Barra Center - Rio City

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"So, Alex," Isamu began, unsure of whether he was in the presence of one of the Dragon Emperor's psychic clones, "Do you know anything about Rio's circuit? Or are we going in blind?"

Alex was utterly still for a moment, then pulled out a paper map, and an old scent of must filled the air around their table. They were enjoying some Dragon Burgers in Rio's largest mall, which was called the Barra Center, evidently named after the location it resided in. Rio had many sub neighborhoods that were more like cities unto themselves. "The Estrada Real is an ancient road…or Route, I suppose, that extends through the entire Region. It connects all but the traditionally sixth and seventh Gyms and only has one somewhat dangerous part of it. The majority of the Route is very urban, which means plenty of Trainers and city-loving Pokémon. We'll be following a relatively straight offshoot of the Estrada Real to the first Gym…which seems to be Grass Typed. Lucky you."

Isamu grinned at Dynamight. The little Torchic was already starting on eating his vitamins. "Hear that? We'll get our first Badge here easily." The Torchic eyed Isamu with tolerance, and a bit of disdain, mostly because Isamu was, without his Cores, a mediocre Trainer at best. He knew his type matchups, had memorized the Dex entries of his team members, and of course, had been trained by the Mind Sage, but as a Trainer, he had little to show for his journey so far. He'd only beaten the bug gym in Paldea, and had lost hard in Artazon and then Cascaraffa. His Riolu was strong, but status moves and Kofu's Crabominable had been able to surpass him, even at the second badge level. With only Kanchi, the difficulty curve in Paldea's gyms had been too much, and neither Brassius nor Kofu had let him use his other members after they spent ten turns loafing, sleeping, or just straight up attacking Isamu when he tried commanding them.

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"Once I have all the evolution items I need, we'll head out. I do need to evolve Fulguron here, though. He'll need Rio's power grid to use the Electirizer, and I have to get Revan's armor tomorrow." Alex said after a pause.

Isamu blinked. "And uhh…Fulguron is your…?"

Alex smirked. "Electivire. Or he will be soon enough." Alex frowned, then. "Balls. Apparently, there's a limit on Link Cables per Trainer. Even for Champions. A moment, Isamu. Castelia won't have such irritations." Alex went unnaturally still then, as he focused on Teleporting his shopping clone to New Tork City.

Isamu just nodded, staying quiet as he watched Dynamight and Kanchi eat. He didn't know how Alex kept track of so many Pokémon, especially when they all had nicknames, but he did so with seemingly little effort. Then again, a mind that could apparently simultaneously track and answer five hundred questions at once would be more than capable of remembering sixty partners. Especially with how close their team seemed to be.

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A few minutes later, a number of items were Teleported onto their table, and Isamu watched with rabid curiosity. His eyes went wide as he saw the array of riches before him. Alex came back to this clone then, and it started acting like a human again, breathing, blinking, and speaking. "First, the Electirizer. We'll need to visit the city's Gym, but it shouldn't be a problem to plug Fulguron in. Next, three Link Cables for Champ, Kel, and Psi. Psi still has growing to do, but the others should be ready…"

He called out his Machoke and Gurdurr then, and the pair nodded at each other, before looking at Alex expectantly. "Conkeldurr are, classically, paired with a Boldore for their evolution. The trade in genetics gives them the materials for their massive concrete slabs and turns a sentient boulder into a Humanoid shaped rock crystal entity with the intelligence to match."

Isamu snapped his fingers. "That's why they're both used in Unovan construction. It's convenient and they pair well."

Alex nodded. "So, we link the cable to a Gigalith Crystal, and then to Kel…" Alex did so, and despite being a solid mineral, the silvery end of the long, winding black Link Cable pierced it easily. It also pierced Kel just as easily, and the Gurdurr winced, but endured the strange sensation. Then, his eyes widened, and he started to glow. Alex watched, proud he could aid his new friend in living his best life, and as he finally became a Conkeldurr, he roared, gathering the attention of people nearby, which then started murmurs, as they realized who had evolved the Gurdurr in the first place. "You know what you have to do, Kel. The Meal Power is already active. See you in a few hours. Champ will be right behind you. And don't forget to take a break in the Falls when you need one. There's no rush."

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Kel nodded and rumbled an affirmative, before he was recalled, and his ball was Teleported to the clone training up those who needed attack power near Paldea's Fury Falls. He had another clone doing the same thing for those who need special attack power, on Casseroya Lake. Then, he continued, as Isamu was writing notes furiously now. "Machamp is, classically, paired with Golem. Samuel Oak theorized that the rock-hard skin Machamp possesses is achieved through trading with a Rock Type. It's this sturdiness that allows it to use greater power than a Machoke, and not split apart. And without the power-restraining belt, it gained another pair of arms, yet stayed contained within its form, leading to four brutally powerful limbs that are as hard as stone."

Isamu knew most of that already, being a Japan native, but he nodded anyway. He told the Dragon Emperor of a folktale they had in Johto, of a Machoke and a Graveler having a contest. The Graveler only needed to roll down the mountain to the bottom to win, and the Machoke had to use his superhuman power to stop him. Eventually, they collided so hard that they had both evolved. "Some versions have them being friends and walking off into the sunset together, but uhh…the oldest versions of the story have the Machamp then brutally beating the Golem into pieces, with Type advantage. Machamp hasn't always had the…best reputation in Japan. Elite Four Bruno changed a lot of minds, with his.

Alex nodded, listening along with Champ, as he plugged the Link Cable into the Machoke's power-restraint belt with a large brown rock shard presumably from a shed Golem shell on the other end. He was glad the modern methods of reaching these forms were less brutal than they'd once been. Champ also grew in size, his body swelling and hardening as the power belt broke off and faded away. The Machamp roared as his new stronger body manifested. His four powerful arms struck empty air, and his large tan lips were pulled up in a dark smirk as he felt how strong he was now. By this point the crowd around them was paying full attention. People whooped and cheered as Champ attained his ideal self, and Alex let him wave and flex at the crowd, before finally saying, "Kel is getting ahead of you. You may want to hurry." The stone-gray mass of muscle, wearing only what resembled skintight black gym shorts, with no belt, around his nether regions regarded his Trainer, and then nodded. He was strong now, finally, but they could, and would, get stronger.

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"Is that all the evolutions today?" Isamu asked, glancing around.

Alex shook his head, not caring who saw. In fact, he wanted people to know he was adding to his roster. At a certain point, even the best strategists would realize trying to prepare for anyone he threw out was a lost cause, at which point he expected they'd focus on making their own best team, and thus the job of preparing fell to Alex. It would likely be easier though, as most Trainers in the upper ranks of the World Tournament only had one team of ten, and maybe two or three others. People like Ash, Nate, himself, Red, and a few others were the only ones to expand their roster beyond ten and still maintain a mean average of power that kept them in the top rankings of the tournament. "We have one more. Gauss."

His large Charjabug appeared, and made an unintelligible gurgle at him, that Alex could only divine sounded happy. The words, if there were any, sounded like gibberish. "I have your Thunder Stone, my friend. Are you ready to become a Vikavolt?"

The electric bug shuddered in joy, and droned an affirmative, and Alex pressed the stone to his body. A moment later, he too joined the rest of the team in their final form, and despite being comparatively low level, he would grow into it rapidly, once he trained his special attack power and his speed. After being given quite a few useful moves via TMs, that his new body could actually use, he was Teleported to Casseroya Lake, with the other special attackers.

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Alex stood and stretched his arms, then. "That just leaves Fulguron." Isamu nodded, finishing his note taking. It was one thing to read about these rare evolutions, it was another to see them in person. There was also a bit of Japanese pride, as it was Samuel Oak's aides who had created the first Link Cables, though, famously, the first few prototypes had disappeared in strange emanations of energy that had forced them to recreate the cables from scratch. Where, or when, the Link Cables had been yeeted through time was a complete mystery.

The part of the Megalopolis they were currently in was simply called Rio, and the Gym Leader of this area so close to the Royal Palace was both the eighth and strongest of Rio's Pokémon League. He was also a renowned Dragon Type Master, and had apparently trained Nate when he was younger, and still in his teens. As Alex and Isamu arrived in the gym, which was built into the massive arena he'd spectated before, Leader Drago came to meet them himself.

"So, you see…" Alex was saying, "I need a source connected to the energy grid to evolve him, if that's alright. I was tempted to try plugging the Electirizer into a Zap Plate or a shard of one, but…this seems safer. That energy is literally infinite, who knows what it could do to my Electabuzz."

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The receptionist nodded, a bit flushed and starstruck, but happy to assist the man who'd convinced Mamboa and Sombrador to come home. "That shouldn't be a problem, Dragon Emperor. So long as we can borrow a Zap Shard to compensate, I'm sure Leader Drago will-"

Her words cut off, and Alex's eyes widened as he sensed the Gym Leader before he spoke. Isamu turned, sensing the same quality of aura, and gasped. "Dragon Emperor!" His voice echoed loudly through the front area of the gym lobby. "Evolving another Pokémon, are we? You're making this a habit! Hahaha!"

Alex turned and regarded the Dragon Master. With Elite Four Drake now passed and former World Champion Lance now all but retired by age and infirmity, Leader Drago was considered the current strongest dragon type Pokémon expert in the world, who was still actively battling, anyway. His skin was as bronze as Iara's, and his hair was black, at the roots, but had been dyed to be the bluish purple associated with dragon types. His square jaw was covered in a coarse but well-maintained beard, also dyed. His hair was buzzed on the sides, with a flaring tuft of blurple locks taking up the center of his head. A pair of draconic looking tattoos peaked out from under his short sleeves, and a necklace with strange, golden draconic looking icons was around his burly neck. His clothes were a pair of black leather gloves, form fitting and black clothes with gold accents, and a large leather belt around his waist where his balls and other useful items sat. Alex spied a blade hilt among them, and like every other Dragon Master he'd seen, Drago was wearing a heroic looking gold trimmed black cape. His brown eyes were fierce and awakened the urge to battle within his chest as the two men's gazes met.

