CHAPTER 23

I could tell how badly the research group wanted to see the Ponyta variants by the subtle yet constant tapping of their feet against the ground.

Still, they were professionals. They didn't let themselves be distracted while they studied the Alolan Vulpix. After Birch's near accident, they now knew the danger surrounding the innocent-looking foxes and carefully proceeded with their investigations. Rowan seemed the happiest out of everyone as he repeatedly held up measuring tools and logged temperatures for every Alolan Vulpix's icy breath.

As for me, I went back and forth in the cave translating what the Pokemon were saying for the Professors. Oak could have used his Alakazam instead, but he didn't want to startle the Alolan Vulpix by suddenly bringing out a large and strange Pokemon they'd never seen before right inside their home.

At one point, Elm held up one of the fluffy foxes with shining eyes.

"I think this Alolan Vulpix likes me, Arin! It keeps licking my fingers!"

"He does, although… he says he would like you more if you gave him that Pokemon treat hidden in your pocket, Professor Elm."

"Oh. Oh! May I give it to him then? It's made of Oran Berries."

"Go right ahead."

I watched in amusement as Elm cooed at the Alolan Vulpix and even whispered compliments in baby talk while the fox ate. A couple feet away, Oak waved me over with an intrigued expression.

"Arin, might I ask you to convey what this Vulpix is trying to tell me? For some reason, it keeps looking at me and tilting its head," Oak said as he gestured to the Pokemon in question.

I listened to what Vulpix had to say and immediately coughed out loud.

Perhaps this wasn't worth translating—

"Arin?" Oak prompted eagerly at that moment. "What did Vulpix say?"

"Er…" I desperately tried to figure a way out of the situation that the young Vulpix had just landed me in. I couldn't lie, I didn't like doing so and to do that to Samuel Oak of all people would just be horrifying in more ways than one. Perhaps an… abridged version then?

Oak quickly caught onto my hesitation and smiled reassuringly, patting my shoulder. "Go ahead, Arin. I won't take offense. I'd like the full translation."

I sighed internally. As I eyed Oak with a careful, almost nervous expression, I opened my mouth. "She said, and I quote… 'This strange man has odd, bushy eyebrows as big as a Geodude's. Is he a rock person?'"

I'm not sure how, but I barely stopped myself from cringing after the last word left my mouth. Arceus. I couldn't believe I'd just said that to a renowned Pokemon Professor. Hopefully Oak wouldn't be upset with Vulpix's… innocent observation about his facial features.

Much to my relief, Oak didn't mind at all. He showed as much by laughing uproariously in response.

"Oh my, that's quite funny," Oak finally said once his laughter subsided. A few more chuckles escaped him as he waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner. The Alolan Vulpix giggled at the display and let out a few yips of appreciation in return. Pleased, Oak turned back to me with a wide smile. "Thank you for translating, Arin. Although… I must admit I'm slightly confused. Geodude don't truly have thick eyebrows so much as they are rocky."

"Ah, that's because she's referring to an Alolan Geodude, not a Kantonian one," I explained, and Oak's brows flew up.

"Another variant?!"

Quickly, I unfolded my phone from my wrist and snapped it back into a straighter form. I only needed a few seconds to dig through my camera roll before I found a picture I was looking for.

"Here," I offered as I held my phone out.

Oak squinted at the screen. There, a photo of a younger me playing with some wild Alolan Geodude was reflected. A particularly large one was flexing its arms in the background.

"How very curious, this variant resembles yet also looks so different from the Geodude I am familiar with," Oak muttered to himself. "But oho, I see now why Vulpix made that comparison. These are some fine eyebrows I see here if I do say so myself!"

The Professor looked up at me with a delighted expression.

Well, as long as the Hero of the nation was not offended, then I was happy.

Another half hour passed. The Professors and their aides managed to hold themselves back long enough to study the Alolan Vulpix in greater detail. As soon as they finished recording preliminary observations, though, they marched up to me with excited expressions and begged for me to show them the Ponyta variants.

I obliged, of course. Dad, Neil, and I led them out of the cave and to a corner of the backyard where the Ponyta liked to roam. A cluster of small trees branched outwards here with fields of flowers dotting the grass between them. Several Galarian Ponyta glanced up as we approached, and I raised a hand in greeting.

Any second now, I just knew the researchers were going to—

"They're so cuuuute!"

Professor Elm in particular did not disappoint with a loud, barely contained whisper of glee. I could practically see hearts in his eyes as he hurried towards the closest Ponyta. He wasn't the only one. Every single one of the researchers looked beyond smitten with the small Pokemon as they stared with wide eyes.

"They're Galarian Ponyta," I supplied. "They're pure Psychic types, but when they evolve into Galarian Rapidash, they gain a Fairy secondary typing."

"Ooh…!" Oak breathed out loud in wonder. He knelt down and carefully held a hand out to one of the horses. A huge smile overtook Oak's features when it came closer and whinnied at him. "I feel like a young boy again! So many surprises one after the other!"

