dun reared up and smashed the ground with a heavy thud, shaking the arena. Bronzor tried to free itself and did manage to leave the ground before the quake hit, but the shifting earth rose to smack the metal disk around, sending it tumbling through the air where it dropped down, and fainted.

"The winner, Nemona Glitterati!" The announcer cried out as the ref gave the signal, and the crowd cheered. I recalled Dun instantly, before releasing him again.

When I released him, he was a little confused by the sudden change back and forth, but no longer Confused. The Pokeball reset his Aura to clear that condition and now he could bask in his well-deserved praise. To be fair, I'm doing a little basking too.

Leah came up to me, patting my shoulder. "Well done Young Miss. You've made it to the quarterfinals."

"Congrats, that was quick thinking there," Friede added.

"Thanks! I was so worried because Bronzors can know Levitate, but then I realized it might not have that ability mastered yet, so I tested it out with Mud Slap and-" I stopped myself as I realized I was rambling. "Thank you, for supporting me." Hearing the crowd chanting my name is nice, but knowing Leah is in my corner helps when I second-guess myself.

"Of course. Shall we?" She asked, gesturing to the path out.

I waved Dunsparce over and he slithered up, going back into the Pokeball. "Yeah." I've done alright so far, but here comes the big test, if I can make it in these last three rounds. Victory, fame, and even a potential shot at Aura lessons await.

Spoiler: A/N:

We've reached the end of the preliminary rounds, and about the end of where I had written up to when I started writing this fic. There's quite a bit more I've added since (and even plenty of elements in these chapters I've edited), but it feels great to have made it this far. Thank you so much to all of you following this journey so far.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

That little dunsparce in gonna be a fierce dragon.

 

[Skyfyre]

When we got to the central battle court, the atmosphere was different. People were tired from cheering throughout the rest of the day, but there was a buzz of excitement as we neared the last few rounds. The crowd was also larger than before, spilling out down the stairs and streets that led to the arena. Some of these people are just interested in the conclusion of this tournament, so they weren't watching before.

The path cleared up as we walked through, people pointing at me as I passed, whispering. Part of me wanted to listen in and hear what they were saying about me, but I knew it wasn't important and would just be distracting.

The crowd gathered around the rainbow mosaic arena, all standing outside the large ring that encircled the battlefield. The ring itself was made of colorful tiles, each one with the color and symbol representing one of the 18 Types. I saw Cyan, Arven, and Turo standing near the Steel tile. No sign of O'Nare or Billy, figures.

I ran over to my friend and sister, suppressing a shiver from a cold breeze that passed. "Did you guys see all my matches?"

"Yes! You were amazing, sis!"

"Dunsparce is so strong! So, uh, you surely don't need to train against Maschiff anymore, right?"

"Haha, thank you. And no way you guys are getting out of training that easily," I told Arven, the young boy wilting.

The Professor loomed over our little huddle. "You've done well. You surpassed my expectations for you."

"... Thanks?" The sad thing is, I think this is him trying to be supportive.

With the 'pleasantries' out of the way, he began grilling me. "I noticed you didn't use the Tera Orb. Why?"

"Uhh, well Dun's Terra Type is Normal, so it wouldn't have been helpful against Dhelmise, and I gauged that I wouldn't need it against the Bronzor. The rest weren't really much of a challenge," I admitted. That sounds harsh, but it is true. "There aren't any recharge centers nearby and I wouldn't want to give away my trump card so early on." I'm looking to impress Tulip, after all. Using it this early would have been a huge misplay, can't believe I almost did that.

"Huh? But I thought Terastalization made Pokemon super strong, wouldn't that have helped against Dhelmise at least?" Cyan asked. Arven looked confused as well, and Turo at least was curious as to my answer.

Clearing my throat I began a mini-lecture on the subject. "Terastalization isn't like Gigantamax or Mega Evolution, it doesn't make a Pokemon inherently stronger, it just gives them an additional Type, replacing their old ones."

"But aren't wild Terastalized Pokemon super strong?" Arven interrupted.

"That has nothing to do with them being Terastalized. Though it is commonly co-related to strength in the wild; perhaps the relationship flows the other way? Power drawing in the natural Terastalization?" I muttered part of that mostly to myself, but from the sympathetic smile Friede had, I knew they had heard me too.

"Anyways! Terastalization doesn't make a Pokemon inherently stronger, and Dun's Tera Type would be just as ineffectual against Dhelmise's ghostly immunity.

"That's a shame, sounds like Tera Orbs won't be that helpful," Friede said with a sly look at Turo.

