~{Author's Pre-Notes}~

Thank you for the feedback that I've gotten so far. I realized that the pokemon fanfic community may not have been as big as I thought it would be, so every little comment helps me feel better about writing this. I also realize that doesn't really have a way to reply to comments other than direct messaging, but I wanted to reply to feedback where others could see so that I could answer questions that more than one person may have or inform others of something based on a statement of any comment.

So I guess from here on out, I'll be posting replies to some comments up here in the pre-notes before the readings:

InkBoyJay: Actually, mixing the gyms seems like a great idea. I'm not really writing to match either one of the Sword or Shield games, so the fic will just have all pokemon in it whether they appear in only one of the games. So I think I am gonna replace Gordie's gym with ice mom Melody, while keeping Bea's gym because, hell yeah!

TheUzigunner: I really enjoy the long pieces of feedback you gave that covered several things that I was worried about for the fic. Such as the pacing and character connections. I'm also really glad that you're enjoying the fic and hope to hear a lot more feedback from you!


Something was rubbing against his cheek.

"Nngh..." Victor groaned as each of his senses started to return one by one.

He felt the soft fur of a pokemon rubbing his cheek.

He could smell a mixture of the grass and soil with his face so close to the ground.

He heard multiple voices calling out to him, including the worried squeals of his own pokemon.

He could even taste some of the dirt that had gone to his mouth.

"GROSS!" Victor shot up completely awake and started spitting the soil out of his mouth.

"Victor!" Hop and Gloria both shouted as they helped pull the boy to his feet.

"Scor! Scor!" Scorebunny hopped up onto his partner's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek against his while Victor spat the last bit of dirt from his mouth.

"Gross, gross, gross! Ugh..." Victor coughed in disgust.

"You're alive!" Hop and Gloria both hugged each side of him in a tight embrace.

But Victor felt his back ache.

"Ow, ow! Hold on!"

Both humans backed up in worry.

"What is it!?" Hop was the first to ask.

"Ugh! My back!" Victor winced as he put a hand upon it. "I think I rammed into a tree..."

Gloria immediately went behind Victor and pulled the back of his shirt up, catching sight of a large red bruise on his back.

She let out a breath of relief. "It ain't too bad. It should be fine later."

"Right..." Victor didn't sound so convinced but decided to hold that matter as he noticed his surroundings. "Did... Did the fog get clearer?"

"Yeah, it was so thick before I passed out." Hop ashamedly admitted.

"Guys. I need a favor from you both. Don't tell my mom any of this. If she figures out that I got hurt from a pokemon, who knows when she'll ever let me out of the house again." Victor said with a serious gaze.

"We won't say anything." Gloria reassured him, "But what was that? Those were two pokemon I've never seen before."

"I don't know either, and I've been studying them a lot too..." Victor said in frustration of knowing that there were still pokemon he had no knowledge about.

"Scor! Bun!" Ace whined.

"I'm fine, Ace. Don't worry." Victor smiled at his partner.

"Guys!" Someone shouted.

They all turned their heads and saw Leon running towards them.

"Lee!? How the hell did you and your sense of directions find us!?" Hop asked in astonishment.

"I see you're still cracking jokes even though I've been worried sick!" Leon shouted as he arrived at the group and put his hands on his hips. "I was waiting for you guys for ages, but you didn't show up!"

"How long were we out?" Victor wondered as he rubbed his head.

"We came to look for a missing Wooloo that came in here. Speaking of which, we never found it!" Gloria realized in horror.

Leon gave her a reassuring smile as he moved out of the way to reveal his Charizard watching over Wooloo.

Seeing the Wooloo there, Victor developed several cross-veins of irritation in his head and formed a forced smile.

"Glad to see it's safe." He strained.

He then started walking to it while cracking his knuckles.

"Now, let me have a word with it."

The Wooloo turned blue and had a dreaded look of fear on its face.

"B-B-Baaaa! Baaa!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy now!" Hop, Leon, and Gloria all pulled Victor back, although they were shocked at how strong the boy was at pulling all three of them forward.

"Weren't ya the one telling me not to hit a pokemon because we should be friends with them!?" Gloria said to him.

"You still gotta scold them before you become friends." Victor said with a twitching eye.

"Baaaa! B-Baaa!" Wooloo cried out.

"Huh?" Victor's anger subsided immediately, and he formed a look of confusion.

"It was told to lead us here?"

"By who!?" Victor snapped.

"B-Baaa!"

"What do you mean you can't say!?"

Leon rushed in front of Victor and reassuringly smiled at him.

"Now, now. I know you might be a bit mad at Wooloo, but you're all fine!"

Victor narrowed his eyes at the Wooloo and used his fingers to point from his eyes to the Wooloo to know that he was watching him.

Leon then noticed the small stains on the kid's clothing and skin.

"What happened to you all?"

Hop spoke out for all of them. "There were two big, mad pokemon here that came out and attacked us! Then they created so much fog that we couldn't stay awake! It was really scary!"

"Mad... pokemon? What are you talking about?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"These pokemon were nothin like ya saw before! Its presence was enough to make ya shake in ya boots!" Gloria added.

"Ace's attacks didn't even faze them..." Victor finished.

"None of your attacks worked? Well... I did hear rumors that the terrifying pokemon here in the Slumbering Weald can act like allusions, so maybe it was the fog messing with your heads?"