"Leader Drago." Alex said, meeting the man's gaze, as they were pretty much the same height, "At a certain point, evolving one's partners does become rather easy. But never trivial. Each of those who ascended today longed to do so, and my Electabuzz is no exception. They want to be the Best, and I intend to help them get there."

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Drago was silent for a long moment, then a smirk cracked his serious expression. Both Isamu, and Nyah, the receptionist, seemed worried, but Alex knew the man was in a good mood. "Ha!" He boomed. "You really are as chill as the tales say! I like it! Come, let me see this evolution as well! I've never actually seen an Electivire in the flesh. Down here we typically have Heliolisk…and their evolution." He grinned, and Alex smirked, with a nod. Like most reptile Pokémon, the few Heliolisk that managed to evolve became true dragon types, and Alex had no doubt a renowned Dragon Master had one such monster on his team.

Drago led Alex and Isamu, and Fulguron as well once Drago asked to see him, down into the bowels of the stadium, which looked like most basements in the Pokémon world. Gray. Mostly used for storage. The occasional spin pad puzzle that led to a rare item, which Drago claimed to have created, and stocked, himself. Alex was tempted to try it, but Fulguron patiently asked him not to. At least until he evolved. The puzzle itself went up and over several aerial walkways, and there had to be, at a glance, at least a thousand spin pads, but in the center of that chaos, were five pairs of Wise Glasses, and five Muscle Bands, just sitting there. Isamu was also tempted to try, but he saw how Alex eyed the prize, and decided to let him claim it. He'd already given Dynamight one of his Lucky Eggs, so Isamu didn't need a held item yet, and by the time he did, he guessed he'd have come across at least one Muscle Band. The sheer volume of items one could get from Paldea's countryside was one of the many reasons he'd enrolled in Naranuva Academy.

After opening a door leading to a rather massive Tesla Generator, a brainchild of the Azoth Kingdom's Nikola, made real by the disgusting amount of wealth Bill possessed. To Bill's credit though, such generators were quite common all over the civilized world, with the Imperium being the exception, supposedly. This was, more or less, the concept behind their creation; a device capable of drawing on natural powerful electromagnetic fields and turning them into usable power for humans and Pokémon alike. Fulguron's fur stood straight up as he entered the generator room and eyed the marvel of mankind up close. Clever as he was, he had no idea how the humans had created a device that had a field of energy like this, and he was not alone in that. Gauss was thrumming in his ball, as he'd chosen to hone his stats the artificial way, with punching bags, and feats of strength within the pocket dimension that was his Pokéball.

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Alex pulled out the Electirizer, and the device hummed to life as it sensed the ambient electrical energy in the area. This too, was a brainchild of Nikola, though full credit for the final product had to be given to Leader Volkner, of Sunyshore City. A recognized specialist of the electric type, and lowkey prodigy inventor, with a little more drive, he probably could have rivaled Nikola. As it stood, he preferred to spend his long days facing Trainers of varying badge levels with a bowl of Leaf at the end of them and had only created the Electirizer to evolve his Electabuzz, after they'd encountered a wild Electivire in the Johto region. Of course, that was before the Arceans had sacked his city. War tended to change people quite dramatically.

"Alright Fulguron." Alex said calmly, "You know what to do." Alex hooked up one of the cords ending in a prong to the Electirizer, and then his electric ape moved towards the now sparking device, as it rapidly charged with power. Five Electabuzz finger sized blue panels opened on the yellow cube, and without hesitation, Fulguron placed his digits on them. His eyes widened, and the gathered humans took several steps back, as arcs of electricity flared wildly, then condensed around Fulguron, seemingly at his discretion. Alex was just impressed, as even for an electric type, that was a lot of energy to be containing and controlling at once. But that was who Fulguron was. He had the inner strength and willpower that gave him rather good control of his abilities, and thanks mostly to Leo and Temere influencing the impressionable Elekid, he had learned to be very creative with them.

White light, Infinity Energy in its most natural form, surged through Fulguron's yellow and black striped body, and the already impressively tall Electabuzz, who was pushing six feet in height, now surged even higher. Not quite to an Alpha's height, yet, but certainly larger than any other freshly evolved Electivire the trio of humans was likely to see. The Electirizer fell from his massive hand, blackened and useless, its singular purpose accomplished, and Fulguron roared loud enough to shake the air. It sounded like a revving engine, if that engine was on a jet plane.

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Arcs of blue plasma rolled over the room, but with a single motion of his hand, Fulguron summoned them to his palm, and stared in wonder at the sheer mastery he now felt, in his species penultimate form. He clenched his massive ape fist and turned to regard the man who had made him into, from some perspectives, a monster. He stared at Alex a long time, silently, even as he asked if Fulguron was alright. Then, finally, he spoke. "Sloane…wanted me to betray you." He said in his new, rumbling baritone, and Alex's eyes widened. "He wanted me to use you to become…as powerful as I am now, and then return to him, to make him a Champion. Like this, we could capture a good team, train them up, and be serious contenders…"

Alex crossed his arms and began psychically translating for Isamu and Drago. "And? Are you going to go back? Is that what you desire, now that you have power?"

His answer was immediate, and monotone. "No. He is weak. Of the Humans I have met journeying with you, you remain the strongest. Except maybe for him." He rumbled, nodding at Drago, whose smirk widened into a grin as he got the translation. "I will not betray my brothers. I simply decided this was something you should know." And indeed, had Fulguron simply not mentioned this, he probably could have never brought it up again. The chances of them meeting Sloane again were slim at best now that his face was known to Alex's mom. Though she'd never admit it, she'd befriended one of the Miltank, and the two had not so secretly started battling the other herd members, to make them stronger. Or so they claimed. If Sloane or his goons came around again, they'd be meeting the business end of said Miltank, and Alex had exactly zero desire to seek them out.

Alex nodded slowly, and then placed a large, but compared to an Electivire quite tiny, hand on his fur. Fulguron shifted, as it was still very much supercharged, but it seemed Alex wasn't letting his current run through more than his hand, which had already proven it could channel electricity. It hurt, but Alex needed Fulguron to hear him. "I won't forget this. You made a good choice, Fulguron. You stuck to basic morality when you didn't have to. I'm proud to be your Trainer." A dark smirk came over his features. "I'm going to be using you more, from now on. You're going to become even more of a beast."

Fulguron's expression mirrored his, which was much more terrifying on his new wide sasquatch features. "Finally…I look forward to it." They shared a nod of understanding of his new capabilities and Fulguron returned to the comfort of his ball with a flash of bluish white.

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Alex turned to the other two men, then. "Leader Drago. Thank you, for this."

Drago was still grinning. "Thank you for translating. Hearing a Pokémon actually talk…is something. I can understand my team, but not others. Never that well." He inclined his head in what seemed like a nod of respect. "I've learned much."

It was Alex's turn to smirk now, as he said, "I'll be challenging Rio's Gyms along with my friend here." He nodded at Isamu. "I look forward to our match." Drago let out another thunderous laugh as they left the generator room and ascended back to the first level of the stadium as he repeated the sentiment. He sent them on their way practically salivating at the thought of having a match with Alex, new team or otherwise, and Alex had said he was open to using his dragons, at least. Drago had nodded at the mention of Kalagon, everyone loved a Garchomp and he had one of his own, like most who claimed mastery of the dragon type, but it was the black Salamence that had the Dragon Master's interest, particularly his electric moves. Alex could tell Shruikan also wanted to test this 'final form' of Heliolisk as well, now that he'd heard some of the hype about it.

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Eventually, they made it to the outskirts of the megalopolis that was Rio, and the location of the grass typed gym. There was a proper gate leading into the Jungle of Death, one Alex had used before, but right before it was a previously unnoticed gym, which blended in well with the foliage around it. It sat quite literally on the edge of the massive city, straddling the border between the natural and the man-made. Alex and Isamu opted to camp that night, as they had quite a large group, or at least, Alex did.

Isamu's 'main' team mostly stayed in the comfort of their balls, stewing in anger. They came out to eat, those who needed to, and with how skittish the teen was around them, Alex had a feeling they used their powers to subjugate Isamu, when unfamiliar eyes were not around. Said eyes belonged to both him and Po, who was acting as this 'team's' ace, in case the Muk hit the Fan Rotom, as it tended to on such journeys, eventually. With his Machamp, Conkeldurr, Electivire, and Vikavolt still with his clones in Paldea, grinding away to increase their stats, his Alakazam, Metang, Noivern, and Drilbur had opted to train in their balls, and to stay on his person. The pair of psychics was largely ignoring the awkward mole, and his Noibat, Dracala, wanted nothing to do with him either.

Thus, Simon gravitated towards his Trainer, and discovered doing so would get him all the scritches. Isamu's Torchic was getting a similar treatment along with Zyx, the seemingly lead Zygarde Core who spoke for the others while they rested or did as they pleased within their spherical pocket dimensions. It was then that Alex noticed the balls containing the Cores were glowing. "Isamu. Is that a built-in solar generator in your Pokéballs? I have one for my Grass Types, but I know a Pokéball expert."

As main Alex bamfed Terra's currently empty ball to this clone to show Isamu, his eyes widened. "I think you and I have the same source. This craftsmanship is…identical. You know Professor Armeniaca?" Alex nodded, and after a few more questions confirming that Alex had been there, Isamu's voice lowered. "Did…did you see the Mewtwo?"

Alex winced, remembering said Mewtwo. "Aye. I trained with him, in fact. He was not a gentle mentor…but his understanding of cells, their structure, and how to repair them quickly was on par with Nurse Joy's."

Isamu just stared at him, eyes wide. "You…actually managed to train under his Pressure? I couldn't even stand!"

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Alex nodded and then gave the inquisitive teen a hint about how he'd gotten so…durable. This led to a recounting of his escapades in Norstad, a tale which none of the Pokémon with him had heard yet. Once the four assigned to this clone returned from their training, he recounted the tale and had them gripped. Fighting sky bandits. Meeting the imprisoned Fairy King. Traversing the only known nest of Articuno. Training in the Way of the Hyper Voice, under his Rayquaza, and of course, the final battles with both Alduin and Pravus. By the end, he had his younger and much more impressionable teammates spellbound, and he could sense the newfound respect they had for the A Team.

Dracala spoke first. "I have…heard tales of the World Eater. Legends. Stories. And you really faced him down? Twice?"

