“Mud.”

“Kip.”

“Mud.”

“Kip.”

Zoroark found herself staring at two amphibious Pokemon speaking nonsense to each other on a small piece of land in the middle of a body of water. The quadrupedal creatures were blue with lighter blue underbellies and orange gills on the side of their face. Their beady eyes stared at nothing as they seemingly spoke nonsense at each other, the act going on for as long as Zoroark had seen them.

“Mud.”

“Kip.”

They were also trapped in a flat black box of some sort. Zoroark stood in front of it, searching for how the two Pokémon got themselves trapped inside. She and Volo were currently in a “pawn shop” towards the center of the town, after Volo had spoken to a few people and received directions to the place. Apparently, this was the only place that they could sell to and receive the “money” with no questions asked due to everything being “digital”. She, of course, remained silent and watched the interactions. This led to them being directed here so Volo could get an evaluation of his items and possibly exchange them for currency that would allegedly be useful for their needs. The man in question was at a counter a few feet away in the cramped building, an assortment of interesting items she’s never seen populating nearly every surface. She would have to ask Volo what some of these things were.

She was most curious about the box, as it appeared capable of trapping Pokémon inside it. Such a devious device it was. She needed to find out its weakness as soon as possible to avoid ending up in a similar situation as the two Mudkip, the two amphibians clearly driven insane and delirious. She reached an illusionary hand forward and-

“Don’t touch the TV! You break it, you buy it!” the graying and bald man speaking to Volo yelled out, breaking their conversation to stop her. Volo whispered an apology on her behalf, likely thinking she wouldn’t hear it. She let out a low growl but quickly controlled it, not wanting to raise suspicion.

She would need to figure out another way to understand what this “TV” does. She briefly considered investigating under the guise of an illusion, but she hesitated on the idea when she looked at the corner of a room. Seated comfortably on top of the counter and staring at her with lazy half-open eyes was a gray feline with a helix-shaped tail. Its muzzle and the tip of its ears were white, as were its small paws. Despite seeming innocuous, Zoroark couldn’t help but see a keen intellect and interest on the Pokémon’s behalf. It probably heard her snarling.

Fortunately, it seemed they would leave soon. Volo and the man came to some sort of arrangement, shaking hands before Volo pushed forward a small and rough orb made of gold, as well as an assortment of stones with unique properties. The blonde man was then handed green papers of some sort stacked one over the other by the older human. He took a moment to look over the paper before offering the man a pleasant farewell. He lifted his now visibly lighter bag and made to leave the store. Zoroark offered the TV one last glance before she followed Volo.

“What was that?” she immediately asked, her distress evident. They began walking down the main road leading through the town, a variety of people out and about. “It had two Pokémon trapped in it.”

“Apparently, it was a TV. And you weren’t supposed to touch it,” Volo drily replied, earning a frown from Zoroark’s illusion. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders after a moment. “Can’t say what it was or what it does, but I saw one behind the counter that showed the inside of the shop with all of us in it.”

Zoroark panicked for a moment, disturbed by that.

“I think it’s some sort of way to monitor people and Pokémon. On the way out, I saw something hanging in the corner that looked like it would give the right angle for what I saw,” Volo quickly and quietly added, trying not to be overheard by the growing crowd of people.

Zoroark felt slightly relieved, though a different sort of disturbed returned after a moment. So, either those Mudkip were trapped somewhere and driven to madness or… They were always like that.

Fortunately, she didn’t have time to dwell on those thoughts. Her eyes drifted to the people and Pokémon walking along the street. There were only a few dozen but they often glanced at the clear outsiders. Their clothes were vastly different to what Zoroark’s and Volo’s were, the designs simplistic and offering many layers. Form-fitting pants and shirts seemed to be the norm here, regardless of gender. There were other choices in the crowd as well, such as skirts that left the legs exposed and shorts that did something similar. To say they stood out because of their fashion wouldn’t be wrong. A part of Zoroark approved of their fashion, however. It was certainly more interesting than what Volo wore.

Zoroark would have been more worried if they were paying attention to her alone, yet it looked like more people were staring at Volo. Quiet whispers a normal person would most likely barely hear came from the people in groups or pairs. Fortunately, she wasn’t a normal person.

“Is that Cynthia?”

“Who’s she with?”

“That’s not Cynthia. It’s clearly a guy. You can see a bit of a stubble. Besides, isn’t she in Galar?”

“It might be her brother?”

“I don’t think Cynthia has a brother. Maybe its her cousin or a distant relative?”

