Ash won. This was, apparently, a very big deal.

Zoroark knew this because everyone was yelling over each other in the Pokémon Center. She was beginning to really hate TVs.

Alola’s champion did win in an impressive way though, given the circumstances. The fact that a Pokémon that hadn’t reach its final evolution could defeat two fully evolved Pokémon through sheer grit while on the backfoot made her gain a respectful fear of thunder rats.

She was bothered by something specifically unexpected during the ‘live’ match. What did bother her was the appearance of a massive skeletal dragon and the realization that the legends of this world endorsed competitive fighting between Pokémon. “Eternatus” had, apparently, used its power to allow both trainers to “dynamax” once more. She didn’t particularly understand the phenomenon, only that it seemed locked to the Galar region and created giant Pokémon.

Or, well, it should’ve been limited to the Galar region. Eternatus had simply flown off after escaping containment, so giant Pokémon could technically appear wherever it ended up.

She glanced around at the people inside the Pokémon Center’s lobby, gauging their reactions. The few that showed worry about that technicality were put at ease by other trainers, the others claiming it would be a “problem the League will deal with.”

Volo and Nurse Joy were the only other people that remained mostly silent, as far as she could tell. The former, seated beside her, simply looked around with a forced smile. The latter, however, was looking at the excitement of the twenty or so trainers with evident worry.

They were going to break something, weren’t they? She didn’t envy whoever would have to deal with their mess, which was likely going to be Nurse Joy and her Chansey.

Well, whatever. It wasn’t her problem. She had her own things to worry.

Like how she was supposed to eat and sleep in the Pokémon Center.

Volo had, in his mighty wisdom, informed her they would be staying here tonight. She had already eaten here; the food was absolutely disgusting. They had been serving some sort of “sloppy” food, the texture and look of it being nothing short of wrong.

When things looked like that out in nature, you didn’t eat it. Yet the humans took no issue with it, so she felt obligated to copy them. Eating was a lot harder when one had to maintain an illusion, all while maintaining a graceful appearance. Yet it was possible.

Volo had shared some of what he learnt afterwards. He had apparently gathered quite a bit of information while she was gone. She thought they had enough to leave, but he insisted on getting more.

She had tried arguing. She knew the man was worried about money, so she tried arguing that whatever he wanted to do here would take money.

“That’s the best part,” Volo had told her with a smirk. “It’s free, just like everything else here. So long as we’re trainers, we’ll get access to basic lodging and meals for ourselves and our Pokémon.”

She couldn’t help but frown at that. She saw the food the Pokémon ate and was far from impressed.

Volo had encountered a fair deal of complications with his Togekiss, mostly due to his lack of “ID.” Yet, unlike Zoroark, he simply said he lost his ID. Things went smoothly for him from there, the nurse simply saying he needed to get something for the next time he comes around and that they’d “open a file on him,” whatever that meant.

He wasn’t happy when she informed him about her time at the professor’s. He didn’t approve of the idea that they were now part of a “tribe” and that she had caught the attention of Professor Rowan.

Fortunately, the constant loud noises from “celebrating” trainers of the town made it difficult for him to pursue that issue. That would be something future her would deal with.

Why the trainers had chosen this place to gather, she didn’t know. She would have asked Klara, yet the woman was with the rest of the crowd after they split ways. She could have asked Volo, were it not for the earlier issue and the fact the man was being pestered every so often by trainers due to his resemblance to “Cynthia.”

She found that very amusing, especially since he was forced to hide his scowl out of politeness. He really didn’t like being compared to someone else.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t simply enjoy his suffering. She also had her fair share of troubles.

She looked over at the boy that was trying to speak to her. Unsurprisingly, the topic he had chosen was Pokémon.

“So yeah, Charmeleon might not look impressive right now but he’s going to turn into something just as impressive as Leon’s Charizard. I guarantee it,” he said, the man leaning against the wall beside her seat. He had brown chin length hair and a patchy stubble. He was also wearing the same sort of hat Alola’s champion had worn, only his was on backwards.

She didn’t understand the logic there. Was she wrong in assuming it was meant to block out the sun? Was it some sort of decoration or accessory? Perhaps he was trying to block the sun from his neck?

“Why is your hat on backwards?” she interrupted, having tuned out most of what he said by this point. She didn’t even understand why he was talking to her. It seemed like he was just trying to make his Charmeleon look impressive.

