~{Author's Pre-notes}~

I actually typed these notes twice because I accidentally closed the site without saving, big oof on me.

Now to some of the comments:

ZTitanBait: Ah yes, the question we're all wondering. Which lovely ladies will end up with our main man? Well, there will be five members of the squad that will share love and affection for our boy. These include, Gloria, Sonia, Marnie, Nessa, and Bea. All best girls.

TheUzigunner: Thanks once again for your detailed feedback, I really appreciate it. I actually have read the Pokemon Adventures manga and found it to be one of the best things to ever binge. It was very enjoyable to read and I plan on taking in a few themes of the pokemon world from there for the fic. Thanks for reading and I look forward to more comments from you!

acpeters: Oof, yeah. I seemed to have made the mistake of using 'aromas' rather than giving a better image of the wholesome auras. Thanks for pointing that out and I'll try my best to better describe them.

Hope you enjoy the chapter and leave some feedback! :D


"Alright... So you don't like that one..." Victor sighed as he crossed out another name.

Rookidee remained patiently perched on a rock despite looking somewhat annoyed.

"We need a name that reflects your pride, a name that just gives the feeling of power!" He rose a fist in the air, "A name of elegance and sounds cool!"

Rookidee nodded in agreement at each factor while Ace was sleeping on a small patch of grass.

Victor tapped his head with his pen in frustration.

He paused.

"Hm, maybe..."

He quickly wrote something down and stared at the name from all angles.

"You know..." He smiled. "I think this is great."

Rookidee curiously stared as Victor showed him a bolded out name written on his journal.

"How about this?" His new partner smiled.

Rookidee stared at this name in wonder. He then chirped "Rookie." with a nod.

"Great! That'll be your new name!" Victor closed his notepad. "Ace! We chose a name!"

The rabbit pokemon rubbed his eyes as he woke up, then turning his head to Victor.

"Scor...?"

Victor proudly waved his hand to present Rookidee, "Introducing-!" He clapped his hands.

"-Twilight!"

"..." Ace turned to the newly named Twilight and put his paws on his hips. "Scor? Scor?"

Twilight sighed, "Dee, dee..."

"What do you mean, 'that's probably the best he can do'?" Victor asked with a deadpanned expression.

Ace and Twilight rolled their eyes, "Scor..." "Rooki..." They said in unison.

"It's clearly more than nothing! It's a great name!" Victor pouted.

Ace changed the subject, "Bunny? Bunny?"

Victor turned comedically black and white in shock, "You're right! We're supposed to meet everyone else ahead!"

He pulled out both pokeballs and returned his pokemon in them. "Sorry about this!"

He then got into a running stance before blasting forward at incredible speeds.


~{Meanwhile}~

Hop and Gloria lazily sat on the living room couch of Professor Magnolia's house while Leon and the old Professor herself spoke in the kitchen.

"What's taking Victor so long?" Hop pouted. "Don't tell me he's trying to catch every pokemon on Route 2?"

"You know good as well as I do that he wouldn't do that... He even said so." Gloria sighed.

They suddenly felt a rumbling outside before hearing a loud screeching of feet.

"Eh?" Hop got up and saw a load of dust from the ground obscure the sight outside of the window.

The others noticed too, then going outside and finding Victor catching his breath while releasing both Ace and Twilight.

"I'm *gasp* here..."

"There you are, Victor. I was beginning to worry." Leon said with a breath of relief.

"What happened to you?" Hop asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well... *wheeze*" Victor stood up straight and took deep breaths. "I found this little guy-" He said as he waved a hand to present Twilight. "He was really hurt, so I took him to the Pokemon Center to get healed. Phew... Long story short, he decided to join me."

"Ooo! Really!? You got a Rookidee too!?" Hop pulled out a pokeball from behind him and threw it to reveal another Rookidee.

"Introducing Sky!" Hop proudly declared.

"I think my name is better..." Victor honestly believed.

The moment Twilight saw the other Rookidee, it looked angry.

"Rooki!"

The other Rookidee named Sky, saw him and became just as angry.

"Dee!

Sparks flew between the two.

"Now, now. Don't either of you think about causing trouble." Victor said with a smile that didn't match the threatening aura around him.

Both Rookidee's flinched and looked away from each other.

"That's better." Victor said, somewhat satisfied.

"Ah, you must be Victor." The old woman cheerfully said. "My name is Magnolia, I'm sure Sonia has told you a bit about me, especially that your Pokedex was a gift of mine."

Victor nodded, "Yeah, she told me about you. It's nice to meet you."

"Let's all get back inside now, shall we?" Magnolia suggested.

Victor turned to Twilight, who just turned his head away from the other Rookidee.

"Oh, boy..."

They all went inside and gathered in the kitchen.

"Hey Hop, is your Rookidee the only pokemon you caught?" Victor asked him.

"Yup, Lee said we only had to catch one after all. He seemed pretty strong." Hop smiled.

"And what about you, Gloria?"

"You'll see later." Gloria grinned.

"She said the same thing to me." Hop pouted.

