~{Author's Pre-Notes}~

Oho? A new chapter? Ay, that's pretty good. Last time on dragon ball- Er, I mean on pokemon, Victor saves two Ralts and keep the plan one while calling it Midori, while Gloria keeps the shiny Ralts and calls her Luna. But now it's about time for them to head for the pokemon inn so that they could sleep in preparation for the opening ceremony. I wonder who they'll run into? Fine out now!

ninfamespinal: Of course Ace will evolve into a Raboot. It'll be in due time.

TheUzigunner: I see what you mean about Gloria receiving the shiny, but Victor doesn't care about things like the appearance of pokemon, no matter how rare they are. He just connects with a pokemon and wants to work with them. Midori is similar to him, so of course he'd want to work with him. And as for Gloria and Luna, they'll both have a lot to get through with each other, which is going to somewhat reflect in just small parts of this chapter.


~{Battle Cafe-7:01PM}~

"It's good to have you on the team, Midori!" Victor welcomed his newly acquired Ralts with a smile.

"Ralts!" Midori happily cried on the table.

"Let's get stronger together, Luna!" Gloria welcomed her own alternate colored Ralts to her team.

The female Ralts nodded, although not looking too sure about it. Truth be told, she had accepted Gloria's proposition to go with her on the spot out of fear that Victor wouldn't accept another Ralts, especially since he seemed to really like the male one. The other part of her did wonder if Gloria could help with her interest to properly thank the Ralts that had saved her, but she just met this girl, so she couldn't be sure if things would go well.

Ace hopped over to Midori and shook his hand to welcome him. Twilight only bowed a little in respect.

As for Luna, she backed up nervously when Bolt, Ziggy, Bubbles, and Plush came near her happily, avoiding any contact with them.

"It might take time for her to get used to everyone..." Gloria glanced at Victor while more internal troubles came up. "Now that I think about it... This Ralts is special... Ain't she? And it seems like Victor would be the better person for helping her get out of her shell... Should I really be the one to have it? I know I said I'd help her get closer with her friend and all, but I haven't even... g-gotten like 'that' with Victor yet, so how could I help her?"

Luna noticed Gloria's unsure gaze, making her feel somewhat discouraged.

It seems like there were gonna be problems from the start.

"Let's start heading for the Budew Inn. I think we should relax and get some sleep for the ceremony tomorrow." Victor said as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Eh? Oh! Alright." Gloria fumbled as she took out all her pokeballs and returned her pokemon.

She was going to return Luna into her pokeball, but stopped as she saw her new pokemon's uncomfortable gaze.

She lowered the pokeball and formed a comforting smile. "You know what...? I'ma let ya stay out for a while. Let's warm up to each other."

Luna looked somewhat relieved.

Twilight perched himself onto Victor's backpack, Ace hopped off the table, and Victor picked up Midori before gently placing him on the floor.

Gloria raised an eyebrow, "Hey Victor, why don't you ever put your pokemon back in their pokeballs?"

Victor turned to her, "Well, since I know that they'll get bigger in the future, I thought it'd be nice to let them out as much as they could for now. After all, if they get big, then all of them won't be able to just walk alongside me."

He glanced at his three pokemon, who all nodded.

"And they all seem pretty quiet and well mannered, so I don't think they'd bother anyone if I kept them out."

"Ah, I see. I kinda want to keep all my pokemon out. But compared to Bubbles and this here Luna, my other pokemon are pretty energetic and keep wanting to move around..." Gloria pouted.

She reached down to pick up Luna, but the pokemon flinched and inched back.

"Ah! Sorry... I'll... Wait till you're ready." Gloria said with her hands up in surrender, then forming a sad smile.

"How about you carry her in your leather backpack?" Victor pointed out.

"Hm?" Gloria grabbed her backpack from the floor and put it on the table, opening the main pocket and looking to see if there was enough space in it.

"So..." She glanced back at Luna and offered her the spot. "That okay?"

Luna gazed inside the backpack that surprisingly had a lot of space, then cautiously inching inside.

Gloria then put on her backpack, with Luna now behind her peaking out of it.

"There we go!" Victor grinned.

Gloria smiled too. "It's a start."

"Well then." Victor adjusted his beanie. "To Budew Inn!"


~{Budew Inn-7:11PM}~

The double-automatic doors slid open as Victor led his small team inside the inn they were staying in for the night.

Victor formed a big smile as the first thing he saw was ginger hair.

"Hey, Sonia! I didn't expect to see you so soon!"

The assistant professor turned around and smiled.

"Hey, you two! Like I said when I left, I'm researching the mysterious pokemon you guys said you encountered in the Slumbering Weald. I'm looking into Galar's legends to see if I can figure something out, care to join me? You're here anyway."

"Join ya? What are you planning to find in the inn?" Gloria questioned.

In response, Sonia grinned and stepped aside to show them the golden-colored statue she was examining before.

Victor glanced up at the statue to examine its appearance. It had the look of a knight in armor that was proudly holding up a sword in the air and wielding a shield.

"What's this?" He asked.

Sonia put her hands on her hips, "It's a statue of the hero who once saved the Galar region. I could run through the legend right quick if ya fancy?"

"Do we have to?" Gloria sighed.

"I mean, don't you want to know who were those pokemon that attacked us?" Victor pointed out.

"I guess so... Alrighty, then, give us the details." Gloria grumbled.

Sonia seemed satisfied that they were curious, to which she cleared her throat and waved a hand to present the statue.

"Long ago... a great black storm covered the Galar region. People called it the Darkest Day."

"Darkest Day?" Victor repeated in his head.

"The land was assaulted by gigantic pokemon... but they single-handedly defeated by a young hero bearing a sword and shield."

"Did he slice through all of them!?" Victor got an uneasy chill.

"This statue here is meant to depict the young hero of that legend. We still don't understand what kind of sword and shield the hero actually had. Or what this 'black storm' was supposed to be, it's all just a big mystery. Whatever it was, it blotted out the skies all across Galar. I suppose that tracks with it being called the 'Darkest Day,' but still..."

"It looks like that hero must've been about as strong as Lee then!" A familiar voice called behind them.

They turned around and saw Hop grinning at the doorway.

"Looks like you're going to have your hands full with plenty of research, Sonia!" He laughed.

"Hop? Didn't ya say ya were already going to check out the inn? Why'd ya just now come?" Gloria raised an eyebrow.

"Hehehe." Hop awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I got distracted and lost track of time!"

"For a few hours!?" Victor deadpanned.

"Well, now that you're all here, you guys can go and check-in. You're all staying here for the night, correct?" Sonia pointed out.

"Yeah! Lee should've booked all the participants' rooms!" Hop remembered. "We'll look out for you too, Sonia! If we hear anything about the hero or whatnot, we'll tell you as soon as we can!"

