Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Using my full movesets for both Pokemon since Wren’s extremely limited in his retroactive mission compared to his next one.))
Pokemon:

He who seeks the power of the Blossoming One, the gift of rebirth - Life unending-, the Gods of the Harvest have seen your dedication.

Wren watched the flower before him as it sprouted from the shrine, growing to full bloom in no time at all, stunned entirely by it’s very existence. Not once before now had he seen a response to his offerings at the shrine.

To receive the gift of the Green Touch, you must prove your worth to the Blossoming One. Go with our blessings.

“Hmhmhm.”

Wren barely heard the tiny giggle but the feeling of eyes burning into back begged him to turn away from the miraculous flower. Spinning himself partially around to look to his rear, he laid eyes upon an old woman watching him. Glancing back to the shrine one more to try and memorize the flower that had bloomed, he found that it was gone entirely with no trace of it ever having been there at all. “...What?”

“It’s been decades, at least, since I last saw someone with your dedication to the old ways, boy.” The old woman said as she approached him, laying a grizzled hand upon his shoulder as he knelt, staring, lost, at the shrine now. “And longer even than that since the last time I saw the Harvest Brothers answer a prayer at all.”

“The Harvest Brothers?” Wren asked, looking up at the old woman. Ent

“The Kami. The Gods of Fertility. The Brothers of Wind, Rain and Soil.” The old woman replied with an ancient sounding laugh. “They have many names but always play the same game with Men.” She told him, looking down with a small smile. “Perhaps you’d like to garner a bit more love from them than one, tiny little flower?” She questioned almost as if she already knew the answer.

“Of course I would… But even a single flower tells me they’re listening.” Wren replied, bowing to the shrine in thanks,

“I can help you, if you like.” The old woman offered as Wren turned away from the shrine. “The Gods have a favored gift and if you bring it to them, they may be far more inclined to truly answer your request.” Her grinned widened when Wren paused, contemplating whether listening to her would be worth his time. “It will take some time to do but if you succeed, you just might live to see your dream come true before you die.” That seemed to do the trick as Wren slowly turned his head and, without turning fully, spoke to her.

“What is this gift?” He asked, curiosity and hope lighting up his ice blue eyes.

“In the olden days, it took the form of an article of clothing such as a shawl, a scarf or a sash.” The old woman replied, pausing after a moment and waving a single finger in the air as if she were tapping something in front of her. “But I suppose something as small as a bracelet would work and it should take far, far less time to complete.”

“A Bracelet?” Wren asked. “I could make a bracelet without any instructions or special requirements.” He conjectured, wondering how this old woman’s bracelet could be so much more special than one he could make on his own.

“Not like this one, dear.” She retorted, her grin turning into a scowl. “This bracelet is an item called a Gracidea’s Grace. It is not simply made. It is grown from the very earth and crafted with love and care as if it were a plant of it’s own in need of special attention just like the crops the Harvest Brothers helped to cultivate in the old days.”

“Gracidea’s Grace?” Wren asked, thinking for a moment. “Like the Gracidea? The gratitude flower?” He was confused what it had to do with Landorus but regardless, the old woman had piqued his interest. “Alright, I’ll bite. What do I have to do to ‘grow’ this bracelet?”

The old woman smiled. “First, you must harvest the flowers of Cacnea in order to collect their fibers for cactus silk.”

“Cacti don’t produce silk.” Wren stated flatly, earning himself sudden crack to the head from a walking stick he hadn’t seen the old woman carrying a moment ago, nor the snapdragons blossoming all over it. Moreso, the small hairband that appeared to be affixed to the staff in the center, almost as if the staff had grown out of it, which looked to be handmade from silk.

“They do when you know what you’re doing, boy.” She told him with a wry smile, now. “The next step to crafting this bracelet is to collect a Miracle Seed. They can be found in areas where Maractus grow naturally but it is a rarity, even then.”

“Well, the convenient thing is…” Wren replied, indicating the two Pokeballs nested in the clips on his belt. “I just so happen to be a cactus farmer who has both Pokemon as my partners outside of my business dealings.”

“Oh?!” The old woman asked, suddenly surprised by the revelation. “May I see them, then?” She asked, leaning forward on her snapdragon-covered staff.

“Sure… Just don’t hit them like you did me, Granny.” Wren replied, earning himself another light smack to the head and a few imaginary bees buzzing around it a moment later.

“That’s Granny Bloom to you, dear.” The old woman replied as Wren shook his head.

“Sure, Granny. I’ll remember that.” He replied as he pulled the two Pokeballs on his belt free and released his partners. “Hemlock, Aconite, meet Granny Bloom.” He introduced the cacti Pokemon.

“Cac!”
“Marac!”

The Grass-types waved their arms in greeting with Aconite rattling like a maraca as she did and dancing around in a small circle.

“Oh my! This Cacnea is rather large. Very well cared for, I see.” Granny Bloom assessed, looking Hemlock over with a sparkle in her eyes. “It’s flower appears ready to bloom any day now, as well and it looks like it will be just as big as it is!” Clasping her grizzled hands together in joy, her staff rested in the crook of her right arm. “You care so deeply for these Pokemon. It brings joy to this old woman’s heart.”

Wren shuffled his feet just a bit and blushed slightly but said nothing.

“Your Maractus is just as healthy as well. Hmm?” Granny Bloom paused in her praise for a moment and reached for Aconite’s ears. “Well hello there! Your Maractus is growing a Miracle Seed!”

“Heh?” Wren asked, stepping over and looking over Aconite’s ear growths. “I don’t see anything special?” He told the old woman, spotting nothing out of the ordinary with his Pokemon’s physiology.

“No, you wouldn’t yet. You haven’t yet learned what to look for.” Granny Bloom replied sagely, meaning no offense to Wren or his partners. “Well… If you can get your Cacnea to bloom and collect it’s flower then collect the Miracle Seed your Maractus is growing in there and bring them back to me, I’ll show you what you need to do with them.”

“Neither of those things will be happening in the near future.” Wren assured the woman. “Aconite has been my partner for years and not once has she ever produced a seed of any kind outside of her attacks. As for Hemlock? He’s out of season for his flower to bloom. He won’t be blossoming for a few more months.”

“Oh? Are you sure about that?” Granny Bloom asked. “If you’re so certain, there is a way to speed up the process… As well as a piece of this bracelet I’ve forgotten to tell you about.” She rubbed her wrinkled chin in thought for a moment before deciding that she may as well spill the beans. “There exists a place in Pinwheel Forest called Rumination Field. There, the ancients of the Abundant Shrine once faced trials and tribulations to test their faith.”

“What do they have to do with me?” Wren asked, recalling Hemlock and Aconite and replacing their Balls on his belt.

“Their test of faith still exists. If you can face the trials there and succeed, the energy in the field might give both of your Pokemon enough of a boost to trigger both of their developments needed for this task.” Granny Bloom explained to him. “And you may as well give it a shot since you need to head there and collect a small patch of moss from the Moss Rock that grows in the forest anyway.”

Wren rolled his eyes. “I suppose the moss in the piece you forgot?” He asked the old timer.

“It is.” Granny Bloom responded. “You go on and collect those three items and then you come back here and I’ll walk you through the process of crafting you a Gracidea’s Grace.”

“Hmm…” Wren grew quiet for a moment and looked pensieve but after just a moment or two, Granny Bloom must have gotten tired of waiting for him to do something and started to wave him off.

“Well? What are you waiting for?! Go on! Go!” She urged, pushing him toward the route away from the Abundant Shrine and toward the south.

“Alright! Alright, I’m going! Yeesh.” Wren yelped as he was nearly pushed over by an old woman nearly thrice his age and half his height.

“I’ll be here when you get back, Deary!” Granny Bloom assured him, turning back to the ancient Shrine nd coming to rest beside it. Before long, all that could be seen of her was the snapdragon-covered staff resting in the soil beside the shrine, though Wren didn’t see where she went without it. He supposed she didn’t necessarily need it, the way she moved, but even so, it was hard to believe a woman that old could move that fast unaided.

“...Rumination Field, huh?” He finally mused, letting himself stop dwelling on the thought of where the old crone had gone off to. “Inside Pinwheel Forest?” He asked himself, thinking on where that might be. He knew Pinwheel Forest to be in the southeastern penninsula and he had heard many a rumor that there was a Moss Rock there but considering his lack of Eevees, he’d never been bothered to see about confirming the rumors. Looked like now was his chance to do so.

Heading west from the Abundant Shrine, he headed toward Black City, encountering little resistance along the way. Just outside the city limits, however, he found himself crossing through White Forest, the natural barricade surrounding the city. “This place still looks awful…” He told himself, shaking his head at the sight of the many crumbling, dead White Oaks that grew here. “That lot that brought that PlusPower stuff around here were the ones who did all this damage, if I remember right. I think they were called ‘Team Cipher’?” He questioned his memory as he walked through the forest. “It doesn’t even look like most of the Pokemon who used to live around here have returned, even after all these years…”

The Earth aches.

“I can almost feel the forest’s pain.” The brunet lamented as he walked up to one of the withering trees and placed his hand upon it’s trunk, as if trying to find the tree’s pulse or some other sign of life within it.

The forest shivers. The earth is cold and lifeless.

The small flower blooming at the tree’s base stood out to Wren as he stepped back from it, looking down at the once-proud Ent’s roots. “Looks like the Gods are watching out for you, Ent.” He told the tree, looking back up at the letters he had once carved into the tree’s bark when he was a child. He recalling passing through the forest with his mother on a shopping trip, the poor old woman now wheelchair-bound in the desert, and claiming this particular tree as his own. His mother had laughed as he carved the word ‘Ent’ into the tree, telling her that that’s what it was and one day, it would get up and walk away on it's own. “Keep growing strong, old friend. Show the rest of the forest how to be resilient!” He urged the tree before walking away. As he left, a faint crack appeared in the tree’s bark, crumbling away a bit around it to reveal a black morass within. “Tre… ve…”

Passing on into the city proper, Wren paused for a bit to release Hemlock and Aconite, taking them both to a local diner he knew of, where he proceeded to get a bite to eat for himself while his partners basked in the sun and absorbed a bit of water from a nearby sprinkler watering the diner’s garden. After his meal and after checking to ensure his cacti Pokemon had had their fill of sun and water, he recalled the pair and headed west once again, toward Nimbasa City. Figuring he wasn’t going to get anywhere at the rate he was traveling on foot, he decided to try something as he travelled. He knew of a small building nearby where he thought he might be able to find a ride. The place was new, still, but they should be able to provide him with what he sought. It was some kind of research lab, if he recalled correctly, that studied Pokemon not native to the Unova region(which, it seemed like, were most of them) and they would occassionally lend a traveler a Pokemon they had received for study to see how it handled the various environments in the region. If he could borrow one large enough to transport him around, he could get where he was going a bit easier, he thought.

When he approached the building at last, he found himself accosted by a pair of Sudowoodo guarding the doors. “Hey! Hey! I’m not here for a fight!” He exclaimed as he was pushed back by a pair of Hammer Arms shoving him away from the door.

“If you insist, though-” He pulled the two Pokeballs from his waist and tossed the pair into the air, releasing his two cacti Pokemon. “Hemlock, Needle Arm. Aconite, Seed Bomb.” He instructed. Hemlock jumped toward Sudowoodo, needle-covered arms glowing bright green as it threw a one-two punch at the Rock-type. Aconite, on the other hand, threw her barrel-like arms forward and from each arms blasted a large seed toward the other Sudowoodo. The pair of pseudo-trees weren’t prepared for the chlorophyll-based attacks and were promptly knocked onto their rears. Or would have been had they not both slammed into the door, one after the other.

“Suuuuudo.”
“Woooodo.”

The matching set of bonsai Pokemon bemoaned their defeat for a moment before the door behind them opened and the two, branches to their respective foreheads as the stars before their eyes receded, jumped to their feet.

“Sudo sudo!”
“Dowood!”

“Yes, yes, I heard you were bullying travellers again. I could hear the ruckuss from inside.” An older woman snapped at the pair as she stepped out the door. “Can I help you?” She asked Wren, eyeing him up and down as he recalled his cacti to their respective Pokeballs.

“Yes, I was hoping you might have a Pokemon that you were studying that might be available for habitat research?” Wren replied.

“Not at the moment, I’m afraid.” The woman replied, removing the rather new looking spectacles from her face and cleaning the lenses on her labcoat. “We haven’t had many Pokemon that we don’t already know plenty about come through recently. Any particular reason you ask?” She inquired as she returned her glasses to her face, placing them gently but intentionally upon the bridge of her nose.

“I’m in need of a ride to Castelia City, at minimum.” Wren replied. “I’m heading to Pinwheel Forest and the closer I can get in the least amount of time, the better.”

“Well, we don’t have any Pokemon that can transport you but I do have something here…” The woman replied to the male’s inquiry. “Just a moment.” Disappearing into the depths of the lab and leaving Wren at the door with nothing to occupy him for the moment but a pair of clearly unhappy Sudowoodo glaring at him, she returned after a several long, anxiety riddled minutes. “One of my assistants found this old thing in the woods around Black City a fairly long time ago, battered and broken. An acquaintance of mine repaired it, surprisingly enough, but no one ever came looking for it. You’re welcome to it, if you like.” She said as she handed Wren a strange black square with some kind of disc underneath it.

“Um...How is this supposed to help me?” Wren asked, unsure what he was looking at.

“This is how.” The woman replied with a smirk as she reached out and pressed a tiny button Wren didn’t see. The square made a strange whirring noise, causing Wren to jump and drop it.

“Ah! Sorry!” He yelped, apologizing for the crashing, broken whatever it was. Except there was never a crash. Looking down in confusion, he saw the square had evolved rapidly into a snowboard-sized and shaped board floating a few inches from the ground and emanating a dull humming noise.

“It’s some kind of hoverboard.” The woman told him. “You figure out how to make the thing work, you’re welcome to keep it. I’m tired of it cluttering up my lab.” With that statement of irritation uttered, the woman turned on her heel, walked into the building with a wave to her Sudowoodo and the pair followed her inside. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Wren little to do beyond look at the board floating above the ground and wonder if it was worth it.

“What have I got to lose?” He asked himself, stepping up onto the board and setting his feet into what looked like designated slots for them. Small bands extended from the board and snapped into place over his feet, securing them in place and preventing him from simply falling off the board. “I don’t think I’m comfortable with this after all…” The brunet told himself as he tried to wiggle his feet free, wobbling the floating board but not going anywhere yet. “Let go!” He yelled at the board when he realized he couldn’t just get free like he’d wanted to, resorting to trying to stomp his feet and slinging the ends of the board up and down. After a moment or two of it, he finally did succeed at moving his feet. Unfortunately, they took the rest of his body with them as he hit the accelerator on the board, causing it to rocket forward. At least, that was how it felt to the Earth-anchored male.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” His terrified scream echoed across Route 15 as he shot past the entrance of the Marvelous Bridge, crashing into the wall beside the elevator and coming to a stop at last. “Ooooooooow.” He groaned, peeling himself off the wall and stumbling in place for a moment, finding that the hoverboard had released him and returned to it’s inert state as a blank black square with the disc on one side.

“You look like you could use some help, there.” A voice spoke to him, drawing his attention to a very short golden-white skinned child with bright golden yellow hair.

“You’re just a kid… How much help can you offer?” Wren asked, confused by the child’s presence more than anything.

“I’m no kid. I’m a hybrid and I’m older than you can imagine.” The kid replied. “Name’s Jira.” He introducd himself. “And I’ve seen a board like that before. Used to use one, actually, back in the days when I was a member of an old group of vigilantes.” He admitted with a laugh.

“You’re a hybrid? And you’re that old?” Wren asked, not believing it.

“There are others like me. Hybrids of Pokemon that live countless eons. We live long enough to see time itself begin to repeat, I’ve learned.” The one called Jira responded, a somber smile on his face, his eyes glazing over for a moment as he recalled a memory he hoped to see repeated someday. “Anyway. That hoverboard there, I can teach you to ride the thing properly, even if I don’t fit on it anymore.” He finally stated as he snapped out of his reverie, tapping the tiny button on the square with his just-as-tiny foot and causing it to expand to full size.

“Whatever…oooooohhhh. Ow.” Wren replied, groaning as he tried to move around again, still sore from his face-first encounter with the wall. “I suppose your age is less important than you being able to help me out with this thing.” He finally decided. “So how does it work?”

The hybrid laughed a small, rather adorable sounding laugh and, with a small burst of a strange energy, Wren became weightless. Obviously he had use Telekinesis to make the make levitate. Floating up into the air, Jira spun Wren around so that he was right side up. “Stand like this.” He directed, employing a small amount of Psychic power to move the man’s legs into position while he pulled the hoverboard over and expanded the device. “You use this foot to speed up and slow down like this.” He explained, showing Wren how to operate the foot controls of the device with his forward-facing foot. “And you’ll use this foot to change direction.” Jira stated as he showed the man how to kick the rear of the board around to change the direction of it’s forward propulsion. “And, finally, you can adjust your exact position, or drift, along your current forward trajectory by shifting your weight from one side to the other.”

By the time the two were done, the day was getting late and quite a few people had stopped to ask what was happening, thinking it was some kind of show. “Well, thanks, I think. I should be able to get around a lot faster and a lot easier with this thing now that I know how it works.”

“No trouble, really.” Jira assured the man, smiling at him. His clean white teeth blending creepily with his golden-white skin. It was somewhat unnerving for Wren despite himself. He always tried not to be one of those judgemental jerks and this fellow had already proven he was kind and, surprisingly, somewhat caring to strangers. So why was he unnerved? “By the way, if you ever meet a man named Sub, tell him Jira says hello again. He probably won’t remember me, though.” Jira said with a smile, amicable as it was, it explained very much to Wren.

“Right…” The brunet responded, just a bit apprehensive. “Well, I need to get moving or I’m not getting to where I need to go. “

As the man made to leave, Jira’s eyes flashed and he spoke up one last time. “Beware, Wren Briony. Your path will cross with the enemies of Unova someday. Choose your path wisely when it does.” The hybrid warned, his voice grave, before he simply waved kindly and walked away.

“That was creepy…” Wren said to himself before he boarded the elevator up to the surface of Marvelous Bridge. Once there, he took the knowledge he’d been given by the hybrid earlier and attempted to operate the hoverboard he’d been nearly killed by when he crashed it not all that long ago. This time, however, rather than careening wildly through the open air, he maintained a decent level of control over the thing and noted fairly quickly how much faster he was able to travel than he could on foot. “This thing’s nice but I kind of feel goofy riding it…” He said to himself, wondering how bad a desert dweller must look riding around on a board made for the snow. Despite that feeling of goofiness, though, he made good time from there. Before too long, he’d made it to Nimbasa City. Cutting through the moderately sized tourist trap, the middle-aged entrepreneur headed on into the desert between Nimbasa and Unova’s capital city of Castelia.

The desert didn’t do much to get in his way until a sandstorm kicked up and forced him to take refuge in some ruins just outside of Castelia City. The unnamed dig site had been a work in progress for years, he recalled. Every time the archaeologists working in the area thought they were done, they found something new. The biggest advantage the site had, however, was that it gave travellers like Wren refuge from the storms and sun when they needed it. It wasn’t very long before the sandstorm was over and Wren was back on his way but he did note the small collection of what looked like ancient seeds in the sand and a single flower laying by the doorway of the building he’d hidden from the storm inside of. He couldn’t tell if it was actually growing or if it was just laying there like the dessicated corpse of an ancient mummy but he didn’t spend much time investigating it, either.

Heading on into Castelia City, he swung through the massive city’s central plaze, down an alleyway and, partway down, he stopped at the ice cream cart. “One Casteliacone, please!” He requested, smiling brightly at the kiosk’s attendant. If there was one thing he would act childish about, it was ice cream. At 35 years old, he still acted like a small child when the delicious, sweet, frozen cream confection was involved. Obtaining his creamy treat, he paid the attendant and left to head toward the West at last. He made it across Skyarrow Bridge with little trouble but, as he reached the far side and began to draw near to the Eastern entrance of Pinwheel Forest, he felt a looming presence within. Something in there seemed to have an imposing aura that reached out to him, despite his inability to sense such things naturally. “Oh boy…” He groaned, holding a hand to his head. He couldn’t tell what he was feeling other than intimidated but that was all he needed. “Maybe I should’ve ignored Granny Bloom and just gone home?” He asked himself, stopping his advance on the forest for a moment and giving the idea a bit of thought. “No… If I can get Landorus’ favor, maybe I can finally make an impact on Lentimas and the lack of greenery?” He reminded himself, using the sound of his own voice and the, tentative at best, promise of success as reassurance to keep moving.

Finding his way to the forest’s entrance, he took pause and looked around. The first thing he noticed were a large number of park rangers running all over. They looked busy and several even looked worried. And then he noticed why. There were smoldering embers all over the place and smoke slowly rising from the underbrush. They must have just finished putting out a forest fire! “Sir! I’m afraid Pinwheel Forest is off limits to the public at the moment. The Unova Regional Forestry Division is working on containing and gaining control of the situation within the forest.” One of the rangers announced as he approached Wren.

“I’m sorry… I’ve never heard of that organization and I’ve lived my entire life in this region.” Wren retorted, a bit confused.

“Well, if you live in areas like Lentimas or around the Desert Resort, such as Nimbasa or Castelia, I suppose you wouldn’t be as likely to hear about us as someone who lives in, say Anville. The U.R.F.D. primarily works outside of central Unova, where the forestry is a bigger part of life than the more modernized areas.” The ranger replied, sounding a bit snarky.

“I would think, no matter where I live, that someone with the desire to know how their region maintains its greenery would have known about your organization for quite some time.” Wren retorted, sounding a bit indignant.

“He’s not buying it. Deal with him.” Someone else called from nearby.

“What?”

Before Wren knew what had transpired, exactly, he found himself facing a man with a pair of Herdier in front of him. “I don’t want a fight!” He exclaimed, taking a step back.

“Well you got one when stuck your nose in Team Plasma’s work!” The man snapped back, narrowing his eyes at Wren as he did. “Herdier, both of you use Take Down!”

“Ah!” Quickly throwing a pair of Pokeballs in front of him, Wren called for a move. “Spiky Shield!” The vertical dome of green energy appeared in front of him the instant his pair of cacti appeared from their Pokeballs and, as the Herdier crashed into it, the shield rumbled for a moment before erupting with massive spikes, stabbing at the pair of canines and sending them flying backwards, rebounded by their own momentum. “If you’re forcing me to fight, fine!”

