Pokémon A Life You Will Remember - a Pokemon Violet novelization

[BraviaryScout]

Hello everyone! BraviaryScout here to finally kick off something I've been working on for the past several months. If anyone has played the new games of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, you'll know it's a buggy mess but has among the best storylines of any game in the franchise out there! I was definitely floored by both it and the subsequent DLC "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" Being part Portuguese myself, it was pretty great to see a Pokemon game finally based off a region where a part of me is from.

As such, my current novelization of Pokemon Moon is winding down. A Hui Hou Kākou has had its final Elite Four battle chapter posted as of this first chapter being published. A Life You Will Remember takes place in the same shared universe as A Hui Hou Kākou with the timeline being roughly ten years later. Highly recommend checking my other story out, though both of these stories can be read independently of one another. As such, both stories are also part of a shared universe with Brendan's Journey & Into the Storm by jmoul18 as well as Sinnoh's Heir by NameRedacted2. Highly recommend all of those, as they are fantastic writers and good friends of mine. Like AHHK and this one; all the other stories can be read independently with some things intersecting as crossovers.

This is my take on the events of Pokemon Violet. Like with A Hui Hou Kākou; the story is going to follow the general plotline on the established events of the game. However I'm going to be taking whatever creative liberties I see fit as I go. Chapters will be a bit on the shorter side, so hopefully this can translate to smaller but more frequent updates.

I always appreciate any feedback and support you guys give. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. A big thanks to Krolikb0t for his amazing work on the cover art!
Let's dive right in.

BraviaryScout presents:​

A Life You Will Remember​

Chapter 1: Pilot​

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It was the landscape of another world. Situated in the very center of the large historic Paldea region was an area that few ventured into and fewer emerged alive.
The stories of the place passed down for generations were fascinating as far as the history books could go and there was the very possibility that many tales of both the former and the horrifying didn't receive the chance to grace the archived records.

Paldea was vast as it was mysterious; a peninsular large region that jutted out to the southwest of the continent it was situated. The defining features were many marvels of nature from rolling hills, wide grasslands, an enormous desert to the west to Glaceado; the region's highest point atop an icy summit of bitter winds, it had been the cradle of one of the oldest continuous civilizations with an incredibly rich history. Like all else in the world, it was teeming with an incredible biodiversity of the creatures known as pokemon.

The anomaly was situated in the center. Theories were cast around ever since getting around the ring of nearly impassive foothills and cliffs spanning a circular shape that was more than twenty miles in diameter was arduously difficult from steep cliffs lined with sharp rocks as if they were jaws of a gigantic mouth. Anyone who had gotten to the top of the ten thousand foot altitude peak was greeted by the sight of a thick soup of fog that spanned the entirety of the bottom as far as the eye could possibly see. There was no telling the mysteries and secrets lay at the bottom.

As the land of Paldea came to be, through unions, dissolutions, forging of an empire two millennia ago; the desolate uncharted lands that nobody recalled entering was called the Great Crater of Paldea or Gran Cráter. Around the time it had been officially dubbed as that had been when the Paldean Empire had continued its growth to the surrounding lands, islands and throughout the world. Through the rise of the Paldean Empire; the Age of Enlightenment to the Trade Wars into the modern period; the Great Crater had stood virtually untouched, unblemished in the region's center, remaining one of the few places that man dared not to venture.

There were numerous attempts to explore it. As the Age of Exploration progressed; Paldeans in the world became known for their fearlessness in journeying out to distant lands, establishing colonies in the name of their beloved empire, many had sought to go into the mysterious zone in their region's center. Gathering their best and brightest, the many emperors and empresses of Paldea funded many such expeditions to learn the secrets of the newly named Área Cero. While fascinating discoveries were made, many of the explorers who had gone never returned, with the survivors recalling outlandish hallucinations and vividly detailed experiences that were deemed as heresy in the eyes of the deeply religious aligned Paldean populace and the dynastic monarchs who ruled it with iron fists.

Though in the time of Paldeans turning their eyes and minds to much of the outside world, the mysterious Gran Cráter continued to remain an enigma for centuries, far too dangerous for the average man to enter. Still, its mysteries continued to fascinate. Fueling the people's thirst for adventure, wonder and understanding of what secrets lay within the impenetrable pit.

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"I'm sorry! This is too much for you! You must run! Seek safety! Hurry! GO!"

The lab was a scene of chaos and carnage. Klaxon alarms wailed, overhanging lights flickered in an erratic pattern. Thick layers of dust and smoke choked the interior, covering every surface in a chalky white and gray. Large heaps of twisted metal, plastic, damaged by a mixture of sharp claws and scorch marks from white hot lightning littered the tables. A massive set of ghostly blue crystals had shattered into tiny shards. It had happened so fast, the attacker again wandering from its normal territory and expressing outrage at its presence. While the Trainer and his assistant that often accompanied it were able to defuse the situation, the assailant was not to be deterred.

Protocol One and Two upheld. Protocol Three enacted.

It was not meant to be like this. The creature's attacker had shown no regard or remorse after the unexpected happened. It had no choice or urgency to move, even when its Trainer urged it to run. The human had been its longtime pokemon trainer, taking it in, caring for it, teaching it about its mysterious world and looked at it not just as something from a distant time or place to be studied, but as a dear friend.

Variables unknown. Failed. I have failed. I am the cause for failure.

It had been told…no ordered to run away as fast as possible. To escape immediately and seek safety.

Situation critical. Unable to abandon Trainer. Unable to stay due to directive issued. Conflicting directives to proceed. Blatant direct violation of established Trainer's Protocol Three. Status: Calamitous.

The serpentine creature had to willfully force itself to ignore the mounting chaos below where its attacker in the midst of launching another attack towards it before vanishing inside a tiny purple and white capsule sphere. Another passing moment and it was gone. It spread a large pair of yellow white wings, using its aft legs to launch itself up. Each one doubling as a pair of maneuvering engines that produced shimmering vortexes of invisible thrust.

Directive: Seek safety. Protocol One upheld. Protocol Two enacted. Protocol Three incomplete, currently in conflict with Protocol Two due to circumstances.

The ascent within the Gran Cráter took less than a minute, the creature's turbine devices attached making a soft, but noticeable droning roar that had still disturbed the wildlife from the bottom caves to the upper levels. Several beings turned to the source of the rare sound, seeing the small object that was distant and scanning it with a mix of both organic and artificial optical organs.

The Gran Cráter's entire perimeter was surrounded by near-impassable jagged mountain peaks that stretched almost as high as the region's famed Glaceado Mountain that had formed whenever Paldea came to be. They stretched impossibly into the sky, covered by a thick dense white fog that hung just underneath the peaks that obscured what could be seen on the other side.

Flight capabilities limited. Hadron Engine functionality 30%. Unable to abandon trainer companion, direct violation of Protocol One and Three. Unable to stay due to Protocol Two directive issued of seek safety. Conflicting directives to proceed.

Yet every instinct despite the processes had told it to run. To escape and never return to Área Cero and re-experience this whole thing all over again.

Safety from hostile threats advised. Sternum sustained extensive damage. Mobility of limb R1 impeded by 44%. Structural exoframe damage extensive. Recount of incident inconclusive. Functions impeded in location. Offensive subroutine execution failed. Error code: Sneasel.

The creature continued to rocket out of the depths of the crater, passing the open underdepths. Its mounted engines sputtered and whined, straining to keep it going.

Adjusting for wind resistance and humidity increase. Weight 240 kilograms. Trims centered and locked.

The dense cloud overhangs were quickly upon it and to anyone that would have been looking at it ascending, it was as if it had merely disappeared into the cover. The only reminder of its presence was a low roar of the jet engines.

It had no idea how long it was in the dense clouds. Winds changed rapidly, forcing it to constantly adjust its wings and pivot its aft thrusters to avoid a midair stall.

Visibility unsatisfactory, switching to instruments.

Soon enough, the fog parted and gave way to an azure sky with the sun hanging overhead.

Syncing with internet sources…Sync complete. Date: 19th of August. Time: 0655 hours. Location:..triangulating new position. Gran Cráter de Paldea. Directive unchanged by trainer. Protocol One is no longer attainable. Upholding Protocol Two. Protocol Three is no longer attainable.

Seek safety. It had to find somewhere safe. Seek safety.

Navigation functions impaired. Error code: Cabbage. Unable to follow directive "seek safety" without established "safety" destination. Status: Calamitous.

Searching databases. Match found for "safety" Luz Sur. Source: word of mouth from trainer companion and records associating Luz Sur and safety in 249 instances. Unable to set navigation course to Luz Sur. Error code: Cabbage.

Recommended action: acquire Luz Sur visually.

All of the processing occurred in nanoseconds as the creature changed its flight path and zoomed down, turning left. It accelerated in a swoop just over sweeping green fields.

Warning: flight actions exceeding current capability safety limits. Flight capabilities limited. Hadron Engine functionality 30%. Directive "seek safety" remains. Uphold action to locate "Luz Sur"

The low altitude allowed it to pass just over a rumbling herd of quadruped bovine pokemon that were moving east.

Pokemon identified: Tauros. Paldean variant. Current status docile. Avoid interaction due to records of species' possible hostility. Uphold directive "seek safety"

Though while the fields and rolling grasses teeming with other pokemon were inviting, it wasn't in its current interest at the moment.

More warnings of multiple problems continued to echo in its processing drives. As a bit in the navigation became functional for just a moment, it had realized that its own vector was este and not sur. It executed a ninety degree turn, tilting its right side down and getting a small visual on the next group of buildings. One in particular in the center stood out, still too far to discern any of its defining features.

Visual of Luz Sur acquisition possible. Continue course to determine possible destination.

It took a few more minutes of steady flying until more visible landmarks could be acquired. The creature was approaching a town that was vastly spread out along the eastern grasslands, a large windmill situated in the center.

Luz Sur match negative. Building match identified in city of Artazon. Triangulating position. Heading due east at one hundred fifteen. Course change advised to two seven zero due west.

Protocol Two upheld. Directive of seek safety remains unchanged. Locate Luz Sur.

At the lower altitude, the creature swooped low over Artazon, passing mere feet above a gigantic windmill and causing its slow and steady spinning to abruptly rotate. The few people outside on the ground only had a chance to blink and see an oddly shaped object zip right across the sky with the roar of jet engines being an only reminder.

The creature's altitude gained as it ascended once more and moved on its new heading.

Navigation functions offline. Unable to restart. Error code: Cabbage.

Location estimated. Southern Paldea. Navarro Province. Luz Sur location determined east of Cabo Poco, Navarro Province.

Adjusting orientation. Landmark sighted.

The creature's flight took it next to a larger city, multiple times bigger than the one known as Artazon. Nearly five times as many notable landmarks stood out among the different brown and tan shades of buildings in an urban sprawl that stretched over the winding canal that encircled the metro area. In the center were several taller buildings, all with unique shapes.

Its eyes scanned the mass of buildings clustered together as far as they could see. Luz Sur match negative. All landmarks match identified in city of Mesagoza. Adjust heading to one eight zero. Cabo Poco location determined.

By now, the low altitude and quick speed of the creature flying over had spotted another building of interest. Standing on top of a grand hill and visible for miles in the city was a structure with a worn gothic exterior and gigantic spires that spread out into hallways and dorms at its base. It was incredibly majestic as it was rustic.

Building identified. Known to Trainer. Source: notes and artifacts of personal value. Cannot determine exact number. Uva Academy. Trainer's former base of operations.

Adjusting heading to one eight zero. Course for Cabo Poco charted.

Now this time around, even more onlookers were hearing the mysterious noise and looking up to find the source, likely some kind of aircraft. The creature's low pass less than a hundred feet up was strong enough to kick up dust and a blast of wind that nearly took the hat off a man's head.

Warning: flight actions exceeding current capability safety limits. Flight capabilities limited. Hadron Engine functionality 30% and decreasing. Protocol Two upheld. Directive "seek safety" remains. Uphold action to locate "Luz Sur"

Flight options increase by reverting to Ultimate Form "God Mode" Offensive subroutines offline…execution failed. Error code: Sneasel.

The flyover was long gone, but the presence of a mysterious flying object was about to cause a lot of buzz. Even the air traffic control center operators had been puzzled with the blip unexpectedly entering Mesagozan airspace, circling around the north section of the city before disappearing and heading south.

Reaching the area of Cabo Poco didn't take long. As it scanned the horizon for the Luz Sur, it had spotted an object of interest out of its field of vision. When it had begun a turn to the left, there was an abrupt rumble from the engines, followed by multiple alarms.

Warning! Aft engine L2 compromised! Engine failure contained. Airspeed decreasing! Error code:.

The creature's current airspeed was still too fast. Bringing itself around; it finally settled its sight on a tall white tower with a wide brimmed observation deck and two red stripes at the base, just above a wider building on the ground. A nanosecond to search through its databases gave a ninety nine percent confirmation on the structure's shape, color and position based on images on the internet that this building was the Luz Sur.

Location confirmed. Extensive history of time spent in area. Exact amount is indeterminate.

At last. It could follow the directive it was given by the trainer that it was ordered and forced to abandon in that damned crater.

Directive: seek safety.

Complete.

Even as the creature felt a bit of satisfaction that despite its immensely weakened and impaired state, it had managed to still complete the assigned task. More processes went through its mind, wondering if the trainer companion would eventually be reunited with it.

As powerful of a being it was, the creature had been distracted long enough to ignore several other alarms that were beginning to crop up.

Warning!

WARNING!

Altitude decreasing! Stall imminent!

ALTITUDE!

Pull up!

PULL UP!

Brace for impact!

Hadron Engine functionality 22% and decreasing. Fatigue levels significantly exceeding normal limits. Energy reserves fully depleted. Reverting to emergency standby mode.

The exhaustion from the flying and the wear and tear from before was beginning to catch up at long last. Digital eyes slowly faded away and the emergency standby mode had detected its lapse in consciousness, automatically engaging the still active reverse thruster in its undamaged aft engine due to it sensing that it was still airborne. The cowling split open, redirecting airflow through the other direction of the engines while it was still in midflight to decelerate. This caused a loud roar to reverberate in the area, rolling over the sleepy town of Cabo Poco.

Under normal circumstances, it would only need to do this process for a couple of seconds to be able to glide for a smooth landing.

Not this time.

Shutting down all nonessential functions. Remaining airborne with an estimated uncontrolled drop of 15 feet. Margin of survivability with maximum favorable circumstances 56%.

The creature hit the water just before the shoreline with a loud crash, tumbling end over end in the wet sand. Most of the velocity and speed of its uncontrolled descent was cut when it broke the ocean's surface, entering into a roll that splashed everywhere, sending nearby fish pokemon scattering. The spin almost looked as if the creature was thrashing on its own agonized death throes. Only a few seconds had elapsed from the crash landing, but had felt like an eternity when it finally screeched to a bone crunching halt that left a scarring of skid marks along the sandbar right where the edge of the calm waves lapped against the beach.

Weakly raising its purple and gray head, it scanned the surroundings, having crashed in an enclosed bay that was below the ground of the Luz Sur. Nobody else was nearby, it detected no close proximity of humans or pokemon observing. Seeing that the building of interest was meters away on an above elevated cliff, the creature judged that the distance was satisfactory.

Everything was hurting, needing repairs, needing rest.

But at least it was safe.

Essential functions compromised. Hadron Engine functionality 14%. Hadron Engine unable to sustain essential functions. Directive override. Attain energy source to regain Hadron Engine functionality to restore basic essential functions.

Separated from Trainer. Reunite again? Reunite?

Shutdown initiated.

With the final command issued; the creature's sensors dialed down to the bare minimum in an effort to conserve as much energy as it could.

All it could do was hope that something would be able to give it enough aid. Or someone.

Directive: Seek safety.

Directive Status: Completed.

---

Spanish Translations:

• Este- East
• Sur - South
• Gran Cráter de Paldea- Great Crater of Paldea
• Luz- Light (Luz Surmeans "southern light" in Spanish)

Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. Plenty more to come! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav

 

[BraviaryScout]

Hello guys and bienvenidos to the next update where we're going to get a first look at our heroes. Yes heroes. I'm very pleased at the feedback I got for the pilot chapter especially since I wasn't sure how well the idea of the game's opening sequence with the 'raidon running away from Area Zero was going to go. So thank you all for letting me know you all enjoyed it even if it's a little bit cryptic at the start.

This story is going to continue the trend of using Spanish and Portuguese motifs, phrases and words as it goes along. Now my knowledge of both those is far less than that of Hawaii, so bear with me if it's a bit clunky. It's been a while since I remember what I had learned in Spanish class.
Anyways, onto the chapter.

Chapter 2: Accepted​

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An unexpected booming noise shook Juliana out of her daydream at her desk.

The young sixteen year old girl was just beginning to rub away the edges of sleep, first spurned by the sound of her father downstairs in the family kitchen turning on the coffee maker and milk frother at precisely seven in the morning. It was an indication that he would be leaving for work within the next half hour to arrive at eight. Until the noise, things had been an otherwise uneventful, relatively peaceful morning in the quaint Paldean town of Cabo Poco. The place they had called home for so long.

Juliana was a rather light sleeper, in contrast to her twin older brother in the next room over. Adrenaline and surprise had surged through her gut and she breathed out slowly to calm her rattled nerves after the sound of some sort of machine had abruptly cut out as quickly as it had started. It took a few seconds as she repeatedly reassured herself that nothing was out of the ordinary. She was still trying to wake up.

What was that?

Knowing that there was little sense in going back to sleep now that she was more awake, she slid her legs off her chair and eased her feet onto the floor to head into the bathroom she shared with her brother.

Today's the day. I think. A few minutes later she had finished to refresh herself, slipping on her newly issued Uva Academy uniform. A light gray short-sleeved polo with a white collar and a light pair of shorts that were colored in a dark violet. A matching tie was cinched underneath the collar. Admittance letters should be here any day now.

Juliana was just finishing the braid in her hair with a red clip before heading downstairs into their family kitchen and dining area. She passed the childish sign that was nailed on top of the door threshold to her room with a spelling of her full name Juliana Renata Almeida-Araújo. A glance into the next room over with a similar sign hanging over the door labeled Florian Joaquim Almeida-Araújo showed that her twin brother Florian was still sound asleep, not awakened in the slightest by the crashing noise earlier. Along the painted trim of both doors were a series of lines struck into the side by markers, followed by dates that had measured their heights as they grew up from small toddlers to their present teenage selves. She was currently an inch and a half taller than her brother, but he had yet to enter his final growth spurt that would likely put him above.

Like the rest of their house, the kitchen shared the usual rustic Paldean architecture of mixed yellow, gold and bronze colorations, combined with vibrant reds and greens to give it a warm and vivid appeal. A couple of elegant and simple paintings in a few colors were mounted on the wall. The house's air conditioning unit softly clicked on, providing a cool waft compared to the warmer humid and salty air outside. It wasn't the largest or the most modern house in the vacation getaway town of Cabo Poco, but it had been their same home for as long as she could remember.

"Buenos dias Jules." Her father sat at the dining table and had glanced up when he sensed her presence, his favorite brown porcelain mug full of the usual café con leche at his lips. His daughter was nearly a splitting image of him; clear skin that was ever slightly tanned, amber brown eye, chocolate colored hair and the same angular jaw structure. He wiped his finely trimmed mustache and took a bite of toasted fresh bread that was topped with a slice of cheese. His other slice was sitting on a plate, instead spread with dark berry jam. Behind him was a rather large brown pokemon with a yellow tuft of fur that lined the back of his head. The gumshoos growled happily at her before returning to wolfing down its own bowl of pokefeed.

A familiar chime sounded from his datapad played the morning news before she could greet her father. Juliana played little attention to it until the plucky voice of the famous Mesagoza reporter carried through the airwaves.

"With Mesagoza Civil News, I'm Jisu Calerondo coming to you live. Residents of Mesagoza reported an unexpected loud and fast object accelerating over the cityscape early this morning before turning south with similar claims at Artazon just hours before. Initial belief was that this was a test flight for a military or new supersonic aircraft. The flying object temporarily caused a noise disturbance in local residential areas and a brief ground stop at Balthazar International Airport. A spokesperson for the Paldean Ministry of War has said that no aircraft of that capability were scheduled for any flights over the city area today. The Ministry of Aviation has opened an inquiry into the matter of what appeared to be a purple dragon-like pokemon and asks that any eyewitnesses to please contact the local police station to give statements. Mesagoza Civil News will provide updates when they become available. This is Jisu Calerondo signing off."

She stopped hearing the report. Could that have been the loud noise from this morning? Like over here?

"Buenos dias Papá." Juliana kissed his cheek. She didn't care for her formal first name and eventually the shortened variant "Jules" had stuck by her brother and parents since childhood. "I thought you and Hector were leaving already."

"Later." Gustavo Angeles Almeida-Araújo waved a hand towards the desk drawer where he kept his detective badge and service pistol. "There's no way I'm going to be at the station to do paperwork when we still have to see your mother off. Or with you two supposedly starting school."

Right. That is today. Jules glanced at the entrance of the house where a pair of enormous blue and gray camouflage pattern duffel bags lay.

Their mother was a ranked officer in the Paldean Navy. Better known as the Armada, it was one of the oldest waterborne organized military forces in the world dating back to the rise of the nation as its older empires centuries ago. Today was the day she would be leaving for her ship to participate in a pre-planned set of annual wargame exercises with the navies of the neighboring nations Kalos and Galar.

"And look at you! Already in your new uniform and ready for your first day at your new school!" He finished off his toast and drained the last of the coffee before going over to the desk drawer to retrieve his detective badge and gun. Inside was also a pack of his favorite cigars that came from the region's westerly Pinhiero Province.

"Where's your brother?" Jules saw him lock it once more. Gustavo took great care in keeping the weapon restricted to necessary access only and both she and her brother knew all the basics and rules.

"He's still asleep." She wrinkled her nose, but moved over to the kitchen counter to start making herself breakfast. "I think he was up for a good portion of the night playing video games."

Her father chuckled. "Sounds like him. Won't be able to do that much longer now that school is right around the corner. And I'm not surprised that the noise from earlier this morning didn't come close to waking him up."

Jules almost laughed at that. Unlike her; Florian could probably sleep through their mother's military live fire exercises without any issue.

"Your mother's going to be leaving soon." Gustavo told her. "Why don't you go and check the mail before you wake him?"

Jules thought that was a good idea. She pecked her father on the cheek, snagged the keys from the basket where they were always kept and gave Hector a friendly scratch on the top of his blond hair before bounding out the door. The gumshoos growled in happiness as she left outside.

The Paldean sky was a bright blue and the morning sun immediately warmed her up the moment its rays hit her skin. She nearly gasped in surprise as her foot stepped on a pebble and hit warm cobblestone. In her haste, she had forgotten to put on some footwear.

