“Cheer up, this is going to be so much fun!” My dear older sister cheered as she dragged me through town.

“Can’t we just order this stuff online?”

“I already told you, we need to get you fitted for a new dress. And you can try on the clothes here. I can’t believe you’ve grown out of everything in your closet.”

“I can,” I mumbled as she led me through Los Platos’ streets. I’d grown steadily over the past two years and hadn’t worn a dress once. For smaller home parties and the like, I could just wear my regular clothing, and I didn’t go out with Mom and Dad (and sometimes Cyan) to other parties the wealthy elite would invite them to. They offered, but what do I have in common with those people? Plus, I’d have to worry about offending someone if I didn’t eat something, or said the wrong thing… just so much easier to focus on training.

That thought had been triggered by a sign of a store with a Capsakid as the mascot. Spicy foods remain my great nemesis in this world. Which is a shame, because Paldean cuisine has a lot of them. Oh well, I’m heading back to Unova for the big party, so they’ll probably have less spicy food there.

All around me, I saw signs boasting their products, often with Pokemon in the designs. ‘Lady Liligant’s Elegant Designs’, ‘Hatterene’s Hats for all’, ‘Dazzling, Gleaming, Style.’ “How can there be this many fashion stores?” I moaned, to which Popplio trailing behind us clapped his paws together. While we checked out three stores, Cyan had dismissed them fairly quickly, except for the one where she and Popplio had gotten a matching pair of sunglasses.

(I had asked if Dun had wanted to wear anything and he looked at me like I had gone insane for a solid minute before slinking back into his Pokeball).

“I know, right? We should have gone to Mesagoza, they would have had way more there.” I whimpered a sound that Cyan pretended not to notice as she pulled me into another store.

This store had a very high-class look to it, the floor covered in smooth stone tiles and a few pillars holding up the place and dividing it into different sections. The tiles and walls were white with a few gold patterns and black edges to make it pop. Almost immediately upon entering, a woman in her mid-twenties wearing a black skirt and white blouse approached us.

“Hello dears, I’m Maggie. Welcome to Suicine Select. How may I help you?”

Cyan nodded approvingly and stepped up like she owned the place. “I’m Cyan Glitterati, and this is my sister Nemona. We need to get a dress tailored for her by the end of the day.” Those sentences had the employee’s face caught in an interesting mix of emotions. The recognition of our family name (and thus the money we had) warred with the difficulty of the request my sister had dropped on her.

Maggie quickly smoothed that all away and said “Of course, right this way ladies. Now, what are you looking for? We have many styles-”

“Something comfortable.”I blurt out immediately before Cyan can say anything. She glares at me nonetheless and adds her own opinion.

“We want something sleek and modern, maybe like the new…” She goes on to rattle off the names of different designers and clothes worn by models. I couldn’t care less, but I trust her expertise that whatever is made will look ‘fashionable.’

With this store seeming to meet the standards that Cyan has set, we eventually get on to taking my measurements. It’s… odd. Another reminder that this isn’t my body, that nothing is like what I remembered.

“You sure I can’t have a suit made?” I asked my sister again. It’d be more familiar at least, plus-

“No, it would take too long to get a suit made to fit you. A dress can just be modified from what they have in stock.” As Cyan spoke, Maggie’s smile became much tighter, and I thought that my sister might be exaggerating how easily they could accommodate what we were asking.

“Besides, why would you need a suit anyway?”

“I can’t kick people in a dress.”

“Why do you need to kick people!? You have Pokemon! And we’re going to a party hosted by a Gym Leader of all people.”

“What if I need to kick Clay?”

“Don’t kick the Gym Leader!!”

“No promises.”

“Please stop shaking with laughter,” Maggie said with a sigh, trying to wrap the measuring tape around me while Cyan was shouting at me.

You don’t need to worry sis, I’m probably not going to attack him. While Clay does get a little unreasonably upset at the player in the game over you ‘letting’ Plasma grunts leave because the bridge is lowered, I vaguely remember him being not that bad of a guy.

