The day after the meeting with the notary, we are all in a park not too far from the Pokémon Center, a place we went to after Dawn claimed she wanted to give me some pointers to the whole Pokémon training business.

"So...how do I do this?" I ask the former Sinnoh champion as I examine the Poké Ball she bought for me yesterday, Annette doing much the same near my feet.

"It's simple," she replies. "You have it touch Annette, click the button in the center and it will turn her into data. Three shakes and then it will be done."

I look at her curiously, "That's it?"

"Yep," she smiles. "After that you will just have to click the button again every time you want to get her in or out."

Okay, I guess?

I turn to Annette. "Are you ready?" She tentatively nods and I kneel to her level. Annette raises one of her arms to touch the Poké Ball and I then click its button.

The Poké Ball opens up and a red beam of light comes out of it. As it envelops Annette, she too turns into that red light and then returns inside of the ball in my hand. The Poké Ball shakes three times before letting out a click sound.

"You did it!" Dawn cheers as I stand up again. "Good job!"

I don't pay her words too much attention as I just look over Annette's new home, hoping for at least a glimpse of her. There is none to be found.

"Can you hear me, Annie?"

The Poké Ball shakes within my grasp at my question and I then give it a pleased smile.

I click the button again and the ball lets out a white beam of light this time. A beam that takes Annette's shape before condensing into her.

"Ra!" she says while smiling at me.

"Alright, now," Dawn says as she places her hands on her hips. "Type advantages. Are you already familiar with them?" I nod. "Care to tell me what Annette's strengths and weaknesses are from both an offensive and defensive point of view?"

Oh, this one is easy.

"Grass attacks are strong against Water, Rock and Ground. And as a pure Grass type, Annette is weak against Fire, Bug, Flying, Poison and Ice."

Dawn gives a small nod. "Yes, those are their offensive strengths and defensive weaknesses. And the rest?"

Uh? "Excuse me?"

"What types are Grass moves weak against? What types of attack can Annette resist?"

Uh-oh, I don't remember those two that well.

"Let me think…"I murmur. "Grass moves do little against the types Annette is defensively weak against plus Steel. And Annette is resistant against the types she's offensively strong against plus Grass."

Right?

Dawn purses her lips to this answer. "Not entirely right. Grass moves are weak against Dragon types too."

Crap.

"And Annette is not resistant against Rock moves."

Double crap.

"But in return, Grass types are resistant to Electric moves. This is a fact you should not forget."

Triple.

"That said," Dawn reaches for her trenchcoat's pockets. "I believe it's time you meet a few more of my Pokémon."

After saying that, Dawn tosses a trio of Poké Balls into the air - two regular ones and a Dusk Ball - which all open and let out their own white beams. With a dexterity I would not have imagined, Dawn is also able to catch them and put them all back in her coat before any can hit the ground.

The three beams soon solidify into three different Pokémon. A white avian with red and blue triangles on its body, a bipedal blue and black jackall and an orange rod-like thing surrounded by a blue aura.

"Allow me to make introductions," Dawn chimes in as I observe her three Pokémon. She first points at the Togekiss. "This one is Tog."

The Togekiss smiles "To!" it says, its voice making a weird echo. Glancing at Dawn, she makes a face that says 'you'll get used to it'.

"Next," she continues, placing a hand on the Lucario's shoulder, "is Rio."

The Lucario lets out a bark. Just...a regular bark.

"And lastly," she points at the Rotom floating over her head "is Roh."

"Ro!" the little electric ghost says before it starts flying around my head at full speed, making my body tense on the spot.

Dawn briefly giggles at her Pokémon' display before clearing her throat. "Okay, that's enough, Roh. Come back here."

The Rotom stops and turns to her trainer, pouting. "Ro."

"Ah, ah, ah," she rebukes, slightly frowning. "You don't want to be grounded again, do you?"

The little bugger doesn't respond and just flies back to her mistress. How does one ground a Rotom so effectively?

"Anyway," Dawn continues. "A little exercise for you. I'll run some scenarios, you'll pick one of the answers I lay out for you and explain to me why you picked the one you did." She smiles. "Sounds good?"

I just shrug. "I suppose so." Not really sure what I should expect here.

"Great! Now, let's-"

She cuts herself off when Annette starts hopping in the Lucario's direction. She stops just a few centimeters from it and looks up to its chest. Or rather, its chest-spike.

"Ra?" she says, tilting her head.

The Lucario lets out a bark, narrowing its eyes as it does so.

Why is a Lucario's chest-spike so interesting to her all of a sudden?

"I think it's best if you let it be, buddy," I tell her. "I don't think Rio-"

Before I can finish, she stretches out an arm and touches the spike, making the Lucario tense up as its jaw tightens.

