Well, folks. There was some feedback, that I felt I had to address. First of all, thanks for the support! I really appreciate it.

The second thing is a question asked multiple times already:

Why Weedle? The answer? It was completely and utterly random. The species, the potential, the aberration, everything. Even the Egg Moves.

I wasn't unhappy with the roll however, even if it had green potential, since I adore Beedrill and it's Mega. It's also the reason for him going the Poison Specialist Route, since it fit so well.

Some were also confused about Gastly's potential. I touched upon that within the chapter, if only slightly. Basically: Gastly was hours away from dying. It had used up all it's energy and lastly it's potential to last as long as it did. This nearly dead, malnourished vessel was then filled with ridiculously pure life force.

That not only returned it's potential to what it was, but elevated it, since the young, malleable body was introduced to a purer, denser form of energy, that fueled it's own energy.

This allowed not only the use of aura in a pokémon, that isn't known for being able to do so, but it also allowed the little one to actually produce his own energy with a density and purity, that approached David's.

The last thing I want to tell you all is a little Infodump, that happens around the middle of the chapter. It will be marked as such, and if you want to skip it, go ahead. It does introduce an important component of the story, but you could probably work it out with context.

With those things out of the way, let's get into the chapter, shall we?

~David~

Instead of directly hurrying to the league center to report, I opted to return home for a quick shower and a change of clothes.

Weedle and Zubat had both returned to their balls on the way with Weedle being bored of seeing the same things in reverse and Zubat simply being a bit lazy, wanting to rest as much as possible for the next training session.

Gastly, who had learned to enter my shadow by accident, was experimenting with the technique... By bunny hopping in and out of my shadow.

His delighted giggles recompensated me for the strange little shudder, that overcame me every time he entered my shadow. I was getting used to it too, so it wouldn't be a problem for long.

Entering our home, the first thing, that caught my eye, was Joan, or rather her feet, that were still stuffed into heavy duty boots. They were dirty too, same thing with her clothes at a second glance.

Mission clothes. I knew everything was going too smoothly for a first mission. She babysat me. Well, I didn't hate the thought. It showed she cared and I trusted her to only take out the threats, that were unmanagable for me.

Which might have been all of them, since the mission was pretty much a smooth ride for me. Fuck, Murphy's Law was a thing here too. I'd have to pay attention to not tempt it... too much.

Looking at Joan's disheveled and exhausted form, her ride clearly wasn't nearly as smooth as mine.

Feeling slightly warm around my heart, I ran up the stairs, gathered spare bedding and returned down. I pulled off her boots and socks, at least. After all, wearing those to bed was really unhygienic. Definitely won't touch the clothes, though.

I didn't want to die after all. I then shifted her sleeping posture into something approaching comfortable, pushed a pillow under her head after slightly raising it and threw the quilt over her, effectively tucking her in.

I then hesitated for a moment, before kissing her forehead and whispering. "Thank you and sleep well, Big Sis." Afterwards, I fled the room to take a shower, hurrying through the process.

Thowing on my spare uniform and leaving for the league center, I didn't look back, as I was too embarrassed to do so.

~Joan~

This had got to be the cutest thing anyone had ever done for me. I had woken while he removed my socks, but wanted to know how far he'd be willing to push.

It turned out to be unnecessary as he stopped at the socks. Him fixing my sleeping posture, and even remembering the one I slept in most of the time was endearing.

Then, he actually tucked me in and kissed my forehead... I actually wanted to out myself as awake, but thought it would send his embarrassment through the roof and strangely contrary to my usual reaction, I actually didn't want to tease him about this.

He had confided in me, that his aura kinda nudged him towards people, which was extremely scary to him in his childhood, as he didn't know what it was. He also kinda but not really confessed to have been nudged into my direction too.

That he decided to take a leap and try to trust me, despite his misgivings was an honour to me. He didn't put his affections into words often, showing them with actions instead. Things like grocery shopping without telling me, serving up a breakfast fit for royalty the next morning.

"I profit too, since I do eat from time to time, you know?" He told me afterwards. He had a little blush on his face and was looking away at the time, which made the scene all the more cute. I teased him for days after that one! He still served breakfast even after being teased mercilessly about it, though, so I stopped.