He was normally a pacifist but he refused to let someone pick on him. “Hemlock, Rototiller! Aconite, Seed Bomb!” He ordered his Pokemon, glaring at the two canines across from him. His Cacnea nodded and spun his arms like blades, tearing up the ground around him and using them to create a set of pseudo wheels, upon which he ran all over the battlefield, running over the pair of Herdier whenever they blocked his path. While it didn’t cause any direct damage due to it’s nature as a status move, it did till up the soil fairly well. Aconite braced herself against the freshly-tilled soil and aimed her barrel-like arms at the space between the two, giving them a sinister smile before a canon-like explosion of sound was accompanied by the earth exploding outward from between them, a single, sunflower-like seed buried in the soil at the epicenter of the blast. The pair of dogs yelped and squealed in both surprise and pain as their attackers proved to be stronger than they looked. That might have been thanks to Wren’s conditioning the battlefield early, though.

“Fire Fang!” The Plasma Grunt who was in charge of the hounds called out, assuming both would follow orders. Only one attacked with flames, however. “Go on! Fire Fang!” He yelled at the other one. “Herd?” The dog asked, curious what he meant. It didn’t know that move. “Ugh! Fine, Ice Fang!” There it was. Jumping in after it’s ally, the second canine rushed toward the cacti with ice-coated fangs ready to sink into their plant flesh.

“Sucker Punch, Hemlock! Aconite, Spiky Shield!” Hemlock didn’t seem to react to the order given to him but Aconite did conjure another green shield between herself and the Herdier. The first was fast enough to evade before the shield came up, continuing on it’s path to attack Hemlock. The other, however, ended up with a mouth full of giant green spike that stabbed into it’s tender tongue and throat, causing it to yelp and jump away without causing any damage of it’s own. The Fire Fanger using one got close to Hemlock and made to sink it’s flaming teeth into him only to receive a hard punch to its lower jaw. It hadn’t realized the cactus had, in fact, been listening and fell right into it’s trap. Hemlock still got burned a bit from having to get so close to the fire to attack but he didn’t pay it any mind. It wasn’t that bad, after all.

“Fell Stinger, Hemlock! Aconite, use Bullet Seed!” Wren ordered, seeing that one of the Herdier was weaker than the other and was already panting, looking like it wanted to rest. Hemlock nodded and launched himself forward with a mighty hop, pirouetting in the air as he swung his Bug energy-filled and needle-coated arms wildly around himself. The intention seemed to be to strike a decisive, if inaccurate and weak, blow against his opponent. He aimed to strike down the weaker of the canines. Aconite provided him cover from behind by firing a rain of bullet-like projectile seeds all around him and preventing the stronger of the Herdier from interrupting.

Hemlock’s attack might not have been very strong but when he hit, Herdier went down and the adrenaline surged through the cactus’ body, pumping up his muscles and raising his Attack stat majorly. The other Herdier, pinned down by the barrage of Bullet Seed and unable to get through it at the moment, was easy pickings. “Again! Fell Stinger!” Wren called to his partner. The Pokemon’s needles looked far more sinister this time around as he drew back and threw a needle-covered punch through the incoming rain of hardened seeds. This Herdier, despite having more energy than the other one, went down like a sack of soggy Berries. “CACACAC NEA!” Hemlock roared as he flexed his muscles, the power boost from the second TKO pushing his Attack stat to its maximum level.

“You need to leave here. Now.” Wren informed the Plasma Grunt he’d just defeated, eyes narrowing. “I will be calling the authorities and if you want any chance at all of continuing your little group’s crusade against Pokemon trainers, you’d do well to avoid the when they arrive.” He assured the man. The Plasma grunt growled under his breath but conceded after a moment.

“We’re bailing! This place is gonna be crawling with cops soon!” He shouted to the others nearby. Nearly a dozen Plasma members shuffled out of the forest after the call, most of them make their way out posthaste. Two in particular, however, appeared to be having some difficulty. The man was smirking as he tried to secure his waistband in spite of his pants refusing to obey the belt that was clearly not properly adjusted in the loops and the woman was blushing profusely. Wren stopped them before they could make their escape, however.

“You two!” He exclaimed, pointing at them as his gaze fell upon the pair practically leaning on one another as they attempted to walk away. “You’re in with that group for some kind of cheap thrill. That’s pretty obvious.” He told them as they froze in place, hoping they weren’t the next in line for some kind of trouncing. “If that’s what you want, try the ferris wheel in Nimbasa city and leave those clowns.” He warned. “They’re emotional terrorists and if you really think they’re thinking about you, they aren’t. You’re tools to them.” With his piece said, the man turned on his heel and walked deeper into the forest with his pair of cacti at his heels.

It wouldn’t take him too terribly long to find the Moss Rock. The thing was a well-known landmark within the forest and the trail that many young trainers took in search of the local fauna when traveling through led im right past it. Pausing for a moment and looking to his partners, the trio glanced around to ensure they weren’t under the watchful gaze of anyone or anything that might get mad at them and quickly tore a tiny patch of moss off the side of the rock. It’s immense reserves of Grass-chi, however, made the bald spot grow back almost immediately. Wren wouldn’t be around to witness that, though. Once he obtained the patch of moss he needed, he immediately left the rock to nature and went in search of the Rumination Field.

He found it, eventually, after much searching. The fact it was on the other side of a swift-moving stream might have contributed to his not finding it at first. It took a bit of doing but he got across the stream while only falling into the water once and becoming thoroughly soaked. At least it was a comfortable spring day and he wasn’t freezing half to death at the moment. He really wasn’t in the mood for the whole “reverse puberty” effect of extreme cold. It was bad enough how the temperature dropped in the desert on a nightly basis.

As the man passed into the Rumination Field, he felt a sudden chill. Not in temperature but in the way that an angry presence makes one feel uncomfortable or unwelcome nearby. “Buuuuuck…” The low, raspy call was not one that Wren was not familiar with. He had desired to capture one such creature for himself on many an occasion but had never been given the opportunity granted how flighty the young of their kind could be. “Saaaaaawww buuuuck.”

Clare looked at the updated SNAG model they had been given when they were officially inducted into this world’s Team Snagem. There appeared to be a mission directed at them to find a job and earn money. That might not be the worst idea, anyway, they figured. They had no money that would work in this world from what they could tell or had been purchased on their behalf by Doc Owl after their initial check up with him.

“Oh dear… where do I even begin?” They asked themself aloud.

”According to what information I’ve managed to gather, Monique appears to be familiar with you from the world she came from. Apparently you were a receptionist with the police department where she was sheriff.” GRAY piped up from the SNAG, it’s camera shutter flickering as the AI “blinking” as it spoke to them. ”Considering your unique circumstances, I’ll cut you a bit of slack compared to the rest of these layabouts. A job like that usually involves a combination of organizational skills and customer service skills. With that in mind, here are a few places I’ve been keeping tabs on that are looking for people with such talents.” The AI popped up with a page of job listings. ”This one, in particular, would pay exceptionally well and with your unique features, I believe you should be able to get it with little effort.” He highlighted a section of the page for Clare before pulling up the full information.

“A receptionist for a fashion model and design company?” Clare asked, reading over it. “I’m hardly fashion-conscious…” They remarked, though looking at the models and employees who had provided pictures for the company to use as references for the “company look”, it seemed they weren’t going to need to worry too much about the clothing itself. “I guess… I could work at the front desk if that’s all they want?” They’d offer. “Where is this job, again?”

”The location is in Nimbasa City, found in central Unova.” GRAY provided, sending Claydol to Clare’s location. ”Claydol will take you to the Pokemon Center in the city. I’ll send you a map so you can find the gym where Elesa, the local Gym Leader and primary model for the company you’ll be applying for will be waiting. I can’t say if she’s the one you’ll speak to or one of her subordinates, however. The AI explained only a moment before Clare was whisked away in a flash of blue light.

Upon arrival at the Pokemon Center, Clare would pause for a moment and look around, taking in the various sights and sounds.”It’s so… bright. Even during the day!” They announced to themself a moment before their SNAG pinged, alerting them to GRAY’s map arriving.

”This map has a path marked to show you where you’ll find the gym. Just follow it to get there.” GRAY provided. And don’t expect special treatment like this for long.” The AI snapped before the camera stopped moving and the shutter closed completely.

Clare couldn’t help but to smile softly, appreciating the help they had received so far. Looking at the map GRAY had sent them, they began to walk. It was hard not to admire the sights and sounds as they crossed town but, eventually, they’d find their way to the amusement park where the gym was located and immediately got distracted by the sights. “Oh, wow!” Rushing over to a game booth, they’d watch some of the participants throw gowing rings toward large bottles, one of them winning a small stuffed animal. They couldn’t identify what it was supposed to be but it was still cute. Running off from there, they’d find themself watching a water gun race. One of the participants was a young child but he seemed to be a crack shot with the water gun he was manning, hitting the bullseye near continuously and causing the little metal Ducklett to “fly” higher up its track faster than any of his opponents. When it reached the apex, lights went off and an alarm blared to signal the end of the race. The young woman manning the game tent congratulated the child and asked which prize they wanted.

“I want that one!” They exclaimed, pointing to a plush Whimsicott.

“Sure thing, hon!” The attendant replied, reaching up for the toy. Before her hand even touched it, however, the toy moved.

“Whim!” It exclaimed, bouncing out of her way and toward the edge of the tent.

“Mommy! It’s a real Pokemon!” The child exclaimed, watching as Whimsicott danced about in the air. The Whimsicott scowled and chucked a small Energy Ball at the kid, as if angered by it’s mere presence being acknowledged.

“Look out!” Clare shouted as they darted between the kid and the attack, throwing their hand forward to catch the incoming attack as they had with the Hidden Power from the strange thing that had attacked them in the cave the day they arrived in this world. This one hurt far more as Clare’s hand wrapped around the ball but the attack still stopped and it’s shimmering green light still diffused through their glassy hand into a bright glow before the ball exploded in a burst of smoke. Coughing slightly as the smoke blew into their face, Clare fell to one knee for a moment.

“Thank you, pretty lady!” The child they’d saved cheered as they ran over and hugged Clare softly around the neck.

“Oh, I’m not-” Clare started before realizing that people in this world seemed to go off appearances far more than they had realized. “I’m not sorry for helping… You were in danger, after all.”

The kid’s mother helped them stand before taking in Clare’s look. “Are you one of Elesa’s models?” She asked, a bit confused.

“Oh, no… I’m just hoping to get a job as a receptionist with the company.” Clare replied, reminded of why they had come here in the first place now, looking over their shoulder to be sure Whimsicott was gone before they did anything else.

“Oh, I see. Well, good luck. I’d definitely consider trying out modeling, though. You have such a unique look. I think you’d be lovely at it!” The woman turned back to her child and the pair spoke to the attendant again, looking to pick out a different, actual, toy to replace the Whimsicott that had snuck into the selection at some point.

With their attention now focused back on the task at hand, Clare began to walk again, pulling out their SNAG and following its map as originally instructed to reach the Gym. When they arrived, they’d find themselves awed yet again by the amount of neon light being issued by the building. Something about this town and all this artificial light even during the day was making them feel nostalgic but also rather at home and comfortable. The reason seemed unclear for now, though they were certain it was buried somewhere in their missing memories.

“Excuse me… Are you here to challenge the gym leader?” Someone asked from nearby, pulling Clare from their thoughts rather abruptly.

“Um… what?” It took a moment before the question truly clicked into place. “Oh! I’m sorry. I was lost in thought… No, I’m actually interested in the receptionist position I heard was open with the design company that operates here?” They replied, approaching the doors to see who had spoken to them properly. As it happened, it was a young girl, perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old. She was a rather pretty brunette with her hair pulled up into a fashionable updo and with wearing a classy but fashionable outfit. “Oh. Hang on a sec. Let me go get Tamara. She’s the one you need to talk to about that.” The girl replied. “You’re welcome to come in and wait in the lobby, though. I’ll just be a minute!” The still unnamed girl offered, pulling the door open and stepping out of the way to allow Clare proper entry.

“Thank you! I’m not in any rush so take your time.” Clare replied as they walked through the door, looking around to observe the interior as the young girl ran off. The building didn’t look like much here in the lobby but, upon looking around while waiting, they discovered there appeared to be a runway deeper inside the building with seating all around it. “What is this?” They wondered to themself as they looked out over the massive interior of the building.

“That’s the runway. It’s where we do our fashion shows as well as where Elesa takes on many of her more fashionable challengers.”, Came a voice from behind them. “Sandi said you were here about the receptionist position?” The voice’s owner asked. Turning to look, Clare found themself presented with another young woman, though slightly older than the youth who’d first greeted them, Sandi from the sound of it, with pink skin and and a gorgeous, fluffy white collar that matched her curly hair. The stripes on her slightly pointed ears went unnoticed for the moment, though. “I’m Tamara. I’ll show you to the interview area. Do you have your application completed yet?” She asked calmly.

“Oh, no… I couldn’t seem to find it in the ad.” Clare replied softly, a bit ashamed that they’d missed something.

Tamara smiled, though it seemed to be a bit forced. “Not to worry. We don’t publish them online. You would’ve had to contact us via email and go through an online application process and a phone interview if you’d done it that way. Here, we’ll do it all at once. Short and sweet. It’ll take about 10 minutes. The lead designer who’s hiring is very quick. He’s a busy man, after all.” She explained as she led the way down the hall. It was only now that Clare noticed the short, striped tail the woman had, a glass-like orb on its tip.

“You’ll find Carmyn through this door. Be courteous and don’t waste his time.” Tamara instructed, stopping at a door in the hall and turning back to face Clare as she pointed it out, offering a polite bow. “You’ll find me at the desk down there if he offers you a job.”

Clare nodded and opened the door as Tamara walked off. As they walked through the door, they heard a slightly effeminate voice speak up. “What?”

“Um… I was told I’d find Carmyn in here and that he would speak to me about the receptionist position that’s available.” Clare replied.

“Turn.” The voice replied curtly as the door clicked shut. As Clare spun around, their clear blue eyes settled on a man a bit older than themself with a rounded face, short, platinum blonde hair frosted with pastel blue and pink and deep brown eyes set against a perfectly bronzed complexion. The man was dressed in a smart suit in midnight blue, emerald accents with a gold watch inlaid with red gems, earrings in a similar style, two studs in his left ear lobe, one stud in the cartilage of the right and a small loop in its lobe.


Altogether, the man looked like a walking billboard for style, Clare had to admit. It only took a second to take in the man’s appearance and in that time, he had done the same to them. “Remove the gloves for me, dear. I sense delicious secrets.” He told the hybrid, stepping toward them.

“Um… I’m fairly certain my gloves won’t affect my ability to do the job.” Clare replied, though they complied with Carmyn’s request.

“Entirely untrue. Gloves should be worn in only two instances: when they are needed to combat the cold or when they truly complete the look of an evening gown or a ballgown.they can and often are cumbersome and reduce dexterity. If you desire this position, you’ll need to have full use of your hands.” Carmyn replied. “You are wearing a sundress. Loose accessories in modest use shall be plenty. You already have a complementary bracelet and your sun hat is lovely. I also see that you are wearing a corsage anklet with low rise, open-toe sandals. Darling, you may not be high fashion but you most certainly have an understanding of style to a degree.” He continued, dissecting and analyzing Clare’s outfit as he went. “I can see from your complexion that you are a hybrid of some sort and while I don’t recognize what kind, there is something telling that I wish to see.”

He finished speaking as Clare finally finished removing their gloves. The man’s eyes sparkled as their hands came into view at last. “Just like your beautiful feet… They glitter like starlight…” The man muttered, holding the hybrid’s hand in his own and seeing his palm through it.

“Can you organize paperwork? Answer phone calls? Multitask?” He enquired at last, inspecting Clare’s hands and arms a bit closer. “The transparency fades closer to the torso…” He muttered to himself.

“Um… I think so. I was apparently a receptionist with a police station some time ago but I’m afraid I’ve lost my memories of that time. I’m sure the skills are still there, though.” Clare replied with an awkward smile. “Are you done? This feels… uncomfortable.” They asked after a moment.

“Go speak to Tamara. She will show you to your workspace and get you started.” Carmyn instructed at that point, taking his eyes away from Clare’s appearance, finally. Stepping over to his desk, writing something on a piece of paper, folding it in half and handing it to them, he spoke once more. “Give her this when you get there. It will ensure you are given the proper direction.” With that, he sat at his desk, picked up the phone and waved Clare away as he began to dial a number.

Clare nodded to the man, a bit confused by how quickly this had all happened and how easily it had happened. “Shouldn’t there have been more to that?” They asked themself as the door to Carmyn’s office closed behind them. Regardless of what did versus what they felt should have happened, they headed off to the desk Tamara had indicated she could be found at if a job was offered. Upon arrival only a minute later, they’d hold out the note Carmyn had given them. “I was told to give you this and you would get me started?”

Tamara paused what she was doing and took the offered note, unfolding it and reading over what Carmyn had written for her. “Oh, wow… He seems to have high expectations for you. If you’ll head to the room down that hall - third door on the right. I’ll join you momentarily and we’ll get you set up to start.” She told Clare with a much perkier smile than before. As Clare followed directions, they’d take note of Tamara picking up her phone and dialing a number on it just as Camryn had done when they left his office. Was that normal here?

Upon reaching the door in question, Clare would notice that it was marked as a dressing room. “Is this the right place? They’d ask themself, reaching out to turn the knob and finding it opening with little trouble. “Um… Hello?” They’d inquire as the door opened, hoping to find someone inside with more answers while they waited for Tamara to arrive.

“Greetings! You must be the hybrid model I was told to expect!” A young hybrid inside welcomed, their skin a brighter pink that Tamara’s, the light pink striations on their exposed legs making them look much taller than they really were. The hybrid approached and Clare noticed their nails were sharp and bright green, matching the small antennae poking out of their forehead, almost disappearing into their almost white hair. They were dressed in a rather stylish skirt that appeared to be modeled after Beautifly wings and a simple off-white blouse with a twilly ribbon scarf in a bright red.

“Model?” Clare asked, taken aback. “No… I’m just the receptionist!” They insisted, throwing their hands up and waving them defensively in front of themself.

“Oh, darling. That can’t possibly be the case. I was told the hybrid in question has gorgeous hands like clear crystals and a complexion that would make Snow White jealous.” The Lurantis hybrid retorted, covering their mouth with one hand and giggling slightly. “And I most certainly wasn’t lied to.” They assured, looking at Clare’s crystalline hands and then their porcelain complexion. “Let’s get you into something a bit more fashion-conscious before Elesa gets here. Carmyn’s already called her to meet you!”

Clare was taken aback yet again. “Elesa? The company owner?”

The Lurantis hybrid laughed once again. “Oh heavens no. Elesa is a top model and is often consulted with assessing the potential of new models but she isn’t the owner of the company. She owns the design company that creates the looks we model. The models are hired by a third-party agency, usually. You’re a special case. Elesa will definitely want an exclusivity contract for you. That means top-tier pay and platinum-level benefits. Now let’s go!”

Clare paused for a moment. How had they gone from applying for a receptionist to being assessed as a potentially exclusive model with a company they hadn’t even been trying to get hired by? After a moment, however, they’d follow the hybrid to the dressing room and begin searching through the clothing available. “What are we doing here?” They’d finally ask.”And… may I ask your name?”

“The name’s Eilir.” The hybrid replied quickly. “And we’re using these clothes we keep on site to quickly build you a modeling portfolio. From the sound of it, you’ve probably not got much experience in front of a camera or a crowd so we’re going to give you a crash course while we wait for Elesa.”

Clare nodded calmly but couldn’t even pretend to understand just now. All they could make of all this was that they were about to change clothes whether they liked it or not. “Ok, I guess.”

Over the next hour, Clare changed clothes fourteen times and had their picture taken in at least 40 poses, plus another several dozen focusing on their face with a variety of different expressions and their hands in a number of different positions, adorned with an array of jewelry -most of it being costume used primarily for this exact purpose-.

“Alright, darling. You can change back into your own clothes now. I’m going to put these together with the best shots as quickly as I can. Elesa should be here in about 10 minutes. I just hope I can have this finished by then. There are some magazines in the waiting area if you’d like to wait or you can join me and we’ll work together to pick some of your shots to use. Take your pick but choose quickly!” Eilir stated as they stowed the last of the borrowed jewelry back into its storage box.

Clare nodded, already knowing their answer. “I want to come see how all those photos turned out. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time in front of a camera in my life but… I actually had fun.” They admitted.

“Sure thing. The editing room is in the back over here. You can join me after you’ve changed. Just leave the clothes in the dressing area and I’ll put them away when we’re done here.” Eilir replied, heading off to the editing room as they spoke, leaving Clare to have some privacy to change.

Putting their regular clothes back on, Clare thought about all this. If this turned out to be as much fun as this photo shoot had been, modeling might actually be something they enjoyed doing. Once properly dressed again, they’d head off to join Eilir in the editing room. Walking in behind them, they’d immediately hear the clicking of the hybrid’s claws on the keys and the clicking of the mouse as they moved images around and moved various sliders and scales.

“Oh, wow! They look so much better than I was expecting!” Clare exclaimed, leaning over to look closer at Eilir’s work.

“The power of photo manipulation, darling. I can correct any lighting to maximize the detail of your features as well as removing any unsightly blemishes. That said, that gorgeous porcelain look to your skin is such a beautiful detail, I can’t bring myself to remove it in the photos. It’s hardly noticeable except in close ups but it really makes your eyes and lips pop when you can see it.” Eilir replied. “See any in particular that stand out?” They asked as they finished the simple edits on the current photo, saved it into a separate folder and printed a physical copy. Opening up the folder where the photo files were saved, they’d display in large thumbnail previews, allowing Clare to see the massive collection of photographs that had recently been taken of them, pointing to a few that they had been eager to see the results of. “Good eye. Those were on my list to check out, too.”

Clare watched as Eilir continued their work on editing the photos the pair had taken for this “portfolio”. They were familiar with the concept, surprisingly, but had never expected they would need one of their own for anything in particular. As the collection grew, rather rapidly Clare had to admit, they began to see what the purpose of it all was as the images came together. Every shot highlighted certain features and,taken altogether, the folder full of photos showed Clare a unique beauty they had never really seen in themself before now.

“What have we got?” Another new voice rang out as the sound of the studio door opening and quickly closing again broke through Clare’s awestruck staring.

“Carmyn found a really unique potential model when she came in looking for a receptionist job with him. We thought you might like to meet her and decide for yourself what you think.” Eilir responded without looking up.

Clare, however, did look up at this point, being greeted by a young woman, intensely attractive with dark hair and bright blue eyes that almost matched their own in clarity. Her outfit was a bit outlandish in Clare’s opinion but this was a fashion model, apparently. Outlandish seemed to be the thing for high fashion to be, if some of the outfits Eilir had put them in earlier were any indication.

“Is this Her?” Elena asked s she assessed Clare’s appearance and her overall look. “She’s definitely cute.” The gym leader stated, leaning a little closer. “May I?” She asked as she held out a hand.

That was new… no one else so far had bothered asking for their consent before insisting Clare do things. It was… nice. “Uh, sure, I guess.” They replied, following Elesa’s lead to the middle of the studio where the lighting was better. “How curious. I can’t place what kind of hybrid you are but you’re entrancing. “ The model stated as she inspected Clare from all angles, motioning for them to raise their arms up, stretch their limbs or bend and twist in various angles. “I can already envision quite a few looks that would perfectly accentuate your features.”

