Pokémon The Empire of Hisui

[Lol no]

Hello, everyone!
This is my first fanfiction, in english! So, as you can understand from the last sentence, english is not my first language. Please bear with me a little and don't throw the fic away for some errors, or do... I am not your boss. I open to any tips to improve it.

The plot is happening after the events of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, in the Hisui region. But some years later, so there won't be any of the known characters from the game, or we can imagine it happening in a different timeline with similar events, like Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. What I mean it's that the Diamond and Pearl Clan know about Palkia and Dialga existing, the battle against giratina already happened and yadda yadda... It's just to let you understand.

So, let's begin, I hope I will complete this someday haha;

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: The name is...
​

It was sunset in the Hisui region. A few purple clouds were moving slowly in the orange sky, and the weather was not too hot and was pleasant. The dirt roads that led to the Jubilife Village were not deserted despite the impending night that was coming, in fact someone was walking calmly towards the village.
The figure was that of a boy of average height, just over twenty years old, wearing a long dark gray jacket, a shirt of a dull purple color with tribal signs on the chest. The pants were black and loose, which ended in boots of the same black, but darker. The hair was a very dark brown, worn upwards in long spiky locks.

"It's been a while since I've seen a sunset like this..." the guy commented, bringing a hand to his forehead as he turned his gaze to the sun that was now disappearing behind the horizon, bringing with it the bright light with which it colored the sky. "Here in the Village they must enjoy perfect days... I think they're having a great time." he then added, huffing as he was now near the large gate of Jubilife Village.

"Hey, you! Stop!" a voice alarmed the guy. A man dressed in red and with a large straw hat suddenly jumped out near the walls of Jubilife Village.

"Um... what's the problem?" asked the boy impatiently while the guard showed a stern expression.

"It's almost night. We're about to close the gates... no visitors allowed." explained the man, raising an open hand forward, signaling the young man to stop.

"But... you are kidding!" exclaimed the boy in disbelief. "After all the way I've come, you want to lock me out?" he then asked, shaking his head. "The gate is still open, can't I just go for a jog and get in?"

"NO!" shouted the guard without moving from his position. "When I'm on duty, visitors aren't allowed in here after dark." the man explained, slowly moving a hand behind his back. The boy didn't go unnoticed.

"But it's not the... after dark yet..." the young man tried to justify while the other gritted his teeth.

"You insist, huh..." the guard simply commented, while with a quick gesture of his hand, he took out a round capsule from which, with a flash, a brown, rodent-like Pokémon came out. "Bidoof, Rollout!" the guard ordered while his Pokémon curled up and then launched itself at the boy, who promptly dodged the blow.

"Attacking without warning?" the boy asked, moving a hand to his belt. "Where are the Poké Balls... Oh, on the other side." the boy said absentmindedly, also taking a capsule from which a little monkey with a flame for a tail came out. "Chimchar, Scratch!" the boy commanded while his Pokémon threw itself towards the enemy. The Bidoof, however, had already turned around and hit the Chimchar, continuing to roll.

"Hehe! You better give up right now!" the guard commented confidently. "Throwing a Chimchar, a fire Pokémon, on a rock-type attack... a classic amateur move." he then added.

"Damn, how stupid I am..." the boy thought, looking seriously at the battlefield, while the enemy Bidoof was returning to Chimchar. "I didn't remember if I had the Balls on the right or left of my belt and that lost moment cost me." he then added with a grimace. "Chimchar, let's try again: Scratch!" the boy commanded while the Pokémon skillfully dodged the enemy's attack for then hitting him to the side with a lash of claws.

"Bidoof!" the guard called while the rodent lost its stability due to the attack and fell to the ground.

"Ember!" the boy replied as Chimchar leapt into the air and spat out numerous spherical flames from its mouth that hit his opponent, knocking it out.

"Damn..." the guard complained, retreating his Pokémon. "But let's see how you do with this!" he declared, sending out a Pokémon that looked like a weasel with a yellow collar. "Buizel, Water Gun!" the guard then ordered as the Pokémon shot a jet of water from its mouth.

"Ember!" the boy repeated as Chimchar emitted more flames, which collided with the water attack, causing a cloud of steam. However, Buizel's attack had an advantage over the reaction, and it continued its run, breaking through the fog.

"Did I hit him?" the guard wondered in confusion, unable to see the situation clearly. "Dang it... Water Jet!" Buizel created water around himself, which he then used as a propulsion system to charge headlong towards his enemy, his two tails whirling wildly. There was a thud, as if the hit was a success, and the guard smiled in satisfaction. The cloud cleared, and the guard could see that his Buizel was looking around, next to him, there was a a Pokémon, but it didn't look like Chimchar. "NO! GET AWAY!" the guard yelled to warn his Pokémon, but it was too late.

"Spark!" the guy ordered to his yellow and chunk Pokémon, who starts charging electricity through his horns for then tackling the Buizel. "And now, Elekid: Quick Attack!" the guy said, and his Pokémon moved as fast as possible, hitting with a punch the Buizel, who was already suffering from the previous electric attack. The Buizel fell to the ground without any energy. "Victory!" said the guy showing a V-sign with his fingers, while his Elekid was laughing with arrogance.

The guard huffed, retiring his Pokémon. "You take advantage of the steam to change your Pokémon, so I couldn't see the switch..." the guard commented while the boy pulled back his Elekid into the Poké Ball. "You are not as bad as I thought... now that I notice, your shirt... you are from Pearl Clan!"

"Yes, I am." the guy replied simply. "The name is Raphael, from the Pearl Clan! I am here because the village chief called me here... well, he called for my father, but the old man wants me to take responsabilities for what it will be the future of the clan... so, here I am." the boy explained, even though the explanation looked like more a leash out to himself than an answer to the guard.

"Meguro called you here? I didn't hear anything about it." the guard said, while he was looking skeptical to Raphael, who starts walking in the gate direction. "Stop, I said!" the guard showed his open hand again to stop the young man.

"What? Again? What about the fight we just had then?" Raphael asked perplexed.

"It was not to decide if you can enter or not... it was to chase you away!" the guard answered while Raphael started to have an eye twitching.

"Y-you... there's no way I'll go all the back way to my clan or that I wait out there for tomorrow, with the random weather which is hitting the region lately? I'm gonna enter, pal... I don't think you can't stop me anyway." Raphael started moving towards the guard, who looked a bit intimidated by the other guy and he kept repeating that Raphael needs to stop.

"You are forbidden to enter." a voice made Raphael to turn around. He could see a group of people behind him, he didn't even realize they were getting close to him. A man and a woman dressed just like the guard who lost against Raphael, there was then a girl with cobalt eyes and hair, her hair tied in a long braid that fell over her left shoulder; she was dressed in blue, with a P stylized on her shirt. But the voice came from a tall men in his thirties, wearing loose-fitting red camouflage clothes with dirty combat boots, and with unkempt brown hair.
"I have no mercy for suspicious people." he said, letting out a big boulder-like Pokémon, with four arms. "Graveler, Self-destruct..." he said. And his Pokémon started glowing, making Raphael realizing the danger, but it was too late. An explosion happened, which hit Raphael squarely.

______

After a moment made totally of void, the young man opened his eyes again.
"Oh, what the..? OUCH!" Raphael wondered as he pulled himself up from a bed, before feeling a pang in his stomach, and he had to put a hand on it as if to try to stop the agony.

"Oh... you're finally awake." commented the girl with blue hair who was at the entrance a while ago; now sitting on a chair, next to the boy. "You're in the recovery room of the Team Galactic headquarters... you took a... nasty hit." explained the girl while Raphael shook his head looking at the sheets as if to clarify his memories.

"AH! YES! THAT GUY!" Raphael shouted in dismay and fury, starting to check around.

"Quiet! There are others sleeping here!" the girl scolded him while Raphael closed his mouth and started to study the room. Indeed, there were many other beds, and some were occupied by people who were sleeping. The young man looked back at the girl, studying her carefully, so much so that she began to feel embarrassed.

"Did you rob me?" Raphael asked as the girl widened her eyes.

"Wha- no... this is you 'thank you' for the fact I took you and brought you here to get cured?" the girl said, visibly offended.

"But weren't you with the guy who attacked me?" Raphael asked, confused and trying to be on guard.

"Um... yes, my name is Julie, and I'm a member of the Survey Corps." the girl introduced herself, bending down for a moment. "The one who knocked you out was Saliat, the head of the Security Corps." she then said with a desolate look. "He's a bit of a brash guy and takes his role very seriously... he saw you arguing with one of his men and so..." the young woman said, scratching her head while Raphael looked annoyed at the justification he had just received. "But in the end I had you brought here to the Jubilife village to make sure you were okay." the boy gave a skeptical look.

"No. Let me get this straight..." Raphael said, perplexed, while Julie started listening. "I had to fight that guard and I was attacked by you because I was trying to get into the village... and then you took me in the village anyway? The place which I was attacked because I wanted to get in?" the boy asked, unable to understand the logic of events. "That explosion must had hit you harder than how it hit me." he said, looking away from Julie.

"You have a lot of nerve to talk to your savior like that!" Julie commented hysterically; pointing a finger at Raphael who pretended not to notice out of spite.

"Quiet... people are sleeping." he said, causing Julie almost to hit him.

"Anyway, it's because... after you um... fell to the ground..." the girl commented, trying to choose the right words "The guard at the gate said that you tried to explain that you were invited to come to the village... and we saw the Pearl Clan symbol on your shirt... and Saliat said that apparently the leader of that clan was coming for something... and well, well... we realized we were wrong." the girl explained with a desolate expression but sketching an apologetic smile. "We didn't mean to hit the leader of the Pearl Clan... I apologize for-"

"I am not the leader. The leader sent me here, but I don't have that title yet." he said huffing.

"Oh... oh.. what a luck!" she said bringing an hand to her chest.

"What do you mean? It's less serious because I am not the leader?" Raphael asked bothered by Julie's words, by the girl widened her eyes, realizing what she just said. "Nevermind... huff... but what day is it? And what time is it?" the boy asked, tossing in bed while Julie tried to invite him to calm down. "There's that meeting with the leader of Galaxy Team!"

"Calm down... you slept a long time. It's morning now... when is the meeting?" Julie asked.

"Morning? Of the day after you attacked me?" Raphael asked while Julie nodded perplexed. "Damn it! The meeting is this morning." the young man said, jumping out of the bed in pain, under Julie's surprised eyes.

"So you're a captain of the Pearl Clan? I don't know much about you." the girl commented looking at Raphael like she was suspecting a bit of him. "You're not someone who disguised himself as a member of Pearl Clan to sneak into the village, are you?" Julie asked in shock, putting her hands over her mouth.

"Are you getting these doubts now? After you asked me sorry because you attacked me?" Raphael asked in an annoyed tone. "Anyway, no... my name is Raphael, and I came here basically to act as the leader of the Pearl Clan... since I'm his son." the boy explained with a huff, while Julie looked at him in surprise.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 2: The village and the two clans.​

It was the morning after the day Raphael arrived at Jubilife Village. The boy was standing in front of a huge wooden door, accompanied by Julie.
"This is Meguro's office, the leader of Galaxy Team." Julie explained, reaching out to the door. "You got up late anyway... I think the Diamond Clan has already arrived." the girl commented, looking sternly at Raphael, who snorted. Indeed, from behind the doors, some voices could be heard arguing among themselves.

"I never cared much about these affairs." Raphael commented, casting a tired look at Julie. "My father forced me to come here... since he wants to give up his place to me... but I don't feel like it yet." the boy then said, continuing to observe the door.

"Well... you're here now... what do you intend to do? Go back home?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You say I shouldn't?" Raphael replied sarcastically, so Julie stepped forward and opened the door. Behind it was a large office, where a middle-aged pale man, a slim build, a long aquiline nose and dark-purple hair combed back, was talking to a blonde girl with blue eyes, dressed in a blue kimono with white flowers. Next to her was a boy with dark, medium-long hair that fell around his face with a parting in the middle, dressed like a samurai in blue. He looked very annoyed.

"Good morning, Mr. Meguro." Julie greeted, bowing in front of the purple-haired man who returned the greeting. "I brought Raphael from Pearl Clan, who will be acting as the leader of his clan for today." the girl announced, letting Raphael enter the room.

"Hello everyone." Raphael said quickly, thinking about saying next. "My name is Raphael and-".

"It's about time!" interrupted the dark-haired boy, surprising Raphael who looked at him with wide eyes, but without saying a word.

"Be kind, Julie... go call the corps leaders." said the middle-aged man while the girl nodded, running away in a hurry, even leaving the door open. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Raphael, my name's Meguro." said the leader of Galaxy Team, coughing a bit for then approaching with his hands behind his back. "Your father told me about you in rare occasions... but I didn't think he was planning on surprising me like this. So in the end he decided to step aside." commented the man while Raphael shrugged not knowing how to respond. "As you can see, I am the leader of Galaxy Team, and the chief of Jubilife Village." Meguro said, bringing his hands to his black suit, pointing to a yellow symbol sewn on the left side of his chest. "While this beautiful girl you see is the leader of Diamond Clan." said the man, turning to the blonde girl who nodded her head.

"My name is Kate. It's a pleasure to meet you." the girl said, smiling at Raphael. "I'm quite relieved that you're taking part as the leader of the Pearl Clan... you know, I've been leader for a few years, but I think I'm just a few years older than you. So if you are feeling a bit out of place in this meeting, trust me, I can understand your feelings." the girl confessed, giggling. "At least I have some company now... otherwise I usually bring my cousin along for that, even if he doesn't help much." the girl explained annoyed, turning to the dark-haired boy who continued to sternly scrutinize Raphael. "Um... I thought he was introducing himself: this is Damon." the girl said, while Raphael said that it was a pleasure.

