Prince of Po Town (Pokemon Isekai)

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Damn, not familiar with the song or the band, bit you nailed the melancholic vibe and made me go down memory lane trying to choose a song that I would've used instead of Change by Blind Melon.

Anyways it's nice to see Ian and Tupp being friends again

Click to shrink...

I definitely was a bit nervous doing a musical thing in a fic, thanks for the kind words. The vibes will be much better going forward, Ian was due for an emotional breakdown. We got a couple more chapters before a very small time skip and we get to the second arc. We'll get one more team member for Ian before that happens too

 

[ScotttheBard]

I wonder if anyone heard his…musical breakdown.

I won't ask for Spoilers as to whom the Team Member is but I'm sort of hoping for another Unova Mon… or a Hisuian Pokemon, that'd be dope too.

Guzma: The fuck is that?

Points to giant axe bug.

Ian: that's a Kleavor. A rock/bug type evolution of Scyther. Commonly found in Sinnoh during the time in which it was known as Hisui

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

No stories complete without a song. Glad the duo are friends again. And man Ariados needs an ass kicking at some point. Hopefully once Sawsbuck finds his spine.

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Chapter 11 Changes

The next morning, Ian and Tupp were rearing to go, amped on the early morning sun as they dashed to their designated tree on Backstreet when Plumeria's voice interrupted them. "Where the hell are you two numbskulls going?" Plumeria demanded.

"Go gonna train my new team member, Big Sis," Tupp said, lifting up his skull cap and revealing the hidden Sobble resting on his head.

Plumeria's jaw dropped as Sobble scurried to the back of Tupp's head, its tail clinging around the Team Skull grunt's neck. "Where'd you get that?"

"Ian gave it to me-"

Plumeria scowled and fixed her eyes on Ian. "Selene did mention something about you wanting to catch a Pokemon which is why you stuck around longer than you should've in the Ultra Storm…"

Ian shrugged. "He needs a ranged attacker."

Tupp nodded in solidarity, but Plumeria rolled her eyes. "And I clearly need to improve my squad's coordination in navigating an Ultra Storm now that we're going inside of them, thanks to Mr. Hero here. Or should I say Mr Junk-collector."

Junk collector? Oh yeah, the shards… "Yeah, I guess I earned that one with the shards…" Ian acknowledged.

"Shards? You mean that junk Guzma made me take to the dumpster yesterday?" Tupp asked.

So that's where they are. "Yeah…"

"And Big Sis, can't the squad train while Ian and I train Sobble and Litleo?" Tupp asked.

Plumeria scoffed. "Of course not, Ian's suspended from the squad, so he gets to go have fun with Rook today."

"What!?" Tupp demanded. "But me and Sobble need to get work on getting good at fighting at range and being 'starteejic' and shit-"

"Don't hurt your brain too much there, numbskull, you'll give yourself an aneurysm," Plumeria replied. "And Selene should be better for that anyways."

Ian gave Tupp a wink, making Tupp realize he had an excuse for some time with his crush. Tupp fist-bumped Ian and turned to follow Plumeria's lead. "Wait, Tupp, where's the dumpster you put the Shards in?" Ian asked.

"Down by the apartments on Windward," Tupp said lowly. "Why you askin'?"

"Need to see something," Ian said, and remembered he didn't have any place to store the Shards if he even got them. "Hey Plumeria," Ian called to Plumeria who turned around. "Are there any lockers or places to store things?"

"Besides any house that's not occupied?" Plumeria teased. "I can get you something at Tom's. You gonna learn a musical instrument while you're on suspension?"

"Ye-" Ian paused as the knowing look in Plumeria's eye caught his eye. "Well uh…"

"I'll get you one if you promise to learn a song for Rylee, okay?" Plumeria said. "With us being outside the walls training you're gonna go check up on her today."

Ian nodded. "I can do that."

"Good. Now go to Tom's, I bet he's looking for you," Plumeria said.

"Tom? I thought I was with Rook-"

Plumeria scowled at Ian and he immediately back-pedaled. "...or I could just do what you tell me. Yup. I can do that," Ian said, giving an exaggerated smile and a thumbs up.

Plumeria smirked and turned around, heading down The Spine. Ian mosied over to Tom's shop, noticing a group of three higher ups were standing together by the shop's front door like they had been under the awning the previous day by the front gate.

"There he is, Alola Ian!" Tom's exuberant voice boomed as he locked eyes with Ian.

"The Pizza Boy of the hour," Rook said mockingly.

The third man Ian figured was Grillz who more resembled a biker with a bandana than a cook, mumbled something incoherent with a gravelly voice, and Ian waved as he went to the trio unsure of his fate. "What's up?" Ian asked nervously.

"We gotta see that deer of yours," Grillz said with a harsh accent, his voice sounding like he'd eaten a pack of cigs a day as opposed to smoked them.

"Uh, sure thing…" Ian said, reaching for his Heal Ball.

Tom waved his hand to tell Ian to stop. "We don't want the algae to grow in the creek, let's do this in the grove."

Ian grimaced. "We'll just get run off by Guzma's Ariados-"

The trio of men eyed him as if he'd just said something in a different language. "Nah man, Guzma took her away this morning," Rook said.

"Really?" Ian said. "I just got bitched at yesterday-"

"Plumeria didn't tell you?" Tom asked, slightly confused. "I thought that's why she went after you when we saw you yesterday in the rain."

"What?" Ian asked, even more perplexed for a moment before it hit him. Damn, she totally heard that song yesterday. "Oh uh… she didn't say anything specifically…"

"Well, Grillz here told bossman the news," Rook said. "Ten days before we're going off of just foraging and fishing, so the compromise is Ariados can only be in there at night."

Tom and Grillz both gave Ian a grim look.

"At least he listens to you someone," Ian said, eyeing up Grillz. "And you must be Grillz, right sir?"

Rook scoffed. "Out here calling Grillz 'sir,' that's crazy."

"I figure it's a good idea to be nice to the guy who cooks the food," Ian replied.

A gravelly chuckle escaped Grillz' lips and he smiled, his fake-teeth on full display for Ian. "I like the fucker already. Let's hope his deer does what Plumeria says it does."

The group of four made their way down The Spine, getting curious looks from the Team Skull members they passed by. When they neared the gate, Ian turned to see the alley entrance he'd used the day prior and gotten everything out he'd needed to. Thanks again. Tom and Grillz were quickly deep in a different conversation, and Ian remembered who he was taking orders from for the day. Or longer.

"So Rook, I hear I'm your man for a bit?" Ian asked.

"Yup," Rook said casually. "What you end up doing is going to depend on how this all goes."

"Cool…" What happens if they're not satisfied with the rate of Sawsbuck's growth boost?

"Plumeria must like having you around if she's suspended you already," Rook observed.

"You sure about that?" Ian asked.

"She would've booted you by now, but suspending you is part of developing you, it takes time, takes effort. She wouldn't expend that for someone she didn't think would be a good team member," Rook explained.

"I didn't think of it that way," Ian admitted. "How'd you figure that out?"

"I'm in charge of the town's defense, I gotta be observant," Rook answered. "So naturally I keep an eye on the other leaders."

"Makes sense. For a second I thought you'd say something like 'pillow talk' or-"

Rook nearly gagged. "Oh hell naw, she's probaby a fucking lesbo that one, stuck up as she is."

I don't think that's fair to her, Rook… Ian remembered the heart-to-heart he'd had with Plumeria when they were on their way back from the Surge debacle in the rain. The genuine look of caring in her eyes when she told him it was going to be okay had been burned into the back of his retinas. She has to be the Big Sis to everybody, the shoulder to cry on for everyone, to be strong and still show that affection when needed… Ian exhaled in disbelief, fully realizing the burden Plumeria carried without even knowing much about her. No wonder she hates my guts, doing the crazy stuff I've done.

They were now outside of the gates and fast approaching the grove. "You're sure Ariados isn't still in here?" Ian asked aloud as they stepped off the road and into the grove. He scanned the canopy before taking Sawsbuck's Heal Ball out.

"Guzma's proud, not dumb," Grillz said.

Could've fooled me yesterday. "Watch the berries on the trees around here closely," Ian said, pointing to the low hanging branches.

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it," Grillz said impatiently.

"Show 'em what you can do, Sawsbuck!" Ian called out as he tossed the pink ball in the air. Sawsbuck manifested in a flash of red light and stretched with pride. The trees shifted and it even felt like the wind picked up if only for a moment as green bulbs swelled into flowers, branches creaked with growth, and most importantly: various fruits expanded sizably.

"Woooah," Tom said in disbelief. Grillz snorted and clicked his tongue while Rook folded his arms and nodded, impressed.

"Not bad, Pizza Boy," Rook said.

"This is all Sawsbuck," Ian said.

"Plumeria said things grow by half, maybe two-thirds… I didn't dare to believe it, but that's a solid estimate," Tom observed. "Ian, you might be saving our bacon."

"Maybe someday we'll get actual bacon on the menu at The Grill, eh?" Ian asked with a facetious smile.

"Don't burst your britches just yet," Grillz said. "Trust me, I want to grill up some good meat. It's my fucking name now."

"Oh yeah…" Ian realized.

"So Rook, you got any trainers that can harvest what's ready?" Tom asked.

Rook shrugged. "Yeah, but I want to see something first. How long does the effect last?" Rook asked.

"What?" Ian asked.

"Like, recall Sawsbuck and see if it pops again like that when it comes back out," Rook said. "Or can it only affect things every so often?"

Oh, that's really important. "Lemme see," Ian said, recalling Sawsbuck into the Heal Ball once more. Ian then released Sawsbuck again, watching the surrounding greenery carefully, but nothing shifted, nothing grew like before.

"There must be a certain amount of time to trigger the effect again," Rook said. "We need to figure out what that is before we think this has saved the town."

Finally a guy who makes sense. Maybe transferring to this guy wouldn't be a bad idea after all. "Good idea."

Rook took an electronic watch Ian hadn't noticed was on the Team Skull higher-ups wrist and handed it to Ian. "I'm gonna send some grunts over here to harvest things. When Slugg comes by, use his watch instead and get this back to me."

Ian nodded, accepting the watch and reading the time of 7:36. "Okay…" I feel like Slugg's familiar… Tupp said something about him being the fat guy, right?

"You gonna run around here a bit before settling back in for the timer?" Rook asked.

"Yeah," Ian said, hiding his mild irritation at being told something obvious while he was thinking about something else. "C'mon Sawsbuck, let's get this growing!" Ian said enthusiastically, which Sawsbuck was only happy to join in. Ian still kept his eyes peeled for Ariados, but the Alpha and its minion Spinaraks were nowhere to be seen.

Ian and Sawsbuck did a full circle, weaving in and out of the trees and brush, with Ian getting the longing to get on Sawsbuck's back and riding along through it. Prolly need Tupp's advice on that front. I also need Sawsbuck to stop being so skittish or else I'll break my neck on day one.

Ian plopped back down in the designated spot they were timing near the front, and just after 8:00 AM, a group of twenty or so Team Skull members made their way over, some carrying woven baskets on their heads, and Ian immediately spotted one that stuck out like a sore thumb: the short, tubby one trailing the rest of the group. I suppose that's Slugg, right? Kind of a screwed up name now that I see him in person.

"Okay everyone, here we are, it's harvesting time you know?" An unfamiliar female voice said with a noticeable calm in her voice. Almost like she's stoned. Ian focused on the young woman leading the group and immediately recognized the woman's distinct, pink tipped ash-blonde hair as the artist he'd been looking for, just in a Team Skull uniform. "Ribombee, show 'em what's up," Mina said in almost half a daze as a pink Poke Ball Ian recognized as a Heal Ball was sent flying into the air. I'm not the only person with one!

Ribombee manifested with its angelic, translucent wings fluttering quickly as its yellow, fuzzy body stretched out before it honed on nearby fruit-bearing trees as its black arms began plucking berries from the tree in front of it and dropping them on the ground for the basket-carrying grunts to pick up. Might not be the most hygienic way of doing it, but I guess it works.

Ian watched as other trainers let out their Pokemon, some Pikipeks, Trumbeaks, Spearow, Murkows, Hoothoots, and even a Rufflet along with members of the Fletchling line made for the canopy as fruit began falling en masse to the grove's floor.

"This is amazing!" One grunt said as they rushed by Ian and Sawsbuck. Sawsbuck seemed a bit peeved by the number of trainers and Pokemon, but Ian gave his blessed stag a comforting scratch on the back of the neck.

"So you two are the reason this is all happening?" The dazed female voice asked from beside Ian.

Ian turned, meeting Mina's dazed pair of dark eyes with his own and smiling. "Well, it's more Sawsbuck," Ian said, rubbing Sawsbuck's neck faster for a moment.

"Well that's quite handy," she said, extending her hand. "I'm Mina, one of Rook's squad leaders."

"Ian, suspended from Plumeria's squad," Ian said with an amused grin.

"She's a toughy, but she's good peeps," Mina said, looking out on the harvesting efforts for a moment before returning her attention to Ian.

"And pardon me for asking, but are you the one who painted that map in Guzma's throne room?" Ian asked.

Mina nodded. "Yup, that's me…" Mina said as she scanned her underlings once more.

"It's beautiful artwork," Ian said. "Not to mention very detailed and informative."

Mina nodded dazedly, not seeming like she was fully paying attention. "There's no reason form can't have function."

Ian gulped, realizing he might be annoying the painter. "Sorry, you probably get that a lot…"

Mina shook her head. "Not entirely just…" Mina paused as the words didn't come to her right away. "...I'm not good at receiving compliments."

Ian smiled. "Right? Like what are you supposed to do? It seems kind of played-out to just say 'thank you' but then if you don't, you're being impolite-" Ian paused as he realized Mina's gaze had become fixated on him.

"I agree…" Mina said, seemingly curious about Ian all of the sudden before returning her focus to overseeing the grunts.

A loud, labored panting hit Ian's ears as the tubby follower of Mina's group got close to Mina. "Hey Mina, sorry I'm late…" The fat, young man with pale skin and orange hair said. Why do I feel like I've seen him before?

"It's okay Sophocles," Mina said, still focused on her overseeing.

Sophocles? Like the Trial Captain of the observatories? What the hell is he doing here?

Sophocles bent over and put his hands on his knees as he continued to breath heavily. "Lemme just… catch… my breath…"

Mina shook her head. "No need. Stay here with Ian for a bit. I believe you have a watch to exchange with him."

"What- oh yeah…" Sophocles buried a hand into his black pants pocket and pulled out a mundane looking electronic watch. "Here…"

Ian handed Rook's nicer looking watch and took the slightly wet watch in his hand. I hope that's sweat… "So you're Sophopcles?" Ian asked.

"Kinda…" Sophocles answered. "Everyone else calls me 'Slugg' here."

"So what are you, the resident tech guy?" Ian asked teasingly.

Sophocles shook his head. "No, that's what I wanted to do actually…"

Ian paused, realizing he might be hitting a sensitive spot right off the bat. "I didn't mean to strike a nerve, we just met."