“So you approve? Carmyn has the papers together and waiting with Tamara if so. All he needs is the appropriate signatures.” Eilir asked, almost leading Elesa to an affirmative answer.

“If she agrees to be an exclusive model for at least a year, one hundred percent. I want nobody else to have a chance at capitalizing on this incredible form. She’s like… a living porcelain doll. Anything she wears will be the centerpiece accentuated by the lovely creature wearing it. Most models distract from the article they’re showing off with their own looks but this? It's amazing. Adorable but not distracting. “ Elesa replied before finally looking up and addressing Clare directly again. “What do you say? Will you contract with us as an exclusive model? You’ll be paid handsomely and you’ll end up known all over the world in no time at all!”

Clare thought for a moment before nodding slowly. Being known all over the world might be a good thing. Maybe there were others here in this world that had experiences similar to Clare and Monique and this might be a way to get their attention? They might be able to find someone who could help rebuild their fractured memories and figure out where they came from, even if not how to return. “Yes! I’d love to!”

Elesa clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. “Excellent! Let’s go see Tamara and get your papers signed, then!” The pair headed out to the lobby again to find Tamara back at her desk, the Flaaffy hybrid sitting there and typing away at her computer. “Papers are over here, Elesa.” She told the dark-haired woman with a knowing smile. “I had a feeling you’d convince her to sign on.” She laughed softly, almost an amusingly adorable braying noise.

Elesa nodded, lead Clare over to the other side of the desk and guided them through the process of signing the papers, explaining what the various sheets were for and what they meant along the way. And this one is an agreement to intern at the Nimbasa City Gym as one of my gym trainers when we’re prepping for a show. You’ll only have to be there a few days a month so you can be kept up to speed on how things are going and showing your face to the fans along with showcasing your battling skills. That’s one of the skills our models are known for, beauty and strength in tandem.” Elesa explained as Clare signed the last form.

“And that’s it. You’ll do your first three days this weekend so you can debut with the studio and you’ll get a call whenever we need you to come in after that. Otherwise, you’ll receive messages regarding new shows, photo shoots and other gigs the agency has available regularly. The more work you do, the more you’ll get paid.” She added. “Make sure you come to the gym in something comfortable but fashionable. You’ll be battling against challengers on and off to assess their strength or help them prepare for a challenge against me later on.”

Clare nodded nervously as Elesa explained things to them but this was all starting to feel overwhelming. Once all was said and done, they’d leave the building with Elesa’s blessing and stop outside. ”That was an unexpectedly serendipitous interaction.” GRAY chirped as Clare’s SNAG camera began to move again, indicating the AI’s direct interaction once again. Modelling can be an incredibly high-profile career that brings in a great deal of income. Don’t squander the opportunity and you could bring in a king’s ransom in funding for the team before long.”

The hybrid nodded to GRAY’s comments as they took a deep breath. “She said I’d start this weekend with a debut at the gym… What day is it?” They’d ask, opening the calendar on their SNAG and looking at it. The day after tomorrow is Friday… that gives me just over a day to prepare…” They’d note aloud. “What can you tell me about this gym?”

GRAY didn’t respond at first but, after a moment, several links popped up on screen, providing Clare with information about the gym, Elesa and Nimbasa city as a whole. The hybrid read through all of the information while sitting on a bench in the park but by the time they were done, they felt much more confident. “The only thing I feel I’m not prepared for is that I don’t have an Electric-type Pokémon… I don’t want to misrepresent the gym if they’re expecting me to act as a deterrent to underprepared trainers…”

”If you’re concerned, there are any number of Electric -type Pokémon available in the wilds of Unova.” GRAY provided. ”That’s not to mention the relative ease of finding them in other regions as well.

Clare thought for a moment before opening the Pokédex feature of their SNAG and looking up some information. “Actually… I went to a region called Galar shortly after I arrived in this world and caught a Pokémon called Cranidos there. I seem to remember a cute little Pokémon I saw there that turns out to be Electric-type.” They provided. “Pin chur chin…”

”Pinchurchin.” GRAY corrected, analyzing the data he had available on the species. ”They seem relatively common in the region. I would think you should be able to catch one without too much trouble if you feel it would make your new career more comfortable for you?

Clare gave it a moment’s thought before nodding. “I think I’d like to try. I can look for new clothes to wear while I’m in the region as well. Elesa did say to wear something comfortable and fashionable.”

”Allow me to recommend the boutiques in the Kalos region in that regard. The region is world-renowned for its haute couture clothing lines.” GRAY provided, the SNAG’s camera “blinking” as the AI spoke.

“Ok.. I’ll see about checking them out.” Clare replied. “Can you send that helpful Pokémon that got me here to take me to Galar, first?” GRAY didn’t verbally respond but Claydol appeared right next to them a moment later so they assumed he had heard and this was his response to the question. With a flash from Claydol’s psychic power, Clare was whisked away to Galar, arriving in a frozen tundra town with a hot spring in the central plaza.

”Welcome to Circhester. I recommend you buy a coat and head south from here. Pinchurchin are most common in the area between this town, Spikemuth to the East and Hammerlocke to the west.” GRAY provided.

Shivering slightly in the cold outside of the Pokémon Center, Clare stepped inside and spoke to the nurse at the counter, asking for directions to the nearest clothing shop. “There’s one two streets over, next to the hotel on the West side of the plaza.” The nurse replied. “Don’t stay out in the cold for too long!” She insisted as Clare thanked her and left in a rush. Fortunately, they had some cash given to them by Sub at this point for making needed purchases outside of Snagem and this certainly fell into that category. Heading toward the shop as directed, Clare found it relatively quickly and managed to find not only a warm long coat but also a pair of insulated boots they had enough money to purchase. Still no pants but the coat and boots were good enough for now.

Taking their change back from the shopkeeper, Clare wore the coat and boots out into the cold, their shivering almost completely gone at this point, their sandals and the gloves they’d been wearing this morning stowed in their bag for the time being. Following GRAY’s directions from earlier, they’d head South, out of town and into the area of Route 9. They seemed to recall seeing the Pinchurchin near water last time they’d seen the Pokémon so figured checking near the waters here would be wise as well. “How late even is it?” They’d ask themself as they ventured near the water, checking the time on their SNAG. It was almost 8PM. “How long was I signing papers?!”

”Three hours and 27 minutes.” GRAY chirped in response.

Clare stared at the time, dumbfounded for a moment. They didn’t have much time to look for a Pinchurchin if they were going to try and catch one, then. Better start as they had on their last excursion to this region and wander for the time being. At least this time, they’d had some more time to adjust to the world they had found themself in and were prepared for this search with a specific target in mind. Releasing Visage and Rasana both from their respective balls, the pair would greet their trainer with a cheerful cry. “I need your help finding one of these.” The hybrid informed the two Pokémon, showing them a picture of the Electric-type target. “According to GRAY, I should be able to find one around this area somewhere.”

Visage inspected the image for a moment before realizing they knew what that was. She’d seen them around when Clare had taken her with them on the trip where Rasana joined the team. As for Rasana? He simply remembered attempting to one one once too many and getting a nasty jolt from the electric urchin. Regardless of how they knew their target, both Pokémon recognized it and were prepared to help in Clare’s search for one.

The trio spread out slightly so as to cover more ground without leaving anyone without someone watching their back and began to sweep through the grasses. Visage was able to slip through the cracks in places Rasana and Clare couldn’t in the search while the Cranidos was simply better prepared for climbing, in spite of Visage being able to levitate.

The group managed to find a whole lot of nothing, really. All of the wild Pokémon they saw were either birds flying up out of reach or Water-types swimming in the nearby bay. Everything else appeared to be sleeping already, or bedding down for the night and preparing for sleep at least. After nearly an hour of fruitless searching and the sun fully setting, Clare called it quits for the time being and found a spot by the water to sit down with their partners and started a small fire. “We’ll head back after we stop for a bit to eat. I brought some leftovers one of the others left in the kitchen back at home.” They announced to their partners. Once the fire was going, they opened up the Tupperware and poured the contents into a small pot they pulled from their bag. Using a short stick, they set the pot into the low-burning flame to heat up.

It wouldn’t take but a few minutes of heating, removing and stirring and returning to heat for the leftover curry Brian had left in the Snagem HQ fridge to be heated up to a steaming, delicious meal waiting to be placed on plates. The fragrance was certainly potent but it was a delicious potent scent. Clare’s finally removed it for the fire and began to make a plate for themself and one for their Pokémon to share when something caught their eye. “Is that…”

“Pinch…”

“Pyu!”

A Pinchurchin had surfaced from the water but, apparently, so had a Pyukumuku. The urchin and sea cucumber eyed one another for a moment before a furious race began. Neither moved quickly, of course, but Clare couldn’t help finding it amusing watching the sluggish pair. The Pyukumuku spit a massive gush of almost sticky water at Pinchurchin, Soaking it thoroughly as its body stretched and shrank. Pinchurchin spat a small spray of water in retaliation, looking an awful lot like a spiky toy Water Gun in the process. Pyukumuku’s body flashed a soft blue as it Safeguarded itself against challengers. Pinchurchin’s spikes sparkled as it released a Thundershock in Pyukumuku’s direction, it’s body jerking forward repeatedly as it attempted to run faster. Pyukumuku was hit but hardly seemed fazed by the shock, spitting a blob of viscous purple goo back at Pinchurchin, lurching forward as it stretched harder.

Pinchurchin couldn’t dodge the Toxic goop. Instead, it seemed to manifest a needle in the air above it that spontaneously stabbed into it. The Electric-type flinched slightly but seemed to move much faster afterward. Pyukumuku, seeing Pinchurchin’s sudden speed increased, Psyched itself Up in an effort to overcome its own limitations and, apparently, managed to do so. Clare watched in amusement as the pair of sluggish Pokémon went from crawling at 1 mile per hour to all of 2 miles per hour. One they had finished eating, they set a plate for the two newcomers, having just enough left to share with them and set it on the ground for them. Turning away for now to clean up, they’d recall their own Pokémon and giggle softly. Those two wild things were adorable.

With their back turned, they’d miss it as the race to the curry continued. Pyukumuku drenched Pinchurchin in an odd venom that seemed to slow it down but Pinchurchin wasn’t having it, spewing a Bubble Beam right back. The bubbles had the strange effect of making Pyukumuku unable to grip the ground properly and so it slipped and slid, slowing back down as well. This exchange continued on and on for several ,ong minutes until Clare was done cleaning, turning back to see hearts in Pinchurchin’s eyes. The pair of Pokémon had reached the dish at last and it looked like Pyukumuku had used Attract as a last ditch effort to get to eat some of the curry. “Did I miss something?” They asked themself, realizing what seemed off about all this. Pinchurchin and Pyukumuku were actually cuddling each other and going back to the water together but there appeared to be an egg left sitting by the empty plate now.

“…Uh…I guess I’ll take this, then?” Clare asked aloud, picking up the egg. Neither of the sea dwellers seemed to notice or care. “I wasn’t planning on being a matchmaker today…”. They told themself as they inspected the egg. They couldn’t tell if it had come from Pinchurchin, Pyukumuku or something else entirely but it was there and they had laid claim to it so might as well keep it now. Besides, looking at the time, it was well after 11 PM and they had much to do tomorrow so they needed to sleep.

Collecting the last of their things, Clare would call for Claydol again, heading back to HQ to get some sleep. Bundling up the egg in a blanket upon arrival, the hybrid would head to bed and dream of big things through the night.

The next morning, they’d use the provided computer in their room to do some research on Kalos as GRAY had suggested and decided to begin checking out the boutiques in Lumiose City first and foremost for clothing. Thanks to a bit of assistance from GRAY, Clare was able to acquire an Incubator for the egg they’d found and secured it inside, leaving it resting on their desk when they left for the day, hoping for the best. Claydol transported them to Lumiose City’s Pokémon Center and, from there, they started learning to use their hoverboard. It was an interesting experience for sure, especially when wearing a sundress, for the wind to whip through their clothing. Clare was thankful the device only hovered a small distance above the ground.

“Let’s see… one of the shops Inread about was…. Down this alley.” They said to themself as they turned down a small road heading toward the city’s heart. Coming out into the Prism Tower plaza, they’d find their way to a small but apparently very popular shop on the North side, putting away their hoverboard as they went in. “Hi! Can I help you find anything today?” Asked a teenage boy working at the counter.

“Nothing in particular… Just looking at what’s available today.” Clare responded with a smile.

“No problem! If you need help with anything, don’t be scared to ask!” The kid replied as Clare began to look around the shop. They saw all kinds of stylish clothing but nothing that really screamed, “fashionable”. They did end up buying a blazer they found cute, that was reasonably priced, though. Nothing fancy, really. It looked to be a tailcoat of some sort but with a frilly, skirt-like tail rather than the traditional one such a coat would ordinarily have. Leaving the shop, they’d pull out their hoverboard and head off to the Northernmost dad get of town, where the next shop they had read about was supposed to be.

Dodging between locals and tourists alike, Clare found themself enjoying the hoverboard more and more the longer they used it. A few tourists cheered for them as they passed by, though the locals swearing at them in Kalosian made them feel a bit like a jerk for a few minutes. Putting away the board as they entered, they were greeted by a less casual shop this time around. “Welcome to Haute Grande, where fashion meets greatness!” That was all the greeting they got. No offers of help finding anything, no inquiries from the staff. “Huh… I assume most people who come in here know what they’re looking for before they come in.” The hybrid said to themself quietly. They would proceed to look around anyway, finding a few items they liked and heading up to the counter with them. “That’ll be 4,200 Poké.” The clerk stated
Simply, waiting for Clare to pay.

The hybrid began to count out their money when they realized the error. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t realize they cost quite so much. I only have 3,800 on me… I’ll put these away and come back another day.” Picking up the dressy top and the capris they’d found, Clare returned them to the racks they’d been removed from. They wouldn’t notice, however, as a Pokeball in their bag popped open and a pair of tiny claws quickly removed the tags and tucked the articles inside, leaving the now-broken security tags laying on the floor.

“I hope I have enough if I find something there…” Clare said to themself as they took out their hoverboard and stepped on, making their way toward the Southeast. Heading down Autumnal Avenue, traveling slower and enjoying the sights as they went, they’d nearly knock over a local who almost walked out in front of them as they reached Centrico Plaza. Quickly kicking the hoverboard around to avoid a collision, they nearly fell on their face as they were thrown from the board by the sudden stop.

“Sois prudent, mon ami.” The local exclaimed, catching Clare as they fell. “I mean, ‘be careful, friend’.” They reiterated in a language Clare understood. Taking a look at them, it appeared to be a young girl, perhaps 22 years of age. Bright blond hair with pink tips pulled into a wild mess of ponytails that made her head look like an exploding firework.

“You’re with Team Snagem, aren’t you?” She asked, helping set Clare back on their feet. “You must be if you’ve got a hoverboard like that. It looks just like mine.” She laughed. “Be careful running around in Kalos with your Snagem flag flying like that. Not everyone around here likes us.”

Clare stared for a moment, confused, also blushing. This young woman was almost unbearably cute. “The name’s Trishella. Most people just call me Trish.” She added, holding a hand out at an interesting angle, as if to shake hands.” Clare stared for another few second before reaching out and taking Trish’s hand, looking a bit dumb for another moment. “Is it the hair? I get this reaction all the time.”

Finally shaking their head, Clare found their voice. “No, I’m sorry! I just… wasn’t expecting to find someone from Snagem out here at random like this.”

“We’re actually all over the place. A lot of people seem to join up and then just sort of stay out in the field instead of converging in HQ.” Trish replied. “Anyway, didn’t mean to cause an accident. You must be here on a job so I’ll carry on and get out of your hair for now. Don’t be afraid to hit me up if you’re ever in the area for work and need backup, though. Or in general.” Trish replied, providing some insight as to what she was doing in the city like this. “Great boobs, by the way.” She laughed, smiled coyly and walked off after that.

Clare blinked a few times before a blush crept up their cheeks again. This world was weird. And this group was even weirder. Rather than getting back on their hoverboard after that interaction, Clare put it away and found their way to the last shop they wanted to visit for the day on foot. They managed to avoid any further accidents after that, thankfully. Upon reaching the shop, however, they’d find it to be the least inviting of them all. Not a word of greeting, let alone an offer of assistance and yet they felt eyes on them the entire time they were in the shop, as if the staff were watching them like predators tracking prey.

By the time they were done browsing and had found something they wanted, they were feeling very much like the staff were ready to chase them out of the shop entirely. From the back wall, Clare had managed to find a pair of fur lined boots, knee length and with a small decorative bow atop the foot, near the toes. “These would be perfect!” They exclaimed to themself, heading to the front.

The clerk rang up the item with a condescending scowl but no words. Clearly he felt like Clare didn’t belong here but he wasn’t saying it. It took a moment of the pair blankly staring at one another before Clare realized that the total was being displayed on the register. Thirty-seven-hundred Poké. How much had been on the shelf tag? Had there even been a shelf tag? Paying for the boots anyway, the hybrid took the offered box the clerk placed them into and walked back past the shelf the boots had come from before leaving. No tag on them. No tags on anything, it looked like.

“I guess most of the people who shop here don’t have to worry about how much they’re spending…” They noted to themself quietly as they left the shop. According to what information they had gathered, the Pokémon Centers here had places to change clothes along with rooms for sleeping and so they decided to give one a visit. As it happened, the shop they’d gone to was close to the South Pokémon Center in the massive city and it only took them a few minutes to get there even on foot. Stepping inside, they’d find themself cheerfully greeted by the nurse at the desk.

“Hello! Do your Pokemon need treatment today?” She asked with a bright smile.

Clare shook their head as they approached the counter. “No, actually. I’m actually in need of something else. I heard there should be some public changing rooms available for trainers here?” They asked, more curious than anything. If it was true, they could try their new clothes on before looking for some light work to earn a bit more money for more clothing options.

“Oh, certainly! They’re right over there! Number 2 is available at the moment. Will you need a sleeper room tonight as well?” The nurse asked, her smile never leaving her face.

“No, I don’t think so. I just made some new purchases and I’m just wanting to make sure everything fits properly before I leave town. Just in case I need to return anything.” They explained a bit sheepishly.

“Oh, I understand completely. Some of the shops around Lumiose can be very hard to buy from if you aren’t 100% certain of your sizes. So few of them have changing rooms for trying things on, huh?” The nurse replied with her ever-present smile still plastered on her face, handing Clare a small tag. “Just hang this on the door before you go in and no one will disturb you.”

Clare smiled and took the offered tag, walking over to the rooms they’d been pointed to. Placing the tag on the door as instructed, they’d step inside, set their bag down and opening it up.

Wren Briony stood in Santalune City, bare feet on the cold cobblestones of the city’s central square. Small though the tiny town might be, it held quite a lot of interest to the man. He’d heard of Kalos’ beautiful gardens for a long time and figured this might be a good opportunity for him to study the soil. Something in the soil or some kind of fertilizer they used here must be part of what made the flowers grow as well as they did. Checking his belt for his collection of Nest Balls as well as for the satchel that often contained his study tools, he felt confident he was ready to go.

Walking around the town, he took a few samples of the soil in the various planters where the flowers were most vibrant, marking them carefully for later study. He also took a sample of the soil where the grass grew greenest, noting the particular species of domestic grass used here.

He’d take a moment to find a local once he was done and struck up a conversation. “Mind if I ask you about the local flora? Is there a gardeners guild in this region?” He asked politely.

“Can’t say I know for sure. I’d venture a guess that if we’ve got one, Ramos and Viola would be the ones to know about it.” The young woman replied with a shrug.

“And where might I find them?” Wren queried, curious.

“Viola’s the gym leader in this town. Ramos is the Coumarine City gym leader up in the far Northwest.”

“Oh! Gym leaders! I’m quite familiar with working alongside them! Thank you!” Wren replied with a small, grateful bow, turning on his heel to walk off in the direction of the very visible gym. It wouldn’t take long to arrive, entering the building only to hear some shouting in the distance.

“Please! We want to make the route more hospitable for all Grass-Type Pokémon but mostly, the beauty that was born there from nature itself has been erased by human development! There were several cultivars of rare flora that could only be found in ideal conditions, Parterre Way being one of them before the development that changed its ecosystem.”

“I’ve already told you that even if I wanted to agree with you, I don’t have the authority to just say ‘Yeah, go ahead and destroy years of work that marked the King’s rule’.” Another voice snapped back, clearly exasperated by the owner of the first.

“I understand you’re a gym leader and not a government official but you must have some sway with them to convince them to see what we’re trying to do is right!”

“I have no such sway nor do I agree with you, personally. The people of Kalos agreed, together, that Parterre Way would do better for us all as it is now than as a wild, uncontrolled field connecting to the forest. All possible attempts would have been made to preserve the flora in question before any work was done so I assure you that the plants you’re so worried about are still around.”

“Hmph. Fine. Be that way.” As Wren began to feel especially nosy, a middle-aged woman, somewhat plump and wearing a woven sun hat stormed out of the room just around the corner. A moment later, a much younger woman with two-tone hair peered around the corner, heaving a sigh of relief.

“It’s about time she left… she’s been begging for hours now.” She muttered to herself before noticing Wren looking very confused. “I’m sorry! I’m Viola, the gym leader!” She nearly yelped, darting out and presenting herself to Wren properly. “Are you here to challenge the gym?”

Wren shook his head, holding out a hand in greeting. “No, actually, my name is Wren Briony. I’m actually curious if you could tell me about this region’s gardeners’ guild?”

Viola paused for a moment, head cocked to one side, before taking Wren’s hand.. “I can’t say I know terribly much about it. Ramos is the flower child that would be all over such things. I do know he heads some kind of association for Grass-type specialists and landscapers to share information but that’s about all I can tell you on the matter. They borrow my bugs for special “pollination parties” when they’re testing new theories sometimes and that’s the only reason I know anything about them.” She explained, shaking her head toward the end. “Ramos is a bit of an odd Ducklett.”

“That sounds like a gardeners guild in the making, to be quite honest. Perhaps they simply haven’t filed the paperwork for official formation yet?” Wren noted to himself aloud. “On another topic, could I be so forward as to ask about the spat you were having with the heavyset woman who just left? She sounded rather heated.”

“Oh, you mean Pansy?” Viola asked, shoulders slumping downward as her thoughts turned to the large woman. “She’s the leader of a group of eco-activists called Team Flora…” she explained. “Though they act more like eco-terrorists sometimes.”

“Do you need assistance with them?” Wren asked, taken aback slightly by the gym leader’s revelation.

“Not at the moment, as far as I can tell. Pansy usually follows diplomatic channels as far as possible before she resorts to extremes. A lot of times, she’ll get her way legally if she can, just so she can gloat about it when she does. It’s infuriating.” Viola replied, sighing as she finished.

“It sounds like she’s broken the law before.” Wren responded, curious.