Alex nodded, glancing at Isamu, and then said quietly, "Yes. When he was flesh and bone, it took all of us to take him down. When he was revived by the Successor to the Tamer of Arceus with Shadow Energy…your brother Astrum sent him to his rest. Hopefully forever."

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The Pokémon, Dynamight included, began chattering amongst themselves. Even Psi, his reclusive Kadabra, had been interested in this tale. Po claimed it was old news though, and soon had them spellbound by another story, one involving himself, the Dragon Scroll, and an ancient Carracosta with powerful Kung Fu. Alex smirked as he sensed Isamu shift closer to where he was sitting cross legged on the somewhat maintained grass they'd set up camp on. Far enough from the city to not be crowded by buildings, but close enough to not be in danger of Selva Muerta's inhabitants. Po had still promised to guard them as they slept, regardless, and since he and Alex only needed four hours, this was easily split up.

"Dra- er, Alex, did you…did you mention the Successor to the Tamer of Arceus!?" He quietly hissed, not wanting to distract their Pokémon from what he assumed was another story.

Alex nodded, his voice equally low. "Aye. He has been revived, thanks to the witch Morgana." Recognition flashed across Isamu's face, when he heard the name, confirming Alex's suspicions that the young Trainer knew more than he let on. "I'm training up my team partly to combat him, when I track him down. He is the man who began the Dark Times…I expect his team will be quite strong, and I have it on good authority that he's rapidly adapting to our modern age, and technology. With his Hoopa he could easily steal as many Pokéballs as he wants and expand his roster well beyond ten Pokémon. I don't expect him to be able to handle more than sixty, this early after reviving. Having variety for the World Tournament is a useful bonus of these efforts. Our newer members are helping my A Team advance too. Teaching can be as instructive as being a student."

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Isamu looked quite nervous, despite Alex's calm tone. "Could…could he attack at any moment?"

Alex shrugged. "I doubt he will. This…Lord Proditor, as he apparently names himself, has a flare for the dramatic. And a Hoopa. He can be wherever he wants, instantly, but I know our paths will cross eventually. It's the destiny of those who wield the Light and the Shadow. When we do finally meet, we will all be ready."

They went into their nightly routine then, with the late-night anime binges, and the early morning rewatch for those who actually slept long enough to properly rest. Breakfast was a different kind of 'sandwich', if one defined a sandwich as bread containing other edible ingredients. Alex had rolled the rather thin potato tortilla, a local staple, around things he knew how to cook, namely, eggs and bacon, broken into crispy chunks of deliciousness, surrounding a pair of what his brain termed hot dogs, but what the locals called Chorizo. Apparently, it was nothing like the tubular meat served in Unova. A few of his teammates eyed his creation longingly, mostly Champ, Revan, Garuda, Fulguron, and of course, Po. Being Emperor and an official Champion had perks, like more than enough currency to keep his food stores well-stocked from his clone in Paldea, and all who wanted one, got a burrito. Very much on purpose, their meal would give them extra experience for fire types, and Isamu noted that down, as apparently, that was how Florian and Juliana prepared for a big match as well.

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"Before we head to the Gym, you and Dynamight should have a Battle with Garuda and I." Alex said, as his clone psychically split in two. "I need to go with Revan to get his armor, but we should be back before the Battle ends." Isamu nodded, and Alex let the other clone handle battling with Garuda, who after hearing several more stories over breakfast, was eager to be a part of this team, even if he still regarded his Trainer with a bit of salt, and indifference. It was an improvement over the hatred he'd been building.

With a psychic bamf, he appeared outside the Ribeiro Forja, and just like his last visit, the Magmar outside called out to the Magmortar and Trainer within. The smith himself appeared then, fresh from working, and grinned as he saw his latest lucrative customer. "Ahh, Alex, you're here for the armor, yes? I finished it late last night. I think it came out well. Come, and bring Revan, I want to see his reaction to it." Alex nodded and brought the freshly fed Charcadet out. He gave the blacksmith a cheerful wave, and greeted the Magmortar as well, as Antonio showed Alex the armor.

"Thanks to Naranuva Academy's historical texts on the Malicious and Auspicious Armor sets, I was able to make an offshoot of Malicious Armor with Sinistea Shards and that Ralts Dust you provided." He removed the tarp covering the armor then, and Alex grinned. The Malicious Armor, or the breastplate at least, was much the same as the ancient kind found in Paldea. This set also had a helmet though, one directly inspired by Mandalorian culture, and as Revan came over to look at it, his eyes went wide. Antonio stepped back, as did Alex, as the young Charcadet donned the helmet after gazing at the visor for a moment. The armor and helmet glowed in sync, shooting into Revan's growing form as the light of evolution filled the forge.

When it faded, Alex gazed at the new Ceruledge with an open mouth, as Antonio wheeled out a somewhat soot-covered tall mirror for the Ceruledge to admire his new armor. His level remained the same, but his potential had just dramatically increased. Two burning blurple eyes formed in the T-visor as Revan opened his eyes, and with a very familiar hum, his sword hands burned to life. They were still longswords, with the only real difference being the burning crossguard by Revan's 'wrists'. Much like Lux in Power Form, they flared out straight and were ideal for stopping the momentum of other blades they locked with.

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"How does it feel?" Alex asked, as Revan started moving, slowly testing how his newly armored body reacted. There were other slight differences to the usual Malicious Armor, but he was still very obviously a Ceruledge. This most notable difference, aside from the helmet and thinner, more plasma-like longswords, were the 'boots'. Instead of rising to Revan's thighs in an almost obnoxious waste of space and material, they now jutted more from the back, though Alex couldn't really determine why.

Antonio chimed in, seeing where his eyes were wandering. "As he grows, certain parts of his armor will…become available. They run on his flames, so until he can handle powering them, they'll be inert, but once he's fully trained, I guarantee you will be pleased with how fast he is. This speed does however come at the cost of some defenses."

Alex nodded, as did Revan. Revan turned to him, then. "I need to begin training. Recall me and get the appropriate tools ready." Alex did so, giving him rather durable physical attack power boosting punching bags that would serve to sharpen his swords as effectively as taking down a bunch of Bisharp would. Fury Fall's Bisharp were quite high level though, so training in his ball was his only option, for now.

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Alex thanked Antonio again, paid the man for his custom commission, and then bamfed back to their camp just in time to see his team watching the battle between Garuda and Dynamight come to an end. Dynamight had learned to master several of his new moves, Detect, Flame Charge, and Aerial Ace, and despite looking ready to evolve, he hadn't yet, for whatever reason. For his part, Garuda had largely ignored Alex, which had led to the fighting hen being brutally hammered with Aerial Ace while Dynamight dodged his return attacks, most special ones like ember, with Flame Charge. "Garuda! Stop goofing off and use Aerial Ace!" The Combusken glared at Alex, finally acknowledging he was there, and did as asked.

"Detect!" Isamu countered. He knew he was significantly underleveled for this battle, as he had been in most of his battles so far, but he also knew that Garuda was, for some reason, very poorly trained. He seemed to enjoy mocking Alex, ignoring his orders and loafing around, while getting hit, but irritation did not appear on the clone. He just kept giving it orders, and eventually, Garuda would listen, enough to land a finishing move. But if he and Dynamight could just hit first…

Dynamight deftly dodged the flying typed strike from Garuda's powerful claws, and Isamu called their counter. "Use your own Aerial Ace!" Dynamight's beak lit up with super effective flying energy, and he lunged for the attack.

"Dodge! Quick Attack!" Garuda's glaring eyes glanced at his Trainer again, but once more, he listened, as he himself did not want to be hit by that. The tiny chick was young, but determined, and had been battling low level grass types long before breakfast had been served. Garuda kind of admired his tenacity, as he kept wildly stabbing his glowing beak at Garuda, who used his superior speed enhanced by Quick Attack to dodge.

Then, he saw an opening, or thought he did, as Dynamight reared his tiny head back. "No, don't!" Alex shouted, but Garuda ignored him, as a Flame Charge surged around his body. Dynamight brought his beak down then, and the flying energy caused the fire attack to violently flare up in an explosion that, when it cleared, revealed the much larger, and fainted, Combusken.

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With a mighty chirp, Dynamight surged with bright light, and became a Combusken as well, with the attitude to match. He sneered at the older male as he regained consciousness, but Alex recalled Garuda before they could start a rivalry that would only hinder Garuda's progress. He glared at Dynamight. "Save that, for the Gym. Garuda is no longer your opponent. You won." With that, the clones of the tall human merged back together, stifling any sassy reply Dynamight had for him. Instead, he just grabbed another helping of breakfast and began to eat.

Once he'd had his victory meal, the two packed up camp and made for the gym. Alex went first, and Isamu was still too shy to stop him, but he also had a reason for going first. Isamu desperately needed a win, and another badge, or soon Dynamight would lose interest in listening to him as Kanchi had, once he'd trained past a certain level. Alex and Revan would clear out anything too tough for the rookie Trainer to handle, just this once. There was also a steel gym in Rio's circuit, and Isamu would be going first, at that one.

Leader Silvia had green hair that was loosely braided to one side with small charms of leaves and beads woven in. She wore an earthy green, sleeveless tunic with vine embroidery, paired with rugged brown pants and sturdy boots. Her eyes were green and shaped like a Meowscarada's, with a smirk crossing her lovely features as she saw the pair of men enter her gym. As Alex got a better look at her, he also noted she had plenty of survival gear. "Well now…" She looked him over like Noir looked at bird Pokémon. "You must be the visiting Dragon Emperor…and friend." She looked briefly at Isamu with a total lack of interest as she realized he was a bit too young, and then focused that charisma back on Alex, who tried not to sweat. He never did very well with women who knew they were attractive, and didn't hide it, but he stone faced his way through, as always.