“Maybe we should-“

Zoroark frowned as what she heard became less and less coherent and useful. She stepped forward next to Volo and began to whisper. “People are saying you look like ‘Cynthia’.”

“Yeah, I heard some of them too. They aren’t being very discreet about it,” the man replied, a strained look on his face as he kept his eyes forward, clearly not enjoying the attention he was getting. “I don’t know much more than you on any of this. All I can say is we stand out too much.”

Zoroark decided to return to silence. The comments continued as they moved through the town, yet she could only gleam a minimal amount of information from them. Nothing that was too pertinent to her, unfortunately. She was confident that she looked good, at least, given a few of the odd remarks.

Eventually, they reached a white building with a red roof and a large glowing sign that, upon closer inspection, appeared to be a Poke ball. Or at least some sort of symbol meant to represent one. This was apparently the medical building for Pokémon. That struck her as odd, as last she recalled humankind were not too fond of Pokemon. Even if they changed for a bit, she was certain it would be, at best, a temporary thing. It seems she was wrong.

Zoroark frowned, not seeing any obvious doors like they had with the other buildings. Volo, however, confidently guided her along to where the road linked with the building, the man seeming to trust human design. Two glass panes opened automatically without prompt. She hesitated at the sight, not sure if the building was some sort of trap or haunted. Volo merely paused for a moment, seeming to analyze the situation. After a moment, he pressed on and went inside the building. After seeing the blonde man walk in and nothing happen, Zoroark followed suit. It would take time for her to get used to humanity and their new devices, but at least she could let Volo be her bait.

The pair came upon an open space with tiles built into the floor with a Poke ball design in the center of the room. In the nearest corners were lounging spaces with more TVs, the object clearly a staple in human needs.

A group of people were watching the TV in one corner, clearly absorbed in the oddly angled battle on the screen. Some of them glanced their way but paid them no heed, though one person did a double take at seeing Volo and more whispers begun among the group once they pointed the blonde man out, a strained smile coming over his face as he ignored them. He clearly didn’t like being recognized or mistaken for someone else.

Two flights of stairs were along the furthest corners of the room, leading to a second story. There was also a pathway leading to another large open space, the smell of food wafting through the air from there.

A large desk was located at the back, a woman with pink hair tied into two rings behind her head standing behind it. The woman wore a pink uniform that evoked thoughts of an oval-shaped helpful Pokémon Zoroark had encountered on a few occasions. The woman offered the pair a smile and spoke in a practiced yet polite tone. “Welcome to the Pokémon Center. How may I help you today?”

Volo took a moment to step forward, the man’s eyes widening slightly at the sight of the woman as though he recognized her. The look vanished as quickly as it appeared, however. “I’m here to get assistance with a severely injured Pokémon. I was told this is the place to go for that.”

The woman looked at him oddly, the man clearly having said something bizarre in her mind. “It is,” she hesitantly stated, seeming uncertain if the man was serious or not. “Is this your first time in a Pokémon Center?”

“It is,” Volo replied as he reached for the pouch attached to the large bag on his back. He pulled out of it a single Apricorn ball. “I have a Togekiss in dire need of medical treatment. I am willing to pay however much is necessary to help it.”

Once more, the woman looked at the man oddly, her eyes looking down at the Poke ball and staring at it quizzically. Zoroark had stepped forward to watch the exchange, standing aside so she could get a good view of things. It seems they were out of their depth and standing out, given they had further caught the interest of the humans sitting away by having odd questions. The group was unsubtle in their spying.

“All Pokémon treatment is free,” the woman behind the desk eventually replied. As she did, a large oval shaped Pokémon that Zoroark recognized stepped out from behind a set of doors. The Chansey spoke its namesake, clearly curious about what’s going on.

“Just a first-timer situation Chansey, nothing to worry about,” the pink haired woman told the blob. “You must be an old-fashioned trainer to have never come to a Pokémon Center. My name is Nurse Joy, and this is Chansey. We can take Togekiss and provide the best care possible to her. We’ll just ask you stick around so we can keep you updated and in case we have any questions.”

“I see,” Volo simply replied.

“Then please hand over your Pokémon so we can treat it.” Nurse Joy said as she held both her hands out to receive the Poke ball.

Volo hesitated. His hand remained tight on the ball and his brows were creased in thought and worry, the man clearly second guessing himself. The nurse tilted her head in confusion as she stared at the man, clearly uncertain as to what she should do.

“Give her the Poke ball,” Zoroark spoke up with a sigh after watching, causing both humans to turn to her. “You can trust them.”

