Well this was kinda awkward.

“My Niece’s travel plans are already there.” Uncle Leopold said bluntly, in a monotone.

Grandpa Roy had done exactly what he said he would. He had set up a meeting with a Pokemon League Official to get me permission to travel out of the region, and more importantly, to go to a place that was well outside of Kanto diplomatic contact.

The fact it was so close to Sinnoh was causing some issues, as Kanto and Sinnoh weren’t on the best terms at the moment.

The league official didn’t say exactly why, but he had used it as an opening argument to try and deny the pass.

“Yes I see that. Mossui town, near the Sinnoh regional airspace.”

“Outside the regional airspace. The land Kitakami is currently an outer territory at best.”

“An unknown territory, to an unknown land. We checked our records after your request, and found nothing on this Kitakami prefecture. It is dangerous to allow a child on their journey to travel so far. Irresponsible one could say.” The Pokemon League official offered.

The man was… Smarmy? He actually kind of reminded me of my Uncle, which made this all the more awkward. The man's suit and tie gave him an impression of an official, but the way he seemed almost too slick made him seem slimy.

“My niece, Victoria Ferrous who just obtained her eighth Star Badge from all the main Kanto Gyms. If such a trainer does not qualify to journey outside the region then no one qualifies.” Uncle Leopold replied equally as smarmy.

Grandpa Roy had somehow put the two of us into a room with the League Official that had arrived at the clan compound that afternoon.

Why? I still had no idea. Because Uncle Leo definitely wasn’t my biggest fan. To my surprise he had through gritted teeth congratulated me on my Star Badges. But hadn’t really said much else to me before leading me into this situation.

“Youth is still a factor.” The official replied, but Uncle Leo shook his head.

“As a trainer on her journey, region passes are considered the norm even if this is an unusual destination. The League has benefited from the Ferrous Clan’s recent discoveries. Discoveries led by my niece. I expect the League will continue to benefit, unless the League wishes to re-evalutate the Ferrous Clan’s working relationship with the League?”

Did… Uncle Leo just threaten the League that stuff won’t be as friendly between them if they kept this shit up?

Okay that was kinda cool, and unexpected. I didn’t expect him to go to bat for me like that.

The official understood the threat as well.

“There is no need for that Leopold. The Indigo League is very happy with the growth of the Ferrous Clan over the last few years. We are simply wanting to ensure that the… Dangers of this request are understood.”

“Olive. The only dangers involved are probably whatever rural fool decides to challenge my niece to a pokemon battle.” Uncle Leo replied with a sarcastic edge. “Unless you believe some barely on the map rural town will have dangers equal to the great Kanto Gym Leaders? Including Blaine?”

“No, of course not! I am confident young Victoria will be safe on her travels… But it’s not only direct danger that the League is worried about. Diplomatic issues could stem from such a trip.” Olive? Was that the man's name? He hadn’t introduced himself, as he seemed to already know Uncle Leopold and the two had instantly gotten into it when they sat down.

Also he was lying. He had just tried to argue it was dangerous for me since I was young like thirty seconds ago. Were we supposed to just pretend he hadn’t said that?

“We have confirmed that the territory is not a part of Sinnoh? Not even one they proclaim ownership of, without actually controlling did we not?”

“We did. It’s too far out in the mountains for Sinnoh to have any interest in, but-”

“Then any diplomatic issues can be safely handled by the Indigo league diplomatic corps can it not? My niece believes there are rare potentially unattributed pokemon in the area. Has the League grown so scared of other regions ‘diplomatic’ responses that we refuse to even attempt to grow stronger?”

Olive sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “Leo. You know that isn’t the case. You know that there is more going on right now than the League is revealing. Things are quiet on the surface, and we are trying to keep it that way. Kanto has already gained a few massive advantages over the last few years, and young Victoria is a person of interest. There are concerns.” Olive offered and Uncle Leo just scoffed.

“My niece could go and capture Pokemon in Kanto and still wipe the floor with any of the Johto braggarts. Letting her do this, should be of no concern. The Ferrous Clan believes this to be an important matter for the growth of my Niece.” And the clan being left unsaid, I noticed.

“The Ferrous Clans growth has already been a topic the League has catered to.”

“The Ferrous Clan did a favor for the League in that matter.” Uncle Leopold looked to me then. “Making sure the Prism Scale sales continued to grow, and pulling the Milotic out of the danger zone of Viridian City was a favor the Ferrous Clan made to the League.” He explained.

Olive sighed. “It was a shared favor if anything.” Then the man shook it off. “I see that the League isn’t going to be able to stop this. Very well. The Indigo Pokemon League will approve the region pass request for Victoria Ferrous. Under a few stipulations.”

“Stipulations are unusual.” Uncle Leopold offered back.

