"Why not?" I asked. "Surely keeping me locked up in prison would be a much better way of keeping me from doing what the League doesn't want me to do, right?"

"Well, let's put it this way," he responded, "when you try to stop the work of a powerful creature, you try your chance at earning said creature's ire. We don't know how or why you got here, but we can assume what did."

That left me in deep thought. What would bring me out here? The legendary trio of each region is out of the picture, so are most Legendary and Mythical Pokémon that don't have anything to do with the fundamentals of reality. Dialga is out because time doesn't alter reality in that way. Palkia, Giratina, Xerneas, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, and Arceus, maybe Jirachi.

"So, you're not sure if one of the known Legendaries has brought me here or if it was some new Pokémon or unknown creature?"

Professor Sycamore replied with a wry smile, "Let's focus on the exam. So far, you've been able to survive just fine on your own. You've handled a few situations with different Pokémon quite well. Not to mention how well you've raised your Pokémon thus far.

"I say you're definitely capable of surviving as a trainer. Based on the knowledge Calem has shared about you, you also seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about our world. I think a paper exam and a report would suffice."

He paused for a bit before continuing.

"You've signed up for the tournament I'm holding next week, right?"

I nodded at that.

"Good. I'll schedule the exam for sometime between tomorrow and the night before the tournament. Your report will be due by the start of the exam."

"Professor, why are you so accepting of me? You talked about a lot of serious stuff and here you are allowing me to just keep going on without much resistance," I asked.

"Because I hope to build an amicable relationship with you despite everything else. I failed to do my part with Lysandre. I hope to not do the same with you. So, I want to become friends and get to know you," he replied.

I wasn't surprised when he mentioned Lysandre. In the games, Prof. Sycamore said he knew what Lysandre wanted to do but hoped Lysandre would see past the "ugliness" and bring about positive change. By not talking to Lysandre about his goals, Prof. Sycamore felt he played a role in the whole event. I understood what he was saying, having seen it repeatedly while working with students and their families. If he was worried there was something bigger behind my appearance in this world, it would make sense that I would eventually become involved with whatever bad thing happens in the near future.

While coincidence should not be mistaken for "meant to be," patterns are always something to watch out for. If the Pokémon games are anything to go by, this world is always getting fucked over by one person with some world-ending idea or belief. I can understand why they would be on guard about me. I also understand I could get ahead of the trouble by actively participating or keep myself unprepared and try to ignore it. Both would be a pain in my ass.

"Well, I hope I don't make more enemies than needed. I hope I don't make any enemies at all. But seeing how things have gone with the Alola, Kalos, Galar, and Unova regions, I'd say my chances of going trouble-free are slim to none," I responded. "I appreciate the effort, Professor. Maybe we can talk more over the next several days. I know I need it after spending most of my time with Pokémon."

"Bien sûr, Marco. I could use a bit of a break from all the research. Last year had quite a bit of unexpected events, it makes me want to spend more time doing something other than research and guiding the Champion."

We talked a bit more about the tournament before I left. It was currently 4:00pm, meaning time for dinner. I went back to the PokéCenter, ordering for the three of us. Prof. Sycamore told me the top three in the tournament could choose from five Regal Pokémon, which were the starters in the games. The 10 after could choose from 15 rare regional Pokémon or some helpful materials to evolve or strengthen their Pokémon.

These were really good rewards because roughly 1,200 trainers had signed up for the tournament. The first 600 battles would occur over the first day. Since there will be five battle locations, one for each plaza, we could divide it to 120 battles in each arena for the day. The tournament would go from 4:00am to 9pm. This gave some leeway to morning Pidgeys and night Hoothoot, allowing everyone to choose the part of day they wanted to battle. 120 battles over the course of 15 hours, 8 battles an hour. This left us with five minutes per battle, with some time in between for battleground clean-up.

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This was going to be a good money making event and an even better training session for me. I think we've had enough progress in body training, with performance maintenance being the focus in that department now. We'll start focusing on more battle training now, with me having Malamar and Ferroseed really duke it out for most of their training while I practiced move dodging to keep my instincts in shape. We can use the next several days to sharpen up for the tournament.

I opened the Mart app to look for TMs and TRs. Most moves had a TR disc for them, though they only offered knowledge on how to learn a move, like a how-to guide. Only the rare or extremely powerful moves had TMs, which were discs that contained the energy required to utilize the move and a guide to use the move. Both were uploaded to the Pokéball of the Pokémon that would learn it and the information was immediately transferred. Kinda wild, not gonna lie.

TRs could be used repeatedly because they provided instructions. TMs were more expensive and could only be used once because each individual TM had to have a Pokémon transfer the energy of the move into a machine. The Pokémon learning the move would then absorb the energy and be able to use the move right then and there. They could refill the energy of the TM if they had enough training, but most didn't take the time to train their moves to that level. That was the main reason it was so expensive.