"Anyway-!" Leon got their attention. "Victor, Professor Magnolia here has been doing research on Dynamaxing for years! If you need to learn more about it, then I suggest you ask her things so that you can understand Dynamaxing to the fullest."

Magnolia rolled her eyes, "Leon, stop always bringing everything back to pokemon. There are many other things to talk about right now."

"Liiiiiiiiike helping convince Lee that he should endorse all of us for the gym challenge!" Hop declared with finger guns and a grin at Magnolia.

"Oh yeah, we do need a letter of endorsement to actually take the Gym Challenge..." Victor recalled.

Professor Magnolia raised an eyebrow and turned to the champion, "Leon, why won't you endorse them?"

Leon nervously rubbed the back of his head, "Well, all three of them just started out as pokemon trainers. There are loads-"

"Studied my whole life." Victor reminded him.

"There are still loads they don't know yet." Leon insisted.

"Stop thinking like that ya bloke!" Gloria pouted.

Magnolia sighed, "Leon, I thought your dream was to have everyone in the Galar region become strong trainers. Isn't that right?"

"I mean..." Leon crossed his arms with a contemplating look. "You're not wrong... But aren't they still too young?"

"LEON/LEE! YOU WERE TEN WHEN YOU TOOK THE CHALLENGE!" Victor, Hop, and Gloria all shouted in unison, startling the champion.

"Er... I..." He sighed and hung his head in defeat. "I got nothing against that..."

Hop smiled hopefully, "Then-!"

"Let's do this then!" Leon raised his head back up with a new grin. "I need you guys to show me a pokemon battle so great, that it'll force me to endorse you guys!"

"Again, there's three of us. Don't tell me we have to do another free for all?" Gloria raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Leon put a hand on his chin as he thought about it. "Question... How many pokemon do each of you have?"

"Three."

"Three."

"Two."

Gloria and Hop turned to Victor.

"What?" Victor couldn't help but feel insulted.

"I guess I'll do it like this then..." Leon pointed at Hop and Gloria. "The two of you will fight!"

"And Victor?" Hop asked.

"He only has two pokemon and won the first battle between you all, so he can sit this one out. Your battle will determine all of your endorsements."

"So, I'm relying on Hop and Gloria?" Victor thought, feeling somewhat worried about this.

"Then let's do this!" Hop declared as he pointed at Gloria.


~{Outside-4:56PM}~

The afternoon sun was starting to slowly fall into the mountains in the distance. Leon, Magnolia, and Victor all stood rise beside the much larger pokemon battlefield right outside the house. Ace and Twilight stood beside each other, although reluctantly, and waited for the event to start.

Hop and Gloria stood across from each other the battle, each of them holding a pokeball in hand as they stared at one another.

"Is it really fine to let their battle determine my endorsement too?" Victor pouted.

"Have more faith in them, Victor!" Leon smiled as he patted the boy on his back.

"It's not like I don't have faith in them, it's just that if I do get endorsed, I'll feel like I didn't do anything to deserve it..." Victor admitted.

Leon rubbed the back of his head, "To be honest, I kind of thought you should've been endorsed already because of your knowledge of pokemon and winning in your first battle. But don't tell Hop or Gloria that."

"What an honest champion..." Victor thought with a deadpanned stare.

"I'm going to become the greatest pokemon trainer there is! And to do that, I need that endorsement to take part in the gym challenge!" Hop declared. "Come at me with everything to prove to Lee that we have what it takes!"

"I wonder what kind of passion they'll show in this battle." Magnolia said with a hand on her chin.

"Let's get this show on the road! Go, Wooloo!" Hop flung his pokeball forward, and out came the sheep pokemon himself.

"Baaaa!"

Gloria tossed her pokeball in the air and caught it before spinning and throwing it, to which a new pokemon came out.

It turned out to be a Yamper.

"Yamp! Yamp!"

"Awwwwwww!" Victor thought with a look of bliss at the sight of the puppy pokemon for the second time.

The trainers wasted no time at all.

"Wooloo! Use Tackle!" Hop shouted.

"Bolt! Dodge it!" Gloria didn't hesitate.

"She named her Yamper, Bolt?... Nice." Victor chuckled.

The Yamper named Bolt actually jumped over Wooloo as it charged at him, leaving the sheep momentarily confused as to where he went.

"Now, use Nuzzle!"

"Wooloo! Behind you!"

Wooloo turned around just as Bolt jumped at it.

"Baa?!"

"Yamp!" Bolt pushed its cheek against Wooloo's head and the sheep pokemon got shocked with electricity.

"B-Baaaaa!"

Bolt then jumped back near Gloria, with electricity still emitting off a pained Wooloo.

"Hm, she paralyzed it." Victor knew.

"Now, Tackle it!" Gloria instructed.

"Yamp!" Bolt ran forward.

Hop looked nervous, "W-Wooloo! Roll out of the way!"

Wooloo tried to move, but a sudden shock of pain kept it in place just as Bolt rammed right into him.

"Baaaa!" Wooloo rolled on the ground until coming to a stop against Hop's legs, twitching and unconscious.