Rowan and Birch had already pulled out more measuring tools a few yards away. One of the Ponyta willingly stood still as they examined it.

"Seems to be about a foot smaller than its Kantonian counterpart!" Birch declared almost triumphantly. His tongue stuck out of his mouth in concentration as he juggled the tools he was holding with his notebook and writing utensil, frantically writing notes. "Horn is… two inches long… mane and tail are quite voluminous…"

"It's very soft," Rowan commented. The tall Professor could not help his lips from quirking into a smile as he gently ran a hand through the Ponyta's mane. The horse nickered softly, pleased with the attention. "My, aren't you a well-behaved one."

"Since you mentioned the mane… they can collect life energy from the atmosphere and store it there," I explained. "Their horns even have healing properties. They can cure small injuries for people and Pokemon just by rubbing their horns against the site."

Dad and Neil looked at me in surprise. This was a fun fact I hadn't yet told them, and it surprised the researchers just as much.

"Truly?" Elm's head snapped up at that. He looked first at me then back down at the closest Ponyta. "May we be allowed to test that? I can volunteer! I'll just take some loose sheets from my book here… ah yes, these'll do fine, and then give myself varying degrees of paper cuts—"

"Oliver!" All three of the other Professors immediately shut down that line of thought. Oak in particular looked scandalized.

"Elm, my good fellow, you need to rein in your tendency to get carried away when researching!" Oak chided gently. "No need to give yourself paper cuts. We could simply look further into this topic at a later time, perhaps when Arin's Pokemon are naturally tired out from training and need healing."

"Yes and also, we don't even know how young these Pokemon are! It wouldn't be right to startle them by suddenly showing them even just a small amount of blood," Birch quickly added. Rowan gave a firm nod of agreement.

Elm wilted. "Oops," he said with a glum expression. "Sorry about that. I got excited at the idea of a Pokemon that could heal… I apologize, Arin."

"It's fine, Professor," I said with a wry smile. Goodness, I'd heard numerous accounts about how eccentric Elm was, but he really had a one track mind when it came to research. "I understand you're excited. But, er… please do try to contain yourself. These are, in fact, mostly young Pokemon. Only one of them is mature enough to battle at the moment."

The Professor apologized again. The mood didn't stay down for long, however, as Elm and the other Professors quickly formed a circle to go over their initial observations. All of them waved their hands around excitedly and displayed open notebooks as they talked. Their aides continued examining the Ponyta on their own, and I hummed to myself in thought as I watched them.

Elm's excitement was understandable. Lots of Pokemon knew healing moves, but most didn't and simply couldn't affect humans the same way they did with other Pokemon. Our anatomies were too different. There were other ways humans could be healed by Pokemon, though. Many Pokemon had forms of healing properties outside of moves. For example, the fluid from a Croagunk's fingertips was a key ingredient for lower back pain medication. Seadra fins, bones, and barbs were all ground up and used in various herbal medicines. And eggs from Chansey or Blissey could be eaten for revitalizing effects.

Only a small number of species such as Galarian Ponyta or Comfey actually possessed the ability to outright heal people through specific quirks, and it was only to the extent of small injuries. Anything bigger needed to be handled by human medicine and healthcare.

I snapped back to reality when I heard Neil pipe up.

"The Professors are certainly excited," he remarked with a grin. "I don't feel as nervous as I did when they first arrived."

"Mm, I'm still a bit in shock that Samuel Oak is here," Dad admitted, eyeing said Professor laughing in the distance. "Never thought I'd see the day where he's having fun looking at Pokemon in our backyard."

I merely smiled softly, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

"I mean, neither did I, but it's a nice occurrence. Plus, you guys were just as excited as them when I gave you the tour awhile ago," I pointed out with a teasing lilt. Dad and Neil both rubbed their necks and mumbled out incoherent words of denial.

My smile only grew wider as I stared at the scene before me, content to simply look on while the researchers had fun. It was always nice to see people fawning over Fairy type Pokemon. Honestly, I was starting to get some ideas for future events just by watching them. After construction on the Gym finished, I could set aside visitation days where people could come by and play with willing Pokemon. I had a feeling it would be really popular especially with families and kids.

I still needed to do that Fairy Pokemon showcase Eric had suggested a long while ago, too.

The rest of the morning went by quickly. The Professors and their assistants were basically bundles of energy and happily followed me all over the backyard to be introduced to the various species.

It was one shock after another for them.

"This is a Pokemon?" Rowan's brows furrowed as he peered curiously at a Klefki. "If it wasn't floating, I would have just thought it was another keychain. Was it originally a key that was granted life in some way?"

"Its original appearance is still a mystery, but… due to how much the species likes to collect keys, it's believed that Klefki's appearance is the result of an adaptation to suit that hobby," I responded after a moment of wracking my brain. I remembered Professor Sycamore telling me that before over a cup of tea.

