The next morning, during breakfast, Augustine asked me to meet him in his lab that afternoon. After eating, we made our way through Route 13. Normally, I would take my time going through the route to complete some extra jobs and have my Pokémon find some valuable items. Today, however, I only had five hours to get to Lumiose City. That meant I had to haul ass in order to get there on time.

Augustine said he had arranged for a research group to head to Alola and he wanted me on it. They were going to research the cause of the frenzied Pokémon that had been reported by several Elite trainers throughout the regions. These Elite trainers, who had beaten the Elite 4 at least once, had reported groups of Pokémon getting hyper aggressive, just like the Beedrill.

We still weren't sure how these Pokémon were affected by the demonic entities that came out of the portals and that's what the group was going to study. It was going to be myself and two researchers from Augustine's lab and an Elite Trainer and researcher from Alola. The Elite Trainer and I were the main defense against any Pokémon attack.

Although I only had two Gym Badges, my team's overall strength was much higher than that. I was definitely not an Elite Trainer, but I could give most Veteran Trainers a run for their money. In a battle against any rampaging Pokémon group, I would be a valuable asset for the Elite Trainer while she went to deal with the main problem.

I ran through the route, deciding it would be better to avoid any and all distractions. I kept a steady, but quick, running pace. I ran for about an hour, covering about a sixth of the distance, before I took a break. I called out three of the four for a quick break. Any type of exercise will clear my mind, but I can only run for so long before getting bored. We quickly ate while the three looked around the barren and dusty landscape.

Nautilus and Kippie quickly grew exhausted of the view and chose to go back into their Pokéballs. Tetsu, on the other hand, was loving the composition of the area, absorbing as much as she could before she had to go back into the ball. I told her she could stay outside and absorb some of the nutrients as long as she didn't lose me. The happy hum accepted the conditions, so I continued with my short journey at a quicker pace.

Tetsu was easily able to keep the pace, so after another short break, I continued on without paying her much attention. This time, Tetsu took several minutes longer to get to me, explaining she had made a new friend that was playing a game with her. I questioned her a bit more, not wholly convinced it was just a game. She said they wanted to see who could catch up to me the fastest. Tetsu's new friend was shy, but had apparently arrived before she did.

We did this two more times, each time taking longer for Tetsu to get back.

"Tetsu, this isn't a game for me. I'm worried you're going to be attacked or something while you're playing a game with your 'friend.'"

"Tho, Ferro! Ferro Ferro," was her reply, which mean "But he's a good friend! You have to trust me."

"Ok, then let me meet your friend. I want to know who this Pokémon is before I continue letting him play with you."

"Ro, Thorn," Tetsu replied before calling out into the empty landscape. Two minutes passed before a fuzzy white head with three yellow horn-like protrusions coming from just behind the head. Its face had a gray mask-like fuzz around its green jade-like eyes. The mane of white fuzz covered half of its body, the rest of it being brown and larva-like. Its three short legs made me question Tetsu's statement that it was faster than her.

"Lar, Lar. Ves Larvesta!" the Pokémon, Larvesta, cried out shyly. Holy shit, a shiny Larvesta! Why the hell was a shiny Larvesta out in the middle of these badlands? And why was it following Tetsu?

"So, you're Tetsu's new friend?" I asked him, crouching down to get closer to his level. His head barely moved in affirmation before he took a few steps away. "That's fine, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't some person or Pokémon that wanted to hurt or take her. You want to continue playing with her?"

He nodded his head, a bit more lively this time. I hope he liked playing with Tetsu enough to want to join us. Volcarona is a beast and I don't have a Fire-type yet. So, with Tetsu and Larvesta in tow, I finished my little trek across Route 13. Once we got to Lumiose City, I let Tetsu stay outside her ball to walk with Larvesta.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Larvesta's lack of curiosity at the city hinted at it previously being part of a Trainer's team. Once we got to the lab, I allowed Kippie and Nautilus to join Tetsu and Larvesta while they played in the lab's outside courtyard. I walked into Augustine's office, three minutes late, to see him talking with four people.

Three of those people wore white lab coats, though one of them also had on shorts and sandals. The fourth person, a Trainer, wore regular athletic clothing in dark shades of purple and red.

"Ahh, Marco, so good of you to join us. Did you run all the way here?" the Professor asked in mild amusement.

"Sorry for getting here late, Professor," I answered a bit sheepishly, the Trainer sending me a glare. "I was running here and Tetsu managed to befriend a Pokémon on Route 13. Their games made me stop a bit longer during each break I took."

"Tetsu is a friendly one. Well, I'm glad she found a friend, and you a new party member. That makes it your fourth Pokémon, no?"

"No, my fifth. Araceli's lab manager approved me for participation and I was allowed to bring the Pokémon with me yesterday. But enough about that. What's the news on Alola?"