"Being late runs in the family, I see." Damon commented dryly, folding his arms. "Your father also used to always show up after the agreed time." the boy continued, making the atmosphere much heavier. Raphael tried to answer but was interrupted by the arrival of three people accompanied by Julie; a man about thirties with light blue hair styled in a pompadour. He was dressed in a long dark blue jacket, with a gray shirt underneath and baggy black pants, he arrived with his hands in his pockets and with a bored look, he was really pale and with eyebags on his face. The second person was a young woman with black and wavy hair, almost curly. Elongated and red eyes, with a bright look. She was dressed in a long white robe. The last person was nothing new to Raphael however, it was Saliat, the man who attacked him the day earlier.

"Ah... you!" Raphael exclaimed, putting himself on guard at the sight of the man who gave a hint of an amused grin.

"We heard about what happened yesterday." Meguro said, placing both hands on Raphael's shoulders, trying to reassure him. "Saliat is very sorry, as are all of us... but your father had not warned us of your arrival and from the description of our Security Leader you were not easily identifiable as a member of Pearl Clan." the man explained while Raphael remembered he was wearing a coat the previous day.

"Besides, you were approaching one of my men in a threatening manner... I cannot leave such behavior unpunished." Saliat said, putting his and hands on hips, in a cocky manner; earning a glare from Raphael who didn't seem to want to abandon his guard position.

"Good... I think we're all set. We can begin our private meeting." Meguro said, shifting his gaze to Julie, who jumped in dismay, quickly leaving.

"The door, Julie..." the woman with red eyes said, and Julie ran back, asking sorry and closing the door, leaving the group in their privacy.

"Good Raphael... you've already met our Security team leader. So let me introduce you to the leader of the Construction Corps: Yland." Meguro said, referring to the young man with light blue hair, who nodded his head in greeting. "And then there's our gorgeous leader of the Survey Corps: Kurena..." the man finally said.

"Nice to meet you... I see you've made friends with Julie. She's a very valuable member of my team." Kurena said in a calm and genuine tone.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Raphael and I'm taking the role of the leader of Pearl Clan for today." the boy introduced himself to the team leaders, repeating just what he said before. He could think at anything else.

"Hah! I had a big fish this time, huh!" Saliat exclaimed amusedly, nudging Yland's arm to seek his approval. The leader of the Construction Corps nodded annoyed, to humor his companion.

"Are we done wasting time?" Damon said dryly, drawing attention to himself, Yland began to study him with his eyes.

"Damon... one of the captains of Diamond Clan, but who was supposed to be its leader." Yland commented as Damon shifted his gaze to him. "But the position passed to his cousin because she was wiser... your too belligerent behavior took you away an important role in your village... I'm starting to understand why." he then said clearing his throat, as Damon's gaze became more and more intense and threatening.

"That's also why I want his presence." Kate intervened, trying to calm the spirits. "As a candidate for the position of the leader, I think Damon's decisions are superior to mine sometimes." the girl then added, seeming to know that such a sentence would calm Damon, who snorted, making a sound with his tongue, turning away.

"Okay, gentlemen... let's get back to the topic at hand." Meguro said, starting to walk towards his desk, turning his back to those present and looking out the window as the sunlight timidly peeked through the glass. "I think you know why I wanted to call you all here today, but I'll say it anyway for the new arrival." the leader of Galaxy Team said while Damon gritted his teeth.

"Not again..." he commented in a low voice while Kate invited him to be quiet.

"It's obvious that there is great cooperation between the Jubilife Village and the villages of Diamond and Pearl Clan." Meguro began to say, then turning towards the clans representatives. "But I want more... I want the villages to unite, to create something bigger and stronger. You will be hosted as honorable citizens of the village... we will combine our resources, we could bring Jubilife to your territories, and expand civilization in Hisui... thus being able to live more in harmony in the region with us and with the Pokémon." the man finished saying while Raphael looked at him strangely. To him, it seemed like a request of a certain weight, and that weight of deciding for his entire village, was becoming too heavy on his shoulders.

"I imagined it was this again." Kate said with a kind but adamant tone. "And so I think you know well that I will refuse the offer again." the girl added while Meguro closed his eyes, lowering his head to the floor.

"We could be a very strong empire if only we joined forces even more..." Meguro said with a resigned tone while Kate sighed.

"I understand. But you know that our land is very important to us Diamond Clan... our agricultural resources develop very well only in our lands and are very important to us, especially in these times where the weather is so impetuous in the region." Kate said.

"Exactly! Jubilife Village is not affected by the storms that go around the region, it's the perfect place!" said the man with hopeful eyes.

"And this is just a part of what you want..." Damon intervened. Raphael was even more confused than before.

"That's a no, Meguro. I'm sorry." said Kate trying to make the man give up, who turned to Raphael.

"What's your answer instead, boy?" asked the leader of Galaxy Team with a dejected tone, while Raphael widened his eyes, feeling the heavy atmosphere on him. "Your father has always been reluctant to join Jubilife too... I trust that a young mind can better see the merits of the situation and that it can be an example to other minds." said Meguro.

"No one would fall for such false words," Damon commented as Kate tried to calm him down again. "With a jab at us... instead of pressuring us to join you, taking advantage of our precarious situation, why don't you and your teams investigate what the hell is going on in this region!" Damon exclaimed.

"Damon, calm down!" Kate called back.

"No!" the boy dazzled, who seemed to have started his verbal attack. "This one is always trying to get us to join him, because he wants our secrets... maybe to find out something about the great Dialga, I don't know... and he does it counting on how the constant storms in the region are leaving us injured." the boy said while Raphael listened in silence.

"So the situation is like this throughout the region..." the boy thought, reflecting on Damon's words. "And indeed, Jubilife Village seems to be built in a great location." he continued.

"So stop your flattery about young minds..." Damon said, now freewheeling. "No idiot would fall for such a trap... although perhaps one of Pearl Clan could actually stoop below that limit." he then added while Kate called him back in a louder voice.

"Hey, buddy..." Raphael said, turning to Damon who looked at him furious. "I don't know what your problem is, but you better calm down." the boy then added.

"Oh, not you too..." Kate commented exasperatedly, who was now physically trying to hold Damon back, who was trying to get closer to the member of Pearl Clan. Yland, Kurena and Saliat watched the scene in a perplexed silence.

"Okay... I'm sorry." Meguro said, calming everyone down, as they had started listening to him, surprised to hear an apology. "It's true, I'm pressuring you a lot with this story. But I didn't mean to do that. It's just that I want a better value for my village, and only with the precious help of the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan I can achieve it... but I don't want to force my hand on the matter." the man said, turning back to the window. "And I'm sorry about the storm thing... but that's not something we can do much about... we Galaxy Team, mostly our Survey Corps, are doing all the possible to see through this situation... but the weather isn't something we can control." the man then added with a sorry tone.

"Um... is not weird that the Jubilife Village is in the right spot, though?" Raphael asked scratching his head, catching the focus of the entire room. "I mean... the offer is great, but let's say: we accept and we move into the village... we should leave our territories... but aren't our territories what Jubilife Village is asking for? You will be caught in the storms as well there." Raphael explained, while Kate chuckled.

"Looks like he got what we were thinking too." Kate thought, looking at the member of Pearl Clan. "He's not as dumb as Damon is thinking."

"What I mean is..." Raphael continued because he had the feeling to have made the village members mad. "You must have a way to prevent the storms, otherwise why are you so interested in a land which is being destroyed by climate disasters?" he asked in the end.

Meguro clapped slowly his hands, attracting the focus of the presents on him. He coughed briefly, before speaking. "Well, done... seriously. And yes, we, of the Jubilife Village, have a ritual to prevent the storms on our land."

"What?" Kate said. She couldn't believe what Meguro just confessed.

"But it's not that easy." the chief of the village continued. "We need the right items to perform it, and it seems like it works just on the lands controlled by the Jubilife Village... maybe the wise Sinnoh is willing to protect us all." he added then.

Damon clenched his fists at his sides. "Then tell us what those items are and how to perform it! Maybe the great Dialga will help us too!" he said with rage.

"Not a chance." Yland replied. "The offer is clear... you leave your territories and secrets to us, and we will protect you." the pale man said, tilting his head to the right, like he was annoyed to give such an obvious explanation.

"BUT THIS IS A THREAT!" Damon yelled, out of his mind, while Kate tried to calm him down.

"This is the offer we are giving you." Meguro talked again. "We can't lend informations about the ritual... there's the risk you could use it wrong... or worse, someone could steal it from you and use it for bad deeds. I won't run the risk."

"But you wanna run the risk with our life, huh?" Damon asked again with anger.

"Mr. Meguro." Raphael said, while the man turned his face slightly, to lend an ear to the young man. "I can't make a decision of this magnitude so quickly... that's why I promise you that I will talk to my village and we will decide what to do." Raphael added while Meguro smiled heartened.

"Thank you very much, Raphael. Someone seems to understand me." the man said simply, making a heavy breath. "Well, I guess I have nothing to add to this meeting, and I am really tired. You can go now." he added, before dismissing those present.

______

"So you and your village are coming here?" Julie asked Raphael while the two were in front of the Galaxy headquarters. Raphael huffed, putting his hands behind his head.

"I don't know at the moment... it's really too big of a decision, I told you that I never wanted to get involved in these things. And for this very reason. Anyway I didn't like much how he put the offer..." the boy said, raising his eyes to the sky, noticing that several clouds were moving quickly above Jubilife.

"It seems to me that you are not the responsible type." Julie commented skeptically, while Raphael shrugged, as if to confirm his theory. "And anyway, why did you tell him that you would think about it if you are more of a no?" the girl then asked.

"It was a very tense situation." the boy replied, returning his gaze to the member of the survey team. "And I also wanted to spite that idiot from Diamo-"

"HEY!" Damon's voice shouted, who came out of the Galaxy headquarters, starting to descend the stairs angrily. "Do you really want to join him? That will put even more pressure on us... how can anyone be so stupid?" the boy asked while Kate also peeked out from behind the door.

"Damon, stop!" the Diamond leader called back while the other seemed to ignore her completely.

"You've really annoyed me with your manners." Raphael commented, starting to put a hand on his belt, but feeling empty. "Tsk..." the boy said and then brought the other hand to the other side grabbing a Poké Ball, Damon's stare, in front of that scene, became even darker.

"I can't believe we're on par with such an idiot!" the Diamond captain commented angrily as he shot out his arm throwing his own capsule, imitated by Raphael.

"Chimchar, Scratch!" the boy commanded as his Pokémon rushed towards Damon's, which was a blue otter with an angry expression, who stopped Chimchar's attack using one of the two sea shells he had on his legs.

"Dewott, Slash!" Damon's Pokémon used the same shell he had used to parry the attack, to give a sharp blow to Chimchar's stomach, which was thrown backwards. "Now Aqua Jet!" the boy ordered as his Pokémon, covered in water, swooped down on the enemy.

"Stop it, now!" Kate yelled, but her voice reached deaf ears.

"Comets!" Raphael quickly replied and his Pokémon launched a beam of star-shaped energy bullets, which exploded upon contact with Dewott, stopping him in his way. "It's our moment! Ember!" Raphael said as Chimchar spat out several fflames in the direction of the smoke. But Dewott waved its shells, scattering the enemy's flaming attacks, much to Raphael's surprise.

"You lost the same time you sent a Fire-type into a Water-type." Damon said in a dark tone as his Dewott was now close to Chimchar. "No... you lost right in the moment you thought you could be a challenge to me! Strong Style: Water Pulse!" A jet of water composed of sound waves spat from Dewott's mouth towards Chimchar, who was watching the attack intently.

"What's that?! I... do not..." Raphael thought in astonishment. "Flame Wheel!" Raphael ordered as his Pokémon covered itself in flames, before rolling towards the enemy's attack.

Julie observed with widened eyes. "That Water Pulse is massive... Chimchar can't-"

"Knock it off! He doesn't stand a chance like this!" Kate scolded Damon, but again, he didn't even dare to turn his look to her.

The two attacks were about to collide, but a column of water appeared from the ground and grew, until it formed a wall between the two Pokémon, whose attacks were nullified. Both Damon and Raphael looked around, not understanding what was happening, until Julie pointed to a spot where the boys could see that an old man, but with a slim and fit body, was watching them next to a blue Pokémon, which looked like a large emperor penguin.

"A fiercy fight in the middle of the village..." the man commented, running a hand over the short white goatee he had on his chin. "I should have thought it was young Damon... my brother still didn't teach you the good manners." he then continued while the captain of Team Diamond snorted. Raphael instead looked curiously at the man, who noticed him. "My name is Lang, I am a Pokémon battle master, and above all an expert in the styles." the man introduced himself, smiling confidently.

"Oh... my name is Raphael, I am a member of the Pearl Clan." the boy said while Damon withdrew his Pokémon.

"You're lucky this time... the old men always get in the way when I fight someone." Damon said, looking at Lang with hatred, who returned his gaze with a wiser and more severe one.

"Damon, you're too reckless and you jump into a fight without thinking... right here in front of the Galaxy Team headquarters?" asked the man, who pointed out to the two boys that some children were close to the battle field, afraid of what could happen, more than interested in the fight.

"Ah, I didn't notice them..." commented Raphael regretfully. "The battle was getting too interesting." he then said, attracting the attention of the old man, who looked at the boy; he had never met someone so amused by a Pokémon battle.

"Tsk... it doesn't end here." Damon said as he walked away towards the gate of the entrance to the village, while Kate caught up with him and began to scold him for his behavior.

