Greetings, my wonderful readers! Behold, another chapter awaits!


"So, you're saying that you summoned me with a spell to be a familiar?" Ash asked.

"Correct," Louise replied.

"And what's a familiar?" Ash had to ask.

The young noble looked thoroughly unimpressed by his question. "Even a commoner such as yourself should know something as simple that.

Ash sighed. "Humor me, please."

The two were sitting in Louise's room. Louise was sitting on a chair in front of small table. She sat with relaxed ease; her chin rested one her hand while the other gripped the handle of a teacup that sat on the table. Ash was sitting on the floor on his knees. After the boy had expressed his confusion at the summoning grounds, Louise had looked mortified and immediately dragged him away from the explosion site. As he was dragged past the circle of robed people, he heard the blading man dismiss the everyone for "familiar bonding". Whatever that meant.

Louise studied her familiar for a moment. "You're serious," she said with a disappointed sigh. "Well, I suppose I should inform you of your current situation. You won't be of much use otherwise. Be grateful."

"I am very grateful," Ash said with the straightest face he would muster.

Louise, completely missing his pained and borderline sarcastic expression, explained, "A familiar is creature that is summoned by mages to be their lifelong companions. Familiars tend to match their master's affinity and live to serve their masters in any way needed. Additionally, a strong familiar also serves as an invaluable protector."

"So, they're basically partner Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"Pokemon?" Louise asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. "What's that?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "The creatures with all those people outside," he replied as if it was obvious.

"Those aren't Pokemon," Louise said slowly, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Those were familiars."

"Then familiars are Pokemon?" Ash guessed.

"Obviously not, since the spell didn't translate the word," Louise said irritably. "What's a Pokemon?"

"Well…" said Ash slowly as he thought back to the many lectures, he had heard from Professor Oak. It had been years since actually sat down and listen to one, but he definitely had heard enough of them to put some kind of explanation together.

"Pokemon are the most common creatures to exist in the world. They come in various shapes and sizes, and are a large part of the ecosystem and society. Some species are used or hunted for food. Others are kept as pets, protectors, or just roam in the wild."

"Those sound less like familiars and more like animals," Louise said accusingly.

"What's an animal?"

The deadpan look Louise made Ash feel very subconscious. "Like I said, I'm not from around here," he defended himself.

"Who ever heard of a place where animals don't exist?" Louise asked incredulously.

"Pokemon are the most common creatures where I come from," Ash replied. "Familiars and animals are new to me."

"Most familiars are animals!" Louise shouted.

Ash blinked. "Wait. Let me see if I got this straight. The creatures I saw when you summoned me are familiars, but they're also animals?"

"Most of them," Louise stressed. "Some, like Zerbst's salamander or Tabitha's wind dragon are magical creatures."

"So, Pokemon?"

"How am I supposed to know?" she asked in annoyance.

"Dragon is a type of Pokemon," said Ash. "And when you said, 'magical creature', the meaning sounded the same as Pokemon."

"Magical creatures can breathe fire, create tornadoes, shoot lightning, or have otherwise elementally based abilities," said Louise smugly. "You can't tell me that your 'most common creatures' are capable of that."

Ash's response quickly wiped the smirk off her face. "Actually, fire and dragon-type Pokemon typically breath fire with Flamethrower, Dragon Rage, or Dragon Breath," Ash responded. "Tornadoes are also easy to make for any powerful flying-type that know Gust or Whirlwind. And all electric-types are known for generating and releasing electricity."

"…Tell me you're joking."

"But I'm not."

"You can't tell me that it's normal for magical creatures to walk around normally in the world without destroying everything around them!" Louise shrieked. "That's why the Dragon Riders and Griffon Corps have such strict regulations for entry! It's impossible for most people to control them!"

"Most of the time we don't need to," Ash replied. "Pokemon Rangers are responsible for dealing with the majority of wild Pokemon running amok, while Trainers like myself deal with smaller problems we come across. Any Pokemon that's strong or clever enough to stir up trouble usually is worth catching."

"You catch these creatures?" Louise asked skeptically. "Are you even a line mage yet?"

"What's a line mage?"

Louise sighed. "Of course, a plebeian such as yourself wouldn't learn the basics of mage society," she lamented. Ash held back a groan as Louise crossed her legs and assumed a lecturing tone. "Magic is ranked based on how many elements you can layer on top of each other. For example, you can be a line mage if you can use two elements, like earth and fire, together in a combined spell. Or you could layer the same element on top of itself, making it stronger."

"Wait, you can become a line mage by using two types, or using the same twice?" Ash asked.

"Layering the same element in a spell, yes," Louise replied, frowning at his interruption.

"So, how do you tell the difference?" Ash asked. "I mean, using the same move twice is difficult, but how does that make you better at that type?"

"Element," Louise corrected. "Any accomplished mage can tell the difference between a dot mage and a line mage when it comes to the element of their spell."

"Are the accomplished mages all line mages? Or are some of them dot mages?"