“Uhh…” The boy let out, thrown off by her question. “I mean, it’s my style? Is something wrong with it?” he asked uncertainly.

“I see,” she offered back as she got up and moved passed him, ignoring his weak protest. She wasn’t sure how that was a style, but it did get her thinking.

She had to rethink her style, didn’t she? She recalled a few of Klara’s comments, yet the terms she used meant little to her. She’d have to investigate what ‘punk’ meant. She had mostly copied most of her choices based off what she’d seen back in Hisui, yet it was clear that wouldn’t function here. Everyone wore simpler clothing, and no person was dressed the same.

She looked down at her kimono – or, at least, the illusion of one she wore. It was likely she’d need to find something more modern to fit in. It was something humans wore years ago, and she has yet to find someone wear something similar.

As she thought, she made her way up the stairs to the second floor of the Pokémon Center. Her steps slowed as she got closer to the dreaded room Volo had shown her before they ate. This was the place she was supposed to sleep in. She dreaded the idea but… She was tired of being around people. This was one of her only options for privacy and to get away.

She stopped in front of the room. She inhaled a deep breath to calm herself down and verified no one was around.

She didn’t feel safe sleeping in a place filled with humans. But… She didn’t want to run off and hope to find a safer place. She had a feeling that wouldn’t go well for a variety of reasons.

The thought of a human stumbling upon her sleeping unillusioned form in the nearby forest filled her with dread. She also thought of Volo having his Garchomp track her down and the possible consequences of that.

No, she’d be safer here. Probably.

Gingerly, she gripped the doorknob in between two of her clawed digits. She slowly twisted it and pushed the door open so she could peak her head inside. The room was empty save for a desk, a chair, and a bed. She also noticed another open door leading to a small room filled with odd objects and a mirror.

It did look like she would have privacy. There also didn’t appear to be any monitoring devices in the room, which was something she feared.

…Or was there? She didn’t really know what they looked like. They could be anywhere.

She stepped inside the room and locked the door behind herself, carefully twisting the frustratingly small lock. She really needed a better way to do things than relying on her claws.

Zoroark couldn’t help but search the room afterwards. She nearly pressed her invisible snout against the walls as she searched with her eyes and nose. She had to make sure there wasn’t a single thing here that could give her away without her knowing.

Yet she found nothing. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t something. If she didn’t know what she was looking for, how could she find it?

She found herself growing frustrated at that logic loop. She was tired of wearing an illusion and most likely becoming irrational due to that. It wasn’t too straining to hold it up, but it was irritating and giving her a very slowly growing headache. Or perhaps that was just due to being in the presence of so many people. Yet she couldn’t help but worry about there being something watching her.

Zoroark turned her attention to the bed. There was a thick blanket over it, not unlike the one Volo would use. Hmm…

She tugged it off the bed, dragging the single pillow off with it and letting it fall to the floor.

She placed the blanket over her head and body, her mane getting pressed down by the weight. This would do.

She undid her illusions as she felt like she was out of sight. She couldn’t help but let a relieved breath out. Now she was safe from prying eyes.

Zoroark made her way to the bed and laid on top of it, keeping the blanket over her as she did. The bed wasn’t too uncomfortable. It was somewhat nice, compared to her usual sleeping places, though it felt a little small for her to properly curl up on it.

She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She felt herself slowly drifting off…

…

It was hot and stuffy beneath the blanket.

Slowly, she wiggled her head closer to the edge of the bed. She poked her snout out from beneath the blanket, allowing her nostrils access to fresh air while mostly keeping herself hidden.

Now she was comfortable and confident she wouldn’t be found by any hidden devices.

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

A knock at the door stirred her awake. Her eyes shot open, and confusion overcame here. That confusion morphed to panic, and she hopped to her feet. What was happening? Why was someone there? How long had she-

“It’s me,” a familiar voice said. Volo’s.

She calmed down. Right, he knew she was here. How long had she been sleeping? She normally only slept a few hours and was up long before Volo was. The only reason she could think of is her being exhausted and stressed due to her present circumstances. She’d need to do something about that.

Slowly, she fitted her illusion over herself, remembering every detail of what she was supposed to look like. Nothing could be out of place. Once that was done, she removed the blanket and made her way to the door.

She once more toyed with the lock using her claws and pulled the door open, every action taken slowly and gently. She didn’t want to leave marks and raise suspicion, like she had with the couch.