"I guess he started it." Lang said, walking over to the Pearl Clan member with his arms behind his back. "Forgive him... young Damon has a bit of a hot temper, it's not the first time he mades people talk badly about him." the man said as Raphael shifted his gaze to the Diamond team captain who was leaving.

"Yes, I noticed." he replied.

"Is there some reason of why both Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan were here today?" the old Lang asked, Julie explained him the situation. "Meguro is a good man... but sometimes he seems to lose his way just for the sake of this village." Lang commented shaking his head.

"Yeah... I can tell that." Raphael replied with a sad tone. "Now if you excuse me... I have to head to my clan... I have to discuss with my father about all this. And thanks for helping me in the battle... I can say Chimchar was not gonna come out well from that... I understimated that guy."

"Ooh..." Lang said happily surprised. "I'm glad to see someone so humble... and not less, you realize your weakness... well, young Raphael, you are lucky. I can train you to make your skills bloom. I can teach you the styles" the old man offered with a grin on his mouth.

"Yeah... why not... I guess you'll see me here in Jubilife often from now on since I have to." the young man replied while saying goodbye to Julie, and heading home.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 3: The wild human

​

Raphael was walking towards the Pearl Settlement. The boy was making his way through a freezing blizzard, the wind seemed to cut his face and hands because it was so cold and biting, but Raphael could already see the numerous huts and tents with which the members of the clan sheltered themselves from the cold climate of the Alabaster Icelands, the area of Hisui where the Pearl Clan resided.
A couple of men was cutting the wood using a Pokémon which resseamble a green mantis and another one who looks like a humanoid reptile with a muscolar physique.

"Hey, guys! Is my father at home?" Raphael asked while the other men greeted him.

"Gerald? Yes, he went in an hour ago I think." replied one of them. Raphael thanks them and then he arrived at the largest wooden hut that appeared in the center of the village and entered, while a middle-aged man, with a bright gaze and graying brown hair, was eating some kind of soup in front of the lit fireplace.

"What took you so long?" the man commented, taking a spoonful from the bowl he was holding in his hands. "So, how did the meeting go? Did you play your part as the leader?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow, but without turning towards the young man yet.

"Hi, Dad..." the boy replied, stopping shaking. "How can I hurry in this weather?" Raphael asked with a huff, brushing the snow off his jacket, which he took off. "And... well, yes, everything went smoothly... if by smooth we mean that I had problems with Jubilife security and with a Diamond Clan captain." the young man commented with wide eyes, knowing that his parent would not like it and in fact turned around quickly.

"What do you mean: problems with security?" asked the serious and curious man named Gerald.

"Well, a guard wouldn't let me in and so I forced my hand a little... then the security team leader forced his hand, on me." the boy commented scratching his face with a finger while his father shook his head in resignation. "Wait... is only that that made you suspicious?"

"And what else shou- oh, the fight with a captain you talked about? Yeah, Damon is just like that." Gerald replied while Raphael jumped in dismay, the father had already understood who his son had problems with. "Try not to get dragged into these situations, the two clans have been in tune for some time after years of conflict, let's try not to ruin everything." the man said continuing to enjoy his meal.

"Come on... I'm sure he'll get over it." Raphael said as he remembered Damon's threatening words, about how the issue wasn't over there.

"I doubt it." the Pearl leader replied chuckling. "So, what was Meguro looking for?" the man asked, moving his gaze back to his son who also settled next to the fire, facing his father.

"He says he wants to unite our villages with Jubilife. Then share lands and resources... he says he knows a way to stop the storms. But he won't tell to us, and he will protect us only if we agree to join the village." Raphael expalined, while his dad nodded, without adding any word. "I don't know exactly what a choice like that should entail.. but..." he said, starting to think about the matter.

"Um, the usual proposal then... I imagined it." said the man clicking his tongue at the words of his son who began to look suspicious.

"So you sent me to listen to a proposal that you already knew and to be attacked by a guy you knew to be quarrelsome..." Raphael commented looking at his father who completely ignored the thing and continued to eat. "If I didn't know you I would say that you sent me into a trap."

"Son, you will be the future of Pearl Clan. It's time you started to take some responsibility, that you understand how things work... your being lazy and disinterested in the matter is poison for your mind." the man commented looking seriously at his son, who instead had not changed expression.

"If you want to hear my opinion, to me, it seems that you are the lazy one and that you sent me to listen the whining..." Raphael said snorting, then becoming serious again for a moment. "So what will you do?" the boy then asked.

"About what?" Gerald replied confused.

"Well... about the proposal... I mean..." Raphael said, not understanding how his father could be so inattentive to the matter.

"Oh, well... the offer was made to you, it's up to you to decide." the Pearl Leader said while his son looked at him with wide eyes, incredulous at what he had just heard.

"ME? B-but what do I have to do with it... how can I choose something of which I don't know the consequences?" the boy asked in an agitated tone.

"What consequences do you think there are? If we accept it's possible that we'll have to move, and that they'll camp here." the man said taking the last remnants of his soup.

"Changing everyone's house... isn't that a bit excessive?" the boy asked

"That's not necessarily true, it's a possibility... surely many things will change." the man said getting up to take his plate to a sink. "They could change for the better..." the man then added. "Or not..."

"You say it could be better... and yet I just found out you have always refused Meguro's offer." Raphael reasoned, unable to frame his father who did not deign to answer him. "I imagine that first we should find stability... and investigate this climate that has been shaking the region for two years now..." the young man said, looking out the window, where the storm continued to rage.

"It's your choice, my son. I won't tell you mine, I want you to grow up learning from your choices." Gerald added, turning this time to Raphael. "Whatever your decision is, you will have to return to Jubilife Village to communicate your choice." he then added while Raphael jumped in shock, not expecting to have to make another journey. "And while you're on the road you could collect some Orange Berries... and once you get to Jubilife Village you should take care of other stuff." said the man, showing a sheet of paper with a list of tasks written on it.

"Hey! Hey! Aren't we taking advantage of this a little now?" Raphael said, waving his hands in front of him.

"Don't be lazy... you'll need all this someday." Raphael's father replied with an authoritative tone while Raphael huffed in resignation. "Do you want to eat? There's still some mushroom soup."

"Now you're telling me something interesting." the boy said, his mood completely changing.

______

Only a day had passed since the topic with his father, and Raphael was now near a huge lake with a small island in the middle. The boy was trudging along in the freezing storm that was still raging, sinking his boots into the white snow, as if to let off steam.
"Of all places, Lake Acuity..." the boy commented, looking around and noticing some blue fruits in the middle of the snowy treetops. "Chimchar, you know what to do!" the boy exclaimed, while feeling his belt. "Oh no... the Poké Balls are over here." he then said, releasing his Pokémon, who hit the tree trunk, making the berries fall from it. Raphael then picked up the fruits, stuffing them into his pouch. "I see that this is the right place to pick Orange Berry, but come on..." the boy said, sneezing, while the hot air coming out of his mouth condensed into a cloud of steam. He continued to look around, until a strange noise caught his attention. He didn't understand what it was or where it came from exactly, he could hear it faintly, due to the storm. It was like the sound of something moving the air, and from there he widened his eyes realizing something, and moved to the side with an agile jump, dodging a Pokémon in the resseamble of a little eagle with a head with round and puffed up feathers, which tried to hit the Pearl member with its beak.

"Damn, that was a close call!" the boy exclaimed as Chimchar approached its trainer, initially dismayed by the sudden attack. "It's a Rufflet that wants to play a dangerous game, Chimchar." Raphael said with a confident grin on his face as he stood up. "But if this Rufflet wants to play with fire, I can tell it choose the best player!" he then said as Chimchar nodded aggressively, putting himself on guard, while Rufflet charged again. "Ember!" the boy ordered as flames shot out of his Pokémon's mouth and hit the enemy who began to stagger in flight. But Rufflet was not intimidated and began to flap its wings, generating a vortex of blue wind that hit Chimchar squarely. "Oh no!" Raphael exclaimed as Chimchar began to stagger, dazed by the attack. "I wasn't expecting Tornado... Flame Wheel!" the boy ordered, but Chimchar seemed not to react in time, caught in the middle of a second Tornado attack from Rufflet, and then thrown away, at the feet of the trainer, who already had one arm in the air. "Do you take me for an idiot?" said the boy as he watched the second Poké Ball he had thrown a moment earlier spin above Rufflet, releasing Elekid. "Spark!" the boy exclaimed as the Pokémon covered itself in electricity and then violently hit the eaglet with a shoulder above its head. Rufflet was stunned by the blow, but immediately recovered his senses, catching Elekid in mid-air, throwing it towards a rock wall, where Elekid slammed. "Tsk!" Raphael said as he threw an empty Ball, now that the enemy was facing away, hitting Rufflet in the back of the head and enclosing the Pokémon in a flash of light generated by the capsule. The Ball shook for a moment, before generating a small firework.
"Phew... he was a tough nut to crack, huh?" Raphael commented as he picked up the Poké Ball from the ground, while Elekid and Chimchar, both battered, approached their trainer, curiously observing the capsule.

"Let him go." commented a voice that caught Raphael's attention.

"What?" asked the young man, turning around. Who spoke was a boy about the same age as Raphael. He had blond hair whose locks framed his face, he was bare-chested, with a trained physique, torn pants and no shoes. He stood there looking angrily at Raphael.

"I told you to let go that Pokémon! It's not yours." the stranger said, approaching Raphael threateningly, step by step in the cold snow. Raphael was still not understing.

"What do you mean? It can't be yours." asked the Pearl member showing the capsule with which he had captured the Rufflet.

"No. It doesn't belong to anyone." replied the boy, continuing to look at Raphael with a look of contempt and anger.

"Then I don't understand..." said Raphael, putting his hands on his hips. "It's a wild Pokémon that attacked me. It could have been captured and I did it... don't you know that's how it works?" asked the boy while the other didn't show any signs of changing expression.

"Pokémon aren't made for the pleasure of humans. Free him." ordered the mysterious boy, taking a few steps forward. "Or do I have to convince you in my own way?" he then added in a dark tone.

"Damn, I've met some really nice people these days." Raphael thought, looking at the strange individual who was threatening him. "Not to question your intentions, but you don't seem in a position to intimidate anyone." said the boy, referring to how the other was without any visible Poké Ball, while his Chimchar and Elekid, instead, clung to him, aggressive. "Do you really want to try to risk it?" asked the guy of the Pearl Clan, hoping to discourage the mysterious individual who was starting to make him feel uncomfortable, and who had now gotten closer, remaining less than a meter from Raphael.

"Don't make me laugh." replied the other through gritted teeth, while an ebony sphere rushed towards the future leader of the Pearl Clan, who jumped backwards avoiding the impact with the black ball, which exploded on the ground.

"Damn... attacking so suddenly... and my Pokémon are tired from the previous battle." said the boy, noticing that from above there was a giant purple Pokémon similar to a hot air balloon, in the middle of the raging snow. "A Drifblim... at this time of day?" thought Raphael, watching the Pokémon that lowered in altitude, showing a ferocious look, with eyes lit up with a crimson glow. "But... it's not his Pokémon... this is a wild Pokémon... an alpha Pokémon!" he then thought, standing up again. "Run away! These Pokémon are dangerous!" warned the boy, noticing that the mysterious individual had remained still, continuing to observe him menacingly.

"So you know. Drifblim, get rid of him." said the blond boy as the alpha Drifblim launched more shadow spheres that quickly rushed towards Raphael, who tried to avoid all the attacks by skillfully jumping between the nearby rocks.

"Damn, did he just ordered an attack to that thing? Chimchar, Flame Wheel!" the boy ordered as the small monkey covered himself in a circular trail of fire and then rolled towards the Drifblim. However, the alpha Pokémon quickly dodged, while Chimchar continued to go upwards. Drifblim then moved its arms, generating a gust of dark mist, hitting Raphael squarely who was thrown away by the attack. "Argh!" the boy complained as he ended up on the ground a couple of meters from where he was standing before. "He's only aiming at me, he doesn't care at all about my Pokémon... wild Pokémon don't behave like that... could he really be the one commanding it? But..." Raphael thought as he watched the alpha who was about to charge a new attack. "Chimchar, Ember!" the young man ordered as Chimchar, who had descended in line with the enemy, released small tongues of fire that hit Drifblim from behind, interrupting his attack. "Spark!" Raphael instead ordered in the direction of Elekid, and the small Pokémon coated itself in electricity and then hit Drifblim who was electrocuted by the attack. "Good!" Raphael exulted, approaching the place of the battle again.

"Persist!" said the mysterious boy while the gigantic Drifblim seemed to suffer little from the blows just received, and returned to the charge, shooting a new burst of purple mist towards Raphael, who this time promptly dodged the attack.

"Tsk... I expected no less..." the boy commented, returning his eyes to the battle. "Honestly I have no plan against an alpha Pokémon..." Raphael thougt, trying to clear his mind. "Thundershock!" Elekid fired a bolt so quickly, that Drifblim's reflexes did not allow him to dodge and he was electrocuted by the attack again. "And now Flame Wheel!" Raphael ordered as Chimchar took advantage of Drifblim's stun to finally hit him with the fire attack, knocking him to the ground.

"Don't you disgust yourself at making Pokémon fight each other?" the mysterious individual asked. Raphael was about to answer, but his attention was caught by Drifblim who took flight again, generating a new sphere of shadows, which crashed to the ground, very close to Raphael, raising a large cloud of dust. "Perfect." the blond boy commented seriously, then noticing how Raphael's Pokémon became small lights and launched themselves towards the cloud of dust. "What the..." said the individual as Raphael rose into the air from the cloud of dust, clinging to the legs of the Rufflet just caught, which was struggling to pull him up.

