Satisfied that the spar is over, I reopen my eyes. There's no sign of any illusions, and Zoroark is no longer disguised.

"You've proven yourself, Weaver. You're strong - stronger than me. Will you do me the honour of having me on your team?"

His tone is earnest - no longer haughty like it had been earlier. Do I want to believe him? It's a risk, but I think that it's one well worth taking. I release him, lowering my knife. I don't put it away yet - just in case. Zoroark picks himself up, turning to face me.

I stare at him, considering what to say. He fidgets, waiting for my response. Before, his expression had been adversarial - not quite angry, but not friendly. Now, he almost looked like a lost child - downtrodden, looking up at me with hope in his eyes.

"Let's call it a tentative yes, for now. I want to know more, first." It's not too early for lunch, so sharing a meal is an option. "We'll talk over lunch."

Walking over to where my bag lay, I pick it up and deposit it between us. Vespiquen flies down, coming to a rest at my side. Judging by the look she's giving Zoroark, she isn't impressed by him.

"Sit." I instruct him, opening the bag to reveal the berries inside. He complies, eyeing the berries hungrily. Good - I had been worried that he would only eat meat.

Reaching out a hand to take a berry, he asks "So." He drops his accent entirely - he isn't speaking with that weird sort of dramatic flair that he had used before. "What is it you want to know?"

I take a berry for myself, sitting down too. Vespiquen follows. "Your story - you mentioned you had a trainer before." I unstrap the mouthpiece of my mask, allowing me to eat while keeping most of my face hidden.

Taking a bite from his food, he shrugs. "There isn't too much to say. He bought me from some big-name Pokemon breeder when I was a few weeks old. He treated me well, but didn't like putting in the hours on the training ground. Instead, he thought that expensive vitamins and Technical Machines would make up for it."

Vitamins? Is that a euphemism for steroids, or did he actually mean vitamins? What about Technical Machines - is he talking about some sort of Tinkertech? "Was that what made you run away from him?"

He shakes his head, taking another berry. "No - that was part of it, but the main reason was that he was a quitter. He got two badges in to the Gym Challenge but got stumped by the third. He decided that the life of a trainer wasn't for him, so he quit. I spent a few months lounging around his mansion doing nothing but watching TV before I decided that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life like that. So I smashed my Pokeball and ran away… and, well, here I am."

Something clicks - that overblown persona he had put on before our fight: he must have got it from watching too much TV. Period dramas, maybe? A part of me chuckles - he reminds me of the Capes who didn't take themselves too seriously, in an oblique sort of way. But what does he mean by 'Gym Challenge'? I don't think there's any way I can ask him without revealing that I'm not exactly from around here - do I want to explain my own situation to him?

It's more of a risk - unlike Vespiquen, he can go spilling my secrets to other people rather easily.

He seems honest, but I've no way of knowing for sure - especially considering his abilities as a Stranger. I'm…

I'm going to have to go out on a limb here and hope that my judgement of his character isn't mistaken. I return my knife to it's sheath.

I nod, mostly to myself. "I'll need to explain my own history, then." Vespiquen grabs another berry, content to sit back and let me talk. "The long and the short of it is that I'm not from this dimension - to say that where I'm from is different to this world is a bit of an understatement. We didn't have Pokemon, trainers, magical healing berries - none of it."

Unlike Vespiquen, Zoroark was far more believing of my words. "I saw a horror movie about something like that, once. I didn't really get it - what was your world like?"

"I don't know how to best explain it to you - it seems to me that instead of having Pokemon and trainers, we had Parahumans. It wasn't everybody, but some people had powers - some of them are pretty similar to what I've seen Pokemon do."

He blinks, his expression almost incredulous. "Powers - you mean, like, Superheroes?" Coming to a realization, he leaps from his seat. "That's how you saw through my illusions - you're a Superhero!" His face breaks into a silly grin "Oh my god, I fought a Superhero!"

I grimace - that wasn't exactly the reaction I had expected. "Yeah. We just called them heroes, though." I stop, considering my words. He seems fairly enthused about the whole thing. "Your illusions are pretty similar to what some Capes could do in my world, so I'm fairly inclined to have you on the team."

He looks as if I had made his day. To be fair, I may well have done just that.

I continue, "So, I want you to tell me what you know about trainers. Vespiquen has told me what she knows, but your perspective is probably far more valuable - I want to know everything I can before I approach anybody in this world."

"Wait - you can understand Vesp-" he cuts himself off "-Right, of course you can. Superhero. Can you understand me, or do I need to keep using illusions to talk?"

"My power to understand Pokemon only works on Bugs - keep using the illusions."

He nods, accepting the explanation without question and sitting back down. "Well, the first thing is that most trainers give their Pokemon nicknames - I know that wild Pokemon don't usually use names, but you'll look a bit out of place if you keep calling her Vespiquen."

That makes sense, I suppose - I'll have to discuss it with her later. "What did your trainer call you?"