Hop then noticed a blue color trying to peek at him from behind Gloria.

"OO!" He dashed behind the girl and his eyes sparkled at Luna, who seemed rather scared by his sudden appearance. "Ain't this an alternate colored pokemon!? Those are stupidly rare!"

"R-Ralts!" Luna ducked into the backpack and closed the opening by how close Hop had gotten.

"Hop! Back off!" Gloria turned so that she faced him, "She's been through some trouble and isn't good with anyone getting close!"

"Really? What kind of trouble? And how'd you find her!?" Hop asked.

"I'll explain later, for now let's just get checked in-"

"What's the problem with you guys!?" An impatient voice cried.

The group instinctively turned up the stairs, where they faintly saw pink and black.

"What's going on?" Victor's instincts had him go up the small number of stairs to check it out.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and stared at a group of people that looked like they were dressed for a rock and roll concert. Black, pink, punk-like clothes with spike wrist and ankle bracelets, these people were gathered in front of the receptionist's desk looking rather aggressive.

"We came all the way out to the big city so that we could properly cheer on Gym Challengers! Team Yell is here to help! You're in for a battle if you wanna stop us!" The punk member in front of the desk spoke.

"Huh? Team Yell? Threatening to battle if anyone stops them from cheering... us?" Victor didn't comprehend this as he stepped forward and saw other gym challengers looking slightly annoyed.

"I'm glad you're cheering for the challengers, sir, but they need to check into their rooms!" The formally dressed-up male at the desk told them.

"Who cares about them!? Team Yell is all about helpin... Helpin one very special trainer win the Gym Challenge that is!" The front leader of the group shouted.

Victor frowned, "Okay, so they're trying to mess with the other challengers?"

"Hey, can you guys calm down and stand aside?" Victor sternly asked as he stepped close to the leader.

Several pairs of eyes turned to him in the forms of glares.

"What was that, mate!?" The front person snapped.

"You're bothering everyone else. We're all here to actually take the challenge. You can cheer for whoever you want, just don't let it mess with everyone else or it'll bring trouble." Victor boldly told them.

"Hah!? Them be fighin' words!" The leader stepped forward rather aggressively.

Victor closed his eyes and sighed as the Team Yell member got close.

Then he opened them, giving off a look that gave off a sudden explosion of pressure.

"Wah-!?" Each one of Team Yell instantly stepped back, with two of them even falling back to the ground.

For a moment, they swore that Victor gave off an aura so intense, that they could visualize the image of red eyes and a black silhouette from him for a split second.

Then they saw just the boy folding his arms with a typical frown.

"Are you guys done yet?"

The Team Yell members shivered in place, but they weren't out yet.

"Go, Zigzagoon! Use Tackle!" The leader yelled with a toss of a pokeball.

A similar black and white pokemon to the one Gloria had, came out and jumped at Victor.

"Zigg!"

"Oh, for the love of god!" Victor thought to see this.

"Hey! What are you-!?" Gloria's shouts were cut off as a cry of a pokemon intervened.

"Raaaaaaa!" Midori let out a cry that sent a wave of pink hearts forward, the attack colliding with the Zigzagoon.

"Zigg!?" It was sent back and toppled on the floor, knocked out after one hit.

"Ah! Zigzagoon!?" The Team Yell male cried out.

Victor glanced down at his Ralts that had his chest puffed up high.

Gloria's Luna stood up out of her backpack and stared rather entranced.

Midori then caught Victor's gaze at him and lost composure, realizing that he acted without instructions.

"R-Ralts! Ralts!" It stammered how it didn't mean to act.

Victor grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"Nice Disarming Voice!"

Midori was surprised but nodded rather embarrassingly.

"But..." Victor glanced back at Team Yell with a frown as he saw the several other members throw their pokeballs. "Looks like we got more to deal with..."

"Brawl!" Hop leaped forward excitedly as he released Conga.

Gloria flinched. "Wha-Brawl!?"

"Nickit, Beat Up!"

"Zigzagoon, Lick!"

"Tackle!"

"Sand Attack!"

All the pokemon from Team Yell leaped forward.

"Midori! Disarming Voice!"

"Conga, Branch Poke!"

"Ah geez!" Gloria shouted in frustration as she threw a pokeball, where Bubbles came out. "Bubbles! Water Gun!"

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaa!/Sooooooooob!" Midori and Bubbles shouted in unison, releases a wave of pink hearts and a trail of water.

"Grookey!" Conga jumped as the heat-shaped projections of a voice and the stream of water passed him and intercepted several dark types coming at them, sending them flying in all directions. Then Conga landed and spun his branch in his hand before using it to strike the two remaining Zigzagoons coming at them.

All the dark types were now sprawled on the floor.

"They beat them all in an instant..." One of the watching gym challengers said in awe.

Sonia came from behind the three kids and applauded them, "Good job, guys!" she smiled.

All of Team Yell returned their pokemon rather nervously.

"Now then..." Victor stepped up to the front leader and grabbed him by the collar.

To which he lifted him off the ground and rapidly shook him back and forth with cross-veins of irritation.

"Why the hell are you guys causing so much trouble!?" He snapped.

"Oh, wow, he's mad." Hop pointed out.

"W-W-We just wanted to stop all the challengers here so that our Marnie can win!" The male stuttered as he was shaken.

"Who the hell is Marnie!? What kind of sick person would have you mess with the rest of us just to get an edge in the challenge!?" Victor growled.

"What are you lot doin' here?" A voice called behind them.

Victor turned his head and saw the punk-dressed girl from the Motostoke gym, her cold, emotionless gaze set upon them.

"Marnie!?" All of Team Yell, well... yelled.

Victor narrowed his eyes, "So that's her? God, if this is how 'Team Yell' acts, then there's no telling what kind of girl she is..."

The girl approached the group and saw Victor holding onto one of the Team Yell members.

"What's going on here?" Her voice was surprisingly quiet despite her fans being so loud, her cold expression still maintained.

Victor let go of the Team Yell boy and he fell to the ground. He then crossed his arms as he faced Marnie with a frown.

"You're the leader of this group, right? Can you tell your goons to let us check-in?"

Hearing this, Marnie demeanor changed completely as she turned to Team Yell with an embarrassed red face.

"A-Are you lot causin' trouble again!?"

"!?" Victor's worries of her instantly shattered, leaving him with an agape mouth and eyes shadowed in shock.

"I-I know you all are curious 'bout the other Gym Challengers, b-but show some restraint!" Marnie timidly scolded them.

"We're sorry, Marnie!" Team Yell comedically cried as they all held up banners of their idol.

"She's... not what I expected." Hop said, surprised.

Their pokemon nodded in agreeance.

"She's adorable." Sonia giggled.