Sophocles shook his head. "No, it's fine. I wanted to get this internship at the observatory up there…" Sophocles pointed to the mountain towering overhead. "...before I started college, but the president of the Aether Foundation took over the thing and made it Aether only. Super lame…"

Something's not adding up here. "That's too bad…"

"Went to college for two weeks and dropped out. Whole thing's a scam anyways. Everyone will be cheating when AI really gets going," Sophocles said bitterly.

"Okay…" Ian said. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you end up in Po Town?"

Sophocles grimaced. "Fucking parents sent me to live in the family mansion here, you know, Shady House, so I could get be out of the way. Then Guzma took over the town after Keahi left, and here I am, sleeping in a bunk in my own mansion with a bunch of jerks in the same room…"

Ian shrugged. "I see…"

"Been losing a lot of weight though, so that's cool…" Sophocles said, his breathing returning to normal.

Ian eyed Sopohcles' physique with some skepticism. Hate to imagine how big he was before this all went down. "Well, think of this as a very screwed up summer camp, I guess," Ian joked. "Probably better than dealing with Lusamine and Aether."

"Lusamine?" Sophocles asked in bewilderment. "Oh you mean President Mohn's wife? I don't know man, she's gorgeous. Things would be way better hanging around with her."

President Mohn? He's still around? Did he not disappear in an Ultra Wormhole? If that's the case, there are gonna be some very different things going on in this Alola.

"What about you? How'd you end up here?" Sophocles asked.

"Went to sleep at home, woke up on my bed in an Ultra Storm, Plumeria and her squad were outside of the Ultra Storm and this is day what… Six?"

"That's a cool Sawsbuck you got," Sophocles observed. "I didn't know they got that big. You catch that in Unova?"

Ian smiled nervously. "Actually, I didn't catch it there, I caught it here as a Deerling on my second day."

"It already evolved? Wow…"

"Yeah, crazy story actually…" Ian began explaining his time with Team Skull, catching Wartortle and Litleo the next day, then told Sophocles about the mission gone wrong to observe Surge's convoy. Mina came in and listened intently around this point, not asking any questions but listening curiously. When he finished his story, Sophocles looked at Ian in awe.

"That's so crazy…" Sophocles said. "I almost wish it was real, y'know?" Sophocles then laughed, causing his belly fat to bounce as he cackled hysterically and waddled into the grove.

"Great guy…" Ian muttered sarcastically.

"And he wonders why he has no friends," Mina said. "I heard the reports from Rook about you, so I know they're all true," Mina then pointed at Sawsbuck. "Plus you have the Sawsbuck and the Grassy Surge effect to prove it."

Ian smiled. "Thanks… It's a tough crowd around here."

Mina nodded. "Yeah."

"This probably wouldn't be the place I'd choose to start a new life, but oh well," Ian said with a shrug.

Mina nodded. "Yeah. My parents asked me to take care of my grandma who was here in Po Town. Not long after I got here the Ultra Rift appeared, been stuck here ever since."

"How's grandma?"

"She passed in the first month of BS," Mina said.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Ian said.

Mina shrugged. "She was in pain. She was Keahi's mentor so that's why she came out here. Hearing about Keahi's attack on the Lake of the Sunne finally broke her though…"

Ian's eyebrows rose. Attack? The former Kahuna launched an attack on the Lake of the Sunne? No wonder she's a "former" Kahuna. "That's something I haven't heard anything about…"

Mina shrugged. "It's a sensitive spot for most people. A good chunk of Team Skull's founding members were Keahi's Cinders initially."

Keahi's Cinders, I gotta put that in the memory bank for later. "Good to know…"

Ian noticed Sophocles stumbling back over awkwardly with a Noibat fluttering behind him awkwardly. "Hey Mina, everyone's saying they're done," Sophocles announced.

Mina shrugged. "Okay, tell everyone to get back to Po Town then." Mina turned to Ian and gave him a grin. "It was nice meeting you, Ian."

"Yeah, same," Ian said, nodding respectfully.

Ian and Sawsbuck watched on as the two dozen Team Skull members made their way out of the grove with full baskets of various berries they'd collected. Ian remained planted to the experimental spot and waited, seeing it was almost a quarter past 8:00 AM. He turned to Sawsbuck and figured he'd try something. "Sawsbuck, any idea if you have control over Grassy Surge? Seems like something you'd be able to do…" Sawsbuck looked at him with a blank stare and lowered its neck to munch on some grass. It was worth a try at least.

It seemed like nothing in the grove moved for a while as Ian and Sawsbuck waited for the "cooldown" to pass. If that is in fact how it works. Ian eyed the watch, showing 8:59 and he rolled his eyes before hearing footsteps heading toward him. Sawsbuck heard them too, and both went on alert. Ian checked every dark shadow around him, trying to make sure he was ready for whatever was about to come.

The silence broke with a loud yawn, and Ian turned in a panic only to see a man with dark hair with two spikes aimed at the sky, with a black scarf that wrapped around his neck and dangled past his waist. Below his neck he wore a white kimono, flowing from shoulders to ankles on the slim man a few inches shorter than Ian. "No need to be alarmed," the man said as he ended his yawn and looked down at a piece of paper he held in his hand. "A guy named Ian with an unusually-sized Sawsbuck. I take it that's you?"

Ian eyed him with confusion, a slight hint of familiarity hitting him, but unable to place it. "Who are you?" Ian asked uncertainly.

"I'm known as 'Big G' around these parts," the man said with a certain disinterest. "But back home they call me Grimsley."

Grimsley? Why's that name sound famil- "Wait, you're Grimsley of the Unova Elite Four?" Ian blurted out in shock.

Grimsley bowed with no shortage of showmanship and smiled. "Formerly of the Elite Four, but yes."

"What are you doing in Alola?" Ian asked.

"Guy can't take a vacation? Take up Mantine surfing and never return home? What a world we live in…"

"Sorry, just… This is the last place I expected to find a person of your… magnitude."

"You calling me fat?" Grimsley asked in mocked anguish. "I should tell those Driftwood Guild idiots I didn't find the guy with the blessed Sawsbuck and be done with you."

"Driftwood Guild?" Ian asked in surprise. Oh, that Neroli chick. "Wait, they sent you to find me?"

"Ding-ding-ding, winner, WINNER!" Grimsley announced overdramatically. "I'd give you a chicken dinner but I don't have any domesticated Torchics waddling around."

"Okay… So why'd they send someone like you to find me?" Ian asked.

Grimsley gasped as if he'd been stabbed in the gullet. "Someone like 'you?' Oh please, do be gentler…" Grimsley mockingly-gasped.

"Former Elite Four for… a random guy like me?" Ian asked.

"Your Sawsbuck of course," Grimsely said. "With no Kahuna on the island, Driftwood is trying to fill in the gaps. So when Tapu Bulu decides to bless some random Faller on Team Skull, you can imagine the guild would be a little panicked."

"Makes sense… Why don't you become the Kahuna of the island? You're more than strong enough."

Grimsley scoffed. "That is the last thing I'd ever want to do. Tapu Bulu's a fickle little shit, powerful as it is. I do like a good gamble, but not when it's against a Tapu."

Ian grimaced. "So why are you here again? Helping Sawsbuck?"

"For the island, of course-"

"Don't bullshit me," Ian said with a grin.

Grimsely chuckled. "Perceptive, that's good. The Driftwood Guild has agreed to pay off my marker on a certain cruise ship's casino."

"So that's why you left Unova?" Ian asked.

Grimsely smirked. "What can I say, I like good, fun action. Unova's Elite Four found out my markers were run up about a century's worth of my salary and I had to uh… leave the country. Cruise ship was foolish enough not to do a background check on me when I got here, so I'm in this little bind, which got me here with you and your blessed deer."

"So Driftwood wants you to help me?"

"Train you specifically," Grimsley said. "Of all of the factions to land with, the trainer with the Pokemon blessed by Tapu Bulu popping up in Team Skull is easily the second worst faction for that to happen to."

"Really? I don't think they're that bad."

"Guzma's not exactly the mentoring type, and Plumeria's a solid trainer, but she's very choosy," Grimsley said. "What other Pokemon do you have besides Sawsbuck?"

Ian reached for his belt, grabbing both shrunken Poke Balls and expanded them in his hands. He released Wartortle's ball first, manifesting the shelled amphibian before them. It gave a croak and sat down.

"He doesn't seem like your biggest fan," Grimsey said.

"Wait till you meet the other one," Ian said with a sigh, releasing Litleo's ball and making the fiery lion cub appear and immediately turn to Wartortle in anger.

"Litleo, you don't see those every day," Grimsley said. "So did you catch these Pokemon or have them for a while?"

"Uh… I just got them. Sawsbuck too," Ian said. "I appeared in an Ultra Storm like six days ago."

Grimsley's eyebrows rose. "Where'd you come from?"

Ian gulped. "Unova, Nimbasa City."

"Nimbasa?" Grimsley said with almost disgust. "You sound like you're from Aspertia."

"Really?" Ian asked, realizing he wasn't sure where that was. Hopefully it wasn't a Black 2/ White 2 thing, I only played through those once.

"But whatever you say dude. You ever train Pokemon before?" Grimsley asked.

"No, although I am pretty knowledgeable," Ian said.

"We'll see about that," Grimsley said, returning his attention to Litleo and Wartortle.

Ian realized Sawsbuck was ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "C'mon Sawsbuck, settle down," Ian said. "You're a lot bigger than that Litleo."

Grimsley scoffed. "How long have you had that Sawsbuck?"

"I caught it as a Deerling on my second day, it evolved on my fourth day," Ian said. "It's been a whirlwind of a week."

Grimsley rolled his eyes. "Was Deerling really skittish?"

"Still is…"

"Deerling must've evolved too early," Grimsley said. "When Pokemon evolve too early, they're still similar mentally. Part of a proper evolution is making sure the Pokemon is mature enough to handle the evolution. Did they ever teach you that wherever you learned you 'Poke-knowledge?'"

Ian smiled nervously. "Not exactly…"

"How'd you get it to evolve anyways? Did it try to save you or something?"

"Tapu Bulu was probably about to slice my head off, then Deerling tried to intervene on its broken leg, and Tapu Bulu touched Deerling with a special energy and… Deerling evolved," Ian explained.

"Oh…" Grimsley said, deep in thought. "It's a very good thing I'm here then. We have a lot of work to do." He then made his way over to Sawsbuck, leaving Wartortle and Litleo glaring at each other menacingly.

"I mean, Sawsbuck stood up to an Alpha Crawdaunt yesterday, it's not all of that kind of afraid," Ian said defensively.

Grimsly scoffed. "If you haven't figured it out by now, a Pokemon and their trainer have a very unique bond upon being captured."

Ian nodded attentively, trying to ignore the hisses and growls coming between Wartortle and Litleo. "Actually, sir, can I recall these two before they attack each other? I want to really focus on what you're saying."

Grimsley shrugged. "Kind of defeats the point of me being here a bit, but fine. If you'll actually listen to me." Ian nodded and quickly recalled Wartortle and Litleo back in their balls and re-focused on Grimsley.

"So you were in a life or death situation when Sawsbuck stood up to that Alpha Crawdaunt, I take it?" Grimsley asked.

"Yeah, the thing was huge."

"Your Pokemon pick up on their trainer's emotions. They become attuned with your thoughts and convictions almost instantaneously. How do you think your Pokemon understand you?" Grimsley asked. "Does your Sawsbuck understand human speech?"

"I don't know actually…"

"It doesn't. Some Pokemon do, Sawsbuck isn't one of them, no matter how blessed it is," Grimsley explained. "It takes your lead though. It senses the strength or weakness in your convictions and responds to those convictions in its own way."

"So…"

"You were frightened of the massive crustacean that wanted to rip you to shreds. So was Sawsbuck-"

Oh shit. "Sawsbuck fled when he saw Crawdaunt, but when I called for him, he came back… Sorry for interrupting."

"At least I know you're listening," Grimsley said. "I never was much of a teacher now that I think of it, I mostly just taught people to gamble but in ways I could take advantage of them…" Grimsley's smiled turned rather sheepish. "Sawsbuck's timid and skittish, while Wartortle and Litleo are proud and strong. Or at least think they are. You being a new trainer still building up your confidence, those Pokemon don't respond well to your convictions, your energy."

"Like aura?" Ian asked.

Grimsley stymied a laugh as best he could but the dam broke and he began cackling like a buffoon. "What, like the 'Aura Guardians' in the comic books?" Grimsley asked as he broke into another fit of hysterical laughter, resorting to supporting himself on a tree as he continued cackling.

"It was just a question…" Ian said. "I don't really know."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop…" Grimsly said, slapping his cheek playfully. "For the record, I've actually met a real life Aura Channeler or whatever the equivalent is, but trust me, they're not anything like in the comic books. They're not allowed to partake in pro trainer battles, among a whole list of other things. Last I heard he's in a psych ward now. Being that in tune with the natural world does things to you."

"Okay…" Ian said.

"Where were we again?" Grimsley asked.

"Energy? Vibe?"

Grimsley rolled his eyes. "Don't say 'vibe' like that ever again please. But yes, your energy. Your Pokemon pick up on that. Z-Moves? Mega Evolution? That's not possible without a trainer's bond and belief in their Pokemon. You believed in Sawsbuck in that moment, and it found the courage to stand up to that Alpha Crawdaunt. Yet when you're not locked in, it's scared of a hissing Litleo. See where I'm going with this?"

Ian nodded. "I think I do."

"You must have absolute confidence in your Pokemon and be unshakable to them. They must trust you… I could go on like this for hours honestly," Grimsly stated.

Is this why Tupp's so good at handling his Pokemon? Golbat follows his orders because he believed Golbat could win in close range combat with something like a Scrafty. Even though it was dumb, Tupp still BELIEVED that could happen, and his Pokemon are incredibly devoted to him even if it's stupid. I think I get it… "So during a practice skirmish, I should be treating it like a life or death match?" Ian asked.

"No, absolutely not!" Grimsley said. "Trust is vital, and if a practice skirmish is being treated like life or death, your Pokemon will lose trust in you. They have thoughts, they observe, that's why Litleo hates your guts. It thinks you're a bitch. I assume you're going to ask it, so I'll just say it now: how does one practice the proper intensity?"

Ian nodded.

"Being in those struggles… That Crawdaunt fight I assume you won must've really strengthened the bond between you and Sawsbuck. More than weeks of training would have, honestly. He trusted you, the two of you won and your lives were saved. But that's more advanced stuff, I can already see I need to help you get on the same page with Litleo and Wartortle, and that's fundamental stuff."

Ian nodded, readying Litleo's Poke Ball.

"Now call it out like you're happy to see it. Shout its name like you would a professional wrestler!" Grimsley ordered.

Ian took a deep breath and calmed himself. He readied a booming voice and bellowed. "Litleo, the fiery lion! Let's do this!"

Litleo emerged once again, this time turning its head to Ian, not aggressively, but with a bit of curiosity, as if it hadn't seen this side of Ian before, its orange tuft not activated.

"Good, good," Grimsley commented.

Litleo then turned its attention to Sawsbuck and hissed menacingly causing its orange tuft to shimmer with different shades of orange, which in turn caused Sawsbuck to tense with fear. "Sawsbuck, Litleo's feisty, but you're bigger and stronger. Don't let him scare you!"

