“So then I had Dragonite use Draco Meteor and it blew up the entire arena… Most of it fell into the lava. Blaine was pretty grumpy about it, but really I think it was his fault.”

“Definitely! What kind of gym leader sends lava toward a ten year old!” Papa growled and I just laughed because I knew Papa would agree with me that Blaine was a dick.

We were all at a fancy restaurant the next day.

Gram Gram had demanded to take us all out to celebrate the completion of my gym challenge. Now we just had to wait a few months for the League to start.

“Pfeh! That damned old fool. I should send in a complaint!” Gram Gram offered with a glare at nothing.

“It’s okay Gram Gram. I think destroying his lava arena gym hurt him more than anything else.” I explained with a totally gentle and calm smile that wasn’t at all a bit sinister.

“To think the former champion is hiding out in a volcano acting like a child.” Gram Gram snorted back. Gram Gram was taking Blaines actions a bit personally.

“I think losing to Lance threw Blaine off a lot more than he wants to admit.” I added and Gram Gram nodded.

“His loss was a strike to Kanto alright.”

“Enough about that. Tell us about earning your Earth Badge.” Mama prompted and I just frowned.

“Giovanni didn’t take it seriously at all. I think he purposefully set up the entire match to go fast towards his loss. Like he didn’t care at all.”

Everyone was quiet at that, as I just decided to dig into the food. It was good. Expensive but good. Gram Gram had picked the fanciest place in Viridian.

“It doesn’t matter. No one can deny you’ve earned the badges, and if they do? Then crush them during the League.” Gram Gram said with a bloodthirsty grin that had me giggling into my food.

“I’ll do that Gram Gram. Although I really need to figure out what I’m going to do for my sixth slot. I need to start training them so the pokemon I choose will be ready for the League.” I mumbled and Gram Gram scoffed.

“Pfeh! I have a few Meowth that would love to have a strong trainer.” Gram Gram offered and I giggled even as Mama nodded along while Papa grumbled.

“Just take a Growlithe!” Papa offered, and Gram Gram and Mama both glared at him.

“Maybe.” I offered getting glared at instead. “But I don’t just want to double up. I should go… Exploring or something. Maybe spend a month out in the wilds hunting for a new friend, and then the last month prepping?”

“Finding a new Pokemon is always a struggle. Do you know what type you are aiming for? Or what Pokemon?” Papa asked and I shrugged.

“I kinda want another Dragon type. I like them. Getting a Fairy type would be funny since I want to fight Lance, but I’m not really attached to any of the Kanto Fairies.”

“Fairy type?” Gram Gram asked, and I noticed Mama and Papa were looking a little confused too.

“Yeah. Like Jigglypuff. Or Clefairy.”

“Those are just Normal type pokemon.” Papa offered and I shook my head.

“Nope. Fairy type. Did you not know that?” I asked surprised. Had I never mentioned Fairy type pokemon to my parents?

“Pfeh. Professors try to create new types all the time. Usually it’s just a weird Pokemons ability.” Gram Gram offered but I shook my head.

“No Fairy Type is a real thing. They are strong against Dragons. Immune to dragon type moves actually. So they are tough.”

“Really?” Papa asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah! Play Rough is a Fairy move.” I explained and Papa blinked in surprise.

“Huh.”

“I mean… I think Zelos knew about it. So maybe it’s something Unova already recognizes?”

Papa shrugged but Mama looked impressed. “Where did you learn about it Vicky? Did you meet a professor on your journey?”

“No. I mean Ivy captured a Clefairy, and Arcanine likes Play Rough which is super strong against Dragonite.” I lied, with a shrug. “It just makes sense to me.”

Mama didn’t look like she was going to accept that flatly, but Papa came in clutch.

“Do Growlithe have any other Fairy type moves then?”

“No, that’s the only one. But it’s super strong against Dragon types. So that’s always fun.”

