~{Postwick, Victor's Home- 11:12 AM}~

4-year old Victor sat on a table across from his mother with a rather curious stare. The house they were in was now filled to the brim with new furniture. They were all basic things, such as a new blue carpet and a mattress with some blankets for Victor's room, a new blue couch with a coffee table in the living room, and even the new wooden table that he was sitting at with his mother in the kitchen.

Obtaining this furniture was all thanks to none other than Hop's family. They said that their son, Leon, had recently become champion of the Galar region and had been sending them tons of money from his winnings. Since the family of a rural setting didn't know what to do with this mone, they decided to use it to help this new family move in.

When Hop's family had visited Victor's new house and saw the emptiness, they wondered what happened. Then Victor's mother had to explain to them vaguely that they had suddenly run away from their previous home and in search of a new life to live. They were surprisingly very kind and understanding, even offering any type of help whatsoever to help them adjust in the future.

At the same time, Hop and Gloria immediately started to get along with Victor. They all had the same enthusiasm for pokemon and found it easy to talk to each other. Hop was even okay with lending Victor more of his clothes and letting him keep his favorite gray beanie that the boy was already wearing. The family wished for Victor and his mother to meet Leon, but the woman refused with a claim that for now, Victor should interact with as few people as he could, as much as she wanted to let him out. When asked why, she responded that there had to be many things sorted out with her child.

Speaking of which, the woman in question sat across from Victor with a rather serious stare. She was cleaner and had gotten new clothes. She wore a set over light blue overalls, what looked like a white dress shirt underneath, and wore white gardening boots with a flower design on it.

The two of them were alone in their house with the addition of the Munchlax sleeping on the couch. The only sound that rang in the house was the constant ticking of a new clock beside Victor's plain bed in the next room.

"Victor... Do you know why I told you to sit down?" His mother asked him.

"Because I wanna go outside?" Victor answered, rather sad.

"Yes... Victor, I know that you want to go around and make friends, but you can't yet..."

"Am I sick, mama!?" Victor cried out.

"No, you're not." His mother reassured him. "I just never explained to you what happened to your body."

"Eh?" Victor looked curious.

"Listen, Victor... Do you remember where we were living before?"

"Um, you told me it was a 'lab'? Somewhere adults study and do tests?"

"Yes... But Victor, do you remember going into that capsule?"

"Capsule?" A question mark appeared over the boy's head.

"The bed inside the little machine that daddy told you to go inside?"

Victor looked down as he thought about it.

"Oh! Daddy told me that sleeping in it would make me into a special person!" He looked unsure of himself. "Did I do something wrong?"

His mother shook her head side to side. "No, you didn't, Victor. You did end up becoming that special person daddy said you'd be..."

"How?" Victor stared expectantly at her.

His mother took a deep breath.

"You have powers, Victor."

"Superpowers!?" Victor looked excited.

His mother spoke as Victor struggled to stay composed. "You could say that. You can use the same powers of pokemon."

The boy's excitement grew to new bounds; he got off his chair and started jumping on the floor.

"Like a pokemon!? Can I try them out?!"

"NO!"

His mother's outburst scared the boy to freeze in place, a look of worry in his brown eyes.

"Lax!" They heard a cry in the next room and discovered that Munchlax had gotten startled out of his sleep, fell off the couch, and had landed face first to the ground.

"Sorry..." Victor's mother sighed as she moved from her seat and crouched down on one knee to be one the same level as the boy.

She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Victor, you can't just go around using your powers. You may end up losing control and hurting yourself. Or maybe even others. Do you want that?"

"N-No..."

His mother tapped him on the head. "Then, first, you have to understand them. A person with pokemon powers isn't normal. It's never happened before. Or at least, that's what I know. So you can't tell anyone about these powers, or else people might come and take you away from me..."

"Yes, mama..."

They remained in momentary silence.

Then his mother sighed. "I don't want to scare you, Victor. But you have to understand."

"I-I get it..." Victor stared at her. "Is talking to pokemon also a power of mine?"

"Kind of. We had people who've studied pokemon all their lives give their knowledge of their languages. And I guess you could say we 'injected' this knowledge to you."

"So, I'm a big brain boy?" Victor asked as he pointed to himself.

"Heh, you were always a smart boy Victor. But we just made you able to understand pokemon, not make you smarter."

"So, I can't tell anyone that I can talk to pokemon either?"

She noticed the sad look in his eyes.

"Do you already want to tell someone?"

He nodded.

"...Is it those two other kids you met?"

He nodded again.

"Oh, Victor... You only just met those kids. Can you really trust them to keep a secret?"

"I can!" Victor confidently responded. "They're like me! They're nice and love pokemon as much as me!"

"But Victor..." His mother flinched when she saw his adorable, comedically watery eyes begging her.

"Don't make that face!" She thought as she trembled to the power of an adorably sad child.

"I wanna be closer friends with them..."

An arrow comedically pierced her heart.

"Alright! Alright! You can tell them! Just stop crying!" His mother comedically slammed a bunch of napkins on his face.

The napkins immediately fell to reveal Victor with sparkling eyes now.

"Really?!"

His mother got close again in all seriousness. "Yes, but only tell them that you can talk to pokemon! And you have to make sure they don't ever tell anyone even that."

"Thank you, mama!" Victor hugged his mother.