"Return." Hop said rather reluctantly. He then took a deep breath and reached behind him at his next pokemon. "Come on out, Conga!"

The Grookey flipped out of its pokeball and playfully swung its stick. "Grookey! Grook!"

"Bolt! Use Tackle!"

Bolt ran towards Grookey.

"Grookey! Spin to the side and trip it!"

Grookey smiled as it twirled around Bolt as it neared while also swiping its stick onto the floor with enough force to trip the puppy.

"Yamp!?" He faceplanted and ended up upside-down.

"Now, use Branch Poke!"

"Grookey!" Conga leaped forward while thrusting his stick forward.

"Roll over, Bolt!"

Bolt listened and happily rolled over to get away from the stick.

Victor had to cover his red face by how cute that was.

"Don't let it escape! Tackle it down!" Hop declared.

Conga immediately turned around and dashed forward with his shoulder out.

"Get up, Bolt!"

Bolt was still enjoying rolling over the ground and realized he had to stop, but that came too late as Conga rammed into him.

"Yip!" The dog yelped as it was sent back.

"Tackle it down once again!" Hop shouted with a grin.

"Careful, Bolt! Get away!"

The poor puppy not used to pain whined as it rubbed its cheek, but this just allowed Grookey to ram into it again.

"Yamp!" The puppy went on its side and fainted.

"Return..." Gloria returned Bolt into her pokeball with a pout, visibly hurt to see such a cute pokemon get hurt like that.

She shook her head and tossed another Pokeball.

"Go Ziggy!"

Out of the pokeball came a black and white pokemon with red eyes.

"Zig! Zigzag!" It playfully jumped around before noticing the Grookey, then getting into a fighting stance. "Zig!"

"Gloria's choosing the cute pokemon and is giving them such adorable names." Victor thought with a close-eyed smile.

"Conga! Use Branch Poke!"

"Grook!" The chimp thrust its stick towards the new opponent.

"Ziggy! Blind it with Sand-Attack!"

"Zig!" Ziggy spun and swiped it's tail on the floor, causing sand and dust to kick up right into Conga's eye.

"Key!?" Conga backed up while rubbing its eyes.

"Now, Tackle him!"

"Conga! Jump high and forward!"

Despite blinded, Conga listened to its trainer and front flipped forward, avoiding the Zigzagoon that had attempted to tackle him.

Leon was surprised, "Even blinded, he still listened perfectly..."

"Well, he heard with his ears, not his eyes."

"Not what I meant, Victor."

"Zigy! Turn around and Tackle again!" Gloria shouted with a foot forward.

Zigy used its claws to latch to the ground to immediately halt itself before jumping back around and heading towards Conga.

"Conga! Charge straight behind you and Tackle!" Hop waved his hand.

The grass-type listened and just dashed straight ahead while bracing for impact.

Gloria grinned, "Ziggy! Stop and jump on top of Conga!"

Hop was surprised by this claim. "Eh!?"

Ziggy leaped up and landed on Conga's head.

"G-Grookey!?" He tried to shake him off, but Ziggy kept hold with his claws.

"Now, use Lick!" Gloria instructed.

"Ziglllll!" Ziggy used his tongue to lick the top of Conga's head in a rather loud slap.

"Get him off, Conga!"

Conga tried using his stick to repeatedly whack the pokemon on its head.

"Don't let go and use Lick one last time!"

Ziggy winced at the whacks but listened and performed one last Lick that caused Conga to fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Groo...key..." Conga uttered.

"There we go! Good job, Ziggy!"

"Zig! Zag!" The tiny raccoon pokemon cheered with small jumps.

"Return." Hop didn't hesitate to return his starter before pulling out his last pokeball with a small. "It'll be a close one! But that's exactly my type of match!"

He flung the ball forward. "Go, Sky!"

The proud bird came up and spread its wings. "Rooki! Rooki!"

"Sky, use Peck!"

The bird pokemon dashed forward with its beak.

"Ziggy! Use Sand-Attack!" Gloria immediately commanded.

Ziggy swiped its tail once more to kick up sand and dust to the incoming pokemon.

But Hop was ready for it. "Use your wings to blow it back!"

With a mighty flap of its wings, Sky sends the dust back to his opponent's eyes.

"Zig!?" Ziggy rubbed its eyes in pain.

"Now, use Peck on it!"

"Ziggy! Jump ba-!"

Gloria didn't finish as Peck directly came into contact with Ziggy and sent him flying back.

"Zag! Goon!" He fell on its belly, unconscious.

"Already knocked out with one attack!?" Gloria was surprised.

"I think Sky landed a Critical point of attack on Ziggy..."

Gloria returned Ziggy before pulling out her last pokemon too.

"Go, Bubbles!"

The water type came out, looking slightly nervous.

"Bubbles! Use Water Gun!" Gloria pointed.

"Sob! Ble!" Bubbles fired a stream of water from his mouth directed at Sky.

"Take to the skies!"

Sky listened and used its mobility in the air to avoid the trail of water.

"Just keep using Water Gun to tired it out!" Gloria instructed.

Bubbles jumped around and kept spewing water from its mouth, trying to aim it at the flying Rookidee.