Marnie then turned to the trainers and shyly bowed.

"S-Sorry 'bout them! They're just a bunch of my fans... Call themselves Team Yell and follow me around, cheerin' for me. I-I think they've let it go to their heads a bit..."

Victor had a bright aura of pure bliss by just this girl's presence. He had a delightful smile that didn't match the threatening sound of him cracking his knuckles together.

"I can make sure they never bother you again if you want?" He offered innocently.

Team Yell all turned blue and backed up.

"N-No, that's okay!" Marnie quickly responded. She turned to her fanbase with a pout. "Come on, you lot! Back home with you now!"

"Yes, Marnie..." All of Team Yell answered in depressing sync.

As they slowly trudged away, Gloria formed a suspicious stare at Victor.

"Hey, you've been smiling for quite a while now..."

Victor still maintained his pleasant smile as he answered yet still faced Marnie.

"I don't know what you mean."

Gloria became irritated as she glanced at Marnie.

"I don't like her already..."

Almost as if to shatter her words, Marnie turned back to them and bowed again with a nervous expression.

"I-I'm really sorry! They're just so caught up with wantin' to support me that they cause trouble for others! Please don't think too badly of them! I just hope we can get along!"

Gloria felt a mysterious arrow pierce her heart, leaving her shaking in place while clutching her chest.

"Wh-Why!?"

She started pouting.

"Sh-Shes... So CUTE!"

Victor took Marnie's hands with stars in his eyes.

"We'll get along! We'll be great friends, I promise!" He boldly declared.

"Eh? Wha-!?" Marnie was caught off guard by how much closer the innocent boy was.

"Oh my." Sonia smiled at that.

"My name is Victor! I'm aiming to become the next champion of Galar and find the strength to help people and pokemon alike!" He sparkled.

Hop grinned and pointed a thumb at himself. "I'm Hop! I like to be friends with just about anyone! But it's pretty impressive that you already have a set of fans to call your own! Don't worry, I won't think too badly of them."

Gloria, regaining her composure, pouted again and pulled Victor away from Marnie, "Yeah... We can't really blame ya for your fans. At least we can finally get ourselves checked in."

"Gloria, at least introduce yourself." Sonia told her.

Gloria let go of Victor and got in front of him to face Marnie.

"I'm Gloria, the girl that wants to apologize beforehand in case I end up beatin' up any of your fans in the future."

"Eh?" Marnie processed what she said, "P-Please don't..."

Sonia stepped beside Marnie while reaching a hand out, "I'm Sonia, the drop-dead beauty and genius professor's assistant. Come to me anytime if you have any questions about pokemon!" She winked as she formed a peace sign with her other hand.

"Is she promoting her service?" Victor, Hop, and Gloria all wondered in sync.

Marnie nervously shook Sonia's hand. "It's nice to meet ya... I may take ya up on your offer in the future."

"Are you a Gym challenger too?" Victor asked.

She nodded. "Yeah..."

"Then we'll be able to see each other again!" Victor exclaimed happily.

"Don't act so happy about it!" Gloria shook him.

Hop grinned with his hands on his hips, "Aw, Gloria, are you jealo-!"

"SHOR-YU-KEN!" With a flash of her eyes, Gloria uppercut jumped Hop before he could finish.

"ACK!" Hop majestically spiraled through the air while everyone in the lobby had stunned and gaping mouths.

Surprisingly though, Luna stared up at what happened in impressed awe, not phased by the fact her trainer had demonstrated a scary side to her.

Victor watched Hop fly before he effortlessly caught him in his arms and stared down at the boy twitching.

"V-Victor..." Hop weakly raised his hand. "F-Finish the ch-challenge for m-me... B-Become the very best, that no one... ever... was..."

He went limp with his tongue sticking out. "Bleh..."

"..."

Victor shrugged and gently put him down on the ground, then standing back up calmly.

"Okay."

"What kind of uncaring reaction was that!?" Hop immediately sat up.

"Don't act dead if ya ain't gonna be dead! If you really wanna die, then just say so!" Gloria shouted as she started comedically stomping Hop with her foot.

"Ack! Oof! Ugh!"

Luna gulped nervously from Gloria's backpack as she watched her trainer beat Hop down, feeling scared, but also much more curious about her.

Sonia innocently smiled as she managed to somehow pull Gloria away, "Now, now, let's get along. You can stomp Hop later when others aren't watching."

"Aren't you supposed to encourage her not to do it at all?" Victor sweatdropped as he stared down at Hop's mosaically censored corpse.

Marnie was rather dumbfounded at the very unique group in front of her.

She looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

"They... They seem really nice..."


~{Budew Inn: Victor's Bedroom}~

"Alrighty! Let's do some overview of today!" Victor said with a clap of his hands towards his three pokemon standing in a line.

Ace put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest proudly, Twilight kept his head facing up high, and Midori stood in an upright but tense stance.

"Ace and Twilight really got some excellent training against a lot of wild pokemon today. Midori here doesn't seem to have too much experience in fighting, but seems to pack quite the punch!"

Victor sat on his bed and pulled a notebook out of his bag, to which he started writing in it.

"Alright, first things I wanna ask, do you guys all want to evolve?"

The three pokemon nodded their heads.

"Good, I also know what you guys will evolve too. Twilight will evolve into a Corviknight, Ace will evolve into a Cinderace, and Midori-!" Victor stopped himself as he remembered;

"Oh yeah, you do have two final evolutions." He recalled as he glanced at Midori.

Victor quickly pulled out his Rotom phone and searched up both Gardevior and Gallade, displaying images of both forms.

"Alrighty! Which one of the two do you want to evolve to in the future?" He asked as he showed him.

Ace and Twilight both had blank looks as they saw the image of Gardevior.

"Scor... Scor?"

Victor frowned at Ace, "So what if he's a boy? Don't judge if he chooses to become a Gardevior!"

"..." Ace just shrugged.

Midori pointed at the Gallade.

"Are you really sure?" Victor asked.

Midori nodded.

"Rookie..." Twilight muttered.

"I'm not trying to make him choose Gardevior!" Victor snapped at him.

Both Ace and Twilight gave him suspicious looks.

"Really!"

Victor sighed before focusing back on Midori and put his phone away while smiling.

"Alright, Midori. If you want to become a Gallade, then we're going to have to find a Dawn Stone in the future."

He turned to Ace and Twilight, "As for you two, you'll just evolve naturally over time with experience! So let's get stronger and do our best!"

"Scor!" "Rookie!" "Ralts!" They all agreed.

"And one more thing..." Victor turned to Midori and crouched down closer to him.

"You saw those powers I used... right?"

Midori nodded that he did, "Ralts. Ralts."