Augustine nodded his head before talking.

"Alright, my friend, let's get to business. The five of you will be conducting research out in Alola. They're reporting more frequent sightings of portals than other regions. They've also been dealing with more aggressive Pokémon colonies and have had a couple of attacks on towns from the wild Pokémon. What the five, well, three of you will do is gather information on the behaviors and patterns of these Frenzied Pokémon, so we've dubbed them. We also want you to observe the effects of whatever entities that come out of the portals have on local wildlife.

"The other two, those not in lab coats, will be the battlers and bodyguards of the researchers. You'll be doing all of the battling so that the researchers can do their observations and tests. It's fairly straightforward, though you never know what may happen out in the wild."

He gave us, well, me, a few moments to digest that before continuing.

"We've already planned it out with the Alola League Branch. You'll all be leaving in three days. I suggest you gather your essentials today and relax until you need to leave. Now, I'll be heading out. I have a meeting with Calem," Augustine said before bidding us farewell and leaving. We followed him out to the lobby. The others then turned to me.

"You were late," the Elite Trainer said crossly.

"Yes, I was. My name is Marco Pérez, it's nice to meet you all," I responded.

"Yes, I've heard about you from Professor Kukui," the scientist with the shorts, a brunette with stylish circular glasses, said. "My name is Nina, I'm researching ultra wormholes and the possible navigation of these interdimensional tunnels."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "That's really cool."

"My name is Brian Brown. I've spent most of my career researching aggressive Pokémon behaviors and the brain regions associated with these behaviors," Another scientist, a thin gray-haired man that looked to be in his fifties, said warmly. "I assume your Tetsu is the Ferroseed you battled Augustine with, correct?"

"Nice to meet you, and yes, though she's since evolved into Ferrothorn," I answered him, getting a nod in return.

"I'm Dr. Cosette Stevens. I have been researching how the energy of Mega Evolution affects Pokémon here in Prof. Sycamore's lab. I'll be focusing on the energies coming from the portals and if they have any effect on local Pokémon," the last researcher, a woman with magenta hair in a bowl cut, told me.

We all turned to the Trainer, who just stared at us before leaving.

"Don't worry about her," Nina said, "She's normally grumpy enough to compete with Mankey on a good day. To say she doesn't like being kept waiting would be an understatement."

"It's fine, I've dealt with plenty of people like that," I replied. "As for me, I like to train with my Pokémon and cook. I can take care of meals while we're traveling. It was nice to meet all of you. I'm going to hang out with the new additions to my team so that we're good to go for Alola."

With that, I waved good-bye while walking out of the lab. Once outside, I saw a large group surrounding my Pokémon.

"Damn, that Malamar is way too strong. Why does it have to be protecting the Mudkip and shiny Larvesta?"

Oh hell nah.

"Get the hell out of here!" I shouted at everyone. They all turned to look at me as I stormed through everyone and walked up to Nautilus and the rest of the group. Nautilus was holding back a Mightyena, Primeape, and Alolan Muk while Tetsu was protecting Kippie and Larvesta from any stray or sneak attacks.

Kippie bounced over to me in relief while both Tetsu and Nautilus visibly relaxed their bodies. Larvesta was still terrified, but stuck close to Tetsu.

"And who the hell are you?" a black-haired Trainer with a fancy Trainer outfit asked with a haughty demeanor. He walked up close to me, followed by another trainer just behind him. The Mightyena and Primeape followed them.

"I'm their Trainer. Now get away from us," I announced, my voice full of confidence in my ability to kick some ass if needed. Most people started to leave, by that black-haired Trainer and his lackey continued to test their luck.

"No way you could train such a strong Malamar. But it's fine, I'll buy them from you. Name your price."

I took out the Pokéballs, deciding to ignore him. I knew it would rile him up because every rich and arrogant person hates being ignored. Seeing my reaction, the guy quickly got angry and started throwing insults my way. Again, I ignored him. I opted to start feeding Kippie, Tetsu, and Larvesta, who was still watching the Trainer.

"Fine, you won't listen to reason, maybe you'll listen to my strength. Mightyena, use Headbutt!"

As the Mightyena lunged forward, I quickly turned around and tackled Mightyena back. I got hit, but it was so weak I actually laughed. I then kicked Mightyena towards the Trainer, who just stood there with eyes wide in disbelief. The Primeape shot forward, but I grabbed its arm and broke it. They were willing to attack a person in the city just for two Pokémon. Not only that, they attacked my Pokémon. There is no way in hell I'll let this go easily.

"I don't know what you were thinking. Three Pokémon couldn't take out Malamar. What made you think that anything would change for you? Not only that, I could even take on your Mightyena and win. They're my family. You try anything else, I'm going to make sure you end up begging to be attacked by a Pokémon instead of me."