As each stream of water missed, Victor stepped to the side and even tilted his head to effortlessly avoid multiple streams of water that had missed Sky but kept going.

"Nice reactions!" Leon gave him a thumbs up and grin.

Before the champion ended up taking one of these avoided streams of water directly on his face.

"..." Leon sighed.

"Pfft!" Victor and Magnolia covered their mouths to keep from laughing.

Hop noticed that his pokemon was getting tired, so he wanted to end the battle fast. "Sky! Use Peck!"

Sky nose-dived down, trying to finish the battle.

"Use Water Gun!" Gloria shouted one last time.

Sobble charged up and blasted a stronger stream of water than before at the Rookidee coming straight down.

Sky tried to power through the stream, but the pressure of the water had enough force to send it back.

"Rooki!?" It tumbled on the ground.

"S-Sky! Use-!"

"Water Gun!" Gloria shouted.

"BLE!" One final spray of water slammed into Sky and sent it flying.

Hop stared down at his unconscious Rookidee.

"Dang it... The stinging of losing and the joy of winning... I really hope I feel that joy one day." He joked as he returned his last pokemon.

Leon applauded them despite his face still showing signs of being wet.

"Incredible! That was amazing! For starting trainers, you both did some amazing things! From Gloria waiting for Grookey to attack before using Sand-Attack, to Hop returning the attack back with Rookidee! Quite splendid!"

"You guys were great." Victor smiled.

"Hearing that from my bigger rival at least lets me know that I did some things right!" Hop gleamed.

"What do you mean 'bigger rival'? I just won, you know!?" Gloria pouted as she returned Bubbles in her pokeball.

"You're all rivals to each other! And what rivals need... are letters of endorsement!" Leon said as he pulled out three envelopes with special seals.

"You had those on you the entire time!?" Victor shouted.

"Yup! I just need you guys to prove to me you could have them!" Leon tossed all three envelopes perfectly in the air, each of them landing right in the hands of the three trainers.

"Whoa." Victor thought, actually impressed by such an ability.

"Yippee! Yippee!" Hop started hopping around. "You won't regret giving this to me, Lee! I'll make my way through every gym just to beat you in the end! I swear!"

"If you can even beat me first!" Gloria beamed.

"Ouch." Victor deadpanned.

"I want to see more thrilling battles out of all of you!" Leon turned to Victor. "I know you didn't get to battle right now, but I know that you can give me battles just as exciting as theirs!"

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying my first battle wasn't exciting?"

"It was, don't worry. But I'm just saying that I know you can give me exciting one-on-one battles just like theirs!" Leon laughed.

Hop then caught sight of something in the sky. "What's that!?"

They all gazed up and saw something red and sparkling fall from the sky and crash into the ground near them.

"Let's check it out!" Hop ran over without hesitation.

"Wait a minute, Hop! You don't know what it could be!" Gloria quickly rushed after him.

Victor curiously walked over too.

Hop picked up three objects off the ground and turned to his other friends. "Look! They're Wishing Stars!"

"Wishing stars? The thing pokemon need to Dynamax?" Victor recalled.

"Yeah, but if you find one, it's said that all your wishes will come true..." Gloria muttered, taking a peek at Victor before turning away with a tiny blush.

"Here! There are three of them for the three of us! Can't be a coincidence!" Hop passed his other friends a wishing star each.

Leon came over rather intrigued, "I'm actually not surprised by this. Wishing stars are said to fall down for those that have a true wish in their heart!"

"So then I'll be the greatest trainer ever!? Hop squealed.

"Don't be silly, it isn't that easy. Plus, these rocks are simply filled with unknown power that only gives the wish of allowing pokemon to Dynamax. But they can't grant that wish while in that form, so give me them so that I can sort them out." Magnolia told them.

"Oh yeah! You studied a lot about Dynamaxing, haven't you, Professor? Please let us all be able to Dynamax our pokemon! I want to make them bigger, stronger, and amazing to look at!"

"Don't get carried away, young man! You want to save your energy for tomorrow's journey!"

"Tomorrow?" Victor blinked awkwardly.

"Yes, it'll take me time to make Dynamax Bands with those wishing stars. Is that a problem?"

"Er, um..." Victor awkwardly scratched his finger. "I already said bye to my mom with an emotional hug and everything because I thought I would already be heading out of here for Galar... It'd be really awkward for me to go back home now."

"Then how about staying here tonight?" A familiar voice rang.

They turned to see Sonia walk over to them with a bright smile on her face.

"Sonia?" Victor was surprised to see her.

"It seems I've come back home right in time for all the excitement." The ginger beamed.

"Wait, back to what you said just now, did you suggest that I sleep here tonight?" Victor repeated.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. You could stay to wait for your Dynamax band to be finished in the morning." Sonia suggested.

Gloria did not like this. "V-Victor! Y-You can stay at my house inste-!"

"I think that's a nice idea." Magnolia agreed with her granddaughter. "If you already left your house thinking that you wouldn't go back, then does that mean that you packed a change of clothes, Victor?"