“Pansy, no. She protests and makes a nuisance of herself but she always stays within the bounds of the law. Her cronies, though? Not so much. They can be known to break the law but Pansy has always denounced those actions and those members of her group. Claims it doesn’t represent the true heart of Team Flora.” Viola explained, leading Wren outside. “Speaking of them, though. If you’re willing to assist, I could definitely use an extra set of eyes to watch for them.”

“Of course.” Wren offered. “I have nothing better to do and I’m a bit of an activist, myself. Can’t let these folks give us all a bad name.” He chuckled as he said it.

“If you can keep an eye out for Team Flora running around and causing trouble on Parterre Way for today, I’ll have time to contact Ramos. He’ll know what to do to put a permanent stop to all this harassment.” Viola told him, offering him a thankful smile. “I should have some answers by this afternoon. Wren, right? If you can just patrol this route until then, it’ll be immensely helpful! I’ll be back as soon as possible.” She ended up repeating as the pair stopped at the edge of town, Viola motioning with her entire arm to observe Kalos Route 4, Parterre Way, stretching out to the north with a slight downward slope toward the edge of a forest on its other end.

Wren offered a mock salute to the gym leader. “Yes sir, Ma’am!” He laughed, though the look in his eyes told Viola he was taking the request seriously.

It wasn’t long after Viola had walked away that Wren found himself with his SNAG in hand, examining some local wildlife with it. “Ledyba, huh? I seem to remember hearing that your species is good for gardening.” He told the one he was scanning. “Are you native to this region or were you imported specifically for this route’s upkeep, I wonder…?” He questioned to himself. A moment or two later, he spotted a small swarm of Combee flying around, all males. Pulling a Nest Ball from his hip, he popped it open and sent Anemone over. “Go see if those Combee have a hive nearby.” He told the Vespiquen, overtaken by curiosity. The Combee must be necessary for pollination. That had to be another part of the natural balance here.

Anemone approached the trio of Combee and attempted to speak with them, only to be assaulted by a trio of Bug Buzz attacks all at once. The dissonant buzzing was aggravating but not all that damaging. Asserting her queenly Pressure over the smaller bees, she issued a Heal Order to the trio who, while unhappy with the command, felt compelled to obey, quickly gathering a bit of nectar from the surrounding flowers and making a healing honey they fed to the Vespiquen. Once she was healed, Anemone pulled her hands together, compressing air between them until a spray of sawblade-like constructs burst from the orb of compressed air, the Air Cutter striking the Combee and knocking all three out cold.

“Any luck? I’m guessing so since they attacked you.” Wren asked as Anemone returned to him. She nodded in affirmation of his suspicions. “That makes sense. They’re probably a part of the artificial ecosystem that had to be created to maintain a garden of this size. Thanks for the help!” Recalling the Vespiquen back to her ball, Wren sat on a bench and thought for a moment. It made sense, in a way, why an eco-activist group would want to get rid of this garden. It was all so artificial. But most of the beauty that humans observed in the world came from the artificial so why get upset about it? It would be easier to find a balance between the organic and artificial beauty humans liked.

“Go, my pretty Pokemon! Flood it!”

What was that? Wren turned at the sound of the voice, trying to figure out not only where it had come from but if it was something to be concerned about.

“Pansy can’t stop us! We’re going to make a beautiful bog!” The voice rang out again.

“Yep. Definitely cause for concern. Where’s it coming from, though?” Wren to,d himself, jumping to his feet and beginning to look around more earnestly.

“Lotad! Rain Dance! Lombre, Surf!”

“That’s not good!” Wren grabbed his hoverboard from his bag and tossed it out, jumping on and he headed to the logical place to be calling for such moves: high ground. He’d sat on the bench about halfway across the route so headed Northward, toward the end nearest Santalune City. He was almost there when the clouds started to gather overhead and rain began to fall. A moment later, a massive surge of water visibly welled up near the edges of the hedgerow that marked the borders of the route. “There’s my target!” He told himself, pushing his hoverboard to move faster. He reached the uppermost end of the route just before the Surf was unleashed, throwing a Nest Ball toward the source of the water the moment it was clear he was too late to stop it completely.

Aconite popped out of her ball in the path of the Surf and the water suddenly began to converge upon her. “What the hell?” The Team Flora member exclaimed, watching as the water was all soaked up by the cactus Pokemon.

“Aconite’s ability is Storm Drain. Water-Type moves only make her stronger!” Wren replied as he jumped off his hoverboard and walked over to his Pokémon.

“Oh… Lotad, use Razor Leaf!” The grunt ordered, pointing to the Maractus. Lotad rattled and shook in place for a moment before a cluster of razor sharp leaves fired from the underside of it’s lily pad.

“Energy Ball!” Wren replied, stepping back slightly. Aconite threw her arms forward and rapidly formed a larger-than-normal ball of solar energy, firing it like a cannon blast straight through the incoming leaves. Lotad was unable to escape with the speed of the solar bullet, struck square in the face.

“Follow up with Pin Missile!” Wren directed. Aconite nodded and her spiky fingers glowed as she took aim, a cluster of Bug energy-infused missiles firing off in a wild array.

“Lotad, dodge them and use Zen Headbutt!” Lotad nodded and, finally, it began to really move. The rain was falling properly now and Rain Dish kicked in, boosting the Water Weed Pokemon’s speed. Dashing past the Pin Missile, the front edge of it’s leaf glowed bright blue as it attempted to execute a Zen Headbutt.

“Spiky Shield!” Wren called out. Aconite nodded and summoned a green force field in front of herself that, when Lotad struck it, emitted a cluster of sharp needles that stabbed into Lotad and sent it sprawling, already KO’d.

“Lombre!” The grunt called out, her Jolly Pokemon rushing over to her side. Wren hadn’t noticed but it had been using Hydro Pump from a distance this whole time, flooding the route behind him. “Use Fake Out!” The small stereotype in Pokémon form danced it’s way toward Aconite, though the moment she began an unbidden Petal Dance, Lombre began a Teeter Dance in response to the maraca-like sounds emanating from the Cactus Pokemon’s body. The storm of flower petals quickly swallowed up Lombre but the dancing ended in the pair crashing into one another face-first after a moment, Aconite quickly developing two left feet as the Teeter Dance triggered an odd sort of confusion that made her forget the steps to her own dance.

Wren quickly recalled Aconite at this point, preferring to avoid any further chances to let Aconite harm herself. Tossing out another Nest Ball, he released Asphodel.

“Seed Bomb, Lombre!” The grunt called out. “Blow that deer to pieces!” Lombre nodded and shot an explosive bundle of Grass energy at Asphodel. When the attack hit and the explosion went off, Wren smirked, only to leave the grunt terrified. Asphodel had taken no damage whatsoever. “How!?”

“Asphodel has the Sap Sipper ability. Your Grass-type moves have no effect other than to make him stronger!” Wren replied. “Now, Asphodel, use that new power. Use Megahorn!” The Sawsbuck nodded and his antlers took on a sickeningly green glow as they were infused with Bug energy. The deer threw it’s head downward and charged.

“Mega Punch!” The grunt ordered. Lombre dashed to one side, leaped into the air and threw a glowing white fist straight down into the back of Asphodel’s head, driving the deer’s face into the mud. It’s own Rain Dish had given it an even bigger speed boost than Lotad had gotten.

“Agility, Asphodel! Pick up the pace!” Asphodel’s body flashed momentarily as he infused his body with Normal energy but when it faded, he was better able to keep pace with Lombre.

“Rock Smash!”

“Double Kick!” Wren ordered at the same instant. Asphodel bucked upward, lashing out with his front hooves. The first connected with Lombre’s stomach, the second striking it in the face and sending it sprawling away, landing unconscious on the ground a few feet away.

“Carnivine!” The grunt called, releasing the bug catcher Pokémon. “Start with Growth!” Carnivine appeared from it’s ball and immediately, it began to swell in size.

“Asphodel, use Megahorn again!” Wren called out, already preparing for his next action. That Carnivine was looking rough and it hurt his heart to see a Plant Pokémon being poorly cared for. Asphodel’s antlers took on the familiar glow of Bug energy and he dashed forward, aiming to slam them into Carnivine, who’s increased size made it an easier target than normal.

“Crunch!” The grunt ordered, recalling Wren’s answer to why Lombre’s Grass move hadn’t worked. That left the Carnivine with only a few options here. As Asohodel’s Megahorn came up on it, Carnivine opened it’s massive maw and slammed it’s Dark-energy infused teeth together on the antlers. While the attack was stopped, the damage was done. “Now use Sludge Bomb!”

“Asphodel, use Jump Kick!” Wren called out. Asphodel thrashed around for a moment, finally shake Carnivine off and sending it flying upward in the process. Jumping into the air after it, the Sawsbuck slammed his hooves into it, sending it crashing straight down into the earth.

“Carnivine!” The grunt called out, though she’d change her tone a moment later when Wren hurled a charged Nest Ball across the battlefield, drawing it into the device and watching as it was contained. “Carnivine, no!”

“Carnivine, yes.” Wren responded and he fished the ball from the muck. “You need to leave.” He told the grunt. “You’ve already done more damage than you could ever imagine to this garden with all this water. Most of these plants will end up dead from over watering in just a few days and will have to be replaced. It could be weeks, possibly months, before the garden is able to thrive again.” He told her. “And your Carnivine needs specialized care you clearly aren’t equipped to provide it with. So I’m taking over.” He told the woman, watching as the ball was whisked away to his Snagem storage box.

The grunt looked at him with rage in her eyes for a moment before she ran off. “I’m going to have Pansy teach you a lesson!” She exclaimed.

Wren shook his head and turned back to the garden, taking a now soggy soil sample before he called out Anemone again. “Use Sunny Day. Let’s see if we can dry up some of this water before it does too much damage.” He told the Beehive Pokemon. She nodded and threw her hands into the air, forming a ball of Fire-type energy and hurling it into the air above the route as she did. As the artificial sunlight beat down, the water began to evaporate, albeit slowly.

Wren was at it for a while when he heard a familiar voice. “I’ve already admonished my subordinate for her actions but I was told you took her Pokemon. That cannot be allowed to go unpunished!”

“Pansy, right?” Wren asked without turning around. He recognized the heavyset woman’s voice from back at the gym.

“That’s correct. Now face me in battle so I may defend my subordinate’s Pokémon. You will return it when I win, understood.” Pansy retorted, tossing out a Pokeball.

“If.” Wren replied, tossing a Nest Ball over his shoulder. “If you win.” Cassava popped out of his Nest Ball when it landed, squaring off with the little Flabébé that Pansy had released.

“Fairy Wind!” Pansy called out, directing her tiny Pokémon to attack. Flabébé hauled it’s blue flower up and spun it in it’s grip, using it’s petals like fan blades to generate a vertical whirlwind infused with Fairy energy.

“Silver Wind!” Wren ordered. Cassava’s own flower spun with increasing speed, sending a silvery whirlwind infused with Bug energy to meet to Fairy Wind, the two attacks canceling each other out, leaving only sparkling silver scales falling through the air. “Bullet Seed!” The Skiploom took a deep breath and spit a gatling burst of seeds at Flabébé. The little Pokémon was normally hard to hit but with so many seeds going everywhere at once, the Fairy-type was hit hard by the spray, struck four separate times by different seeds.

“Flabébé, use Wish!” Pansy called out. The little Single Bloom Pokémon nodded and released a surge of Psychic energy into the sky.

“Silver Wind, Cassava!” Wren directed again. The Skiploom nodded and his flower spun rapidly as a whirlwind infused with silvery scales consumed Flabébé. The Fairy-type was wracked by the attack, rattled and knocked around until it was knocked from its perch on its blue flower and was launched skyward. As the whirlwind came to a stop, Flabébé came crashing down, landing hard on the ground, knocked out cold.

Pansy recalled Flabébé but when she sent out her second Pokémon, Wren decided he was going to swap his own as well. His Skiploom would return to his own ball as Pansy’s appeared from it’s ball. “Anemone. Use Attack Order!”

The Vespiquen’s verbal order to attack almost seemed to be useless for a moment but when a large swarm of Combee from the local area converged upon Skiploom, buzzing and biting at it, it became apparent that her commanding pressure was still working.

“Confusion!“ Pansy ordered. Her Skiploom nodded and it’s eyes glowed pink for a moment as it unleashed a weak wave of psionic energy at Anemone. The Vespiquen felt the atta k hit but Skiploom definitely didn’t seem well versed in attacking.

“Air Cutter!” Wren told his partner, watching as she compressed air together and released a cluster of wind sawblades that hacked away Skiploom. The Wish Flabébé had used before fainting took effect at this point, healing a portion of the damage Skiploom had already taken.

“Dazzling Gleam, Skiploom!” Pansy called out, sweating. It was clear to her she wasn’t going to win this battle. Skiploom released a burst of Fairy energy-infused light that momentarily blinded Anemone. Unfortunately for Wren, she wasn’t trained for battle and that was enough to knock her out. Recalling her to her ball, he tossed out another Nest Ball and released Nutmeg. As the Tsareen appeared from her ball, he’d already know how to end this battle. “Triple Axel!”

Nutmeg nodded and her tiny feet released small clouds of mist as she darted forward, performing a trio of graceful kicks infused with Ice energy. Skiploom dodged the first but Nutmeg was better prepared for such things than Anemone had been so her next two blows hit hard with the third leaving Skiploom covered in frost and unconscious.

“I win!” Wren announced. “Which means I keep Carnivine.” He recalled Nutmeg and released Aconite and Hemlock from their Nest Balls. “It also means you’re going to face the law for your involvement here. Whether you like it or not, you are the leader of this group and that means you are held accountable for the actions of said group.” He assured her, hand held outward, palm skyward as thorny vines sprouted from the ground around Pansy’s ankles.

“What is this!?” Pansy demanded, shifting her feet in place Bd wincing as the thrones dug into her flesh.

“I’d call it divine punishment but it comes from me, not the gods. Let’s just say it’s an organic set of handcuffs to keep you from escaping before the police get here.” Wren replied, recalling his Pokémon and walking off at this point, ignoring Pansy’s cries to be released.

He’d contact the local police. Explain how he’d stopped one of Team Flora’s members from completely destroying Parterre Way and that Pansy, as its leader, had shown up to “defend” her team member. They assured him they would pass the information on to Viola when he left town and informed him they would contact him again if they needed any further information.

~~Mission Complete~~

“As I recall it, I accomplished the task you gave me. Not my fault your little snails picked up a bad habit they saw once or twice and then taught it to each other.” Lykas retorted.

Carl snapped at that.”They are not snails! They’re ancient nautilus, prehistoric cephalopods that can teach us countless pages of information about the ancient past!”

“Calm yourself, Dodsen.” Director Atkins told the younger ginger. “If you insist on helping retrieve our stolen pearl Mister Fenrall, then I suggest you head north. The last time anyone in the area saw our thieves, they were heading toward Cyllage City along the coast. There are a number of small islands in the waters through the area. We suspect they may have taken to hiding on one of them for a while in order to look for an opportunity to escape.” The Luvdisc hybrid informed him, sounding as exasperated as she did hopeful. Even if Lykas caused some small problems, it would be hard to screw this up. He had no direct contact with the Pokémon this time, after all.

“Thanks, Director. I can’t make any promises but I’ll do everything I can to try and get your pearl back.” Lykas thanked the director and left at that point. “That’s not much to go on but at least I know where to start looking.” He told himself. Walking to the cliff that overlooked the beach below, he’d spot dozens of police officers combing the area with Herdier and a few other Pokémon.

Murraille Coast. That was his target for now. The question now came down to “How do I find them here?”. He knew the answer but it would require he talk to GRAY. “Hey, Volts-for-Brains.” He called as he pulled out his SNAG.

”What can I do for the ‘illustrious’ Water Master?” GRAY asked, his digital voice dripping with sarcasm and snark.

“I need to swap a Pokemon on me with one in storage. I need my Luxray, Sphynx.” Lykas replied, ignoring the sarcastic tone in the AI’s voice.

“Don’t you let that furball roam freely like every other terrible cat owner in Kanto?” GRAY snapped back.

“Normally, yes, she free roams within reason. I put her in storage before I left just in case I needed her for this assignment, though. So send her too me. I’ll send one of my other Pokémon back through the transfer system.” Lykas replied, pulling a Pokeball from his obi and placing it on the SNAG’s camera lens. A moment later, the ball would vanish in a flash and a different one would appear in it’s place.

”Transfer complete. Now make it worth the time.” GRAY snapped, the SNAG’s camera shutter snapping shut as if in indignation.

Rolling his eyes, Lykas would toss the Ball out in front of him and greeted Sphynx with some scratches to her head and ears. “No difficult battles at the moment, old girl. But your eyes can be incredibly helpful here. I’m looking for people who might be hiding on an island offshore along the section of coast between this town and the next one to the north.” He told her as pulled up the holocaster image that had briefly displayed during the newscast earlier, showing her the image of the pair of Flare grunts. “If you see anyone hiding in places I can’t see, let me know so we can check if it’s them or not.” He told the Luxray. She growled softly in agreement to Lykas’ instructions and the pair headed up the path, walking down the cliff side roadway to the shore and walking in the soft, warm sand together.

Lykas enjoyed the sunlight playing across his skin and Sphynx simply enjoyed being in her trainer’s presence for the time being. It had been a while since they’d done anything together that wasn’t battling. “ I’m gonna go check out the island over there. Wait here.” Lykas finally announced after several long minutes of watching and walking. The hybrid dove into the surf and rapidly swam out to the nearby island he had pointed out, Sphyn. Watching his form moving about from the beach. It would only take a few minutes for him to come back and by the time he did, Sphynx was wondering why she’d kept watching.

“Nobody but some teenage kid who wouldn’t stop spazzing over my hair.”Lykas informed Sphynx upon his return but the Luxray knew better. She’d seen it. Shaking her head, she called him a bad liar and the pair continued on. It was another few minutes when Sphynx froze, staring off at an island further from the shore. She saw people on that island. It was far enough out that it was just barely visible from the beach but she could see movement of humans on it. “Lux! Luxray lux.”

“People? Way out there?” Lykas asked, looking in the direction she was looking. “Glad I brought a water ride with me.” He stated as he tossed another Pokeball out into the sea.

“Gyaaaa!” The Gyarados roared as she breached the water’s surface, giving Lykas a curious look before leaning in to nuzzle him and receive pats. “Climb on, girl. You’ll have to navigate for Furor.” He told Sphynx, helping her climb onto the serpent’s back. Climbing on behind her to help keep her stable, he’d speak to Furor. “Onward and upward. We’re going to get the drop on them. Literally!” Furor nodded and after a short dive, she’d leap up and out of the water, taking to the air and proving that Gyarados aren’t Flying-Types for no reason. Following Sphynx’s direction, Furor would make her way to the island in question, the Luxray confirming along the way that she could see no one on any of the other islands in the area.

Upon reaching the target location for their air raid, Furor began to circle the island. Sphynx told him where to find the targets and Lykas dropped off the Gyarados’ back, melting into liquid water along the way. When he made contact with the water just offshore, he made a splash that would have been hard to blame on anything but the sound of a fish’s tail breaking the surface tension for a moment. Recalling both his Pokémon to their Balls from the water, he’d swim to shore and quietly emerge from the sea, heading toward the center of the island. According to Sphynx, she’d spotted people hiding in what looked to be a cave there. She couldn’t make out details but it was definitely a small group of humans. As far as she could make out, there should be an entrance to the cave somewhere around the north side of the island.

“There it is!” The hybrid exclaimed quietly, spotting a cave mouth covered in vegetation. It almost looked fake, suggesting that at least some of it was placed there to try and conceal it. The result ended up making it more conspicuous. “These guys aren’t very smart, are they?” He asked himself as he headed into the cave. Forming a mental image of a candle flame, he ignited a small Will-o-Wisp that hovered near him, casting an eerie, bluish light around the caves, boiling and bubbling slowly as the boiling seawater that formed it mimicked flames as best they could.

“When are they supposed to get here?”
“They said they’d be here in 20 minutes last I heard from them.”
“That was half an hour ago! They’re not coming!”

Lykas listened when the voices echoed up out of the depths of the cave. Those voices sounded young. All three sounded male. Creeping closer, he kept an ear out, hoping to hear more.

“They’ll be here. They promised they’d come.”
“Dude… give it a rest. Let’s just go home and pretend this never happened.”
“Yeah…spending an hour naked in an underground spring with two guys isn’t my idea of a shareable story.”

“Oh…” Lykas groaned softly. It was just some teenage boys hoping to get lucky. Not helpful. Unless… Tossing out a Pokeball, he spoke to Noelani. “Use Mist. Get a thick cover going.” He told the little Amaura. Noelani nodded and her small sails began to glow in softly as a thick, frigid mist poured out of the ice crystals on her sides. As the mist thickened, it spilled around the corner of the wall, drifting in and settling over the boys in the spring.

“What the hell?”
“There wasn’t a fog warning today, was there?”
“No way! I checked the weather before I invited the girls out here just to be sure!”

“You’d be surprised how fast the weather changes when certain people are in a bad mood.” Lykas announced, rounding the corner at this point, eyes glowing with black light as he held a Hex at the ready. The eye of truth rested over his bindi as the Ghost-type move’s energy yearned for release.

“Who the ~/~ are you!?” One of the boys, a shorter, chubbier one, asked, splashing around in the spring as he stumbled backward and away from Lykas.

“Me? I’m just a man on a mission, just like you three. Only difference is my mission actually matters.” He told the trio, turning to look at the tallest of them. “You like like a boy with a brain. You see any suspicious characters around here? Specifically ones who might be wearing gaudy red suits and sunglasses?” He asked, never letting his attack’s energy drop while he did.

“Um… fitting that description, no. But there were these two men and a woman who were leaving the island as we got here. I don’t think they saw us coming.” The kid replied, swallowing hard at this point. “But I heard one of them say something about heading to Coumarine Harbor. They said something about ‘the buyer meeting them there’.”

Lykas thought about what he’d said for a moment before nodding. “Chances are, those are the people I’m looking for. Now be good little boys, put your clothes back on and go home.”

“Hey! We’re teenagers, not children!“ The middle kid exclaimed, Lykas only just noticing as he looked at the boy that he was wearing an oversized toboggan on his head in spite of the summer weather in the area. “And I’m an adult who doesn’t care.” He snapped back. Now tuck your ~/~ back into your undies and go home. This is no place for kids.” He told the three before turning and recalling Noelani to her ball as he walked out of the cave. The mist quickly began to clear and Lykas chuckled softly as he heard the trio scrambling to get dressed, one of them crying out “What the hell Eddy!? I thought you said nobody else knew about this place?”

As he exited the cave mouth, he spotted three girls about the same age as the boys, a ginger with thick curls, a punk with blue-black hair and long bangs and a blonde with waist-length hair. “If you’re looking for your boyfriends, I just sent them home before they get anyone hurt. I’d suggest you follow suite.” He told them.

