"...and that about sums it up," I said, finishing my explanation of what had happened to me earlier today.

Hope stared at me with a gobsmacked expression, whereas Lillie had a face of growing excitement. I could practically feel their surprise through the screen of the videophone, and I couldn't help but to laugh slightly at how they looked.

"The Champion of Sinnoh accepted a challenge from—"

"That’s amazing! Congratulations, Alex!" Lillie interrupted, cheering. Nebby joined in from over her shoulder. "Does this mean you've technically beat the Elite Four?"

I blinked, and Hope seemed to sigh somewhat.

"I was actually going to ask that,” Hope said. “What allowed this to happen?"

The answer was complicated, but I did my best to explain. Essentially, I was allowed to challenge Cynthia due to both the authority that came from my role as a member of the Wandering Elite and due to the ongoing need to demonstrate that members of the Wandering Elite had the strength to backup their standing. I was supposed to be around the same level of the Elite Four, but I was more of somewhere between a Gym Leader and the rest. Challenging a member of the Elite Four was similar to battling a peer, but challenging the Champion was the equivalent to a true challenge against one of the best.

Battling Cynthia in a public stage would provide undeniable proof of the “worthiness” of both my team’s personal strength and the strength of the Wandering Elite overall.

"Honestly, while it’s mostly for publicity, I also think Cynthia just wanted to battle me after everything we’ve done for one another in the past." I said after saying my share. "The important thing to note is that I actually haven't lost my right to challenge Sinnoh's Elite Four. I'll get to the rest of them eventually—without any time limits. For now, I’ll just be having a battle with Cynthia first."

And wasn't that just a complete turnaround?

After a few moments of processing my explanation, Hope seemed to hum in thought whereas Lillie perked up.

"So none of your practice has gone to waste!" she pointed out.

"Yes, but any Elite Four challenges won’t be as public."

We chatted about how the timing would work out, as well how public the match would be. Going against a member of the Elite Four was one thing, but challenging the Champion herself was a whole thing and a half.

The right arena had to be chosen, the appropriate advertisements had to start up, and, heck, this year’s Grand Festival was just starting up right now, so we would have to at least wait for it to pass by.

I was looking at a week, week and a half, maybe even two weeks, delay before our match. That didn’t bother me, though, because it gave my team and I time to plan and prepare for a much harder fight.

"And so your next steps..." Lillie asked cautiously.

"I'm waiting on a message from Hala to retrieve Dedenne, and then I'm meeting up with someone rather important to evolve a member of my team who has been waiting for quite a while,” I replied. “With how the past year’s been, we figured this would be the best time and place to do so."

A few more details were shared, mostly just chatting idly to catch up after a surprisingly eventful day yesterday. Right when we were about to wrap things up, my Holo Caster rang.

"Speak of the devil," I said, much to Hope and Lillie's confusion at the phrase. Replying to the message, I sent Hala my current address so that way his assistants could send Dedenne over.

Underneath the video phone was a machine used for Pokémon transfers. A moment's wait and a lull in the conversation, then there was a clunk and a chime that signified that Dedenne was due to arrive. A small slot briefly contained glowing red light, then a lightning-marked Fast Ball coalesced inside, protected by a glass cover.

"There's Dedenne," I said.

"Send him out. Send him out!" Lillie cheered.

I paused, briefly, when I realized they had never met one another before.

Not one to keep my audience waiting, I pressed the button on the ball, and after bracing my arm, a flash of light let him coalesce into existence in front of me.

And I paused again, struck by what I saw.

"What is it, Alex?" Hope asked from the other side.

I did not respond. Instead, I stared at the Pokémon on the floor blankly.

There was fat, and then there was fat. Dedenne turned out to be neither. He had the same basic shape—the same basic proportions—but looking at him made it clear he had undergone some major changes.

First of all, he was fit, which was a strange statement considering he looked almost exactly the same. It was hard to explain just how I knew, but under his spongy surface there was a feeling of raw, physical power. More importantly, however, was that Dedenne had grown in size. In every direction, he had doubled, going from a cute, hand-sized rodent to something as large as a fancy top hat.

Upon appearing on the floor, he squeaked then rubbed a paw against his long whiskers. An ear twitched when he glanced up to me. I was unable to react immediately, but Dedenne had no such qualms, and he ran to my leg to climb up my pants as if nothing was wrong at all.

A second truth became clear here; the square cube law reared its ugly head. As Dedenne was now twice as large in every direction, he had also octupled in weight. His not-so-tiny body stretched the limits of what my clothing could support, and after a second, my arm was pushed down with his entire weight pushing down on my shoulder.

