CHAPTER 183

The League was represented in most cities through the gyms and their leaders, but that did not mean that was their only presence. Almost every city had a few other government-owned buildings, including the one I was currently standing in front of. It wasn't that impressive— an apartment block nestled in between more apartments, but with a large League flag with its usually large stylized Pokeball and a few grizzled League Trainers standing guard. Needless to say, the troubles with Team Galactic had them on edge and they had me go through this entire process to allow me in. First, I handed them my ID and then was looked at by a towering Gardevoir. I couldn't help but notice her slight nod when she'd been done making sure I had no nefarious intentions. I dipped my head in return and was allowed in.

The corridor was narrow but in pristine condition, as if it had just been cleaned. I walked on wood beautifully laid out in some kind of crisscross pattern that didn't even creak under my feet. There were five floors in total, but luckily the room I was looking for was right there. I stepped into the cold office and it retained much of the corridor's decoration, although the floor was tiled instead of wooden and paintings of locations of the Lily of the Valley island adorned the walls. I recognized one of the huge stadiums that I'd seen so many times on television along with the League Building itself, its architecture still ancient and reminiscent of many of the older buildings in Hearthome. A tired-looking government official lowered her glasses and stared at me. An older-looking trainer sat on one of the bright plastic chairs, nodding off as he browsed his phone— which surprisingly was a Retani Industries model. I couldn't help but cringe at the fact that I'd almost gotten scammed by them once.

"Good morning," I said as I approached the woman behind the glass. I didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know that it was made out of incredibly resistant materials. "I'm here for my Carry License!"

"ID?" She simply asked.

Having already shoved it back in my bag after entering, I restrained a sigh and dug for it again.

"You don't have eight badges."

"Oh, right. I'm in the LTIP, so I should be able to circumvent that," I said.

"Oh. Just hold on a second."

She peered over at my card again, this time paying a lot more attention. After typing in something her computer, she nodded.

"Right, that checks out. Please sit on one of those chairs and wait for one of our examiners to call for you," she smiled.

"Oh. Okay."

She noticed my confusion and explained further. "Everyone's got different Pokemon, right? We just want to make sure we have someone that can make sure you're taking care of all of them correctly."

"Thanks," I nodded.

I went and sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs, anxiously looking at my phone for the time. I didn't really want to be late for my battle in three hours. My eyes drifted toward the older teen and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Hey— hey, how long have you been waiting here?" I whispered.

"An hour and a half. Government stuff like this is always hilariously slow," he shrugged, keeping his eyes on his phone. It didn't look like he knew me, which was something I appreciated. "It might be quicker for you depending on your team, though. I've got a Glimmora, so it's taking a while to get someone here who knows how to take care of 'em."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't even know what that is."

"Paldean. And they're only born in a few select caves in that region suitable for them. She's a headache to take care of."

"So you're Paldean, then?" I asked, suddenly interested. I knew that he'd had a strange accent that wasn't from anywhere in Sinnoh, but I hadn't know where to place it.

"No, I'm from Galar, actually. From Motostoke. I just traveled through Paldea for my second year. Funny thing is, I thought my Carry License from there would be valid, but Sinnoh is kind of backwards. Turns out I needed to get another license to technically be allowed to carry more than six Pokemon here. Same for my ID. A useless rule, if you ask me."

He stared at the League employee to await her reaction, but she didn't even look in his direction. She was typing away at her keyboard and occasionally answered calls.

"That does seem redundant," I said.

"Yeah. It'd be okay if they just handed it to you after verifying that you had one from another region, but they want to make sure that I adhere to their specific guidelines. It's just a waste of time, but whatever. I was free today, and at least they give you a few months to get your documents sorted before the government starts breathing down your neck."

I chewed on his words, but ended up agreeing. It wasn't often that I saw someone with an outside perspective on Sinnoh. Only Cecilia had offered me certain tidbits about Unova and the differences there, but at the end of the day, she'd started her trainer career here, so her expectations were only slightly less biased than mine. People tended to look at Kanto and Johto like relics of the past, but it was only now that I realized that other regions looked at Sinnoh the same way.