“Chanse,” the blob said determinedly with a nod and small hands raised, its brows creased in determination. If there was any Pokémon you can trust to help then go on its merry way, it was a Chansey. That much, Zoroark knew from experience.

Volo stared at her. After a moment, he nodded his head and calmed himself, a smile forming. He then dropped the ball into the woman’s outstretched hands, the woman smiling in turn and bowing her head. “I apologize,” Volo spoke up. “I’m a little overprotective.”

“I understand. It’s never easy to trust others with a Pokémon you hold dear,” the woman replied as she handed the Poke ball to Chansey before looking to Zoroark and giving her a quick thanks. The pink blob carefully carried the ball back through the doors it had emerged from, Volo watching it step away with evident worry despite seeming to have calmed down.

It was good to know the man seemed to genuinely care about his Pokémon. It eased some of her worries about their current arrangement. Volo stepped away from the desk after thanking the nurse and turned to look at where he could wait. He went to unoccupied corner of the room and sat down on the inbuilt seating, which was some sort of long bench with a back. Likewise, Zoroark made her way over and sat diagonally to him.

Oh, this was oddly comfortable. She squeezed the padded seating with her claws and frowned when she left a small claw mark, her eyes darting around to make sure no one had noticed. Fortunately, the only one to have noticed was Volo. Unfortunately, he seemed amused by her mistake. She nearly lashed out at the man but caught herself. It would be stupid to lash out at a human for something a Zorua would just as easily do.

She thought on the pack for a moment. Even before being brought here, it had been a little over a week since she had seen them. She began to wonder what they were up to right now yet realized the futility of the thought. They weren’t around right now.

“Have you thought of a name?” Volo asked, musing her out of her thoughts as he seemed to want to talk to pass the time while he waited.

“Cynthia,” Zoroark jokingly replied, her eyes turning to the TV installed as she leaned back into the comfortable seating. She propped her legs up next to her, leaving them there despite the judgemental look Volo was giving her. She merely smirked in amusement and bared her teeth at him, the taunt being much less effective due to her human disguise. After a moment, she sighed and gave a proper answer. “No, I can’t think of any. If it comes down to it, I’ll make one up on the spot.”

“I’d offer suggestions, but I know you don’t want to hear them,” the man said after a moment as he glanced at the TV, catching a glimpse of some sort of Pokémon battle that neither really understood, the angles and presentation confusing. Both seemed equally unimpressed, however. “You should know names are a pretty big deal to people, so try and have something ready for when it inevitably comes up,” he added.

Zoroark shrugged. She was confident she could manage.

Things became awkwardly silent once more.

“We’re going to have money troubles,” the human eventually threw out, not seeming to want to push further into her affairs. “What I had was far less valuable than I was expecting. I asked about food prices back at the pawn shop and I’m guessing we’ll have enough to last one and a half weeks.”

“I’ve managed so far on my own. I’m not concerned about food,” Zoroark replied. Food was always scarce in the cold, so she knew how to scavenge. In fact, she knew food would be much easier to come by here, given how much of it was growing literally everywhere.

She frowned as she looked at the “TV”. She pointed with an illusionary hand at it, spotting a woman that looked like Volo for a brief moment before it cut back to the Pokémon battle. “I think I found Cynthia.”

Volo turned his attention to the TV, a thoughtful looking coming across his face as he caught sight of a giant white avian Pokémon with an ovoid body. It had red and blue triangular markings along the underside of its body and three spikes along its head, two of the spikes being red and blue like its markings. What struck Zoroark as odd though was the sheer size of the Pokémon, the humans next to it seeming nearly like dots on the screen. It also had a red aura surrounding it.

Volo seemed curious about it, his eyes aptly paying attention. The screen then changed to a woman with a similar face to his own, both having gray eyes and sharp features. Like the man, one of her blonde bangs was covering one of her eyes. His eyes widened and he stared her, leaning his body forward to get an even better look at things. It seemed like other people were noticing the similarity too, given the group of humans on the other side of the room looked over and chattered to themselves. Looks like they were all watching the same thing, somehow. So ‘TVs’ can share what they’re monitoring.

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The Togekiss was fighting some sort of Lucario variant, its coat of fur seeming to be longer than usual and the Pokémon seeming stronger than others of its kind. It seems its owner was a teenager with tan skin and dark hair wearing some sort of hat that blocked the sun from his eyes. That seemed like a smart accessory.

Unfortunately for Volo’s lookalike, the Lucario was absurdly powerful. It shot what appeared to be the largest Aura Sphere she’d ever laid eyes on, Volo likewise impressed by the capacity it was showing. Against her expectations, however, the Togekiss came out less harmed and exhausted than the Lucario. The fight went on from there, somehow absorbing both her and Volo into it.

