~{Author's Pre-Notes}~

A chapter somewhat earlier than expected.

Answered Comments:

TREBOR.E: Sorry, but the pokemon appearing in the wild of Galar will only be from the Galarian Pokedex right now. So no Slowpoke or naming of Bill.

GumballDia: Thanks for the reassuring words and pointing out some of the problems the pokemon fandom has. I've seen a lot of terrible drama coming from the community overall, and it really makes me disappointed sometimes... But this fic isn't about them! This is about my personal love for the pokemon Sword and Shield characters who I believe had great potential to be something more, as well as about my overall love for the game! So that's all I hope you enjoy and thanks for the encouragement!

Dark Thundercat: Um, I don't really know where you're going with this, are you telling me an idea for a story to write? Because if you are, one, I've never watched Naruto, and two, I'm not ready to write a third story alongside two others.

And now, onto the writing!


"Victor!? What are you doing!?" Sonia shouted with her hands grasping her head as she saw the boy running straight at the dangerous pokemon of the Wild Area.

"Hey, !" Victor waved his hand excitedly as he neared the rock snake pokemon with stars in his eyes.

The Onix stopped moving for a moment as he heard this voice. Then he turned his head with a menacing glare just as Victor stopped only a few feet away from him.

"Oi! Victor! Stop!" Hop cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted.

"Scor Scor!" Ace called to him in vain.

Their shouts fell on deaf ear as Victor used his Pokedex to compare an image of an Onix to the one right in front of him.

"Wow! This one looks so much bigger than the average ones!" Victor innocently exclaimed in awe.

The Onix's eyes dilated, and he threateningly raised his tail up with power coursing around it, causing it to started violently vibrating in a white glow.

"Oooo! This one even knows Iron Tail!? Then it must be really strong then!" Victor squealed like a little kid.

"ON-!" The rock pokemon violently swung his tail right down over the boy. "-IX!"

Its Iron Tail slammed down in an attack so powerful that it sent dirt and dust flying in all directions while shaking the earth underneath.

"VICTOR!" Gloria screamed with a look of horror in her eyes.

A large number of dusty clouds were kicked up by the move, causing the area to be obscured in brown. Everyone was frozen as they had just seen the giant tail fall upon one of their companions.

But when the dust cleared out, everyone was stunned to see no sign of anyone underneath the Onix's tail, even as he raised it back up to check.

"Onix?" The pokemon examined its tail with a look of confusion, wondering where his target went.

"That wasn't very nice, you know?"

Onix suddenly felt a chill and could swear that there was a murderous feeling behind him. It turned around and backed up in caution, yet all he saw was simply the Victor with his arms crossed and a pout on his face, no sign of the murderous feeling like before.

"I know I'm the one that came up to you, but you didn't have to attack me just because of that." Victor tapped his foot.

"Onix!" The Onix put on a glare again as he used Iron Tail again and swung it along the ground, attempting to slam right into Victor.

But instead of slamming into his target, he missed entirely.

"Onix!?" The pokemon was stunned as he saw Victor suddenly flying over him.

"So high!" Hop thought in awe as he saw Victor flip through the air and land behind Onix again with his back at him.

Onix's pupils shrunk in anger as he once again raised his Iron Tail and slammed it where Victor was standing, causing even more dirt and dust to kick up.

But this time, once the dust cleared up, Victor was standing on top of Onix's head.

"Come on, do you really have to be that way?" Victor sighed as he sat down on Onix's head and gently pat the stone spine on the pokemon's head.

"ONIX!" Onix started violently swinging his body around at an attempt to throw Victor off.

"Hey! Calm down now!" Victor shouted as he wrapped his arms around the stone spine to keep himself from getting flung.

Victor's friends all stared with eyes and mouth completely open.

"He's... He's-" Sonia started.

"-RIDING IT!?" Gloria finished.

"Haha! Whoa there!" Victor grinned as the Onix slammed its own body to the ground and roared.

At one point when he raised head his head with a roar, Victor took his beanie off and waved it around.

"YEE-HAW!"

Onix tried slamming his head into two trees to hit Victor, but failing miserably and only causing him to hurt himself.

At one point, Onix stopped with a look of pure fury and angled its head to point right at the ground.

"Uh-oh!" Seeing this, Victor immediately leaped off the pokemon right before it used Dig to burrow itself into the ground.

Upon landing, the boy started running back to his friends while waving a hand happily to them, "I suggest you guys start running ahead!"

"Eh?" They all blinked before seeing the Onix burst from underground right behind Victor.

"ONIX!" It roared as it started rampaging through the ground and trees to get to him.

"KYAAAAAAHHH!" The group all turned around and ran as fast as they could.


~{East Lake Axewell: Sunny Weather-11:36AM}~

The group ended up in front of the stairs that led into the large city of Motostoke. After having been running for some time, they seemed to have lost the Onix and were finally able to rest. They panted and fell on the ground beside a lake in exhaustion, but Victor just stretched his arms with a smile.

"Vic-*pant*-tor..." Hop weakly called as he forced himself back to his feet. "What... *wheeze* was that!?"

Victor turned to them, looking somewhat puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"You know what he means!" Gloria shouted in one gasp of air, jumping forward and grabbing Victor by the collar. "*Pant*... *Pant*... You jumped on an Onix! *Wheeze* And came out perfectly fine!?"

Victor flinched as he realized what he did wrong, "Crap, I did that too naturally!"

Sonia's legs shook as she got back to her feet and adjusted the glasses on her head, "To think that... *pant* You kept such a level-head against such a hostile pokemon... And moved with such mobility, how'd you do it?" She smiled in interest.