“Having trouble?” Volo asked as the door opened. She eyed the man’s damp hair.

“Why is your hair wet?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s quite interesting,” he enthusiastically replied. “You see, we humans bathe for cleanliness. They have this fascinating thing called a ‘shower’ in each room that provides water.”

Kora stared at his face, her eyes narrowing as he maintained a stony expression. “I feel as though you’re teasing me.”

She smelled at the air with her illusion-clad nose, finding the man did smell better compared to yesterday. She couldn’t help but smell at herself afterwards out of curiosity. There was nothing out of the ordinary there. The idea of using water to get rid of a smell did seem wrong to her.

“I somewhat am,” Volo admitted, ignoring the growing frown on Kora’s face. “It’s quite fascinating how they arranged it to work but I doubt you’d be interested. Your poorly maintained hygiene is not a major concern of mine.”

It took her a moment, but she was fairly certain the man had just said she smelled bad.

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The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful, besides Volo giving her an earful and attempting to corroborate a proper story for their “tribe” with her.

Due to his attire, he argued they should pretend to be a branch of the anciently famous “Ginkgo Guild,” which no longer existed, the man having asked around. They would both be acting as tribe members trying to return to their “merchant roots” rather than living in isolation.

Volo also wanted to make sure she could answer simple questions needed for an “ID,” such as her name and other details. Her age was one of them.

“How old are you?” he asked from across the table.

They were seated in the cafeteria, where there were fortunately almost no people around. Most had opted to “sleep in” for whatever reason. She had not seen Klara since waking up, which was fortunate considering the current topic.

“I don’t know,” she honestly replied, earning a sigh from the man.

“How many winters have you been through?” he reiterated his question, earning a shrug from Kora.

“Right, it’s always snowing in the Alabaster Icelands,” he pointed out after a moment. He could help but sigh.

“For the sake of simplicity, we’ll state you’re an adult,” Volo settled on, earning another shrug from Kora.

She didn’t really understand why humans needed to use a number to understand age. With the pack, you just knew. You knew by the way they behaved and by the scars they had earned. Though she supposed that may not work here, given she couldn’t spot any scars on Volo or any other humans. She found that fact odd and frustrating, something about it rubbing her the wrong way.

“I think you should try being a Pokémon trainer,” Volo spoke up, causing Kora to blink in surprise a few times.

She frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Why?” she asked. She still found the idea repulsive and wrong, yet she didn’t expect Volo to push for it.

“I understand you not liking the idea. I still would like you to hear me out,” the blond man raised an index finger as he spoke. “Firstly, I believe it will help explain why you’re going from place to place without raising suspicion. Trainers travel a lot, apparently, so you would just be another person doing the same thing as all the others.”

She slowly nodded in agreement, finding what he said made sense. However…

“Weren’t you saying we were trying to reconnect to our ‘merchant roots’?” she asked in confusion.

“A merchant would also rely on Pokémon for protection,” he instantly replied. “However, I’m hoping we won’t have to tell anyone that part of our cover story. I’d rather distance myself from my past than get closer to it. Think of it as a last resort, given there’s most likely proof of its existence a little bit everywhere. That proof could work out for us or against us.”

Kora frowned. She understood he wanted to leave the past behind, but she had no intention of doing that. Perhaps that was one of the key differences between her and him. She did understand that sort of lie would work best by knowing how much the world knew, which they admittedly didn’t.

“Secondly,” Volo raised another finger. “It’ll tie us closer to this ‘Professor Rowan.’ From what you’ve said and what I heard from others last night, the man has a lot of influence over the region. Being able to use his name may open doors that would have been closed to us.”

“Have you seen a map yet?” he asked, Kora shaking her head in reply. “I’ll have to show you at some point, but there are at least fourteen towns and cities. There are a few more names on the map making me uncertain if they count but-”

“What’s a city?” Kora interrupted, a pit opening in her stomach. She recalled the professor mentioning the word too, but she didn’t feel it was an appropriate time to ask.

But if they were like towns, that meant there was fifteen settlements. But she couldn’t think of any reason as to why they would need another name for settlements. At least, she couldn’t think of any reason that didn’t make her want to scream.