Sawsbuck's stance changed from being ready to bolt to a more offensive posture, eyes focusing on Litleo, who snarled back.

"Now show 'em who's boss," Grimsley said lightly.

"Double Kick!" Ian ordered. Sawsbuck bounded for Litleo, whose mouth lit up with fiery energy and leapt to intercept Sawsbuck. Sawsbuck extended one of its legs, knocking Litleo off course and onto the ground, then landed its other hoofed kick right on Litleo's neck, pinning the lion cub to the dirt. Litleo snarled and struggled underneath Sawsbuck's might. Grimsley waved Ian on, urging him to go to Litleo.

"What do I say?" Ian whispered.

Grimsley facepalmed. "Anything to encourage it. I can't do it, you have to."

Ian nodded, wracking his brain for anything as he approached and squatted next to his pinned lion cub . "Rough morning, Litleo?"

Litleo snapped its mouth angrily, causing Sawsbuck to push down a little harder for a moment, making Litleo moan a defeated whimper. "Litleo, remember the first day we met? You made mince meat out of Deerling. I know you're strong. But it hasn't even been a week, but together, Sawsbuck and I are like this now. I bet you and I could do something similar too, if you'll give me a chance." Ian watched Litleo's reaction carefully, the Pokemon not understanding his words, but somehow getting the sentiment. It processed the events in its eyes, and Ian smiled. "I can't wait to see what kind of infernal beast you'll turn into with me by your side." Ian reached out and patted Litleo's head, its fur surprisingly soft and emanating heat effortlessly.

"Very good, Ian," Grimsley said. "You're a natural. Now let Litleo up, it's probably in a lot of pain."

"Shit, yeah, sorry Litleo," Ian said, waving Sawsbuck off. Litleo scurried away from the blessed stag, but notably didn't have the same aggression it had before.

"That's good for now, let's get Wartortle out," Grimsely said.

Ian nodded in agreement, recalling Litleo and smiling at its Poke Ball. "It was nice to see that side of you, dude," he said as he exchanged Poke Balls for Wartortle and thought of how to best pump up his bitter turtle. "Wartortle, the honored veteran of my team, I choose you!" He called out as he released it. Wartortle didn't seem hostile, it just eyed Ian with a look of skepticism. Or maybe Wartortle just has "resting scowl face."

Wartortle made the first move, pointing at Sawsbuck and nodding before extending its arms and flailing them for a moment. Wartortle then croaked in succession, almost like a laugh, then bowed suddenly.

"Wait what?" Ian asked.

Grimsley smiled proudly. "Wartortle's accepting you."

"Really?"

"A little bit of flattery can go a long way. Plus Pokemon can sense what's going on outside their Poke Balls, especially their trainers' emotions. It must have felt what you felt fighting that Alpha," Grimsely explained.

Ian then knelt down to Wartortle, who had finished its bow and looked right into the eyes of his turtle with the battered shell. "Wartortle, thank you. You're strong, and I promise I'm going to work every day to help us become stronger. It won't always be perfect, but I will always be trying to get better. Got it?"

Wartortle nodded seriously, then motioned to his Poke Ball. Ian shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, Wartortle." Ian recalled Wartortle and held it up to his forehead as if saying a prayer of gratitude for a moment.

"Well that went well," Grimsley said, his focus returning to Sawsbuck. "But I didn't Mantine Surf all of the way from Akala this morning for a twenty minute training session. Let's see what this blessed Sawsbuck I've heard about can do!"

 

[ScotttheBard]

This is actually really interesting, and a nice lore drop about the how and why Grimmy is in Alola

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

I definitely was a bit nervous doing a musical thing in a fic, thanks for the kind words. The vibes will be much better going forward, Ian was due for an emotional breakdown. We got a couple more chapters before a very small time skip and we get to the second arc. We'll get one more team member for Ian before that happens too

Click to shrink...

I will mention I lied here. This chapter was just past halfway of what I wanted to get for this chapter, so we still have two chapters before the Timeskip.

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

Mam wasn't expecting Grimsley to show up. Fantastic chapter as always

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Mam wasn't expecting Grimsley to show up. Fantastic chapter as always

Click to shrink...

He shows up out of nowhere in the games on the exact side of Ula'Ula Island the story (mostly) takes place. I was looking for a good mentor character that lined up with the vibe and there he was staring me in the face. During the development of this story it was absolutely incredible how many things lined up so perfectly that I could use or expand upon (Tapu Bulu living in the desert because of Grassy Surge, the berry tree right outside of Po Town, the vague history about a fallen Kahuna, Ula'Ula meaning something equivalent to "growth" in native Hawaiian, and most importantly, the Lake of the Sunne/Moone being so close to Po Town). As always, thanks for reading and I'm lad you're enjoying. I'm really excited for what future arcs bring (mainly the faction fights).

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Chapter 12 Developing Bonds

Ian did his best to push himself up onto Sawsbuck's back, unable to swing his leg around without losing his balance. Sawsbuck mewled in response, but held steady. "And UP you go!" Grimsley called out as Ian felt his feet being forced up by Grimsley's hands and onto Sawsbuck's bareback.

"You okay, bud?" Ian asked his blessed stag. Sawsbuck shifted its feet a bit, but didn't seem too perturbed by having a rider on its fuzzy back.

"How's it feel?" Grimsley asked.

"Kinda weird," Ian replied.

Grimsley grunted. "I was asking Sawsbuck. Not many of his kind end up having a grown human male on their back."

"Oh…"

Grimsley eyed the duo and nodded approvingly before turning around waltzing to some brush behind him.

"Should we follow?" Ian asked.

"No!" Grimsley said quickly. "I'm looking for something…"

"What thing? I can help-"

Grimsley sliced the air with his hand, ruffling the material of his kimono to emphasize Ian to shut up. Point taken. Grimsley maneuvered around the area, staying within eyesight as he checked each bit of plant life on the tree before him until he suddenly raised his hands and cheered. "Perfect!"

"What is it?" Ian asked, still confused.

Grimsley swiped something thin from the tree and brought over what appeared to be a vine to rider and ridden, draping the vine around Sawsbuck's neck. "There!"

Ian eyed the now dead vine skeptically. "This is what's so important? Isn't it dead now?"

"Of course it's dead now. But something tells me Sawsbuck here can use it," Grimsley said, patting Sawsbuck's lower neck and waving the vine in front of Sawsbuck's face. "C'mon Sawsbuck, breathe some life into this vine!"

Sawsbuck gave an awkward sounding cry before its fur began to glow green with Grass Type Energy. The vine sprang to life, surging with growth as it snaked around its body, the vine even leading up to the base of Sawsbuck's antlers, the ripped tip seemingly melding into the base of the antlers. Ian watched in amazement as the glow began to fade and the vine settled around Sawsbuck's body.

"Now get off and try getting back on again," Grimsley said.

Ian swung his leg over awkwardly before pushing himself to the edge and falling off Sawsbuck's back as opposed to leaping. Ian then turned back around to re-mount his blessed stag, praying the whole experience wasn't too uncomfortable for it. "Okay Sawsbuck, I'm gonna try this again…" Ian warned, trying his best to leap on Sawsbuck's back, but only getting his feet off the ground and in a way he wasn't able to swing one around.

"Sawsbuck, use that vine to help your guy out," Grimsley ordered casually.

Suddenly, Ian felt a force lift up his legs and propel him onto Sawsbuck's back smoothly, and when Ian looked to see what happened he saw the vine that had become into Sawsbuck's being now moved independently, like a limb all its own. "That's amazing Sawsbuck!" Ian said in disbelief. Sawsbuck gave a mewling cheer and shuffled excitedly.

"Now Sawsbuck, how about you do a slow little ride around here?" Grimsley said with a proud smile.

Sawsbuck began moving hesitantly, still getting used to moving gracefully with an added 170 pounds of person on its back. Ian wished he had something to grab onto to steady himself, then the vine rose up in front of him as if to answer his desire. This is so cool.

As Sawsbuck got more comfortable with Ian on his back, his pace quickened to a robust trot before getting back to the spot where Grimsley awaited with a huge grin. "Not bad there, newbie."

Ian nodded, a genuine smile across his face as he got more accustomed to riding his blessed stag. "Grimsley I can't thank you enough for this…"

"You're welcome, young man. But you should be thanking the Driftwood Guild, they're the reason I'm over here," Grimsley explained.

Ian shook his head. "I feel like I'm gonna owe them something now, which I guess is fine, but it's already making me suspicious since I don't know what I'm going to have to give back."

"Everything has a price," Grimsley said with a sinister smirk. "But let's save that chicanery for a later day-"

Ian gasped as a green pulse of energy came from Sawsbuck and the surrounding vegetation shifted with growth. Berries that were halfway grown became fully ripened in moments, the grass underneath rose higher up, and already flowering plants grew more bulbs that bloomed as well. Tree branches creaked as they grew and grew heavier with fruit on them, and Grimsley gasped as he witnessed the effect firsthand.

"Incredible…" Grimsley said.

"I still haven't gotten used to it," Ian said, checking Slugg's watch and seeing it was just after 10:35. Since the first time was right before 7:36, so that makes things about three hours. Meaning the next effect should pop at 1:35.

"So is this how you're staving off starvation?" Grimsley asked.

Ian opened his mouth to affirm the idea, but stopped as he realized that might be strategic information and while Grimsley had been extraordinarily helpful to Ian, if he owed the Driftwood Guild, he was a spy as well. "I uh…"

"Driftwood knows Po Town's food stores are dwindling," Grimsley said. "They've known for a while."

"Ah…"

Grimsley extended a hand to Ian, which Ian shook. "I owe Driftwood but I'm not their bitch. All they want from me is info on how you are as a person and as a trainer. Also if you're improving at all."

"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad…"

"Well, that's what's going on for now. I don't know what their plans are with you, but Sawsbuck's blessed by Tapu Bulu and that's something big to them," Grimsley explained. "They seem to have good intentions when it comes to you at least."

Ian shrugged. "I guess… And Big G, I gotta ride around here and make sure Sawsbuck's effect hits the rest of the grove."

"Of course," Grimsley said, extending his arm as if allowing Ian to leave. "I'll go get lunch if that's the case. I take it you'll be back out here soon?"

"Probably in an hour," Ian said.

Grimsley took a smartphone out and pressed something. "See you then."

Ian was tempted to ask Grimsley if he could see Grimsley's smartphone but decided against it. Grimsley turned around and showed the phone to Ian. "I don't have any service on this island. Only place that does is Malie City nowadays."

"You read my mind," Ian said, giving Sawsbuck a gentle pat. "Hey Sawsbuck, time to make sure this whole grove gets growing. Let's ride!" With that Sawsbuck bound into motion and Ian held onto the vines that had become a de-facto reins. Sawsbuck dashed quickly, forcing Ian to hold on tight, realizing he was going to need a lot more than just vine-substitute reins. "Let's not get too crazy just yet, Sawsbuck," Ian said cautiously. Sawsbuck slowed, but Ian still couldn't wipe the grin off of his face as Sawsbuck sauntered throughout the grove with Grassy Surge's bountiful effect spreading all the while.

***
After walking out of the Pokemon Center with bags of Pokemon food for Sawsbuck, Wartortle, and Litleo, Ian made his way up The Spine to Tom's makeshift warehouse, seeing no one at the sight-obstructed walk up window and making his way over. "Is Tom around?" Ian asked.

"Let me get him," a slightly deep feminine voice said. "Who's asking?"

"Ian," he answered.

The girl left quickly and came back twenty seconds or so later. "He'll be out front in a bit."

"Thanks!" Ian said and went to the front entrance for the warehouse workers. Not long after, Tom appeared, sweat dripping from his brow. "Alola, Ian."

"Alola, Tom," Ian said. "It's three hours."

Tom's eyebrows rose. "Three hours? That's not bad. Four times with the sun up, maybe sneak another one in before Guzma lets Ariados back out… Are they still growing at fifty percent rate?"

Ian nodded. "Yup."

Tom pumped his fist. "That's two harvests a day. We'll have proper numbers at the end of the day, but Grillz said that the first harvest was really good. Should Rook send more people to do it?"

"He's already doing it, saw him first," Ian said before changing the topic. "And did Plumeria tell you about the locker I was hoping to get?"

Tom nodded. "Yup, you've more than earned it now," Tom said. "Let me take you in the back and show you." Tom signaled Ian to follow as he opened the front door. Tom's warehouse initially looked like a mini mart but with shelves stocked with various hardware items instead of snacks and drinks. A couple people dressed in outfits clearly not from Team Skull seemed to be working on building a cabinet where the cash register was in the store's mini-mart past. Tom led him past the storefront side and into a back hallway cluttered with boxes, eventually reaching a room with a bank of lockers that looked more fitting for professional athletes. Tom knocked on the outside of one and grabbed an open lock with a key in it. "Don't go losing the key now, there aren't any duplicates."

Ian nodded. "Appreciate you, man. Can I gather some stuff and come back to put them here?"

Tom nodded. "Of course. Next time you can ask Betty to just let you in, you seem cool enough."

Ian nodded. "Gotcha." He noticed the locker next to his had a big "H" spray painted in yellow on it. I sure hope that isn't Hyde's locker.

***

After going to Grillz for an early lunch of even more questionable than usual mystery meat and stopping by Shady House to get his EXP Candy, Ian did have to hop into the dumpster to get the Shards, but Sawsbuck's vines were also helpful in fishing out other, more inaccessible Shards. He brought his collection back to Tom's, where he came face to face with Betty when she opened the door for him. She had black curls and a dazzling smile on her pale skin. Ian did his best to hide his attraction so he'd act more non-chalant, but as he followed her down the hallway to his locker something occurred to him. Guess I'm finally getting over that Suzy nonsense.

He put the Shards away and reached for the Large EXP Candy from his pocket, but decided to keep it with him. Grimsley might know what's up with it. Ian made his way down The Spine as the sun shone overhead. As he passed by the gate, Rook called to him. "I hope you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be," Rook warned.

"What? Isn't my new job to just sit in the grove and grow berries?" Ian asked.

"Yeah. But a new Ultra Storm is popping up not too far away. Plumeria's squad is heading to it as we speak," Rook explained.

"Aren't they out training?" Ian asked.

"They came back here to get supplies real quick," Rook said. "Plumeria wanted to make sure you didn't get some dumb idea in your head."

Ian rolled his eyes. "I'm suspended, I know I can't. Plus this town ain't gonna feed itself," Ian said, slightly annoyed.

Rook smiled. "Good."

Ian continued on past the gate, wondering if he should actually be riding Sawsbuck, but decided against it. If Grimsley's sticking around for more training, Sawsbuck's going to need all of the rest it can get. Ian got the grove, noting there were still a couple hours before Sawsbuck's effect popped again. As the grove came into view, he noticed the same chaotic mass of trainers and Pokemon running around the grove, harvesting what they could. He spotted Mina overseeing from the spot he'd initially been and headed her way.

"Hey there Mina!" Ian called out as he approached.

Mina turned the same, disinterested look on her face, but she'd tied up her Skull tank in front, showing her bare midriff and putting a bit more emphasis on her chest. Ian forced himself to take his eyes off her torso, meeting her half-open eyes. I hope she didn't notice. "Oh hey man," Mina said casually. "You should've seen the look on Grillz' face when we brought the first harvest over to him."