With my measurements taken, we began the long parade of dresses to try on. I decided on a nice green with black highlights as the one to take. It was a little too poofy, but Maggie assured me the wispy parts on the bottom and shoulder straps could be removed.

Even though it had been the second dress I’d tried, Cyan still forced me to try on a dozen others before we finally stopped. At least that pleather crop jacket we found was nice, I can grab that too. “Alright, I think we’ve made our choice. Now onto heels-”

“Nope,” I said brightly, cutting her off. “I have some nicer flat shoes I can wear.”

“Ugh, fine,” She acquiesced and we left the store, heading back home after leaving delivery instructions. “But in the future, we’ll have to go on a real shopping day. No time crunch just exploring stores for hours on end.”

“Cough, cough, oh no, I think I’m coming down with can’t-go-clothes-shopping-again-itis.”

“Oh stop it, you had fun, right?” She asked hopefully.

Sighing I said “Honestly? No. I think it’s boring and not a ‘waste’ of time but not the most efficient either and… just not my favorite thing to do. But I’ll go with you on any shopping trips you want to go on.”

We were silent momentarily as we walked back home before she asked me “What do you want to do?”

I laughed “You don’t know that already? I like martial arts and music and of course Pokemon Battles-”

“That’s all stuff you train at. What do you like to do to relax?”

It was my turn to be silent, thinking over the question. I mean, I do like those things, but I guess they aren’t relaxing. I- I don’t know. I haven’t had much free time- haven’t given myself much free time. But there’s just so much to do, so much to learn and I don’t want to waste a single second!

“I guess I like reading? And uh, I think I’d like to play tabletop RPGs.” I eventually said. Ok, I know I like Roleplaying Games, but I can’t exactly say that without actually having any experience in it. I can just pretend I read some rule books online if she asks any questions.

Cyan didn’t however, just humming and saying “Just think about it. Working hard is good and all, but you need to take a break sometimes.”

***

“Feels weird.”

“What does, dear daughter?” Billy asked me, concern aparent in his bleary eyes.

“That we’re flying in a basket held up by Pokemon, to an airport where we’ll be flown by a machine.” I get that the technology of this world is advanced enough that they almost certainly would have figured out aerodynamics enough to make airplanes, but it still feels weird that they’re used for commercial travel over Pokemon. Is it economic over the cost of training and feeding Pokemon instead?

“Well, it’s not like we could be flown all the way to Unova. The Squawkabilly’s would get way too tired for such a trip.” Cyan pointed out.

“Squawkabilly, sure. But Dragonite can circle the world in two-thirds of a day, and other Pokemon can do such trips as well.” Then I raised my voice and shouted up to the birds ferrying us to the airport and shouted out “No offense guys! Really appreciate the ride!” I got a few squawks back letting me know they were fine with it.

“How incredibly innovative Nemona! Oh, now we must take a trip to Unova by Dragonite!” O’Nare exclaimed with glee.

Cyan gave me a death stare that made me wonder if she’d been learning Glare from Dun before desperately asking Mom: “Wait, didn’t we already buy the tickets to take the plane to Unova? We shouldn’t let those round-trip tickets go to waste.”

“How frugal, Cyan! It shows your true Gliteratti intellect to know how to best save your money.” Billy cried out, and my sister let out a soft sigh of relief.

Landing down in front of the airport we took out our bags. Alongside my family, Anna, my mother’s secretary, followed us. The young woman was dressed in a plain business suit and had her own luggage as she would be accompanying us for the duration of the trip.

Feels odd, to just have someone following us around on our vacation, but I guess it makes sense. Paldea Reality is massive and if some disaster pops up, they might need to get a hold of my mother no matter what. I also vaguely remembered people like her when I was younger before I remembered my past life. They’d ask the occasional question during our trips, but generally just manage things in the background (including our trip itinerary).