"I gotta make some defenses against those eyes... This might be a bad idea even to let him tell them. What's a mother to do?" His mother sighed as she returned the hug.

When he pulled away, he looked up rather curiously at her.

"When will I learn to use my powers, mama? Or how can I use them?"

His mother smiled and rustled his hair. "When you learn a lot about pokemon first."

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

"Hm?" Victor and his mom both turned to the door.

"Victor! Are you in there!?" A girl's Scottish accent rang from outside.

"I think that's Gloria!" Victor jumped excitedly. He turned to his mom with an expected sparkle of a smile.

She smiled back and walked over to the door, then pulling it open.

"Hello there-"

She froze when she saw Gloria, but instead of Hop, there was a happy sheep-looking pokemon about their height right beside the girl.

"Lookie here! Hop got a Wooloo!" Gloria smiled.

"Baaaaa!" The Wooloo cheerfully rang.

Both Victor and his mother looked left and right, searching for the mentioned boy.

"Um... Where is Hop?" Victor asked.

"Right here!" The Wooloo said.

"EH!?" They stared down the Wooloo's innocent face.

"Did it eat him!?"

Before anyone could answer, Hop's head popped out from the Wooloo's back.

"It's so fluffy!" Hop laughed.

Both Victor and his mother had blank faces.

As they all started to laugh, two sets of eyes stared at them from afar. Within the Slumbering Weald forest that was beside Victor's house, two beings were staring at them from afar. One was a tall figure up high in the tall shadows of the trees. He was standing on a branch with its arms crossed and gazing uncaringly at the group ahead.

The other was the mythical white pokemon himself floating right beside him.

"Gre... Gre..." The figure grumbled.

"Yes... That is him right there." The god-like pokemon Arceus answered.

"Ninja."

"I need you to watch the boy in my stead while I solve other matters. If he ever shows malicious intent on harming other pokemon, then I permit you to strike him down."

"Gre, Gre, ninja?"

"I know you wouldn't unreasonably strike down just to leave. You're better than that."

"Ninja..."

"I know you do not belong here in this region. But you are the only one I can ask of this. You have nothing to do anyway."

The figure turned his back to Arceus.

"Gre... ninja..."

"Thank you. I leave it to you."

A large portal appeared behind Arceus, to which he went through, and it closed behind him.

The shadowy figure stared as Victor invited Hop and Gloria into his house.

"Hmph." He then vanished from his spot.


"Is this your Munchlax, Victor?" Gloria asked as she fed the sleepy pokemon a berry.

"No, after the house was cleaned, he just kind of hung around." Victor answered as he curiously gazed at the Munchlax, nibbling on a berry.

Hop was on the ground with his head comfortably lying against the Wooloo in bliss.

"Hop, how did you get the Wooloo?" Victor asked as he gently caressed the head of the sheep pokemon.

Hop grinned, "You should've seen it! It was the first time I had ever wrestled down a pokemon by hand! Then out of respect to me, it decided to become my pokemon!"

The Wooloo turned its head awkwardly back at Hop.

"Baaa..."

Victor turned to him too.

"He says that he was a gift to you from the grass type gym leader Milo."

"ACK!" Hop turned comedically black and white from being exposed.

"Wait, Victor! You understood it!?" Gloria moved inches in front of his face with an excited smile.

Victor somehow seemed unaffected by how close she was and just smiled back.

"Yeah, I kind of learned how to talk to pokemon."

His mother suspiciously leaned her chair back and peeked at him from the kitchen.

"How!? Can you teach me!?" Hop jumped off his Wooloo and took Victor's hand with stars around him.

"Um... I don't think I can. I don't remember how I learned." Victor honestly responded.

"Aw..." Hop looked somewhat disappointed.

"How can a person understand a pokemon, though? That isn't normal, is it?" Gloria asked him.

"I don't know. But I told you guys this because I trust you not to tell any adults." Victor showed his trust in the two of them.

Hop put on a salute stance, "Don't worry! My lips are sealed!"

"Same. But I want to see if you can actually talk to pokemon another time." Gloria laughed.

Seeing nothing serious exposed, Victor's mother smiled and went back to writing down a plan for Victor.

"Victor needs to learn everything he can about pokemon if he wants to understand his powers... From types of pokemon to the moves they can use. In addition, I have to understand the limitations of what he can do..."

She got up from her seat and heading into Victor's room.

"Hey, kids? Do you know anywhere where I can get any information about pokemon?"

Gloria immediately piped up. "I live right next to the pokemon research lab! You can learn anything about pokemon and the Galar region! I could show you where it is!"

"Thank you, Gloria." Victor's mother smiled.

"Let's all go together, Victor!" Hop grinned as he grabbed the boy by the hand and started pulling him up to his feet.

His mother's smile faded. "I'm sorry. Victor has to stay here."

Both Gloria and Hop were shocked while Victor just looked a little sad.

"Eh!? But why! We could show him around town!" Gloria pouted.

"Victor can't go outside... Not yet, anyway."

"You won't let him meet my brother, and you won't let him go outside?! That's mean!" Hop had his arms up with a pout of his own.

"How do I explain this to 4-year old kids?" Victor's mom sweatdropped.

"Mama has to teach me some things before I could go outside." Victor said with a small, yet sad smile.

"Eh? Teach you what?" Hop eagerly asked.

"About living in the outside world. It's dangerous, after all." Victor's mother made up.