"Thank you for understanding." Victor smiled as he heard his pokemon swear secrecy over it already. "I just don't want humans to know. I may end up end telling a lot of pokemon about them though, that way they can come to me for any help they need."

He stood up straight and stretched his arms, "And if you guys want to get stronger, then you'll have to do more than just battling."

He pointed his fingers at them.

"Ace and Twilight, both of you have strong areas of fighting that can and will be improved upon! Ace uses his feet for attacks, while Twilight uses his acrobatics of flight!"

Victor suddenly brought up a doodle drawing of both Ace and Twilight, with arrows pointing at Ace's legs and feet, while other arrows were pointed at Twilight's wings.

"We're going to improve these parts of you guys so that your attacks become stronger! We gotta have Ace kick harder, and make Twilight fly faster! Make sense?"

Ace looked rather excited. "Scor, scor!"

Twilight nodded. "Rooki."

"Now as for Midori... Evolving into a Gallade means that you'll be stronger in physical attacks, but right now as a Ralts and then as a Kirlia, your Special Attack power should be stronger than just your Physical Attacks..."

Midori stared down at his tiny arms the moment he heard, 'Physical Attacks,' looking quite unsure of himself.

"Don't worry! You won't have to practice punching and all that! For now, getting you more experience in fighting like the other two is fine!" Victor reassured him.

"Scor, Scor..." Ace pointed out.

"Hey, a day in the Wild Area and being in one and a half pokemon battles is more than enough experience!"

"Rookie?" Twilight tilted his head.

"Well, that little thing against Team Yell wasn't really a full battle, so half a battle... or something like that." Victor explained to him.

Ace and Twilight rolled their eyes.

"Not the point! We're all gonna get stronger, including me! So I want to know if you guys are really up to this!?"

Ace smiled, "Scorbunny!"

Twilight, puffed up with pride, "Rookidee!"

Midori nodded and smiled, "Ralts!"

"Good! Then along the trip, be ready for some intense training!" Victor gave them a proud thumbs up. "For now, let's get some sleep!"


~{Marnie's Room}~

Marnie sat cross-legged on her bed, wearing some white pajamas as her favorite pokemon and lifelong companion, Morpeko, stared at her as she went through her Rotom phone while deep in her thoughts.

"Those guys today..." She mumbled. "They were a pretty interestin' group..."

Her mind went back to the sight of Sonia, Hop, Gloria, and Victor, all together.

"They seemed to really get along with each other, I wish I had some people like that..."

Morpeko stared up, confused at that claim. "Mor? Mor?"

Marnie noticed her pokemon's look and knew what she was thinking. "I mean, I got you, Team Yell, Piers, and all... but they get loud and can't talk to me without bringing one of them banners... Where do they even get those?"

Victor's words echoed in her head.

"We'll get along! We'll be great friends, I promise!"

She let herself fall back, so her head landed on her pillow.

Marnie hugged another pillow.

"I'd like that... Having my first friends outside of Spikemuth."

Morpeko smiled.


~{Next Morning-10:23AM}~

"This is it! Today is the day that my legend finally begins!" Hop shouted with a fist up in the air.

Hop, Gloria, and Victor all stood beside each other in the lobby of the Budew Inn.

"You guys sleep well? We've got quite a day ahead of us." Victor smiled as Ace and Ralts stretched their arms and Twilight shook his feathers.

"I'm ready! Let's get going!" Gloria told them excitingly.

"But, where's Sonia?" Hop asked as he saw no sign of the young adult.

"She didn't have a room here because she isn't a gym challenger, remember? So she had to sleep somewhere else. She's probably continuing to research the legends like she said." Victor speculated.

"Then let's meet her at the gym! Race you there!" Hop suddenly bolted down the lobby and out the door.

"Geez, that bloke's so impatient, we don't even know if she's gonna be there..." Gloria sighed as Luna walked beside her.

Luna glanced at Midori as the male Ralts tried stretching his tiny arms. Midori caught sight of her glance and turned curiously to her, to which Luna nervously waved.

Midori smiled and waved back right.

Victor turned to his three pokemon, "Sorry guys, we can't have our pokemon out during the opening ceremony, so you're gonna have to be in your pokeballs for a bit."

Victor's three pokemon simply nodded in understanding right before he returned them.

"Huh? We can't... Have them out?" Gloria turned to Luna, who looked rather nervous upon hearing that. "Er..."

"You're scared of what's in the pokeball?" Victor asked as he crouched down to Luna.

Luna nodded nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's really not bad." Victor gave her a reassuring smile.

Luna didn't look too sure about it, remaining silent for a few seconds.

Victor leaned closer and whispered, "Don't worry, I can tell."

"..." Luna turned to Gloria, then nodding to her rather nervously.

"Sorry, Luna, I'll bring you out later!" Gloria apologized as she returned her into her pokeball.

"U-Um..."

Victor and Gloria turned to the voice and saw the same girl from yesterday, Marnie, walking up to them while holding her Morpeko in her arms.

"G-Good mornin'."

"Good morning Marnie!" Victor immediately answered in an even more cheerful mood.

Gloria immediately pouted at Victor's sudden growth in excitement.

Victor walked over to Marnie and slightly crouched to get close to Morpeko.

"Hey, little guy!" He reached his hand to pet her, but Morpeko frowned with sparks of electricity sparking on her cheeks threateningly.

Victor paused for a moment as he noticed this.

"Erm, sorry. She ain't good with strangers. J-Just don't stay close..." Marnie warned him.

Morpeko noticed some embarrassment in her trainer and remembered what she had said last night.

"I'd like that... Having my first friends outside of Spikemuth."

Realizing that her hostility could keep his trainer from making friends with these trainers, she reluctantly tilted his head down to offer it. "Mor...Peko"

"Eh?" Marnie was surprised that her pokemon offered herself.

Victor smiled and got close, then gently patting the pokemon on her head.

He then leaned forward and whispered, "We'll be good friends with her. Thank you for your consideration."

Morpeko glanced up, astonished that Victor knew what she was thinking.

"Now, let's go to the Motostoke Gym together and introduce ourselves to the world!" Victor shouted with a fist in the air.

"Me too?" Marnie asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Victor turned to her proudly, "There's no reason not to have you with us!"

"Um... Thanks." Marnie shyly responded as she hugged Morpeko tighter.

Morpeko glanced up at her trainer with a smile.


~{Motostoke Gym Lobby}~

"How do I look?" Victor asked as he came out of the locker room in a new outfit.

This outfit was the official gym uniform for the gym challenge. His whole outfit consisted of white, even the partly red sports shoes he had on. On the back of his long uniform and shorts were the bold, black numbers of 658 on it. He felt somewhat awkward without the gray beanie Hop had given him so long ago.

"Looking good!" Hop grinned to him. On the back of his shirt and on his white shorts was the number 189 on it.

