Like No One Ever Was (Pokemon SI)

[Lillie Jones]

Absolute Cinema
10/10
The Journey continues
Cheer!

 

[abyss_kaiser]

Alright, I've finally caught up.


I'm still curious about whether we'll ever get told exactly why Atticus is as damaged as he is. My only guess is familial issues, and that he inherited his regard for Pokémon from his parents. But, ultimately, I feel satisfied in how he has been dealt with.

I do kind of wish though that Nemona would, from experiencing Atticus' blatant abuse of the Pokémon trade, get the goal of restricting trading using her power as a Champion. sure, one could never make such a thing perfect, but as a system which is ostensibly only there to act as a platonic matchmaking service, clearly there is far too much lenience being extended to traders at this point.

Again, such a goal would be quite lofty, but Nemona's never been unambitious, has she?


Now, in regards to Elsa, who thankfully I am not alone in despising, though I feel like you might have perhaps gotten a bit too much grief over her on other sites? My only thing about her is that from the moment the narrative implied that she was going to be Nemona's proper permanent Rival, I instantly hated the idea.

For me, I liked Elsa as a character, somebody for Nemona to beat and overcome, but after that she would be left in the dust rather than become closer to Nemona in that more permanent Rivalry relationship. this is mostly due to the, you know, threatening the Goomies thing. Sure, the narrative did a good job laying the groundwork for a redemption arc through Nemona's relationship with Colress, but it's hard to sympathize with a character that was introduced so late into the story.

I feel that if you wanted people to become more attached to Elsa over time rather than despising her forever, she or a character like her ought to have been introduced in the first arc, then it would have felt more central to Nemona's growth as a trainer and her friendship circle, rather than being the enemy at the gate that must be obliterated, you know?

I do like how you resolved her story into a more distanced redemption arc, and at this point I wouldn't mind if she returned in a later one after she's undergone some personal growth away from Nemona's own journey. Elsa feels less forced upon the reader in that way.


Anyway, I'm very eager to see where Nemona goes from here. It looks like we're finally going to be seeing the consequences of Sada's stumbling into Turo's research, and I can't wait to see how Nemona deals with the inevitable catastrophe that results. After all, she's hardly going to be as prepared for it as she was for Turo. And of course, there's the Explorers as well.

On a more lighthearted(?) note, I cannot help but feel that Notch's religious shenanigans are liable to cause their own major consequences at some point. I just kind of get the feeling that a Legendary literally worshipping Nemona isn't just always going to be a funny background joke, lol, especially with humans beginning to get roped into her sermons.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 55 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and bob my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

"Aw man! That was so close!"

"I know! You almost had me when your Trick Room came up."

The discussion between two of the League Club students continued in that manner, remarking on the different moves and strategies they'd used in the fight, and I couldn't help but smile. This is what the League Club always should have been. A place to battle, have fun, and generally get along.

We were a few months into my final year at Blueberry Academy and my friends and I were well established by now. No one gave us odd looks in the hallways anymore for how young we were (in no small part due to the growth spurts that some of us had gone through; while Carmine and I were still a bit younger than most first years, we were about as tall as them) or questioned our authority in the club. Especially with Atticus gone.

The departure of the former club elite had gone without fanfare. Despite his grand dreams of becoming a world class trainer, his failure to reclaim his spot before the end of last year likely put a damper on that.

Even before then, though, his callous training practices had earned him few friends and anyone who might have been a sympathizer graduated alongside him. I had heard through the grapevine that he had applied to a position as Blueberry Academy staff before his graduation but had been rejected by Director Cyrano. I definitely think Cyrano could do more in terms of getting involved with the school, but it does show he isn't completely oblivious to what happens with his students-just mostly.

"You excited for the trip?" A voice came from behind me. Turning, I saw my friend Kieran. The Kitakami boy with two-toned hair hadn't had quite the growth spurt his sister had, but he'd come a long way as a Pokemon Trainer.

"Yeah! Just finishing up a few last minute things here, but I'm really excited. Carmine's been promising to show me some of the games." In actuality, Carmine had been promising to beat me at some of the games, but from her that was pretty much the same thing.