Ace crossed his tiny arms and stared at Victor with a look that said, "Now look what you've done."

"Er..." Victor awkwardly laughed while scratching the back of his head. "With exercise!"

"Really?! You gotta teach me your training regimen!" Hop rushed forward excitedly.

"M-Maybe later." Victor answered.

"You exercise!?" Gloria seemed pretty surprised.

"Well yeah, I do! Every night I put my body to the limit!" Victor grinned, as he knew he wasn't really lying.

Twilight let out a sigh at what he saw Victor did. Although he was indeed from the Slumbering Weald and knew of the boy's abilities, he couldn't believe he still recklessly charged in and ended up on top of a proud Onix.

"That must be quite the exercise you're doing if you're jumping on such a large pokemon." Sonia said as she dusted herself off.

"Well, I did stay home for most of my life, so I had a lot of free time besides studying." Victor laughed.

As for Gloria, she was pouting angrily while glaring at her friend.

Victor noticed this, and nervously raised his hands in surrender to her.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to be reckless."

Gloria looked away, her eyes looking somewhat afraid. "I thought... When it slammed its tail at you, I thought that-"

She felt her beanie removed from her head.

"Eh?"

She looked back up just as Victor planted his hand on her brown hair.

"I'm not gonna get hit that easy." Victor confidently stated as he gently caressed her head. "I'd die from the embarrassment rather than any attacks."

Gloria lightly blushed and looked down.

"I can never say anything when he does that..." She put on another angry pout.

"So cute..." Sonia smiled with mysterious flowers floating around her.

Hop grinned and pointed a finger in the distance., "Look, guys! We're already at Motostoke!"

The group turned to the stairs that led to their destination.

"Let's get going then." Sonia suggested as she started walking.

Victor removed his hand from Gloria's head and placed her beanie back, although looking somewhat sad. "Eh!? We are? But we just got to the Wild Area! I wanted to explore more of it!"

He was suddenly grabbed by both wrists.

"Huh?" He blinked as he realized that he was suddenly being dragged from behind by two pairs of arms.

He glanced behind him and saw both Sonia and Gloria, each holding an arm of his while pulling him.

"You can explore any time after signing up and finishing the entrance ceremony." Sonia smiled as she casually pulled Victor's left arm.

"As if I wanna get another heart attack from you out here." Gloria deadpanned as she pulled the boy's right arm.

"I got his legs!" Hop grinned as he lifted Victor's legs to make them completely lift him off the ground.

"Why you too!? You were supposed to get all excited about exploring with me, you traitor!" Victor snapped as he was lifted up the stairs.

The three starter pokemon and Twilight followed from behind while sweat dropping.

Victor comedically cried as he came up to the top of the steps.

"My chance of exploration..."

"Quit crying Victor, look around you!" Hop encouraged.

Victor's eyes opened and brightened up as he saw the sight of the city he just entered.

There were bricks, steam, and several large building that made up the entirety of Motostoke. What he saw an exact definition of an industrial city, which was probably because it actually was.

"Wow..." Victor turned left and right at the rather large structures, ignoring the curious gazes of people that watched him get carried through the street by his friends. He remembered reading that Motostoke was a steam-powered city that was considered to be the marvels of modern engineering for the world, and it was a rather nice place to look for a job.

"Should we stop by the pokemon center?" Sonia turned to Gloria.

"I don't think so, our pokemon are perfectly fine. Let's just keep going and sign up for the gym challenge already. We don't even know when the opening ceremony is after all." Gloria responded.

Victor let his head fall back to stare at a rather large structure up ahead that seemed to be of giant gears, yet with a platform visibly connecting to it. Despite staring at it upside down, he immediately recognized it from his readings.

"If I remember correctly, that should be an elevator to get up."

Hop saw the look on his face and smiled. "We'll be taking that lift up to the city's upper level! It'll be the first time I ever get on it!"

"Of course you're excited about that." Gloria sighed as they all stepped onto the lift, where they finally placed Victor down. The boy got up and crossed his arms with a pout.

"The Wild Area..."

The mechanism they were standing on suddenly shook and violently moved them up with shifting gears.

"Kyah!" Gloria lost balance and jerked forward, but luckily, her favorite person caught her right in his arms after stumbling too.

"Wow, that was sudden... You alright?" Victor asked as the machine suddenly stopped at the second level.

Gloria glanced up and saw that her face was rather close to Victor's, causing steam to come from her head as she pushed him away and turned her back to him.

"I-I'm fine! Thanks!" The girl sped up ahead.

"Jiiiiiii..." The group of pokemon stared at Victor with unamused gazes, yet the boy smiled and didn't pay mind to them as they all got off the platform.

Victor then gazed in awe at the massive stadium just ahead of him. He saw the carpet of a red centipede-like image on the ground in front of the door. One each side of the door were two League Staff of the sort wearing black and white clothing while standing professionally with orange glasses.

"This is the fire-type gym if I remember..." Victor stared as he recalled his research.

Hop had the same thoughts as the group stopped to glance at the gym. "Motostoke Stadium... This is where the opening ceremony will be held!"

"We know, that's why we came." Gloria pointed out.

"I know, it's just that..." Hop nervously scratched the back of his head. "Everyone'll be watching the opening ceremony for the gym challenge. Our mums, the city... The whole world!"

Hearing this, Victor remembered his mother's warning.

You'll be broadcasted on live television by even just the opening ceremony! So what if they finally figure out that you're here?"

He glanced down to the ground and took a deep breath.

"The whole world... Will be watching?"

He thought about the consequences of his actions, the extra dangers he could face in the challenge. But he knew that he wanted this, he knew that he wanted to get stronger and become a champion that can deal with anyone.

