This one came out longer than I expected. Thank you Isaiah Rocha for following and favoriting this story! I do not own Pokemon.

Damien followed behind Karek and his Blaziken, not entirely sure what the two were up to. He assumed it was to try and cheer Damien up after the little funk he'd been in. Damien supposed he had always been ready to get out of it. It was just that he needed the realization. Looking back, he'd drawn out being upset for way too long, and hadn't really convinced himself either. Which was strange because normally people fail to convince themselves that they're happy, but Damien had the opposite situation. In fact, he almost felt relieved about not having to do gym battles anymore. It was a strange feeling.

"Come on, let's go!" Karek said, running even faster so that Damien had to break into a sprint to catch up.

"Why the hurry?" Damien panted.

"Because she'll be here very soon and I wanted to surprise her!" Karek said.

"I thought that this was a thing to get me all happy and such?" Damien asked.

"It was that too!" Karek said. "But Anne just got back from Alola, and since you're not being a sad boy, we can go see her when she gets here!"

"Isn't the train station the other way?" Damien asked.

"If you're lame, yeah." Karek said. "But we aren't meeting her at the train station, we're meeting her at the aviary because it was the only place big enough to host a welcome back party!" That explained the direction they were going. The Reviot Aviary was on the other end of town.

"Why are we having a party for someone who's only been gone a few days?" Damien asked.

"Because she got a Z-Crystal too!" Karek said.

"Can you think about your words before saying them please?" Damien asked. "That would make things a lot easier to understand. That way you aren't giving conflicting bits of information."

"You remember that I told you I had a lot of caffeine this morning, right?" Karek joked.

"That's really no excuse for being bad at giving information!" Damien scolded him.

"Oh hush, we'll be there soon!" Karek said. "Did I mention she was bringing a friend?"

"No!" Damien said, feeling a bit irritated. "You did not! Slow down, slow down!" Damien said, coming to a stop.

"Aw come on," Karek said, "We're going to be late."

"First, you need to properly explain what's going on." Damien said. "Then we can walk like normal people."

"Fine." Karek grumbled. "So while Anne was in Alola, she participated in one of their trials over there. She did the grass one. She got the Z-Crystal, which she wasn't expecting. While there she met this guy Dylan, who was moving here to Anville Town from Sinnoh, but had been staying in Alola until his stuff got here with some family. Turns out that family is Anne's family. So we're having a welcoming party for him, and a welcome back/celebration party for Anne."

"Couldn't you have explained that earlier?" Damien asked. "You know, before rushing out my front door? And also, why wasn't I told?"

"You were. You just didn't check your phone." Karek said. Damien pulled his phone from his pocket to see he had over a dozen messages from Karek. He opened them to see that Karek was correct. He had said that Anne was coming back with a friend and a Z-Crystal.

"Oh. My bad." Damien said.

"See why I was so worried about you?" Karek said. "Now come on, let's get moving!" He grabbed Damien's arm again and the two continued on.

The Reviot Aviary was a massive building on top of the cliffs that overlooked most of Anville Town. Only accessible by the long road winding up the mountain path or by flying in via helicopter or Pokemon, it was a pretty imposing structure. Which was a little odd considering it was meant to care for Pokemon. Inside the front doors was the front desk with some benches, where people could do their business of putting Pokemon into the aviary or take them out. They could also transfer ownership of pokemon there, though that was a far rarer occurrence as trading machines were available in most cities and Pokemon Centers. Beyond that was the main aviary. Bird Pokemon were everywhere, and the glass ceiling reached impossibly high. Tall jungle trees imported from Alola were the first exhibit, and many kinds of bird Pokemon stayed there, such as the Toucannon and Noctowl lines, as well as Tropius. Berries trees were scattered throughout, growing naturally so that the Pokemon would never need to fly far for a meal. Beyond it was the large pond inside, where Pokemon such as Pelipper, Swellow, and Altaria were located. Near that was a cliff, which spread out into a large plateau, half barren rock and sand, half grassland. Pokemon such as Braviary, Mandibuzz, Dodrio, and Fearow lived there. It wasn't a strict requirement, the Pokemon could go where they pleased, but it was where they seemed most comfortable.

Damien and Karek walked down the forest path, making their way through the trees to get to the beach zone where the party was being held.