“Huh. I’ll have to let Jenny know. That could come in handy if she ever has to deal with an out of control dragon type.”

“Blaine used it on my Dragonite during the match. So I knew he at least knows about it.” That seemed to settle it for Mama as she nodded looking pleased.

“Well that’s all well and good. But back to the task at hand.” Gram Gram demanded. “Any idea what you are going to hunt for Granddaughter mine?”

“I don’t know. I said I want another Dragon type, but other than… Alola?” I wracked my mind. Where else were there Dragon Types? Mostly it was later gen games. Alola had almost all of them, Galar pretty much did have all of them….

But both places were a bit difficult to get to. Maybe we could have an Alola vacation? That actually sounded really fun. I always wanted to go to Hawaii.

But then there was Paldea. Too far…

Wait.

Kitakami. That was supposed to be in the same continent as Kanto and all the ‘Japanese’ locals.

“Has anyone ever heard of a region north of Kanto called Kitakami?” I asked, and that earned a confused look all around as all the adults looked at each other.

“No.” Gram Gram said first. “Why Granddaughter mine?”

“I just… I heard a rumor. Apparently it’s a place locked away by mountains and I might be able to find some rare pokemon there.”

Gram Gram frowned but shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it. You said it’s a region?”

“Well… It might just be a small area. I think it only has like, one town? What was it again?” I muttered trying to remember. “Mossy town? No, that’s not right.” Ugh stupid DLC locations! I only knew about the place because of all the cuties you could capture there!

“Hmm. Never heard of it.” Papa offered but he reached over and ruffled my hair. “But if it’s really a small place then you should talk to the rangers. They travel all over the continent when needed.”

“Oh. That’s a good idea.” I muttered, I would check the internet too when I got back home. Either way I shrugged the thought away. “Anyway. I’m not sure what Pokemon would be a good addition to my team yet. So I think I’ll go exploring for a while. I have two months until the League starts.”

“Hmm. Those two months will disappear quickly, but it is your journey, and you’ve certainly earned the right to do what you feel is right.” Mama told me, reaching out and resting a hand on my shoulder.

“But if you want to leave Kanto on your journey, you’ll need to report it to the League. You need a region pass.” Papa added in. “This Kitakami? You called it? If you want to leave you’ll make a big splash if you actually find anything as well.”

I nodded slowly at Papa’s words. That was a serious consideration as well. If I went there… No. I wasn’t going to play that game. If me finding rare pokemon made people want that pokemon too, then they could go out and catch them or not themselves. That was the whole point of Pokemon. I would just do what I felt was best.

I was going to Kitakami. Decision was made.

“Speaking of splashes… I’ve been in touch with that old bastard Roy. You talked about allowing the clan to manage some of the Milotic.” Gram Gram began and I frowned. The fun atmosphere took a hit, but she noticed and smiled sinisterly. “None of that. I’m not about to let them take advantage of you, my grandchild mine.”

“It’s okay Vicky. Mother has raked the clan over the coals for their request. You’ll like this one.” Papa offered, smiling as well. So I nodded letting Gram Gram continue.

“They bought up a big section of forest near Fuchsia for the Milotics. Planted berry trees and ensured they would have a river run through the area to give them a home. But that’s for them not you. They clan will be managing the site, and will be acting as a stable for your pokemon.” Gram Gram said, smiling in delight.

“Umm. But I want my Pokemon to be at home with me.” I replied but Papa laughed.

“Vicky, there are only so many pokemon we can keep an eye on at a time. With the Milotic, and the Growlithe we are already stretched thin, especially since I work. But since the clan will be upholding a stable for you, that means you can capture far more Pokemon and have them be taken care of while you are away. Of course you can bring pokemon home, but this will mean you can capture more Pokemon.”