He rose his head and put on a grin.

"Let them watch."

As the group made their way towards the gym rather excited, Victor froze behind them as he saw something extremely out of the ordinary, something that had him stare with a puzzled look.

"Is that... A man with the head of a pokeball?"

Victor's group didn't even pay any mind to the person that was standing around doing odd poses as they just passed him.

But Victor's curiosity ended up causing him to walk over to him.

This person's appearance was rather bizarre, starting from the pokeball head with a face on it. From there, his outfit got weirder with his red uniform shirt with gray shorts, some sort of white full-suit that covered his arms and legs, and rather abnormally large gray shoes.

"Um... Hello?" Victor got his attention as he ended up in front of him.

The person in the costume turned to Victor and started tapping his feet on the ground before spinning and striking a pose that involved shaking his hands.

"Ta-da!"

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

"You took the time to talk to a pokeball, so you deserve a little reward!" The person then pulled out a plain red and white pokeball and handed it to him.

"A pokeball?" Victor curiously pointed out as he received the item. He stared at the person. "Who even are you?"

The pokeball person then started tap dancing again, "I'm a pokeball! But I'm not just any old pokeball!"

He spun to the right, then spun to the left, and then shook his hands. "But then who am I, you ask? Well, the answer is simple!"

He then struck the same pose with his hands waving on both sides of his head.

"They call me the Ball Guy!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Ball... Guy?" Victor repeated in confusion. "What do you do exactly? Just give pokeballs to people?"

Ball Guy pointed finger guns at him, "You know it! I make sure every challenger has at least one pokeball for their challenge! It's my duty as the mascot for the league!"

"You're the mascot for the league? Cool!" Victor smiled upon learning that.

"I know, right? I give all kinds of pokeballs to people, but-!"

"Oh, duck, please." Victor politely interrupted.

"Will do!" The mascot surprisingly listened immediately and ducked, to which two tomatoes flew over him and were caught by Victor's hands without even splatting.

He glared at a few kids that looked to by around his age up ahead of the road. They looked rather shocked that their projectiles were caught and had missed their intended targets, not knowing what to do now.

Victor then got into a pitcher's stance before slinging both tomatoes right back right at the two kid's faces, sending them back to the ground with a new color of red on their faces. The other boys around them were stunned by the speed of the throws and panicked, then turning around and running away.

Ball Guy stood back up and turned to see the kids running. "Did something happen?"

"Nope!" Victor innocently smiled, "You said that you give pokeballs to people, right?"

Ball Guy got back in spirit, "Yup! All kinds! I collect so many of them and give them back to special gym challengers! I hope you'll show me that you're special enough to receive them!"

"I hope I can impress you! Also, can you do me a favor and have a strong umbrella ready at all times?"

"An umbrella?" Ball Guy curiously put a hand on his chin with a question mark. But before he could even ask, someone came running and grabbed Victor by the back of his shirt.

"Victor! We're waiting for ya inside!" Gloria scolded him as she suddenly started to pull him away.

"Oh, sorry. Bye, Ball Guy!" Victor waved to him.

"I'll see you in the future! I always move around gyms!" Ball Guy waved.

As Victor got pulled inside, Gloria started lecturing Victor.

"Ya can't just go around talking to people, especially if they're weird!"

"What's wrong with being around weird people? Leon's weird for always somehow being able to get lost, Hop's weird by how optimistic and airheaded he can be, you're-"

"I get it! I get it!" Gloria shouted before he could continue.

It was then right there that Victor saw the inside of the fire-type gym. The orange and red flame designed carpet, the walls were made of brick like the rest of the city, the large banners that advertised the gym challenge, and the reception desk at the end of the room with a man proudly smiling as someone already started signing up.

Victor turned left and right at the sight of many other similarly-aged kids as him, looked rather excited to have just signed up for the challenge.

"I hope things go well for all of us." He smiled.

"So many people." Sonia pointed out as Gloria pulled Victor to them.

"Every one of these folks is just another rival!" Hop grinned.

"Don't say that out loud!" Gloria snapped. "Let's just get signed up already!"

As Victor got dragged to the desk, he passed by two other kids going the opposite direction as him.

Time seemed to slow down, and the world turned black as Victor's eyes caught sight of a boy with messy, platinum blonde hair wearing a rather long pink and purple coat. His purple eyes met with Victor's as he maintained a smug grin, almost as if telling him to not bother to join the challenge before he turned his face away.

Victor's eyes then glanced to the left and saw a slim, young girl with a hairstyle of tufts resembling horns, messy twin-tails tied with ribbons, and bangs on her side partly covering her right eye. She was wearing a gothic jacket with a pink mini-dress along with black boots with spike heels. Her emerald green eyes met with Victor's brown eyes as she passed him, a rather scary glare at the boy, yet something didn't feel right about it.

"Some interesting people..."

That was all Victor thought as he stared at both teens heading for the exit. They clearly didn't know one another, but both had the same goal of surpassing everyone in this challenge.

"If you're here to register for the gym challenge, I'll need to see your endorsement, please." The voice of the male at the receptions spoke to them.

"Here ya go!" Hop handed them all three letters of Leon.

"When did he take mine!?" Victor realized as he checked his pocket.

The staff member took the endorsement letters and formed a look of shock on his face.

"The three of you were endorsed by the champion?!"

Nearly everyone in the room stopped their talking and turned back to see who he meant, including the gothic girl and smug guy who stopped right as they were going out the door.

"Yup, all three of these kids." Sonia smiled as she patted Victor and Gloria with Hop in front of her.

"I wonder what came over Leon this year... The three of you must be something special! I hope to see what you can do, so let's get you signed up!" The male grinned.