“Where’s my Double Dee!?” The punk girl demanded, crossing her arms.

“A few years down the road.” Lykas quipped back as he released Furor once again and jumped onto her back.

“Lee! Don’t let him get away with that!” The blonde shouted at the ginger. “Shut up, May. It was funny.” Lee replied, barely covering a snicker. Her hands were balled into fists even, so. “Nobody insults my sisters but me, though.” She finally said as she looked at Lykas and glared through her curls at him. She didn’t appear to have any Pokémon on her so Lykas just shook his head and flew off with Furor.

“Coumarine Harbor’s our destination. Our thieves should be there, still. If we can move faster than them, we might be able to cut them off.” He informed the Gyarados. She nodded and let out a small rumbling “roar” of understanding. Lykas sat and considered options for catching the thieves off-guard while making sure the pair stayed on course for Coumarine City.

It wouldn’t take long to pass by Cyllage City, the hybrid waving to a few excited kids on the shore that were trying to get his attention. From there, they’d cut a straight line across land toward the harbor. Cutting around the giant tree where the gym was built and heading down toward the water. They hadn’t even made it halfway down the cliff side to the harbor itself when attacks came flying their way. Three Thunder Waves and a Will-o-Wisp flew through the air, Flare grunts standing by the docks with a trio of Manectric and a Houndoom. “Furor, Dragon Dance!” Lykas ordered, throwing himself forward as his Gyarados began to twist and coil through the air behind him. A golden veil glittered into existence before the hybrid and as the incoming attacks struck it, they were absorbed into the golden light before ricocheting back toward the Flare grunts, Lykas’ Magic Coat doing its work.

The Thunder Waves quickly gathered together into a massive bolt of electrical energy, though it’s power seemed unchanged and it struck the ground and burst into a shower of sparks and arced between the grunts and their Pokémon. The Manectric seemed unaffected but Houndoom and the trainers all began to twitch, their muscles seizing up. Furor caught up to the falling hybrid with her increased speed from the Dragon Dance. Grabbing onto the Atrocious Pokemon’s crest, Lykas pointed at the group below. “Brutal Swing!” He ordered. Thanks to the increased speed, Furor managed to dodge the incoming Thunderbolt from one Manectric but the Electro Ball from the second was like a thunderous bullet, hitting her in the tail. “Gyaaaaah” Furor roared as she thrashed about in pain, sending Lykas flying off her back as she crashed into the ground. The third Manectric opened its mouth and spit a cluster of star-shaped beams with Swift. Houndoom raced forward and attempted to turn Furor’s strength against her with a bit of Foul Play. It was stopped in its tracks, however, when the Gyarados clamped down on its head and began to thrash around, flinging the canine around as she used its body like a living weapon to club the Manectric that had surrounded her half to death.

That wouldn’t be the end of it for Houndoom, however, as one of the Manectric’s Static took effect and the Fire-type took the brunt of the electrical outburst. Adding to the Thunder Wave Lykas had reflected earlier caused it to lay on the ground and twitch when Furor released it. That left it wide open to the falling Lykas’ use of a downward-aimed Water Spout to slow his fall. The unfortunate Fire-type was knocked out cold by the blast but the Manectric weren’t letting Lykas get away with that. Three simultaneous Discharge attacks were enough to put Furor out of commission. “Jeez… overkill, you three?” Lykas asked as he recalled Furor to her Ball. “Sorry, girl. Great work, though!” He assured her, already prepping another Ball.. Tossing it into the air, he’d quickly dash backward while crying out. “Fissure!”

As the ball popped open in the air, Kamoana emerged from it, crashing into the ground and sending white-hot fissures of energy outward from her point of impact. As the fissures expanded, energy lanced out like the blade of a guillotine. Two of the Manectric were hit and went down in an instant, their stamina utterly destroyed as the Fissures energy ripped through them. “Damn… one left.” Lykas grunted quietly. He’d hoped Kamoana would simply land on and crush them flat.

The final canine wouldn’t be alone now, though, its trainer finally free from the paralysis that had overtaken her. “Wild Charge!” Manectric’s ears perked up at the sound of the voice, fur sparking wildly as it began to run forward, the sparks forming together into a cloak of electrical energy.

“Hyper Voice!” Lykas called out, covering his ears. Kamoana opened her mouth and let out a piercing, lilting cry filled with Normal-type energy. Manectric’s attack was interrupted by the cry, falling head down as it pressed its paws over its head, trying to cover its ears. The cry went on and on, however, buffeting the dog with waves of Normal-type until it finally passed out, unable to take it anymore. Recalling Kamoana to her Ball, Lykas quickly lashed out with a tentacle and grabbed the grunt. “Where’s the pearl?” He demanded. “I know you came to meet your buyer here.” He informed her as he dragged her closer to him.

“He already bought it… he headed to the marina to get on a ship a few minutes ago.” One of the other grunts replied, standing up. “Just don’t hurt my sister.”

“Good boy.” Lykas replied, setting the woman down and turning to the young man. “Which ship?”

The young man swallowed hard and whispered a response. “The Devil’s Roar…”

“Why does that sound like something Odd would have had a hand in naming…” Lykas muttered to himself in response. “Thanks for the help.” He told the young male and recalled Kamoana to her ball before heading toward the marina. Pausing for a moment as he passed the boy, he patted the top of his head and whispered something to him. “Lysandre isn’t coming back. He died in the Battle for Black City.” He assured the kid. “Leave Flare and do better with your life, kid.” With that, he’d walk off again, leaving the siblings to shed tears together on the docks.

The ship he was searching for wasn’t hard to find. Despite its name implying a modern motor boat, be found an older-style sail boat. He found a man on board, a shipwright from the look of him, with blue-tinted skin, glowing eyes that looked more like small bulbs that true eyes and over large forearms and calves. “Oi! Popeye!” He called up the man, using his tentacles to grab and climb up the ship’s hull as he did.

“The ~/~ you doin’ on my ship, punk?” The man demanded, turning to face Lykas directly. Now he could be certain the man was a hybrid of some sort.

“I’m looking for the person who just bought a black pearl from some Flare goons.” Lykas retorted, glaring at the man. “This is the ship I was told I’d find him on.”

“We’ll, you’re out of luck. That pearl’s already on the other side and I doubt you’ve got what it takes to follow me after it.” The man replied confidently before he threw an uppercut that caught Lykas square in the chin, normally it wouldn’t have hurt but the black glow around his fist and the match one made of solid energy that flew off and launched the hybrid into the air and overboard in one hit proved it to have been a Shadow Punch from an Iron Fist Golurk hybrid. Lykas would have been knocked out cold if his own Cursed Body hadn’t frozen the attacker’s fist before it could make more solid contact. The attack had been released a half-second before it had been completely disabled by the curse, though, so it was plenty strong.

Lykas had landed in the water with a large splash, essentially belly flopping onto the surface of the sea when he fell overboard. He’d been a bit dazed for a moment from the shock of having been hit so hard without warning followed by the pain of basically splatting into a concrete floor for a split second before the sea’s surface tension broke and allowed him to begin sinking slightly. Shaking his head to clear the fog from the blow to his head, Lykas swam back to the surface to see the ship already sailing away but in the blink of an eye, it had simply vanished. Confused for a moment, he remembered something Odd had told him. Focusing the energy he used for Hex into his eyes, they began to glow softly as he peered through the veil. “There’s a portal here… “ he realized. It looked like it was near the island the locals called the Sea Spirit’s Den. “Guess that’s where the name came from…” he decided. “I should get him out here, then…I don’t know how to cross the veil.”

Swimming back toward the docks, he pulled himself up and took out his SNAG. Pulling up Odd’s contact information and calling him, he tried to wring what water he could out of the loose ends of his clothes while he waited for an answer. “Hello?”

“Hey, Odd!” Lykas greeted before quickly continuing. “I need your help with a mission I’m on. I tracked down the Flare grunts that stole the Ambrette Aquarium’s black pearl but they already sold it to a hybrid who can use those portals to the Otherworld that pop up around the world. I can see one near the Sea Spirit’s Den and the guy just disappeared through it, ship and all.” He explained, rushing slightly. “I don’t don’t know how those things work or what to expect on the other side.”

“I’m on it. I’ll be there in just a minute.” Odd replied. “You’re in Coumarine City right now, right?” Lykas nodded, thankful for the SNAG having video calling. “Meet me at the Pokemon Center, then.” Odd ended the call at that point and Lykas jumped up to his feet, heading off toward the Center. He needed to have Furor checked out after that battle anyway. He would be standing at the counter, waiting for his Pokémon back when Odd arrived, walking in right after he arrived with Dissonance.

“You said he went through a portal near Sea Spirit’s Den, right?” Odd asked, looking out the window and his own eyes glowed just like his partner’s had not long ago. “I see it.” He assuredLykas. “I don’t know where it goes but if he went there, I’m sure there’s another portal from the same circle to another part of the world. He’s probably traveling through the Otherworld as a shortcut. Any idea what kind of hybrid he was?”

“If I had to guess from the way he slugged me, I’d guess an ~/~.” Lykas quipped, rubbing his face, which had begun to swell slightly at this point. “But in all seriousness, he kinda reminded me of your Golurk a bit. I’d venture a pretty solid guess that’s what he’s a hybrid of.”

“Ghost-type. I’m sure he knows his way around the Otherworld, then. The real question come down to whether that’s on purpose or if he just figured it out by accident.” Odd replied, scratching his own chin softly as he thought.

“Couldn’t say. He barely said anything to me before he punched me in the face and knocked me off his ship. Next thing I knew, I barely caught him disappearing through the portal.” Lykas explained. “I have something else to do while you’re trying to figure out where he went, though. I’m gonna see if I can help replace the last exhibit of theirs that I apparently screwed up… I think I know something that will work just as well as it and it won’t cause problems.”

“Get to it, then. I’ll contact you as soon as I figure something out.” Odd replied, heading out of the Pokémon Center and off toward the water. Lykas nodded to himself and used his SNAG to contact Mykel, who’d been waiting in his room to hear back all day. “We going to Undella Bay to visit an old friend.” He informed the Gardevoir when his computer picked up the call. Mykel nodded, the call ended after he was told where Lykas could be found and before he knew it, the hybrid was whisked away from Kalos and off to the Eastern shores of Unova.

“I hope Odd doesn’t have too much trouble with that guy…” Lykas commented to Mykel as he was dropped off on the beach of Undella Bay.

~~”Ugh… Gluttony…” Odd groaned, releasing Cadenza from his ball. “At least I came through one of the physical portals so I could bring more with me than just us two. Hopefully it won’t come down to that, though.” He told the Shedinja. Looking around, it appeared they had arrived in The Swamp. The thick mire of the inner ring of the Circle of Gluttony stretched out before them, free flowing rivers leading out toward the outer edge of the area. Freezing rain fell from the sky as the Channeler and his partner began to move across the marshy landscape. ~~

Lykas dove into the sea and headed off toward the Abyssal Ruins, spinning his tentacles much like Buizel did with their tails to move faster. It wouldn’t take him very long to reach the area where the ruins could be found and he dove downward, scanning the sea floor as he descended, searching for a specific thing. More specifically, he was searching for a specific creature. Swimming down past a small fever of Mantine and Mantyke, he’d watch a school of Luvdisc tailing an Alolamola as the group fluttered through the water around the crumbling ruins on the seafloor. A pod of Wailmer seemed to be hanging suspended in place not too far off, as well, the entire group seemingly napping together.

A massive herd of Spheal and their evolutions seemed to be huddled together on a sandbar not far from the ruins but they weren’t in much rush to do anything but sunbathe for now. He’d dismissed them at the time but it looked like a Sealeo was splashing around in the water at this point, apparently playing with something it had found to amuse itself.

Dodging a few Tentacool that were drifting lazily along the current, Lykas headed further down, stopping at the entrance to the ruins. He considered his options for a moment, wondering if he could actually speak underwater. From what he’d seen, Pokemon that could breathe underwater seemed capable of such feats but he had never made the attempt, himself. Instead, he decided that Palaeo was the best choice for now and released the Seismitoad. He did end up discovering that he could- in fact- speak underwater as he explained to Palaeo what he wanted the toad to do. Using Echoed Voice, he cried out into the ruins, calling out for Omastar to come to the doors.

“Mastar!” The ruins rumbled, fragments fell and dust settled as the water shifted and the sands moved from the intensity of the cry. Lykas couldn’t help but notice how loud the cry was but he refused to let this beast see fear in him. Not like last time. Last time, he’d been a scared kid still learning to use his abilities but now? He was a man and all but a master. As the Omastar crawled into view, its tentacles lashing out at him, he’d snap back with his own, grabbing them and sending crimson energy racing through them as he used Wring Out. “Your shell only protects you from special attacks, just like Cloyster.” He told the ancient Pokémon as he squeezed its tentacles tighter and tighter. “Where is the child?” He demanded.

“Ma…star?”Omastar asked, wincing slightly as Lykas’ attack began to pinch uncomfortably.

“Your child. The one I freed from the abusive trainer years ago.” Lykas retorted, tentacles winding tighter around Omastar’s.

“Oma… mastar om asta.” Omastar replied, it’s aggression dissipating slightly.

“Outside?” Lykas asked. “That’s it? Does it stay near the ruins or did it simply leave?” He demanded.

“Oma staaaaa.” Omastar responded, using a free tentacle to point toward the sand bar where Lykas had seen the herd of Spheal.

“Oh no…” if Omanyte was there that could mean that Sealeo was playing with- “Thank you!” He told Omastar, releasing it and quickly heading for the sandbar, hoping things were going easier for Odd right now.

~~Cadenza held Odd aloft via Telekinesis as the pair moved across the waters of Gluttony’s swamp. “Keep me going! I see the ship up ahead.” Odd told his partner, silver rings shooting out from his hands one after another as he threw Guardian Halos at the Frillish that were beginning to emerge from the murky water below them. The jellyfish would find themselves trapped by the halo’s area of effect if they were hit by them, unable to attack beyond the sphere of sacred space created by the silver rings.

~We can’t keep this up forever. We need to get out of the air so we aren’t such tantalizing targets.~ Cadenza stated, the spiritual communication between the two partners letting them speak even as both focused on their current tasks.

“Agreed. I need to move faster to catch that ship and we can’t if I’m having to defend us the whole way… set me down over there!” Odd responded, pointing to a semi-solid outcropping at the base of a tree nearby. Dropping two Pokeballs and a Luxury Ball to the ground. His Aegislash and Decidueye emerged from the Pokeballs and Cofagrigus from the Luxury Ball. “This is going to be exhausting…” he told himself as he unclipped his Artifact from the holster on his hip and held it tightly.

“Entr’Acte.” He spoke calmly as the Aegislash directed energy toward Odd with it’s Shadow Claw. Odd focused the energy into a physical form, forging it into a massive spear of Ghost energy closer to a ballista arrow than a spear.

“Fermata.” The Decidueye began to form an arrow of shadows as Odd linked with him. “Use Spirit Shackle on the ship.” Odd directed as he drew back his arm and prepared to throw. As Fermata took aim, a shadowy ribbon drew out from Odd’s own shadow and wound around the spear he held. Fermata released his arrow and a moment later, Odd released, hurling the spear with an unholy throw that sent it spinning through the air at incredible speeds. It had only been possible due to the combination of Pokémon he’d channeled with but the pearl buyer would have to decide between which attack he could stop and either hitting would give him time to catch up.~~

Lykas quickly returned to the surface of the sea and looked around for the sandbar again, trying to get his bearings. Head above the water, he’d see that his fears had been right. The Sealeo wasn’t playing with some random empty shell. It had found Omanyte. The pearl-shelled Pokémon was being flipped and spun about on the sea lion’s nose, crying out for a savior at this point. Swimming within attack range, Lykas held his hands forward and formed a mental image of a bauble, placing it within Sealeo and cracking it. The moment his mental bauble cracked, his Giga Drain triggered. Sealeo yelped in pain and surprise as energy was ripped from its body by force and Lykas quickly snapped out a tentacle to snatch up Omanyte before it hit the ground. Tossing out his Master Ball, he’d release Delmare. “Aqua Jet. We’re heading to shore!!” He informed the Keldeo as he grabbed hold. Delmare used it’s innate Superpower to lift Lykas rather bodily from the water and throw him onto its back before doing as bid, dashing toward land and leaving the dozens of Spheal and their ilk behind.

Upon reaching land, Lykas would profusely thank Delmare before recalling it to its Ball. “Omanyte, I don’t know if you remember me but I remember you.” He began. “You were caught by an abusive trainer who only wanted you because you were unique. I freed you from him but it looks like life’s been hard on you since then. If you want an easier life, I have a suggestion. “

Omanyte hadn’t emerged from it’s shell just yet but Lykas could hear it crying softly within, likely still recovering from the experience with Sealeo just moments ago. “There’s a place I can take you far away from here where you can see kind humans and where you’ll have people who want to take care of you.” Lykas continued. Omanyte’s crying began to quiet and, finally, after a moment, it poked its head out and looked up at the hybrid. “Oma?”

“Yes, really. They’d love you there. You’ll even be famous before long. You’ll have fans all over the world who’ll want to shower you with attention.” Lykas assured the small creature. Omanyte withdrew back into its shell for a few moments, seeming to consider the offer. “Well… what do you say?” Lykas asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Manyte!” Omanyte declared, popping back out of its shell with a bright smile in its eyes.

“Great! Let’s get you there!” Lykas beamed, carrying the little Spiral Pokémon with him as he swam back toward the shore.

~~Odd recalled his Pokémon, leaving Cadenza out and panting slightly as the Shedinja lifted him into the air. “Let’s catch up to him before he can get away!” The Channeler instructed, more hoping than expecting such results at the moment. The hybrid on the ship seemed to have deflected Fermata’s attack but the Devil Whisper hurled after it had struck the side of the ship and knocked a sizable hole in it. It hadn’t begun to sink yet but it was an eventuality at this point.

Thanks to Cadenza’s efforts, the duo reached the ship surprisingly quickly but looking at the state of things, it might have had more to do with the hybrid scrambling to stop the water coming in rather than focusing on sailing the ship. Odd had managed to catch his breath by now but his body was beginning to grow numb from the frigid rain. “We can’t stay here much longer…” he told Cadenza before the Shedinja dropped him onto the deck of the sailboat, just behind the hybrid.

~I don’t think we’ll have to, Sterling.~ Cadenza replied. ~I see another portal up ahead. It appears our quarry was heading for it this whole time.~

Great. Another portal meant they’d be back in the Land Above very soon if the ship didn’t sink first. And that meant a chance to escape for this guy. Odd knew he needed to stop him here and now to reclaim the pearl and finish Lykas’ mission. He’d only taken a single step forward when the hybrid turned and threw a flaming punch square at his gut. Odd’s Untethered Soul helped mitigate the damage, the fist phasing right through him in a manner not entirely unlike Dull once upon a time. The flames of the Fire Punch still hurt but without the percussive aspect of the attack, he’d be fine. “I suggest you don’t waste your time.” The Channeler warned.

“Shut the ‘ell up!” The Golurk hybrid grunted, throwing an electrified one-two punch. Odd blocked both punches with Guardian Halo centered around himself. Dropping an Ultra Ball and releasing Baroque once again. The Cofagrigus didn’t need to be told what to do. The Golurk hybrid hauled off with another punch, aiming to throw another Thunder Punch at Odd but Baroque jumped in the way and took the hit. The Pokémon’s hollow body snapped open when it was hit and slammed shut on the hybrid. “Don’t hold him too long!” Odd warned. This guy seemed to be highly aggressive. There was a very good chance Baroque could be knocked unconscious from within.

“Le’ me out!” The hybrid screamed as he rattled Baroque’s body, thrashing around within him. After a moment, Baroque opened up again and released the hybrid, covered in patches of ancient-looking bandages. Mummy had taken effect.

Shadowy ribbons shot from the Channeler’s own shadow, lashing out and attempting to bind the hybrid. Unfortunately for Odd, he was still exceptionally strong. A Hammer Arm ripped through the ribbons and the hybrid rushed him, attempting to strike with a Shadow Punch similar to what he’d used against Lykas. Odd dropped a Pokeball Ashe threw his arms up and created a Guardian Halo to defend himself. The halo slowed the attack momentarily but in spite of the effect, the spiritual nature of the attack was able to break through it. The hybrid’s fist connected with Odd’s crossed forearms and drove him back as the dropped Ball spawned his Lampent.

“Damn!” Odd grunted as the force of the punch caused him to stumble backward. Groaning as the pain shot through him, he was reminded that Ghost-type attacks and spiritually-infused techniques were things he couldn’t simply phase through him. “Stop fighting and just give me the pearl before we sink!” He shouted, blue flames sparking to life in his own hands.

“Neve’!” The hybrid exclaimed. “A’ready paid fo’ it and my boss’ll have my ‘ead if I don’ bring it back!” Another electrified right hook was followed up by a flaming jab with his other fist. Odd met both with his own fists cloaked in hellfire. The Thunder Punch numbed his hand somewhat but the Fire Punch barely affected him. The hybrid, however, discovered the effect of Odd’s Wicked Wick rather quickly as the flames overcame his own and began to creep up his arms. “Wha’ the ‘ell!? Get i’ off me!” He cried, shaking his arm aggressively.

“Only if you agree to give me the pearl!” Odd replied, motioning for Adagio to be at the ready as he recalled Baroque.

“A’right. Just don’ burn me alive!” The hybrid exclaimed. Odd nodded to Adagio and she drew the flames away, absorbing them into herself. “By the way… ‘ow have we no’ sank yet?” The hybrid asked, sounding calmer at this point.

Odd pointed up to Cadenza floating above them, maintaining a large scale Ominous Wind that was holding the ship above the water while keeping the slavering Frillish below at bay. “My partner’s been keeping us above water. We just haven’t been moving forward.” He admitted. “Now tell me where the pearl is.”

The hybrid sighed. “A’right, fine. My name’s Kai Mack. The pearl’s wi’ my associate Flint Marco. He’s a’ready on the othe’ side of tha’ portal.” He explained. “Our boss wanted i’ fo’ some kind of status symbol. We ain’t privy t’ the details.”

“And what does this ‘Flint Marco’ look like?” Odd questioned, rubbing his forearms slightly. There would be bruises later, he was sure.

Kai shrugged. “‘e’s a Pallossand ‘ybrid. Tends to change up ‘is look a lo’. This was ‘im last I saw ‘im.” He handed Odd a photograph he dug out of his pocket. “Boss gave i’ t’ me so I’d know ‘im when I saw ‘im.”

Odd accepted the photograph and took a glance at it before motioning to Cadenza and releasing Dissonance. “Push us through the portal. Get us to the nearest shore so Kai, here, can fix his ship without drowning.” He informed the two Pokémon. Dissonance took to the air and pushed the ship forward and Cadenza switched to using Telekinesis to keep it floating. The two working in tandem pushed the ship through the portal and upon arriving on the other side, Odd noticed where they had arrived. “Where are we?”

