As we were waiting for the flight to start boarding, Araceli turned to me. “Oh yeah, the Tera Orb! Paldea has only recently started giving access to Tera Orbs and Crystals about a few weeks ago. We were able to get the lab enough Tera Crystals to make Tera Orbs for the lab staff. We may have also ordered one for you, but we’re not going to make you a Tera Orb.”
“Huh? Why not?” I asked. “If you already have it, it would prove useful to the lab, no?”
“Well,” she started, “the lab’s main research focus is to induce natural Terastallization. In Paldea, Tera Crystals can randomly be found throughout the region. They release Tera Energy, which is believed to be concentrated Infinity Energy that is slowly infused with the different Type energies. Sometimes, wild Pokémon are trapped by the crystals as they grow, leading to the Pokémon gathering impossible levels of Infinity Energy and strength. These need to be taken care of by some raid teams to make sure they don’t cause harm to the region.
“Other Pokémon can absorb the released Tera Energy and Terastallize with the use of a Trainer and Tera Orb. Both are more likely to have a Tera Type outside of their natural typings. What the lab wanted to do and figure out the process for was inducing that natural Terastallization. We hoped that Trainers could achieve it naturally through specific procedures, training plans, and diets. Since we now know that it won’t work without Tera Energy, we’re giving you a crystal in hopes that Colada will Terastallize as you travel.”
“What if one of my other Pokémon Terastalllizes instead of Colada?” I asked.
“...” Araceli’s face went blank.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there?” I said, unsure of how she hadn’t thought of that possibility.
“Yeah, something like that.”
We spent the next half hour talking about what she had been up to. Besides the lab, Araceli had spent a fair amount of time training and challenging the Gyms in Kalos. She had finally earned her sixth and seventh Gym Badges from Grant in Cyllage City and Korrina in Shalour City. Last time we battled, I was about to go for my second Gym Badge. I could easily earn the fifth and sixth Badges at this point, but there was a steep increase in difficulty after every second Badge earned. In Alola, the Trial Captains followed a similar pattern, but the Kahunas were different.
In the games, Olivia had no equivalent as a Kahuna. She just made sure the Trainer was ready for the next island at that point in their journey. While I was sure I’d win, my interrupted battle with Olivia would most likely have been a rather long slugfest. At least, back then. Agh, why am I wracking my brains just thinking of power levels? It would be easier to just beat the Gym Leaders and compare then.
Anywho, along with getting her Badges, Araceli also evolved some Pokémon and added another team member. Araceli was now the proud Trainer of an Infernape and Talonflame, as well as a Scovillain. She was able to catch one when she went to Paldea to pick up the Tera Crystals. That’s also where she turned her crystal into a Tera Orb. She was very excited to share that her Darmanitan had a Steel Tera Type, while her Infernape, Talonflame, and Scovillain had Fighting, Flying, and Fire Tera Types, respectively. I asked her if she was able to find a Charcadet, which was answered with a scowl and “Stupid Paldean regulations.”
Araceli soon fell asleep, so I checked my PokéDB account. Funny thing, PokéNet is the internet here, while PokéDB was a Reddit/Twitter/Instagram/Facebook fusion that was the most popular site/app. As soon as I logged in, I was swarmed with notifications of people adding me as a friend, tagging me in a post, sending me a request for a battle, and tons of other shit.
I looked through the friend requests, the most notable being the main characters from the Gen 3 and 4 games, May, Brendan, Dawn, Barry, and Lucas. Professors Birch, Rowan, and Kukui also followed my account for some reason. Maybe they were watching my progress? Still pretty weird though. Maybe I should post more, especially when the team and I eat together. Those are really nice moments.
I saw a message sent a month ago from some account named @TeamFlux asking if I wanted to join their efforts to create better conditions for Trainers.
Okay?
Let’s see, admin messages, randoms, Clemont sent me a message last week, and… Oh, fuck. Nina sent me a message like three months ago.
***
-3 months ago-
[Hey, I’m thinking of actually moving out to Santalune City soon. Wanna meet up before I leave? I can make some delicious Bouffalant steaks if you find a good wine ;)]
-3 months ago-
[I’m leaving tomorrow, but my offer from the other day still stands if you have time. Just let me know, don’t be a stranger now]
-2 months ago-
[I get that Trainers can be busy, but it would be nice if you at least responded to let me know you’re not free. A month of silence doesn’t feel nice, even if we barely know each other]
-2 months ago-
[I guess I’ve been ghosted. And to think you seemed really interested in me, or at least my food. I at least hope you’re doing alright]
***
Damn, that was some really bad timing. Would she be mad if I sent a message now? Should I just leave her alone?
“Send her a message,” Araceli said over my shoulder, making me jump.
“Jesus, nosy much?” I asked in annoyance. I locked my phone screen. I absolutely hate it when someone tries to look into my personal stuff without permission
“Who’s jee-zus?”
“The person I’ll send you to if you don’t ask for permission to look at my personal stuff again.”
“Arceus, it was wide out in the open!”
“You still didn’t have permission to look at my personal messages.”
“Does it matter now? You need to message her!”
“Why?”