"I hope he's washing them," Ian replied.

"Oh yeah, he may look grungy and grimey but he's a stickler for cleanliness in his kitchen," Mina said.

"I'll take your word for it," Ian said, shifting his focus to the grove at large. Immediately he spotted Sophocles bending over awkwardly to pick up a Nanab Berry on the ground, a Noibat fluttering above him patiently.

"What do they have you doing later?" Mina asked.

Ian shrugged. "I gotta stay out here and do some training. Even though I'm on suspension I can't sit back and do nothing, even if I'm supposed to just stay here. Plus Plumeria said I have to go say hi to Rylee with Auntie Pula."

"She's the new Faller girl at the kiddy school, right?" Mina asked.

"I think so?" Ian said uncertainly.

Mina smiled. "I'm teaching art class with them later. Maybe I'll run into you." With that, Mina made her way deeper into the grove to oversee her subordinates in their harvesting efforts. Ian's eyes followed her for a bit, noticing her hips moving in a bit more of an exaggerated fashion than before, mesmerizing his vision. He felt blood rushing to his cheeks and grunted as the slight hint of butterflies in his stomach turned to a pang of guilt. This feels weird being attracted to a girl I know as a video game character. Although I don't know how much leeway my old world morality would give me for this as it never accounted for my life literally going into a realistic version of a video game world… At least she's an adult.

Ian decided now was as good a time as any and released all three of his Pokemon so they could eat their lunch. Litleo eyed Sawsbuck warily at first but quickly got to scorching its food pellets. Ian left Wartortle's pellets in the plastic bag he'd been given and held them up for easy access. Wartortle ate quickly, but didn't have the same disdain for Ian like he had before. Baby steps. Ian felt the Large EXP Candy in his pocket and reminded himself he needed to ask Grimsley about it.

"Woah, you have a Wartortle and a Sawsbuck? That's so cool!" Sophocles exclaimed as he got close to Ian, breathing heavily as he walked on by slowly.

"Sawsbuck here is the reason why these berries are growing so fast," Ian said.

"I guess you weren't lying earlier," Sophocles said, leaving as quickly as he had entered. Ian heard Mina directing her squad back from the grove, and Ian watched on as the exodus of twenty-ish trainers left him alone in the grove once more.

Wartortle gave a high-pitched croak and Ian realized the bag was empty. Wartortle nodded, then pointed at Ian's belt. Oh yeah. "Okay then bud, in you go." Litleo yawned and made its way over to Ian, curling up in a ball beside him. He noticed Litleo's eyes remained open, watching Ian carefully, but it was the first time Ian had seen Litleo relax. Sawsbuck seemed to enjoy the outdoors, not wandering too far off but roaming curiously. When Sawsbuck gave a playful call, Ian turned his head and smiled, seeing Grimsley strolling his way.

"Grimsley, just who I wanted to see. I got something I need to show you," Ian said, reaching for the EXP Candy in his pocket. He had a hard time getting the light blue double pyramid out of his pocket, but finally did so.

"The hell is that?" Grimsley asked.

"I'm not sure…" Ian began. "But when Sawsbuck and I defeated the Alpha Crawdaunt in the Ultra Storm, it got wormhole'd away and dropped this afterwards." Ian handed the bulky candy to Grimsley who eyed it curiously,

"You sure it's not Crawdaunt poop?"

Ian rolled his eyes. "You're not the first to say that, but I think it may have been some reward for beating the Ultra Storm's Alpha."

Grimsley chuckled. "Like a video game? If this was a video game it definitely have to be the worst one ever." Grimsley eyed the candy one more time and then tossed it behind him carelessly.

"Wait-" Ian protested.

"Back to training, not light blue curiosities," Grimsley said dramatically.

Ian eyed the candy and shook his head. "Gotcha…"

"So are you ready for more?" Grimsley asked loudly.

"Yeah!" Ian fired back. Litleo scrambled to its feet and hissed at Grimsley menacingly. "He's a friend, Litleo, c'mon." Litleo relaxed a bit, no longer hissing, but watching Grimsley carefully.

"I see Litleo's warmed up to you already," Grimsley noted. "What do you know about Litleo's moveset so far?"

"Uh… I think he's got Ember, Fire Fang…" Ian's voice trailed off as he realized he didn't really know what his Litleo could really do. In my defense, he has spit fire at me more times than he's let me touch him.

"Tackle? Leer?" Grimsley said.

"I haven't gotten to really know him yet. You saw the moment he stopped wanting to spit fireballs at me about an hour and a half ago," Ian explained. He turned to Litleo, noticing it was no longer at his side, but was trotting over to the EXP Candy. We just started getting along Litleo, the last thing I need for you is to evolve and wipe away all of this progress. "Litleo, no!" Ian commanded angrily. Litleo froze and turned to Ian, slightly annoyed, but trotted back, slightly defeated. Maybe it's just food, but I can't take that chance, not until I've bonded with Litleo more.

"Hmmm…" Grimsley said, eyeing Ian curiously. "So you seriously think that thing is a reward of sorts?"

Ian shrugged. "I mean, I'm not sure…"

Grimsley shook his head and sucked his teeth. "You're a very easy guy to read, Ian," Grimsley began. "As a notorious poker junkie, I had to get very good at reading people, and something tells me you know what that thing is."

Ian gulped, unsure of what to say.

"So tell me, what do you think it is?" Grimsley asked.

When did EXP Candies like this start, in Sword and Shield? They were rewards from Dynamax Raids… Here goes something. "You ever hear about Dynamax Raids in the Galar region?"

Grimsley nodded. "Yes, but they're pretty rare nowadays. The League there keeps them pretty under control."

Ian gulped nervously once more, trying to put the straightest face on he could. "I read about the raids, and this book said the Dynamax Pokemon would drop these light blue candies of varying size," Ian explained. "When fed to Pokemon, they'd get stronger, like they were gaining special power from defeating a powerful enemy."

Grimsley grimaced. "Sounds kinda video-gamey to me, but I got no idea what it is…" Grimsley paused and his grimace grew. "If that is in fact what it is, then don't go telling people. Surge and Breon are powerful enough without something like this getting to them."

Ian nodded. "Gotcha…" Ian said, scampering over to pick up the candy and struggling to put it in his pocket that was clearly too small. "So what next?"

"Litleo again," Grimsley said, his eyes focusing on Ian's cub. "I take it that Litleo has an aggressive battling style?"

"When I've been battling it, yes. Wait, I did send it out against a Machamp and it went right at it, so yeah, definitely…"

"A Machamp? Ouch," Grimsley said.

"It was when one of Surge's goons was chasing me," Ian said.

"Surge?" Grimsley asked with a cringe. "You see his Zapdos?"

Ian nodded grimly. "Yeah. Hopefully never doing another mission like that again."

"Hopefully," Grimsley said with a chuckle. "Even if I still had my full Elite Four team I wouldn't go near that guy."

"Full Elite Four team?" Ian asked.

"Let's just say I wasn't allowed to flee Unova with my Pokemon. If you ever end up being a good trainer, don't piss off that biggest sponsor of that region's Pokemon League and let's leave it at that."

"Oh that's awful…" Ian said, eyeing Sawsbuck and Litleo. I haven't even had my partners for a week and I already feel terrible about even thinking of losing them in such a way. I suppose the bond catching Pokemon creates goes both ways.

"But I got Pokemon to help you out. C'mon out Liepard!" Grimsley announced, throwing a Poke Ball into the air. The purple leopard Pokemon with a very long tail appeared, purring mischievously.

Litleo tensed and readied itself, Ian noticed its tuft of fur didn't start flickering. "Hey Grimsley, any idea what's up with Litleo's fur tuft on its head? For some battles he gets really riled up and it starts flickering and changing color, but others he doesn't."

"Litleo's ability, Rivalry," Grimsley explained.

"You mean it does extra damage to males but less to females?" Ian asked, a little crestfallen.

Grimsley shrugged with a nervous smile. "Kind of? It's not just the opposing Pokemon's sex though. Prey animals, Pokemon it has considered rivals all qualify."

"Well I guess that's something…" Ian said. "So what's Liepard out for?"

"Very important mobility training," Grimsley answered. "Litleo can't take many hits, but when evolved can hit very hard. Agility is key, especially since it can't learn any speed buffs."

"Okay…"

"Ian, your first exercise with Litleo is simple: Liepard is going to chase it, and Litleo cannot be caught. No attacks are allowed, got it?" Grimsley asked.

"Yeah…" Ian turned to Litleo and knelt down. "Litleo, no attacking Liepard okay? Do your best to keep away from it."

Litleo eyed him with annoyance briefly before looking at Liepard and growling lowly. Liepard crouched, its eyes locked on Litleo. "Begin!" Grimsley announced. Liepard sprang into action, leaping forward as Litleo tried to bolt to the side. Liepard's leap had anticipated Litleo's direction and landed a couple feet from the startled Litleo. Ian's cub panicked for a moment, trying to scurry away at an angle, only for Liepard's long, agile legs to catch up and tap Litleo at the base of its tail. Litleo hissed angrily, but did not retaliate.

"Well that was fast…" Ian said with a grunt.

"You and Litleo must be elusive," Grimsley lectured.

"Liepard guessed which way Litleo was gonna go," Ian said in protest.

Grimsley sucked his teeth and shook his head. "That was all observation. Liepard could tell which way Litleo wanted to go and leapt accordingly. Part of being elusive means not telegraphing your next move."

Ian grimaced. "I'm probably the last person who can tell Litleo how to be more of a cat than itself."

Grimsley rolled his eyes. "Then why are you training Pokemon in the first place?"

Ian opened his mouth to protest but found no words.

"You're not going to teach Litleo how to move more quickly. But you can give him tips on being unpredictable, how to improve his stance to make his movements more spontaneous and easier to bound off from. Let's try it again. Liepard, back to me!"

Ian nodded, eyeing Litleo with more scrutiny than before. "Let's get ready, Litleo." Immediately Litleo crouched, its gaze turned to its left for a moment before re-focusing on Liepard. He is telegraphing his movements...

"Go!" Grimsley shouted.

"Right!" Ian ordered, pointing to his right. Litleo had already stepped left but went right a bit clumsily as it re-balanced. Liepard landed from its leap where Litleo would've gone, then bounded for Litleo on the other side of Ian. Litleo had already picked up steam and continued fleeing from the faster, more lithe predator.

Liepard caught up in just a few seconds as Litleo tried to get behind a tree, only for Liepard to pat the base of Litleo's tail with its paw, ending the chase.

"Better," Grimsley said. "What went wrong though?"

"Litleo was telegraphing its move and was off balance at the start," Ian said as Litleo trotted back to his side once again. "Considering Litleo's a predator, it's not used to being hunted like prey…"

Grimsley smiled triumphantly. "Very good young Ian. Now try explaining that to Litleo."

Ian knelt down and began caressing the back of Litleo's neck. His cub tensed for a moment before realizing the sensation was very relaxing and he purred involuntarily. "Now Litleo, you're not used to being hunted so it makes sense you're no good at running from other Pokemon. But for battling other Pokemon, you're going to have to be quick and decisive," Ian paused for a moment as he reflected on the prior chase again. "I told you to go a different way, but Liepard's reading where you're going to go. Don't look, just know." I"m sure Litleo didn't understand a lick of that, but it's worth a shot. Ian, still kneeling, looked at Grimsley, uncertainty in his face.

Grimsley pointed at him. "What's with the uncertainty? You said no lies. Now show Litleo you believe in him."

Ian nodded, inhaling deeply. "Right now you're not the strongest…" Grimsley eyed him disapprovingly but Ian re-focused on Litleo. "...but we both are going to become stronger. I've got to figure out how to help you effectively, and you gotta learn to be more elusive. This will be the first step on our journey together, but I know that someday soon, we'll both be strong and we won't be cowering away from anything." Ian felt the air around Litleo suddenly warm up, and Litleo gave an intense growl, his eyes narrowing on Liepard.

Ian caught Grimsley with a proud grin for a moment but figured it was best to keep his attention on Litleo. "You ready?"

"Now!" Grimsley called out. Liepard sprang into action, this time not leaping and staying closer to the ground. Litleo needed no orders as it pushed off the ground to the left. Liepard followed quickly, closing in, but Litleo ran into a nearby shrub. Liepard dove in, but suddenly yelped in surprise. Litleo scurried out, passing Ian as the shrub began shaking frantically. Once Litleo was well enough away, Liepard stepped out rather clumsily before looking for its target once more. Ian realized even he'd lost track of Litleo at this point. Excellent job little guy.

"C'mon Liepard, I know you're better than this," Grimsley said almost tauntingly. Liepard crouched, closing its eyes and seemed to sniff the air for a moment.

"Litleo wins this one," Grimsley said. "But let's see how it ends."

"What?"

"Liepard's just used Laser Focus," Grimsley admitted. "I want to see how Litleo reacts."

Liepard then leapt into action once more, locking onto a set of bushes and closing in. Liepard gave a loud battle cry as it dove in, but froze up suddenly as a loud, high pitched, whining roar came forth from the brush.

"Noble Roar, very nice," Grimsley observed. Liepard reached into the bushes but yelped in pain, moving back to the open area. The bush rustled and Liepard jumped in, this time more confidently. The bushes shook as the feline Pokemon hissed and yipped at each other until Litleo came out of the bushes with a number of scratches but still looking like it was mid-brawl. Liepard dove out and sneered at Litleo, raising a paw threateningly. Litleo gave another Noble Roar, which with its high pitch sounded like a whine, but Liepard once again recoiled from the threat.

"Way to stand up for yourself, Litleo," Grimsley said. "Liepard, that's good, c'mon back."

Ian watched as Liepard glared at Litleo menacingly but turned and gracefully made its way back to Grimsley, where he had comforting pets waiting for his purple feline.

Ian pumped his fist excitedly as Litleo scampered over to him. "Excellent job, buddy," Ian said with a big smile. "That was great." Litleo gave a cheering growl and presented the back of its neck for pets, which Ian happily gave.

"Don't get too celebratory yet! Let's see what Litleo can really do!" Grimsley called out.

Ian's eyes met Litleo's, both of them with fiery passion in their eyes. "Hell yeah!" Ian called out, pumping his fist excitedly as the tuft of fur on Litleo's head began to shimmer with different colors.

***

Hours later when Grimsley had deemed it to be enough training for the day, Ian had the biggest grin on his face. Sawsbuck had started getting used to having a rider and they dashed around the grove, showering it in Tapu Bulu's blessing. Wartortle had been rather sour when brought out of his ball for target practice on Liepard, but Wartortle was surprisingly adept with its aim, and Grimsley saw little need to go too crazy on it. Litleo and Liepard sparred with actual moves this time around, and Grimsley had a few Potions and ointments to fix up the sparring partners after the particularly rough rounds. Ian checked Sophocles' watch and figured he had another couple hours before he needed to bring Sawsbuck back out to the grove to spur more growth. His Pokemon had earned a rest, and he had an order from Plumeria he had to fulfill.