They followed along despite their initial confusion. Somehow, the Lucario beat the Togekiss then went on to defeat a Garchomp of all things. Zoroark turned her eyes to Volo, finding that there was no doubt this man was related to the woman. They both used near identical teams, from what had been shown of Cynthia’s theme. The only difference is that Volo had an Arcanine and Lucario rather than a Gastrodon and Milotic, whatever those were. Both having a Spiritomb and Garchomp was too absurd to be a coincidence.

Volo leaned back once the fight ended, the victor being the teenager against all expectations. “The blood of ancient Sinnoh runs strong through her,” he quietly commented with an amused smirk. “We truly are destined to always lose against children wielding power beyond their understanding.”

Zoroark raised a questioning brow at that, Volo merely offering her a shrug as a grin was plastered on his face. It looked like he was taking pleasure someone else going through something similar to what happened to him. It’s unfortunate he wasn’t born a Zorua as he would have fit right in with the other brats.

It would also have given her an excuse to hit him on the head a few times, the man clearly needing it.

“You are related, then,” she eventually stated, feeling it was a bit unfair he got to see his kin before she did.

“In a sense. I didn’t have children, so it’s likely a very far away link through countless generations,” Volo quietly and thoughtfully replied, rubbing his chin with his hand. “I have no doubt the link is there, though. It’s likely we’ll eventually cross paths, given she seems to have a large presence here.”

Zoroark hummed at that. It’d be interesting to see, though it would also imply she’d be stuck with the man for longer than she cared for. He was proving useful by absorbing all the attention and letting her go mostly unnoticed. Further, he was making the mistakes she likely would have first, so he was a useful compass. Yet being around people so long and not having a way to properly vent her anger was going to be a problem.

“So where do we go from here?” she eventually asked in a whisper. “I’d like to know what your objective is now,” she continued and leaned her illusion’s form forward, her tone growing quieter as her true self searched for any unwelcomed listeners. Spotting nothing, she continued. “You mentioned fixing what’s wrong with the world. Do you still maintain it needs to be fixed?”

Volo narrowed his eyes and stared at her with a thoughtful expression. His face soon morphed into a look of grim determination; his features set as he offered her a slow nod. “It’s far from the perfect one we could have,” he carefully said, his own eyes searching to make sure he wasn’t overheard. “Yet I can’t argue against the quality of life we’ve seen so far. People are happier, as are Pokémon. At least the ones we’ve seen on the way here and in this town.”

Zoroark slowly nodded her head, somewhat agreeing with what he said. She was hoping he would make a remark about Pokémon battling for what appeared to be entertainment, but she wouldn’t provide that idea herself.

“Yet we haven’t seen the full picture. I need to see more of this world before coming to conclusion. I also don’t hold full say given my reliance on…” he added and broke off, realizing he may have said too much.

“Your reliance on…?” Zoroark asked, leaning herself forward. “You don’t seem to want to mention what you’re relying on.”

“It’s a difficult subject to broach,” the blonde said defensively. “I’d rather speak about it far away from prying ears, but… You’ll get paranoid if I don’t say it, won’t you?”

He let out a sigh and rubbed his face, Zoroark merely staring at the man. “It’s a legendary Pokémon,” he whispered.

Oh.

That raised a lot of questions. How? She couldn’t help but stare in disbelief, keeping her visage as stony as possible. She briefly thought of the shadow she had thought she imagined inside the nightmare realm. The idea it wasn’t a nightmare crept up on her.

It was likely Volo meant something else. That thing wasn’t a legendary Pokémon if it even existed. It was a monster. Something that clearly didn’t belong to this world.

“I see,” she eventually replied, uncertain of where to even broach the subject. Fortunately, she’d have time to think of her questions as someone was approaching them.

Zoroark aligned her illusion with herself and grew silent. She nudged her head towards the oncoming trainer from the other group, Volo turning at her prompt to look at the woman approaching. The blue-eyed woman had pink and curly hair and approached with a confident gait. She wore a thick coat made of something that looked far more comfortable than fur and had an elaborate bow in her hair, along the back of her head. The rest of her outfit was a pair of shorts and shirt that evoked thoughts of poisonous Pokémon to Zoroark. A small black dot was near her chin along her jawline.

“Wow! Just wanted to say I love your whole Cynthia cosplay look! Super high effort, even if I don’t really get the clothes!” she said pointedly to Volo, the woman all smiles. Unfortunately, Volo just seemed confused by what she was saying.

