In which Dawn and Lucas meet the Tenth Doctor. Kind of. Not really.

Dawn had never been to Jubilife City before. After the day she and Lucas had there, she firmly intended to never go back.

It started shortly after they'd arrived. They'd been talking about Pokémon and life goals and Professor Rowan, as children tended to do, when they'd seen him. A strange man running between two lampposts, clearly trying to be inconspicuous but attracting more attention than anyone. Naturally, they agreed to ignore him.

And, naturally, this man singled them out from a crowd of dozens.

"Who goes there?"

A mere three seconds later, and Lucas found himself cornered, Dawn not faring much better. "Who are you?" Lucas asked the strange man, and the man pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I ask the questions here! Who do you work for?"

"I'm Dawn, he's Lucas," Dawn said quickly. "We're kids on a trainer journey."

The man immediately relaxed, and backed off. "I apologize for my behavior. Reports showed me that this town hid criminals."

"Criminals?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said, as the two waited in silence. "They call me Looker. I am a member of the International Police, and I am on the search for Team Galactic. You are not Team Galactic?"

"No, sir," Lucas said, not bothering to comment on the man's unusual speech pattern and nudging Dawn to keep her from doing it herself. "Like she said, we're just regular trainers. Professor Rowan chose us to be Sinnoh's Pokedex carriers this year."

Looker seemed impressed. "Pokedex carriers?" he repeated, and then he switched from 'impressed' to 'over-excited.' "Pokedex carriers are chosen by professors in case police need help saving the region! You two! Help me find Team Galactic!"

"I didn't even want a Pokedex," Dawn said. "I'm not going to help you on your weird quest, I'm just going to give my friend something from his mom."

"But this is a matter of grave importance!" Looker complained. "The whole world could be at stake!"

Dawn took a step back. "I'm pretty sure that's a huge exaggeration," she said slowly, clearly, as if speaking to a person with a mental disability. "I'm not going to help you with this. Good luck on your search, I'm going to head to the Trainer's School to see if I can find my friend."

And she turned around and walked in the opposite direction, not caring that she had no idea where her intended destination was.

Lucas and Looker waited until she was out of sight, and then Looker turned on the boy. "And you? Will you be my partner in this mission?"

"I already promised Professor Rowan that I'd keep an eye on Dawn," Lucas explained. "If she's not helping, I can't."

Looker didn't seem upset, merely disappointed. "I thought that Pokedex carriers were here to help," he said, "but I cannot interfere with what you and Dawn wish. It is early in your journey." He saluted briefly. "Goodbye, Lucas, and good luck."

"You, too," Lucas said, and watched as Looker turned and walked away.

Dawn reappeared moments after Looker left. "Lucas?" she said quietly. "I think I'm lost."

The Pokémon Trainer's School was, in Lucas's mind, a very vague and mostly unimpressive building. Every child that grew up with a parent or sibling's Pokémon, even if the parent or sibling just kept it as a pet, knew what status conditions affected a Pokémon in battle, and those always seemed to be the ones that were being discussed when the chosen Pokedex carriers started off on their journey.

Still, Dawn had to admit, it was at least a little useful. Though she'd still prefer to do her reading in the library she'd heard was in Canalave City, which was said to be the greatest library in all of Sinnoh, at least this one led her to Barry.

Barry had decided to leave as soon as Dawn and Lucas showed up, once again hitting Lucas in the face with the door. After complaining that Sinnoh really needed to ensure that all doors opened to the inside, he seemed fine, and Dawn managed to give Barry his package without much complaint.

"My mom sent this?" He turned the Town Map over in his hand. "She sent two, though. Here, Dawn, you and Lucas can take the other one."

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked, taking the second map from her friend. "What if she gave you two because she thought you'd lose one?"

"Hey, I don't need maps," Barry pointed out. He rapped on his head, which made a somewhat hollow sound. "My dad took me all around Sinnoh when I was little. I've memorized the entire region."

"Is that why you got lost on a visit to Sandgem Town once?" Dawn sounded so innocent, it reminded Lucas of when she'd been pretending not to know that her Starly was a shiny. So she was messing with Barry, then?