"Since we're going to be inside the aviary, why didn't you just go out into an open field?" Damien asked. "It would be just as big, and with far less bird Pokemon."

"Do you not like them?" Karek asked.

"They're too loud." Damien grumbled. "Why do you think I never considered working here?"

"That's fair." Karek said. Damien tripped on one of the roots of the trees. "Tree root."

"Thanks." Damien mumbled. "Let's just get out of the forest." He got up and dusted himself off. Once they reached the party though, things went a lot smoother.

"Damien!" Anne said, running towards him and hugging him tightly. "I missed you!"

"You were gone for like three days." Damien said.

"And I'm not allowed to miss you in that time?" Anne pouted. She was about an inch shorter than Damien, with fiery red hair and a splash of freckles across her face. "Ooh! Come on, look at my team, they're so strong!" She dragged Damien over to the water to see her team. It consisted of Samurott, Druddigon, Pikipek, Cutiefly, Goomy, and Flabebe. "I caught Cutiefly and Pikipek in Alola, and Samurott and Druddigon helped me beat the Grass trial! I got the Grassium Z! Now I just need a grass type move. But that's what Flabebe's for!"

"Anne, did you think that maybe you should've gone for the water type Z-crystal?" Damien asked.

"Well I mean the Lush Jungle was right there, so I figured why not." Anne said. "And you're doing contests! That's so cool! You got to the finals!"

"And promptly got my but whooped, but yeah." Damien said.

"Doesn't matter!" Anne said. "So, are you gonna keep going? Get to the top?"

"Uh, I think so?" Damien said.

"Awesome!" Anne said. "Sammy, let's try that new move again!" She turned to her Samurott.

"New move?" Damien asked.

"Yeah, Megahorn." Anne said. "I didn't know Samurotts could even learn that move."

Damien got out his Pokedex to scan Anne's new Pokemon. "Neither did I."

"Pikipek, the Woodpecker Pokemon. It can peck at a rate of 16 times a second to drill holes in trees. It uses the hole for food storage and nesting. Cutiefly, the Bee Fly Pokemon. It feeds on the nectar and pollen of flowers. Because it's able to sense auras, it can identify which flowers are about to bloom."

"Sammy, use Megahorn on Druddigon!" Anne called. Sammy turned, his horn glowing bright white before charging right at Druddigon. Druddigon crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing for impact, but at the last moment Sammy's horn stopped glowing and he stopped short. Sammy stomped his paws on the ground in clear frustration.

"Sammy, it's okay." Anne said, going up to him. "You almost had it!"

"Sam!" Sammy said loudly.

"Now let's try again! Megahorn!" Anne shouted. Sammy backed up from Druddigon before attempting the move again. Damien turned away and went up to the tables that had been set up.

"They've been trying for hours." Thomas told him. "They have improved though. Sammy used to not be able to get it at all. Now he just has a hard time maintaining it for long enough."

"It sounded like he used the move before." Damien said. He grabbed one of the plastic cups of lemonade.

"Yeah, he has." Thomas said. "Against the… I think Lurantis? He used it as the finishing blow that won Anne the trial."

"So now she's trying to get him to learn the move permanently." Damien said. Thomas nodded.

"Hmm." Damien said, reaching for Ivysaur's Pokeball.

"Are you going to help?" Thomas asked.

"Sure, why not." Damien said. He walked back over to the water and let Ivysaur out of his Pokeball. "Anne! Let me help out. I've been trying to teach Ivysaur Razor Leaf recently and it hasn't been working. Since we both need help, why not help each other?"

"Sure!" Anne said. "Let's do this! Sammy, Megahorn!"

"Ivysaur, dodge!" Damien said as he and Ivysaur scrambled away from the charging Samurott. He wasn't expecting her to start right away, but that was an oversight on his part. "Now, use Seed Bomb!" Ivysaur shot the explosive seeds from his mouth, hitting Sammy on the side.

"Sammy, use Razor Shell!" Anne shouted. He drew one of his swords from its sheath, the blade glowing blue with water-type energy.

"Ivysaur, let's try Razor Leaf!" Damien said. "You remember Roserade right? Try and copy what she did!" Damien saw Ivysaur hunker down to concentrate power. He watched as Ivysaur's leaves started glowing a faint green color. Then Ivysaur thrust himself forward, but nothing happened. No leaves. Not even a puff of smoke or anything. Sammy had waited patiently for Ivysaur to start, but now that Ivysaur was done he was wide open. He brought his blade down.