"A-Are the shorts supposed to be this... short?" Marnie whimpered as she gazed on at her mostly exposed legs with the number 960 visible.

"Argh, I'm gonna punch whoever thought this was okay!" Gloria growled, the number 4 imprinted on her white gym clothes.

Victor stared around at the room filled with gym challengers wearing the same uniform as them, but with different numbers.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw several people's numbers.

"420, 69, 21... Why do so many people have the same numbers?"

Victor then caught sight of a familiar, platinum-haired boy with the number 908 on his white gym clothes. It was the same boy that had glared at Victor when he had first entered the stadium.

He smiled as he walked over to him.

"Hello there!"

The boy turned his head and narrowed his eyes at him with a scoff. "Don't bother me. I have no time for those less important than myself."

"Excuse me?" Victor already had a bad feeling about him.

"Why don't you clear off and try not to talk to me again, would you?" The boy rudely added.

Victor crossed his arms with a frown. "Hey now, we're all here to take the challenge. What makes you think you're more important than anyone else here?"

To that question, the boy formed a smirk and grazed through his hair. "I was endorsed by the chairman himself. In other words, among all those elite enough to get an endorsement, I'm the most elite of all."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "You were endorsed by the chairman? As in, Chairman Rose?"

"Hmph, indeed. So you should realize the larger gap between us."

Instead of getting angry, Victor just put a hand on his head with a look of confusion.

"Man, what could have the chairman been drinking at the time?"

Cross-veins of irritation emerged on the boy's head.

"Why you-! Don't insult the chairman like that!" He growled.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that was more of an insult to you." Victor said with a straight face.

The boy looked angry but turned his head away to calm himself.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. The chairman recognized me for this challenge. Therefore I'm the most important here."

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already." Victor waved unimpressed. "But..."

He put a hand on his chin as he muttered aloud.

"If you being endorsed by the chairman makes you the most important, then wouldn't my two friends and I being endorsed by the champion mean... We're the strongest?"

The boy turned back and glared at Victor with challenging eyes.

"You best choose your next words carefully. Otherwise, you and your pokemon might end up getting a beating."

Victor grinned, "Sure! I'd love to fight against you some time!"

"What's with this guy!?" The boy got more annoyed by the second.

But before anything could happen, two pairs of arms grabbed Victor and dragged him back.

"Eh? Eh!?" Victor glanced left and right and saw Hop and Gloria pulling him with firm expressions.

Seeing him getting dragged away, the boy turned his head away with his fists clenched. "Hmph... Hopefully, you'll realize how pointless it is for you to be here."

"Man, what's with him?" Victor wondered as he got pulled far enough for Hop and Gloria to let him go while Marnie's expression looked rather cold to the boy they just got away from.

"Hey Victor, you alright?" Hop asked with a concerned gaze.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Did you guys really have to drag me away?" Victor asked, visibly confused.

"Sorry, I just had a bad feeling about that guy. I ran into him earlier, and he was a real piece of work." Hop explained.

"Same. I don't like him..." Gloria growled as she glared over in the boy's direction.

Marnie had a cold expression towards him.

Oh wait, that was probably her natural look.

Victor just turned back to him, watching the boy remain all by himself while everyone else seemed to avoid him.

"But he seems... pretty lonely, doesn't he? I wonder..."

"Attention, everyone! The opening ceremony is starting! Be ready to walk out in a moment!" One of the League Staff shouted.

Victor decided to push that thought out for now and smiled beside his three friends.

"You guys ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Hop shouted with a fist in the air.

"Of course." Gloria grinned.

Marnie simply nodded.

"Alright then..." Victor adjusted the glove on his hand.

"Let's do this."


~{Motostoke Stadiumn-11:01AM}~

The roars of the audience filled the stadium with noise. Over thousands of people filled the seats of the bleachers, every single one of them excited to see the ceremony take place.

In the middle of the stadium stood a proud man with his female assistant by his side. Chairman Rose waved at the cheering crowd happily, then adjusting the small mic on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I am Rose, president of Macro Cosmos and chairman of the Pokemon League!" His voice echoed in the stadium speakers.

He waved a hand at everyone as he kept speaking.

"I know that everyone gathered here, and everyone watching from home have all been waiting for this big moment!"

He stuck both hands in the air.

"It is my pleasure to announce that finally- the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin!"

Cheers rang and many of the audience had their hands in the air too.

"Participants must defeat the eight gym leaders and gather the eight gym badges to prove their skills as a trainer! Only then will they be worthy enough to have the chance to compete in the Pokemon League!"

He stuck his hand in the air.

"HOWEVER! As you know, our champion isn't just the champion of Galar, but of the entire world! And Galar's Pokemon League isn't just like any other region. Our league is also the Pokemon World League!"

He put his hands behind his back and started pacing around.

"Our league takes hundreds of trainers from not just Galar, but from all over the world and sets them against each other one by one! And the one trainer ontop of all other trainers will go up against the current champion with the chance to become the new World Champion!"

He waved a hand over everyone.

"As mentioned before, Galar's Gym Challengers will be among these in the league if they successfully complete the Gym Challenge, but overall, there are a variety of ways for a person to qualify to take part in our enormous World League!"

He turned to different groups of the crowd.

"You must be at least one of the following-!"

On the large screens projected a list as Rose stuck a finger in the air said them out loud.

"One, a Pokemon Champion!"

He held up two fingers.

"Two, an Elite Four member!"

Three fingers.

"Three, a Gym Leader!"

He finally held up four fingers.

"Or four, someone who has completed a Gym Challenge and have the badges to prove it! Or in Alola's case, have completed the Island Trails and have the Z-crystals of each one!"

He lowered his hand and rubbed his mustache.

"You can be any one of these, from any region, including here at Galar! Only then can you enter the Pokemon World League when the time comes!"

He clapped his hands together.

"Thousands of trainers have even come from all over the world in an effort order to face our great champion! We've even seen many famous faces around here! Gym leaders such as the fighting type expert Korrina from Kalos, Elite Four members such as Lance from Kanto, and even the Hoenn Region's champion, Steven Stone! All of these amazing trainers have come, but all that have made it to the top have failed to bring down our champion!"

He was practically bragging about Leon at that point.

"If you search around Galar, I believe that you may even see some of these foreign trainers! Whether they're just hanging around or training for the next upcoming league!"

He winked to the audience as he said that.

Chairman Rose's secretary, Oleana, whispered to him, making Rose's face light up.

"Oh, it seems that I'm getting off track! Although Galar is the center for the World League, we still have our own Gym Challenge to give those that live here the chance to partake in said league! So now, without further ado, I would like to invite out the proud gym leaders of the Galar region to show themselves to the world once more!"

On cue, seven shadows starting walking into the bright light of the arena, each person revealing his/her colors that matched the typing he/she was an expert in.