He made his way to Plumeria's secret spot and grabbed the guitar case before remembering he wasn't exactly sure where the kiddy school was. Maybe it's called Auntie Pula's? Maybe it's the orphanage? Jeez that sounds grim. He made his way to the canal where the park was, remembering that was the first time he saw kids in Po Town. After searching aimlessly, carrying the bulky guitar case, Ian spotted Stompz, the dark-skinned guy with the English-Galarian accent. "Hey Stompz!" Ian called out.

Stompz eyed Ian suspiciously and then it clicked. "Oi sweet, bossman let you in. How's it going?"

"Do you know where the kiddy school is? Plumeria's making me do a thing," Ian explained.

"Go to City Hall and I bet you'll hear 'em," Stompz said with his accent very apparent.

City Hall, that's next to The Grill, right? Ian did find City Hall and while he couldn't hear the kids, another Skull member pointed him in the right direction. There was just one big, colorful classroom with kids of various ages, all between five and ten by the looks of it, busily drawing with some crayons. He got a weird look from the brown-skinned native woman with greying hair and he waved nervously.

"There he is," Mina's slightly disinterested voice said.

"Oh you're who Plumeria said was coming by?" The older woman asked.

Ian nodded. "Probably. Auntie Pula, I assume?"

She nodded and smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you, and you are…?"

"Mister Ian, Mister Ian!" An excited voice called out. Rylee got out of her chair and rushed over to Ian and squeezed his leg with a hug.

"Oh, how do you know Ian?" Auntie Pula asked sweetly.

"Mr. Ian saved me from the giant lobster!" Rylee bragged, squeezing his leg even harder.

"Giant lobster?" Mina said with an amused smirk.

"Plumeria said it was an Alpha Crawdaunt, not a lobster," Auntie Pula said.

Ian nodded. "Yeah…"

"And when Ms. Selene took me away, Mr. Ian fought it all by himself!" Rylee continued.

Ian smiled. "Aw c'mon, you're making me blush."

Rylee then looked up to him again, her elated smile having disappeared and replaced with a look of concern. "Where's Ms. Selene?"

"She's with Plumeria and the squad, they're out on a mission," Ian answered as he knelt down.

"Why aren't you with her Mr. Ian? What if the giant lobster comes back?" Rylee asked.

Ian chuckled. "I got in trouble, I'm on timeout."

"What, why!?" Rylee demanded.

"Okay Rylee, enough bothering our guest. You have to get back to your drawing," Auntie Pula said.

Ian got up from his crouch and noticed Mina watching him, curiosity in her eyes. He felt his cheeks going red and turned to his guitar. Mina made her way over to him. "So, you bring that thing just for show?" Mina asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Well, Plumeria said I gotta play some music for the kids or something," Ian whispered.

"You can play while they work. Just nothing too loud please," Mina said.

Ian nodded, immediately thinking of the various Pokemon game soundtracks and grinned. "I can definitely do that." After getting his guitar out, he went through the catalogue of songs in his mind and settled on an easy, relaxing one that had a certain tenderness to it. Iki Town at Night. Ian found a stool to sit on and tuned up the guitar a bit before beginning to play. He caught the kids stealing glances at him as he did every so often, but he tried to keep things soft and mellow so it wasn't so distracting. He switched up the songs every so often, trying to keep the same vibe until Mina gave him the signal.

"Alright class, show Ms. Mina what you've been working on!" Auntie Pula announced. The class held up their drawings and Mina went by each kid with a big smile, congratulating them and complimenting something about their work.

"And class, what do we say to Mr. Ian for coming by and playing music for us during art class?" Auntie Pula said.

"Thank you Mr. Ian!" The class said in unison.

"Thanks for having me," Ian said, unable to wipe the grin off his face if wanted to.

"With art class being over, you know what time it is!" Mina said.

"Recess!" The class shouted in unison. The students began scurrying around excitedly, heading for the door. Ian started putting his guitar away, but Auntie Pula came up to him.

"Thank you for coming by, Ian," Pula said with a genuine smile. "Will we be seeing you around more often?"

"No clue, depends on how long this suspension from Plumeria lasts," Ian said.

A sudden burst of excitement came from outside and Pula rolled her eyes, "I best go see what that is."

Ian nodded and continued putting his guitar away. Upon exiting the school and seeing the kids on the playground, Ian realized he recognized who the commotion was about. Plumeria was surrounded by five kids all trying to hug her, while Rylee and another little girl were hugging Selene and Rapp excitedly. Ian couldn't help but smile some more until Plumeria made eye contact with him and shooed the excited kids off, heading over to him.

"So you can follow orders," Plumeria said, voice oozing with attitude.

Ian sighed. "Yup. I don't suppose you're gonna call my suspension over, are you?"

Plumeria shook her head, causing her long, dyed pigtails to shake wildly. "Not a chance. Might just extend it cuz the kids like you so much."

Ian grimaced, stifling a groan as Plumeria got pulled away by different kids. He sighed, picking up his guitar as he did before Auntie Pula appeared next to him.

"I know Plumeria's a tough cookie to swallow sometimes, but she means well. She's the glue that holds this whole town together," Auntie Pula explained.

Ian nodded, looking to see the kids surrounding Plumeria once more and screaming "Big Sis" excitedly. I'm starting to see that.

"Hey Ian, over here! I wanna show you something," Rapp called to him.

Ian trudged over, guitar in tow and he noticed Selene listening to Rylee attentively. "...I wanted to draw the giant lobster but Ms. Mina said the drawing had to be a flower…"

Selene giggled. "Giant lobster? Make sure you put me and Ian in the picture."

"And your big tiger and deer!" Rylee exclaimed.

"So what's up, Rapp?" Ian asked, refocusing on his not as busy squad member.

"I got a nasty cut in the Ultra Storm when this grass Pokemon used Razor Leaf on Hyde's Torracat," Rapp explained. "Started bleeding pretty bad…"

Ian noticed neither Rapp's arm appeared hurt at all. "Okay…"

"But then this Pokemon came up to me and healed it with its tears!" Rapp said excitedly.

"It's so pretty, c'mon, show 'em," Selene urged.

Rapp smiled and took a Poke Ball from her belt and opened it. The flash of light materialized into a short, white unicorn-looking Pokemon. It had pure, white fur and a busy mane and tail made of pastel colors that shimmered with a magical glow. Is that a-

"Ponyta!" Rapp exclaimed.

"A Galarian one at that," Selene said.

The kids took notice of the new Pokemon and rushed over, surrounding the trainers as they hammered Rapp and Selene with questions.

"One at a time please, one at a time," Selene said. "We don't want to scare her, she's shy."

Ian realized his cheeks hurt and it was because he was smiling so much. He picked up his guitar case and figured now was as good a time as any to take it to Tom's locker. He gave one last look to the schoolyard and smiled once more. He then realized Mina was looking right at him and gave him a playful wink, and Ian felt blood rushing to his cheeks almost immediately. He nodded at her and waved goodbye, leaving in a nervous hurry. Well that's interesting…



***
Link for referenced song:

- YouTube

Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.

www.youtube.com

 

[Dberserker]

Another amazing chapter

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Another amazing chapter

Click to shrink...

Oddly enough, this chapter took me the longest of any of them so far. The Litleo training scene with Grimsley really kicked my ass tbh. Had to flesh out the world's lore. Next one shouldn't take nearly as long as I've been hyped up for it since I started writing this story in the first place.

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

Damn good chapter as always. And I don't see how the hell Grimsley couldn't keep his pokemon. Cause he's both a former E4 member and an Dark type one at that. Still though If he didn't have some way to massively fuck over them as he fled he's a failure to his specialty. And nice training with Litleo. And that new Galarian Ponyta is gonna be damn useful. Cause healers always are.

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Damn good chapter as always. And I don't see how the hell Grimsley couldn't keep his pokemon. Cause he's both a former E4 member and an Dark type one at that. Still though If he didn't have some way to massively fuck over them as he fled he's a failure to his specialty. And nice training with Litleo. And that new Galarian Ponyta is gonna be damn useful. Cause healers always are.

Click to shrink...

(The sponsor Grimsley was talking about was a casino that blackmailed him, hence his hesitance to talk about it)

 

[ScotttheBard]

Grimsley is a tale as old as time,

Don't fucking gamble

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Chapter 13: The Monster in the Meadow

"Litleo, Ember!"

"Sobble, Water Gun!" Tupp bellowed intensely.

Litleo spat out a burst of flames which were quickly extinguished by a precise stream of water. Sobble lowered its aim and fired another stream of water at Litleo, who bounded to his right quickly and began closing in on Sobble with an unreal quickness, its mouth aglow with burgeoning flames.

"Get Sobble to fall back!" Ian called out to Tupp.

"Sobble, uh-"

Litleo crashed into Sobble, taking it to the ground but not biting the scared amphibian as it cowered in terror. Coaching Tupp to completely change his battle style was never going to be easy, but boy did I underestimate how hard it would actually be. Maybe I'm just a bad coach.

Litleo released Sobble from the hold on it and scampered back to Ian, beaming with pride. "Excellent work there Litleo, you're really using that agility training with Liepard to good use."

"S-sorry Sobble…" Tupp said as he comforted his terrified amphibian, letting it climb up his arm and onto his shoulder for its perch. "That Litleo's just so fast yo."

It has been two days since Grimsley showed up, and when berries aren't getting harvested we've been training nonstop. Litleo had taken to training with Grimsley and Liepard with astounding vigor. Every time he ended up in a scrap and needed ointment and potions for his scratches, he was always rearing to go for another round with Liepard. His confidence is growing as well. Sawsbuck and Ian grew closer with every practice riding session, and Sawsbuck had started growing a section of thick moss to make Ian more comfortable when on his blessed stag's back. Even Wartortle had started buying into training, but only because Sobble had embarrassed the seasoned turtle in target practice the day after Grimsley's first appearance. Maybe I could get advice from Grimsley, or he could just straight up show Tupp some stuff? After seeing how close they are but are on totally different planets when it comes to battle synergy, maybe Grinsley would agree to give 'em a session.

"You hear me, bro?" Tupp asked.

"What? Sorry, got lost in thought," Ian answered.

"So is Sobble supposed to be fast or something?" Tupp asked.

Ian shrugged. "Not particularly. It's not slow mind you, just not fast either. I bet the little guy could use some agility training like Litleo got."

"Agility training?" Tupp asked, befuddled.

"Just making its movements more crisp, being decisive. Grimsley's Liepard really helped with Litleo being more agile," Ian explained.

Tupp rolled his eyes. "The teacher guy from Driftwood? You sure he's cool?"

"He's great bro," Ian answered. "If he was trying to pull a fast one on us, he wouldn't be trying to help me get stronger."

Tupp grimaced, still not liking the idea but with nothing else to say and dropped the matter. Litleo suddenly perked its head up and turned aggressively before calming down and purring softly as Grimsley and Liepard approached.

"Got started without me, that's good," Grimsley said. "I expect this Skull grunt is your friend? What was his name, 'Cup?'"

"Tupp, yo," the aforementioned young man corrected.

"The guy who's trying to make Golbat a brawler?" Grimsley teased.

"He used to be trying," Ian corrected. "With the Sobble I got him, he's trying to get more comfortable attacking from range."

Grimsley nodded approvingly. "Fair, and sorry I'm late, Neroli is my usual Teleporter and something's going on with her. This other guy's Teleport spot was like three miles away from here."

"I figured you were taking a day off, this is your third in a row of helping me train, right?" Ian asked.

Grimsley shrugged. "I have a number of days I signed up for in exchange for my marker being taken care of and I've barely scratched the surface," Grimsley explained. "You haven't been going too hard with your Pokemon so far, right?"

Ian shook his head. "Aside from a couple Water Guns hitting Litleo, nothing too crazy."

"Good. Driftwood has a task for you," Grimsley said.

"Driftwood Guild? Nah bro, we Team Skull here," Tupp chimed in,

Grimsley gave Tupp a sour look and returned his focus to Ian and pulled an Ultra Ball from his kimono sleeve, "Something's going on with the Ula'Ula Meadow. Who better to investigate the disrupted harmony of a sacred place than the trainer of a blessed Pokemon?"

Ian grimaced, feeling Tupp's judgemental glare on him. "The Ultra Ball?" Ian asked, not wanting to give an answer.

"To help relocate the disrupter," Grimsley said almost cryptically.

"I take it you stop helping me with training if I deny you, right?" Ian asked.

Grimsley shrugged. "That wasn't said, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's how things play out."

"You wouldn't come over here just to be an altruist?" Ian teased.

"Oh course not," Grimsley said with a chuckle. "If you saw my current living situation you wouldn't be doing what I'm doing for free."

"Where are you living? Gotta at least tell us that yo," Tupp chimed in.

"I met up with some Driftwood guy at Heahea Beach on Akala, if that means anything," Grimsley said. "Me saying anything more about where Driftwood's keeping me could potentially jeopardize their neutrality."

"So it's with a faction," Ian said.

Grimsey shrugged. "Well considering most of Alola off these islands is controlled by the Alola Security Forces, if I'm not staying on this island then what does that leave?"

"Driftwood's a bunch of ASF stooges, I fuckin knew it!" Tupp exclaimed.

Ian rolled his eyes. "No, what I think Grimsley means is if he's on another island here in Alola, he's in ASF territory, but remember, the ASF on other islands isn't dealing with Ula'Ula's factions and stuff so they wouldn't care if Driftwood's around. Heck, they might not even know what the Driftwood Guild is."

"Well said Ian," Grimsley said. "You keep making deductions like that and I may have to acknowledge you as my student."

"What, I'm not?" Ian asked.

"I'm not bragging to the world about it," Grimsley said with a mischievous grin. "One day that might change, assuming some circumstances do first."

Ian nodded. "I hear you…" Ian's mind did hang on to a phrase Grimsley had said that seemed a bit off. "Grimsley, you did say most of Alola off these islands is controlled by the ASF. Is there a place that isn't?"

Grimsley sighed. "Yeah. Not really relevant to us right now, but the Aether Foundation's Island has been abandoned and the ASF forbids anyone from going near it. I've heard some rumors, but Driftwood thinks some experiment went wrong and made the island too dangerous to inhabit. Happened a few weeks after the Ultra Rift opened up apparently, and it would explain why Aether and President Mohn have been so giving with their aid packages. That or the president's daughter's relentless drive to help this island out has inspired him."

Lillie? With Mohn around I guess some things must have been different for the family. Also means there's a chance Aether doesn't have Nebby.

"That Aether princess chick? Bro she fine as fuck," Tupp said.

Aged up Lillie? I'll take Tupp's word for it.

"How do you know her? You don't get TV out here," Grimsley said.

"One of the last broadcasts we got when things started going whacky, she urged everyone on the island to get to Malie City or Haina Town so they could take shelter. Guzma already said we weren't doing that, and before we knew it, Breon went nuts," Tupp said. "Almost forgot about Selene until she showed back up here." Tupp leaned closer to Ian and whispered. "Don't go telling her that though."

"I won't," Ian promised with a chuckle.

"So, you gonna go to the Meadow or not?" Grimsley asked.

Ian sighed, remembering the dilemma he now found himself in.

"It's cool you here yo, but we Team Skull and we ain't takin' orders from nobody, ya feel?" Tupp said seriously.