"GO!" the young man shouted, swinging his body, throwing Rufflet forward while he performed a mid-air somersault, landing on the snow in the middle of the battlefield. "Tornado!" the young man ordered as the eaglet Pokémon created a small vortex of blue wind that hit Drifblim squarely. Then the boy withdrew his Pokémon, searching with difficulty and then finding the Poké Balls he had, throwing a second one from which Elekid came out again. "Spark!" Raphael said as his partner hit Drifblim again with an electric attack, which seemed to leave a paralysis on the ghost, who was being hit by some electroshocks. "Perfect, then come back... now Chimchar, Flame Wheel!" he then said, withdrawing Elekid and sending the small monkey into the field, who wasted no time and threw himself disastrously at the alpha, while he was covered in a flaming wheel. Drifblim ended up thrown at the feet of the blond boy who watched the whole thing with a bit of surprise.

"That's what scares me... how one can even coordinate to command these poor creatures..." said the mysterious boy, trembling for a moment.

"Now you better tell me who you are... you know that you just attacked someone from the Pearl Clan? You won't get away with it." Raphael growled. "How can you control a wild Pokémon like that? Once captured, an alpha is tamed and loses that light of rebellion... why this Drifblim has it if it's yours?" he then asked, now impatient, pointing at the ghost Pokémon.

"Control? There's a bond between me and Pokémon... I didn't force him to do anything, Drifblim is the one who doesn't want intruders in her habitat." the boy explained while Raphael looked at him strangely, not fully understanding what the mysterious individual was trying to explain to him. "And what about my name? I wouldn't want that... but I am the justice of Pokémon... so I adopted the name of Law." the guy explained, leaving Raphael even more confused.

"I've never heard of a name like that... are you trying to make fun of me?" the young man asked to the guy named Law, who grinned. Meanwhile Drifblim got up from the ground, causing a reaction of terror in Raphael's eyes.

"It seems like you underestimated what an alpha Pokémon can do..." Law said as the alpha Drifblim began to swell, emanating light.

"That's..!" Raphael managed to say few words, for then retreating all of his Pokémon and he started to run away, as Drifblim released a huge blast of energy that hit Raphael who didn't manage to get enough distance. After that chaos, Law couldn't see Raphael anymore. He was not sure if the member of Pearl Clan was actually ran away or if he fall down in the lake.

"I won't tell you again... leave the Pokémon alone!" Law commented as he was sure Raphael could hear him. In facts, Raphael was hid under a rock covered in the snow, making it confusing with the rest of the battlefield. Some of his clothes was burned by the explosion, and his back hurt, but at least he was safe and sound.
"Come Drifblim, let's look for him." the mysterious guy said to his alpha Pokémon, but he went for the opposite direction, as Raphael made a sigh of relief.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 4: One day at the village​

The clear sky pampered the Jubilife Village on a day like any other. Julie was walking along the main street of the village, happily watching the children playing among the buildings. The streets were busy, the shops were doing their business and the girl was increasingly relieved that her village was in full bloom. She approached the open gate of the village, politely greeting the guards on duty who returned the greeting with cordiality, the girl then moved her gaze beyond the walls of the village, noticing a familiar figure approaching the gate.

"Stop!" exclaimed one of the guards, stopping the traveler, who Julie immediately recognized as Raphael. "Ah, but it's you!" said the guard, also remembering the figure of the Pearl Clan, who looked at her resignedly.

"Yes... it's a pleasure to see you again for me too..." Raphael replied with annoyance.

"Raph!" Julie called, approaching the boy with a short run. "Um... he's fine." the Survey Corps member said to the guard, who turned his head to not think about the last encounter he had with Raphael. "You came back- hey, what's happened to you?!" the girl asked shocked, noticing how Raphael had bandages on his head and his hands.

"Tsk, long story with a crazy guy... is there somewhere we can eat? I can't take it anymore..." the boy said laboriously while Julie nodded, surprised by the request.

Moments later the two of them were eating mochi with some soup that tasted great thanks to the good vegetables that the village could count on.
"Mmh... damn it... I never eat something this good in my whole life." Raphael said with his mouth full. The place was a not so big restaurant, in the back of the big room, there was a grumpy and lean man, with gray hair, who was taking orders.

Julie laughed a bit, looking curious to Raphael. "So you are not having a good time in you lands, huh? To be honest I do find this food tasting good as well, the old Randall knows what he is doing... but it's not new to me... I guess I grew an habit out of it." she confessed as the other wasn't replying, still busy in eating.
"You know what? The other time I made you so many questions and I didn't tell you anything about me." Julie said, trying to occupy the silcence which was creating in that moment.

"There's no need for that." Raphael answered in a cold way.

"Well, shut up anyway!" replied the girl, clearly annoyed by Raphael's manners. "I have a bigger brother and a bigger sister. They both are in the Survey Corps as well. Our parents always encouraged us to find a job in the Galaxy Team." she started explaining her story, while Raphael nodded, but he was more taken by his food than to Julie's words. "Well, when I was still too young to join the Survey Corps like them, our parents made us all a gift. They gave us three Eevee, one for each of us." she said, her head resting on her right hand, while she was looking the ceiling, totally taken by her own memories. "My siblings managed to evolve their Eevee: my brother has a Jolteon, my sister a Flareon... while me... well."

"Did you evolve it in something else?" Raphael asked while chewing some of the mochi. Julie raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I am asking this because I supposed you had to evolve it into the Water-type evolution... but where I live many Eevee evolve into Glaceon, the Ice-type evolution. For the info we collected in all these years, some even from the Survey Corps itself, we know that Eevee has many evolutions."

"Wow, you are so educated." Julie replied with surprise, Raphael didn't know if taking that statement as an insult or a compliment. "Yes, Eevee does have a lot of evolutions. And my personal goal was, in facts, evolving mine into Vaporeon... but nope, actually I didn't get the wrong evolution... my Eevee simply didn't evolve yet." the girl explained with a bit of malincony in her voice.

"Oh, that's not that bad then." the member of the Pearl Clan said trying to rise the mood of his friend. "You are still in time to get your evolution then. It's not that big of a deal."

"It's not that." Julie replied. "It's that... I seem so slow in doing this... My brother and sister did that in a short time, while I- huff, it looks like I just can't manage to get what I want." she said while the young man was slurping the soup, finishing his plate.

"Oh, gosh, look..." Raphael started saying putting his plate on the table. "You are just being melodrammatic... that mood won't help your pokemon either. You are just gettig a bit of though luck, but you can still do it, no?"

"Mh... you suck at pep talk... but I guess you are right." Julie replied, while Raphael gave her a perplexed look. "I have to put my self out there at the best to find the Water Stone."

"That's more like it. Show to the world what you are capable of!" Raphael said while Julie nodded with grit. "Show to your family that you can evolve your Eevee!" he added as Julie stood up from her seat with fire in her eyes. "And let the restaurant owner see that the check is not a problem for you!"

"Yes- No, wait, what?" she asked confused as she realized.

"I have some money but I need them to buy some other things... I didn't notice the prize was so high here." he expained trying to make an excuse.

"You are really something. Do you know that?" she asked still perplexed.

"And you are very generous, and I promise you that your kindness won't be wasted, and that I-" Raphael kept talking for some more time as Julie huffed while she took out her money, paying the check to the owner.

"Thanks Mr. Randall." she said to the man, who said there was no problem, trying to ignore the young man who was keep talking alone behind Julie.
"Are you done?" she asked then to Raphael, who realized nobody was even listening to him anymore.

"Oh, yeah..." he said embarassed. After that Rapahel said he needed to buy some stuff for his father, so the two of them went to the village square market. Rapahel bought some berries, some Feather Balls and some rice; Julie at his side, she was checking if he actually didn't have any money to pay his part back at the restaurant.
"Oh... what's that?" Raphael asked, pointing his finger towards a manifest attached to a wall of one of the stalls. 'Big Fighting Tournament' was the title of the poster.

The owner of stall did notice the curiosity of Raphael. "Oh, it's a tournament of Pokémon battles. It occurs once per year here in the village. The next month we will have the one of this year." the man explained as Raphael thanked him.

"Sounds fun." the Pearl member said to his friend, who nodded at him.

"It is. My siblings joined it the previous years... and you don't know who win last year." she said with a shifty look in her eyes, while Raphael didn't respond to her, waiting for the name. "Damon, from the Diamond Clan."

"That jerk?" replied Raphael surprised. "Well... you know what? I need some more practice with battles... I will train myself, my Pokémon... and I'm gonna join the tournament."

"Wow, that guy really makes you going mad. His name alone convinced you to join the tournament. I guess the rivalry between the two clan didn't actually ended." said Julie, chuckling while Raphael looked at her a bit annoyed by her words.

"Why don't you join it as well?" Raphael then asked while Julie looked at him in dismay. "Yeah, you said your siblings join it usually, this year it won't be different, right?" he asked, and in facts Julie confirmed his guess. "So, you should train hard as well. Evolve your Eevee and join the tournament. Show them that you improved yourself and -why not- beat them in a battle." he said.

"Yes, you are right!" Julie replied full of confidence. "Improving myself in battle it will help me as a Survey Corps member as well. Yeah, this might be good." she added looking at the ground with a smile. Then she turned back to Raphael. "Raph... can you train with me?" she asked, and of course, Raphael accepted.

Moments later they were on a more calm street of the village, one facing the other at distance.
"Are you ready?" Raphael asked while he moved fast his hand at his belt, grabbing thin air. "Damn it..." he said, shifting hand and taking one of his Poké Balls, letting out his Elekid.

"Whenever you are." Julie replied, showing up a Pokémon looking like a little brow fox: her Eevee.

"Then let's begin! Elekid, Quick Attack!" he ordered as his Pokémon blitzed towards his enemy, hitting it with a punch. Julie was surprised with how fast Raphael was to inflict the first blow, and the guy didn't show any sign of stopping. "Again!"

"Avoid it with Quick Attack!" Julie replied, and her Eevee used her fast attack to move aside, avoiding a second punch from the Elekid.

"Great move." Raphael said amused.

"This is nothing, she can do much more! Baby-Doll Eyes!" she commanded as her Eevee showed her big, round and wet eyes, which made Elekid letting down his guard. "Tackle!" she then said and Eevee hit Elekid with an headbutt.

"Spark!" Raphael ordered and his Pokémon covered himself in electricity, for then tackling Eevee. Eevee let out a whine, but the Pokémon seemed to not have received a big hit.
"That move..." Raphael commented, remembering the Baby-Doll Eyes move.

"You are done for: Tackle again!" the little fox runned towards Elekid ready to hit him once again, but Raphael didn't just stand there and watch.

"Don't let it go to your head! Quick Attack!" Elekid ran fast to Eevee, anticipating her and hitting her with a punch on her little nose, stopping her attack. "End it now with Thunder Shock!" Raphael yelled, and under the surprised eyes of both him and Julie, Elekid started glowing white, changing his form.

"N-no way!" Julie said jumping astonished. Elekid evolved into a version bigger of himself, with feline features and large arms. The new Pokémon emmited an allarming growl as he fired a thin lightning to Eevee, hitting her squarely.
"No!" Julie said as she watched her own Pokémon going on the ground, without any energy left.

"That was... amazing!" the Pearl Clan member ran to his Pokémon, hugging him with grit. "You are an Electabuzz, now!" he said then, as his Pokémon was influenced by the joy of his trainer. Julie retreated her Pokémon, as a smile was showing up to her mouth while she watched the two who just defeated her.

"Nice job... I guess the evolution helped you there" she commented while someone was getting close to them.

"Incredible battle... from both of you." said a deep voice, that made both Julie and Raphael turning around to see who was talking: it was the old Lang. "You both showed nice strategies, but I do hope you didn't forget my offer." said the battle master.

"Oh, hi Lang." said Raphael without showing any respect for the old man, who seemed to not care much. "Me and Julie were training for the Battle Tournament that will happen in the next month."

"Ooh... so that's it, huh?" replied Lang chuckling. "Well... I think it's time you learn how to use the Strong- and Agile Style, it seems you didn't even learn them... they are foundamental." the man stated while the two youngs looked at each other, for then looking back at him.

"Yes, I would love it!" they replied at the same time, making Lang smile proud.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 5: Together in a mission​

Two weeks passed since Rapahel and Julie started trianing with Lang. The sky was red and dirty above Jubilife Village, the sign that in some place around there, a sandstorm was happening. Not too far from the big wooden walls of the village, a battle was occuring between Raphael and Lang.
"It's not hard for you doing all this back and forth between Jubilife Village and your home?" Lang asked while his Pokémon, a large wooden sphere with an angry expression, kept firing eletric balls at Raphael's Chimchar.

"It is actually." Raphael replied, while his Pokémon kept dodging the enemy's attacks. "But I talked with my dad... honestly he doesn't seem to care much... he is letting me doing whatever I want now... guess he doesn't feel the right of scolding me or telling me what I should do, if he want to let me leading the Pearl Clan... Agile Stlye: Ember!" he explained and ordered, as his Chimchar started firing fast little flames against the big spheric Pokémon.

"Electrode, Rollout!" replied Lang, and his Pokémon started spinning on itself, taking and nullifying Chimchar's attack. "So where are you sleeping now?"

"Huff, it's not easy..." Raphael replied, sitting on the grund and rising a hand, asking for a pause, which Lang conceded. "I can have a room at Jubilife, but I have to pay the rent. Meguro makes me pay less... but I am not swimming in money since things are not doing great at the settlement." the young man explained while the old man ran a hand over his goatee.

"You should have told me this before... I can hospity you." he said while Raphael looked at him with hopes.

"Really? This would be awesome!" he replied standing up again. Lang nooded.

"Of course... but you have to provide for yourself. I can't afford for resources for you too." Lang explained.