"Me first!" Hop hopped in excitement.

Victor glanced at the menacing gazes of people that heard who they were endorsed by.

He narrowed his eyes, "We might as well have painted targets on our backs..."

The three kids signed up for the challenge, giving necessary information such as name, birthday, and place growing up.

Once signed up, the man registering them smiled.

"Now that you're registered as gym challengers, you can choose your preferred number for your uniform, if you'd be so kind. It will be displayed on the back of the uniform that you must wear for any official match."

"Any number!?" Hop grinned.

"Er, within three digits, please. We can only professionally fit three-digit numbers on the back of uniforms." The man quickly added.

Hop thought about it for a moment before grinning again.

"Number 189!"

"I wonder why 189 specifically?" Victor wondered.

The man typed the number and then turned to Gloria. "What bout you, lass?"

Gloria thought about what number to choose. She had forgotten that this was a part of the process and hadn't thought up a number beforehand.

She partly glanced back at Victor, had a sudden thought, then turned forward with a small blush. "F-Four..."

Hop and Sonia both eyed her suspiciously at that reaction.

"Why'd she look at him?"

The man turned to Victor, "And you-?"

"658!" Victor didn't even hesitate with stars sparkling around him.

The man laughed, "Alrighty then!" he said as he typed the last number. "Now then. Please wear this challenger band at all times to identify yourself as a Gym Challenger." He said as he handed all three kids the same kind of band.

"The opening ceremony for the gym is to be held here tomorrow! You can pick up your uniforms by then. All the trainers taking part will be booked at a room in the nearby Budew Drop Inn!" The staff member lastly declared to them.

"That's the league champion for you! I'm sure Leon was even able to book us all hotel rooms!" Hop grinned.

"Wait, since the ceremony is tomorrow..." Victor realized. "Can I go back to the Wild Area!?"

"I suppose you can. But this where I'll split." Sonia said to them as she started walking off. "I'm going to start swinging by the shops and then start looking into anything I can find about the mysterious pokemon you guys encountered."

"I'm gonna check out the fancy digs of the Budew Inn!" Hop shouted excitingly as he suddenly ran ahead, leaving behind only Victor and Gloria besides Ace, Twilight, and Bubbles.

"..." Victor turned to Gloria happily, "Wanna come with me to the Wild Area?"

Gloria smiled at the thought of being alone with him. "Sure!"


~{Rolling Fields: Clear Weather-12:01PM}~

"WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE ONIX!?" Gloria screamed.

Victor suddenly clasped her mouth to keep her silent, "Shhhhhh! We're nearing it!"

The two had been making their way back to where they had run away in the first place. Now both of them were hiding behind a tree while the Onix, still looking angry from earlier, roamed about on its general area.

Gloria knocked Victor's hand off her mouth and had to keep herself composed so she wouldn't scream at him. "Victor... What in Galar makes ya wanna go back to such a dangerous pokemon!?"

"Sob! Sob!" Bubbles tugged Victor's pants to tell him that it was indeed a bad idea.

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace jumped and flailed his arms frantically at the thought of his trainer going back.

Victor, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm as he turned to Gloria with a smile, "I'm gotta apologize to it. I did kind of bother it in the first place."

Gloria was baffled, "Wha-apologize!? Victor, it tried to crush you just for saying hi and complimenting it! What makes ya think you can apologize without it trying to crush ya again!?"

"Don't worry..." Victor gave her a thumbs-up as a confident sparkle appeared with his smile. "I brought a gift this time!"

"Ya, idiot!" Gloria hugged him by the arm with a stern face. "I won't let ya go out there again!"

"..." Victor ignored the soft feeling on his arms like a gentleman and focused on the genuine distress in Gloria's eyes.

He used Gloria's hold on him to ironically make her let go, "You know...? You're really pressing up against me. It's cute."

"Eh!?" Gloria blushed and instinctively let go.

Victor used the chance.

"I'll be back in a moment!" He darted away with a grin.

"Wha-huh!? You tricked me!" She was going to run after him, yet somehow Victor was already nearing the rock pokemon.

"Mr. Onix!" Victor waved.

Hearing that familiar voice, the Onix tensed up, and its eyes dilated in rage. It turned back and saw the boy, causing his fury to build up as he already raised his tail to strike.

"I'M SORRY!" Victor suddenly jumped and landed on the ground, sliding while prostrating himself in front of the powerful pokemon.

Onix was actually caught off guard and froze, his anger momentarily ceasing. "On...ix?"

"I didn't intend to offend you, the mighty pokemon of this area! I only wished to see your elegant figure, which I've never seen before out of my small, humble town! For me, seeing such a magnificent pokemon such as yourself is a true honor!"

The Onix slightly backed up as it listened to this rather odd person, unknowing of what to actually do now.

"He's sucking up to it!?" Gloria deadpanned with Sobble and Ace staring in the same way. As for Twilight, he just sighed and shook his head.

"I didn't mean to come into contact with your perfect body! I deeply apologize for having done such a thing! And to show you just how truly sorry I am-" Victor rose his head, quickly reached into his backpack, and pulled out something wrapped in tinfoil.

"-I've brought you this humble gift!" He said with a straight face.

Onix slightly leaned forward at the item while growing threateningly, showing that it wasn't that trusting and could threaten any next attack.

Victor then quickly opened the tinfoil and raised the items higher.

"I brought you cookies!" He smiled innocently.

"THAT WAS THE GIFT!?" Gloria nearly wanted to pull her hair out.

The Onix took a sniff of the sweets, and any previous signs of anger disappeared while being replaced with an entranced look.

"On... ix...?" It mumbled.