The younger boy glanced up at the list I was typing on Miles. He shook his head at how long it was, "You worry too much; Lacy and Draden will be here to keep the club running smoothly while we're gone, and we'll only be away for a couple of days anyway."

"Yeah, but that means Lacy will spend half her time wrangling Draden, so really it's like having one full person running the club," I smiled to show the ribbing of our friend was good natured. The young Dragon Trainer, from where he lay with his head down on the table, gave me a quick wave. Or possibly flipped me off, it was very fast and Draden was as masterful at being infuriating as he was at slacking off. Still, he's kept up with his school work enough, thanks to our encouragement, that I think he'll graduate alongside us this year. And there is no denying that he's quite smart and an expert Trainer.

"True," Kieran nodded, "still, I think everything is going to be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

I winced, "You never say that! It only invites disaster. Next thing you know, we'll come back to find the club room on fire, a couple people trying to futilely put it out by swinging around a rag and others huddled over an injured club member!"

The tween stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head, "You're so weird sometimes, Nemona. There's no way that's going to happen-for starters, they would just put out the fire with their Water Types, duh."

"Hey! I'm weird all the time!" I said with faux-indignation before bursting out into giggles and Kieran soon joined me, "And you're probably right, but you'd be surprised how often Trainers can forget to rely on their partners in more mundane situations."

Bursting into the room, running almost too quickly for the automatic doors, Kieren's sister, Carmine entered. She locked onto us instantly, "What are you two waiting around for? We got to go! Or we'll miss the plane over to-"

Kitakami. It's been too long. Carmine and Kieran's homeland remained as lush and vibrant as ever, I noted as I stared out the bus windows. Pokemon frollicked in the river beside the road and chased each other around the trees and across the plains. Over the rice paddies ahead Yanmas would fly over, sometimes slowly before zipping off quickly without warning.

The land had a certain timeless feel to it, though the village ahead was slightly more modern and more bustling than I remembered. Getting off the bus, Carmine immediately announced a race to the town square, running ahead on her long legs before either I or her brother had a chance to object.

I was caught off guard for a moment before grinning eagerly and running to catch up. Carmine was no slouch in the physical department and had a head start, but I had an advantage of my own. Jumping forward, I drew on my Aura, the wind rushing to push me ahead. The motion was slightly superhuman even by the standards of this world, but not so incredible as to draw much attention from anyone working the fields nearby that might have glanced up.

Carmine, however, clearly knew what I was doing. "Hey, that's cheating!" She shouted, gasping for breath.

"Your fault for not setting up the rules ahead of time!" I shot back, giving her a wave as I raced ahead. As we neared the town square, it looked like I was going to win, until a shadow passed over our heads, and Kieran, carried by his Yanmega, made it there just ahead of me, dropping awkwardly to the ground as Yanmega dropped him from a few feet up. It was hard to tell with Bug Types, but I felt that Yanmega was quite proud of himself as he zipped around through the air, gathering the odd, compound eyes of more than a few Yanmas nearby.

"You two," Carmine said, panting for breath, as she trailed behind us, "Are big, fat cheaters." She frowned cutely.

Kieran shot his sister a smug smirk, the kind of expression that, a few years ago he wouldn't have felt so easy about giving his sister. Or, at least, not in public. They've always had a bit of back-and-forth teasing, but before the time at Blueberry Academy Carmine was always the more dominant personality around others.

"Just you wait 'til we go Ogre Oustin' tonight. That game has rules, so you two can't just cheat your way to victory."

Kieran frowned. "Aww man, do I have to? We both know you're gonna beat me at it. Why don't you just face Nemona, and I'll do …other stuff at the festival."

His sister glared at him suspiciously, "By 'other stuff' you mean you're going to look for Ogerpon again, right?"

"We hung out a bunch more this summer, and she seemed sad that I was going to Blueberry Academy, so of course I want to find her again while we're here," Kieran defended himself, pouting slightly.

"We're here for the festival, not to run off hiking around the mountain," Carmine argued.

Playing peace-maker, I stepped between them. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for both things. Besides, if we meet Ogerpon we might even get the chance to show her around the festival," I offered, though Carmine seemed skeptical.