The older Professor didn't change his facial expression, but from how he roughly grabbed and adjusted the lapels of his lab coat, I knew he was ruffled by Friede's jab.

If it were just the two of them I'd let them verbally duke it out, but… Arven's little face looked so worried, I couldn't help myself. Taking a deep breath, I said:

"Actually, it's possibly more impactful for competitive battling than any of the other Power Up methods. While it might not make the Pokemon stronger, their Moves are greatly impacted. Terastalization replaces your base Type or Types with whatever your Pokemon's Tera Type is. But those base Types can still enhance the Moves your Pokemon uses. So an Ice Tera Haxorus could use Ice Fangs as well as any Ice Type while Terastalized, but could also use Outrage as strong as any Dragon Type. By stacking up Types, like Dun's Normal base Type with his Normal Tera type, his Normal Moves can become much stronger than they would be before."

"Okay, so it can still be strong," The young man said, waving off Turo. "But that doesn't explain why you feel they're more impactful than a well-timed Z-Move or a powerful Gigantamax," Friede pressed.

"That's because of how they can change things up defensively. Offense is very strong but pretty straightforward. With Pokemon that have different Tera Types, or even just matching one-half of their dual base Types, their Weaknesses, Immunities, and Resistances all change drastically. It flips entire battle strategies on their heads! And that's to say nothing about Abilities interacting weirdly with new Typings; Mismagius' Levitation isn't a big deal regularly but on a Tera Electric Pokemon?" I shivered. Iono is definitely a wake-up call boss in the games.

Turo was distracted for a moment, greeting his fellow professor when Cyan said "Hey, Tulip is already here! I was just talking to her." She pointed out at the crowd.

Turning to follow her finger, I spotted Dendra and Tulip standing on the other side of the battlefield, a more incongruous pair you couldn't find. Dendra was dressed in a martial arts gi while Tulip was wearing a dress that looked like it could (and maybe actually had), just come off a runway with a Vivillion hairclip adorning her head. The former caught my gaze and started yelling loudly, waving at us. Tulip looked embarrassed at her friend's enthusiasm but gave me a calm wave as well.

"I'm gonna go talk to Tulip and Dendra now," I told the others, and without waiting for them to respond, walked off, my sister following close behind. As I crossed the arena, I noticed a few people staring and pointing at me.

"That was awesome! You've got some real fighting spirit, little lady!" Dendra exclaimed, ignoring or not noticing the newfound attention we were getting.

"You guys saw my previous matches?" I asked.

"We only arrived recently, but they've been replaying some highlights and you've shown up often," Tulip adds. She had a small frown on her face like she was sorry about that, but I got her being busy. I'm asking her to offer a lot, without having shown how good I am yet.

"Osu! Nemona was awesome! She was all like wow, pow, waacham!" Tulip and I shared a look, and I understood how she could be embarrassed and endeared to her friend all at once. Dendra didn't stop there though, actually having some insight into my matches. "I never knew a Dunsparce could learn Moves like those!"

"Dunsparce have a really wide range of Moves they can learn, a lot of people don't realize. That, and we trained really hard to master those Technical Machine Moves."

"Why would you need to do that? Doesn't the machine give your Pokemon all the information they need?" Cyan asked. Tulip looked curious as well, waiting for my response. There's no way a future gym leader doesn't know this, right? This might be a test then, to see how much I know. Of course, I could be overthinking it too. She was too composed for me to read anything, so I figured I'd just explain my reasoning anyway.

"The Technical Machine teaches them the basics of how to perform the Move, yes. The Type energy they need to channel and how much but-" I shook my head, having trouble explaining it in those terms until a glance at Dendra's gi gave me an idea.

"Ok, see, it's like throwing a punch." I demonstrated, throwing a quick jab in the air, using my mixed martial arts knowledge from my first life. "If you just show someone untrained that punch, they might try to copy it and get it all wrong."

Again I threw out a jab, but this time I purposefully did it wrong. No pivot of my feet or lean of my shoulder for extra reach, wrist held not straight, elbow bent, and thumb in my fist. It was so improper that Dendra twitched painfully at the sight. "Ah, sorry about that. Uh, so the Technical Machine walks them through all the steps they need to do the Move right." I demonstrated, using my other hand to push and adjust all the parts into place. Dendra let out a sigh of relief.

"Just like a punch though, you need to practice a Move thousands of times to make it muscle memory. So it comes out sharp! Clean! Powerful! And Fast! Every time." With each yell, I threw another punch in the air.