I didn't feel too bad about it when the facts were all laid out in front of me. Denzel definitely would have fought back, though. I couldn't wait to see him again.

I ended up only waiting an hour and bid the unnamed trainer that had kept me company goodbye. He'd reminded me that the world was a large place and got me thinking about what I'd do after this year was over. Do another round of the Circuit, or go somewhere else? I was sure the Poketch Company wouldn't mind some recognition abroad, and I had already vowed to battle through every region, but I didn't know if I wanted to try Sinnoh again at least once.

Well, I had a few months to decide.

The examiner was a gentle, thin-looking guy that was the antithesis of what you would think someone that worked at the League was, but not everyone was a trainer. He led me to a large courtyard behind the apartment building and after releasing a Probopass, no doubt for his protection, he began to read a document in his hand.

"Grace Pastel…" he muttered as he flipped through a few pages. "Your file is clean, so that's good."

"Clean?"

"That means no incidents with your Pokemon, although there's a footnote there about your Turtonator. No incidents since you've caught him, though. The first thing we look at for these things is if your Pokemon are known to be aggressive or violent to others. If they had attacked humans or wounded other Pokemon beyond what's appropriate during a battle recently, your chances to pass would have been pretty slim. Oh, I'm Jack O'Hare, by the way."

I sighed in relief. "Cool. Do you mind if I ask you questions about things? To report to my friends."

"Sure. I enjoy talking about this job, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it," he smiled.

"One of my friend's had a few accidents with her Haunter," I said. Even when feeling bitter about Mira, I couldn't help but look out. "But she's also in the LTIP like me. Does that mean she's screwed?"

"Well, we typically look at a period of six months. If any incidents took place more recently, she'd have to show the examiner that her Haunter's turned a new leaf in a shorter time span, and that's usually not the case."

"Okay. So will you just take a look at my Pokemon, now?"

"Soon, soon," he said, holding out his hand. "Are you nervous?"

"Just kind of impatient," I said, fidgeting in place. "I've got somewhere to be in two hours, so…"

"Income is good too… a long-term sponsorship with the Poketch Company, so good security there."

Right. If I hadn't had enough money, then there was no way I'd be able to feed or care for more than six Pokemon, especially when they tended to need more resources as they evolved.

"Before we start, are there any of your Pokemon's quirks that I need to know? Aversion to being touched, hates loud voices, being stared at for too long… anything that would interfere in my examination?"

"My Jellicent doesn't like being touched by strangers, but my Tangrowth likes touching strangers in a really intrusive way. My Pupitar gets excited or angry really easily, but she should be safe-ish. She just makes the floor shake a bunch," I listed. "My Electabuzz and Togetic are completely fine with anything, though."

"Well, you've passed all preliminary screening," he smiled. "I'll be looking at your team now— one by one, please."

I released Sunshine first, since I wanted to take care of the biggest hurdle first. I had warned him to be on his best behavior this morning and that he'd most likely be getting looked at by a stranger. The fire type shot me an annoyed look as soon as he materialized into the world, but he thankfully didn't injure or hurt the examiner in any way. Mr. O'Hare circled around him, and Sunshine thrashed his tail on the ground as he carefully analyzed the contents and condition of his shell.

He also smelled it by taking a huge whiff. I knew he had to assess how healthy Turtonator was, but sulfur did not smell good.

Satisfied with his shell, Mr. O'Hare moved on to his plastron, and then his face. I actually had to intervene and scold him for blowing a plume of smoke at the examiner's face when he attempted to shine a light down his snout. After a twenty-second-long coughing fit, he was well enough to speak again. Probopass surprisingly hadn't reacted at all, but I assumed that… he was used to a lot worse.

"Your Turtonator's in good shape. The sulfur content on his shell's lacking, but that's almost always the case with trainer-owned Turtonator since they can't go replenish their contents by volcanos."

"Is he going to run out?" I asked, feeling a slight surge of anxiety.

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"No, no, he isn't. They have a way of naturally creating sulfur, but they usually supplement that. You're alright," he said.

I sighed in relief and released Buddy next. I wasn't actually sure of how he was going to assess a ghost. Sure, he still had a corporeal form and had been born from an egg, but he didn't need to eat and could recover from just about anything. The examiner stared into the water type's eyes for a good minute and then nodded.