"Eh? But when could he leave with us then?" Gloria asked with sad eyes.

"...That may be in a long time." The mother sadly smiled.


~{Postwick- 11:35PM}~

"Rooki! Dee!"

"Nggh..."

He felt something pecking his arm.

"Rooki!"

"Mm..." Victor slowly sat up in his Charizard designed pajamas and rubbed his eyes with a small yawn. "What...?"

He blinked multiple times so that his eyes adjusted to the dark of his house.

"Rooki!"

"Hm?" He turned next to him and found a Rookidee beside him. "How did you get in, little guy?"

"Rookidee!" The bird chirped.

"What? Do you need my help? But isn't it really late?"

"Rooki!"

"The forest? I can't go in there. Mama told me not too!"

"Rookidee!"

"Huh?" Victor's drowsiness seemed to fade and turned to worry when he heard the next thing from the bird. "Your friend is in trouble?"

The Rookidee nodded and flapped its wings to fly to the window, then perking itself onto the frame and chirping at Victor to hurry.

The boy slid out of his bed and slipped on his shoes and gray beanie with a determined look. He quietly crept to the door and opened it, then going outside into the darkness and closing it behind him.

The Rookidee flew in front of him to make sure he saw him before proceeding to fly into the Slumbering Weald.

Victor chased after him while ignoring the chilly night air, his breath visible as he moved through the fog of the forest. After nearly a minute of chasing the Rookidee, then pokemon perched itself on top of a large tree that showed signs of recently falling over.

"Rookidee!"

Victor glanced down at the tree, and his eyes widened to find out of anything, a larger and pinker squirrel pokemon stuck under it.

"Gree...dent..." The pokemon grunted as it desperately tried to push the tree up in order to keep himself from getting crushed.

"The tree is pushing him down!?"

"Rooki!" The Rookidee rushed.

"I know! B-But, what can I even do!?"

The Greedent showed signs of losing its strength, the tree lowering on him.

"Gree!" The Greedent grunted.

Victor did the first thing that came to mind and rushed by the Greedent's side. He bent down under the tree and put his palms under the trunk, then pushing as hard as he could.

"Nnnnnngh!" Victor grunted as he desperately kept pushing and pushing up.

The tree visibly showed signs of being raised.

Victor didn't notice this as he just kept pushing with his eyes closed. But sure enough, with the Greedent pushing with the surprising additional strength from the four-year-old, the two of them were able to just barely able roll the tree off to the side.

The moment they did, Victor fell to the ground panting hard and feeling his arms ache.

"Did... *huff* we do...*pant* it?"

The Greedent got back to its feet and cheered. "Greedent!"

"Rookidee!" The Rookidee happily flapped around its saved friend.

The big squirrel pokemon turned and glanced down at Victor.

"Gree!"

"Um... I don't think I did much *huff*, but you're welcome..." Victor panted.

The Greedent noticed how worn out the boy seemed to be by just that, then reaching down and picking him up.

"Gree."

"Take me home? Thank you..."

"Rooki!" The Rookidee started flying ahead to lead them out of the forest with Greedent following him on two legs rather clumsy.

"Greedent! Gree!"

"I... really did help lift the tree? But I'm not that strong... Am I?" Victor yawned.

As they left, someone watched them from another tree. It stepped into the light of the branch, revealing a frog-like ninja pokemon. But this pokemon's body was colored black with a redder tongue than the usual blue frame and pink tongue.

"Greninja..." It whispered curiously.


~{Next Day: 10:35 AM}~

"Alright, Victor! Here are the books you're going to study!" His mother said proudly as she slammed a pile of books onto the table.

"But I don't like reading!" Victor whined.

"Hey! You want to go outside, don't you? The faster you learn about pokemon, the faster the time will come to leave."

"Yes, mama!" Victor saluted immediately.

There were several books in front of Victor that had to do with pokemon types, pokemon habitats, the Galar region's pokemon, and even the pokemon of other regions.

"First, let's start with the types of pokemon! There are 18 types of pokemon total, each with their strengths and weaknesses against other typings!"

Victor flipped through the books and wrote stuff down as his mother lectured him.

As they studied, the Greninja was peeking in through the kitchen window and watched as the boy scribble down notes. This was rather odd of a four-year-old boy, and the pokemon let his curiosity get the best of him.

After observing him yesterday, he understood what Arceus meant when describing the unique boy and his possible abilities. But what had him more curious was his willingness to go out in the middle of the night to help a pokemon he didn't even know. Especially when Victor had helped push up the tree, most likely, he would've been crushed. After all, one would typically think that a four-year-old boy wouldn't be strong enough even to help lift up a tree. Victor himself should've known that, yet he committed to helping in the very end and seemed to get lucky that he had some sort of boosted strength to lift the tree barely.

"What's super effective against rock, other than water!" Victor's mom pointed at him with a book.

"Rock!" Victor answered confidently.

A thrown eraser comedically hit him on the head and knocked him back, even surprising Greninja.

"Wrong!" His mother snapped.

Victor got up from the ground with comedic tears and a red bump on his head.

"B-But if two rocks hit each other, then wouldn't both break apart!?"

"..." Victor's mom looked up in curious thought. "You know... I guess that would make sense." But she pointed another book at him. "But still wrong!"

Greninja sweatdropped. This kid had a tough road ahead.