"Catch it!" Damien shouted. Vines sprouted from Ivysaur, wrapping around Sammy's wrist, stopping the blade.

"Keep pushing!" Damien and Anne both said. Damien could see Ivysaur struggling to hold the blade in place. Sammy was simply stronger.

"Come on Ivysaur!" Damien called.

"Grab your other blade Sammy!" Anne called. Damien cursed. He'd forgotten that Anne had Sammy learn how to dual wield Razor Shells. Sammy reached into his other sheath and pulled out the second blade.

"Grab that one too!" Damien said. Ivysaur moved one of his vines to the other blade.

"Saur…" Ivysaur grunted out. He was clearly struggling.

"Come on, beat him back!" Damien said.

"Saur..!" Ivysaur said. "SAUR!" Then he started glowing white. Ivysaur grew bigger, his body widening to a larger base, the flower sprouting and growing tall, the petals opening up. When the glow faded, Ivysaur was now a Venusaur. "Venusaur!" He pushed the blades aside, causing one to fall into the water and the other to embed itself into the sand. Damien scrambled to get out his Pokedex.

"Venusaur, the Seed Pokemon, and the evolved form of Ivysaur. There is a large flower on Venusaur's back. The flower is said to take on vivid colors if it gets plenty of nutrition and sunlight. The flower's aroma soothes the emotions of people."

"Oh my Arceus." Damien said. "You evolved!"

"Saur!" Venusaur roared.

"Sammy, grab your blades!" Anne said. Sammy went over to the blade in the sand, but Venusaur shot out a vine before he could get there, tossing his blade into the water. Sammy then dived into the water to retrieve them, coming up with both of them unsheathed.

"Use Megahorn, but with your blades!" Anne called. "One with Razor Shell, the other with Megahorn!" The blade on the left glowed blue with Razor shell, and the one on the right glowed a yellowish-green.

"Well." Damien said. "Looks like Sammy got Megahorn down. So that means we'll have to go first! Razor Leaf!" Venusaur stood firm, and sent out a floral barrage onto Sammy. But it was weird, because instead of the green from Razor Leaf, this attack was pink. Like flower petals.

"Guard!" Anne said, Sammy crossed his blades, Megahorn up front, and the attack pushed him back.

Damien got out his Pokedex again to scan the move. Petal Dance. The user sends out a barrage of petals to attack the target for a while. After it ends, the user becomes confused. The user cannot be switched out while using the move. Damien looked back to the battle. Sammy was still guarding, but some of the petals were breaching his defenses.

"Venusaur, keep it up!" Damien said.

"Use Surf! Anne called. Sammy roared out, the nearby water rising in a wave to smash into Venusaur, stopping the attack. "Double Megahorn!" Sammy charged forward while Venusaur was recovering, slamming his blades right down onto Venusaur before jumping back, dealing major damage.

"Alright Venusaur, Petal Dance!" Damien said. Venusaur got up and shook himself. Then he fired off another Petal Dance. Unlike last time, which was essentially a wall of petals with no real coordination, this one was far more organized, the petals swirling around in a spiral to Sammy. Yeah, Sammy stood no chance. With that powerful of a super effective move used by a grass type? Sammy was knocked out.

"Sammy, return." Anne said.

"Venusaur, return." Damien said. He put his newly evolved friend's Pokeball around his neck.

"Damien, that was awesome!" Anne said. "Venusaur evolved and then shoom! with the petals and grr! with the vines and it was pretty amazing! And Sammy learning Megahorn through his blades, I mean yeah I told him to do that but he did it on his own, OH! I have gifts!" She ran over to her bag and pulled out some things. "Here! Ball capsules and ball seals. I got them in Alola, for that exotic tropical vibe. I wasn't planning on using them, but since you're in contests you can have them!"

"Did you get anyone else gifts?" Damien asked, taking them into his hands.

"Shoot!" Anne said. "I forgot to give Karek his!" She ran off back to her bag. Damien walked back up to the tables, grabbing his lemonade that he hadn't gotten to drink yet.

"Well that was chaotic." Thomas said. "New moves and evolutions, oh my."

"It's Anne we're talking about." Damien said. "Karek may be fast but at least he makes sense. Anne is very different. She gets so excited that she can barely form sentences."