"I'm done. You can move on."

"Already?"

"Well, he didn't attempt to kill me right away," Mr. O'Hare chuckled. "That's mostly what we look at for ghosts. But I could tell that he was doing well with you from his calm demeanor and mostly his eyes. The eyes of a Jellicent are very expressive—"

"I know, right?! He was actually feeling nervous about the entire thing because he didn't want to mess things up for me. Thanks Buddy!" I exclaimed, gently rubbing one of his tentacles.

The water type rumbled, his eyes flashing with love before I recalled him. That had been underwhelming, but in a good way. I released Pupitar next, and since she'd just molted, she looked in pristine condition. Her blue-shaded cocoon glittered in the sun.

"She's just molted?" He noticed.

"Yeah. It was her first time."

"Her first time? That's a large Pupitar you're going to have on your hands, then."

The rock type excitedly yelled, jumping in place until I hurriedly stopped her with a shout. The last thing I wanted was for her to upturn this entire backyard or accidentally hurt the examiner.

"How tall is she?"

"I haven't measured since she evolved."

Mr. O'Hare grabbed some measuring tape from his bag, and Sweetheart ended up clocking in at 4'10. She'd been 4'6 when she had evolved. I could almost feel her smugness radiating from here.

"Four inches in one molt? She's probably going to end up at around 6'5 and then gain another foot during her evolution. That's going to be a big headache for you. Tyranitar eat a lot."

"She'll be fine," I reassured. "I'll have enough money to feed her."

"Sure, I don't doubt that. Just warning you so you're not caught off-guard," he said. "Her cocoon's in a good state. If she wasn't eating enough, it wouldn't have come out that pretty. Can you have her let out a bit of air for me?"

"Sweetheart, you heard him. But don't fly anywhere!"

The examiner held out a hand next to his ear as Pupitar excitedly let out a burst of the gas compressed inside of her.

"Good sound," he nodded. "Your Pupitar's doing very well. The chambers inside the cocoon can sometimes get messed up after a molt if they don't eat enough, because they're supposed to grow larger each time."

"Thank you," I smiled. I recalled Sweetheart and released my next Pokemon.

Angel didn't immediately rub him, but his Probopass instead, feeling at the thick mustache under his red nose. The steel type was content to just let it happen but drew a line when Angel tried to grab at one of his turrets. He shot out some kind of low-powered ray attack that destroyed one of his vines. Tangrowth recoiled, his eyes rapidly blinking.

"Sorry about that. Probopass' Mini-Noses are his most vulnerable spots. He doesn't like it when you touch them— even me."

"No, no, Angel's just like that. I'm sorry," I said. "And I'm sorry to you too."

Probopass let out a screech-like metallic sound. I hadn't been with him long enough to know his words, but I felt like he had accepted my apology.

Mr. O'Hare grabbed one of Angel's vines and steadily pulled on it, squeezed it and attempted to cut it with a pair of scissors. It didn't even cut past half of the vine.

"Good vine condition," he nodded.

"He gets a lot of sun."

Next, he looked at the red tips of Tangrowth's hands, noting that they were in good condition too. Angel easily passed his assessment.

Honey's neck craned toward Mr. O'Hare as he placed a number of test leads on his fingers. mostly analyzed the amount of electricity he'd accumulated by using some kind of modified voltmeter and the number that came up was several tens of thousand of volts. I didn't see the exact number because of the sun shining on the screen.

"Satisfactory, but it could be better. Are you using a battery to get him his electricity?"

"A solar-powered one, yes. Uh, the model is… Lumina PowerCell. I've had it since he was an Elekid."

"Get him a bigger one. Or a solar generator you can carry. It might have cut it when he was small, but he needs more and it'll be better for his growth. Sunyshore sells really high-quality ones if you swing by."

"Will do. Thanks."

He studied the sharpness of Honey's fangs and finished up his assessment. I finished with Princess, who was on her best behavior as always. He dug deep into her fur to see her skin and flashed that same bright light into her eyes. Everything was in order, but he did notice one thing.

