Pokémon Version Orange

[SpaceWhale]

Bruno no no no.

Live by the hax die by the hax.

 

[IcurasFallen]

Ofc clay is extended family xD

next thing you're gonna tell me giovanni is also an associate but mainly because of his mafia mother lol

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le Gasp! However did you know!

 

[Krekkles]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Lillie Jones]

Absolute Cinema.
10/10
The Journey continues
Cheers!

 

[Vadelent]

Because another version of me, another Travis, had started with a Pikachu.

Was this fate? Some canon event? Had the universe handed me this moment because it thought it was funny?

Was I just going to become him? Another Pikachu trainer, another recycled trope, another Ash Clone that made a one-episode appearance?

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Kid? I would hardly call you an Ash clone. Strictly speaking Travis didn't show up anywhere other than a flashback of if I recall correctly and was gone before Ash ever showed up. Which means that he was at least as old as Ash seeing as Ash went to the Orange Islands right after a small break that was proceeded by the Indigo League. It might be that he's a clone of you if it turns out you're older. … All that said, based on how this world works you probably share a birthday.

Give it another ten years, and kids would probably be able to ask their Pokédex if their Meowth had unresolved emotional trauma and get an answer with citations.

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Mmm… Technology is somewhat understandably idiocentric in this world. They have long distance video phones that were far better than what we had at the time for instance and that's not even mentioning the airship we see in Pokemon 2000. All of which is to say… Text to speech is more than reasonable to have already so a Pokémon that can read is also a pokemon that can make themselves understood with a little technological assistance.

I slung my bag over one shoulder as I followed, Pichu happy enough to balance on the other. It looked like a plain black courier pack, stamped with the Silph Co. logo, but it was one of those discreet "spatial compression" models that was bigger on the inside than the outside. The kind of thing fans always joked about when wondering how a Trainer could carry half a Poké Mart in their pocket.

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Like I said, tech in the pokemon world is quite idiocentric and kinda all over the place.

And then he saw me.

He froze. His hand stalled mid-wave as his eyes locked on me and then Pichu with a focus so sharp it was almost unsettling. The genial warmth drained from his expression, replaced by something searching, something that didn't belong in a casual introduction.

The silence stretched long enough for me to fidget. What was this about?

"Professor?" Mom asked, brows knitting together as she leaned a fraction closer to me. "Is something the matter?"

Professor Oak blinked as if waking from a dream. His hand rose higher as he used it to rub the back of his head with a sheepish laugh. "Ah, forgive me! You just—" His gaze flicked to me again before returning to Mom. "Your son reminded me of another young man I know. The resemblance is uncanny, that's all."

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Perhaps Ash has actually already left?

"Well, well, well, look who finally showed up. Ashy-boy!"

The childish voice cut in from behind the Professor, who instinctively moved to see who spoke. A young boy with spiky auburn hair and a cocksure smile leaned against one of the porch rails.

He pushed off the railing with deliberate swagger, taking his time as he sized me up. "Took you long enough. What'd you do, get lost on your way from your house?"

I stared at the child with a bland look. "I think you've got the wrong person."

That actually made him falter, his smirk flickering for just a beat. Clearly, he'd expected me to fire back like it was a game. Instead, he tilted his head, mocking concern dripping into his tone. "What's this? Ashy-boy forget his own name?"

"Gary."

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Nope, never mind. They're the same age group at the very least. XD

Useful information, though I had absolutely no intention of spending the next week psychologically dissecting an elementary schooler if I could help it.

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I mean, there absolutely worse ways to spend your time here. Poking holes in his ego would go a long way towards making him more personable. Especially if it happens to him more self aware and introspective.

Which brought me back to the much larger hurricane currently hanging over the entire camp: Ash Ketchum.

The kid whose face apparently looked disturbingly similar to mine. The kid Gary had mistaken me for within seconds of seeing me. The kid Professor Oak had already confirmed would be attending this exact camp.

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A kid who I bet is still sleeping.

"I'M NOT LATE!"

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Yes you are! And I bet you're still in your pajamas!

One side of his jacket was hanging loose, the other looked like it had been buttoned incorrectly, and beneath it I could clearly see what was unmistakably a Poké Ball-themed pajama shirt.

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Ha! XD

I was not hiding.

That would have been childish. Immature, even, and I was far too mature to flee from a child simply because said child happened to possess my exact face and represented the living embodiment of nearly every canon-related headache I had spent years hoping to avoid.

No, I had simply decided that the far side of Professor Oak's property looked particularly comfortable. Entirely different thing.

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So you don't want to "accidentally" set up a Scooby-Doo type mirror gag?

Because who else would be in the Pikachu Group?

Ash Ketchum, future Trainer of quite possibly the most famous Pikachu on the planet, had naturally been assigned to the group represented by Pikachu.

I stared toward the sky for half a second.

The universe had to be laughing at me. There was no other explanation.

Thankfully, Ash didn't seem to have noticed me.

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Oh good! That means you still had an opportunity to convince him you're actually a Ditto! XD

Ash huffed before pressing the release button with considerably more care.

White light spilled out onto the grass and condensed into a small blue Pokémon with a round body, stubby legs, and a translucent belly marked by a dark spiral.

"Poliwag!"

Ash crouched beside his temporary partner with a grin. "This is Poliwag! Professor Oak gave him to me for camp."

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{squints} A Poliwag? … If this kid manages to keep and evolve this Poliwag and gets a Bulbasaur from Oak later then we have an entirely separate and unexpected set of problems.

This interaction just makes me want them to be half-brothers even MORE! Imagine just how much Ash would be wanting to connect with his new brother and call all about his journey, and the new expectations Travis will have as the more mature brother to look after him.

It just writes itself!

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The mystery of who's Ash's dad spreads to all who share his face

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Assuming Travis and all his look alikes share the same sperm donor then whomever they were they were very busy and very quick. They crossed several oceans and countries in the span of weeks or days and got multiple women pregnant at the roughly the same time. I'm betting an international mail courier and they take great pride in making sure their packages are always delivered.

The canvas was thick, weather-treated, and reinforced along the seams. The flooring wasn't some flimsy plastic sheet either. It had actual insulation underneath, sealed edges, and enough padding that sleeping on uneven ground probably wouldn't be miserable.

I'd grown up in a luxury resort. I knew quality when I saw it, even when it happened to be designed for children to sleep in the dirt.

Apparently Professor Oak didn't see much reason to cheap out when it came to keeping his campers comfortable.

Then again, this was Professor Samuel Oak.

World-famous researcher. Retired Master-level Trainer. The man whose name was attached to more academic papers and patents than I could probably count.

I looked around the campsite again, this time paying a little more attention to the equipment crates, cooking stations, emergency supplies, and a dozen oversized tents made from materials that probably cost more than some families spent on vacations.

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Knowing Oak and looking at the tents he's probably going to have some pokemon discreetly use Rain Dance to teach them about inclement weather and making sure their equipment is in good nick.

To their credit, the counselors were actually very good at keeping everyone engaged.

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That includes smarty pants who seem to have this whole thing already well in hand but is missing out on social interaction with children their own age.

Very little of the week involved sitting in rows while someone lectured us about which end of a Weedle not to grab.

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That's clearly a trick question because both the front and back ends have poison stingers. Clearly what you do is scoop it up around the middle from underneath or allow it to climb you hand or leg on its own.

Still, by the fourth morning of camp, we were finally introduced to something I had both been expecting and dreading since I learned we were going to be separated into groups.

Namely, the team competitions.

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I mean, what's the point of the lessons if they can't demonstrate they've actually learned them in a somewhat supervised real life situation?

"Ow!" Gary jerked sideways as the hand snagged his ear like a vice. "V-Violet! Let go!"

"Oh, let me think…no."

The girl who stepped into view was considerably more cheerful than her struggling groupmate.

She looked around our age, with appropriately dark violet hair divided into two short braids beneath a pale green sunhat. A Zigzagoon sat at her feet, its striped tail swishing lazily while it watched Gary struggle with what I could only interpret as familiarity.

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. . . No, can't be. Much too early. There's no way a protagonist for Paldea is here this early. Must be someone else.

Gary had little choice but to follow. "Ow! Violet! Come on!"

Ash didn't even try to hide his laughter.

Then Chloe caught him by the ear.

"Ack!"

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And Chloe is quick on the uptake! She learned the lesson and is quick to implement it herself! XD

I could only shake my head at the third distinct stretches of woodland in barely ten minutes of walking. "Seriously, how much land does this man own?"

Amber glanced back. "A lot."

"That isn't a measurement."

"It is when you're talking about Professor Oak."

I couldn't even argue with that.

The man owned enough property to maintain multiple Pokémon habitats, several campsites, miles of hiking trails, research enclosures, farmland, woodland, streams, and apparently enough empty space to scatter dozens of children across without any of us accidentally colliding.

Somewhere along the line, Professor Oak had stopped owning a large research property and started owning what I was pretty certain was an entire valley, with the distant foothills apparently thrown in for good measure.

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Considering he was a war hero, a "former" champion, that his home is right up against the shared Kanto/Johto border which happens to have the Silver Mountain range running between them and when he would have bought it? He probably got it for a veritable pittance. Especially since if he's sitting there he's also doubling as a deterrent from either side starting up trouble again.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the side of the bridge. Apparently, immediately solving the clue myself would somewhat defeat the entire point of the activity.

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That and letting Ash actually learn some critical thinking and learning how to read a map can only be a good thing since he is in no way good at it in canon. Same with cooking. XD

Then I noticed how Goh was squinting thoughtfully at my clothes, which immediately earned him a pointed look. "Don't."

He blinked innocently. "I wasn't doing anything."

"You were trying to 'deduce me.'" I made a point of adding air quotes.

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I mean, Goh is smart enough to pull that off. Probably not a good idea to let him do it though. A very good way to lose friends.

Rubbing my eyes, I slowly pushed myself upright before carefully peeling Pichu away from my neck and getting to my feet. The movement earned me an irritated little noise as his face scrunched up, but that was apparently the full extent of his protest. Rather than properly waking, he rolled onto his back in my arms, tucked his paws against his chest, and immediately settled again.

I stared down at him. "Glad one of us is taking this seriously."

"Piiiii..."

His eyes never opened.

"Yeah, that's about what I expected."

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Pichu may be past the stage where they're routinely shocking themselves on accident but they're still a baby pokemon so them being extremely interested in sleeping is not unexpected.

Two red eyes opened in the darkness.

Someone sucked in a breath as something enormous moved between the trees.

The beam caught a pair of thick purple legs first as they stomped heavily against the forest floor. I slowly tilted the flashlight upward, revealing a broadly armored and heavily spiked torso, massive clawed hands, and shoulders that seemed impossibly wide from where I stood. Then the light reached its face.

A heavy snout pulled back from a mouth full of fangs, while a long horn jutted from its forehead between a pair of furious red eyes.

My blood went cold.

The Nidoking raised its head and roared.

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Ain't no way that thing is wild because there is basically no chance Professor Oak would allow a wild Nidoking on his property if it wasn't one of his, one of his trainers or simply a pokemon he's personally met and convinced it needs to play nice if it doesn't want to have to move back to Mount Silver.

You can do this! "So stay up, bud!"

Across the field, Violet was doing the same, shouting encouragement toward Ziggy as he fought to keep his legs beneath him. For several long seconds, both Pokémon remained upright through sheer stubbornness, staring one another down while the entire battlefield seemed to hold its breath.

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There was no smugness this time. No mischief, no attitude, or any of the old wariness I'd grown so used to seeing since we'd first met.

He just looked...content.

Then brilliant white light erupted from his body.

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In all honesty I was more expecting a double evolution there at the end. How exciting would that have been to have both of them evolve at the same time to keep the fight going?

"Hold on!" We both turned to find Gary standing a short distance away, looking personally offended by the entire conversation. "I already called a rematch!"

Violet blinked. "So?"

"So you can't just call one too!"

"Why not?"

"Because I called it first!"

Violet tilted her head as though seriously considering his words before a mischievous smile spread across her face. "Yeah, but I was his last fight, so obviously I get first dibs!"

Gary gaped at her. "That's...That's not how this works! You can't just call dibs!"

"That sounds like a you problem~"

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Clearly they both need to fight it out to discover which of them should fight Travis next. ;D

 

[Vadelent]

Ash looked down at him, toward Professor Oak, then at Poliwag again.

"...How many chores?"

Delia covered a laugh.

Professor Oak's eyes twinkled. "I'm sure we can negotiate."

I rather suspected Professor Oak had just found himself a very enthusiastic new helper.

After that, the rest of the evening began winding down fairly quickly.

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We have the Poliwag. Now we need to see the Nidorino and the Bulbasaur.

Ash grabbed his hand and turned it into something halfway between a handshake and a fist bump.

"Next time we meet, I'm gonna know way more about Pokémon than you!"

Goh's eyes immediately narrowed. "No chance."

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Mmm… Considering how may regions Ash passed through and people and pokemon he interacted with before he met Goh in canon I think he might very well have. Mayhaps not straight facts or book learning but he learned pokemon. I can only imagine how much further he'll go now that he has an older brother who is actually studious to look up to.

Before I could properly decide what to say, however, a loud growl came from my shoulder.

I slowly turned my head. Pikachu stared back at me with complete innocence.

Another rumble came from his stomach.

I snorted and reached up to scratch beneath his chin. "You are an absolute glutton."

"Pika." He didn't even attempt to argue. Considering what he'd put himself through today, though, I couldn't exactly blame him.