"As if a dot mage could be accomplished at anything," Louise huffed. "Most mages at this academy are at dot class, but most adult mages are at least line mages. Triangle mages are more common for families of higher nobility and are very powerful. Square mages are few and far between, and the power they wield is legendary, capable of taking down entire armies by themselves!"

Ash nervously chuckled as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. "You really like square mages then," he assumed.

For some reason, Louise blushed. She tried—and failed—to hide it by taking a sip of her tea. She made a sour face. "Lukewarm," she muttered, setting the cup down.

"Louise—"

"I am your master," Louise interrupted. "You may not address me on first name basis."

Ash heavily resisted the urge to facepalm. He reminded himself that he was in Ancient Kalos—though, he was starting to wonder how far into the past he had been flung—and society was different back then. "Louise—no, Miss Louise? Lady Louise? I'm not sure what your title is. And no—" he interrupted when she opened her mouth. "I am not calling you Master. That just sounds weird."

Louise gave a very slight nod at that. "Fine, I permit you to call me Miss Louise or Miss Valliere. I have no noble title yet, but when I do you will address me as Lady."

"Sure thing, Miss Louise." While it was a little weird for Ash to call someone his age by "Miss", at least he didn't have to call her something embarrassing. "So, now I'm curious. What kind of mage are you?"

Louise immediately became red and fuming. "And what business is that of yours?" she asked tartly.

Holding up his hands in surrender, he replied, "Like I said, I'm just curious. You said familiars tend have the same element as their mas—summoner, so I was wondering if that held true for me too."

"Are you a mage?" Louise asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think so," Ash replied. "But I'd like to find out."

"Are you a noble?"

"Nope."

"Then there's you're answer," said Louise. "Only nobles are mages, so a commoner like you can't be a mage."

"So, if I'm not a mage, I can't have an element?"

"Correct."

"That sucks," Ash said with a disappointed sigh. Then he slammed a fist into the palm of his other hand. "Oh, yeah. Miss Louise, what type were you? I got off topic…" his voice trailed off as Louise met his eyes in a deadly glare. "Oh, is it a secret?" he asked. "Or rude? My bad, I didn't know."

Louise raised a hand to silence him. "It's not a secret," the young mage grumbled. "You're going to find out anyway, so there's no point in keeping it hidden." She took a deep breath before asking, "Did you hear the other students calling me a Zero?"

Ash thought back to him being dragged through the castle grounds. "I think so," he said. "Louise the Zero, I think they called you." Seeing her wince, he immediately apologized, "Sorry! I'm guessing that's not a nice nickname."

"No, it's not," Louise confirmed. "But it's not entirely inaccurate. I'm called Louise the Zero because I'm a failure of a mage with no element or magical ability."

Ash stared at Louise with unblinking eyes. "How did you summon me then?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know," Louise admitted. "That was the first spell I managed to cast, and it still blew up in my face."

"It blew up?"

"Yes."

"And that's a normal thing?"

"Yes," Louise said with a frown. "Laugh it up, familiar."

"Ash," he corrected reflexively. Seeing her expression sour even further, he tacked on a "Miss Louise," before continuing, "But if you make things explode, doesn't that count as a type, I mean element?"

"It's not fire magic," Louise said with a scowl. "And it's obviously not water, wind, or earth either, so according to the Founder's magically theory, my explosions aren't a type of magic."

Ash hummed thinking over when he knew when comparing her description of magic to the Pokemon types her was familiar with. "Then what if it's another element of magic?" he suggested.

To his surprise, Louise looked at him with horror. "Heresy," she whispered.

"Was it something I said?"

"The only other element is the Founder's element, the Void. And since he died six thousand years ago, no other mage has inherited his element! It's impossible!"

"Sometimes powers can be inherited over a couple of centuries gap," Ash said, remembering when he discovered he shared the same aura as Sir Aaron of Rota. "Maybe it could happen—"

"Not a chance!" Louise shouted vehemently. She rose to her feat and pointed her wand at him. "And I won't stand for hearing such heresy from my familiar! What would a peasant know about this anyway?"

"Well, I can't say much about magic," Ash admitted, keeping a close eye on her wand. "But in my region, I know that there are eighteen different types of Pokemon, so I think there should be some similarities."

"EIGHTEEN!"

"Yeah," Ash replied, rubbing his ears to relieve the pain. "Since Pokemon are pretty much the same as magic beasts, even if their typing is classified differently, I could compare the different types of Pokemon to magic elements and guess at what you're type of magic is. Not sure if that will tell you what element it is, but it's worth a shot, right?"

Louise slowly sat back down, stowing her wand into a pocket of her robes. Putting a fist under her chin, she considered his proposition. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt," the young mage admitted. "But what makes you think you'll be able to find anything when many mages in Tristan could not?"

"Maybe because I'm looking at it from a different angle," Ash suggested. "I'll admit that I'm nowhere near as smart as Professor Oak, he'd probably be able to figure it in a week easily, but I do know quite a bit about Pokemon. I've been a Pokemon trainer for several years now, so I have experience dealing with many different Pokemon and their types."

"Pokemon trainer?" Louise echoed.