"Huh!" Rowan stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "How very intriguing."

"And this one?" Birch asked with disbelief. He pointed to a tiny pale-colored Pokemon floating nearby. "Forgive me, but it resembles a drop of milk— oh, whoa!"

Birch hurriedly jumped back when the Pokemon spun closer to him, trilling happily. Small droplets flew outwards from its body from the sudden movement and plopped onto the ground below.

"Nothing dangerous," I assured the startled Professor. "That's Milcery. It's a Pokemon made of cream."

"Excuse me? Cream, you say?" Birch's eyes were as wide as saucers as he slowly turned his head back to stare at the Pokemon. It smiled back cutely.

Elm ran up to me with an excited expression, gesturing to something behind him: a small rock-like Pokemon with gems covering its body and floppy ears.

"Arin, Arin, may I ask what this one is?" Elm asked so quickly that he almost stumbled over his words. "It's so remarkable! I tried picking it up earlier and it was so light! Not at all what I expected for its rock-like figure."

Upon hearing that, the other Professors instantly raced to pick up the Pokemon in turns. Each of them wore a flabbergasted expression once they had verified Elm's claim and turned to me questioningly.

"That's Carbink," I supplied with a grin. "Some of them can sleep for millions of years."

Oak stared down at the Carbink in his arms. "Fascinating! What could it be made of, I wonder?"

That innocent inquiry started a whole darn debate.

"Graphite?"

"I mean, none of us are rock experts, but I'd wager some sort of carbon-based body, yes."

"Indeed… it's quite light. What about the gems then?"

"Sapphires! …Maybe?"

"No, blue diamonds!"

On and on they talked without end. Daisy came by at one point to gently pull the Carbink out of her grandfather's arms and return it to the ground, and it proceeded to float away. I think almost twenty minutes passed before the Professors realized the subject of their discussion had disappeared.

We moved on.

I showed them a few more species, but one that particularly surprised them was—

"Goodness!" Oak exclaimed as a yellow bee darted past his face. "These are remarkably tiny!"

I smiled as Cally flew up to me and nuzzled my cheek. My skin felt a bit ticklish from her fuzz. "They're called Cutiefly. Even in other regions, they're considered to be among the smallest species of Pokemon in the world. They can see the aura of living things."

"Definitely a well-fitting name," Elm agreed with a vigorous nod of his head. He had to hold his glasses up as he craned his neck, attempting to keep track of the multiple Cutiefly buzzing around him. "And that is truly an interesting ability they have. Ah, if only I could share their vision…"

"Arin?" Rowan spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Do they come in different colors perhaps? Such as how the Shellos in Sinnoh differ by which sea they come from? I see that the one by your face is pink, but the rest of these are yellow."

"Oh. No, Cutiefly is normally yellow. This one here, Cally, is one of my personal Pokemon. She's a Shiny variant."

All four Professors echoed the same thing.

"A SHINY?"

They whipped their heads around to stare at Cally. Shiny Pokemon — those with unusual colorings compared to the rest of their species — were uncommon across the world, but occasionally they were found. Wealthy folks and especially coordinators were willing to spend up to hundreds of thousands to acquire one to boost their prestige. I'd seen only a handful of such variants throughout my own journey, some wild and others under a trainer's ownership.

Cally seemed more amused than anything as the Professors converged on us, rattling off an array of questions.

"May we study her?"

"I've only researched one Shiny specimen before—"

"Oh my, look how brilliant this fuzz is compared to the others!"

My Cutiefly answered for me by happily flying around the Professors' heads. That was all they needed to get started, eagerly sitting down in a circle together with Cally and other Cutiefly in front of them. Numerous pictures were taken as points of comparison. Pages and pages of notebooks were dedicated to notes. When the Professors were satisfied enough, I showed them around some more.

Eventually, the hours rolled by and bled into the afternoon. A timely and humorous growl from Birch's stomach made everyone pause in the middle of conversation.

He stared back at us with a sheepish smile.

"Lunch?" he suggested.

Elm had to be dragged away from some Cottonee he was studying, but everyone ultimately agreed it was time for a break. I ordered takeout from Charizard Palace while dad and Neil fed the gym Pokemon. They were peppered with questions on diets and eating habits from the researchers. We set up foldable chairs and tables in the back well before the food arrived, and when it did—

"Did you see how sticky the Swirlix's fur was?"

"How could I not, Birch? I saw you struggling to detach yourself from it…"

"I almost want to borrow a Spritzee for a day… Our lab's been smelling terrible recently."

"Elm… never mind. Wasn't the Dedenne so adorable? If I could, I'd squish its cheeks—"

"Grandfather, please don't even entertain that idea. Remember Lt. Surge's Pikachu?"

The Professors held a long and thorough discussion even during lunch. Some of the food even went a bit cold because of how much more they talked rather than ate. It was only when their aides — especially Daisy — scolded them that the Professors finally put a pin on their conversation.