He patted Hop and Victor on their shoulders and gave them smiles, "Get stronger, and maybe you can come back and figure it out. But for now, let's get out of here. You guys will be fine now that I'm here with you."

"Okay..." Victor grumbled, thinking that Leon didn't believe them.

As the group headed out of the forest, Victor looked back and saw a faint silhouette of a tall figure in the trees.

He smiled at it as he saw it's made out the familiar frog-shaped features.


~{Outside Victor's Residence-A Few Minutes Later}~

"Are you sure you're all okay to go down to the lab?" Leon asked the group.

"We're fine, Lee! We didn't get hurt at all!" Hop confidently responded.

"Don't tell me he already forgot about my back?" Victor deadpanned.

Leon glanced at Victor and Gloria. "What about you two? Are you guys gonna be alright?"

Gloria grinned while holding a fist up, "We're fine, Lee! Now that you healed our pokemon, Bubbles and I are ready for anything!"

Victor formed a smile, "I'm good too, Leon. I Just..." He gazed back to his own house. "Gotta make sure of something."

Hop and Gloria both looked like they knew what Victor meant. Would his mother be alright with him leaving to explore the region? They all had thoughts about becoming champion, so it would be heartbreaking if Victor wasn't allowed to go.

Victor turned back to them with another reassuring smile. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet you over there."

"Are ya sure you ain't gonna need my help to convince your mum to let you travel? She loves me after all." Gloria said.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Victor convinced them.

"Alright, then. I'll see you there!" Leon suddenly turned around and bolted down the path, making his way towards the Pokemon Research Lab.

"Huh?! Lee! You're gonna get lost! Hold on!" Hop shouted as he ran after his brother.

"Those idiots..." Gloria sighed. She turned around and gave Victor one last, sweet smile. "She'll let you go. I know it." She said before running off to follow the two males.

Victor watched as the three of them ran along the path.

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace jumped up and down to get his attention.

"You're right. Let's go."

With that, the two of them went up to their front door.

Victor opened the door, "Mom, I'm- SENSEI!?"

Victor's eyes bulged as he saw Greninja sitting casually at the kitchen table, holding a mug of what seemed to be coffee.

"Gre. Greninja."

"Don't 'oh, you're back' me! What are you doing in here!? You've never once gone into my house ever since you took me back when I was younger!" Victor snapped.

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace cheerfully ran over and jumped onto the table. He hopped in place out of excitement to see this pokemon again.

Greninja reached over, and pat the small bunny on the head as Victor's mother came out.

"Oh! Victor, you're back! Look who decided to join us! I honestly never thought that I'd meet your trainer. He's such a gentleman and even helped me cook lunch!" His mother clapped cheerfully.

Victor stared at Greninja with an eyebrow raised. "You know how to cook?"

"...Ninja."

"Hobby, huh?" Victor narrowed his eyes. "But anyway... Why did you decide until now to visit my house?"

Greninja put on a stern gaze as he put his cup down.

"Gre... Ninja..."

Victor blinked in surprise. "You're... wishing me goodbye?"

His mother put on a sad smile. "You're gonna be leaving, aren't you?"

The boy was somewhat caught off guard by this.

"Um... Yeah. I was actually gonna tell you that... I wanted to travel to become the champion of Galar."

"The champion!? I knew you were gonna travel, but you're gonna try to be the champion!?" His mother cried out in shock.

Victor nodded. "I was gonna ask you if it was finally okay for me to go out for that reason..."

His mother sighed, "Victor, you showed me that I can't always worry about you. You can take care of yourself. A lot more than others actually due to your powers. But now that I'm hearing that you're aiming to become the champion... What if this causes people to come to find you? You'll be broadcasted on live television all over the world in just the opening ceremony! So what if they finally figure out that you're here..."

"It's okay, mom!" Victor quickly tried to reassure her so that she didn't change her mind. "I'm not the kid I was back then! I'm stronger! I can fight for myself! And while taking the challenge, I'll have and even make friends that'll support me!"

"But what if those people that we're supposed to be hiding from suddenly expose your powers out there in front of everyone!?" His mother argued. His mother argued.

"They wouldn't do that." Victor said with a serious face. "They need their operations to be silent and kept away from the public. You told me that the people who made me into what I am were trying to make armies of people like me to take over everything. If they reveal to everyone that I have powers, then it'll just make things harder for them to get me back."

"But that means you know that by doing this, they'll definitely come after you."

"Then I'll fight them off." Victor declared. "I may do more than that, I may finally be able to make them stop hunting us."

Greninja stood up from the table and walked over to Victor's mother before placing a hand on her.

"Gren... Ninja. Gren, Greninja."

Victor opened his mouth, "He said-"

"That you can do it... right?" His mother interrupted with a small smile.

He was shocked that she knew what his Sensei said.

"I could feel Greninja's confidence in you... He really must've made you strong if he believes that you can even deal with anyone that comes your way."

"So..." Victor stared anxiously at her.

"You can go, Victor."

"YES!" Victor jumped with his hands in the air.

"IF you call me every single night of your travels!"

Victor flinched and turned to her with a look, basically asking if she was serious.

"Well?" His mother asked with her arms crossed and a small pout.

"...Yes, mom." Victor said with an awkward smile.

"I'm gonna forget a few times... I just know it."

Greninja seemed to form a smile behind his tongue as he walked back to Victor.

"Ninja. Greninja."

Victor smiled.

"I'll leave my mom to you... Protect her from anything, please."