For his pokémon, though, he'd probably walk over burning coals with a big smile on his face. They got premium treatment. Hugs, gentle caresses, cuddles, the whole package. But, he'd only called me Big Sis, like, two times before this and one of them was in jest.

The special thing, though, was the kiss to the forehead. Except for an occassional hug, he wasn't very affectionate in the physical sense if you weren't a pokémon.

It made me feel warm and cozy in a way, that had nothing to do with the quilt. I lost my family quite early in life and since then, only very few people grew close enough to me to call them as such.

One of them was Tom, who took the role of a stern and aloof but caring big brother. My pokémon, of course, were part of my chosen family, since they were there for me in any situation. And the last one, who wormed himself into my heart in record time, was David.

The little dude. When I first saw him, he seemed to be a slightly antisocial but polite boy, who was too intelligent for his own good. The first and last part still applied. He wasn't really polite, though.

If he was overly polite, it meant, that he didn't trust the person he was talking to. He hid himself behind a mask of politeness better than most politicians.

Once you got through to him, he was a mischievous kid, who valued his trusted ones above himself. I just had to get in his head, that calling for backup in a situation, that requires it, was entirely acceptable and even expected. He had the feel of someone, who'd keep off calling backup to avoid inconveniencing someone.

Doing something like that might kill you in the field. And that was something I wouldn't allow to happen if I could help it.

The cozy warmth, inside and out, in addition to the general fluffy feelings amplified my sleepiness, so with that last thought, I surrendered myself to my favourite status condition.

~David~

Why did I do that? No, I knew, really. I just hadn't properly accepted it yet. But that was ok. I had time. Shaking off those thoughts, I hurried to the league center.

Gastly, who had curiously watched my interaction with Joan, decided that he wanted to try the kiss to the forehead too. By suddenly jumping at me from my own shadow and licking my face from the chin to the top of my hair. How was his tongue wider than his face?!

I couldn't be angry at the little one as he looked at me with a gaze expecting praise. He had to understand, that what he did was wrong, though, so I grabbed him from the air and relocated into a nearby deserted alley.

I then held him close to my face, catching his eyes with mine. I opened our communication channel to send some impressions and emotions along, since he might be too young to understand what I'll be telling him, otherwise.

"I very much appreciate the sentiment. But what you just performed was an attack. Lick, to be exact. If I wasn't an aura user and somewhat resistant to your energy, I might have taken serious damage from that."

His eyes widened and he started to tear up at the thought of hurting his parent. "Nothing happened, so don't be upset, little one. Just be a bit more careful and learn from your mistakes, that's all I want."

I ended the lecture with a sincere smile and an aura infused kiss to the forehead.

Feeling the sincere forgiveness for his actions as well as the unconditional love pouring from the connection, he basked in the feeling of safety that he got, everytime we were connected like that.

An aura bond was a special thing after all. Most aura users were able to connect to a single aura using pokémon, since it was easier to get a bond to form when both participants were able to use aura.

The stronger ones usually managed more, with some going up to ten. They also didn't need their pokémon to be able to use aura.

I was at a perfect three, as I somehow instinctively bonded with all my own pokémon, and a fourth soon to be added with Zeus.

When I guiltily explained the budding bond to Joan, she just shrugged. "We are family, we two and our pokémon. He is his own person, it's his decision to let the bond form, I won't interfere."

I did not tear up at that show of trust, I guarantee it! I did decide to blow her socks off with her birthday present, though.

After that little episode, we finally went to the league center. Gastly was still slightly subdued, but he bounced back soon. Literally. He was back to bunny hopping into and out of my shadow. Is it that much of a fun thing to do?

Anyways... Since Thomas asked me to report my first mission to him, so that he may guide me to give a competent mission report, I made my way to his office. He was eating when he asked me to enter. A chicken sandwich?

That was a fairly interesting fact too. Some animals existed, but only in captivity, since they wouldn't survive against the superpowered beasts called pokémon. They were used as livestock and, very rarely, as pets.

I snapped to attention when Thomas uttered a fairly silent. "Report." It carried a bit of weight, though, so I did my best to comply. He interrupted me sometimes with questions and hints how to formulate some things to sound more professional.

When the report was over, he nodded. "A good first try. As long as you keep the tips and tricks I've given you in mind, you won't have any probiems mastering it within the next few missions."

