"Are you challenging me because you can't believe you lost while I got third place?" she asked as her smile quickly turned into a scowl.

"Uh, no. I'm challenging you because I was in the hospital throughout the entire tournament. I didn't get a chance to battle and would like to do so," I calmly explained. It seems like there were a lot of sore losers out there.

"Besides, Prof. Sycamore told me I would have no trouble with most of the trainers in the tournament. I want to know if I could hold up against someone who placed."

Her steely gaze turned to one of slight surprise. "Oh, um, I'm sorry for that. I'm just tired of guys assuming I did something to rig my matches."

She said it with contempt, air quotes around 'something.' I could only assume what she's been told.

"I'm sorry that so many guys are so insecure."

"It's not your fault, so no need to apologize. I'm up for a battle, but it'll have to be at a later time. I have a lot of research to conduct," she approved my request for a battle. I smiled and nodded my head. We talked for a few more minutes, deciding the battle in five days. That gave my Pokémon and me enough time to get back into our groove.

I looked at my Trainer profile while I continued waiting for my wound to heal enough to satisfy Nurse Joy. I currently had 11,657$, with some more coming in from the Fletchling I caught for the girl and the Beedrill colony my Pokémon and I wiped out of existence. Thinking about it made me shudder.

Seeing gore on TV could never prepare someone for being surrounded by it. The smells, the sounds of stepping through it, actually seeing brains and entrails all over the place… It was fucked. Add to that the fact that it led me to the portal and my near-death experience, it made for something I wanted to forget.

I noticed I was officially a League Trainer working under Professor Sycamore as a traveling field assistant. I was able to access the League's Transport App, used to teleport samples, Pokémon, and other things of importance to Professor Sycamore using my phone. He could also send me stuff if needed.

To go with that, I was assigned a field partner by the League, though who exactly was not shown yet. Thank Arceus for Professor Sycamore, man was like acting like a father. I decided to contact the person who requested the Fletchling. When she asked why it took me so long, I replied by asking them to meet me in the hospital.

Once she arrived with her daughter and saw me on the bed, she freaked.

"The Fletchling put you in the hospital?!" she shrieked. "Why would I want it for my daughter?"

"The Fletchling did not put me in the hospital, a Beedrill colony did. The Fletchling I caught was actually very willing and happy to go with your daughter. Here," I placated her before releasing the Fletching. The Fletchling, a young female, chirped happily once she saw the little girl.

The girl smiled and immediately began playing with Fletchling. The woman was staring at the two, a bit bewildered at how quickly it all happened.

"Well, then," she began, "I guess I should compensate you. My little Felicity is happy with her new Pokémon. Here is the 6,000$, as posted."

A ding from my phone notified me of my new funds. They left almost immediately after that, though not before I heard the girl call Fletchling 'Tweety.' And with that done, I decided to deal with the Beedrill Task. It was posted by the Pokémon Rangers, so after contacting them and hashing out some of the details, I received 10,000$.

The Rangers had been observing the situation carefully. They noticed a lack of migrating Pokémon and tried to conduct an investigation, only to be stopped by the League. Instead, they talked to some of the local Pokémon. Apparently, the Vivillon and Butterfree colonies had told a Ranger about someone coming through and dealing with the Beedrill. With my details matching the Pokémon's, they decided to pay me for a job well done.

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With that, I now had 27,657$. Never have I ever had that much money altogether at once. I put about half of it away into a savings account. The PokéBank had an amazing interest rate for Pokémon Trainers. I then used 12,000$ to buy one Protect TR and a TM for Stealth Rock. Protect, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Giga Drain for Tetsu; add to that her signature Gravity and she may have replaced Slowbro as my favorite tank.

Nautilus would definitely need more protective moves. He's terrifyingly strong, and with my plan of using his ability of Contrary and the moves Superpower, Nasty Plot, and Lash Out, my Malamar is going to be a menace during Gym Challenges. I took out my TM Drive, as well as Nautilus' and Tetsu's Pokéballs. I inserted the drive to Nautilus' Pokéball, prompting a message to display on my phone. It asked me which TRs and TMs I wanted to have Nautilus learn once he was returned to his ball.

It didn't allow me to choose Stealth Rock, so I'm assuming it automatically separates which moves a Pokémon can learn and displays the options based on that separation. He could learn Thunderbolt but I decided against it. I selected Protect and the white button on the Pokéball lit up for a few seconds before going back to normal. The drive ejected itself, and so did the same for Tetsu's ball and chose Protect and Stealth Rock.