“It’s a good thing Vicky. It’s a lot of work to act as a stable, and a lot of responsibility, but with some of the Milotic moving the clan will already be doing so for some of your pokemon. Now they have to do it for all of them.” Mama agreed and I nodded with less hesitation. I guess it would be nice to be able to capture a whole bunch. I had just been thinking about going to Kitakami and finding some rare dragon types. So having space for them would be nice…

Wait. Did this mean I could capture lots of Goomy!? I imagined an entire horde of Goomy all looking cute and derpy! Yes!

“I suddenly feel a chill.” Papa whispered loudly to Gram Gram who laughed at him as Papa shuddered at my big smile.

—--

My feet dangled into the stream as Milotic swam by in a frenzy.

The Fuchsia reserve had been ready for a little bit, and since I was home Gram Gram had said we would be heading there today to settle the Milotic in. The sooner the better in her own words.

They had been waiting for me to come back from my journey to do this, so now it was time.

I just didn’t really want to. Each of the Milotic were my friends. Some liked doing the races. Some would sing songs, and some liked to cuddle up, and I knew them all.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

They were my friends. I didn’t want them to be so far away in Fuchsia.

But when I had called them all together and asked them, some had seemed pretty excited. A new place, bigger with a chance for more Milotic to show up?

I guess not all of the Milotic had paired off. There were a few more girl Milotic than boys in the pond. So the chance to move to a new area and have more Milotic had excited them.

It was just… Sad.

But, the flock would be happier in the long run. I hadn’t seen the stable area the clan had set up, but Gram Gram had talked it up quite a bit. The clan had even gone so far as to plant berry trees in the area.

It kinda showed just how serious they were about it all.

So yeah. I guess I might make some stops to capture more Feebas soon as well. The new stable wouldn’t be limited like our current berry farm by the League. The Clan had basically managed to remove the conservation status as long as they were at the new stable.

On one hand… More beauty noodles.

On the other they would be in Fuchsia.

I sighed as I laid back. The Milotic were still being cute, figuring out who was going to go, as they raced through the stream talking amongst each other.

Then I felt something warm and wet wrap around my leg and a moment later I had happy giggles as Dratini climbed out of the water using my leg as a ladder and landed his face on my chest.

“Hey buddy!” I cooed, pulling him into a hug. He was getting so big! Mama had showed me all the Dratini sheds she had been collecting. I had even okayed the sale of them as well, but that was something Mama and Papa were taking care of.

“Tini! Dra-Dra!” He chirped at me, wiggling until he could coil up on top of me. Rubbing his head against my cheek the whole time.

Dratini was such a happy boy as he greeted me, but then he looked back towards the stream and seemed to ask me a question.

“Tini?”

“Yeah, some of the Milotic are going to a new home. They will still be our friends, and stuff, but they are going to a much larger area. The Ferrous clan will take care of them as well.”

“Tini.” he replied, his ears dipping a little as he gave me big puppy dog eyes.

“I know little buddy, but you’ll be able to see them I promise. I’ll likely have everyone visit all the time. Your Mama can get there in like an hour of flight, so if you ever want to visit it’s not far.”

“Tini. Dratini.” He replied, seeming to try and perk up. So I reached up and tickled him. His happy squeals echoed over the clearing, and more than a few Milotic gave bursts of chiming laughter at the noise.

It was fine. My flock would grow. My Pokemon would be happy and healthy and safe as well. The clan would do well by them and that meant the clan would do well. And despite everything they were family, even if estranged.

“Trouble! You ready?” Papa called and I nodded. Despite it only being a short flight on Dragonite. Papa was driving Gram Gram and I over to Fuchsia for the transfer.

I reached over and grabbed my backpack. Considering we were moving the flock, there was only two options. Transport them to a pokemon center in Fuchsia and pick them up, or since home was my stable. Take the Pokeballs and make the trip ourselves.

Of course to do that, we had to get League permission first, which we had done.

“Alright! It’s time my beauties! Who is going to the new home?” I called out and there was a rush before the Milotic popped out right in front of me.