"I wish to offer you this humble gift to beg for your forgiveness! This batch of delectable sweets is guaranteed to bring you bliss! So I know I have no right to ask, but I only wish of one thing from you!"

Onix waited for him to finish, still looking rather suspicious.

"Are we cool now?" Victor asked with puppy dog eyes.

The Onix stared at Victor, then to the batch of cookies, the back to the boy again. He wondered if it was a trap, wondered if this boy was just going to mess with him again.

But he could only see the pure look of innocence in his eyes.

Onix sighed, and nodded up and down.

Victor was visibly overjoyed, "Then enjoy! I'll see you again sometime with more of these!"

He placed the batch of sweets down and backed up while repeatedly bowing to show respect. Onix then leaned down and started munching on the desserts.

Gloria and the pokemon were black and white with blank looks as Victor cheerfully came back to them.

"How... How did ya know what kind of sweets that thing liked?" She asked apathetically.

Victor simply laughed, "I didn't!"

"..."

Gloria facepalmed, "I'm gonna need to get used to this, don't I?"

Ace, Bubbles, and Twilight all nodded.

Victor didn't even seem to acknowledge their bewilderment and just flexed with a new determined smile.

"Now that I've gotten that fixed, let's start training!"


~{North Lake Miloch: Foggy Weather-3:37PM}~

"Ace! Use Ember on that Purrloin and then jump high!" Victor instructed.

"Scor!" Ace kicked a pebble of fire at a Purrloin that was attempting to use its claws to slice him.

"Pur!" The ball of fire directly hit Purrloin and sent it backward.

Afterward, Ace listened upon landing and leaped into the air to avoid an Acid Spray shot out by a Stunky.

"Stunk!" The skunk pokemon tried to use Acid Spray at Ace again, but the pokemon jumped away once more.

"Bubbles, use Water Gun at that Stunky!" Gloria pointed.

"Sobble! Ble!" Bubbles let out a stream of water that slammed into the Stunky, sending it rolling away.

"S...kunk!" It got up and shook its body to shake off the water before glaring at them.

"Stunky!" It then dived into the grass to hide away from the group. The Purrloin doing the same thing and hiding away.

Victor turned around and saw Twilight flying in the sky while avoiding two Drifloons using Gust to fire literal gusts of wind at him.

"Twilight, do a barrel roll to avoid the Gusts and then use Peck!"

"Rookidee!" The pokemon listened and flapped his wings while turning in order to mimic the flight action instructed. He avoided both Gust attacks by both Drifloons as he got close with his beak glowing.

"Rooki-" It jabbed into one of the Driflooms "-dee!"

"Drif!" The ghost pokemon cried in pain as it was forcefully pushed to ram into his companion. Twilight then sent them both away with one last push of his beak, which resulted in both Drifloons falling into the grass and out of sight of any of them.

"Good job!" Victor praised them with a smile.

The group had been using the time they had for the day to start training their pokemon against the many hostile pokemon that came at them.

Usually, Victor would ask a pokemon to battle them out of consideration and to be careful. Still, just as the Wild Area was known for, so many hostile pokemon came at him instead. They would try to attack any way they could, but whenever these pokemon saw that they were outmatched, they would run or hide.

Gloria crouched down and smiled as her three pokemon, Ziggy, Bolt, and Bubbles, crowded around her and enjoyed the rubbings she gave them.

"Alright, we've been at this for a while, so... How about we set up camp and start eating?" Victor suggested.

Gloria turned to him and raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Isn't it a bit too... foggy around here, though?"

"Are you scared?" Victor grinned.

"Do you not remember the last time we were in a foggy area!?" Gloria snapped.

Victor flinched, "Er... Right." He said, remembered the encounter of the wolves. "But they shouldn't be all the way here... Right?"

As if on cue, a noise echoed in the fog.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

They all flinched, and Gloria immediately got a tight hold of Victor, "Why'd ya have to say that!?"

Ace and Twilight both got into fighting positions with serious gazes. Ziggy, Bolt, and Bubbles did the same and surrounded their own trainer with adorably mad faces.

"Ral..." The voice echoed.

"It doesn't sound like them this time... And the fog isn't that thick compared to before." Victor reassured Gloria.

"It doesn't matter. It could be another dangerous pokemon, so keep ya eyes peeled!" The girl didn't hesitate to respond despite shaking.

They waited for a few more seconds before hearing the rustling of grass to the side.

All of them jumped and faced the grass with fighting positions as they all expected a large pokemon to come out.

Instead, a small, stuffed animal looking bear came waddling out with a happy smile.

"Stufful!"

"Just a Stufful?" Victor deadpanned.

However, a comedic arrow visibly struck Gloria's heart.

"SO CUTE!" She exclaimed with heart eyes. She immediately ran over to the Stufful.

"Hey! Wait Gloria! It'll-!"

The girl had already picked him up in a tight hug in her arms.

"Where'd you come from, little fella?!" She squealed.

Cross-veins formed on the Stufful's head.

"Stuff-" It swung an arm and uppercut Gloria. "-ul!"

"GAH!" Gloria was knocked upward, flipping through the air before crashing into the ground.

"Sob!/Yamp!/Zig!" Gloria's three pokemon rushed over to her in worry.

"I tried to warn her... Those guys are feisty and hate being touched by someone they don't know..." Victor sweatdropped.

Surprisingly, he heard Gloria start to laugh on the ground.

"Heh... Heh... Cute... And tough..." She raised her head up, eyes flashing red with a grin.

"I gotta have it!"

She let out a battle cry and dove forward with her hands out like a predator.

"Stufful!?" The pokemon was caught off guard as Gloria tacked her and both rolled around the ground into a cloud of dust while punches were heard.