I was pretty sure they inhaled their lunches.

The rest of the day proceeded much the same way. Dad, Neil, and I stayed out in the backyard to keep an eye on our guests while they roamed around. When evening came around, the researchers politely stayed off to the sides as we conducted a training session for the Pokemon. They held up strange tools that were hooked up to large machines from afar. I had no idea what they did.

Initially, the Professors decided to go back to their lodgings to have dinner on their own… until I mentioned how some of the Pokemon were more active at night. They immediately changed their minds and told me they'd stick around. We ordered more delivery and ate inside this time.

After dinner, and when night finally fell, everyone headed out to the backyard. It wasn't hard to spot what we were looking for.

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"This is…" Birch trailed off. His and everybody else's eyes were glued to the glowing figures that shed light on their dark surroundings.

Not too far from us, a small group of Morelull swayed from side to side. Each of them had mushroom caps that glowed with different colors based on the spores inside. Some of the Galarian Ponyta had wandered over to join them in their little dance, manes glimmering with soft yet radiant colors as they drew on the energy around them. Klefki twirled around with sparkling keys nearby, and Carbink floated through the air with shining gems. In the sky, Cally and the other Cutiefly were enjoying the breeze. They playfully chased each other and zipped back and forth. Their bodies radiated fairy aura in order to keep track of each other.

It wasn't just these species, either. In one way or another, all the Pokemon in the backyard were enjoying the night. A lot of them were gazing up at the moon or stars and drawing inspiration from their power, glowing faintly as they did.

"So that's what the Morelull look like at night…" Rowan murmured. Beside him, Elm could only muster the smallest nod.

"How very peaceful," Oak whispered. His face was one of sheer wonder as he held up a Pokedex to record the scene. "I don't think we should disturb them."

"Quite right. Let's just sit over there and observe in silence for a bit…"

A bit turned out to be an understatement. The researchers ended up going back to their lodgings a little after midnight.

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Just like that, I got used to having the researchers around. I started to treat them more like excited school kids than Professors honestly.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. For most of them, I followed a similar routine. I'd get up, train all the Pokemon, greet the Professors when they walked or Teleported in, and follow them around the property as they studied different species. I stopped shadowing them after the first three days. At that point, they knew enough about each species that I trusted them to be by themselves. Of course, Dad, Neil, and I were always a yell away in case anything happened.

Thankfully, no terrible incidents occurred.

(The only thing that came remotely close was when Elm and Birch first caught sight of the gym Mimikyu. They'd thought they were dolls that were left out… until they moved. The two Professors ended up shrieking like banshees and stumbling over themselves in their haste to get away.)

Every time I remembered their horrified faces, I couldn't help but laugh. Yet now was not the time for reminiscing, now was time to eat.

Slurp.

Soft noodles and thin slices of pork disappeared into the depths of my mouth one after another. With chopsticks, I deftly grabbed more from my bowl of ramen. A mouthwatering, savory scent continuously drifted up from the broth and only made me devour the dish faster.

Legendaries. Super A Ramen was truly one of Cherrygrove's best food joints. If not for one tiny, little detail, I would have happily been enjoying my lunch.

Fourteen different pairs of eyes drilled into my back.

I didn't even have to look to know who they belonged to. The Professors and their aides were watching me like a Talonflame eyeing its prey. I did my best to ignore their intense gazes. I knew what they were waiting for, but I continued eating.

I was hungry, darn it!

They'd decided to eat lunch later in their excitement to see my Elite Pokemon. Yes, today was the day they were finally going to take their first look at my team. The last five days had just been baby steps for them to learn more about Fairies in general.

The back of my neck prickled uncomfortably. I did my best to eat in peace, but several painful minutes ticked by before I finally finished. Still conscious of the gazes on me, I slowly stood up and turned around.

"I'm done eating. Shall we—"

"YES!"

A single word echoed resoundingly from multiple mouths and cut me off. Without further ado, the researchers faithfully followed me outside to the backyard. I whistled for my team. They were spread out across our family's land, but it didn't take long for all of them to gather.

"My team," I said almost unnecessarily with a wave of my hand.

"Ohhh…!" Elm let out a gasp of appreciation as he stumbled closer. "Finally! I get to study truly prime specimens!"

He and the other researchers immediately buried themselves in their work.

One of Elm's aides held up a speed measuring tool in the air while Zuri and Peri flew back and forth rapidly. On the ground below, Yuno laid himself flat to make measuring him easier. Gasps of shock arose when they discovered he was a whopping twenty two feet long, higher than average for a Milotic. A few other assistants crowded around Freya and asked the Alolan Ninetales to demonstrate illusions for them. She was more than happy to oblige, pleased with the attention.

The researchers appreciated all of my Pokemon, even the ones native to the Kinjoh Area that they were already familiar with; however… a few excited them more than the others.