Six of my cuties. Two pairs, and the two girls that hadn’t found a partner. That meant only four Milotic and my partner of course would still be at home.

“I’ll come see you guys all the time! And if you ever have any trouble I’ll come running! And if anyone is mean you tell me and I’ll beat them up!” I demanded as I rose up and pulled the closest pretty noodle into a hug. Then the others all gathered around cooing happy noises.

“Yeah I know.” I told them. This was a fun adventure for them, and they would be happy, but it still made me sad. I’d have to go capture a bunch of Feebas soon. I did have a savings of some Prism scales to evolve more of them.

“You ready Trouble?” Papa called and I nodded.

“Alright everyone. Time to go.” I pulled the pokeballs out and started returning. Then I hurried to the car. We had to stop to pick up Gram Gram and then drive to Fuchsia.

—--

“It’s… Okay I guess.” I muttered a little petulantly I would admit.

The stable space that the clan had set up was actually pretty beautiful. It even had a little waterfall which I knew the Milotic were going to have a great time with. Sure it was only like five feet high, but that was still enough for them to delight with it.

“I’m glad it meets your expectations Vicky.” Grandpa Roy offered with a smirk that told me he knew I was actually impressed.

A much faster flowing river. A mini waterfall, all winding through a forested space, that looked more natural than our own berry farm. Berry trees were still young. Many of them with sticks and things to help hold them upright, but they would be blooming soon. There was even an underwater cave that was built up, so the Milotic would have a private space they could hide if they wanted.

It was… Wonderful. Honestly.

It just wasn’t home.

“You ready to release them?” Grandpa Roy asked, and I sighed and nodded. Pulling out the balls from my bag.

“Milotic! Go!” I called out throwing Pokeball after Pokeball. Each one released a Milotic into the river.

And every one of them chimed in happiness as they looked around. Some immediately slid out of the river to look around, some diving down.

“They are truly beautiful.” Grandpa Roy offered smiling in delight at their appearance.

“Yeah, they are pretty awesome.”

“Melaney spoke about capturing more?” He prompted and I huffed at him.

“Yeah I’ll go out and catch some more soon.” I offered without saying anything more. I’m not sure if he knew or not, but I wasn’t going to tell him.

“Thank you Vicky. I know you were hesitant to do this. It means a lot to your family.” He said resting a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Oh? We’re family now?” I asked a little sarcastically.

Papa had gotten an interesting reception when we had pulled up to the clan compound.

“Yes. Your father has been reinstated in the clan, which means you are a member in truth.” He offered and I blinked. I hadn’t heard about this.

“When did that happen?”

“A week ago. Your father hasn’t told you?”

“No, but I was busy.” I offered with a shrug. Papa and the clan thing had always been a sore topic. Grandpa Roy reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You are welcome to come to the clan home whenever you like, it’s your second home now too. There is a room being set aside for your family if you need to stay here for any reason, and if you do decide to stay long term a home will be prepared.”

I just nodded, not sure how to feel about that. This place wasn’t home.

One of the Milotic thankfully interrupted as it popped out of the water and called for me.

“Mi! Milo!”

“Yeah? You like it? I’m glad.” I said walking up to him and giving a hug that had him crooning.

“You have a good relationship with them.”

“They’re my friends. I believed in them.”

“I see you are working your magic on my favorite granddaughter.” Gram Gram said as she walked over and Grandpa Roy sighed.

“Big sis…”

“Not a word out of your mouth! Pfeh!” She said but despite the harsh words she walked over and the two hugged.

“You’ll make sure the Milotic and any Pokemon Vicky catches are taken care of?”

“Yes Big Sis. The new stable has already been registered. Any Pokemon over her limit will come here.” He said mostly looking at me as he spoke.

I nodded, a little annoyed by that as well. Yet all I could do was take a deep breath and accept the changes. In the end, it was fine. I could get here pretty quick from Dragonite or Arcanine back in case I needed to.

