Nix woke up in an unfamiliar room. A fragrance of flowers filled the air. He got up from the bed and looked around. Next to the bed was a window, and opposite it was a nightstand. On a nearby sofa, Nix's bag rested alongside RotomDex, which was plugged in and charging. A small closet stood in the corner of the room. The floor was covered in a soft wool carpet. The walls had a smooth texture, resembling a mix of wood and porcelain.

Nix quietly walked over to the sofa and put on his bag. He unplugged RotomDex, who was still asleep, and gently placed it into his bag. Pushing the door open, he saw that he was on the first floor. The door faced a staircase leading down. The flooring had a warm wooden finish. A soothing, familiar melody played softly in the background. He recognized the tune instantly, having heard it countless times in games and TV shows. He knew exactly where he was: a Pokémon Center.

Heading downstairs, Nix felt his bag shake.

“Let me out-roto!” a voice buzzed from inside his bag. Nix set down his bag and unzipped it. RotomDex flew out at high speed, crashing into the ceiling before slowly lowering itself.

“Oh, it was you-roto,” RotomDex said, rubbing the spot where it had hit the roof. RotomDex looked around, scanning the area. “It looks like we are in a Pokémon Center-roto!” it deduced.

“Ah, you are awake, sir! Mr. Eight wanted to meet you. Would you please follow me?” asked a girl in her teens. She was wearing a pink Pokémon Center uniform and carrying a bowl of Pokémon food, which she set down a few doors away from where Nix was. She then returned, gesturing for Nix to follow.

They headed downstairs. To the right were some empty tables, and to the left stood a woman in a Pokémon Center uniform behind a counter.

“Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself,” the girl said, bowing. “I am Ness, a part-time Pokécenter employee. Pleasure to meet you!”

Nix didn't say anything; he just nodded. RotomDex shook its head.

“I am RotomDex-roto! Nice to meet you-roto!” RotomDex said, also bowing to the girl. “And this is Nix-roto. He is a bit shy-roto, please forgive him for his rudeness-roto.”

“Oh, no, no, I wouldn’t dare think ill of an acquaintance of our savior,” she said apologetically, bowing again.

“Savior-roto?” RotomDex inquired as Nix pulled out Starly’s and Pansage’s Pokéballs.

“Mhm! Mr. Eight has saved and helped us countless times! He is the pride of Nutenera!” Ness said happily.

“Nutenera-roto… Nutenera-roto… Nutenera-roto!” RotomDex exclaimed as its screen changed to an information panel. “Nutenera! The town of a hundred acorns! Nutenera is a town that grew around a massive tree called the ‘Tree of Gifts,’ which has been considered holy for a long time! Houses are carved into the giant acorns that fall from this tree. Nutenera offers a large variety of grass and rock type Pokémon. The best time to visit Nutenera is during hot summers due to the Tree of Gifts transpiring, turning the weather to monsoon in just a day! The only day when Nutenera gets a summer is celebrated as the Day of the Sun, and is enjoyed by people of all ages alike!” RotomDex explained, showing pictures of different places on its screen.

Nix hadn’t heard a word. He was more worried about Starly and Pansage. He had already released them both from their Pokéballs and was happy to see them both healthy. As Starly flew onto Nix’s head, Pansage tried to do the same, but its weight pulled Nix down, making him laugh.

“Mhm! You are right! We are in the middle of monsoon right now,” Ness said, leading them outside. She pulled open the glass door, revealing a breathtaking view.

Massive acorns were all around them, some painted and some decorated with flowers. Windows and doors were carved into the shells, paths twisted and turned around these acorn houses, having been built after the homes themselves. People and Pokémon were everywhere. Nutenera was filled with joy.

“Ah! And that is the Tree of Gifts!” Ness exclaimed.

“Where-roto?” RotomDex asked, zooming in, trying to find the tree.

“Uhm, you are facing the wrong direction,” she said. Both Nix and RotomDex turned around. Their jaws dropped in awe.

In front of them, very far away, stood a massive tree. It was so big, it messed up their sense of size. Its trunk stretched to the sky, and its branches were hidden above the clouds. Looking at it, Nix felt he would fall any moment. It was absolutely massive, bigger than anything Nix had ever seen.