“Because she’s still thinking about you,” Araceli said. “She is definitely mad, but she said she hopes you’re still safe. She wouldn’t say that if she wanted to completely cut off her ties with you. Which means she is still holding out some hope that you’ll message her back, so do it.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“But it’s been a month. She’s probably moved past it already.”
“Trust me, you should message her. Just apologize and say you were cut off from human contact.”
She then stood up to wait in line for the restroom. I sighed in exasperation.
“Damnit, Araceli. I could’ve done without this. She probably doesn’t even want an actual relationship,” I muttered to myself as I unlocked my phone.
***
-1 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[Nadia, I’m so sorry for just disappearing like that. I cut myself off from any outside contact while I did some intense training with my team. I should’ve given you a heads up, but I was caught up in my plans to get stronger. I hope I can make it up to you. Maybe I can make you food for a change? Though, I can’t promise it will be anything remotely close to your magic. If not, I hope your restaurant becomes Champion Calem’s new spot.]
-1:03 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[You know, it really sucked not knowing if you were just disinterested or if something happened to you and your team. I was really hoping to see your cute Inkay and Ferroseed again! How are they?]
-1:03 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[They’re doing great, though I’m sure a taste of your food will make them even better. Nautilus, my little Inkay that evolved into Malamar, has a preference for pasta dishes. No doubt it’s because of you. Are you still in Camphrier Town?]
-1:04 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[Yes! I close up shop at 4pm. You thinking of passing by?]
-1:05 p.m. 22/18/5322
[Only if you’d allow me the favor of stopping for a visit.]
-1:05 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[Well, now that I know why I wasn’t getting a response, I think you might be in need of something for the soul. Where are you now?]
-1:05 p.m. 22/18/5322
[I’m in Orre rn. Leaving from Phenac City soon. I should get to Lumiose City by tomorrow evening. Can we do the 25th? I’ve got a report to submit to the League.]
-1:06 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[The 25th at 4:30pm, my restaurant. You’d better show up, or else I’ll have to find someone else to serve something delicious.]
-1:06 p.m. 22/18/5322-
[Wouldn’t willingly miss it for anything. Here’s my number so you can message me when I don’t have access to PokéNet. XXXX-XX-XXX]
***
*ping*
{Save my number as Cooking Momma}
Nadia’s message made me smirk. I think I’ll definitely be having a good time when I visit her. Araceli came back a few minutes later, and soon after it was time to board the plane. The flight was fairly uneventful, so I spent most of my time on my phone.
‘Mental note: Find how these planes are able to fly without the use of airplane mode. It’s amazing that flights in this world are not as complicated as on Earth.’
I accepted friend requests from all the important figures in the world. I looked for some groups that I thought would be interesting, but the only one that caught my attention was the p/TIGHTPURRLOIN page. So many cute Purrloins were posted every hour that I just had to join. I joined a battle page that Brendan recommended. It seemed pretty comprehensive and definitely had a lot of good advice. Unfortunately, I was already making use of many of the more important tidbits thanks to Nurse Joy in Santalune City.
After scrolling through the Net for a while, we landed in the Mistralton Airport smoothly and got off without any trouble. We enjoyed the two-hour layover by napping for as long as we could. When we woke up, we had about 40 minutes till the boarding process started. Araceli decided an early breakfast, or very late dinner, was in order. The airport’s main restaurant offered a specialty Swanna soup that reminded me of phở. It included the same toppings and sauce as well, so I was in flavor heaven the entire time I was eating. After eating, we waited near the boarding gate for the last few minutes before we could get on the plane to Kalos. The Unovan plane was much larger, with nearly double the number of seats the Orre plane contained.
This flight was longer, but felt much quicker. That might have been because of the online argument I had with some trolls. Is there a Pokémon based on a troll? As we were waiting to get off the plane, I decided to look it up. Apparently not, but there are many troll Pokémon like Sableye and Blissey. Just like on Earth. That’s nice to see. Once off, I took in a deep breath of air, enjoying the faint taste of various street foods and berries. The delicious scents elicited a growl from my stomach, which caused Araceli to look at me in disbelief.
“We had food on the plane!” she said, “How could you be hungry again?”
“Unless you’re the one buying my food, don’t worry about it. Let’s stop by that curry stall. I’m craving Slowpoke tail,” I told her. “I’ll even get you something.”
“No thanks, I’m still full from the Veluza salad sandwich I had earlier.”
We walked over to the stall and I ordered myself a smoked tail curry. I ate it as we walked over to Augustine’s lab. The fatty tail was smoked to perfection, the meat sliding off the bone with ease. The flavorful fat mixed with the curry sauce, balancing the spicy Cheri berries and enhancing the flavor profiles of the rest of the spices and vegetables. The rice soaked up the sauce I didn’t eat, giving a burst of flavor with each bite. Fucking delicious.
We walked into the lab just before they closed, though it wouldn’t have mattered since both of us had access to the building since we were part of Augustine’s main lab staff team. The secretary welcomed us in with a strained smile.
“I’m sorry, but the Professor is out at the moment. I can set up an appointment for tomorrow if you’d like. It’ll make it easier for him to get out of wha-.” he said before being interrupted by a man in a brown suede suit.