Greninja nodded, then reaching out his hand for a handshake from Victor.

Instead, Victor rushed forward and tightly wrapped his arms around Greninja.

"Gren!?" Greninja was caught off guard as he felt the kid's unnatural strength tightly hold him.

"Thank you... Thank you for everything... Including helping to make sure that we were okay in the forest."

Victor turned his head to his mom with an emotional smile, "Thank you both."

Ace smiled at the sight, while Greninja looked somewhat awkward, but managed to return the hug.


~{Outside: 12:21 PM}~

Victor crossed the small stone bridge as he counted the decent amount of poke dollars his mother had given him.

"It seems we're finally on our way Ace." Victor hummed cheerfully as his partner pokemon walked beside him.

"Bunny! Bun!" Ace hopped around excitingly as he and his partner made their way onto Route 1 to get to Wedgehurst.

"Now, I'm sure you listened to this before Ace. But mean people might come and try to get me one day. So I want to ask you just in case... Do you still want to be my pokemon?"

"Bun! Bunny!" Ace adorably punched the air in front of him with a determined smile.

Victor laughed as he put away his poke dollars and reached down to pick up his partner from the ground. Ace comfortably laid in Victor's arms as he carried him until he caught sight of Hop waiting ahead.

"Victor! So your mum finally let you go off to try and become champion!?" Hop excitingly cheered as he ran over to his friend.

Victor stopped with a smile as Hop went up to him.

"Yeah. Mom's officially letting me explore the world. But what are you still doing here, Hop? Shouldn't you already be in the lab?"

Hop grinned and put his hands on his hips, "Yeah, but I realized that you've never actually been to the lab, so I figured I should stay to at least tell you where it is."

"Oh, how nice of you. So, where is it?"

Hop turned around and pointed over past Route 1 and over at a big, purple building in Wedgehurst.

"See that purple building with the pokeball logo on the front?"

"That's the lab?" Victor concluded.

"Yup! And that house next to it is where Gloria lives! You should check it out for the first time!"

Victor smiled as he thought about how his other best friend's house would look.

"I'll check after we get our Pokedex."

"Great! Now, if you'll excuse me..." Hop turned and dashed towards the tall grass. "Im'a get stronger already!" He declared as he threw Conga out of his pokeball.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting to the lab too!?" Victor shouted after him, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Bunny... Scor." Ace sighed.

"Yeah... I guess we'll just have to go ahead." Victor sweatdropped when he saw that his yelling was in vain.

They made their way over the stone bridge into Wedgehurst, pausing for a moment as they saw Leon's Charizard outside the station surrounded by many children.

"That's nice... I wonder what it'll be like if my pokemon and I become popular like that one day." Victor gently smiled.

He passed by Gloria's house and stopped in front of it, appreciating the brick building and dark red tile of the roof.

"Victor!"

The boy turned and saw Leon and Gloria waving at him from the front of the Pokemon Research Lab.

"Oh, so you were actually able to find your way?"

"You don't start joking about that too." Leon laughed.

Gloria gazed past Victor but noticed a lack of another trainer. "Where's Hop?"

Victor pointed his thumb behind him, "He's fighting pokemon to get his Grookey stronger."

"What!? That little..." Gloria looked visibly irritated as she passed Victor, "I'll get that bloke!"

"He's on Route One!" Victor called out to her.

"Thank you!" Gloria called out.

The two watched her go off before Leon turned back to Victor. "In the meantime, let's go get your Pokedex first!" As he said this, Leon went forward and pushed open the door with Victor following behind him.

Once inside, Victor froze with a look of awe on his face.

The Pokemon Research Lab looked so clean, everything seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that beamed through the window. But what really caught Victor's attention were the shelves upon shelves of books near the back of the room and even a floor up.

He looked left to a table with a tea set on it, turned right to some sort of receptionist's desk, and took a glance at the back of the room to see a plant room in an area of glass, books stacked up beside it, pots of plants scattered around the room, and more desks with boards near them.

"Wow! This place is so big! And look at all the knowledge on the walls!" Victor happily spoke.

"What a unique way of saying 'books.'" Leon chuckled as they walked further into the room. "But I've really gotta give it to Professor Magnolia. This place really does look fascinating..."

"Yamp! Yamp!"

Victor glanced to the ground and saw a pokemon on all fours running towards them. It had a brown body will yellow fluff around its neck with the addition of a bolt-shaped tail and its tongue sticking out.

"Oh! A Yamper." Victor remembered as he squatted down curiously at the puppy pokemon.

The pokemon waddled over to Victor and curiously gazed up at him while slightly panting with his tongue sticking out.

Victor stared down at the Yamper's yellow eyes as the pokemon stared back into the human's brown eyes.

"..."

"..."

"Want a hug?"

"Yamp!

Leon watched as Victor held Yamper in arms in a tight hug. Both of them had happy smiles on their faces with flowery aromas surrounding them while Ace stared up at Victor from the ground with a small pout.

"Well, isn't that precious?" Leon laughed.

Another voice rang out. "Is that you, Leon? You'd better not be coming to ask about another never-before-seen, powerful pokemon again? I told you there isn't any information about that!"

Victor looked up to the upper level, and his eyes widened at the person there.

What captivated him were her eyes. The tall, slender woman had a pair of unique turquoise eyes that just shined in the light with her bright smile.