“But required for this. Pokemon captured will need to be examined to ensure that nothing brought back is a protected species. Since this is an unknown region.”

“What nonsense! The protected species clause is only applicable for pokemon captured in that region! Even if Johto, or even Sinnoh complains this is outside their territory!”

“I understand Leo. This is more to ensure that the Silver League doesn’t feel slighted. This regulation has been passed around between the two regions as a new law by both halves of the League, to try and unify the regions further, and ensure there are no surprise pokemon if any conflict does arise.”

Uncle Leo looked to me and I shrugged in response. I honestly didn’t care.

“Very well. We will allow an examination of any pokemon captured out of the region.” Uncle Leopold grit out through almost but not quite clenched teeth.

“Good. Then that is the only restriction the League will request upon return. Of course since Young Victoria is leaving the Pokemon transport system territory, that function will be turned off. Her pokeballs will not teleport back to her stable. She will be responsible for taking care of any captured Pokemon until she returns to Kanto.”

“I understand. I have a Chansey, so that won’t be a problem.”

“Excellent, then let me prep the paperwork, and young Victoria, let me be the first to say that I look forward to seeing what Pokemon you bring to your team. The League is very excited to see your performance this year during the Indigo conference.”

“Uh thanks… Oh, so with this… How easy would it be to have a second region pass?”

“Hmm? You wish to bring someone with you? I was under the impression you were going alone.” Olive asked, looking from me to Uncle Leopold who looked at me with a heavy glance.

He probably thought I had changed my mind about Elizabeth coming… Sorry.

“Well nothing locked in, but I have a friend I was thinking about inviting. She’s good with Grass types, and I know there should be a few cool grass type pokemon in Kitakami.”

Olive blinked before smiling. “The League is always looking to support young trainers.”

“If you wish to bring someone, then I am sure Elizabeth would be willing to-” Uncle Leo tried to cut in, but I interrupted.

“I, uh… Was thinking about my friend Ivy actually. Or Zelos? No wait, she’s an Unovan so I don’t think she could. Yeah Ivy.” I offered and Uncle Leo looked like he was going to have an aneurysm.”

“Victoria.”

“Hey, if Elizabeth want’s to go, she could go herself you know? It’s not like I’m the only person with a flying type Pokemon.”

“Most trainers aren’t willing to head so far into the unknown.” Uncle Leo replied and I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Then that sounds like their problem, not mine.”

“Oh I have no doubt that if a discovery of rare pokemon happens, this won’t be the only Kanto Visitors that Kitakami you called it? That they receive.” Olive offered, but then he turned serious. “If you wish to travel with another trainer to Kitakami, please contact me at this number, and I will set up the request, be aware it might take a few days to approve.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Gotcha. I’ll uh… Go ask her then.”

“Right after you sign this.” Olive interrupted pushing a whole pile of paperwork at me.

Humans really did ruin pokemon with bureaucracy.

—--

“You want me to what!?”

“Travel with me out of the region to a whole new place where no one in Kanto has ever seen or heard of to capture rare and powerful pokemon!” I cheered into the phone.

“Vicky, what?” Ivy asked, sounding super confused. It hadn’t taken me long to get in touch with her, funnily enough Ivy had finished her gym challenge as well. Without all the nonsense that Ash and Co. got up to, she had blitzed through the gyms in a normal length of time, and was now home preparing for the Indigo conference.

“It’ll be fun!”

“Vicky, that's crazy! What about all the wild Pokemon whose territory we will have to travel through? I don’t look forward to facing a swarm of Pidgeot or something!”

“Dragonite is more than fast enough even carrying both of us. We’ll be in Kitakami in a few hours… Well, if you want to come.” I said calming down from my good cheer. “If you don’t want to come I don’t want to pressure you, but I figured you would appreciate the offer. There are a lot of grass types there. Pokemon we don’t see in Kanto.”

The line was quiet and I heard some shuffling, before a quiet voice whispered in. “What kind of grass types?” She asked quietly, and I grinned because I knew I had a traveling companion!

Eat that Ash! You might deal with crazy shit, but I’m traveling into the unknown wilds!

“I can’t confirm exactly which ones but, like a lot actually. Ghost grass types, a few pure grass types-”

“Okay fine I’m in. Do you have any idea how rare it is to find a pure Grass type?”

“Uhh. Tangela? I think that’s it that’s native to Kanto… Johto has a few, including Chikorita.”

“Aaaaah!” Ivy made a moaning noise of want. “If I could have a Chikorita! Is there Chikorita there Vicky? Please tell me there is!”

“I actually don’t think there is. Sorry.”

Ivy blew a sigh into the receiver. “It’s fine. Besides! You know I catch more than just grass type pokemon Vicky! Just because my family raise Bulbasaur!” Ivy suddenly shifted yelling at me for teasing her about grass types.