‘Umilau City in the Unova region.” Kai replied. “The portal near Sea Spirit’s Den is only one tha’ moves through Gluttony. There are tons of ‘em all over th’ world.”

That would explain the many strange cases of disappearing ships the world over. “So where did Mr. Marco go?”

Kai shrugged as a crowd began to gather around the ship. “Couldn’ say. I was only ‘ired to ge’ the pearl t’ ‘im. No idea where he wen’ with i’ after tha’. My bes’ guess is ‘e’s still in th’ region, though. Boss is Galarian bu’ I assume th’ more ‘ands tha’ pearl passes through, th’ ‘arder it’ll be to trace i’ back t’ it’s source.”

Odd thought about that information for a moment before dropping a Dusk Ball. Musette appeared on the deck of the ship beside the Channeler and he muttered to her. “Hypnosis.”

The Stantler gave Odd a curious look before following his eyes to Kai. The combination of pleasant odors and disrupted air flow around her antlers made the telepathic suggestions that much easier to implement and after only a moment, Kai was utterly bewitched. “Thanks for the help but you’re still a criminal.” The Channeler stated as he began to recall his Pokémon. With the help of Cadenza and Dissonance, he, Kai and Musette made it to dry land as the ship began to sink at last behind them, Cadenza no longer supporting it.

“Thanks for the help guys.” He told his Pokemon, ensuring that everyone but Musette was back in their respective Balls and then headed toward the local police station he could see not far off. Small as this “city” appeared to be, at least they had law enforcement for when it was needed. Turning Kai over to the local officers, he’d give the man a final order while he was under the effects of Hypnosis, hopefully it would hold over once the effect wore off. “You’re to cooperate with the police and tell them everything you can about the theft of that pearl, your associate and the person who hired you.” With that, he’d recall Musette to her ball and walked off to go find the Pokémon Center.

He had an idea someone who could help out here but the real question came down to how fact he could get out here and how wide of a net his contact list in the region would allow him to cast. “Hey, Wren?” He asked as his SNAG stopped ringing and the Unovan businessman picked up.

“Odd? What’s going on?” Wren asked, ice blue eyes filled with concern. “You never call me directly.”

Odd nodded.”Yeah… sorry about that. I need some help. Lykas asked me to help with a mission he’s on and I’m afraid I’ve hit a wall I’m not going to get past on my own. I think you might be able to help, though.”

Wren nodded in understanding. “Sure. Tell me what you need and I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Lykas is supposed to be recovering a black pearl stolen from the Ambrette Aquarium out in Kalos. The thieves sold the pearl to someone who carted it off to Unova but by the time I managed to catch him and beat some answers out of him, an associate of his had already managed to slip away with it to somewhere else. All I know is he’s a Palossand hybrid named Flint Marco who changes his appearance frequently and is likely somewhere in Unova, still.”

“You might be surprised to hear this but I know that name. He’s a black market dealer that spends a lot of his time running around Castelia City and a place called Join Avenue just outside Nimbasa City. I’ll see if I can track him down but he’s a slippery one.” Wren replied, grimacing slightly. “Go ahead and let Lykas know you’re handing this off to me and I’ll let him know if I find anything.”

Odd nodded in understanding and ended the call, sending one out to his fiancé afterward. “Looks like I hit a dead end for now. It’s a dead end in Unova, though, so I’ve got Wren picking up from here. He seems to have an idea what he can do from here, so he should have an update for you soon.”

“Great! I actually have some good news, too!” Lykas responded. “I found a temporary replacement for the pearl. Hopefully it’ll help replace the old Omanyte tank, too.” He held up the pearl-shelled Omanyte and smiled as the small Pokémon waved it’s tentacles happily in greeting.

“Is that the one you told me about way back?” Odd asked, offering Omanyte a smile and a small wave of his own.

“Yep! And it wants to go live at the aquarium. It seems to like human interaction but doesn’t like battling.” Lykas replied. “I’m heading back there with it now, actually. You can head back to HQ and I’ll meet Wren as soon as I’m done dropping this little guy off.”

Wren grabbed a few of his Nest Balls and signaled for a Teleport to Castelia City from Claydol. Before the Psychic-type arrived, however, he’d be sure to grab the injector he’d recently picked up, the vial of Shadow Vaccine already loaded into it and released Altissima. “This might sting a bit but you need it.” He told her before moving quickly to inject the fluid into her system.

“Ligaaaaaan!” She exclaimed, eyes tinted crimson by the foul energies flowing through her focusing on Wren for a moment before the wild, foul energy began to dissipate and her eyes returned to normal.

“Feel better?” Wren asked as Claydol appeared behind him. Altissima hugged her trainer as Claydol Teleported the pair off to Castelia City.

~~~

It had been a full day by now since he had first left HQ to take on this mission as Lykas headed back to Ambrette Town. He had taken the time to swap around his Pokémon a bit since he had no reason he could predict to be on the water as much. Today, he had Mykel with him and a small Omanyte tucked away, in hiding, inside his bag. Mykel was out riding around on the hybrid’s hoverboard with him and the pair were racing Westward from Lumiose City as Lykas had done just yesterday.

~~~

Wren arrived in Unova relatively quickly after the call he’d received from Odd. Rather than going off to Castelia City directly, he found himself drawn to the Abundant Shrine he had once spent a great deal of time visiting in his youth. Walking across the verdant fields of now-wild grains, the barefoot Channeler couldn’t help admiring it all. That was, until something caught his eye. A solitary snapdragon growing near the shrine itself. “Granny Bloom…” He thought aloud. He hadn’t thought about the strange old woman in years. “I suppose you expected I’d have come back for training a long time ago.” He continued his thoughts. “I didn’t even know what channeling was back then. I’m still not entirely sure I understand what it is but at least I know I can do it now.”

“Always could, Dearie.”

The withered old woman’s voice replied to Wren’s vocalized thoughts as if she were standing right next to him. “Yeah… I guess I could. It never did quite make sense how plants seemed to grow out of nowhere when I wanted them to…”

“Oh, that’s how it always goes; Young druids and dryads learning about their gifts a bit later than others, I mean. Tale as old as time, Dearie.”

That… That was a direct response, not his imagination. Blinking a few times as the dots connected in his mind, Wren turned to look in the direction the voice had come from. “Granny!” He cheered in warm greeting to the crone.

“Hello, Dearie. I knew you’d come back eventually. And it’s not like I’m all that worried about time. I’m older than the trees already and even a few mushrooms.” Granny Bloom laughed. “Besides, I’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since our first encounter. I see you’ve done some growing on your own with those Snagem friends of yours.” She offered a knowing wink, leaning on her cane as she did.

“I guess I’ve been too busy to see the flowers since the war started…” Wren replied, a bit despondent.

“You were helping save the world, Dearie. That’s a noble reason to not take one’s time.” Granny Bloom replied. “Now If you’re here for training, we can do so. But we both know you came to ask the kami for their help with your little quest.”

Wren nodded to that. “I did. They may not be able to offer much aid but I hope what they can provide will help.” He agreed, icy eyes cast to the shrine. Walking up to it with Granny Bloom behind him, he opened his bag and pulled out a small bundle of Absorb Bulbs he’d brought along, a small satchel of Soft Sand, a Miracle Seed and a Mystic Water. All purchased years ago specifically for such visits. Setting the items upon the ancient altar, he muttered a small prayer to the weather deities, asked for their guidance and protection on his quest and turned away. A blissful breeze blew past him as he turned, a small dust cloud carried past his feet and a few raindrops hit his face as the breeze passed him by.

“Looks like they’ve accepted the offering.” Granny Bloom stated as she watched something Wren couldn’t see flying away. “Must be nice, having someone in this modern age still leaving them offerings and making prayers to them. I’m sure they appreciate it.”

Wren nodded, glancing back at the now-empty altar and then took out his Hoverboard. Tossing it to the ground and stepping on, he’d offer Granny Bloom a small, respectful bow. “I’ll come back again soon. I see now that I can use more training. “ He told the wizened crone.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll see you again before long. Tell old Malorne I’ll see him again soon when you see him next.”Granny Bloom responded and, in the blink of an eye, she was gone. Not even her the single snapdragon that usually marked her presence remained. She was truly gone. For now, at least.

Heading off toward Nimbasa City, Wren would pull out his X-Tranceiver and call his mother. “Hey, Ma. I need you to call up some of our contacts in Castelia City for me.” He told her. “Try getting in touch with Burg over at the gym, try the gardener’s guild as well and maybe see if you can reach out to the gardener’s guild in Nimbasa City as well. I’m looking for a hybrid named Flint Marco. See if anyone might know where he’s at or what he’s up to lately.”

Mother Briony sounded confused. “Marco? What are you getting tangled up with him for? You know he’s bad news.” She remarked in response, writing down the names Wren had given along with his request. She was nearly 60 at this point so her memory failed at times like this from time to time.

“I know. One of my new friends in Snagem is attempting to recover an item he stole out in Kalos. I’m just helping track that item down. I don’t plan to confront him directly.” Wren replied. “Anyway, I’ll be in Nimbasa City in just a few minutes so I’ll let you know if I find anything before I hear back from you.”

“Sure, sweetie. Just be safe and make sure you bring those Snagem friends of yours around so we can properly thank them for their help keeping us all safe when the war came to our shores.”

“Sure thing, ma!” Wren replied. “Talk to you later.” Ending the call, the Channeler headed on into Nimbasa City, skating around a wild Mincinno that appeared to be sweeping up just outside it’s den. “Watch out for humans, little fella!” Wren warned, jumping off his hoverboard as he reached the gatehouse, bare feet slapping against the cobblestones. Folding up the device and quickly stowing it, the brunet walked into the city, eyes peeled. The first thing he did was head toward the Pokémon Center, where he inquired about Flint Marco stopping by recently. He received a negative response, not entirely unexpected, really. Marco rarely went to the public Pokemon Centers, after all.

“I expected nothing and yet I’m still disappointed…” Wren commented to himself, walking out of the center. “Ma’s getting the gardener’s guild on the line… So I might as well go there next…” he said to himself as he looked to the southeast, eyeing the gatehouse that connected the town to Join Avenue. “He might be there… it’s always so busy and the local police basically ignore the place.” Heading that direction, the Channeler found himself standing at the entrance to the shopping district, looking inward for a moment before taking his first steps inside in many years. He was surprised to find that the strip mall was less busy than he remembered and there appeared to be security officers just inside the strip from both ends and several patrolling the aisles. “Wow… This place has really changed since I was a teenager…”

“When was that? A hundred years ago?” A young teen dressed like a punk quipped at him.

Wren had been informed about the recent Snag Machine upgrades for the use of the Galar region’s Dynamax phenomenon and after Sub and Sol had displayed it’s abilities more than once by now, he had decided it was time he invested a bit of time and work into making his team stronger and better equipped for dealing with the kinds of challenges that the team was finding itself facing off against more and more often. Lykas and Reno, among others, had tapped into Mega Evolution, Odd and Sub had the ability to use Z-Moves and so far, Sol was the only member in possession of a Wishing Star, that he knew of. It would be wise to have more people capable of tapping into deeper wells of power in as many ways as possible, he figured. So he found himself standing on the Isle of Armor in the Easternmost part of Galar’s regional waters. He’d come out here to investigate the Forest of Focus while also searching for one of those Wishing Stars.

“So…” He muttered to himself as he approached the forest’s edge from the direction of the nearby dojo. “I hear there are strange mushrooms growing in this forest that can alter some Pokemons’ Dynamax forms… Hopefully I can find some while I’m here. I’m curious if the soil they grow in has something to do with their unique properties.”

Pulling a Pokeball from his belt, he would pop it open and release Manna from within it. The Flapple flapped her wings hard, stretched out and landed on top of his head. “Flaaap!”

“Hi, Manna. I hear you’re one of the Pokemon that can use the form called ‘Gigantamax’. Want to help me look for some Pokemon to get battle practice on while I hunt down the rock and mushrooms needed for you to do it?”

“App flap!” Manna agreed, nodding aggressively.

“I thought you might.” Wren laughed, taking his first step into the forest and feeling the cool earth beneath his bare feet. As the Channeler began to walk, he noticed there were a number of others wandering the various paths of the forest, already. This place must attract many a trainer in search of these same mushrooms.

“Hm?” He paused and looked to his left, seeing an odd circle of stones that almost glowed with a reddish light from within. “Is this one of those ‘raid dens’ I heard was connected to the Wishing Stars?” He asked himself, leaning over to get a closer look at the stones. They were about knee-high and nearly as wide as his forearm, almost perfectly shaped as if by unnatural means. Nearly man-made, it looked like. He reached out his Snag Machine-clad hand to run his fingers over the stone and see what the texture was like and as it got close, the stones suddenly flashed, the red light ensconced within them suddenly coalescing into an almost physical stream of energy that swirled around his Snag Machine before being sucked into a small port he hadn’t noticed on the back until now. At that point, his SNAG chirped with a message.



“Two Hundred Watts? That’s that energy I’m supposed to be collecting, I think? Pretty sure it was said the Watts would attract the Wishing Star once I have enough but… There was no quantity given. I guess I’ll just have to go find more of these things and see how long it takes.” Manna nodded and flapped her wings, lifting into the air and beginning to circle around Wren as he began to walk once more.

Looking around as he walked, Wren found that there was a large amount of leaf litter and other forest detritus along the edges of the path, using his feet to sift through some of it as he walked. “I wonder how hard those mushrooms are to find?” He wondered aloud, watching as a couple of Bug Pokemon he thought he recognized crawled off into the underbrush before he could get a good look at them.

“Hm? Is that…” As he looked up from trying to remember what those Bugs were, he spotted what looked to be a mushroom popping out of the small plants growing along the edge of the path up ahead. Rushing toward it to get a closer look, a cloud of spores spewed out from the mushroom and it began to move. “What the-?! Oh… It’s a Foongus. Of course.” He recognized it at that point as the small mushroom turned and the Pokeball pattern on it’s cap became visible. Better not get too close to that one. Manna nodded and shot a Seed Bomb in the direction of the mushroom, the Foongus hopping out of the way and disappearing before it arrived. The explosion of Grass energy left a familiar feeling in the air for Wren, though it was quickly lost in the vast pool of natural energy within the forest.

“Don’t worry about it.” Wren assured, reaching up and scratching the flapping wyvern’s belly affectionately. “Let’s try not to start too many fights while we’re here, ok? The Pokemon that live in those raid dens are supposed to be crazy strong so we’ll need to conserve our energy for battling those if we get unlucky and run into any of them.” He told the small Dragon-type.

“App flap pal…” Manna agreed, flying around Wren once again as he began to explore once more.

“Hey! We got a live den over here!” Came a voice from the other side of the trees. “Looks like it’s a G-Max Pikachu! You willing to help out?”

“Who, me?” Wren asked, pointing at himself as he looked around for the source of the voice.

“Duh.” The voice replied, a small head poking through the trees in front of him a moment later. It was a kid, no older than twelve or thirteen from the look of them . “We need one more for a good chance at beating this thing and I want to catch it!” The kid explained.

“Do you mind giving me some more information first? I’m not from Galar and still learning the nuances of these situations.” Wren replied, grinning a bit sheepishly. “I’d be happy to help, though.”

“Oh, you’re a tourist? Sure, I can explain. Come on over here!” The kid replied, pulling their head back out of the shrubbery, a larger hand popping through much higher up a moment later, extended as if to take one of his own.

“Sure…” Wren replied, now feeling a bit apprehensive as he reached toward the strange hand. The moment he touched it, the hand grasped his wrist and have a single, hard, tug. The man was immediately hauled off his feet and pulled through the underbrush with surprising ease by a very muscular man in a martial art gi. “Ho! I’ve seen you before! My mom loves your company’s products for her garden.” The man greeted with a laugh. “Never expected to see you in person, though.”

“You know this guy?” The kid asked from behind him.

“Sure! This is Wren Briony. He makes all the garden supplies my mom uses. A lot of folks in Hammerlocke use it, actually.” The older man responded. “He’s really well known for being great with Grass-type Pokemon and with plants in general in gardening circles.”

“Huh. That’s kind of neat, actually.” The kid replied with a smirk. “Didn’t know I was getting some kind of celebrity to help us out. Oh!” The kid yelped, covering their mouth for a moment. “That’s right! You said you don’t know how raid battles work, right?”

Wren had begun to blush as the martial artist had talked about him and, for a moment, was at a loss for words. He had realized how well-known he had become in certain circles over the years. He knew his company did well enough but to be recognized? That was new to him. “Uh… Yeah. I haven’t battled a Pokemon in a raid den yet so I don’t know what, if anything, is considered proper decorum.”

“That means he doesn’t know the rules.” The martial artist provided when the younger kid gave Wren a puzzled look.

“Oh. That’s easy. Raid Dens are usually flooded with Max Particles, so the Pokemon inside are pretty much always Dynamaxed when you find one that’s got a Pokemon living in it. It’s not a good idea to fight them solo because they’re so big and so strong. So the Pokemon League actually has regulations in place and makes trainers who try battling them solo pay fines for endangering their Pokemon if they’re caught trying it, even if it’s found out when they take their Pokemon to the Center for healing. Max Particles are super concentrated from Raid Dens and it’s really easy to tell when that’s happened.” The kid began to explain.

“Because of that, the League regulates that wild Pokemon found in raid dens are only to be battled in groups of four. That way each trainer and their Pokemon has multiple sets of eyes on everyone else for safety’s sake. They also tend to have Rotom Drones watching the Wild Areas and monitoring the Dyna Beacons, the towers of light that come out of inhabited dens, which are usually called “active” dens.” The Martial Artist continued. “So they’ll know if anyone tries battling an active den and they’ll know when one’s been dealt with.”

“Any particular reason for all the monitoring?” Wren asked, trying to absorb all the information.

“Dynamax Pokemon are really strong. If they leave the dens and attack a city or anything, they can cause a lot of damage, fast. So the League has to keep an eye on them and make sure to stop them if any get too close.” The kid answered.

“Got it. Anything else?” Wren responded.

“Two things.” Came a third voice, an elderly woman from the sound of it. “Each trainer is only allowed to use one Pokemon and the battles must be concluded in under 5 minutes. The Max Particles active dens are awash with are almost always building up so battling inside them becomes dangerous beyond that. Oftentimes, the energy builds up enough that it simply erupts, much like a geyser and the hot water from it, and it will blow trainers and their Pokemon back out of the dens at that point, risking injury to all parties.” The elderly trainer explained. “The Dyna Beacons you see dotting the skyline are the results of those geysers.”

“There’s actually a third thing.” The kid spoke up again. “That same buildup up Max Particles gives wild Dynamax Pokemon this weird shell, sometimes, that can block damage from attacks. You have to hit them really hard to break through them when that happens but you’ve got some time before they form again so you should be able to defeat the Pokemon before it happens again. Besides that, it’s just not a good idea to keep battling if everyone’s Pokemon has fainted or if the same one goes down multiple times.”

“Multiple times?” Wren asked, confused by that more than anything else.

“Oh, yeah. Max Particles are really good at revitalizing a downed Pokemon when it goes back to its Pokeball inside an active den so if yours gets knocked out, hang around and just cheer the rest of your group on for about a minute and your Pokemon will be back in fighting shape again.” The Martial Artist answered.

“Anyway. That’s everything you need to know to take on a raid den. You’ll be our fourth person if you still feel up to it.” The kid finally concluded. “Oh, by the way, I’m Lee!” He introduced himself properly.

“Don’t laugh… Marshall Art.” The martial artist replied, covering his face as he said it. “Just call me Art.”

“Vidalia.” The old woman nodded in greeting. “And you would be Wren if I heard correctly, is that right?”

“That’s right.” Wren affirmed.

“Well, Wren. Let’s go do this!” Lee cheered, running over to the Pokemon den Wren had somehow failed to see through the trees. And somehow was certainly the most accurate way he could think to say it considering the den was spewing a massive pillar of purple-tinged light with energy swirling around it as it climbed skyward.

“How the hell did I miss that?!” Wren asked himself as he walked toward the den. Ahead of him, Lee, Art and Vidalia carefully lifted themselves over the stone circle and dropped down into the den. Following their lead, Wren did the same, dropping himself down into a short, dark tunnel with a deep red light shining at the other end. The other three trainers had already made their way into whatever lay within that light by the time Wren had made it, finding the three of them with Pokeballs in hand, looking at at an absolutely colossal and rather overweight-looking Pikachu with its tail almost turned into electricity itself coated in red light and with thick crimson clouds swirling around the tip of the tail.

“Is that what Dynamax looks like?” Wren asked as he made his way into the massive cave the Pikachu was sitting in.

“Gigantamax, actually. Same thing, really, but only a handful of Pokemon do it. Their appearance changes and they can use Max Particles to power a move that’s unique to their species when they’re in that form.” Vidalia replied, her voice raised to speak over the roar of wind kicked up by the raging Max Particles. After she answered Wren’s question, she threw out her Pokeball and released a Clefable.

“Watch out for its G-Max Volt Crash. It pretty much always paralyzes if it hits and it pretty much always will if it uses it.” Art warned, tossing out his own Pokeball as he released his Sawk.

“I got that covered!” Lee exclaimed, as he tossed out his own Pokeball, releasing a Pokemon Wren had never seen before: a strange little monkey-like Pokemon with massive green eyes that almost looked like they were covered by lenses with multi-colored fingers. “Grafaiai’s got it covered!”

“Alright, Manna. You’re my choice for this.” Wren announced as he pointed at the massive rodent. His Flapple hopped down from where she’d been perched on his head and watching ever since he got pulled through the trees, flapping closer to be ready to battle.

“You seem to have a plan, Lee. Why don’t you take the lead?” Art offered.

“On it. Grafaiai! Use Doodle!” Lee called to his partner. The odd little monkey stuck one of its extra-long fingers in its mouth, causing Wren to shudder slightly. That was an uncomfortable sight, for sure. Even moreso when the primate pulled its finger out of its mouth, covered in a thick, gooey saliva in a bright color he couldn’t quite make out in this red light. The Pokemon proceeded to hop in front of each of their Pokemon and with a few quick movements, it managed to draw extremely accurate depictions of Pikachu on the ground with its strange, paint-like spit.

Pikachu let out a loud cry after Grafaiai’s movements drew its attention and unleashed an absolutely gargantuan thunderbolt from its tail via Max Lightning. As the thunderbolt struck the ground and surged across the battlefield toward the gathered Pokemon and trainers, the Pikachu sigils on the ground drew the lightning in and contained it. “What the-?”

“Doodle copies the target’s ability for the user and its allies in battle. Gigantamax Pokemon have rare abilities so often, it’s a pretty safe bet they do even if you don’t know for sure.” Lee explained in response to Wren’s confusion. “All our Pokemon have Lightning Rod for right now!”

“That’s good to know.” Wren muttered as the other trainers began to call for their Pokemon to attack. “Manna, use Grav Apple.” He directed his own partner.

“Sawk, use Low Kick! See if you can’t knock it down!”

