Friends In The Multiverse

by Curiosity44

Jake and Kyle, two best friends and men of culture, die at the same time and get a chance at the Isekai experience. Only issue is, Death hired an insurance agent. Join the two on their journey through the multiverse as they start in separate world but manage to stay connected and support each other. Semi-crack, SINGLE love interests - meaning both guys find their own gal. AU worlds

9. Chapter 9

AN: Here's chapter 9. Now, I know I'm not perfect, unfortunately, and I never claim to be perfect, also unfortunate, so I really can't cover every goddamn base and plot hole in every story I write. I do try my best, but this is just a hobby for fun, like I've said many times before. And I hope others can have fun as well without making this serious or some shit.

To that end, I'll comment to the following review.

To the user 'lucariotnn01': Firstly, thank you for being polite about what bothers you, I can actually answer you without feeling insulted.

Secondly, to answer you, it's not simply a 'poor plot point'. I can understand your desire to see the MC instantly gain some cool power up like a great cheat code MC but that's not how I'm doing things.

Every power comes with a cost. The cost can simply be many years of training to use it correctly, or it can be a lot of pain and suffering. But there is a cost.

In Kyle's case, he is a HUMAN who tried to overstep his bounds into something only a Pokemon could do. I made a very clear cut case about how Berries work in THIS universe. The difference between artificial and real ones.

I also made a second clear cut case about how Professor Elm, who personally made the vitamins, warned explicitly not to take the vitamins for human consumption.

If you still do not understand, I will make it simple.

Kyle's aura ability was at level 5. The vitamins required level 20. He was 100% going to die while the process was happening.

This isn't an exact replica of the hypothetical numbers as Kyle did a lot of good effort for a human in 3 years, but it's just an example.

He only lived due to a 'plot point'. In this case, my use of the three spirits of the lakes. I did my best to give a reason for one of them to be paying attention to him. And I took liberties with how I portrayed the personalities of Knowledge, Willpower, and Emotion.

Emotion, or Mesprit, gave Kyle a CHANCE. They didn't just bless him with power. Emotion gave Kyle a chance to succeed at something he was already doing but wasn't ready for. Such as helping the aura from the vitamins settle into him properly without killing him. I repeat, he was not given a special power, he was just given a chance to live with what he already gained. For good and bad.

Aura was never fully explained in detail to the best of my knowledge, I could be wrong on that, but I'm no poke fanatic here. So I made my own version of how aura works.

The idea of a 'river of life/light' was an inspiration I took from one of the deepest anime I've ever watched. A show called 'Mushi-shi'. The concept is that all aura or life originates from the river of aura/life. Kyle did not 'teleport' anywhere. By taking the medicine, he had his eyes and mind opened to what was always there. Something that most living creatures became blind to over the eons of life. Something Kyle was NOT ready to see with his current abilities. It's the very idea of gazing into the abyss, but instead of some horror, it's the center of life and it wants you to come home and become one with it once more. Not evil, not good, just is.

Feel free to look up the anime for an idea of it. I freaking love that show.

.

I hope this clears up your confusion. I can understand your desire. You want it to be easy and gary stu. I tend to write my stories with things always going the MC's way, and I will continue that, but I am trying to make things a bit more realistic here. As far as I can for a fantasy fanfic anyway.

Just because it 'could' work one way, doesn't mean it 'will' work that way. The last thing I want is to write a webnovel toxic cop out and give each character dozens of powers, bloodlines, and harem members.

.

To both Lucario and everyone else, you will see the consequence and benefits that Kyle gains with this chapter.

I hope you enjoy.

P.S. If something bothers you, your welcome to leave a review. Just be fucking polite like this guy did. Imagine if someone walks up to you on the street and insults you out of nowhere. You would have a wtf did I do to you face. You could always just join the discord or PM me if you want to debate over a topic.

.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own stuff.

.

Chapter 9:

Jake – Harry Potter – 6 Months – February:

*Bang* "I still can't believe you two." *Bang*

"You better learn to believe it boyo! Mwahaha!"

"Nym, no evil laughter indoors."

"…So it's ok outdoors?"

*Bang* "Penny don't enter their flow, it's the first step into the abyss."

Nym laughed in a cliché evil way while pushing a hand over Jake's mouth. "You entered the abyss when you first met me Cedric! No one escapes the mighty Black Nee Tonks!"

Penny rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the inside of the boxing ring post. "For the last time Nym, you can't just use the word 'Nee' like that. You didn't marry into the Black Family. If anything it would be Tonks Nee Walker." She sent an amused glance at Nym whose hair turned cherry red and shot a glance at her 'couch.'

Said 'couch' was currently laying down on his side inside the boxing ring with Nym laying back against his chest with a hand over his mouth.

Jake looked back at Nym and jokingly wiggled his eyebrows as he changed them into heart shapes before licking her hand.

Nym jerked her hand back with a flush and smacked his shoulder. "Gah! Don't do that you jerk."

"Oof, I've been injured by the mighty beast." He wrapped his arm around Nym's shoulders and leaned back as she flailed. "Penny, finish us both, I'll sacrifice myself for the greater good."

"Oi! Don't go sacrificing me for your nonsense!" Nym shouted and play bit at his arm while forming chipmunk teeth.

Penny rolled her eyes and sent a pair of stinging hexes at the duo. "Cedric, can you come up here before these two convert me to their insanity?"

Cedric laughed and finished his set on the heavy bag before grabbing a towel and walking over and through the rings boundary ropes. "Always here to help a friend in need. Hufflepuff code of honor." He laughed and laid down catching his breath and copying Jake's position.

Nym saw an opportunity for revenge and leaned back in Jake's half embrace and sprouted a pair of fluffy ears to distract him. Which worked based on how he zeroed in on them and instantly began his fluffy attack.

Nym ignored the desire to purr from the sensation and smiled coyly at Penny who was the only one standing at the moment. "Hey Cedric, I think Penny looks lonely. You should give her a good ole Hufflepuff hug."

"Nym!" Penny shouted back with a red face. "I am not lonely!"

Cedric looked up from his position with a raised brow and looked to Jake for help but Jake was lost in fluff land. Without help, he just shrugged and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Feel free to bring it in Pen, open invitation."

Penny turned more red at Cedric's friendly intentions and Nym laughed evilly. "As they say in Hufflepuff, you can Huff, and you can Puff, but we're gonna blow your walls down! Nyahaha!"

Jake rolled his eyes and covered Nym's mouth with a hand. "Shush, I'm trying to fluff you. And they don't say that."

She mumbled something into his hand while finally giving in to Jake's intense and experienced hand on her ears and melted into his embrace blissfully.

Cedric winced from the side. "Actually… a few people that say, I can't tell if it's a house joke or their serious."

Jake paused his actions with a floored look. "…the cringe hurts thy heart." Cedric sent him a nod while Nym wrapped an arm around his neck to mockingly pat his head with a 'there – there' expression.

Jake's eye twitched. "Oho~, you're getting it now Nymphadora." Nym's eyes narrowed at the challenge and suddenly mana focused on her legs as she built more muscle and kicked off the rings floor, bouncing backward and over Jake to land behind him and wrap her arms around his neck in a hold. "Oh yeah boyo~? I'll be giving it! Never use the full name!"

Jake choked not on the hold but on the words. "Who the hell is teaching you to speak like that!?" He latched onto her legs and rolled forward to slam her back down with him on top and wiggled around when her hold slackened slightly. "None of your beez wax."

The cringe hurt everyone in hearing range. "Gah! Come here you she-demon."

"Nyahaha I'm a fluffy she-demon boyo!" Nym laughed loudly.

The two entering a wrestling contest of constantly switching positions, changing muscle groups to enforce their position, and random animal appendages to distract or gain an advantage.

Cedric cheered them on while Penny rolled her eyes. "*sigh* will you two be civil for one day?" Despite her words, she did happen to move closer and sit next to Cedric. The boy shot her a winning smile and thumbs up that had her laugh and lean back against his chest.

She wrinkled her nose cutely. "You smell."

Cedric responded with a shrug. "Can't help that when I work out." She frowned and twisted her wand, casting a refresher jinx on him. "*sniff* there, much better."

Cedric pinched his nose dramatically and spoke with a nasal tone. "Great, now I smell like lemons. Give me back the smell of sweat." Penny rolled her eyes and swatted his shoulder. "Shush. I know you like lemons." Cedric dropped the act and smiled at her as she smiled back.

It had been half a year since the school year started and the four friends were long since familiar with each other. Each already turned twelve and rather open with their thoughts and opinions.

Nym knew Penny had a young crush on Cedric, and the boy was oblivious to it. He was one of the hard headed types with a heart of gold that could take the golden boy title of Hufflepuff. Someone who always tried to help others as long as it didn't get in the way of his own things. He wasn't selfless or easily forgiving, but just very kind and hard working.

Meanwhile, Penny was a hard core bookworm who was brought out of her shell upon meeting Jake and then Nym and Cedric. Spending months trying to build up her body and learn how to throw a punch did wonders for her self-confidence, and she was on the way to being a very strong witch with a high talent for casting magic.

Charms was where Penny shined alongside Astronomy with a private interest in Rituals, having taken Jakes advise not to broadcast that.