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"Your Pikachu is in its cutest stage. It cannot win because it's a butterball." - Brock maybe.

Considering my hair had already been shocked into something resembling a Jolteon half a dozen times today, the motivational value remained questionable.

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So he looks like his brother after he wakes up with particularly bad bedhead.

She lifted both hands. "Hey, you're nine. There was always a chance the entire thought process was just 'bigger zip-zap.'"

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If he was gonna do that he'd have gone Thunderbolt or Zap-Cannon.

Nemo practically snapped to attention before diving beneath the surface with renewed enthusiasm.

I dropped back into the sand, still grinning. "Finally. That's definitely gonna be a confidence booster for the little guy."

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I'm so hoping Nemo goes over the Dragons Gate and becomes an actual Flying Gyarados. Gyarados are naturally terrifying rage monsters if not properly tempered and or raised. A Flying Gyarados is an Orbital Laser Canon with anger management issues. >: )

I can't be the only one hoping to see Poliwag join Ash's team, maybe not immediately as that'd sorta push Pikachu aside but maybe after the Viridian Center attack, like the morning after he sees a Poliwag being treated and thinks to call Professor Oak.

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If you haven't I suggest reading the manga Pokemon Special. Because I don't think this Ash is going his canon anime route. Not entirely at any rate.

 

[IcurasFallen]

Pokémon Version Orange

Arc 3 - The Beginning

Chapter 24


​

---

"Shock Wave trial thirty-two. Standard output, full-radius release. Containment ready."

I lowered my clipboard and ducked behind Sandy as the Palossand shifted part of his broad body into a thick wall of packed sand in front of me.

Across the clearing, Kahili stood with her arms folded behind Aria and Mandy. Aria was currently in her Pom-Pom Style, yellow feathers already crackling faintly with electricity, while Mandy, her rather surly Mandibuzz, looked considerably less enthusiastic about being involved in yet another test.

I gave Kahili a thumbs-up.

She returned it, nodded to her Pokémon, and Mandy sighed before raising another Protect that shimmered into place.

That left Pikachu.

He stood alone near the center of the beach clearing, ears raised as he waited for the call.

I nodded.

"Alright, bud, give us another Shock Wave!"

"Pika...CHU!"

Electricity burst from his cheeks and raced across his body, yellow-white arcs crawling through his fur before snapping outward. The electricity erupted away from him in a rapidly expanding wave, spreading across the clearing before slamming almost simultaneously into every obstacle around him.

Sandy's wall hissed as electricity danced across the packed sand in front of me. Across the way, the Protect flashed brightly beneath the impact before the discharge swept past and vanished.

When the crackling of electricity finally ended, I popped out to look at the result.

Pikachu remained standing in the same pose for another second before his ears drooped and his entire body seemed to deflate.

"Piiiika..."

I hummed at his state before stepping out from behind Sandy and starting to write. "Test thirty-two complete. No break in coverage, no loss of control, containment held, and..." I glanced back over the previous results and confirmed the twelve consecutive successes.

I underlined the final result and looked toward Pikachu with a grin. "Congratulations, Pikachu! Shock Wave is officially usable in standard combat."

Pikachu beamed…then fell flat onto his back in an utterly dramatic fashion.

"Pikachuuuuu..."

Kahili laughed from across the clearing while I tucked the clipboard beneath one arm and walked over. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. You're the one who wanted to keep going until we got twelve."

One of his blue eyes cracked open at my approach, and the rest of him immediately perked up when he spotted me reaching for the berry pouch.

I rolled my eyes as I pulled out a handful of Leppa Berries. "Such a miraculous recovery, truly."

"Pika!"

He rolled upright so quickly that I barely had time to crouch before he was already reaching for one. I handed over the berries, chuckling as he immediately started eating.

A shadow fell over both of us, and we looked up just as Sandy lumbered close and slowly lowered one massive sandy hand.

Pat.

Pikachu whined.

Sandy gave him a gentle pat between the ears, his deep hum making it obvious that he was every bit as pleased with the result as the rest of us.

The source of Pikachu's whining became obvious, however, when Sandy pulled away, and a small mound of loose sand remained on his head.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

Pikachu slowly looked toward Sandy, then lifted both paws and shook his head hard enough to send sand flying everywhere.

Sandy gave an apologetic rumble.

"Don't take it personally," I said, finally losing the fight against my smile. "I'm sure he appreciates the sentiment."

"Pika."

He did not appreciate the sand.

By then Kahili had crossed the clearing as well, Aria bouncing happily alongside her while Mandy followed several steps behind with all the enthusiasm of someone attending an event because she'd been socially obligated.

"Not bad, Trey." Kahili reached us with a pleased smile. "Thirty-two tries and twelve clean successes in a row. I'd call that learned."

Aria threw both pom-pom-like wings into the air and performed a tiny bouncing cheer, trilling happily as she shook them above her head. Pikachu puffed up at the attention, while Mandy contributed a lazy croak and the smallest dip of her head imaginable.

I chuckled at their antics. "We wouldn't have even gotten this far without your help. Thanks again, all of you."

And I meant it. The last week had been ridiculous for our progress. Shock Wave was already combat-ready; we'd managed to do the same with Charge Beam only the day before. Nemo had made more headway with Bounce in a week than we'd managed in months on our own.

Kahili laughed before stepping closer and ruffling my hair hard enough to knock it in every direction. "Aw, shucks. You're gonna make your favorite cousin blush."

I ducked away while trying to flatten my hair back into place, Pikachu snickering around a mouthful of Leppa Berry as he watched.

Kahili just looked entirely too pleased with herself.

After a moment, though, some of that smugness softened. She glanced toward Pikachu, then past him toward the stretch of beach where we'd spent most of the last week training.

"Well," she said with a small sigh, "I'm glad we managed to hit all your goals before I have to leave tomorrow."

My hands paused halfway through fixing my hair.

Right. Tomorrow.

I'd known that, obviously. Kahili had only ever planned to stay for a week, and between whatever League obligation was dragging her away and the rest of her schedule, we'd already gotten more of her time than I probably had any right to expect.

That didn't mean I had to like the reminder. Especially after everything she'd done for us.

Seven days.

That was all we'd had, yet we'd made more progress than I honestly thought we would've managed in three times that long on our own. Nemo had gone from struggling to make Bounce work to an actual combat option, and even outside the Moves themselves, Kahili had spent the entire week correcting little problems I hadn't noticed, questioning habits I'd taken for granted, and generally proving how much I still had to learn.

Master-level experience was bullshit like that.

It didn't even seem to matter that Flying wasn't the type Pikachu and I were actually specializing toward. At that level, the lessons went beyond typing. Positioning, timing, reading an opponent, knowing when to commit and when to pull back. All of it translated into massive improvements.

Kahili had told me herself that some of her best ideas had come from battling other Masters and figuring out why their tricks worked well enough to threaten her. Of course, that went both ways. Every time she learned something from them, they were probably walking away with a new idea after facing her too.

The thought was equal parts inspiring and horrifying.

I sighed and looked back toward her. "Yeah. Kinda sucks that you're leaving right when everything's finally starting to click."

"Oh, you'll survive." Kahili gave me another quick ruffle before I could swat away her hand. "You've got the hard part now."

I frowned while flattening my hair again. "Which is?"

"Doing all of it without me standing over your shoulder."

"Cruel."

"Necessary~"

Aria chirped in agreement beside her while Mandy gave another disinterested croak from farther back.

Traitors. The lot of them.

Kahili laughed, but when she looked at me again, there was something more thoughtful behind it.

"You've done good this week, Trey. Really good." She folded her arms again. "You've got some damn good instincts. You actually think during battles. Dear Tapus above, you're already starting to build the kind of habits most kids don't pick up until they've been traveling for a year!"

I couldn't help but preen a bit at the praise. I knew Kahili wasn't one to give out compliments if she wasn't sincere about it.

Unfortunately for me, she wasn't quite done yet.

"But," Kahili continued, her voice now a little harsher, "I think there's one thing you're still missing."

That got my attention. "What's that?"

She didn't answer immediately. Instead, Kahili walked several yards farther into the clearing before stopping. Aria followed at her side, while Mandy seemed to realize something interesting might finally be happening and lifted her head from where she'd been preening.

When Kahili faced me again, the teasing smile was gone. In its place was the look I'd seen whenever she stepped onto a battlefield against someone she actually intended to take seriously.

My pulse kicked up at the sight of that expression alone.

"You've seen strong Trainers before, Trey. You've watched them, battled some of them, and you've spent your whole life around Pokémon stronger than most people ever get to meet."

"But I don't think you've ever really seen the Top."

Kahili's eyes sharpened, and for just a moment, it felt like I'd stepped directly into the path of a hurricane.

"You're talented, Trey. More than talented, honestly. And once you actually get out there with Pikachu, Nemo, and whoever else ends up joining you?" Her mouth curled into a fierce grin. "You're going to be one hell of a problem for everyone else."

I could feel my own smile starting to answer hers.

"But if you're serious about reaching the level you keep talking about, then you need to understand just how far you still have to climb."

She raised one hand, pointing directly at me.

"Travis Cashion, I challenge you to a battle!"

For several seconds, I could only stare at her.

A battle. With Kahili.

Not watching from the referee stand. Not training beside her while she deliberately held back and explained what I was doing wrong. An actual battle against a Master.

My grin stretched so wide it almost hurt, and Pikachu's ears shot upright beside me as I pointed right back at her.

"I ACCEPT!"

---

By the time we reconvened at the beach that night, Pikachu had gotten several hours of food, rest, and enough pampering from the hotel spa to qualify as a minor medical retreat.

Which was good, because this wasn't going to be a battle.

This was going to be a slaughter.

I stood on one side of the clearing with Pikachu at my feet while Kahili waited across from us, looking entirely too comfortable for someone about to deliberately dismantle my self-esteem. Mom had claimed the referee position between us with the beach at her back and Alakazam beside her to act as our resident barrier warrior. The bright smile she wore suggested she was going to enjoy this far more than an impartial official probably should.

Not that I blamed her. I knew what we were walking into.

Kahili was a Master. Not "really strong" or "League-level." She had spent years fighting at the highest levels of professional battling, and I was a nine-year-old with one actual partner, one extremely determined fish friend, and enough confidence to occasionally make questionable life choices.

The outcome wasn't exactly difficult to predict, but that didn't mean I was going to start fighting like it had already been decided!

I'd watched enough Trainers challenge Mom over the years to know where that road ended. The second someone stopped looking for a way forward, the second they decided defeat was inevitable and started fighting like it, the Match was already over.

Knowing I was probably going to lose wasn't the same thing as not trying at all.

If Kahili wanted to show me how far I still had to climb, then fine. We'd make her work for every inch of it.

I glanced down at Pikachu, whose blue eyes were locked across the clearing as his cheeks sparked faintly and his tail twitched behind him. Then I looked toward the water beside us.

"Ready, Nemo?"

The Magikarp burst halfway out of the shallows with an enthusiastic splash.

"Karp!"

I grinned as he splashed back down. We hadn't come down here just because the beach looked nice under the moonlight. Oh no, Pikachu wasn't my only partner tonight.

Kahili had agreed to let Nemo fight too.

His training vest was still strapped securely around his body, though I'd removed the heavier weight segments for the Match. The Everstones remained sewn into place, naturally. I wanted him fighting at his best, but I wasn't quite desperate enough to gamble on an accidental evolution just to improve our odds.

(I pointedly ignored the conflicted looks Mom sent toward my jolly little fish. I knew her stance on my eventual plans for a laser fish of my own, and I didn't plan to make it an issue as long as she didn't make it an issue.)

"Done getting everyone settled over there, Trey?"

I looked up to find Kahili watching from across the clearing, one hand resting against her hip and that irritatingly confident grin already spreading across her face.

I knew that smile. I'd seen her wear it against Challengers, professional Trainers, and more than a few unfortunate golfers right before doing something designed specifically to get under their skin. Hell, even knowing its purpose, I still felt the faintest twitch of annoyance at the sight, though excitement crushed it almost immediately.

I was about to battle a Master. This was no time for annoyance!

"Ready when you are!" I called back before glancing toward the shallows. "Nemo, you're up first!"

"Karp!"

Nemo splashed excitedly in the little inlet connecting the clearing to the open water, nearly throwing himself halfway onto the beach before flopping back into the shallows. His enthusiasm earned a snort from Kahili as she reached for a Poké Ball.

"Alright, then. You've probably already guessed who gets first crack at him."

The ball opened in a flash, and Hawlucha landed lightly on the sand between us.

Nemo immediately perked up.

His tutor for the last few days folded his arms and gave him an approving nod, though the competitive glint in his eyes made it clear the lessons were over for the moment.

Mom stepped forward between our sides and raised one hand. "Alright! This will be a two-round exhibition. One Pokémon per Trainer for each round, and no carryover between rounds. Once the first bout ends, both sides start fresh with their second Pokémon."

Kahili gave her a thumbs-up while I nodded along.

Mom looked between the two sides one last time before bringing her hand down. "Okay~ Round One, begin!"

"Nemo, Tackle!"

The water beside me erupted.

Nemo launched from the inlet with enough speed that even I almost lost track of him, his red-orange body turning into a blur as he shot across the clearing like a fish-shaped missile.

Kahili smiled at the sight. "Wing Attack!"

"Hawlucha!"

One wing flashed white as Hawlucha stepped directly into the path of my flying fish, and the two Pokémon collided hard enough to send sand spraying away from them. Nemo held against him for all of a second before Hawlucha twisted and knocked him aside, sending the Magikarp tumbling across the beach.