"No, no! That won't be a problem. Thanks old man! You saved my life." Raphael starting laughing out of joy. Lang shook his head for a bit for then changing topic.

"That being said... where is Julie? Shouldn't she train with us today?" Lang asked while Raphael shrugged, saying he had no idea of where she was.

"Heyyy!" right in that moment Julie ran towards the two, without breath. "Huff... sorry for keep you waiting... huff... but the Survey Corps are full of requests... and I just accepted one which look really important so... huff... Boss Kurena talked me about every details, every- huff, well, about a lot of stuff." she explained as Raphael and Lang listened to her, before the former started talking.

"Oh, we were training, and you don't know the news, now I will live with the old man! I don't need to pay for a room or heading back to my settlement every single day!" Raphael explained.

"Oh that sounds great." Julie commented wiping few sweat from her forehead. "Anyway, I should go for this mission soon, so I don't think I can train with you today."

"Sucks to work, huh?" asked Raphael to mock Julie a little. The girl agreed with a mix of exhaustion and sadness on her face.

"Yeah... but this is serious. A man is living alone at Bathers' Lagoon, in the Cobalt Coastland... but he is having trouble with the Pokémon of the place, because the numerous storms are making them going rough, also the ground around his house is giving up." Julie expained while Land and Raphael agreed that the thing seemed serious. "He is living alone with his child... so the thing is even worse than that... Boss Kurena asked me to offer them to move into Jubilife City for their security." Julie's expression changed in one more nervous and concerned.

"Yeah, instead of helping them with... whatever you are doing at your village to keep it safe from the weather rage." Raphael commented while crossing his arms.

"What do you mean?" Julie asked, while Land too seemed to not undestand what the Clan Pearl member was on about. Raphael explained to them how Meguro talked about a ritual to keep Jubilife safe from the storms.
"You are kidding... something like this actually exists?" Julie asked while scratching her head.

"It sounds absurd." Lang said. "I noticed the village was safe from all that... but I guess we were in a strategical position."

"It looks like it's not like this." Raphael commented with anger. "We should understand what's going on with this region, and found a definitive solution to it."

"I hardly believe Mr. Meguro could go that far... anyway I must go, my job is calling for me." Julie said with a weird grimace on her face.

"Why won't you go with her?" Lang asked to Raphael, while the guy pointed his finger to himself. "Yeah... you want to investigate about the climate trouble, no? If that place is kept under check by the storms, you could find something. Also, you could teach to Julie some of the things you learn with the trainings she couldn't attend to... I am also a bit tired of seeing your face for today... to think I will have to see you everyday if you will live with me..."

"What?" asked Raphael perplexed.

"If in two years the Galaxy Team didn't find anything, I doubt a random guy can do something now." Julie replied serious, while Raphael turned to her. "I am not paid to be a nanny."

"Watch your mouth! I go wherever I want!" he yelled offended. "And I go around this region since long time... or is your braid so tight that squeezed out your mind the memory that I came here at the village from Icelands?"

"...yeah ...and everytime you were hurt..." she commented in low voice, but Raphael could hear her anyway.

"That's not for that!" Raphael replied with tense nerves, while Julie faked a yawn at his words. "That's it! I will go too, and you can't do nothing to stop me... no! What am I saying? I will go there even before you, and I will save that man myself..." he said starting walking away from the two, under their perplexed look, before Julie realized something.

"No! Like that I won't be rewarded and paid! You won't dare!" she said, starting chasing Raphael, while Lang shook his head in reassignment once again.

____

Later that day, the two were camping in a base on Crossing Slope, with them, there were two memeber of the security, their red suits in contrast with Julie's blue suit, while Raphael was dressed with his usual purple hoodie, and a gray coat. The two of them thought it was for the better resting there since the sunset was almost at the end, and the night was going soon to be there. It would have been useless or even bothering checking on the man asking help in the middle of the dark.

"Well... we could train a little since we are here doing nothing." Raphael said, as Julie looked at him in her thoughts. "Is everything okay?" he asked then.

"Y-yes... you are rigth. I could get to your level if we train a little together." she replied. The two took a bit of distance from the camp, they didn't want to disturb the others from their rest. The campfire was a far little light, as they choose the rive of the sea to fight, some round seal-like Pokémon were rolling around curious about the two beings standing there.

Raphael took some seconds to find his Poké Balls. "Chimchar, it's your time!" he said then as the monkey Pokémon came out jumping.

"Come out! Eevee!" Julie replied with her fox Pokémon. The two Pokémon started fighting, Julie was putting many of her strategies on getting close to her enemy with Quick Attack, Raphael noticed and countered almost every of her plans.

"No, okay... you know well Styles... but here's something else that Lang teached me while you weren't there." Raphael explained to Julie all the things he learned at those lessons with his master, the one Julie probably missed due her job. Julie huffed at all the info she was getting in that moment.

"My head hurts." she said, bringing her left hand at her forehead, the last lights of the sunset going away over the sea.

"Oh come on, it's not that complicated, and you need it to improve in battle." the other said while analyzing his friend with his eyes. The girl crouched on the sand, touching the sand around here. "What are you doing now?"

"Looking for stones." she replied, still with her hand on the sand.

"That's a weid hobby..." the other replied looking at her like she was an alien.

"I mean Water Stones, you dork!" she exclaimed back offended, throwing a little pebble at him.

"Oh, for your Eevee?" the Pearl Clan member asked scratching his head. "But perhaps... you are overthinking about something else, but you won't tell me what, Am I right?" he said, causing a surprised reaction from the girl.

"I- Oh!" a drop fall down on her nose. Little by little, other drops of water started to peck the two trainers and the enviroment around them. "Damn, it's raining."

"I didn't notice any clouds back when we were at the base... I could still see the sunset." Raphael noticed, looking at the sky, now pitch black due the night coming in.

*CRACK* *BOOOM*

A thunder striked a point not too far from them, making the two trainers jumping for the fright. They realized fast what just happened as other two thunders fell down in the middle of the sea. The rain started to get more violent, the cold and big drops was almost starting to hurt on their skin.

"This is not a normal rain... it's what the man was talking about..." Julie said, trying to repair her head with her hands. Her tone was rising, the noise of the rain and the thunder claps was making hard to hear someone talking.

"It's what is hitting the region since a long time... we should go back!" Raphael said, pointing his finger towards their camp. Julie nodded and the two retreated their Pokémon and started running to the base. During their run, the lightnings kept going, flashes of light pierced the black clouds, and there Raphael noticed something. The flashes were so close in time from each other that the guy didn't have any doubts: something was flying in a random and furious pattern in the sky.
"It must be a Pokémon but... it doesn't have wings... and even flying Pokémon wouldn't fly with this weather, not even to run away." he thought as the mysterious figure disappeared from his sight, letting Raphael confused and with many more questions.

The stormy night passed and the group woke up in the morning, the sky was almost clear, with still some of gray clouds passing by. The humidity was high though, and the air was colder. Julie came out of her tend last.

"Good morning... did you guys sleep well?" she asked while she was rubbing her eyes with her hand. The two guards of the Securirity Corps looked really tired, just like Raphael who kept yawning.

"Mmh... not so well... the thunderstorm was too loud." he replied while everyone agreed with him.

"Well... we have not time to rest more. We have to go helping someone." Julie replied while Raphael stood up massaging his head. He nodded at her and the two of them say goodbye to the Security Corps and they headed to their destination. While walking, the two trainers passed by a hill which had a forest with tall and thin trees, many purple monkey-like Pokémon was nervously jumping from tree to tree, using the hand attached at their tails.

"These storms are not letting the Pokémon in peace either." Raphael noticed, as one of the Pokémon started running towards theme, with rage. Julie pointed the Pokémon with her finger, letting Raphael notice it too. The two of them let out their Pokémon, even though Raphael struggled to find his Poké Ball once again.

"Kirlia, Confusion at the ground!" Julie said as she pulled out a white and green humanoid Pokémon, which danced a little before letting out a cinetic power which made the mud in front of the opposing Pokémon rising up, covering its face and stopping its race.

"Rufflet, Tornado!" Raphael instead sent out his eaglet Pokémon, which created a strong blue wind that sent away the opposing Pokémon. At that point the monkey Pokémon ran away out of fright. Julie let out a sigh.

"Ugh... poor Aipom. They are out of their nerves with what happened this night... like you said, this climate issue is affecting the wild Pokémon too." she said to Raphael, who agreed with her.

"That being said... you have other Pokémon than Eevee." he noticed, pointing Kirlia. The Pokémon made an elegant bow at him.

"Oh, yes! She is my very first Pokémon. I caught her at my first mission." Julie explained patting the head of the Kirlia, which smiled at her direction.

"You keep hurting the Pokémon." said a voice, which made both Raphael and Julie turned around at the direction of the one who spoke up. Julie saw that guy for the first time, a blonde boy with spiky hair, shirtless and shoeless. His blue eyes piercing hers. But for Raphael, that guy wasn't nobody new.

"You! You are Law!" he said making some steps behind and bringing Julie with him. The girl looked at her friend, confused, waiting for some explanations. "This freak attacked me days ago with an alpha Pokémon..." he said as the Survey Corps member widened her eyes, looking back at the mysterious boy. "He is the reason why you saw me covered in wounds that time." he added.

"Why? What did you do to him?" she said, remembering the bad manner Raphael had with her at their first encounter.

"This is your first thought?" he answered isterically, while his guard went up again as Law moved some steps. "W-why are you here?" he asked, as Law showed him what it looked like a piece of clothes.

"Even if burned..." Law said, showing the piece of pink cloth. "...this has your smell on it. After our last encounter I came back where we fought and I found this. Then I smelled your stunk until here." he explained as the other two couldn't believe his words.

"You traced me here... from Alabaster Icelands?" Raphael asked while he recocnized that cloth as a piece of his old Pearl Clan suit. Meanwhile Julie was listening in silence. She was thinking that keeping her mouth closed was the best option there. "What Pokémon you used? Why did you do all this... for me? Who the heck are you?" he asked slightly trembling.

"No, you idiot." Law said with an expression full of ostility. "It happened that I was around here, and I smelled a familiar scent. And this helped me hunting you down."

Julie closed herself in her shoulders. "..this does not explain why he has a piece of yout clothes..." she whispered.

"I saw you keep using Pokémon like they are tools. I can't tollerate this." Law said, breathing heavily.

"Again with this story... we had to. The Pokémon are out of their minds due the storm of the last night." Raphal explained clentching his fists, just like Law was doing. "That being said... are you involved somehow?"

"What?" Law asked confused.

"Are you the cause of the storms? I don't know you, but you are weird... you have almost not clothes in this cold... you talk with wild Pokémon... you can control them! You could do something at some of them." he said but Law interrupted him.

"I do NOT control them." he said clentching his teeth. "And I do think that this weird things are happening because humans!" he then said. "Comrates... let's punish these two." a cat Pokémon with a spring-like tail and another Aipom showed up, ready to fight.

"It's true then..." Julie exclaimed, realizing that seems like the mysterious guy could control wild Pokémon. Raphael was ready to fight, as his Rufflet was flying in front of him. "No, stop!" she said making some steps toward Law, but the cat Pokémon jumped out in front of her. "If you force us to battle... we don't have choice but defend ourself with our Pokémon! You will hurt them."

"Oh... don't worry. I am not aiming for them." Law replied with a smile as the cat Pokémon started growling. The two wild Pokémon exchanged their targets, jumping towards the trainers. Julie had not trouble to avoid Aipom's attack, but Raphael got hit at his ankle by the cat-like Pokémon, and he fell to the ground.

"Damn, this Gleameow is fast... Tornado!" he ordered at Rufflet and the Pokémon generated a small tornado to repulse the enemy. Law anger rised up in seeing that scene.

"Why won't you defend yourself, instead of using Pokémon!" he yelled with ire.

"Why won't YOU attack yourself then, instead of using Pokémon?" Raphael asked, as he ordered again to his Rufflet to fight back Gleameow.

Law's face became a mask of menace. "You will apologize for asking this." he growled while taking some steps towards Raphael.

"B-but we have to fight back... and we could hurt our Pokémon more or.. yours." Julie intervened allarmed.

"They are NOT mine!" he yelled.

"Okay! Okay! I meant your friends! But you understood what I meant!" she said again, as Raphael looked at her. He was unsure that Julie's speech could work. "Also we are investigating why the weather is going so badly lately... we are trying to help these Pokémon as well."

"It's no use, Julie! This guy is crazy!" the Pearl member replied, to the point to almost odering another attack to his Rufflet.

"Maybe, you are right..." Law said suddenly. Making both of Julie and Raphael looking at him perplexed and incredolous.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 6: The storm incarnate​

"You humans can't defend yourself properly and you will always use your Pokémon in battle... I don't want to risk hurting Pokémon..." Law said while Julie listened to him in silence. But more than everyone, Raphael was actually standing there with widened eyes and his mouth open, he could not just believe what he was hearing: Julie managed to make Law reasoning with them. Law made a sign with his hand, and the Pokémon that came to fight with him just went away, returning in the wild.

"It's the charm of being a lady... I guess?" Raphael whispered making Julie nodding with proud.

Law didn't notice their little dialogue and he started talking again. "Since I was in this region... I remember it struck down by the storms... I always thought it was the nature rebelling to humanity... but this climate incidents are hurting the Pokémon too... it can't be the nature... it's you, humans, making this... somehow."

Julie shook her head. "Nobody can have such power... it would make them... a deity!" she explained but Law disagreed with her.

"Humans are greedy... evil... cowards... I can totally see them doing anything to achieve such power." he said with a bit of anger in his tone.

"Look..." Raphael said. "I can't see someone doing something like this... we know about Pokémon so strong that can bend space and time at their will... I never heard about humans doing such things. But this is not the point now... we have to help someone and investigate a bit about what's happening here, and you are wasting our time."