“Thank you,” Volo replied after a moment, a very polite smile forming itself despite his evident confusion. “You have quite the curious look yourself. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he added, Zoroark nodding in agreement.

“Hee hee! Thanks! Been my classic go-to up in Galar since last season, but figure it’d be my go-to in Sinnoh too. Really lets people get my toxic brand, y’know?” the woman ranted energetically.

Unfortunately, Zoroark didn’t really understand anything she was saying. She turned to look at Volo who, despite still smiling politely, was staring at Zoroark from the corner of his eyes and hoping she understood. She offered the man a shrug.

She did understand one thing. Galar was where Cynthia currently was, which meant Sinnoh was probably here. But that doesn’t make sense. Sinnoh is what the humans called the One Above All. Was the woman implying they were inside it currently?

She pondered in thought and Volo seemed lost for words. The silence led the woman to speaking up. “Oh! Whoops. Tots rude of me to intrude and all without a proper intro. I’m Klara, poison-type specialist and minor Gym Leader in Galar. Sorta here to take a break before I really start up, y’know. Get some experience then head back stronger than ever.”

Zoroark was now certain Galar was another place, at least. She also now had confirmation the woman was poison oriented, which sounded like a dangerous and risky venture.

“I’m not sure I understood everything, but my name is Volo,” the blonde man spoke up, giving a friendly nod to Klara. “I suppose you could call me a researcher. Myths and legends, mostly,” the man decided on, earning a sharp look from Zoroark.

So, either he felt confident in those subjects as a cover, or he was hoping to get information around them. She could do something similar but… She needed a name. What’s a good name? Zoro? Zoroa? Zora? They all start with Z, though. She needed something

“Cool name! Super unique. First time I’ve heard it,” Klara enthusiastically offered. She then turned to her, her smile diminishing slightly and causing Zoroark to narrow her eyes ever so slightly.

Was she being judged by the woman? Or… Ah, it seems she was only interested in Volo. That seemed like a good excuse to get out of here and be alone. She could use the break. Zoroark made to get up, her body and the illusion weaved over it getting to their feet. “I’ll leave you two al-” she began to speak only to be interrupted.

“You should stay and introduce yourself. It’s not like if you have anywhere else to be,” Volo spoke up and stared at her pointedly. She stared back and paused, caught off guard. The man was putting her on the spot. She’d have assumed he would try and fish for more information.

The way he looked at the woman made her realize that neither of them wanted to be around the person. For different reasons, most likely.

Zoroark sat back down and hesitated, both Volo and Klara staring at her. A name. She needed a name. “Ko…” she spoke out slowly as she furrowed her brows.

“Ko…?” Klara repeated, her face morphing as she stared at her. She was taking too long.

“…ra. Kora,” Zoroark – or Kora now – finished with a nod of her head, proud of herself for her creativity. It was different enough from Zoroark and much shorter. The lack of any Z also meant no one would think she was a Zoroark based off her name alone. Probably. Unfortunately, Volo’s judgmental smirk caused her to scowl. She was certain he was making fun of her, somehow.

“…Alright. Nice to meet you, Kora,” Klara said with little enthusiasm and with some amount of confusion. Seems she was being judged by multiple people. “You his sis, cousin or something?” she then asked.

“Nothing of the sort,” Volo replied for her as Zoro- Kora tried to understand what the woman meant. Cousin meant family, most likely. “We just both came from the same place. Nothing more than friends, right Kora?” he asked, saying her name in an odd way that almost sounded mocking.

Zoroar- Kora slowly nodded, finding it odd Volo had phrased it that way. There was likely some human element at play she was unfamiliar with that caused him to say it that way, yet she couldn’t help but let a bit of her displeasure known through her ghost-type energy, condensing it to so it wouldn’t affect to many people. The aura clearly discomforted Volo, the man doing what he can to maintain his composure as ‘Kora’ smirked at him. It would be good to remind him that it wasn’t a good idea to be disrespectful to ghost-types, especially those that were known to hold grudges.

She wouldn’t push her luck too far, however, knowing it was a bad idea to give him an excuse to let Spiritomb off its leash.

“Oh! So, like, where are you two from then?” Klara asked, seemingly unaffected by the ghost-type’s aura or oblivious to it. She did tighten her coat, so she likely thought the cold feeling she got was just a breeze.

Klara also visibly brightened up after being told ‘Kora’ was nothing more than a friend, so it likely played into some sort of social strategy for Volo. She would let Volo answer her questions, Zoroark choosing to remain quiet.