"...Uh, hey, little guy?" I said, still doing with the shock.

Hope was speechless, whereas Lillie gained a huge grin.

"I know this!" Lillie explained. "His time with Tapu Koko means he's a Totem-sized Pokémon now!"

"A Totem-sized Pokémon? Not a Totem?" I asked.

She cleared her throat.

"Let me explain."

When it came to abnormally sized Pokémon in Alola, there were either Totem Pokémon or Totem-sized Pokémon, like Lillie had said. Pokémon could grow to larger sizes if they dwelled in areas filled with energy from Ultra Wormholes, and the Island Guardians themselves occasionally brought Pokémon they chose to bask in it. However, where Totem Pokémon had the ability to grant themselves or others temporary boosts to one another’s capabilities, Totem-sized Pokémon lacked that, only gaining the “benefit” of having a much larger shape.

“Unless Dedenne actively chooses to nest in one of those areas with Ultra Wormhole energy, he won’t be able to buff himself up,” Lillie explained. “The Aether Foundation did a bunch of research on Totem Pokémon, and it's usually their nesting grounds, not the Pokémon itself, that’s responsible for that extreme power.”

On my shoulder, Dedenne nodded to confirm Lillie’s explanation, and I felt the weight of him pressing my arm down. He squeaked in surprise when I shifted him over, and instead of having him perch on me, I held him in my arms.

“I imagine your time training with Tapu Koko was successful?” I asked the no-longer-little Pokémon.

He gave me a salute, and the whiskers on his face crackled with electricity.

After a few more minutes of discussion, mostly shifting the topic to ask what Hope and Lillie had been up to (it'd only been two days—Lillie was still training for Olivia), I parted ways and hung up the call, intent on seeing what Dedenne could now do.

We were in the main Pokémon Center of the island, as that was where the Pokémon League had the most available rooms. However, due to my role, most buildings were open to me, but I ignored them for now since I wasn’t planning on doing anything special.

We headed outside, to where open fields had been set up outside the Pokémon Center for the public to use at will. A few Ace Trainers were practicing with their teams around, and I saw a single trainer running laps with a team of Normal Types behind him.

After locating a free field, Dedenne pushed out of my arms to bound forward, and he took up a preparatory stance to ready himself for action.

"You learn any new moves from Tapu Koko while you were gone?” I asked.

He squeaked, nodding, and he built up electricity in his cheeks. With that, I gave him the go ahead to demonstrate his new moves.

Demonstrate, he did.

Dedenne jumped into the air and squeezed a powerful Thunderbolt out of his body. A twist as he fell, and his speed allowed him to roll up energy into an Electro Ball that rocketed forward. Then, upon landing, his paws sparked with a charge, and a set of Thunder Punches tore through the space in front of him. Finally, he finished up the demonstration with two moves back-to-back: a Charge Beam allowed him to build up innate power by increasing the flow of energy in his body, and he released it all with a Fairy Type Dazzling Gleam, his first true Fairy Type move that I was ashamed to have not taught myself.

In total, he had learned Thunderbolt, Electro Ball, Thunder Punch, Charge Beam, and Dazzling Gleam while training with Tapu Koko. That was every single Electric Type attacking move he could learn, save for Wild Charge, which wouldn’t work too well even with his now larger size.

Stolen novel; please report.

When he was done, Dedenne wasn’t even panting, whereas before, unleashing that much electricity would have sent him to the floor. He was fast, powerful, and ready to fight. It was clear that now more than ever, he truly had become one of the most powerful Dedenne in the world.

“Hm,” I said.

I hummed as Dedenne looked on, seeking my approval.

“Your larger size means you can store extra electricity, huh? Yeah, I’d say your practice has skyrocketed you to be one of the toughest members of my team.”

My words must have hit something, because Dedenne turned away, and I saw him hold back a sob. I was about to step closer to check if anything was wrong, but he brushed his tears away and snapped back around, giving me a paw’s best attempt at a thumbs up as it could.

Seeing that, I couldn't help but to grin. This was the power Dedenne always sought, and this was the power he'd been training to obtain for a long time. I was proud of him, and I told him that. He had achieved the first step of his dreams, and now he just needed to use his full potential in the field of battle.

“Impressive.”

I jumped. That word wasn’t spoken by me.

Spinning around to see who it was, I was quickly met with an amused smile and long, blonde hair. While I was distracted by Dedenne, Cynthia had somehow snuck up behind us.