“Good. Then when Vicky runs off and captures more rare pokemon they will be safe. Kitakami wasn’t it?” Gram Gram asked and I nodded surprised she brought it up, but a moment later I knew why.

“Kitakami?” Grandpa Roy asked, and I looked at Gram Gram surprised she was revealing it so easily. My concern was noted and Gram Gram just smiled and threw me a wink.

“Vicky heard a rumor about a place called Kitakami up in the mountains north of Kanto, south of Sinnoh. She wants to go there, but didn’t know exactly where it was.” Gram Gram offered and then gave her younger brother a look. “You ever heard of it?”

Grandpa Roy looked a little confused for a moment. “No, the name isn’t familiar.”

“Well surely some old maps of the regions have something.” Gram Gram prompted and Grandpa Roy sighed. “I’ll be happy to help look into it. Little Hime is a ranger as well. I’ll give her a call see if she knows about it.”

Gram Gram nodded at his words and then just looked at him.

“Ah of course. Yes, I’ll go make the call now.” He sighed with a tired sigh that Gram Gram cackled at.

Gram Gram was scary.

—--

My cousin Hime was actually a pretty cool ranger and didn’t look like a ‘Hime’ at all with her tanned skin and scars from handling dangerous pokemon. Unfortunately she had never heard of Kitakami. So that was a bust.

Grandpa Roy was hosting Papa Gram Gram and I at his main house, showing us to the rooms that were now reserved for us.

I watched Hime head out of the house. Her Persian followed at her heels as I considered what to do.

There was still the internet, but this was not the modern connected interface you expect. It was dialup connections to websites hosted by random people, and good luck finding anything in particular since there was no such thing as a search engine.

But honestly my eyes were constantly shooting over to Papa.

He was outside of the main house, and to my surprise was getting a lot attention. Old women selling things along the main road had all approached him to give him hugs or tug on his cheeks. Men walked by did double takes and then walked over to slap him on the back.

The atmosphere was way more positive than I expected. It made me realize the truth.

This was Papa’s home. Here, where everywhere he went someone called out to him in surprise this is where he was born.

This was Papa’s farm.

I had a sinking feeling I would have to be a lot nicer to… ‘my’ Clan from here on out.

I still wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Being part of a clan, before this, we had just been a family and that was good enough for me.

Then again. I now had lot’s of uncles, and aunties, and cousins, and grandparents. Maybe I would like some of them”

“Sorry about that Vicky.” Grandpa Roy offered cutting through my introspection as he walked up shaking his head.

“I’ll find it one way or another. Even if I have to go exploring.” Besides, I wasn't giving up yet. “You said you had a computer I could use?” I prompted and Grandpa Roy nodded.

“Oh yeah, that box. Never can deal with them myself, but Leo has one for his work. C’mon. I’ll show you where it is.” I followed after, and had to roll my eyes at the fact that Leopold didn’t have his own house. Oh no. He had a section of the main house that his little clan settled in.

Grandpa Roy led me over and then into a study, a nice wooden desk with an old CRT monitor on top.

Well I guess technically it was new.

“Uh… Turning it on is?” Grandpa Roy looked around, but I settled into the desk and just opened the drawer in the desk, finding the tower, and hitting the power button once I was sure it was actually off, and not just in sleep mode or something. “Ah you got it.”

“Yeah computers are simple enough once you get it.”

It took a while to boot up. The weird Pokemon OS loading and whirring and finally it opened.

I ignored the files on the desktop, and opened up the internet. Waiting again as it slowly connected. Grandpa Roy meanwhile had grabbed a chair and dragged it over.

“You don’t have to wait. This could take a while.”

“Nonsense. My Grand Niece is doing the most interesting thing in the whole place right now.” He offered with a wink, and I smiled a little at that despite myself.

FInally the internet connected, and I decided to check maps first.

Of course 90% of all terrain on a map was just darkened out with. ‘We don’t know what’s here, but powerful Pokemon.’ But I typed in Kitakami into the program and after a bit of whirring nothing really popped out.