She took a moment to marvel at the view. Their house at Cabo Poco was up on a hillside west of the main town that sprawled before them hugging the coastline. Like the interior, the slated hacienda style of the homes was a bright reddish contrast to the rolling greens behind them. On the other side of her house was a small garden and backyard that her mother worked on. It was a hobby that she had while not at sea or duty. Fresh fruits and vegetables grew perfectly in the warm climate and the view out to the ocean was absolutely breathtaking. Flocks of bird pokemon soared overhead to compliment the picturesque morning.

At least the mailbox isn't far away. With a little haste, Jules crossed the front porch and down the pathway to the mailbox erect at the edge of the street. She opened the lock with the key and leafed through the dozen letters. Each one had their address stamped in the middle;

Calle Arcega 1505

11207 Cabo Poco

Province Navarro, Paldea

Most of the mail was addressed to her parents be it bills, junk mail, qualifying offers for credit cards. None of it was really anything that caught her interest. She remembered her father and Florian joking one day that they'd make a tall pole to put a mailbox specifically designed for the never-ending stream of bills they had to pay.

Finally she got to the last two letters, the ones most recently delivered.

She stopped seeing the bushel of grapes in a purple and silver seal.

Uva Academy.

The prestigious institution was known all throughout Paldea and quite possibly the world. It drew in students within the region and abroad thousands of miles away. Ever since they were kids, it had been both her and Florian's dream to one day don the uniforms and walk the halls of the same school their parents did many years ago. They had always spoke fondly of their time there. Now it was their turn.

No. It can't be!

With haste, Jules spun on her heels and sprinted back into the house.

"Dad!" Her exuberance caught Gustavo and Hector off guard as she bounded back inside the house, practically slapping the bundle of letters at his empty breakfast plate. "Dad look! Uva Academy mailed something to us!"

"Did they now?" Her father was just slipping his badge and gun holster onto his uniform. "You better go wake your brother and see what it's all about."

Dropping the letters, Jules practically ran up the stairs into his room. Unlike hers which had posters of various vacation scenic parts of regions and Palafin the Pelagic Protector, Florian's was decorated with a mix of La Liga futbol, PalMoto Racing, some swimsuit models and a collage of famous pokemon champions. At the opposite end of a worn gaming chair was his Switch OLED console connected to the large flatscreen television mounted on the wall.

Her sixteen year old twin brother Florian was still sprawled on his back, perfectly centered in his bed. His smooth hair was the exact same shade as Jul's though much shorter with bangs covering most of his forehead. Despite him sleeping heavily; Florian seldom snored and she saw his mouth slightly open. His chest rose and fell under the covers.

"Rian." Like her and the rest of their family, Florian didn't particularly care for his formal name. In his case; while she shortened her own from the first part, he found he liked the latter half himself, which was much like their father. Jules had to agree with his reasoning that Flor sounded girly and she used it to annoy him all the time when they were younger.

Jules reached over and nudged his shoulder. "Riiiian."

It still blows my mind how he can sleep like that.

"Rian!"

The boy's brown eyes snapped open in panic and he bolted upright, stopping for a split second to realize there wasn't any danger. Jules yelped and nearly fell backwards, clearly not expecting her brother to startle her so abruptly when he awoke.

"Ay por dios! J-Jules!" He stammered, glancing down and realizing he was shirtless in the company of his own sister. He shook, covering his bare chest and finally managed to calm his nerves much quicker than her. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Don't scare you?!" She exclaimed, still startled by his reaction. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Rian blinked as if he was still trying to process everything. "Wait, what the hell are you doing in my room?" It wasn't like she was forbidden, she just didn't come often unless it was to play video games together, a hobby the two of them shared.

"We got letters for us from Uva Academy!" His sister was practically beaming, the awkward moment between them already passed, "And I think Mom is leaving today!"

Rian's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Today? Oh how could I forget?!"

I better not miss Mom leaving. And this letter might mean we're finally ready to start at Uva Academy!

"Okay, give me a few minutes. That uniform awaits!" Rian whipped off the covers as Jules turned around to practically jump with excitement out of the room. "I'll be right down!"

He was just that, skipping every other step on the staircase zipping downward while finishing up buttoning the top of his shirt. He smoothed out the last of the wrinkles, appearing in a virtually identical unisex uniform to his sister. Hector rumbled at seeing her brother and Rian pat him on the top of his head before he went to the table.

"Buenos dias Rian," their father greeted, exchanging a knowing look with Jules. He was done with his breakfast and now had begun scrolling through a laptop. "Sleep well?"

"Just fine Papà." He gave Tavo a curt hug. "Aren't you supposed to vamos?"

"Not until your mother is gone. She's going to leave shortly."

As if on cue, the door to the master bedroom opened and Gabriella Christina Almeida-Araújo stepped out. With a trim figure and her dark brown hair styled into a bun per Navy standards, she gave a strikingly sharp demeanor that would be complete once the broad brimmed white officer's hat was on top of her head.

However her softened expression at seeing her twin children betrayed this as she gave off a huge smile as she approached. Both Rian and Jules received affectionate kisses on the cheek while her husband cradled her in his arms.

"So soon," he lamented. "School right around the corner for Rian and Jules. You going off to do pretend battle with the Galarians and Kalosians. It's going to get very lonely around here with just me and Hector."

"Ah but orders are orders Tavo." She smiled up at him. "And it's just a few months. Capitán Diaz emailed me last night saying that they will be slipping our moorings early due to incoming weather."

Gustavo nodded and slipped his arms away chuckling before whispering softly. "You should have told me, Gabby. I would have made last night a little more…something memorable."

Rian and Jules took the opportunity to slip away as their mother had a sultry chuckle, not needing to pay attention to the details. Like her daughter, Gabriela kept her own name shortened with the beginning to simply; Gabby.

"Ah mi amor!" Gabby went into the kitchen after them, hugging both siblings under one arm each again. Despite her average figure at five nine, she was quite strong for her size just one inch shorter than Jules and half an inch taller than Rian. "I cannot believe how much you two are growing! The first day of your new school is coming up and I hope you are both ready for your life's next chapter!"

"We're going to miss you Mom." Rian said.

Gabby beamed at seeing both of them together in their new outfits. "You looking adecuada in your uniforms! Did Uva mail you anything yet?"

"Actually they did." Jules wriggled out of her mother's arm and went to the table where she held up the gray envelopes. The Uva seal seemed to shimmer in the sunlight that filtered through the kitchen. "We were about to open them before you got here."

"Well there is no sense in wasting any more time on it." Rian took both letters and an opener blade. He cut through the top in one swift motion and carefully unfolded the papers inside.

Dear Master Florian/Miss Juliana Almeida-Araújo,

Let me be the first to congratulate you on hereby accepting your admission into Uva Academy! This is a very high honor to have you at our esteemed facility where you will begin to take the next steps to enlighten ourself and those around you with knowledge, understanding of the Paldea region, the world and the wonderful creatures at our side known as pokemon!

Pokemon are all around us, they grow with us as partners, help us in labor and everyday tasks. I also imagine you know about how many of us use our pokemon to grow and battle one another in competition. The research of pokemon continues to this day as we continue to make new discoveries and breakthroughs. The possibilities are endless, with new species continuously being discovered!

At Uva Academy, we open the halls for students of all ages who wish to learn more about themselves, the arts and pokemon. It is our hope that once you graduate with a diploma or degree, whichever you choose, that your time in this institute was well spent in enriching yourself and the world around you!

Enclosed with this admissions letter are your student IDs, which are what you will be required to carry with you at all times while on campus and can be used to access areas permissible to you and your peers. The Uva Academy app is available to download on your Rotom Phone, should you choose to do so and your specific ID will be required to access your assigned dorm room. If you ever lose your ID or come across another student's that has been lost or stolen, please report this to the nearest staff or campus security member so we can reunite it with its owner. Also enclosed are your trainer license cards, which have been approved and activated immediately upon the opening of this letter.

School approved uniforms are mandatory while on campus public grounds during regular campus hours with the exception of the student commons areas in the academy dormitories. There are four differing garments in each uniform set depending on the season. However you are free to wear any of the seasonal uniform garments at any time of the year if you wish.

I have informed our student council president of both your arrivals and to assist you in moving into your dormitories. You are both assigned in Sector V which also falls under her resident advisory, who will present you with the dormitory Sector's rules and regulations upon arrival. With your expected arrival and orientation date, there will be one week's worth of getting accustomed to campus life and two days of Uva's Society and Club Fair Expo before class schedules are distributed based on your curriculum of choice.

Pokemon are allowed and encouraged to be out alongside their trainers in the designated areas as long as they demonstrate the appropriate behavior and follow both the height and weight limits as permissible. Students are liable for their pokemon's care and actions within campus grounds. Pokemon battles, while encouraged; are only allowed in sanctioned fights in the schoolyard. Any pokemon showing tendencies of wanton violence are strictly prohibited and their responsible trainer may be subject to disciplinary action. Large and destructive pokemon such as gyarados will not be allowed inside rooms and residential Sectors where the space required to reside is insufficient. Additional rules and policies of pokemon conduct will be in your student handbook which can be accessed in your dormitory when you arrive or downloadable on the Academy app of a RotoPhone.

Taking lessons from tradition to grow stronger and greater. It's time for you too, to dive into the world of pokemon. Paldea is a sprawling region bursting with lush nature and magnificent landscapes. It is also home to the mysterious creatures known to us as pokemon. They reside here in great numbers. Pokemon can be found living all over; in the seas, skies above us, even in our cities and towns. We humans coexist with pokemon, as we both help one another to live and thrive. Uva Academy is here to help you learn even more about these precious partners. Within these halls, people from all regions gather to study together. And as pokemon trainers, they have their pokemon to do battle and grow alongside them. While our robust curriculum of coursework helps our students draw forth their fullest potential, it is within these halls that you will find your friends, your pokemon and your true self. Myself and all the faculty and staff here at Uva Academy can't wait to welcome you with open arms!

Those who seek knowledge look no further than the grapes of Paldea.

Regards,

Director Nicolas Clavell

Rian and Jules' mouths fell open. No way!

"We got accepted?" He looked at her in disbelief.

"We finally got accepted!" She flung her arms around him, unable to contain her excitement as the siblings cheered loudly. Though they already had the uniform sets and figured it was just a prelude to the real thing, the confirmation letters had fully pushed the fact into their minds. "We did it! We got into Uva Academy!"

"I can't believe this!" Rian pumped a fist. "Yes! We did it! We actually did it!"

"Congratulations!" Both Tavo and Gabby were proudly beaming at the display from their children. "You both worked so hard to get here and we as your máma y pápa couldn't be more proud of you."

"We couldn't do it alone." Jules told them, going to both parents for a hug. "Gracias…thank you so much."

"We love you both so much and can't wait to see what you two end up doing over there." Tavo said. "But remember that being a student at Uva is a privilege and a distinct honor. Your acceptance means that other students who applied may not have gotten in themselves. Be proud that you are pupils in their halls and that the opportunities that lay before you should not be squandered."

Rian felt his father's eyes on him. He knew that his particular fondness for distractions such as video games, PalMoto and watching futbol had caused his grades to fall behind his diligent sister's on occasion.

But he knew that in order to fulfill his own dream of becoming a champion class trainer and traveling the world like his idols, he had to pay attention and study extra.

I don't want to be a dropout. Not after I worked so hard to get in.

"You got it pápa."

"Hold on a second," Jules' eyes lit up again. "If we got accepted into Uva, does that mean?"

"A pokemon?" Rian paused as well, also seeming to understand when his eyes lit up. "We're gonna get our trainer licenses?"

He reached into his envelope and drew a pair of cards, one that said "Uva Academy" stamped on the back with his student identification and a profile photo they had taken just a couple of weeks ago. The second card had the compass signet of the Paldea Pokemon League.

"I can't believe this!" Rian nearly shoved Jules in excitement. "We're gonna be trainers! And then I'm gonna train as hard as I can to become champion!"

"Woah let's slow down there." Gabby patted Rian on the shoulder. "Why don't you get the basics of pokemon battling first before you talk like you're going to own the leagues?"

"At least let me have my fun." His face fell. "I mean, guys like Brendan, Michael, Lucas and Elio did it before."

Tavo chuckled at his son's exuberance. Those were four of the champion posters in Rian's room that he had grown up idolizing. "Yes. Very true. They did indeed. And they also had to put in the effort which measured their success. Neither of those champions were gifted with the strength of a champion overnight."

"They also went and finished school." Jules smirked, joining in the fun at jabbing her brother.

Rian sighed, knowing they were right. "Yeah I know. I'm just excited."

"You should be. This is just the first step."

They were interrupted by the sound of an approaching car as it pulled next to the Almeida-Araújo's driveway. The engine shut off and they heard the muffled sound of footsteps on the cobblestone path up to their front door.

Hector slinked forward, eyes set forward sensing someone approaching.

"Stand down." Gustavo ordered his alert pokemon, knowing that it wasn't a threat. If someone were to be breaking into their home, they'd be far more inconspicuous and less revealing of their presence.

Still, the family wasn't expecting visitors.

"I wonder if it's about that loud crash?" Jules asked out loud.

Gabby checked her RotoPhone. "I've heard nothing from my CO about it yet. Couldn't be anything big, otherwise I'd know about it by now."

Knuckles rapped on the door as the family exchanged uneasy glances. After a few moments of hesitation, Tavo stepped forward and unlocked the knob, swinging the door open.

"Cuprimentos," on the other side revealed a tall slender man with white hair and wire-rimmed glasses. His firm jaw and mouth looked as if it were set in a permanent scowl, yet his posture was relaxed and nonthreatening. "I'm here to ask if this is the Almeida-Araújo residence?"

"Yes." Their mother said as everyone around had relaxed a little bit. "Who is asking?"

"Ah, pardon my straightforwardness. Do forgive the intrusion." The older man tapped his glasses and bowed his head slightly in apology. "I am Nicolas. Nicolas Clavell, Director of the Uva Academy to be specific. I have come to speak with Master Florian and Miss Juliana."

Director Nicolas Clavell was about what Rian and Jul expected. He stood nearly as tall as their six foot father with carefully groomed silver white hair and the beginnings of a trimmed beard. A dark purple jacket and pair of trousers was freshly clean, pressed and starched, complimented with a belt of six white and red premier balls. He studied the twins with sharp hawkish gray eyes as their own lit up in recognition at hearing his voice on early acceptance videos for Uva Academy.

"Greetings to both you Master Florian and Miss Juliana. I do apologize for the rather early appearance, but I have those late enrollment documents for yourselves and your parents. I was fortunately able to get both your student IDs processed and complete. You should have received them in the mail this morning."

"Óla Director." Rian was the first to step forward and clasp his offered hand in a firm grip. The older man was surprised at the strength, but allowed the ends of his lips to curl upwards in a smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Florian, but I…I like Rian better. It's what I've been called almost my whole life."

"Same. Mine's shortened to Jules." Jules followed suit to shake his hand, a little more gingerly than her brother. "We're very very excited to finally start attending Uva Academy."

"I'm glad to hear it." Clavell nodded, still thoughtfully smiling which put the family more at ease. "Rian and Jules. I'll be sure to remember that."

"Good to meet you as well Director." Both Tavo and Gabby shook his hand afterwards. "It's very thoughtful of you to come all the way over here to help both our son and daughter with their very first day!"

"Well I am responsible for the entire academy. Which does include any failures on its part."

Clavell produced a pair of folders that he had been carrying in his other arm. "So at last, here are the papers to finalize everything and I once again apologize for any delay or inconvenience it may have caused." He adjusted his glasses again. "Though it appears I did just that."

"Don't worry about intruding on us, Director. Gabby is leaving later today to go on month long exercises out to sea with the Armada." Gustavo explained. "Though since you've come all this way, can we offer you something? Tea? Café?

"I see. No need to trouble yourself on that. I shall not keep you long. However, that requires me to discuss some things with the both of you in private."

"Rian, Jules, why don't you grab your backpacks and hats while your mother and I speak to the director." Their father glanced at Clavell. "If so, I insist you please come on in and join us for a drink. Café con leche?"

"I suppose I can't refuse such a kind offer." The Director smiled again, knowing it would be rude to refuse a second insistence. He did have a discussion to make with them after all. "Please lead the way."

"C'mon," Jules poked Rian on the shoulder as their parents gestured towards the family kitchen. "Let's go get our stuff."

The twins scrambled up the stairs into their rooms. Right at their desks were two large dark nylon backpacks that they had used ever since they grew into them years ago. They had a large compartment in the front for books and a smaller secondary pocket on the back, flanked by three others on the sides for writing utensils and smaller supplies. Embroidered across the back top and a keychain on each had their shortened names of choice.

Next came the uniforms. Unlike other academies in other regions, Uva's had unisex uniforms with both male and female students having identical garments. Since it was still summer outside, they had both opted for light wear to stay cooler.

After slipping their packs on, they each grabbed a wide brimmed white sunhat with the Uva Academy seal stamped on the top.

A perfect fit. Rian set it on his head, easing it backwards so that it rested on the aft, leaving his bangs exposed. He took one long look around at his room, diligently tidied up with older action figures and other toys boxed up to be put away. The posters of famous PalMoto racers, bikini girls and pokemon champions throughout the years were still on his walls. Guys like Brendan Maple, Lucas Drake, Elio Northstar and Michael Orison; all people he had watched growing up battle their own hearts out with pokemon in epic rises to stardom. His ultimate goal.

One day…one day I'm going to be like you guys.

Rian heard Jules going down the stairs and sighed. It was probably going to be the last time in months he'd ever see his room again. He gave himself one final look in the mirror as if he could find a wrinkle on his newly steamed shirt that needed to be etched out.

"Ah, that was many years ago. When these two were barely able to walk." He heard his mother reminiscing, likely a picture that lined the family's hearth in the living room. "The Third Fleet of Hoenn was visiting Paldea and that was when I had gotten to shake the hand of the famous Admiral Drake aboard the Almirante Alvero."

He knew the picture she was talking about. Admiral Drake was formerly the final member of Hoenn's Elite Four. Though he never saw him battle live, he knew stories and videos of the historic Pokemon League battle between him and Hoenn champion Brendan Maple.

"He's lived quite the accomplished life." Clavell agrees. Both him and their parents sat on the couch sipping mugs of their father's favorite breakfast beverage and looked up when the twins approached.

"Ah magnifico!" Tavo grinned at them. "Rian looks just like myself when I was your age! The sombrero never changes!"

Clavell turned to see them and nodded in an approving agreement. "Indeed. The full uniform of our storied academy fits the both of you quite well."

Gabby had her RotoPhone out, snapping a series of quick pictures as both Rian and Jules tried not to look too flustered.

"This is so exciting!" She practically squealed. "Our babies are finally leaving the nest!"

"Mama," Jules had to restrain herself from groaning out loud. "We're going to Uva Academy, not kindergarten."

"Just put on a face for her and Dad." Rian shrugged. "She's not going to see us for a long time."

No arguments here. Jules thought to herself as she put an arm behind her brother and felt him do the same. Unlike most siblings they knew their age, the Almeida-Araújo twins were known to be very tight knit and close despite the teasing and fighting that was common among children. Jules knew that while they were on their own, she could trust him to look out for her.

She'd do the same for him.

Besides, there was bound to be new friends to be made. The thought of it filled her with excitement.

Clavell stood up just as Gabby was done snapping a dozen or so photos. No doubt one of them was going up on the family's album hearth. "Oh goodness, how very careless of me to nearly forget. I have something else for the both of you. Something very important indeed."

What could it be? Rian let go of Jules and they both stared at the director with curiosity. Even his parents seemed suddenly interested.

"However, your living room is hardly the place for it. Why don't you follow me outside?" Before anyone could ask further on it, the director strode to the front door and opened it to let himself out.

"I wonder what it could be?" Gabby asked before nodding at them. "Let's follow him outside and check it out for ourselves."

Jules was first, followed by Rian as they met up with Clavell who stood at the driveway next to a rather expensive-looking convertible car that had a sharp looking birdhood ornament on the front.

A Bentley. Rian recognized it right away. Made in Motostoke of Galar.

"Right then," The twins watched like a pair of eager fletchinders as Clavell reached into his pockets and took out three familiar sphere shaped devices. The iconic poke balls shined bright in the Paldean sun as he tossed them upwards. "Time to come out of your poke balls, you three."

No way! Both young teens' eyes went wide as the pokeballs opened in their usual clamshell manner and expanded to reveal three small pokemon creatures in a flash of light. The starter pokemon of Paldea!

"We provide each student entering the academy with a pokemon of their own. Or at least the means to catch one." The director explained to them. "I will ask that you both choose one of these three to be your partner."

Clavell gestured to the one on their left; a green feline with wide reddish eyes and tufts of darker shaded fur lining its ears and collar. "Sprigatito, the grass cat pokemon."

"Aww!" They knelt down as the pokemon yawned softly. "He's adorable!" Jules' smile was contagious and Rian was pretty sure that was most likely the one she'd be picking.

"Fuecoco, the fire croc pokemon." Clavell moved to the reddish orange crocodilian pokemon in the center which stood on two stubby hind legs. Its face and belly were a pasty white and a small tuft of orange plumage stuck out from the top of its head. Fuecoco opened its mouth to show off a couple rows of shredders in a toothy smile of its own.

That could be who I want. The fire one. Rian thought to himself. As aspiring trainers themselves, they had known about the Paldea region's three starter pokemon and there had been a slight quarrel between him and Jules from time to time as kids from which starter was better to the ones they'd end up getting to pick.

"Lastly but most certainly not least, we have the duckling pokemon, quaxly." The final pokemon was a small avian that resembled a wide-billed duck with a bluish white body and small wings. A large blue coif resembling a sailor's hat was on top of its head. Quaxly shook its head promptly and brushed it on its head with a wing.

"All of them are very good company," Clavell told them. "Why most of the time they're out at my home, they refuse to leave my side. My wife believed that she had some competition."

Rian and Jules laughed, stopping when the three small pokemon took notice of them and cautiously approached. Fuecoco was the first, followed by the other two.

The move took him by surprise. "Oh what's this? It seems that they have taken a bigger interest in you two than familiar old me."

"Hiii!" Jules' grin got even bigger as she held her arms out. Almost immediately fuecoco and quaxly ran over to nuzzle her. "My name's Jules! You two are soooo cute!"

"Hey buddy," Rian gently rubbed sprigatito on the top of the head, who purred happily in delight. "It's great to meet you. I'm Rian."

"I'm glad you all are becoming fast friends," Clavell allowed a curt smile. "I do wish I could see the one you end up picking as your partners, but I'm afraid I must be off on my next home visit. I do believe your mother is set to leave any minute. Come and find me once you've made your decision. And take your time in making a decision, this is your partner for a very long time."

"O-okay." Rian half laughed as the sprigatito nuzzled his chin with the top of its head. It looked over to Jules and leapt out of his arms towards her. Similarly it seemed that the quaxly had taken a newfound interest in the boy, leaving her and standing next to him. He smiled and picked him up in his arms.