“Cities are like towns, only larger,” Volo patiently replied. “Anyways- “

She felt dread fill her. There were places larger than this? How? Did every Pokémon simply give up after offering feeble resistance? Even “Eternatus” had done nothing despite its imprisonment. She couldn’t imagine a place filled with Pokémon like in Hisui bending to humanity.

This was frustrating, but… Maybe if she saw more places, they’d make sense. She needed it to make sense.

“Are you even listening?” Volo spoke up, earning a glare from her. The man sighed, having raised a third finger while she wasn’t paying attention. “Look, I won’t force you to go through with it, but I do believe it’ll help you.”

“What was the last reason?” she asked, earning a tired smile from Volo.

“That you’ll be guaranteeing a Pokémon’s quality of life,” he said, earning a scoff from Kora. “I suppose that’s the wrong approach with you. Fine then, think of it this way; you’ll be denying a Pokémon from being used by a human.”

That did appeal to her, yet it wasn’t enough to push her into doing it. She did recognize that she was weak on her own as well, which could be mitigated by having a “team” help her out. But the thought of using Pokémon still rubbed her the wrong way. Then again… She was desperate, wasn’t she?

“I’ll think about it,” Kora eventually replied.

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Kora found herself acting as a guide for Volo, as the baneful fox was the only one who knew where the professor’s lab was. She originally intended on bringing Klara, but Volo insisted they go alone due to her “flirting.”

She understood the idea yet failed to understand how what she was doing was flirting. It was another quirk of humanity, she supposed, though she believed it would have been more effective if Klara fought the man to win his heart.

Hm… Klara had fight him, didn’t she? And she lost. It was a Pokémon battle, but everything else humans did so far had to do with Pokémon. Humanity had developed their culture entirely around Pokémon, so far as she could tell, so it only made sense they were involved in flirting too.

She wanted to question Volo on the subject, but the lab was just ahead. She would have to sate her curiosity later.

She could also use this to tease the human if he got on her nerves. Though she didn’t want to push her luck too far with him.

The pair walked into the lab, the sliding glass doors opening automatically upon their approach. Yuzo was in the lobby, tapping away behind the screen like he had been doing yesterday. She also noted the professor’s presence, the two men having been speaking to each other and turning to look towards her when she walked in.

They both gave her a polite greeting, though she noticed the professor was staring in her direction. After noticing the silence, Yuzo turned away from the screen and found himself staring too.

She hesitated, not having expected this sort of reaction to her presence. She looked over at Volo and found he was staring back. Ah, so it wasn’t her.

“I imagine you both must think I look like Cynthia,” Volo spoke after an awkward moment with a strained smile as he scratched at his cheek.

“…The thought did cross my mind,” Professor Rowan replied after a moment.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” Yuzo added, the man leaning back in his chair and having pushed the chair away from his desk to get a better view. The chair had wheels on them. “I clearly need to cut back on the caffeine. Thought the champion herself walked through the door and was going to make some demands. I take it you’re Kora’s friend?”

“You are correct,” Volo said as he stepped forward to approach the two men, Kora following a moment later.

“I don’t suppose you have an explanation for the reason you look so similar? The resemblance is striking and difficult to ignore,” Rowan asked with a raised brow, his curiosity evident.

“Trust me, I’m very aware of our resemblance,” Volo replied with a forced chuckle. “I believe we have a shared ancestor, though it’s likely extremely far back. I do find it odd that she has a remarkably similar team to my own on top of that.”

Kora recalled him telling Klara something about how he inspired Cynthia’s team, or along those lines at the very least. Perhaps it was a good idea that they didn’t bring Klara after all. Volo had already put his foot in his mouth by telling her that. Klara also had the tendency to speak too much and would have probably “contributed” that detail to the conversation.

“I see,” Rowan offered back with a stiff nod. “I suppose you would know as much as me, given most tribes are isolationists. You are, in fact, part of one, correct?”

“I am,” Volo confirmed, the man looking towards Kora out of the corner of his eye as he said so.

Was he still upset about that? If he wanted another outcome, he should have come himself yesterday.

“Are either of you willing to share some details about your tribe?” Rowan tried and was turned down by two shaking heads. “That’s unfortunate though expected. You’re here for a trainer license first and foremost, correct? I will need to see and register all your Pokémon before starting that process.”