"The wings haven't seen much use, have they?"

"Well, no, she uses her powers to fly, so…"

"Get her started on that, just as a routine. The benefits will carry over when you get her a Shiny Stone," he said.

Princess reflexively flapped her wings and huffed. She had clearly expected to get full marks, but it was really my fault, not hers. Mr. O'Hare finished writing his report on a clipboard he carried separate from my file he'd put back in his bag, had me sign on the bottom of the form and then clapped his hand when all was said and gone.

"You qualify," he smiled. "Go back to talk to Rosie and give her your form— that's the girl at reception."

I beamed. "Yes! Thank you!"

I had expected to pass, but I still hadn't shaken the feeling of anxiety I'd had before the inspection. Now that I was done, it felt liberating. Finally, I could go past that annoying six Pokemon limit! If I had come across a cool psychic type before today, I would have been royally pissed.

As I handed Rosie my form and watched her 3D print my Carry License, I began to wonder what my final number of Pokemon would be. Seven was a given, but did I want to go past that? I didn't know yet, but it was good to start thinking about these things early. I knew that Cynthia had ten Pokemon and every Gym Leader or Elite Four member had at least seven— with the exception of Lucian, who was content with his six psychics. Having a decent amount would keep your opponents guessing about which Pokemon you would bring into an official match, but more than that, I wanted my family to grow larger still.

Yet, I had no plan beyond a psychic type. Maybe I'd let whatever caught my eye and agreed to come with me join my team beyond that seventh capture. It wasn't like any of my current Pokemon had been planned apart from Angel, so he was more the exception than the rule.

"Congratulations. If you lose it, you'll have to come back here or any other League Offices and pay a 10,000 Pokedollars fee to get it renewed."

I nodded silently. That wasn't a huge price, especially since only people with eight badges were supposed to be able to get this. By then, they didn't have to be rich, but 10,000 was a fee that almost everyone would be able to afford.

"Good luck with your wait," I told the unnamed trainer.

"Thank you. Have a good day."

At this point, I knew I should have asked him for his name and that I'd been rude not to do so, but it would be too awkward to do it now. I exited the building as I checked the time again. There was an hour and twenty-three minutes left to my battle, but Zachary Gallagher had actually sent me a text asking to meet early to talk. Now normally, I would have done this no problem, but I decided to meet him in a public place so there could be no funny business. The words that we'd exchanged seemed genuine, but there could always be another Harry Rodriguez. Someone masquerading as a trainer to infiltrate the League.

I also sent a text to the group chat telling them where I'd be and that they'd possibly have to come pick me up early. Since we were going to battle six-on-six, the plan had been to have one of them (preferably someone with a psychic type) walk me back to the Center. It'd only be a ten-minute walk since the arena we'd be battling at was the closest one available.

I wanted as few risks as possible even with the League Trainer tailing me.

I recalled Honey as I stepped into the… well in my rush to find any public setting, I had thought that it'd been a restaurant, but it was more like a food court. I could even see Arlyle's chain selling food at one of the stands. It was still morning, so I wasn't hungry and got to finding Zachary, but it took me a while to spot him. The dark-skinned teen waved at me from afar until I finally noticed it had been me he'd been looking at and not someone behind me.

"Heyya," he said with a lazy wave. "Glad you could meet."

He wore thick glasses that made his eyes look bigger than they actually were and sported a buzz cut that was no doubt useful for traveling. My hair got tangled in a lot of things.

"Hi. Shouldn't we just battle now if you're free?" I asked. It didn't take much for me to notice the seven Pokeballs on his belt.

"Aren't you eager? We'll go early if you want, but I had a few questions for you," he said before sipping on some sort of soft drink. "You said you're coming at this to improve, right? Is there a particular Pokemon you want me to not use?"

"No, no, I don't want any special treatments or for you to give yourself handicaps. Actually, this is great! I can tell you that we can actually fight a six-vs-six instead of a five-vs-five. My Turtonator agreed."

His eyes flashed with interest. "Ah. That makes this a lot more interesting," he said. "I'm good with that, then. Since you don't want any handicaps, I guess we can get going. I was going to ask you if you wanted to have unlimited switching or things like that."