"Until then." Clavell gave a formal bow as Tavo and Gabby walked out of the front door to join them. Their mother had her RotoPhone in her hand from snapping pictures of them greeting the pokemon. "I will be seeing you shortly. Señora Gabriela, good luck on your deployment and be safe."

"Thank you so much Director for everything." She waved back at him along with the rest of their family. "You take care now."

As Clavell got back into his car and drove down the street, giving a wave as he sped off, their parents approached and knelt down next to their kids. Hector followed his trainer, folding his hands behind his back to assume the role of protector as he scanned the neighborhood for any possible threats.

"Wow, what impressive looking pokemon and they look so fond of you both!" Tavo told them. "Have you two decided which ones you'll want?"

Rian and Jules exchanged uneasy glances. I haven't yet. I love them all and I wish I could keep them all…but that would be unfair.

"I'm not sure," Jules pursed her lips. "I want them all. But sprigatito, fuecoco and quaxly are amazing too!"

"Same." Agreeing with his sister, Rian sighed, knowing how heavy of a decision this was going to be from the Director's words. One of them was about to be his longtime partner and a historic milestone in his trainer career he had waited so long to start. "It's going to be so hard to choose and who does first."

"We could do a number of other things." She suggested, to him. "Spin a bottle, flip a coin on who gets to pick first. Maybe even like how they do it in Alola; let the pokemon pick who they want to go with?"

The last one doesn't really sound very appealing. Rian wanted to choose his pokemon, not the other way around. "I dunno about that."

"Or the way you've always done it how we've taught you." Gustavo said. "Remember?"

"Right." Being twins meant that sharing fairly was something their parents had emphasized often whether it came to turns at the arcade, toys to splitting their favorite dessert. One sibling would make the split and the other would choose first. Of course that didn't stop quarreling, but it ensured that they would make things as even and fair between them as much as possible.

But there would be no splitting of starter pokemon. Whoever picked first would have a greater variety to choose from than the other.

"We'll flip a coin." Rian finally decided. "That way neither of us can argue."

Jules nodded in agreement. Tavo reached into his pocket and gave them a hundred pokeuro coin which Rian held between his fingers. On one side was the number 100 to signify its value while on the other side were a trio of flowers.

"Heads or tails?" He asked Jules, since he was the one flipping.

"Tails."

Rian spun it in his hands onto the back of his thumb and flicked it into the air, the silver disk spun rapidly before falling down and he caught it in his fist. Slowly, he opened it to reveal the 100 number on the top. Tails.

Jules was going to pick first.

"Yes!" She smiled triumphantly and made a fist of her own. "Picking first! I love it!"

Rian nodded in agreement, still disappointed in the result, but it was a fair decision and he had to accept it. There was a chance Jules could pick the pokemon he wanted. Even though his mind had previously been set on fuecoco, the thought of having other options made him second guess himself.

Guess I'm picking second.

"I'm very glad you two are able to decide between yourselves in something like that. Your father and I have taught you well" Gabby smiled and hugged each sibling. "I know for a fact that you'll both make the right decision and be very pleased with your very own pokemon partner."

"Me too." On the other hand, Rian was just purely excited to actually get his own pokemon in general. Whether it was his choice or not.

"These three are so lovely, but the both of you have to choose only one." Tavo reminded them, glancing over at the eager looking pokemon. "Not an easy task! I don't envy you in the slightest."

Definitely not.

"Why not take the opportunity to walk about and get to know these little ones while you go and meet the Director?" He suggested, Gabby next to him nodding in agreement. "While you're out there, your mother and I have something else for you."

He let go of two thin metal objects in his hand as they automated flew over to hover in front of Rian and Jules. Their eyes went wide again, recognizing the electronic devices immediately.

"RotoPhones?"

"Si. Now that you will both be gone from home for a while, it's imperative that you find the means to speak with one another and with us." He took a second to think. "As well as any other friends and familia you might make along the way."

"This is great! Thank you!" The phones quickly floated in front of one twin to make a pinging noise before syncing their data. It took a matter of seconds to complete.

Their parents nodded and smiled. Gabby gestured down at the little starter pokemon watching them carefully. "Why not take this opportunity to walk with the pokemon? I'm sure they will have much to teach you!"

Rian and Jules nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Maybe that'll help us decide on who to pick. Okay papa, mama. Bye!"

Gustavo hugged them tightly. "I'm so proud of you both. I know you will make the right choice in whichever pokemon. The academy is very special, you're going to learn so much and make friendships there that last lifetimes." He gave a smirk. "Perhaps you will find love there too as I did."

"Papa!" Jules' face flushed red in embarrassment. It was true though; he had met their mother while they both were in attendance at Uva Academy. A photograph of when they were younger also adorned the living room where he had asked her out as a date to the Baile de Finalistas, a formal ball that took place at the school year's final week before the three month summer break.

Gustavo chuckled. "But focus on your studies and we'll be sure to wait for you in Natal-Navidad."

That was the three week-long break between midterms and the second semester in a celebrating holiday that marked the near end of the year and often spent time with families and gift exchanges. Uva Academy was no exception and students would be leaving their dorms to return to their families wherever they may be while the staff spent a couple of days after the actual holiday to prepare for the latter half of the school year.

"We will. Thank you papa." Rian did feel a bit of sadness of being away from his parents…but like Jules, the prospect of meeting new friends and being on his own excited him.

Gustavo and Gabby returned inside the house, closing the door and leaving the twins on their own. The pokemon cooed again, watching the family separate and glanced up at the two young teens with inquisitive expressions.

"Ready to go for a walk?" Jules asked her brother.

"Y-yeah." Rian exhaled a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "I can't believe it. Once they're both gone…we're actually on our own."

"It's crazy," she agreed with him. "We felt like it would be forever."

"And now it's actually happened."

Silence lapsed over the group as they began their trek down the sidewalk. The three pokemon curiously followed and gave out various cries of interest as they looked around with that same type of wondrousness of a new child exploring the world before them. Bird pokemon chirped as they flew in flocks above and in the very distance they could hear a rhythmic lull of waves crashing against the shore. A gentle breeze wafted through the area, carrying a faint salty tang of the sea.

With the pokemon in tail, the Almeida-Araújo twins stepped forward together, ready to plunge headfirst into the new adventure that beckoned and awaited them.

---

And we're off alongside our heroes on this new adventure!

But yes, it's heroes as opposed to hero. Instead of one protagonist like in A Hui Hou Kākou, this one is going to give us two protags which are both the male and female avatars of the Scarlet/Violet games. The moment I saw their official art, it screamed twin brother and sister hence which spawned this idea.

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Spanish Translations​

Adecuada - Proper

Magnifico - Magnificent

Familia - Family

Café con leche - Coffee with milk. Coffee is extremely popular in Spain as it is with much of Europe with this particular beverage using espresso and scalded milk to create a foamlike consistency at the top. A small amount of sugar or sweetener is added. Café con leche is enjoyed at any time throughout the day although it is most often drank at breakfast.

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Portuguese Translations​

Cuprimentos - Greetings

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That'll do it for this chapter! Up next we'll be having the big choice of which twin picks which starter pokemon as their very first partner! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose!

Brav

 

[BraviaryScout]

Hello guys and bienvenidos to the next update! We've got a lot to cover, including a very important character and a very important decision for both the twins to make! The original part of this third chapter was too short and my attempts to combine both this and the fourth made for an update that was too long. Found a medium that was to my liking. There's a few things that I've changed up from AHHK that I will explain at the closing AN.

Without further ado.

Chapter 3: Amigos​

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Rian and Jules had been to other places in Paldea before, but when they were far younger as kids. Each place had to have changed since they were previously there and the idea of potentially seeing something new was just as exciting as it was revisiting.

Jules giggled as the sprigatito and quaxly looked as if they were trying to race one another. The fuecoco hung back in between the two humans, glancing at each one. "They're so adorable. I'll admit that I'm having trouble picking."

"Uh huh," Next to her, Rian was only half listening as he kept up, already on his new RotoPhone to explore the new features. So far the only accessible features had been just the barebones with a phone, text message, calculator, weather and a handful of other apps that he'd make sure to check out later. Just Jules's number and that of his parents were on his contacts. He was sure that eventually that list was going to expand.

I'm sure they're all gonna be handy on a journey. Just don't get caught using the phone's calculator in math.

A soft quacking noise brought him out of his thoughts when he realized that Jules was already several steps ahead with the sprigatito and fuecoco. She was in the middle of telling stories and promising all the adventures they'd be going on in the school year.

The quaxly nudged the side of his leg and he couldn't help the giggle escaping his mouth. The pokemon's down was extremely soft and had some sort of glossy film to keep it moist as he pet it.

"My sister's the one who loves to explore and go on the adventure." Rian explained with the small duckling listening eagerly. "I just want to become the strongest trainer I can be. Be an amazing trainer who can go toe to toe with a champion in La Liga."

It was hardly much more he wanted to do. A lot of Champions were among the strong trainers walking today as well as many being incredibly rich and famous. He had already decided in school earlier that if he had the amount of money a champion did, he'd be giving enough to provide for both his parents and sister.

Not to mention all the girls that would fight each other just for your attention. If only I could have the chance to impress Le…

"Rian are you coming?!" Jules was waving and nearly at the end of the block, the sprigatito and fuecoco practically glued to her ankles. The quaxly was halfway between them and glancing back at the boy expectantly.

He shook his head and ran off to join his sister, who was shaking her head in disappointment.

"I was talking to myself for minutes before I knew you fell behind! Rian, are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm okay Jules. I promise." He sighed. "Just maybe…trying to process this whole thing still."

His sister wasn't totally buying it, but her expression softened. "Right. It's a huge step. But I don't think you can wander off into whatever you were daydreaming about again. The crowds in Mesagoza don't alto."

That was true. Compared to the small town of Cabo Poco where they grew up, Mesagoza was easily many times its size which meant a lot more people and a far different lifestyle. The urban sprawl capital and largest city in the Paldea region existed since the tenth century; Mesagoza was well-known both within and outside as a world-class metropolis with big opportunities for business, families, tourism and education. It was also the seat of the Figueiredo family, the ruling royal dynasty of Paldea for nearly a thousand years before their unexpected disappearance.

There was rumor that spending an entire month in Mesagoza doing something different every single day would not be enough to see and experience half the things it had to offer. It was about to get even more exciting.

---

It didn't take Rian or Jules very long to locate where Clavell had asked them to meet up with him again. Growing up in Cabo Poco, they knew almost the entire town by heart. They lived in the western residential area which was mixed with locals and wealthy vacationers from big cities who had winter homes with easy access to the beach and scenic ocean views from atop the higher points. Closer to town were the main streets where a lot of businesses were located as well as the preliminary school that they walked to since they were both seven. Occasionally one of their parents would drive them over, most of the time it was their father Gustavo on his way to work but also Gabriela when she wasn't on duty with the Armada.

Closest to the beach however, was a strip of nightclubs and bars that got rather lively during the evenings. Cabo Poco was a vacation town and known for having a very eccentric nightlife with parties at the said establishments that sometimes went into the wee morning hours.

At the very other end of the city, just beyond downtown Cabo Poco was the Luz Sur or literally South Light. Each of the four furthermost points of the Paldea had tall distinct lighthouses that could shine a powerful beam to approaching ships dozens of miles away. Cabo Poco didn't have a large port, so rarely anything larger than a billionaire's occasional luxury yacht ever visited. Most other marine traffic instead went to the ports of Porto Marinada or Levincia.

They took the famous Poco Path, which was a trail that went above the main part of the city and offered another breathtaking view. Parts of it had wound north heading further up the hillside where there was a sign to warn people of encountering abundant numbers of wild pokemon. Wind lightly breezed on their faces and both teens had to adjust the chin cords on their hats to keep them from getting blown off. The starter pokemon kept up, still looking and wandering around with curiosity.

Rian and Jules kept the conversation lively; showing them all about their home and where they grew up. He pointed out their favorite seafood restaurant Plato de Marde that the family would frequently eat at during comida when they were all together. She talked about all the times they had walked along the trail and pointed out all the things they could see, flocks of small wingull birds soaring on the drafts and different buildings in the town.

Both of them agreed on one thing, they had hiked the Poco Path trails hundreds and possibly thousands of times and still continued to see things that they had never seen before.

The pokemon seemed very interested and stopped to admire the view just like they had many times as they were kids.

"It's amazing huh?" Jules used the momentary pause to stop walking and they took a break. Rian unscrewed the cap of the water bottle in his backpack and took a swig, suddenly aware that it was already quite hot in the morning.

And it's a good thing we're here wearing our Academy's summer uniforms.

He nearly drained his bottle and then offered the last bit to sprigatito. The small green kitten gulped a couple, meowing happily and wiping its mouth with a small paw. There was a little left still, so he offered the rest to the quaxly who happily drank the rest. Nearby, the fuecoco was similarly happy to accept a drink from Jules's bottle.

With the break over, the twins crushed the plastic and slipped it into a pocket on the outside of their backpacks. When they came across a recycling can, they'd dispose of it there.

Their map feature on the RotoPhones showed them the location of where Clavell would meet them, just on ahead. Though they just got the new devices, Rian found them to be more like smart assistants in a jump ahead of the older technology of handheld cells. The pokemon was first discovered in the Sinnoh region as a ghost prankster that possessed electronic devices, however their use was popularized recently when they could use their services to improve machinery and daily life.

Rian led the way on his map while Jules opened the application for newsreels, scrolling through the articles for anything about a loud noise hours ago. While their father was in the loop when something eventful came up, he didn't get notified while with them. Nothing besides Jisu Calerondo's live report just a few hours earlier.

Maybe he's looking into it at work. She thought to herself.

They couldn't be the only ones wondering either.

---

Another fifteen minutes of silent walking on the upper path and shepherding the small pokemon, they made it to the next residential area. Homes in this part of the neighborhood were a little more elegant, many of which featured manicured lawns, gardens and painted metal fences. They spotted Clavell's Bentley parked in front of one such house in a stone circle drive that surrounded a big gray fountain that had to have cost thousands.

"Looks like this is the place." Jules stared at the open gates, wondering if they were going to be intercepted by someone in a security uniform if they stepped through. "I hope."

"I hope so." Rian echoed and walked past her, looking cautiously around. "It would be a shame if we went to the wrong spot to lose the pokemon."

"Uh Rian?" Her voice's concern caused him to spin around. "About that,"

Behind him, Jules was frantically looking up and down. The pokemon that had been quietly following at their side were nowhere to be seen.

Oh no. Crap! The boy's face blanched. Nonono! The Director is gonna be pissed at us! That wasn't even a joke!

His stomach dropped. Not even a few hours with them, one of which would be his; had already gone missing.

"We're gonna be in so much trouble," Jules cupped her hands to her mouth to shout for one of them when they heard the quaxly from someplace nearby.

Glancing at the opulent fountain, they spotted the little duck as it playfully splashed water around with zero care at all. Movement rippled in the garden next to it and the sprigatito emerged from behind the fountain, sniffing the brightly colored petals in the garden eagerly.

Wait, where is the fuecoco?

The wind picked up and blew several petals away towards the half bushes lining the cobblestone walkway. Moments later, she heard the pokemon in question and a blast sizzling noise as a puff of smoke curled from an orange that had fallen. The fire croc had appeared interested in it and inadvertently sneezed, blackening it to a crisp. They felt a pang of sympathy at its fallen expression in ruining a perfectly edible fruit.

There will be plenty more opportunities for food mi amigo.

"Aww! Oh hola! Bienvenidos! It's been a while yes?" A girl's voice sounded from up the stairs, hidden behind the trimmed hedges over where the fuecoco was standing. The twins saw a hand give an assuring pat to the croc's head before nudging him back towards them.

The three pokemon gathered at the bottom in front of Rian and Jules as the girl walked out from behind the hedge bushes.

Rian's mouth nearly dropped open at the sight of her. She was slightly taller with a trim, athletic frame and a poise that radiated confidence. Like the both of them, she was dressed in the standard purple Academy shorts and gray polo with the seal on the left shoulder and long dark leggings. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail with a dyed green streak in front. Light brown eyes held an open friendly expression as she smiled at them with a hand on her hip. He saw it was in something that looked to be a sleeve or an arm brace, ending in a fingerless glove. As she approached, they could see a light dusting of barely visible freckles against her caramel colored skin. He spotted a small dark piece of jewelry on a finger of the open hand without the brace. Was that a ring?

Rian. Jules glanced over at her brother and it took everything not to laugh at the dreamy look on his face. Before he or the new girl could say anything more, she stepped close to intervene and dug her elbow into the side of his hip. Look at you always being the sucker for love at first sight.

Rian nearly flinched, but snapped out of his smitten daydream and looked away.

Dios mio!

"Are you these three's trainers?" The girl asked as she bounded over to face them directly. Jules tried her best not to look shy, but at the same time the stranger's upfront exuberance made her feel a little bit uneasy. Rian shifted his feet uncomfortably, not sure if he had been caught staring.

The door to the house opened and the twins relaxed a bit, seeing the familiar figure of Director Nicolas Clavell step onto the front. He gave them a wave and started walking over.

"Ah not quite yet senorita." He put a hand to his chin in thought once reaching them. "Master Florian and Miss Juliana here have yet to make their choice, you see. I do wonder which ones they will end up picking."

The pokemon gathered in front of the people. The fuecoco took a moment longer, carrying the charred orange with it. As they stopped and glanced at the humans, it took a nibble and made a throaty gagging noise, dropping the fruit.

Both Clavell and the stranger girl chuckled as the observing quaxly shook its own head in disappointment.

"Well then." The girl started putting a confident hand on her hip and looked straight at the Almeida-Araújo twins. "Buenas! We haven't met yet, have we?"

Clavell cleared his throat. "I must say, I wasn't expecting to see either of you this soon."

Jules nodded. "Yeah, but our parents had to go and get ready for mama's deployment. They wanted to stay and watch, but couldn't."

The girl squinted her eyes at them in recognition. "Hold on a sec. Director, are they who I think they are?"

"Yes you would be correct Miss Nemona. These are brother and sister Master Florian and Miss Juliana, our academy's newest students. They'll be starting the school year as of today."

"Oh so you're the ones living on the west side of Cabo Poco! I've been dying to find out more about who I was about to take under my wing! Anyways, I'm Nemona!" The girl beamed at them again. "If you want to go for a more elaborate name, it's Nemona Valerie Ozuna-Guererro! Normally I live in the school dorms in Mesagoza, but home is here right in Cabo Poco!"

She lives here? Jules wondered. How come neither of us have seen her before?

"It's uh a pleasure to meet you." Rian cleared his throat and shook his head. "Really it is."

Jules nearly rolled her eyes, knowing the real reason behind his apparent shyness. "Don't mind my brother. He's…a little nervous when he meets new people, at least I think. I'm Juliana, but I just like it shortened to Jules. This is my brother Florian and like me, he prefers to be called Rian."

"Easy to say and easy to get along with. Love it!" Nemona exclaimed, stepping forward and offering a hand for them to shake. "So whaddya say? Wanna be friends?"

I like her. Jules enjoyed her enthusiasm as she returned the gesture. "Sure! We both do! Right brother?"

"Heh…yeah let's be friends." Rian shook her hand firmly, allowing himself to look up and smile. His sister glanced at him and tried her best not to laugh out loud.

Wow. She's really pretty. Okay, now that that's been established…stop looking and talking like you're a nervous wreck.

Nemona was about to bounce up and down with excitement. "I love your enthusiasm. Both of you! We're gonna get along just fine!"

"Miss Nemona here is the president of the Uva Academy Student Council and a champion-class trainer in her own right." Clavell explained. "She's also the residential advisor of your dorm's sector once you two move in. If you have any problems regarding your stay, you'll report them to her."

"Wait, you're the region's champion?" The words blurted right of Rian's mouth before it registered in his brain. It wasn't a far-fetched ask either, some trainers attained the region's champion when they were barely into their teens.

Nemona almost laughed. "Well yes and no. I'm a champion-class trainer, but I'm not THE champion of Paldea. Not yet at least."

Great. Rian thought to himself. Not only is she insanely strong, she's way out of my league to begin with.

"What's your major of expertise?" Jules asked her.

"Battle studies!" Her hands clasped together. "I looooove pokemon battling! In fact we should battle! Right here and now!"

Clavell chuckled, watching the exchange. "Easy now. You may share some classes together, so I'm sure you all will have a chance to battle in due time. And to get to know one another better of course."

"You'll be my classmates too?" As if her excitement couldn't get any more giddy. "That means we'll get to battle all we want! Share strategies and teach all the ropes! I can't wait!"

Jules was pretty sure this Nemona person was ticking off all the boxes in Rian's mind. Not only was she extremely pretty, but she shared her brother's ambition to become an extremely strong trainer. He wanted to become a champion and there was one standing right before him in the flesh.

"In any case, on that note. Master F…I mean Rian. Miss Jules." Clavell gestured to the pokemon before them. "Have you both decided on which pokemon you would like to be your first partner?"

Rian and Jules's heartbeats started to pick up.

It's time.

"Who's gonna pick first?" Nemona clutched her hands to her chest as she practically gushed at them. "This is so awesome! I love seeing this!"

"Jules gets to." Rian told them. "We weren't sure which one we wanted yet and our parents have told us to always make things fair between us our whole lives. Figuring the probability of a random coin flip was the best way and Jules guessed it right." He gestured to her. "So she has the right to pick first."

His sister agreed. "Yeah. The decision was fair. As fair as we could make it. I just hope that I'm not picking the one Rian really wants."

I want them all. He thought to himself. But that's not fair to the other pokemon and definitely not to Jules.

She breathed in slowly and breathed out.

This has to be hard. I imagine Rian wants all of them like I do. But I have to choose.

In a way, she felt that having the first pick between the two felt like she put more pressure on herself. More choices and options meant that there was potentially more regret and chance she made the wrong one. Her eyes furtively darted between the three Pokémon that looked up to her with equally anticipating gazes.

No, I can't think that. None of these pokemon are going to be bad choices.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm taking so long." She stammered, suddenly feeling hot from everyone's eyes on her.

"Don't be." Clavell allowed a small smile in understanding. "This isn't something you can decide on lightly. I know."

"Oh yes, trust me, it's hard." Nemona added. "But also trust when I say the payoff and rewards are absolutely worth it! You're getting a lifelong amigo here!"

"Jules it's okay." Rian patted his sister on the shoulder, trying not to look too discouraged himself. "Don't worry about me okay? I know you'll make the right choice when you pick your first pokemon."

Okay. Jules walked in front of each pokemon, slowly petting them all on the head. The fuecoco lolled its tongue out to savor the scratching sensation while the quaxly puffed out its chest proudly.

Jules stepped forward to the sprigatito. "Hey." As she reached out to pet it, the feline gently rubbed its head against her palm, purring in soft delight. She laughed at its affectionate gesture.

"That's sprigatito! A grass-type pokemon! It can use its plant powers to soak up any water you throw at it!"