“We’re from a remote region. We’re here to learn more about the world, since we’re from a very distant place,” he smoothly half-lied after considering his answer for a moment.

“Huh? So is that not a Cynthia cosplay? Or do you guys, like, watch her over there too?” Klara’s confusion became evident.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what a cosplay is,” Volo answered.

Klara’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you related to Cynthia?! You gotta be if that’s not a costume!” the woman spoke excitedly.

Volo smirked and leaned in conspiratorially, Klara leaning forward after a single gesture from the blonde. “We’re loosely related. Looking at her team, though…” he whispered, making a show of glancing around, as though he was letting her in on a secret. “I’m pretty sure I might have inspired her,” he confidently finished.

Zoroark tilted her head in confusion. The way Volo said that… Either he was an expert liar or he somehow believed what he just said. It seemed like he was all too ready to throw it out there.

“No way,” Klara whispered back her disbelief. She stood up straight and took a deep breath. “That’s one serious claim, y’know? Not sure I can just believe it like that.”

Volo was about to speak up, only for Klara to speak up. “Heeeey. How ‘bout we have a Pokémon battle so you can prove it? It’d be good practice for my cuties,” she cheerily said.

“I’m not sure my team is in a good state to fight. We’re waiting for my Togekiss to get treated,” Volo replied, trying to turn her down.

“C’mon, it’d be good fun. Say, how about a two-on-two then? Only got two trained ‘mons with me anyways, so works out best that way,” Klara pushed. “We can do it out back, get a quick match that’ll be done in a jiff. Then you can sit around here and wait for your ‘kiss.”

That sounded interesting if not needlessly violent. ‘Kora’ nodded her in encouragement as she got up to her feet. “I think it’d be a good idea, Volo,” she added in, wanting to see how the man fared against another trainer.

Pressured by the two, Volo relented. He got up and picked up his bag. “Alright. One battle, two Pokémon each,” he agreed. “I will warn you that I’m quite confident in my team winning.”

With that, the three of them left to the field outside, followed by the handful of trainers that had taken a keen interest in seeing a battle.

----------------------------------------

“Alright, the rules are simple. Two-on-two, one switch each. I wanna see the best you got,” Klara explained from one side of the dirt field, three advanced looking Poke balls on display on the inside of her coat. The design appeared more metallic compared to the balls Volo had.

“I understand,” Volo acknowledged with a nod of his head. He had earned odd looks from the watching group when he pulled out an Apricorn ball, save for ‘Kora’ who stood slightly away from the three other humans that had followed to see the battle.

It looked like all humans were battle obsessed, so far as Zoroark could tell. At the very least, Pokémon played a large part in modern culture.

“Take it easy on me, ok? You wouldn’t want to break a cute girl’s heart,” Klara flirtatiously added, earning mixed reactions from the small crowd and Volo. Most of it was negative and very judgmental, the lot likely used to the girl’s antics given they openly showed their disdain. It looked like it was a regular sort of thing Klara did, from what Zoroark gathered.

“I have the feeling your heart is a difficult thing to crack,” Volo jeered back, earning a scowl from Klara and a slight cheer from the small crowd. He then tossed out his selected Pokémon, the ball bouncing back towards him after releasing the creature within. A green bipedal plant appeared, the ‘mon a little over three feet in height. It looked around curiously at its setting, yet its eyes quickly locked onto Klara. “Take care of this, Roserade!”

Klara, moments away from throwing her own Poke ball, stopped once she saw Roserade appear. Sheepishly, she switched Poke balls in front of everyone, earning the disapproval of the other trainers as they jeered. “Whoopsies, almost threw out a newbie against that!”

Zoroark wasn’t sure why they disapproved but kept quiet. The pink-haired woman tossed out another Poke ball. A bipedal pink and purple Pokémon with a tan stomach appeared, its large vacant eyes looking around. A shell of some sort seemed stuck on its arm, and upon closer inspection, the shell appeared to be biting down on it. “All right, Slowbro! Show ‘em how super-duper cute and strong you are!”

“Sloooow,” the Slowbro raised its arms and let out its name, earning a scoff from Roserade and a raised brow from Zoroark. It had just called itself the cutest, which seemed like an odd thing to do in battle. Upon noticing the plant ahead of it, Slowbro slowly tilted its head to the side. “’bro!”

“Gotta say, Roserade is cute ‘n all but it’s got nothing on my cutie!” Klara said, earning a scowl from ‘Kora’. Was all she cared about was how cute things were? Furthermore, how was that thing cute? It looked like it was getting poisoned.