"Is this— Is this a Jigglypuff?" Rowan stammered. He and the other Professors only had eyes for the Scream Tail blinking up at him. Lico yawned, showing off tiny but sharp fangs. "Oh, please tell me this is a form change! Where did you find this Pokemon?"

Thank Arceus I'd already been thinking about this moment way in advance. I'd promised Geeta I would not say anything about Area Zero or the Paradox Pokemon's true origins, and I was going to keep that oath well until I drew my last breath.

"I found him in a far off, deserted land," I smoothly explained. It wasn't a lie, Area Zero really was devoid of actual people who lived there. "This is not a form change but a variant of Jigglypuff. A very old and almost extinct kind. Perhaps like… the Hisuian Pokemon you recently discovered several years ago in Sinnoh, Professor. As old as them perhaps."

They were from an age MUCH further back than that, but the Professors couldn't know that.

All four Professors gasped. Rowan in particular looked like he was ready to faint.

His mustache quivered as he crossed his arms. "An old and almost extinct variant of Jigglypuff, you say?! Oh my, oh my…"

"Can they be as loud as Kantonian Jigglypuff?" Birch asked innocently.

"Yes, their species can unleash powerful screams— LICO, not now!" I hurriedly raised my voice when I saw Lico open his mouth for a demonstration. With a sullen expression, he closed it.

We'd narrowly avoided becoming a scene of disaster. I could have gotten arrested for indirectly incapacitating several top Professors and their aides!

Oak cleared his throat at that moment, pointing at Fia with glittering eyes. "Then… is this one a variant of Misdreavus then? It resembles one far too much for me to think otherwise."

"Yes!" I nodded happily, glad to be moving past the topic of screaming for the time being. "Also a very old variant."

"Good Arceus!"

The four Professors converged on the Paradox Pokemon like Mothims to a flame. Lico and Fia just allowed themselves to be examined without a fuss. They were used to such behavior from their time spent with researchers in Area Zero, so it wasn't anything new for them.

I think they spent nearly two or three hours just examining those two Pokemon. When they were done, they finally looked at the other Pokemon.

"Ooh, who's this?" Elm asked excitedly, gesturing to a bird with black wings and a magenta chain wrapped around his body.

"This is Fizz, a Fezandipiti," I introduced. Said Pokemon puffed himself up with pride and spread his wings wide. All the Professors let out appreciative sounds at the sight of such unusually glossy plumage. That just encouraged him to showboat further, and he serenaded them with a song on par with one from Arya. I refrained from rolling my eyes as the Professors clapped.

I loved Fizz, but he really needed to stop being an attention-seeker sometimes.

"In the land where he's from, they worship him as a local legend."

"Interesting… So like how Arcanine was treated as a legend by villages in Kanto, then," Birch eyed Fizz thoughtfully. "What about that pink thing around his body? It looks like a chain to me."

"It is," I confirmed. Elm stepped forward in interest, but I blocked him off by throwing an arm out. "Professor! Don't think about touching it. It's poisonous. Highly."

Elm blanched at that.

"Oh."

I carefully watched the Professors while they studied Fizz at arm's reach. They had no idea they were dealing with a so-called 'Legendary' Pokemon. He was by no means a true Legend like others, but one that had acquired power through stories passed down through the generations in a small, localized area.

Not to mention that Toxic Chain… If half of Fizz's power came from being worshiped by a small community, then the other half came from those damn shackles. They promised great power but at a heavy price. The Chain did not just poison enemies, but corrupted and consumed its bearer. Fizz could control himself perfectly now, but it had taken two whole years of me working with him to achieve that. Our first meeting had not been a good one.

I still had terrible memories from then. The Chain's powers running wild, people screaming—

But that was a story for another time.

The Professors and their assistants happily engrossed themselves in their research. We had to take multiple breaks because while my Elites didn't mind being examined, they got very restless when they stood still for too long.

Eventually, dinnertime rolled around. The Professors went back early today to go over all the notes they'd taken, so dad and I just needed to figure out a meal for two. Our fridge was completely empty at this point thanks to our guests.

That meant a grocery run. I walked to Cherrygrove with Vel at my side, humming a tune as we went. Today I went to a new store instead of the usual ones we frequented. I liked to switch it up every now and then so I could support multiple local businesses.

A blast of cold air washed over me as I slipped inside the grocery store. This one allowed up to two small Pokemon per customer, so Vel walked right in with me. Ambient music played overhead from the speakers, and retro television sets played different channels near the entrance.

"Nutritional, fresh milk that will make you and your Pokemon strong! Get yours from the Moomoo Farm today, right here on Route 39—"

"—eader Giovanni recently made generously large donations to several orphanages in Viridian City—"

"Come take a relaxing vacation in Olivine! Glittering beaches await you!"

I started humming again as I grabbed a cart and pushed it along the aisles. Vel was very helpful and grabbed stuff off the higher shelves for me using his ribbons, so we breezed through shopping pretty quickly.