Apparently, her friend could still fall for it. "I didn't get lost the last time," he reminded her. "Come on, Dawn, you know me better than that."

"Sure, Barry. Whatever you say."

Barry aimed a fake punch at her, his fist stopping just inches from her face. "You're lucky I was taught to never hit a girl."

"And you have no idea how grateful I am for that," Dawn said quickly.

"But," Barry said, grinning malevolently, "I was never taught that I couldn't challenge a girl to a battle. So, Dawn, I challenge you to a battle for the right to make you eat those words!"

"And if I win?" Dawn asked, almost dreading what 'reward' she might be given.

"If you win, I promise to forgive the millions in debt that you've stacked up over the last six years."

And, with a short apology to Lucas, he took off down the street. Lucas watched Dawn pick up a few books off the shelf, sit down in the corner, and start reading. "Aren't those for the school kids?"

"I'm taking notes," Dawn answered from behind the book. "Don't even talk to me."

Perhaps, if it was just Barry and Looker that Dawn had met in Jubilife City, she wouldn't have disliked it so much. If it weren't for the Poketch campaign, she may have just wandered off and never looked back.

But the Poketch campaign did exist, and it was even stranger than Looker.

"You kids are trainers, aren't you?" the man asked, looking between them. "All trainers could use a Pokémon Watch, or Poketch, as I like to call them. And, lucky you, any trainer who can hand in three coupons today gets a free Poketch!"

The thought didn't sit well with Lucas, for reasons very different than Dawn's complete lack of concern. "You're just giving away technology to anyone who can get their hands on three coupons? Don't you know how much time and effort you've wasted on these things already?"

"Well, the new models do come out next year," the man admitted. "And we make most of our money selling apps for it."

"I don't see a problem with free stuff," Dawn cut in. "We can always sell it online."

"We can, can't we?" Lucas turned back to the man. "We'll take two."

"You need the coupons first," the man said, "and the campaign clowns only give coupons to one person in a group. If you want one for each of you, you'll have to separate."

Dawn groaned. She'd gotten lost in this city once already, the last thing she needed was more time without Lucas. But she also really wanted that Poketch.

Well, if she left the city, she could come right back in and keep looking. It wasn't as if it would be too hard to catch three different clowns, right?

Lucas found her, after he'd gotten his own Poketch of course. She'd done very well, collecting two coupons, but she couldn't for the life of her find that third clown. Lucas pointed out that it was right in front of a TV station, and it didn't take her more than five minutes to find the building.

"Now, listen here!" the clown said when she approached. "I ask a question about Pokémon, and a correct answer gets you your coupon."

"I know that." Dawn fanned herself with the coupons she'd already collected. "I've answered two already. Why aren't you just handing out these Poketch things for free?"

"We are," the clown told her. "You answer a question to get a coupon, and three coupons get you a Poketch."

"But the questions are so easy!" Dawn complained. "A kindergartener can get one. That's what they're teaching in the Pokémon school right now!"

The clown didn't look happy. Neither did Lucas, if his sudden facepalm was any indication. "Are you asking for a harder question, miss?"

"Maybe." Dawn was sure that listening to Barry's father for the past six years would have taught her something.

"Very well. Your new question is...what is EV training?"

Yes, Barry's father had taught her about this, after all. "EV training is a stat training method that involves finding specific Pokémon in specific locations, battling them, and defeating them. It is a long, boring process that people in our universe tend to ignore, often asking breeders to take the challenge of doing it for them."

The clown looked defeated. "I would have accepted 'a stat training method,' you know," he said, handing over the third coupon. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble."

"Hey, you said you were giving me a harder question. I just decided to go with the answer I had for it." Dawn took the coupon and turned to go. Lucas was right behind her.

"You do know that you more or less copied Palmer word for word, right?" he asked, and Dawn hid a smile behind her hand.

"My father was a breeder," she explained. "Barry's dad's a high-ranking trainer, too. It's only natural I learned something from one of them."

And then she picked up the pace, leaving him behind.