He then noticed many other things, such as her ginger hair in a large ponytail, her teal blouse, her large trench coat with four buttons, her light blue skinny jeans, and her unique black and turquoise high heeled boots with hearts.

Victor thought of just one thing with a blank stare.

"Damn."

The captivating woman made her way down the stairs and up to Leon and Victor.

"Hey, it's good to see you, Sonia!" Leon grinned with a wave. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"That's because you never come to visit." Sonia rolled her eyes.

Then she noticed someone unfamiliar beside the champion holding onto her very happy Yamper.

"Hm?" She walked forward and put her hands on her hips with a smile. "Who's your new friend Yamper? I haven't seen him around."

She raised her fingers and gave him a peace sign with a wink. "I'm Sonia, the professor's assistant. It's good to meet you."

Leon went behind Victor and grinned while patting the boy's shoulder, "This here is Victor! Hop says that he's quite the guy!"

"Oh?" Sonia's eyes seemed to brighten up as she heard his name. She leaned forward and her curious gaze got a closer look at the boy. "So, your Victor!"

Victor blinked in a fit of confusion as he let Yamper go from his arms.

"Um, do I know you?"

Sonia leaned back and smiled with a clap of her hands. "Nope, but I know all about you. Your mum told me so much."

"Eh?" Victor felt oddly uncomfortable hearing that.

"You see, she always came in here looking for books about pokemon an the Galar region so that she can bring them back. I was doing the same whenever I was taking a break from the Gym Challenge with Leon." Sonia explained.

"Oh, really? Mom never told me about anyone like you." Victor scratched the back of his head.

"Really? How odd. I was always helping her pick out books for you to read." Sonia said with a finger on her chin.

"But... You said mom told you about me, right? What did she say exactly?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Now that seemed to make Sonia smile teasingly. "Kind, confident, reliable, and always looking out to help people."

"Well... I guess that does sound like-"

"Good at cooking, a plain but cute baby face, very honest, and quite the husband material." Sonia giggled.

"What the hell was that woman thinking saying something like that!?" Victor thought with a deadpanned stare.

Ace grinned and nudged his partner's foot.

"She boasted about you so much that I became very interested to see you myself, but now I see what she meant now that you're finally here." The young adult remarked.

"Yup! And now that he's here, you can set him on the right path! I'm gonna go back out and meet with Hop and Gloria!" Leon smiled.

With that, the champion turned around and made his way out of the room.

After he left, Sonia facepalmed and let out a sigh. "Who does he think I am? Some sort of quest starter?"

"Well, you're the only one here who could give a Pokedex, right?" Victor pointed out.

"I guess so... But anyway, while on that topic, you did come here for a Pokedex. So let me see your Rotom phone for a moment."

"Sure thing." Victor reached into his pocket and handed her the Rotom phone.

She turned around and headed for her desk with Victor and a jumpy Ace both following. She then plugged a cable into the boy's phone and clicked a few things on her computer.

"Now, it'll take a moment, so..." She turned around and faced Victor with a smile. "Tell me, Victor, why was it that your mother never let you out or meet more people?"

"Personal reasons." Victor responded calmly with Ace looking away while casual whistling.

"That's the exact same thing she told me ten years ago..." Sonia sighed. "For a kid to be kept inside for so long... It doesn't seem really healthy."

"It was for a good reason, but I at least had Hop, Gloria, and a few pokemon friends out to keep me company. It wasn't too bad." Victor smiled.

"Your mum told me that you were studying most of that time. So do you know a lot about pokemon?"

"Yup! I'm sure I know every pokemon written in this library!" He said as he pointed at the books.

"Well said! I'm sure you'll become an excellent trainer!" Sonia declared with a grin.

Hearing that piqued Victor's interest, "Speaking of trainers... Sonia, you said that you took the Gym Challenge with Leon, right? How did that go?"

Sonia's smile partly seemed to fade, "Well, I was doing fine at first. But... in the end, I decided to drop out."

"Eh!? Drop out!?" Victor was shocked. "But why?!"

Sonia sighed, "I just... wasn't really good enough. At every moment of the journey, there was always one that was always better..."

Victor seemed to realize immediately. "Was it Leon?"

Sonia nodded and leaned back on her desk, "Despite that bloke always having his head in the clouds and not even able to find his way even through a straight line, he always beat me. I knew so much about pokemon. Strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and yet... I was never able to beat him."

Victor could see the frustration in her eyes.

"So, I decided that being a trainer wasn't for me and went on to use my knowledge of pokemon to become my grandmother's assistant." She said, then forming a small smile.

"...Have you ever wanted to continue the challenge?"

Sonia gazed up at the ceiling as she thought about it.

"Sometimes... But I know that it'll just end the same. Besides..." Her gaze fell to the floor. "My pokemon are long gone now."

Victor stared sympathetically at her. "Did... Did you release them?"

Sonia nodded. "I didn't want them remaining around me with just the purpose of keeping me comfortable. The only one that stayed with me is little Yamper there, he really didn't want to leave."

"But why did you release them? Don't you think they'd miss you too?" Victor asked her.

The assistant looked rather sad as she reminisced on it.

"I wanted them to be free and find their own happiness rather than being stuck in a lab with me doing nothing... They were really sad when I released them, but I wanted them to find actual good trainers."

"What makes you think you weren't a good trainer? Just because you couldn't beat one person?" Victor asked with a serious stare.

Sonia chuckled, "It wasn't like I lost to just Leon."