“Slowbro, start us off with Psychic!” Klara said before Volo could properly react to her words. Slowbro’s eyes narrowed slightly after a few moments, the Pokémon seeming to have a delay to picking up commands. Despite that, its eyes glowed and a pressure was applied over Roserade’s body. Unfortunately for the Slowbro, Roserade merely narrowed its eyes from the attack, the plant barely showing any signs of damage.

“Ah! So you have a psychic-type, hm?” Volo spoke out. “I’ll assume it also lives up to being a poison-type, given your whole… Theme. That would normally leave my Roserade in quite the conundrum,” he mused out loud with a growing smile. “Hm… Roserade, Strong style Shadow Ball.”

Roserade smirked and threw a hand forward dramatically. Ghost-type energy coalesced in front of her bouquet as she smirked. The energy continued to build up, causing Klara to look slightly panicked.

“You’re going to have to dodge it, Slowbro!” Klara said. Once more, the Slowbro took a moment to react. It gave a slow nod as it focused its vacant eyes on the ball before it. “Then hit it with a Shell Side!”

Roserade shot its attack forward and, against Zoroark’s expectation, the lazy Pokémon did dodge it.

Slowbro moved unnaturally quickly for but a moment, yet in that one moment it narrowly dodged the oncoming Shadow Ball and closed the distance. It tried to hit the Roserade in the side, only for the plant to evade the attack with a step back. As Roserade dodged, it brushed one of its bouquets near Slowbro’s face, who sneezed after it inhaled some pollen.

“Quick style Shadow Ball!” Volo ordered, Roserade following his order by sending out the minimal amount of ghost-type energy necessary to create the move and launch it at its opponent while it backed away. Nevertheless, Slowbro now had a massive bruise on its forehead from the attack.

“What’s all this style stuff? Sounds super chuunibyou,” Klara complained, one of her legs tapping the ground in agitation, the girl clearly irritated. “Come on, Slowbro! Psychic again!”

“Shadow Ball again,” Volo commanded, deciding the move was more than sufficient for this battle. Zoroark couldn’t help but agree, as the move was proving to be effective. Ghost-type was also the best type.

Slowbro’s eyes began to glow stop and be replaced by a wince, the Pokémon’s body locking itself in place. Ah, Roserade paralysed it when it got too close. The well-trained plant had no difficult creating a Shadow Ball, seeming to decide of its own accord to fill it with as much energy as it could against the stationary target, much like it had at the start of the match. Before Slowbro could properly react, the Pokémon delayed by paralysis and its own nature, the Shadow Ball was thrown at it.

Slowbro took it head on. It stood there, dumbfounded, and looked around. Right when it looked like it was capable of continuing, it fell forward, as though its brain had just realized it had been knocked out.

Klara clicked her tongue and returned the Pokémon to its ball, clipping it back to her coat.

“Guess that chuunibyou stuff works. Your Roserade is definitely high up there. Didn’t even break a sweat against my cutie,” she added as she clipped her Poke ball to the inside of her coat, her words nonsensical to both travellers from the past. She then unclipped another Poke ball, Zoroark noting it was the one she had selected at the start of the match before switchin to Slowbro’s. “Let’s go, Scolipede! Beat ‘em up!”

The ball was tossed forward, and a giant dark red centipede-like Pokémon appeared, its front half standing up to reveal its dark gray underside. It had four legs on its lower half and height fore-claws along its upper half, each one dripping with visible venom. Two long horns stood on its forehead as its yellow eyes focused on the Roserade in front of it.

“I’ve never seen Pokémon like yours before. You mentioned wanting to see proof that I inspired Cynthia, right?” Volo asked as he returned Roserade, the dwarf plant offering a bow as she was returned.

“Uh,” Klara blinked, looking up. She squinted her eyes before nodding her head. “Oh, yeah, I did. Soz, got a bit caught up. You’re way tougher than I was expecting.”

“Here’s definitive proof,” Volo smirked as he pulled out another Poke ball and tossed it forward, releasing a familiar form as his dragon coalesced. The giant roared to the skies as it appeared, scaring off a flock of birds from the nearby trees and causing the nearby trainers to wince. A few bruises were along its body but, despite that, it was clearly fit enough to fight. It stood slightly taller than the Scolipede, the dragon staring at the bug and its trainer like a predator looked at its prey, its teeth bared. It was clearly eager to fight.

Klara seemed hesitant, as did her Scolipede. A mix of reactions passed over the woman’s face as she seemed to try and wrap her head around a strategy for the dragon.