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/ditkeyu-a9fb4a92-8ea8-4a10-a8ee-4aacba0f4302.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl0a2V5dS1hOWZiNGE5Mi04ZWE4LTRhMTAtYThlZS00YWFjYmEwZjQzMDIuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.sYMjntD0MYUQm3DHlRCt66huhsB8OfUbDLqHgxfiiYw]

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"Leader Silvia. I'm here to challenge you, and my Padawan will face you next. He's here for his first Badge of the Rio League's circuit, but I'm hoping you can give me and my partners a bit more of a challenge…" He felt his spine tingle as he realized he put a bit more innuendo than he meant to into his tone, purely on instinct, and his mind focused harder on this clone in particular. He had found, sometimes, when he made several speak at once, that his inner monologue or thoughts could unintentionally shine through. Silvia rolled her shoulders like a pleased cat. "Oh, I'm sure we can have some fun, Alex, was it? That's what you tell everyone to call you, right?"

He nodded, and her smirk widened. He had to admit, he did not mind how his name sounded in her mouth, but he blinked his head clear, and then glanced around at the plants around them. It had taken a moment, distracted as he was by his physical needs and the side effects of Jess not being around. There was grass typed energy being manipulated, flowing into certain plants more than others, plants giving off just faintly visible traces of aroma, so potent it was actually visible to human eyes. He coughed, and the air around him swirled, forcing the seductive miasma away from him. He didn't judge Silvia for trying to get him in the mood, he was flattered if he was being honest, and relationships on the Dark Continent tended to be a lot more open than those up north, but he was already satisfied on that front. Finally, seemingly realizing he was somehow resisting her plants, she said, "Follow me to the field, then. The boy can watch from the stands." She flipped her braid in his direction as she walked by and his eyes were almost magnetically drawn to places he knew he should avoid looking. Yet he was forced to look her way as she side-eyed him and said, "I hope you can give me a good Battle. It's been so long since I had more than…fresh meat." Her eyes fell on Isamu again, looked back at Alex, and then disappeared around a corner that led to the gym's battlefield.

Alex slapped both cheeks with his stupidly large hands, and focused his mind. Hopefully the battlefield didn't have such a potent effect on him. As he took his place, she called out, "Battles for a Badge are usually three on three, or, as many Pokémon as you have against the same number of mine. I bet you have three for me though, right?" She smirked at him again, but the charm from earlier had faded.

Alex nodded. "I'll only need two, but you can use three if you have partners itching for a workout." The meal had been for fire types, and so Revan and Garuda would be the ones to participate. "A moment, Leader Silvia." He said, as he released his Combusken close to him. Seeing his pick, she audibly sighed, but at least it was a foreign Combusken. Thanks to Champion Nelinha, they were absurdly popular, and Silvia was frankly tired of beating them, only to then lose to them when they came back evolved thanks to their lower than average level required to reach their middle evolution.

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"Alright Garuda, I need you to hear me." Alex said, speaking low to him. The Combusken frowned, but nodded. "The only way we win this, is if you listen to me. It was funny in that spar after breakfast, but we're in a Gym now. Time to get serious. Think you can do that?"

The Combusken huffed. "It wasn't my Moves that made us lose that Battle."

Alex groaned. "Spare me. You know you were ignoring me, on purpose, but it ends now. If you do that here, you will lose. Humiliatingly. And it will hurt, too. Grass Types can get quite nasty. Do you understand?"

Garuda grumbled, but nodded. Then, sensing a question forming, Alex let him speak. "What…if I see a good opportunity for a Move?"

"Just run it by me first, in our heads, alright? Sometimes, like in that last Battle, it will have unexpected consequences if you use your own initiative. Some day, you'll have the instincts to do that, but in League Battles, we need to call out our Moves, most of the time, when we use them. The only real exception to that is when Pokémon are going too fast to properly hear them. If you Flame Charge enough, you can do whatever you want."

Garuda clenched a taloned fist. "I can do that." The gleam in his eye bespoke fire, and Alex nodded, hoping the fire chicken would listen, this time. He mostly wanted to avoid being embarrassed by Silvia, especially after talking as big as he had.

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"The match will be a three on three, and you may substitute and heal as you wish. There are no limits on Moves or Power Ups. Begin!" Silvia shouted, throwing her pick. An Ivysaur appeared, and Alex could tell she was well tended. Probably close to evolving.

"Alright Garuda!" Alex shouted, tossing his ball. "Let's win this." Silvia sighed again, and her Ivysaur seemed unimpressed by Garuda. "Flame Charge!" As Garuda burst into flames, the Ivysaur yawned, and Silvia yawned with her.

"You know what to do, Ivysaur."

The grass dinosaur nodded, and fired several seeds in a line before Garuda. As he charged in, the ground beneath him exploded with powerful ground energy, and Garuda was caught by the attack. Or seemed to be. When the earth settled, it revealed a Rock Tomb shielding him. And he broke out of it with a Double Kick. The Flame Charge burst back to life, and the Ivysaur's eyes widened, as she realized what Garuda had done, just as he leapt from the dust cloud and slammed into her.

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Ivysaur tried to Vine Whip in response, but Garuda only got faster, in addition to Flame Charge, and Silvia's eyes widened in surprise. "Maybe you're more interesting than I thought…only the Champion has a naturally Speed Boosting Blaziken. They're pretty rare down here, since our Torchic get so fat."

"Always glad to surpass expectations! Garuda! Flame Charge again, and watch for another Earth Power!" His Combusken's flames surged again, and finally, Alex felt in sync with him. Garuda nodded at him as he Flame Charged around Ivysaur.

Silvia wasn't idle though. "Leaf Storm!" She shouted, then followed it with, "You know what comes next!"

Garuda Flame Charged through the obscuring Leaf Storm, only to find no one within. Then, a surging purple spray of Toxic hammered Garuda's face, and he coughed up the vile liquid as he was badly poisoned. He looked back at Alex's worried expression, but gave him a weak thumbs up.

"Time to finish this! Garuda! Fiery Ace!"

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The poisoned fire chicken nodded, and zoomed into yet another Flame Charge. "Ivysaur! Counter Whip!" The grassy dinosaur nodded in response to her Trainer's words, and as Garuda, now fully boosted in terms of speed, nimbly dodged the Power Whip, before trading flames for flying energy, and masterfully striking the Ivysaur hard enough to make her faint.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He zipped back to Alex's side and let out a victorious crow, before falling to one knee from the severe poison. Alex gave him a Full Restore, and murmured before recalling him. "That was excellent Garuda. I knew you had great Battle instincts. They bumped fists, and Alex recalled his Combusken, as he brought out a change to Silvia's monotonous opponents.

At the same time Revan appeared in a fiery flash of flame, Silvia's pick was a Weepinbell. She whistled, smirking as she saw Revan's armor. "That…is a very cool helmet. It looks familiar, too…is it a reference or something?"

Alex nodded. "A nerdy one. But one the Blacksmith understood. Revan!" He shouted at the end of his sentence, and his Ceruledge's red and purple flame swords burned to full length, "Flame Charge and keep dodging!" An ominous humm of acknowledgement came from Revan's iconic helm, and with a flash of speed, he was moving around Weepinbell much as Garuda had.

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Sludge Wave, Razor Leaf, and Vine Whip all missed, as Revan masterfully created a fiery tornado with his ever increasing speed and Flame Charge. Then, when it was strong enough, he sent it hurtling at the Weepinbell, who fainted easily. Revan looked back at Alex, and slowly nodded. Alex smirked, and nodded back.

"He's a bit high level for this Gym…" Sylvia remarked, "Let's see if my last pick can't give him a challenge. Curupira!" She shouted, sending out a rather strong looking Shiftry.

Revan seemed unimpressed, and once more his different shaded swords burned to life. "Once more my friend, Flame Charge!" Alex ordered, and again, Revan leaned his armored form into a run as fire erupted around him. Soon, the burning blur had surrounded the Shiftry, too. Silvia looked confident, though. By the time he mentally went through Shiftry's stats and ability, it was too late. Revan launched the burning cyclone at the strong Shiftry, but he simply raised his leaf-fan arms, and flew on the spinning heat. It did seem to hurt, but his mastery of the air kept him from catching flame.

"Now Curupira! Black Petal Blizzard!"

A leafy tornado shot from each fan, and then went into the cyclone of flame behind the fierce floating tengu. The fire turned black with dark energy, as the grass move shifted to evil. Seeing what was coming, and being fast enough for it, Revan was already Flame Charging again. The spiraling dark leaves followed him around the field, and he briefly caught Isamu, eyes wide beside Dynamight, as they saw Revan turn into a burning comet. He blinked, as he felt his armor react to all the flame and speed boosts.

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An as yet unseen compartment built into the calves of the possessed, and typically hollow ghost armor opened, and Revan went even faster, almost too fast, as he tapped into a power his body simply was not yet strong enough to control. Isamu recognized it, and yet, Revan didn't give up. He turned as much as he could, with great strain, and this time, the entire field became a fire tornado, one firmly under Revan's control of the flame. As Cinder had told him, being a physical attacker didn't mean one's element listened any less to their efforts to control it. They just worked differently.

Something like a Lava Plume was still hard to control, as he manifested fire energy blobs into being to shoot them. When he used his own dark flames however, or flames created by them catching on things like clothing or grass, he could very much control their trajectory, at least. To that end, he forced his leg engines to cease, ground to a hard stop on the basic battling field, and then raised a sword at his opponent. The towering fire cyclone moved to converge on the Shiftry, leaving only a scorched and very much unconscious Pokémon in their wake.

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With a satisfied smirk, Silvia recalled her partner, and started walking towards Alex. "That was…certainly something. Your Ceruledge is newly evolved, but he already has such good control…and that speed…" She whistled. "He might end up rivaling your Gallade, Dragon Emperor."

Revan looked slightly scorched, as some of the black leaves had managed to hit him, but not nearly enough of them to matter. "I like her." Revan stated, with what Alex could tell was a smirk beneath his awesome helmet. He bonked his floating ball's recall button then, and took his ease.

Silvia looked at him expectantly, and Alex said, "He thanks you for the compliment, Leader Silvia. I hope you can give Isamu a similar match."

Silvia gave him a look. "It's his first badge, Victory Champion. You know how it's going to go." The boredom had returned to her eyes, replacing the awe she'd briefly felt at seeing Revan's cyclone. Apparently, her eyes hadn't been sharp enough to notice his booster rocket legs, but Alex had not missed that, or how awesome it was. It was too tiring to use as anything other than a finishing move right now, but if his Ceruledge could master that hardware…he briefly wondered what else Antonio had kitted the burning ghost out with.