Kahili grinned. "Not bad! But now he's out of the water, Trey. What are you planning to do about that?"

My smile just widened.

"Splash back, Nemo!"

Nemo hit the sand, bounced once, then slapped his entire body against the ground hard enough to send sand exploding beneath him as Splash launched him several feet through the air, and Kahili's smug expression turned to surprise just before Nemo landed back in the shallows with an enormous splash.

For a second, there was silence.

Then Kahili burst out laughing.

"Okay!" She shook her head while Hawlucha glanced between her and the water, looking considerably less amused. "I'll give you that one. You really did train the hell out of that little fish."

That earned a grin from me because, frankly, she wasn't wrong.

If we'd actually been allowing Nemo to evolve normally, he'd probably surpassed the physical threshold for a natural evolution three times over by now. Between the weighted training, swimming drills, and the frankly unreasonable amount of punishment his species seemed designed to survive, he'd long since passed the point where evolution should've been an option.

I'd gotten absurdly lucky that Nemo was so jolly about the whole thing.

Any other fully aware Magikarp probably would've gotten frustrated enough by now to force the issue, Everstones or not. And considering what I knew about badly forced Gyarados evolutions, there was a very real chance that would've produced the exact kind of berserker I was trying so hard to avoid in the first place.

So yes, I thanked every available Legendary worthy of praise for my happy little fish.

"Glad you approve!" I called back, and Nemo burbled excitedly from the water as I pointed forward. "Now let's show them our secret weapon!"

Nemo practically vibrated with excitement before diving once more.

Kahili's grin sharpened as the shadow beneath the water accelerated.

"Secret weapon?" she called, amusement slipping into her voice. "Can you really call Bounce a secret when we're the ones who taught him how to use it?"

I didn't answer, which only seemed to amuse her more. A second later Nemo exploded from the water, but unlike his earlier Tackle, he climbed sharply instead, following the high arc we'd spent the last several days drilling into him.

Kahili sighed theatrically. "Detect~"

Hawlucha's eyes gleamed as he shifted beneath Nemo's arc. He was completely relaxed while tracking the Magikarp's descent and waiting for the moment to dodge. I kept quiet as Nemo dropped lower and lower…

Only as he got within a dozen feet of Hawlucha did Kahili's expression slowly change when the familiar bubble of compressed air that should've formed around him during Bounce never appeared.

Her eyebrows drew together. "Huh, guess he hasn't got it down after all—"

Nemo dropped within a few feet of Hawlucha, and my grin split wide.

"HYDRO PUMP!"

Kahili jerked to a halt and boggled at me. "WHAT?!"

Nemo's mouth opened, and a geyser of water blasted out with all the subtlety of a fire hose. Hawlucha practically vanished, reappearing several feet to the side as the Hydro Pump tore through the space he'd occupied before hammering into the beach beyond him and carving a wet trench through the sand.

Of course he'd dodged it. He still had Detect active.

That had never been the point.

The sheer recoil from Hydro Pump snapped Nemo's descent into reverse and launched him backward through the air, and Kahili's head whipped upward as she realized what we'd actually done. For one glorious moment, the look on her face was enough to make the entire Match worth it.

I'd surprised her. I had actually managed to surprise a Master.

"Now Nemo! Bounce!"

The air around him compressed immediately this time, the familiar bubble finally snapping into place before the Move caught his upward momentum and violently reversed it, hurling him straight back down toward Hawlucha like a red-orange cannonball. Hawlucha looked up, but the Detect he'd used to avoid Hydro Pump was already spent, and Nemo was coming in fast.

Yet in the face of all this, Kahili recovered immediately. "Karate Chop!"

Hawlucha planted his feet and drew one arm back, the edge of his hand glowing as Nemo crashed down. The two Moves collided hard enough to blast sand outward, and for the briefest instant, Nemo actually held his ground...right up until Hawlucha powered through and sent the Magikarp flying.

Nemo hit the ocean once, skipped across the surface like a stone, hit again farther out, and finally disappeared beneath the water with a distant crash! My arm slowly lowered as I stared after him, already knowing there was no way he was getting back up from that.

Behind Mom, Huntail and Gorebyss were already moving. The Terrible Twosome shot past her and dove into the inlet almost before Nemo had finished sinking, cutting through the water toward the spot where he'd gone under.

I let out a breath.

Yeah. That was definitely a knockout.

Kahili winced as the last ripples from Nemo's impact spread into the inlet. "Sorry, Trey. That was a little harder than we meant to hit back."

I waved her off almost immediately. "He's had worse, and honestly?" My grin returned as I looked across the field at her. "I got you."

Kahili blinked.

"For about half a second," I admitted, holding two fingers barely apart. "But I still got you."

That earned a snort from her, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. "Yeah, yeah. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"Oh, I fully intend to~"

By then the Terrible Twosome resurfaced with Huntail towing Nemo toward shore while Gorebyss kept close beside him. I hurried down to meet them, but one look at Nemo was enough to ease most of my concern. He was unconscious and going to be sore as hell later, but there was nothing immediately alarming beyond that.

"Thanks, guys." I crouched beside him as Huntail eased him onto the wet sand, earning a pleased trill from Gorebyss while Huntail gave one of his usual rumbling chuckles.

Pikachu moved in to give Nemo several gentle pats along the side before I dug a Sitrus Berry from my pouch and held it near his mouth. It took a little coaxing, but eventually Nemo stirred enough to bite down.

His eyes cracked open a few moments later.

"Kaaaarp..."

"There he is." I rubbed carefully along his head as the berry began doing its work. "You did great, buddy."

Nemo burbled weakly but happily, leaning into my hand.

"And hey, you know what?" I lowered my voice conspiratorially. "You helped us catch a Master off guard."

His eyes brightened. "Karp!"

He immediately tried to push himself upright, only to wobble and settle right back down again. I couldn't help laughing as I steadied him. "Easy, champ. You've already made your point."

Nemo happily nuzzled against my palm, apparently deciding that praise and head scratches were acceptable substitutes for continuing to fight.

Once I was satisfied he was fine, I stood and headed back toward my side of the field. Hawlucha moved to our edge of the clearing and, with his job done for the night, settled beside Nemo with a small nod toward his exhausted but ecstatic pupil.

Mom waited until I was back in place before lifting one hand. "Round One goes to Kahili! That makes it one to zero."

I glanced down at Pikachu. "Looks like you're up."

"Pika."

He stepped forward with his ears high. I'd had a suspicion about how Kahili planned to handle this Match. Hawlucha had spent the last several days helping Nemo with Bounce, so if she was making some kind of point with these matchups, the obvious choice for Pikachu was...

Kahili tossed her next Poké Ball. "Aria, you're up!"

Light spilled across the sand before Aria appeared with a graceful spin.

I stared. Pikachu even cocked his head in confusion.

Because yes, technically, I'd been right. I had just been expecting a lot more yellow.

Instead of her bright Pom-Pom plumage, Aria had shifted into her Sensu Style, deep purple and blue feathers spreading like elegant fans as she settled into a poised stance.

Across the field, Kahili broke into laughter at our expressions. Aria was a little more dignified about it, raising one fan-like wing in front of her beak as a soft, very obviously amused trill slipped out from behind it.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them.

"Oh, that's cute. You're both hilarious."

Kahili's laughter died down into a quiet snicker. "We're adorable, thank you very much." Aria trilled an agreement. "Besides, we can't exactly make this easy for you, now can we~?"

Mom waited until Pikachu and Aria were in position before lifting her hand again. "Round Two, begin!"

"GO!"

Pikachu immediately broke into a run, electricity starting to build across his cheeks as he circled through the sand rather than giving Aria an easy target. Across from him, Aria simply began to sway, her fan-like wings rising and falling with the slow, elegant rhythm I'd come to expect from her dancing in this form.

Kahili, meanwhile, looked entirely too relaxed.

"You know," she called across the clearing, "I spent a while trying to decide how I wanted to handle this little final lesson of ours."

I kept most of my attention on Pikachu as the glow around him continued to strengthen. "That sounds ominous."

"It should."

Aria continued her lazy dance while Kahili smiled, apparently perfectly happy to hold a conversation in the middle of a Match. "You've got a lot of good habits already, Trey, but figuring out what lesson I actually wanted to leave you with before I went home took some thought."

Pikachu's fur finally stood fully on end. I didn't wait for her to get to the point.

"Shock Wave!"

"PikaCHU!"

The stored electricity erupted outward, flooding across the battlefield in the expanding discharge we'd spent the last several days drilling into something reliable.

Aria moved before Kahili said a word.

Her wings snapped open, and a storm of purple feathers swept out in front of her. They caught the advancing electricity head-on, filling the space between the two Pokémon until the Shock Wave tore through the swirling mass and scattered glowing feathers across the beach.

By the time the last of them drifted down, Aria was still standing exactly where she'd started.

I stared.

Had she just blocked a Charge-boosted Shock Wave with Feather Dance?!

"That," Kahili continued as though nothing had interrupted her, "was when I figured out what would probably do you the most good." Her easy smile sharpened.

"A total defeat."

I tensed. "Pikachu, calm down and keep moving!"

His ears twitched at the familiar wording as he darted sideways, beginning the first steps of Calm Mind while refusing to stay still.

Kahili folded her arms as Aria gave Pikachu a smug little flutter of her wings. "Not just beating you. That wouldn't teach you much by itself. I mean stripping apart the things you rely on until you don't have anything left to fall back on."

Kahili's smile widened. "What do you think, Aria?"

Aria's eyes immediately lit up.

She turned toward Pikachu and raised one fan-like wing in front of her beak, adopting the same haughty pose she'd used to laugh at us earlier.

"Cori~ Oricorio, cori cori."

Pikachu skidded to a stop and whipped around toward her, cheeks sparking as he fired back an indignant string of cries.

"Pika! Pikachu pika!"

"Pikachu, calm down!" I called, but his ears barely twitched in my direction before Aria added another smug little chirp and set him off all over again.

My eyes narrowed.

Taunt.

Dammit, okay, fine. If Calm Mind was off the table, we'd work around it.

"Charge Beam!"

That should at least let us keep attacking while giving Pikachu a chance to build his Special Attack even higher.

Except Pikachu didn't attack.

He turned toward me instead, blue eyes blinking as if I'd suddenly started speaking another language. The movement threw his balance completely off, forcing him to throw out both paws before he almost toppled sideways into the sand.

My stomach dropped.

"Pikachu?"

He shook his head hard, only to stagger another half-step and blink at Aria, then me, then somewhere off to our left like he couldn't quite decide which one of us he was supposed to be looking at.

I snapped my attention back toward Kahili. "I thought that was Taunt?!"

"It was," she agreed pleasantly.

"Then why is he...?"

Kahili chuckled. "Second lesson, Trey. You're not the only Trainer who can hide more than one instruction behind a vague command."

My eyes widened as I looked back toward Pikachu. A clearly Confused Pikachu.

Kahili laughed softly at whatever expression crossed my face. "Flatter is such a nice Move, don't you think? Blends so well into other techniques." Her laughter stopped. "Now, you've got that little saying you like, don't you? Oh, what was it again...?"

Her grin suddenly turned vicious as she pointed upward.

"Talking isn't a free action."

I followed her finger and paled.

A dense black storm cloud hung directly above the battlefield.

I swallowed dryly. "When…when did you use Rain Dance?"

Kahili's grin widened. "First thing we did."

The swaying.

Aria hadn't just been idly dancing while Pikachu built up his Charge and her trainer bantered. She'd been performing Rain Dance right in front of me, hidden inside the natural movements of her Sensu Style, and I'd written the entire thing off as background motion.

"I didn't even notice," I whispered in equal parts horror and awe.

Aria slowly raised one wing, and yellow began crawling along the edges of her feathers. The edges puffed up into another familiar style, and a thin bolt of electricity snapped from her multi-colored wing and vanished into the storm cloud overhead.

Oh shit! "Pikachu, MOVE!"

He tried. His paws scrambled against the sand, but Confusion sent him stumbling sideways instead, his eyes struggling to focus as he fought his own body for control.

Across the field, Kahili raised her arm to display a thumbs-up. "Time for the final lesson, Trey!"

The cloud above us flashed.

"Sometimes raw power is enough to tear straight through every plan you make."

Her wrist turned, thumb pointing down.

"Thunder."

The world turned white. The thunderclap hit so violently I felt it in my teeth, and for one impossible instant there was nothing but lightning and noise.

I blinked rapidly as dark spots swam across my vision, shapes slowly resolving through the haze until I could finally make out the battlefield again.

And the glassed crater in the middle of it.

"Pikachu!"

I was moving before I even thought about it, stumbling across the churned sand toward the shallow crater Thunder had left behind. Pikachu lay in the center of it, completely still.

"Pikachu!"

My knees hit the ground beside him as I scooped him up, heart hammering while I checked him over. His fur was singed in places, and he was limp in my arms, but I could feel him breathing.

Okay. Good! Breathing was good.

"Come on, bud." I fumbled into my pouch and pulled out a Sitrus Berry, holding it beneath his nose. "Come on, you're alright. Give me something here."

Nothing.

My stomach tightened.

Pikachu's nose twitched.

I froze.

His mouth opened slightly, teeth making a tiny nibbling motion toward the berry despite the fact that his eyes remained firmly shut.

I stared at him for several seconds before a shaky laugh escaped me.

"You unbelievable little glutton."

Relief hit hard enough that my shoulders sagged. I carefully worked a little of the berry into his mouth, and even unconscious Pikachu dutifully chewed before opening his mouth for more.