"I will come with you." Law replied.

"No, you are not?" Raphael replicated astonished.

"I will." the other said again. "I will see if you really have not anything to do with this... and I will see if you might not deserve punishment... even if I doubt about that." he added with a tone that it didn't let space to discussions. In facts, Raphael was going to answer back, but Julie put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head as to advice him to let him go. Raphael huffed, and the three of them headed for their destination. Along the trip, Julie was showing interest in Law, asking him how he didn't feel cold without many clothes, where he lived, how he could convince wild Pokémon to join him. But he didn't seem to want to talk about anything about him.

"Your ability could have so much helpful use for humans and Pokémon." she said trying to befriend the guy. But the wild young man stopped his walk, pointing at her a glare that could make anyone tremble in fear.

"I will NOT be a lab rat of yours... did you hear me, woman?" he said with anger. Julie stepped a back a little, nodding with his head in agitation, while Raphael kept walking with a bitter smile on his face.

"Hope she is realizing why this wasn't a good idea." he mumbled exhausted. Moments later, they were at the lake; they kept going until they arrived in front of a small house made of wood, sorrounded by mud and water. It looked like the house was going to go down in the mud sooner or later. Julie knocked at the door and some seconds a later, a middle-aged man opened the door.

"Hi, what do you need?" he asked for then realizing the symbol on Julie's suit. "Oh! You are the Galaxy Team! You accepted my request." he said as Julie confirmed his thought. The man invited the three of them to come in his house and they accepted. Once inside, he said that his name was Chedo, and so the three youngs introduced themself too, even if it was Julie introducing Law, since he didn't seem interested in doing such thing. The man started preparing some green tea while they were in the living room with a fireplace where the flames where popping. Raphael could notice how the floor was completely wet, in some points there were literal puddles, the floor was creaking weirdly under the weight of their steps.

"Wow... what's going on here?" Raphael could not hide his surprise in seeing the situation while they took a seat around a square table. The man sighed in sadness.

"It's like this since a long time." he started to explain. "The continous storms are rising the level of the sea and of the lake... the land is falling down under the pressure of water and as you can see, the water is making its way in my house... unluckily we have one Pokémon but it can't help us with this." Law looked at the man annoyed, but he was distracred then as the man pointed to a chair at the back of the room. There sat a little boy of just four years old, hugging a purple snail-like Pokémon.

"Goomy is scared," the boy said as he petted his Pokémon, who let out a sad cry. At that bittersweet scene, Raphael's heart melted a little, as did Julie's, who seemed devastated to see that little scared child. Law on the other hand didn't seem to be too touched by the child himself, but he could tell that Goomy was indeed scared.

"That's why I asked for a Pokémon that could work the ground, in order to make ways for the water to go around my house, and even stabilizing the ground, if possible." said the man while Raphael looked at Julie.

Law dug his nails on the wood of the table. "Pokémon are no-"

"Not now." Julie said, making Law shuting up, somehow, as he looked at her disoriented. The girl nodded back at Raphael, and she showed up a Poké Ball; while Law made a noise of indignation. "The Galaxy Team sent me here to help you, Mr. Chedo, with this Pokémon..." she said with a tone that was not letting out much of a joy. The same wasn't for the man, that instead jumped out of his chair.

"So you will help us... oh, thank you Galaxy Team... I can't really tell you how much grateful I am to you." Chedo said grabbing Julie's hands in his. "Oh, the tea." he said going back to the fireplace, grabbing the pot where the water was boiling with some herbs in it. While he was pouring the tea in some cups, his eyes were caught by something out of the window. "Urgh... it's raining again..." he commented, making the others noticing how some drops of water were slamming on the window.

"That reminds me..." Raphael said attracting the intrereste of those present. "Can I have a paper and something for drawing?" he asked as Julie opened her pouche, pulling out a sheet of paper and a ink pen. Raphael grabbed those and started drawing, under the confused look of everyone in the room. "Yesterday, in the flashes of the thunderstorm I saw this... do you have any idea of what could it be?" he said showing his drawing. It was like a spiral with an armless body above, and something pointy on the head.

"Damn if you suck at this..." Law commented, almost disgusted by Raphael's drawing.

"Probably the little kid could do better." Julie whispered, but not low enough.

"What's this? Like a penguin running so fast that its feet are a confused spiral mess? Like in those children books?" asked the man, scratching his head out in pure confusion.

Raphael tore up the drawing with his hands. "Forget that I even asked!" he said in pure frustration, making everyone perplexed, except for the little kid who found the thing funny. The comic moment though was soon to be interrupted by the loud noises of some thunderclaps, which made the child yamping in fear, hugging his Goomy.

"It's like the last night..." commented Julie and Chedo agreed with her. That comment though made Raphael think about something.

"Yeah... it is... let me check something." he said, going out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Julie asked, she could not believe what she was seeing, as the Pearl Clan member went out in the storm. Immediately Law and Julie went out as well, following him. Chedo told his child to not move before he joined the group too. "Raph! Get in the house!" she yelled trying to cover her face as the cold and heavy rain was hitting her hard. But Raphael tried to keep his gaze at the sky, looking for something. A lightining struck down close to the house, making Chedo and Julie calling out for Raphael once again, but he didn't listen to them, he moved some steps until he slipped on the mud and fell to the ground. But he didn't give up and got up with strength, continuing his search. Law was looking at the scene with an unreadable expression, he was just curious about what Raphael had in mind, and it didn't even look like the storm was causing any problem to him. The lightnings kept going down, until Raphael sent out his Electabuzz. The young man had the feeling that something was close.

And suddenly, he saw that something. "OVER THERE!" he screamed out, pointing at the sky. But nobody could keep up with what he was trying to show them due the flashes and the rain. Nobody except for Law, who actually seemed to get what Raphael was pointing out and he widened out his eyes in disbelief.

"I can't see anything!" Julie said, as Raphael made a huff of discomfort and ordered Electabuzz to hit a certain point in the sky with his Thunder Shock. The Pokémon proceeded but the attack went towards nothing, making Raphael grunting and ordering new attacks. "What are you doing? Come back in!" Julie said again, but her friend wasn't listening to her.

"Oh, sure!" he said hitting his head with the palm of his left hand. "Swift!" he ordered as a confused Electabuzz performed the attack in the point his trainer was indicating and suddenly, something destroyed the little star beams with an electric ring. In that moment, Julie and Chedo as well could see, even if barely, what Raphael was attacking. It was a humanoid and blue figure, seemingly to ride a cloud, with a cable-like tail which was passing through metalic spheres, each one with a thorn on it. For everyone it was clear that was a Pokémon.

"I never saw a Pokémon like that!" Law declared to Raphael. The wild Pokémon was buzzing in the air at incredible speed, until it seems to detect the one who was attacking it and it generates a big thunderbolt which crashed down on Electabuzz, hitting him squarely and making the humans ducking for the fear of the attack.

"Damn... is everything okay, Electabuzz?" Raphael asked to his Pokémon which was on his knees panting heavily, his fur covered in burnt wounds, but his gaze was still with combat spirit. "That's the way! Thunder Shock!"

"NO! Do not attack it again!" Chedo said but it was too late, Raphael's Pokémon launched a small lightning at his target. But the mysterious Pokémon avoided the attack like it was nothing, then it lost altitude, getting close and more visible for everyone. The Pokémon started glowing for then changing his appearence, becoming something like a lizard while the storm started to become even more violent.

"Did it just evolve?" Raphael asked panicked, but nobody had time to answer the question as the Pokémon emmited some psychic waves which crashed Electabuzz down on the ground. "Damn it!" the guy retreated his defeated partner, for then sending out his Chimchar which started glowing as well, evolving right in front of the eyes of his trainer. "Yeah, that's what I like to see!" Raphael said while Law run toward the wild Pokémon, now at an altitude where it was possibile to admire its strong appareance.

"Why are you doing this? Stop it! For the sake of the other Pokémon!" Law prayed, but the Pokémon seemed to not care about him while it was staring at Raphael's new Pokémon. "B-but..." he stammered in disbelief.

"Kirlia, come out!" Julie joined the battle sending out her Pokémon to help her friend. "Confusion!" she said as her Pokémon used some cinetic power to block and hurting the wild Pokémon at his mind.

"Thanks! Now Monferno, show me what you got!" Raphael said as his monkey Pokémon cheered a bit his new form, for then blitzing toward the enemy, hitting it at its nose with a fast punch. "Yeah! That was Mach Punch, right? Now Flame Wheel!" he ordered again, brought by his enthusiasm of the evolution of his Pokémon. Monferno did not waste a moment and covered itself in flames for then hitting the Pokémon while spinning on himself. Unluckily the strong rain made the fire weak during the attack.

"Stop this!" Law yelled, but his voice was more directed to the mysterious being rather than his comrades. The wild Pokémon recovered quickly from the attacks, and it flew up again, generating numerous black tornado covered in thunderbolts, which went down hitting hard both Monferno and Kirlia, forcing everyone to jump sideway in order to avoid damage to themself.

"KYAAAA!" Julie screamed as her Kirlia fell down to the ground defeated. The same was for Monferno, Raphael realized that fight was much more than what he could bear.

"Let's retreat!" Chedo screamed, Raphael returned in his right mind and, together with Julie, he got his Pokémon back in the Poké Ball, for then running in the house with the others, even Law followed them, clearly shocked. Chedo slammed close the door, like it could push away the Pokémon. They were panting in fright, totaly wet from head to toes, while outside the roar of the storm was keep going. Suddenly more loud noises and a strong wind hit the house, making everyone jumping in terror, and Chedo ran to his son, hugging him while the child was crying along with his Goomy. The walls of the habitation looked like they were going to fall down at any moment, while the water started flooding again in the house, and even from the roof some water was coming down.

"I-it-it can't exist something like that." Julie said, repairing herself under the table. "You are a fool! What was in your mind to think to attack it!" she scolded Raphael, who was with his back on the door.

"I didn't immagine by a little it was so strong... I thought we could defeat it and putting an end to all this." he confessed. Julie was going to replicate but another strong windy attack hit the house again, crashing down the window, making everyone yelling in panick as they see some zapping entering in the house.

____

Interminable minutes passed by, but at some point the storm seemed to calm down, for then disappearing. Everyone looked at each other, they all were fine, just a bit scared.
"S-someone should check if..." Julie said coming out from the table, but nobody had the force to respond to her. The only audible voice, was the child, crying and hugging tight his Goomy, which was trembling as well.

"This is ridicolous." Law said looking at the floor. "Why couldn't I communicate with that Pokémon?"

"You call that a Pokémon? It was a monster!" Raphael replied with frustration, causing a bad reaction by the other.

"No! It's a Pokémon... and somehow you humans did something to it... or else why it refused to talk with me?" he said with anger. "I have not interest in staying with you all anymore... I am out... I shouldn't have trusted you!" he said for then opening the door, making everyone else trembling a little, scared from what it was out there moments ago. But Law seemed to not care and he went out anyway, for then being followed by Julie.

"Wait... Law! Where are you going alone?" she yelled at him but Law had a quick step, and he managed to going by the slimy mud and disappearing in the woods.

"Leave that freak alone." Raphael said, following Julie out of the house, while Chedo went out again sighing.

"Please... do me a favor. Just fix the land around the house if you cane... and leave." he said making both Julie and Raphael turned at him, confused. "You shouldn't have attacked that thing... now look at my house... my child is..." he tried to say but his voice got stuck in his throat.

Raphael felt an heavy guilty felling on his back. While Julie made a serious expression, approaching the man. "Actually, the Jubilife Village has an offer... We know that you, Mr. Chedo, are a great fisherman. The chief is inviting you and your child to come at the village. You could offer your ability to teach others your secrets, and you will be safe." she said while the man shook his head.

"I don't care. I have everything here... You did too much already... just help me with the mud and we are good." Chedo replied, Julie lowered his gaze, as she gritted her teeth.

"N- I can't." she simply said, while both Chedo and Raphael looked at her not understanding what she meant. "I received orders... to help you only if you accept the offer."

"What?" Chedo asked.

"What are you talking about?" Raphael followed.

"I can help you with the house... so you can stay here some days, collecting your things... and coming at the village and work for it." she explained while Raphael looked at her, unable to believe at her words. The man started to have a discomforted and angry looks in his eyes.

"What's this? A blackmail?" he said. Julie tried to answer but the man started talking again. "You came here and you made that thing destroying my house... you should take a bit of responsability and AT LEAST help me with the sorrounding."

"I do not have anything to do with the attack." she replied, her voice trembling just like her hands. "He is from the Pearl Clan... you can blame the clan for your house, not the village." she said while Raphael was the picture of shock and disbelief. "I... won't help you if..."

"What are you doing?" Raphael found back the strenght to talk. "You can't refuse to help them... there is literally a child living in there... You can't force them if they don't want to! you CANNOT leave them like this!" he said with a strong tone, Julie bit her lip and grabbed her shirt.

"Please... I am just asking you this..." Chedo had a tone of a man who was disperately praying the girl, who kept staying silent. Raphael looked at her almost disgusted.

"What is wrong with you?" the Pearl Clan member asked astonished. The girl seemed almost to the point to cry, but yet she refused to say anything. "Julie!" Raphael called her again.

"Okay, okay... fine! You are right..." she said grabbing the Poké Ball from her bag and letting out a giant turtle Pokémon with a tree on its back. "Torterra will absorb the water, making some tracks on the ground to redirect the water away... and she will make growing some plants and trees to stabilize the land." she explained while the Pokémon started moving toward one side of the house, under the serene look of Chedo who thanked her, while Raphael could not still believe what he witnessed before.