He watched him closely every day. He would either be studying, or play with his three friends, Hop, Gloria, and the Wooloo. But in the night time was when things got interesting.

Ever since Victor had gone out and saved Greedent, news of his ability to understand pokemon spread within the wildlife. This resulted in more pokemon coming nearly every night to ask him for assistance in something.

Whether it was Rookidees or Skwovets, there was always at least one that scurried into his house and woke the boy up for help. From helping them collect food to helping move stuff around, the boy always complied with a big smile and showed no sign of reluctance or discomfort to the pokemon. Even if the tasks were somewhat dangerous, such as helping end a fight between two pokemon, he still never backed out to help.

But the boy never left his house other than when he went into the forest. He was never able to go out and explore the town due to his mother cautiously making him stay indoors.

Despite this, he was always cheerful. Especially when his only two human friends came over and excitingly talked about whatever they could find a conversation about. Hop had even shown Victor his brother Leon and how he became the champion of Galar. Something, they even helped to teach Victor some things about pokemon too.

He watched the boy day after day. He watched when Victor memorized every type of pokemon including the strengths and weaknesses, he watched when Hop and Gloria would argue about which of them would become champion in the future while Victor just laughed, and he watched when the boy would study late at night until another pokemon would come to ask for help.

Even when his birthday came, he watched.

They were all at Victor's house. His mother, Hop, Gloria, and even their parents. They were at the kitchen table as Victor excitedly stared at the birthday cake in front of him.

After he had blown the candles, Hop immediately proceeded to ask:

"What'd you wish for? Huh?!"

Victor grinned at him.

"I wanna go and travel Galar!"

"..." Everyone turned to his mother with a blank stare.

"Jiiiiiiiii..."

"Wh-What? Oh, come on! It's not like I want to keep him inside! H-He's just not ready!"

"I know that." Victor cheerfully answered. "I know that one day, I'll be able to leave, but this is still the only wish I have! I know mama only wants me to be ready."

"Oh Victor, what did I do to deserve a son like you?" His mother thought while comedically crying in bliss.

But Greninja knew that there was still so much time left for the boy.

The next year came by when Victor had memorized much more than just pokemon typings. He had studied many of the pokemon of the Galar region, pokemon outside of the region, pokemon moves, and even the habitats of pokemon.

That was when something new about him was explained by his mother.

Both he and his mother sat across from each other on the kitchen table, where his mother looked rather serious again.

"Victor, you've made a lot of progress ever since you started to study. So... I think you're ready to start trying to use some of your powers. Or learn to understand what you can do at least."

"Really!?" Victor smiled excitingly.

"Yes... But tell me, have you ever showed any signs of using any powers before?"

Victor thought about it.

"No, mama... I never really did."

"Well, that somewhat makes sense. You weren't able to bring out your powers at such a young age because your body hasn't developed enough strength or power to actually use any pokemon moves. But now that you're 5... You may be able to bring out an eensy weensy bit of power."

Victor had a blank look on his face. "Mama, if I couldn't use powers last year, then why didn't you let me go out to play?"

"You were still able to use powers, just not on your own terms. So I didn't want you suddenly doing something by accident."

"Okay then..." Victor pouted at the thought that he could've gone somewhere without worrying too much about doing something terrible.

"Now, first, I would like to explain how strong you are, Victor." His mother stood up and took a book, then flipping to a specific page. "Our lab modified your DNA-"

"DNA?" Victor looked confused.

"Er..." She forgot that she hadn't taught him actual science a normal kid should receive. "It looks like I need to teach you a lot more... DNA is um... It's a thingy that makes you... 'you.' It's what makes up a person, the information for a person basically."

Three question marks appeared over Victor's head.

"I'll explain it more later! Just know that it's what makes a person!"

"Okay?" Victor tilted his head.

She then showed him the page of a certain pokemon.

"A Slaking!" Victor smiled.

"Good on you to remember. But this Slaking is important because you're meant to be as strong as it."

Victor blinked. "Eh?"

His mother adjusted her glasses. "When studying Slaking, we discovered that as an ape of the sort, he's actually related to humans. We evolved from them, after all. So using this knowledge, we were able to combine a part of a Slaking's DNA to you without causing any dangerous mutations or causing any damage to your body. So now you have to potential to be as powerful as a Slaking itself."

Victor had steam from his head and swirly eyes as he processed this.

"U-Um... S-So I'm gonna turn into a Slaking!?"

"No, you could become as powerful as a Slaking, but you won't become one."

Victor remembered when he raised the tree up with the Greedent a year ago.

"So I was stronger even there because of how strong a Slaking was? The tree still felt really heavy, though..."

Right outside, the Greninja narrowed its eyes as it learned more about Victor.

His mother flipped to the next page of her book and showed the Slaking's stats.

"All of your abilities will be enhanced based on a Slaking. Your physical strength will be increased, you'll be faster, and be able to take attacks from pokemon more than any normal person. But like it shows here, Slaking isn't that strong against special attacks, so you won't have much of a better defense against those."

She noticed Victor frantically struggling to write this down and understand, giving him a moment to catch up.

"I think I get it, mama... But some of these words are making my head hurt..."

"Just write everything down and review it later to fully understand it." His mother closed the book. "In addition to Slaking's DNA, we were able to change your body so that it would be able to adjust to any type of pokemon attack you want to use. So if you use a fire type move, your body won't burn, and if you use a poison type move, you won't be poisoned. You're even going to be able to use special attacks."