“Clefable, you’re the team’s support here. Use Light Screen!”

As Clefable leaped in front of the others and waved its hands about, directing it’s energy to forge into shimmering walls of energy in front of each of them, Sawk rushed forward and took a diving leap, feet first, toward Pikachu’s feet. In the other direction, Manna flew as high up into the air as she could get and as she pooled her Grass energy together, she forged an almost-solid mass of it into an apple-shaped lump and hurled it down on the oversized Mouse Pokemon. The tiny-by-comparison apple fell in an arc from where Manna had thrown it, striking Pikachu square in its forehead, the massive Electric-type unable to even see the miniscule construct sailing through the air. Wren expected it to be brushed off entirely but for some reason, Pikachu reacted the same as it might have if it had been a normal-sized Pikachu. The apple’s impact caused the Mouse Pokemon to rear back and practically roar as it wailed in pain, distracted in the moments before Sawk’s attack connected so that the Fighting-type was able to strike it’s ankle, making the Electric-type buckle and its stance to falter for a brief instance, dropping to its knee and wincing as its own weight fell upon the joint.

As the quarter of trainers and their Pokemon regrouped, Pikachu roared once again, the Dynamax energy all around coalescing around it as it did and for a brief moment, Wren saw a shimmering crimson shell appear around the gargantuan Pokemon before a massive bolt of white energy shot down from the crimson clouds overhead. A Max Strike, as Wren would later learn. The pillar of light crashed down into the earth and as it hit, it spread out across the area, washing overt and buffeting the trainers and their Pokemon.


“Jeez. Max Strike might be Normal-type but it always hits like a runaway truck” Art remarked, as he lowerd his arms from the defensive stance he’d taken to guard himself against the pressure of the attack. “Sawk!” His partner exclaimed in agreement, doing much the same.

“We’ll be alright for now!” Vidalia assured. “Focus on breaking that shield down and we’ll take it down quick enough.” She called out, her Clefable only just getting back to its feet, having been knocked on its back when the Max Strike had hit it.

“Yeah! We’ll beat it for sure! Grafaiai, use Sludge Bomb!” Lee agreed, immediately giving his strange little monkey an order afterward.

“Clefable, use your Meteor Mash.” Vidalia called to her Fairy Pokemon.

“Sawk, use use Rock Smash! See if you can’t break its guard!”

Wren watched as the other three began to take their positions and called out to his own partner. Manna had managed to evade the pressure wave caused by Max Strike by flying higher into the air and was only just coming back down. “Manna, try using Dragon Rush after Sawk hits it. Maybe we can get a harder hit?” He told the Flapple, who nodded and began to fly around a bit more erratically, trying to make herself a harder target to pin down.

Sawk rushed toward Pikachu, racing around it in an arcing path, trying to avoid rushing directly into the path of a possible counterattack, it’s fists glowing with a deep red-brown energy as it prepared to strike. Getting as close as possible before doing so, it jumped toward the huge rodent’s chest and slammed both fists into the shield before it with a stone-crushingly powerful blow. The Fighting energy imbued into its fists pierced through th shield but didn’t seem to reach Pikachu, who barely seemed to notice Sawk at all as it fell back toward the ground.

Clefable practically skipped across the battlefield after Sawk, it’s own right hand beginning to glow with silver energy as it filled it’s appendage with Steel energy and prepared to launch it’s own hopefully-devastating blow. With an almost delicate hop into the air, Clefale reared back and as it threw it’s punch, the energy exploded outward, toward Clefable’s back, launching its fist toward Pikachu with blinding speed and power. It met the Dynamax shield the same as Sawk had before it but as it did, the semi-solid shell cracked under the force of the blow. It still didn’t shatter, however. As Clefable floated gently back toward the ground, it’s body seemed to soak up the Steel energy that was left over after the attack and it’s muscles seem to pump up just a bit in response for a brief moment.

Grafaiai came next, standing back and carefully aiming it’s colorful spit into a puddle over and over again until it was able to use it’s sticky, saliva-covered hands, to bundle the gooey enzyme-rich fluid into a volatile bundle of toxins that it carefully hurled through the air at Pikachu. The blob arc’d up and over the battlefield, slamming into Pikachu’s shell, this time, the shield beginning to break apart as the poison move splattered explosively across it and began to dissolve the thing at last.

“Now, Manna!” Wren called out to his Flapple the moment he saw the shield begin to break. Manna took her chance and fluttered toward Pikachu, tucking her wings in and darting through the tiniest hole she could in the shield before cloaking herself in Dragon energy and crashing into the Pikachu’s chest. As she hit, the Mouse Pokemon buckled backward and, for a moment, Wren felt it might just faint.

Pikachu didn’t, however, the overweight-looking rodent giving a look that was somehow menacing and endearing at the once toward the Flapple before lunging at her and trying to give her a kiss. The tiny-by-comparison apple wyvern ducked, dodged and flapped madly in an attempt to evade the massive Pokemon, though it was successful after only a moment or two and managed to land a Draining Kiss that sapped nearly all of Manna’s stamina in a single shot.

“Oh dear! Clefable, use Life Dew!” Vidalia called out upon seeing Manna taking the Fairy-type blow. It would do no good, however, as Pikachu’s resurgence of energy from the attack allowed it to quickly follow up the Draining Kiss with a massive bolt of water as it executed a Max Geyser, the explosive surge of water hit the ground with extreme force and as it hit, the stream splattered in all directions. Manna, Grafaiai and Sawk were all hit, though thanks to the Light Screen from Clefable earlier, its damage was mitigated somewhat. It was still enough to knock Manna out, however, and Wren recalled her to her ball as she fell from the sky.

Clefable let out a sorrowful cry as its energy manifested into a single, highly condensed droplet of water that fell to the ground and, upon breaking upon the earth, its conscious allies found themselves reinvigorated by the immense restorative energy suffused into it.

“Keep it up, you guys! It’ll still go down if we keep fighting!” Wren called to his new friends and allies.

“We’re not giving up!” Lee called out as he look down at his wrist. It looked like he was checking a watch. “We’ve got two and a half minutes left.”

“Then we should hurry up!” Vidalia responded, looking back to Clefable again. “Use your Meteor Mash once again!” She instructed her partner.

“I agree! Sawk, use Reversal!” Art called out, pointing at Pikachu with a look of determination plastered across his face.

“Grafaiai! Why don’t you follow it up with a Cross Poison attack! Let’s see if we can’t finish this big lug off in one big push!” Lee nodded to his allies.

Wren stood to the back where he would be safe and watched as the trio of far-more-seasoned raid battling Pokemon moved together. Without Manna in the air, Grafaiai and Sawk ran toward Pikachu together with the little ape jumping into Sawk’s arms and being thrown high into the air. The Toxic Monkey Pokemon came down toward Pikachu’s chest with both hands glowing with sickly purple energy and with it’s brightly-colored saliva coating it’s fingers, crossing its arms before slashing at the gargantuan Electric-type just before Clefable bounded in from behind, blazing in with it’s cosmic Steel-type punch empowered by the last one it had used. Clefable’s fist connected in nearly the same place as Grafaiai’s slash, though it didn’t seem to be quite enough to stop the huge rodent in its place.

In response to the incoming attacks, Pikachu’s tail shone silver for a moment and as the colossal, chunky rodent was hit by the Clefable, it grabbed its tail and swung the immense appendage not unlike a metal club in an effort to swat it’s attackers away with an Iron Tail. Grafaiai and Clefable were both still falling and were easily cause by the massive tail’s wide side and easily found themselves swatted away and, unfortunately, unconscious. Their trainers recalled them both the two Pokemon landed, looking toward Art. “You and Sawk can finish it!” Lee called out in support.

“We’ve weakened it but you can delivery the final blow!” Vidalia added her own support.

“You’ve got this!” Wren called out, a sudden feeling of energy surging into the hand holding Manna’s Pokeball as he did.

Art cheered along with the others as Sawk continued its rush toward Pikachu. It had somehow managed to not make it to Pikachu yet after throwing Grafaiai, apparently looking for an opening that it had just found. Invigorated by the calls of support from its allies, Sawk took a defensive stance and, as Pikachu’s Iron Tail swept across the field toward it, it jumped into motion. Jumping into the air, it caught the tail rather than allowing itself to be hit by it, rode the Steel-coated appendage to the end of its path and before it came to a stop, jumped toward Pikachu in order to use the momentum for itself. Essentially throwing itself using the speed and force of the Gigantamax Pikachu’s own attack against it, Sawk covered the distance in only a second before slamming its fists into the Mouse Pokemon’s chest, following Grafaiai and Clefable with a third attack in almost exactly the same place. As the attack connected, what seemed to Wren to be a massive explosion suddenly went off around Pikachu and, as the smoke began to clear, the rodent was visibly shrinking.

“I’ve got it!” Lee called as he pulled out a Pokeball. Wren watched, amazed and confused at once as Dynamax energy flooded into the Pokeball, causing it to suddenly magnify in size and take on a similar glow as the shield that had formed around Pikachu earlier. Lee had to hold this new Pokeball with both hands and give it a mighty underhand pitch in order to throw it but it sailed through the air as if it weighed the same as a standard Pokeball and hit the oversized Electric-type wih ease, drawing it in and, after less time than usual(which was honestly surprising to Wren), the ball stilled and suddenly shrank to its normal size. It also stopped glowing, as did everything else inside the den, leaving the quartet now submerged in total darkness. Pulling out his SNAG, he would activate the flashlight on it and aim it around the cavern for a moment before the cave lit up properly with a soft red light. Looking around, the man would find a massive centipede with what looked to be a mustache of flames standing beside Lee.

“That was… something.” He announced as he walked over to where he could now see Art and Vidalia, both ensuring their Pokemon were recalled to their Pokeballs as Lee went to the crater the Pokeball had created when Pikachu was first caught. Once the Ball had been retrieved, the kid came back and the four began to walk toward the den entrance. “Thanks for the help, Wren. You did ok for your first time in a Raid Battle.”

“Was this your first Raid Battle?” Vidalia asked, having missed the initial reason for explaining things before they had come in.

“Yean… Sorry I wasn’t more helpful.” Wren admitted with a sheepish blush on his cheeks.

“Nonsense. You could do with a bit more work on coordination with your allies but that’s something you’ll learn to do better as you take part in more Raid Battles, if you decide to do more in the future.” Vidalia retorted. “But your Pokemon is rather strong. I’m sure its strength alone helped make up for the difference this time.”

Art nodded. “Yeah. Just try to keep and eye on what everyone else is doing and see if you can’t work with the group as a whole for now and you’ll get better at figuring things out. We didn’t really talk about a plan before this fight started, so it makes sense you wouldn’t really know what to do to work together, though.”

Lee nodded in agreement as the group walked along, his Centiskorch’s light illuminating the grin on his face. “Pikachu aren’t the strongest, even when they’re Dynamaxed so I didn’t think we’d need too much of one, really.” He admitted, stopping under the light shining in from the den’s entrance overhead at last. “Is anyone’s Pokemon still hurt?” He asked as the others gathered together in the pillar of light. Each of them released their previously knocked out Pokemon to find each full of vim and vigor.

“Looks like the Max Particles did their thing after the battle ended.” Art announced. “Sawk, think you’re feeling up to getting us out of here?” He asked of his Karate Pokemon. “Sawk!” He replied, taking a knee and putting his hands together. “You go first, Lee. You’ll be easiest.” Art stated, pointing to the youngest of the group.

Wren stayed until everyone else was out of the pit, releasing Nutmeg as Art was trying to convince him to take the aid of the Sawk to get out. “Don’t need it, my friend. Thanks for the offer, though.” He explained, thick yet springy vines coiling around his legs as he said it. He felt his feet lift slightly off the ground and pressed his weight downward, hard. With a quick squat and leap, he forced those vines to compress and used the Queen’s Heels to leap out in a single jump, his Tsareena following after him with ease.

“You’re a Channeler, too?!” Lee asked, bewildered and amazed as Wren landed on the surface, the vines of his Heels dying away as he did.

“Haha… Yeah. It wasn’t really important to the conversation earlier but I am.” Wren replied, looking back over to the den entrance to see Art recalling his Pokemon to it’s ball. “That was an eye-opening experience for me. Thank you for inviting me to assist.” He told the others as Art approached.

“We should be thanking you for helping us. We’d been looking for someone to join us for almost 20 minutes and no one else wanted to be bothered with a Pikachu.” Art responded, his voice reflecting how grateful he was, at least.

“Yeah! I really wanted to catch a Pikachu but they can be hard to find in the woods.” Lee added. “I really do appreciate the help. I finally caught my Pikachu thanks to you!”

“I agree. I came along to help my grandson catch the Pokemon he’s always wanted but I was starting to worry we wouldn’t find a fourth person.” Vidalia added from behind Lee, placing a hand on the kid’s shoulder as she stepped up beside him.

It was no trouble. I’m actually looking for a Wishing Star, myself. I hear they only ever seem to land around Galar and since I wanted to come do some research anyway, I figured this was a good chance to learn more about the Dynamax phenomenon while I was here.” Wren laughed once again. “Speaking of… Have any of you seen something called ‘Max Mushrooms’ around here? I’m not entirely sure what they look like but I’m trying to study the soil they grow in.” He explained.

“Oh, you’ll find them all over the forest. They tend to grow in shady spots under trees but you’re far more likely to find them near dens that have been active for a while than anything else.” Vidalia answered almost immediately. “I’m surprised you’re not interested in using them for Max Soup, though?”

“Oh… That’s because I’ve never heard of Max Soup before…” Wren admitted, looking around for any spots that might match Vidalia’s description of likely places the mushrooms might be found he could potentially see from here.

Art interjected here. “It’s a special kind of soup made from Max Mushrooms that can unlock the Gigantamax Factor in Pokemon that are capable of using the form but can’t for some reason or another.” He explained. “See, all Pokemon can Dynamax but Gigantamax is special. Only some Pokemon can do it and it changes their appearance, like that Pikachu we just battled. But even among species’ capable of Gigantamaxing, not all members of the species can do it automatically.” He explained.

“Your Flapple is a good example.” Vidalia jumped back in. “If you manage to find a Wishing Star, you may find that if you Dynamax it, your Flapple might just get bigger or it might change it’s form and Gigantamax, instead. There’s really no way of knowing until you see if happen.” She explained. “If it can’t Gigantamax and you want it to, though, you’ll need to feed it some Max Soup. Bring some Max Mushrooms to the Dojo here on the island and the master of the dojo can teach you how to make it. It’s a surprisingly well-kept secret so you won’t be finding it from anywhere else.” She continued, pointing in the direction of the field Wren had entered the forest from. “You might have seen it if you came in from that side of the forest.”

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t paying much attention to anything else. I was focused on my map and making sure I didn’t get lost on the way here.” Wren admitted a bit sheepishly. “I was under the impression the only building on the whole island was the train station.”

“Not quite.” Lee laughed. “There are four but three of them are the dojo and two special towers that belong to the dojo for their students to use for training so most people who come here are just wandering the wild areas to catch Pokemon and train.” He explained. “Anyway… Thanks again for your help! Maybe we can return the favor later, if you find an active den you want to battle against?”

“I’d actually enjoy battling with you three again if we get the chance. Hopefully next time I’ll be a better teammate.” Wren responded with a laugh.

“I’m sure you will Mr. Wren. You stay safe in these woods and good luck on whatever research you’re doing.” Vidalia replied, offering him a wise old woman’s joyful smile.

“Thank you. You lot stay safe as well.” Wren answered, offering a wave as the trio turned and began to walk away, seemingly all together. He had to wonder for a moment if Art was part of that family as well but he found himself back on his task quickly enough.

End Part 1

Wren picked up his SNAG as it went off, sitting at his desk back home in Lentimas Town. “Hmmm?” He hummed quietly as he read over the message he had received. Something directly from Sub it looked like. “Farm work… and a harvest festival?” He asked himself aloud, beginning to laugh as he finished reading. “And a friendly competition on top. He’s really got me pegged, doesn’t he?” He grinned to himself, setting his SNAG back down and finishing the paperwork he had been working on as quickly as possible. Once he was done, he stood, stretched thoroughly and stepped out of his home office.

“Ma, I’m heading out. I’ve got a business trip in Galar I need to take care of. I’ll be back in a few days.” He announced to his mother in the kitchen.

“Alright, dear. Stay safe out there.” Ma Briony called back as Wren left the house. He was fiddling with his SNAG as he left, signaling GRAY to send Claydol to pick him up. The team’s communal transport arrived shortly thereafter, taking the man to Snagem HQ, where he took a few minutes to ensure he had the Pokemon he felt would be most useful to him on this mission at hand, packed an overnight bag and came back in less than half an hour. “Alright Claydol, take me to Turffield, Galar. Please?” He told the Pokemon, adding the polite request afterward, fearing he sounded too demanding.

Claydol didn’t seem to react at first but after a moment, the pair disappeared. Upon arrival in Galar, Wren found himself receiving a small, awkward hug from the huge Pokemon and a smile in its many eyes. It must not be common for the poor thing to receive polite requests rather than just orders. The man made a mental note to try and always be polite rather than just nice to Claydol in the future. “Thanks so much!” He told the Psychic-type, waving to it as he walked off toward the edge of town in the distance.

Pulling out his SNAG again and looking at the map of the local area in more detail, he noticed the cluster of farms in one area, followed by spotting the spread out ranches with far more space. One in particular caught his attention, however. The name was listed on the map but when he pulled up the live satellite view, he saw the farm was growing tons of Cornn, Pumkin, Eggant, Nutpea and even Drash berries. Those were rare berries to begin with but to see them in season and help with harvesting them? He’d be stupid not to take the chance. With any luck, he might even be able to smuggle a few seeds back for Lum.

It took a few minutes to locate information on the farm. Finally, he found it to be called Bruna Hills Orchards and sighed with relief. “I thought it’d take longer than that without the farm’s name.” He muttered as he altered course to head that way. He’d be passing through town for a while to reach the farm lands and as he went, he overheard some conversation regarding the various places that would be participating in the festival. The ones that most interested him involved the client for this mission.

“I wonder if Bruna Hills will actually have anything this year?”
“Aren’t they growing those super rare berries?”
“Yeah. But they do that every year and they always look like garbage when they get to the end of the run.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. I’d really like to try some of them…”

Was this farm that bad at choosing runners? Or was it less the runner and more their Pokemon? Sub had said the farms could get nasty when competing in the run so maybe the produce was just getting the worst of the competition?

“You think Bruna Hills will actually make it to the festival? I heard they’re on their last legs this year.”
“Probably not. Poor Sally Hanson’s up to her ears in debt from what I hear.”
“If she can’t turn a profit this year, she’ll lose the farm.”

Wren froze in place. This Sally Hanson must be the farm owner. And she was at risk of losing her livelihood over this festival’s success? That was unacceptable. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he pulled out his hoverboard and jumped on, launching himself forward at speed toward his destination. He needed time he might not have if Bruna Hills Orchards was in as dire straits as the commentary he was picking up was implying.

Racing through the winding roads of Turffield, Wren wasn't just trying to find his way to the farm. He was also casing the routes for possible delays for the produce run in the near future. It didn’t take longer than an hour to find the farm itself but Wren spent two traveling the roads back and forth before he actually stopped at Bruna Hills Orchards. As he walked through the open gates, stowing his hoverboard along the way, an elderly woman approached him. “How you doing young man?” She greeted, cheerfully. “You the farmhand we hired for the weekend?”

Wren nodded. “Yeah. I wish we’d had a bit more information before I headed this way, though. The townsfolk seem to be under the impression your farm’s going under.”

The old woman laughed. “That’s ‘cause they don’t know what we actually do out here.” She waved a hand to her left and Wren looked out over a massive field of berry trees, all fully matured and burgeoning with fruit. “That’s where the money comes from.” She told him. “That don’t go to town very often.”

“Why not? Some of those berries are incredibly rare and a lot of people have never even tasted them…” Wren replied, his own mouth watering slightly at the thought of having such a chance.

The old woman laughed heartily once again. “We send ‘em some now and then but those berries are notoriously hard to cultivate. We take pride in our farm’s ability to grow them in such quantities but due to the demand for them, they usually get sent to suppliers for fine-dining restaurants. Those fancy-pants chefs in Kalos and all the major cities all over the world pay top dollar for these.” She told him, beginning to lead the way toward the farmhouse. “What we grow for local sale are the more common berries and ordinary produce you’d expect to find on most farms. This is the fall crop so we’ve got a huge pumpkin patch on the far side of the farm along with a few more gourds, different varieties of eggplants and a few other things. Nothing as fancy as the berries but they sell alright and the locals buy plenty of those.”

“I see. Do the locals not know that you don’t cultivate the berries for sale around here?” Wren asked as his guide turned away from the farmhouse now and led him further afield.

“Not really. They seem to think everything we grow is just selling here in Galar so they think we don’t do well for some reason. Might be because the rarer berries that do sell locally are the ones that don’t make the quality control check before they ship. I guess they think none of them look good since they only ever see the less pristine ones.” The old woman explained. “Now then. I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Sally!”

Wren was slightly taken aback. He’d assumed he was talking to Sally this whole time.

“Welcome back, Diedra. This the new farmhand?” Sally asked as she turned and for a moment, Wren nearly lost his breath. This woman was clearly elderly, at least as old as the other but her eyes shone like gemstones from the vigor the old woman still had. The man nodded for a moment, staring into Sally’s eyes.

“Glad to have you!” Sally greeted, throwing a hand out to grab Wren’s and giving a sturdy handshake that brought him back to his senses. Her grip was far more powerful than her age might suggest and for a moment, Wren questioned if he was wrong about how old these two were. “You’ll be helping out for the day while we finish getting everything ready for the produce run tomorrow if that’s alright.”

Wren nodded once again as his hand was released. “Fantastic!” Sally declared with a smile that revealed bright white teeth.

Wren finally had to speak up. “I’m sorry to sound so rude but… There’s no way you’re as old as you look, is there? You must be younger than I was led to believe.” He stated rather meekly.

Sally guffawed loudly. “No, kid. I’m 72 years old and worked the land since I was old enough to hold a trowel. I’m just too stubborn to get old and put my tools down. I don’t see how people think it’d rude to ask a question like that. It’s natural to indulge in curiosity sometimes. Now let’s get to work. Diedra’s got the produce run to prepare for so the two of us will be doing the tending and harvesting.” She replied, turning on her heel and leading Wren into the fields.

Diedra walked off toward the berry orchard as Wren was led to the pumpkin patch. “We’ll be startin’ here with the gourds. You know how to tell if a pumpkin’s ready for harvest, kid?” She asked as she began to walk the rows, grabbing vines here and there and hauling pumpkins of various sizes out of the leaves, up onto the raised soil in between them.

“It’s been a while since I last grew them myself but I believe so.” Wren responded, beginning to walk down the next row over from Sally.