"Won't they notice that she's, yenno, The Ogre? The dreaded figure of myth and legend from our town?" I winced at how loud Carmine was, glancing around to see if anyone else had heard what she had said. Thankfully, all the townsfolk here were well and use to the boisterous girl's usual volume and had thus tuned her out entirely.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, especially if she's wearing that mask we made her," I said remembering the work we had put in all those years ago to create a new mask for Ogerpon, but I hadn't gotten the chance to see how it looked on her yet, or the chance to see her in person. While I wouldn't push it if I didn't think it would work, I did hope that that would change on this trip.

"Welcom, welcome!" The bald inn keeper/mayor of the town greeted us warmly, walking up to the three of us. "Carmine! Kieran! It's great to have you back for the festival. And young Miss Glitterati, it is wonderful to see you again," he said with a smile that was just a touch too wide.

Right. I'm sure you're so happy just to see me for me and not because my discoveries and parent's influence have helped skyrocket tourism and trade to Kitakami, I thought sarcastically. There was no need to say that however; it wasn't like I hadn't benefitted from this arrangement either. Still, I did comment, "I see the price of Syrupy Apples has gone up." I said, gesturing at the sign towards the edge of town/beginning of Apple Hill. It had skyrocketed ten times from its original price upon our discovery of Hydrapple. Now it was almost double even that.

"What can I say, they've been selling like hotcakes!" The man said cheerfully, and I could practically see the dollar signs in his eyes. "It's been quite the boon for the town, we're even thinking of remodeling the Loyal Trio Shrine," he declared enthusiastically. I couldn't tell if he ignored or just missed the way Kieran ground his teeth angrily at that fact.

While the young boy hadn't managed to communicate too much with Ogerpon yet, he knew she didn't like them, which meant he hated the Trio too. Though he didn't buy into the town's worship of them even before he'd actually met Ogerpon.

I wondered briefly how the citizens of Kitikami had gotten it in their head to worship them in the first place. Knowing that they had just been there at the behest of another mysterious Pokemon to steal Ogerpon and her partner's masks, it was odd that the town had gravitated towards worship of them, even with their pre-existing mistrust of Ogerpon.

They didn't actually ever know these three, it wasn't like the Trio had built up any bonds in the community, at least as far as I know, so it should have seemed random to them. Then again, maybe it was and the tale only shifted as generations passed. I hardly know how my story is going to be remembered centuries from now. I'd hope that with modern recordings and accounting people would have a decently accurate idea of my life, but there was no guarantee such records would survive the various apocalypses that occasionally threatened the land. Most of them got stopped, but we had records of countless ancient civilizations that may have made it as far as we had here before…

I snapped my attention back to the conversation at hand realizing I had gotten distracted and the mayor had just asked me something. "Well that is…" I began, trying to recall it, before Phantasm stepped in.

"He asked if you want to stay at the hotel," her auditory illusion growled in my ear. Like her physical form, the others couldn't notice her beside me. Perhaps it was paranoid, but I didn't like going around without at least one Pokemon out of their balls and nearby to help, and she was one of the ones that could be nearby while on the plane or the bus without raising a fuss (when she hid from them at least).

"... I'm actually going to be staying over with Carmine and Kieran, but thank you for the kind offer. Your hotel is looking great." In truth, I felt the hotel was merely average, but it had improved much from what it had been before. While the design was still sleek and modern, it was taller now, had a fancier rotating glass door to the lobby and I could spot that the interior was looking a bit more elegant.

He puffed up with pride at the compliment, regaling us for a few minutes with everything he'd done before getting distracted by a guest and we quickly slipped away without a word. Once a safe distance away, all three of us looked back and started laughing, watching the mayor getting more and more confused as people walking by stared at him oddly, not able to see the illusionary afro Phantasm had conjured on his head.

"Having fun?" A sly voice asked, and we turned to see a young man leaning against the small retaining wall around the town. Muramasa had long black hair and a very relaxed posture, but I could see a sharpness to his gaze that belied his true competence. That, and the Ultra Balls at his side, a rarity in this town and a sign of his true strength.