He still didn't wake up, but at least some of the panic had finally stopped clawing at my chest.

"We kept it within what he could safely handle, Trey."

I looked up.

Kahili had moved closer, Aria beside her, and the earlier battle intensity had faded from both of them. Kahili nodded toward Pikachu in my arms.

"Thunder looked ugly because Thunder always looks ugly, but Aria knows how much power she can put into it. He'll be sore, exhausted, and probably even a little shaken up when he comes to, but we weren't going to seriously hurt him just to make a point."

A breath I hadn't realized I was holding finally escaped me. "R-Right. Good, great."

I looked back down at Pikachu as he sleepily chewed another bit of berry, then let my head fall forward with a groan.

"You absolutely destroyed me."

Kahili laughed. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Oh, screw you. I knew I was going to lose." I shot her a look before adjusting Pikachu more securely against my chest. "I just didn't expect you to dismantle practically every strategy we had before I could even do anything with them."

"That was sort of the point."

"I know." Didn't mean I had to like it.

For a few moments I stayed there, rubbing my thumb gently between Pikachu's ears while the adrenaline slowly drained away.

And strangely enough, so did most of the usual buzz.

Normally, after a hard Match, even a loss, I was still riding the high afterward. My brain would already be replaying exchanges, wondering what I could've changed, picking apart moments where one different command might have turned everything around. Like Rina! I'd lost to her a few days ago, but that battle had been close enough that I could point to half a dozen moments where things might've changed.

But this? There hadn't been a moment. There hadn't been a chance in hell of victory.

Kahili hadn't beaten me because I made one bad choice or because one attack landed at the wrong time. She'd taken apart everything I normally relied on and left me standing there while she did it.

I hadn't just failed to stop her. I hadn't even been in a position where I could.

Kahili must've noticed something in my expression because her teasing smile softened. "Regretting saying yes?"

I scoffed and pushed myself back to my feet, Pikachu cradled carefully in both arms. "Not even slightly."

Kahili's brow rose, but I continued before she could say anything.

"I'd never regret a battle just because I lost." I looked down at Pikachu, then back toward her with a grin beginning to return. "Besides, now I know a bunch of things we need to fix if we're ever going to have a chance of beating you."

Kahili blinked once before breaking into a broad smile.

"There he is."

I snorted. "What, you thought I was gonna start crying because my terrifying Master cousin kicked my ass?"

"I was prepared to be supportive."

"How generous."

She laughed, and I shifted Pikachu again as his tail gave the faintest sleepy twitch against my arm.

Yeah, tonight sucked a little. Losing was never going to feel good, especially when the loss was so complete that I'd barely gotten to fight back. But that was life. The road ahead wasn't going to be easy. I was going to lose sometimes. I was probably going to get embarrassed, outplayed, blindsided, and occasionally flattened by attacks large enough to turn beaches into glass.

And damn if I wasn't going to make the most out of every single win and loss along the way.

Kahili studied me for a moment before her smile shifted into something unmistakably proud. She stepped closer and rested a hand on my head, giving my already ruined hair one final ruffle.

"Good answer, Trey."

I groaned but didn't bother trying to escape this time.

Kahili laughed, then stepped back and raised one finger with all the seriousness of someone making an official declaration. "In that case, I declare your tutelage officially complete. Feel free to offer thanks and praise~"

I looked down at the unconscious Pikachu in my arms, at the glassed crater behind us, then back at her.

"Next time, I'm winning."

Kahili's grin just grew.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't try."

---

Author's Note:

Wow, this chapter once more gave me issues. I know I wanted to finish up Kahili's little visit since that would let me get that much closer to the Birthday (which she obviously won't be around for, lol), but damn if she didn't give me as many problems as she gave Travis.

Hope the battle (for as much as it can be called a battle lol) met the standard, and the loss felt realistic considering the hype I've been giving Masters up till now.

See y'all next time! Cheers!

Hope it's not too presumptuous, but I've got a Patreon up and running! If you want to read 5 chapters ahead or just support me in general, feel free to visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / IcurasFallen

 

[Yachii]

I wonder if she'll get inspired by Travis's Magikarp and find one of her own, she is a Flying Type Master after all.

 

[TikkyMikk]

I do hope there's no Pikachu for Ash, cause its gonna be annoying if dude is just a copy of ash through and through.

 

[TheTittleLord]

I do hope there's no Pikachu for Ash, cause its gonna be annoying if dude is just a copy of ash through and through.

Click to shrink...

I kinda fall on the opposite side. It feels wrong to separate Ash and Pikachu. It only turns into him being a total copy if he goes full Ritchie and basically has the exact same team. And since Travis is already going for a Gyarados, that shouldn't be the case

 

[GetTheFire]

I do hope there's no Pikachu for Ash, cause its gonna be annoying if dude is just a copy of ash through and through.

Click to shrink...

Nah i wouldn't go that far with it. That little mouse deserves its time to shine just for the history it would have had lol. Plus it would only make up a single one of Ash's pokemon,especially if he is allowed to take poliwag with him eventually too to change things up (please go the politoed route if so!). They would have vastly different styles of battle so the inevitable clashes could be a fun juxtaposition.

This story has had me thinking on how id plan training for a psychic raichu just for shits and giggles and the idea of going in on the surf theme really is pretty great on its own. Surf and Electric Terrain are the obvious ones but pokedex says they use psychokinesis to control electricity, psychic power to ride their tails to levitate and Surge Surfer (in game anyway) doubles their speed on electric terrain. Just learning Iron Tail, Magnet Rise, Light Screen/Reflect all focused on his tail lets you turn his style into a rule of cool Silver Surfer lol.

Either way this story has been great fun and i cant wait to see more!

 

[Idiot444]

Nah i wouldn't go that far with it. That little mouse deserves its time to shine just for the history it would have had lol. Plus it would only make up a single one of Ash's pokemon,especially if he is allowed to take poliwag with him eventually too to change things up (please go the politoed route if so!). They would have vastly different styles of battle so the inevitable clashes could be a fun juxtaposition.

This story has had me thinking on how id plan training for a psychic raichu just for shits and giggles and the idea of going in on the surf theme really is pretty great on its own. Surf and Electric Terrain are the obvious ones but pokedex says they use psychokinesis to control electricity, psychic power to ride their tails to levitate and Surge Surfer (in game anyway) doubles their speed on electric terrain. Just learning Iron Tail, Magnet Rise, Light Screen/Reflect all focused on his tail lets you turn his style into a rule of cool Silver Surfer lol.

Either way this story has been great fun and i cant wait to see more!

Click to shrink...

I think it'd be pretty reasonable for it to be able to pick up psychic terrain, with a little help from experiencing it and knowing or being taught a terrain move like electric terrain. The real question is if its possible to overlap terrains.

Surge Surfer Psyspam...

anywho im pretty sure the pikachu line has access to some pretty niche moves that would actually be rather damn good outside of a 4 move 1 a turn environment aside from obvious ones like magnet rise

 

[manuelhwang99]

if you think about it, kahili could have totally shown off a flying z move for extra pure power but the lesson probably wouldnt have stuck as much lol

also probably too dangerous lmao

 

[BismuthBorealis]

"Don't take it personally," I said, finally losing the fight against my smile. "I'm sure he appreciates the sentiment."

"Pika."

He did not appreciate the sand.

Click to shrink...

Sentiment okay, Sediment not so much.

 

[IcurasFallen]

Pokémon Version Orange

Arc 3 - The Beginning


Chapter 25
​

---

All good things eventually came to an end.

In Kahili's case, that meant leaving the Grand the morning after she and Aria had blasted Pikachu into a crater.

I wasn't exactly devastated about it. She had a life of her own, responsibilities waiting for her, and we'd known from the start that she was only staying for a week. Still, I could admit I was sad to see her go.

The training alone had been worth every second. Pikachu and Nemo had both made ridiculous amounts of progress under her and her team's guidance, and I'd probably learned just as much from being repeatedly reminded of how much I still didn't know.

More than that, though, I'd just enjoyed having her around. There was a reason I called Kahili my favorite cousin, after all.

So after the usual goodbyes, a final round of teasing, and one last threat that I had better not get lazy now that she wasn't there to hover over me, Kahili was gone, and life at the Grand returned to what passed for normal.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't especially normal at the moment.

The Gathering might've officially ended, but that hadn't stopped a decent number of our relatives from continuing their self-proclaimed Orange Islands misadventures. Apparently, once several of them realized they had already traveled all the way out here, going home immediately afterward felt like a waste.

Naturally, the Kumquat Grand became their unofficial base camp.

Also naturally, some of them seemed to interpret 'base camp' as 'place where we can show up whenever we want, demand rooms, food, transportation, or favors, and then act surprised when the staff tells us no.'

I'd spent the last several days learning entirely new ways to smile politely while imagining throwing relatives into the ocean.

Thankfully, Mom handled most of the genuinely obnoxious ones.

Still, even without a horde of relatives randomly turning every day into an exercise in grandstanding, public displays of wealth, and petty family one-upmanship, we had plenty of other reasons for the hotel to stay busy.

Case in point: today's Orange Crew meeting.

It wasn't some massive League conference or formal gathering with dozens of officials packed into a ballroom. Most of the time, these meetings were considerably smaller affairs meant to give the Gym Leaders, senior League members, and the occasional Gym heir or assistant a chance to sit down together and talk about how things were going across the islands.

Season results, challenger trends, problems that needed attention, upcoming events, all the boring administrative things necessary to keep the League running smoothly. And since the Kumquat Grand was easily the nicest League-affiliated facility in the archipelago, we usually ended up hosting.

Which was why I currently found myself standing near the front entrance, staring flatly at one of my fellow Gym Leaders being dragged toward the hotel by his ear.

"Ow! Mahri, would you stop?!"

"No!"

"People are looking!"

"Good! They can all see how much of an idiot horndog you are!"

Rudy stumbled forward as his little sister pulled harder, forcing the newest Gym Leader of Trovita Island to bend sideways just to keep pace with her.

I folded my arms and regarded the spectacle with all the sympathy it deserved. "You're late." Which is to say, none.

Rudy managed to look offended despite still being partially doubled over. "We're barely late!"

"You're late enough that I had to call Mahri to physically retrieve you."

Mahri stopped directly in front of me without releasing his ear. "He was flirting with some—some hussies!"

Rudy's face went scarlet. "They were not hussies!"

Mahri narrowed her eyes at him, still refusing to let go. "They were wearing really tiny swimsuits."

"We're on a beach resort!"

"They were giggling at everything you said!"

"Because I'm funny!"

I didn't even attempt to stifle a snort at that. Pikachu clearly agreed, even though he'd never actually met the pair. "Were you flirting with tourists instead of coming to the meeting?"

His expression became suspiciously defensive. "I was being friendly, a-and I just lost track of time—OW!"

Mahri yanked his ear.

"Friendly my butt! You were trying to get one of their numbers!"

Rudy finally managed to pry her hand loose and stumbled away, rubbing at his abused ear. "Okay, first of all, I wasn't trying." He held his fingers a hair apart. "I was this close to getting her number!"

Mahri made a disgusted sound.

"And second," he continued, straightening his shirt with what dignity he had left, "my watch is apparently dead, so I thought we still had time. Electabuzz must have messed with it again."

Mahri opened her mouth, no doubt preparing to explain exactly why Rudy's dead watch was somehow also his fault, only for her attention to abruptly shift several feet downward.

Her entire expression changed. "Oh my gosh, is that Pikachu?!"

Rudy's impending execution was apparently postponed.

Mahri abandoned him without another word and practically skipped over to us, crouching beside Pikachu as her eyes lit up. "You finally evolved!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu puffed himself up proudly as she immediately started fussing over him, and I smiled despite myself. He had gotten more than enough attention since evolving, but judging by the way he leaned into Mahri's hands when she scratched behind his ears, apparently there was no such thing as too much.

Rudy rubbed his abused ear and followed at a considerably more dignified pace, holding out a fist. "Yeah, congrats, little man. Mahri told me about it, but I obviously haven't gotten a chance to come by and see for myself."

I huffed before accepting his fist bump. He then reached down to offer another fist, which Pikachu happily bumped with one paw before immediately returning his attention to the far more important matter of receiving affection.

I nodded approvingly and decided to throw him a bone. "See? You weren't late enough to miss everything."

Rudy's face brightened. "Exactly!"

"Don't encourage him," Mahri muttered without looking up from Pikachu.

I chuckled. "Relax. You're only a few minutes late anyway. Besides, you're not even the last ones here."

That finally pulled Mahri's attention away from Pikachu. She and Rudy looked at me almost simultaneously.

"Who's later than us?" Rudy asked.

I stared at him, unimpressed. "Who do you think?"

Recognition dawned on both their faces just as a distant roar rolled across the resort.

A second later came the boom.

The sound cracked overhead loudly enough that several people near the entrance stopped and looked skyward. Pikachu's ears snapped up as a large orange shape tore across the blue sky above the Grand, rapidly growing larger as it banked around toward us.

"Oh, for the love of..." I muttered.

Dragonite dropped toward the entrance hard enough that the downdraft sent my shirt whipping against me. I threw an arm up against the sudden blast of wind while Mahri ducked beside Pikachu. Rudy released his Machoke in a flash, the Fighting-type stepping in front of us as sand and loose leaves scattered across the walkway.

The Dragon Pokémon landed several paces away with a heavy thump.

"Sorry, sorry!"

A man leaned around Dragonite's neck with an apologetic laugh before sliding down from its back.

I lowered my arm and stared at the supposed High Leader of the Orange League.