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Isamu's battle was, unfortunately for Silvia, exactly what she expected. She threw a warm up Trainer at him after seeing his Combusken, and by the time he reached her, the fighting chicken was raring to go. It went exactly as one might expect. Flame Charge and Aerial Ace cleaned up her lowest tier Pokémon, and Isamu only needed Detect once to dodge one of her counter attacks. Silvia gave him a fake smile along with his badge, and with their Rainforest Badges in hand, and a complementary but mandatory jungle survival guide from Silvia, the two men were off again, to the next town.

On their way out of the gym, they discussed their route. "It seems like there's a series of footpaths and suburbs in the straightest route from here, to the Water Gym that circumvents going back into Rio's main center and probably getting mobbed or distracted again." Isamu said, giving his Master a knowing smirk. "And…there's a few Pokémon I want on the way that all happen to live pretty close to each other, as luck would have it."

Alex gave him a look, and tapped the giant black portion of the map. "And this, perilously close to your shortcut, is the haunted ruins of the abandoned city. Full of deadly Ghost Types. I promised your mom I'd keep you safe, Isamu. Walking head first into danger would be breaking that promise." Said promise had been drawn from him easily when she'd caught him in the background of one of Isamu's calls.

Her shift in focus had been a good distraction from calling his own mother, who would undoubtedly pester him about where Jess was and make insinuations because they weren't spending every waking moment together. Her motives for grandchildren were so awkwardly obvious and cringeworthy that he kept putting off calling home. He also didn't want his father, who had now retired apparently, to get drawn in as well. Butting his nose in on his mom's call was almost guaranteed, especially if it meant he could keep cussing Alex out for what he saw as imminent financial doom and societal collapse without currency as a 'stabilizing force'.

Alex had already made his argument though, and he hated repeating himself. Stability built on the back of what was essentially slave labor, and a thinly veiled caste system was not stability at all, and was doomed to collapse, once the people on the bottom started getting angry about being stepped and 'trickled' on, and stood up, knocking the entire system into chaos, and if past was prologue, lots of murder.

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Isamu visibly struggled to form an argument, and Alex hid his smirk, not wanting to needlessly taunt his Padawan without reason. "But…I wanted a…hrmmm." It was clear he didn't want to upset his mother, but he also had his heart set on probably a ghost type.

"Tell you what." Alex said, having mercy on the struggling teen, "Get your second Badge, and I'll take you into the edges of the ghost area, so we can find…whoever it is you're looking to add."

Isamu agreed to that, even if it added a day to their journey that would be spent doubling back. The path he took them on was very old, not well maintained, and seemed to have been taken over by several backyards whose owners had definitely arbitrarily decided to expand their fenced in space for a larger yard, leaving precious little room to walk between the livable suburbs of Rio, and the visibly darkened and corrupted ruins that made up the western edge of the megalopolis, and served as a rather useful barrier between humanity and the denizens of the Jungle of Death.

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Eventually, that space widened, and on their way, the sharp-eyed rookie was constantly looking for a rather common urban species of electric type. They stopped suddenly, when a Pichu darted across their path in panic, but Isamu reacted with impressive speed, and a pair of Zygarde Cores working in tandem on his legs. He eventually cornered and caught the frightened baby Pokémon, and then let him out in an enclosed alleyway, with Alex, who helped calm the terrified electric mouse, and explain what was going on. Isamu named him Judenho, and while he seemed rather young, Alex noted that the female Pikachu eyeing them after the catch eventually stopped trailing them. It hurt his heart, but the Pichu and Isamu were becoming fast friends, mostly thanks to the Luxury Ball he'd been caught in, and Alex didn't want to ruin their mood with a tearful goodbye. Pikachu also tended to have massive litters, so the parental bonds weren't exactly rock solid, among their kind. They tended to move in packs, and every member of the pack contributed to their safety and wellbeing. Those who couldn't, were often just abandoned or left behind on purpose. It seemed his mom was leaving his care to them.

Alex did tease him for copying Ash, but that led Isamu to a counterpoint. "You said you're going to train every species, right? That means a Pichu, eventually, no?"

"It does." Alex answered as he focused on walking the rather steep part of the trail they were taking, navigating carefully with his stupidly large feet on the old, weathered stone steps built for a people who were much, much smaller in stature. "But I have my sixty, for now anyway. As they grow and decide what they want to do with their lives, I'll find replacements for them. I don't intend on getting a Pichu for a long time." Quietly, he was lowkey hoping that Ash's Pikachu would one day reproduce, if he hadn't already. The next time he had a chance to speak with the World Champion electric mouse, he'd try bringing up the subject tactfully.

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"What could be cooler than me!?" Judenho shouted, as he jumped from Isamu to Alex. "I have da best colors!"

"You do." Alex admitted, without looking up, "But you lose them once you evolve. And…" He levitated his Pokédex up before Judenho's face. Shiny Luxray was depicted, an action shot of Leo, as it turned out. "This guy is my strongest Electric Type already. I don't need a Raichu at the moment." Alex had submitted a few such 'reference photos', and he'd been told they were well shot and of high quality apparently. Judenho's eyes went wide. "Cooooool! Aww man, he's not yellow either, that's gold! I'm so jealous!" He jumped back on Isamu's messy green hair and then started to nap.

The closer they got to the Iaria District of Rio, the more water they found. Isamu used one of his new generation gadgets to track down a Poliwag with a modest nature, and he gave the little princess a King's Rock, which endeared her to her new Trainer quite quickly, as she seemed to adore gifts. Isamu called her Sawa, and was clearly smitten by her cuteness, which the King's Rock accentuated. It did suit her well, and a Politoed was actually a very good choice, given the rest of his team. They had lunch, which was basically just Alex experimenting with ingredients at this point, as he slowly learned what ingredients resonated best with certain types. Cream Cheese on both halves of the bread, several slices of actual cheese, salt, pepper, some Avocado, some basil, and a dash of one of the weird white mystical Paldean herbs came together surprisingly well, as everyone who partook enjoyed the absurdly cheesy flavor.

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Just after noon, they arrived at Iaria's gym, a water gym, and the main reason Isamu had wanted to risk a suburban route so close to the devastated areas of the city for a Pichu. Despite having TMs freshly taught, Alex wondered if Judenho was up to facing what appeared to be four warm up Trainers, and then the Gym Leader herself, in a very basic gym setup. She was dressed in white and blue, with a familiar looking stone around her neck, also tinged likely by her own aura to be a light blue. Her outfit seemed more suitable for a business work environment than a Pokémon Gym.

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/ditkfa3-f500f3fb-05cf-49c7-9a65-531cf7938047.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl0a2ZhMy1mNTAwZjNmYi0wNWNmLTQ5YzctOWE2NS01MzFjZjc5MzgwNDcuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.K7rmPX0dBxkWwvyO4Al9VAWxXf0SB-Sh-qXDXb203bA]

The gym itself also seemed more…structurally sound than most of the ones Alex had visited. The architectural perfection caught his eyes as he realized he could look at, and understand, how it was all being, rather masterfully held together. For what had to be ages, by this point. While Alex marveled at the architecture, Isamu barreled ahead with his Pichu. He'd faced down quite a few Chatot, and Alex was fine with letting them train, as he had taken the time to focus more on the rest of his clones, until Isamu was confident enough to move on to the gym.

It was around this time that Kurchak, the Grookey one of his other clones had found, was bamfed over as well. He was very young, though. Alex had him hold a Lucky Egg and basically act as designated shouldermon while Gauss and Fulguron warmed up.

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Judenho was using mostly physical attacks, and his Thunder Punch was benefiting from the lack of control he had with his electricity. He was also just quick enough to avoid the painful water type counter attacks that came his way. The Pichu was a blur and switched fairly well between his physical and ranged attacks. Those, and Trailblaze, kept the rather speedy young mouse from getting hit more than twice, at least until he got to Leader Marina.

She brought out a Seel, Lombre, and a water and dark type Buizel with a vicious glint in his eye. Seel fell easily to Thunderbolt and Thunder Punch, which was becoming his one two combo. Lombre was trickier, but Judenho and Isamu used Trailblaze to speed up again as the Lombre wasted power on Water Pulses. Eventually, he too fell to Electroweb, and Thunder Punch.

The Buizel was a different story. From the moment he saw the Pichu, he looked down on him and mocked him with a single word: "Weak." He responded to his Trainer's call for an Aqua Jet and before Judenho could blink, the aggressive Buizel shifted to a vicious Bite attack. He snarled, irritated, as Static took effect, and he violently tossed Judenho away. The young Pichu rolled several times, and landed hard, without rising again.

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Marina crossed her arms and gave Isamu a somewhat severe look. "You'll need more than a baby Pokémon to beat my Buizel. I hope you have someone stronger than That." She gestured at the Pichu, who was indeed quite unconscious. Isamu ran over to him immediately as he realized his partner's state and fed him a Max Revive. With an explosive jump up to his tiny feet, electricity surged around Judenho, and he snarled at the Buizel, calling him out for another round.

"You'd just lose again, you're already out." The Buizel sneered with contempt. "Dumb and weak. As expected of a pathetic rookie." Before Judenho could attack, Isamu recalled him.

"I have plenty of Pokémon." He stated plainly to the Gym Leader. "And I know a bully when I see one. I'd expect better from a Gym Pokémon, Leader Marina."

"Tch." Was her response. "The jungle…is merciless. You must be able to survive Buizel's kind. As you are now, you'll inspire the Muertan Floatzel to tear apart you, and anyone you travel with. They despise weakness." Her Buizel barked an affirmative.

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"Kanchi!" Isamu shouted in response. The Riolu appeared in a bright flash, took one look at the Buizel, and smirked darkly. Isamu met Marina's eyes with that same confidence. "Don't call us weak. We're about to go Beyond our limits! Vacuum Wave!"

"Aqua Jet, and dodge." Marina countered. Her Buizel shot away from the vacuum formed by fighting energy, only to be hit by another, from Kanchi's other paw, as he tried to attack.

