"Time to show them the results of our research. Helios, use Sandstorm!" / "Alright Malamar, you know what to do!"

Heliolisk stomped on the ground, resulting in a cloud of dust to rise out of nowhere and begin circulating around ferociously. That was all Heliolisk managed to do because a wave of pinkish energy swept through Heliolisk and it fell asleep immediately. Malamar's Hypnosis training definitely paid off.

As soon as Heliolisk closed its eyes, Malamar was on top of him. Landing hit after hit, Malamar switched between Night Slash and Psycho Cut. He preferred those two moves during training because they seemed to be more natural, probably because of the same typing, and because they were extremely powerful, also probably because of the same typing.

Within 15 seconds, Malamar had landed about 20 hits, waking up the poor thing and leaving it shocked in pain. It fainted soon afterwards, not being able to put up a proper fight. Hypnosis is such a bullshit move in this world. I love it.

The entire room was quiet and Clemont stood there with a blank face, not knowing what to say.

*cough*

"Heliolisk is unable to battle, Malamar wins. Gym Leader Clemont has been defeated, Gym Challenger Marco has won his Gym Challenge!"

An applause erupted from the crowd, though it definitely was not as strong as the excited roars from the previous battle. I guess a Pokémon that was too strong for its opponent didn't provide an exciting battle.

*clap* *clap*

"Well, I definitely was not expecting that to be the result of our final round," Clemont said, traces of irritation in his voice. "I was certainly expecting Heliolisk to be able to put up more of a fight. Doesn't matter now.

"Congratulations, Marco! You have shown your aptitude for battle and an uncanny ability to capitalize on the strengths of your Pokémon. The last time I was this outmatched Calem had started his Gym Challenges."

Clemont announced out loud for everyone to hear. He gave me a handshake before continuing in a quieter voice.

"That was a great battle. You are definitely right to be confident in your Pokémon. Here's the Voltage Badge," Clemont said with a smile. "The badge will give you a 5% discount at PokéMarts and will open up a few more jobs, as well as giving you some more authority while on your journey. You'll also have more items and places available to you. Speaking of…"

Clemont rummaged through his pockets until he found a USB drive, which he handed to me.

"That right there is a Technical Machine USB drive, it holds any and all TMs and TRs you buy or are given. It is connected to satellites and the internet, so it will automatically download any TMs you get. It already has the TM for Thunderbolt, a pretty powerful move. Here's your battle money, make sure to not spend it all in one go," Clemont finished telling me my boons. My badge, the TM drive, and a check for 12,000$. Holy crap, that's a lot of money. Clemont seemed to notice my reaction.

"Yeah, it is a lot of money. But between you and me, I'm estimating this battle earned me several hundred thousand PokéDollars. The views, audience tickets, food sales, and future donations and sales add to quite a bit for the League and we Gym Leaders. So, I'll deposit an extra few thousand; that's a thank you for helping me fund my research."

"Got it," I replied. Guess capitalism was still a thing here. "Now what should I do for the Gym Challenges?"

"That is a very good question, Marco," Clemont said. "That's up to you. You can challenge any Gym in any order. They all have a few teams of varying strengths to make sure we are able to accurately assess trainers. The team they use depends on the number of Gym Badges you have. However, your battle with the Professor showed us you have the strength of a trainer with about four Badges, which I matched. Now, I have to get going. I have an idea for a chair that generates power as you sit on it."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

With that, Clemont walked away. He didn't mention the damage I did to the stage, so I walked out as fast as I could. He's probably insured anyway. Once I walked out, I took in a huge breath of fresh air. That was intense. I could still feel my blood burning and quickly pumping throughout my body. I rushed to the PokéCenter to get Ferroseed and Malamar checked up. Wait, Ferroseed evolved. That's gonna take some getting used to.

While I was waiting for them, I deposited my check at a PC in the Center. That 12,000$ was going to be nice. While most routes between cities were rather short, with most people being able to travel from one city to another after a day of traveling, there were several areas of wilderness that many trainers would explore, either to complete a mission, fill up their team, or just train. Because of this, some areas had League buildings maintained by very strong trainers. They housed PokéCenters, PokéMarts, Mission booths, and some other local or niche facilities.

With the 12,000$, I now had 12,657$. I was going to spend about 7,000$ on food and supplies for my two monsters and myself, plus my stay in Lumiose City this entire time until after the tournament, which was in five days. That left me with 5,657$. I'd rather save that for now. Time to grind out some missions for more money. I really wanted both to have Protect and each TR for the move cost 3,000$.