Salmon, pre-cut slices of pork, more milk and apple juice… I ducked into the snacks aisle to pick up more cookies that dad and I liked eating. There was someone else in the thin aisle, so I carefully rolled my cart around them and twisted my head back and forth. Hopefully this store had the specific brand I was looking for.

Ah, they did. I slid the cart to a stop and grabbed a few boxes, putting them in my cart. Now what else did I need to get—

"WHOA!"

Vel and I both jumped a bit as a very loud exclamation came from behind us. We turned around with wide eyes and found ourselves face to face with the person who had been in the aisle with us.

It was a young man around my age with a shopping basket in hand. Something about him just screamed college student vibes for some reason. But what I was fixated on was his outfit.

Wigglytuff hoodie, Wigglytuff shorts, Wigglytuff socks tucked into stylish sneakers… everything he wore was pink and Wigglytuff-themed. Multiple bracelets with… little charms, I think, wrapped around his right wrist, and a Wigglytuff lookalike peered at us menacingly from behind the man's shoulders. A gigantic backpack, that's what it was. Pins with various Wigglytuff faces and poses were embedded in the bag straps.

He even had a Wigglytuff-shaped phone case covered with stickers in his hand, complete with pointy ears and all! I couldn't forget the phone charm either.

I was instantly reminded of Poke Fans or Poke Maniacs just from looking at him. They were individuals who were part of the Global Pokemon Fan Club and devoted themselves to their chosen favorite Pokemon.

He had to be one of them, right?

The three of us stared at each other in utter and complete silence, all with flabbergasted expressions. I jumped again when a loud clang rang out. The stranger's shopping basket had dropped right off his arm as he stared at us with shock.

"L-L-L-Leader Arin!" he finally stammered out in a trembling voice. Those first words out of his mouth seemed to empower him as he finally blinked back to reality, inching forward with wide, shining eyes. "WOW! I can't believe it's you in the flesh! In a grocery store with me! I-I'm a huge fan, sir!"

He bowed deeply multiple times in respect, and I finally snapped out of my own daze as I held out my hands.

"Whoa, whoa, no need to bow so much," I said quickly, and the Wigglytuff person snapped back upright with a serious expression.

"Yes, sir!"

I was almost surprised that he didn't salute.

"Well, uh… thank you for your support. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but are you a Wigglytuff fan?" I barely got the words out before the stranger clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

"YES! Uh, um, I'm Tuff Tuff King, sir. I don't know if you've seen my posts, but I'm a Chimegram and Chatter influencer. 600,000 plus followers!" he said proudly. "My favorite Pokemon is now Taffy! I think you two are very cool!"

I think Vel was struggling not to laugh in the background as I smiled, relaxing a bit. Just an overenthusiastic fan then. "Nice to meet you, Tuff Tuff King. Do you want, uh, a picture with Taffy then?"

I nearly went deaf from the shout that followed.

"OMA YES, DEFINITELY YES!"

Taffy and I took a quick picture with Tuff Tuff King — he was on the verge of tears when Taffy happily shook his hand — and then the three of us left the store after checking out.

Strange but nice fellow. I wondered vaguely if I'd see Tuff Tuff King at matches in the fall.

I immediately turned to Vel and wiggled my brows playfully.

"Heh, wait until you get a fan club of your own."

The Sylveon blanched.

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Dinner was nice. Now, though, I sat in my room.

I stared eagerly at the Cherrygrove Gym's website. More specifically, the hiring tab. Today was the last day for people to apply for jobs at the gym.

The clock hit 11:59 PM.

Immediately, the upload page was locked and the submit button frozen. No more applications would be accepted at this point.

I rolled my neck a bit with a nervous smile. I hadn't bothered checking how many applications there were after the first day. I had been content to just let them pile up and surprise me at the end. Hopefully there was a good number of entries… I was expecting at least a thousand or so after all the advertising I'd done. My two matches against Pryce and Clair had helped boost my prestige. Even if people didn't know a lot about Fairy types yet, they at least knew I was a damn good trainer and worth learning from.

I hummed to myself as I entered my administrator info and logged into the applications portal. I was planning on sleeping soon, but I was also excited. Maybe I could get through a few forms before bedtime.

"Let's see, how many are there…" I muttered to myself. With one click, I refreshed the page.

My jaw immediately dropped. A big, bold number stared back at me from the screen.

"What the— 6,832?!"

I quickly sifted through the data in more detail. About one thousand of them were from people applying to be social media managers, but that meant there were still over five thousand who wanted to be a gym trainer.

This had to be an all-time record for incoming gym trainer applications or something!

A huge grin lit up my face before it slipped away, and I immediately slumped back in my chair. I'd done my job a little too well. This was going to take ages to sort through. Then and there, I decided I was going to pull an all-nighter for the first time in a long while.