"You seem to pick much like how they do in Alola. Where the pokemon has to willingly accept the trainer too." Clavell remarked.

"That was the idea." Jules replied. I want the partner that wants to be with me. She stood up and glanced at them once more. "And I've made my decision."

Her finger fell down and pointed directly at her left. "I choose sprigatito."

"Excellente!" The director nodded and produced a poke ball from his pocket, which he handed to Jules. Beside him, Nemona clapped her hands together. "A wonderful choice!"

"Hey buddy. You wanna be my first pokemon?" Jules knelt on her knees as the grass kitten slowly walked forward. She held her hands out and it bounded straight into her arms, eliciting a giggle. "Yes, we're gonna be great together!"

Rian almost breathed out a sigh of relief. Out of the starters, he was fairly certain that sprigatito was the one he wanted the least.

Should I think that? What if Jules picked the one I wanted the most and I had to feel like settling?

"You two look so adorable together!" Nemona told Jules as the sprigatito immediately rubbed its head against the girl's chin. "I know you're going places! What about a nickname? Giving him one?"

"Well of course!" Jules said. "Of course he deserves one…he is a boy right?"

Clavell nodded. "Yes, all the pokemon you see here in front of you are male. Very close friends I might add with one another. However you can inspect your trainer license on your RotoPhone's app to manage your pokemon in your team. You'll be able to see their statuses and other info which also does include gender. Any other pokemon you may catch will be automatically registered to your license, negating the need of the old days where you had to fill forms out by hand to add to a database."

Nemona scoffed. "It's a good thing we don't have to do that now."

"Right." Jules stroked the sprigatito on his back. "I have the perfect nickname for you too. Basil."

The now nicknamed Basil cocked his head to the side before giving off what seemed to be a coo of approval before snuggling close to his new trainer once again. With her free hand, Jules had her Rotom Phone out, giving off a smile to take a selfie picture. Basil seemed to enjoy the attention.

"I'd say he likes it." Rian remarked, genuinely delighted for her. "Congrats sis."

"Gracias! And now it's your turn!"

Right. He glanced at the two remaining pokemon. My turn.

In a way opposite Jules's, Rian felt like the decision was harder now that he had fewer choices. More pressure to pick the right one because of a greater chance it would be wrong.

Don't think that. Just don't. Maybe he had to do what his sister did and see which pokemon seemed to choose or want him more.

"If you did like sprigatito," Clavell cleared his throat after the boy kept his eyes shifting between his options. "I can see if,"

"No gracias Director." Rian told him. "Because of the fairness in our earlier decision between us, I'd like to make my selection of what's been given."

"Very well." He said nothing more, but found that his own personal respect for the boy had grown. The Almeida-Araújo twins reminded him very much of his own nephew and niece when they were kids themselves.

Rian reached out with one hand towards each pokemon. Like his sister, they were very excited and positive. Fuecoco's eyes were lazily half shut while the quaxly brushed its coif and eyed the boy carefully.

I…I can't. I can't decide.

"That's fuecoco! A fire-type pokemon! The burning hot sparks it scatters will fry any and all plants in a flash!"

Fuecoco was his early decision. Knowing the basics of typing, he would have the advantage over Jules if he ever battled her. But at the same time, quaxly would put him at a disadvantage instead. Through it all, he couldn't base his own decision just because of a favored mismatch against his sister. He had to go with what was right for him.

"And that's quaxly. A water-type pokemon! It may seem quiet, but its mighty streams of water can put out any fire! You'll see!"

But he did remember how the quaxly had that innate determination. While not an outgoing pokemon, it seemed more goal oriented and he felt as if their shared goal could take them farther. Maybe?

"I'm sorry," Both Jules and Nemona gasped. Rian shook and hung his head in shame, frustrated at himself for his indecisiveness. "I don't know. I'm worried that I'll be making the wrong choice."

"Rian," His sister set Basil down and walked towards him, the grass cat trotting eagerly at her side. "I'm sorry. I should have picked someone else if this was going to upset you."

"It's not that," He glanced over at her, worried about her genuine concern. Argh! Why does this have to be so hard?! "Please don't feel bad for me Jules…I see you happy and I don't want you to put that aside for me."

Nemona stepped forward to Rian's other side and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey…it's okay…it's okay if you don't feel decisive."

He refused to meet her gaze.

"Look at me."

Still looking away.

"Don't make me make you."

Wow. Okay then. Knowing she wasn't going to stop, Rian carefully turned, staring up into Nemona's light brown eyes.

"You want to know how hard it was for me to pick my very first partner years ago? It was nerve wracking. Just as hard as it is for you now. So let me give you a little piece of advice."

Okay.

"I know you were looking forward to this moment." She started, "In fact, a lot of pokemon trainers that get to pick starters feel it's among the hardest decisions they have to make. Even those champions you see at the top of their game had once started where you are at yourself at this moment. So maybe don't think about the here and now. Don't think about all those fundamentals of battling...there's going to be plenty of time for that. Think about yourself as you go across this region on all sorts of adventures, meeting new people and tons of other new pokemon. There's so much to see and do! Now which partner pokemon do you see at your side? You don't have to tell me, your sister or anyone else. Think about the things you'll do together, experience and grow…and pick from there."

Rian closed his eyes and sighed, doing what she asked.

A pokemon at my side on this journey. Try to see it.

I got it.

"Better?"

"Yes better." Rian's voice had a newfound firmness to it as he opened his eyes once more. His mind was made up as best he could and he could only hope that it was right. "And I've made my decision."

I hope I don't regret this. He pointed at his partner of choice. "I'm going to choose quaxly."

Clavell's reaction wasn't the same as Jules' surprise, but he appeared to understand how more thorough and thoughtful he had been to sway his decision. Another poke ball was taken from his belt and he handed it to Rian, who cradled it in his hands. Quaxly stepped forward carefully before tugging its white colored wings at his leg.

Rian giggled and scooped him up. "Hey there buddy. I'm sorry that I looked so worried there. Guess it's you and me."

Quaxly shook its head and used a wing to proudly smoothen out its coif as it sat on his elbow. For a small pokemon, it was a bit heavier than he expected.

"Are you going to nickname yours too?" Nemona asked.

"Yeah of course I am!" Rian hummed in thought. "Hmm,"

Shoot this might be harder than actually picking the pokemon. He did see out of the corner of his eye that the fuecoco had a rather dejected expression and he did feel a pang of regret in not choosing the one he had originally wanted.

If I chose fuecoco, what's to say that quaxly here wouldn't be bummed?

"And I got the best one." Rian saw his pokemon look at him expectantly. "How about Baron? Or more formally; Baron von Quaxly?"

The pokemon cocked its head to the side, almost the same way Basil had with Jules when she gave him his own nickname. He softly quacked and nodded, accepting it.

Nemona laughed as Clavell gave a nod of approval. "You two picked great nicknames! And they're like both a perfect fit!"

"Yes, sprigatito and quaxly have taken quite a liking to the both of you." The director said. "As your first pokemon, please treat it with love and care. And of course be sure to keep it safely tucked away in its poke ball that I have given you."

"Si Director." Rian and Jules said at the same time. "Thank you. We won't let you down."

I can't believe it. She looked down at Basil, rubbing his head against her ankle in a gesture of affection. My very own pokemon.

"Director," Nemona started. "Can I choose to take this fuecoco too?"

Huh?

Clavell was clearly not expecting to be asked that. He faced her with a frown. "Oh, I was led to believe you had received a pokemon when you first entered the Academy."

"Well not back then, I was raising other pokemon at the time. But now I think I'd like to raise a new one as Rian and Jules here grow with their own partners!"

They all watched as the Director closed his eyes, to think it over. Rian secretly hoped that he would agree, especially after seeing the distraught look in the fuecoco's eyes after both he and Jules had passed him over.

He is gonna be in good hands with a champion trainer raising him.

"Very well." Clavell finally said. As he agreed, the fuecoco growled in delight and jumped up into the air. "A splendid idea indeed. If you wish to raise a pokemon on equal footing with Master Rian and Miss Jules, then I will allow it."

"Sweet!" Nemona pumped a fist as Clavell handed her another poke ball. "Alright buddy, you're gonna have a home after all! I'm gonna call you Saeta! Welcome to the team!" Fuecoco nodded in agreement as he accepted his own nickname.

She turned around to the twins. "So now that we all have a pokemon, we HAVE to battle! I'll wait for you guys down at the beach!"

"But we do-" Rian started, but Nemona was already out of earshot, sprinting towards a flight of stairs that looked to lead down towards the sandbar. She disappeared faster than he could even get the words out of his mouth.

Don't know how to battle…now I have to face a champion trainer with a pokemon I just got?

Clavell broke the uncomfortable silence. "As you two may have noticed, Miss Nemona is quite fond of pokemon battling. But I do hope you will join her for one. It is a very good opportunity to get to know your pokemon after all."

"Oh we've noticed." Rian said.

"That sounds exciting, but neither of us know how to battle." Jules pointed out. "And we're supposed to go up against a champion ranked trainer?"

"Yes. That is true. I'll have to remind her of this fact."

"So which one of us is gonna battle her?" She asked. Basil squeaked softly and nuzzled his trainer's leg.

Jules pointed at Rian. "I think you should. You've always dreamt of having a proper battle as a trainer."

"And not you?"

"Maybe one day. Besides, I got to pick first so it's only right you get to use your pokemon in battle first."

And totally not because of other reasons.

"What do you say Baron?" Rian looked at his pokemon, who still sat diligently on his shoulder. The small duckling pokemon proudly puffed its chest out in agreement. His brand new partner. Maybe he wasn't the wrong choice after all. "Are you ready to battle and start to be the greatest trainer we can be?"

---

A lot went through Rian's mind as he and Jules walked down the circling flight of stars that led to a platform just over the sandbar. The water was even closer now and the weather was just warm enough to feel like it would be inviting for a swim. Before heading down, he had wanted to get a feel for how to return them back to their ball, done by pressing firmly down on one of two panels on the upper rim of the device's clamshell design.

Nemona was sitting on one end of the long battle court eagerly talking to Saeta, her new fuecoco. The fire croc seemed lazily paying attention, but she didn't seem to care. She rubbed it on the head and returned it back to its ball as the twins approached.

"Yes! This is gonna be so fun!" Nemona said as Rian hesitantly approached. "Your very first pokemon battle! Anyone can be a pokemon trainer as long as they have pokemon by their side! And it's our duty as trainers to help those pokemon grow stronger through battling!"

"I…I don't really know how to battle," Rian softly said.

"Oh come on, it's easy. You stand on one end of the court," Nemona gestured to the flat surface she stood on. Rian saw within the largest square there were two halves, each extending towards one side and a divided circle painted in the center. "And issue commands. As you get stronger and form bonds with your pokemon, eventually they'll be able to battle more autonomously on their own."

She gestured towards his RotoPhone and he pulled it out, scrolling to his Trainer ID as instructed.

"So when you open the standard trainer's app; you'll be able to see the status of each of your pokemon here on hand. It's got health markers that's fairly reliable and accurate; something we didn't have years ago and you'll also be able to see the list of moves your pokemon has learned."

Rian looked at Baron's ID, it showed that the quaxly was male and knew the moves pound, growl and water gun. He thumbed over each move and a separate tab popped up to indicate the move's power, typing and effects, similarly another description was available to be read on Baron's passive ability.

"Each pokemon has an ability that innately can be used." Nemona explained. "Some have abilities can become much more powerful because of it while come in handy at the right time. Keeping mind of abilities is just as important as moves and other things. Don't forget that sometimes abilities can be a hindrance as much as they are helpful!"

"Got it." Rian saw that Baron's was Torrent, which gave a power increase to water type moves when he was significantly damaged.

Interesting. I'd rather not purposefully hurt him to do that, but it's definitely a helpful little thing if we're ever on the ropes.

"So Rian. Do you think you're ready to battle me?" Nemona asked after he sorted through his phone for a couple more minutes.

"Y-yeah. I think so."

"Perfect!" Nemona pumped a fist and jumped into the air. "Then let's do it! I'm so excited! So go and take your spot over there! We'll throw out our pokemon and battle once we're both ready to start!"

Rian saw a small painted box at the end of the court's floor, guessing that was where the trainer would stand. Jules watched him walk over and slowly turn around to face Nemona standing opposite him.

"Let's have us a fruitful battle! Now I think I'm going to use-"

"Miss Nemona." They heard the stern voice of Clavell as he slowly descended the stairs where they had come down just a few minutes earlier. "Do take into account that Master Rian has become a trainer as of a few minutes ago. He is wholly inexperienced in pokemon battling."

Wait what?

On the other side, Nemona gave a wistful sigh. "Heh…that's a good call Director."

She turned back to him, "I was about to send in one of my usual partners right off the bat."

I was this close to being a dead man. Rian did his best not to let the color drain from his face. Next to Clavell, Jules nearly stifled a laugh.

"But you're right. This is probably a good chance to try out my new buddy!"

"I shall officiate the battle." Clavell stepped forward and glanced at the twins. "Should no person be present to do so, there is also an added application to all standard issue RotoPhones that can act as one itself."

He gestured his arms to both sides. "The battle between trainers Rian and Nemona is to begin. It will conclude once one sides' pokemon is incapable of battling further. One pokemon per side. Trainers, do you accept these terms?"

"Yes." Nemona said. Rian wasn't sure what to say and remained silent.

"Rian," Jules said. "You're supposed to give some sort of acknowledgement."

"Huh? Oh right. Uh si, I'm ready."

"Very good. Both parties accept. I want a fair and clean fight. Send out your pokemon. Battle begins on my signal."

"Okay Saeta, let's go and do this!" Nemona grunted, using her right hand in an awkward tossing up motion. The ball sailed off course, but split open to reveal the fire croc pokemon. He landed on the ground, acting lazy like before, but snapping to attention quickly.

"Heh," The trainer opposite him giggled in a bit of embarrassment. "Even a champion ranked trainer like myself still has a little bit of a hard time in perfecting a poke ball throw. I've even caught one of my longtime partners because I was aiming for the wrong pokemon."

The twins found themselves laughing at that. Funny how things worked.

Rian gripped Baron's poke ball in his fist. Glancing down at the device, it was made of a synthetic material that was a mixture of some plastic and metal bits, reinforced over the years due to the constant wear and tear on them. Like many trainers starting out, he knew the basics of throwing and activating at the same time, hitting the button in the center to release the pokemon from the capture matrix inside. Baron's had no scuffs or dings on its smooth surface.

"Okay Baron let's go!" He threw the ball in a sidearm pass, but like Nemona, his aim was off and it went to the left side a bit.

Okay yeah, I have to get some more practice in. That's only my very first time as a trainer.

Yet he was still successful. Baron landed on the ground deftly on his small feet and he bristled for battle, a little surprised that his opponent was his close friend that had walked with a new trainer and his sister just a half hour ago. Rian felt the ball return to his throwing hand as if it were a boomerang, nearly flinching in surprise.

Clavell chopped his hand down. "Begin."

"I know this is our first pokemon battle together, so let's just aim to have some fun!" Nemona gestured. "Saeta, tackle!"

Uh oh. Rian didn't realize that battling was going to go at this fast of a pace. "Baron, uh."

Oh no.

Before he could issue a command of his own, Saeta had charged forward on two small stubby legs and threw his entire body weight into Baron's side. The quaxly let out a cry of pain as he hurdled backwards.

"Rian!" Jules called from the side. "Your phone gives you a list of moves that Baron can use! Pick one and call it out! Communication is key!"

Communication. Right. The boy brought out his phone and quickly opened the trainer app. Baron knew pound, leer and water gun.

"Baron use pound!" Woah...that was my first move as a trainer!

Saeta was still retreating when Baron dashed forward, raising his small wings and delivering a blow that was powerful enough to send the other pokemon reeling.

"Don't let him get away with that!" Nemona said, her stance clear that she was very much into the action. "Ember!"

Woah these are faster pace than I expected!

"Baron look out! Dodge!" Rian called as Saeta opened its large mouth to shoot a small glowing ball of fire. Baron glanced up just in time and jumped to the side to avoid it. Could I even tell it to dodge if it's not even a move? "Good! Now use water gun!"

No sooner had he fully dodged when he opened his own mouth to shoot a small thin stream of water. Nemona countered with another ember attack, which hit and blocked the majority of the water, all evaporating into wisps of white steam.

"Tackle again!"

"Use pound!"

Both pokemon charged at one another, but the fuecoco was quicker in using his heavier weight to strike first. Baron got a hit in as well, but Rian could tell that he wasn't going able to last much longer.

I gotta do something.

"Water gun!"

Saeta was still somewhat close when Baron opened his bill and blasted him with another fine stream of water. The fire croc yelped in pain, a much more noticeable effect in toppling over, but it was still in the fight.

"You've been studying up Rian, smart move!" Nemona called out to him. "Water is strong against fire!"

"Go Rian!" Jules called from the sides. "You got this!"

Nemona too, was encouraging her pokemon to stand, which it did. Saeta was first; his entire body beginning to glow a crimson red as his mouth gathered up fire again to launched another ember, this one coming too quick for Baron to dodge or counter himself. The flames splashed over his down as if they were liquid of their own as it knocked the duckling back onto the ground.

No!

Rian's heart fell when he saw his first pokemon tumble backwards, spinning around to lie on his front. His eyes were shut, feathers slightly tattered and it was evident the blow had knocked him out and caused him to faint.

His heart dropped.

No…My very first battle. I lost. Water strong against fire and I still couldn't win?! Did I make a mistake on my choice?

"Baron is incapable of battling further." Clavell said with an emotionless manner, waving a hand towards Nemona's side. "Saeta is the winner, clinching the victory to champion Nemona!"

Rian saw her make a victory fist as Saeta turned around, dashing back to his trainer for praise.

As Nemona was busy exclaiming how proud she was of her pokemon winning his first battle, he didn't have any to give to his own.

But it's not like I can yell at my pokemon for losing like that. That's on me too. Still. Quaxly isn't as powerful or what?

Jules saw her brother step up to cross over the battle court while she absentmindedly scratched Basil on the back of the head as he meowed softly in concern for his own friend.

Rian gently put his arms down and cradled his pokemon. Baron started to regain consciousness and he looked up at his trainer. He could feel the disappointment. Was it aimed at him or something else?

I…I don't know what to say.

Nemona took a step forward, but was quickly stopped by Clavell, who held a hand out to prevent her from going further.

Rian didn't notice the gesture.

"It's okay buddy." He whispered softly. "It was only our first battle."

Would this mean I picked wrong?

"Here." Clavell now approached and held out an item Rian recognized as a potion. "This will fix him right up."

The boy took off the safety seal and sprayed the medicine onto the quaxly's wounds. Within moments, the small pokemon perked up and looked like its optimistic self once more.

"Rian," Nemona finally walked up, an unusually worried frown on her face. "Are you going to be okay?"

Rian swallowed as everyone looked to him expectantly.

I'll be okay. I promise.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll get over it." Despite the overwhelming embarrassment of losing his battle and tears threatening to spill over his eyes, he had to take it in stride. No sense in trying to take it back now. There would be many more battles to win and lose and he couldn't judge his entire career as a trainer just by his very first match. "I just became a trainer, so I can't be too hard on myself for not losing."

"I was worried that I crushed your spirits," Nemona said quietly. "But you weren't bad for a rookie trainer starting out! Really! You're gonna be strong for sure! I know it!"

"Uh thanks. I guess?" Saeta had walked over on his stubby legs, growling softly at Baron. The duckling pokemon patted the fuecoco's blunt snout and seemed to be in good spirits, showing no hard feelings from earlier.

"Care to try one more battle? I wanna do another strateg-"

"Miss Nemona," Clavell interrupted her with a stern voice tone that allowed no room for debate. "Master Rian is still processing his most recent defeat at your hands. And I believe his pokemon are still recovering from that last battle."

"Ay por dios," She sighed with her face falling, her upset quite apparent. "I'm sorry. I tend to get caught up when I'm excited to battle someone strong. Siento Rian. Same to your quaxly too."

He slowly nodded, feeling a bit better from her sympathy. She's actually really cute like that. "It's alright. Let's battle again soon!"

"Oh definitely!" Nemona's expression brightened once more. "We'll absolutely be battling again!"

"You three seem to become fast friends even though you just met." Clavell ushered Jules over. "Miss Nemona, can I entrust you to see our newest students under your wing? I am sure both will be learning a great deal from a Champion-class trainer such as yourself."

"You bet! Oh by the way, since you're new to training pokemon, there's an app you'll both definitely need. I'll share it from mine!"

Nemona's Rotophone whipped out of her pocket and floated in front as Rian and Jules had theirs out.

"And done!" The twins saw their screens light up as a new application was installed in the blink of an eye. "This is the pokedex app, accessible right from your Rotophone! Quite the nice advancement from those older clunky ones."

Huh. Jules opened the newly downloaded app to explore the features.

"The pokedex app will automatically record every pokemon you encounter and register any that you catch." Nemona explained. "It's a must have for all pokemon trainers! A very handy app, made by our very own Mister Jacq, who's gonna be our homeroom teacher!"

"Oh cool!" Jules grabbed her phone, "Let's check it out!"

She opened the app and set it to scan mode on Basil. Rian did the same, showing the pokemon in the front camera.

Scanning…match found. Sprigatito. Grass cat pokemon. Grass type. The sweet scent this pokemon's body gives off is mesmerizing. The scent grows stronger when this pokemon is in the sun.

The app showed the average species' height, weight and pokedex number in Paldea's official system. Additionally there was another page that showed the range of habitat where that particular pokemon could be found in the wild. Of course Sprigatito's entry showed that it had no data on its habitat range.

That's not surprising. Starter pokemon are incredibly rare to find in the wild anyways.

Additionally, the 'Dex app also had a feature that could instantly swap over to the trainer data where she could see the individual characteristics and summary of the species she had scanned.

Basil is a male and knows the moves scratch, tail whip and leafage. His ability is overgrow which increases the power of grass moves when at low health.

Rian turned the camera to Saeta. Scanning…match found. Fuecoco. Fire croc pokemon. Fire type. It lies on warm rocks and uses the heat absorbed by its square shaped scales to create fire energy. Fuecoco enjoy eating fruits and a laid back behavior.

Lastly was Baron. Like Basil and Saeta, Baron's own habitat range had no data.

Scanning…match found. Quaxly. Duckling pokemon. Water type. Its strong legs easily allow it to swim around even in fast flowing rivers. This pokemon migrated to Paldea from distant lands long ago. A thin film of water and grime repellent gel is secreted from its feathers.

Clavell chuckled while watching them. "Back in my day, we had to use ordinary pen, paper and handwritten notes to compile our pokedexes. It is quite the age we live in now."

"Filling out a pokedex by hand?" Jules asked, looking a bit horrified at such a task. "I can't even imagine how much work that would take." Behind her, both Rian and Nemona voiced similar agreements.