The two of them were silent, Dendra's face was unreadable and Tulip's was contemplative. I hope that impressed her a bit. Obviously, I plan on winning this too, but showing my knowledge here will help with convincing her as well.

Dendra spoke up first, turning to her friend, and then in a dead serious voice said: "We need to adopt her."

"Wha- Dendra, no!"

"Dendra YES!" She countered, a maniacal gleam in her eyes.

"Who's this 'we' you're talking about?" Tulip said, hands on her hips. "I'm not taking her in, and you shouldn't either. You're fifteen! Also, what about her parents and sister?"

The martial arts enthusiast completely ignored the latter points and focused on the first ones.

"So, you're just gonna leave me to be a single teenage mother?!"

"What- I- gaaaaah!" The model cried out, embarrassment and frustration taking over as she clutched at her head, a light dusting of red covering her cheeks and for once it wasn't well-applied makeup. Dendra had not been quiet, and people were whispering and snickering at the incident.

Personally, I couldn't help but laugh at the comedy routine, it was hilarious! What caught my eye though was the way Tulip's hair clip ornament flapped its wings repeatedly as she got flustered. There was no wind, and her body motions shouldn't have been violent enough to cause that. Aura. That mystical power I want to learn.

Luckily, Arven, Turo, Friede, and Leah followed after me, foiling any attempted kidnapping Dendra was planning. "Greetings, I am Leah, charged with keeping Young Miss Nemona safe from harm. Who might you be?" The maid asked the older girls.

"Dendra, and this is Tulip. I gave Nemona the idea to compete here, but wow! Osu! Even I didn't realize she'd be this good." The enthusiastic girl replied while Cyan was busy pestering the elegant girl beside her.

"We met them at the fashion show Cyan and I went to," I explained to Leah before a booming voice cut over all the chatter in the area.

"Welcome, friends and fans, to the final few fights on the eve of our 27th Junior Mesagozan Tournament!" All eyes turned to a middle-aged man in the center of the arena dressed in a striking red suit, microphone in hand. "I'm Larry Goldsworth, and I'll be your announcer for this evening." Evening it was indeed, with the sun just starting to set now. "Our contestants are all here, so without further ado, I'll call them forward. Gary Rickroll, Nemona Glitterati, Frederick van Grough…" Hearing my name, I jumped. Why was I surprised at that, I knew this was coming. Argh, nerves. Just focus, we're almost done.

I joined the others forming a line in the center of the arena, to give everyone a good look at us. Cameras were flashing and the crowd cheered us on. It was hard to focus on any one person out there, especially with Freddrick, sneering down at me. Clearly, he had remembered our previous encounter and still wasn't impressed with me.

Admittedly, my stature was a bit less impressive than the others here, everyone else was a teenager. I held myself with pride regardless. If anyone wants to look down on me, then they'll just get to see what I'm made of.

"... Let's begin the first match of the quarter-finals, Iris Canin vs. Nemona Glitterati!" The others dispersed, and we took our places at either end of the arena. Iris had short pink hair, matching the bubblegum she was chewing, blowing out, and popping loudly. I was surprised at her name, but it's not that uncommon. A lot of kids get named after champions. There are tons of Lances and Alders out there, a ridiculous amount of Cynthias… She looks like she's projecting confidence, and she is but, she's slightly nervous underneath too. The bubblegum popping is just a bit forced.

"Alright kid, give me all ya got!" She yelled out, as much for the crowd as it was for me. I just nodded, no great pre-battle banter coming to mind and I didn't want to embarrass myself by trying something off the cuff.

On the signal from the referee, we both raised our Pokeballs, ready to battle. The referee for these matches was a League Official. She was a tall woman with deep blue eyes and long black hair with a few golden streaks in it. Her Espathra was creating a powerful barrier around the multicolor arena. She looks familiar, but I can't quite place her…

On the command to release, we both did so and I snapped my focus back to the battle. Dun flapped his little wings eagerly, eyeing his opponent, a Floragato. It was a green bipedal cat-like

Pokemon, with a pink spinning disk in one of its hands. A lot of people had starters here, many of them being students of Uva Academy, but none of the previous contestants I had seen had evolved them.

"Trainers ready?" The referee asked, lifting her hand in the air.

"Yes," we called out in unison, and the noise from the crowd died down. Or maybe it didn't, and I just ignored it, my focus solely focused in front of me.

She brought her hand down as if to chop through the tension between us. "Begin!"