"Only twenty minutes late this time, Yūji. Impressive." I checked my wrist as if considering it. "We haven't even started lunch yet."

His apologetic smile immediately collapsed into a pout. "Come ooon, Trey, my name is Drake."

"And my name is Travis." I turned toward the doors. "Come on, Yūji. Rudy, Mahri, last I heard, Senta was already complaining about Cissy not making them breakfast."

Behind me, Rudy made a suspicious choking noise that sounded remarkably like someone desperately trying not to laugh, and judging by Mahri's giggles, whatever face Yūji was making behind me was exactly the reaction I'd been going for.

---

The meeting room had already been set aside for us several days in advance. Not that it took much preparation anymore.

This was the same room the Crew used whenever the Grand hosted League meetings, tucked a few floors above the busier parts of the hotel with a long table, plenty of open space for Pokémon, and a broad balcony overlooking the ocean. Over the years, enough little pieces of personality had accumulated around the place that it almost felt less like one of the Grand's bland conference rooms and more like the Crew's hangout.

A few old drawings from the Junior Division's younger years were still pinned along one wall, ranging from crude Gym logos to one particularly ambitious picture of Danny wrestling what I was reasonably sure was supposed to be an Onix.

I refused to confirm whether any of them were mine.

More practical additions were already waiting as well. A small basket near Cissy's usual seat held the moisturizing rub her Water-types liked, while several bottles of the electrolyte mix Danny swore by had been stocked nearby. There were a handful of other little things scattered around that had either been left behind over the years or deliberately put in place for this specific group of weirdos.

Naturally, Yūji noticed none of that.

"You know," he complained from behind me as we entered, "I still don't understand why you make me land downstairs when this room has a perfectly good balcony."

I rolled my eyes. "You know the rules. No landing on balconies attached to an occupied floor of the hotel." The penthouse was the only exception, and like hell was I going to give Yūji free access to where I kept my shit.

"But it would make things so much faster!"

"So?"

Yūji huffed before moving forward to re-release Dragonite onto the balcony. "See? Way simpler."

I somehow managed to roll my eyes even harder.

"You made it!" Cissy called from farther inside, mercifully ending the whining. "I was starting to think we'd have to send someone looking for you too, Drake."

Cissy was already seated along one side of the table with her little brother beside her, one hand idly scratching beneath the chin of a Wooper sprawled happily across her lap. As Mikan Island's Gym Leader, she was the second youngest member of the current Crew, though she'd been doing the job long enough that nobody really treated her like the new girl anymore.

"Hey, Mahri!" Senta called as he leaned around his sister and raised a hand.

"Senta!" Mahri immediately darted over toward him.

There went the Junior Division.

Senta was about a year younger than me, with Mahri another year behind him, and the three of us had spent enough time getting dragged through Danny's yearly attempts at wilderness-based character building that shared suffering had forged a bond whether I liked it or not.

Speaking of our tormentor, Danny raised a hand with a broad grin. "Bout time you got here! Thought you might've gotten distracted by the scenery again, Rudy."

"Oh, come on," Rudy whined as he moved to join the others.

The Navel Island Gym Leader laughed but thankfully restrained himself from attempting one of his usual spine-threatening hugs. A Geodude sat contentedly in front of him on the table while Danny worked a polishing cloth over its rocky body with surprising care.

"So, what was it this time?" Danny snickered. "Pretty tourist? Pretty tourists?"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"It was absolutely his fault," Mahri called from beside Senta.

Rudy sighed. "I don't need this from two different directions."

"You'll survive," I assured him.

Before Danny could decide that sounded like an invitation to make things worse, the door opened again, and Mom entered with Bliss at her side. The Blissey pushed a cart loaded with drinks, fruit, and enough snacks to make sure nobody had an excuse to flee in search of food halfway through.

"Wonderful, everyone's here!" Mom said brightly as Bliss began passing things around. Her eyes moved toward Yūji, and she paused for just a fraction of a second. "Eventually."

Yūji placed a hand over his chest. "Luana, I'm wounded."

"You'll recover."

I had to hide a smile.

Mom took her usual seat at one head of the table while Bliss set a drink beside her, and the rest of us gradually settled into place. Cissy shifted Wooper onto the tabletop when he showed absolutely no interest in leaving, Geodude floated up to settle comfortably on Danny's shoulder, and Pikachu wasted no time hopping onto the table and positioning himself suspiciously close to the nearest plate of snacks.

Yūji, naturally, took the chair opposite Mom.

He dropped into the other head seat, stretched his legs beneath the table, and leaned back like the entire meeting had been organized specifically for his convenience.

"Alright," he said before Mom had even finished arranging the papers in front of her, "can we try to make this one quick? I've got a date tonight, and I'd rather not spend my whole afternoon talking about paperwork."

Cissy rolled her eyes. Rudy gave an amused snort, while Danny seemed entirely unsurprised.

My own reaction was considerably less charitable.

It wasn't even that he had somewhere else to be. We all had lives outside these meetings, and nobody here wanted to spend the entire afternoon discussing Gym statistics and League administration. It was the way he said it, like the meeting itself was something happening to him rather than part of the job he'd willingly taken.

Mom's smile remained perfectly pleasant as she folded her hands over the table. "Well then, Drake, I'm sure we'll all do our best not to interfere with your evening."

"Great!"

Mom let Yūji enjoy that answer for all of two seconds before tapping the first page of her notes. "Alright then! Let's start with the usual season check-in. Nothing too complicated. Challenger numbers, any problems with your Challenges, community feedback, that sort of thing." She looked down the table. "Cissy, why don't you start us off?"

"Sure!"

Cissy immediately perked up, one hand continuing to rub beneath Wooper's chin while the other reached for her drink. "Honestly, things have been going really well. We finally finished rolling out the last changes to the Gym Challenge a couple of months ago, and the feedback's been way better than I expected!"

Danny grinned. "Knew it would work out for ya!"

"Yep! And most of the locals seem happier with it too," she continued brightly. "We're getting fewer challengers causing problems after a loss, and the newer take on the Challenge has gotten a lot of positive feedback!"

Mom nodded approvingly. "That's excellent. Especially if the community's noticed a difference."

"Seriously, congrats," I added. "You put a lot of work into restructuring that whole thing."

Cissy rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, well, I can't take all the credit. Some brat," she shot me a playful glare, "kept sending me suggestions every time he found something he thought could be improved."

I placed a hand against my chest. "Wow. Sounds like a thoughtful and incredibly handsome young man was trying to be helpful."

Senta snorted.

Cissy ignored our antics. "And the Dragon Scale you guys gave me for my birthday last year definitely helped too."

That got my attention. "How's Kingdra doing?"

Her sheepish smile became much more pleased. "Fantastic! I was worried about how she'd handle the full evolution to a Dragon Type, but she's stayed the same sweetheart as before. And she's been an absolute monster in the higher-end Challenges."

Senta leaned toward Mahri and stage-whispered, "That means she brings Kingdra out whenever somebody gets too full of themselves."

Cissy reached over and swatted at him, forcing Senta to duck away with a laugh. Wooper barely reacted to the movement beyond blinking lazily up at them.

Cissy huffed before looking back toward us. "He's not entirely wrong. She's been amazing whenever someone needs a quick reminder that making it through the first half doesn't mean the rest is gonna be a cakewalk."

"Sometimes a swift kick in the pants is educational," Mom agreed cheerfully.

"Exactly!"

Danny raised his drink toward her. "That's the spirit."

Mom made a quick note before turning her attention farther down the table. "Rudy?"

Rudy had just managed to steal one of the pastries before Pikachu could reach it and paused with it halfway to his mouth. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Trovita's been good too."

Mahri gave him a look.

He lowered the pastry. "What?"

"Very detailed report, bro."

He huffed. "I was getting there!"

I leaned back in my chair while Rudy cleared his throat with exaggerated dignity.

"Challenger numbers have been pretty steady, and we haven't had any major problems. In fact, I've had two evolutions happen during Gym Matches this season!"

That earned several excited reactions.

"Congratulations!" Mom cheered while Bliss somehow produced a pair of little celebration fans and started waving them around.

"Nice! Good to see you're settling into the job!" Danny said, giving Rudy a smile that had him looking away with a pleased flush.

Even Yūji looked mildly interested. "Who evolved?"

Rudy brightened at the chance to brag. "Tyrogue finally became a Hitmonchan."

Mahri crossed her arms with a pout. "And it was about time too!"

Rudy pointed at her. "You don't get to say that when you cried the first time he knocked himself out practicing Comet Punch."

"I found him passed out with no explanation! I thought he might have been hurt!"

I snorted while Rudy wisely decided not to push his luck any further.

"And Graveler evolved too," he continued. "He's a Golem now."

Yūji straightened in his chair. "A Golem?"

Rudy's pleased smile faltered slightly. "Yeah?"

For the first time since sitting down, Yūji looked genuinely engaged with what someone else was saying. "How long ago?"

"Uh...about a week and a half?"

Yūji grinned. "Perfect! You should bring him around sometime. Dragonite could give him a proper workout."

Rudy laughed, but the sound came out noticeably tighter than before. "Ahaha, maybe? He's still settling into it. We're still figuring out what he can comfortably handle, so I'd rather give him some time before throwing him into anything too serious."

Yūji waved a hand dismissively. "That's exactly why you should battle him hard now. Best way to learn a new body is to find out what it can actually take."

Rudy's smile strained further.

"Well, sure, but I was thinking we'd work up to that."

"Why? He's a Golem. They're built to take punishment."

At the word "punishment," Rudy's smile disappeared, and he looked to be close to saying something much less friendly.

"Yūji."

The room quieted as Mom rested her hands on the table and looked directly at him. Alakazam, who had been hovering silently behind her chair since the meeting began, opened his eyes at almost the same moment.

She leaned forward. "Rudy said his Golem isn't ready."

Yūji frowned, meeting her stare. "I was just saying he'd adjust faster if he actually pushed him."

"And I agree with Rudy that health and safety come before power and growth." Mom's smile never completely disappeared, but there wasn't much warmth left in it. "Especially immediately after an evolution that significantly changes a Pokémon's body."

For a few seconds, neither of them looked away. Alakazam's spoons shifted slightly beside him while, out on the balcony, Dragonite lifted his head from where he'd been resting. Even Pikachu stopped eating to stare at Yūji from the corner of his eye, his cheeks beginning to spark.

Finally, Yūji scoffed and leaned back into his chair again. He looked away. "Fine. Whatever."

Rudy relaxed immediately.

A brief silence settled over the table as the tension slowly bled away. Mom hadn't relaxed quite yet, and neither had I, especially as I watched Dragonite slowly settle back down out of the corner of my eye.

Then Danny, either deliberately or through the sheer natural force of being Danny, plowed straight through the remaining tension. "Well, my season's been kinda disappointing!"

Every head turned toward him.

Danny sighed and leaned back while Geodude floated down to the table and helped himself to the snacks. "I don't know what it is. Challenger numbers are fine, but barely half of them are even making it to the actual Gym Challenge lately!"

We all stared at him.

Danny blinked at the silence before slowly glancing around the table. "What?"

I resisted the urge to rub my face. His opening test required challengers to scale a significant chunk of Mount Navel without Pokémon assistance. Truly, the mystery was impenetrable.

Cissy eventually took pity on him. "Danny, not everyone can climb a mountain."

"It's not the whole mountain."

"That really doesn't help," Rudy muttered.

Danny frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I should add another rest stop?"

I nodded solemnly. "Sure. Another rest stop should fix it."

That finally got a few laughs around the table, and most of the remaining tension disappeared with them. Danny seemed perfectly happy to move on too, especially when his eyes dropped toward the Geodude beside him.

"Oh! Speaking of good news, Mama Golem had another clutch recently!"

Mom's smile brightened. "Really?!"

"Yep! Five healthy eggs, all hatched without any trouble." Danny grinned and rubbed a hand across Geodude's rocky head. "This little guy's the youngest."

"Geo!"

The Geodude perked up and floated closer, rubbing the side of his body against Danny's cheek. Most people would've objected to having a small boulder enthusiastically grinding itself against their face, but Danny just laughed and wrapped an arm around him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm talking about you."

I couldn't help smiling. The man might've been borderline insane, but nobody could ever accuse him of not loving his Pokémon.

Mom gave them another moment before looking back down at her notes. "Alright, that just leaves us."

There wasn't much drama on our end. Challenger numbers had stayed solid, the Gym had been running smoothly, and even the Gathering had gone about as well as could reasonably be expected considering we'd stuffed a ridiculous percentage of our extended family into one place.

"Honestly, we came out of it pretty clean," I said. "No serious incidents, nobody destroyed anything important, and we only had to threaten a few relatives with removal."

Mom waved one hand. "Which is practically a flawless Gathering by our standards."

"Exactly."

Across the table, Yūji suddenly frowned. "Wait. You hosted your family's gathering this year?"

The room went quiet again, though for an entirely different reason. Cissy looked at him, Rudy slowly lowered his drink, and even Senta and Mahri seemed confused.

I stared across the table. "Yūji. We told everyone at the last meeting. We even emailed everyone with a reminder."

His eye twitched at the name. "You did?"

"Yes."

The Gathering wasn't exactly easy to miss, either. Between the visitors, events, extra traffic, and money being thrown around, half the archipelago probably knew about it before the first yacht even arrived.

Mom stepped in before I could continue. "There was quite a bit discussed at the last meeting, Drake. I'm sure it simply slipped your mind."

Yūji relaxed slightly at the use of his preferred name, only for another thought to strike him. "Wait. Was Kahili there?"