The airport itself was in Mesagoza, being the closest, largest city to us with one. It had two, which just went to show how massive the city was, with only Levincia and Medali having one in the rest of Paldea. The West side airport itself was less busy than the big city ones I was used to in my old life, only running one or two hundred flights each day.

Of course, as we stepped into the bustling airport, we were quickly directed away from the crowds and off to the side where I saw it. “Why?” Was all I could manage in a whisper as I beheld the fully gold-painted private jet we’d be flying to Unova in.

Cyan brushed past me, obviously still holding the Dragonite riding thing against me. “You have no room to talk.”

“No, see that’s cool, it’s different!”

We playfully squabbled for a few minutes before we had to show our IDs at the front desk and board the plane. “Remember to keep your Pokemon in their balls for the entirety of the trip, we don’t want any accidents to happen.” Technically as we were riding a private jet, we wouldn’t have to follow that rule, but it made a lot of sense, for a bunch of reasons. Still, it got me thinking.

“What about Rotom Phones?” I asked, holding up Miles. The man blinked before nodding.

“Rotoms within their Phones are fine, just don’t have them leave their case or attempt any Moves while flying.” No worries there. I think Dun will just sleep through the whole thing and Miles is fine taking it easy.

Taken aboard the plane, I stepped aboard a private jet for the first time in my life. Seeing how spacious the interior was, with the plush chairs and drop-down widescreen TVs threw me for a bit. Just another reminder of how different things are here. I’d never get anywhere close to anything like this in my old life.

Sure, I knew how rich I was here, and the difference that made, but with the world being so different, it was easy to miss comparisons at times. This was a very clear one, and one that was harder to ignore. My father worked on airplanes, once upon a time. I wonder if he’s doing alright?

“Hey, do we need to call an Altaria to get you down?” Cyan’s voice brought me back to reality, and I looked at her, confused.

“Huh?”

“I’m saying your head is up in the clouds and we haven’t even taken off yet.” She stuck her tongue out at me, to let me know she was just lightly teasing me, but I saw some worry in her eyes. Damnit, can’t be acting all weird like that. I thought I was over this and had accepted things in my new life but this one random reminder sends me spiraling back? I can’t keep going like this.

Shaking those thoughts aside I said with forced cheer “Nah, I’m gonna keep on flying up and up, dontcha know?”

“Yes, yes, you told me about your Aura and how you managed to fly for a bit. I still haven’t seen that for myself!”

I had told Cyan about my adventure with Aura (leaving out the part about Tulip pushing me off a small cliff - I felt like she would have more trouble believing that than the fact that I managed to hover in the air for a moment). She was skeptical, but more accepting of the idea than I had thought she’d be. I guess in a world with Psychics and everything Pokemon can do, someone being able to fly doesn’t sound so crazy.

The captain called out for us to strap in as takeoff was about to begin, the four of us sitting down in the comfortable seats as we started down the runway. Looking outside, I saw the figures on the ground get smaller and smaller as the plane tilted up and we rose far above the ground, going through the clouds. As the plane began to rise, I felt a sense of wellness settle over me. A sort of contentedness, like I just knew everything was going to be alright. It got to the point that I worried something might have happened to my mind, but forcing myself to focus on Turo and the unsolvable problem he presented could make me feel upset.

Ok, not that. Hmm, my ears haven’t popped yet, I wonder if Pokemon world tech had some answer to the usual take-off issues? Glancing over at my sister opposite me, I saw her moaning and looking queasy. Popplio had left his ball and was trying to rub circles on her wrists. Or maybe it's just another small benefit of my Aura.

“You okay Cyan?” I asked, walking over to her. She gave a non-committal sound like she was worried that if she let any words out, her lunch would soon follow. “Alright, I’ll leave you be,” I said, giving Popplio a small pat on the head for doing a good job comforting her. It probably doesn’t hurt to have Popplio out, he couldn’t break anything on the plane, not like Dun or Miles could.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s a long flight dear, are you sure you want to stay up for it all?” O’Nare asked me as I walked over to my guitar case.