Chairman Rose introduced them one by one.

"The fighting farmer! Here's the grass type-expert, Milo!"

He said as a buff looking man with a large farmer hat, green shorts, and a white t-shirt with a leaf design waved to everyone.

"The raging wave! It's the master of Water types, Nessa!"

A beautiful, mature dark-skinned woman with long, mixed blue colored hair wearing a gym uniform consisting of a white crop top and shorts with blue and orange blew a kiss at the crowd.

"The ever building man of fire! Here comes the fire-type veteran, Kabu!"

An older-looking man wearing a red polo shirt and white shorts along with a towel around his neck proudly marched on the field.

"The Galar karate prodigy! Nobody's better with fighting types than Bea!"

A slender, fit girl with tan skin and grey eyes marched with a rather intense stare straight ahead, showing an unwavering spirit. She had a skintight black bodysuit that seemed to show an imprint of her abs and had a white and orange uniform that resembled a karate uniform.

"The master of a fantastic theater! It's the charming fairy type user, Opal!"

An elderly woman with gray hair, a pointy nose, and a hunched back carefully walked onto the stadium wearing pink and blue color schemed clothes.

"The ice-cole professional! Please welcome the ice-type master, Melony!"

A woman with blue eyes and long, greyish blue hair wearing thick clothes for cold weather waved at everyone cheerfully.

"And last but not least, the tamer of dragons! It's Raihan, the top gym leader of Galar!"

A dark-skinned man wearing a dragon-designed uniform took selfies of himself while waving at the crowd with a broad grin.

"Unfortunately, we're missing one, but these are the gym leaders that we in the Galar region are proud to call our own!"

All the trainers stood in a straight line right in the middle of the arena.

"And now..." Chairman wave pointed a hand at another opening of the arena. "Please welcome our new and promising gym challengers of Galar!"

From the shadows of the arena entrance, one person marched into the light first.

Victor had an unwavering gaze as he proudly marched into the stadium rather quickly. But not even a second after walking in, dozens upon dozens of other trainers walked into the stadium after him.

The world seemed to move in slow motion for him as he felt the gazes of cameras hitting him. He could feel that he was being watched, but not by just the gazes from the audience themselves, but by a gaze of hostility.

He found one of the cameras watching him and the other challengers, to which Victor glared at it.

"That's right... I'm here."

The fighting type gym leader, Bea, suddenly felt a fierce, dangerous feeling of pressure coming from someone. She turned her head, but as quick as the feeling came, it had also left as fast, and all she saw was Victor's innocent smile gazing up at everyone.

"Odd... I could swear I felt someone dangerous..." She glanced around to see if there was anyone that looked threatening enough to have given off that feeling.

"Wow, look at all those people!" Hop shouted as he waved at everyone.

Victor's eyes scanned the audience, staring at lines upon lines of people. He didn't see anyone that looked to be staring directly at him specifically, now did he see anyone making too much of an effort to hide any features of themselves. He didn't see anyone with any evil grins or dangerous eyes, but he knew... He just knew someone like that was watching.

He took a deep breath, knowing fully well what to expect in the future.

~{Meanwhile-?}

"Yes, I know... I'm watching it right now."

A man sat alone in a dark room whose only source of light was the computer monitor projecting the opening ceremony of Galar right in front of him. He sat cross-legged in his professional black suit while holding a phone up to his ear with a rather big smile.

"Indeed I do see him... I wonder if he traveled there to grow stronger, or if he's lived there up until now?" The man chuckled.

He listened to a muffled voice over the phone, tapping his fingers on the table as he listened.

He formed a frown.

"Of course not. Don't go after him in public like that. Remember, I want to make sure his abilities don't get out. If his mother is as reasonable as we believe, then no one else besides her and the boy should know about his abilities. But in the case that there is someone else with some kind of knowledge of the boy's abilities... then you know what to do."

The man grinned as he listened to the person on the other side of the call ask something.

"Well, we finally know where he is, after so many years of being hidden... I could hardly believe that they were able to accomplish that. But then the boy just comes out on his own? He's either foolishly naive, or he's gotten a grasp on his powers and is confident on what he can do against anyone."

The man stopped tapping his fingers.

"But judging by that look he gave to the camera... I think it's the latter."

A nervous mumbling of words came from the other side, making the man sigh.

"We need him. We haven't been able to replicate anything ever since the doctor'sresearch was destroyed. So all of you must do everything in your power to capture him. Naturally, my strongest subordinates and I will be coming over there, so prepare for our arrival."

There were a few more nervous mumbles about the man coming over.

"Send men to try and fetch the boy when he's alone, I want to see just how much he's grown. It would be pathetic for him to lose to some grunts. Test him and make sure the men you send have cameras on them. That is all."

He hung up the phone and gently placed it down as he stared at Victor glaring at the cameras, a gaze challenging those who were looking for him.

The man grinned again.

"So, we'll finally be able to meet again..."

He happily recalled a lab where he watched a young boy sitting in a large tube of glass, curiously glancing around at the people around him. He remembered the boy's mother rushing into the room, asking what they were all doing. Then the boy saw his mother and smiled, suddenly vanishing from the tube and appearing right in his mother's arms.

Right there, a breakthrough was made. After years of research, a breakthrough had been made on a four-year-old boy. There was no time wasted to continue testing. More tests were done with his mother present, having an easier influence on making the boy bring out more power. There was even talk of replicating others to be like him.

But then that day happened, the day he escaped.

"I'd be disappointed if you can't take down the first wave that comes at you... We didn't create a warrior that would get taken down easily by some mere goons. Show me... Show just how much power I can look forward to using."

The man started quietly laughing.

"This will be very interesting, indeed."

He slightly turned in his chair, the light of the monitor reflecting off a faint R with rainbow colors.


~{Post Opening Ceremony-11:30AM}~

"There were really no words for it, but... I can barely contain myself! My heart's racing! Hop shouted in the lobby back in his usual clothes.

"Yeah, I was really nervous seeing all those people staring at us." Gloria agreed.

"I thought it felt great. To have so many people watchin' you. To show them who was gonna be beatin' all of them in the future." Marnie voiced her opinion.

Victor was still thinking with his head down, thinking about the consequences of leaving his safe home and wondering about the dangers to come.

"What did you think Victor?" Gloria asked with a smile.

The boy mentioned didn't even seem to acknowledge she said anything, he just stared down into his hand, wondering if he could fight off whoever comes next.

Gloria noticed his stern expression, and her smile faded. "Victor, ya alright?"

Victor blinked and registered that he was being spoken to, then turning to Gloria with an awkward smile.

"Er, sorry, what was that? I was too busy thinking about my future fights."

Before Gloria could answer him, a new voice was heard.