He's part of the Ogre Clan, and one of the few people who could provide a challenge to me here, aside from Carmine and Kieran of course. I was certain he had somehow spotted Phantasm too, even as he kept his gaze fixed outwards, looking for threats to the town.

"Yeah, but the festival should be even more fun. Speaking of, we should probably get ready." I quickly ran to Carmine and Kieran's house, where their grandfather was waiting for us, already wearing his mask, a thing of bright green and gold swirls. "Hello again-" I began.

"Where are our masks!?" Carmine shouted eagerly. A sidelong glance from me had her blushing and she addressed him more politely. "Hello Grampa, it's good to see you again. Do you know where our masks are?"

While he was wearing his mask it was a bit harder to determine what he was feeling (another sign that my Aura enhanced senses relied at least somewhat on visual cues and not something mystical beyond that) from the silence I got that he was shocked that someone had managed to get his granddaughter to calm down so. After a moment he shook it off and pointed at the shed. "Your masks are in there."

We went in, stepping around the tools and piles of sawdust. Clearly this had been another very successful year for them (and given how Kitakami was steadily growing, I wondered if he might need some assistants soon and turn this into a full business, rather than a small hobby to supplement his retirement money). All the other masks had been taken out already, save for our three.

Carmine's mask was a deep purple, matching her gorgeous yukata (which she had spent a fair amount of time picking out in advance of the festival). Kieran's was a mild green, which also worked well with his outfit. More importantly, it was almost identical in design to Ogerpon's Teal Mask. The carving, while excellent, was admittedly not as masterful as Ogerpon's nor did it have a Tera Crystal embedded within it, but Kieran loved the mask and held it with reverent awe.

I felt much the same as I picked up my mask. Yukito (Carmine & Kieran's grandfather) had sent a message telling me the mask was done, but I hadn't seen it before now. Running my fingers over it, I felt how smooth the wood was, whirls of yellow and blue on the round mask. The design was quite round too, which fit what I was going for.

Going inside we quickly got changed, exiting in our yukatas. Mine was made of a shimmering gold silk, which didn't quite go with my mask, but I hoped it wouldn't detract from the look too much. Recalling Phantasm, I sent Dun out to get his opinion. "What do you think?"

Outfits weren't too interesting to my Starter, but he still looked up, making a non-commital 'looks good' noise before stopping as he saw my mask, designed to evoke the design of a Dudunsparce. He stopped for a good few seconds before knocking me over with an excited tackle/hug. "Duuuun! Du dun dun arce!" He said excitedly, slithering up to get a better look.

"Haha, easy there! You don't want to break it, do you?" I asked rhetorically, but that was more for the sake of getting my several hundred pound Starter off of my chest than any uncarefulness on his part. "Pretty good, right?"

"Dudun!"

"Awesome. Now let's get going, the Festival should be starting soon and I don't want to miss any of it."

Truthfully, I didn't need to be very worried - the festival would go on for a couple of days, but my friends had talked it up so much that I couldn't help but be excited for this. They both seemed quite happy to have me here for this too, with Carmine practically dragging us up the hill to the plaza.

The festival was a sight to behold, with stalls lining the edges of the plaza on both levels and banners draped across long poles erected across the stone stairs. There were a fair number of tourists and even more townsfolk. It felt like the whole town was up here, and it might well have been (save for the Nurse Joy stuck on duty at the Pokemon Stand down in the village), all dressed in their fancy yukatas and masks. The tourists had masks too, but they tended to be wearing regular clothes, while the townsfolk wore more traditional garmants and had better quality masks,

"Ready for your beatdown? There's no one better at Ogre Oustin' than me!" Carmine declared proudly. I was happy to face her, but a glance at Kieran and Dun's pouty faces had me ask to stop for some food first.

She gave a big sigh but the kind that indicated her usual melodramatic antics and not anything deeper. Plus, it gave her the chance to go over the rules for Ogre Oustin again. "We each get to ride a Pokemon for the game. No big Moves or anything that could destroy the Berries, got it?" She asked as we happily partook of the festival food (Carmine included). It was a little sweet for my usual tastes, but quite good and I felt brave enough to try some food I didn't usually eat.