I mean… It had nothing to do with her family, Ivy was just obsessed with them.

“Of course. How is Ivysaur doing anyways?”

“Venusaur! He evolved while I fought Giovanni! It was an amazing match Vicky you should have seen it. Giovanni threw out this amazing Nidoking and Venusaur lifted herself up and landed right on top of him knocking him flat! He might not be strong enough to move around much with his vines anymore, but they are still way stronger than normal!”

“Whoa. That would be a nasty Takedown. Amazing!”

“It was! Knocked the Nidoking right out! Venusaur was so proud!”

“That’s awesome Ivy. I want to hear all about your gym battles. But first… You coming to Kitakami with me?” The line went silent and then I heard something I didn’t expect. Ivy almost cursed!

“Shoot! Yes. I’ll talk to my parents, I’m coming! If I die or something I’ll haunt you!”

“Okay let me give you a number. This is Olive the Pokemon League guy. He is the one approving the region pass. So you’ll need to call him. Just tell him you are joining me. He’ll have some paperwork to sign… So much paperwork.” I whispered the last part in terror.

“Okay! I’ll do it now. I have to convince my Mom first.”

“Good luck.”

“Actually I think I’ll need it.”

—--

The car ride back to Viridian had been nice. But right after we dropped off Gram Gram, Papa took a bit of a longer route back.

“Trouble? Are you sure about this? I support your wanting to travel, you’ve certainly earned that from how well you’ve done. But this could be dangerous. You’ll be far from anyone you can call on for help.”

“I’m sure.” I decided to be firm. Papa sounded a little scared. “I’ll have my team with me. Three pokemon that I can ride away from danger if I have to, and I won’t even be alone! Ivy is coming along. But… More than that? I really want to do this. There are more Pokemon in the world than just what I can find in Kanto. This might be the best chance I have to find a few pokemon that I’ve wanted to find for a while. If I can convince them to join me anyways.”

“Heh. I think You’ll be able to handle that part. Just… Be careful. Promise if something starts getting dangerous you’ll get out of there. Come home.”

“I promise.”

“Then go out there Vicky, and capture all the pokemon you’ve ever wanted.” He said and I laughed at the pride in his voice.

It was kinda fun to have a family that really believed in you. We parked at home, and before Papa could get far away I stomped in front of him with my arms up, and only let him walk into the house once I was snuggled up to his broad back as he piggy backed me into the house.

—--

“You got everything?”

“I’m double checking the list right now.” I told Mama as I had everything that was in my bag strewn across the floor of my room.

A lot of it was food.

Pokemon in Pokeballs were in a form of stasis so in an emergency they wouldn’t need to eat, but that was kinda unfair, and all of my team liked running around during breaks and things.

But I had washed and repacked my clothes. Stocked back up on potions and other medical supplies even if Chansey had most of that covered, you never know.

And finally while at the Pokestore I bought Pokeballs.

A lot of them.

All the pokeballs!

I had no idea how many Pokemon I was going to capture, but just like when I had captured the Beedrill Swarm, I was gonna be ready in case of a Goomy swarm.

They would all be mine!

“Mwahahahaha!”

“No sinister laughter in the house.” Mama called out from the doorway well used to dealing with my nonsense.

“Yes Mama. I think I got everything. Enough food for a month for my team, and then some. Including extra berries of all types in case I meet a new friend with different tastes.” I rattled off.

“Okay okay. I believe you. You always were good at preparing… When are you meeting with Ivy?”

“Soon. She is saying goodbye to her family, once she is done she’ll call me up, and Dragonite and I will pick her up… Then it’s all set. Pokeballs are no longer locked into the transfer service.” I said, patting my team locked into my new pokebelt.

Papa had surprised me with a belt that had a much better lock function. Instead of being locked into place on my hip, there was now a new piece of leather that hung down in a cool sling look that had the balls attached to it.

It looked really cool!

“Vicky. Be safe. Be kind to the people you meet. Wherever you travel, that’s going to be their home.” Mama said and I paused to look up at her.

“I know. The first thing I’m going to do is visit the town and talk to the people there. Make sure they don’t freak out.” Mama nodded at my answer and walked in pulling me into a hug.

“I love you Vicky. Come home safe.”

“I will. I’ll have my whole team with me! Nothing will bother us. Can you imagine some random pokemon picking a fight with Dragonite? Or Arcanine?”

“It’s not the one or two pokemon I worry about. It’s the dozen that all attack at once. Wild swarms don’t follow rules. So keep your eyes open.”

“I will.” Mama nodded and before she could say anything more the phone rang.

“That’s probably Ivy!” I called, running out of my room to get it.

“Ferrous Residence!”