"Trailblaze!" Isamu ordered, "Then Drain Punch!" The teen seemed worked up after what happened to his Pichu, and Kanchi shared those emotions. Grass energy helped him skate across the standard League battling field, where he slammed into the Buizel, and followed that with a brutal punch to it's jaw that left it crumpled, and panting.

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"Bite!" Marina shouted, but the darkness that manifested was actually a Crunch, and though Kanchi could have dodged it, he grimaced as he let the fangs of evil energy sink into his arm. He didn't flinch though, and neither did Isamu.

"Low Sweep!" Kanchi was a blur as he spun and sent the Buizel onto his back with his fighting energy infused tail, hard enough for the Buizel to bounce up slightly from the ground after the impact, at which point Isamu called the final move, right as the angry Riolu used it. "Brick Break!"

Air whooshed from the Buizel's lungs as the powerful fighting move hit his stomach with super effectiveness, and made his eyes go Poli-patterned. Cool as an ice type, Kanchi sneered with derision at the Buizel, and then walked towards Isamu, who had a big grin on his face. "That was awesome, Kanchi!" He held out a closed fist for a companionable bump, and the Riolu nonchalantly booped the fist with his own.

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Alex was up next, and after the entirety of the gym got a fresh heal from their unmanned Pokémon healing machine, he had Kurchak and Gauss mow through the warmup Trainers with ease. Seeing his Vikavolt's level and recognizing his status as a Champion and not a rookie, Leader Marina brought out Sharpedo, Dewgong, and a shiny Feraligator against him. The Sharpedo was the toughest, but after taking a hard Crunch, Gauss managed to faint him. The Dewgong was easier, but the two Pokémon ended the round in a draw, resulting from Aurora Beam and Thunderbolt.

Marina waited for his pick for the last round of his gym match, and a wide smile broke her stern expression as he brought out Fulguron. The massive, shaggy, electric sasquatch roared upon appearing, and electricity sparked over his stiff muscles as he warmed them up. "I was hoping you'd bring out someone worth my time! Go! Ali!"

As Alex recognized what was likely Marina's starter with her unique coloring and purple crest, he called out to Fulguron. "She's taking you seriously, my friend. You may end up losing this if we're careless. Fulguron looked back at him and tilted his head. Whatever he rumbled, made Alex smirk. "I mean…we could certainly try…" The smirk widened, and Fulguron seemed hyped. "Let's see what we're dealing with, first! Thunderbolt!"

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Electricity zing zapped between the enormous Electivire's head horns before it shot out like a bolt of real lightning towards the Feraligator. "Dig." Marina ordered in response. The light blue feral alligator sank into the ground with a flurry of claws. This only pissed Fulguron off, and he raised a fist, then brought it downward.

The Thunderbolt curved in response to it's source, surging into the hole, where it resulted in a pained snarl. The Electivire smirked at the haughty human across from him, and he felt satisfaction as her eye twitched. Fulguron disliked when humans tried being deceptive, and this female was not as composed as she looked. "Earthquake." Came Alex's reply, and Fulguron's smirk widened into a downright sinister grin.

"Go deep, Ali!" Marina shouted, and as Fulguron raised his mighty arms encased in ground energy, it was his turn for an eye twitch.

Angrily, he poured more power into the move, and with a mighty shout, the entire battlefield was shattered to pieces, perfectly within the confines of the lines, of course. Marina looked stunned, but Alex was just impressed. "Fulguron…you-" Alex stopped, as his Electivire glanced back at him and just gave him a confident thumbs up, as he appreciated the awe more than the praise.

"Looks like we don't need to, for this Battle." The Electivire rumbled confidently.

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Alex nodded. "I leave it to you, my friend. You know what to do. Rain Dance!"

What made Fulguron so powerful, aside from the rather impressive attack power and his nature, was his ability to focus, and learn. That focus naturally applied to each of his moves, and like several of his brothers, the more various kinds of energy he learned to manipulate, the better his control grew. It also helped that Hydrus was a pretty good teacher. Fulguron began pounding the field with rhythmic thumps of his massive fists, and a bead of sweat appeared on the Gym Leader's brow. The energy barriers around the Trainer boxes became visible in the rain, and Fulguron let out a dark chuckle, a sound not entirely unlike a revving motor.

Alex, for his part, was curious as to what Marina would do. The only thing more dangerous than Thunder in rain was an experienced water Trainer who knew what was coming. Feraligator also had a reputation for a reason. "Make sure you have enough." He said quietly to the electric sasquatch before him.

"I have all I need." Fulguron answered, his tails swishing as, across their mental network, Temere began playing a familiar song. Naturally, Fulguron had greatly enjoyed it since he was an Elekid.

Alex nodded, speaking right the first verse of Temere's song. "Thun-der!" He called the move, and only the move, which was the Trainer equivalent of giving their partner free rein. Despite his focus, Alex found his foot tapping to his Toxtricity's masterful playing.

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Electricity surged around Fulguron, who raised his arms straight, as his two wiry tails rose into the air, and with ease, drew what they needed from the clouds above. "Bulldoze!" Marina shouted, and Alex frowned, as the shiny Feraligator didn't charge but rather ran in a circle, charging the move's power, which formed a cloak of energy around the user. She used it defensively, as the first Thunder tore through the field with a deafening boom. Ali was untouched, but almost half her shield was blown away from the sheer power of the move. Marina didn't hesitate, and called another, "Now Stomping Tantrum!"

Alex's frown grew, but Fulguron had things in hand. His second fist struck with another Thunder as he formed a literal thunderbolt in his fist and sent it hurtling towards Ali with another sound-breaking boom. This one completely reduced every boulder coming towards him to nothing but dust. Suddenly defenseless, Ali's eyes widened in realization as the third and final Thunder, this time from between his bulbous horns, boomed towards her. Thunder boomed for the third time through the gym, this time hammering the Feraligator with a brutal crit. "Masterful!" Alex shouted, and Fulguron's tails swished happily, causing lines of electricity to form between them.

"Indeed." Marina said, as she recalled her Feraligator. "I should have brought out my strongest, it seems. Electivire's power was not exaggerated." She began walking across the field towards him, while Isamu started making his way down from the stands. Fulguron fist bumped his Trainer, requested a victory burrito as a reward, and then returned to his ball.

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Alex took his newest badge, and then after thanking Marina, they were on the road once again. The route between Iaria and Salvador, the fiery home of Rio's third gym, was short but full of Trainers. Isamu took on most of them, but Alex did some level grinding as well with his Noibat, and Drilbur. Dracala did great, mostly because flying types were hard to hit as a rule and had an advantage over the very common grass types that local Rio Trainers had. Simon, for his part, had a harder time, for the same reason.

Despite his grass and water type weaknesses, he managed to get three wins out of ten, but he still seemed depressed about that ratio. After the seventh loss, Simon woke up again in Alex's arms and sighed. "I don't think I'm cut out for this…I know you and Kamina want me to tap into 'the me that you both believe in' or whatever, but I'm just not good at this."

"You're better than you think." Alex said with a light chuckle. "Just relax. You're always so stiff with worry out there, it makes your Moves unreliable."

Simon just sighed again and buried himself in a light layer of dirt. "I'm just not good at Battling."

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Alex sighed heavily. He was quiet for a solid minute as he processed and chose his words carefully. Finally, he said, "What Kamina means, by believing in the you that he does…isn't that complicated."

The Drilbur poked his head up from the dirt, listening intently. "Kamina probably sees a bit of his younger self, in you. The Simon that he knows you can be, is an Excadrill even stronger than he is. He went out of his way to find a Trainer arguably more skilled than even his own, to help you reach that potential."

The Drilbur looked down then, with a heavy sigh. "I just wish I knew why…why me? I'm so weak…"

Alex laughed then, loud and genuine. Simon gave him a look. "So he can Battle you, Simon." Alex said like it was that obvious to everyone. "He probably wants to face you properly, to see how high you can go. If you manage to beat him…I don't know what will happen exactly, but it's usually a good thing."

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"He wants to Battle…me?" Simon thought that over, then shook his head. "I wouldn't be any challenge to him, that can't be it."

"As you are now, no, you wouldn't be. But the Simon he knows you can be? That's the Simon he wants you to believe in."

The Drilbur slowly rose from his dirt. "I think I get it now…" The gleam in his eyes that'd flared up after his wins returned. "Alright!" He whacked his face with his comically large claws. Then he turned to his human. "Make me stronger! No more losing! I'm going to be a rival worthy of Kamina!"

Alex nodded sagely, as he saw Isamu and Judenho score another win. "Alright bud. That means Battling strategically. Ground Types are strong against Fire, Steel, Rock, and Electric Types. All those Types have Gyms on this circuit, so you'll be getting some action soon. Rest for now, and remember, it's not about winning or losing. Just have fun and think of Battling like a sport. Get some rest."

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Isamu and Alex headed north then, only to find their path blocked by a massive crowd lining each side of Salvador City's main thoroughfare. The crowd was dressed primarily in reds, oranges, and almost obnoxious yellows. Fire seemed to be the theme, and the good mood of what could only be Rio's rather famous Carnival was infectious. As they looked around in vain for the gym, or a path to the Pokémon Center, a bright spotlight suddenly lit up their contrasting outfits, as white and black and Isamu's primarily green attire stood out quite obviously in the flamboyant crimson sea.

A charismatic man who seemed to be dressed like a Moltres shouted at them, from atop what looked like an equally flamboyant parade float coming down the thoroughfare. He was handsome, bronze skinned and had a microphone in his hand. "Salvadoooor City! Let's give our Challengers a proper welcome!" The crowd erupted with cheers and whoops, drowning out the catchy samba beat that seemed to be eternally playing in the background. The fiery man continued, "My name is Leader Thiago, of the Salvador Gym! You two have caused quite a stir, you know, hitting three Gyms in a single day on our Estrada Real!" Again, the crowd cheered, and Isamu looked down, overwhelmed by the attention. Alex, for his part, looked neutrally whelmed, and had his usual smirk on. "With two victories apiece, you come now to me, for your hat trick! The only question that remains is…who will be going first!?"