"Ra?" she repeats, oblivious to the Fighting-type's discomfort.

The Lucario doesn't waste a single moment before glaring down at her and letting out a series of snarls, growls and barks that forces Annette to take several hops back the more it goes on. It gets so bad, I have to recall her back into the Poké Ball.

The Lucario stops its...let's call it rant, as soon she disappears from its sight and takes the chance to catch its breath. Dawn looks apprehensively between it and me.

"Sorry," I tell her. "I take it Lucarios are sensitive about their spikes?"

She answers with a small nod. Wonderful, now Annette is on the shit list of two of Dawn's Pokémon.

Dawn gulps down before speaking again. "Anyway, first scenario. You need to challenge another trainer in a one-on-one battle and your opponent lets you choose which of their Pokémon to fight." She gives a quick glance to each of her Pokémon. "If these were your options, which one would Annette have an easier time fighting?"

Huh...well, let's see. The Togekiss is definitely a no. Its Flying typing would be a bane for her. Putting aside what just happened, the Lucario would have no moves that are particularly strong against her, but its Steel typing would take anything she can throw at it. As for the Rotom…

"I think I'd have her fight against Roh," I answer, causing her to arch an eyebrow. "It's not resistant to her attacks and she can take its Electric attacks. A better scenario than the other two."

Dawn smiles at that answer. "Precisely. To win a fight you must not only think of what your Pokémon are strong against, but also what they can do and what they can take in the first place."

Oh good, that worked.

"Now, let's run some other scenarios."

We spend the rest of the morning with me answering hypothetical scenarios and how I'd take advantage of type match-ups in a fight or how I'd make the best out of a situation where Annette would always have the type disadvantage.

I also avoid letting out Annette again for the time being. I don't want to risk that Lucario chewing her out again.

It all goes smoothly, except for when Dawn asks me how I'd handle a Spiritomb.

"Easy, a Fairy type move would take care of it."

Dawn's eyes widen at my answer, her Pokémon instantly following suit. "A what?" she asks, sounding completely clueless.

"Fairy type move," I repeat, while nodding to her Togekiss. "You know, one of its two types?

Dawn and her Togekiss share a confused look before she turns back to me. "What are you saying? Tog is a Normal and Flying type."

What? How is that possible? I get that in the Unova games the Fairy type wasn't a thing because it was introduced a generation later, but how is it not here either?

"How many types are there in total?"

"Seventeen, of course."

Okay, that's definitely not right. Even if the Fairy type had yet to be discovered, how would they explain something like Clefairy not being immune to Ghost moves if it is supposed to be a Normal type?

Although…

"Do Mega Evolutions mean anything to you?" I ask Dawn. "Or Z-Moves? Or Dynamaxing?"

Dawn narrows her eyes at my question and brings a hand to her chin, making a pensive pose.

"Dynamaxing is that phenomenon from Galar that enlarges Pokémon," she says after some mumbling. "I've heard that somewhere in the world there is a region with crystals that allows Pokémon to unleash extremely powerful moves. Are those the Z-Moves?" I nod. "Alright. And as for Mega Evolutions...I'm sorry, that's the first time I've heard of them."

Ah, then I think I see what's up. She does know about Dynamaxing, and if Alola doesn't have a League yet, it makes sense she isn't too familiar with Z-Moves. But Mega Evolutions are too big of a deal for a trainer not to know about them.

"In that case, forget I said anything," I tell her, to which she and her Pokémon look at me like I've grown a second head. "Long story short, in the more recent games they had introduced some mumbo jumbo about alternate realities as a way to justify introducing an eighteenth type. One that I'm assuming doesn't exist here."

"Okay…" she replies confusedly. "And these Mega Evolutions…?"

"Around the same time they started introducing gimmicks after gimmicks," I explain. "Z-Moves and Dynamaxing were justified as being native to certain regions. Mega Evolution was justified as being native of the realities with that eighteenth type."

Dawn blinks repeatedly at that explanation. "I mean no offense, but this is...the weirdest thing I've heard yet."

I answer with a sigh. "Yeah, tell me about it."

That is thankfully the only moment confusion due to the Fairy/not-Fairy matter. Although I already know resetting my head to what some Pokémon had for resistances and weaknesses before Kalos is gonna be a pain in the ass.

The day after, I was expecting we'd be doing more of her impromptu training to be a trainer. God, that doesn't sound right.

Either way, it turns out Dawn has other plans.

"Clothes shopping?!" I ask in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Of course I'm not," she replies chirply. "You're going to need a proper travelling outfit if you want to be a trainer. Not to mention you've been wearing the same outfit for...a week by now?"

I tense up at that question, too embarrassed to admit she's right. "But, uhm...what about paying them?"