"Well, yeah, I packed clothes. But is it really okay for me to intrude?" Victor asked out of consideration.

"Nonsense, we would be glad to have you." Magnolia smiled.

Gloria pouted angrily before stating, "L-Let me stay here so that I can wait for my Pokedex band too!"

"Sounds like the three of you should stay!" Leon grinned as he gently pushed Hop and Gloria forward. "As for me, I'll have to be heading back. But tomorrow, let your journey to becoming to best begin!"

"What Leon? You're not even going to stay for dinner? I've been obsessed with making the latest trendy curries." Sonia brought up.

Leon's mouth started to water, "Well, I do like the way you cook, so maybe... Just..." He slapped his cheeks with his hands to snap out of it. "No! Sorry, Sonia, I have to head back!" he calmed himself.

"Such a shame." Magnolia shook her head.

"Good luck tomorrow, you three! I wish you the best as trainers! Goodbye, everyone!" With that, Leon turned and ran down the path of Route 2, surprisingly going the right direction.

For now.

"Hey Sonia, were you serious about making the latest curry!?" Hop asked with a watery mouth.

Sonia proudly put her hands on her hips. "Yup, I've been working on making them in my free time. And now..."

She walked forward to Victor and leaned forward, giving him a smirk. "I have a chance to impress someone new."

"I'll look forward to it!" Victor immediately responded with a salute of excitement.

Ace and Twilight turned to each other rather curiously, but then both flinched in fear as they suddenly felt a menacing presence beside them.

Gloria was glaring at Sonia with a pout and a black aura around her.

Whether Sonia didn't notice or purposely ignored it, she turned to the pouting girl. "Gloria, would you mind helping me out in the kitchen? It'll take more than just my hands to make curry for everyone."

Victor turned to the brunette, "You helping Sonia cook curry? Even better! I can't wait to try it!"

Gloria's previous anger subsided, and the black aura around her completely changed into a pink one.

"I-I'll work hard..." She mumbled as she passed Victor with a small smile, heading inside with Sonia.

Magnolia kept the two boys back. "Now, as I was saying, why not take Sonia's suggestion and stay over for the night? You wouldn't bother us at all. Hop can stay too if he wants to wait as well."

Victor turned to Hop, and Hop turned to Victor. Both seemed to try to find an answer out of the other.

"Well..." Victor turned back to Magnolia. "I guess we'll accept."


~{10:12Pm}~

*Snooooooooore!*

Victo had a blank expression on his face as he listened to Hop snoring across from him on the white couches.

"Well... This sucks."

The boy's snoring had been so bad that both of Victor's pokemon had actually begged him to be returned into their pokeballs for the night, leaving only the blankets for Victor to snuggle with.

He sighed and sat up, not feeling sleepy at all. Usually, this would be the time he would be training with Greininja in the Slumbering Weald, so it somewhat messed up his sleep schedule with the addition of Hop's snoring, making it harder to sleep.

He got up and stretched his arms while heading outside barefoot.

The first thing he saw once walking out the door was the large, bright full moon that shined down at him from above. He glanced right at the garden of plants that were so early in growing that Victor didn't have a clue as to what they were. He walked across the blue pokemon field that had been used for his friend's battle earlier and ended up on the edge of the land where he gazed at the big, bright ball that was being reflected in the beautiful night water.

He sat down at the bench facing the large lake and rested his head in his hand.

"So tomorrow I'm heading out for the gym challenge... But more importantly, I'm finally able to explore the famous wild area..."

He formed a small smile. "I wonder what kinds of pokemon I'll meet over there? I wonder how many could I actually fight...? For training purposes, of course."

He leaned back on the bench, "But based on what I've read about, there's gonna be a lot of hostile pokemon trying to come at me for no reason... Or maybe I can find out the reason?"

Victor heard light footsteps behind him.

He turned his head and caught sight of familiar ginger hair.

The young adult was in a fluffy looking light blue nightgown with the addition of heart-designed slippers. She had her arms crossed while heading over to Victor with a smile.

"Hey Victor, you couldn't sleep either?"

"Yeah, just kind of had the urge to go outside." Victor responded as Sonia took a seat next to him.

"I just had to go somewhere else. Magnolia had me share the bed with Gloria, but that lass sure has some absurd sleeping positions..." Sonia sighed as she recalled the reason she couldn't sleep.

"Heh, sounds comfortable." Victor chuckled.

"Sure..." Sonia rolled her eyes before then staring out at the lake.

Both were in momentary silence as they figure out what else to say.

"The curry was delicious." Victor complimented.

"Thanks, Gloria helped me out quite a bit. She really is a good cook."

"Better than you?"

"I doubt it." Sonia smirked.

The woman adjusted herself in her spot on the bench, which made Victor wonder if she was uncomfortable.

"Are you cold?" He asked her.

"Not really, I've always spent nights like this outside with my pokemon. I guess you could say that I got somewhat used to it." The woman said as she started twirling her slightly messed up hair with her finger.

Hearing her mention her pokemon again, Victor decided to ask, "How were your pokemon? You had a Ninetails, Milotic, and Meowstic, but other than that, I don't know too much about them."