"And we get the Berries from the appropriately colored bags and drop them into the correct table at the end. We need to grab a certain amount of each of the four colors for each round. Yeah, that all makes sense," I said, repeating the rest of what she told me. I already knew all of that, but it was fun to see how excited she was about this.

I was so distracted watching her talk animatedly that I didn't notice the festival's surprise guest first (though considering who it was, I wasn't surprised that Kieran was the first to see her). "There! She's right over there!" The young boy exclaimed, his voice a mix of shock, disbelief, and overwhelming joy.

Looking up, I saw her standing atop the stone stairs. Ogerpon. While small enough to look like a kid in the shadows, her mask and general shape making her appear like she just had a very vibrant costume on. Her sleeve like arms were white, with feather patterns that matched her mask, making her look almost as if she had wings for arms. The beak on the mask lent itself to the bird-like appearance.

It's earlier, much earlier than the games, was my first thought. A silly thought, admittedly - I knew things could change, that I had actively done much to impact this very plot. Nonetheless, there was something surprising about seeing her there. Or perhaps captivating. Now that I know who I'm looking at, I can sense the power she has hidden in that small frame. Or at least a portion of it.

She turned to face us, as if surprised to see the three of us. Then, as if by some cosmic hand pressing down on the scale of fate, her mask fell off. This was not her old teal mask, the strap likely weakened by the ravages of time, but the new mask we had made for her just a few years ago. Yet still it fell, bouncing off the top of the stairs.

Everyone else, including Ogerpon, was too shocked to act, but I knew this. I'd seen this scene before and thus was flying up almost instantly, scooping up the mask after just the second bounce.

"Got it!" I declared loudly, before realizing that might draw undue attention. Thankfully, we were on the outskirts of the plaza and the festival was busy enough that no one turned our way and saw Ogerpon's cute face. Beneath the mask, I saw her orange-ish face look up at me, her starry pupils filled with hesitancy, fight-or-flight instincts warring within her.

Very carefully, I passed the mask towards her. "Here you go, I don't think it got damaged much." Better than if it had hit the bottom of the stair at least. To my eyes the mask looked fine, but she took it back and carefully inspected it before putting it securely back on.

"H-hey O-ogerpon," Kieran stuttered out as he quickly ascended. "That's Nemona and this is my sister Carmine. I told you about them." What's got him so nervous- oh, he's worried she'll run away again. Possibly making him look bad, but also just not wanting to drive off a friend.

He didn't need to worry as the powerful Pokemon looked at me and Carmine before brightly declaring "Pon!" Like that, any tension left us. Kieran looked a little conflicted however, glancing at us and then back at Ogerpon.

"Why don't you join us for the festival?" I offered the Pokemon.

"Oger…" she muttered, kicking one of her legs back and forth.

"The festival is one of the few times of the year you can blend in, though!" Kieran chimed in, clearly liking my plan. "None of them will notice you with your mask on."

She still seemed a little concerned, given the way she hesitated, so I added more encouragement. "We'll protect you from anyone that gets too close, don't worry." That might be a difficult promise to keep, but this means a lot to Kieran, and I think it could be good for Ogerpon too.

She gave a swift nod of her head and we were off, back to enjoying the festival, but this time with our new friend in tow. Kieran was the most animated I'd ever seen him, eagerly explaining all the different stalls and features. I hung back with Carmine to keep an eye on them and make sure no one tried to scrutinize Ogerpon or would run into her.

"Wow, she's really… not scary," Carmine eventually settled on, watching as Ogerpon struggled on her tip toes to reach for a piece of candy from one of the stalls that was just a bit too far for her reach normally.

"Most people aren't, once you get to know them." I responded, and she gave me a questioning glance. From that alone I could tell she was thinking about the previous Club Elite Four. "Okay, yeah, there were a couple of bad apples, but even then, I think there was some good in them! Like … Cassandra? Maybe Elsa or Charlotte learned a lesson after they left? …okay, okay, okay, but those were in the vast minority of everyone we know," I said, flusteredly waving my arms around.