“Hey, Kora,” Yuzo rolled his chair closer to her and stared up at her, leaving Rowan to speak to Volo. “Have you thought about taking in a Pokémon? I know you weren’t enthusiastic about the idea last night, but I’d love to see how some of our Pokémon react to you. We don’t get to studies aur- err… Your friend does know about that, right?”

Kora nodded, appreciating that the human asked. Yuzo let out a relieved sigh before continuing. “Phew, figured it’d be the case but thought I’d ask. Anyways, if you’re up for it I can introduce you to some of the Pokémon. If you don’t mind me taking a few notes while you interact with them, that is.”

She thought for a moment and nodded. “I am open to meeting- “

“You have a Spiritomb?!” Rowan spoke up in disbelief before awkwardly coughing into his fist. “Ah, excuse my excitement. It’s quite a rare Pokémon that we rarely get to see.”

Yuzo bit his lip and eyed Volo consideringly, the man clearly tempted to join in on their conversation. He then let out a sigh, turning back to Kora. “I can’t believe the two of you just showed up out of nowhere. Leave it to the tribes to have all the interesting people, eh? A shame there’s only so many hours in a day for me to work with.”

The dark-haired man got up and stretched his back. “Alright then, lets introduce you to some of my friends.”

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Kora found herself inside a colorful room filled with an assortment of decorations and objects. A massive water tank spanned the length of nearly an entire wall and an assortment of other decorations to accommodate diverse types of small Pokémon were spread around the room. She noted a decorative tree, a small sandy area in front of the water tank, and a miniaturized cave system built out of rocks as well a desk and chair in one corner. She didn’t know what the rocks or tree were made of, but they were appeared to be fake given the way they looked. The textures looked painted on, and the material seemed flimsy. There was also a bland desk and another chair by it in one corner, both objects being found in most of the lab’s rooms so far.

What caught her attention the most were the assortment of balls and sticks in a small box. She gingerly picked one of the balls up between two illusion-clad claws and squeezed it. It squeaked in response.

She furrowed her brows and squeezed it again. Then again.

Well, this was amusing.

She would have continued squeezing it, but quickly hid the toy once the door Yuzo just left through opened. “Alright, got a few friendly Pokémon agree to come meet you!”

She quickly tossed the squeaky ball back with the others, hoping the man didn’t notice she had taken it.

“So, would you rather meet them one at a time or all at once?” Yuzo asked as he stepped in. He reached into the pockets of his white coat and began pulling out Poke balls, placing all of them on the desk in the corner of the room. “We have five different starters from Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. None of the big ones people seem to love, but you don’t strike me as the type to care.”

Kora nodded at his statement. She didn’t particularly care about the “popular ones,” which she assumed to be whatever turned into a “Charizard.” The last thing she wanted to do was be around a dragon. That is, if she became a “trainer.”

“I’d like to meet them all at once, I suppose,” she said after a moment of thought. It would take less time that way.

“Smart choice. It’ll let you catch the troublemakers immediately,” Yuzo cheekily said. He then tossed all five Poke balls into the air. Chaos ensued.

Five different shapes emerged and immediately two of them began running around. The first of the runners was a bipedal blue Pokémon with a large jaw and a few sharp teeth poking out of its mouth. Its red eyes took everything around with wonder and it continuously said “Totodile” while exploring the area. From what Kora understood of the Pokémon’s words, it was looking for free food. The other one that ran around was an orange bird with stick-like legs, though it seemed the bird just seemed excited given it was happily running around the playroom. It let out a “Torchic” every time it rushed by another Pokémon, asking to be chased.

Kora noted a familiar Pokémon and frowned at the sight of it.

“Mud. Kip,” the amphibian said, its beady eyes staring blankly at nothing. Once more, it sounded like gibberish to her. She felt her eye twitch involuntarily.

Totodile tried to bite her. Fortunately, she took a step back just in time, preventing the hungry Pokémon from breaking her illusion. She felt herself repress her anger, though she couldn’t help but let a bit of it leak out. Totodile quickly backed off, catching on to the fact that biting her was an extremely dangerous idea from what little he had felt.

“Ah, sorry ‘bout him. He’s always bitey,” Yuzo said apologetically, the man having claimed the sole chair in the room by the desk. He had a book open in front of him and was actively writing in. “Looked like you scared him off though. Aura use?”

She slowly nodded her head then turned to look at the other Pokémon. “He’s hungry is what he is,” she couldn’t help but remark and heard more scribbling.