Opening it up I said, “Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be jet lagged.” I feel way too alive to sleep right now. Might want to meditate later though, this feels like a great time to try and touch on my Flying Aura.

In retrospect, it was obvious my Aura was Flying aligned. Ever since being born in this life, I’d had no fear of heights, enhanced vision and hearing (like many birds and Flying Pokemon have), and just an affinity for the sky. I couldn’t tell if this was something Nemona always would have had, from who I was before, or some strange blend of myself and canon Nemona, but it just fits now.

Taking out my guitar, I began strumming a few chords, trying to recall a few lines from a song I knew before.

“Upside down and inside out and it feels… right?

Don’t know where your eyes are but you… something something.

Don’t know where your mind is, but you… wish you didn’t have it?”

At least the first parts of the lines fit, not my worst attempt. I couldn’t put into words just how frustrating it was to partially remember these songs. Knowing that I had all the pieces locked in my mind on how to recreate these masterpieces but just couldn’t fully draw them out. I think I’m annoying Hassel with how much I’m upsetting myself with this, but I know I’m so close. And yet, not quite there.

The music I made was decent, I liked to believe, but could it live up to the masterpieces crafted by hundreds of truly dedicated artists from my past life? Of course not. The idea of just giving up feels awful too, though. I wonder if that’s part of what’s holding me back from utilizing my Aura actively? Flying is the element of freedom. Of course, I’m free to do what I want, in many ways, I have more freedom now than ever before. But if I feel constrained by myself, by my own mind, am I limiting my own freedom and thereby cutting off my power?

Wow, these are some deep thoughts, wonder where they came from- oh, right. I remembered what song I was trying to recall and it made sense. When you have lines like: ‘So when you met the new you, were you scared, were you cold, were you kind? When you met the new you, did someone die inside?’ As a reincarnator, that provokes at least a little thought. Thoughts I usually shied away from, but the lyrics were forcing me to inspect that.

Or maybe it’s my own actions. This, using Aura, that’s a departure from who Nemona was in the games. Then again, is it actually any bigger a change of her character than anything else I’ve done? Making friends with Arven alone could be bigger, especially in terms of plot changes. How much I would or could change was still a matter in flux, but at the very least I wanted to stop Turo’s demise.

Not that I have any solid plans on that front. Gah, this is a waste of time, especially when I should just be relaxing. Why did I even start singing this song again? I like it, but I like some of their other stuff better- the music video. With that thought in mind, I jumped up, running over to the captain’s quarters. One of our attendants scrambled up, from where she had been sitting down reading a magazine.

“Uhh, Young Miss, can I help you with something?” She asked, looking worried at my focused gaze fixed on the cockpit door.

“I need to ask the pilots something, is that ok?”

She seemed a little uncomfortable before nodding. “I think that’s fine, just remember you can’t touch anything, ok?” I nodded and she knocked on the door, getting the all-clear.

Entering I saw a cockpit much like any of the ones I’d seen back home. In the seats sat a woman and a man. The woman remained mostly focused on the monitors and controls, but asked “What is it, kid?” While her co-pilot turned around to face me, a warm smile on his face.

I explained my request which caused them to exchange a glance. “You sure? Those kinds of maneuvers can be rough even on adults…” The man trailed off.

“I’m certain. I- I need to experience it. If we could get like an hour or two to try it out, maybe before we head back home, I’d appreciate it.”

The woman let out a snort. “Alright kid, your Spiritomb.” Huh, guess that’s the equivalent of ‘your grave’ here. Spiritombs are cool. The Typing is solid and they’re very defensive with some interesting Moves- “If you talk your parents into it, we’ll give you a ride.”

“Awesome!” I pumped my fist up before heading back. Sitting in my seat, I picked up my guitar and started strumming again.