The nice thing about TRs is that you could use them over and over since they were just instructions on how to use the move and how to manipulate the energy for it. So if a Pokémon had already learned some moves of a specific type and trained them, it would be better and cheaper to buy TRs, not TMs, of any moves of that same type since the Pokémon already has sufficient control of that energy type. Ain't that nice of the creators of TMs and TRs to leave a loophole for people to exploit.

I returned both Pokémon and their Pokéballs glowed for a few seconds before I heard a ding and the glowing disappeared. I guess they've received the information. Before I released them, Nurse Joy walked in to check on my wounds. I guess they were now fine because she told me I could leave as soon as my things were brought to me. I don't know why my bag and clothes weren't here already, but I don't care because me being a League trainer meant that I didn't need to pay for this hospital visit. I doubt it would have been cheap.

I left the PokéCenter and was utterly confused. I thought I had been taken to one of the several PokéCenters in Lumiose City. I was currently standing in a bustling town with a heavy scent of fish and salt in the air. I took a look around and saw a seaside town. To the north was a huge port and the vast, sparkling blueness in which there were many ferries, cabin cruisers, cargo ships, naval ships, and surfaced submarines.

Did I really go that far in the forest? It sure didn't feel like it. I guess there's nothing I can do now. Maybe I can get a new Pokémon. Oh, a Magikarp would be amazing. Or Slowpoke. You know, I could also go for Azurill. Gyarados, Slowbro, and Azumarill are all amazing choices and pretty easy to get. Yeah, one of those three would be nice.

I once again looked around, trying to decide on where to go. To my left was a train station that went north, most likely to the seaside portion of the town. The rest of this portion seemed to be residential. Most of the houses here had large yards and seemed to be well maintained. It was definitely a wealthier town.

I went to the station and decided to grab the next seven minute ride to the seaside. Once there, the sea breeze immediately reminded me of the few times I had gone to the ocean back home. My visits to San Francisco and Cape Cod came to mind and with them, memories of my girlfriend and my family.

I smiled at those memories. I couldn't remember anything about my life before this point, and now it's like I could see them in HD whenever I wanted. But now was not the time to reminisce or take a melancholic trip down memory lane; maybe I'd visit Professor Sycamore and have a chat about my family.

God, I wonder if the League is letting me get all buddy buddy with the Professor because of everything I would be willing to tell them. Nautilus came out with a bright red flash and stared me down.

'You're getting sad again.'

"Yeah, I am. Are you reading my mind?"

'No. I could, but I at least have the decency to ask before invading someone's mind. That Meowstic and his trainer didn't even let you know,' he said heatedly. I guess mind reading is a topic of controversy, maybe I could leverage that next time I interact with the League.

"Hmm, thank you for the privacy then, Nautilus. Anyway, yes, I am sad. However, we have no time for that right now. We're in a new spot and I would like to find us a new member to join."

'Hmm, fine. But you said we're a family now. Don't forget it,' he replied. Has he always been this straightforward? I don't remember at all, but then again, I never really spent much time with them outside of training, eating, or sleeping. Other than the time we relaxed before the Gym Battle.

Ok, Marco, finding a Pokémon is the first thing on your to-do list. The second is spending time with your Pokémon. With that, I began walking out of the station and walked down to the port. I decided to check my stash of useful items. It was useful to go through your stuff every once in a while just to make sure you had everything you needed or that there wasn't anything that needed to be thrown out, like old food.

I went through the fridge I had stored in my bag. Most was still good, but the Pokéfood I bought was starting to get moldy. That's weird, it's advertised to be long-lasting, filling, and nutritious, yet here it is getting moldy before the food I meal-prepped. Maybe I'll start meal-prepping for my 'mons as well. Ugh, more time cooking and cleaning. Definitely gonna need a Water-type and Fire-Type soon.

I still had enough medicine and Poké Dolls, so that was good. Oof, I'm running low on Pokéballs though. I guess I gotta order those. I flipped through the Mart app, deciding to spend a little more on quality Pokéballs to catch more Pokémon for myself. Let's see, 15 normal Pokéballs for tasks and 15 Quick Balls for myself. That should be good. That came out to 7,000$. Expensive, but much cheaper than the games.

Good thing I was now a League Trainer; that monthly stipend of 4,500$ a month would add nicely to all the tasks and Gym battles I'll be doing. I decided to wait at the port until my order was delivered.

*Ding*

I looked at my phone, which notified me my order was going to be delivered through the Transport app. I opened the app and lo and behold, there was a box. Heh, step one?