"Hey! You guys looked great out there!"

They turned around and saw the champion himself grinning as he walked to their group with Chairman Rose beside him.

"Oh, hey Lee! Of course, we looked great! It's us, after all!" Hop proudly pointed out.

Chairman Rose approached the group and observed Hop, Gloria, and Victor.

"So, you're the three trainers our champion endorsed himself?" He then turned to Marnie. "Ah, and as I recall from Piers, he was the one who endorsed you for this challenge, correct?"

Marnie nervously nodded.

Chairman Rose clapped his hands with an innocent smile, "Welcome, and it's a delight to meet all of you! I have no doubt you know me, Rose, of course. And I daresay that this year's gym challengers are looking like an absolute blast! I'm sure the Galar Region can't wait for such excitement!"

"I'll give the people that excitement! I'll become the champion and have everyone cheering for me!" Hop declared with a fist in the air.

"Oho! The champion's younger brother sure has the same spirit as our current champion, I look forward to it Hop!" Rose laughed. "I expect the same spirit from the rest of you!"

"We'll give it our best shot!" Gloria reassured him with a grin.

Victor adjusted his beanie with a smirk, "We'll make this a challenge no one will ever forget!"

"I sure do hope so. But for now, I'm terribly sorry, but there is some business I must attend to, so I'll be on my way! Best of luck to all of you!"

"Thank you." Marnie nodded in appreciation.

The chairman gave one last polite bow to the group before heading on his way.

Leon put his hands on his hips and smiled. "So, you'll all be heading to Turffield next, right? Are you all gonna go together?"

"Nope!" Victor immediately declared with a smile.

"EH!?" Hop, Gloria, and even Marnie uttered out.

"What?" Victor turned back to them, confused. "We can't get stronger if we keep sticking together, right? Wouldn't we be slowing each other down, waiting for one another? And I'm sure we all have our own methods of training."

"Well, I mean..." Gloria looked disappointed.

"I understand! I'll show you how much stronger I can get!" Hop declared.

"That's more like it!" Another voice spoke.

They turned and saw Sonia come towards them.

"Oh, hey Sonia!" Victor smiled at her presence.

"Hey, guys! I saw all of you at the ceremony. You all looked pretty cool!" She then turned to Marnie. "So, in the end, you guys become friends already?"

"Yup!" Victor didn't hesitate.

This made Marnie feel oddly happy to be acknowledged as a friend so fast.

"I hope you all take care of each other in the future!" Sonia smiled. "Especially adorable Marnie here."

Marnie lightly blushed at being called adorable, "I'm not really..."

"Oh yes, you are." Sonia teased. "Victor, isn't that true?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt." He bluntly responded with a straight face.

"EH!?" Marnie turned from pale to red in no time.

"Oh, how I love how honest you are!" Sonia laughed.

"Thank you, I try my best! But anyway, we should get going. I wanna get in some hours of training in the Wild Area!" Victor moved on while smiling.

Gloria felt highly irritated, "V-Victor! Ya can't just say something like that!"

"Say what? Getting in training hours?" Victor asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sonia covered her mouth to muffle a laugh.

"No ya dunce! C-Calling a girl adorable!" Gloria pointed out.

Meanwhile, Marnie somewhat shivered with a flushed face.

Victor blinked for a moment, before making hand movements to point at Sonia, "I mean, technically, I didn't call her cute. Sonia did, all I did was agree with her."

Hop nodded with his hands on his hips. "He's got a point."

"Quiet you."

"Yes, ma'am." Hop casually backed away from Gloria.

In truth, Gloria wasn't really mad at Victor for not being 'considerate' of what he was saying, she was mostly just jealous.

"Don't you think you think she's cute Gloria?" Victor grinned.

"Eh? Of course no-!" As she said this, she turned to Marnie, who was still slightly red and looking down rather embarrassed. Both tufts of hair on her head were actually fluttering like cat ears.

"I CAN'T SAY SHE'S NOT!" Gloria fell to the ground and repeatedly bashed the ground with her fist while turning red.

"Ah, she was defeated." Leon chuckled.

Marnie was unsure what to make of the whole situation, only trying to calm herself down.

"Team Yell's never called me cute before... I think only Piers has ever said it..."

She suddenly saw a phone being offered to her, looking up to see Victor with a confident smile.

"I hope we can stay in contact."

"Same!" Hop pulled out his own phone. "We should all share numbers!"

"That does make sense. I, for one, would love to get to know you, Marnie!" Sonia said with a clap of her hands.

"Any friend of the Postwick trio is a friend of mine!" Leon grinned as he pulled out a Rotom Phone with advertisements on it.

Gloria was still on the ground but shakily pulled her phone from her pocket and raised it up. "H-H-Here..."

Marnie looked rather surprised to see everyone offering their contacts to her, but she could also feel a warm feeling in her heart. Theirs smiles towards her, besides Gloria on the floor, were all genuine.

"This... This feels nice." The girl thought as she timidly pulled out her own phone.

They all happily shared numbers, to which afterword, Leon adjusted his cap and grinned.

"If you kids ever need anything, then give me a call! I'll come faster than a Barraskewda using Aqua Jet! Until then, good luck!" Leon saluted the group before proceeding to run outside of the stadium.

"Then I guess I'll head out too, those legends aren't gonna search for themselves." Sonia smiled. But before she left, she reached over, removed Victor's beanie, and gently caressed the boy's head. "I'll see you later."

Victor stared up at her, "Is this just gonna be a thing now?"

"Perhaps."

"Nice." Victor grinned.

Gloria's eye twitched while Marnie curiously wondered how getting patted like that felt like.

"Alright! I'm gonna beat Turffield gym first to officially start my streak of victory! I'll see you all later!" Hop dashed away from the group with his flaming excitement emitting of him.

Sonia placed Victor's beanie back on and proceed to walk away, "Until the next town, maybe!"

That left Victor with the two females left, but he knew where he was going to go.

He turned to Marnie and Gloria.

"I wish you both good luck."

"Yeah..." Marnie actually looked somewhat disappointed that she was already getting separated from the group. This was something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Sorry, I know we just met, and I would've like to get to know you better, so let's promise to meet up later!" Victor suggested.

Marnie's face seemed to get a little flustered. "I'd... like that."

"I don't." Gloria thought with a small glare at thinking about a dangerously cute girl being alone with Victor.

"I'll see you later too, Gloria! I can't wait to see how much stronger you get!" Victor opened his arms and hugged her, making the girl's irritation subside and be replaced with a new feeling of warmth.

Her head erupted with steam.

"Wha-Wha-!? U-Um... Th-Thanks..." The girl muttered as she hugged the boy back despite shaking.

Marnie tilted her head curiously.

"Do close friends hug each other like that?"