Mom's lips twitched before she answered pleasantly, "She attended, yes."

Yūji's face immediately fell. "Seriously?! I missed her again?"

"It would appear so."

He slumped farther into his chair with a groan. "Come on! She never comes out here anymore. I could've gotten a good battle!"

Mom was very clearly fighting a smile now, and I kept mine under considerably better control. Neither of us mentioned that Kahili had also spent the entire previous week at the Grand. There was no reason to make this worse.

Yūji continued grumbling to himself while the rest of us waited for him to get it out of his system, and honestly, this was probably the biggest reason the man annoyed me so damn much.

He'd originally come to the Orange Islands as a teenager from Blackthorn, looking for somewhere to make a name for himself. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he'd succeeded. Between his own skill and an absolutely monstrous Dragonite, Yūji had torn through the Orange League, defeated the previous High Leader, then used what influence he had from back home to somehow convince the league of the time that he was the one who should inherit the position when the old man retired not long afterward.

Nearly a decade later, he was still sitting there, and that fact wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if he'd actually done anything with it.

Instead, Yūji had become exactly what people had worried about when an outsider took over the position: ridiculously powerful, but almost completely disconnected from the actual needs and culture of the islands he supposedly represented. The day-to-day direction of the League fell mostly to Mom, Danny, and the rest of the local island leaders while Yūji focused on the part he actually cared about: battling.

The fit he'd thrown in his early years over not being allowed to call himself the Orange League Champion said plenty on its own. The Orange Islands had never really had a Champion in the traditional sense. High Leader was an older title, tied up in enough history and politics that trying to replace it with something flashier had gone over about as well as you'd expect.

To be fair, Yūji absolutely had the strength to justify some of his ego. If he and Mom went all out against each other, I'd put money on him winning, even if a frankly stupid amount of that advantage came from Dragonite. He was a legitimately excellent battler…

Yet that was also what made it worse.

Yūji was a big fish who'd found himself a comfortable pond and decided he liked being the biggest thing in it.

There was a reason he'd left Blackthorn in the first place, after all. Back home, surrounded by other Dragon specialists and a clan full of people just as ambitious as he was, Yūji hadn't been exceptional enough to claim the kind of position he wanted. So he'd gone somewhere else, carved out one of his own, and eventually even started insisting people call him Drake, an old title among recognized Dragon Masters, traditionally reserved for whoever was considered the best of the generation.

Which, naturally, meant I made a point of calling him Yūji.

Was it petty? Absolutely.

Was it worth it? Also absolutely.

For all his talk about wanting stronger opponents, though, the man had stagnated. That was the part I couldn't stand. He still wanted challenges, obviously. His sulking over missing Kahili proved that much. He just never seemed willing to actually leave his comfortable little throne and go looking for them.

In a weird way, Yūji embodied some of the uglier traits people liked attaching to dragons.

Pride. Greed. Envy. And, worst of all, sloth.

He wanted someone strong enough to challenge him, but apparently believed they should be the ones to cross half the world and show up at his doorstep.

As if determined to prove my point, Yūji sank even farther into his chair and groaned. "I can't believe I missed another chance at a good battle."

He stewed over that for several more seconds before abruptly planting both hands on the table and pushing himself upright.

Cissy blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Out." Yūji rolled one shoulder as he headed toward the balcony. "I'm tired of all this prattling, and I need to go blow something up for a while."

Rudy stared after him. "That sounds healthy."

Yūji waved him off without turning around. "I've got a date tonight. I'd rather be in a good mood for it."

"Drake, we're not even halfway through the meeting!" Cissy yelled after him.

He was already stepping onto the balcony.

Dragonite perked up immediately as Yūji approached, and before anyone could make a serious attempt at stopping him, he climbed onto the Dragon-type's back. Not that Mom, Danny, or I looked particularly motivated to try.

"Later!"

Dragonite launched, and the resulting gust rattled the balcony doors hard enough to make everyone flinch. I watched with a slowly twitching eye as several thin cracks spread through one of the glass panels beside them.

"We're billing him for that."

Danny dragged a hand down his face. "Yeah. Probably for the best. Consequences and all that."

Cissy winced as she looked toward the damaged glass. "He's not usually trying to be a jerk."

"No," Mom agreed, somehow still calm after—"That would require him to think about what he's doing first." Well, never mind then.

I covered a laugh with my hand.

Cissy opened her mouth, closed it again, then sighed. "Okay, that one's fair."

Rudy, apparently feeling the need to contribute, shrugged as he reached for another pastry. "I mean, I kinda get wanting to be in a good mood before a date."

Danny, Mom, and I all looked at him.

Rudy stared back with the pastry hanging from his mouth. "Mhat?"

Mahri just buried her face in her hands at her brother's idiocy.

Mom finally sighed and gathered the abandoned conversation back under control. "Well, since our High Leader has decided his social calendar takes priority, I suppose we can move on to something considerably more pleasant." Her entire expression brightened as she looked toward me.

Rolling my eyes at the obvious cue, I reached into the bag beside my chair and pulled out the small stack of invitations we'd brought with us. "Since she's clearly not going to let me escape this, here."

That immediately got everyone's attention.

I passed the birthday invitations around the table, earning several appreciative noises once they got a look at them. Mom had decided that a simple birthday invitation wasn't good enough, so each one had thick cream-colored cardstock, embossed lettering, and enough decorative trim to make it look like we were inviting people to a minor royal function instead of a ten-year-old's birthday party.

Cissy turned hers over in both hands. "Okay, seriously, what's with the fancy invitations this time? Last year you guys basically just told us when to show up."

"Family tradition." I leaned back with a sigh. "Tenth birthdays are a bigger deal for us than most."

Senta looked up from his own invitation. "Why?"

"It ties back to the usual precedent of ten being when you can be a trainer, so it's mostly a coming-of-age thing. Not full adulthood or anything, obviously, but ten's when a lot of the family starts treating you seriously." I shrugged. "More responsibility, more independence, more relatives pretending they have useful advice."

Mom smiled sweetly. "And a much bigger party."

"That too."

Rudy glanced down at the invitation again, suddenly looking a little concerned. "Wait. Bigger how? Like...do we need to dress up?"

The question alone sent a shudder down my spine. "Absolutely not. Wear whatever you normally would." I pointed firmly at the invitation. "It's still my birthday, and like hell am I spending it trapped in a suit."

That got a laugh from most of the table, and the room finally felt normal again after everything with Yūji.

Danny eventually leaned back with his invitation tucked safely away. "As much as I'd love to keep planning how embarrassing Travis's birthday can get, we do technically still have a meeting to finish."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I heard that first part."

"I know. Doesn't mean we won't be doing it later."

Mom chuckled before setting her own papers back in order. "He's right. We still have a few things to cover before everyone can escape for a proper lunch. We're serving grilled Finneon~"

A few groans answered her, but the promise of a good lunch at least seemed to get everyone motivated enough to move on.

"Alright, next order of business." Her expression turned noticeably brighter. "The Legend Festival is later this week—"

---

Author's Note:

I hope I did the Gym Leaders justice here. I've been trying to build them up a bit from the ragtag collection of individual misfits they appeared as in the anime, so I'm hoping it hit right, lol.

Also Yuji. Discount Drake. All the insults, at least towards my story's version.

Obviously I'm taking some serious liberties here, but it is a fanfiction as well as an AU, and we technically don't know that much about his origins, soooo I've improvised. Hope it's a good improvisation, lol.

Till next time y'all! Cheers!

Hope it's not too presumptuous, but I've got a Patreon up and running! If you want to read 5 chapters ahead or just support me in general, feel free to visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / IcurasFallen

 

[AnInnocentBystander]

I don't think I've read a single fic where Drake is a good guy, lol. Didn't watch the show when Ash went to the Orange Islands, so no idea what he is actually like.

That said, I'm kind of hoping now to see Travis - after completing all the island challenges - have to go to incredible lengths to avoid fighting Yuji. Then, when Yuji finally tracks him down, Travis would explain to him that if Travis won, he would almost certainly get the High Leader position and have to give up on the rest of his journey and likely his dream of becoming a master because he would have to spend so much time fixing all the messes Yuji made.

Great chapter and can't wait for more!

 

[The Grey Mage]

Ah, Drake slander. Surprising common for a guy who was pretty forgettable for his entire 20 minutes of screen time.

 

[manuelhwang99]

Drake slander, gotta love it. last thing we need is him finding out and crashing the party thinking kahili was gonna be there tho

 

[Lillie Jones]

Absolute Cinema
The Journey continues
Cheers!

 

[marakag]

From what i remember from when i did watch it Drake was pretty chill, a good Fighter too but he lost to Ash who at the time was pretty average if a okay trainer so you would kinda forget him other then draconite i remember he had a ditto?

That about as much as i remember for a season i didnt watch in over 25 years

 

[manuelhwang99]

The Gathering might've officially ended, but that hadn't stopped a decent number of our relatives from continuing their self-proclaimed Orange Islands misadventures. Apparently, once several of them realized they had already traveled all the way out here, going home immediately afterward felt like a waste.

Naturally, the Kumquat Grand became their unofficial base camp.

Click to shrink...

Forgot to mention, but wasnt this already mentioned before? lol

 

[Agnam]

Also Yuji. Discount Drake. All the insults, at least towards my story's version.

Obviously I'm taking some serious liberties here, but it is a fanfiction as well as an AU, and we technically don't know that much about his origins, soooo I've improvised. Hope it's a good improvisation, lol.

Click to shrink...

I don't think I've read a single fic where Drake is a good guy, lol. Didn't watch the show when Ash went to the Orange Islands, so no idea what he is actually like.

Click to shrink...

Ah, Drake slander. Surprising common for a guy who was pretty forgettable for his entire 20 minutes of screen time.

Click to shrink...

From what i remember from when i did watch it Drake was pretty chill, a good Fighter too but he lost to Ash who at the time was pretty average if a okay trainer so you would kinda forget him other then draconite i remember he had a ditto?

That about as much as i remember for a season i didnt watch in over 25 years

Click to shrink...

Maybe the circumstances surrounding Travis's canon death led to Yuji chilling out and becoming at least noticeably more responsible in his High Leader duties by the time Ash arrives. Since Travis is obviously not dying in this timeline, that's setting up Yuji to get a good-sized slice of humble pie some other way.

Sorry if I accidentally spoiled your plotline for Yuji, Icarus.

 

[IcurasFallen]

Pokémon Version Orange

Arc 3 - The Beginning


Chapter 26
​

---

For all that people liked talking about the Orange Islands as if they were some neat little region, the archipelago was a surprisingly diverse place once you actually spent enough time traveling around it, which probably shouldn't have been surprising in hindsight.

There were dozens of inhabited islands scattered across the archipelago, many of which had spent centuries developing their own industries, traditions, and peculiar little cultural quirks before modern travel and unification made hopping between them relatively easy. Time had smoothed out plenty of those differences, especially after generations of trade and cooperation had turned the archipelago into something resembling a unified whole, but they had never disappeared completely.

Surburst Island had its glasswork, with techniques and family workshops that went back centuries. Golden Island had somehow turned an appreciation for Meowth into enough of a local obsession that you'd think the Pokémon had personally founded the place.

And Shamouti had the Legend Festival.

On the surface, it was pretty simple in concept. Once a year, the people of Shamouti dressed up, ate far too much food, broke out into traditional song and dance, and spent the day celebrating one of the oldest traditions among the islands. The festivities eventually culminated in a ceremony where someone, usually a local Trainer or one of the visitors unlucky enough to catch the Festival Maiden's attention, was named the Chosen One and sent out to retrieve three ceremonial treasures from the nearby Fire, Ice, and Lightning Islands.

It was colorful, old-fashioned, and the sort of local festival most tourists could easily miss if they happened to visit the archipelago during the wrong week.

There was, however, one tiny detail that made Shamouti's traditions a little more important than your average island celebration.

The legend was real.

Actually, legitimately, there are three territorial Legendary Birds living on those islands, and everyone really needs them to continue not murdering each other real.

Fun fact! That particular piece of information had been one of the stranger things I'd learned after officially becoming a recognized Gym Leader.

I'd already known about Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres thanks to memories that very much did not come from this life, but I had been surprised to find that the Orange League had its own restricted information concerning them. The League and the older families across the Archipelago knew perfectly well what lived on those islands, and they also knew that spreading that information around would be a spectacularly stupid idea.

Rare Pokémon attracted attention.

Legendary Pokémon attracted lunatics.

So the locals played their part, preserved the legends, maintained the old ceremonies, and let outsiders assume most of it was old ceremonial folklore. It was safer that way, and from everything I'd learned, Shamouti took its responsibility as keeper of those stories far more seriously than the festival atmosphere suggested.

Thankfully, none of that was particularly relevant to me at the moment.

Today, Shamouti was dedicated to music, food, and enough brightly colored festival decorations to make Pikachu spend half his time staring around at everything that moved, and the other half buried into whatever high-calorie festival food I'd bought us, which was how I preferred it.

Mahri was walking a few paces ahead of me while Rudy wandered beside her, the two of them arguing over whether she was allowed to steal food from his plate if he'd already said he was full. Momo followed nearby with the lazy patience of someone who had long since accepted that humans were ridiculous, while Rudy's Machoke walked beside her.

That last part had always been a little funny to me. After all, Rudy's Machoke was actually one of Momo's sons.

She'd had a few children over the years, as one does, usually during those stretches where Pokémon apparently decided that settling down long enough to raise a family sounded appealing, and she'd been incredibly selective about who she trusted with any of them afterward.