Clavell smiled thinly again. "Heh. No I suppose you can't. Yet no matter how much time changes, the wonders of meeting new pokemon never does. That is a truly timeless pleasure. And the more pokemon you meet, the more you'll find yourself growing and changing. I do hope you will all work towards the goal of completing your pokedexes."

"Yes sir."

"You can count on it." Jules told him.

"Very good." Clavell nodded and turned around. "Miss Nemona, I still have a few matters to continue discussing with your parents. Can I depend on you to see Master Rian and Miss Jules to Uva Academy safely?"

"Si. You can depend on it." She stood a little taller and sharply nodded in affirmation.

"Very well. Then I leave them in your capable hands." The director gave a short bow. "Until then."

"Maybe I outta make more time to work on my pokedex along with my battling." Nemona muttered to herself as Clavell climbed the stairs until he was out of sight. "Oh well. Schedule's always busy."

"So what now?" Jules asked. By then, the trainers had recalled their pokemon into their balls. Nemona had shown them that their school uniform belts included integrated clips where the backside had a set of small sockets where they could be magnetically attached at a trainer's hip. The sockets could also be customized to a wearer's preference so that an entire pokemon team could be fitted to one side.

"Now," Nemona started back the way Clavell had just left and waved an eager hand for the twins to join her. "We make our way up to Mesagoza where our Academy awaits, and I'll also show you guys on how to catch your very own pokemon! We'll do that before we head over. Vamos, come on!"

---

That wraps up this chapter! Rian and Jules have their very first pokemon and prepped to be on their way to their very first day at their new school! All seems nice, but somehow even a regular trip up isn't without an adventure or other shenanigans of their own!

Now the first major difference I'm inputting in compared to AHHK is that the twins don't have a sassy haunted PokeDex following them around. The RotoPhone is silent for the most part with a lot more functions than its predecessor. In addition, I'm also going to compile a list as well to touch base on which pokemon species that have been logged for 'Dex entries. This is more for myself than anything so that I don't end up putting in the same pokemon twice on different occasions.

---

Logged 'Dex Entries​

• Sprigatito
• Fuecoco
• Quaxly

---

Spanish Translations​

• Buenas - Hello!
• Senorita - Miss. Refers to an unmarried girl/woman.
• Amigo - Friend.
• Dios Mio! - Goodness gracious!
• Alto - Stop/Halt
• Por Dios! - For heaven's sake
• Siento - Sorry
• Vamos - Let's go!

---

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose!
Brav

 

[Adamhuarts]

Hey there. I was assigned your fic for this week’s round of Catnip so here I am. For this review I’ll be going through the first chapter and providing my thoughts.

I found it curious how the story opens with a blurb telling us about the region of Paldea and shedding a bit of light on its history. There was a couple of interesting things brought up in there such as how Paldea was born through unions and dissolutions on top of being an Empire at one point. As someone who hasn’t played Scarlet and Violet, I wonder how much said here is canon and how much of it is made up of original concepts you decided to include.

In the next scene that follows we cut to a lab falling into chaos and a trainer commanding his pokemon, one I assume to be Miraidon, to run away and seek safety. The way you described Miraidon’s computer-esque reasoning and thought process has to be my favorite part of this portion. If I’m being honest though it sorts of dragged a bit since the events of this scene can be boiled down to “Miraidon flies around and crashes on a beach”. Though to be fair we do get more than just meandering. The scene tells us Miraidon’s objective and even Luz Sur, who I assume will be the focus character in the chapter that follows this one. To that I think the scene is fine if you look at the sum of its parts.

Overall, I’d say this first chapter does what it set out to do well in introducing the reader to the narrative.

 

[BraviaryScout]

Hey there. I was assigned your fic for this week’s round of Catnip so here I am. For this review I’ll be going through the first chapter and providing my thoughts.

I found it curious how the story opens with a blurb telling us about the region of Paldea and shedding a bit of light on its history. There was a couple of interesting things brought up in there such as how Paldea was born through unions and dissolutions on top of being an Empire at one point. As someone who hasn’t played Scarlet and Violet, I wonder how much said here is canon and how much of it is made up of original concepts you decided to include.

In the next scene that follows we cut to a lab falling into chaos and a trainer commanding his pokemon, one I assume to be Miraidon, to run away and seek safety. The way you described Miraidon’s computer-esque reasoning and thought process has to be my favorite part of this portion. If I’m being honest though it sorts of dragged a bit since the events of this scene can be boiled down to “Miraidon flies around and crashes on a beach”. Though to be fair we do get more than just meandering. The scene tells us Miraidon’s objective and even Luz Sur, who I assume will be the focus character in the chapter that follows this one. To that I think the scene is fine if you look at the sum of its parts.

Overall, I’d say this first chapter does what it set out to do well in introducing the reader to the narrative.

Hey man, thanks so much for the feedback!
One of the main things I'll do when starting out is a bit of a crash course of the region's history which leads up to the events happening in the story in the present day. Only things we really know is that the Paldean Empire was established through wars, bloodshed and unions between nomadic tribes about two thousand years ago. It's about right considering Japan's Chrysanthemum throne is the longest running monarchy in history going back as far as 600 BC.

Fair enough about that on the flying scene. I wanted to give a little more to a scene that most people overlooked at the very beginning as well as what I interpreted from it. I thought that Miraidon's whole flying around while panicked and disoriented was because of its association with Luz Sur as somewhere safe like how it's frequently mentioned. The lighthouse is also where it spent a lot of time, so it serves as a familiar place as well.
Appreciate the review and feedback!

 

[BraviaryScout]

Hello guys and bienvenidos to the next update! I do apologize for the bit of tardiness on this one. That plus the final champion battle of A Hui Hou Kākou taking extra time. Trying to balance things out best I can with a hectic schedule that I have.
Anyways, onto the chapter.

Chapter 4: Fundamentals​

---

The twins found Nemona at the front gates to her manor next to their parents who had stood outside the family car.

For a moment Rian had wondered to himself if his parents were also catching on to his obvious crush on the upperclasswoman. He was still contemplating his loss and getting used to the fact he was now a trainer. Lifelong dream achieved.

I lost even with a type advantage. That's not good. Not good at all.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Jules asked him after a few minutes of silent walking. Rian was the quieter sibling of the two, but when he caught onto a subject that he enjoyed, he was a nonstop chatterbox.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "The battle I guess?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. She's a champion ranked trainer and you just battled for the first time ever."

"I know. But I got distracted. Wondering if I was making the right decisions."

His sister furrowed her brow. "Rian, what are you talking about? Like your choice of pokemon?"

"No it's not that." Dammit she knows. "Okay maybe I did choose the wrong pokemon. Like I wanted to be careful and I'm not even sure why I chose quaxly when I had my mind all but completely set on fuecoco," he let out a slight laugh, remaining a bit annoyed with himself. "I guess I was probably overthinking things."

Woah. I didn't realize it's eating at him this much. I've never seen him like this when we split stuff. Did I really mess it up for him by picking first? Jules watched him knock his temple with his knuckles. "Can't be going around doing that huh?"

She did agree that he had a point, but there was clearly more to it than what he was letting on. Allowing it to pass for now made sense.

"How come you didn't want to battle Nemona?" He asked her. It was an effort to dodge his own problem on hand.

"I don't really know either. Maybe I'm just overthinking things too. I'm just excited to have my very own pokemon." Her smile came back. "It's not like we're playing with Hector and pretend battling at recreo like we're still kids. This is really happening. We're trainers. Basil and Baron are our own pokemon now."

"I know. It's an awesome feeling and we've waited our whole lives to seize whatever opportunities we get. Whether it's being the strongest trainer in all of Paldea…or completing the pokedex…or whatever floats the boat."

"It seems like you've made up your mind already." She knew that the competitive scene was his goal.

"That's why I have to get as good as Nemona! Can't be a champion if you can't beat one."

"And estar segura that I'll be sure to look after them at Uva Academy! They are both in good hands!" Nemona beamed at their parents and put a hand on her hip. "They chose some really great pokemon and I know for a fact they'll become strong trainers!"

Standing opposite her, both Gabby and Tavo gave a thoughtful nod. Their mother was now in her full Navy whites uniform that was clean and pressed with no visible wrinkles present. The left side of her chest had several medals pinned and her hair was neatly tied back in a bun that was in the regulation for the Armada.

"Ay, mi amor!" Gabby smiled at seeing her two children approach behind Nemona. "I hear Seniorita Nemona will be taking the two of you to school tomorrow! How exciting!"

"Si. Leave it to me!" Nemona declared beside them. "And we made sure that they both picked a pokemon partner to accompany them!"

"Oh?"

"Shall we show them?" Jules asked, with Rian hesitantly nodding in agreement.

They're going to see me dissatisfied.

Both twins tossed out their pokemon. Basil mewled softly and stretched his forelegs, enjoying another dose of warm sunlight while Baron immediately went over to stand right next to Rian's leg at rapt attention.

"Oh tan lindo!" Gabby gushed, leaning down to pet them on the head. Basil nuzzled her softly and Baron nodded. "They're amazing! I'm so glad that you are now finally trainers. Such fine choices!"

"Indeed." Tavo gave a thoughtful nod. "And you are both happy with the pokemon?"

"Yes! Very much so!" Jules said, giggling as Basil jumped up on her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm happy." Rian's expression didn't mirror his words, but he didn't want to give away that he still felt like this wasn't what he had in mind when he became a trainer.

Losing my first battle. Not my greatest start.

"So you finally got your pokemon and managed to make a friend." Tavo's voice was much more measured, though they could see that he was just as happy for his children as his significant other. Gabby giggled at seeing Baron continue to stand erect at attention, reminiscing on something of her earlier days in naval school.

"We've been reading about all the wonderful teachers you'll have looking after you at school. Plus so many handy facilities you can use as much as you like!"

"Add in your new friend Nemona and school life is already shaping up to be a wonderful time!" Gabby clasped her own hands together, just briefly breaking her prim and proper attitude when she usually donned her whites. "Now you'll be staying in the school dorms, so I want you both to promise me you will eat proper comidas. Your father and I have a little bit of spending money for you. And also a packed lunch for your first day!"

Rian and Jules each accepted a brown lunch sack along with a wad of pokeuros and peered inside. Just like when they had gone to school from time to time, each one held a well-wrapped homemade sandwich, a bag of baby carrots and a small bar of chocolate.

Jules had opened hers when the smell of grilled meat and fried pepper hit her nose. One of the things she shared in common with her brother was their favorite sandwich being the serranito, among the most popular types available in the Paldea region.

Grilled jamon, fried peppers, tomato and garlic aioli. Can't beat that.

"And you better take these as well." Tavo reached into a bag at his side, handing each twin five small white and purple colored bottles with spray nozzles. "Be sure to use them on your precious little partners!"

"We will!" Rian and Jules had said in unison. Nemona laughed, unaware that such a thing was not uncommon when hanging around them at all.

"I know every day, your school life is going to be full of exciting experiences far from home. Your father will admit that the casa is going to be very lonely now that we are all gone!" Gabby said. "Just remember to always savor them all, the good times and the hard ones too. But if either of you ever want to come back home for a break, your beds will be waiting for you!"

"We'll be back Mom!" Rian laughed. "There's still Natal-Navidad!"

It would be many months, close to the end of the year's holiday Natal-Navidad to celebrate the creation to be before they would return to school. While their mother unlikely going to be back in time for that; their father would be home and they planned to spend the three weeks off gift giving and relaxing until the second semester started just after the new year.

Tavo stroked his moustache. "You three better be off then, take care on the way to school!"

He gave each twin a hug and kiss on the cheek before Gabby stepped forward.

"I'm going to miss you both so much!" She held them tighter than their father had. "Not one day is going to go by where I don't think about what you are up to and the wonderful adventures you will be having while at the Academy."

"Mom."

"It will be challenging, but always remember what I've been taught while in the Navy. Focus."

"Plan." Their mother's motto was drilled into them since childhood and Jules recited the second part.

"Attack." Rian said to finish it.

Focus. Plan. Attack.

One last set of goodbye hugs and kisses from their parents and they watched them pile into the car, igniting the engine and driving off down the road towards Cabo Poco's port. Rian, Jules and Nemona waved until they turned the corner and disappeared.

"Your parents are so nice!" The upperclasswoman said before something dawned on her. "Oh wait a second! I forgot to show you guys on how to catch a pokemon! Come on! Vamos!"

So many memories. Jules glanced at the kitchen, reminiscing when she was a little girl as her mother's kitchen helper preparing things like her signature gazpacho or torta de Basque. Other than the occasional vacations to places like Mesagoza, Levincia or even that trip to Unova, neither sibling spent quite as long of a time away from home as they were about to be.

Am I going to get homesick? Rian asked himself. What if I realize this isn't what I wanted?

No. It is.

They knew that once they got back, they'd see the newly taken picture of both of them in their school uniforms added to the wall of carefully displayed frames showing key moments in their family's history. From their own parents' meeting to their wedding, to a joyous expression on both Gustavo and Gabriella's faces as the latter proudly cradled a newborn swaddled Rian and Jules in her hospital bed.

Time to make new memories to add.

Like she had said, Nemona led them at the beginning of the Poco Path; a natural walk beside a main road that went to the next town over, Los Platos. Through all the years of living in quaint Cabo Poco, they had never walked it before, instead using the family's car to drive over in less than an hour. For those trips, Los Platos was home to the various transportation options through Paldea including rail, roads and the airport that served both cities for those traveling by air.

The afternoon heat was starting to set in as Rian and Jules took a drink from their water bottles. Nemona looked fresh as ever, standing with a confident hand on her hip and awaiting their arrival with a good amount of patience.

"All right!" She pumped an excited fist above her head as the twins stopped at the entrance next to her. "You made it! This here is Poco Path, the place where adventure will begin for you and me!"

"We're not gonna take the road?" Jules asked in curiosity.

"Nope!" Nemona grinned. "Now that you're trainers, you get to walk the path of one! So things are gonna be a little different than when we were back in town. You're gonna see wild pokemon out and about."

"Wild pokemon?" Rian asked, peering behind her down the dirt path as if he could see some. There was no movement as far as he could tell, but that didn't mean there was none.

Calm down. It's just wild pokemon. Not like there's a shortage of them I'll be missing anytime soon.

He had to just guess he was eager to see and try to catch one for himself.

"Yup! They'll be on the paths, grass and such. Now if you get too close to one, you'll have to battle it! But now you both have your pokemon!"

She knelt down to unsling her backpack and reached inside. "So to catch, you'll need some good ol' fashioned poke balls. I've got plenty on me at all times! Have a few! You never know when you'll run across a pokemon that's too good to pass up!"

She handed them five each. Like the ones they had kept their starter pokémon in, they were smooth with a fiberglass, metallic coating. The bottom half was white and included the base and capture/release button and the top was a bright cherry red.

Rian opened one of them with a tap on the button, showing the inner workings of a peculiar nest of metal and wiring. On the sides of its clamshell design, there were two smaller buttons that could be pressed in while holding where it would activate the recall feature to put them back inside the capsule.

Nemona laughed. "You're very curious Rian, it's really cute to see!"

The light blush that went across Rian's face didn't escape Jules' notice. She knew already.

Oh I'm starting to sense he's got a bit of a crush!

"Once you go into Battle Studies, I'm sure Miss Dendra is going to teach you a lot more about how to capture a pokemon and give you the best chance! But here are the basics!"

She started down the path. Rian and Jules glanced at one another before nodding together.

This is it.

First steps as a trainer. "Okay."

They took that first step together.

Jules held her breath as the first few paces through the treeline seemed no different, but the farther they went away from civilization into the backcountry, the more evident it became that this was home to more wildlife than any humans. Twenty feet of walking and the vegetation got thicker, quickly covering up any sight of Cabo Poco's buildings on the other end of the thicket.

Before long, they heard the wild pokemon everywhere. From cries unseen to the crunching of grass and vegetation, it felt as if the reality of being a trainer was setting in more and more with even greater anticipation.

Nemona led the way, her head furtively scanning left and right as she hunched over slightly. Together the trio trudged down the path, heading deeper into the brush. The trees got taller and their leafy branches crisscrossed overhead, blotting out patches of the sun that filtered through the gaps. Jules sighed with relief at the much more abundant cool shade.

On the next round, Rian and Jules gasped.

Before them in the clearing, they saw dozens of wild pokemon moving about. Some by themselves, some in groups.

Woah.

Nemona flashed another toothy grin at them. "Pretty hala isn't it? The world of pokemon is something else!"

She gestured to her RotoPhone. "Like when I explained back at my house; you can use your pokedex to scan wild pokemon and gain data on them. Once you've run across them in the wild, you'll come prepared for every other chance you run across another!"

Rian pulled his own out, pointing the camera to a familiar quadruped pig pokemon that was brownish gray in color with a long pink snout. On four stubby legs, it held its head down, sniffing the dirt furtively.

Lechonk. I know that one everywhere.

Throughout Paldea, lechonk were among the most abundant in the entire region. Renowned for its superior sense of smell, it was just as important to their culture. He knew back from basic school that lechonk have been domesticated and relied on for a mixture of labor, battle and it was an important source of food for both humans and other pokemon on the food chain.

Scanning…match found. Lechonk. Hog pokemon. Normal type. It searches for food all day with its keen sense of smell, but seldom uses it outside foraging. This pokemon gives off an herblike scent that bug pokemon detest.

"I guess that makes sense," Jules had read the information scrolling across his screen and gestured to the other end of the path, where there were two different groups of bugs milling about at the trunks of trees. One was an eight legged arachnid creature with a bright yellow body and an entire mound of silk finely spun into an orb on its back. She centered the camera on it first.

Scanning…match found. Tarontula. String ball pokemon. Bug type. The ball of thread wrapped around its body is strong enough to deflect the blades of its natural enemy scyther. The strength of the thread is as strong as braided wire and research into its durability is ongoing.

Jules moved her phone so it centered on a gray larvae pokemon that seemed to be trying to go by the tarontula, likely some prey not wanting any trouble.

Scatterbug. Scatterdust pokemon. Bug type. Any poison this pokemon takes on is converted into black powder and secreted. Because of this ability, scatterbug can eat various poisonous plants and roots without suffering harmful effects compared to other bug types. This pokemon will consume different plants depending on where it lives.

"I see you're having a lot of fun with the new pokedex app." Nemona told them. "Be sure to log every new pokemon you see. You'll never know when you'll have to see it again."

She crept forward some more. The closest pokemon, notably a scatterbug and a couple lechonk sensed the humans and quickly vanished into the brush. It seemed that a lot of them didn't particularly welcome their foreign presence and chose to hide or flee.

"Ah perfect." She stopped, opposite of a small rodent pokemon that stood on all fours. Its orange fur waved in the wind and small sparks of electric energy crackled along the circular sacs on its cheeks. It spotted the humans and tensed, sensing that it was about to be challenged.

Rian already had his new phone out to scan the pokemon.

Scanning…match found. Pawmi. Mouse pokemon. Electric type. The pads on its paws contain electricity discharging ducts. Pawmi can fire electricity with its paws outstretched while standing unsteadily on its hind legs.

"So! In order to catch pokemon," Nemona started while awkwardly throwing out Saeta again. The fire croc landed on its feet and growled softly at the pawmi. "You have to arm the capture mechanism on the ball. Hit the button until it clicks and the rim glows green! Then you throw it. Once the ball recognizes the signature of your target pokemon; it'll activate that capture matrix and pull the pokemon inside. If it shakes three times and the button snaps, it's a successful capture!"

She gestured and on command, Saeta opened his mouth to shoot an ember. The pawmi squeaked and was thrown back upon getting struck. However, it was quick to roll up and rush forward at blindingly fast speed to hit Saeta back.

"Oh wow, that's a feisty quick attack!" Nemona was already getting excited. "Ember again Saeta!"

The fuecoco once more opened his mouth and launched another small ball of fire that was once again on target. This attack took a lot more fight out and the pawmi showed a bigger struggle to continue the fight.

With her free hand, Nemona showed them an empty poke ball, holding down the center button with her thumb. The twins heard an audible clicking noise and a faint green glow in the dark spot surrounding the button's front. The device was armed.

She threw it, not exactly in a swinging overhand throw like most of them had seen trainers do, but rather in an upward motion as if shot putting. While it looked rather awkward to do, her effort had gotten the job done. The poke ball spun as it sailed into the air, landing on the ground as the clamshell action opened up. The capture matrix recognized the target pokemon, drawing it inside in a flash of light before sealing shut.

All three watched as it settled upright, wobbling on the ground as the pawmi inside attempted to break free. The ball bobbed to the left, then the right and back to the left a second time and then the button made an evident snapping sound; an indication that the capture attempt was successful.

"Woah." Jules's eyes were wide with excitement. "You caught it!"

"That was amazing," Rian whispered. His blood was already flowing and he was raring to give it a try himself. "I've seen videos on how to do it properly, but Nemona made it look so easy!"

The upperclasswoman stepped and scooped up the ball, patting Saeta on the head for a job well done. "And that's that. Again, you can throw a ball right away, but you'll have a much better chance by battling and weakening it! You'll get a lot more insight on how to capture a pokemon when you take Miss Dendra's battle studies course!"

She laughed, "Because actually I'm pretty crummy when it comes to catching pokemon…heh, you know with throwing balls and stuff. But man, when I catch it and train it, that's where it gets awesome!"

Nemona scanned the captured pawmi for a second with her RotoPhone. "Oh, it's a boy and I can tell he's going to be very strong! I think I'm gonna name him Palmer. So what do you guys think? Want to battle some wild pokemon or catch them?"

"I…uh yes!" Rian answered almost immediately. "I'm ready to go!"

"That's the spirit! I know you're really wanting to go too, Jules!"

"You bet I am!"

Nemona and Jules watched Rian immediately take off onto the side where a scatterbug frantically tried to run and escape. Baron appeared in a flash of light and the duo immediately went to work. The scatterbug's fight or flight reflex caught on and it spat a long thread of gooey clear spit that ensnared the duck's wing and stopped it from using a pound.

"Baron, use water gun!" Rian cried.

Baron opened his bill and shot a fine stream of water that blasted the scatterbug into the brush. Rian grabbed one of the empty poke balls from his pack and flung it forward. He didn't see it open or anything and waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened.

"Huh?"

"I don't think you caught anything bro." Jules almost laughed out loud. "Baron was a little trigger happy."

Rian knelt down by the bushes and peered inside, seeing the poke ball lying in between a couple branches. Careful not to cut himself if there were any thorns, he slowly reached down and drew it out, face falling in disappointment when there was no pokemon inside and the capture matrix depleted. Baron puffed his chest out proudly for his first official win against another pokemon with his trainer.

Ay por dios! The fact didn't register with Rian. Still feel like picking this pokemon was a mistake!

"Ah, que fuerte." Nemona sighed from behind them. "You won't be able to catch everything."

"I guess I should give it a try." Jules said. Though she hadn't done much with Basil other than pet him, she was itching to see how well she could battle.