"Really? How many moves can I use?"

"Excellent question!" His mother's glasses reflected the sunlight as she stood up from her seat. "My team had intended for you to be able to use any pokemon attack!"

"Any move!?" Victor was thrilled.

"Well, it was intended for you to be able to use any pokemon attack. But there were some obvious complications that hindered your potential..."

"She keeps using big grown-up words!" Victor thought as he wrote down what she said to search up definitions later.

"There are many moves that your body literally can't do. Such as Fly, because you don't have wings, and Dig, because you don't have claws or anything to dig fast enough. We also believe that you can't use any legendary moves because the power would be too great for you to be able to replicate."

"But other than that, I can use any move?"

"Provided that you know how to perform the move, you practice it, and your body is actually able to perform it, then yes." She looked down into her book as she continued to speak.

"But this is also a reason why it's dangerous for you Victor. You could end up unconsciously bring out a move based on emotion. Just like when we were at the laband you teleported us out. You thought about how much you wanted to be outside in the flowers and the move Teleport fit what you wanted to do, to get out. Which is why it's important for you to learn to control your powers! Because if you let out a powerful and dangerous move based on your emotions, you may end up hurting someone without meaning too."

"But I can learn so many moves!" Victor stared down in his hands thinking of all the possibilities.

"Yes, but HOWEVER!"

Victor flinched.

His mother took off her glasses and stared at her son with the most serious of glares.

"Even with the added stats of a pokemon, you're still human Victor... You still take more damage than a pokemon would when getting hit by an attack. The added defenses of a Slaking will only allow you to take maybe a few more attacks from a pokemon... If any at all based on the attack, so don't think you're invincible."

"In...vincible?" Victor repeated.

"Fighting a pokemon is dangerous Victor... So try not to ever do it. You can't heal easily in a pokemon center like any injured pokemon, even if a part of a pokemon's DNA is in you... You can't heal injuries with potions like pokemon... Your injuries will be more serious."

Victor stared down at his hands in a look of worry.

"Mama... Don't you think you told me this kind of fast? I don't even know some of the words you said..."

His moved just waved a book at him. "Hey, you wrote everything down. Just search up the big words later with that phone Hop let you borrow."

"..." Greninja hearing all this new knowledge painted a good picture of how strong Victor could be. Even if he somehow had these abilities, fighting a strong pokemon would still be very dangerous for him as a human. His defenses wouldn't be as strong as a pokemon and the boy didn't even know how to effectively fight one.

So maybe he didn't have to worry too much about him doing anything terrible.

But for now, he still continued to watch him.


~{The Next Night- 10:59 PM}~

Victor had his lamp on as he finished reviewing the information his mother had told him, feeling more and more conflicted about the whole thing as he searched up the words his now five-year-old mind wasn't able to understand before when he first listened.

"To be able to grow stronger like a Slaking... So from what Mama said, as I grow older then I'll kind of level up to increase all my stats and get stronger... But I have to be extra careful if I ever fight a pokemon..."

"Skwo!"

Victor turned his head to a Rookidee flying to his bedside in a panicked manner.

"Hey buddy, do you need my help again?" He grinned as he gently rubbed the Rookidee's head.

"Rookidee! Dee!"

His smile faded as heard him.

Outside, Greninja narrowed his eyes as he heard what the pokemon said too.

Quickly putting on his shoes and a coat, Victor dashed as fast as he could into the forest with the Rookidee leading him more and more within.

Victor nervously turned his head as the trees seemed to get bigger the deeper he got into the forest. He had never gone too far when the pokemon had asked him for help. And now that he was heading farther into the forest, he realized that the fog actually seemed to be getting somewhat thicker.

But soon, he came to a somewhat surprisingly clear opening, only there was a large pokemon with its wings open for dominance as it glared down at another pokemon on the ground.

Victor's pupils shrunk in some fear as he saw the large bird-like pokemon.

"Th-That's a Corviknight!"

"Coooooooorv!" The raven Pokemon cawed.

On the ground in front of him was a significantly much small pokemon. It was only another small Skwovet in obvious pain.

"What happened!?" Victor asked the Rookidee that led him here.

"Rooki! Rooki!"

"What?" Victor noticed the pile of berries behind the Coviknight that the Rookidee was referring too. "He was only hungry and the Coviknight got angry because it tried to take one of its berries?!"

"Corv!" The Corviknight flapped its wings and its beak grew white as it attempted to drill its beak into the injured Skwovet, to which the squirrel pokemon only just managed to jump before the attack pierced the ground.

"Skwo!" It tumbled on the ground and shook in pain.

The Corviknight plucked its beak from the ground and glared at the Skwovet, intending on not missing the next time.

"Wait! Wait!" Victor rushed between the Skwovet and Corviknight and stuck his arms out as if not intending to let him pass. "He was only hungry! Do you really need to do this much to him?!"

The raven's pupils seemed to shrink in anger when it saw Victor.

"Corv..."

"Eh? Y-Yeah... I'm the boy who can understand pokemon... Am I famous?"

Corvknight moved its faced threateningly close to the small boy with a threatening glare.

"Corv!"

"B-But I can't just leave and let you hurt him! He's weaker than you! Why continue to bully him!?"

Corviknight back up and opened its large wings.