"But what difference does it make that you lost to other people? Losing doesn't make you a bad trainer. A person can somehow win every pokemon battle in the world, but that wouldn't make them a good trainer if they didn't treat their pokemon right. From what I interpreted, you thought about what would make your pokemon happy until the very end. You even only released them out of consideration for them... To me, that already makes you a great trainer."

"Aw, how sweet." Sonia gently smiled. "But it doesn't matter now. I've already decided to work as the assistant for my grandmother until I can take over. And even if I wanted to find my pokemon again, the moment you release them, they're nearly impossible to find."

Victor just seemed to form a small smirk, "If you can't talk to pokemon that is."

"Can I see how your old team looked? Maybe I can get some inspiration."

Sonia eyed him suspiciously, "I guess so. It's on the back of one of my old league cards, but I think you should think of finding your own pokemon team rather than basing it off mine." She turned around and pulled out a drawer before rummaging through it for a second.

"League card?... Oh yeah, I read about those at home before." Victor remembered as Sonia pulled a card out.

"Ah, here's one." She turned around and handed it to Victor.

The boy saw a ten-year-old Sonia smiling with her hands up in a peace sign while winking at the camera.

He then turned it around and saw what her old team consisted of.

"Only four pokemon? I guess that makes sense since she quit about halfway through... Let's see, Yamper, Ninetales, Milotic, and Meowstic. Interesting team."

He suddenly felt his head start to get rubbed. "Huh?"

He glanced up to see Sonia standing over him with a gentle smile and a hand on his head.

"You're worried about me, aren't ya? I could tell by that kind look in your eyes. But just focus on your Gym Challenge, alright?"

Victor lightly blushed at getting his head rubbed, but he still had the composure to say, "I'm sure you can continue the challenge one day. And I'm sure your pokemon really miss you."

Sonia removed her hand and turned back to Victor's phone. "I miss them too. But I can't do anything about it now. It's impossible for me to just make a new team to continue the challenge, and I can't just go out and find my old pokemon throughout Galar. This for the best."

Victor felt sad at hearing her say that.

"Looks like your Pokedex had already uploaded into your phone a while ago." Sonia then chuckled to lighten the mood. She unplugged the cord and turned back to Victor, handing him his phone. "This Pokedex is actually a gift from my gran. She wants to meet you, so go visit her on Route 2 after this with the others."

"Alright. I will." Victor said as he checked his new Pokedex for a moment before putting his phone away.

"And one last thing..." Sonia put her hands behind her back and closed her eyes while giving Victor one last smile. "Thanks for believing that I'm a good trainer."

Victor adjusted his beanie before turning to head out with Ace beside him, his head still gazing back at Sonia as he walked.

"I don't believe you're a good trainer. I know it."

After the boy pushed through the doors, she grinned.

"His mother really was right... He really is good husband material." She joked to herself.


~{Wedgehurst}~

Victor stepped outside and stared at Sonia's league card. A new determination seeping through him as he stared at the three pokemon that she had separated from.

"I guess I have a little side-quest." He chuckled as he put the card away.

"Scor?" Ace asked curiously as he stared up at Victor.

"Yeah, I wanna help her find her friends again. You up to help?" Victor grinned.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Bunny, bun..."

"Um, you do have a choice. Don't think I'm forcing you to come with me on my trip." Victor told him.

Ace just leaped up and landed on Victor's shoulder with a smile, "Scorbun!"

"A joke? I didn't even know pokemon could joke." Victor laughed.

He then caught sight of Gloria dragging both Leon and Hop by the back of their shirts with an angry pout on her face.

"What happened?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Hop kept finding every pokemon he could fight, and Leon got lost twice trying to keep up with Hop." Gloria sighed.

"Our bad." Hop and Leon said with awkward smiles as both stood up.

"They really are brothers if they're both causing that much trouble for Gloria..." Victor sweatdropped.

"Well, I got my Pokedex already. But Sonia said her grandmother wants us to visit her later."

"Oh yeah! I wanted to talk to her about the Gym Challenge! Come on, Gloria! Let's get our Pokedex too!" Hop was suddenly the one to hold Gloria by the wrist and pull her towards the lab,

"Hey!?" Gloria uttered as she got dragged inside, leaving only Leon and Victor outside.

Leon put his hand on his hips and smiled.

"So, what did ya think of Sonia?"

"Beautiful, very intelligent, but also seems insecure about her skills." Victor bluntly responded with a straight face.

Leon was surprised by the immediate and honest response, yet he started laughing right there.

"Wow, I love your honesty! What do you think of me?" The champion grinned.

"Optimistic and an idiot."

Leon doubled over on the floor with a depressing aura. "Damn... I didn't think you-"

"But kind, very caring, and clearly deserving of the champion title." Victor finished.

Leon shot back to his feet as if he hadn't even heard Victor's first words, "Good to know you think so highly of me!" He grinned.

Then the man's face lit up, "Oh yeah! While you wait for the other two, maybe you could go check out Gloria's house! Her folks should be home!"

Victor turned left at the house right beside the Pokemon Lab, feeling a new curiosity build up.

"You know... I think I'll finally introduce myself." Victor decided.

"Great! I'll wait inside with the others while you check it out! See you in a bit!" With that, Leon ran over to the door and rushed inside.

Victor turned to Ace on his shoulder, "You wanna head over?"

Ace nodded happily.