A visible happy smile formed on Sonia as she gazed up at the moon.

"Ninetails was the proudest and most stubborn pokemon I've ever seen... No matter how many times she was hit and knocked down, she would always get back up."

She gazed at the lake again.

"Milotic was actually introduced to me by a good friend of mine. She was the most beautiful pokemon I've ever seen... The way she majestically jumped out of the water, the way she sparkled in the sun as she twirled... She never ceased to amaze me. She was the mature and calmer one of the bunch."

Her gaze went to the ground, "As for Meowstic... She really loved me. She always clung to me like a child, and I know that she was hurt the most from being released."

"So one's prideful, another's mature, and the last one is childish in need of attention...?" Victor took mental notes before asking:

"But why did you keep Yamper and not Meowstic if she cared about you so much?"

"Because I knew that they could take care of themselves in the wild area... Yamper wasn't near them in terms of strength, so I was worried that he wouldn't survive there."

"Oh."

"..." Sonia seemed to have gotten more depressed as she recalled them.

Victor looked guilty. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine. But let me ask you something, Victor..." She turned to him with a sad smile. "Do you think they'd forgive me?"

"For letting them go?"

"For betraying their trust." Sonia corrected. "Pokemon trainers should have everlasting bonds with their pokemon. But I... shattered that bond. I didn't put enough trust in them that they would fight and win. I didn't think we'd be able to complete the challenge. I know they must've been hurt..."

Victor smiled, "I've literally only known you for a day, Sonia, but I can tell that you genuinely care about pokemon, and I can see it in your eyes that you really miss your pokemon. I'm sure they'll see it too that you still care about them and forgive you. It might take time for them to trust you again, but I'm still sure they'd be glad to see you."

"Heh, a part of me thought you'd say that, but... it's still really reassuring to hear." As she said this, Sonia reached a hand and rustled through his hair.

"And even though I've only known you for today, I can tell that you're a really are a sweet boy."

Getting his head rubbed by her for the second time of the day, Victor reddened, but that didn't mean that he didn't enjoy this feeling.

"Victor..." Another female's voice grumbled behind them.

Victor and Sonia turned around to see a familiar brunette with her arms crossed along with completely white and irritated eyes.

"The hell are ya and Sonia doing out here in the middle of the night!?" Gloria asked with cross-veins around her head.

"..." Both Sonia and Victor just stared at the girl rather curiously.

Victor brought what they were both currently thinking.

"You know, Gloria, I don't know what you're mad about, but it's kind of hard to take you seriously with that Charmander onesie you're wearing..."

"How cute." Sonia added with a giggle.

Gloria's face flushed with red, turning her scary demeanor into an adorably angry pout. "Sh-Shut up! Just tell me what ya both doing here!?"

"I couldn't sleep because of Hop's snoring, and Sonia couldn't sleep because of your 'absurd sleeping positions.' So we came here to relax a little." Victor bluntly answered.

"F-Forget I asked!" Gloria steamed at the mention of the way she slept.

She marched over and sat down on the left side of Victor with her arms crossed and still pouting.

Victor stared at her before saying, "You know, that onesie looks cu-"

"Shut it."

"Alright, then."

All three of them faced the lake in a new silence.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Sonia asked the two to break the awkward silence.

Victor smiled, "Of course. It'll be my first time ever going to the wild area after all."

"It'll be our first time, including Hop. We had to learn about the area before we could leave too, you know?" Gloria corrected.

"Well, either way, we'll be going out to meet so many new pokemon."

"Speaking of pokemon, Hop mentioned that you three met two mysterious pokemon in the Slumbering Weald. Is this true?" Sonia asked curiously.

"Yeah, they were slightly larger than a normal adult, and they seemed to look like wolves. I've mesmerized every pokemon name from the pokemon research lab, but I didn't have a clue as to what those pokemon were." Victor explained.

"They had fog coming off of them, then we all suddenly passed out..." Gloria remembered with a shiver.

"How odd... I've never heard anything like. I think I'm going to look into it." The assistant declared.

"You don't have to, we could just go back into that forest when we're stronger." Victor told her.

Sonia waved her hand, "Nonsense, it's what I as a future assistant should do!" Then she looked down with a sigh, "Plus, I got an earful from my gran saying 'those young trainers are going to set out on a journey, but what are you doing with your life?'..."

"Ouch." Victor and Gloria both thought.

But Sonia immediately perked up with a newfound flame, "But now I found something I can look into! And I discover something huge, then maybe Gran'll admit that I've got some talent!"

"Well, I hope you find something." Gloria hoped, thinking that she wouldn't see Sonia again.

"Actually, that has me bring up another thing. You guys might be seeing me on your journey more than you think." Sonia hinted.

"You're coming with us?" Victor speculated.

Gloria flinched.

"Sort of. I'll just come with you on your trip to Motostroke, but once we get there, we'll split up so you kids can get your challenge started and I could research into the pokemon you kids saw."

"Motostroke... If I remember from my readings, that place is where we actually sign up for the Gym Challenge." Victor recalled.