"You have your pokemon to fight, you know!?" Victor shouted to her.

"Raaaaallll-!"

Victor frowned as he realized that the cries of the mysterious pokemon were still going, making him turn around to the fog he couldn't see through. However, what made him look so stern wasn't from any threat, it was that he was finally able to make out the words that the pokemon was calling.

"Help?!"

He noticed Ace with a sharp gaze pointed in the same direction as him.

"You heard it too?" He asked his starter.

"Scor!" Ace nodded.

Victor then heard different, but dangerous cries in the distance.

"Yup, someone's in trouble."

"Meet me back at the pokemon center!" He shouted to Gloria as he took off into the fog.

"Huh!?" Gloria was just pinning down Stufful when Victor said that, turning to his direction as Victor and his two pokemon disappeared.

"Wh-Where are you going!?"

"I'm sorry! I can't explain right now!" Victor called as his voice trailed off.

Victor frantically ran and then looked back in the fog to make sure that Gloria or anyone else couldn't see him.

"I gotta speed up!" He looked ahead and took a deep breath, and his body almost seemed to be vibrating.

"Hold on!" He grabbed both Ace and Twilight and held them tight.

"Agility!"

He then vanished from running at incredible speeds.


~{Meanwhile-?}~

A humanoid, white-body pokemon with green hair that resembled a bowl cut with flat red horns on his head ran through the grass while mustering whatever strength it had to carry another of its same species on its back.

"Ralts... Ralts." One of the Psychic/Fairy pokemon weakly uttered as it was carried by its friend.

"Ralts!" The struggling pokemon carrying its friend shouted, trying to find someone to help.

However, that attracted some attention from those chasing them.

"Lie..." A distant purring threatened.

"Liepard..." Another one laughed.

The Ralts that shouted didn't regret shouting and giving off his position, he knew that his predators would be sniffing him and his friend out easily anyway. So it was better to at least try to call for help.

But what this Ralts did regret, was suddenly coming to a clear area without grass. Even with the fog around, they would surely have nowhere else to hide if found.

It thought about turning around to go back into hiding in the grass, but it heard it's two menacing enemies coming, so he kept trying to run forward.

"Ralt! Ralts!" The one carrying the other reassured its friend that it would be fine.

"Ralt..." The other weakly cried.

Suddenly, from the grass behind them, jumped out two of the same pokemon.

"Liepard!" A cruel, cat-like pokemon purred rather aggressively as it landed right in front of both Ralts's path and another Liepard landed behind them.

The Ralts froze as it stared back and forth at the two Liepards circling around them while licking their lips. They were such professional hunters, able to sneak up on prey without making any sounds, yet these two weren't even bothering to sneak. They were practically just making fun of both Ralts at this point and just enjoying their efforts to escape.

"..." The standing Ralts put down his other Ralts friend and then got into a small fighting stance, shaking but have a calm expression.

Both Liepards started to make meowing sounds that sound like laughs, the two of them then getting in pouncing positions.

"Liepard!" Both pokemon pounced.

"DROPKICK!"

An unknown person came flying out of nowhere with both of his feet slamming into one Liepard, and then colliding with the other.

"LIE!" Both Liepards were sent flying and tumbling onto the ground.

The person then spun before landing on his feet in front of both Ralts, then turning his back and giving them a grin.

"For aa small pokemon, you can sure cry loud!"

The Ralts standing stared in awe that the human just managed to knock away both pokemon in one kick, and was crazy enough to even do it.

Both Liepards got up, and their eye slit in anger.

"LIEPARD!

"LIE!"

A rabbit and a bird landed in front of the boy.

"Scor!"

"Rooki!"

The boy Victor frowned, "Careful you two, these are both evolved and have clearly been in the Wild Area for a while, I don't think you can take them both by yourselves." Victor said.

Ace and Twilight turned to each other, still eager to fight.

"But, seeing as no one's around..."

Victor grinned as he stuck out both arms.

"Leaf Blades."

His arms formed sharp green auras.

The Liepard and Ralts stared in shock.

Victor then took a deep breath and moved his head down, shadows forming over his eyes.

"You know...? I would normally want to get along with pokemon... But seeing pokemon bullying other pokemon is just the same as humans bullying other humans. You all have thoughts, you all can understand each other and talk things out, yet... you choose not to. Anyone like that, whether man or pokemon..."

Victor raised his head to reveal a menacing glare.

"Deserve to be punished."

Both Liepards flinched and instinctively backed up. Both staring at the mainly the human with the frightening glare. Despite the sense of danger, they both got into pouncing positions and then leaped forward.

"LIE-!"

"Ace, Ember! Twilight, Peck!"

"Score!"

"Rookie!"

The Liepards didn't expect the two small pokemon to be the ones to suddenly rush forward with synergetic attacks of a beak and little ball of fire coming into contact with both of them.

"Lie-!" Both Liepards ended up spinning in the air from both of these sudden attacks.

Victor then took a deep breath and blasted forward.

Two flashes of light occurred with the sound of two slashes to go along with it.

In the next moment, Victor was crouched down with his arms in a green X shape and his back was facing the Liepards, who were unconscious and with visible wounds on their skin.

Ace and Twilight looked rather satisfied as Victor stood up and his arms faded back to normal.

"Hmph. When they wake up, hopefully they'll have learned something..."

The boy then turned around and formed a smile directed at both Ralts.

"Now then! Let's get you guys treated up at a pokemon center, shall we!"

The standing Ralts nodded and turned to check on his friend lying on the ground, which was when Victor's eyes widened as he saw the fainted Ralts look different from the one standing.

"Blue hair and orange horns?"