"That's just Anne." Thomas said. "And the excitement is warranted. She beat a trial in Alola. Those are apparently quite difficult. Congratulations on Venusaur, by the way. And him learning Petal Dance. I know it wasn't the move you intended for him to learn, but still."

"It can serve a similar purpose." Damien said. "I just needed something a little more appealing than Seed Bomb."

"For contests?" Thomas asked and Damien nodded.

"Where's everyone else, by the way?" Damien asked.

"Out getting extra things." Thomas answered. "They should be back pretty soon."

"Karek dragged me out here saying we were going to be late and no one is even here?" Damien asked.

"Well, they were here, and now they're not." Thomas said.

"We're back!" A voice said coming from the forest. Mike walked in with Crystal, Sebastian, Pamira, Felix, Jack, Katie, and Crystal. All of them were carrying bags.

"Did you have to grab so much?" Thomas asked. "We were just going to have some beverages and a tablecloth. That's it. Why do you have food?"

"Because food is good." Sebastian said., setting his bags on the table. He had at least three times as many bags as everyone else. "We also brought more tables. And chairs."

"What did Anne get all of you?" Damien asked.

"She got me some Quick Balls." Sebastian said.

"Maybe you'll be able to catch a Pokemon." Katie told him.

"Hey!" Sebastian complained. "I try, okay? Besides, you only got some stupid Dusk Stone."

"I got a nice pair of sweatpants." Felix said.

"Anne got me a charm bracelet." Crystal said, showing it to him.

"Everyone got something small, what'd you get?" Mike asked.

"I got some ball capsules and ball seals."

"Yeah, they're super cheap in Alola!" Anne said, coming up to them. "What'd you get?"

"Some chocolate, bags of chips, cookies, sodas, and Sebs has stuff for actual food." Crystal said.

"We're gonna have pulled pork." Sebastian said. "I just need to heat it up. I had a bunch of leftovers from a family gathering last week, so I figured why not. Bought some buns, some barbeque sauce, and Pamira made coleslaw. Never buy store bought. It always sucks."

"Here it is!" Pamira said, holding up a glass bowl.

"How much did you guys do?" Damien asked.

"A dumb amount." Thomas grumbled. "It was supposed to just be hanging out. Did Mike make you do this? He loves parties."

"I am hurt that you would suggest such a thing!" Mike said, putting his hand to his chest. "Even if you're right."

"Yeah, Mike wanted to do more." Crystal said. "We figured why not. I mean, there's a lot to celebrate."

"Hey, didn't Anne have a friend with her?" Damien asked. "Wasn't she bringing him over?"

"Dylan?" Katie asked. "Yeah, he's currently with Anne. He's super shy." She pointed to a guy hanging around Katie. He was average height, but he looked to be trying to hide behind Anne. Which wasn't working well, since she was shorter than he was by a few inches. He had electric blue hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a blue shirt and black shorts. A Gabite was standing next to him. Damien pulled out his pokedex once more.

"Gabite, the Cave Pokemon, and the evolved form of Gible. It habitually digs up and hoards gems in its nest. Its loot is constantly targeted by thieves."

"So, how are the two related?" Damien asked. "Karek said that they were family."

"Cousins." Sebastian said. "But Anne won't say much more. I imagine that they didn't exactly know about each other."

"Was his starter that Gabite?" Damien asked. "It seems like a weird starter."

"My starter is Skarmory." Thomas pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but it's still weird. Gabite is a bit too powerful to just hand out to beginner trainers." Damien said.

"Maybe he didn't get started for a while." Sebastian said. "And who knows, maybe he just recently caught that Gabite and it just so happens to prefer being out of its Pokeball. I know your Ivysaur prefers it."

"True, but he's a Venusaur now." Damien said. "He evolved just before you all got here."

"Wait, seriously?" Sebastian asked."That's great!"

"If you want to know about him you could also just talk to him instead of standing here like a bunch of weirdos." Katie said. They all stayed quiet. "Just go talk to him."

"Alright." Damien said, walking forward to meet the new guy.

And so we now have Dylan added to this story! Given that he's such a new character in the world and also just in general, I have yet to decide on what he's going to do. But we had a team change!

Venusaur

Trainer: Damien Soulcaster

Ability: Chlorophyll

Level: 32

Moves: Seed Bomb, Poison Powder, Petal Dance, Take Down