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/ditkfij-3e192e48-2746-4811-abb7-8356ec69fc23.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGl0a2Zpai0zZTE5MmU0OC0yNzQ2LTQ4MTEtYWJiNy04MzU2ZWM2OWZjMjMuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.uDo_TtkrA4voFa2B5LOeWiDbCfURg6KYyhAR3WbiCXg]

Alex and Isamu shared a look, but they'd already discussed how to settle this. The ancient art of Roshambo. The two faced each other, and with the majority of Salvador watching, they shook a single fist at each other, once, twice, three times, and there was laughter as they saw Isamu's scissors crushed by the Dragon Emperor's mighty rock.

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Alex went first, stepping up onto the float, which seemed to be a stylistic interpretation of Rio's former draconic snake Guardians, who were recolored red, but with traces of blue and green upon the scales. About five Trainers stood between Alex and Thiago, who was perched on the top platform of the lead float, a battlefield artfully situated between the two snarling heads of Mamboa and Yacuma. Their heads at least, were accurate to real life colors.

Alex called out his Drilbur, and gave him an Elixir and a health potion. "This is it, Simon. The next three Gyms are perfect for you, and by the time we reach Thiago, you'll likely be an Excadrill." The Drilbur's eyes widened, and Alex chuckled. "Yes, really. You've been training hard for this my friend. Are you ready to go Beyond your limits?"

Simon clashed his claws together, and his eyes were on fire. "My Drill Run will pierce through all of them! Let's do this!"

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And in short, they did. With familiar ease, Alex had Simon Drill Run through whatever their opponents could throw at them. The last Trainer, though, had something far, far above Simon's level. His Turtonator seemed to be his starter Pokémon, and he'd trained it fairly well. It also happened to be 'shiny' which in this species case meant his colors were brown and sulfuric yellow, instead of red. "Alright, Dragon Douche! This is where your mockery of our League Circuit ends! You're not getting past me with that pathetic little mole!" His Turtonator roared in agreement and smirked down at Simon as he Taunted the mole. "I've seen stronger Rattata." He rumbled.

Alex glanced at Thiago, who seemed stunned, but only shrugged in response to his unasked question. It wasn't like Alex had nothing that could take on the Turtonator. He was also allowed six Pokémon, while this Gym Trainer only seemed to have four, including his Turtonator. Irritated, Alex held up a single finger, and a Barrier surrounded the pair of challengers. "He's severely higher level, Simon. And a Dragon Type. Do you want to back out? I can use Fulguron-"

The tiny mole held up a claw. His eyes were burning with defiance and anger at the effective Taunt. "Back down!? Just who the Hell do you think I am!?"

"A young Drilbur high off a winning streak." Alex said calmly. "I don't want you to get hurt, Simon. I'm not saying you can't win…I'm just saying it's going to be painful. Turtonator can be pretty brutal."

Simon chuckled then, and as he spoke, Alex started to understand what Kamina had already known. "I used to hate getting hurt while Battling. But every day, my big Bro would hit me with Rock Slide when I poked my head up to eat. It always hurt. A lot. Until one day, it didn't. I used my Mud Slap to block them, and it helped. Then I learned Crush Claw, and eventually Kamina stopped trying to pelt me. He taught me how to Drill Run, and he trained me to use it until I could overpower his Rock Slide. That's the Move that'll slay this dragon!"

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Alex stood and nodded. "So long as you understand. His armor is weakest in that gaping chest hole he has. Aim true, and your Drill Run might break through. Also, under no circumstance should you attack the shell. It explodes on contact."

"Avoid the shell, aim for the obvious weak point. Easy." The Drilbur waddled forward and slammed his claws together, undaunted by the obvious power of the dragon before him. The dragon smirked confidently, and shifted to all fours, as he started inhaling.

"Watch the Dragon Pulse." Alex said, grimacing as the lack of ground and dirt was a poor field for a ground type. The opposing Trainer called the move, and Alex shouted, "Iron Defense!" Simon raised his claws just in time for the intense dragon energy to slam into his claws, nearly knocking him over, but the stubborn mole held fast and managed to knock the beam away.

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Capitalizing on his partner's strength, or luck, Alex said, "Alright, Drill Run! Stack up some damage!"

Almost immediately a cloud of dust and dirt swirled around the parade float like a Sandstorm and coalesced around Simon into a spinning drill shaped sand tornado. "Shell Trap!" The Trainer shouted confidently, and his Turtonator's shell spikes began glowing ominously with intense firepower.

Drill Run would not be deterred though, and Simon truly was a master with the move. Like Kamina, he could spin a few feet off the ground, though once again the terrain didn't help him. It was a cramped battlefield, and the clever, if poorly trained, Turtonator was able to spin and fire off Dragon Pulses. He missed all three shots he was given, and Simon struck him hard after each miss, right on his head. With his gathered speed, Simon spun past his opponent's hardened skull with another brutal thwacking noise.

As Simon slid to a stop, the tone of the battle changed, and Alex grimaced at his opponent as the Turtonator let out a snarl that promised death. "You've trained that Turtonator, right?"

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The man just shrugged, cockily. "You know dragons, don'tcha? Barely in control at the best of times!" He laughed, sounding a bit unhinged, as the blurple energy radiating from his dragon turtle shifted to a dark red. The Turtonator leaped and landed on Simon with his still active Shell Trap. The intense explosion propelled the draconic turtle into the air, where he turned and aimed at Simon, "Outrage!" His Trainer ordered, and the sparking crimson energy coalesced and was fired as a beam at Simon. At Alex's order, he spun into another Drill Run, as the beam of draconic power carved through the parade float, and the one behind it, causing those on top of them to bail out as they caught fire and exploded into shards of wood and burning cloth."

"It's now or never, Simon! You know where to aim! Drill Run!" Alex ordered, even as the float they were on began to collapse and catch fire as well.

"End this farce!" The Trainer shouted at his barely coherent dragon, "Giga Impact!"

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Intense orange aura surrounded the brown and gold Turtonator, as he let gravity guide him to Simon's rising Drill Run. The moves collided for a moment, and for a moment they were locked in a tense contest of power, before the collision made them explode. As the dust cleared, the Trainer whooped. "See!? I said I'd beat him! The Dragon Emperor is over hyped! Well done Turtonator!"

Alex just kept staring into the dust cloud and then smirked. "You think that overgrown turtle could beat my Simon? Just who the Hell do you think he is!?" Light flared from under the Turtonator, bright and blinding. As soon as it faded, the evidently fainted Turtonator was tossed off of the now fully evolved Excadrill, who let out a mighty roar with his exertion, and victory.

Leader Thiago carefully approached them soon after, with what Alex had read was the Fuego Badge in his palm. He smiled confidently at Alex and Simon. "It's a bit unorthodox, but I like to reward effort, in my Gym. Critically hitting a Turtonator that high level in his weak spot…took some serious skill. And luck. Well done…Simon, was it? You and your Trainer have definitely earned this. Also…" He gestured at the destroyed floats from Turtonator's Outrage as the one they were standing on creaked ominously. "This will take some time to rebuild. Tell your Padawan I am sorry, but our grand showdown must take place tomorrow, in the Gym."

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The steely mole was given the badge, and with a big grin, he passed it awkwardly but carefully to Alex with his new, unwieldy, and razor-sharp claws. Alex took the badge, and then booped Simon's nose with his fist, the closest he could get to a fist bump now. "Well struck, bud. Just like Fulguron, you can have whatever you want to eat. You've certainly earned it."

The freshly evolved steel mole had a unique request, namely, some of the high-quality soil that Tyranus gorged himself on regularly as he strove to become a Pupitar, which was blended with Protein, of course, wrapped up in something that the locals of Salvador City called a 'spicy tortilla'. With evolution also came a new move, and one that Simon was eager to master: Horn Drill. Apparently, Kamina had a method to keep it from missing, and Simon was eager for a guaranteed OHKO in his arsenal. Since evolving, much of his hesitation was simply gone, but he was still far more reserved than Kamina.

Isamu took the extra time before his battle to train up Sawa some more, and by the time they returned to the camp in the midst of their nightly anime binge, the little Poliwag was a Poliwhirl, proudly wearing her King's Rock like a queen. Isamu approached Alex and all but begged for a Rare Candy, as the mighty Dragon Emperor, a true gamer at his core, had been going out of his way to collect the items they walked past the entire trip. Alex used the opportunity to finally get some backstory on his mysterious apprentice.

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"Some answers, in exchange for a Politoed, seems like a fair trade to me." Alex replied to Isamu and Sawa, holding the sparkly blue 'confection' up tantalizingly. "I like to think we're close enough now, as allies, for some information to be unveiled."

Isamu looked around nervously, but Alex preempted his refusal by raising a Reflect Screen of his own around them, further empowered by a Barrier outside of that. "What you share will be kept confidential, of course." Alex added.

Isamu sighed heavily, and then called out the majority of his team, namely his new catches, and all five Zygarde Cores. "Hey guys. You're going to want to hear this too." Dynamight, Judenho, and Sawa all nodded in unison. The lead Core crawled out from under Isamu's tangled green mop of hair, and in perfect unison, the Cores bowed in Alex's direction. Then, the leader on Isamu's shoulder spoke.

"We greet you, Tamer of the Original Dragon. I am called Zyx, and I speak for these Cores. Your exploits have not gone unnoticed by us. Forgive us for not speaking sooner…we had to be sure that you are like the first Dragon Emperor…and not his successors. But it is clear now, by feeding all of Humanity and Pokémon through your people's mastery of what you know as Infinity Energy, that you are indeed a worthy successor."

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Alex glanced among the multicolored Zygarde Cores and saw that only the red one seemed irritated by his presence. Zyx seemed to guess his intention and let him speak. "Greetings to you, Defender of the World. If any of your Cores have any problems with me hearing your secrets, feel free to voice them."

As one, the Cores turned to the red one, which sighed, and addressed Alex with his cyclopian stare. "You claim to have Tamed the Dragon. I dislike so-called Tamers. The way they treat their partners…irks me."

Alex chuckled casually. "I share your dislike. Many who aspire to tame Legends do so with ill intentions. Tao, however, is my friend, even if we sometimes disagree on certain issues, our bond remains strong and true. I could ask him to confirm my words, if you wish."