Garchomp took a step forward as it leaned its body forward, clearly preparing to run into Scolipede the moment the order was given. Klara winced at the sight.

The woman’s shoulders slowly slumped. She let out a sigh. “I forfeit the match,” she said, causing Scolipede to relax in relief as it was returned.

Volo hid his reaction while Garchomp merely grunted its disappointment. The dragon then turned its head around to look at the oddities around it with its sharp eyes, seeming curious as to where it was. It didn’t get much time to look around, however, as it was returned by Volo, who was evidently as disappointed as the Garchomp.

Zoroark, who was merely watching, came to the realization that Volo was also a battle maniac. As were his Pokémon, so far as she could tell.

Was she the odd one for seeing something wrong with it?

“Aw man… I didn’t think I’d lose. ‘Specially so easily. That was like, three moves total,” Klara complained, bringing Zoroark’s attention back to her. “That Garchomp looked super strong too. I think it’s bigger than Cynthia’s.”

“Four moves,” Volo corrected. “Roserade took some initiative of her own when she saw the chance.”

“Three, four. Broke my cute lil’ heart either way. You got, like, a third of Cynthia’s team on you. You’re not all hot air, huh? First time I see someone purposely make their move weaker too,” the pink-haired woman replied as she stepped towards the center of the field. “What’s your account info? I’ll send over your winnings.”

“Account info?” Volo asked after a moment, evidently confused.

“Yeah. You have a League account, right? Gotta have a trainer card when you’re packing that kind of heat,” Klara said as she moved towards him, having pulled out some sort of flat orange device in her hand.

“I’m unfamiliar with either of those things,” Volo hesitantly replied.

Klara paused, an awkward tension filling the air. “Oh. Well, you might want to get that fixed. The League doesn’t like unregistered trainers,” she eventually said.

Zoroark groaned to herself. This world seemed to be getting overtly complicated. All these hidden rules. She was beginning to consider just going back out into nature and figuring things out from there. At least she could understand how things worked there.

Volo made his way over to ‘Kora’ after a few minutes, the man having a friendly talk with Klara and the trainers watching. They seemed all too eager to pester a man with powerful Pokémon. She was left alone, fortunately, though she doubted it’d stay that way.

“We’re going to have to find a way to get ‘registered’ to fit in,” he told her once he was close.

‘Kora’ didn’t reply and gave a pointed look behind Volo, who followed her gaze only to find the pink-haired woman had followed him.

“’Sup?” Klara asked, as though nothing was wrong.

Volo and Kora looked to each other, both questioning what was going on.

“Why are you following me?” Volo eventually asked, opting to take the lead.

“Ohh, don’t mind me. You both seem interesting so, like, I’m just gonna follow you two ‘round for a bit, ‘k?” she added, giving them both a cheery smile. Kora visibly frowned and Volo seemed to be considering what the best response would be.

“What about your friends?” Kora asked, earning a surprised look from Volo for speaking up. She pointed to the group of people that were left behind and now talking amongst themselves.

Silence followed, Klara fidgeting on the spot.

“They’re not your friends,” Kora flatly stated, earning a defeated look from Klara. She didn’t refute the statement, however.

The woman clearly wasn’t well liked. Even by Volo, given the dubious looks he was giving her. So why did he fight her? She doubted he just did it out of pressure. It was likely he was trying to figure out how strong the average trainer was or some other obscure objective.

They could most likely use Klara even if she annoyed them. Zoroark didn’t care beyond the fact she didn’t understand half of what the girl said.

Kora sighed. “If you’re going to follow us, can you at least show us where to get registered?” she asked, earning a surprised look from Volo and a hopeful one from Klara.

She shrugged at Volo. They both didn’t know anything about the world, so having another ally that did wouldn’t hurt. Besides, she was already compromising by tolerating one human. What was another?

“Uhh… Probably the professor’s lab, I guess!” the intrusive woman said after a moment. “Might cost a pretty penny or two, but since I lost, I’ll pay most of it off with your winnings,” she said with a wink to Volo, the man offering a polite and strained smile.

So, Pokémon battles were backed by “money”, which was something they apparently lacked. Volo seemed to come to the same conclusion as she did, apparently, seeing how he brightened up.

“How much did he win?” Kora asked, nudging her head in Volo’s direction.

“…Well, he did sorta beat a minor Gym Leader,” Klara said hesitantly, pausing for a moment. “3000P, at least,” she quietly said.

Zoroark had no idea how much that was. Seeing that Volo suddenly brightened up from that statement alone, however, meant it was worth something.

Looks like there would be a lot of battling in their future.