Rudy had somehow made the list, and considering some of his other life choices, that might have been one of his more impressive accomplishments in life.

Of course, I was fully aware that repeatedly attending a festival built around three Legendary Pokémon I knew were very real could probably be classified as tempting fate.

In my defense, though, what was I supposed to do? I knew roughly where they were, had a pretty good reason to believe none of them were going to suddenly become a problem, and Shamouti threw a genuinely fun festival every year.

At least, that was what I told myself.

I'd been coming here since I was five, when attending the Legend Festival had been one of the first things I'd actually asked Mom to let me do simply because I wanted to. That first year after everything about my rather unusual circumstances had come out had been…awkward. I hadn't exactly known where the boundaries were, and asking to go somewhere simply because it sounded fun had somehow felt more difficult than it probably should have.

Mom, naturally, had reacted like I'd announced a major personal breakthrough and planned the entire trip before I could reconsider.

One visit had turned into another the following year, and somewhere along the way my yearly attendance had started dragging other members of the Orange Crew along with me. They enjoyed themselves, mentioned it to other people, and those people mentioned it to still more people until Shamouti's little local celebration started attracting considerably more attention than it used to.

Thankfully, that interest had remained focused on the festival itself, which was ideal.

Nobody had started chartering boats to investigate why Fire Island was called Fire Island, or why the stories spoke so specifically about ice and lightning alongside it. Most visitors seemed perfectly happy assuming the names came from the strange weather conditions surrounding the islands and the ceremonial treasures' clearly mystical properties.

The funny part was that all that extra attention had actually encouraged Shamouti itself to lean harder into the festival's more tourist-friendly side. What had once been a fairly modest local celebration had gradually expanded, with food stalls, games, and other activities filling the daylight hours before everyone gathered for the actual ceremony that evening.

All because five-year-old me had thought visiting the setting of a movie sounded neat.

Life was weird sometimes.

"So who do you think they'll pick this year?"

Mahri's voice pulled me back to the present. She was walking backward in front of us with an enormous wad of cotton candy held in both hands, somehow managing to talk around a mouthful of sugar without walking into anyone.

Rudy bit another piece from the teriyaki skewer he'd been working through and glanced around at the crowd. "With this many people visiting? Wouldn't surprise me if Elder Tobias picked an outsider just to spice things up."

I hummed around a bite of candy apple, then moved it so Pikachu could take his carefully negotiated share. By which I mean he leaned over and took a bigger bite than I had. "As long as whoever they pick isn't too embarrassing, I don't really care."

Rudy and Mahri both grimaced.

"You're thinking about the same guy I am, aren't you?" Rudy asked.

"The one from two years ago?" Mahri asked rhetorically.

I took a bite of syrupy apple goodness to push down my exasperation. "Unfortunately."

That year's Chosen One had managed to retrieve exactly one treasure before returning to Shamouti in a panic, which would've been embarrassing enough on its own.

What elevated it into local legend, however, was the fact that he'd somehow managed to piss off enough Pokémon on Ice Island that a sizable portion of the local population had attempted to follow him back by building an ice bridge across the ocean.

"I still wanna know how he made that many Ice-types hate him," Mahri muttered.

Rudy shook his head solemnly. "Some questions are better left unanswered."

Pikachu chuued in agreement and helped himself to another bite of apple.

Mahri giggled around her cotton candy while Rudy looked far too amused by the blatant food theft happening on my shoulder.

Before I could spend much longer wondering what sort of crime against Ice-types could inspire an attempted invasion by ice bridge, a familiar voice rang out somewhere behind me.

"Oh Travis~!"

I nearly inhaled a chunk of candy apple.

There were maybe three people in the entire archipelago who could put that much enthusiasm into saying my name, and only one of them was supposed to be on Shamouti today.

I turned and immediately tried to run.

I made it maybe two steps before something slammed into my back with enough force to send me pitching forward, and I barely managed to get my hands underneath me before I hit the ground. Pikachu, demonstrating considerably better survival instincts than his Trainer, sprang clear from my shoulder with the remains of the candy apple safely clutched between his paws.

My spine was less fortunate.

"Uuuugh..." I groaned into the dirt. "Hi, Melody."

A giggle sounded directly into my ear. "Hi Travis~!"

I twisted enough to glare over my shoulder at the girl currently clinging to my back like an overly cheerful backpack. A few feet away, Rudy and Mahri were both doing an absolutely terrible job of pretending they weren't laughing.

Traitors.

Melody only smiled wider when she realized I was looking at her. "I missed you!"

"Cool, I didn't."

Her face immediately crumpled into an exaggerated pout. "You're supposed to say you missed me too!"

"I refuse to reward bad behavior."

"That isn't bad behavior."

"My vertebrae disagree."

She giggled again before leaning down and planting a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. She pulled back, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "Hope you liked your traditional welcome kiss~"

I huffed in annoyance before reaching up and planting a palm against her face to push her away. "Off."

"Travviiiisssss!"

Melody struggled against me a moment before finally huffing and climbing off me. I pushed myself upright while checking that all the important parts of my back still worked.

Rudy chose that moment to become insufferable.

"Come on, Travis," he said with a grin as he bit back another laugh. "Is that any way to treat a young lady?"

I slowly turned my head toward him. He immediately looked less confident.

"Would treating a young lady properly involve staring at her chest while she was serving your little sister cotton candy?"

Rudy choked.

Mahri's eyes snapped toward him. "I knew you were ogling that girl!"

"I-I wasn't ogling anybody!"

Mahri jabbed a finger at him. "You absolutely were. Pervert! Idiot pervert!"

"It wasn't like that!"

I smiled as his attention was abruptly consumed by a much more dangerous problem than Melody.

Justice was beautiful.

Melody, meanwhile, seemed entirely unconcerned with the sibling argument and simply brushed some dirt from my shirt as though she hadn't been the reason it was there in the first place.

I almost hated how this had become what passed for normal between us.

She was one of those friends you picked up almost by accident. Someone you only saw occasionally but somehow fell back into the same rhythm with whenever you met again. Since I started coming to Shamouti every year, Melody had obviously been around for most of those visits as a local, and usually ended up dragging me toward one festival game or another whenever she got bored.

Honestly, she'd been pretty easy to get along with when we were younger. All bright-eyed and demure. Then last year's festival rolled around, and apparently Melody had decided sometime during the intervening months that boys were no longer universally disgusting.

Even worse, she'd chosen me as the unfortunate target of that revelation.

I still wasn't entirely sure why. What I did know was that the sudden increase in hugs, kisses, clinging, and aggressively unsubtle flirting had made every interaction significantly more exhausting. She wasn't even ten, for crying out loud!

Even ignoring everything unusual about my own situation, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that kind of attention from a kid.

Unfortunately, Melody had apparently interpreted my discomfort as a challenge.

"You know, you could at least try being nicer to me," she said with a renewed pout.

I gave her a deadpan stare. "I am being nice."

"You pushed my face away!"

"After you tackled me!"

"That was a hug!"

"Hugs aren't supposed to hurt Melody!"

(I pointedly ignored Momo's amused snort from nearby. Humans were not like Fighting-types who tended to show affection rather physically, after all.)

Melody puffed her cheeks again while I rolled my eyes and held out an arm for Pikachu. He hopped back onto my shoulder with suspicious enthusiasm, and it took me all of two seconds to realize why.

The candy apple was gone.

I stared at the bare stick still clutched in his paw. Pikachu stared innocently back.

Before I could scold my glutton of a Starter, another familiar voice spoke up.

"Melody, please tell me you haven't already started harassing Travis."

Said girl turned and scowled at her approaching sister. "I'm not harassing him!"

I looked past her as Carol approached through the crowd. "She tackled me from behind."

"It was a hug!"

Carol laughed as she joined us, already dressed for her part in the evening ceremony. Her usual clothes had been replaced by Shamouti's Festival Maiden garb, a simple white dress edged in red with a splash of teal across the chest. It was unmistakably ceremonial without looking overly elaborate, though I knew the flower crown and the rest of the traditional pieces would come out once the ceremony actually started.

"Sounds about right." Carol gave her sister an amused look before turning a much warmer smile toward the rest of us. "It's good to see you guys again."

"Good to see you too," I said, while Rudy and Mahri offered greetings of their own.

Carol glanced around us. "Are the rest of the Crew already somewhere around?"

"Not this year." I shook my head. "Mom got stuck in a meeting she couldn't get out of."

"Danny had a challenger show up at the last minute," Rudy added. "He said he'd head over as soon as he finished, though."

"And Cissy was apparently scheduled to join a Ranger patrol this weekend, so Senta had to stay behind and watch the Gym until she gets back," I finished.

Carol's smile dipped slightly. "Aw, that's a shame. I was hoping we'd get everybody this year."

"So was I," Mahri pouted sadly.

Carol smiled down at the younger girl and even knelt down to braid a small flower into her hair. Mahri perked right up at the attention.

"Well, it's nice to hear that Danny should still make the ceremony," Carol said, getting a return smile from Mahri before gesturing vaguely toward the festival around us. "And we've had one of our best turnouts yet, so I can't complain too much. Hopefully everyone enjoys themselves enough to come back next year."

Rudy looked her over and grinned. "I'm sure the Festival Maiden will give people plenty of reasons to come back."

There was just enough emphasis there to make me slowly look at him.

Carol apparently heard it too because she smiled sweetly, stood up, and reached over to thoroughly ruffle his hair.

"Cute," she said as Rudy sputtered and tried to escape her hand. "Give it a few more years before you try lines like that on a woman, though, okay?"

"I was just complimenting you!"

"Sure you were."

Mahri actually pouted at the byplay while Rudy desperately tried to flatten his hair back into place. She'd apparently decided long ago that Carol was one of the few women "good enough" for her brother, so watching Rudy repeatedly fumble his chances with her was becoming something of a personal tragedy.

Carol left him to his dignity and turned toward me instead, her attention landing on my shoulder. "Oh! And congratulations, by the way. Your mom's last email blast had practically an entire section about this little guy."

Pikachu visibly perked up as I huffed a chuckle. "Yeah, she's subtle like that."

Carol laughed and slowly offered him her hand first. Pikachu leaned forward to sniff her fingers before allowing her to scratch gently beneath his chin.

"He looks great," she said. "Seems to suit you pretty well."

"Pika pi!"

I smiled and scratched behind one of his ears myself once Carol pulled her hand away. "Don't tell him that. His ego's already becoming unmanageable."

Pikachu huffed at the accusation, and I had to bite back another smile.

"Hey, I wanted to congratulate him too!"

Melody apparently decided that Carol's success meant Pikachu was now open to the public and immediately reached for him. The problem was that, unlike her sister, she didn't bother offering a hand first. Instead, she went straight for the top of his head with all the subtlety of someone trying to grab a particularly fluffy pillow.

Bzzt!

Melody yelped and snatched her hand back, staring at her tingling fingers in betrayal. "He shocked me!"

I looked at Pikachu, and Pikachu looked back at me. With all the solemnity the moment deserved, I reached up and scratched him beneath the chin while sending a warm pulse of approving Intent.

Melody's eyes narrowed. "Are you encouraging him!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're both smiling!"

"A coincidence, I assure you."

Carol wasn't even trying to hide her amusement anymore. Melody rounded on her sister for support, but before she could launch into a complaint, Carol glanced toward the center of the village.

"As entertaining as this is, I should probably get going. We've still got a few things to finish before the ceremony, and Elder Tobias will start hunting me down if I'm late."

"Need any help?" Mahri asked immediately.

Carol smiled down at her. "We're good, Mahri, but thank you. Most of what's left is ceremony stuff anyway."

She took a few steps away before pausing to look at Melody, then turned that same look toward me. I immediately disliked the expression that appeared on her face.

"Hey Melody, you don't need to get ready for a while yet, right?" Carol asked sweetly enough that it set my teeth on edge.

Melody blinked. "No?"

"Perfect! Why don't you hang out with Travis and the others until then?"

Melody's entire face lit up.

My own fell.

"Sure! Thanks, sis!"

Carol just continued smiling as she walked off as though she hadn't just knowingly condemned me to her sister's not-so-tender mercies.

I let out a long, defeated sigh, and wasn't even surprised when Melody latched onto my arm and squeezed it against her chest.

"So!" she chirped, practically glowing. "What are we doing next?"

I stared after Carol's retreating figure for another second before looking down at the girl attached to me.

Apparently, this was my life now.

---

By the time evening rolled around, the Festival House was packed.

The name had become increasingly inaccurate over the years. What had once been a modest open-air pavilion had grown substantially alongside the festival itself, its original structure expanded outward over the years to accommodate the steadily rising crowds. By now, several hundred people could comfortably eat, drink, dance, and gather beneath the broad roof without the place feeling completely packed.

Nearly everyone had dressed for the occasion too, with loose straw-woven robes and coats filling the pavilion alongside masks shaped and painted after a certain set of Legendary Birbs. Reds, blues, and yellows were by far the most common, for reasons that were considerably less symbolic than most of the people wearing them probably realized.

The celebration was already well underway when Danny finally arrived.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called as he squeezed his way toward our table, one hand raised apologetically. "My challenger had a friend who wanted a go too, and I couldn't turn 'em down."

"Well, you made it, and that's all that matters!" Mahri immediately brightened from her seat, the yellow-and-black bird mask she'd pushed up onto her head shifting slightly with the movement.