While Cedric had a real green thumb for Herbology, becoming the real apple of Professor Sprouts eye. Transfiguration was his second highest subject.

So the four friends rounded each other out well. Jake and Nym helping with transfiguration, Nym and Penny helping with charms, Penny with Astronomy, Cedric with herbology, and Jake with Potions.

The four came together for DA, most of it being simple quiz work that they could throw at each other for fun.

They even made a game out of it, asking one of the others a random question from the year one curriculum of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and if the recipient couldn't answer the question correctly, they would have to accept a harmless dare chosen by the asker.

Mostly mundane stuff like doing something for them or having them go tell people stuff. The girls loved it as an excuse to get the guys to do a single thing they wanted, and the guys used it to get revenge with harmless pranks.

Penny had often had Cedric just join her to study with the excuse of helping her with herbology and Nym quickly caught on, which led to numerous occasions of the girls bickering with Nym often being an instigator.

But none of them crossed lines or truly offended the others and apologies came quickly if accidents happened.

Outside of the hours Jake and Nym spent in the room, the four were together in pairs or as a group almost every part of the day from morning till night.

Penny and Jake, Nym and Cedric, Jake and Nym, Cedric and Penny, Jake and Cedric, Nym and Penny, the four would never truly be alone outside of their rooms and quickly became known as their own group. A group that sat head and shoulders at the top of the class rankings, being students who both gave their all and helped push each other up in their weak areas. None of the professors, not even Snape outside of Nym's few moments, had much to say about them negatively.

Genius's they were not, at least outside of their chosen subject, but hard working they all were. Snape even had a weird fond spot for Jake that only showed when he gave him a tip or comment on how to improve here or there. Something no one else was afforded.

Jake felt oddly proud of that, even if he was learning from the man's own personal book, but no one had to know about that.

And usually all the other students left them alone for the most part. Nym's and Cedric's family names doing wonders to scare off some of the bully types.

But even their names couldn't hold out forever, as some idiots only learn through action rather than intimidation.

The door to the boxing gym was thrown open harshly and slammed against the wall, creating a loud banging sound inside the gym that only two people paid attention to.

Three third year Slytherins, two boys and a girl, walked in with sneers on their faces. "Well, well, look at this you two. The others were right, this place is full of muggle trash." The leader of the trio spoke, a boy of tall height with black hair, messy teeth, and a half pudgy – half muscular frame.

The female among the group, a girl with black hair that came down and covered the left side of her face dramatically sniffed the air in disgust. "It smells like mudbloods in here."

The final boy, a boy just shy of a few inches from the leader with brown hair stayed silent and tried to look menacing.

The three walked up to the ring in formation as if they were the antagonists of a high school teen drama tv show.

Unfortunately, their approach went unnoticed as the four were a bit busy.

"Oi Nym! No biting!"

"You brought out the tail! You crossed the line!"

"You think we should stop them?"

"Nah, let them flirt it out or dinner will be annoying."

The leader of the trio's brow twitched at being ignored. "Hey!"

Penny and Cedric turned his way. "Huh, when did you get here Marcus?" Cedric asked with a raised brow.

Marcus Flint turned red. "I was speaking to you, you bastard!" Penny looked at him oddly. "When did that happen?"

The girl at his side sniffed. "He wasn't talking to you mudblood." Penny narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Oh, Ismelda, what an unpleasant surprise."

Ismelda Murk grinded her teeth and opened her mouth to respond but Cedric beat her to it. "Oi, Barnaby, what the hell you doing here? Want to join the club?" He said while looking at the third boy who had remained silent.

The boy actually wavered for a moment but an elbow from Marcus had him go back to trying to be menacing. Cedric sighed at that. "Such a shame. Feel free to come around when you grow a pair man."

Barnaby scowled but kept his silence. Marcus practically spat. "Join this club?! With those filthy…" He wasn't able to finish before getting cut off.

"Gah! Easy on the goods girl!"

"Nyahaha ladies don't have weak spots! Victory is mine!"

Marcus twitched his hand toward his wand. "With those filthy…" Once more.

"Victory is yours when I say it's yours! Nom!"

"Nya! No biting the ears! Jaaakkkkee!"

Cedric and Penny were holding back their laughter at Marcus's expression as the Slytherin was turning redder and redder.

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP!" He shouted at the pair and Jake and Nym finally noticed they had company.

"Wah?! Who the duck just yelled at this noble lady?!" Nym sat up from where she was trying to dislocate Jakes leg in a leg lock.

Jake released his chokehold and stopped pretend chewing on her cat ears. "Don't say duck and call yourself a lady in the same sentence. Wait, why duck?"

Nym flipped her hair dramatically. "Because ladies don't shout fuck of course." Jake deadpanned at her and flicked her forehead. "If you get caught by Aunt Andy or Narcissa, I'm blaming Cedric."

Cedric lifted a finger there. "Oi! Don't include me in your lovers quarrel. And keep them far away from me please and thank you."

Penny laughed and poked him. "What's wrong, afraid of a grown woman Ced?" Cedric just gave her a deadpan look. "Remind me to give you a history lesson on the Black family later Pen."

Penny blinked but nodded eagerly for more knowledge and a chance to spend time with him alone.

Meanwhile the three Slythrins were just feeling awkward at this point. Marcus even looked at Cedric in some slight sympathy. "Never fuck with the Black sisters."

Ismelda slapped Marcus's shoulder. "Don't get pulled into their nonsense Marcus!"

Marcus blinked and scowled. "Damn it. Oi, stop distracting me!"

Cedric pointed at himself innocently. "You're the one who said it, not me. And you can't deny how terrifying they are."

Barnaby finally spoke up. "He's stupid, but not that stupid." Marcus nodded his head and pointed at his friend. "Yeah, I'm not…dude!" He looked at Barnaby with betrayal and the guy realized what he said and shrugged.

Jake hummed at spoke to them for the first time. "Not that this isn't fun, but what did you three need? Interested in training to build some muscle?"

Marcus turned back to him and spat on the ground. "Like I would need to be training from a mudblood! Your only unharmed because your stick to a real wizards like an annoying fly."

Jake raised a brow but Nym cut him off. "Oi you bloody wanker, I'm a witch! I don't got no goods dangling down there to smack you with!"

Jake slapped the back of Nym's head. "Seriously, who the hell is teaching you this crap?" Nym rubbed the back of head sheepishly and gave him an exaggerated thumbs up as he rolled his eyes. "Well, Marcus, if you three wish to hurl insults and speak like children, what do you want? We were kinda in the middle of something."

"And I was winning damn it."

"No you weren't."

"I was."

"Was not."

"You want to go buddy?!"

"Bring it girl!"

The two budded heads and Marcus once more felt very awkward. "Oi." The two turned to him. ""What!""

Ismelda rolled her eyes and pushed Marcus aside. "We're here to teach you four some manners about bringing muggle trash into this castle. Accept your punishment and we will go easy on you."

The four looked at her weirdly. She spoke with complete false arrogance and without any tone of authority. Even Barnaby was feeling a bit embarrassed and turned red.

Jake and Nym blinked with annoyance and pointed a finger at them. Jake casually raised six inches of stone behind their feet. "And what do you think about that Professor?" The three turned around with wide eyes and Nym shot off three quick and weak Knockback Jinx's from her own finger, pushing all three students back to trip over the stone and fall over.

Jake had long since begun teaching her his method of casting before she became dependent on a wand. It wasn't as easy or quick for her as it was for Jake, but she was improving with each day and week. Six months in and she could cast weak charms from her pointer finger.

Cedric and Penny were quick to grab their wands before they could recover.

Finally, Jake pointed a finger at the door that the three Slytherins couldn't see and extended the stone walls to create a bar over the door.

It all happened in seconds, leaving three suddenly frightened third year Slytherins to look up from the floor to see four strangely large first years around them. Or perhaps that was just how their mind was looking at it.

Jake and Nym cracked their fingers. "Now, I believe you wanted a duel." "And since we are your juniors, it's best to leave wands out of it."

Cedric and Penny didn't respond but only stood tall and menacing, or as tall and menacing as a twelve year old could.

Marcus gulped. "Um… Parley?" Nym laughed and stomped forward. "We're wizards not pirates dumbass." And her fist descended onto the poor boys face.

Screams and shouts rang inside the room but no one was around to hear them. The three Slytherins had taken precautions to make sure of it.

And the next day, the four were called to the headmasters office.

*Line Break*

Kyle – Pokemon – 1 Week – September:

Three days.

Three whole days.

That is how long it took Kyle to regain the feeling of breathing. The feeling of the world being lighter. The sights of the vibrant colors. The sounds of the world around him. The smells of nature.

When Kyle awoke after his near death experience, fought through his panic, and recalled only the void, the river of light, and the soothing ancient but young voice that spoke to him, he was well and truly out of it and passed out where he sat.

And when woke from his twelve hour coma to the worried calls of his partners, he truly began to understand the repercussions of his actions when he couldn't feel his aura. When he couldn't feel his partners.

The world was muted, he felt as weak as a newborn deer, and his body was in vast amounts of aching pain.

He had become blind to the very thing that he felt naturally from almost the moment he first opened his eyes in the world of Pokemon as a combination of who he once was and his eight year old self.