~{Motostoke Pokemon Center}~

"Stupid Victor, leaving me alone like that..." Gloria pouted as she waited outside the pokemon center for her friend. She had visible punch marks on her face and even a bandage on her cheek as she looked down with a smile.

"Oh well, at least I've got a new member of the team!"

She had a loving smile at a Stufful in her arms, the one that she had encountered earlier in the Wild Area.

Stufful looked rather happy despite it having been tackled by the human holding her earlier, looking up rather interested at her.

"Stuff! Stuff!" She happily cried.

"I hope we get along, Plush!" Gloria tightly hugged her newly named friend in her arms. "*squeal!* You're so fluffy!"

"Gloria! Gloria!" Someone shouted in the distance.

The girl instinctively pouted as she recognized the voice while already turning her gaze.

"Victor! Where did... you...?" Her words trailed off as she saw Victor carrying a Ralts in each of his arms. "A blue-haired Ralts!?"

She put Plush down and rushed over.

"What happened!?"

"I'll explain in a moment! Let me get these guys healed first!" Victor shouted past her as he ran into the Pokemon Center.

The nurse carried both Ralts away as Victor explained the situation to her.

"Two Liepards... even mockin both of those Ralts? J-Just... Just what were they gonna do?" Gloria shivered.

Victor looked down with a glare, "It's the Wild Area... I think you know. Anything goes for them if they're strong enough."

Gloria looked down with a saddened expression.

Victor saw this look, "Anyway, I see you made friends with someone else?" He changed the subject as he saw Plush waddle around.

Gloria's eyes lit up as she picked up her pokemon and lifted him closer to Victor. "Yah! This is the fourth adorable pokemon of my party!"

"Nice! So you did get it! But didn't you know it would slam you with its arms if someone it doesn't know gets close?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Gloria pouted, "I kind of forgot..."

"But man can you take a hit! Stuffuls are strong little guys, yet you took a punch and then just got up to return the favor!" Victor then laughed.

Gloria awkwardly smiled. "Yeah, I probably should've used my pokemon, but I didn't wanna battle and hurt him..."

"And you thought fighting him yourself was better!?"

"I-I didn't 'fight' Plush! All I did was convince him that I could be its trainer!"

Before they could argue any more, the nurse came back rolling a cart where both Ralts looked healthy and more cheerful than before.

"Oh, hey guys!" Victor smiled as the Ralts both hopped out of the cart.

Victor crouched down curiously at the different colored Ralts and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it just me, or did that blue-haired just sparkle?"

"Ooo! These seem to be one of those rare, alternate colored pokemon!" Gloria said in excitement.

Victor smiled and reached down to pet both Ralts. The green-haired one let him do so and smiled, but the blue-haired one nervously hid behind his friend while shaking.

His smile faded, "It seems that the alternate colored Ralts suffered some mental trauma by that attack..."

He stood up straight and adjusted his beanie as his smile returned, "Are you guys hungry?"


~{Battle Cafe- 6:23PM}~

"So yeah, I can understand you guys." Victor said in a whisper within the corner of the cafe his group sat at. That was the first thing he pointed out to both Ralts, might as well let them know that he can understand them.

The Ralts were standing on the table while curiously staring up at Victor.

"So... How should I address you guys? Are you male, female?" Victor first wished to know their pronouns in order to address them correctly. He already knew that Ace and Twilight were males, while Gloria's Ziggy and Bubbles were female, but her Bolt and newly acquired Plush were males.

"Ralts, Ralts." The green-haired Ralts spoke.

"So you're a male, and your blue-haired friend here is a female?"

The male, green-haired Ralts, nodded.

Gloria was sitting beside Victor with Plush in her lap and sadly staring at the two pokemon. "What happened to ya both? You were really hurt..."

The green Ralts looked down, "Ralts... Ralts, Ralts..."

Victor narrowed his eyes.

"You found the other Ralts crawling away while hurt, so you rushed over and picked her up?"

Ralts nodded, "Ralts, Ralts."

"Then those Liepard came to finish off the prey, only to have you there too..."

The blue-haired Ralts looked somewhat ashamed as she slightly bowed to her friend. "Ralts, Ralts..."

The green-haired Ralts looked somewhat embarrassed, "R-Ralts! Ralts!"

"He's right, you don't have to feel guilty, it's not really your fault. Stuff like that just happens in the Wild Area." Victor reassured her.

Ace stood on the table and nodded in agreement while Twilight remained perched on Victor's shoulder.

"But... You said that you 'found' the other Ralts. I should've actually asked this sooner, but do you two know each other?" Victor curiously asked.

"Ralts, Ralts." The green one nodded again.

"You don't know her?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Ralts. Ralts, Ralts."

"So, you just saw her in trouble and rushed to help?"

"Ralts. Ralts, Ralts Ralts."

"I see..."

Victor suddenly reached forward and grabbed the Ralts by his tiny hands while inspired stars sparkled in his eyes.

"I know what you mean! Seeing someone in trouble like that, there's no way you could just leave them like that!"

"R-Ralts?!" He was caught off guard by Victor's excitement.

Victor let go and got up from his seat, comedic tears going down his eyes as he thrusted a fist in the air.

"If you have the power to be able to help someone! No... Even if you think you don't have the power, you can't just leave behind someone that needs help, whether human or pokemon!"

The green Ralts stared with a small look of awe at Victor.

Gloria reached out and grabbed Victor, then yanking him back to his seat with a pout. "Victor, you're too loud... People are looking."

Victor glanced around the room and indeed see people staring. "Whoops."

The green Ralts stepped forward with a new looking determined look. "Ralts! Ralts!"