Dawn closes her eyes and smiles. "Don't worry, with your situation we should be able to have a large discount on everything." She turns her head in the direction of the Pokémon Mart to glare at it. "Assuming we don't come across someone like a certain redhead, of course," she hisses.

Still miffed about that, huh?

Dawn clears her throat. "Anyway, any other problem you want to address?" I shake my head. "Good, then let's go."

After I recall Annette into her Poké Ball and put it in my pocket, I follow Dawn out of the Center and into the streets of Castelia. I don't know if this is the first time she's been to this city, but she moves with certainty to wherever it is she's leading us, whether we're taking turns or going straight.

It is only when our latest turn leads us to a skyscraper on the opposite side of the street we are on, with one entrance with a logo made from a Poké Ball tied to a triangle on top of it that we stop.

"Ah, there it is," Dawn comments. "Castelia's Gym."

Wait, what?

"What does the local Gym have to do with buying clothes?"

"The Gym, nothing," Dawn points to the other side of the building, where I see..mannequins? "But the clothing store in the same place is where I wanted to take you."

Oh…

"Come on, let's go," Dawn says before sprinting in the shop's direction. I follow her right away.

As I stand in front of a mirror, I examine my new outfit. I'm now wearing a white shirt, partially covered by a light gray jacket with strands of blue on the sides and around the zipper. I've also replaced my old pants with a pair of dark gray ones that somehow feels heavier than pants normally would. The boots are the only thing I've kept.

"What do you think?" Dawn asks from the side. "Do you like it?"

I touch the fabric of the pants to get a better feel of them. "These are...thicker than they seem."

"Of course they are thick. They are padded on the inside."

I instantly turn to her. "What? Why would I wear padded pants?"

Dawn smiles knowingly. "Because with them you won't have to worry about Annette filling your legs with spikes the next time she wants to hug you."

...point taken, but still. "Isn't there an alternative? Pants like these are going to be hell during summer."

Dawn shakes her head. "Sorry, you'll have to deal with that. The spikes of cacti Pokémon can pierce regular fabrics all too easily."

Wonderful.

Dawn's face then returns to normal. "And what about everything else?"

I do a few stretches with my torso before answering. "This one is good. It's not too tight or too loose. I can move in it just fine."

The smile returns to Dawn's face at that. "Good. Although, have you considered wearing models with some more color? Gray feels...kind of sad."

Says the one wearing black, which is even worse. "Sorry, but no. I like it this way." I squint my eyes at my reflection. "Although...I feel something is still missing."

"What?"

I give my reflection a once-over. Jacket and shirt are good, pants are fine for what they must do, boots are not a problem, I refuse to put on gloves if I don't have to and…

Oh.

I turn to Dawn and look up to her fedora. White really is near the bottom of colors I like to see on pieces of clothing, but maybe…

"What is it?" Dawn asks me.

"Does this shop sell hats like yours?"

One look through the available hats in the shop, and soon I add a fedora myself to my outfit. One of a darker shade of gray than the rest, but one I like all the same.

And after that, we don't stay much longer. I pick some night clothing, Dawn pays for everything and then we're on our way back to the Pokémon Center.

However, I stop in my tracks while we pass in front of an electronics store, as my eyes land on a news broadcast on one of the TVs. It features a dark-skinned girl with purple hair wearing a large white and pink robe and a tiara on her head. And even if I did not recognize her right away, I also see two very specific words flowing at the bottom of the screen that confirm her identity.

Champion Iris.

And if I'm in Unova while she is the champion…

"Hey, are you okay?" Dawn asks me when she notices my distraction. She then looks up to the screen too and makes a small grimace before whispering. "Another person you recognize from the games?"

I purse my lips. How do I explain this to her? Better yet, how long is it going to be before that begins?

"What year is it?" I ask.

"It's 3005. Why?"

I almost facepalm. Why did I think knowing the year would be of use to me?

"Never mind," I tell Dawn. "Has the whole disaster with Kyurem happened yet?"

She frowns. "Who is Kyurem?"

So that's a no. And we are before the events of White 2. Great.

"Tell me," I huff out while massaging the bridge of my nose. "Do you know the legend of how the dragons Reshiram and Zekrom came to be?"

"Of course," she earnestly answers. "They originally were one being that watched over Unova's royal family. It split into them to serve two brother princes that had differing ideas on how to govern Unova."

"That is where you - and probably everyone else in this region - are wrong," I retort, causing Dawn to frown again. "The original dragon did not split into two. It split into three. And that third dragon is the source of a big problem that is coming."

Dawn crosses her arms. "I'm listening."

The conversation afterward went about how one would expect. I told her how the plot of White 2 went - or about as well as I remember it, I haven't touched that game in a long while - Dawn was taken aback and then all but physically dragged me back to the Pokémon Center. And after locking us both in her room, she set up a video call on her laptop and introduced me to her superior, a middle-aged man with a thick graying moustache. I then repeated what I told Dawn and he took it far more stoically. Impossibly so, I'd dare say.