"COOOOORV!" Its cry echoed throughout the forest.

Victor's legs started shaking in place, but he formed a serious look.

"N-No! I won't move and let you hurt him!"

Hearing this, the Corviknight had enough and flapped its wings to raise itself off the ground, it's talons opening up menacingly.

"CORV!" It rushed forward with the intent to slash him.

Victor closed his eyes with tears.

"No!"

The Corviknight's body ended up colliding with a barrier of the sort that sent it clumsily flapping back before falling to the ground on it's back.

Hearing this, when Victor opened his eyes, he was stunned to a clear barrier in front of him.

"Th-This is... Protect? Did... Did I do it!? I used a pokemon move!?"

He had a big smile and turned back to the Skwovet that was getting comforted by the Rookidee, both looking stunned at him.

"Look! I did it! I use a pokemon move!"

"CORVIKNIGHT!"

Victor turned blue in fear as he heard the cry of rage.

"Uh oh."

When he turned back, the Corviknight flapped with its beak pointed directly forward and glowing white.

"That's Drill Peck!" Victor shivered.

The moment the large Pokemon's beak connected with the barrier of a 6-year old child, it instantly shattered.

"AH!" The force sent Victor tumbling back right next to the injured Skwovet with the Rookidee.

"Skwo!" "Rooki!" Both pokemon cried out in worry.

Victor wearily pushed himself up while covered in dirt.

"Nngh... Are you guys okay?"

"Skwo!"

"Behind me?" Victor turned around and saw the Corviknight already circling back.

"CORV!" Its beak shined white once again as it intended to pierce through whoever he connected to.

Victor's first instinct was to grab both the Skwovet and Rookidee while clamping his eyes shut, intending on using his own body to somehow shield them.

"Ninja!"

A water shuriken came from above in blinding speed, suddenly clipping the Corviknight on his beak. This sudden hit caused him to move off course to the right which resulted in his head hitting the ground and tumbling rather violently on the ground passed Victor.

The three of them covered their eyes as a lot of dust kicked up from Corviknight tumbling onto the ground until crashing into a tree to stop him.

Victor opened his eyes and turned to see parts of the ground dug into, showing the area where the raven pokemon had gone through.

"What... happened?"

The Corviknight was already getting up, although rather clumsily, and started shaking its head to shake off the dirt on it.

It then glanced up in to the trees, clearly pissed off.

"Corviknight!"

Victor turned to where he was looking and his eyes widened at a figure standing high up on a branch.

The long, tongue-like scarf, the professional and straight stance, the frog-like features, he knew what it was.

"A... Greninja?" Victor was in awe. It was indeed a Greninja, but not any kind of Greninja. It was one with black color instead of blue and a deeper red tongue rather than a usual pink one.

The Greninja even seemed to sparkle.

"What kind of Greninja is that!?"

"Ninja!"

"Corv!

"Gre, Gre, ninja!"

Victor ignored the conversation as his confused mind just processed the Greninja's presence.

"What's a Greninja doing here? I remember reading that they were supposed to be in Kalos?"

"Corviknight!" The large pokemon spread open its winds in a challenging stance.

"Ninja." The Greninja looked unamused as it stuck it's arms out and formed two water shurikens in each of its hands.

"CORV!" Corvinkight flapped upward and its wings suddenly started glowing with a somewhat metallic color.

"Steel Wing!" Knew just by seeing the move.

"Gre-" Greninja leaped off the tree branch and started rapidly spinning towards his incoming opponent. "-NINJA!"

He vanished and suddenly a visible slash came at the Corrviknight, causing a small explosion to occur in the air by the impact.

Victor had barely even saw what happened. But the next thing he knew, the Corviknight fell to the ground with swirling eyes, clearly unconscious.

"Cooooooorrrr..." It moaned.

A few yards away, the Greninja landed in a crouching manner with his back to the Corviknight, his water shurikens disappearing from him his hand.

"So cool!" Victor cried with sparkling eyes.

"Hmph..." Greninja stood up and peaked at Victor. He narrowed his eyes at him before turning around and starting to walk away.

"W-Wait!" Victor got up and started running towards the Greninja.

Greninja saw him coming from the corner of his eye and leaped up into a tree to get away from him.

"Wait, Mr. Greninja!" Victor called as he kept running deeper and deeper into the forest.

He kept chasing him even after the Greninja seemed to disappear into the forest. The fog had gotten thicker and Victor was getting tired, yet he aimlessly explored to try and find the pokemon that had saved him.

"Mr. Greninja! Please come back!" He shouted in the forest.

At one point, he tripped over a tree root.

"Ah!" He tumbled along the ground until stopping on his side.

It was at this point where the cold air of the night started to catch up to him. His breathing was more visible and he felt himself shivering.

"Please... Come back..."

He curled up into a little ball and closed his eyes, feeling his consciousness starting to fade away.

After about a minute of showing no movement, he jumped out from a tree and landed next to Victor.

"..." Greninja crouched down to the boy and saw him shivering.

"Ninja..." He sighed in irritation at the foolish boy that had tried to aimlessly find him.

He picked up the boy and carefully held him in his arms, then turning around and jumping into the trees.

As they left, the silhouettes of two wolve-like creatures watched from afar. Then getting enveloped into the fog.

He leaped majestically from branch to branch, surprising some flying pokemon by how fast he was jumping without showing any signs of stopping.