It was better to hire people as soon as possible and teach them the ropes.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to breathe in and out calmly. "Porygon family, can you remove some applications for me right now? Any with missing information, troll-like or defamatory content, improper images… etcetera, etcetera. Don't delete them, just set them aside in a separate folder in case we need to take action later."

I knew better than to think all of these would be applications made in good faith. There were probably going to be ones filled out as pranks or worse.

Case in point, the Porygon in my laptop ended up deleting about a couple thousand. I stared at the new numbers on the screen.

3,478 gym trainer applications and 503 for social media managers.

Okay, that had… kind of helped, but there were still so many of them. I sighed to myself. I would just need to sort everything into filtered groups for my perusal.

"Right. We'll start with the gym trainer applications first. Can you put some aside into specific groups? One for people from Cherrygrove City, another for people who own at least one Fairy type Pokemon, and another for people who check off both these boxes. Then for the remaining applications, please make filters and sort them from ascending to descending…"

I rattled off a few different filters I had in mind such as how many gym badges the applicant had, whether they'd had previous experience working for a gym leader or interning at a League-related facility, and more. A minute later, I wore the look of a soldier going off to war as I clutched my bluetooth mouse tightly.

It was time to begin.

I looked at the ones that had been sorted into specific groups first. Preferably, I wanted at least one or two locals to come under my employ since they would be very familiar with the surrounding areas. Part of a Gym Leader's duty was to guard their town or city. That included patrolling nearby routes and coordinating with local Rangers.

Just like Souta had promised, his application was there in the pile. And boy, was it a good one. I felt my brows rising higher and higher as I went through his application with an impressed look. Three gym badges during his first attempt at the Johto League Circuit, previous internship at the renowned Day Care over on Route 34, stellar grades at the Lightwood Academy here in Cherrygrove, one of the top scorers among teenagers in the nation for mock written and practical exams… the resume went on and on.

I liked what I saw. Definitely hard working, and I appreciated that he had a good mix of academic and practical achievements under his name for someone of his age. Even Souta's cover letter made me smile. He'd talked at length about wanting to broaden his horizons.

My decision was an easy one. As soon as I finished reviewing his full application, I clicked a bright green button on screen and designated Souta as someone who would move onto the interview stage later.

That was the first application to make it to that pile.

More were added or rejected as I went through the applications with the help of the Porygon family. The entries all varied widely. They were from people of all ages and backgrounds, some from civilians and others from established trainers. Surprisingly, I even had quite a few from people who lived in Hoenn or Sinnoh.

Not all the entries were good. In fact, a lot of them had very barebones resumes. I still gave the rest of these forms and cover letters a brief glance over to see if anything caught my interest. Preferably, I wanted to hire experienced trainers, but I was willing to teach prospective employees from the ground up if they had the right kind of attitude and were willing to put in the work.

The Porygon pulled up forms for me that caught their attention, and one of them was especially impressive.

Nadia Rurimosu, a twenty-three year old trainer from Violet City who had completed the Johto League Circuit four different times. She always made it to the group preliminaries of the Silver Conference but failed to get further, and this year she was taking time off to train.

Just in case, I went online and cross-checked on the League archives to make sure Nadia had not lied about her achievements.

She hadn't.

I felt like I'd struck gold. I hadn't seen a lot of very experienced trainers apply so far. If I had to guess why, they probably either didn't want to risk working for someone who had not yet established a strong history with their Gym, or they wanted to keep going on their own journeys.

I smiled to myself as I looked over the rest of Nadia's entry. Everything looked great. High win to loss ratio for public matches, a well-balanced team of Pokemon, recommendations from several people including a Professor from Johto that was not Elm and another from a Professor at the Blackthorn Trainer Academy—

I did a double take.

The what now?

Truly, the Blackthorn name was following me everywhere it seemed. I read the rest of Nadia's resume. She'd graduated from Blackthorn Trainer Academy several years ago with top honors. Impressive. It was hard to get into that school, much less succeed to that extent and nab a recommendation from the Principal to boot.

…The school was also heavily sponsored by the Blackthorns, as I was well aware.

My previous pleasure at discovering Nadia's application dimmed a bit as I drummed my fingers against the table. I felt like I was pulling at straws here and being paranoid for no reason, but…

"Porygon family, can you dig through Nadia's social media accounts for me? And her general history through whatever you can find online? Look specifically for connections to Dragons, Blackthorn City, or its Clan," I asked.

I couldn't help but tap my feet against the ground as I waited for the Porygon to finish their investigation. After a couple minutes, they pulled up some tabs and social media posts for me. I looked through them with eyes that narrowed further with every word I read.

Nadia was currently based in Violet City, but she had been born in Blackthorn City. By combing through the earliest posts on her cluttered and vastly enormous Chatter timeline, they'd also found mentions of her stating numerous times how much she loved Dragons and vowed to be a Dragon Specialist.

And she had applied for MY Gym? A Fairy Gym? Perhaps she had just changed her mind and ambitions—

That thought came to an immediate cold stop.