The boy walked over to the front door and knocked three times, surprisingly not feeling nervous at all.

After a few seconds, the door opened up to reveal a woman with long, brown hair and a man wearing glasses with brown hair too.

"Um, hello. My name is-"

"OOO! You're Victor?!" The mother immediately interrupted with stars in her eyes.

"Eh?" Victor and Ace both shook.

"So you're the young man Gloria has taken such a liking to! Come in! Come in!" The father ushered him.

Victor was basically pulled into the room with Ace looking slightly startled by how fast everything just went.

The next thing he knew, he was standing right in front of a door with a blank face.

"Um... What just happened?"

Dots seemed to replace Ace's eyes as he registered what happened too.

"Bunny... Bunny?" Ace blinked.

"Yeah, they do seem 'friendly.' But... They really sent me to check out their daughter's room?"

"Bunny..."

"Even if Gloria told them about me, aren't they a little too trusting?"

"Scorbunny." His pokemon thought it too.

Both stared at the blue door that read;

Gloria's Room. STAY OUT IF YA KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA!

The sign was somewhat intimidating, yet alluring to them.

"It would be really wrong to go in..."

"Bun... Bun..." Ace agreed.

"Gloria will probably kill us."

"Scorbun..." Ace nodded.

"It would be rude."

"Bunny..." Ace nodded again.

Both then turned their heads to each other with blank gazes.

"..."

"..."

"HOWEVER-!"


~{Outside}~

Hop, Gloria, Leon, and Sonia all stepped outside of the lab, with Hop and Gloria both checking out their new Pokedex.

"Great! Now we can start our journey and take on the Gym Challenge!" Hop jumped excitedly.

"Hold on now, Hop. Like I said, I still think it's too early." Leon told him.

"Aw, come on, Lee! We're strong enough to take it!" Gloria complained.

"Maybe head over to my grandmother's house so she can help convince him. I told Victor to head over there so she can meet him." Sonia told the group.

"Then let's go! We can't let him get ahead!" Hop was about to dash ahead until Leon grabbed him from the back of his shirt.

"Hold your Rapidash there, little brother, I actually had Victor check out Gloria's house while he waited for us." Leon told him.

Gloria's eye twitched, and she suddenly became irritated. "Damn it! Why didn't ya tell me that sooner Lee!? Ugh..." She started rubbing her eyes.

Sonia giggled, "You thinking that your folks will overwhelm the boy?"

"I know they will... You guys know how they are, so cmon! Let's get Victor out of there before they do something weird!" Gloria started marching towards her house.

At the same time, her front door opened up, and her parents came out with happy smiles.

"Oh! Gloria dearie! How are you?" Her mother cheered.

"Mum! Where's Victor!?" The girl demanded to know immediately rather than say hi to her parents.

Her dad chuckled, "Oh, Gloria. We welcomed him into our house and had him go check out your room."

The moment he finished speaking, the entire group but the parents turned comedically black and white.

"You... did what now?" Gloria's knuckles cracked as her hands ball into fists.

"EEP!" Hop, Leon, and Sonia all backed up and held on to each other while shaking in fear.

"N-No way..." Leon stuttered.

"Th-The one time I tried to go into G-Gloria's room... She turned me into a p-pretzel." Hop stammered with traumatized eyes.

"Sh-She threatened to bleach my hair if I ever went in..." Sonia added just as scared.

Gloria's eyes lost their color as she slowly turned back to the group with a chilling, forced smile.

"Heh, heh... I-It's... alright. M-My room is locked... I-I always m-make sure of it-!"

"Oh, we picked the lock." Her mother happily beamed as she raised lock picking tools between her fingers.

Gloria literally exploded forward and left behind a crater as she tore inside her house with shadows over her eyes.

"I-I think you guys just killed Victor!" Hop feared.

Gloria passed her kitchen.

"He's not inside, he's not inside, he's not inside-!"

She flamed up the stairs.

"He's not looking, he's not looking, he's not looking-!"

She made it to the top and saw her door cracked open.

"HE'S INSIDE!"

She slammed through the door.

Before then completely freezing."Soooooo soft!" Victor cooed with happy tears going down his eyes.

The boy was laying atop of a life-sized Snorlax plushie in Gloria's spacious room.

The walls were covered to the brim in pink and the floor was entirely covered with pink carpet. Every piece of furniture was of a pretty light blue color, but what was the most eye-catching of the room were the stuffed animals. Dozens and dozens of life-sized pokemon plushies were scattered around the room. From Pichu to the life-sized Snorlax, the variety was large.

"Bunny! Bun!" Ace cheered as he swam through several plushies of other pokemon with a happy smile.

"Where did she even get one of these!? They're huge!" Victor laughed as he jumped from the life-sized Snorlax to a life-sized Lapris.

Both then heard a door close, making them completely freeze.

Victor and Ace robotically turned their heads and saw Gloria standing in front of her door with shadows over her eyes.

"WE GOT CAUGHT!"

Victor and Ace stopped what they were doing and stood side by side in straight posturers.

"H-Hey, Gloria! I-I didn't break in, I swear!"

Gloria took a deep breath, "Victor..."

Victor shivered with sweat dripping, "Y-Yes?!"

"When I was small, I promised myself that I would never hit ya..." The girl said with tightened fists.

"R-Really? That's nice to know-"

"HOWEVER-!"

Victor flinched.

Gloria cracked her knuckles together with an eye menacingly flashing red, "But I don't think it counts if ya don't remember me doing it."