“Good!” The old woman replied as she hauled a rather large pumpkin up by it’s stem and set it outside the leaves it had been resting in. “Let’s start by settin’ a few out for harvest and then one of us’ll walk the patch, pullin’ the good ones out while the other cuts them loose. We’ll spend less time on it if we keep tasks going all at once.” She explained. Giving a sharp whistle, a Galarian Rapidash trotted over with a large wooden cart hooked up to it, coming to rest near the middle of the patch in a wide swathe of empty soil. “Whoever’s cuttin’ can load ‘em into Mabel’s cart over here ‘til it’s full. She can help with the tougher ones, too.”

Wren nodded and began to pull pumpkins from the patch as he walked a few paces behind Sally. She hadn’t stopped moving while she talked and Wren found her dedication admirable. He tried to watch how she moved as he worked as well, hoping to pick up on her technique but her motions were so quick and fluid that it was hard to see exactly what she was doing. “Don’t fall too far behind.”

The man nodded and followed Sally as best he could, picking out the best-looking of the gourds as he walked the rows, carefully but as quickly as possible moving them to the outside of the growing rows as Sally was doing. The pair had been at it for a while before Wren noted something. Apparently Sally hadn’t caught it yet but as Wren looked back in the direction they’d come from, he noted a distinct absence of the pumpkins they’d been setting aside. “Uh… Sally?” He called, causing the elder woman to pause and look back at him.

“Hm? Somethin’ wrong?”

“Where are the pumpkins?” Wren asked, pointing back.

“Mabel, girl. You gettin’ bored back there?” Sally asked the Rapidash. Mabel whinnied and her horn glowed, a small crescent of psychic energy snapping out from it toward the pumpkin Wren had just set out before noticing the absence of the others. The smll Psychoc Cut severed the pumpkin’s stem cleanly before it was enveloped in a bright pink aura and floated toward Mabel, lifted via psychic power and placed into the cart behind her. “I’ll take that as a “‘yes’.” Sally remarked with a laugh. “Guess I shoulda known you wouldn’t just stand around and wait for the newbie to get the hang of moving at my usual speed. I suppose we’ll just focus on pulling the good ones out and you can load them up, yourself. That sound better to you, old girl?”

Mabel whinnied and stamped at the ground, clearly liking that idea far more than her doing a whole lot of nothing. Wren and Sally both laughed in response and then returned to their task, more focused on just selecting the best-looking produce they could find. It took several hours to get through it all, with Mabel using her Psychic abilities to sever the stem and collect each pumpkin as the humans selected and separated the chosen ones from the rest.

Once they were done, Wren took a moment to breath and looked around, spotting something that seemed out of place. “Uh… This one looks a little… weird?” He announced to Sally, pointing to a pumpkin with a dark, almost black “cowl” that seemed almost like an overgrowth of the stem.

“Weird? In the pumpkin patch?” Sally asked, walking over. She hadn’t even made it all the way to Wren when she saw it and laughed. “Looks like we got an imposter. They wander in, sometimes.” She realized. “We don’t generally get ones that big, though.”

“Huh?” Wren asked, confused, leaning in closer to look at it.

“Kaboo.”

“Ka…boo?”

“It’s a Pumpkaboo, kid.” Sally remarked. “A Super Size one, too, from the look of it. We usually see the Tiny and Average sized ones when they show up.”

“Oh, is that what a Pumpkaboo looks like? I’ve never seen one in person, before.” Wren remarked, looking down at the large gourd-like Pokemon.

“Pump ka… boo?” The Pumpkin mewled, opening it’s glowing eyes and looking up at Wren. It’s wing-like cowl twitched and it bristled at the man’s presence before his hands shot into the air.

“Hey, no worries big guy. I’m not a threat. I just didn’t realize you were a Pokemon.” Wren assured the Grass-type, shaking his head and showing the Pokemon he had no weapon or Pokeball in hand.

“Hey, Pumpkaboo, why don’t you hang around with the kid for the day? You guys usually find yourselves a new friend with the hired help whenever you pop up. Might as well see if you two hit it off like the rest have.” Sally suggested.

Pumpkaboo blinked at her a few times before hopping up and floating away, clearly not interested in entertaining that idea in the slightest. “Or not.” Sally remarked jovially. “I’d keep an eye out for it, kid. I’d prefer to not have to chase it away but I wasn’t kidding. I dunno why but every time one of them shows up, it makes friends with the newest hired help and they end up becoming partners after a day or two.” She told him, chuckling as the massive pumpkin Pokemon floated away.

“Interesting. I’d guess it’s something about your farm being inviting.” Wren replied with a laugh.

“I’d like to say you’re probably right but but I truly don’t know what makes them like us or our extra hands so much.” Sally replied. “Anyhow, this was the last crop to really need help, I think. Especially if Mabel’s bored and feels like helping. Why don’t you go find Diedra and see if she needs an extra set of hands getting things ready for the Run?” She was out at the barn before you showed up so she’s probably back there.”

“I’ll handle the squash and the calabash and that should be the last of it before tomorrow. They’re both pretty quick to harvest. Once I’m done, I’ll come an’ join you.” Sally stated matter-of-factly.

“Sure thing!” Wren replied, giving a salute as he did. The barn was easy enough to spot and he headed that direction after taking a moment to find it in the distance. “I was expecting to spend longer harvesting.” He remarked to himself, scratching at his chin as he walked toward the barn. “We probably would have if that Pokemon hadn’t helped out. Speaking of… GRAY, what Pokemon was that? I didn’t recognize it.”

”That would be a regional form of Rapidash native to Galar. It’s a Psychic and Fairy-type.” GRAY replied, being strangely helpful.

“Oh. That’s interesting. I really need to learn more about regional variants…”

You really should. They’re a fascinating phenomenon.” GRAY responded in agreement, some of his snark returning. ”You, at least, seem to be willing to put some work into being a productive member of the team so I suspect you would actually take the time to learn.”

Wren shook his head and sighed at that point. “Do you really think the Snagems are that lazy?”

”Have you actually seen any of them besides yourself doing any real work outside of the larger missions we do as a collective? The whole lot are bunch of layabouts.” GRAY responded, clearly frustrated. ”You have a business of your own, yes? You must understand how much it takes to keep an operation like this running.”

Wren nodded. “Yeah… you’re not wrong about that. It’s not easy or cheap to keep something as large a scale as Snagem running and Sub does charge people for sending us to help with jobs like this. I suppose that would be a big part of where our income comes from, wouldn’t it?”

”At last, someone connects the dots.” GRAY remarked with a fake cheer in his digital voice.

“I’ll see what I can do to assist with that. I’m sure I can find some way of directing funds to the team to cut some costs here… Maybe I can work something out with Lum?” Wren commented more to himself than to GRAY, which the AI seemed to catch since he didn’t respond to it.

“Kaboo?”

“Hm? You again?” Wren asked, looking up as he caught the familiar voice. The Super Size Pumpkaboo that had been hiding in the pumpkin patch was resting at the base of a berry tree he was passing and seemed to recognize him as he drew nearer to it. “You want to walk with me?” He asked of the Pumpkin Pokemon.

“Pump!” The oversized gourd of a Pokemon cheered, it’s cowl wiggling happily as it flapped like bat wings.

“Sally did say your kind tend to take a liking to the help on the farm for some reason. Any particular reason you like me?” He asked the Pumpkin Pokemon.

The Pumpkaboo tilted it’s head at him and looked at the Artifact at his hip. “Pump pump.” It cheered, poking at the gun-like form on the man’s person.

“Ah, you can feel the energy coming from my Artifact, huh?” Wren asked. “Well, I’m still learning how to use it so I can’t show you just yet but if you decide you’re curious enough to find out what it does, I’d be happy to take you with me when I leave here.” He told the not-so-small Grass-type.

“Pumpka!” Pumpkaboo cheered, wiggling it’s cowl happily. That sounded like a really fun adventure to the Pumpkin Pokemon. As a result of Wren’s piquing it’s curiosity, the Pokemon began to follow him, floating after him as he covered the remaining distance to the barn, where he found Diedra cleaning up a rather small cart.

“Hey!” Wren greeted the elder woman as he entered the building. “Sally’s finishing up the rest of the harvesting. Apparently Mabel’s feeling generous today so she’s pretty sure she can handle the rest without me.” He explained as Diedra turned to give him a confused look.

“Oh, that explains it. Mabel’s a finicky one but when she feels like offering her abilities to the harvest, she’s a right helpful old gal.” Diedra remarked with a laugh. “I assume Sally sent you to see if I needed any help finishing up for tomorra’?” She asked. “Uh… Not to pry but… is that yer Pumpkaboo?”

Wren laughed as Diedra finally caught sight of the oversized gourd Pokemon following him. “Not yet but I get the feeling it will be soon. We found it hiding in the pumpkin patch. Sally said they have a tendency to get attached to the help for reasons nobody seems to understand and told me to keep an eye out for it.” Wren explained. “It seems to have taken an interest in my Artifact so I’m fairly certain it’s gonna end up deciding to go with me when the job’s done.” He told her.

“Oh, you’re a channeler, are ye’?” Diedra asked, grabbing the large pitchfork beside her and propping herself up on it. “Well, if Pumpkaboo’s taken a liking to ya’, you use the Grass or Ghost-type. So I’m gonna guess you prefer the Grass-type since you’re on a job like this.”

“Good guess.” Wren remarked, twisting at his hip to show his Artifact to the elder woman.

“Well, well. A gun?” She asked. “That’s fairly unique for Grass Channelers. We tend to end up with things like this.” She remarked, smacking the shaft of her pitchfork’s handle. “Or some kind of living Artifact. I’ve heard of one man who had a rose of living gold as his artifact years and years ago. Supposedly he could grow precious metals as easily as plants but nobody ever knew if he was a Grass or Steel Channeler. They say his partner was a Ferrothorn so it could have been either.” She told the middle-aged Channeler, a wistful look on her face as she thought back to her youth.

“Not exactly… It’s modeled after a tufting gun. So I think it’s more for fabrication than shooting like a normal gun. “ Wren replied, pausing when Diedra said “we” and giving her pitchfork a closer look. Certainly, it looked metallic but as he focused on the energies around him, he found that the tines were made of natural material. “You’re… a Channeler as well?” He asked her.

“Damn skippy.” Diedra remarked, standing upright and spinning her pitchfork around so it’s tines faced upward. “Never had much drive for the heroism most Channelers seem to lean toward but me and Tutu been together for 40 years and spent most of our lives learning to use our Channeling for the farming life.” She explained, leaning in a bit closer and taking a closer look at his Artifact at this point. “This thing got a name? I don’t know many Channeler don’t got a name for their Artifacts. Mine’s called Bruda Mulcher.”

“Tutu must be your partner, I assume?” Wren asked, looking around, jumping slightly as he turned back to find Diedra leaned over and examining his Artifact. “I’ve just been calling her ‘Jenny’, for lack of a better name.” He admitted.

“Yep. Tutu! Come here, girl!” Diedra replied, giving a sharp whistle and calling out as if calling for a pet dog. After a moment or two, a small, quadrupedal Pokemon Wren had only seen in his Pokedex toddled out of one of the barn stalls and over to Diedra, rubbing against her legs affectionately. “Jenny, huh? I’d call it a ‘floral fallacy’ if I were the type to be using fancy words all th’ time. It’s a plant but it’s a gun but not a gun. Seems like a pretty fittin’ name for it, I feel like. But ‘Jenny’ works too if that’s what you prefer.” She laughed. Wren had to chuckle a bit at that. It always amused him how much hidden intelligence farmers often had beneath the rough front they put up.

“Tuuun!” The turtle-like Pokemon cried out happily, Diedra crouching down and giving the Pokemon some affectionate rubbing along it’s head and back.

“That’s an Appletun, isn’t it?” Wren asked. “I have a Flapple, myself. And another Applin that’s failed to evolve so far. Guess I haven’t found the right apple for him.” He remarked more to himself than Diedra.

“That he is. Tutu’s my primary partner and the only one I channel with much at all anymore.” Diedra replied, standing back up. “Our bond makes my body sturdier than it oughta be at my age and lets me grow the crops here faster than normal.”

“That would explain how you grow so many rare and particular berries.” Wren realized, recalling seeing the orchard full of berries he’d never seen growing in such quantities before.

“That it would. Now, I ain’t talked to Sally about it yet but… if ye’ can help us win the Produce Run tomorra’, I’ll see what we can do about getting ye’ regular shipments of these rare berries for a while if you like.”

“That would actually be amazing! Snagem has a botanist that’s been trying to grow some of these for our use for years and he’s never had any luck but they’re so hard to get, he’s only been able to make a few attempts.” Wren replied. “I’ll do everything I can to win but I don’t want you and Sally to get into any kind of fight over it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Sally’ll understand why I made the offer if you win. She’s sure we’re doing alright but… I don’t want us to have to stop selling to the locals. I started this farm to supply my community but they just don’t want any of what we bring except the everyday ‘normal’ stuff. I gave up trying to sell the rare stuff around her years ago.” Diedra explained.

“Well… Let’s see if we can do something about that. If you can spare it, try putting a mix of the high-quality stuff in with what you’d normally send. Maybe the local folk will be more interested if they see the high-quality produce as well?”

“I’ve tried that a’fore, kid. It don’t work.” Diedra assured him. “I’ve tried just about everything I can think of besides giving it away.”

“Wait… You’ve never given locals free samples? That’s one of the best ways to drum up sales for unusual items. People tend to be wary of spending money on things they’re unfamiliar with and most folks haven’t ever had the chance to try some of these. I have an idea.” Wren replied. “After the Produce Run is over, make sure you have a grill set up at your booth and a good cooler full of ice. I know a few recipes for some of these berries that makes some delicious treats.Three to five of any given berries you decide to sell for samples should be plenty and I’ll get everything else I’ll need before bed tonight.” He told the woman.

“You’re pretty confident these recipes of yours will make sales go up, aren’t ya?” Diedra asked. “Well, the cart just needs a bit of oil and it’s ready to go. I got everything else taken care of by now except for decorating it and Sally always wants to help with that part so if you’re sure, take the rest of the day and go get these supplies of yours. We’ll have the cart ready by the time you get back. And don’t worry about dinner. We planned to feed you for the help today, already.”

“Are you sure? I want to make sure I’m doing my part to get this job done. You two hired me-”

“For the Produce Run, mainly. Your job is to be well fed and well rested and to put up a good fight in the Run. That’s all. We appreciate the help you gave today but that’s not a part of the job, really. It’s kindness on your part as far as we’re concerned.” Diedra assured. “Now go! Make sure you’ve got everything you think you’ll need and if it pans out, we’ll pay you back whatever it costs for those supplies along with your payment for the job.” Diedra told him with a smirk. She felt certain he was blowing smoke but, at the same time, she hoped he was right. If sales were just as bad as usual this year, she intended it to be the last time they wasted produce on the locals.

Wren nodded. “Ok. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He assured Diedra, turning on his heel and nearly tripping over Pumpkaboo. The Pokemon had been so quiet during their conversation, he’d completely forgotten it had followed him in. “Oof. Sorry, buddy.” He apologized, rubbing the Pumpkin’s head affectionately as he did. “Didn’t mean to crash into you like that.”

“Pum ka.” Pumpkaboo replied, almost purring as Wren rubbed it’s head.

“You want to come with me while I go shopping?” He asked. “There might be people in town who might try to catch you, though?” He warned.

“Pumpum!” Pumpkaboo cheered, hopping in place before floating around Wren in a spiral, stopping behind him and giving a gentle bump as if to say “Go! Go!”.

“Alright! Alright! I’m going!” Wren laughed at this. Pumpkaboo was large but childish, almost like a kitten playing with its human. He began to walk at this point, catching Pumpkaboo following closely out of the corner of his eye. Once he was outside the barn, he pulled his hoverboard out of his bag and tossed it out, hopping on and taking off toward town again. Pumpkaboo stuck close behind him even as he picked up speed.

Making his way into town, Wren found the street where the harvest festival was to be held blocked off, for the most part, but the local shops were still open to foot traffic for the day, so he jumped off his hoverboard and put it away before making his way down the street. There were a number of shops selling all manner of foodstuffs already here but from the look of it, none of it was locally grown or sourced, which explained the harvest festival. It was a chance for the locals to experience the foodstuff grown in their own soil if they chose rather imported items from other regions. That made sense.

It took few hours to find everything with him being unfamiliar with the local shops but by the time he was ready to head back to the farm, he was burdened with four bags filled with herbs, spices, cream, sugar, a few packs of bacon and two small bags of rice as well as a single carton of coconut milk. Pumpkaboo was being helpful and carrying the bag with the bacon, cream and coconut milk, sporting a fairly fresh lump on it’s head as well.

~~~Ten minutes ago~~~

“Hey! Is that your Pumpkaboo?” A little boy asked, about 11 years old, from behind Wren as he was preparing to walk into the last shop on the street, looking for the coconut milk he’d failed to find anywhere else.

“Not technically, but that’s mostly because I haven’t tried to catch it yet. It’s been a rather friendly little fellow since I met it, though, so I’m probably going to be taking it home with me if it wants to go.” Wren replied, turning around just as the kid pulled a Net Ball from his pocket. Before he’d even finished speaking, the kid had thrown the ball at Pumpkaboo without even trying to battle it. The Net Ball clocked Pumpkaboo in the back of it’s head, drawing it in and dropping to the ground as Wren’s face fell.

“What the hell, kid?!” He demanded as the Net Ball shook violently.

“But you said it’s not your Pokemon…” The kid replied, looking like he might cry.

“Yeah, I said not yet but I plan to catch it before I go home if it wants to go. Do you just grab a Pokemon without any concern for what it wants when you see one?” Wren demanded picking up the Ball and popping it open as it continued to shake violently.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” The kid exclaimed, pawing at Wren’s hand as Pumpkaboo materialized from the Ball again.

“Who’s going to stop me?” Wren asked, throwing the Ball into a garbage can that happened to be nearby as he asked. “You tried to catch a Grass-type in a Pokeball designed for Water and Bug-type Pokemon with no concern for that Grass-type’s feelings. You. Don’t. Deserve. To be a trainer.” Wren growled at the kid, clearly upset with the way he had attempted to just take Pumpkaboo for himself.

Speaking of Pumpkaboo, the Pumpkin Pokemon was nor sporting a large knot on the back of its head where the Net Ball had struck and was looking very upset. Before Wren could say anything to it, it made a particularly Scary Face at the kid, reducing him to tears and sending him scurrying away, blubbering like a madman. “That could have been worse. I’m glad you decided not to try and hurt him.” Wren remarked with a small laugh. “Although, I suppose the mental scar from that might linger for a while for the poor kid but he kind of deserved it.”

~~~Present~~~

“You feeling ok? That lump’s not looking much better, yet.” Wren asked Pumpkaboo, looking back at it.

“Pumpum kaboo.” Pumpkaboo replied, looking at him tearfully. The poor thing’s head was hurting, clearly.

“Aww… I’ll put some ice on it when we get back to the farm, ok?” He assured the Pokemon with a small laugh. “I’ve gotten lumps like that, myself. They tend to hurt for a while if you don’t ice them for a bit.”

Upon returning to the farm, Wren found Sally and Diedra to have completed the remaining preparations for the Produce Run and the last of the crops to have been harvested. He also found that the two had prepared a solid meal for dinner and were just sitting down at the table to eat as he knocked on the door at the farmhouse.

“There ye’ are.” Sally exclaimed as she opened the door for him. “Diedra told me you had some ideas for ‘free samples’ to help sell the berries tomorrow? We ain’t tried that a’fore.” She remarked as Wren stepped inside.

“Yeah, she told me as much when I talked to her at the barn. I think if you show people how they can be used and let them taste dishes with the berries in them so they can see how good they can be, they’ll be more interested in purchasing. I’ve got supplies here to make three or four dishes we can easily make samples of that will help push sales a lot. I know curry’s really popular here in Galar and I happen to know a couple of dishes really similar to it that I think will work really well.” He explained. As he held up the bags. “All I need is a couple of extra berries of whatever kind you want to bring to the market tomorrow to use for the sample dishes, like I told Diedra earlier. Three to five extra of each should be more than enough, depending on how popular the samples are.”

“I think we can manage that easy enough.” Sally responded, helping Wren carry the bags into the kitchen and looking through them. “You got some interesting spices in here…” She noted. “Allspice? With berries?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s usually used for baking but one of the dishes I have in mind is kind of like a sweet Alolan curry dish using coconut cream and berries served with rice so it tastes kind of like a cobbler. Allspice works really well with it.” Wren responded, stepping toward the table. “Diedra said you had dinner covered for me today? May I?” He asked, looking over the dishes on the table.

“Oh, sure! Help yerself, kid!” Sally responded. “I’m gonna take a look at the rest of what ye’ got here, if you don’t mind.” The elder woman replied, a curious twinkle in her eye as she dug into the bags again.

“I swear no one would ever guess you’re in your 70’s.” Diedra laughed as her wife pawed through Wren’s shopping bags. “You still act just like a curious child when someone’s got you wonderin’.” She remarked, waving Wren over as she grabbed a plate and began to pile it high with the various bits that had been prepared.

As Wren took the plate, offering a thankful nod, he found a place to sit at the table and began to eat. It was delicious. He could identify a baked sweet potato, a rather good-looking mixed berry compote and what he was certain was Cornnbread but the rest he wasn’t sure what it was. But he also wasn’t about to ask unless it disagreed with him.

He found that nothing did and all but one item, a soft meat-like dish that he wasn’t entirely sure was actually edible, tasted quite good. The meat dish, he would later learn, was something called “tripe” and was something he would be actively avoiding in the future.

After dinner, he made sure anything that needed to be kept cold for tomorrow was stored properly and that Sally and Diedra knew where everything was so they could ensure it would all be accounted for when he arrived at the Harvest Festival destination. He’d found the booth space marked for their farm while out shopping so he knew where he was going after the Run was over, meaning there was nothing left to go over once that was done. “We’ll be wakin’ at sunrise, Kid. Make sure you get plenty of rest and we’ll see you in mornin’.” Sally told him as she led him back out to the barn and headed up to the loft. Wren followed. “Unfortunately, the farmhouse don’t have any extra rooms and the stablehands’ house is full up for right now. It’s still plenty warm enough at night, though, and you’ll be plenty comfortable up here for one night.” She assured as she lit a lantern hanging from the rafters. “I brought ye’ a pilla’ an’ a blanket, though.” She noted, laying both items on the floor beside the large pile of straw and spreading out one in her hands across the large pile of straw stored in the barn’s upper floor. “Ye’d be surprised how comfy this stuff is when you need a good bed. Good night, Kid. We’ll see ye’ in the mornin’.”

Wren nodded in thanks as Sally headed back down the ladder and laid his bag down, making sure his had his SNAG, Snag Machine and other assorted possessions stowed in it safely before he hung it from the rafters for safety and looked around, blowing out the lantern to find a soft, warm glow still illuminating the area. “Pumpkaboo, are you trying to hide over there?” He asked with a quiet laugh in his voice.