I skimmed the tasks available, deciding on two. One was to catch a female Fletchling for the daughter of a frequent Lumiose Museum contributor. Apparently she wanted a Fletchling and the parent was too scared to venture into the forest. Because of that, she was offering 6,000$. Rich people are a whole ass personality no matter which world you're in.

The other mission was an extermination task. A small colony of Beedrill had begun to migrate from one part of the forest to another, disrupting the local Pokémon and their territories. The queen of the colony was much stronger than most of the local Pokémon, so a request was put out to kill the queen and any Beedrill that refused to go back to their original area.

I figured there was a reason the colony had moved, so I wanted to deal with that as well. After accepting the tasks, I went to pick up Ferrothorn and Malamar. I released them both once we got back to our room.

"Thorn." / "Malamar!"

"Alright, awesome job you two!" I praised them while in the middle of a group hug. "You both did extremely well. Ferrothorn, the fact that you took down both Pokémon before evolving is a testament to how strong you've become in the last three months. Let's keep up the good work."

"Mar!" / "Ferro!"

"Now, the tournament I signed up for is in five days. There are going to be a lot of people we can battle and some of them are definitely going to be stronger than us. We need to keep working hard to make sure we don't lag.

"I want to hopefully add another team member before then, so while we go out and complete some missions, I'll be on the lookout for another Pokémon to join us. Now, it is time for us to rest. We'll take it easy tomorrow morning before we go out. Sound good?"

Both confirmed their understanding and with that, we went to bed. When we woke up, I noticed a few notifications. Clemont deposited another 6,000$ into my account, I had a few messages from Professor Sycamore, and several missed calls from an unknown number. I decided to answer the call first. I wonder if spam calls are a thing here.

"Thank you for calling the Pokémon League Association's Alolan Branch, how may we help you?"

"Hi," I began answering, "This is Marco… Just Marco. I missed a few calls from this number."

"Oh, yes, Mister Marco. This is Belinda, an Elite Four secretary.," answered an even-toned, friendly voice. "We called you because we have been informed about your unique situation and have decided, with Champion Elio' and Professor Kukui's support, that it would be best if we could explore it with you. While most of the details still need to be worked out, I can tell you that we will provide you with all of the relevant information we have while giving you the needed resources to conduct proper research. If you are interested, we can set up a meeting between you and the Elite Four. Champion Elio and Professor Kukui will be present as well."

"Umm, can you give me some time to think about it? I want to get some things straightened out with myself before deciding."

"Not a problem. You can call this number once again when you have made a decision. Do you have any other questions?"

"No," I replied, "thank you."

"Thank you for calling back. Have a great day!"

With that, the person hung up. Interesting. I guess I might be related to the Ultra Beast phenomenon from the games. Come to think of it, the portal yesterday didn't induce much panic. I wonder if the events from each region are well-known worldwide. It would make sense, given that most regions had events or organizations that could leave a lasting impact on others.

I wonder if the Galar and Paldea regions already had their game events happen. From what I had previously gathered, both were a bit more isolated and closed-off. They only really interacted with other regions when sending and receiving goods or when there was a large academic conference. Not many chose to travel to those regions because trips were very expensive, though Galar has more recently tried to make money off of tourism.

I went to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast for the three of us. A burrito filled to the brim with Chansey eggs, chunks of Tauros steak, peppers, chopped Foongus, and hot sauce for myself and Malamar, while Ferrothorn absorbed several chunks of metal and a bowl of cereal.

After that, we strolled around the city once again. I had messaged Prof. Sycamore back, finding out he wanted to meet with me regarding the offer from Alola. At 9am, I entered the lab. I checked in with the secretary and he sent me up to the Professor's office. Upon entering, I could smell some coffee and something sweet. Professor Sycamore's desk had two cups of coffee and a bowl of cookies.

"Bonjour, Marco. Thank you for coming in. Have a Lumiose Galette, they're a local specialty," he greeted.

"Morning Professor. Thank you for the galette," I said as I grabbed one and ate it. It was delicious. A crunchy, carby exterior with a soft, sweet interior. It tasted of cinnamon, peaches, and hazelnuts. "These are amazing. I have only had galettes that are more similar to pies than cookies. Can you send me the recipe?"

"Merci, Marco. The recipe for these specific galettes is a secret known only to the owner of the Galette Stand. I'm sure you can find a way to make something similar. Anyway, let's focus on Alola."

I nodded as I stuffed another galette in my mouth. This was going to be a rather serious conversation. I could tell from his body language that he was rather nervous. Why? I had no idea. However, if Galar and Paldea are anything to go by, I'm sure Kalos has some tensions with some of the other regions. Guess I'll find out.