Ace hid behind Victor's legs with comedic tears. "S-Scor!?"

Victor held his arms up in surrender, "W-Wait a minute, can't we talk about this-!?"

Gloria already took a step forward while swinging her fist so hard, it looked like it was engulfed in flames.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH-Wait a second." Victor blinked as he raised his hand and easily caught Gloria's punch in his palm.

He let out a breath of relief. "I forgot... Slacking strength and defenses."

Ace looked pretty impressed.

"..." Gloria still had her head down, but her hands visibly shook. "Wh-Why did ya block it?"

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Um, because I don't want to be punched?"

"..." Gloria swung her other fist, but Victor caught it. Then what followed was the girl constantly pulling back and swinging her fists over and over again. But Victor would either avoid or catch each of these punches easily.

At one point, the girl stopped to catch her breath.

"Wh-Why...?"

"Hm?"

Gloria finally raised her head to reveal her face completely red with an adorably angry pout with teary eyes.

"Why can't I hit ya!?" She whined.

"So cute..." Victor thought with a bubbly feeling. He immediately shook the thought off and focused on the matter at hand. "Why are you trying to hit me!? Do you think it's gonna make me forget this!?"

"Y-Yeah! It's always worked before!" She admitted with a cry.

"Worked before?" Victor deadpanned.

He decided to ignore that.

"Do I really have to forget this room?"

"Yes! Yes! YES! Ya have to!" Gloria flailed her arms.

"But why?" The boy was oddly calm.

Gloria looked down and shook. "B-Because..." She looked back up with her eyes closed but watering down. "It's embarrassing!"

"THAT'S IT!?"

Victor sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Gloria... But I really don't want to forget."

Gloria fell to her knees in defeat with her head down. "Ugh... Why did it have to be you...?"

Victor gazed down at her while Ace nudged him to do something.

"I know... There's only one thing I can do here."

Victor walked over to her and got on his knees with a smile. He reached over and took of Gloria's beanie, to which he then used his other hand to gently caress her hair.

"Eh!?" Gloria's head poofed with steam as she glanced back at Victor with an agape mouth of shock.

"I don't really know why you're so embarrassed. I always knew you had a cute side in the first place. It always showed whenever I did this." He implied as he rubbed her head.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-!?" Gloria couldn't find her speech.

"I really like your room and all the plushies, so I don't wanna forget it. I think it's really cute."

"C-C-C-" Gloria's ears blew out steam like train whistles.

Then she blasted out of her room.

"IDIOOOOOOOOOOT!"

Victor and Ace were left with deadpanned expressions.

"So... Did we win?"

Ace shrugged.


~{Outside Again}~

"I'll see you all another time! And Victor, visit again sometime to let me know how you were able to survive Gloria!" Sonia waved to the small group leaving.

Victor walked with Leon and Hop, both staring rather intensely at him with curious gazes. At the same time, Gloria remained in front of the group with her head still steaming.

"Hey Victor, how'd ya do it? How'd ya survive Gloria? And what did you see in her room?" Hop whispered in his ear.

"Well..." Victor peaked at Gloria forcing her gaze forward. He formed a small smile, "It's something that I've decided is forbidden to speak about."

"Ehhh!? No fair! Tell me!" Hop whined.

Leon seemed to save Victor from the whining as they came on Route 2, as the champion rushed in front of all of them and stopped the group.

"Alright, now that you all have a Pokedex, I think it's time for you all to start filling up your teams!"

"No, thanks." Victor said as he passed the champion without too much thought.

And arm reached out and grabbed him.

Leon held him with a laugh, "Hold on there Victor, you can't be thinking of not developing your teams? Are you really going to keep Ace as your only pokemon?"

"No, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna go around catching pokemon randomly just because I need to fill up my team." Victor clarified.

Leon grinned, "That's not really what I'm telling you to do. Everyone has their own way of catching pokemon. I know that." He let go of Victor's shirt and faced the others. "You all know how to catch pokemon, right?"

"Yeah, of course we do, Lee!" Hop grinned.

"Then let's do this." Leon stuck a finger in the air. "I'll go ahead at Professor Magnolia's house, and when you guys arrive, I want all of you to have at least caught one pokemon for your party! Think of this as my first test before you even think about taking the Gym Challenge!"

"I'm game! I already have Conga and Wooloo, so getting another will be easy more!" Hop put a fist in the air.

Gloria just nodded quietly.

"Alright! Here are some pokeballs to each of you! Now get out there and catch something, I'll see you at Professor Magnolia's later!" Leon then turned and bolted down the path.

"Are you sure you won't get lost?!" Victor shouted after him.

"I'll be fine!" Leon called back before getting out of earshot.

"A part of me doesn't believe that..." Victor sighed. He turned back to look at his two friends, "I guess we-?"

He blinked as he saw them gone.

"Scor... Scorbunny."

"They both left immediately to catch pokemon? Oh, boy..." Victor turned around and kept walking forward on the path.

"Bunny? Bunny?" Ace looked up at him.

"I mean, I guess I should catch another pokemon..." He said as he started walking through the tall grass. "But not forcibly."

Both Victor and Ace's ears twitched as they picked up the sound of rustling in the grass near them.

Victor and Ace both leaped away from the tall grass and onto the open dirt road, to which they watched rustling in the grass get closer.

"Rooki!"