It was terrifying. To be so blind, to be so crippled. Kyle would admit he had a bit of a serious panic attack there and if it weren't for his two partners, he might have done something stupid like take a second vitamin to regain what was lost.

Thankfully, he pulled through his torture with a newfound respect for what he has as his aura began trickling back in.

Appreciation, gratitude, respect, and wariness. What had life become to him without his ability to sense and feel aura?

It was only on the fourth day, when he woke to feel his aura once more, that he got a glimpse of what the hell happened to him.

He had barely moved from his campsite with how weak and dead he felt. His legs were like lead, his eyes constantly drooping, and his mind in a state of semi panic and semi drunkenness. Like a man on a terrible withdrawal.

In simple terms, he was oversaturated like his partners. The difference is, they are Pokemon and their aura's and souls can contain the influx of energy. His own was just a human and unable to cope with the excess energy.

Where Loki's inflated like a balloon and became elastic enough to hold that balloon without popping long enough for him to begin absorbing, and Aurora's did the same with balloon flattening out and moving toward he limbs, his own was cracking and shattering.

To small, fragile, weak, an inherent weakness from his race and current abilities. Kyle couldn't match a Pokemon, he was arrogant and foolhardy to think so. Thinking himself a protagonist who could move without thinking.

What he saw was not meant to be seen by humans. Kyle wasn't even sure if it was his existing aura abilities or something else that allowed him to survive the experience long enough to see the source of life. That river of glowing light, of pure aura and life, flowing through the void.

His memory isn't perfect of the moment, but that river was burned into his mind, he longed to see it once more like a moth to a flame. Calling to him like a siren song.

So he tempered that feeling and persisted.

He remembered the voice, young, friendly, and ancient, telling him he wasn't ready, telling him he was dying. Kyle only lived through the grace of someone else.

He would have left behind his partners who he promised much to, his sister who had just spent three years teaching and guiding him, his deceased mother's wish to see him experience the gym circuit, Cynthia and her feelings, and Jake his brother in all but blood.

He almost lost everything, all for a desire to grow faster. All because he thought he knew more than others.

Suddenly, Professor Elm's warning about human consumption became much more lethal sounding. What exactly happened to the humans without activated aura? Kyle lasted seconds? Minutes? However long it took till he was saved thanks to his existing aura. But what happened to the others?

The thought brought a shiver down Kyle's spine. Instant death wouldn't have been cruel, but if they saw the river and lived, their minds may have very well shattered.

Life was not meant to be seen in such a form by human eyes. If that was what it looked like at all or was rather just Kyles brain trying to make sense of something beyond it.

He only lived thanks to a strand of pure aura gifted and gently guided to him by an ancient hand.

And now, as he suffered and pushed through the pain and loss, he realized what was happening, and he was unsure of how to feel.

Sitting at the lakes edge, with his feet dangling in the water, Kyle pondered his situation as Loki and Aurora trained in the clearing of their campsite.

The two were acting like mother hens to him ever since he woke up and was so far gone from his usual state. Just curling up and crying as his mind tried to heal, but his partners were there for him. Cuddling into him, making their presence known, comforting him, and doing what they could to spread the warmth of their own aura's.

Kyle couldn't describe how thankful he was to have them. They pulled him through the worse of his withdrawal like state and Kyle was afraid to admit all the things he might have done in state of mind.

But he survived with their help, and a little help from the lake itself.

The water's emotional feeling seemed to have changed from its original harmony. The water calling out like a soothing lullaby to numb his pain. In direct contact, it felt like his agonizing body had finally found the comfort of an all-encompassing bed.

So as he sat there on the edge on the fourth day, with his feet in the water, with the first traces of his own aura returning to him, he took a look at himself and understood.

Whatever had been done to him, wasn't done just yet.

His body was oversaturated with aura, and it was changing him fundamentally. That single strand of hair of pure aura had pierced his soul and changed the foundation of his species and being.

He was changing, his soul morphing, and his body along with it.

Physically, he was not seeing a change, he looked the same. Inwardly, he was changing. Becoming more robust, his bones hardening, his skin more flexible and pliant, his organs stronger and more durable.

His soul and body were adapting, changing by exposure to aura, to become something more.

Something that stood between 'Human' and 'Pokemon.' He was neither, but both.

He had no knowledge of Pokemon moves, and he lost no memories of who he once was, but deep in his soul he knew, he was changing. Changing to be able to manage aura like a Pokemon, in the body of a human.

A gift or a curse? Kyle wasn't sure.

He didn't mind the idea of losing his humanity. He had long since become disgusted by human civilization. But in recent years he has met some of the kindest humans around and become attached.

Would they look at him differently if he changed? If he was no longer human? His sisters, Jake, and Cynthia came to mind for a moment.

'Ha, yeah right. I'm being emo about this.' Kyle felt a bit silly to ask himself that, it was just his fears talking.

So what if he wasn't fully human, hell, Jake was pretty much just a blob of mana at this point. Not truly human, wizard, or magical animal.

So what if Kyle wasn't fully human or Pokemon.

He slapped his cheeks and focused his mind. 'No more moping. What was it Rowan said?'

'Never compare yourself to others Kyle, all life has unlimited potential for greatness, Pokemon or human. Whether it's skill or luck, take what comes your way, use it to better yourself, and walk your journey with pride and joy. Life is far too short to waste on silly concepts of inadequacies.'

Kyle nodded at that and took one more look at his partners, giving it their all to train and make the most of their vitamins boost. 'My team is giving it their all, I can't fall behind.'

He sat cross legged by the water's edge, closed his eyes, and entered meditation for the first time in four days.

His aura was a mess, inflated to a painful extent and running rampant inside him like charging Taurus's. It was time he took control of himself once more.

'So what if I can't stop the process. If I can only move forward, then that's where I'll go. I'll speed it up! I don't have time to stop and mope, Jake would be making emo jokes for the next year.'

Kyle focused his senses and let go of his train of thoughts. Losing his sense of self as he focused his all on his aura. Starting small, reigning in a single strand, willing it into circulation.

And as one became two, and two became four, the hours of the day ticked by with him deem in focus. It wasn't until nightfall that a furry head nuzzled him back to wakefulness.

Kyle blinked as his sight was torn away from his inner self of light and aura and into the dark night of the world, with the moonlight setting a glow to the water and his surroundings.

"Ee." Loki looked up at him with worried eyes and Kyle was suddenly hit deeply by the concern flowing off his partner, something he couldn't feel for days before.

His bond was back. Or rather, he could feel it once more.

Kyle smiled and gently pulled Loki into his lap, hugging his partner and pressing his head against the side of Loki's own as he sent back his own feeling of gratefulness, and his partner reciprocated with a feeling of immense joy at once more feeling Kyle's aura.

The two were out of sync, together physically but not spiritually, and they both experienced a sense of loss they hadn't felt before.

Loki nuzzled into his neck as Kyle did the same. No words were spoken, none were needed. They spoke with aura. They spoke with their souls.

Friends. Family. Partners. Brothers.

A second head suddenly pushed into the group and the two turned to see Aurora sticking her white furry head into the hug with innocent looking doe eyes. "Vul~."

Kyle couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of him and scooped up his second partner. He was too small to fit both fully on his lap, so they had a group hug with Kyle in the center and his partners on both sides of him.

Friends. Family. Partners. Siblings.

Kyle was the eldest, he was the leader, Loki looked up to him like a big brother, Aurora was coming to see him as her caring elder sibling. They were family, and they were together.

Their aura's bounded as one, not intermixing as all three were unstable, but gently touching, letting their emotions push through.

Kyle felt his fears and insecurities, the bits he couldn't just throw away like he did a few hours earlier be washed away by the warmth of his partners. And they in turn had theirs washed away by his own reassurance's.

They were all right. They were fine from the start, and Kyle was the one who got hurt, but they helped him through, and the three would be together.

Kyle was far from fully healed. He only got 1/16th of his aura in order, but it would come together.

Slowly, surely, safely, he would recover and… become something more.

All it would take was time.

Kyle pulled away from the group hug and smiled at them. "Come on, let's go to bed." "Ee." "Vul~."

The three got up and Kyle stretched out his numb legs. Already he could feel some his physical weakness be pushed away as warmth flowed through him in trickles. The little he was able to recover so far.

He paused as he looked a final time at the water and projected his emotions into it.

Gratitude. Appreciation. Respect.

Kyle had no idea why, but he knew who saved him. For a simple greeting? Idle curiosity? A whim? He had no clue, but he knew who.

Mesprit, the spirit of emotion had stopped him from ending his journey right there and then. And he owed the spirit a debt of life. One he was sure to repay at any cost.

He turned away from the lake to head back to his tent just as a tinkling of bell like laughter rang in his ears and an emotion hit him like a gentle caress.

Joy.

His head ripped back to the water, but nothing but the barest glimpse of moonlight reflecting off a transparent figure caught his eyes before it vanished beneath the water.

"Ee?" "Vul?"

Kyle blinked and turned to see his curious partners before shaking his head and walking forward. "It's nothing." The two shrugged and followed behind him.

The three soon back in their tent with the skylight open, letting the three fall asleep cuddled up in warmth, beneath the ocean of stars that twinkled in the night sky.