I've watched Rian and he makes it look almost as natural as Nemona, even though he's just as new as me. How hard can this be?

Basil emerged from his poke ball as she threw it and he immediately stuck to his trainer's side, nuzzling her ankles with his head and meowing softly.

"Hey buddy," She greeted. Similarly, Baron walked over and the two pokemon seemed to enjoy their company as well. "How about we try our hand at battling?"

Basil squeaked for a moment before he gave a firm nod.

"Perfect." Jules and Rian started walking again. Nemona had already gone ahead, telling them to go at their own pace and that they would meet at the base of the Luz Sur in about an hour.

"What should I try and catch? Or should we try to battle?"

"Maybe battle?" Rian was suddenly pulled away as Baron seemed to start one with a lechonk. The large swine barreled into his side with a powerful tackle. Baron didn't seem to like that, so Rian ordered a retaliatory pound. The lechonk grunted and tackled him once more.

"Finish him with water gun!" Rian called. The pig was struck by another blast from Baron's bill and slumped over in the dirt, knocked out.

"Oh man!" He made a fist in frustration, his other hand about to go for a poke ball just as Baron had made the final blow. "I was about to catch it!"

Baron quacked softly and turned around, putting his wings on his hips and puffing his chest out proudly. After losing their very first battle

The boy shook his head as Baron maintained his posture. "You saying you're the only pokemon I need?" He got a nod from that. "Heh. Maybe. But I want to catch some other partners and friends. As tough as you may be, we won't be able to be champions alone." And keep convincing myself that I made the right call in picking.

"Basil use scratch!" He heard from his right. Looking over, he saw Jules and her pokemon locked in a fight with a small pink floating pokemon. The sprigatito lunged up, slashing with claws on his forelegs. The other creature gave a cry of pain before the leafy stem on the top of its head began to spin rapidly, causing a gust of wind to batter him. Basil hissed loudly as he skid across the ground and shook it off once he was able to regain his footing.

A new pokemon? Rian brought up his phone to scan it.

Scanning…match found. Hoppip. Cottonweed pokemon. Grass and flying type. Aside from cold regions, hoppip can be found nearly anywhere in the world thanks to its ability to ride wind which carries it to wherever.

He realized that it was the first dual-typed pokemon they had encountered. Though just taught the basics so far, he knew that dual-types could play a part in helping or hurting different strategies in battle based on which combination of two types the pokemon possessed.

"Okay, time to throw the poke ball!" Jules hurled the device straight at it. The hoppip braced to be captured, only for the ball to smack it on its side. The impact actually ended up knocking the creature out and the ball's top half cracked as soon as it hit the ground.

Rian jogged over as his sister gave a defeated sigh. Basil meowed softly, looking up and trying not to feel bad for his trainer.

"Dang, I thought we would've had it." Jules almost laughed at herself in spite of her own failure. "But I forgot to arm the capture matrix!"

"You what?! Ha!" Rian was just as surprised, yet he couldn't help but laugh himself. The exact same mistake he had made, aside from possibly Baron just being too powerful and knocking out the scatterbug outright. Jules could only smile and shake her own head in embarrassment.

"I guess it's a lot harder than I thought. Nemona made it look so easy."

"Well look on the bright side," Rian told her. "That probably wasn't a missed catch worth crying about anyway. I mean if you did, you'd have two grass types. It'd probably be better if you balanced out the typing of pokemon in your team."

Jules nodded. Minus type specialists, it was good as a trainer to remain versatile. "That's true. Is that why you haven't caught anything yet?"

"Nah," he gestured down to Baron who was busy chasing Basil around their legs. "He just wants to show off his strength and how good of a fighter he is. But give yourself some credit there sis. You're just as good of a battler as me."

"We're rookies, so that doesn't carry much sentiment." The twins laughed for a moment before settling down.

Okay that was good.

"But no, I'd like to at least capture one pokemon before we reach the school today." Rian declared. "But I'm gonna be selective. I'd rather get a few pokemon on my team rather than try to catch everything in sight."

"Funny you say that." Jules said. "I had the exact same thought."

The twins decided to call it and head through the path with their pokemon following loyally behind. By now, the sun had shifted to the late afternoon and they had walked enough that their hometown was just a small dot in the distance. Neither of them had put any thought into how far they were from home, there was just too much to learn about being a trainer. The path quickly cleared of dense trees and ended much quicker than they had expected, joining up with the main road that ran to the north on its way to Los Platos.

"Hey you two!" Nemona waved at them a ways up the climbing hill. Further up the slope, they could see the tall red and white structure of the gigantic lighthouse that overlooked Cabo Poco and much of Paldea's southern coast. The Luz Sur. "Did you two catch any pokemon?"

"Uh no?" Rian said quietly, but she didn't seem to hear.

"At least you're getting the hang of battling! Jules I saw you fighting that wild hoppip with poise!" Nemona grinned again. "You may have not fought against a trainer like Rian yet, but I know you'll be just as good!

"Thanks."

See? Her brother shot her a knowing glance. I wasn't wrong.

"So let me see, you've caught," Nemona narrowed her eyes as they approached and only saw just one ball on their belt and the two starters beside their respective trainers. "Nothing?! Neither of you caught a pokemon?"

"Well first up," Rian turned away to hide the growing redness on his face. "Throwing an empty poke ball is a lot harder than I ever expected. Second, Baron just wants to plow through anything that stands in his way. He's knocked out anything that he's come across in two or three attacks."

And at this rate, it'll be single hit knockouts.

"I tried to catch that hoppip. But same problem. I forgot to arm the matrix." Jules sighed, remembering that it wasn't that much of a missed opportunity. If she wanted another hoppip, running into one was almost guaranteed in a windy area.. "Next time."

"I'd think you'd have at least two or three apiece." Nemona told them. "But staying with one is completely fine too! Just so you know, there are good and bad parts to having fewer pokemon. You can devote a lot more attention and care to them for sure."

Rian looked to be deep in thought after hearing that. "And I'm assuming that's the good part?"

"Yeah. It could be better for you to have a stronger pokemon at your side. However if either of your only pokemon is seriously hurt, you can be in a lot of trouble. I've seen trainers train the crap out of one pokemon and neglect the rest. Then during a battle, once that big strong pokemon goes down, the rest fall like dominoes. So it's probably for the best to keep things balanced."

"Balanced."

"Mhmm. And so you know, there's going to be a lot of people who like to challenge others to battles at the Academy and even around Paldea. Moiself included!" Nemona pointed to herself proudly, causing Rian to laugh at her little Kalosian anisomorphism. "So make sure you have more pokemon ready to be used. On equal terms of their strength, a trainer with five pokemon often wins against a trainer with two or three.

"We can carry six pokemon maximum right?" Jules asked.

"On hand, si. Some trainers have special licenses and permits to carry more such as breeder specialists. Though if they're battling, they're still limited to six."

"Oh," Rian almost groaned. "I guess that can't really be much of an advantage after all."

No doubt that rule had to be put in because someone tried to circumvent it.

"But enough of that chit chat, let's get going to U-"

Nemona was abruptly cut off by an earsplitting roar suddenly pierced through the air, startling the three trainers. Everyone visibly flinched. Rian felt his heart stop.

What was that?!

Jules had jumped before her hands instinctively grabbed onto her brother's arm. "Rian what was that?"

"I'm not really sure." Glancing at Nemona, the look of surprise on her face told him she had no idea either.

"I've never heard that before." She whispered as if whatever made the noise was capable of overhearing them. "Could it be a really strong pokemon or something? Let's take a look around."

There wasn't much else to do yet, so they agreed and started searching.

Jules was pretty sure that something that made a cry that loud wasn't going to be small. She glanced up in the sky, expecting to see a large pokemon, but the only thing that happened to be up there were some orange and gray birds that had taken off from being startled by the noise. She had seen them before, but they were too far away for her to scan with her dex's camera.

"Do you think it's the same thing that made that loud crashing noise this morning?"

"I don't know. We'll keep looking. Be careful, there's a dangerous cave somewhere around here too."

"The Inlet Grotto." Rian said. Jules knew of it too; home to some of the more aggressive wild pokemon species that lived in south Paldea and they were taught to stay away from it since childhood when they went to play in the fields and beaches.

The Inlet Grotto was located underneath them at the end of a long cove that was a bit of an open secret among the locals. It was far from the touristy area of Cabo Poco, but right next to the Luz Sur. Rian could see the sand below and smell the salt from the ocean already as he neared.

The boy slowly approached the edge, having a hunch that the loud roar he heard had come from somewhere down below.

"Rian be careful," Jules warned, seeing him out of the corner of her eye approaching the cliff. "Please."

I will.

He slowly moved so that he was right along the edge, keeping a little crouch in case something spotted him. Aside from the dark specks in an otherwise flawless sandbar and a couple of tall palm trees, the Inlet Beach was deserted. Since the pokemon were kind of dangerous living in the cave behind and its seclusion being surrounded by the tall cliffs, people rarely ever went down despite its popularity for being much more low profile.

More softer growls caught his attention as he saw motion out of the corner of his eye.

There.

A pack of small dark quadruped canine pokemon were surrounding a much larger pokemon that Rian didn't recognize. He had to blink and refocus before finally seeing that the creature was lying down on its belly, just out of the surf.

Huh? I've never seen anything like it.

Maybe if he could get a closer look.

The pack of dogs closed in and the larger pokemon finally extended an elongated neck and roared again in that same warbled revving noise that sent chills down Rian's spine. It didn't matter that the temperature was quite warm either.

"Rian," Nemona's voice took on an urgency that he hadn't heard before. She and Jules were approaching behind him, worry evident on their faces. "Get back from the cliff."

"Y-yeah." The boy took a step backwards.

Just as the rumble shuddered underneath and he felt the ground give way, no longer able to support his weight. Thankfully, his swift reflexes let him be able to reach back and grabbed onto a rocky outcropping and hold on. Like a switch flipped, adrenaline coursed through his veins before his own mind could register it was falling down.

"Rian!" Jules cried, almost running to him. "Hold on!" At the same time Nemona ducked underneath the railing, sliding onto her belly to try and grab him.

"I'm trying!" The fright was replaced by the fear, there was nothing to stop him from a sixty foot drop and he was pretty sure it would seriously mess him up once he fell.

If he survived.

Hurry Jules.

Nemona was above him in a matter of seconds, one hand on the railing and the other reaching down towards him. Both his own hands clung to the small rock and he feared it would give way if he shifted his own weight. To help, he planted his feet lower on the cliff, finding less than an inch of purchase. He hoped that it would alleviate some of the pressure off his arms, because not even a few seconds elapsed and they were already beginning to burn with lactic acid and he visibly shook.

"You have to grab my hand!" Nemona cried, fear etched on her face. "I can't go out any farther!"

Slowly Rian took one of his hands away, fearing that his only arm clinging to the rock now would have to support his entire weight.

He grit his teeth, reaching up and leaned forward. Her fingers were just inches away. Nemona grunted and strained as she stretched as far as she possibly could.

Hurry! I can't hold on!

Then the rock finally gave way.

Rian shared one last look with Nemona and Jules. The fear on both their faces was going to be one that would haunt him for the rest of his short life.

I'm sorry.

"RIAN!" Jules gave a horrified scream as he plunged out of sight down sixty feet to a crushing death.

---

A thousand thoughts raced through Rian's mind as gravity took ahold of his body and he plummeted down. The wind felt as if it was rushing out of his mouth and despite the overwhelming fright, he refused to scream.

Jules was another story and he'd never forget the terrified look on her face and her own reaction as she saw her brother for the last time.

The air rippled at his clothes and his own instincts took over, curling himself into a ball for a drop that would only take a couple of seconds and his best chance of surviving.

What would my parents think?

He felt something move in his pocket and instinctively reached down to find that his RotoPhone suddenly yanked itself free and hovered in the air. His fingers tightened around the edge and the sudden arrest in momentum had just about ripped his arm out from its socket and it caused a yell of pain to burst from his lips.

Rian let go of the phone, still dropping several feet and landing on the sand with an explosive whoosh that knocked the wind out of him.

Sand burst in his face, falling all over his school uniform and went straight into his eyes and mouth. Despite his body trying to cough it out, his lungs still hadn't reinflated and he doubled over in pain.

Ah por dios! Did the phone just save me from an embarrassing death?

Despite the overbearing pain, Rian couldn't have been more relieved. If he was hurting, that meant he was still alive. What was more relieving was the fact he and his sister had just gotten those RotoPhones earlier in the day.

"Rian!" Jules cried from somewhere up top. She leaned over, but couldn't see him. "Rian, please be okay!"

I'm not dead. His limbs shook as he croaked like a frogadier with his mouth partially open in trying to answer. With his uninjured right arm, he managed to brush the rather irritating grains of sand out of his eyes and face as he finally began to catch wind again. A few more blinks cleared them out.

"Ah!" His body shuddered as he rolled onto his back and sat up, now able to cough out the wet sand that had gotten into his mouth. "That really hurts." Even trying to spit didn't seem to get rid of it entirely.

The RotoPhone hovered just above him, showing a red warning screen with a wall of text highlighting dangers of standing close to sheer cliff drops. It shook back and forth as if trying to emphasize a point. He took a closer look at what the smart phone was showing him.

While RotoPhone's SkyDrop feature is intended to save the user from long falls; it is not meant to be used for recreation or horseplay. There is a chance of an incomplete save which involves severe trauma, massive internal hemorrhaging and compound fractures. Dismemberment and permanent extremity damage is also possible along with multiple other various environmental hazards. If you are satisfied with your RotoPhone's life saving capabilities, be sure to give a like and a review. Huh?

"Rian!" He now heard Nemona joining in with his sister. "Rian!"

"I'm okay!" He tried to yell, but descended into another coughing fit from more sand. "I'm okay!"

"He's okay!" Nemona told Jules. They must've heard him. The two girls sighed with relief before the younger one embraced her in a firm hug.

"Thank you."

Nemona was just as relieved knowing that her new friend wasn't seriously hurt.

"He's alright. We'll be right."

"But now what?" Jules asked her. "Is he trapped down there? Or," her voice trailed off when she saw the cave at the end of the beach.

Inlet Grotto was a spot the locals tended to stay away from due to particularly fierce wild pokemon inhabitants from the cave. It wasn't like some of the gentler ones like lechonk, scatterbug or hoppip like they encountered earlier. A lot of species that lurked inside were a lot less welcoming to humans wandering into their home.

Three dark furred dog pokemon wandered close to the stranger's front, growling and lunging to attack, but none seemed to dare strike it. They wouldn't be seen on Poco Path, instead lurking within the grotto.

Rian saw them too and finally mustered enough strength to stand once his breathing rate had calmed down. His limbs still shook, whether it was from adrenaline or the buildup of lactic acid, he couldn't quite tell.

The dogs yipped and darted in between one another, snapping their small jaws at the larger pokemon. One moved a little too close, which provoked a reaction. It raised a smooth head and growled loudly, almost as loud as the one that nearly sent him toppling to an early death.

The noise was both bestial and almost sounded like it was synthetically warbled. It was unlike anything Rian had ever seen or heard. Clearly the noise the creature had made spooked the dogs as they quickly retreated back towards the cave.

Rian managed to snag a scan of them with his RotoPhone.

Scanning…match found. Houndour. Dark pokemon. Dark and fire type. It communicates with others of its pack in a variety of cries and hunts their prey together. They are known for being loyal and obedient pokemon.

He took a closer look at the other pokemon that was still laying in the sand. It was primarily a dark violet color with hints of gold and silver trim. Its neck was long, ending in an ovoid shaped head that seemed to lack proper eyelids. The most striking feature was the fact he didn't see any scales or organic body parts. A mix of purple and silver surfaces gleamed in the sun and he thought he could hear it giving off a soft humming noise.

Definitely a lizard or dragon of some sort. As if it were a machine built to resemble a pokemon that came from a laboratory. When the word dragon had crossed his mind, he immediately saw its striking likeness to a pokemon that was very familiar to most Paldeans.

It looks like a cyclizar. Like a cyclizar that took a trip through time into the future.

He figured maybe the pokedex would have some information.

The device scanned the target pokemon for a few seconds, but the app told him that no match was found, locked in a loading state with a spinning icon.

"No data?" He looked over at it, a mix of confusion and wonder. "What exactly are you?"

Rian didn't want to approach in case of danger, but curiosity got the better of him.

The mysterious pokemon sensed him coming, giving off a soft rumble and looked up at him observantly upon detecting his presence. He saw the top of its eye squint and its expression looked a bit more threatening.

Probably thinking I'm here to pick a fight too.

"Hey there amigo." Rian said nervously. Almost as if it was studying him. "Are you okay?"

Analyzing. Human male. Age: Unknown. Age estimated adolescent. Current status unknown. Possible threat. Directive: Seek safety. Directive status: completed. Directive update: Seek safety. Reposition to Luz Sur.

He took a step forward and the pokemon's intense gaze seemed to get more threatening.

Human male threat status heightened. Initiating offensive subroutines. Offensive subroutines offline…execution failed. Error code: Sneasel.

"It's okay." Arms were held up, showing that the boy had nothing to hide. He had no idea how to approach a pokemon like this and every instinct was telling him that this was a very bad and dangerous idea.

Avoid looking at it directly in the eyes. It doesn't trust me. There's no reason to yet.

For the most part, the mysterious pokemon seemed too weak to move on its own.

Maybe I have something I can use to help.

The pokemon tried to move, but its limbs twitched sluggishly in response.

Mobility of limb R1 impeded by 44%. Hadron Engine functionality 12%. Emergency standby mode. Replacement energy source required.

Under its watchful eye, Rian knelt down in front of it, ruffling through his new school backpack, specifically the side that held the potions and medicine. But somehow he didn't think that was what was needed. Some sand from the beach had gotten in through open pockets and he made a note to clean it out later when he had a chance.

There's got to be something else.

Of all places, Rian's mind went to the beach. When they were kids, their parents took him and Jules down to the water in Cabo Poco where they'd spend hours on end playing around in the water. Their mother was constantly frustrated by their unwillingness to sit still so she could apply sunblock.

But often he remembered being so fixated on all the playing and running, by the time he was hungry, he was starving. Practically laying down in the sand like this pokemon in a dramatic need of food. Luckily his mother would pack their favorite serranito sandwiches for a scenario just like that ever happening.

Maybe it's hungry?

Rian took the bag out, unwrapping his sandwich. Already it was getting more of a reaction from the mysterious pokemon who sniffed the air and centered its eyes on the food. Already it was more of a reaction than before. Maybe food did solve all the problems.

Analyzing. Source of sustenance located. Analysis indicates a match to Trainer's identification of "sandwich" Acceptable source of energy. Reunite again?

"Want a bite to eat?" He held it out, watching as the pokemon moved its head closer. It sniffed the sandwich again, then opened its mouth wide and snatched the entire thing out of Rian's hands.

"Woah!" He flinched, yanking his hand back in time as if it was going to snap at his limb.

The pokemon snarfed the sandwich down, bobbing its head from side to side. It ate rather noisily as Rian watched his serranito disappear in a matter of seconds whereas it would take his much smaller mouth several minutes to finish it off.

Aaaand there goes my lunch. I said a bite, not the whole damn thing! He supposed he could get by with the carrots and chocolate bar for now. If the latter hadn't melted already.

Sandwich energy accepted. Hadron Engine functionality restored to 28% percent. Rebooting all critical systems. Initiating repairs to limb R1 for mobility restoration. Upholding Protocol Two is now possible thanks to sandwich offered by human male.

But the food seemed to do the trick. The pokemon's reaction was slow and it shakily stood up, where he now saw that it moved on all fours just like a common cyclizar would. The forelegs were counter locked with hinges while the hind legs were larger and contoured cylindrical in shape, almost as if it seemed to look like functioning booster engines. The pokemon purred softly, shaking off the sand that clung to its underside.

"Heh, feel better?" Rian asked.

Analyzing. Human male's clothing matches uniform worn by students of Uva Academy, Trainer's former institution. Poke ball attached to hip belt indicates a Trainer. Enaction of Protocol One possible. Separated from Trainer. Trainer status unknown.

It ignored him and slowly took a step forward and then another. When it looked as if it could walk properly, it sauntered past him with its gaze fixed on the Inlet Grotto entrance at the end of the beach.

Course set for Luz Sur. Must uphold Protocol Two.

"I don't know if I'd go in there if I were you." Rian called after the creature. "There's some stronger pokemon that don't like visitors."

To his credit, the pokemon actually stopped and reared back on its hind legs to let out another bass boosted earsplitting roar. While still loud, the sudden shout had caught Rian off guard and his hands flew to his own ears to cover them.

Sandwich energy providing drastic influx. Hadron Engine functionality 72%. Flight capabilities online. Initiating Ultimate Form "God Mode" Initiating offensive subroutines. Execution successful, commencing transformation. Error code: Sneasel. Status: Resolved.

He saw it close its eyes and begin to glow.

Woah.

Bright lances of energy surrounded the pokemon as it jumped into the air, the glow turning harsher and shaping into a surrounding sphere as parts were heard shuffling and locking with relative ease. The huge amount of sand that suddenly billowed up and the glare was harsh enough that Rian had to shield his eyes with his arm. Within moments the shell of light had burst open and the new form of its metamorphism was much more formidable looking than when he had just encountered it.

The legs had folded inwards, staying close to its body with the outward ends forming nozzles of long jet engines. Its neck went upward and the silver bulge was now bluish white in color. The gray accents on the sides of its head now had changed into wicked looking lightning bolts to further add on to its already intimidating appearance. Despite the engines looking like they would be used on supersonic planes; they made hardly any noise, possibly around the same volume as the engine of an everyday car.

Critical systems nominal. Running diagnostic check…nominal. No abnormalities detected. Status: Combat ready.

The pokemon roared again, proudly with its newfound power. Rian's mouth hung open as he gaped in amazement. It sounded much more powerful, enough to make him involuntarily shiver.

Wow. This is awesome! And strange…almost like it's not supposed to be here. I've never seen a pokemon like this at all.

He shared one last look with the pokemon as it glanced back at him before moving effortlessly towards the cave using its jet engines. The smooth, effortless way it hovered off the ground reminded him of some of the aircraft his mother worked around while she was onboard her ship in the Armada.

"Woah," he ended up whispering to himself. "I guess papa's sandwiches even perk up pokemon we've never seen before."

Was that a legendary pokemon or even a pokemon? Rian wondered to himself. Legendary pokemon were present in every known region, some as just extraordinarily powerful beings while others were integrated into the culture or legends passed down from old. As far as he knew, not many existed in Paldea.

Surely if that was a legendary pokemon then Rian's dex app would've identified it when he tried scanning earlier.

The creature halted at the entrance of the cave and he saw it crane its elongated neck around to observe him.

Course set for Luz Sur. Duty bound to Protocol Two. Reposition to Luz Sur. Sandwich received from human male Trainer suggests trustworthiness. I wait until Trainer accompanies through cave system. We will do this together.