"Barely," Rudy added, though his grin ruined any attempt at sounding annoyed. He had traded his usual clothes for the same sort of straw festival robe as everyone else, his own red and orange mask hanging loosely around his neck. "We were starting to think you'd miss the ceremony."

"Nah, told you I'd make it."

Danny dropped heavily into the open seat beside him before releasing his own Machoke. The Fighting-type had barely finished materializing before his attention shifted toward Momo and Rudy's Machoke nearby.

"Maaach!"

Momo greeted him with a pleased rumble while the younger Machoke immediately straightened, and Danny's partner crossed over to greet both mother and son.

Danny smiled at the little reunion before reaching for the nearest plate of food. "So where's Travis?"

Rudy's grin became dangerous while Mahri immediately started giggling. Danny paused, looking between them. "What?"

Rudy simply pointed beneath the table, and Danny leaned sideways to look down.

I glared back at him from the floor, plate balanced on my lap while Pikachu sat beside me, helping himself to considerably more than his fair share.

There was a brief silence before Danny started laughing.

"Oh, shut up."

That only made him laugh harder.

I was already suffering enough without the commentary. The traditional straw robe I'd been talked into wearing was as itchy as always, and the mask pushed up onto my head wasn't exactly helping. At least that part I'd gotten some control over. Most people had masks modeled after one of the three Legendary Birds.

Mine was white and blue, with pointed eye markings and swept-back ridges that were very obviously inspired by Lugia to anyone who knew what they were looking at.

I'd designed it when I was six because I'd wanted to be special. Sue me.

Danny finally got himself under control enough to wipe at his eyes. "Okay, little bro. I gotta ask. Why are you under the table?"

I silently lifted one hand and pointed across the pavilion.

His gaze followed my finger to find Melody weaving between tables on the far side of the Festival House, looking around with obvious purpose. She'd changed into her own festival clothes sometime after Carol left us earlier, complete with a bright red bird mask sitting crookedly atop her head.

Mahri helpfully supplied the missing context in a sing-song voice. "Somebody wants a daaance~"

I immediately glared in her general direction, which would've probably been more effective if she could actually see me from under the table. "I don't dance."

Rudy snorted. "You mean you can't dance."

"I can dance, thank you very much." Mom had made sure of that. Formal events were a dime a dozen growing up.

I swear I could hear Rudy's grin widen. "So you can dance."

"Yes, I just said as much Captain Obvious."

He ignored the snark. "And you're hiding under a table because a girl wants to dance with you."

I let loose an annoyed grumble around a bite of teriyaki Pidgey in response. Mahri giggled while Rudy made absolutely no effort to hide his amusement.

Danny, at least, seemed willing to respect my position. Mostly.

"Alright, alright." He raised both hands, still grinning. "I'll cover for you if she comes over."

"Thank you." Because I clearly couldn't trust the Trovita siblings to care about my well-being.

I sighed before glancing toward the front of the pavilion. "Doesn't really matter anyway. Ceremony should be starting in a few minutes. I just have to stay down here until then."

And as if on cue, a clear, resonating note rolled through the Festival House.

Conversation faltered almost immediately. The music died away, dancers began returning to their tables, and chairs scraped across the floor as everyone turned toward the raised area at the front of the pavilion.

Pikachu hopped onto my shoulder as I crawled out from beneath the table, earning another barely restrained snicker from Rudy that I chose to ignore. I brushed a few pieces of straw from my robe, pulled my Lugia mask properly into place, and dropped into my chair just as the last conversations around us faded away.

At the front of the Festival House, Elder Tobias stood beaming out at the gathered crowd alongside several of Shamouti's older residents.

The festival had been fun, but now it was time for the reason all of us were actually here.

Elder Tobias waited until the last few conversations faded before spreading his arms toward the crowd.

"Friends, neighbors, and honored guests, welcome! Once again, Shamouti gathers to remember the traditions passed down to us by those who came before."

A round of applause rolled through the Festival House before gradually quieting again. Tobias continued from there, giving a shortened version of the island's history and the old legend at the heart of the festival. Most of it was familiar to me by now. Fire, Ice, and Lightning. Three sacred treasures. The guardian of the sea. The importance of harmony between forces that were considerably less metaphorical than most of the tourists probably assumed.

It was strange hearing it with everything I knew. To most of the crowd, it was an old story.

To Tobias and quite a few of the locals around him, it was history with several very large, very temperamental reminders still living offshore.

Eventually, he stepped aside, and Carol moved forward in full ceremonial dress, the flowered crown now resting over her hair and Shamouti's traditional ocarina held carefully between both hands.

Or Sea Ocarina, as the locals called the distinctive instruments that had become common enough around Shamouti to show up in half the festival stalls every year.

Carol's was different, though. More ornate than the tourist versions and clearly much older, it was one of the traditional instruments kept specifically for the ceremony.

Carol raised it to her lips, and the first note carried easily through the Festival House.

I closed my eyes as everything went still.

I'd heard the song every year since I was five, yet it never really got old. The melody was gentle, rising and falling in a pattern that sounded almost simple at first, only for different notes to weave together until the whole thing carried a strange sense of distance to it. It sounded like something meant to be heard across open water, a melody that rose and fell like the tides.

I smiled faintly and let myself get lost in the Song of the Sea.

The final note lingered before Carol lowered the ocarina, and applause immediately rolled through the pavilion. She waited for it to settle before stepping toward the edge of the raised platform.

"As tradition asks every year, three treasures wait upon the islands surrounding Shamouti. One upon Fire, one upon Ice, and one upon Lightning."

She gestured toward the open side of the Festival House and the darkening sea beyond it.

"The Chosen One will journey to each island, retrieve those treasures, and return them to Shamouti's shrine. Once all three have been gathered, the final song will be played, and another Legend Festival will come to its close."

Carol smiled as her eyes began moving across the gathered crowd. This was normally the fun part. The Festival Maiden picked someone willing enough to play along, everybody cheered, and that year's Chosen One got to spend the next few hours island-hopping while the rest of us continued eating.

Carol had barely opened her mouth when a chair scraped loudly across the floor.

"I offer myself for this noble task!"

Several heads turned toward a table on the opposite side of the pavilion as a woman rose to her feet, and even from across the Festival House, I recognized that travel-worn jacket, confident posture, and the self-assured smile spreading across her face.

"Rina?"

Rudy glanced toward me. "You know her?"

I absently nodded. "She was a challenger at the Gym." Judging by how sharply Momo's attention had snapped toward her, she clearly remembered Rina too. Getting beaten tended to leave an impression.

Up front, Carol looked momentarily surprised before her expression brightened considerably, while Elder Tobias looked thrilled to bits.

"Well now," he said, chuckling loudly to gain attention. "It has been some time since anyone invoked that tradition!"

A murmur moved through the tourists, but quite a few of Shamouti's older residents were smiling.

The modern version of the festival usually had the Maiden choose someone from the crowd, but the older custom worked a little differently. Any visiting Trainer could offer themselves before the selection was made, presenting themselves willingly for the role rather than waiting to be chosen.

Apparently Rina had done her homework.

Carol recovered quickly and held one hand toward her. "Then come forward, O Chosen One, carried to us by the tide."

Rina didn't need to be asked twice.

She made her way through the tables as the crowd began applauding, looking entirely too comfortable with several hundred people suddenly watching her. By the time she reached the front, Carol was grinning almost as much as she was.

"Your name?"

"Rina Morita."

"Well met, Rina Morita." Carol straightened, her voice taking on a more formal cadence. "You have offered yourself freely before the people of Shamouti. Will you cross the surrounding seas, visit each of the three islands, and return with the treasures of Fire, Ice, and Lightning?"

Rina's grin widened. "Gladly."

Carol laughed softly before lifting her hands to clasp Rina's own. "Then Shamouti recognizes you as this year's Chosen One!"

Another cheer erupted.

Rina laughed good-naturedly at the cheers before turning to Carol and the elders behind her. "Thanks for the opportunity. I promise not to keep everyone waiting!"

Something about the way she said that immediately made me suspicious, and with good reason.

Instead of returning to her table or taking even five minutes to prepare, Rina turned and strode straight toward the open side of the Festival House.

Carol blinked before calling after her. "Y-You don't have to leave immediately!" Yet Rina was already pulling out a Poké Ball.

White light burst across the open plaza beyond the pavilion, expanding into a large metallic shape before a piercing cry rang across the festival grounds.

"SKAAAR!"

My eyebrows shot up.

The Skarmory standing outside was gorgeous.

Its steel feathers gleamed beneath the festival lights as it spread its wings wide and stretched after being released. A fitted riding harness rested across its body, and judging by the way Rina immediately caught hold of it and swung herself up, the two of them had done this plenty of times before.

Rina settled into place and lifted one hand toward the pavilion.

"See you soon!"

Skarmory launched.

Several people shouted in surprise as its wings hammered downward and released a burst of wind, and within seconds the pair were climbing over Shamouti's rooftops toward the darkening sea.

I watched them disappear with an amused smile. Rina had seemed a pretty energetic person when we battled, so I wasn't that surprised by the hustle.

Danny released a long breath beside me and reached for his plate. "Well, guess that's that. Now we eat and wait."

Rudy snorted and helped himself to another skewer. "Pretty much."

Mahri looked between the two of them with a pout. "You know, this is supposed to be an important ceremony."

"It was," Rudy agreed before taking a bite. "Nnow the important part ish flying away."

"And waiting," Danny added solemnly.

Mahri's pout deepened, but after realizing neither of them intended to take her complaints seriously, she turned toward me instead. "Oh! Before I forget, is there anything special you want for your birthday? Grandpa Ziggy said Auntie Luana usually orders your cake and some of the desserts from the bakery on Trovita, so I wanted to know if there was anything you wanted us to bring besides presents!"

I blinked before remembering the conversation from our last meeting. "I don't think you need to worry about anything. Mom's already planning most of it, and I don't really—"

"Your birthday is coming up?!"

The near-shriek came from behind me and did unfortunate things to my ears, yet I went utterly still as the voice registered.

I slowly turned my head like a badly maintained door hinge.

Melody stood a few feet away staring at me, wide-eyed and visibly wounded, with tiny tears already gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

My chair scraped backward before I realized I was moving. Years of Mom drilling proper manners and the appropriate response to crying girls into my skull had apparently bypassed conscious thought entirely, because I was already hurrying over with both hands raised. "Hey, hey, I wasn't hiding it from you! We're still sending the invitations out. My birthday isn't for another couple of weeks!"

Melody sniffed, some of the hurt fading as she looked up at me. "So…you haven't had the party yet?"

"No. Considering I haven't had the birthday yet, that would be a little difficult."

That earned me a weak huff, which I was willing to count as progress. She hesitated for another moment before fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. "Am…am I invited?"

I stared at her for a moment before sighing and reaching beneath my straw coat to pull out two envelopes I'd been carrying around since we arrived. "I was actually going to give these to you and Carol later. It was supposed to be a surprise."

Her entire expression brightened as she accepted them. "Really?!"

I had to fight not to roll my eyes. "Yes, Melody. One for you, and one for Carol."

Melody immediately started looking them over, visibly impressed by the decorative lettering and embossed edges Mom had insisted on. "These are so fancy!"

"Mom made them."

"My name's on this one!"

"Yes, that is generally how invitations work."

She ignored the comment, admiring hers for another few seconds before carefully putting both away. I allowed myself to relax, foolishly believing the crisis had been resolved, right up until Melody planted both hands on her hips and looked at me again.

"This still doesn't make up for all the other birthdays!"

I stared at her. "What other birthdays?"

"Yours! You never invited me before!"

"Melody, until about thirty seconds ago, you didn't even know when my birthday was."

"Exactly!"

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Somehow, she'd managed to say that like it strengthened her argument, and judging by the muffled snort behind me, Rudy had reached the same conclusion. With a tired sigh, I rubbed at my temple. "Fine. What exactly am I supposed to do to make up for this 'terrible injustice'?"

Melody's pout vanished so quickly that I immediately knew I'd been played. "Well~" She folded her hands behind her back and rocked slightly on her heels. "There is one thing." She started batting her eyelashes at me.

I stared for several seconds. It mostly looked like she had something stuck in her eye. "Are you okay?"

Her attempt at looking coy collapsed instantly. "I'm trying to be cute!"

"Oh."

Melody huffed, abandoned subtlety entirely, and pointed toward the dance floor. "I want a dance."

Of course she did.

I glanced back toward the table. Danny was grinning, Rudy looked far too entertained, and even Mahri seemed delighted by the idea. Not one ally among them.

I was truly surrounded by traitors.

With another sigh, I turned back to Melody. Mom had unfortunately succeeded in raising a gentleman, and even if she hadn't, I knew Melody well enough to know she would keep pestering me until either I agreed or the festival ended. "Fine. One dance."

She turned away and performed a fist pump. "Yes!"

I snorted even as Melody grabbed my hand and began pulling me toward the dance floor. "I said one!" I reminded her, earning only a laugh as she dragged me into the crowd.

I still didn't like dancing, and I probably never would.

But as I looked around at the packed Festival House, at people laughing beneath brightly painted masks, at families sharing food and strangers joining dances they probably didn't know the steps to, I couldn't quite stop myself from smiling.

That was the thing I liked about Shamouti. It always felt alive, and despite everything else, I was glad I'd kept coming back.

---

Author's Note:

I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I've been trying to balance the slice-of-life chapters with battles sprinkled throughout, and I hope I've managed a decent split so far.

Till next time! Cheers!

Hope it's not too presumptuous, but I've got a Patreon up and running! If you want to read 5 chapters ahead or just support me in general, feel free to visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / IcurasFallen