~{Rolling Fields: Clear Weather-1:12PM}~

"Midori! Use Disarming Voice!"

The Ralts opened its mouth and let out a heart-shaped cry.

"Onix!" The large pokemon in front of them used Iron Tail to cut right through the attack.

"Ember on the eyes!"

"Score!" Ace formed a ball of fire at his feet and kicked it up fast, aiming it directly into the Onix's eyes.

The Onix surprisingly ducked fast and avoided the projectile, then slamming the ground and causing sharp stones to erupt into a barrage towards the rabbit pokemon.

"Twilight! Save Ace!"

"Rooki!" Twilight dived down quickly and snatched Ace by the arms right before the Stone Edge could ravage him, carrying up in the air.

Ace then grinned as he looked up at Twilight.

"Bun! Bun!"

Twilight looked surprised. "Rooki?"

Ace nodded.

Twilight then flew in a loop de loop and used the momentum to fling Ace right towards the Onix.

"Scorbunny!" Ace let out a battle cry as it went right to Onix's head and performed two mighty kicks, each one making Onix visibly wince in pain while being knocked back.

As the Onix was dazed, Twilight used the chance to circle around and charge straight in with his beak, unleashing a fury of attacks that repeatedly jabbed Onix on the head.

"Ace learned Double Kick while Twilight learned Fury Attack! Nice!" Victor grinned.

He pointed his finger.

"Midori! Finish it off with Confusion!"

Midori put his tiny hands on his head, which proceeded to glow a light purple.

"Ralts!" He then fired a purple ball of light right towards Onix, intending on hitting him directly on his body.

But the Onix's eyes snapped open in anger.

"ONIX!" It raised its tail up and swung it down, actually smacking through the ball of psychic energy and slamming the ground, using Stone Edge to cause several larger jagged stones to be sent in all directions.

"Rooki?!"

"Scor!?"

"Ralts!?"

The three pokemon ended up caught in flying debris of the Earth and were sent backward, all of them tumbling along the ground.

Victor clapped his hands.

"Alrighty! That's enough!"

His three pokemon got off the ground dizzy.

Onix shook its body and look annoyed, still feeling lingering pain by Ace's Double Kick.

Victor first rushed up to Onix with a potion and a few berries. "Thanks for letting them train against you."

Onix grumbled as it lowered its head to allow Victor to spray the potion on the mark caused by Ace's Double Kick. As he did this, Onix glared at him.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I got more sweets." Victor reassured him.

Onix then closed his eyes and just rested on the ground.

After tending to him, Victor went to his own pokemon.

"You guys, alright?"

"Scoooooooor..." Ace sarcastically answered while sprawled on the ground.

"Well, if you're fine, then I guess you don't need these potions..."

"Scor! Bun! Bun! Bun!" Ace jumped up and apologized with comedic tears in his eyes.

"Heh, sorry. Couldn't resist." Victor answered as he sprayed his team's bruises with a few potions and gave them some berries.

"Now then..." He reached into his wallet and pulled out Sonia's league card, turning it over to glance at her four pokemon. "She already has Yamper, so where do the other three appear...?"

He took out his Pokedex and started searching this up.

He first searched up Ninetails but was shocked to know that its official habitat was unknown, if there was one at all.

"Damn, that makes things complicated... I wonder if it hangs around the same areas that its pre-evolution does?" He searched up Vulipix's habitat instead but didn't find it to be better.

"They're up in the more dangerous parts of the Wild Area? Like the Dusty Bowl and Giant's Mirror? Damn, that's so far... And I can't even go there yet, it's too dangerous at my level, even if I can defend myself pretty well."

He searched up Milotic, but found no habitat on it as well. The pokemon was one of the hardest to find and was rather rare to even see.

"Sonia really let something that beautiful go...?"

He finally searched up Meowstic and found that the only place it was seen in the Wild Area was at the Dusty Bowl, but it could also be found out of the Wild Area in Route 7.

"Well, even if it's not guaranteed that they're there... These are the best places to look."

He stood back up and walked over to the now resting Onix.

"Onix, have you ever seen a Meowstic, Milotic, or Ninetails come anywhere around here?"

Onix uncaringly shook its head, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"I see... Well, thank you anyway."

He sat down on the ground beside the large pokemon and stared off in the distance, his eyes watching the beautiful landscape of fields and tall grass. The Wild Area was large, spreading farther than the eye can see with several different landscapes depending on which large area you were at. Even though the area looked large now, Victor knew that it'd be even once he goes to the later areas. If it wasn't for him being able to use Agility to travel faster, he couldn't explore as much as he wanted.

He took notice of all his surroundings. Other than the several wild pokemon passing by and paying no mind to his group, Victor knew that it was just him, his pokemon, and the Onix beside him.

Or so he thought.

He narrowed his eyes as he felt a disturbance. "We're being surrounded. Be calm, don't make any sudden movements."

Lying on the ground, Ace opened one eye, and his ears twitched to pick up any noises.

Twilight narrowed his eyes as he slowly scooted towards Victor.

Midori remained close to Victor looking nervous.

Onix opened an eye suspiciously.

"Onix, you don't want to be captured or be around humans, right?"

Onix growled.

"Then listen to me. On my cue, use Stone Edge like before to send rubble in all directions.

Onix's tail slowly moved behind him, already ready to do so.

Everything was momentarily silent, only the sound of the breeze filling their ears. The group listened to every sound of nature and anything hinting to movement.

Ace's ear twitched, and Victor's eyes became wide open as they heard several projectiles pierce through the air.

"NOW!"

He grabbed Ace and Ralts before leaping to the air, with Twilight taking flight upward with him.

With Victor and his pokemon out of the way, Onix slammed its tail to the ground, using Stone Edge to cause several stones to erupt all around him.

The flying stones intercepted several projectiles aimed at them. From gusts of wind, Shadow Balls, and sharp leaves having been aimed right at them.

Victor landed right on top of Onix's head, Ace and Midori hanging onto his arms while Twilight perched itself on top of Onix's stone spike.

The area was now covered in dust, yet Victor was able to make out several silhouettes of humans and their pokemon getting closer.

One of Victor's hands tightly held onto Onix's spike.

"I didn't think they'd show up so soon..."

He opened his other palm, where some winds started to pick up around him.

"But let's see who we're dealing with."


~{Author's Post Notes}~

Oh? What's this? Who are the bad guys!? Things might get a little hectic in the future, but yes, you have seen who are the main bad guys going to face Victor. And oh? World League? Interesting... Interesting indeed. And here we've officially meet Marnie, *squeeeeeeeeeeal!* and we've also got a glimpse at a pretty mean boy, but who surely has more to him than meets the eye. I hope you look forward to the next chapters! Be sure to let me know what you're thinking about these new reveals and additions to what would normally be just the game! Until next time!