*Line break*

Jake – Harry Potter – 6 Months – February:

Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Transfiguration master, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock, former lover and slayer of a dark lord, and the mascot – supporter and #1 customer in all of Great Britain for Claey's Hard Candy - Lemon Drops Editions.

An old man over a century old with a long life and longer beard.

A man of ample respect and awe amongst wizarding England.

A man, who currently sat behind his desk with his trademark twinkling eye, doing is absolute best effort to hide the extremely amused smile that wanted to form on his face.

Sitting before his desk, were four students, called forward for assaulting their classmates. And standing behind them were the heads of house of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

Every teacher in the room had a half amused and half awkward expression on their face, even Snape. Two students looked shy and embarrassed, one looked greatly proud, and the last was trying to be the civil one amongst the group.

Dumbledore focused his gaze back on Jake Walker, adopted son of a muggleborn alumni of Hogwarts. "So Mr. Walker. You are saying that you four were confronted in your club room, a marvelous idea I might add for burning off young energy to focus on your studies, disarmed your opponents who stated their desire to 'punish' you for misguided reasons, and then proceeded to spend two hours quizzing them on their third year course material. And for each wrong answer, you had them physically strike a…'punching bag'… is what I believed you called it, for five minutes.

Is this all correct?"

Jake nodded his head respectfully. "Yes sir. It was only right as fellow students that we help each other progress in the name of scholastic improvement. Otherwise, why do we come to school?"

Albus sat back with a chuckle and rubbed his beard. "Indeed, indeed. A school is a place of learning."

Snape cleared his throat and spoke with his deep baritone voice. "That being said, physically assaulting my students is the actions of a barbarian, not a student."

Nym's hair turned red as she stood up. "They tried to attack us first! Don't start a fight if you can't take a hit!"

Professor Sprout and Flitwick covered their mouths to hide their laughter. Nym didn't exactly beat the crap out the students, but she gave them each a nice shiner to take away as a prize. The three showed up to the nurse with panda eyes and sore muscles never having been used before.

Snape sneered and went to speak when Albus cut him off. "That being said Ms. Tonks, we do not condone unjustified violence. I will have to ask you to apologize to the three students, even if they began the situation.

Nym looked ready to blow up again when Jake got up and pulled her back to her chair. "Relax Nym. He's right." Nym shot him a betrayed look and grumbled but listened to Jake and stayed silent.

Snape went to speak again when Jake looked at him and mouthed the word 'Black' to the man while nudging his chin at Nym.

The man's eyes widened a bit for half a second before they returned to normal and he quickly changed what was coming out of his mouth. "That should be fine. I don't want to hear of a similar situation."

Jake nodded politely. "Of course sir. We will only act to defend ourselves, or if fellow students wish for help with their studies. Our classes are most important of course and Potions takes earnest effort to get any progress."

His voice practically dripped honey and gave the man a way out and he gave Jake a small grateful nod and he stepped back.

While snape wasn't nearly as bad as many fanfictions had made him out to be, he was still an asshole. With that being said, he had zero interest of gaining the black sisters attention after the last time Lucius came to him for help.

Narcissa was not lenient with him and he was still subtly terrified of sitting at a high class nobles dining table.

Nym being Nym, and having the last name Tonks, makes people often forget she is a true daughter of the Black family.

And Jake being Jake, having been taught by Narcissa how to speak to get what you want, even if he hates doing it, was happy to support Snape to allow him to do his duty and piss off.

Albus watched it all with the same amused look and nodded. "Very well, I don't believe this issue requires any detention, do you three agree?" He said and looked at the teachers.

Snape silently nodded. Sprout shook her head. And Flitwick followed with his own comment. "No sir, but I shall have a talk with my students." He finished as he looked at Jake and Penny.

Sprout was likewise giving Nym and Cedric a clearly fake disappointed look.

Albus nodded and waved his hand. "In that case, you four are free to go. I'm proud of your dedication to your studies, but try not to push your peers to much all right?"

The four nodded. ""Yes sir."" ""Yes Headmaster.""

"Wonderful, your dismissed. And feel free to take a lemon drop if you wish." Three of four did so with only Penny abstaining, making the old man smile wider with a genuine look of joy.

Their heads of houses came to collect them and everyone left the office. Once the doors closed, the old man waved his wand to cast a silencing charm and laughed his heart out alongside his familiar phoenix.

'Ah~, the joys of being a headmaster. I wish days like this could go on forever.' The old man finished with a sigh as his humor faded a bit and his mind wandered. His partner was quick to sing a song and sooth the old man back to his humorous state. "Thank you Fawkes." "Re!"

Meanwhile, on the stairs, Sprout and Flitwick were laughing while Snape was long gone.

"Hahaha good hits girl! The wide eyed panda look was perfect!" Flitwick laughed like the old warrior he was, holding a hand over his slightly protruding belly.

Sprout was doing her best to remain proper and admonishing. "Don't encourage them, students should fight. And a lady shouldn't be punching people in the face."

Nym scoffed. "Speak for yourself ma'am. Sometimes the only way through a blokes thick skull is with a good love tap."

Sprout huffed in amusement. "Now, now, dear. Perhaps I should tell you how a lady deals with things when she stand up for her friends." Nym's eyes shined and Sprout tittered.

Meanwhile Flitwick was patting Jake on the back. "Never mind that old act. While I won't encourage student violence, I'll say your choice in punishment was outstanding. Lady Rowena would be proud." Penny blushed at that and Jake scratched his cheek with a smile.

The six of them talked their way down to the dining hall, telling stories of their own times as students and with the four students using the chance to ask the two professors a dozen questions about their subjects.

All in all, it was just another day at Hogwarts.

*Line Break*

Kyle – Pokemon – 5 weeks - October:

A month passed quickly for Kyle and his partners by the lake. They stuck in and trained, got used to their new factors, and grew their bonds.

For Kyle, the month was rough and exhausting but incredibly rewarding.

It took him three and half weeks to gather all the aura inside himself back into a working circulation, and a further few days for his body to finish his metamorphosis.

He didn't take a second vitamin in that time, and just absorbed what he had. It took the entire month to absorb all that excess aura into his own, and part of that was due to his body automatically taking up a portion as fuel for its changes.

Kyle physically didn't change besides for a slight growth. A few extra inches in height, a faster rate of growth for his hair, a certain icy gleam to his eyes, nothing outwardly noticeable to a casual observer.

But that was the external changes.

The internal was an entire world of difference.

Throughout the month long process, Kyle was struck time and time again with pain. The feeling of his bones grinding, his organs randomly convulsing for seconds at a time, and his blood heating and speeding up its flow.

His sleep was constantly interrupted. He lost what was in his stomach on numerous occasions. And it became difficult to do much other than meditate and make sure his partners were fed, healthy, and had direction in their training.

The two making leaps and bounds in their progress. Kyle had slowly observed with his crippled but slowly healing senses how neither Loki nor Aurora had used up all their extra aura within a single week.

They trained hard, pushed their limits, but the excess remained. He theorized that a regular Pokemon who did not circulate their aura consciously leaks a greater amount of the given benefits of the vitamins, and therefore needs it once a week.

Whereas his team can make it last a second.

So for one vitamin, Loki and Aurora made them last for two weeks before the excess burned off. And in return, Loki's base aura pool had grown by a good 1/8th in size after working himself to the bone. Kyle estimated it would have decreased returns eventually as Loki's aura pool got larger.

For Aurora, she gained a noticeable change in physique as her body becoming a bit leaner with a more dexterous elegance to her steps beyond what already existed. If before she was adorably elegant, now she was feeling like she was stepping into a predators elegance. The muscles in her legs more robust, flexible, and dense.

And she was fast. Her speed had grown by at least 1/8th like Loki's aura.

The two worked hard and took a second vitamin for the same groups. Deciding to focus on what they knew while Kyle wasn't at his best.

And when one month fully passed, Kyle woke up groggily as a voice whispered in his ear. {Wake child, the change is done.}

His eyes snapped open and he gasped as warmth blossomed inside him. He felt whole in a way he couldn't explain. Like a final piece clicked into play in a long chain of gears that began turning. Like a feeling and sensation so familiar from a long, long time ago, was finally regained.

All of sudden, the warmth in his chest became an incredible burning sensation and Kyle all but stormed out of the tent to reach the tree line and puke black blood.

'Oh my god, please let this be the end.'

His will was tested more than ever this month, and he was constantly on the verge of calling someone and getting help, but each time he got close, his partners would cheer him up and he would push on with a will of gradually tempering steel.

It had been the greatest challenge he had faced in both lives.

But as soon as he finished puking and sat down with a heaving chest against a tree's trunk, he began to see.

No, seeing isn't the right word.

He was blind, and now he could SEE.

'The world is…alive.' In a way he could never perceive before, he saw the world around him.

From where he sat, a golden glow spread through the earth, it filled every tree, every plant, every blade of grass.

It had a sound like chingling bells but didn't truly translate.

It had a smell like sweet honey but didn't truly reach his nose.

And the best way he could describe it's sight was as glowing dots of soft golden light in the millions if not more.

And when he looked at himself, he saw it to, flowing through him like a second pair of veins. He furrowed his brows at the sight. 'What does this remind me of…ah! It looks like a chakra network from Naruto.'