We continued, having fun at the various festival stands until we made it to the Ogre Oustin' sign-up table. There were some prizes to be won, pretty feathers, shiny trinkets, and even a gold nugget for the 'grand prize' winner, but the real reward would be in beating each other. Carmine and I quickly signed up, and, much to our surprise, so did Kieren, after spending a minute huddled up discussing it with Ogerpon.

"Really? And I assume you'll be racing with…" I jerked my head towards the disguised Legendary Grass Type.

He nodded, giving me a determined grin. "Yup! This should be fun, and she's never gotten to try before."

The woman manning the counter looked over curiously at Ogerpon. "Is that little guy a Pokemon? I've never seen anyone like him before," she commented.

Kieran froze up for a second, but I smoothly covered for him. "She's from Blueberry Academy. We've got a lot of neat Pokemon there." I kept my voice calm and neutral, hoping that she wouldn't try to pry further if she didn't think there was anything special to note.

"And you dressed her up for the festival - so sweet!" With that, she got back to setting up our game. We walked past the stand and away from the plaza to the large rolling hills which had been set up with a multitude of differently coloured baskets.

Each of us had been given a slightly different number for each of the four types of berries we had to collect, but they all added up to the same total amount: 40 berries. I've got 15 red, but the least blue. Yellow is pretty low, but green needs a fair amount. Okay, so with that in mind, I think I see which route I want to take… I continued planning until we reached the table set at the top of the hill. There were bins placed atop it for us to dump the berries in on our way. The buckets we were given to hold the berries in didn't hold more than ten (easily), so you had to make multiple trips. There's another aspect to the challenge. One that Carmine neglected to mention. Is that because things are just different from the game, or is it a little surprise she wanted me to encounter?

I got atop Dun's back and took my place in the painted, white starting rectangle on the grass. The woman held the timer and counted me down. When she said, "go!" We were off to the races.

Some of the baskets were clustered in groups based on their colour, but others were more spread out. With my strategy in place, I darted out, tipping the baskets as I passed to fill my bucket before darting back to drop off a full load. I made sure to waste as little timea s possible with each route I took back and forth. Dun was hardly the fastest of my pokemon, but with his three sets of wings, he was able to generate a nice tail wind to speed us along. There were also other advantages he had. One that came in handy about three quarters of the way through my run when I saw a sneaky Greedant shuffling up to the table.

I knew it! I knew there'd be wild Pokemon here to try and take berries before you finished and since there's none that have come by to snack on the berries down by the hill (which is actually further away from the festival and the people), which means there are people actively keeping them away on the sides and keeping them away is a recognized part of the berry challenge. Well, at least we have an answer for that. At my signal Dun twisted his head while carrying on on the same path and gave the Greedant a sharp Glare.

The gluttonous Wild Pokemon was Paralyzed by the move, giving us plenty of time to continue filling my bucket before heading back and letting Dun sweep him away with one powerful flick of his drill tail. With that settled, I finished my run getting what I felt was a quite respectable time. From the look I got from Carmine, I could tell it was probably better than most of her times too.

"Alright Car, you're up!" I said cheerfully, getting off of Dun's back and slipping him some of the extra berries I'd managed to grab during the last run. Despite having rather high-brow tastes for a Dudunsparce and already partaking of the festival food, he eagerly gobbled them up.

Carmine steadied herself before releasing her Arcanine. The powerful canine Pokemon stood fiercely in front of her, before recognizing the situation as a friendly one and toning down his Intimidate Ability. She got atop his back and the two of them waited for their signal to go, with Arcanine shooting off like a rocket the moment he could.

Despite his speed, I noticed that their path was far less strategized than mine. There's no distribution of berries that should have them going the way that they're going, and then there's also the wild Pokemon to consider. Her run was intruded upon by two Skwovets. The first of whom was driven off fairly easily by a Flamethrower, but the second was more determined. It also came when Carmine was further away and there were plenty of baskets between her Arcanine and the would-be thief.