"Is…is it wanting me to follow it?" The boy kept seeing that it remained at the mouth and swiveled its claws in place idly.

"Rian!" He glanced up to see Jules waving at him from the top of the cliff. "Rian!"

"Jules!" She got a wave back. "I'm okay!"

"Thank goodness, but how are you going to get back up?"

I…I don't know. Well he did know, but it wasn't going to be a way any of them were going to like.

"I'll head into the Grotto." Judging from what his sister had said, she hadn't seen the mysterious creature. "There might be a way up from there!"

"Okay! Nemona and I will see if there's an exit up here and we can guide you out! Be safe, please!"

Right. Rian watched her dash off in search of any access to the cave. Now to follow this…thing…whatever it is.

"Follow that thing," He gave a nervous chuckle and let Baron out. The quaxly stretched its small wings and glanced up at his trainer expectantly. "Sure. Into the cave. The cave where we were explicitly told not to go for the longest time. Perfeito."

He glanced down at Baron, who stood rigidly at attention and was already eager to battle again. The time to decide on whether he was the right choice all along was past. Now they'd have to work together in order to get back up to the others. "Let's go." With that, the two of them took off towards the mouth.

The mysterious pokemon saw them approaching and lowered its head.

Sandwich offered qualifies as link. Enaction of Protocol One possible. Proceed?

Affirmative.

Protocol One: Link to Trainer. Status: Complete.

---

That's gonna be it for this chapter! We've got yet another very important character formally introduced with another one in the very next chapter!

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Logged 'Dex entries​

• Lechonk
• Tarontula
• Scatterbug
• Hoppip
• Houndour

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Spanish Translations​

• Estar segura - Be certain/have faith​
• Casa - House​
• Tan lindo - How cute​
• Recreo - Recess​
• Que fuerte - Too powerful/strong​
• Comidas - Meals​
• Armada - Navy​
• Hala - Great/awesome​

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Portuguese Translations​

• Perfeito - Perfect

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Spanish Food & Drink​

• Serranito - A warm sandwich popular in Seville. Fillings include grilled chicken or pork, cured ham, fried green peppers and tomato slices. Often served with a spread of mayonnaise.

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Stay tuned for the next update! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! You give my writing purpose!

Brav

 

[BraviaryScout]

Hello guys and bienvenidos to our next update! I'm also glad to announce that this story has officially gotten some cover art thanks to the ever talented Krolikb0t! Be sure to check out his ArtStation profile for more awesome work!

There's a lot to cover here, so let's get to it! I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

Chapter 5: The Dragon​

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Rian couldn't help but feel a bit taboo when he stepped through the cave's entrance. On one hand, the heat from the sun quickly disappeared, replaced by an inward damp breeze that caused him to shiver despite the muggy air. The salty smell of the sea was also changing to something musty and the visibility was dropping fast in absence of a source of light.

He groped around for his phone in the dark, thumbing the lock screen and remembering a button that could activate a small but powerful flashlight. Quick rapid footsteps echoed from behind the boy as Baron followed his trainer closely, eyes scanning the dark corners for threats.

At least I'll have something instead of walking through blind. Rian thought to himself as he continued to follow the path in front. Up ahead he could see the glow of the mysterious pokemon's twin engines as it explored further into the cave.

So where are the pokemon we were told in here that didn't like trespassers? Were those the houndour that the big guy scared off? They didn't look that tough.

"Hey! Rian!" He heard a girl's voice echo come from the top of the cavern that opened up. There was also faint traces of light from a pinprick opening to the outside. Sprinting up ahead, he saw that the path began to twist up in a circular spiral ending in a wide opening of light at the top. Blue sky behind.

The exit.

Two tiny figures of Nemona and Jules were up there by the mouth, trying to look down into the murk to find if he was anywhere to be seen. Rian held his Rotophone's light in front of him and waved it, hoping the blur of motion would attract their attention.

Hopefully nothing else.

"Rian! You sure you're okay?" Nemona was the first to spot his signal and it looked like she was the one shouting now. "You're not hurt right?!"

Her voice boomed and echoed across the cavern to the point where the words blended together to be shouted by six more "people".

"A few minutes ago I was!" Rian shouted back, his voice echoing similarly. "But I'm fine now!" Managing, I guess.

"Oh good! I was really worried since I was the one who got you into this mess when I said we should look around for whatever that thing is that made that cry!" Nemona shook her head. "Never mind that! We gotta get you outta there! If you can get close enough, I'll try pulling you up with one of my pokemon's moves!"

Trainer update: Name determined. Ree-in. Match for Trainer potentially found and noted for records. Protocol One established, enacted and upheld. Remain at my side and we will move out Trainer Ree-in. Name pronunciation unclear, visual of Trainer name spelling required.

Rian assumed that his best bet was to stay with the large purple pokemon. It hovered idly just ahead on the path, looking at him as he approached before continuing as he caught up to it. As he got closer; the jet blast from the leg mounted engines began to whip up at his uniform and he had to cover his eyes with a sleeve to keep dust from getting caught. After brushing sand out of them a few minutes ago, he had no desire to further irritate them.

"Hey, that's a really strong looking pokemon!" Nemona exclaimed, still watching as he made his way up from the top. "Could that be the thing that made a cry that powerful?"

"I wonder if this was the thing that made that loud noise this morning." Jules mumbled to herself. She kept scanning the dark, likely knowing that her brother and the mysterious pokemon were not quite out of the woods yet.

Rian and Baron kept pace until he was side by side with the large pokemon. The engines whined softly as he moved forward like oil over water. There were no differing movements or idle sway from side to side even from modern helicopters or the surveillance drones that her mother often worked alongside while on duty with the Armada. It was almost as if it had the flight capabilities of something both entirely alien and strangely familiar.

Oh mierda. Rocks.

He wasn't sure when it had occurred, but a large rock slide had buried the entrance in front of them with large chunky irregular shaped boulders. Some of them were as big as himself and probably weighed several times more. No way he was getting through on his own.

Scanning. Rocks obstructing path further in cave. Average mass, three tons. Destruction of one certain rock should cause the remainder of the pile to fall apart. Weak point found. Destroying target.

Rian cupped his chin in thought at the obstacle. Could backtrack. See if I can go along the shoreline until there's a spot where I can climb back up? Maybe this is where I can use my Pokémon to help.

"Okay, Baron." His quaxly standing next to him snapped to attention and proudly puffed his chest out. "Let's get through here. Try a water g-"

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crunching noise. Jumping in fright, he and Baron readied for another battle, but were surprised that the mysterious creature had instead lashed out with its long silver tail, striking several of the boulders and cleaving them in half in a single stroke. The others on top of the blockage were no longer supported from below began to quickly collapse and roll over the edge into the previously unseen pond of water on the other side with loud splashes.

"Rian!" Jules cried. Fearing the worst.

"I'm okay sis!" He yelled back while waving the air in front of him to clear the dust away. "That pokemon just opened a new entrance and we're going farther!"

Glancing back at Baron, he gestured to their other compadre for the moment. "Let's go."

As they walked along the path that slowly began to spiral upwards, Rian saw that part of the passageway curled along the wall and he'd end up just underneath the cliff where Nemona and Jules were watching. Even if he made it to that spot, there were several outcroppings that he had to scale in order to completely get out, all of which were far taller than whatever he could hope to jump for.

We'll worry about that when the time comes.

Movement caught his eye up ahead and he saw something dart back into the darkness. Baron tensed, knowing they were being followed and about to be challenged.

Their intuition was right as a small brown quadruped mammalian pokemon growled at their intruders and leapt to attack. It had a stripe of yellowish brown fur that ran down its back and sharp teeth that were bared in a rather menacing grin.

"Baron, water gun!" Rian shouted. The very eager duckling thrust his head forward and expelled a blast of clear water that struck the pokemon in the midsection. It growled in anger and launched itself into Baron in a vicious tackle. The two pokemon tussled on the ground before separating.

"Pound!"

Baron sidestepped another flying tackle and slammed his wings into his foe's head. The attack was too much and the pokemon fainted.

"What was that?" Rian didn't have anything to scan afterwards, but he wondered if the dex app could have picked it up.

Searching…match found. Yungoos. Loitering pokemon. Normal type. It spends its waking hours in search of food. When yungoos is hungry, its ferocity gains a certain edge.

He knew that pokemon anywhere. Yungoos was the pre-evolution stage of Hector, the gumshoos that was his father's pokemon partner at the detective precinct.

Well done Trainer Ree-in. Your combat skills with pokemon Baron and overall as a trainer are improving.

"Rian heads up!" He heard Jules shout. "You two are about to have company!"

He heard them too, frenzied growls and barks from up ahead. The same ones from the houndour that were harassing the pokemon with him. Baron tensed, knowing a fight was right around the corner.

"Stay calm," Rian knelt down to look at his pokemon. "We're gonna get out of this okay?"

Just as they were warned, the houndour were back to confront them. Only this time there were nearly a dozen juvenile pups, all less than a couple feet tall. They yelped and growled, baring fangs of sharp teeth, some of which sparked with fire. While they were overall weak on their own, they had the advantage of superior numbers.

"We don't want any trouble." Rian stood behind the large pokemon but held his hands up to try and show that he wasn't a threat like he had done with the mysterious dragon creature next to him. "We're just getting out of here. Trust me, we want ourselves to be out of this cave as much as you do."

His words didn't seem to persuade any of the houndour, not like they would listen to him in the wild. They snapped their jaws in the air, the front three hunching down as if they were about to pounce.

Pokemon identified. Houndour. Appear to be juvenile stage. Threat status: slight, due to sheer numbers. Determining countermeasure actions. Accessing behavioral patterns for relevant information. Young houndour pups easily dissuaded and intimidated by show of force. Pack appears to obstruct Protocol Two. Enaction of Protocol Three a possibility.

Baron seemed ready to meet the confrontational pack's challenge. He stepped forward and Rian was about to utter a command when the large pokemon beside them roared once more. The revving synthetic noise echoed through the cave with enough power that he swore the ground trembled. The houndour pack's bravado was rapidly fading and their strength in numbers did little to the ones that stayed for just a moment. More than half immediately turned and hastily retreated, yelping in high pitched barks as they fled. The couple that remained quickly decided facing the intruders in the cave on their own was a bad idea.

"Let's not stick around for them to try their luck a third time." Rian told his pokemon as the pups disappeared further into the depths. The quaxly agreed.

"Hurry Rian!" Nemona shouted. "I think something's coming!"

He picked up the pace, jogging up until he finally saw both her and his sister standing at the top waving. Though they were much closer, it still felt so far away. In front of Jules, Basil crouched next to his trainer, no doubt ready to lend a hand.

"Aguas! It's behind you!"

Rushing footsteps from where they had just been caused Rian to spin around in time to see a much larger dog pokemon approaching with a taller, stronger frame that was built for chasing down prey. Like the houndour before it, its fur was primarily black and silver trim. Large horns curled along its back and it had a thin sharp tail.

"Oh no."

Scanning. His pokedex flashed in his hands. Match found. Houndoom. Final evolved form of houndour. Dark pokemon. Upon hearing its eerie howls, other pokemon get the shivers and head back to their nests. It was feared long ago that a houndoom's howl was the call of the grim reaper.

"Comforting." Rian's heart jumped when he saw the large pokemon still continued forward, not particularly paying attention. There was no telling how incredibly strong the houndoom confronting them was but he was determined to defend himself as the larger canine kept its focus on him.

He tried the reasoning first, knowing it was probably even more likely to not work as it hadn't with the houndour pups. "Look, I don't want trouble. Tell your pack mates I'm sorry for wandering in here and I'll be out just as quick."

The houndoom snarled and continued moving forward, causing the boy to be frozen in a moment of fear. At the same time, Baron jumped in between them, staring the much more powerful dark pokemon down and daring it to make a move.

Rian gasped at how his pokemon was undeterred by the wild hound's evident show of strength, yet stood his ground.

Baron?! He's got guts.

That behavior seemed to irk the houndoom as it reared its head back and roared loudly, enough that Baron was sent right back into Rian's poke ball. The boy blinked in surprise, a sudden feeling of dread creeping up.

Oh no. He was defenseless. The houndoom's eyes narrowed sensing its advantage and pressed forward, baring teeth that sparked with fire.

I survived a fall only to get burned to a crisp or ripped to shreds by some angry dogs. What a day.

Only for the large pokemon to spin around after hearing the houndoom. It studied the newly appeared foe with analytical eyes.

Pokemon identified. Houndoom. Evolved form of houndour. Threat status: mild…correction, imminent to Trainer Ree-in.

Warning! Trainer Ree-in endangerment likelihood increased to imminent! Enacting Protocol Three: Protect the Trainer.

Determining countermeasure actions. Accessing behavioral patterns for relevant information. Houndoom yield to superior shows of force. Offensive subroutines standing by. Status: combat ready.

The processes of the creature had gone through its system in less than half a second. Rian jumped as flashes of brilliant white light struck the ground in front, discharged lightning bolts. His mysterious ally suddenly appeared from above, landing between him and the attacking houndoom to roar back in equal ferocity as before and the long silver tail whipped about, causing the houndoom to hastily jump back in reflex.

"Can you just let us leave in peace?" Rian almost had to cough from the acrid burning smell that the electricity had left behind.

Meanwhile he could barely see the shadowy silhouette of the houndoom as the attack had thrown it further back into the dark recesses of the cave. The manner in which it moved its legs showed an apparent injury after getting struck by the beast's tail, but the way it glowered at the two intruders indicated that it had gotten even more displeased at their presence. Rian saw that it threw its head upwards in a bone-chilling howl, followed by a cacophony of more yips and frenzied barks.

Of course it'd have a backup plan. Rian cursed himself for tuning out the cries of the girls above him to use that opportunity to escape and start climbing up.

But something nagged away that had prevented that if he had listened anyway. After all he and this mysterious pokemon had gone through a dangerous cave together and stuck side by side. It would have been selfish for one of them to abandon the other if given the chance.

The growls of other houndour as they rumbled past the large houndoom told him the other side's answer. Rian threw his poke ball again and Baron stood ready to defend. The quaxly kept its proud stance, but was clearly worried and the reluctance caused him to look back at his trainer for guidance. The large pokemon was surrounded yet again by more houndour, but curiously it didn't seem to use any of those powerful electric type moves.

Warning. Outnumbered four to one. Drift Core advised to deter threats. Drift Core execution incomplete. Error code: Sneasel. Secondary offensive measures advised.

Rian moved to help it, but three of the houndour pack had quickly cornered him and Baron. This time, none decided to take their time to harass him from afar, one of which immediately ran forward, jaws open to snap at the duckling.

"Water gun again!" Baron leapt into the air and sprayed the three houndour from side to side, causing two to faint with a super effective attack. The third one barely hung on, rolling back onto its feet and growling in annoyance. At his trainer's command, Baron shot it with another water gun that sent it packing straight into the wall, knocked out cold.

Okay, maybe I'm starting to get the hang of this.

"RIAN watch out!" Nemona cried from above.

Her warning made Rian glance up just in time as he turned around to see the large houndoom making a break for him at a full sprint, bypassing the dragon that was preoccupied with trying to goad back several more houndour. He didn't have time to issue another command to Baron, instead grabbing the first poke ball on his belt and fumbling with arming the matrix.

The houndoom was mere feet away from sinking its teeth into his side when the ball activated, drawing the canine within its confines. Rian was already up and running with Baron at his heels when it hit the ground.

I doubt a poke ball is going to hold a fully ready strong pokemon like that for long.

To his surprise, the purple pokemon had spun around to look at him as he reached the edge of the rock wall before it launched itself forward with a growing lull of its engines. A huge arm suddenly wrapped itself around Rian's waist as it held onto him like a doll. For the second time that day, the wind was nearly knocked out of his lungs and he barely had time to scoop up Baron to hold him tight against his body.

The pokemon's limb felt hard and metallic, as if it were artificial armor, but up close with the extremely fluid movements and whirring of machines as it did move those limbs felt more like a drone.

"Hey! Up here!" Nemona shouts echoed from the top of the cave. Both him and the creature looked up to see her frantically waving her arms to get their attention.

Protocol Three enacted. Protect the Trainer. Objective updated. Cavern entrance beside human female suitable safety. Edge of hostile houndour and houndoom territory and will not follow.

Initializing flight mode. Primary thrusters online. Status: 65%. Warning! Power levels unstable…experiencing unexpected decrease. Approaching minimum self-sustaining levels. Replacement energy source will be required.

The pack of houndour had begun to regroup, now running to the wall where they'd be surrounded again in seconds. Rian saw the poke ball that he had thrown earlier burst open; the houndoom had effortlessly broken out and visibly angered that their prey was about to escape.

Instead of yielding, Rian saw its engines rotate on its body until they pointed directly at the ground. With a growing swell, the thruster output increased like a jet and they quickly ascended off the ground, leaving the furious houndoom and its pack behind. He felt the strap of his hat go taut against his neck, almost getting blown off. They accelerated up, slowing down to another idle hover at the mouth of the cave as Nemona and Jules rushed to greet them.

Rian felt the pokemon slowly release him and his joints were wobbly to the point he practically collapsed stomach first into the grass, barely able to inflate his lungs again with another croak. Anyone else listening would've assumed he was in the middle of suffocating.

"Rian!" Frantic footsteps were heard as Jules appeared ahead of him. She was visibly panting and out of breath while sliding by his side and turning over his prone form so he lay on his back. "Rian are you okay?!"

She got a pained moan in response. Baron nudged him with a wing.

"You're alive," his sister breathed with quavered relief. She remained distressed nonetheless. "I thought I was going to lose you!"

He finally found his wind again and practically gasped for air, sitting up abruptly and startling Jules.

"Sis," his breathing was still labored and his limbs shook as if they were made of gelatin.

"Rian I was so worried!" Despite normally having a fun-loving attitude, she looked like she was about to openly cry. Made sense given his recent life or death experience. He finally began to stand, wobbling slightly on his legs. Jules threw her arms around her older twin brother, hugging him fiercely which almost got him knocked down again.

"Please," she mumbled softly into his uniform shirt. "don't scare me like that ever again."

"I'll try not to sis." His words came out like a squeak. Despite his efforts, he couldn't help a few shedding a few tears of relief as he clung to her. Two near-death experiences he did not want to repeat at all.

"Rian!" He parted from Jules and Nemona swallowed him up in her arms as she embraced him as well. Despite meeting her only a few hours ago, he felt warm and relaxed as his arms gently snaked around her back to return the gesture.

I hope she can't see me blushing.

""I'm so sorry about that," Nemona whispered. "I didn't mean for that to happen to you."

"It's okay." Rian told her. "I'm…I'm just thankful that I'm alive."

Trainer Ree-in exhibiting an increase in heart rate when in close contact with fellow female trainer. Protocol Three enacted a possibility. Override. Trainer is not in any apparent danger.

He turned to the mysterious pokemon, who was inherently watching the interaction with a look of curiosity on its face.

"Thank you."

Trainer expressing gratitude. Unsure how to react due to merely carrying out Protocol Three.

He didn't see any indication that the creature understood. Instead its head pivoted towards the open path behind them and slowly moved towards the Luz Sur.

Must uphold Protocol Two. Seek safety within area of Luz Sur.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"That's one weird pokemon," Jules said, her and Nemona finally getting the chance to see Rian's savior up close. "It doesn't even look like a pokemon. Almost like a robot."

The older girl shook her head. "Yeah but those moves and power it had while in the cavern were amazing! I wonder how strong it will be if I battle it?"

Warning! Power depleted below self sustaining levels! Hadron Engine functionality 29% and decreasing! Status: Calamitous. Offensive subroutines offline. Error code: Sneasel. Replacement energy source required! Essential functions compromised. Emergency shutdown initiated.

The pokemon only made it halfway to the dirt path before it cried out. Its leg engines sputtered as if experiencing a flameout before it collapsed onto the ground in a mess of limbs. Energy began to burst free around its metallic body, the flashes of light reverting it back into the form when it had been originally found laying on the beachhead.

"Woah! What's wrong?" Nemona asked as the three of them ran to its side. The pokemon growled weakly, its digital eyes flickered before fluttering closed. "Maybe it used up all its power?"

"I don't know. Should we take it to a pokemon center to get looked at?" Jules asked.

"I'm confused at what this pokemon is anyway."

Nemona cupped a hand to her chin. "Yeah. What kind of pokemon is this?! If it's even a pokemon? It looks kinda like a cyclizar. But not like any I've seen before."

"Yeah it kinda does. The big throat sac, that reptile head." Rian scanned it with his dex app, but again like before, it showed that the data was inconclusive. Cyclizar were popular transport pokemon and used in his favorite PalMoto Racing. "It's like out of those movies where robots turn into people or pokemon to spy on us."

Jules groaned off to the side, knowing that those types of movies and races were her brother's thing and he annoyed her to no end.

"Ooh!" Nemona clasped her hands together and smiled. "You mean the Shifter series?!"

"Heck yes!" Rian's giddiness was contagious as he finally felt the stress and building pressure in his chest subside, but he tended to go overboard with things like this from time to time. "I got a poster of it in my room! The ending of the second one is soooo good!"

"I know! I can't wait for the fourth one later this year!" The student council president exclaimed. "That and the movies of Palafin: The Pelagic Protector!"

"Guys please," Jules sighed, knowing they would launch into a conversation that could last hours. Shifter and Palafin were among the most popular movie series in Paldea as well as much of the world. "It looks so much different than a minute ago when it took off like a jet to save Rian."

"He's tired." He gently put a hand on the top of its head. "It's hard to say if it's suffering from some illness or injury." The boy's eyes scanned it over, hoping he missed something.

If this thing even is organic. The whole time I felt it was cold like it was made of metal or some carbon fiber thing. Almost like those Shifters.

"You can't tell either huh Rian?"

No. But I feel like I at least owe it to help get better since it used what little power it did have to save me from those houndour. He glanced back at the mouth of the cave. It would be perfectly fine for him to never step foot in there again, now realizing that his parents' warnings over the years had a bit of merit.

"Well, I'm really really grateful that you and Baron are back up here in one piece." Nemona said to him. "I…don't know what I'd do when I'd have to face the rest of your family knowing I lost you under my watch."

Rian fought the blush that went across his face. "It's okay…Nemona. Don't worry about it. I'm really glad you care and all."

Jules smirked when he gave a nervous chuckle after silence fell over the group. He's like that all the time when he comes across a girl he has a crush on.

"You know Rian, that battle you did down there was really something." Nemona went on to him. "I'm starting to wonder if me winning against you back at my house was a fluke. Like you really know what you're doing and both you and this pokemon were perfectly in sync against that houndoom!"

Huh? "But I didn't even say anything."

"What?! You didn't even tell it what to do? I guess that makes sense, especially since you're not exactly its trainer."

"Does it even have a trainer?" Jules had asked everyone's thoughts aloud.