That was the first thought to come to mind at the sight. Like looking at veins that ran through his whole body and yet he somehow knew it wouldn't be found if you cut into his body.

His aura had never felt so smooth. He willed it to move and it responded, circulating at his discretion. Pulling out his pocket knife, he willed aura into his finger and poked it with the blade. It felt like a blunt force was gently pressing against it.

He tried pushing it toward his legs and stepped forward, finding himself making three steps of distance for every step.

He tried jumping, moving as high as half a tree with a simple jump before falling on his ass.

And it didn't hurt, his aura automatically moved toward the impact zone before he could do anything.

Kyle laughed long and hard. 'Hahahaha! All my pain was worth it! All that suffering wasn't me just being stubborn! My aura is so much more!'

Before this event, Kyle's aura was there, it was growing, and it had many uses, but it felt like an add on. It was part of him but he knew it was separate in a way. Like his powers had given him a direct hole to access aura. An open window.

He could circulate it through his body without an existing pathway, he could feel aura in close proximity around him, it enhanced his senses, gave him faster stamina and health recovery, strengthened his body a bit, and gave him access to his aura based empathetic abilities.

But now, now aura had become truly intertwined with his body. Aura filled all of him naturally and without waste. Let alone opening the door, it felt like someone ripped off the whole wall the window was placed on.

The veins or pathways guided aura through him in a way that wasted little and allowed for quick response to enforce any part of himself. He could feel and 'see' in a manner of speaking, the aura in a wide range around him as everything seemed to be glowing with sparks of golden light beneath their surfaces. His physical body was tougher, able to handle the stress of aura enhancing parts of himself.

His senses were sharpened higher than before. He could see clearer and farther, he could smell things he never smelt before, he heard the sounds of his partners breathing, could feel the air on his skin like never before.

Coming from a period of weakness and blindness to aura, he felt like he stepped into a whole new world.

And for the first time, he could actively or unconsciously use his aura to defend or enforce himself.

Kyle went wild with his joy.

Jumping from tree's, running around the clearing, even jumping into the lake to swim. Loki and Aurora had sat watching him run around like a crazy guy on a caffeine rush for a while before shrugging and joining him. Happy to share in his happiness, and also happy to see their hooman being healthy again. Or as healthy as a clearly crazy person.

But Kyle didn't care. He was lost in basking in a world he couldn't imagine. In a euphoria where he moved more on instinct than thought.

The three dancing like children playing tag at superhuman speeds.

Kyle dodged over a dive from Loki, tagging his head with a laugh, only to get hit by an icy tail as Aurora passed by like a phantom.

He laughed and wiped the ice off his hair. "Come here you!" Aurora chittered from a tree and took off with Kyle and Loki hot on her heels.

They disturbed other Pokemon, startled some Starly, ran past a few Mankey who chased after them throwing pinecones, and dove into the water, twirling between schools of Magikarp and Goldeen.

They were alive, they were young, and they were full of energy. And all three were high off a bond of aura and emotion, Kyle's emotions bleeding into them as theirs answered back.

A gaze watched them in great amusement from somewhere in the water and the lake came alive with emotions of joy, exuberance, and welcome.

The water Pokemon living in the water became highly active, playing, having fun, and even a pair of Gyarados at the bottom of the lake had their mindless anger quelled by the positive emotions.

The lake was celebrating, Mesprit was giving her blessing.

And an hour later, it was a sweating and shivering Kyle that collapsed back into the campsite. 'M-maybe I… s-should have s-slowed dddown.'

His aura was drained and he was shivering in a way that he hadn't felt since his old life. He wasn't cold, but it was like an important part inside him was burning and freezing, and his mind felt like someone took a hammer to it.

"Ee." "Vul."

His partners poked him with a paw and tail respectfully as he laid face first in the dirt breathing heavy. "J-Just a s-sec gguys."

He closed his eyes and began to meditate in the position he was in and Loki shrugged and walked off to find something tasty while Aurora jumped on Kyle's back and curled up with a small yawn.

Kyle was to out of it to pay attention and was desperately meditating, trying to gain more aura back into his system. He watched as the golden lights around him in the world began to slowly converge upon him, gently filtering into him and adding water to his dried well.

He internally gasped at the feeling. A soothing chill traveling through his aura veins slowly, reviving his exhausted system. It took an hour before he felt recovered enough to push himself off the ground, dislodging a very comfortable looking Aurora who shot him an offended look.

Kyle tilted his head as her emotions hit him without him paying attention. He turned to her and smiled. "Sorry your majesty, a thousand apologies for my rude actions." She blinked and then nodded imperiously while Kyle laughed and stood up ruffling her hair as she play bit at his hand and grabbed it with her paws.

'Note to self, aura is expendable. Using it is as exhilarating as it is crippling when it's gone.'

Kyle suddenly felt much closer to Pokemon as that thought hit him. Realizing that he must have felt what Pokemon do when they run out of aura and faint.

Every time a trainer tells their Pokemon to 'get up and keep fighting' even when they had almost no aura. Kyle had a much higher respect for them all of a sudden.

And at the same time, he realized how much he changed.

He looked down at his palm with a complicated look. 'I'm not human anymore am I? No, I'm still human, but not fully. A half human? And what, half Pokemon?'

He focused his senses on Aurora next to him focusing on mauling his hand with adorableness. He focused on her aura, her internal system, and he saw the differences. They were more refined, more streamlined, she didn't have all the organs he had, and it seemed like aura was much more a key part of how her body worked.

Whereas he could probably live without aura, just weak and empty.

'So I stand between humans and Pokemon now? Interesting.'

On one hand, he was bothered, thinking about how others would think.

On the other, he was ecstatic at his change and new powers and connection to life.

In a moment of internal debate, he pulled out his Galaxy phone and sent a text to Jake, surprisingly, he was online and responded quickly.

[Kyle: Dude, I'm… not a full human anymore.

Jake: Welcome to the club dipshit.]

Kyle's eye violently twitched.

[Kyle: I'm being serious.

Jake: So am I bitch! What? Did you think I was fucking with you when I said I'm not a full wizard or magical beast? I'm a Metamorph, the best of both worlds in my opinion. Fuck being a boring human, this stuff is awesome.

Kyle:…]

Kyle suddenly felt really stupid. He couldn't help but laugh. 'How the hell could I think this asshole would judge me.' He recalled how his friend just charges ahead without a care for social opinions.

[Jake: So? What happened?]

Kyle paused and tried to think of how to say it before deciding to be blunt.

[Kyle: Got cocky, had an accident, got saved by Mesprit, spent a month considering suicide, and now I'm a superhuman like some RWBY character.

Jake:…

Kyle: Yeah.

Jake: So you got 'cocky' huh? ;)]

Kyle enforced his hand in aura and threw the phone with everything he had into the lake.

"Fuck off Jake."

Despite his annoyance, he smiled. His small insecurity vanished.

He was who he was. He was Kyle Silvers. Nothing else mattered.

"Vul." Aurora butted against his leg and Kyle smiled at her.

"Come on girl, I suddenly feel like making a feast to celebrate." He walked off to the tent with a smile as Aurora bounced around him excitedly.

The last month had been a bit rough on eating options, and Kyle thought he was long since overdue in spoiling his partners.

The world seemed to brighten with his mood and an invisible weight lifting from his shoulder, the lake sparkling with the joy and sunlight. The month long arduous challenge was over, and it was time to move forward with his plans.

It was time to catch the Pokemon he came here to get.

"Oof!" He accidentally tripped while testing his aura, falling a bit too close to Aurora's tails and getting an ice coating tail slap for his affront.

Time to catch a Pokemon and figure out how the hell his body works now.

"Vul!" As soon as he appeases his princess.

*Line Break*

Jake – Harry Potter – 8 months – April:

"Are you ready?"

"I am."

"Are you sure you can take it?"

"We have been preparing for months, I think I won't faint this time."

"And you won't scream in my ear?"

"I only did that one time."

Jake deadpanned at Nym and she slowly shrunk back. "Ok, a few times."

"Mhm. Just take it slow, no need to rush it. I don't want to hurt you."

Nym rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder. "I'm a big girl Jake, I can take it just fine. Open the damn door."

Jake chuckled and nodded.

What were the two doing? They were opening the safe after finishing three whole mountains of trash in the room of lost things over the last eight months.

Jake put his hand against the safe and let his mana run through it as a loud 'Clank' sound rang out and the door unlocked.

Nym rolled her eyes as she grabbed the door handle. "I still can't believe you asked for a magic safe." Jake huffed. "It's a perfectly logical choice. And it was cool."

"Your such a boy Jake."

"And you're the pinnacle of feminism my lady."

"Why thank you good sir, now come here and hold me so I don't go touch everything that looks interesting."

"Yes ma'am."

The two jibbed good naturedly as Jake wrapped an arm around her and she relaxed against him and swung open the door.

A ball of light formed inside the giant safe and two bore witness to the product of their efforts.

A giant cluster of… STUFF.

"It's so pretty Jake."

"Yeah, we did good."

"Can I read the clipboard this time?"

"Sure, it's all yours Nym."

"Yay~, love you Jake~!"