"How about three switches? That's pretty standard for a six-on-six."

"Sure thing."

He took the top off his drink, poured the rest of the contents into his mouth and loudly crunched on the ice cubes as we exited the food court. That had ended up being sort of a waste of time, but at least we were going to battle early for my troubles. I walked with Princess by my side and she eyed Zachary with a suspicious eye.

"What do you expect coming into this?" I asked him.

"Like my impression of you?"

"Yes."

"Well I didn't pay that much attention to you until news got out that you got into the LTIP. Congrats, by the way. Lots of trainers would want to be in that position."

"Yeah…" I muttered. If he knew my circumstances, he wouldn't have said that.

"I ended up watching your battle against Fantina and a few of those Solaceon tournament battles too. The event might have been ruined, but that only made 'em more popular. Wish I got to see that Turtonator in action, though. They say he's around the seven-badge level," he smirked. "I think you're talented. More than I was at this point in my journey, but you still lack a lot of things. I don't want to sound like a pretentious asshole, though. I'm sure I'll look back on myself in a year and think I was garbage. That's the universal Pokemon trainer experience right there."

"A lot of things like? Actually, don't tell me yet. Tell me when we're done."

"Fair enough. You really don't want any handicaps, huh?"

"Of course not. That would defeat the entire point," I said. "Say, I actually do have one request, though. I don't care when you use her, but use your Vespiquen against me."

"Vespi's the one that caught your attention? Most people talk about my Gyarados," he laughed.

"Anyone worth their salt knows that Vespiquen's the true threat on your team," I said.

"That's a fair assessment. Okay, I'll use her," he said.

The words came easy to me, as they always did when I spoke to someone about Pokemon battling. Zachary Gallagher had begun his journey in Floaroma with a single Pidgey but quickly caught his Combee in the honey trees that littered the fields north of town. From there, he'd gotten five badges his first year and now stood at the cusp of getting his eighth. That meant he was a potential opponent I'd have to face at the Conference.

"I've got my folks in Floaroma calling me every day and telling me how proud they are," he fondly said. "I can't let 'em down. Did you know there's never been a Floaroma native that made the top sixteen of the Conference?"

"So that's your goal?"

"Hell no. I'm gonna win the whole thing," he said. "But I'm not only doing it for them. I'm doing it for all of Floaroma— ah, there it is."

We'd made it to the arena, which was obviously seeing a lot of use at this time of day. These weren't as large as the ones in Jubilife, but there was still plenty of space for us. Some poor Kadabra fixed up the barrier after a battle. I sure hoped that all of these League Kadabras were getting proper treatment when they weren't working. Pokemon didn't care to be paid in cash, but I at least wanted them to be able to study whatever they wanted in their free time. Being a barrier Kadabra was a thankless job.

We took our positions opposite of each other with dozens of eyes staring at us. They'd no doubt turn into hundreds soon. We counted down to three and sent out our first Pokemon. Since he had three flying types, I decided to send Honey out first.

His usual confidence evaporated and his hair stood on end when Zach released his Vespiquen.

Buzzing. Constant buzzing somehow louder than my own thoughts echoed through the arena. Her exoskeleton appeared smooth, but upon closer look, it was glimmering slightly as if she was covered in a thin layer of honey at all times. More honey dripped from her six combs, but it did not fall to the ground. Vespiquen's gem shone as she manipulated the liquid to spin around her as if she was a water type weaving water, or somehow even better than that. She was the honey, and the honey was her. Things crawled all over her— and also infested her honey— not alive, but with purpose and answered to her every thought. They were shapeless, horrible minuscule things that were linked to her consciousness itself.

My legs felt heavier as I stared into her piercing red eyes. There was this pressure that was pressing down on me, a weaker version of what Cynthia's Spiritomb had done to me, but it was there nonetheless and made it harder to focus. My mouth and eyes suddenly dried up and I blinked rapidly to moisten them. I was aware of my breathing, of my tongue in my mouth, of the continuous tingles running up and down my spine telling me that this Pokemon was dangerous.

"You told me to use her, right? Well, here she is in all of her beauty."