Although the answers I'm giving him right now are only making him frown more and more.

"How did Team Plasma build this frigate?"

"I don't know."

"Who are their members besides Ghetsis and Zinzolin?"

"I don't know."

"When are they going to catch this Kyurem?"

"I don't know."

"Where can they be found right now?"

"I don't know."

The man purses his lips and takes a moment before speaking again. "You know very little, lad."

Can you blame me, baffone? It's almost like I have only approximate knowledge that only applies to a video game format and not a real world full of Pokémon. Oh, wait.

"As I told Miss Hikari here," I point at Dawn, "what I know comes from a videogame. Even if it did go into details about everything, I can't remember everything off the top of my head." Who the hell expects to be thrown head first into a world from a game they played years earlier?

Apparently the man takes the hint, as his features immediately relax. "I see. Just one more question: what do you know about the remaining four sages?"

I shrug. "Nothing. I don't remember any of them popping up again. Whether that means they all quit Team Plasma entirely or something else, I don't know."

The guy massages the bridge of his nose. "I see," he huffs out. "And what you do know is that it is all supposed to happen two years after their attack on the Pokémon League with Reshiram at their side?"

I nod. "How long has it been since then?"

"A year and a half. There isn't much time before they rear their heads again."

"How do we proceed, sir?" Dawn, who has been silent up until this moment, intervenes.

"First of all, we need to assess if Kyurem is still within the Giant Chasm. If it is, we need to set up surveillance before Team Plasma can get their hands on it. But if they already have it," he looks first at me and then at Dawn, "the two of you will have to intervene."

I blink at hearing that phrase. As I do so, I and Dawn, who is also blinking, turn to each other, both utterly confused.

"I'm sorry, what?" I finally ask the man.

In response, he points at me. "You are our source of intel on their future whereabouts." He points to Dawn. "And she has the authority to act on behalf of the International Police. I believe the two of you together are our best shot at thwarting Team Plasma's plans. And acting as trainers interested in participating in the League's tournament is the perfect cover."

Oh you exploitative self-righteous piece of-

"But sir!" Dawn protests. "I'm from the Faller unit! This is not my area of-"

"You will do so, Agent Hikari," the man cuts her off. "You are already in the perfect position to intervene. And your past exploits with Team Galactic prove you have what it takes to be a field agent."

For some reason, Dawn's posture stiffens at that remark and color leaves her face.

"That is all. I will contact you when I have news. Good day," her superior concludes before shutting down the call.

No sooner does he do that, Dawn turns away from her laptop, turning her back to me. I see her shuddering and letting out irregular breaths while she grabs her arms tightly.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"I'm fine," she replies, too hastily for my liking.

Well, what do I say to comfort her? What even is it that has her like this?

"I understand you are not fond with the idea of dealing with more crazies, but Team Plasma is nothing compared to what you've already seen. Cyrus and his Team Galactic were far worse than-"

"Leave!"

I wince at hearing her snap like that. "I'm...sorry?"

"Just…" she replies, her tone less loud and more hesitant than before. "Just leave me for now. Please."

…

I don't know why thinking of what was probably her finest times made her like this. I don't know what would make a person from the Pokémon world of all places act like this.

But I do know when it's best to leave people their space.

I go out of Dawn's room and close the door behind me.

The small pink Pokémon known as Hoopa pulled out of the red building after watching the spat between the two humans, giggling as it did so.

The human from the other world proved more interesting than Hoopa had originally expected. When the Maractus led him out of the desert, it seemed Hoopa's fun would end before it even began. Than he was arrested, then he was introduced to a traveler of the other side and then he started saying all the juicy stuff. Pokémon being known in his world, him already knowing this world, the Fairy type, all fun stuff to watch him try to explain.

With no small amount of discomfort, however, Hoopa realized that its immediate fun might have ruined something grander. After all, it wasn't any day a human tried to weaponize that chilly husk known as Kyurem. But the human just ruined it all.

However, another thought soon came to Hoopa's mind. One that might lead to something even more fun than that.

Letting out a giggle, Hoopa summoned one of its rings and flew into it.

And that's chapter 4. Hope it was to you guys' liking!

Yeah, I'm officially not having the Fairy type in this fic. I have nothing against the type (minus some mild annoyance because I can never remember all the Pokémon from gens 1 through 5 who got it with gen 6), but I've decided not to have it for story reasons. What those reasons are you'll have to see, but if you're familiar with Pokémon theories you probably can take a guess.

I would like to thank Geolight164, author of the Pokémon SI fic "The Show Must Go On". We can both be found at the TreeHouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you next time!