The most damning evidence was right in front of me. I stared at a picture of some elderly men shaking hands with Nadia at some sort of school award ceremony. The Porygon helpfully identified the strangers by using an electronic voice from the laptop.

"Elders Eiji Warui and Masami Saitoga from the Blackthorn Clan. They came to congratulate her in person for graduating with top honors. In a subsequent post from August 19th, 2018, Nadia Rurimosu cryptically said she had 'accepted a huge opportunity to learn from the best.'"

I rubbed my temples. That had a lot of implications. She'd most likely interned under the Blackthorn Clan. Whether or not she was still taking classes from them or had entered their ranks as an official trainee was unknown, but one thing was clear.

She was associated with the Blackthorn Clan.

Nadia's application was good… almost too good. Had the Blackthorn Clan ordered her to do this? To hopefully get hired and spy on me for them? Was I leaping too far here with my thoughts? But Lance had even said his Clan might pull something, and I had expected them to do something as well after Clair's beatdown.

"Put her application in a separate folder. In fact, dig through the rest of the forms and put any with connections to the Blackthorn Clan in there," I said tersely.

To my dismay, I saw the new folder quickly fill up with a dozen more entries. A few of them were rather inconspicuous like new trainers from Blackthorn City who recently added Fairy types to their team, but a lot of them were powerful trainers with impressive resumes who supposedly wanted to work for me.

I had half a mind to just reject them all, but then I could potentially be ruining chances for innocent people. I would deal with them in person instead.

I spent almost six hours going through other applications and trying to put the Blackthorns out of my head. At some point, I realized I desperately needed at least one or two hours of sleep. Sluggishly, I copy pasted some messages into emails and sent them off, letting the people I'd chosen so far know to expect an interview at so and so time. More applications would have to be viewed later.

Then I staggered off to my bed.

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

The next morning, a teenager with a Snubbull fist pumped the air and yelled exuberantly when he saw a new email notification.

That woke both his parents up.

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

"Oh my Arceus. Oh my Arceus."

Haru felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. He had just finished reading an email sent from none other than Arin Watanuki. He even checked to make sure the sender was legitimate, and yes, it was the Cherrygrove Gym's official email.

To Haru Agawa:

Thank you for applying to be a gym trainer for the Cherrygrove Gym. I have reviewed your application and would like to invite you for an interview at 10:15 AM on April 8th. Please bring your Pokemon with you, and let me know if this date and time work for you. We can reschedule if you cannot make it.

Regards,

Arin Watanuki

Cherrygrove Gym Leader

He'd passed to the interview stage. Legendaries, he wanted to brag to all of his classmates.

Haru couldn't believe it. He hadn't had a lot of hope when he sent in his application mostly because of the lack of gym badges under his belt and overall trainer experience, but he had made it to an interview.

Now came the hard part. He had to get there.

Haru tried not to grimace as he dashed out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen. His mom was sitting at their tiny table. He felt a little worse when he saw her miserable expression and the pile of opened letters and calculators on the table.

She was probably going over bills and expenses for the month.

He almost had half a mind to just leave when his mom noticed him standing near the entrance. She brightened up immediately, offering him a weary but big smile.

"Hey sweetie, what's up?" his mom greeted.

"Um…" Haru swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. After some difficulty, he finally unfroze and held his outdated phone out to his mom. He continued in a quiet voice after she took the device and began reading the email there. "I, um… I applied to be a gym trainer at the Cherrygrove Gym. My application passed the first stage. Leader Arin wants me to come in for an interview."

His mom's brows flew up as she tore her gaze away from his phone and looked at him instead. Surprise filled every feature of her face.

"Haru, that's great!" she said with wide eyes. "Um, I didn't know you applied."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't know if I'd even make it far enough," Haru admitted. He awkwardly scuffed his foot against the ground. With a shaky breath, he forced himself to look at his mom. "I know it's a lot to ask, and I'm really sorry. But um… can you buy me a plane ticket to Cherrygrove? I know it's going to be expensive because of how far it is, and there's no guarantee I'll even pass the interview, but I—"

"Haru."

The firm use of his name made Haru stop rambling entirely. His mom looked at him with a disappointed expression.

Oh. She wasn't happy. He shouldn't have asked—

"We might not be the most well-off, but I would never allow our finances to get in the way of your dreams. You shouldn't worry about money and leave that to me," his mom told him instead of the scolding he expected, and Haru gaped at her. "Go do what you want to do. Even if it doesn't work out, I'll be proud of you anyway for trying. I won't be able to come with you though. Two tickets would be stretching it, sadly…"

Haru felt his eyes water a bit as he raced forward, throwing his arms around his mom in a tight hug.

First Mimi, and now this. His mom was seriously the best.

"Thank you so much, mom!"

She merely smiled, patting his arm.

"Be safe while you're over there, okay? And tell me if Leader Arin is rude to you. If he is, I swear I'll come right over there and sock him a new one."

"MOM!"