If it does, then where are they? Surely a pokemon this size would've been noticed missing.

Behind them, they heard the grass rustle and turned to see the pokemon in question had rolled back on its feet.

Jules sighed with relief. "Oh that's good. It looks like it perked up a little."

"Do you think this fella's the one that made that cry and that crash sound this morning?"

"Had to be. Hardly anything around here is that unusual sounding."

Critical system functions meeting minimum operating standards. Executing offensive subroutines. Failed. Status: Calamitous. Error code: Sneasel. Hadron Engine functionality: 33%

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Nemona smiled. "The more I look and be around this pokemon, the more mysterious it seems! If you do become its trainer, you gotta let me battle against it!"

I'm with Jules. Does this thing even have a trainer?

"Let's go ahead and exchange numbers so that we can get in touch in case we get separated again!"

Rian blinked as all of their RotoPhones whipped out of their pockets to hover in front of their trainers. A catchy chime sounded from each as their screens flashed with a notification that a new contact was added to their list. With RotoPhones being much more advanced and smarter than others, the days of having to read off individual numbers was a thing of the past.

This might be the easiest I've gotten a girl's number. Rian thought to himself as he opened Nemona's contact information. Her profile picture made him chuckle a bit; a pose of herself giving off a two-fingered peace sign and sticking out her tongue.

Nemona laughed a little at seeing his reaction. "I know...silly selfie! But seeing how you're only going to come across stronger opponents, let me give you a little something to help!"

She reached into her backpack and handed both of them a small silver disk object that was about the size of the one they used to play games on their consoles back home.

Are these Technical Machines? The things that can teach a pokemon specific moves? Or are we going backwards?

"Technical Machines," she said as if reading their minds. "It teaches your pokemon new moves if it's compatible. Not every pokemon can learn every move. And make sure you think twice before you use them though! TMs can only be used one time."

"We can get more right?" Jules asked. Rian was next to her, examining the new item he had received. TM032 which contained Swift. Now that they were starting to collect TMs, a good investment would be in a holding case to catalogue what they'd eventually obtain.

"Si. I'll show you how later. For now, we've all been through a lot lately. Let's just relax and take a breather at the lighthouse."

"Yeah, I'd rather not waste any more time." Luz Sur was just ahead, on the top of the slope. It was even taller than he had imagined, even though he and Jules had been close to it many times when they were younger. Currently it was off since it was well in the afternoon, but the beam it shone out to sea was incredibly powerful and sometimes when they saw it cutting through the night sky like a scythe. When they were younger, the twins wondered if it could also be seen by their mother at times when she was out to sea with the Armada.

The thought of her mother gone yet again made Jules feel just a little more homesick, but she shook that thought out of her head.

Not even a day in the Academy and I'm missing home. Can't think like that.

Nemona led the way as Rian and Jules followed closely behind with Basil and Baron in tow. Occasionally some more wild lechonk and scatterbug challenged them to battles, but like before their pokemon were already strong enough to deal one or two hits to take them out.

They did encounter another pokemon, an orange and gray bird that was originally native to the Kalos region located to the north. It chirped and was nimble enough to make itself a small target and a peck struck Basil and sent him sprawling on the ground.

"Jules watch out!"

She kept her poise as Basil rolled back onto his feet and swiped at the bird with another commanded scratch, knocking it out.

"Got it." Rian's phone scanned the pokemon as the rest of the bird flock had scattered after the battle, not wanting to be the next victims.

Scanning…match found. Fletchling. Tiny robin pokemon. Normal and flying type. This pokemon is normally calm, but once it enters battle, it's hormonal and it becomes aggressive. The flocks in Paldea have large territorial disputes with squawkabilly.

"Improving even more!" Nemona said, stopping to watch. "I like it! You'll be catching pokemon left and right. Just…make sure you don't beat them outright."

"I'm trying," Rian said as his quaxly went after another lechonk. He had hit it with a single pound, which was enough to send the small pig pokemon fleeing back into the brush. "But he doesn't want to stop fighting."

As much as I like Baron wanting to get stronger and level up, I can't rely on just one pokemon.

Not even at school and the twins were already loving their new adventure. Aside from the scare of Rian nearly dying earlier, the prospect of everything in their quiet life in Cabo Poco changing for the better was exhilarating.

According to Nemona at their current pace, they'd be reaching Mesagoza by nightfall. Though if they took longer, she had said that she'd be able to get them a place to stay for the night at Los Platos, which had small hostels that were free for up to two nights to students traveling on their journeys.

"Though if we don't make it tonight, we can most certainly start tomorrow morning."

"I wonder how much Mesagoza has changed since we were last there?" Jules asked aloud. "It's been years since we've last been."

Follow mode engaged. I will stick by your side Trainer Ree-in.

Strangely, the mysterious pokemon followed them loyally close behind as they returned their pokemon. It rumbled with content as Rian and Jules gave it head scratches and Nemona stood behind, gushing at how cute the two trainers looked taking care of a pokemon that seemed awfully friendly despite its incredible power transformation just a few minutes ago. As it trudged along, they noticed that it had a fixated gaze on the Luz Sur just up ahead.

What's it wanting with a lighthouse?

As they approached, they noticed someone was staring at the door to the left of the main building that had begun to turn around to leave. He didn't pay them any attention off a quick glance, but suddenly stopped and whirled around again to face them, his glare moved towards the mysterious pokemon that accompanied them. His expression turned into a scowl.

"Why that little!"

Analyzing. Recognized. Trainer Ar-

Before any of them could react; the boy took off across the ground and stopped right in front of the mysterious pokemon, jabbing a finger at its snout. "What do you think you're doing out here?"

They all got a good look at him. He was roughly Nemona's height, maybe a little taller with a mix of flaxen and blond hair that was rather messily cut with long bangs obscuring the side of his face. His jawline tightened in a grimace as he glared at the pokemon, muttering something under his breath.

Rian was still processing the fact that the pokemon that saved him was being scrutinized that he then noticed the tailored pants and dark gray polo with the Uva Academy seal on the shoulder. Though the difference in he was also wearing the yellow gold vest that went with the school's autumn issue uniform.

Another student?

The boy stopped and must've realized he had bystanders watching. He looked back at the three dumbfounded expressions.

"I'm not talking to you guys, you can shove off."

Rian saw his sister's eyebrow twitch in venomous anger and she was about to step forward when he slowly reached out and stopped her. He'd seen it too many times at recrero where Jules would get fired up coming to the defense of someone.

"Don't sis. He isn't worth it."

Jules opened her mouth to plead her own reasoning but knew he was right.

"This pokemon saved your life!" She hissed quietly, "And this jerk thinks he can belittle it like it's a kid after meeting it for just a few seconds."

That can't be all of it. The way he looked at this pokemon means they've got some sort of history.

"Hold on," Nemona ignored the twins for a moment to regard the boy with a curious expression. A hint of recognition flashed across her face. "I know you…you're…you're Arven? You're enrolled in the humanities track at Uva Academy right?"

The Student Council President folded her arms and gave off a rare frown. "And aren't you the son of that world renowned pokemon researcher Professor Turo?"

That elicited a much more of an angered reaction from him as Arven finally acknowledged them formally for the first time rather than flippantly telling them off.

"Yeah?" He seethed with clenched fists and teeth. "Well it doesn't matter shit who my father is! Why would the student council prez who does nothing else besides battle care anyway?"

Nemona gasped, unable to muster much of a reply. If anything, Rian thought she seemed more perplexed than offended.

"The real issue here is what is this brute doing out here! And what's with this form it's in?!"

"Brute?" Off to their side, Jules couldn't help herself this time and shook her head in disbelief. "It's thanks to this thing you call a brute that my brother is alive!"

Rian nodded in agreement. "Right." He said, barely loud enough for Arven to hear them. "This guy saved me from a tight spot. Some houndour and a big houndoom in the Inlet Grotto. Y'know, the cave nobody's supposed to go into?"

"Yeah," Nemona didn't seem too down about his earlier outburst or condescending behavior. "See we heard this strange cry and went to investigate. I was taking Rian and Jules here to Uva when I heard this mysterious cry. Rian accidentally fell off the cliff. That pokemon saved him, but it got itself worn out in the process. Kinda slumpy afterward."

Arven made an unimpressed "hmph" and crossed his arms. Jules once again squashed the urge to drop some sense into him.

And I know she's probably looking to deck this asshat in the jaw with a mean right cross.

"But you totally should have seen it earlier!" Her excitement was undeniable. "It looked way different and insanely strong!"

"Well yeah. As it should be. But it can't fight like this. About time it does something with its worthless self."

Who does he think he is having the right to say that?! "Hey!" Jules shouted. "That thing is not worthless at all. You take that back right now!"

Arven huffed. "Make me."

She stormed forward just as Rian finally grabbed her backpack. He immediately knew what was going to happen. "Sis, no! Enough! Both of you!"

"Rian what the hell? You should be helping me!"

"He's not worth wasting your energy. Someone must've put mayonnaise in his morning juice today."

"Wow, real mature you." Arven's grumble meant he had heard what he said.

"Speak for yourself." Rian shot back and gestured to the creature behind them. "But there is no way I'm going to stand idle if you're going to jab this guy for saving my skin like that."

To his surprise, the boy relented. "That's fair enough."

He gestured to the violet dragon. "But again, it's not supposed to be out here. The form that Miraidon takes in battle. That's its true form."

Miraidon?

"Wait, Miraidon?" Nemona glanced at the pokemon in curiosity. "Is that this pokemon's name? And how'd you know it?"

The aptly named Miraidon whined softly, but it turned towards the building.

Objective complete. We have arrived at Luz Sur. Attempting access to interior.

"Can't go into the lab. It's locked." Arven crossed his arms and turned to the twins beside Nemona. His frown never disappeared. "The student council prez is bad enough. You two have the Uva uniform, but I've never seen either of you around anywhere. You must go to the academy too."

"Well yes," Jules said while rolling her eyes sardonically. "We were on our way like perfectly normal students and then we got swept up in what seems to be no end to your drama."

Arven ignored her jab. "Miraidon isn't just some run of the mill pokemon that any trainer can hope to command. It's special."

"How is it special?" Nemona asked him. "What kind of pokemon is it?"

Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Arven put his hands on his hips and scrutinized Rian and Jules again. "You guys think you're up to ordering Miraidon around? Then how about I test your worthiness?"

I don't need to order it around though. I just need people to not treat it like dirt.

To his surprise, it was Jules that stepped forward, boldly facing Arven and brandishing Basil's ball.

"Alright jerk." Her face turned dead serious. "You're on."

"Look at you, a little buddy go-getter." Arven readied a poke ball on his side. Next to his sister, Rian and Nemona exchanged a confused look.

For a journey just starting, he had to admit that it was starting to be even more eventful than he had expected.

"You better let me battle it once it goes back to that true form Arven talked about." She whispered to him and gave him a knowing wink. "Once your sister kicks this pendejo's rear."

He nodded. Deal.

Miraidon stuck to Rian's side as Arven and Jules took up opposite ends of the dirt path that would serve as their brief fighting ground. Nemona stood in as a referee despite Arven's chagrin, giving a brief layout of the rules. Each contestant uses one pokemon and the victor is declared when their opponents' pokemon has fainted and unable to battle further.

She lowered her hand after the explanation.

"Jules, you don't have to do this. Again, if he wants to pout like that, let him. He got some growing up to do."

"To hell with letting him fester," Rian knew that his sister's temper sometimes got the better of her when she saw people getting picked on. Though they hadn't really encountered any bullies in school per se, there had been a member of their peers that had found themselves on the wrong end of how quick Jules was to snap at people if she believed she or someone else she cared about was being treated wrongly. "I'm teaching this jerk a lesson whether he likes it or not!"

Not to mention I'm not going to be a pushover when it comes to battle. Right Basil?

Her poke ball throw was smoother than his as she tossed Basil out of his ball. She threw with her right hand upward, which was more or less the main technique used by trainers. Basil landed in front of her, meowing softly and hunching down to a battle ready position.

"I've been feeling all out of sorts, so I'm gonna use this battle and blast these doldrums away!" Arven patted himself on the temple and stretched before throwing a poke ball of his own in the same throwing technique as Jules.

The device burst open to reveal a small tan rodent pokemon that had two sharp front teeth and a long brown bushy tail. Rian scanned it with his phone.

Scanning…match found. Skowvet. Cheeky pokemon. Normal type. It stores berries in its cheeks and tail. When there are no berries to be found, Skwovet will stuff pebbles instead to stave off cravings.

The sound of pokemon clashing brought his thoughts out of reading from the dex app. Basil and the skwovet, which was affectionately named Gordo, already had begun to battle on their trainers' orders. Basil spun around, unleashing a small flurry of leaves that hit the squirrel midair. Gordo staggered, but Jules gasped, still a bit surprised that her opponent was still on its feet.

"These memories are leaving a bad taste in my mouth and I want them gone!"

Jules said nothing, continuing to shout orders at Basil. Rian could tell that the latest jab had gotten into her head.

"Leafage again!" She refused to back down. Basil gave another cry and spun around, flinging a handful of glowing leaves. In response, the skwovet stayed low to the ground, darting from side to side to dodge the majority of the attack.

"Gordo, tail whip and then bite!"

At his command, Gordo had flicked its tail from side to side. The movement caught Basil's eye and he stopped to watch. Jules saw a downwards cascading aura before Gordo launched himself forward, sinking his teeth into Basil's left foreleg.

Oh no. Rian could see that Gordo had let go and Basil hissed in pain as he put pressure on the bit leg. The small cat had instead shifted so more weight was on its right side.

"Basil! Are you okay?" A cry of affirmation was all she needed so he could jump back into the fight. Though the injury caused a bit of pain, Jules' own pokemon was showing its resilience. "Use scratch!"

Basil winced as he had to run forward, but he lashed out with his good leg and swiped his claws against Gordo's front. The skowvet reeled back, snapping his jaws in a bite that Basil had avoided just in time.

"That tail whip from earlier means one of Basil's stats was lowered." Nemona explained to them. "If you ever see that in battle, you have to watch out. Tail whip lowers physical defense, so Basil getting hit by something like bite again is going to take slightly more damage."

This'll probably be taught more in some battling class at the Academy.

"I'm not giving up yet." Basil struggled to his feet as Jules pointed with her hand. "Leafage!"

""Again?" Arven almost laughed. "I guess you really don't know shit about battles."

Yes. Keep thinking that jerk.

Basil launched another flurry of leaves that both Arven and Gordo saw coming. "Move out of the way and close in with another tail whip and bite!"

Jules smirked, perfect. "Move to the side and attack with scratch!"

It all happened in a flash, Basil's attack finished and he quickly jumped down as the skwovet charged forward, unflinching as the leaves fluttered past. As it stopped; Basil lunged forward himself slashing with its forepaws and much quicker than Gordo could react with his bite attack. Arven gasped as Gordo stumbled and fell headfirst into the ground.

Jules' sprigatito proudly held his head high, walking back as she saw her phone chirp with a new notification on her trainer's app. Off to the side, Miraidon revved as he observed with rapt attention.

Trainers and linked pokemon sync in combat with one another. This appears invigorating. Trainer Jul-es' combat efficiency with pokemon Basil has increased.

"Oh look at you Basil, you learned bite!"

Automatically?

"Clover is incapable of battling further! Basil wins and the match is clinched in Jules's favor!" Nemona waved her hand as part of her officiating, though it was clear who was the victor. On the other end, Arven scowled again and recalled his defeated pokemon. Though she had won, Rian did appreciate that Jules had refrained from sticking it up to him in her victory.

"Seems you actually do know a thing or two about battling." He finally said and gave an annoyed huff. "Hmph."

"That was awesome to watch!" Nemona's professional demeanor disappeared and she smiled over at Jules. "You rocked out there!"

At her side, Jules smiled at the praise as Basil ran across the field and jumped up and down in front of his trainer. He winced again at his injured paw.

"Great job Basil! You're amazing!" She scooped him up and hugged him happily as he licked his injured leg. "We're gonna be so great together!"

She won. Rian thought to himself, a little bit bittersweet that his sister seemed to be getting the hang of pokemon battles quicker than him. I'm proud of you too sis, but this Arven kid doesn't seem like he knows much more about battling either.

The boy sighed and threw his arms up after pocketing the poke ball. "Ugh. I guess I was never going to stand much of a chance with a pokemon that I caught not three days ago."

"Thank you Basil." Jules petted him playfully on the head and returned him to his own ball. "You did great out there. I'll be sure to get you fixed up!"

"Well if you really think you can take Miraidon off my hands for me, you're gonna need this." Arven took out another poke ball from his rather large backpack and tossed it towards them. Rian caught the object and stared at the worn dings and scuff marks all along the smooth red and white surface. Compared to the mint ball that Baron belonged to, this one looked as if it had seen quite a bit of use.

The other boy seemed to read the question that went across Rian's mind before he could think of it. "Yeah it's a poke ball, more specifically the one that the brute's kept in."

"Its poke ball?" Nemona asked him, her tone taking on something a bit more argumentative. "So why did you even have it? And why are you giving away a pokemon if it's that strong?"

Arven shot her another uninterested look. "Y'know, not everyone is as obsessed with pokemon battling as you. Besides," he jerked his thumb toward Rian and Jules. "That thing's now your problem. Not mine anymore. Good luck."

"Hey!" Jules and Nemona shouted at the same time, but Arven suddenly had turned tail and ran down the north trail, not bothered in the slightest in passing on the responsibility of Miraidon to him. Rian was just as astonished, looking at the direction Arven disappeared without as much of a second thought. For a few moments, he believed it to be a prank and the boy with the odd haircut would come running back to them. Instead, all he got was palpable silence. Even the talkative Nemona was at a loss of words.

"Well." He broke the silence. "He seems like a real charmer."

"Does he not hear me or what?" Nemona asked, shrugging her shoulders. A look of realization flashed across her face and she cupped her mouth with her hands.

"OYE! FINE, GO BE THAT WAY! BUT YOU BETTER ACTUALLY SHOW UP FOR SCHOOL!"

Rian and Jules almost flinched at her shout and furrowed their eyebrows.

"You know him too?"

"I think so. Arven…uh…sometimes didn't show up to his classes. He's kinda a weirdo. Interesting considering he's Professor Turo's son."

"Turo?" Jules asked, a bit of curiosity in her voice. "I swear I've heard that name before."

"Yeah. Nestor Turo, the world famous pokemon researcher from Paldea. He's actually a graduate from Uva Academy as well." Nemona put her hands on her hips, still not fully over Arven's flippant behavior. "That Arven guy knows a lot more than what he's letting on for sure. Next time he and I battle, I'm wringing some answers out of him!"

Miraidon glanced back at the path Arven had run down before it made a soft whine and ambled over to Rian, who still held its ball.

"Heh!" The boy laughed when its long neck softly nuzzled him on the chin. He was amazed that such a powerful pokemon was this playful and approachable just several minutes later. "It's gonna be okay buddy. We'll get you checked out and back to that awesome battle form in no time at all!"

Your encouragement and positive attitude can only improve our situation. With Trainer Arven relinquishing possession of my poke ball and an establishment of Protocol One, I am obligated as a pokemon under your possession Trainer Ree-in.

Accessing Paldea La Liga Trainer database files. Match found. Florian Joaquim Almeida-Araújo. Age, sixteen years. Trainer Rank: Novice. Elder twin brother to Juliana Renata Almeida-Araújo. Age, also sixteen years. Trainer Rank: Novice.

Possible nickname? Ree-in derived from latter half of Florian's name. Rian. Name corrected.

Possible nickname? Jules derived from former half of Juliana's name. Jul-es…one word. Name corrected.

Saving Rian and Jules spelling and pronunciation for Trainer preference.

Accessing Paldea La Liga Trainer database files. Match found. Nemona Valerie Ozuna-Gurrerro. Age, eighteen years. Trainer Rank: Champion.

With its designations complete, Miraidon whined softly while maintaining closeness to the twins.

Still though. Rian thought to himself. If Miraidon is such a powerful pokemon, why doesn't Arven want it? Or rather me? I barely just started out as a trainer and now I guess I have this robot cyclizar looking thing as my own responsibility. It can't battle, at least not in this state.

"Thanks buddy. Back to your ball." Rian hit the return function and Miraidon was recalled inside. He slipped it onto his belt, but thought for a second and instead put it in a small pocket in the side of his backpack.

"Hey Nemona, uh if I have Miraidon and it can't battle…does it count as a pokemon in my party? Or can I have that maximum of six and still keep it?"

The class president cupped her chin in thought. No doubt she was still thinking about the cryptic encounter with Arven. "Hmm. Honestly, that might be something you'd have to take up with La Liga. If we can get that pokemon to its battling form like in that cave, then I'd imagine Miraidon would take up a spot on your team's roster. Otherwise, if it's like a companion…assuming that's what it is, I don't think so?"

"Like what?" Jules asked. They'd discuss it later, but considering Miraidon was bonding with both twins, her brother would be the primary caretaker as the one to hold onto its poke ball.

"Probably some special paperwork. Forms that give you permission to carry a seventh pokemon on hand. It's complicated and sometimes it takes weeks for it to get pushed through."

"I'm with you Nemona," Jules softly said as her hand clenched into a fist. "That Arven guy is a jerk for leaving and shoving Miraidon and all its problems on us like that. I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind next time I see him."

"Uh sis, let's not go there." Rian said. "Guy like that had made up his mind long before he ran into any of us. Though I agree with Nemona, there's definitely more to Arven and Miraidon's history than he was letting on."

And like you sis, I intend to find out what.

He looked up at the afternoon sky and then the clock on his Rotophone; it was starting to get closer to the evening and he found his stomach starting to rumble from having not eaten for a bit.

"But let's just focus on getting to the Academy or at least Los Platos, where we can get a bed. Didn't you say that it would take a few hours to get to Mesagoza anyway?"

"Depends on how fast you walk. Or if you want to stop and smell the roses. I remember doing that when I first started my own journey."

Jules rubbed her arms. "Sounds good. Let's do that and take our time."

"I have to get you to Mesagoza by tomorrow," Nemona told them. "The school year's opening assembly is the day after and classes will start next week. Not to mention a ton of other things."

She spun around to face Luz Sur, "But there is one thing I want to show you before we start heading out. Come follow me to the top."

Rian and Jules had never been there before, but they waited until Nemona had disappeared up Luz Sur's ladder before following.

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Whew. Chapter done! The plan from here is to take a bit of a step back and focus on A Hui Hou Kākou for a little bit on getting a very important champion battle. Next update for this one might be a little while longer before I get it out. Appreciate everyone's patience!

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Logged 'Dex entries ​

• Yungoos
• Houndoom
• Fletchling
• Skwovet

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Spanish Translations​

• Aguas! - Watch out! While it literally also means "water" Aguas can also be referred to warn of potential danger.
• Recrero - Recess
• Pendejo - Idiot

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Stay tuned for the next update! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.
Brav