"Except Surge apparently with that peace settlement," Grimsley said with a smirk. "But besides that, I didn't ask you."

Tupp frowned and tensed, but Ian got his attention and gave a subtle wink with the eye Grimsley couldn't see at that angle. "I have a proposition for you, Grimsley. I'm down to go to the meadow, but you gotta do something to keep Tupp from blabbing about me being a Driftwood Guild errand boy."

Grimsley rolled his eyes, landing on Tupp. "Don't tell me…"

"He could use some Sobble training. And Golbat for that matter," Ian said with a smirk.

Grimsley gave a frustrated exhale. "Fine. But if you ever get off this island, you're taking me to a casino for a weekend. All expenses paid."

Ian shrugged. "Fine." With how close I've come to dying in the week I've been here, there's a good chance I never got off this damn thing anyways.

Tupp motioned to get Ian's attention and hushed his voice. "Thanks bro."

"So it's in the Ula'Ula Meadow? That's like an hourlong bike ride from here," Ian stated.

"Yeah so? Get going," Grimsley ordered drearily.

"I'm like half an hour away from Sawsbuck's effect refreshing," Ian said. "Gotta stay until then."

Grimsley sighed, eyeing Tupp with disdain. "Fucker…"

It didn't take long for Grimsley to need a break from Tupp's stubborn demeanor, which coincided well with Sawsbuck's Grassy Surge refreshing and he took it for a quick trot around the grove, making sure not to tire Sawsbuck out. The more Ian thought about the task ahead, the more dread he felt. I'm this nervous about it and I have a partner like Sawsbuck with me, explain that. When Ian got back to Tupp and Grimsley, he dismounted and figured he needed some more information before going. "Any idea what's going on in the meadow? Is it a group of people, a strong Pokemon?" Ian asked.

Grimsley shook his head. "It's a Pokemon, pretty gnarly I reckon. Kicked out all of the Oricorio. Driftwood thinks it's an intruder since most jungle Pokemon tend to leave the meadow alone."

Interesting. "Tupp, wasn't there an Ultra Storm just north of the Akua Jungle a few days back?"

"Yeah, that one Rapp caught Ponyta in," Tupp answered.

"Did you guys see if an Alpha came out of it?" Ian asked. There does seem to be one per Ultra Storm.

Tupp shook his head. "Once Rapp got hurt we went outside of it, then Ponyta came out and cried on her arm and she was good to go. Plumeria wanted to stay to find some treasures, but between you and me, Selene pushed us to leave. Later on she told me she heard something real scary in there and didn't want to fight something like that Crawdaunt again."

"Looks like your culprit might've left the Ultra Storm," Grimsley said with a mischievous grin.

"That sounds terrifying. Why are you excited Grimsley?" Ian demanded.

Grimsley smiled. "If you come back with that monster in this Ultra Ball, it'll mean you've learned something." Grimsley extended his hand, holding the Ultra Ball for him to take.

"This sounds like a fetch quest. What is this, a video game?" Ian fired back with a grin as he took the Ultra Ball.

Grimsley shook his head. "No, it's a gamble."

***

An hour and almost thirty minutes later, Ian was buzzing down The Straightaway, the breeze complementing the light humidity of the tropical air. The sea with its light blue hue shimmered as he rode on by, With the treeline of the Akua Jungle fast approaching, Ian noticed something gleaming on the side of the road. I know this isn't the meadow, but something seems strange about this.

He slowed his bike down and put its kickstand up, getting off and noticing more gleaming in the clearing on the side of the road the longer he looked. Did a bunch of glass shards get broken here or something? Ian found the first patch of shimmering particles in dirt and scooped up the patch of dirt, noticing the shimmer was from very fine, tiny crystals mixed into the dirt. Ian felt one of the larger crystals carefully in case it was sharp, but they seemed blunt. "Odd…" Ian said to no one in particular. Ian noticed more patches of shimmering light and investigated more, noticing more fine crystals like he had before. He followed along for a good bit before they seemingly disappeared from view. He turned around, seeing similar glimmering in his peripheral vision.

Ian followed the sparkling for patches of crystals before coming across a small indent in the dirt, a hoofprint more like. With more leading away from the area. Is this where the Ultra Storm was? Are these crystals some sort of post-Ultra Storm residue-

"Oh, oh shit! It's Stardust!" Ian bellowed aloud. "It's gotta be…"

Ian began looking for large enough clusters and started putting as many crystals as he could fit in his pockets. I'm sure the Dirtbags aren't going to like all of the literal dirt I'm putting in here, but I gotta see something. Ian spent the next ten minutes going through and filtering the crystals out as best he could, knowing he'd need a sieve or something to do it effectively. If a Stardust sieve exists, which who knows. Ian spent a few more minutes scouring the ground before his pants started to get weighed down a bit, only being held up by his belt with Poke Balls on it. And the Ultra Ball Grimsley gave me. Ian gave one last look at the ground, this time seemingly on the southern edge of where the Ultra Storm had been and noticed large tracks imprinted into the dirt. Ian gulped as he saw it looked more like what a dinosaur track would look like, with three claws pointing forward, to the left, and right. On the back of the footprint was the track of a small, clawless digit. Ian gulped nervously as he realized the size of the print, putting his foot next to it for scale, his shoe being comically dwarfed in scale. The tracks led out of the Ultra Storm range and to the Akua Jungle, as if heading toward… The meadow.

Ian calmed himself and hustled to his bike, riding it cautiously as he entered the initial jungle thicket before it started to clear up. He got to the Ranger Station and leaned his bike up against it. I may need it for a quick escape in a bit.

Ian treaded very carefully as he followed the path to the meadow proper. He noticed a bright red, crumpled Oricorio feather sticking out of a shrub and felt the pit of dread in his stomach form up again. Might be a good time to get Sawsbuck ready. Ian grabbed Sawsbuck's Heal Ball, which he'd recently decided would always be first in the order on his belt. The quiet only grew more ominous as Ian got closer to the tall grass of the meadow.

He figured now was as good a time as any and let Sawsbuck out, shushing his blessed stag as Sawsbuck prepared itself to be mounted. Ian did so much more fluidly thanks to the vine, getting into a comfy position in one motion, settling his tush on the mossy equivalent of a saddle on Sawsbuck's back and taking the vines that sprouted from Sawsbuck's antlers that had for all intents and purposes become reins. Being able to see over the tops of the tall grass was only slightly helpful, as Ian noticed patches where there was no visible tall grass. Likely crushed down by something heavy. Then Ian gasped as he looked upon the wooden walkway. The regularly segmented posts that kept the walkway up were mostly intact, except for one segment of walkway that had one side still on its supports but the other side having fallen to the ground. Ian felt his heartbeat quicken and he tightened his grip on Sawsbuck's reins.

As Sawsbuck approached, the edge of the meadow began to shift slightly, growing from Sawsbuck's Grassy Surge effect. Thankfully it's not too loud, I don't want to tip off whatever monster is in here. Ian whispered commands to Sawsbuck, having his blessed stag go up and down the tall grass border, still unable to see much more than crushed areas of grass and some more ruined segments of walkway. We're not getting anywhere with this. Ian took a deep breath and guided Sawsbuck to the wooden stairs, which even Sawsbuck had second thoughts about. Maybe we just find out what it is so we can have a plan of attack later. When Sawsbuck did take the first step onto the wood it broke the eerie silence and Ian instantly felt a pang of regret. He urged Sawsbuck up a bit more, wanting to see more of the meadow's devastation. There were numerous trails of crushed tall grass, and the glowing red flowers with the special nectar the Oricorio drank were nowhere to be found. The tall grass rustled and elongated as Sawsbuck's Grassy Surge emanated through the air, making spotting the evidence of whatever this monster was even more difficult.

Sawsbuck seemed to be as on edge as Ian, walking slowly and peering around suspiciously. Ian decided now would be a good time to dismount from his blessed stag, as Sawsbuck was going to be necessary for any clash. His shoes hit the wood hard as he dismounted, and he heard a faint rustle of grass from deeper into the meadow. It's going to know we're here now. "Sawsbuck, get ready," Ian whispered as he positioned himself so he could leap out of the way at a moment's notice and caught rustling happening well beyond the range of Sawsbuck's Grassy Surge. There you are. Ian stepped back a bit and figured he should help give Sawsbuck an edge. "Sawsbuck, Agility," Sawsbuck began shuffling its hooves in place as its legs glowed Psychic Type Energy.

The rustling stopped for a moment before changing direction and beelining for Ian and Sawsbuck. Ian instinctively stepped back, scared to look where the steps were. A reptilian cry hit Ian's ears, and he struggled to place what the Pokemon could be. Maybe a Krokorok or Gabite? An Alpha one-

Then a terrible roar hit his ears and Ian felt like his whole body had just been punched into the air, falling backwards before hitting the hardwood, stunning him for a moment as he figured out what happened. He looked to Sawsbuck and saw his blessed stag leaping off the raised walkway, when suddenly a large, two legged dinosaur with brown scales and bright glowing red eyes took its place. Ian froze as he realized what the monster in the meadow actually was. An Alpha Tyrunt!

Ian scrambled off the walkway, slipping into the grass as the beast that was nearly as tall as Sawsbuck roared triumphantly from atop the wooden walkway, turning to Ian menacingly. Ian finally remembered he could move and rolled off the platform as Tyrunt began heading his way.
Can't use Bulldoze if Tyrunt's up there. Tyrunt's huge head bursted through the platform, interrupting Ian's hysterical thinking and it gave a frenzied battle cry. "Sawsbuck, Double Kick!" Ian shouted as he staggered into the tall grass.

Sawsbuck leapt into the air quickly, front legs aglow with dark red Fighting Type Energy and landed on Tyrunt's body, sending both Pokemon crashing through the wooden platforms. "Sawsbuck, to me!" Ian shouted as he continued crab walking backwards in desperation. Sawsbuck turned to move but a determined growl from Tyrunt and a pained cry from Sawsbuck meant it had been too late. Ian noticed Tyrunt's jaws had caught a part of Sawsbuck's body, just below the front of its neck. "Get it off with Horn Leech!" Ian commanded.

Sawsbuck's antlers glowed green and he swung his head into his enemy, forcing Tyrunt to release its maw's grip on Sawsbuck's now bloody chest. Green energy bubbles floated from Tyrunt to Sawsbuck, mending the worst of the deep gash on Sawsbuck's front torso. Sawsbuck leapt away, still clearly slowed and bothered from the Alpha-inflicted wound. Ian took a deep breath as he seemed a decently safe distance from the fight and he remembered how Sawsbuck usually won its fights. "Leech Seed!" Ian called out.

Sawsbuck fired a glowing green missile at Tyrunt, who had already wound up for something and roared with incredible force again, making Ian cover his ears as the roar's sound rattled around his brain torturously. When Ian finally got to open his eyes again, he realized he'd been pushed back another few feet, and Sawsbuck was on the ground stunned with Leech Seed leaving no trace on the scene as Tyrunt closed in with a dark purple energy engulfing its mouth. The fu-

Tyrunt leapt gracelessly as plunged its jaws into Sawsbuck's torso, making his blessed stag shriek in agony. No! Ian instinctively reached for his Heal Ball, recalling his blessed stag before Tyrunt did anymore damage. The Alpha Tyrunt appeared bewildered for a moment as it looked for where its prey had gone before fixing its gaze onto Ian. Shit... Ian reached for his belt and thoughtlessly tossed a Poke Ball out desperately. Out came his proud little lion cub who immediately recoiled from the now charging Tyrunt. "Litleo, dodge!" Ian yelled desperately.

Litleo leapt adeptly to his left, even spitting an Ember attack in midair. Tyrunt's charge suddenly stopped as it growled in pain. If Tyrunt's a Rock and Dragon Type and Fire Type attacks are like one quarter as effective, why is Tyrunt bothered? Tyrunt growled once more with frustration as it favored the left side of its head which Litleo had hit with the Ember. Wait, maybe its eyes got some of the Ember? Is that a weak spot? Worth a shot. "Litleo, keep peppering Tyrunt's eyes with Ember!" Ian shouted. Litleo suddenly leapt from its hiding spot in the tall grass, waiting until it was close to the disoriented Tyrunt and fired another burst of flames at Tyrunt's other eye. Tyrunt turned its head just in time as the flames hit its head, but the Alpha quickly gave a bloodcurling growl as it glowed with brown energy and floating rocks manifested around it. Stealth Rock? Ian's question was answered as Tyrunt swung its head forward in Litleo's direction, one of the rocks colliding with the lion cub as Ian heard a pained cry. Tyrunt growled in triumph as its body began to flicker with white energy for a few moments. Tyrunt took off for Litleo once more with incredible speed, faster than it had been during the encounter so far. Really? That was Ancient Power, and of COURSE it buffed all of Tyrunt's stats.

Litleo leapt at the last moment, barely missing the charging Tyrunt's body and making the bewildered beast crash into a post, causing the portion of the walkway it held up to collapse onto it. Litleo's not going to be able to do much, and Leech Seed didn't put this thing on a timer. Maybe it's time I pull back? Litleo growled determinedly as if sensing Ian's doubt, and Ian shook his head and smiled. We might die doing this, but we can't turn back now. "Alright Litleo, we got one way of making this work," Ian said with a calm, controlled tone. "We need to burn that thing."

Litleo growled excitedly as it got in a crouching position. Ian watched on as Tyrunt pushed itself up from the wreckage of the fallen walkway, eyes still glowing red with ferocity. It opened its mouth a bit, its tongue brushing over the sides of its mouth and it gave a fierce battle cry once more. Litleo did its best to roar an equivalent, which sounded like a growling Chihuahua, but Litleo charged at Tyrunt as the monster did the same. Litleo let loose a small fireball, causing Tyrunt to lower its head a bit, then Litleo leapt in the air, locked onto Tyrunt's right eye and fired a burst of flames at it, causing Tyrunt to roar a terrible, pained cry as it collapsed.

Grimsley's agility training sure is coming in clutch right now. "Litleo, don't hold back, keep peppering it with Ember while you can!" Ian ordered. Litleo already had another burst of flames at flying before Ian finished his sentence, with Litleo launching more Ember attacks every couple of seconds to Tyrunt's body, although by the fifth one Ian noticed their potency diminishing with each successive use. Tyrunt was slower to recover as the skin around its eyes had burn marks that the Alpha's red eyes weren't able to cover. Suddenly Tyrunt's body pulsed with Fire Type Energy and it yelped in pain, causing Ian to pump his fist. "Well done Litleo," Ian said coldly, a calm intensity coming over his whole demeanor. Tyrunt lifted its snout up first as it began sniffing the air. Once it locked on to Litleo, it lowered its head and charged with a battle cry. Litleo readied to pounce once more, and leapt pre-emptively. Tyrunt suddenly left its feet as well and spun in the air, whipping its massive tail around as it became engulfed in dark blue energy and slammed into Litleo, sending the lion cub careening across the meadow. Maybe even out of it, jeez. No wonder Dragon Tail forces a switch in the games. Tyrunt roared triumphantly, having seemingly vanquished its foe before its whole body became engulfed in red, fiery energy once more, causing it to wince in pain. Tyrunt growled menacingly as it turned around, its snout in the air, turning in Ian's direction. Damn it. Ian bolted back, realizing he had no real cover. And if it can sniff to catch Litleo midair then there is nowhere I can hide. Ian sent Wartortle out, who manifested with an angry croak before locking in as the Alpha Tyrunt approached. "Icy Wind!" Ian shouted in a panic.