"Yup! I traveled around several regions with my partner, Pikachu. He's, well, I guess he's what would be a familiar to a mage. I received him from Professor Oak when I started my journey."

"A pet that someone gives you is nowhere near the level of significance that a mage has with their summoned familiar," Louise sniped.

"Even if I didn't summon Pikachu with a spell, he's still my best friend," Ash argued. "We've been through a lot together. Traveled to new regions, met new Pokemon, made friends, fought opponents, participated in a lot of competitions, and even met some legendaries! He's my closest companion, and the bond we share is powerful."

Louise looked at him with a mix of awe, envy, and disbelief. "And where's your familiar Pokemon now?" she asked.

Ash visibly deflated, his bright smile dissolving into a depressed frown. "When I fell through your portal, I got separated from him."

"Oh," was all Louise could say as she looked at Ash's despondent face. "Well, you should be proud to serve a noble of my rank as a familiar. I will become a renown square class mage worth of the Valliere name."

"Sure thing," said Ash, a smile small reaching his face, though not quite his eyes. Seeing the pinkette's passion did raise his spirits just a little. "Well, we should probably get ready for bed," he said, noting that the sunlight was now a rosy red and the sun was falling over the horizon. "Speaking of which, where am I supposed to sleep?"

"Here, of course," Louise responded.

Ash noticed that there was only one large bed and a pile of hay against the wall. "Are you fine sharing the bed?" he asked.

Louise's usual glare was back in full force. "Why would I share a bed with my familiar when I had a made prepare a perfectly good straw bed by my side?" she asked indignantly.

The boy blinked. "Do people normally sleep on hay?" he had to ask.

"You're a familiar, so it shouldn't matter," Louise replied.

Ash was starting to believe that his "Master" was not quite right in the head. "Well, I guess I've slept out on worse," he said.

"Good, you should learn to get used to your place," said Louise, eliciting a sweatdrop from Ash. The single bead turned into a waterfall as Louise began taking off her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Ash screeched as he turned away and covered his eyes.

"Changing into my night clothes," Louise said unabashedly.

"You could at least let me leave the room!"

"Why would I do that? You're going to be sleeping here."

"But you're a girl and I'm a guy." Ash felt like he was talking to a child at this point. "You shouldn't be changing while I'm here."

"You're my familiar, so that doesn't matter," Louise said. "Now turn around already."

Ash did so hesitantly, only peering through his fingers just in case. To his relief, Louise was now wearing a nightgown. "Wash these for me," she said, throwing an article of clothing at him. He instinctively snagged from the air before it could land on his head. "It's been a long day and I'm exhausted."

"How am I supposed to wash—" Ash looked down at what he held in his hands and dropped it quicker than a hot potato. "Why would you give me this?!"

"Be quiet, I'm sleepy," Louise ordered as she snuggled under her covers. She had only just closed her eyes when she heard the door slam. Sitting upright, she noticed where Ash had left her underwear lying on the floor. "Tch, my familiar is weird and less reliable than I had hoped," she said to herself. "He could have at least taken it with him if he was going to find a wash bucket."


Later that evening, Professor Colbert was searching through the academy library. The Tristan Royal Academy was a treasure trove of ancient books and scholarly texts. The runes on the hand of Miss Valliere's familiar struck a chord in the balding professor. He knew he had seen them somewhere before. It was all a matter of finding the right book.

A student with short blue hair looked up from her book as she saw Professor Colbert sit a stack of books on a nearby table and begin skimming through them. While the professor was one of the library's more frequent visitors—and she would be the first to know—it wasn't often that he would pour through books with a fervor that bordered obsession or desperation. She watched Colbert for a moment, and then returned to her book. Whatever the professor was doing, it wasn't any of her business.

"There it is," the man said aloud. He ran a finger over the image depicted in the book. "Yes, it's a perfect match." Reading the text underneath, his eyes widened comically before saying aloud, "I need to show this to the Headmaster." Taking the book with him, he left the library in a hurry. He was unaware of the blue eyes that followed his movements and caught a look at the image in the book he held.


This chapter is a little on the short side, but I'm writing this story by scenes and I want the chapters to be around 3-5k in length. The next scene was a little long, so I decided to split it away from this chapter so I could get this done sooner while keeping my intended length.

Who would have thought a calm talking scene would reach nearly 3k words? Originally I was going to briefly mention what they talked about and move on to setting up the duel, but when I decided that I wanted to write everything out, this is what appeared.

Now to answer some general questions from my reviews/PMs:

Q: Will Ash be getting his Pokemon?

A: Unfortunately, I have no plans for him to get his Pokemon back right away. Ash already has tools to survive way better than Saito did. If I let him have his Pokemon, he'd steamroll all the low-level encounters and not have to learn much of anything.

Q: Is Louise going to be the same?

A: Not quite. Instead of rewriting her personality or continuing her terrible tropes, I'll just give Louise the chance to grow and learn NOT TO HIT PEOPLE in this story.

Hopefully, this chapter pleased you. If it did, leave a review. If it didn't, leave a review. Remember, review are food for a writer's soul!