The trainer saw a familiar color scheme of black and blue as a bird flew out of the grass and land with its wings open and gave a sharp glare at the two.

"A Rookidee?"

"Rooki! Rooki!" The pokemon spread open its tiny wings as if trying to proclaim dominance.

But it didn't look convincing due to the obvious shaking of an injured leg and the nasty bruises on it.

"..." Victor and Ace turned to each other, then back to the Rookidee. "Um... Do you need help?"

"Rooki!" The Rookidee just kept its stance.

"You... want to fight? While like that?" Victor narrowed his eyes.

"Dee! Rooki!" The Rookidee flapped its wings hard to help it as it leaped towards Victor.

Victor sidestepped and let the Rookidee fly past him, then watching the pokemon take a hard landing on its injured leg.

It tried standing up but fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"...Do you need help now?"

"..." The Rookidee turned its head away and let out a reluctant grumble.

"Rooki..."


~{Pokemon Center}~

"This little fella is perfectly fine now." The pink-haired nurse said as she brought out the wild Rookidee on a cart.

It looked rather mad despite looking so healthy, glaring directly at Victor as they brought him out.

"What did I even do?" He sweatdropped.

The nurse tried to pick up the Rookidee, but the pokemon pecked at her hands.

"Rooki!" It snapped.

"Oh dear, quite the aggressive one." The nurse exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry, he's just a wild pokemon, so he doesn't take to anyone." Victor explained as the Rookidee flew off the cart.

"Oh? And you still decided to help it? How nice." The nurse smiled.

"Yeah, sorry for the trouble." Victor waved as he exited with Ace on his shoulder and the Rookidee following him.

Once outside, Victor stopped. "Now then..." He turned to the Rookidee that landed on the ground. "What's your situation? Little guy?"

Rookidee stared up at Victor before opening its wings threateningly.

"Rooki!"

"He still wants to fight?" Victor thought with a blank stare. He glanced around at the people around them, minding their own business. "It would be bad for me to just start talking this pokemon right here..."

He turned back to Rookidee, "Follow me, let's at least go to an area with fewer people."

Rookidee glanced around at the surrounding people before reluctantly nodding.

After a few minutes of walking, they made their way back to an obscure area of Route 2 with no sign of any others.

"Alright, so..." He faced the Rookidee. "You really wanna battle my pokemon, little guy?"

Rookidee just shook its head left and right before chirping. "Dee! Rookidee!"

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

"Fight... me?!"

"Rooki! Rooki!"

"Oh! You're from the forest!?" Victor had stars in his eyes as he suddenly got to his knees while leaning closer in excitement to the Rookidee.

But then he blinked in confusion. "Wait... So how did you end up so injured if you were only supposed to follow me all the way out here?"

"Rookidee..." It grumbled.

"You really fought every pokemon you could...? Dang, and you were still sort of standing when you came to me. You must be pretty tough."

Rookidee looked somewhat proud when he said that.

Victor put a hand on his chin in curiosity, "But if you're really from the Slumbering Weald, then you should know of my 'abilities,' so why are you challenging me?"

"Rookidee! Dee, dee!" He flapped his wings.

Victor sighed, "You think fighting me will make you stronger? Well, sorry to say, but you still have a long way to go..."

"ROOKI!" The tiny bird pokemon took offense to this and flew forward at an attempt to Peck Victor.

Victor sidestepped out of the way again as he went through his thoughts, "This Rookidee seems like he's pretty strong, and he's really determined to just keep getting stronger. I wonder..."

He snapped his fingers with an idea. "How about this! Why don't you come with me on my quest through Galar? I can help you get stronger! Then you can fight me one day!"

Rookidee stopped trying to assault Victor and took a moment to actually think about it.

"Scor... Bun?" Ace didn't look sure about it.

"It'll be fine." Victor reassured him, turning back to Rookidee. "So what do you say? You know that I'm strong if you chose to challenge me, right? And you know the type of training I've done, so I could probably help you!"

"..." Rookidee waddled forward and stared at Victor for another moment, before then turning his head away to avoid a direct gaze at him.

"Rooki... Rookidee. Rooki."

Victor smiled, "He really is full of himself, isn't he? But he's not wrong, I am 'recognizing' his strength."

"Alright!" Victor reached behind him and pulled out a pokeball, then pointing at it. "Want me to catch you? Or you wanna just hang around?"

"Rooki! Rooki!" He chirped angrily.

Victor was somewhat taken aback. "Okay, okay! Wow..." He casually tossed the pokeball at him. "I didn't think that some pokemon viewed a pokeball as important... Like it's some sort of contract..."

The white and red ball clicked closed after the third shake.

Victor grinned as he picked up the ball and let out his newest member.

"Rooki!" He gracefully spread its wings.

"Great! So now that you're on the team..." Victor pulled out a pen and a small notepad. "I think we need to give you a proper name..."

Rookidee looked intrigued as Victor clicked his pen while staring down at him.

"Any suggestions?"


Well, any suggestions? But anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. So yeah, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I'm actually going to make this fic a harem. I'm kind of a sucker for making those. I hope it won't feel forced, I hope it'll be great, and most importantly, I hope you guys enjoy lovable moments between Victor and the females he'll meet during his adventure. Stay tuned till next time!

Any feedback would be appreciated, whether it's for complimenting the story, pointing out something wrong, asking a question, or to give out a suggestion. I really want to make this fic an enjoyable experience overall.