“Vicky! Okay! I finally got my Mom to stop crying. I’m ready!” Ivy called out breathlessly with a sense of excitement shown through every word.

“Okay give me five minutes. I’ll be on my way!”

I hung up and turned and Mama was there. Eyes looking tearful.

“Mama.”

“No, don’t you’ll be home soon enough. Go. Vicky finish packing and go. Come home safely.”

“I will.” I ran into my room gathering everything up and storing it in my bag, double checking it was all in order before rushing out the house.

“Bye! I love you!” I rushed past Mama giving her a hug and then to Arcany to scratch him under the chin then out the house. “Dragonite!”

“Draaa!” She cheered, stretching for a moment before nodding to me. She knew what was going on after all. Then we were off. Blasting through the air at incredible speeds, and then in seconds we were landing in Ivy’s front lawn.

“I’m ready!” My friend called running out of the house.

She had changed up her outfit I noticed.

Ivy had joined me in the big hat club, but she was wearing cute overalls and big boots as well. We actually kinda matched, only instead of my red flannel, Ivy had a cute green hoodie on over her overalls, which matched her green hair.

I didn’t even get down from Dragonite’s back. Just reaching a hand down and pulling Ivy into place, as Dragonite cried out, and then we were in the air once more. Ivy squealed as the ground suddenly disappeared.

“Hold on!” I called out loudly fighting against the wind. Dragonite! That way!” I called out pointing in the right direction.

Then we were off.

—--

Dragonite was mostly a pretty comfortable ride even with how fast we were going. The wind simply parted for her in passing, and turbulence was a non issue. The only negative was the cold. We were really high up, to avoid any territorial pokemon, or people. And it was heckin cold!

I probably should have put on the heavier jacket before leaving.

“Wow.” I heard Ivy whisper behind me. Now that we were stable the wind had almost a bubble around us, letting us hear each other much more clearly.

Far down below was the valley in between a set of mountain ranges we had just flown over. There so far below we could barely see was a river leading to a small lake, but it looked very picturesque from up here.

“Ever gone flying on a Pokemon before?” I asked her, looking over my shoulder as she still clutched tightly to me despite how easy the flight was.

“Never!” She said with a wide smile.

I just grinned in delight at that. While I wasn’t going to force her into some death defying flight this time. I would have to go up with Ivy another time to really let Dragonite let loose.

“We should be getting closer! Keep an eye after this next mountain, we are looking for roads, or rice paddies!” I called out and Dragonite and Ivy both responded back. Although I knew Dragonite would spot it long before either of us did. Dragonite had great vision.

The screech of anger pulled all three of our eyes over.

An entire pack of Fearow were screeching at us. Four of them, with Spearor in support all flying in formation, but I could hear Dragonite’s scoff under me, so I relaxed too.

“Vicky!?”

“It’s okay Ivy.” I called back although that didn’t reassure the girl until she noticed the same thing I did.

Dragonite was already pulling well away from the Fearow that were struggling to catch up, and were falling behind more and more.

That would have been a nasty battle for anyone traveling without a Dragonite or something equally powerful.

I imagined someone with a Fearow of their own trying this and getting attacked by four pokemon…

Yeah no wonder people were worried about traveling through unknown areas. “That was scary.” Ivy whispered into my back and I nodded.

“It’s okay. Our Pokemon are powerful. And if we have to, we can always jump off Dragonite to let her fight better.”

“What!? Vicky I am not jumping off!”

“I’m not saying we have to, or should. Just that we could if we needed Dragonite to body some stupid Fearow.” Blue Heart would be right there to catch us after all.

“Never!” She screamed in my ear, which was a bit of an overblown reaction if you asked me.

—--

“That’s it.” I said looking down. The GPS on my map told me I was in about the right spot, and we were. Down right at the base of the stupidly big mountain was a huge amount of rice paddies, and apple orchards.

I recognized the purposeful line of trees even from a distance as something man made.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. Mossui town, and look! See! I told you this place was cut off!”

There was exactly one road which was a dirt road heading south out of the small group of buildings at the base of the mountain. It ran through the forest and then up around, again and again up the mountains that surrounded the entire area.

Kitakami was basically one huge mountain range all around a valley, with another even larger mountain in the center.

But all around the base of the mountain were massive forests, and lakes. It was the perfect place for Pokemon to avoid human contact. The very Rural human town was tiny compared to the grand area of the valley. Hell 99% of the human area was rice fields, and orchards.

The humans probably kept to themselves, and the Pokemon likely did the same.

“Yeah.” Ivy whispered, and I nodded.

We were here, and it was time.

“Dragonite! Let’s land just outside of town on the road! C’mon Ivy! It’s time for an adventure!” I called out in delight, also it would be nice to be on the ground. My hands were super chilly!