“Upside down and inside out and you can feel it.

Upside down and inside out and you can feel it, feel it.

Don’t know where your eyes are… but they’re not doing what you said.

Don’t know where your mind is, but you’re better off without it.”

Oh yeah, this is gonna be great.

***

My first sign of the city came not from the city itself, but by spotting the massive red drawbridge down below. “Oh, I think we’re close!”

The pilot confirmed what I said, announcing a moment later that we were heading down and to strap in.

“Yaaay.” Cyan gave out a tired cheer as she braced herself, gripping her plush seatrests hard. While she had gotten some sleep, the flight had been rough on her, and the descent was going to be the toughest part.

I had never been terrible at dealing with flights, but occasionally had nausea and ear popping on the takeoff and touchdowns, but that wasn’t an issue anymore. I could take in all the sights down below of yet another land I’d only seen on the end of a game system screen before.

Driftveil City had more high rises and towers than I recalled from the game, but I figured that had to do with the game not being 100% accurate and it being many years later. There was also another bridge, connecting the small landmass connected to the red drawbridge to the main city.

Ships passed by all around, many of them massive freighters, hauling tons of raw materials. Driftveil was famed for its mines and even from high up, I could see some of the mine entrances dotting the landscape.

Upon landing, we were swept up in a whirlwind of activity and rushed off by limo to the hotel we’d booked. From there we made ourselves look ‘presentable’, got dressed up, and were taken to the Driftveil Gym. The dress I had chosen had been fitted for me and felt really nice. The hem swished at my knees and it had two straps holding it up over my shoulders. At my side, I wore my Sliph bag, the strap circling my waist like a belt. Cyan may not think it’s super fashionable, but I’m not going anywhere without Dun or my Pokemon supplies at my side.

It was odd to see a stream of well-dressed individuals entering the gym as the sun started to set. A crowd of expensive cars gathered there as business people and celebrities arrived to attend a party at a place of battles. Even odder, realizing that I somehow fit right in - for the most part. I might not have felt comfortable, but a glance at my parents and myself showed that we certainly did.

Reporters took pictures outside, trying to come up with stories on who was attending, who wasn’t, what they were wearing, etcetera. Do people really care about such things? I didn’t get why or how such stories could sell. Sure famous people could do important things, but they treated these big parties as if it was something big or important.

As we entered the Gym, we were directed by an old man in shades to the back, away from the platform that would lead down to the gym proper. Instead, we entered a large, repurposed training room. The room was spacious, with a tall ceiling. The ground was literally dirt, which had been covered in plastic sheets and carpet on top of that. In one corner, there were many musicians set up, adding some musical ambiance to the event. In the back there were tables with food and drink on them, a few samples carried around by waiting staff (who may have been the Gym Trainers, the staff had a somewhat rough appearance to them underneath the black and white uniforms) to the many, many guests.

So many people here, I can’t believe it. Despite the room being designed for the many Pokemon to train at once, it was crowded with people, and we weren’t the last ones to arrive. Our arrival did draw many eyes on us, however.

“Is that… yes, I think the Glitterati’s have arrived.”

“They’re back in Unova?”

“Yes, I heard Billy’s wife helped Clay set up some of the buyouts of Cold Storage, back in the day.”

“Oh right, Clay has that World Tournament thing running there now. Bit garish, really.”

“So much better than how it was before though. And now we’re getting more underground railways built. It’s such a hassle to go over the bridge just to see Elesa’s latest shows…”

I heard bits and pieces from all sorts of conversations like that as I wandered in. Billy and O’Nare were quickly snapped up by the other guests, eager to gossip and chat with my extraordinarily wealthy parents. All the guests here looked pretty wealthy too, but very few people could match my parents for money, even amongst the elites. It looks like Dad is pretty popular here, in general too. That was likely because he was from Unova.