“C-Champion,” I said, slamming my feet together and finding myself standing up straighter.

“At ease, Alex. There’s no reason to be so formal with me when you weren’t formal before.”

I let out a nervous chuckle, and Dedenne scurried over to stand by my side. This time, he saved my poor clothes the effort of holding his weight. He remained on the floor.

At the sight of the much larger Dedenne, Cynthia knelt down and held out a hand. Dedenne's nose twitched as he sniffed it, but, not finding anything wrong, he didn't fight back when Cynthia scratched him behind an ear.

"I can see your time in Alola has been good for you and your team. When we last talked, Kukui actually sang your praise."

"He did?" I asked.

"Yes," Cynthia said with a slight laugh. "For both you and Hope, actually. He said that every candidate you visit tends to act as if a fire had been lit right under their butt—his words, not mine."

I attributed that reaction to Hope more than me—she really knows how to motivate a trainer. Between her utter destruction of Mallow and her seemingly insensitive battle with Kiawe, they learned how much more they could go, and I was able to write a decent analysis of their potential as a Gym Leader.

(Though, Ryuki still lingered in the back of my mind. How would he react when we eventually challenged him?)

"But, uh, I see you got my message," I said, changing the topic now that Cynthia was here.

"Indeed. Do you wish to send her out, or do you plan to wait?"

"No, no. She's actually really excited about this."

To end my statement, I reached to my side to send out the team member in question. Togepi appeared not too far away, and she immediately smiled at Cynthia and waved her hands. Only half a second later, her eyes locked onto Dedenne, who was sitting at my side, and Togepi ran over to furiously shake Dedenne’s hands. She marveled at his doubled height as Dedenne puffed out his chest and let loose proudful, squeaking laughter.

As the pair of Pokémon greeted one another after several months apart, the rest of my Pokémon came out of their Pokéballs. Rapidash appeared, then Gardevoir, then Tinkatuff and Eevee and Ninetales...

Togepi wanted everyone possible to witness her impending evolution.

"My turn then, hm?" Cynthia said, amused at the sight of my entire team around her.

Reaching into the pocket of her fluffy, black coat, Cynthia retrieved a Pokéball and sent out her Togekiss. The large, winged Pokémon took to the air, where it circled around the field with a bright smile on its face.

As someone who had spent the last few years of my life working with Fairy Types, seeing that Togekiss made me gulp. At first glance, it looked like it was just gliding, but its control over its movements in the air told me it had mastered Flying Type energy, and its body practically sparkled with how much Fairy Type energy it could wield at will.

We have to fight that?!

After a moment of taking in Togekiss, the Pokémon pulled back its wings and gracefully drifted to the ground. It landed without an iota of dirt out of place, purposefully positioning itself just a few feet away from Togepi, who looked up at it with awe.

I took a deep breath to steady myself, getting my emotions under control, before approaching Togepi and kneeling down behind her. As she stared at the evolved form of her species, I slowly patted her back and gave her a smile.

"Go on, Togepi. That Togekiss is actually your mom," I said softly.

Togekiss puffed up her chest, though Togepi had an inscrutable expression on her face. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning, either. Staying completely unreadable, she slowly walked forward, and, upon arriving, Togekiss offered a wing.

Togepi didn’t immediately shake it like she usually did. She only continued to watch.

"Pi," she said.

"Kiss," Togekiss replied.

And that was enough for the pair to break out into laughter and embrace one another in a hug.

At Togepi's lead, she took Togekiss’s wing and dragged the Pokémon forward, which laughed as she did. Each and every Pokémon on my team was introduced, and Togekiss greeted everyone with a smile. Ninetales bowed her head, Tinkatuff gave it a grunt, Dedenne gave it a series of squeaks that sounded a little too close to bragging, and the others gave Togekiss their own greetings until Togepi reached Rapidash.

There, she started waving furiously and gesturing to the horse in question with glee. Rapidash gave a hesitant whinny to greet it, and Togekiss gave him a deep bow.

That seemed to surprise him, and Rapidash trotted in place. His eyes glanced around nervously, and he seemed almost to beg Togekiss to stand back up. Finally, she did, and then Togepi brought her mother over to the last person who hadn’t been introduced yet: me.

"Hello," I said to the Togekiss that stopped a foot away. "I'm Alex, Togepi's trainer. Thank you for letting Togepi join us. She makes every day brighter just from her presence."