"Ignatius." he shakes his head "- but I'd rather put that name behind me, if it's okay with you." He takes another berry and pops it into his mouth before leaning back against the face of the cliff.

I can empathize with that. "No problem. You mentioned something about a 'Gym Challenge' earlier - what do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's a big deal for trainers - lots of prestige on the line. The idea is to trek across the region, going from Gym to Gym collecting one badge at each for a total of eight. It's not just a glorified cross-country marathon, though - each Gym has a skilled Pokemon trainer that you've got to beat in a battle to earn the badge."

"Battle? I've got a feeling we might be thinking of different things here."

"What? Oh - no, it's nothing like what you would have seen going on in the wild. There's a pretty strict set of rules and there's only ever fatalities if things go really wrong - it's more like a duel than a fight."

Vespiquen speaks up. "Rules? I had thought trained Pokemon were weird before, but putting rules on a fight is strange, even for them."

He shakes his head vigorously "-No! You don't get it - it isn't a fight to the death, it's a friendly bout: a test of strength between two teams to determine a victor. The only thing being fought over is the wager and the glory."

"I think I understand. What sort of rules are we talking about here?" I withhold my judgement for now - it sounds like a bloodsport, but there might be something I'm missing.

Zoroark explains, as if reciting something that had been told to him many times before. "Well, a battle can be a maximum of six verses six Pokemon. There's a few rulesets, but the most common one only allows one Pokemon for each side out on the field at once. When one Pokemon is knocked out, one of its teammates takes its place. This continues until one side doesn't have any more Pokemon to send out. Trainers aren't allowed on the battlefield, but they can give orders from the sidelines. The Pokemon aren't allowed to target the trainers or any spectators, either."

"And something like that doesn't have fatalities very often?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know if you've noticed, Weaver, but Pokemon are all pretty sturdy. Unless you're really trying, you won't accidentally kill one. Besides, even if one does get hurt seriously, it's Pokeball will stabilize it and a quick trip to a Pokemon Centre will fix anything short of death"

Anything short of death? The medical technology in this world must be on a similar level to the Pokeballs. "Pokemon Centres?"

"They offer free Pokemon healing for everybody. They use some machine that works with Pokeballs. It usually only takes a few seconds, but If the wound is serious they use something else. I don't know what, though - I've never been through it myself. There's one in just about every town and city."

That… sounds way too good to be true. Free healing in seconds that will fix just about anything short of death? Surely there's some sort of catch to it. But... this is exactly the sort of thing that Tinkertech does. If Tinkertech could have been mass produced, would my world have had something similar?

This world...

I don't even know what to think about it. Animals that are all somewhat intelligent and have powers who are trained by people for some sort of prestigious bloodsport with almost no fatalities thanks to freely available Tinkertech healing?

I sigh. There's just no making sense of it. I'll simply have to accept it and adapt. "Pokeballs. How do they work? What do they do?"

He shrugs. "I don't know how exactly they work, but they've got a few different uses. The most obvious one is that they store Pokemon - turns them into energy, to keep things simple. But they've also got a computer interface that lets machines work on the Pokemon inside - like the healing machine."

They're definitely some pretty hefty Tinkertech, then. Just like the healing machine. "What else can they work with?"

"There's a computer system for long-term Pokemon storage - I don't know much about that, but my trainer has used it with a few of his other Pokemon before. It also lets Technical Machines do their magic - they let a Pokemon learn a new move while they're inside their ball. It works pretty quick - I've had a few used on me before. It's sort of like a dream - some wise old Pokemon that knows everything there is to know about the move comes into your ball with you and teaches you how to do it. I'm pretty sure that the Pokemon is some sort of recording, though."

Machines that teach powers? It sounds like some sort of fusion between Cranial's Tinkertech and Cauldron's vials. I don't know how I feel about that… I'll have to look into it more later. From what Zoroark is saying, though, it doesn't sound nearly as sinister as either of those.

"You said that Pokeballs can stabilize injuries? How does that work?"

He nods, leaning forward to grab another berry. "Well, Pokemon don't exactly have a physical body when they're inside the Pokeball, so they can't bleed out or anything. Just being inside is enough to put a stopper on most things - they'll still be injured if you take them out, though."

That makes sense, I suppose. "How about the trainers themselves - is Pokemon training a job or a hobby for them? How about the Gym Challenge - is it some sort of qualification, or do people only do it for the prestige?"

"I know mine only did it as a hobby, but I also know that some people live off of the money they win by battling. Earning Gym badges is pretty much the only way for a trainer to move up in the world - the mark of an experienced trainer is a full badge-case. You'll probably have to ask a human if you want to know the specifics - I didn't pay much attention to them. I don't know much about human jobs, but I think some of them to do with battling might need you to have a certain number of badges."

I don't say anything, digesting the information Zoroark has given me. It's a lot to take in.

"Right. That's enough for now. I might think up some more questions later, but I'm satisfied." I reach up, unclasping my mask. "Welcome to the team." I let my mask fall, revealing my face. "Weaver is my Cape name. Out of costume, my name is Taylor."