"I know! Helping others who need help, it just feels right!"

Gloria and the blue-haired Ralts stared at the two males getting excited. The human female turned to the pokemon and formed a sad smile.

"It must've been really scary for you..."

The female Ralts nodded and visibly shook as she recalled the experience.

Gloria noticed this and had a sympathetic look, then turning to her friend.

"Victor, she seems pretty shaken up."

Victor and the male Ralts both stopped and turned to the nervous female.

"Hm, it may be bad to leave her just back in the wild, and I'm sure with her special blue colors, she'll attract more unwanted attention..."

The male Ralts stepped closer to the female and pat her on the back to calm her.

Victor then smiled. "How about you stay with us?"

The female pokemon looked somewhat surprised at the claim. "Ralts... Ralts?"

Victor put a hand on his chest, "Gloria and I are working on trying to become the pokemon champion, so we're working on having us and our pokemon grow to become the strongest there is!"

The male Ralts looked very intrigued to hear this.

"We'll help you grow so strong that you won't have to worry about getting hurt like that ever again! In fact, we can make you strong enough to help you protect other pokemon like your friend did for you!" Victor grinned.

"Ralts! Ralts!" The male Ralts waddled over to Victor and took a deep breath.

"You wanna come with me?" Victor asked, somewhat excited.

The male put a hand on his tiny chest with a determined stance.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Victor grinned and pulled out a pokeball. "I have no reason to refuse at all! I hope we can help the world together!" He gently moved the pokeball towards him.

Ralts nodded and punched the switch, to which the pokeball absorbed him inside.

The blue-haired female Ralts stared as the pokeball clicked closed.

"I got a Ralts!" Victor grinned.

He then released his new friend.

The female Ralts then stammmered besides them, "R-Ralts! Ralts!"

"Hm, you wanna come with us too?"

The female frantically nodded.

Gloria noticed the gaze the female had to the male. She turned from the male to the female, and then put on a smirk.

"Oh, I see how it is."

"I'll take ya." Gloria smiled at the female Ralts. "Victor and I are gonna be getting stronger together, so I can help you grow!"

The female pokemon didn't look too sure about going with Gloria. She turned her head over to the male Ralts fist-pumping Victor.

"Hey, you know..." Gloria leaned forward and whispered. "I can also help ya out with ya get closer to ya new 'friend.'"

The female Ralts flinched.

"I'm kinda in the same boat as ya." Gloria smiled with a light blush as she took a glance at Victor.

The blue-haired female Ralts put on a look of shock as she realized what Gloria meant.

Gloria turned back to her while still keeping a smile, "So what do ya say?"

The female nodded and even saluted to her. "Ralts!"

"Great!" Gloria understood as she pulled out a pokeball. "You're really cute, too, so you'll fit perfectly on the team!"

"Oh, Gloria, you and your cute obsessions." Victor chuckled.

Gloria suddenly blushed and started flailing her arms. "Wh-What!? You wanna say something about me!? D-Don't think that just because you know, 'that' about me, that you can make fun of me any- ah!" From suddenly moving her arms around, she suddenly dropped the pokeball, and it landed on the female Ralts, to which the pokemon got absorbed into the white and red sphere.

"Nice!" Victor gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't 'nice' me!" Gloria stammered.

Her Stufful jumped from her lap and curiously sniffed the still shaking pokeball, which then clicked close.

"Now, you got a Ralts too!" Victor smiled.

Gloria pouted as she released her Ralts from the pokeball, to which the blue-haired female seemed to sparkle upon coming out. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to just drop it on you..."

The female Ralts actually smiled and nodded that she understood.

"Now, time to give you a cute name!" Gloria squealed.

Her Ralts tilted her head to the side.

"Oh yeah, I should give my new Ralts a nickname too. Then we can head for the Budew Inn." Victor remembered.

Gloria started glancing at her Ralts and taking pictures of it from all angles. "Dazzling blue hair, a nice beauty that's gonna be strong..."

She rested her back on her chair and put a hand on her chin in thought.

"I think I'ma call you..." She smiled.

"Luna!"

The newly named Blue-haired female Ralts smiled. "Ralts!"

At the same time, Victor had his head on his hand as he stared down at his own Ralts.

"This might be a weird nickname, but..."

"Hey Victor, I named my Ralts Luna, what do you think?!" Gloria proudly asked him.

Victor turned to her and smiled, "I think it's cute."

"What are you gonna name yours?" Gloria asked in anticipation.

"I mean, I thought of one that I kind of like, but I'm not sure..."

"Just go for it Victor, if it's you, then I know you're putting a lot of thought in it!" Gloria encouraged.

The newly named Luna smiled at the male Ralts and then at Victor as Plush waddled happily next to her.

Victor stared at his Ralts for a few more moments before smiling.

"Alright. I think I'm gonna call you..."

He put his hands on his hips and smiled down at the male Ralts.

"Midori."


~{Author's Post Notes}~

So we got Victor's third party member already alongside Gloria getting two more pokemon. Keep in mind, even if they catch six pokemon max it doesn't necessarily mean that either of them will just have six pokemon. In the games, Hop even switched out some of his pokemon to change his style and adjust for battles, so who knows? Victor and Gloria can switch which members they have on them, but they will only have six pokemon on them at a time.

And ah yes, the surprise arrival of a Shiny Ralts. I'm sure some of you are wondering, "Why not give the shiny to Victor for plot armor?" And honestly, I want Victor to have a Gallade that's green, and as for why it's called "Midori," let's just say that I'm fond of a certain character in another fic of mine. And as for why I had two Ralts appear together, one for Victor and for Gloria, there should be already be some hints up there.

Until next time pokemon spectators! :D