Mimicking my Pokémon, I bowed my head, but the flying Fairy Type waved me off. She simply smiled and bowed once again, which I took as a tacit sign of approval.

"Thank you. I promise to continue training Togepi to the best of my ability,” I said to the Pokémon. “Now, if we have no other reason to delay, Togepi, would you like to evolve now?"

She chirped excitedly and hopped in place, so I reached down to adjust the item on her chest.

For the last several weeks, Togepi had been capable of evolution, but she had chosen not to—at least not back then. With all of the new Pokémon on our team, staying small had let her better match their relative power level in battle. However, the enemies we were facing were becoming a higher level, and staying a “baby” Pokémon meant she wasn’t keeping up. If she wanted to continue battling, she needed to evolve and obtain the general boost that came from a more powerful form.

So, in line with her wishes, I finally unbuckled the strips keeping the Everstone attached to her and pulled the item off her body. There was a moment of tension as she had to hold the evolution back under her own power rather than the stone's, and she sent everyone a final wave.

Togepi became awash with a brilliant light immediately after.

Starting from her feet, Togepi grew up. Legs sprouted from her shell, and her arms became slightly less stubby. A head elongated, growing an actual neck that stuck out from her chest, and the egg shell merged with her skin to cause her body to gain a spotted white cover.

When the light cleared, a head glanced around while a body stayed unmoving, an ability most took for granted. Togetic, demonstrating that she was still the same Pokémon, began to hop up and down, chirping, and she waved to everyone and nobody all at the same time.

A pair of wings attached to her back unconsciously flapped along with her excitement.

"Congratulations," I said to the newly evolved Togetic. Around her, the rest of the Pokémon replied similarly, and Togekiss stared down with proud eyes.

"Now, for your Shiny Stone..." I said, reaching into my pack.

"Hold on, Alex," Cynthia interrupted. "Togetic, even if you want to evolve again, I have to suggest you wait."

Togetic cocked her head to the side, and Cynthia continued to speak. To support the Champion’s words, Togekiss moved to stand by Cynthia’s side.

"Going straight from a Togepi to a Togekiss might cause you problems when you learn how to fly," Cynthia explained. "Your next evolution merges your arms and your wings, so it's best to get used to using them in tandem now rather than later. Too many changes at once can be bewildering to your psyche, though, only temporary at most. If your trainer agrees, I really think you should hold off for a few days. You’ll be grateful you did in the long term, and I know Togekiss is willing to help if you wait."

Togekiss nodded to agree with Cynthia’s suggestion, and Togetic looked to me for my opinion. I was supposed to be the Fairy Type expert, after all, but I couldn’t just ignore Cynthia’s words.

She had a point.

Honestly, everything Cynthia said had merit in it. As much as Togetic wanted to reach her final form, Pokémon had different evolutionary stages for a reason, and it would hurt her to rush when she didn’t need to.

"Just for a few days, alright?” I said. “Once you’re comfortable with your newfound agility, then you can evolve."

Togetic cocked her head the other way before giving me a nod, and the smile returned to her face. Togekiss took this moment to step in, walking along the ground with her wings held back and her two feet carrying her forward. Togetic merrily walked along, and the pair found a free spot on the field. There, Togekiss started leading Togetic in practice wing flaps, and she began to get used to her newly obtained limbs.

"Thank you for doing this, Cynthia,” I said, turning to the Champion. “Togepi—Togetic is really benefiting from Togekiss's presence."

"It really is no problem. Anything to have an excuse to get away from paperwork is good for me."

I laughed, but Cynthia didn’t laugh. Blinking, I realized she really was forsaking some of her work to stop by. As my laughter faded, Cynthia hummed, and she rubbed her chin.

"Though, I suppose I should charge for my efforts. I’m the Champion after all—time is money. As payment, perhaps you could fill out another questionnaire..?"

The dread on my face caused Cynthia to laugh, and then the rest of my team followed. She found it funny, but I certainly didn’t.

I couldn’t tell in the slightest if she was being serious or not.

Too terrified to answer the question, I stood in silence as Cynthia and I watched our Pokémon practice. Togetic was practicing getting used to her wings, and she could already hover in the air for a few seconds at a time. As it stood, neither of us had anything pressing to cause us to leave. Sure, Cynthia had her work, and, sure, I needed to train to prepare for our match, but Togetic deserved this time to herself.

So, since both of us weren’t doing anything, I lunged—verbally, that is. There was a topic that had been weighing on my mind that I desperately wanted to discuss.

"About our battle," I started.