"That's why she was so weird since yesterday..." he thought.

 

[K_S]

Hi lol no, as promised a review

Chapter 1

You managed to catch hisui in a pretty moment and show it well.

With all the attention to "the guy"'s looks i suspect this is our pov. Or perhaps our main character...

Wonder why the guard is so anti-outsiders? I mean " our guy's" got a point here, he's one hop skip and jump through... but i guess this is going to devolve into a pokebattle.

An informative one it seems, looks like our pov is very much a novice between not knowing chart type (understandable per the prehistory setting) and forgetting where his pokeballs are at.

And in the end of the scuffle we get rival clan reveal,a name, and a probable plot angle (reconciliatoin between the clans?) This will be interesting...

Laughs. Raphael nearly gets offed by an explosion via mr. paranoid guard. Dubbs him "that guy", i kinda hope the nickname sticks...

I see we are expanding the cast. I wonder what julie's angleis going to be here?

As Raphael makes... a scary amount of sense calling Julie out... i'm going to say i suspect Julie is going to be the crazy one... Raphael is gunning to be the sane one, and we haven't even got to the negotiation table yet.

This is definitly shaping up to be a chaotic madcap of an adventure.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 7: The tournament​

A couple of more days passed, Raphael and Julie were returning back at Jubilife Village, the air was colder that day and it was possibile to see some gray clouds far in the south. But the sky above Jubilife was clear as usual. Raphael and Julie didn't talk much to each other during the travel from the Cobalt Coastlands back to the village. She was angry at him to have put everyone in danger by attacking the mysterious Pokémon, he was disappointed that she was willing to compromise to help a man and his son, ready to leave them to their fate if they didn't do as she said. Once at the Galaxy Team's headquarter, he waited for her outside, while she was reporting the outcome of the mission. Moments later, the big door opened up and she went out the building, her face visibly scratched by some tears.

"So? What did they say?" he asked trying to follow her, but the girl was keeping a quick step, like to get away from him.

"About what?" she asked coldly.

"What do you mean? About the cause of all!" he replied but she took a moment too long to answer him. "Didn't you talk to them about the Pok-"

"NO! I did not!" she yelled back at him, making Raphael almost jumping back. "Boss Kurena just... scolded me because I didn't stick up with the orders... she said I am lucky to still working with the Survey Corp... that I won't be rewarded for this mission and that she won't forgive another mistake!" she vented at him, her blue eyes letting out new tears.

"Julie... are they stupid or what? And are they infecting you with stupidity? You did the right thing." Raphael explained, but his friend turned around showing him her back. "You were blackmailing a disperate man and his child this-"

"I don't feel like I am being treated like I did the right thing." she said, her voice trembling and sobbing. "By anyone." she added as Raphael cleared his throat, feeling hit to a nerve. "This job is important for me, and for my family... please, leave me alone for a bit... and good luck for the tournament." and like that, she started walking again, taking more and more distance from Raphael who remained there, alone and confused. He would have liked to say something, but he felt like anything he could have said would just have made the situation worse.

"Excuse me, young sir." said a voice which make Raphael slowly turning to the source of it. He could see it was a man, with gray and black hair, a dark moustache under his nose. He was dressed with a brown hat and a coat of the same colour. "I could not avoid to hear the discussion between you and the young lady... what's going on?" the man asked.

"I don't think I should say something like this to a complete stranger." Raphael replied, making the man chuckling for a moment.

"You are totally right... I am sorry. My name is Rageru. I am a former detective and I am looking for a criminal named Heliath Kamoto." he introduced himself, so Raphael could do the same, explaining that he was the son of the leader of the Pearl Clan. "Oh, that's quite a position... I have heard of those clans, but I am here since few years and I never went deep about these affairs... but what about we talk over a nice cup of mochi and soup? The check is on me." the man offered. In that moment, Raphael's simpathy for the man rised for a very big amount.

____

Moments later the two of them were at Randall's restaurant, eating the delicious food he served there. The detective though was keeping asking to the clients and the restaurant owner if they knew or heard anything about Heliath Kamoto, receiving only negative answers, and he even took a threat of being kicked out of the local if he didn't stop.
The man returned back at his seat in front of Raphael, who didn't mind much about him as he was very busy in eating his food.

"So you are telling me you absolutely do not know anything about Heliath-"

"I told you I never heard that name." Raphael answered with his mouth full of mochi. "And please stop asking this... if you get yourself kicked out from the restaurant, then you won't be able to pay the check." he added with a tone of fright while the man sighed in resignation. "You don't seem good at your job anyway... your method is just asking around expecting someone to identify themselves as the suspect?"

"Don't discuss my methods! They never failed me." said the man hitting the table with a light punch. "So you said that before you were talking about a Pokémon causing the storms around the region? And nothing more?"

"Yeah, it was nothing about your criminal... what do you mean with 'nothing more' ?" Raphael asked, eating more mochi.

"Heliath is a dangerous man! A thief! Someone who misstreat his own Pokémon without esitation." Rageru explained while Raphael was listening in silence. "But he is greedy. He would love the life in a village like this. I KNOW he is in this region... but he couldn't be out of this walls!" he added while Raphael agreed with him, without really getting what his point was since the young man didn't know the suspect. "He stole something really important! I don't know what that treasure was! But he stole it, I was chasing him at the island with that volcano two years ago... I was behind him but he took a path where there is that giant Ninetales... legends say that Ninetales is able to perform strong curses... so I did take another path and that was my mistake... I have lost track of him since then."

"What about if he met that Ninetales and got hit by a curse of its or worse?" Raphael asked, without paying much attention.

"That's what some people think. But nah... he is a really smart man, he didn't go there without a plan... damn it if I hate him!" Rageru said that moving a fist towards the sky.

Raphael finished his soup, putting his plate on the table. "Well... nice story and thanks for lunch... but I have to train. I have a tournament in few days, and I want to be prepared for when it will come." the guy explained standing up.

"Oh, so we will meet again there then." the man aswered out of surprise.

"Don't tell me... you joined with the hope of finding-"

"Heliath Kamoto, yes." the man completing the sentence of the other, who shook his head for then thanking him and going away.

____

Some days passed and finally the tournament has come. In these days, Raphael thought much about heading back home to inform his father about everything that happened to him, but he could not find the time. He could not send any message via a flying Pokèmon, since the weather was making impossible to delivere messages in such way lately. Raphael stayed at Jubilife Village, living and training with the old Lang who was accompanying him at the tournament.

"You grew strong, and your Pokémon with you." the old man said, patting the back of the young man with his hand. "I am confident you will do well in this tournament." he then added.

"Thank you." Raphael replied with a smile, as the two was getting really close to the big arena made of wood which was standing in the middle of village square. A numerous crowd was unite, the voices mixing in a big confusing noise which was echoing in the square.

"So... a new disceple of yours is joining the tournament, brother." said an old man with long and white hair, dressed with a green kimono-like jacket and grey pants. Lang grinned back at him. "But my favorite student will send this one at home crying as well."

"Pent... this year I will show you that my style is superior! This is Raphael, the son of the Pearl Clan chief!" said Lang showing Raphael with a gesture. The Pearl member was confused, but he could understand that the other old man was Lang's brother, and it looks like Lang was willing to train Raphael just for a competition with his sibling.

"I should have figured out..." Raphael thought making a comical expression of disappointment. His face returned serious when he could see who was the student who Pent was talking about. "Y-you!" Raphael said pointing with his finger the guy he recognized as Damon from the Diamond Clan.

"You are the dumb guy from the other time." Damon said, his expression a mix of hostility and anger as usual.

"Oh so you already know each other!" Pent said crossing his hand behind his head. Damon nodded with his head while another familiar face joined the group.

"Oh! Hey, Raphael! Long time I didn't see you!" said a girl who Raphael recognized immediately as Kate, the leader of the Diamond Clan.

"Hi, Kate! It's a pleasure to see you, and only YOU, again." the Pearl member said making the girl chuckling nervously as she understood Raphael's taunting towards Damon, who seemed to not care much.

"Well... it's great you all are friends! But the tournamente is about to start, let's move!" Lang said taking Raphael from his pink hoodie and sending him to the registration desk, where Raphael confirmed his partecipation.
Moments later the Security Corp leader, Saliat, was on the arena.

"Greetings everyone! It's a big pleasure to have, once again, the Big Fighting Tournament here at Jubilife!" the crowd chanted in jubily at his words. "I know you are not here to waste your time! So, let's call for our trainers!"

____

After two turns, the number of the trainer was about eight, and Raphael won against some of people who seemed too much of amatorial trainers to him, he used his Electabuzz only until that point, but he knew that he should have changed strategy for the remaining turns. The other competitors at that point were stronger and sure enough they would have studied him and his strategies with Electabuzz by then, so he decided to put his Pokémon aside from that point on. He could see that Julie and Damon were winning without much trouble as well. Damon used a Gliscor and a Dusclops to win his matches without any effort. And then there was Julie. Raphael saw her battling but he didn't go to her, neither she did after seeing his battles. She used a Hippopotas in her first match, and then her Kirlia. Kate seemed to have not joined the tournament, and she was there just to assist her cousin.

"Well, well, well!" Saliat said as the crowd was cheering loudly. "It looks like we are at the quarter-finals! For our first round we have: the Pearl Clan member, and none other than the son of the leader: Raphael!" he called out, as Raphael went on the stage while Lang patted his shoulder.
"On the other side we have a man totally dedicated to his job, and his nose for investigation is second only to his battling skills: Rageru!" the detective appeared greeting Raphael with his hand, and the young man nodded in return.
"Well... let's stop talking and why won't you guys show us some fireworks?" Saliat asked making the crowd going crazy, Raphael could almost not recognizing the man who sent him KO a month ago.
"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Go, Octillery!" Rageru said, sending out a Pokémon reassembling a red octopus.

"Braviary, I need you!" Raphael sent out what it was the evolution of his Rufflet, now a big eagle Pokémon with some psychedelic feathers on its head.

"Now you'll see what years of experience do to a man!" Rageru said clenching his fist. "Octazooka!" he ordered as his Pokémon fired out a bullet made of ink out of its mouth.

"It will take even more years, then: Air Slash!" Raphael replied as his Braviary screeched before cutting the air with its wings. The blade made of wind cut the Octazooka, spreading the ink all over the arena.

"Ice Beam!" Octillery fired a beam made of frozen energy towards Braviary, but Raphael was ready.

"Mystical Fire!" he said and his Pokémon generated a purple vortex of fire which contrast the enemy's attack once again. "More!" Raphael declared as Braviary generated another transcendental fire which hit Octillery.

"A Fire move on a Water-Type Pokémon? Looks like the Pearl Clan has more to learn!" Rageru taunted passing two fingers on his moustache. "Octilley, show him how it is done with an Octazooka!" he said and in a moment Octillery fired another shot of ink. This time the attack hit its target and Braviary was shaking its head as its eyes were covered in the pitch-black liquid.

"Damn it..." said Raphael with low tone while Rageru was laughing "Ominous Wind!" Braviary generated a gust of purple wind, but the attack completely missed Octillery due the fact that Braviary's eyes were still dirty.

"Hahaha! It won't be that easy! Ice Beam!" again Octillery hit its enemy with a ice energy beam which almost made Braviary crash to the ground. "He's not still down? What a during skin!"

"No, it was Mystical Fire which dropped your offense!" Raphael explained as Rageru jumped in astonishment. "This is my last chance... Agile Style: Ominous Wind!" Raphael commanded as his eagle Pokémon created again a shadowy wind which hit Octillery this time, making it flinching.

"This won't be enough!" Rageru said while Braviary looked invigorated.

"But thanks to the Agile Style I have still the momentum!" Raphael replied as Braviary crossed its wings in front of its body. "And the last Ominous Wind made Braviary even more powerful! Strong Style: Air Slash!"

"NOOOO!" Rageru yelled as Braviary launched two powerful air blades which knocked out his Octillery, turning him upside down.

"The battle's over! The winner is: Raphael, from the Pearl Clan!" Saliat announced as the crowd cheered for the victory of the young man. The detective retreated the Pokémon, for then stepping towards Raphael.

"You are very strong and smart! It was a pleasure fighting with you, and it's a pleasure working with you." he said offering his hand for a shake.

"The same for me, regarding the battle. I mean, we do not work together." Raphael replied, grabbing and shaking his hand out of pure respect. The young Pearl member won the round, but he knew that the semi-finals would have been even harder than that.

 

[Lol no]

Chapter 8: Siblings

​

The tournament at Jubilife Village kept going, Raphael managed to get into the quarter-finals and winning, now he went to a space relegated to the competitors, with him, Lang who accompiegned him at the tournament. Not so far from him there was Julie. They didn't talk to each other since days, she didn't even showed up anymore at the training with the old Lang. Raphael was not sure about the outcome if he tried to talk to her; but he thought it won't be bad if he had at least wished her good luck, so he decided to go to her, completely ignoring his master, Lang, who was talking with him about how great he has been and something about his brother Pent. The old man was shocked to see his student walking away without even listening to him. As Raphael got close, he could see that Julie was talking with someone. He was a young man about the same age of his. He had white hair, spiky and messy, red eyes and he was wearing a white t-shirt with a red checked shirt over it, and green pants. The two was laughing and talking, they seemed very familiar with each other.

"Hey, Julie!" Raphael called her out, waving his hand as he got closer to them. He tried to use an happy tone, because he wanted to settle down their discussion. Julie and her friend stop talking, checking who was calling for her.

"Oh... hi Raphael." she said coldly. Her face wasn't showing much joy in seeing him after all those days.

"Hey, you have been great up there!" said the guy, patting Raphael's shoulder with his hand. "Your strategies are amazing, you trained a lot, didn't you?" he asked as Raphael looked at him a bit confused.