At one point, he heard Victor mumble.

"Pa...pa..."

The Greninja stopped on a branch and narrowed his eyes on the boy. In the time watching him, he had not once seen a father around. He wondered if his mother ever actually told him about his father anytime he wasn't watching him, but decided it didn't concern him.

He continued to jump until he made it out of the forest and caught view of Victor's house. He carefully sneaked to the home and managed to slip himself and Victor through the open kitchen window. From there, he just carried the boy to his bed and gently placed him down.

"..." He stared down at the boy's sleeping face, then moving the blankets to cover him up.

"Gre...ninja..." The pokemon sighed at the foolish boy that had nearly lost his life trying to protect two random pokemon. Even though he probably knew the worst would happen, he still tried to save them.

He turned around and started to take a few steps away.

But then...

"Gotcha!"

The Greninja flinched as he felt something wrap around his arm. He turned his head in shock to find Victor awake and clinging onto his arm with both his arms and legs wrapped around it.

"Greninja! Greninja!" The pokemon cried as it violently tried to shake Victor off of him, only to be surprised by the boy's hard grip.

"WAit! I wANna tALk tO YOu!" Victor said in a warbly voice from being shaken while speaking.

"Gre! Gre! Ninja!" Greninja stopped and warned him to stop shouting and shut up or his mother will wake up.

"It's okay! She won't ever wake up when she goes to sleep! She sleeps harder than a Snorlax!"

"Ninja!"

"No, if I let go, then you'll leave!"

"Greninja!" The pokemon was getting annoyed as it kept swinging its arm to fling Victor off.

PWEase, I wANNa aSK yOU sOMe quEStionS!"

Greninja stopped with cross-veins of irritation on his head.

"Greninja!"

"Why are you here in Galar!? Isn't your home in Kalos!?" Victor proceeded to ask first and ignoring the pokemon's demands to let go.

Greninja formed a Water Shuriken in his other hand and raised it up over Victor, threatening to swing onto him to scare the boy off.

Yet Victor just looked up at him with pleading eyes, showing no signs of moving off his arm.

His eye twitched as he knew that he really didn't wanna strike the child. Without too good of a reason that is.

"Gre..." He sighed in defeat, sitting down on the bed while Victor readjusted his hold on his arm.

Victor cheerfully smiled as he hugged the ninja's arm. "So why are you here Mr. Greninja? Did the big, white pokemon that the other pokemon told me about tell you to watch over me?"

Greninja was surprised at the boy's deduction.

"That's the only reason why I think you would be here, save me, and then try to leave as if you don't care."

Greninja's eye twitched. This kid was more aware than he looked.

"Ninja..."

"I knew it!" Victor seemed proud of himself, but then formed a curious gaze. "Hey , what's the big, white pokemon's name?"

"Gre, ninja?"

"No, mama and the other pokemon didn't tell me... They won't even tell me why they won't tell me."

"Ninja. Greninja."

"Eh?! Not you too!? Why does no one wanna tell me anything!?" Victor whined.

"Ninja!" He said in a serious tone.

"What? I shouldn't know? But why!?"

"Ninja..."

"But if I don't ask questions, then I won't get answers!" Victor pouted.

The Greninja tugged his arm to see if Victor's grip loosened, but obviously, it hadn't.

"Gre, ninja."

"...Do you really think I'll meet him?" Victor blinked.

Greninja nodded.

"I wanna meet the white pokemon too. Mama told me it took us here, and I'm really happy it did." Victor's grip tightened as he looked down in sadness. "The white lab scared me sometimes..."

Greninja's eyes squinted in suspicion by what he meant.

"Gre?"

"Hm? Well, the place didn't seem too bad. I always ate delicious food and got to play with many other kids." Victor formed a small smile.

"Ninja?"

"Yeah, there were others. But I don't really know what happened to them... Sometimes they looked sick and the doctors would take them to the 'special room'. But I never saw them again whenever they left..."

Greninja's eyes widened.

"There were a lot of us. A big number of 50!" Victor said in a proud manner from remembering.

But then his smile faded as he recalled more of the past. "But before mama took me out of the lab, I was the only one left..."

Greninja gazed away.

"..."

"..."

"Hey, ?"

Greninja reluctantly glanced down at Victor's sad expression.

"I'm... not gonna see them again... Am I?"

"..." Greninja shook his head.

"I thought so..." Victor cuddled against him as if for comfort.

They both remained in momentary silence.

Greninja felt Victor adjust himself on his arm. "Thank you for saving the little Skwovet and Rookidee..."

Greninja stared at the foolish boy who didn't even thank him for saving him too. He guessed that he only really thought about the other pokemon rather than himself.

"You were really cool. You took down that Corviknight in one attack. That was really amazing..."

"..."

Victor stared up with a hopeful look. "Do you think I can protect anyone? Just like how you do it?

Greninja narrowed his eyes in what seemed to be a glare.

"Ninja. Greninja."

"I-I don't really mean fighting against a pokemon myself. But if I was able to fight against that Corviknight... Then I would've. I wasn't just going to leave that Skwovet in trouble..."

Greninja stood up rather annoyed.

"Gre, Gre! Ninja!"

"Just catch pokemon to fight for me?"

"Ninja!"

Victor pouted. "I don't want to fight and catch pokemon like that! And I don't want to always trouble my pokemon to fight for me! I want to be able to fight my own battles! If my pokemon are in trouble, then who's gonna protect them?!"