The two stayed silent, trying to take the scene in. Both Starly and Pansage weren’t as surprised and were instead playing tag with each other. They had become fast friends. “Skygazing, are we?” asked a familiar voice.

“Ah! Sir! I was just about to bring them to you. You didn’t need to come here yourself,” Ness said, bowing.

“You are Mr. Eight-roto?!” RotomDex asked in shock as it turned around and looked at the man. It was Zrong.

“Yup! Seventh chief of Nutenera, out in the public!” Zrong said. Looking around, RotomDex realized how big of a deal Zrong was. Everyone around them was now looking at them, taking photos of Zrong. He was really famous.

“B-But you are E-Eight?” Nix asked as he turned around. Zrong chuckled.

“Yeah, apparently Four is unlucky or something so they all skipped it,” he explained, lending his hand out. Starly sat on it without hesitation. “Well, you guys gotta follow me now. There are some things I need to sort out,” he said, gesturing for them to follow. Starly returned to Nix’s head. “You should go back before Kenny gets angry,” he warned Ness. Bowing again, Ness went back into the Pokécenter.

The weather that day was nice. Even though it was supposed to be monsoon season, there weren't many signs of rain. As they roamed the paths, people came to Zrong for autographs, which he signed happily. He was loved by everyone.

Following Zrong, Nix finally reached another acorn, which was probably the largest in the town. It was double the size of an average acorn home. A sign hanging on the door read, “My property.”

“Come in!” Zrong said, opening the door. Inside was a big hallway, branching off into two spiral staircases that went to the first floor.

There were a lot of doors and the place felt cramped with how much junk there was lying around.

“P-Pardon the i-intrusion,” Nix said as he entered the house. He went to the main hall and quietly sat down on an empty sofa.

Zrong jumped on the sofa Nix was facing and yawned. A lot of green-colored Pokémon came out of their hiding in his house and rushed onto Zrong.

“Petilil! Bulb Pokémon! Grass type! The leaves on its head are highly valued for medicinal purposes. Dry the leaves in the sun, boil them, and then drink the bitter decoction for remarkably effective relief from fatigue,” RotomDex narrated.

“These little guys keep getting in here somehow. I swear they keep growing in numbers too,” Zrong complained as all of the Petilils crowded up on him, creating a Petilil mountain, with Zrong’s face sticking out.

“They like you a lot-roto!” RotomDex said. Nix nodded.

“It’s really annoying though. I come home every night and find all of the food missing,” he said, getting the Petilils off him. From one of the rooms, Zrong’s Charizard walked out. It looked at Zrong for a moment then let out a small roar. The Petilils got scared and went back into hiding.

“Thanks, bud!” Zrong said, patting Charizard as it came and stood next to Zrong’s sofa. “Now, didn’t he say he would arrive by twelve?” Zrong said to himself, checking his phone. Nix looked at a clock on the wall; it read one-thirty in the afternoon.

“What did you need to sort-roto?” RotomDex asked Zrong.

“Yeah, could you guys wait for a bit? This dude got lost trying to come here,” Zrong said, jumping off the sofa and bolting out the door. Nix sat in silence.

“What a weird person-roto,” RotomDex remarked.

Starly flew off from the top of Nix’s head and went to Charizard, with Pansage following closely behind. It looked like the three were talking with each other.

Stolen novel; please report.

From behind where Nix was sitting, a small head of a Petilil poked out.

“Peti?” it inquired, looking at Nix. Nix turned to look at the Petilil. They both stared at each other for a while.

“What are you doing-roto?” RotomDex asked, lowering itself. The Petilil quickly hid again somewhere behind the sofa.

“I did say ‘Large one’. No one here calls me Zrong, idiot!” a voice came from outside the door. The door flung open, and in walked Zrong, with Clart following closely behind him.

“Alright, 'Mister Eight'. It would have been better if you just sent me your location,” Clart replied, annoyed. He was wearing a new Hawaiian shirt.

Nix stood up and bowed. Starly flew over and swirled around Clart.