She caught sight of a small green turtle with what looked like a sapling growing out of its scalp. It had walked its way over to the sand pit and opted to lay down in it, closing its eyes as it did so.

“Seems Turtwig just wanted a new place to nap,” Yuzo commented with a smile and a shake of his head. “Guess he wasn’t all that interested in finally heading off.”

“He does this often?” she couldn’t help but ask, keeping a wary eye on Totodile. Fortunately, he now seemed slightly frightened of her, the crocodilian offering her an ample amount of space as it explored.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Yuzo replied. “He was meant to go out last season – err, that’s when the gym circuit is running, in case you didn’t know – but he’s not all that interested in leaving the comfort of the lab’s ranch. Can’t blame him, really. Pretty comfortable here myself,” he joked.

“What happens if he doesn’t want to leave?” she followed up. She doubted anything bad happened, but… she wanted to be sure.

“We usually try and find something else for them to do. If all else fails, we know a few places where they can laze around for as long as they want. There aren’t too many that end up that way, so it’s rarely a problem,” Yuzo explained as he wrote something else down on his book. “If that still doesn’t work for them, we can release them to the wild if that’s what they really want. It’s the best we can do since we can’t speak their language.”

Satisfied, she thanked the man for explaining the situation. Seems it wasn’t that bad, given they tried. She found understanding most Pokémon to be relatively simple. Being one herself did give her something of an advantage there, though.

Fortunately, the last Pokémon did seem like one she recognized, having spotted something similar a few occasions. It was bipedal and had bluish fur along the top side of its body and a pastel yellow along its underside. Its eyes were mostly closed, and it was looking around curiously. It failed to move from where it had been released and kept looking between the professor’s assistant and her, the Pokémon curiously following what was being said.

If that was what she thought it was, it could turn into something frightening when provoked.

“Sorry for the lack of grass-type choices. I know there’s Turtwig, but… I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending him off with someone if he isn’t showing real interest,” Yuzo spoke as she studied the various Pokémon present. “Full disclosure, none of them are standard Sinnoh starters and they all have a few problems.”

“I noticed some of them are… problematic.” Kora couldn’t help but give a pointed glare at Totodile, who seemed far less wary but was keeping a respectful distance from her. “I never cared for grass-types however, so there’s no issue.”

“Guessed as much, but I know they’re a favorite around here,” Yuzo said as he pulled his chair closer to her and leaned forward. “Anyways, I was hoping you could do a little experiment with.”

Kora looked at him sharply and he waved his hand around. “Nothing bad. Or, well, I hope it’s nothing too bad. I just wanted you to do something with your aura. Sort of like what you did to scare off Totodile.”

She considered his request. It wasn’t unreasonable, yet she couldn’t help but think it could lead to more questions. At the same time… She eyed the Mudkip, who was now having a conversation with Torchic. Or, rather, Torchic was copying the Mudkip, as they were both speaking gibberish.

“I’ll do it,” she decided. She could use an excuse to vent some of her frustration. She could pull on a lot of ghost-type energy, but it seemed wiser to not overdo it. She focused on letting her innate malice leak itself, just like she let it do back in Hisui. She felt herself unwind as she leaked her aura. She could feel her stress leaving her body and imagined it attaching itself to others, making her misery theirs.

She caught sight of Mudkip pausing and tilting its head in confusion. Totodile went to Yuzo’s chair and hid behind it, seeming cautious. Torchic placed Mudkip in front of itself, using it as a shield. Cyndaquil merely stopped moving altogether, going still as a statue.

She stopped after a brief few moments and cheerily turned to Yuzo. That felt great. She was hesitant at first, but she should really start doing it regular-

Yuzo was staring at her, the pen in his hand dropped. She blinked a few times. Maybe she over did it?

“Well, that was more intense than I was expecting,” Yuzo let out after a moment. “I have to be honest and say I don’t really understand auras, but from what I’ve been told it’s the sort of thing that defines your nature.”

“Kora, I have a lot of questions,” Yuzo said seriously, his eyes staring into hers. “But there’s only one that matters right now. Do you intend to bring harm onto others?”

She frowned, not expecting the question. It also wasn’t one she wanted to answer due to how complicated things were.

“…Not unless they deserve it,” she settled on. It seemed to have been the right choice as Yuzo seemed slightly relieved.