Wartortle wound up and fired a burst of cold air with shimmering crystals at the charging monster, slowing it and causing it to shriek angrily. When the brunt of the icy blast had faded, Tyrunt fired itself up with another roar and began charging Wartortle once more, and when it was only steps away, Tyrunt's mouth became engulfed in electricity. Thunder Fang? Seriously!? Wartortle retreated into its shell and rolled on its side, dodging the attack, but it came out a bit disoriented and Alpha Tyrunt now upon it. Tyrant lunged, this time its mouth engulfed in Dark Type Energy and landed a harsh bite on Wartortle's shell, which it retreated into at the last minute.

Litleo charged in suddenly, growling fiercely as it landed on the back of Tyrunt's neck, biting into it, its jaws engulfed in Fire Type Energy. Tyrunt roared in pain as it shook Lilteo off and turned to it, closing in for the kill. "Wartortle, Icy Wind!" Ian commanded.

Wartortle fired off another one, this time seemingly less effective as Tyrunt was further away from the area-of-effect attack. Litleo leapt to escape, but Tyrunt caught one of its legs with its jaws and whipped Litleo around like a ragdoll before slamming into the ground, its leg mangled and bleeding. Ian was already running closer to the scene and managed to recall Litleo into its ball before Tyrunt could do any more damage. Tyrunt hissed at Ian as it realized who had robbed it of its second potential kill and charged him. Wartortle's shell appeared in front of him and his turtle fired off a Water Pulse, the rings colliding into Tyrunt quickly. Tyrunt's left leg suddenly slipped underneath it, causing the tyrannosaur to trip and fall on its face, its body glowed red with the burn status effect Litleo had left it with. It's gotta be close to going down soon, like goddam. Tyrunt got up, clearly bruised and battered but its eyes still glowed red with wild might. Tyrunt charged at Wartortle, and Ian realized something. The ground is icy, wouldn't that make Wartortle able to slide with its shell easier?

"Wartortle, Rapid Spin underneath it!" Ian commanded. Wartortle looked back like it was seriously questioning Ian's sanity, but he calmly shook the protest off. "Try it," Ian growled lowly as Tyrunt gained momentum and charged for the duo. Ian felt his heart thumping in his chest, but he stood unshaken and with a scowl. Wartortle withdrew into its shell and began spinning, before angling itself and propelling the shell across the icy ground. It moved with an unreal quickness, and while Tyrunt could still track it, it was much too slow, slamming its head into the dirt clumsily. Wartortle came out of its shell and slid to a stop not ten feet behind the Alpha Tyrunt. "Icy Wind!" Ian roared.

Wartortle wound up and fired another blast of cold air and icy crystals, making Tyrunt recoil in pain as it did. Tyrunt stumbled forward, still keeping its balance but clearly strained from the damage it took, and Fire Type Energy glowed on its skin once more, making the tyrannosaur wince in pain once again. Tyrunt gave a loud, desperate battle cry and charged, not to Wartortle but to Ian. Ian felt his heart begin to pump in his chest as the monster nearly as tall as himself rampaged forward with savage fury. His first instinct was to run, but something told him to stay, to not move. "Wartortle…" Ian called out confidently.

Moments later, Wartortle's shell zipped under Tyrunt and as Tyrunt stepped down, it slipped as it made contact with Wartortle's shell, tripping the great beast. Wartortle's shell flew straight up into the air and Wartortle's limbs popped out smoothly, with one of Wartortle's arms becoming engulfed in light blue, icy energy. Wartortle landed on Tyrunt's fallen neck and smacked it in the back of the head with an Ice Punch, seemingly slamming the Alpha Tyrunt's head into the ground as the Ice Type Energy creeped onto Tyrunt's scales. Tyrunt gave one last whimper before going limp.

"YES!" Ian roared in celebration. "Fuck yeah Wartortle!" Ian found himself pumping his fist in midair as he jogged to his victorious team member. "I owe you big time after that."

Wartortle sassily crossed its arms as best it could and smirked at Ian. "I got a little worried there," Ian said, pointing to where he'd been standing when Tyrunt had refocused on him. Wartortle just croaked like it was chuckling and nodded triumphantly. "That was amazing! Nice Ice Punch," Ian said with a big grin. Ian admired his fallen foe, noting how terrifying something like a dinosaur was now that he was confronted with one.

Tryunt stirred with a low whimper and Wartortle panicked, hopping off the defeated dinosaur. "Right, better catch it…" Ian said, getting the Ultra Ball that Grimsley gave to him. He expanded it and tossed it lightly on the fallen foe and the ball shook violently into midair at first before going still. Ian sighed in relief, giving Wartortle a nod of approval. Wartortle croaked, pointing at Ian's belt. "You want to go back in already?" Ian asked, to which Wartortle quickly agreed. "Whatever you say, bud."

Ian recalled Wartortle and reviewed the damage. A total of five segments were down now, and one of the wooden stairways branching off from the raised walkway had been ripped asunder. It might be a good idea to get some people down here to fix this. Ian took a deep breath, finally able to relax a bit before inspecting the Ultra Ball containing the Alpha Tyrunt. It sure was a dangerous menace, but imagine it evolving into an Alpha Tyrantrum… He thought on the possibility, figuring it would definitely grow to be more than twice his own height which made him shiver in fear. I should probably talk to Grimsley about training Alphas. But then again, wherever Tyrunt goes, it'll probably cause major problems to the ecosystem. Ian shook his head, realizing the quandary he'd gotten himself into, and it was until he saw bright, crackling red feathers in his vision that he noticed a number of floating, red, Oricorio had begun to surround him. "I'm sorry folks, I'll get on my way. And I'll try to get the damage from the fight repaired…" Ian paused as he noticed the large Oricorio float to him, an Oran Berry in its beak. Oricorio stared at him intensely before motioning him to take the Oran berry, which he did. "Thank you, Oricorio…" Ian said, bowing deeply.

The group of over a dozen Oricorio chirped excitedly, and Ian smiled, taking the happy scene in. "I'll be back with Sawsbuck tomorrow to fix the plants that give you guys nectar, okay? I just need him checked up on." Litleo too, don't forget.

***
Ian beamed the whole ride back to Po Town, pride in his team's resilience coursing through him, not to mention his pockets were full of what he hoped were Stardust crystals.. All three of his team members needed a reward. I need to find a place that Wartortle enjoys being out of its Poke Ball. He zoomed up The Straightaway, passing by a few curious Yungoos and Fletchlings along but, but little else of note. When he got back to Po Town, he headed for the grove first, where Sobble and Liepard were hard at work doing agility drills as well, causing Ian's grin to get even wider.

"I'm back boys!" Ian called out triumphantly.

"So you didn't die," Grimsley said with mock surprise.

"You fight the thing?" Tupp asked.

Ian nodded, pulling out the Ultra Ball. "Caught it."

"So what was it?" Grimsley asked curiously.

"It was an Alpha Tyrunt," Ian answered.

Grimsley gasped in shock, while Tupp just stared on blankly before opening his mouth. "So… what's that mean?"

Ian eyed Grimsley. "Want me to show it?"

Grimsley shook his head. "Not here, hell no. If you caught an Alpha it's going to be pissed that it's caught. Especially something with as bad an attitude as a Tyrunt."

"The fuck's a Tyrunt?" Tupp asked with frustration.

"It's like a dinosaur…"

"You know the big lizard with enormous teeth and tiny arms?" Grimsley asked.

"Oh yeah, that one!" Tupp said, pulling his arms in so it looked like he just had his hands sticking out of his chest and flailing them playfully. "Tyrantrum, that's what it is."

"Yeah, that one," Grimsley said with a chuckle.

"Those things are badass! They get like, eight or nine feet tall, right?" Tupp asked.

Grimsley shook his head. "Normal Tyrantrum, he has a Tyrunt that's an Alpha."

"It's basically my height," Ian said.

Tupp's jaw dropped. "No way! You saying the Alpha gets like…"

"Fifteen to sixteen feet at that rate," Grimsley said. "At least."

"That's fucking awesome bro!" Tupp said.

Grimsley shook his head. "Some of the best trainers I've ever met have struggled keeping a regular Tyrantrum under control. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever heard of a living Alpha Tyrantrum…"

"Well, I can't just relocate it to a spot on the island. It'll wreck the ecosystem. You should've seen all of the Oricorio feathers around the meadow…" Ian protested.

"I can just give it to Driftwood, they can get it to a lab and use it for research," Grimsley said.

Ian looked to Tupp, who shook his head and mouthed "I'll help." Ian then shook his head and shrank the Ultra Ball, putting it on his belt.

Grimsley smirked. "If you thought getting Litleo over was hard, you're in for a world of hurt with that Alpha Tyrunt."

Ian nodded. "Yeah… But you saying it's the only one you've ever heard of made it that much more appealing."

Grimsley chuckled. "Yeah, that didn't help."

"Let's go show the boss, yo!" Tupp cheered.

Ian took a deep breath. "Gotta heal up Sawsbuck first, he took a pretty gnarly wound."

Grimsley nodded. "You know, I'll give you tomorrow off. You did good today."

Ian nodded. "Appreciate it."

***
Ian went to his locker at Tom's first, dropping off what he hoped were Stardust crystals before meeting back up with Tupp at the Pokemon Center. Minutes later, Tupp opened the door to the building for Ian, now excitedly chattering away. "Bro, you were so right about Grimsley, Sobble's already way better at dodging stuff. He even said Sobble doesn't have the Torrent ability, it has Sniper. I don't know what it means, but it sounds dope," Tupp said before Ian spotted Rapp behind the counter and flagged her down.

"What's happening fellas?" Rapp asked as she put a tray with slots for Poke Balls out.

"Need some team members healed up," Ian answered as he grabbed the various balls from his belt. "Sawsbuck most of all, need it out in the grove in like twenty minutes for more berry harvesting."

Rapp nodded. "Gotcha-" She paused as she saw Ian place the Ultra Ball. "The hell's that?"

Ian smiled proudly. "Just caught it, it was a real monster."

Rapp eyed it skeptically. "What is it, a Raticate you found in Tupp's bed?"

"No-"

"Boys, why you happy?" The accented voice of Doc demanded. "No good when you two happy here." Ian waved hello to Doc as she came over and immediately focused on the tray. "New Pokemon, nice. Where you get Ultra Ball? You steal from boss?"

Ian shook his head. "Bought it off Driftwood."

"You pay them?"

Ian nodded.

Doc eyed him suspiciously, her wrinkled face becoming even more so. "Okay, I heal. But you no deal with them, kay? Very fishy…"

Ian nodded. "I hear you."

Doc quickly scurried off, leaving Ian and Tupp at the counter with Rapp. "Oh Ian, someone's been asking about you…"

"Oh, who?" Ian asked.

Rapp shrugged. "Guess."

"Definitely not Guzma or Rook…"

"It's a girl Ian," Rapp corrected, tone dripping with sass.

"Selene?" Tupp asked in a panic.

"No, numbskull. You know she's got a thing for Rook anyways," Rapp said with an eyeroll.

"No I didn't-"

"Then you're as observant as a blind Sliggoo," Rapp said, returning her attention to Ian. "Guess."

Ian wanted to Tupp a comforting pat on the back but knew it wouldn't suffice. "So it's definitely not you or Plumeria-"

"I bet I have a better shot with Big Sis-"

"Don't ever say that phrase in that context again," Ian said with a smirk.

Rapp started blushing as she realized what he meant. "Shit… Um-"

"Mina, I presume?" Ian asked.

Rapp smiled devilishly. "So you do know…"

"She gave me a wink before I left Pula's classroom the other day. Wouldn't surprise me…"

"So you gonna make a move?" Rapp asked.

Ian opened his mouth to answer, but no words came.

"Oh you do like her…"

"It's not like that," Ian dismissed. "I'm fresh out of a relationship. I need some 'me time' before I even think of doing anything else," Ian said.

"Relationship? Oh do tell Ian, you've been so mysterious…"

Ian rolled his eyes. "It's a long story," he lied.

Rapp shrugged. "You got some time before Doc comes back."

Ian grimaced but remembered he hadn't told Tupp the story either. "Well…"

***

"...and that's when I had this weird falling sensation and woke up in an Ultra Storm, a few minutes before I met Plumeria and you guys," Ian finished.

Rapp and Tupp both looked at him in disbelief. "Bro, that happened before we saw you?" Tupp asked.

Ian nodded. "Yeah. Crazy ain't it?"

"That's rough dude," Rapp observed.

"Rapp, out of way!" Doc's voice ordered as she came walking quickly to the counter. "Sawsbuck okay, no battle today-"

"I figured, but you're saying he'll be fine tomorrow?" Ian asked.

Doc looked at him with a sense of disgust and held up two fingers. "Two day."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Right…"

"Wartortle fine, Litleo need one day. Your girl though…" Doc took Tyrunt's Ultra Ball and held it in front of Ian. "Your Alpha, crazy girl."

"So Tyrunt's a female?" Ian asked.

"Yes. Alpha female, no let out alone. Danger," Doc explained.

"I hear you," Ian said, getting the balls together and placing them in their proper order on his belt.

"Very danger, must understand," Doc said sternly.

"It almost ate two of my Pokemon, I get it," Ian said seriously. Now that I put it like that, maybe keeping this Alpha around is a bad idea.

When Ian and Tupp left the Pokemon Center, Plumeria flagged them down and summoned them over to talk to her.

"Feels like I haven't talked to you since that day at the school," Ian commented as the duo grouped up with the squad leader.

"What now, Big Sis?" Tupp asked.

Plumeria folded her arms but smirked a little. "We got a rally tonight, and you're the star of the show, Ian."

"Rally? What?" Ian asked.

"Think of it like a big team meeting. Guzma gives updates on how things are going, any big news. Just done in Guzma's… unique style of leadership," Plumeria explained.

Ian nodded. "Okay… What do I have to do with it?"

"Well considering we were on the brink of starvation without that Sawsbuck of yours-"

"Ah…" Ian said.

"So be there a little before sunset. Side of Shady House with the pool," Plumeria said.

"Sawsbuck's ability refreshes around that time," Ian said.

"Then you better get to the rally the moment you're done. Take a bike if you have to," Plumeria ordered.

"And how will I know it's started?"

"You'll hear it before anything else," Tupp said with a chuckle.

"Gotcha…"

***

As Ian got on his strategically placed bike having just finished a slower trot around the grove with his still wounded Sawsbuck, he heard the booming sound of hip beats blasting over the wall. Must be starting up soon. Ian got the bicycle in motion and went as fast as he could down the road to Po Town's gate. When he passed it, he noticed a couple grunts standing guard and heard the gate's metal screeching as it began to close up for the night.

Funny how Guzma's got enough power to blast music so loud I can hear it from outside of town but the lights flicker in Shady House every few seconds. Ian noticed no one else was out and about as he pedaled up The Spine urgently. He heard the music quiet down and Guzma's voice came over the speakers. "Team Skull! You know who it fucking is, it's YA BOY, GUZMAAAAAAA!"