"Yes?"

"What limitations will be in place?" I asked.

"Limitations?" Cynthia blinked. "Oh, I fight with none."

"Excuse me?"

She laughed, and confusion replaced the dread that had settled into my stomach. After resting her head on her hand, Cynthia began to explain.

"Unlimited switching, unlimited battlefield space, and, if you can manage it, unlimited Mega Evolution, too."

She smiled as I stared at her, bewildered, all of my arguments falling apart in my head. Against the Champion, I had prepared an entire speech about why I should be allowed to use more than one Mega Evolution, and Cynthia had destroyed it all just like that.

"But... The optics—"

"Yes, I do suppose it's a bad look if you use more than one Mega Evolution in a match, especially when we have such explicit rules against it," she said, sighing right after. "But, if we use the opportunity to advertise your expertise and explain why you might have such an exception, we can actually turn it into an opportunity to spread knowledge of proper Mega safety procedures even further."

My head was spinning. The tone Cynthia used almost made it seem as if her side of this conversation had already been planned. I stared at her, trying to get a hint of an explanation from her face, but the only emotion I could pry away was simple amusement as she continued to observe Togetic and Togekiss practice their flight.

"Two weeks, Alex," she said. "Two weeks. I hope you use your time to prepare accordingly. I expect a good match."

I nodded—silently, I couldn't bring myself to speak any words. I had no clue how long that silence remained until the next interruption came by.

This time, there was no surprise statement or sudden appearance of someone behind me. No, I clearly saw him striding down the road, as his big, red afro made him stand out that much more.

Flint, of the Sinnoh Elite Four, rapidly approached, striding with a wide stance and his hands in his pockets. His shirt honestly made him stand out even more than his afro did, as the bright yellow fabric was unlike anything else anyone was wearing.

When he arrived, he smirked, and his eyes locked onto mine. He gave Cynthia only a single “Yo,” and she replied with a simple “Hello,” but no conversation followed.

"We've got unfinished business, you and me," Flint said, shrugging a shoulder in a bare gesture forward towards my position.

"Me?" I asked, pointing at my chest.

"Yes, you!" he shouted. "Do you see any other Fairy Type specialists nearby? No? Then of course, I mean you!"

He punctuated his statement by taking a step closer, removing his slouch and standing up to reach his full height. There was a cocky swagger to his movement, yet it wasn't pure bodaciousness; he could actually back up his assumed strength with his well-trained, Elite team.

"You made me eat my words during the last Conference," he said with a slight growl.

I blinked several times. I struggled to find words.

"I didn't think you'd win, but you did, so I’m going to make you eat your...” he paused. “Pants?"

He brought both of his hands out of his pocket to furiously scratch the sides of his head.

“Argh! I spent so long practicing to have a good intro, and I ruined it, just like that!” he yelled.

“It’s okay. I thought it was pretty intimidating,” I said.

“Really?”

I felt as if I was staring at a rather excitable dog.

“Sure, I mean, sauntering forward like that and looming over me was pretty good. But, uh, the pants thing—”

“I know, I know. I’ll do it better next time.” He shook his head. “But! As Cynthia is my witness—"

I held back a cough at that as the Champion herself smiled at that turn of phrase.

"I, Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four, challenge you, Alex of the Wandering Elite, to a Pokémon Battle! Fight me and prove your stuff! Otherwise, lose, I guess!"

Flint met my blank stare with a cocky grin, and he held a Pokéball forward in a challenging pose. I took a moment just to take him in, and eventually, he coughed and let loose a "Well?"

“Well...” I cleared my throat as his grin widened, and I couldn’t help but to feel as though my plans today were about to take a drastic shift. “My team and I were about to shift into more intense training, but a battle against a member of the Elite Four is just as good."

Flint pumped his fist in a cheer before running over to stand in the trainer box at the other side of the field. He didn’t even wait a moment.

I turned to Cynthia.

“Can you watch Togetic for me?” I asked the Champion, of all people. Thankfully, Cynthia nodded her head.

“I can do that. Ah, but before you go, Alex, I am wondering—will you need a referee for this match?” she asked.

I stumbled. Immediately. Honestly, I felt like I was about to fall on my face.

Cynthia? The Champion of Sinnoh? Serving as a referee?

“I absolutely refuse to have you serve as one,” I replied, terrified.

She laughed, and I moved to stand across from Flint. After returning my Pokémon, my first battle against a member of the Elite Four began, though the challenge hadn’t exactly been issued in any way I expected.