“Hmm.”

“This is the Kanto maps website so it might be limited.” I offered, closing down that site, and typing in Sinnoh maps instead.

That led me down a goose chase of the internet just refusing to connect to websites in Sinnoh, or only finding old information in Kanto websites.

But eventually I found what I needed from the ‘Kanto Mapping Society’ maine page. Apparently they traveled all over and brought maps from all different regions to update their world map.

I wasn’t able to access the full world map they were working on as I wasn’t a member, but I was able to pull up a very modern looking Sinnoh map.

Immediately I went south out of Sinnoh to see if there was anything listed across the ocean gap between the two landmasses.

There was. Lists of small towns and things on the coast. Places that Sinnoh would interact with some were registered as part of Sinnoh, some weren’t.

But there was no search function for place names. It was more just a digital picture of a map.

So instead, I zoomed in, and started checking roads.

“What are you doing?”

“If Kitakami is here, it has to have roads. Even the most remote place would have a road connecting it out of the area. So I’m just going south into the mountains following each road. Hopefully I can find… Mossui.”

There it was. A road leading through the mountains actually went fully south around a large mountain, and then up a long trail before hitting Mossui town from the south.

“You found it?”

“I found it. That’s Kitakami.” I quickly pulled out my Pokegear thing, and started inputting information.

The actual map function of my GPS ended long before it reached that far north of Kanto, but it did have more than just a map function. I could input the actual latitude and longitude and then… Boom. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it could put me pretty close to the right spot with the GPS system.

I had a direction that would lead me straight to Mossui town.

It was far. Like really far. More than three thousand miles north of Kanto. Through unexplored lands, and regions that had no diplomatic contact with Kanto.

So on Dragonite back, I could probably get there in a few hours of straight flying.

Of course that was if I didn’t have to deal with the true final boss of the Pokemon world.

Bureaucracy.

Traveling regions like Papa had said wasn’t usually recommended. Sure most of the regions north of Kanto were barely considered such a thing. Tiny places, mountain clans, or small city states, that wouldn’t bother me, but not all. Most regions were insular and really didn’t like foreigners traveling through them. Places were still heavily cut off. I mean I was lucky that Mossui was even on a map. Likely the only reason it was on a map was because of trade.

I remember Mossui being big on Rice and Apples. Something they might sell to Sinnoh.

Yet even with all that, the biggest problem might be at home. The Pokemon League might not let me go so far. I might even need to get a pass to go to Sinnoh before I could head to Kitakami from the north.

“Well I know where to go now.” I muttered.

“Huh. You heard about such a far away place?” Grandpa Roy asked and I did my best not to get nervous.

“It’s kind of a long story. But now I at least know it exists for sure.”

“Indeed! What a fascinating thing. You say there are rare pokemon there?” He asked, stroking his chin and I sighed, that was definitely greed in his voice.

“Yeah see the map? The Mountains surround the place, almost cutting it off from the rest of the region. So a lot of pokemon are up in the mountains that you can’t find anywhere else on the continent.”

“Perhaps… Perhaps you could use some company on your journey?” Grandpa Roy probed, and it took me a moment to realize he wasn’t asking for himself of course.

“I think I’d prefer to go solo thanks though.” I demurred but we both knew what he really intended. If I was going to go capture rare pokemon, then the clan could benefit if another clan member also came with to capture more. “I do plan on capturing some pokemon enough to breed them though.” I offered mostly thinking about Goomy of course.

I needed a horde of little slime dragons in my life!

“Well if you are going on a capture spree that’s alright. Maybe another time.” He offered as he rose up. “Give me a little time to speak to some of the League contacts. It won’t be the first time the clan has left Kanto to try and bring back a rare pokemon.” He said and I was surprised at the sudden offer.

I guess… There might actually be a benefit of this whole clan thing.

“Sure.”