She tilted her head up and dramatically kissed the underside of his chin with a giggle as Jake rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I love you to. Hurry up will you, we only have a few hours to work with today. Penny wanted us to help her with the Transfiguration assignment."

Nym nodded adorably and left his arms to skip over to the wall and pick up a clipboard before coming back and diving back into her spot. "Even if I know they are not Metamorph's like us, it feels weird that they don't get Transfiguration like us."

Jake hummed and eyed the list. "It's just our nature. Our minds are hardwired to naturally be capable of shifting our bodies. Just as many magical beasts can perform branches of magic without always being fully intelligent species. It's as much a part of us as magic is."

Nym wrinkled her nose cutely. "Did you just call me an animal Jake?"

"Yes, your my animal, now stop stalling, the readers want to know." Jake said and rested his chin on top of her head.

Nym giggled and enjoyed the contact. "You're so silly sometimes Jake." She looked down at the list.

"Ok, so…

We have section 1 for currency. Section 2 for enchanted items. And section 3 for valuable parts. And each section has parts A and B. Oh, and section 4 for 'Other'.

I always liked how you organized this stuff. Good job." She mock patted his head with a clear intention and Jake chuckled and sprouted wolf ears and a tail to wrap around her waist.

She smiled wide and ran her free hand through it as she read. "Starting from the top.

Section 1A – Wizarding Currency - 872 Knuts - 134 Sickles - 28 Galleons.

Those were a real pain to gather. I'm sick of finding Knuts." Jake snickered and Nym casually sprouted a tail of her own to poke his thigh and send him a mischievous look. Jake narrowed his eyes. "No." She fake pouted and wrapped her tail around his waist. "No idea what you're talking about~."

Jake rolled his eyes. "When I told you to send a letter to your Aunt about why sneaking into boys rooms is not the 'cool' thing to do, I did not mean Aunt Bella. I fear for what that woman told you."

Nym chuckled evilly. "She said enough. Moving on~!" She sung.

"Section 1B – Muggle Currency – 47 coins with various time stamps.

You sure these things have value?" She asked with a skeptical tone and Jake hummed and made her head vibrate. "Yup. Collectors go crazy over this ancient stuff. They are a bit dirty but a few cleaning spells and they will go for hundreds if not thousands of pounds each in England."

Nym shrugged. "If you say so, Section 2A enchanted items still in working condition.

Section 2A – 1 – Selling:

-3 enchanted light pens, I'm taking one - shut up you love me

-4 enchanted lanterns with some kind of blood connection – think we should show them to Aunt Bella first?

-2 enchanted eye prosthetics – ew why did anyone lose these?

-1 mana soaked fruit with weird swirls in a locked chest with a pirate emblem

-4 dancing salt shakers

-2 voice activated letter openers

-7 Trunks between small and large size enchantments.

-13 Brooms

-22 Blood Quills – These came in one box, who the hell was trying to do what in a school?!

-...

-….

-….

and that should do it for working magic items to sell."

She went down the list of three dozen listings of assorted items from Quills to trunks, to Brooms, to more exotic items they found.

Most of the stuff over a decade old had long since lost their enchantments and were just valuable materials or useless junk.

"Section 2A – 2 – Keeping:

2 light pens - because they are cool. Don't judge me.

2 Auto Answer Quills – I'm tired of repetitive homework, this baby is mine! And no, I'm not cheating since it can only answer paperwork I already know the answer to.

The really expensive apartment sized Trunk – whoever lost this was 100% a pureblood. Sucks for them.

3 Mokeskin Pouches – these things are ridiculously hard to buy compared to trunks. Score.

14 working wands – who the bloody hell can call themselves a wizard or witch and lose their wand?

…

…

And those seven various jewelry pieces we know have magic but are not cursed and the room doesn't have a book to identify. We can bring them home and ask Aunt Bella or an appraiser to check them.

Anything else?"

Jake shook his head. "Nah, among the enchanted stuff that's more than enough. We only search three out of fifty eight mountains and I'm sure there are some better stuff in there. The broken items have proven that."

Ninety percent of everything they found was broken in some way, and a few of them had Jake cursing. Such as the three broken Pensieve bowls and five broken Time-Turners.

The school had been around for a thousand years and it seemed Time-Turners were much more common at some point in the 1300's. According to a history book, the last crafter of them, a member of an old family who took the secret to the grave, died in 1382.

In magical Britain, all twenty four working Time-Turners the ministry knows of are heavily monitored. 'The one Hermione used in canon must have been from there or form Dumbledors personal collection.'

Five broken time turners might seem like a lot, but those trash mountains were massive and it took them seven months just to clear three of them. Albeit with limited time slots each week.

Nym went on while he was lost in thought.

"Section 2B – Cursed items.

We have twenty eight cursed items here from Cursed Dancing Shoes, to Cursed Bludgers, to whatever that weird Skull thing is, and to over a dozen pieces of jewelry. People really seem to love cursing jewelry."

Jake chuckled. "Because humans are always so quick to touch shiny object. Right my little Nym?" She huffed and elbowed him in the gut lightly. "Shush you.

We're taking them home right?"

Jake nodded and rubbed his ribs. "Yeah, best to let your family check them first for anything special before we sell them. I don't know anything about cursed objects and the room just keeps giving books on curses rather than identifying the items."

Nym nodded and used the quill to mark down a note.

"All right, Section 3A – Valuable parts – magical

Three barrels of Floo Powder.

49 brooms worth of copper.

A large pile of various previously enchanted metals.

83 pairs of acromantula silk robes of diverse designs that lost their enchantments.

17 pairs of magical cloth from old, expired invisibility cloaks.

A large assortment of mana focused parts from myriad items – I get why you took out parts that inherently had mana but couldn't you have thought of a better name for the pile?

Antique carved wood from old enchanted broken furniture – we really need to learn the advanced form of the Repair charm next year, so much wasted stuff here.

113 wand cores – some of those things are gross.

….

…."

The list went on for a good bit. Aside from the time spent recovering their mana or stamina, the part of the scavenge that took the longest was taking apart broken magic items and finding whatever still held mana inside it. The first year 'Mending Charm' just didn't cut it with stuff that wasn't 'recently' broken.

"Section 3B – Valuable parts – non-magical

Most of this is just expensive, antique, or old furniture still in working condition. I don't know if the school had a different design centuries ago or people used to be able to decorate their rooms as they wished because some of this stuff looks like it came from a pureblood mansion.

We have furniture, candle fixtures, silverware and fine china.

On the more expected side, we have dozens of potion cauldrons and kits. Yes, yes, I know we are keeping the good stuff. One of each size for Copper is going to you and I want that gaudy Silver one with jewels, that baby is going to get some love.

We have dozens of pairs of dragon hide gloves, shoes, and that horrendous dragon hide pair of underwear.

No Jake, were not keeping them. I don't care how valuable they are, who knows who the hell wore these things before. I'm not touching them, and you're not touching them because I like touching you. So no, end of story."

She set the law on that last one and Jake was too busy choking on his spit at her butchering the words again. She learned to speak freely from Bellatrix and Jake still couldn't tell if she truly understood half the deeper meanings of the things they said.

Wizards and Witches mature quick, and it's pretty common to see kids in puberty kissing as young as fourteen and many even get engaged before graduating.

Witches tend to mature faster than wizards in this area just as non magicals do, and Jake had been forced to keep a strict eye on Nym when he saw older year guys eyeing her up.

They suffered very unfortunate fates every time he caught it. And nothing could be proved since he wasn't holding a wand. If Nym noticed she didn't say anything, but he would catch her smiling and grabbing his hand on occasions.

Apparently even young and more innocent, girls were still aware when people were giving them creepy stares.

Thankfully Nym could take care of herself just fine.

Their little Metamorph secret, which wasn't a real secret, seemingly got out a few months in when Nym couldn't control herself in her house and people had asked her to change into stuff. It got old fast and Nym gets annoyed whenever someone asks. But that didn't stop some of the older years from suddenly becoming too friendly, and Nym gained a fierce reputation for the power of her fists.

Jake tried to rein her in on most occasions, but in those situations, power to her. Hit them hard enough for both of them is what he would say.

"Fine. I'm at least fifty percent sure your just saying that because Aunt Narcissa showed you the wonders of shopping."

Nym hummed and nuzzled her head against him a bit to hit him with her fluffy ears. "No idea what your about~. Moving on. The rest of section 3B is getting sold except for the few useful stuff we can clean and re-use.

Section 4 – Other:

Most of this is just books and unidentifiable stuff.

And most of the books we can actually read are school books. Good news is we have pretty much every book for the next six years of the curriculum. Bad news is there isn't anything special aside from those two older ones.

The first was some advanced topic of rituals and the second was that written journal in German which neither of us can read.

What do you want to do with them?"

Jake answered easily while idly playing with Nym's hair, running his fingers through it much to her pleasure. "Keep two copies of every schoolbook in our new apartment Trunk, it has a library and study room, sell the rest.

Give the two older books and unknown items to Aunt Bella if she is willing to look at them. If not we can get an appraiser.

I think we did good for eight months. There are still forty-nine more junk piles but we got faster as we went along. It might take us six more years but we can do this.

And with what we have, we can just head over to Gringotts and open some new accounts, sell all the crap to them and let them deal with it.

