"You heard me." the frumpy-haired stranger repeated as he crossed his arms, looking down at me while somehow keeping his nose stuck in the air. "What are you doing with this Pokemon?!" He appeared from the light house Nemona had been leading me toward.

"Oy, relax-" Nemona started but this guy cut her off.

"I wasn't talking to you, student council girl, so you can shove right off."

I blinked, amazed at this guy's audacity and blatant rudeness. There've been rude characters before, but this guy went from 0 to 60 real quick.

"Are you going to stare all day? It's rude, you know." An exasperated sigh escaped his lips and he raked a hand through his hair in frustration. A wry grin formed on his face, belying his annoyance as he let out a small chuckle. "I bet you and the student council girl think you can handle this brute... Tell me, where'd you find it?"

"On the beach. It crash landed there and, well, long story short it saved my life. What is it, anyway?" I looked away from the rude guy and cast my gaze back down at the poor, sighing creature.

"It's called Miraidon." The guy stated simply and pointedly. He made it clear that he thought me as some kind of idiot. Upon hearing its name, Miraidon sat up slowly and tilted its head as this asshole spoke. "In any case, it shouldn't be here. It shouldn't even be in that form. It looks like you knocked the wind out of its sails! What sort of shoddy trainer are you?"

"That's it! You're Arven." Nemona's face lit up with recognition as she smacked her fist against her open palm. "You're the son of those professors-"

"It doesn't matter who my parents are!" His voice, which up until now mostly sounded annoyed, took on an angry tone. Clearly this was a sensitive topic for him.

So you're like Silver, Guzma, and Bede, eh? Daddy issues, perhaps?

The corner's of Arven's mouth curled into a sneer as he stared at my face. "Wipe that smug look off your face, bud. Tell you what, I'm in a sour mood right now. I could use a battle to calm the nerves. It'll help me assess if you really should be around that thing." With his cocky challenge complete, Arven reached for a pokeball, his salt and pepper hair swayed with each movement.

Is this guy the new 'Most Obnoxious Character' in all of Pokemon?!

"If that's what you'd like, I'll battle you all you want, Arven!" Nemona took a stance opposite of Arven, who groaned in exasperation and waved Nemona off. "Eh?"

"Not you, prez. I want to see if this girl has what it takes. You can stick around and watch if you're really that nosy." Arven scoffed as I started to stand.

While Nemona fervently attempted to persuade Arven to engage her in battle, I mulled over the situation. It was evident that Arven was an important character. He knew what Miraidon was and had connections to the professors in this game.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But why are there two professors? All I could feel certain about was that it probably had something to do with one for each version. Perhaps this game was more in the style of Ruby and Sapphire or Sun and Moon. The theming between Scarlet and Violet might be drastically different in some way, and whereas Sun and Moon had their difference in the title, Scarlet and Violet reveals precious little to me.

For now, I guessed that whatever professor didn't represent my game must be the villain.

Or something.

Anyway, I had just about fished out my pokeball containing sprigatito when it sounded like Arven managed to convince Nemona to step down. Despite his apparent importance and how he might reveal what version of this game I might be in, Arven seemed so relentlessly rude I couldn't stand the thought of having frequent interactions with him until the story concluded.

Still... it sounded like Miraidon would become my Pokemon if I could just defeat this guy. And that's all that matters.

Maybe I could wield Miraidon in place of my starter and breeze past all the gyms and story! I could spend the rest of my days hunting shinies and live happily ever after!!

"Alright, let's do this then." I said as I brandished the ball and tossed it out. Sprigatito materialized with a soft mew. Thankfully it hadn't taken damage in that cave from before.

Arven slapped his cheeks and tossed out his own pokeball. I noticed he held his pokeball upside-down. I blinked wondering if that was on accident or on purpose.

Out from his ball materialized a.. Skwovet?

I looked from his hair to his Pokemon.

"D-Did you style your hair to look like your Pokemon?!"

"Huh???" Arven crossed his arms. "N-No! What gave you that foolish idea?"

"I... was just asking." I said as Nemona looked from the skwovet and Arven.

"There is a resemblance!" She said.

"No there isn't! My hair color isn't even close!" Arven's cheeks were flushed as he pointed in my direction. "Argh! Just battle me!"

As with all the previous battles, even Nemona, I found myself rooted to the ground while a song filled the air. However, this tune was different from Nemona's. It stirred a sense of familiarity within me, almost reminiscent of Kalos, yet I couldn't quite place my finger on why. It probably had to do with the accordion carrying the melody, which was featured heavily in X/Y's soundtrack.

Anyway the battle with Arven ended swiftly. My sprigatito was already level ten to his level five skwovet, oops...

In the time I was hunting fruitlessly for shinies on Poco Path, my cat learned Bite and Hone Claws, but there was no point to setting up with Hone Claws for a + 1 Attack when two turns of Leafage or a clumsy crit would end the battle.

My first Leafage hit for half the skwovet's HP bar, and I saw Arven flinch while his little squirrel bit my sprigatito for a little over 10%. I grinned as round two ended just as easily as it started.

"I guess I did just catch this Pokemon..." Arven tried to excuse his loss, but I shrugged. Miraidon was all mine now! "Fine, here. Take the brute's ball." He tossed a pokeball my way.

The worn, red ball flew through the air and I caught it easily. I felt the weight and texture in my palm as I examined the surface. The once bright red paint was now faded and scratched. Miraidon turned toward me, recognizing its own ball, and withdrew on its own back into that compact space. I wondered if it felt safe and snug in there.

"Congrats on your win!" My body tensed as Nemona's hand gripped my shoulder, her eyes darting to Arven who readjusted his pack with a nonchalant flick. The sheer size of it was absurd, almost like he would topple over any moment. "So, Miraidon. How do you know-"

"Shut it. That thing is your guys' problem now. See ya around." Arven turned off and walked away without waiting to hear our goodbyes.

"Sorry," Nemona said in an apologetic voice. "He's un poco... Strange? He doesn't come to class as much as he should, so I don't know him that well. But I promise not everyone at school is that rude! C'mon, let's head out." She ran ahead of me toward the light house and waved at me to follow. "I want to show you something!"

Pocketing Miraidon's pokeball, I ran after her.