I nodded and said. "you'll have to wait a bit for Joan's side of things, she kinda crashed when arriving at home." I made sure to smile gently at the end of my statement. There weren't any hard feelings after all.

A wry smile appeared on Thomas's face. "Just so you know, this isn't unique to yourself. Most young and promising league trainers have a chaperone on their first few missions. Joan volunteered to be yours and I allowed it since she fits the bill."

It made sense. Young kids had a tendency to bite off more than they can chew. And they were stubborn to a fault. Which kinda described me a bit. Self-reflection for the win.

I nodded again and told him. "I understand why and honestly, it's probably for the best. I know I can be stubborn. I'm also not used to working with others, so this might help me in the long run."

Thomas looked at me with a deadpan, that confused me. I hadn't deciphered that one yet. He stared at me for some long moments, before sighing.

"You are ten years old, of course you aren't used to work with others. You shouldn't even be used to working! I feel like my common sense will suffer some heavy attacks over the next few years..."

Well, he was kinda correct. If I hadn't lived another life, I wouldn't be used to working too much. The only reason I did a lot around the orphanage was the fairly generous pocket money I earned from that. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't have my past life's experiences.

I didn't feel like an old man within a young body or anything like that. Not to mention, that I was only 28 years old when I died.

Who- or whatever decided, that I should have another chance, made sure, that my mind and body matched.

It's strange, since I remembered my past life quite well. Sure, details were slowly disappearing and in time, it'll only be a distant memory, but the experience was there, and that alone should have made me more mature.

In my opinion, that didn't really happen as I felt like a child. I got embarrassed fairly easily, same with excitement and even anger. I wasn't volatile or anything, but if I encountered a situation, that went against my sensibilities, I might not make the most rational of decisions.

I couldn't just chalk it up to childhood hormones, though. I needed to temper my responses. Since it wasn't just myself anymore. If something happened to me, it might just destroy my pokémon, who relied heavily on me for emotional support. Joan would probably be pretty sad, too.

Thomas... Thomas might just find a way to revive me just to kill me again for causing more, in addition to making earlier paperwork redundant. A snort escaped me at the thought.

At the questioning glance from Thomas, I answered. "Just had the thought, that you might revive me just to kill me again for causing you so much paperwork, should I die."

An amused twitch of his lips was the answer. For everyone else, that would have been a subdued response. For Thomas? It was basically a loud laugh.

He was more expressive with people he knew and liked, but part of it was, that you learned to interpret his very slight cues. He was the kind of guy, who had a deadpan for every occassion. "That's rather morbid for such a young guy, isn't your humour a bit too... mature?"

Ah, I could use this. "Well, you see, Joan said I had to be funny if I wanted to make more friends, so she told me some jokes to get started. Did she tell you the one, where three guys ran aground on an undocumented island only to be surrounded by the natives? They told them to either die or go into the jungle and get two fruits..."

~Thomas~

That was a... crude one. He hadn't gotten the joke from Joan. Had she known that one, she'd have told it to me a long time ago, it was just her niveau after all.

I furrowed my brows slightly. Who told such jokes to children? That was not acceptable. Maybe I'll send Big Brain to investigate. Let's start at the orphanage.

~David~

I left his office with a smug little grin. That would at least take Joan a while to explain. Oh, I knew, that Thomas most likely knew, that Joan had nothing to do with this, but he'd play along to get one over her.

Satisfied with my little prank, I made my way into the mission center to fill out the written mission report. Since it was a short mission, it didn't take long and less than two hours later, I had left the mission center.

~Infodumpahead~

Thinking for a moment, I decided, that I should look up the commercial center, which was basically a small room with some computers and teleport panels, that were hooked up with an expansive system. One, that spanned all over the world. The World Trade System.

While prices increased, if you bought items from other regions, the leagues had enough cooperation going on to introduce a global market.

Most items were actually put there by other trainers, appraised by strong Psychics and their pokémon before being put to sale. Those Psychics had sworn a psychic contract to not embezzle, steal or do any other unsavory things. The contract is sworn to all champions, and renewed every two years.

This information was given by the leagues to counter any rumours going around and to promote the safety of trade within the system.

As for the process: The seller would set a minimum price, a time limit and a buyout option. That last one was optional, but most of the trainers using the system set one.