Cyan found a few older teenagers to talk to, mentioning a few points on fashion and the makeup tips she had gotten from Tulip. She seems fine there. As such, I was left to mingle on my own, in a crowd of people I knew next to nothing about. With that in mind, I did the only natural thing one would do at such a big party: Make a beeline straight to the buffet table and see how long I could hang out on the outskirts.

Grabbing a small plate and piling it up with seafood, fruit, and bread (each carefully portioned not to touch each other), I moved to an empty corner, standing there and just observing the party go on.

“Did you hear that Clay just completed a massive project? Something about shipping tons of Chargestone out of the caves. Even a bunch of Pokemon from there too, for that Terarium in Blueberry.”

“The Pokemon World Tournament will be starting up again soon, it’s been such a boon for Driftveil. I can hardly remember the dreary little shipping town it used to be.”

“Clay’s done a great job with it, if only he could rank a bit higher when he competes!”

“Oh, he’s a busy man. Even if he’s not a Champion of battling, his stocks are going up, and that’s what matters.”

“Where’s the washroom? I gotta go!”

“I hear Aether is looking to turn some of his old mines into preserves for underground Pokemon, do you think Clay will agree?”

The atmosphere was generally happy, and I was content to vibe until a young girl about my age with bright pink hair and bushy brown eyebrows pushed her way out of the crowd and into my general bubble.

“Hello?”

“Oh hi, sorry to bug you, I just had to get away from all of… that.” The girl said. She was wearing a light pink dress with short sleeves, ended with poofy rings and fabric attached to look like small wings. At her side was a pink Love Ball attached to her hip somehow. Maybe magnets? Or some more esoteric tech holding it in place.

“Fair. I’m Nemona.” I said, glaring daggers at a few of the adults who had pushed through and looked like they wanted to bug her more. Why are a bunch of adults trying to bother a kid? Whatever the reason, my look scared them off, and I offered a hand out to Lacey to shake. She has soft skin.

“Lacey.” At the complete lack of reaction on my part to her name, she added “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Nope. Well, I didn’t. Based on that, I’m guessing you’re related to Clay?”

“Wow, you figured it out from just that?”

“That and your eyebrows.” It’s funny, she didn’t inherit his… roundness, or his regular hair color, but little things like just the color of the eyebrows can be passed on to the kids. Or nothing at all. There wasn’t much Cyan or I had in common body-wise with our parents, but that was just how things often worked out in this world.

As she continued to stare at me, I said: “The punch is pretty good, you might want to get some.”

I offered as an icebreaker to the other girl. It was good, quite fruity and non-carbonated, thankfully.

“Uh, sure. Sorry, just not used to this. Everyone else here wants me to give them an introduction to Dad.”

“I can see that.” And I could, even through the crowd and halfway across the room, I could make out a large number of people trying to get close to the rotund man in the cowboy getup (hat included) that was the star of the night.

He chatted well enough to most, but as they made offers or overtures to him, Clay would shoot them down. Given their expressions, it was usually pretty harsh, but some of the older and more experienced businessmen and women were able to get off lighter. Caught snippets more like ‘maybe we’ll think on it later,’ for the more shrewd among them. For every person that tried their hand though, there were two or three more, circling and waiting for their chance to ‘strike’.

After she returned to our little corner with a drink in tow, I asked her: “What’s it like, being the daughter of a Gym Leader?”

She frowned adorably. “I unno. There’s a lot of Pokemon always around here. Do you have a bunch of Pokemon?”

“No, I only have two right now. There are a few more the staff have at home, but not too many. But I see plenty outside every day. Paldea has tons of them in the wild.” To be fair, I don’t know that Paldea actually has any more Pokemon than other regions, but it sure feels plentiful with how close we live to nature.

“You’re from Paldea? Cool! Do you have a bunch of cute Pokemon there? Which Pokemon do you think is the cutest?” Lacey asked eagerly, and before giving me time to answer pulled out a small Pokeball at her hip. Enlarging it, she released a small mole-like Pokemon from within. He had a long white nose with red tip, but otherwise black and blue fur over his body. Upon seeing his trainer, he clapped his large, sharp-looking, clawed hands together.