Greninja's eyes widened at his claim.

Victor visibly shook.

"I-I wanna be a person that people and pokemon both can rely on..."

He glanced outside the window at the night sky.

"So many pokemon asked me for help because I'm the only one who can easily talk to them... I know that so many pokemon need help. I want to be able to help them as much as I can, just like helping normal people... I wanna leave home an be able to do that."

"..." Greninja stared at the boy in wonder. He honestly seemed like an idiot to him, but at the same time, the boy had a clear path of simply just helping whoever he wants. Even if he has to go up against pokemon to help pokemon.

But he knew the boy wouldn't be able to go up against them without proper help.

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Ninja..."

"Huh?" Victor looked up to him in shock, "You even listened to all the secrets Mama told me?"

Greninja nodded.

"Gre..." He turned his head away awkwardly. "Ninja..."

Victor blinked.

"What was that?"

"Gre, ninja." He repeated.

"You wanna teach me? Teach me what?"

"Greninja!" The pokemon spoke clearly in frustration.

Victor's eyes turned completely into stars as he had the biggest smile Greninja had ever seen.

"You're gonna teach me to fight?!"

Greninja nodded.

Victor let go of his arm and stood on his bed while flailing his arms and legs around to imitate ninja attacks.

"I'm gonna be like a ninja!? That's so cool! Am I going to be throwing shurikens!?"

He punched the air. "Will I jump high like you!?"

He swung his leg, but ended up falling off the bed.

"Ah-OOF!" He landed upside down on the floor.

"Ninja..." Greninja muttered.

"Eh!? Don't change your mind!" Victor got upright and looked up at him with adorable watery eyes.

The pokemon pointed down at him. "Ninja! Ninja!"

"O-Okay! I'll take it seriously!"

Greninja got off the bed and crouched down at the boy's level.

"Greninja. Greninja. Gre, gre. Ninja, gre, ninja."

Victor formed a serious and mature look for a child.

"I know it'll probably be hard... But I wanna do it!"

The Greninja pat the boy on the head. Then he stood up and started heading for the window, giving one last glance to Victor.

"Ninja."

He leaped out the window and disappeared in the night.

Victor smiled as he left, looking down into his hands.

"To fight like a Greninja..."

He hugged his pillow with a childish happy expression.

"So cool!"

~{The Next Day-11:11 AM}~

"You met a Greninja last night!?" Victor's mother cried out in shock.

"Yeah Mama, and I even used a pokemon move!"

His mother nearly fainted back into the chair of the kitchen table.

"Wh-What exactly happened Victor!?"

"Heehee, um... Promise me you won't be angry..." Victor asked with puppy eyes.

His mom had a blank stare on her.

"What did you do?"

He then proceeded to explain heading outside every single night in order to help out pokemon that needed him. Then he told her about the encounter with the Corviknight and the Greninja, before concluding on how the Greninja offered to teach him.

His mother was blue by the time he was done.

"Y-Y-You d-did this e-every night!?"

"I'm sorry Mama!" Victor apologized.

She rushed at him and started pulling on his cheeks angrily. "You could've gotten yourself hurt, or maybe even worse, killed! Do you know how dangerous those woods are!? Even Hop and Gloria's families say not to go in them!"

"B-Bwut I hwave to gwo in there ifth I wanna twain with Gweninja!" Victor spoke as his cheeks were pulled.

"Give me one good reason why I should allow you to go outside into the forest with a pokemon!?" She let go of his cheeks to let him speak.

Victor stared up at her with watery eyes.

"Because I wanna learn how to fight with my powers! You told me that it would be dangerous for me to fight pokemon even when I could use their moves, but what if I wanna protect pokemon rather than go fight them!? I wanna be able to save pokemon like a superhero! That's why every night I went to help them! Because they need help!"

Victor's mom was in stunned silence by that claim. She found herself unable to speak.

"Please let me train with Mr. Greninja, mama! I also want to protect you if any of those bad guys come for us again! I don't wanna lose you like papa!"

She felt her blood grow cold.

"So... He figured it out? He knew and still stayed strong..."

She gazed to the ground, shadows over her eyes.

"Victor... You said that you used a pokemon move... right? Which one was it again?"

"Um... It was Protect."

"And who were you protecting?"

"A Rookidee and a Skwovet from a Corviknight."

"How... How was it?"

Victor looked down in shame, "I'm sorry Mama... I know you didn't want me using moves from my feelings, but it just happened... I was scared. Not scared of me getting hurt, but scared of the pokemon getting hurt."

He heard his mother chuckle. "I should've expected that you'd bring something out just to protect a pokemon..." She lifted her head to reveal a loving smile to her son. "Victor... I honestly didn't know how I was going to teach you to use pokemon moves. I was kind of stalling by teaching you other things while I figured out what we could do... But do you think that this Greninja may actually be able to help teach you your powers?"

Victor formed an ear to ear grin. "Yes! I have pokemon powers, so wouldn't the best one to teach me to use them would be a pokemon?"

His mother held him close in a tight hug.

"Alright then... I'll trust you, Victor..."

Victor tightly held her back.

"Thank you, mama!"

Outside, Greninja listened in on them. But rather than standing up, he was sitting with his back against the wall.

"Ninja..." He rubbed his head and sighed, wondering what he got himself into.