"Y-yes... I trained with my mast- I am sorry, I don't think I know you." Raphael said making the other laugh.

"Haha! You are right, I am sorry. My name's Laketsu, I am a member of Supply Corps at the Galaxy Team. You know, manufacturing, logistic, things like that." he explained as Julie stayed silent, still watcing the tournament which was continuing.

"Nice to meet you. I am Raphael." he said, almost distracted. Raphael thought on what the guy said previously when he asked if he trained. It looked like Julie didn't talk to him about her training with Raphael and Lang.

"You know what, Raph?" Laketsu said scratching his head. "I joined this tournament just for fun. But I never thought I could arrive at those levels." he explained with an expression that was a mix of joy and surprise.

"Oh, are you in the tournament too? I didn't notice you." Raphael said.

"You didn't? Oh gosh, people are talking a lot about me because of my 'weird' Pokémon." Laketsu explained making Raphael turning curios about what he just said. "You see, I am from Johto, so I have a couple of Pokémon that it's rare to see here in Hisui." he revealed.

Raphael raised his eyebrows. "Oh... I thought you were Julie's brother... unless you were out for-"

"Oh, no, no! I just arrived a month ago, but the Galaxy Team wanted me in for my skills. Me and Julie are friends since then, and coworker too of course." Laketsu replied while Raphael nodding with his head. "But if it's one of her siblings you are looking for, her sister is fighting right now." he then said, pointing at the arena. Raphael turned around, focusing in the battle occuring. A girl that resseamble Julie was fighting with her yellow and spiky Pokémon against none but less, Damon. The Diamond Clan member was using a large, round and white Pokémon with two black horns.

"Jolteon, Swift!" the girl said as her Pokémon made a storm of energy star which hit the enemy, withou doing a big damage.

"Glalie, Icicle Crash!" Damon ordered as his Pokémon generated big ice icicles from above that hit Jolteon squarely, crushing it to the ground, defeating it.

"The battle's over! The winner is: Damon!" Saliat proclamed, as Damon simply turned around and went away under the yells and cheers of the crowd. The girl did the same for then going to the group made of Raphael, Julie and Laketsu.

"Damn it! He IS strong." said the girl shaking his head.

"You did well, Suna." Julie said hugging her sister for a moment. "He is the previous champion, you could not expect less."

"I guess not." Suna replied, for then noticing Raphael. So the two introduced themself to each other, while the tournament was keep going. Julie started moving from the others, Raphael looked at her concerned. In the end, he didn't get to talk with her how he wished to.

"Let's go with the next round! From this side we have: Julie from the survey corps of the Galaxy Team!" Saliat announced while Julie went quickly on the arena, ready to battle. "Her opponent? You won't believe me when I will tell you it's Nile from the Survey Corps of Galaxy Team as well! Her brother!" Saliat announced while a man with cobalt hair and a face which looked like a male version of Suna's and Julie's, arrived at the arena running after many seconds.

"Huff... sorry if I'm late." he said breathing heavily.

"He's always the same." Suna commented embarassed, with an hand on her face; making both Raphael and Laketsu chuckling.

"So... little sis', do you have something new for me?" Nile said playing a bit with a Poké Ball.

"You'll see." she replied, her eyes gleaming with confidence.

"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

"Go Flareon!" Nile let out a fox Pokémon with red and yellow fur.

"Come here, Vaporeon!" Julie exclamed, as she let out a blue Pokémon that has a mix of beast and fish features. Nile's eyes widened in disbelief.

"She did it! She evolved her Eevee!" Suna yelled jumping for joy.

"Wow, well done." Raphael thought as the two competitors were ready to fight.

"Flareon, Ember!" Nile ordered fist, as his Pokémon fired little flames towards the enemy.

"Vaporeon, Swift!" Julie replied while her Pokémon made energy bullet in stars form, which went crashing against the flames. "Now Quick Attack!"

"Quick Attack, you too!" Flareon and Vaporeon blitzed both to each other, hitting their heads at midway, in the middle of the stage. "You improved, but you are still green! Flareon, Calm Mind!" Nile ordered as his Pokémon quickly get distance from Vaporeon for then focusing with its eyes closed, while a light aura started sorrounding him.

"Vaporeon, quick!" she replied as her Pokémon nodded for then staying still where it was.

"It's over lil' sis'! Strong Style: Hyper Beam!" Nile ordered using all of his breath, as his Flareon jumped high for then blasting out a massive orange beam towards Vaporeon, which got hit by the attack while an big smoky explosion appeared in the arena. Everyone close to the arena, repaired themself with their arms as the air displacement from the blow was annoying to the eyes.

From the little group, Laketsu was the first to talk. "Woah! That was a big shot!" he said while everyone was trying to see what was happening in the battle.

"You think she's..." Raphael started to say, but he interrupted himself, too focused to try to see something, just like the others. As the smoke dispearsed, people could see Vaporeon standing there, hurt, damaged, tired, but still standing on trembling legs. The crowd cheered out of joy, the echo of the voices was rumbling for the entire Jubilife Village.

"HOW?" Nile asked pointing at his sister.

"Simply... I used the Agile Style, setting a Calm Mind just like you did." she explained while Flareon was panting with fatigue.

"B-but... it could NOT be enough for that!" Nile replied, making Julie chuckling.

"I said, Agile Style, didn't I? I still have a little more of momentum before you attacked with Hyper Beam, so I used another one before your attack connected!" Julie explained, making Suna bringing her hands at her own mouth. She couldn't believe how grown up her sister was now.

Raphael was listening at her with a smile on his lips. He was proud of her, while he remembered when he had to teach her some basics few time ago. But then, a doubt started showing up in his mind. "But... if she used the Agile Style... that means she..."

"And now, Flareon is tired both for the Strong Style and the Hyper Beam... you are defendless!" Julie declared while Nile gritted his teeth in nervousness. "Strong Style: Water Pulse!" Vaporen took a big breath, for then spitting a big pulsating water shot at her target, hitting Flareon hard. The fire Pokémon cried in agony before falling to the ground, exhausted.

Saliat raised his arm in direction of Julie. "The battle's over! The winner is: Julie!" he said making the spectators roaring again in jubily.

"You have became strong, sis. I'm proud of you, I always have been." Nile said to Julie, who blushed chuckling. Julie and Nile shaked their hands, for then joining the others down the arena, but this time Raphael was missing. He was getting far from them while Laketsu and Suna were cheering the girl. Meanwhile, Saliat called out for Laketsu and its opponent, a man called Stanley.

"Old man..." Raphael said to Lang who looked back at him.

"Ooh... Look at who decided to come back to-"

"Did you train her... sperately from me?" Raphael asked, interrupting Lang. The old man sighed briefly.

"She asked me that." Lang answered while his eyes were on the arena, Raphael instead was feeling like if something heavy was pushing down his stomach. "It was not easy to schedule two differente plans for both of you... but I did it. I don't know exactly what happened between you two. Both of you didn't want to tell me a thing and that's okay..." the man said without interrupting his observation of the battle. "But boy... if i can tell you something: she's hurt. I don't even mean it's your fault or if she's angry at you or at herself... but something is hurting her."

"I... I don't know what to think..." Raphael replied while he brought his gaze at the ground while the crowd was roaring again, as Stanley's Pokémon went down out of energies.

"Carnivive can't battle anymore! The battle's over and the winner is: Laketsu!" Saliat said while the member of the supply corps went to his opponent shaking his hand.

"Saliat." a voice called the leader of security, who turned around to check who was talking. It was Kurena, the leader of the Survey Corps. "Come over, Meguro wants to see us." she said as Saliat widened his eyes at her, like he was trying to say that he couldn't in that moment. "Now." she added, for then walking away in the direction of the Galaxy headquarter.

"Okay, okay, everyone! Why won't we let our trainers rest before... the SEMI-FINALS?!" he yelled out the last words, making the crowd cheering once again. So he get down from the stage, and he went to headquarter like Kurena did. Saliat went to the highest floor of the building, for then find himself in front of a large wooden door that brings to Meguro's office. He knocked at the door.

"Come in." a voice responded, which Saliat recognized as Meguro's.

"Hey, boss, I didn't see you at-" the man opened the door, finding the Galaxy Leader standing up at the other side of the room, in front of him there was a low but large table with various and delicious looking food on plates, spreaded all over the table. Kurena and Yland were already there, sitting on two green armchairs, Kurena on the right, Yland on the center, while the left one was empty.

"Saliat, what are you waiting for? Sit." Meguro said with a gentle voice, the security leader looked at him confused, for then shifting his gaze at the table, but then he decided to listen to his boss and take a sit next to Yland.

"So, what's this about, Meguro?" Kurena asked, her hands resting on her knees. Meguro chuckled a bit.

"I mean, it's pretty clear, no?" said the man, holding out a hand towards the table. "Come on, don't be shy. Eat."

"Eating? Now you are talking my language!" Saliat said, taking a berry and starting chewing it making some noises of satisfaction.

"Some of this food is something that new foreigners brought these last weeks with their knowledges." Meguro explained while Kurena took what looked like a cracker and she started to eat as well. But Yland was standing there without moving, just looking at the table and then at Meguro, who seemed to not even realizing the thing.
Meguro placed another plate in front of his three trusted officers, who looked at the contents curiously. It had another food, round in shape and pure white in color, it could be assumed to be very soft.

"I never saw this stuff around here." Kurena said tilting her head as she looked the plate.

"Go ahead, try it with the salty biscuit." the man invited, but Yland continued to be very skeptical and he did not understand what their leader's point was. The same could not be said for Saliat, who instead handled the knife offered to him as if he were performing a magic trick, and then plunged it into the new dish offered to him. The knife cut the soft food, and Saliat spread it on the salty biscuit and then took a bite.

"Mmh... but it's delicious!" said the man pleasantly surprised, continuing to chew noisily. "Try it guys... it's something special, you don't know what you're missing!" invited the Security Corps leader continuing to enjoy the food with great enthusiasm. Kurena leaned over the chair trying to get a better look at the dish.

"What is it again?" the woman asked curiously, Meguro smiled calmly.

"It's a salty cream, made with Moomoo Milk... a typical drink from the Johto region. We just had a trade with that region three days ago and they handled over us this." her boss replied. "This milk comes from a Pokémon and has excellent healing properties on Pokémon... but it's also delicious for humans" he then added. Kurena didn't say a word but she took a bite of the cream on her cracker, starting eating it with pleasure. Instead Yland shook his head confused and then rested his forehead on two fingers of the arm he had placed on the armrest of the armchair.

"I don't understand Meguro... did you call us for a snack break?" the young man asked between incredulous and perplexed while Meguro shrugged in response. "No, wait... are you kidding? Why on earth is this? I mean... you've never been this weird." the guy commented frustrated, pointing with an open hand to the table of food. Saliat wasn't paying much attention to his mate's discussion, but Kurena was instead darting her gaze between her coworker and her boss, seeing as Yland was actually saying the same things she was thinking in that moment. Meguro snorted in amusement.

"This is a thank you for your hard work." the man said, putting his hands behind his back and looking at the ceiling, as if he was thinking about what he had just said. "It was just to give you a new boost. I wanted to remind you what we are fighting for... and that what we are doing is actually rewarding us." Meguro added. Yland threw himself back on the armchair, folding his arms.

"Well... surely someone liked it." Yland said, casting a judgmental look at Saliat, who noticed he was being watched.

"Hey... maybe you little prince have gotten too used to all the food you have. I assure you it's hard to find food like this... I know something about it." the man commented while Yland sighed, rolling his eyes. "I've never eaten good stuff like this... and all this is because our village is growing well. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who has understood that our work leads to something." Saliat added, Meguro nodded pleased.

"I see that Saliat has fully understood what I was referring to." the commander commented, attracting the attention of those present. "Since our resources are increasing both in quantity and quality... I have managed to afford some good bartering with other regions... a hard and difficult thing to do often, but I trust that in the future it will no longer be a problem. And that we will get everything we need." Meguro said looking at Yland.

"Yeah..." Saliat commented with annoyance, towards Yland. "And you're complaining instead of thanking and being happy about this." he then said, pointing to his mate, using the knife he was handing since before. Kurena raised her eyebrows as if to think about something.

"I don't remember a moment where Yland didn't complain about something." the woman commented ironically as Saliat chuckled a bit.

"You should relax." the security leader said, taking a piece of pie. "And you should eat something. You are paler than usual." he said while Yland made a noise of disapproval.

"If I'm doing what I'm doing for this village... it's definitely not for food." the Construction Corps leader said, getting up from his seat and turning his back to the others, as he headed for the door. "When will we achieve what we really need to achieve?" he then asked to Meguro, still not looking at him.

"You knew well that it wouldn't be a quick process." Meguro replied, trying to reason with his subordinate. "I know what you want, and you know I want it too. But if I invited you for this today, it's precisely to show you that we're proceeding in the right direction... and that therefore we'll soon have what we need. I hoped you'd be happy with the progress we're making." the man explained, his usual smile on his lips.

"I am." Yland replied dryly, opening the door. "But you know that we don't have time." the guy said. The atmosphere was tense, as Yland was esitating on the door, Saliat and Kurena stayed in an embarassing silence. "You did a promise. Do you remember that?" Yland asked to his boss.

Meguro's calm smile disappeared from his face. "Yes, of course I do."

"Then you should do something about it... and soon." Yland replied, his back still to the others.

Meguro's face twitched for a moment. "Go rest, Yland. And sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

"Next time call me about something I'm actually interested in." he then said, finally leaving the room, slamming the door.

"Oh, why? Is there a way not to bother him?" Saliat asked, still busy filling his stomach.