The red Core was quiet for a solid thirty seconds before it said, "Do not bother the Dragon with trifles." It turned to Zyx then. "I withdraw my reservations. Tell him what you wish."

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Zyx nudged Isamu's cheek from his shoulder perch. "Go ahead, Ninth."

Isamu took a deep breath and began. "Our situations are…not that different, Alex. Like you…I was deemed incapable of being a Trainer. And all I ever wanted was to go on a Journey. I uhh…met someone, another Legend Tamer, who was looking for a Successor, and he chose me. And that's when I inherited Zyx, and five Pokémon from previous World Wardens. That's the title of the one who Tames Zygarde. I'm the Ninth."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "And the League was…okay with that?"

Isamu chuckled awkwardly. "Well, like yours, my Doctor was…less than trustworthy. Nothing evil though, just the usual medical insurance fraud, and such. He misdiagnosed me so that my parents had to buy an absurd number of drugs and medicine to 'treat' me. Those medications aren't for someone who, aside from some mild ADHD, is essentially 'normal'." He said with literal air quotes. "So, for years I appeared to be sick. Zyx healed me, and my mentor managed to prove to my parents that they were being scammed. We actually got quite a lot of money from that Doctor, after they settled things in court. He no longer practices, and the League gave me a Trainer Card once they saw how knowledgeable I am about Pokémon." Isamu was perfectly calm, but there was an intensity in his eyes when he mentioned the former doctor that Alex understood all too well.

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Alex nodded as he listened intently. "I'm glad justice was served. Maybe not by the flames of Ho Oh, but legal methods are just as valid. So, what exactly is the purpose of a World Warden?"

The Cores, in perfect synchronicity, looked back at Isamu, who picked his words carefully. "A World Warden, uh, wards the world against danger. Threats to the land, existential crises, stuff like that. Most of what we deal with is caused by Humans. With the power that comes from combining Infinity Energy and Humans, Zygarde can empower a chosen Human to bring an end to threats that would normally be beyond even it's one hundred percent Form." Isamu took another deep breath and then bowed low and formally in the Japanese style towards Alex, which made the other eyebrow rise to Spockian heights. "I- er, We, would like your assistance in these matters, these threats to the ecosystem, and dealing with them."

Alex blinked. "What threat could overpower something as strong as Zygarde?"

Isamu fidgeted, glanced at the Cores, who continued staring at him, and then looked back at Alex. "You remember the person that shadowy dragon, uh, Alduin, took over?" Alex nodded. "Well, he had…let's call it an ability…he had the ability to create more of his mass…and turn anything he touched to dust."

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Alex's eyebrows crashed together from their lofty heights. "That sounds…a lot like Xerneas and Yveltal. Creation, destruction."

Isamu nodded. "His name was Tomura. His father…once posed a threat to Japan's ecosystem. Zygarde, and my predecessor, stopped him, at great cost. So, Tomura was returned to his mother…the woman you know as the Witch Queen of Albion. Morgana. She's been active for a long time…and Tomura was experimented on while she worked with Team Flare. When they fell apart, she vanished back into the shadows, but Tomura was already…corrupted. You're old enough to remember the Kalos incident with Zygarde, right?"

Alex nodded. "Lysander somehow twisted the Legendary's energy into some kind of corrupting force, and that corruption spread throughout Kalos. Ash Ketchum and the Gym Leaders stopped him, but his Greninja spent the next several decades ruthlessly hunting down any trace of the taint with his Aura powers."

Isamu nodded as well. "My mentor said that Tomura was similarly corrupted, the first and only, hopefully, Human test subject…that survived. He was very much evil, but…nobody deserves a fate like that."

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Alex frowned, slightly. "Better to end both threats at once. With the powers he had and who controlled him, I'm betting he killed quite a lot of people, Isamu. You would've, should have stopped him either way."

Isamu frowned as well, "You could just take someone's life that easily?"

"Can, have, and would again." Alex answered coldly, as he stared the teen down. "That's what being a Scale of Balance means, Isamu. We don't let threats fester. We don't let mass murderers walk away. I ended Caleb Pravus. I ended Alduin. And if I'd known what Tomura was, I would've ended him, too."

Isamu's frown deepened. "Then what about the Imperium?"

Alex's frown lessened into a depressed chuckle. "The Imperium is the world's Superpower. The de facto strongest entity on the entire planet. I have no illusions about that. The problem is that the Imperator has, not once in thousands of years, ever been deposed, or even attempted to be removed. Not by his sons, not by his people, not by his slaves. They have some sort of no doubt horrifying method of utterly crushing their enemies into soulless and willing slaves. To avoid that fate…we have to coexist with them. The alternative, war, means death and subjugation for all the free Regions on the planet. Japan included. Much of the Imperium's murdering comes from the Imperator's overzealous sons, and the wars they start. The Imperator himself has only personally gotten involved a handful of times, and only when his territory was directly threatened. Every single time he takes the field, the Imperium wins. His presence guarantees their victory. I've spoken with him, too. He's…a very rational being, with very good advisors. As long as we can keep things rational, civilized, and hold an open dialogue between our nations, the world won't collapse into blood and fire. Again. And I prefer that."

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Isamu glared at him. "So mass murderers are fine, as long as they have bigger guns."

"The only being on the planet that the Imperium's mass murderers listen to, is their father. We coexist with their father, and we avoid getting slaughtered by the Great Wolf, or the Lord of the Red Sands. I don't like it either, Isamu, but this is who we have to coexist with. Poking the hive of genetically enhanced murderers is only going to end badly for everyone outside of the Imperium. While negotiating and speaking keeps the good people of Eous from being rounded up to die on their border. It keeps them from targeting Japan. It keeps the peace on Europa's borders."

Isamu shook his head. "You're sounding hypocritical, Alex. I'm as impressed as anyone else that you got them to stop the war on Eous's borders but do you think that's going to stop the slavery? The lobotomies? You were in Koria too, you saw their Servitors."

"And that fate is what awaits you, me, and our families, the family of every Scale, if we decide to start a war with them over things they've been doing for thousands of years with, for the record, little to no pushback from the rest of the world. Unova imposing sanctions doesn't really work if Italia and Indius keep trading with them. Right now, the only way to change the Imperium is by negotiating and pushing back on their darker impulses. In a war, right now, we would be obliterated. I'm taking steps to correct that imbalance of power, but until I can match the Imperator both personally and militarily, negotiation and appeasement are our tactics."

Isamu sighed heavily. "That still doesn't justify killing Tomura."

Alex shook his head. "Tomura wasn't a thousands of years old psychic at the head of a genetically enhanced empire of super soldiers. He was the kind of threat that we Can stop. And we did. With enough Legendary Tamers and good enough gear, we might be able to take the Imperium someday, but right now getting along is our best chance for survival. We need time, and politics buys us that time. Making nice by taking out threats like Alduin, and Tomura, and the Successor, buys us that time. I imagine the Imperator doesn't want him to return."

Isamu continued staring his master down. "You know, you haven't been forthcoming about him, either."

Alex nodded in casual agreement. "I haven't. But now that we're sharing…"

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Alex elaborated on his efforts to find the Successor's tomb, and what led him to encountering Alduin again, and by the end of that explanation, both he and the Cores agreed to help Alex track and end him. They also viewed the Imperium as the most pressing threat to the ecosystem, and if things continued to worsen, would eventually step in to stop them one day, or die trying. On that day, Alex promised to help them, so long as they could back up their justification with evidence. None of the Cores opposed that condition.

With that agreement firmly solidified, Isamu joined the anime binge, while Alex focused on piloting his clones, and formulating plans. That was two Legends now, in as many days, that had asked for his aid in a permanent fashion. He had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be the last, either. As dangerous as the Imperium's mining efforts were in the long term, currently, it seemed Zygarde was most concerned with the planet's alignment in their solar system, and the long-term effects that being locked in synchronized orbit would have on the ecosystem. Unfortunately, the Enterprise still wasn't complete yet. Running a starship on Infinite Energy sounded easy, but making sure the parts responsible for containing that awesome power didn't erode or shift in the turbulence from exiting the atmosphere, or flying through whatever they encountered in space, would take time. The shields were done though, and they had apparently been easily adapted to the Empire's powered armor as well.

Sawa decided to eat her candy with breakfast and spent most of the early morning hours getting used to the power in her legs. Thiago brought out a Slugma, and a Magmar first against her, and despite knowing electric moves, the Magmar was easily brought down by Sawa's combination of high jumps and Water Pulses from midair. The trouble came mostly from Thiago's Oricorio, who danced past the Water Pulses with ease and a flourish. Sawa wasn't skilled enough yet to stay indefinitely in the air, and thus she had to eventually come down.

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Sawa did so, by creating a Rain Dance, and hitting the crimson bird with a surge of Muddy Water. Trailblaze helped, but the water still managed to hit. Judenho came out next, and the eager Pichu started getting frustrated as the crimson dancer dodging his Thunderbolts with ease. They kept the Oricorio at bay though, and Isamu noticed they were getting more accurate.

"Focus, Judenho! You've got this!" He gave the electric mouse a thumbs up, and the Pichu looked back at him, took a deep breath, faced his opponent, and raised his tiny arms to the rain clouds. "Wait! Thunder is too mu-" But the Pichu had already summoned the power. It struck his target with devastating power, but it also hit Judenho.

Isamu started towards his partner, but stopped short as the baby mouse began glowing bright white. With a confident "Pikaa!" Another Thunderbolt finished off the Oricorio, who'd been given a Potion. Thiago sighed and then shrugged. "To the Victor, the Gym Badge! Congratulations on your new Pikachu!" Judenho's ears twitched at his species name, and Thiago tossed him the Fuego Badge. The speedy Pikachu caught the badge easily, and brought it back to Isamu, all smiles.

Alex joined them, with Judenho now taking his spot on Isamu's shoulder, outside the gym. As promised, they backtracked to the area Isamu wanted to visit. After going deeper into the ruins than Alex liked, with Po and Kanchi guarding them, Isamu looked in three ghost-infested tiered parking lots, and eventually, found the Varoom he was looking for. He named the ghostly automobile Hayaisha, and with him properly joining the team with Alex translating, master and padawan departed for Porto Nova.