Gloria pouted, "I don't think-"

"We'll be glad to have you!" Victor innocently smiled.

Gloria hung her head in defeat with a blue aura around her.

"Thanks, Victor, I would love the company." Sonia happily smiled. "So for now, let's sleep so we can be ready for the trip tomorrow."

"I guess we should get back." Victor said as all three of them stood up from the bench and made their way back to the house.

Victor felt bubbly inside as he thought about his adventure for tomorrow.

"I can't wait."


~{Next Day- 10:58AM}~

"Here you are, dearies. These are for you." Professor Magnolia happily said as she gave the three teenagers in front of her each a white band with a red X in the middle.

All three of them slipped their newly acquired Dynamax bands on their wrist with happy expressions.

"Those are your Dynamax bands. I made them by fitting the wishing stars you found yesterday into the bands themselves. Now your pokemon will be able to Dynamax anytime on a power spot."

"A power spot..." Victor mumbled as he stared down at his Dynamax band. "So, we can activate these in gyms and glowing dens?"

"Yup, so make sure you utilize dynamaxing in the wild area to the fullest." Professor Magnolia encouraged.

"Yay! Now that we got our bands, let's head to Wedgehurst Station to get to Motostoke already! Race you there!" Hop turned and blasted full sprint out of the door.

"...I'm not even gonna bother going after him." Gloria sighed.

"But all of you should indeed get going. Including you Sonia, go find something to do with your life instead of just studying pokemon we already know about!"

Sonia sighed, "Yes, gran..."

"Ouch." Victor and Gloria both thought.

"At least this might be a fun adventure." Sonia smiled as she walked over to the two.

"Goodbye, Professor Magnolia! Thank you for the Dynamax bands." Gloria appreciated as the trio left.

"We'll use them well!" Victor added right before leaving from the front door.

"Oh, you'd better." Magnolia chuckled.


~{Wedgehurst Station-11:07}~

"Mom!?" Victor exclaimed with widened eyes.

"Mum!? What are you doing here!?" Hop then added to seeing his own mother.

"Mum, why are you here?" Gloria growled at seeing her own mother there.

"Aww, I'll miss you too, sweetie." Gloria's brunette mother smiled innocently.

"That's not... what I-*sigh*" Gloria gave up.

"We all knew you would all be leaving. Professor Magnolia called me, so then I called the other two mothers to kiss you goodbye." Hop's mum chuckled.

"Victor, I thought you'd be out of here already." Victor's mother let him know.

"I thought I'd be leaving yesterday too, but I needed a few more things for the trip." Victor truthfully answered.

"Well..." His mother handed him something of decent size. "I'm glad I caught you right before you left. I have one last thing to see you well on your way. A whole kit that you'll need for camping!"

Victor stared in confusion at the kit he could carry easily in both of his hands. "This small kit has a tent and cooking supplies!?" He decided not to think of it too much as he stuffed it into his backpack.

"Thanks, mom." Victor smiled as his mother gave him a big hug. "I'll be sure to make you proud."

"Scor! Scor!" Ace let everyone know he was there by jumping up and waving his arms to tell Victor's mom that he would watch the boy.

"Oh, I'll miss you too, little Ace." Victor's mother rubbed the pokemon's head. She then focused her gaze onto the professor's assistant. "Ah, Sonia, what did you think of my son?"

Sonia giggled, "He was everything you said he would be."

Victor and Gloria both deadpanned.

"Mom... What were you thinking, spouting unnecessary information about me?" Victor narrowed his eyes.

"Now, now, makes you think that information was unnecessary?" His mother mischievously smirked.

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

Gloria looked very suspicious.

"Let's get going now! Our train is here!" Sonia quickly ushered the kids with some pushing.

"Good luck Sonia!" Victor's mother then winked.

"Good luck with what!?" Victor questioned in pure confusion as Sonia gently pushed him towards the train.

"Nothing, you're mother is just getting a little ahead of herself." Sonia said with a roll of her eyes.

Gloria just stared at Sonia with a blank face as they boarded the train.

It didn't take long for the four to find seats, with Gloria aggressively sitting right beside Victor as he scooted to the window seat.

"We'll be off to Motostoke! I can't wait!" Hop grinned.

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Weren't we going to go through the wild area?"

"But we can take a one-way trip all the way to the Motostoke city, that's where we sign up for the challenge and have the opening ceremony." Gloria pointed out.

"Ehhhh!? But I wanted to explore the wild area around Motostoke for the first time! I thought that was where we were gonna go?!" Victor exclaimed.

"Calm down now, Victor, you can always explore later." Sonia calmed him. "For now, just focus on the challenge."

Victor rested his head on the table, somewhat depressed. "Pooey..."

They all laughed.


~{Fifteen Minutes Later}~

"Yes, this is the Wild Area Station, make no mistake. I'm sorry to tell you that the train to Motostoke is halted due to a flock of Wooloo on the tracks." The conductor of the train told the group of four.

"How did that happen without any of ya noticing!?" Gloria snapped in disbelief.

"Yay! Wild Area!" Hop and Victor both cheered with their arms up.