“Oh, look at that! You two have grown so much in just two days!” Clart exclaimed, putting down his suitcase. The Pansage also went to greet Clart. “And a Pansage too! Way to go, Nix!” He cheered, patting Nix’s head. Nix nodded cheerfully. He himself was surprised by how much had happened in the last two days.

“Professor Clart-roto!” RotomDex greeted Clart.

“Hey there big guy!” Clart said, high-fiving RotomDex.

“You still go super sugar, right?” Zrong asked, heading to the kitchen.

“Yeah! All the sugar in the world, baby!” Clart replied, slumping onto the sofa Nix faced.

“What about you, kid? You gonna drink milk or something?” Zrong asked. Nix shook his head. He hated drinking milk.

“Oh well,” Zrong said as he entered the kitchen. The noise of clinking and clanging started coming from in there.

“So, how has it been?” Clart asked, smiling.

“I-It was very f-fun!” Nix said cheerfully. RotomDex nodded.

“Is that so? Good for you!” Clart said, laughing. Starly and Pansage were using Clart as their playground.

From outside, a pitter-patter sound filled the house. It was the monsoon. Water seeped in through an open window.

“So that’s where they were all coming from!” Zrong said, carrying two mugs with him and a small packed juice can. He set them down on a table, then shut the window. He then sat down next to Clart.

"So uh, here’s the thing," Clart began, sipping his ultra-sweet coffee. "There were readings of ‘Fication’ coming from you when Zrong got to you.”

“Yeah, heavy ones at that. I thought it was from those robot punks, but it’s still faintly coming off you,” Zrong said. “Let me just get to the point.” He leaned forward. “Did you meet a Ficated Pokémon?”

Nix was completely lost. He didn’t understand a thing they said.

“Fication-roto? What’s that-roto?” RotomDex asked with its ‘Notes’ screen open.

“What? They don’t show it on TV anymore?” Zrong asked, slouching back. He looked confused.

“They took it down after a request from Julang years ago,” Clart explained, taking another loud sip. “So, you gotta explain it to them, I believe.”

“Okay! It goes something like this. There’s this thing called ‘Genation’,” Zrong explained. “You guys have seen it before, right?” he said, pointing at Charizard, who was somehow sleeping while standing. Nix nodded.

“You’ve got your Infernogenation, Aerogenation, Sodogenation, and whatnot. They basically power up your Pokémon’s Type moves.” He explained. He glanced at Nix, who looked very lost.

“Argh! Skipping the details, the Pokémon basically become stronger temporarily. ‘Fication’ is a branch of Genation, but a really dangerous one. A Pokémon which has Ficated suffers a lot. So, as second-ranking officer in Blacklist-Band, I want you to tell me, where did you come in contact with a Ficated Pokémon?” he said. Nix took it all in, staying silent. RotomDex noted all that he had learned.

“How would you differentiate a Ficated Pokémon from a Genated one-roto?” RotomDex asked, curious.

“Anything out of the ordinary. Way too strong, way too fast, way too big, you name it,” Zrong said.

Nix and RotomDex looked at each other. They both knew exactly who they were talking about.

“S-Steelix!” Nix said.

“Decidueye-roto!” RotomDex exclaimed.

They both had said this at the same time. They looked at each other again.

“No-roto. The Steelix was the same as my data suggested-roto,” RotomDex said with its screen turning to its gallery. Images of the Decidueye popped up. “This is the one-roto! It was a lot taller and had insane speed and power-roto!”

“Decidueye, huh? Sodo maybe?” Zrong asked, looking at Clart, who nodded in agreement. “You got any leads?”

Clart pulled out his phone and typed something. The whole room was silent except for the snores of Charizard.

“Yeah, only one recorded F-Decidueye,” Clart sighed. “Gorgon had it.”

“GORGON?!” Zrong yelled as he stood up. The Pansage on his lap fell on the floor head first and started crying. Charizard also woke up and tried to calm it down along with Nix. Zrong apologized and sat back down, patting Pansage back to sleep.