Once confirmed, that the item was what the trainer wanted to sell it for, the item would be put into the selling list. The Psychics were there to counter fraud, not idiocy.

Basically, the way this worked was like league sanctioned online auctions. They were the middle man and took a part of the profits. If you sold outside of your region, the taken part doubled, since both leagues claimed a cut from the profit, which increased the price at which things were sold.

Once bought, the item would arrive within a time window of 15 minutes, since what you sold had to be deposited and would be sent with a system, that worked in a way close to the one, that was set up for pokémon you caught above your carry limit before the heavier limitations were put in place.

This expansive network was set up as a collaboration work by Bill, Lanette, Bebe, Amanita, Cassius, Molayne and several others, who weren't quite as known as those genii, but surely brilliant in their own way.

It was founded by the leagues and sponsored by Silph and Devon, making this one of the very few cooperations of those companies. Not only that, but it was the biggest cooperation between leagues ever.

This system counted as the safest way to trade, as since it's implementation to this day, it's security was never breached. Pokémon Trade was a thing too, but that had it's own system, working in a similar way. This one was solely for items of nearly all kinds.

~Infodump end~

I checked the prices for the evolution stones as well as looked for some items, that might help with raising poison potency. I would need a lot of them for all of my pokémon after all.

The Fire Stones were priced at around 13k, which, after taking in consideration the 10% the league took, was slightly above the average of 11k. I logged into my Trainer Account, that was usable as a Seller/Buyer Account on this platform.

I then put them on auction for the last selling price as the buyout option. It didn't take long for them to sell, I didn't even have enough time to look up the Dawn Stone. The last one sold for 9,4k.

That's a fair bit below average. I decided to hold on to it for the moment. The mission paid 50k since it was a three star difficulty one with priority for aura users and ground type specialists. This made me way less desperate for cash as I had a nice little cushion.

I called Weedle from her ball and started explaining as she was looking around curiously. "We are at a place, where we can look at and buy stuff. I want to buy something, that might help with raising your poison potency."

She nodded and watched the screen expectantly. We had already started a routine of feeding her mid grade poisonous berries, that I could purchase for cheap from the systemshop. But to make the jump from low to mid, she'd need something with a bit more energy.

The best would be a poisonous or venomous body part of an advanced stage mono poison type or a natural treasure of equal rank. Items, that were actively or passively infused with poison type energy worked too.

After searching through the available items, we found some that qualified.

Gunk Rock: A rock, that was slept on by a champion stage Muk. Price: 6k

The price was low, because it was exceedingly hard to use. Even though it had only reached a toxicity of mid-grade, the pressure one faced while trying to absorb it was enormous. I bought it instantly, simply because I wanted to use it to let my family experience the pressure.

It would help develop their mentality, since they'd have an example of what a pokémon at that stage could do unintentionally by sleeping on something.

Arbok's Fang: A fang, taken from the corpse of an advanced stage Arbok. Price: 4,5k

Not a great item, since it barely reached the cutoff of acceptable. Wouldn't be enough to raise the grade from low to mid and would gave to be used in tandem with other items to reach the goal.

The next one I bought instantly, though. Seviper's Poison Gland: The completely filled and carefully extracted Poison Gland of a borderline elite stage Seviper. Price: 11k

Worth it. This thing was nearly guaranteed to be enough for the grade up. On it's own it may be enough to increase the potency to mid-grade, but nothing else. In combination with this, though...

Toxic Ball of Corrosion: The concentrated poison of an elite stage Salazzle. Contains mid-grade poison with the unique quality of Corrosion. Price: 8k

I was hoping, that Weedle would gain some corrosive properties from this. It wasn't really 100% necessary, but Beedrill will be a physical powerhouse, so corroding defenses and damaging the integrity of armor would go a long way to help her.

With this, I stopped my shopping spree and calculated. I had around 5k left from my savings, earned 50k mission-payment and 23,4k from the Fire Stones.

I paid a total of 25k, which left me at a comfortable 53,4k. Should be enough for a while.

I nodded to myself and waited for the items to arrive. Once they did, I was surprised to hear a Pling in my head. When I concentrated on it, it read. [Notice: System Alert. Appraisal now available.] Say what, now?