Thankfully, they are a race that cares not who the hell walks through their doors. They only care if they are making money or not."

Nym hummed as she half heard him, enjoying the feeling of Jake scratching her scalp lightly and running his fingers through her hair. "Hmmmm~ ok. I still say I don't want to do this every year. Let's just get Ced and Pen involved."

Jake went to open his mouth but Nym turned around and hugged him. "I trust them Jake. I know your always the super cautious type and prefer keeping secrets but you trust me right?" She flared her own mana crudely as she spoke.

She didn't have Jake's mana sensitivity, and she couldn't sense mana like he did, but she did have mana running through her whole body and with jakes lessons she could at least pulse her mana to 'feel' mana in things she makes physical contact with.

And Jake was quick to send his own connection, grasping her mana like two tails intertwining. Their mana flowing between the two as their souls were opened.

Since the day he accidentally connected them, Jake and Nym knew each other on a deeper level than anyone else. Not their thoughts and memories, but their soul, their person, who they were, what they valued, their core was open.

And it effected them both.

Jake was effected by Nym and her bubbly energetic personality and curiosity, often being foolish when alone with her and acting honest to himself, being quickly appeased by seeing his love for animal ears. And Nym was effected with Jake's caution, deep thinking, and mental strength. Often speaking and acting much older than a girl her age would, just as she acted young and silly in the other times as her personality calls for.

Their habits, interests, and many subconscious things passed over.

It wasn't immediate, and it didn't change their core, but it was a long term influence. Both knew it, and neither minded.

Nym knew he was something more than his appearance showed but never questioned him. She trusted him wholeheartedly because she KNEW him. She knew he would never intentionally hurt her and would burn a city to help her.

She felt his dark side with all its barbs and thorns but the barbs were not aimed at her, rather they came to encompass her in an embrace over time and aimed at the rest of the world.

And this was a Nym raised under the influence of all three Black family sisters.

Bellatrix was a ruthless woman who embraced the dark aspects of the Black family without crossing the line of harming anyone who never harmed or wasn't a threat to her or her own. She ripped the fortunes, properties, and lives from three families that thought to strike at the Black family when the last lord of the family died and Bella inherited it, thinking her weak. And she did it in a single week.

Narcissa was no trophy wife and brought Lucius to heel with the encouragement of Bellatrix and Andromeda. The marriage was one done through their parents and not under her control, but she made the best of it and wore the pants behind the scenes. Many of Lucius business actions that brought in money were done on her orders and other business's knew it. Lucius had no power over her in public or private.

And Andromeda was even more ruthless than Bellatrix when someone targeted her husband or daughter. She once poisoned a woman who tried to get a marriage contract set up for Nym when she was seven years old to a man thirty years her age because it became known she was a Metamorphagus. The woman was kept alive in a vegetable state while her mind was under the illusion of a knife coming toward her eyes in slow motion. She experienced a century of life in a single year and died mentally when the year passed.

The three sisters did not have 'light' reputations and Nym grew up under them. She was only twelve physically, but mentally she was much more mature under all her Nym' ness.

In no way did that mean the two were ready to progress physically, but mentally? The two were bonded before they even consciously understood it.

And as the school year passed with them spending more time together than ever, in classes, meals, studying, in the gym, and in their private project, they did come to understand it.

Slowly and surely.

Nothing was spoken, no words were said, no actions taken, but they belonged to and with each other. It was known to them as easy as they knew fire was hot and water was wet.

To gaze into ones soul is not to be done lightly, and the effects were long lasting. Perhaps it wouldn't have been as bad if they didn't repeat the action, but once tasted, it was hard not to taste once more.

Over the years, they bonded souls enough to know they wouldn't ever desire to stop.

They were far from perfect, often has spats and arguments, and were definitely different people in the end, but they were tied together in a way that they both were happy about.

Jake's cautious mind was eased by Nym's trust. They stood there, their breathes synchronizing, their mana intertwined and dancing with peace, harmony, and love, young love in a pure un-lustful form, traveling between them.

Jake's unfocused eyes returned and he pulled his head back a bit to look down at Nym as she looked up and they met gazes.

The eyes were often spoken as the windows to the soul, and the two knew that was bullshit. The eyes could hide whatever they wanted behind a trained mind and magical abilities.

But their connection didn't lie.

That didn't stop Nym from enlarging her eyes and adding a watery quality to them that Jake took all of three seconds staring at to react. "*Pft* pull the other leg Nym."

The watery big eyes vanished as she laughed with him. "Hehe couldn't help it."

One part of being a Metamorph is how taking on the qualities of other things, especially living things, tends to come with certain instincts. And as the two often used animal features, skin-ship was one such instinct of which they were fond.

So it was perfectly normal when the two laughed and rubbed the sides of their heads together.

"You know I trust you Nym." Jake said after a minute of affection. Nym smiled in reply. "Mn, so we can invite them?"

Jake chuckled wryly and nodded his head against her and she cheered and jumped to latch onto him with her legs around him like a koala. "Yay~! Thank you! It will be so much fun with them joining!"

"Yeah right, your just lazy." Jake deadpanned back as he held her effortlessly.

Nym stuck her tongue out at him. "So what! It took us eight months to do three piles Jake! THREE! I don't care how good we get; I will not spend every weekend of the next six years in this damn room. I have… other stuff I want to do." Her voice got a bit quiet at the end in a way that only Jake who knew her well enough could pick up on.

He rose a brow with an amused smirk as he nuzzled her head. "Oh? What kind of stuff?"

"Just boring stuff, don't worry about it." She answered back just a tad too quickly and Jake smelled blood in the water. "No, no, I'm super curious."

"No Jake."

"You sure?"

"Yes, shut up."

"What if I promise to do one of those things with you?"

Her eyes narrowed into his hair as she looked at the side of his head. Her hands grabbed his cheeks and turned his face to look at her. "You sure about that?"

Jake's confidence sagged. "Not anymore but I wouldn't be me if I didn't dive in anyway. Hit me babe."

Nym giggled at the dramatic 'babe' he threw in at the end like a cheesy movie character. "First Hogsmeade weekend in our third year, your taking me on a date."

Jake titled his head. "Can't we just go in the summer?" Nym looked at him dangerously. "No, it's different when it's during school. Third year. Hogsmeade weekend."

She finished with a dangerous tone and Jake shrugged. He wasn't intimidated he just didn't have a reason to say no. "Sure, you got it Nym. But you gotta tell me what the other stuff is."

Nym's face flushed as her hair turned red as she lost focus. "Um…well… I just want to do school stuff with you. And Pen and Ced of course. But…I mean… I want to you know, make special memories like mom told me during her years." Jake's eyes widened. Nym seemed so vulnerable for a moment, something she rarely ever showed, and it warmed his heart to know she could physically show him that.

It's very different when their souls speak, as there is no embarrassment or worry in such a thing. But verbally and physically speaking has all those other thoughts and emotions tagged on.

Nym's eyes widened as well as she panicked a bit. "I mean, well, you know, I want to have fun and stuff, and your my bestie and with us in school once in life and all we sh…" Jake cut off her babbling by putting a hand over her mouth and putting his forehead against her own. Looking into her flustered eyes.

"I would be honored Nym. Let's make all those memories you want and remember them for however long we live."

Nym visibly calmed under their matching gaze and suddenly smiled wide with flushed cheeks. "Mn. Thank you Jake." Jake's mind was engraved by that pure and happy smile. A deep corner making a promise to himself to make sure he could always see it. "Anytime Nym."

The two embraced once more, just enjoying each other's company in the sanctitude of their special location, surrounded by their efforts for eight months of work and memories.

For just that time, just a few minutes longer before they had to head out into the world, they would bask in that feeling and engrave it inside them as they stood in each other's arms.

A sweet moment. A precious moment. A moment that could only be ruined by Nym.

"Jake."

"Hm?"

"I have to pee."

Jake's eyes snapped open as he pulled back and looked at her. She smiled sheepishly. "My legs are asleep."

His eyes widened and he froze for all of five seconds before she spoke again. "I'm gonna leak Jake! Hurry!"

Never in his life had Jake moved as fast as he did at that moment. Sometimes, being completely open and comfortable with another person has it's downsides too.

*Line Break*

Kyle – Pokemon – 5 weeks – October:

Kyle liked fishing.

There was just something nice and soothing about finding a good spot with just the right amount of shade and sun on a warm day in nature, casting out a line and leaning back to relax with some meditation thrown in.

After a month of pain, and a few days of experience heaven on earth, he was greatly enjoying this 'down' time for a bit.

Just a time to do what he originally came to the lake to do while letting his mind wander aimlessly and laying down on a flat stone above the water.

The flow of aura in the world pushed and pulsed as if breathing, and the water glowed to his senses like a giant bowl of golden soup, alive in a spiritual sense as much as it was water in a physical sense.

'Ah, the mysteries of life.' Was it water? Or aura? Both? Neither? Who knows?

These kind of useless thoughts and ponderings filled his mind and he enjoyed them.

Loki and Aurora were laying out nearby him, relaxing on the lovely day. Loki was on his back and seemed to be dreaming of chasing something by the activity of his legs moving, and Aurora was curled up in the shade and peaceful spreading a layer of ice on the stone.