Eventually, she directed her Pokemon to run around and launched the Skwovet aside with a powerful Extreme Speed. The force of which caused her to drop a few berries (which would then count as unusable for scoring) and had derailed her initial search. She went back, quickly grabbing some more and finishing the contest, but the damage was done, her time wound up being a full second slower than mine.

"What!? Nooooooooooo," she wailed. "How could I lose?"

"Well, get ready to lose again, because O- we're going to beat you next!" Kieran declared. His bold declaration was somewhat undercut by the difficulty he had standing atop Ogerpon's shoulders, given she was only slightly shorter than he was.

They may have looked like a goofy pair,, but when the signal came, they were off so fast that even I had trouble tracking them. Ogerpon ran like a blur, showing off that incredible, Legendary speed she held, with Kieran barely managing to balance himself for the ride. In fact, I was pretty sure that Ogerpon herself was actually grabbing most of the berries and putting them in the bucket.

Given that speed, the match was soon over and they had blown, not only my and Carmine's scores out of the water, but also everyone else that had tried tonight. Kieran took a moment after dismounting to steady himself, and then almost fell over again in shock as the attendant announced him the winner of the grand prize, handing him the shiny gold nugget.

"W-what?" Kieran said as he took the prize, dazed.

"You won, silly!" The attendant told him. "That was the fastest time I've ever seen anybody clear Ogre Oustin'!" Then she left, heading back to the stall, while I congratulated Kieran and Ogerpon on their victory.

"Wowzers," Keiran said before turning and offering the nugget to Ogerpon. "Here, you deserve this." She shook her masked head, pushing the nugget back and then reaching out to point at one of the Pokeballs on his belt. Kieran looked confused for a moment while his sister and I let out shocked gasps, putting the pieces together a bit faster than him. After a moment, he figured it out too.

"You wanna join my team?" He said, hope and disbelief warring in his voice. When she nodded her head again insistently, he quickly scrambled to get an unused Pokeball from his bag, holding it out with a slightly trembling hand. She reached out and pressed the button herself, causing the mechanism to open up, and, in a flash of red light, she disappeared. The ball wobbled twice before clicking, and we all let out a cheer.

Ogerpon hopped out and joined in on the cheering a second later. We basked in the moment, and I couldn't help but feel some vicarious pride for the young Kitakami boy and how far he had come. I never got around to figuring out how the second half of the DLC ended up going for him before ending up in this world, but I'm pretty sure that'll never happen now. He's not going to go down a dark, jealous path and Ogerpon is going to remain his best friend.

After a minute, Carmine started smiling slyly. "You might've beat me at Ogre Oustin', but I'll still be the best battler, " she declared smugly. I knew for a fact such a title was hotly contested between the siblings, with both of them jockeying for top place among the Elite Four in the club (they also challenged me regularly as well, but I had managed to reign supreme thus far).

Kieran caught what she was going for and said, "oh yeah? Why don't we settle that here and now?"

I stepped in, reminding them that, "it's getting pretty late. Plus we don't want to let the rest of the town know that you have her yet," I said, gesturing towards Ogerpon who looked confused by that. "How about we just have a quick, one-on-one battle?"

"Sounds good to me!" Carmine cheered, leading the way into the wilderness and well out of sight from any of the townsfolk. She found a decently sized clearing, and both siblings took their places across from each other in it. I wish I'd remembered to bring Colress' personal barrier generator, but we probably won't need it for a friendly bout like this.

Ogerpon was already out of her Pokeball and just stepped forwards in front of Kieran, while Camren released Sinistcha, her Starter, in front of her. I gave them a quick count down before the battle began.

"Shadow Ball!" Carmine shouted, seizing the initiative. Sinistcha was not an extraordinarily fast Pokemon, however, and Ogerpon was.

"Hit 'em!" Kierna shouted, having little knowledge of what Ogerpon could actually do in a fight. She raced ahead, pulling out a long spiked cudgel from her sleeve like arms. The cudgel glowed with a bright white energy that resonated with my being. Is that Flying Type Energy? Right, of course it is; Ivy Cudgel's move type changes based on the mask she's wearing, and right now, she's wearing the High Flying mask we gave her!