“I appreciate the honesty. Going to have to ask just in case,” Yuzo spoke up just as she was beginning to calm down, causing her to panic beneath the surface. “What sort of people deserve harm?”

Zoroark thought for a moment. That question seemed too easy to answer, yet she couldn’t spot any faults with her logic that didn’t align with what she said so far.

“Those that would bring harm to the tribe,” she replied, changing out pack for tribe so it stayed in line with what she said so far.

Yuzo sunk into his chair and let out a long sigh. “So nothing unexpected. You have no idea how worried I was. I really wasn’t expecting to worry about this sort of thing today. Remind me never to go searching around Snowpoint or for any hidden tribes.”

Kora nodded along, feigning understanding. She couldn’t help but glance at the Pokémon in the room, most of them growing more at ease as the moment passed and they realized they weren’t in danger.

“Quil?” the Cyndaquil curiously asked, curiously asking what it had just felt. It took a cautious step forward and sniffed in Kora’s direction.

“Well, that’s surprising. Didn’t think Cyndaquil would show an interest in anyone,” Yuzo idly commented as he reached for his dropped pen. “He’s timid, which isn’t out of the norm for their kind, but he’s a bit too timid around people.”

Kora eyed the Cyndaquil. She couldn’t help but think of a Zorua that had its first taste of a Zoroark’s malice and got motivated to reach its ranks. Perhaps she was just imagining it, but…

There was potential there.

Ghost-types always found their own, for better or for worse. Even if the one in front of her was a little delayed.

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Kora and Volo left shortly after, the pair of Pokémon researchers having gone through the registration process for both following their respective encounters. Rowan had sped up getting them into the system and provided both tribals with basic IDs that would let them use most trainer and public services.

It also served to keep track of them, because there was no way they weren’t going to try and keep a close eye on Volo. An unknown trainer with that team was a disaster waiting to happen. Rowan was limited in his options too, given the man used the extremely unpopular Apricorn balls. Confiscating them could result in a fight he was ill-equipped for.

“I don’t mean to question you, but I don’t understand why you sped up getting them IDed,” Yuzo said when they were alone, the man twisting open a pill bottle with a Slowking and the words ‘#1 headache reducer!’ on the label. “I can’t help but think it would have been better to stall a bit to get a little more out of them. I saw a couple of troubling things.”

“I doubt they will remain here for very long and thought it prudent to have a way to keep track of them,” Rowan huffed out as Yuzo swallowed a handful of pills with a mouthful of black coffee. “Volo has a full and mostly healthy team that may be on par with Sinnoh’s champion team. Out of his six Pokémon, five of them share the same species as those Cynthia regularly employs. He also has a variant Arcanine that I’ve never seen before.”

Yuzo whistled and sat down. “So he looks like her, has similar fire power and new Pokémon. Does he act like her?”

“There are noticeable similarities between the two,” Rowan admitted. “He has better self-control and likely has an inflated ego, given the way he reacts to being compared to her. He also showed an interest in myths but asked about them in subtle and natural way.”

“Too many coincidences to ignore, huh?” Yuzo asked, receiving a nod from the professor. “Well, I guess I should inform you Kora seemed a bit open to taking on a Pokémon. I asked her to interact with the Cyndaquil that caught her eye over the next few days, so there’s that, but…” Yuzo hesitated. “I’m not sure she’s as harmless as we assumed. She had a lot of questions about how we treat Pokémon, so that was a good sign. But then I managed to convince her to use her aura…” Yuzo shivered. “Could’ve sworn she wanted everyone in the room dead or gone. Freaked me out.”

Rowan silently thought to himself. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he silently thought. “Do you believe she’ll actually harm others?” he eventually asked.

Yuzo thought for a moment. “Not really, no,” he settled on. “Not purposely or without reason. She told me she only wants to hurt people that will harm her tribe, so I’d avoid digging around Snowpoint any time soon.”

“Honestly, my ongoing theory is she went through some sort of tragedy and is on a revenge quest,” he added with a lopsided smile. “Might be a bit too dramatic to be true though.”

Rowan shook his head. “I have several theories of my own. I imagine it will take a while for us to confirm anything, but I believe there’s a lot to be gained by monitoring them.”

The professor stood up. “I think we delayed our regular offseason work long enough for today,” he gruffly said. “Back to work.”

Yuzo sighed and returned to his desk.

He just knew it was going to be a long offseason for them.