"Floragato, Magical Leaf!" Iris yelled, and her feline-esque Pokemon waved his yo-yo thing around, a vine acting like a string to wind it out into the air and from it, conjure up a plethora of leaves all around. Dunsparce was charging ahead, and I encouraged him.

"There's no dodging, just plow through, Body Slam!"

"What?!" Iris was surprised by my tactic, and while several leaves hit and cut into Dun, it was less than would have hit him if he'd tried to dodge in the center of the maelstrom. Floragato was sent tumbling through the air from the impact.

After the leaves cleared I saw a few minor cuts on Dun, but nothing deep, while our opponent was shakily getting back on his feet. "Slam it again!"

Dunsparce raced after the injured Floragato but even hurt, the cat was much faster, dodging around Dun's pursuit.

"Hone Claws, get ready!" Iris called out, her bubble gum blowing forgotten about as she was pushed back. Floragato began waving his claws around, dark energy sharpening them, even as he weaved around the Body Slams aimed his way.

Damn, can't let them set up! "Glare!" With a killer stare, Floragato froze up mid-way through his Move, early tripping over his own feet. Cat-like grace was enough to avoid falling, but not to avoid Dun's follow-up Body Slam.

This time, Dun landed right beside Floragato, so I shouted "Poison Jab, now!!" His tail darted out fast, driving into Floragato's side. The Grass Type gave a cry so pained that I winced a little, and from the way there was a slow purple tint spreading throughout his fur, I guessed that he had been Poisoned by the attack as well.

Floragato gave a quick Scratch and retreated away from Dun. I held up a hand, indicating for Dun to wait and see what Iris' next move would be. Rather than call out any desperate, last-ditch attack, she drew her Pokeball and recalled her starter. "I forfeit."

There were gasps from the crowd as they heard that and the referee called the match, but I understood where she was coming from. Floragato had been swaying on his feet from the Poison and hits, and his muscles were still clenching from the Paralysis. By that point, they didn't really have a chance.

"There we have it folks, our first winner of the quarter-finals and the youngest competitor to ever make it to the Semi-Finals, Nemona Glitterati!" Larry called out and the crowd burst into cheers.

Walking up to the center of the arena, I waved to all of them alongside Dun (well, I waved, Dun just sort of bobbed his head around to the same effect). We stopped waving as Iris walked up to us, extending out a hand to shake.

I took it, and the crowd gave renewed cheers and applause for the good sportsmanship. "Hah. You did good, kid. Where did you learn to be that strong?"

"Just trained hard near my home," I replied with a small shrug. It was technically true if leaving out relevant bits like my reincarnation which helped out a bit. Can't even be sure that's the only thing though. I feel like I can react faster in this world, and think better under pressure. Is that just part of living in this world, or part of being Nemona?

"Well, good luck kid, you'll need it." The warning sounded earnest, not petty, but I didn't get what it referred to until I saw the next battle.

Freddrick van Grough was up against Helios Denver. Helios had short magenta hair and wore the Uva Academy uniform as well. His Pokemon was a large Lechonk, while Freddrick released…

"Oh my," Leah said beside me, summing up my thoughts entirely as we saw the arrogant boy reveal a gigantic bird. Its wingspan was over five meters across, and those wings were covered with literally iron-sharp feathers. It towered over the Lechonk, glaring down with beady red eyes that made me want to fall on my knees, despite not even directing its attention towards me.

To still somehow stand up to the Corviknight, Helios and his Lechonk were very brave. And very stupid. The battle began, and Corviknight furiously pecked at the Lechonk, interrupting any attempt to tackle it. Then the bird picked it up in its claws and lifted the little pig Pokemon in the air, before hurling it to the ground.

The only order Freddrick gave out was at the end. "Hurricane." Up high, the Corviknight flapped its wings hard, whipping up a heavy gust that turned into a terrifying storm. The winds lifted Lechonk off the ground and around through the air, spinning them several times until they were flung into the barrier and collapsed, defeated.

Luckily, the referee's Espathra caught the fallen pig with its psychic powers and gently lowered it to the ground. Ah, right, Iris came from the same battlefield as him. And I have to face that in my next round. Oh boy.

Spoiler: A/N:

The first round of the Quarterfinals has been won easily enough, but the difficulty ramps up from here, with our first real look at the rival Nemona made at the start.

 

[unlawfulwaffle362]

All you gotta do to get rid of Corviknight is get a Tinkaton!

 

[Drkonecharlie]

To bring a fully evolved three stage pokemon like that to a beginner tournament wow someone has no faith in being a good trainer