The cudgel bonked the ghostly tea-cup hard, cracking the vessel in which Sinistcha lived. The green, blob-like Pokemon hissed in pain. The critical hit threw off their aim enough that the half formed Shadow Ball flew harmlessly past Ogerpon.

"Let's get back in there! Strength Sap!" Reaching out with a tendril of goop, Sinistcha latched onto Ogerpon's arm and began draining power from the Legendary Pokemon. The amount of healing that move gave was equal to the amount of power the target had, and seeing how rapidly Sinistcha regenerated, their cup instantly reforging itself, showed how much power Ogerpon had.

She didn't wait for a command from her trainer, raising a shield of spikes from her arm, cutting off the draining attack and mildly cutting into Sinistcha. Kieran cheered and then shouted, "Hit them again!"

Ogerpon twirled around, striking the Ghost Type with her Ivy Cudgel, and despite the Strength Sap, the attack hit devastatingly hard, breaking through Sinistcha's defenses and sending them tumbling to the ground. We all looked on, shocked for a moment by how quickly the battle had been decided, before I announced, "Sinistcha is unable to fight! Kieran and Ogerpon are the winners!"

Carmine recalled her Pokemon, looking shocked, while Kieran and his newest Pokemon celebrated. That was a very lucky second critical hit, perhaps a Super Lucky one… I knew that Ogerpon's Ivy Cudgel was a strong Move that had an increased crit rate, but that by itself didn't seem quite enough to explain her performance here. However, I also knew that Ogerpon's abilities changed with her different masks.

Will she ever get those other three masks back if Kieran never awakens the Loyal Trio? I wasn't sure, though I'd look into it later, hopefully finding a way to get them back without causing a disaster. As Miles buzzed in my pocket, I realized we were well past the time we told their grandparents we'd be back and decided those problems could wait for another day.

Spoiler: A/N:

Another Legendary Pokemon... just not for Nemona this time, haha. Kinda a shame since I absolutely fell in love with Ogerpon when I played the DLC, but she was always going to be Kieran's Pokemon in this story. With Nemona here to guide him away from his worst tendencies, his drive to befriend 'the ogre' of Kitakami was too great to be deterred.

We've still got another night of festivities at Kitakami and an Interlude coming up next, but before that, what changes have I made to canon teams other than Nemona's that you've liked the most? Have you really noticed? Let me know down in the comments or on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a Patreon, subscribers to it get early access to the next ten chapters of this story, and the next two for Brand New Isekai, my other story. Thank you, and I hope you're having a good day.

 

[abyss_kaiser]

I don't usually do the pointing out errors for the author thing, but I noticed a fair number.

Spoiler: Corrections!

Kitakami. It's been too long. Carmine and Kieran's homeland remained as lush and vibrant as ever, I noted as I stared out the bus windows. Pokemon frollicked in the river beside the road and chased watch other around the trees and across the plains.

Click to shrink...

Gibberish!

"Your fault for not setting up the rules ahead of time!" I shot back, giving her a wave as I raced ahead. As we neared the town square, it looked like I was going to sin, until a shadow passed over our heads

Click to shrink...

I don't believe Nemona is worried about insulting Arceus here...

The festival was a sight to behold, with stalls lining the edges of the plaza on both levels and banners draped across long poles erected across the stone stairs. There were a fair number of tourists and even more townsfolk. It felt like the whole town was up here, and it might well have been (save for the Nurse Joy stuck on duty at the Pokemon Stand down in the village), all dressed in their fancy yukatas and masks. The tourists had masks too, but they tended to be wearing regular clothes, while the townsfolk

Click to shrink...

End of sentence seems to be missing something

Anyway, super happy for Kieran! I was rooting for him the whole time, this is especially satisfying after that worrying downspiral he had for a bit after the elite four defeat.

Really hope Nemona and co can finally have their proper Kitakami adventure. Ogerpon joining the squad seems like a proper catalyst for some Legendary hijinks with the Trio which could eventually lead to Nemona finally getting her Bloodmoon.

Which of course leads to more POKEMON SCIENCE! My favorite part of the fic.

 

[Lillie Jones]

the Journey continues
Cheers!