I added two TRs for Protect and a Reversal TM for Malamar and Stealth Rock TM for Ferroseed. Protect would be extremely useful in all situations for both and would be a bit easier to learn since they both already know how to manipulate Normal-type energy. Reversal would be a great way for Malamar to throw a quick counter during close-quarter combat. Stealth Rock can be useful in limiting an opponent's movement, especially dangerous when combined with Gravity.

I didn't buy any of them because the cheapest, the Protect TRs, were 4,000$ each and I only had 2,849$ at the moment. That was going straight to Ferroseed's meals. Hmm, Ferroseed doesn't have many options in combat yet. I'll need to focus on making her more versatile. Talking about versatility, I haven't checked their moves yet.

Malamar

Abilities: Contrary, Infiltrator

Moves: Peck (trained), Tackle, Hypnosis (trained), Disable (trained), Attract, Pluck (trained), Psybeam (trained), Slash, Night Slash, Guard Swap, Stored Power, Psycho Cut, Reflect, Swagger (Egg Move), Acupressure (Egg Move)

Condition: Happy, Determined

Ferroseed

Abilities: Iron Barbs, Sturdy

Moves: Harden (trained), Tackle (trained), Pin Missile, Bullet Seed (trained), Iron Defense (trained), Ingrain, Spikes, Endure, Flash Cannon, Gravity (Egg Move, trained), Leech Seed (Egg Move, trained)

Condition: Full, Content

Huh, they have quite a few new moves. Especially Malamar, with six new moves. Ferroseed so far has learned four new moves. I really should be checking their status more often. Slash and Guard Swap would have been very useful in the last battle. After finishing dinner, I rented a room for us and released both once we got inside.

"Ok you two, we're gonna change our training a bit. We're gonna start with 30 minutes of endurance, focusing on maintaining our current maximum strength for as long as possible. After that, we will do battle training. The two of you will battle, trying to make the other faint. I want both of you to take each other by surprise and learn to make tactical decisions on your own. For the first hour, I want both of you to use your best moves and strategies, changing them as needed. The winner of each battle will face me so I can get some training in," I told them.

"After that, it will be an hour of battling with your new moves. Malamar, I want you to focus on only using Night Slash, Guard Swap, and Psycho Cut. Ferroseed, I want you only using Ingrain, Flash Cannon, and Spikes. I want both of you to get a bit creative, though I'll also be giving commands during these battles. Got it?"

"Mala!"

"Roo!"

"Awesome, now let's get some sleep."

We went to bed, ready to start the new training. When we woke up, a quick run and 20 minutes of intense Gravity training said hello before we started the new battle training. Both are excited to start real battles, not just a few rounds of move exchanges. I am not going to give commands while they do their best to knock each other out. I definitely need more Pokémon because a battle royale or king of the hill training would be perfect for adding an unpredictable factor.

Ferroseed was at a disadvantage because of Inkay's evolution to Malamar, but that just meant she would gain a lot more out of the training. After each round, I gave a few berries to quickly heal before sparring with the winner, usually Malamar. He threw a few attacks my way while I did my best to dodge and sometimes counter with my own attacks. I'm very glad Florges was willing to help them learn to control their own strength because Malamar would have killed me several times over the hour of training.

The few times Ferroseed won led to me dodging barrages of Leech Seed and Tackle. That was much more difficult than Malamar's Psybeam and Peck. After an hour, we got ourselves breakfast. I decided to really let us rest so we went back to the room and I put on a movie. I decided to go for a comedy. Some laughs would do us good after the fast-pacing of the last few weeks.

After the movie, we went back to training. They only used the moves I told them to. While they did that, I meditated and stretched. I think I've been pushing myself quite a bit with dodging attacks. I've gotten hit quite a few times, with most of them leaving scars. As I meditated, I gave out some commands to both Pokémon. I only used commands when they were training specific moves so that I could get used to the four move limit during Gym and Elite Four challenges like the one next week.

After the training, we worked on strategies for the Gym battle tomorrow. Since I now had Malamar, I planned to use him against Heliolisk. For that battle, Hypnosis would definitely be useful. Since its physical defense was generally weaker for a fully evolved Pokémon, moves like Night Slash and Psycho Cut should be used while it's asleep. Peck would be useful to get Malamar moving faster than normal, like a pseudo Quick Attack.

From the battles I saw, there was a high chance that Clemont would use Emolga and Magnemite as well, especially since I don't have a badge yet. Ferroseed would do well against Emolga, maybe Magnemite as well. Gravity was a given, as well as Iron Defense. Leech Seed and Tackle for damage since Bullet Seed wouldn't do much to either and Flash Cannon hasn't been fully trained yet.

With that, we trained until 4:30pm and then had dinner while watching another movie. This time we went for an action movie to set the mood for tomorrow. We relaxed with some ice cream and popcorn, with metallised snacks for Ferroseed before bed.