A roar erupted from the crowd as Ian pedaled faster, not wanting to know what the punishment was for being late to a rally, especially since he was, as Plumeria put it, the "star of the show." Guzma started speaking faster and the crowd grew more raucous, so Ian couldn't quite tell what was being said until he got the bike slowed down just behind the back row of the rally.

"So no foraging past our border with Surge. Our recon parties got their asses kicked and Surge has a stick up his ass or something. For anyone that goes into Outrigger territory, be real fucking quiet about it. I said we wouldn't do it for four weeks, but Outrigger won't snitch if we're good about it. Surge is too busy with the ASF," Guzma said definitively. "Everyone got it?"

A cacophony of "yeah boss" to unintelligible hollering hit Ian's ears as he maneuvered his way through the crowd of Team Skull members. He tapped the shoulder of a large man in front of him and he turned around with a scowl on his brown face. "Fuck off, you late to the rally, you standing behind me."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Fine," Ian croaked.

"Hey, is that my favorite fucking pizza boy right there?" Guzma shouted in the mic, Ian realizing Guzma was pointing right at him and the big guy in front of him. Ian waved back. "Hey Ruckz, out the way!"

The big brown-skinned grunt recoiled in a panic before motioning Ian to go by. Ian did, the group of dozens of grunts parting to create a path to Guzma's makeshift wooden stage.

"For you fuckers who don't know, this is Ian Cougar coming up here right now, I call him 'Coogz,'" Guzma began. "Plumeria brought him in barely a week ago with a dirty shirt that said 'Prince Street Pizza' on it. And this guy promised he wouldn't be dead weight…"

Ian stepped onto the stage, unsure of where to be. He turned around seeing almost a hundred eyes fixed on him. He spotted Plumeria with her arms folded, watching from a corner.

"I didn't believe his promise," Guzma continued. "He said he'd trained Pokemon before too, and to be in my position you gotta be able to read people, and he looked like he was lying his ass off. But you know what? Pizza boy here proved me wrong. He caught three Pokemon in two days and went face to face with one of Surge's goons and came out with a Sawsbuck that's singlehandedly keeping this town from starving!" Guzma said, spitting into the mic as Team Skull members hollered and cheered.

"Notice all that fresh fucking fruit Grillz been making the past coupe days? That's all Ian and his fucking deer!" Guzma put his arm around Ian and gave him a couple endearing, but strong slaps on the back. Team Skull roared with hollers and applause. "Would you believe this guy came from a town called Elk Grove back in Unova? And he ends up catching a fucking baby elk and grows berries in a grove- y'know what, we ain't calling it the 'Berry Grove' anymore. From here on out, that grove is called 'Elk Grove' in honor of Ian Coogz right here!"

Ian's jaw dropped as more hollers and shouts rang in his ears.

"And next week, I'm sending Plumeria and the recon team across Ula'Ula to go buy seeds so we can take this food growing shit to the next level!" Guzma announced, grabbing Ian by the neck and putting him in a headlock before giving him a nookie over his Skullcap. "Soon we gonna have so much food here Slugg's gonna stop losing weight!"

The crowd laughed as Ian looked for Sophocles, and realized he was probably buried somewhere in the back of the crowd thanks to his short stature.

"So next time you see my man Ian Coogz around, give him a holler and a fist bump!" Guzma called out to the crowd, which gave a lackluster response. "Hey Team Skull, I'm fucking saying you give this man a fucking holler and a fist bump!" The crowd got the message, giving an overwhelming roar of noise. "Good. Now let's party!" Guzma bellowed before throwing the cordless mic to a short Team Skull member behind a makeshift DJ setup. Wait, is that Lil' Dizz at the controls? Oh yeah it is. "Hey Coogz!" Guzma called to him, gesturing to him to join him.

"What you want boss?" Ian asked, realizing he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Good stuff man," Guzma said. "I mean it. You keep doing what you're doing and Team Skull gonna run this island, ya' feel?"

Ian nodded. "For sure." Ian then remembered the newest addition to his team and realized now might be a rare time to talk to Guzma. "Hey boss, earlier today I caught an Alpha. You got any tips on training one?"

Guzma's eyebrows rose in surprise. "An Alpha? Not bad Coogz." Guzma's smile faded as he opened his mouth again. "My advice on that though? Don't try to train an Alpha. You're too green."

"When'd you get Ariados?" Ian asked.

"A few months before this Ultra Rift nonsense began, my whole team was already established. Was a bitch and a half to train it up from a Spinarak," Guzma explained. "When you are ready for training though, I'll give you some tips. But you ain't ready."

Ian nodded. "Gotcha," he lied.

"Enjoy the party," Guzma said, giving him a playful jab on the shoulder before going to the DJ table. "Hey Disnethorpe, hurry this shit up!" Guzma barked.

In moments the subwoofers boomed as a heavy bass beat blasted, causing Ian to cover his eardrums. The rally quickly turned into an unruly dance party as Team Skull members began dancing all around, and Ian stepped off the stage to find Tupp. Ian realized Tupp was already in the center of the dancefloor, doing hip hop dance moves Ian didn't even know existed. I shouldn't be surprised. Ian made his way out of the mobbed dance floor, occasionally getting pats on the back as he made his way to the perimeter where a number of people had taken up residence not dancing. Before Ian found a spot to get set, various members of Team Skull came up to him and fist bumped him, giving a nod of acknowledgement and telling them their name. After the tenth one, Ian realized there was no way he'd remember them all, and that's if he'd heard the names correctly the first time with the booming music.

Grillz and Tom came over and bumped fists with Ian. "Nice job Coogz," Grillz said in his gravely voice. "Once the food situation's solved I'll be able to start doing some real fun stuff."

"Like bacon?" Ian asked.

Grillz chuckled. "Maybe that too. But I was thinking moonshine."

Ian's eyebrows rose. "Nice…"

"You ain't ready for it. The only problem is I can't have everyone drinking it all the time or we'll start losing battles!" Grillz said with a gravely laugh before heading away to the stage.

"Finally getting some recognition," Tom said with a knowing smile.

Ian shrugged. "I'll take it."

"This whole town owes you big time," Tom explained. "Anything the stewards and I can do as thanks?"

"No- wait…" Ian remembered the carnage his battle with the monster in the meadow had left in its wake. "Actually, you know the raised walkway in the meadow?"

"Yeah," Tom said.

"I fought an Alpha there today and destroyed a few raised platforms. Any chance those could get fixed up?" Ian asked.

Tom shrugged. "I don't see why not. There'll be some annoying logistics involved, but we should be able to make it work. How many platforms?"

"Like five or six," Ian said sheepishly.

"That's not too bad. It's the least we can do. The Oricorio are very important to the island," Tom said. "I'll get some guys to look at it tomorrow."

"Thank you," Ian said as Tom turned away. On the edge of the crowd of dancers, Ian saw a familiar face dancing very strangely compared to her surroundings, flailing her arms in front of her with her torso moving in a circular motion. She locked eyes with him and started dancing over toward him, careless of the awkward stares sent her way.

"You're pretty popular," Mina said, still flailing her arms about.

"I have my moments," Ian said with a grin.

"Before people start trying to snag you up to join their friend groups, can you do me a favor?" Mina asked.

"Depends on the favor, but sure."

"I'm painting this mural on Kai Avenue and could really use some background music. Any chance you and that guitar are free tomorrow?" Mina asked.

"I'm free tomorrow, just have to hit the berry grove- Elk Grove I mean every three hours," Ian said.

"Good. I'll be there bright and early," Mina said as she turned and flailed her way back to the dance floor.

Ian realized his chest was rather tense and he sighed, letting the tension out. You know, Po Town's really turning around for me…

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

That marks the end of the first arc (first of nine). We'll get a short time skip and some interesting factional "diplomacy" starting from here.

Edit: Arc One's name is the "Welcome to Po Town Arc," with Arc 2 being "The Expedition" Arc.

 

[Dberserker]

Such an awesome chapter! Tyrantrum is one of my absolute favorites, so I'm super hyped to see where the story goes from here

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Such an awesome chapter! Tyrantrum is one of my absolute favorites, so I'm super hyped to see where the story goes from here

Click to shrink...

When I finalized the alpha mechanics I asked myself what would be the gnarliest one to have, and once Tyrantrum entered my mind it did not leave.

 

[RangersFan567]

Surge has a Zapdos is there a reason why he hasn't conquered the island? I know the Tapu is there but I would assume Zapdos would handle the Tapu leaving Surge still with a full Team to over come anyone else?

Love the chapter and great to see Tyrunt favorite fossil. Will Ian ever be able to use some modern knowledge or even Pokemon knowledge to support the town etc?

 

[ThunderBasilisk]

Fuck yeah Tyrunt for the win! So glad it's finally being used in a story on an MCs team. Also sounds like it's gonna be his problem child for the foreseeable future.

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Surge has a Zapdos is there a reason why he hasn't conquered the island? I know the Tapu is there but I would assume Zapdos would handle the Tapu leaving Surge still with a full Team to over come anyone else?

Love the chapter and great to see Tyrunt favorite fossil. Will Ian ever be able to use some modern knowledge or even Pokemon knowledge to support the town etc?

Click to shrink...

Your first question's answer would involve a spoiler so I'm gonna experiment with the spoiler tag a little bit. Only willing to disclose vague ideas of the answer because it's a good question and it won't be addressed for a while.

Spoiler

something something content Surge doesn't like spending too much time away from the observatory (wink, wink), and every faction that's left would require significant investments in time or, in the case of two factions, contains a risk of losing.

As for your second question about modern knowledge and overall meta-knowledge... That's gonna get a long winded answer from me, I'll try to keep it short. So first and foremost, Ian's a pretty average dude in our world. He was the supervisor at a pizza place and he's (at this point in the story) 21 years old. He knows things most other people in this Alola also know. Tom is a seasoned contractor, and a number of the stewards in Team Skull were just people who lived in Po Town who didn't get out in time (or are refugees from Haina Town). This hasn't really been explored in this story now that I think of it (I got a lot of plot and subplot threads bouncing around my head *sweatdrop*), but it's something I should address in the story going forward. Essentially, a lot of other characters in this story are smart people, or at least good at a trade.

*Gets on soapbox* A common trope in lots of Pokemon fanfiction when it comes to Isekai stuff is the protagonist is one of the only smart people in the metaphorical room, and that's not how I do things. Ian does have some meta-knowledge he exploits (EXP Candies, and we're about to see with the Stardust I just didn't have room in this chapter), but people understand the value of nutrition for humans and Pokemon, Po Town is working as best it can with the resources available. Ian's Sawsbuck helps the town, and there'll be some other ways he helps things, but he's not going to re-define mass water purification or electricity generation (or maybe something with his Pokemon do this, who knows *shrug*). And probably the point I want to hammer home, is this story is my take on what I like and dislike about the Isekai genre (especially in Pokemon fanfiction). A lot of it becomes just Self-Insert masturbation. I consider myself the king of masturbation as a matter of fact (anyone who's read my prior work "Wonders of Alola" should be incredibly aware). I understand the appeal of that, and this story is Isekai, it's got the wish fulfillment elements at its core, but I want to make all of Ian's triumphs feel earned. Like for example, Ian finally got some recognition from Guzma and Team Skull at large. Was this largely Sawsbuck's ability benefiting the town? Yes. But Ian's struggled, fought, cried, and bled to get to where he and Sawsbuck are now (I'm just now realizing it's been a little over a week in the story lmao). I think it's fair to say he earned the acclaim and recognition. Anyways, apologies on the paragraph here, you just hit me right in my wheelhouse and I haven't gotten super deep into it so far in this thread.

 

[Oceanside Lowlife]

Fuck yeah Tyrunt for the win! So glad it's finally being used in a story on an MCs team. Also sounds like it's gonna be his problem child for the foreseeable future.

Click to shrink...

You have NO idea.

 

[Flashbunny]

As for your second question about modern knowledge and overall meta-knowledge... That's gonna get a long winded answer from me, I'll try to keep it short. So first and foremost, Ian's a pretty average dude in our world. He was the supervisor at a pizza place and he's (at this point in the story) 21 years old. He knows things most other people in this Alola also know. Tom is a seasoned contractor, and a number of the stewards in Team Skull were just people who lived in Po Town who didn't get out in time (or are refugees from Haina Town). This hasn't really been explored in this story now that I think of it (I got a lot of plot and subplot threads bouncing around my head *sweatdrop*), but it's something I should address in the story going forward. Essentially, a lot of other characters in this story are smart people, or at least good at a trade.

*Gets on soapbox* A common trope in lots of Pokemon fanfiction when it comes to Isekai stuff is the protagonist is one of the only smart people in the metaphorical room, and that's not how I do things. Ian does have some meta-knowledge he exploits (EXP Candies, and we're about to see with the Stardust I just didn't have room in this chapter), but people understand the value of nutrition for humans and Pokemon, Po Town is working as best it can with the resources available. Ian's Sawsbuck helps the town, and there'll be some other ways he helps things, but he's not going to re-define mass water purification or electricity generation (or maybe something with his Pokemon do this, who knows *shrug*). And probably the point I want to hammer home, is this story is my take on what I like and dislike about the Isekai genre (especially in Pokemon fanfiction). A lot of it becomes just Self-Insert masturbation. I consider myself the king of masturbation as a matter of fact (anyone who's read my prior work "Wonders of Alola" should be incredibly aware). I understand the appeal of that, and this story is Isekai, it's got the wish fulfillment elements at its core, but I want to make all of Ian's triumphs feel earned. Like for example, Ian finally got some recognition from Guzma and Team Skull at large. Was this largely Sawsbuck's ability benefiting the town? Yes. But Ian's struggled, fought, cried, and bled to get to where he and Sawsbuck are now (I'm just now realizing it's been a little over a week in the story lmao). I think it's fair to say he earned the acclaim and recognition. Anyways, apologies on the paragraph here, you just hit me right in my wheelhouse and I haven't gotten super deep into it so far in this thread.

Click to shrink...

Delighted to hear it. Sometimes you just want to see the main character roll through and make sweeping changes because it's cool, but it can defeinitely feel unearned.

The world of Pokemon is flatly more technologically advanced than ours, so technology-wise he was never going to beat them out there. Similarly, most of his pokemon knowledge is of course going to be inferior to that of a world that actually lives with these things.

There's only two real areas where one might legitimately expect an SI to have an edge, here. The first is the group of things that are so rare or unique in-universe that the academic apparatus of a whole world still hasn't been enough to figure them out for lack of opportunity - which is almost entirely made up of legendary pokemon. Clearly that's not universal, given Surge's Zapdos, and it's also extremely unlikely to come up; knowing Mewtwo hangs out in Cerulean Cave isn't going to help a guy trapped in Alola. Knowing what's up with Ultra Space does fall into this category, though.

The second is stuff from Hisui that for one reason or another didn't make it to the modern era. I think some of the Hisuian pokemon forms didn't make it into Scarlet and Violet, like Hisuian Dartrix.

This turned into a much longer comment than I was expecting, but TL;DR I think you've taken a very reasonable stance here, and one that makes for a great story.