“Now, now, Jermaine. No need for that. The Professor is a busy man, too busy for some random Trainers,” he said with a smirk before turning to us. “Augustine is busy working out some complications with the League’s finest. No need to interrupt him now.”
He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember if I’d met the man before. A neat feature that I finally had an opportunity to use was the image search function of the PokéNet. I took a picture of him and let my phone do the information searching.
“We are part of his main research lab, you ass,” Araceli responded. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell us we can’t meet with him when we want?” Damn. She was worked up. Maybe it was a bad time to come here right from the airport.
“I’m Dalton Hall, a Kalos League executive. It doesn’t really matter who you are if you don’t really know who I am,” Dalton replied with that smirk growing wider. “Now, Jermaine. Make sure that Augustine isn’t bothered by other such lowly Trainers, or that they enter the building. We can’t afford to waste our resources on anyone who isn’t contributing to the region.”
Dalton then pointed towards the door, signaling for us to leave. Araceli’s face grew red, ready to burst. I slightly pulled back her shoulder, making sure she didn’t say or do anything that could get Augustine in trouble. I gave her a wink before nudging my phone into her hand. “You know,” I said, gaining his attention, “for someone who wasn’t even able to get his second Gym Badge, calling us lowly Trainers is pretty disrespectful.”
Dalton’s eyes blazed with fury, but I continued before he could say anything. “I also didn’t realize that a business had any business in the daily happenings of the region’s professor and his research building. Do you own the building?”
“Why the nerve someone like you has to talk back to me. I could ruin you with the snap of my fingers, get the best of the League’s agents to take you out!”
“So, you’d willingly go against the Professor’s own staff members? Is the Professor not a League executive?” I asked. This was going to get juicy.
“Ha! You think I’m afraid of a mere professor? He’s replaceable, and most likely will be since he has been so uncooperative as of late,” Dalton said, his smirk reappearing. “You are nothing compared to me.”
“Except,” I said with a challenging stare, “you yourself are so non-threatening I’m more scared of a Luvdisc. The only thing you can do is abuse your position of power to try to intimidate me. Besides, while I only have four Badges to my name, which is four times the number you have, I can go toe-to-toe with Araceli here. And she has seven Badges.”
I could see his face slightly pale at that, so I pressed on. “And now you’ve just told us that you think the beloved Professor is going to be ousted from his position because he doesn’t agree with you. Now, if that isn’t an abuse of power, I don’t know what is. Not to mention the public outcry that would occur if word got out that the person who made Mega Evolution accessible to every Trainer was being plotted against. And as if that wasn’t enough, you’d go so low as to target his staff just to make sure you can do so!”
Dalton’s look of pure shock was very pleasing to see. “Did you get that on video?”
Araceli confirmed with a smirk. I looked at Jermaine, the secretary. “This is a public area, correct?”
“Y-yes,” he said, not knowing exactly what had transpired.
“And that means I can record here without getting explicit permission from someone, right?”
“Yes!”
I turned back to Dalton, who was as red as a Cherubi. “Man, I hope it doesn’t get posted on the PokéNet. That probably wouldn’t be a good look for the League.”
“Huh,” Araceli said in mock confusion. “I wasn’t supposed to upload it?”
“You fucking runts! I’ll make sure yo-.”
“You’ll what, Mr. Hall?” Augustine as he walked from the stairwell entrance. “I hope you think carefully about any and all repercussions that will occur from your choices, monsieur.”
As he walked closer, I was able to catch the faintest flicker of fear on Dalton’s face. I wonder if something happened between Augustine and the League. That’ll be a question for later.
“Ahem, is disrespect what you teach and research here, Augustine?” Dalton said, avoiding the question.
“No, I just teach my staff to show respect to those who deserve it. Now, why are you still here? Our meeting ended over an hour ago,” Augustine responded crossly. Damn, definitely some bad blood there.
“I was just making sure everything was up to par. We can’t have a well-funded research facility turn into a shitshow now, can we?” Dalton responded with a small smile. I know I wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling about that. I saw Araceli glare at the man while Augustine tensed up.
“Well, I’m sure the lab didn’t disappoint with the advanced research we do here every day. Now, I have to catch up with two of my star staff members. Bonne nuit, crétin.”
Dalton huffed at the insult before walking out. I released Nautilus and Colada, asking them to check the building for anything that seemed odd or out of place. Nautilus himself has been in the building so often that he’d definitely be able to find something if there was something to find. Araceli did the same with Darmanitan. Augustine released a Delphox. “Delphi, sweety. Do you mind running another scan of the building? Dalton stayed too long today.”
“Del!” she answered before teleporting out of sight. With the safety of the building, and the research, being looked over, we were able to relax for the time being. Augustine looked more than exhausted. His eyes were weighed down by dark, heavy bags. His once-immaculate hair was disheveled, though it still looked good in a messy sort of way. And he was much skinnier. The aging Professor looked us over before a sincere smile graced his face. “I’m glad both of you are here. Come, let’s catch up over a cup of tea and some éclairs.”