“Burr!”

“I think Drillbur is the cutest.”

“I see. I’m fond of Dunsparce,” and saying so, I reached into my bag and pulled out Dun’s ball, releasing him. “He’s not just cute, he’s strong too!”

“Dunnn.” He nodded his head, the impact sending an ever-so-slight tremor through the ground. Despite the fact that I didn’t think anyone even a few meters away would have felt it, I saw Clay’s head whip around at that, fast enough he had to grab onto his hat to stop it flying off.

“Impressive, your dad noticed that fast. I suppose his moniker of ‘The Miner King’ is fitting.” I wonder if he has a Ground Type Aura? Maybe not even unlocked, just something he passively honed from large portions of his life spent underground. Was he drawn to mining because he had that connection to the earth from his Aura? Or did his time spent there shape his Aura to become Ground-based? Or maybe I’m overthinking it, and that vibrational sense is just a skill anyone in this world could pick up, without Aura or the like, just from how overturned humans here are? Oh, so many questions.

I didn’t have time to think about the endless questions running through my mind anymore as a shadow looms over me. For a big guy, he moves quickly. It helped that everyone else was giving the man standing above me a wide berth, wondering what was going on. “Gym Leader Clay, a pleasure to meet you.”

Looking up at him, I saw that each of his legs was almost as wide across as I was, though I was sure part of that was because of how his chaps flared out. He adjusted his gold watch as he took a breath, relaxing as he took in the situation better.

“Mighty fine to meet a pal of my daughter’s too, little missy.”

“This is Nemona, Daddy! She has a Dunsparce, he’s pretty cute. Not as cute as Drillbur though,” she added and Dun gave a small huff out.

“Can’t win them all, Dun. But he doesn’t lose in strength.” I held up my arm and flexed a muscle to emphasize my point.

“No way, Daddy is the strongest in the whole world!” The man in question gave her a fond smile. We both knew he wasn’t, not even in the running for that title, but for a young girl, of course she’d think that.

“Well, I’m going to be Champion someday, the best Champion of all time, so that means I gotta beat your dad.” There were a few shocked gasps from the crowd that had gathered around us, as well as some commentary.

“I can’t believe it, she’ll become a Champion?”

“Please, my kids claim that all the time. Next week she’ll be saying how she’s going to be an astronaut or whatever.”

“I think it’s good to dream, at least at that age.”

“Rather uncouth to just declare something like that.”

“What a joke. How could she become Champion with a Dunsparce?”

“Well, you know what kids are like…”

Clay spoke up, silencing the other voices. “Mighty big words for a little girl. Care to put your Pokedollars where your mouth is?”

After a second I parsed the meaning of his words. “You mean have a battle, right now? Aren’t we… in the middle of a party?”

He clicked his tongue. “Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet. A ‘Champion’ can’t afford to run away from a simple battle.” Everyone had fallen silent now, turning to face us. I could even make out Billy and O’Nare trying to get through the crowds to me.

I could just play it off, no need to make a bigger scene. I know the old me would have done that, afraid to have people staring at me, of making a fool of myself. But I can’t let myself be held back by that. I’m not that person anymore, and the girl I am now would say…

“I, Nemona Glitterati, challenge you, Clay!”

“That’s some good gumption-” he began.

“But it won’t just be a ‘simple battle,’” I interjected, staring straight into his dark brown eyes. “If you don’t come at me with at least a 5 badge challenge, it won’t even be a contest.”

I wasn’t sure what he saw in my stare, but something about it caused him to nod consideringly.

Adjusting his belt he said to the crowd, “Well alrighty then, looks like you’ll be getting a party and a show!” The guests cheered as the match was confirmed. Here’s hoping I didn’t just make a massive mistake.