Kyle decided to give them a few days off to rest after his month of pain and their month of hard training while being worried about him.

It was a physical and mental struggle for the two. And now that everything was all right and they finished their first month of boosting their attributes for Aura and Speed, he wanted to give them a rest before they went again for Defense and Special Attack.

'I wonder how long we should stick around here? I originally planned to get the water type and stay for three months total but I'm thinking we should extend it.

We have a good spot, loads of supplies and access to wild food, and a lot of stuff to do.

A month was great for the first attribute boost for my team but it's just the start, it only had a 10% increase in their stats, which is nothing to sneeze at for only a month but we can do so much more.

Not to mention myself and my changes.' Kyle grimaced at the thought. Using aura was more instinctual then logical, and his first little celebration escapade of running wild was not as simple to replicate when he calmed down.

He had been trying to go again and realized it would take time as he couldn't focus his aura to do everything at once. He had to take small steps and focus on parts of his body at once until he got more familiar with the feeling. He had slammed into far more objects in the wild than he wanted to, and he didn't want to make such mistakes in a public location.

Thankfully, aura was invisible to the naked eye. Still, he was noticing he would have to make a choice.

'If we stay and train for as long as I want, I'm not sure if we will manage to do the gym circuit in our first year…'

The gym circuit in Sinnoh ran from September 1st to July 1st. But the circuit didn't have to be completed in a single year. It would be incredibly inefficient of a system if it ran that way.

The vast majority of trainers never make it to the championships on their first or second year for a great reason.

It wasn't easy.

Contrary to the games and anime, the league made the gyms actual challenges.

Sinnoh had 8 region major gyms to challenge. These eight major gyms were sanctioned by the league as the only way to gain access to the championship at the end of the season.

Each badge had a time limit of three years from the day you gained them to be eligible for your ticket to join the championship. You could gain one in your first month, and the other seven in two years, and you would be welcome to join.

Training takes time, and although Pokemon grow physically quickly within a few years, trainers need time to grow and learn. And that's if they stick around and decide this was the life for them.

Unlike the anime, you won't see hordes of ten to twelve year old's showing up for the championships, the world isn't kind like that.

If a rookie trainer made it in one year, it would be big news and gain them a lot of publicity as a rising genius. If they didn't use money to solve all their problems anyway.

And like the games and anime, 8 minor gyms did exist. These eight minor gyms were training centers for trainers working toward defeating the 8 major gyms. The league sponsors these locations to help trainers who need more support, work, and knowledge.

You could gain a badge from defeating the minor gyms, but it wouldn't be eligible for the championship.

Furthermore, major gyms didn't work in a way where you could show up and challenge a leader so simply.

Based on the number of badges and years you have trained, as well as if you had previously made it to a championship, you must face a certain number of gym trainers of whatever tier your assigned from Beginner to Ace, and only after that do you gain access to challenge the leader a single time.

Kyle honestly found such a system to make much more sense in the grand scheme of things. Despite only a small portion of the population doing the gym circuit, and less actually traveling between cities and towns, and even less being serious about it, gyms still get hundreds of challenges a year.

If there was no limit from someone challenging a leader dozens of times a day without learning anything, it would be pointless.

Challenges were still free of charge and would always be accepted with gym trainers waiting for you, but medical expenses were not. And the mentality of trainers and Pokemon alike would need rest even if their bodies kept getting healed.

The gyms have a one day challenge policy so you couldn't just keep running back and forth with potions. And a gym leader was a significant role with a large number of responsibilities, so they had busy schedules.

Oh and unlike situations with Sabrina and Giovanni in Kanto during the anime, it was not possible for such things to occur in real life. A major gym can't use its most powerful to steamroll anyone around. They are made to be challenges, not chokepoints, and the league would come down hard on such gym leaders.

'Well, maybe not Sabrina with her powers but Giovanni wouldn't get away with that crap.'

So with the situation being as it was, Kyle was debating on a longer training period before he even starts. 'Heh, I always was the type to play the games by grinding in the wild for hours before challenging gyms over leveled anyway. Always nice to steamroll the gym leader with a team five to eight levels above them.'

A tug on his fishing line got his attention and he sat up quickly with an excited smile to grab the fishing pole.

Reel it halfway, give it some slack, repeat it a few times and let the fish tire itself out, and then give it all you got. 'I'm glad for those seasons with Uncle Jack back in my first life.'

Kyle was a weird teenager the first time around who actually enjoyed silent fishing on a boat with some beer and snacks with his uncle. And Jake was a weird teenager for joining him occasionally.

They were both weird and different from the mold. 'What was it Jake always said? Who needs sanity when insanity was so much more fun?'

He chuckled at the memory as he focused on the line. 'Damn, must be a big one.'

He side eyed his partners and was happy to see both had their eyes open and were watching even if they didn't get up yet.

It wasn't his first catch of the day, but the first two times were an actual fish, not a Pokemon, and a wild Remoraid. And by wild, it was a not intelligent Pokemon that was no brighter than the actual fish.

They kept the fish for food and let the Remoraid go. If they didn't catch the first fish, they probably would have kept the Remoraid for food, but they didn't need it so they let it go.

Kyle heaved and had to reinforce his arms with aura. "I think we got a real big one this time guys." He called back as his excitement grew even further.

His partners bounded to their feet as a large shadow grew beneath the water. The excitement was in the air and the tension building.

"Hah!" And with a final pull of his rod, the surface of the water shattered as gleaming orange scales glittered in the sunlight and Kyle had to shield his eyes for a moment.

The moment passed and Kyle feasted his eyes on his mighty first catch.

Fierce round eyes, twirling yellow barbels, and a proud crown shaped fin.

For just a second, everyone stared with the tension climaxing. "Magi." And then it shattered like a sledgehammer to a glass window.

Loki and Aurora scoffed and laid back down, ignoring things entirely.

And Kyle was left with a deadpan face, staring into the fierce eyes of a, decently large at least, Magikarp.

"Magi, magi." It bubbled at him in clear challenge. Kyle sighed at the fish Pokemon and sat back down despondently. "Way to kill a mood. Sorry man, go back to doing your thing."

"Magi!" The fish Pokemon roared back in annoyance. Kyle shrugged feeling the emotions of annoyance, anger, and a desire for challenge.

He looked back and saw his team sleeping already. "Sorry buddy, I don't think they are interested. Here, take this as an apology." He tossed a Poke Block into the water, he always keeps a few on him as treats for his team.

The Magikarp gobbled up the snake and it's eyes shined, looking to Kyle once more but he shook his head. "No. Just one. Now go on, your friends are probably waiting for you."

Kyle wasn't trying to be demeaning, he really meant to say sorry and tell him to head back home, but Magikarp seemed to take it the wrong way as an insult.

Between one blink of an eye and the next, Kyle was completely caught off guard by a marvelous sight fit for the ages.

In a move of great elegance and beauty, Magikarp leaped from the water, glowed white and proud, spun majestically, and tail bitch slapped the shit out of Kyle with a loud 'Pak!' before twirling back into the water.

Kyle's aura defending him without his thought, but he still felt the slight sting and blinked his eyes as his brain processed the moment.

'I was just bitch slapped…, by a Magikarp…..'

Loki and Aurora turned when they heard the sound and were on their backs laughing at him.

Kyle's head robotically turned back to the water to see the same Magikarp with a true smug look on it's plain face.

"Did you just…"

"Magi!"

Kyle nodded. "I see."

He very calmly put down the fishing rod. He very calmly removed his hoodie. He very calmy took off his shirt and shoes.

And he very calmy dove headfirst into the water with murder in his eyes. "GET OVER HERE YOU DAMN FISH AND LET ME FILLET YOU!"

"Magi!"

Loki and Aurora became the greatly amused and entertained duo and hopped over to Kyles discarded hoodie to snatch the Poke Block snacks he kept in his pocket as they watched the show.

For twenty minutes Kyle chased, wrestled, and argued with a large male Magikarp. Despite their anger, neither was legitimately trying to cripple the other, but being greatly annoyed and fighting about it was a very normal thing for Pokemon. Especially so among men.

But aura enhanced or not, Kyle still wasn't the match for a powerfully built Magikarp in the water. Not with his reserves and untrained abilities.

So it was twenty minutes later that a sopping wet and panting Kyle returned to his rock and clothes, divested of anything edible, and flipped off the water. "That's right bitch, you keep running."

"Magi." The fish scoffed at him talking while running out of the water and waddled off.

The scuffle was a victory in both their eyes but asking who the winner was would only start a new fight.

Kyles tired gaze turned to his suddenly 'very' tired team. "Wow guys, thanks so much for your help."

"Ee." Loki nodded and Aurora just yawned and covered her crumb filled snout with a tail. Kyle rolled his eyes and sat up, resetting the fishing line with new bait and drying off in the sun.

The only problem was, a certain fish didn't get very far before it saw more food and bit it without thinking.

Another five minutes of reeling in a 'big catch' and Kyle was met with familiar deadpanned eyes. "WOULD YOU FUCK OFF!"

He wouldn't be making much progress on his plans to catch a specific water type that day.

He just wanted a little Horsea, was that so much to ask for?

Life seemed to think it was.

Chapter End.