"What an interruption." Sonia smiled.

"Let's go!" Victor and Hop both dashed out of the station.

"Victor! Don't start getting affected by Hop's habit of rushing ahead!" Gloria shouted after them.

"Oh, dear, I don't want to get left behind." Sonia followed them.

Victor ran out of the station and turned left, where his eyes widened in pure awe.

He saw dozens of spread out, lush green trees, miles of clear field, and rivers and lakes making up the land ahead of him. He quickly ran over to the entrance gate and had his mouth agape in awe with stars replacing his eyes.

"I'm here... I'm finally here!"

"Scor!" "Grook!" "Sob!" All three starter pokemon cheered.

"Hmph." Twilight didn't look too amused as it flew on the gate ahead to gaze over at the area.

"This is the perfect place to build up our teams!" Hop beamed. He put a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he squinted at the town far off in the distance. "That's Motostoke, waaaaaaaay off that way!"

He turned to the three others behind him, "And between there and here are countless new pokemon waiting to be met!"

"And look at all those shining raid dens..." Victor smiled in interest as he saw many beams of red light in the distance.

"They're both really excited about this." Gloria sighed.

"And you're not?" Sonia questioned with a smile.

"I mean..." Gloria looked away, "I guess so. I could find a lot more cute pokemon."

"Let's go!" Victor jumped.

"Hold on now, first let me give you each something." Sonia said as she reached into her bag.

All three kids curiously turned to her as Sonia pulled out three copies of an odd device that almost looked like a small container.

"These are Pokemon Box Links." She said as she gave one to each of them. "They allow you to put pokemon from your team into your boxes or take pokemon out of your boxes to add them to your team, nice, right?"

Victor stared down at the odd device that had an opening for pokeballs to slip out.

"Wait... How does this work?"

"You don't know? It should be easy enough. You press the screen, and it'll be the same as using a box in the pokemon cent-"

"No, no, not that. I mean, how is it actually possible for pokemon to get sent from boxes into here?"

Sonia shrugged, "Teleport, maybe?"

"..." Victor didn't know whether to question or agree with it. He glanced down to Ace as if looking for an answer, but he just shrugged.

"But this is great! Now we can catch as many pokemon and switch them around!" Hop cheered.

"I don't wanna just catch every pokemon and collect them to compare strengths... That just sounds wrong." Victor thought but didn't say.

"Hop, just make sure you release the pokemon if you choose not to use them, or if they really don't want to fight." He at least said.

"Got it! Now let's head out and-!" Hop had just started stepping ahead of the entrance before stopping with a rare look of worry.

"What is it? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet-?"

"Shhh!" Hop hushed Gloria while turning back to the group.

"What is it?" Sonia asked in a low tone as she and the others caught up to Hop.

"Lookie over there." Hop pointed.

There was a clear space surrounded by big, dark green trees and a smaller and lighter green berry tree where a noticeably large pokemon roamed. The pokemon consisted of a giant chain of gray boulders that got smaller towards the tail. Victor immediately recognized the pokemon as the tallest of the rock types.

"It's an Onix..." He stared in awe.

Sonia's smiled faded, and she looked more cautious. "Careful now, those are one of the larger and stronger pokemon around the Wild Area. Even other pokemon fear and stay away."

Ace and Grookey looked rather scared and backed away, showing no signs of foolishly attacking.

"If we don't get too close and ignore it, then we'll be fine." Gloria suggested to them as Bubbles timidly climbed to her shoulder as if to hide from the pokemon.

"Yeah, Lee told me to be really careful with those kinds of pokemon. We shouldn't do anything to get it's attention, right Victor?"

There was a lack of a response.

"Victor?" Hop asked again as everyone turned to the boy.

Only to see him not there.

"Eh?" They all blinked.

"SCOR! SCOR!" Ace jumped and pointed with comedically bulging eyes.

"Hey, !"

They turned around and saw Victor waving happily as he ran energetically at the living chain of rocks.

"HE GOING STRAIGHT FOR IT!?"


~{Author's Post-Notes}~

I would like to point out a few things for future chapters. First of all, the Wild Area. I'm obviously going to make the scaling of it much larger than that of the games. I'm going to be making it as big (if not larger) than how it appeared in Bea's episode of the Pokemon Twilight Wings. But tthe layout of the Wild Area will still be around the same location wise for all the places. Speaking of Twilight, I read the suggested names for Rookidee for not just here, but also for other sights such as Wattpad and Archiveofourown, (not gonna lie, some names made me cringe). I was thinking of what name to choose, but then I watched the new episode of Pokemon Twilight Wings starring Nessa in it, and was reminded of the Corviknight in the anime that appears in every episode. After watching the beauty that was Nessa's episode and being reminded of this Corviknight I knew that I just had to name it Twilight in honor of him. One last thing, for those of you thinking that Melony should be in the harem. Nope. She's much older than the rest of the cast and event has a son, so I'm assuming she's married and ain't gonna NTR that shit.

But anyway, look forward to another chapter in the future and I hope you guys leave more comments during these troubling times in the world.