“Gorgon? Didn’t he leave Wrockled ages ago?” Zrong began. “Did you guys meet Gorgon?” he asked Nix. Nix shook his head.

“The only person there was Dean-roto,” RotomDex said. “Easy to fake names,” Clart said. “Where did you meet him?”

“It was in the forest-roto. There was a whole village of treehouses for Pokémon-roto!” RotomDex said.

“I think we took the same path. Didn’t find no treehouses. That entire forest was made by Julang, you know. How do you think anyone would sneak in there without him knowing?” Zrong said.

“Storm your brain, Smart guy. Wasn’t there anything that could lead back to Gorgon?” Clart asked. “How did you guys get to the foundry in the first place?” he asked Nix.

“T-” Nix began.

“Of course! The Steelix! It went back to where its Pokéball was! I didn’t see it walk off, so it must have used Dig. If we could just find the hole it used, we could trace it back to Gorgon,” Zrong concluded. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Get a squad of five. I’ll lead. We're going for Gorgon,” he said into the phone as he walked into one of the rooms. Charizard followed him.

“What is happening-roto?” RotomDex asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Leave some things for the grown-ups, 'kay?” Clart said, smiling. “Well, judging by how it usually goes, you are going to participate in the gym challenge, right?” Clart asked. Nix nodded. He had always planned on challenging gyms and becoming the “Cool guy”, so that people would not bully him as much.

“Well, you are in the wrong place for now. Here, your final Gym battle will take place. You will fight Zrong himself here. You should come back with me to Nictopho Town. That’s where everyone starts their first Gym run,” Clart explained.

“Zrong is the Gym Leader-roto?!” RotomDex asked, surprised.

“Oh yeah, he is. He will annihilate you if you aren’t careful. But that’s a long time away,” Clart said. Nix nodded. He was getting all fired up.

“You leaving for Nictopho?” Zrong asked, exiting the room and entering back into the hall.

“Yeah, I’ll be taking him with me too,” Clart said, pointing at Nix.

“Welp, safe travels, I guess. I’ll take care of this mess; you go and be the person I’ll enjoy fighting against!” Zrong said cheerfully. Nix nodded. “Good luck, don’t let the ghosts bite!”

Nix and Clart exited the house. The rain outside had stopped. It had gone dark, even though it was still the afternoon.

“What was that about ghosts-roto?” RotomDex asked.

“No spoilers from me!” Clart said, laughing. They both walked to another acorn which had been painted blue with white stripes. It was the entrance to a train station.

Nix and Clart entered. They got tickets for Nictopho Town and waited for the next train. The entire station was underground.

While waiting, Nix pulled out another of the packed lunches Oranguru had given him and ate it all. They got onto the train shortly after he was done eating.

Nix instantly fell back asleep once he sat down.

“Is Zrong also a professor-roto?” RotomDex asked Clart.

“Oh, yeah, he used to be one. He was my assistant for some time. He left saying he wasn’t built for this work. He then joined the Blacklist-Band and climbed the ranks like it was nothing,” Clart explained.

“What is the Blacklist-Band-roto?” RotomDex inquired.

“You don’t need to fret your little head on it. Go get charged up. Nictopho is usually one hell of a ride for rookie trainers,” he chuckled.

“On it-roto!” RotomDex said as it plugged itself into the charger and shut down.

Clart scrolled through his phone. He received another call from Zrong. He waited a bit, then picked it up.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Clart answered.

“We found the hole, but it’s deeper than we thought. Might take a while to dig through and see where it leads,” Zrong said.

“Alright, keep me posted. We’re on our way to Nictopho. Any more info on Gorgon?” Clart asked.

“Nothing yet, but I’ve got a feeling he’s hiding something big,” Zrong replied.

“Like he wasn’t back then,” Clart said.

“You were the one who denied him. Don’t blame it on me,” Zrong replied angrily.

“Whatever. Stay safe out there,” Clart said, ending the call.

He glanced at Nix, who was fast asleep, and smiled. “You’ve got a long journey ahead of you, kid,” he muttered, looking out the window as the train sped towards Nictopho Town.

And so begins the journey of Nix, to beat all the Gym Leaders!