Jasmine smiled as she leaned forward on Harry's bed, one nimble finger tracing along the bottom of her lower lip as she batted her eyelashes at him. She hadn't gotten a chance to change out of her Gym Leader clothing but had ditched her coat and was wearing only her dress shirt, a few buttons undone to give only a teasing hint of what lay underneath. Her boots had also been kicked off and her bare feet swayed back and forth as she laid on her stomach, flashing a coy grin. The rest of Harry's dormmates were out and about, leaving him in their room without anyone save Jasmine to keep him company.

"Oh Harry," Jasmine cooed, tilting her head to one side. "If you could just touch my skin with your own... even just brush a fingertip along my cheek... I would be yours forever."

"You're supposed to be helping me with my homework," Harry complained, not bothering to look up from his Pokémon Care textbook.

Jasmine merely scooted forward. "Just the lightest of touches and I'd surround myself to you..."

"I mean it! I'm focusing on Steel types for this and you're the expert."

"I'm an expert in many things," she whispered in a breathy tone. "I could teach you if you just touched me. Even flicked my nose would do. I would instantly be yours, now and forever." She paused. "And I'd also give you every legendary Pokémon in the world and a billion dollars. And all the Big Macs you could eat."

Harry swung his textbook at her head with all his strength.

"Aw, you snapped quicker than I thought!" Jasmine complained as the book sailed right through her head. Harry glowered as her image flickered, the hologram projector in his dex correcting itself and reforming the holocast of his girlfriend.

"Jasmine..." Harry complained in frustration.

The Steel Type Gym leader laughed before her holo-self rolling onto her back. "Fine fine..." she said as she reached forward, her hand disappearing as her own dex projector and reader lost sight of the limb. When it finally returned she was holding a fistful of M&Ms and she moved so that her holographic self was now sitting next to Harry, 'leaning' against the headboard. "Move your projector so I can see the book."

Harry did as commanded, Jasmine's image for a moment shifting so she was floating in the middle of the empty dormroom before Harry reoriented it to himself and she popped back into place, this time with the dex resting on his headboard and pointed at his textbook. Harry knew that all the way across the sea in Olivine Jasmine was in her own bedroom, now able to lean around his holocast form and actually read the textbook.

"So do you want the answers the book is expecting or what actually works?" Jasmine asked, popping her treats into her mouth.

"There is a different?" Harry asked.

"Oh hell yes!" Jasmine exclaimed with a laugh.

"...but why?" Harry whined in annoyance. While not at Hermione-levels of needing information and facts Harry DID like it when he was given an answer without having to dance around 20 falsehoods and half-truths to get it.

The Steel Type Gym Leader shook her head. "Okay, let me be fair here to the writer... it's not their fault. Most trainers are dealing with all sorts of different Pokémon types so they focus on the basics. They don't need all the details like a specialist does. If the author of your text book spent the time truly needed to fully educate you on every Pokémon Type and its care you'd spend the entire school year just focusing on Pokémon Care and not Potions or Battle or Tracking or anything like that."

"It's that complex?" Harry asked, setting the book aside and looking at the glowing blue face of his girlfriend.

"Okay, so let's compare three different species: Mawile, Megnamite, and Steelix. Mawile looks to be a normal Pokemon, no different than your Alakazam. Cute, huggable, that sort of thing. Except her typing comes from her bones, which are made from organic metal, so the care is different. Strength training so she can move quick, checking for rust on her false mouth to ensure that the 'teeth' don't infect the rest of the body, so on. But other than adding a few extra steps to your routine you treat her like you would any other flesh and blood Pokemon. Grooming and feeding are the same just with a few extra pieces added to the mix. That's why new trainers can have problems with Mawiles, because they see them and assume they are like their Growlithes or their Meowths and just need a brushing. They don't realize that their higher density can cause problems or that muscle training is so utterly important so they can move properly. And you also have to be careful when training with them, since the strength needed to move their bodies also means that they tend to not realize, at least when they are young, that other people and Pokemon aren't as durable and strong as them. One wrong glomp and a trainer as a broken leg."

Harry watched on, rather impressed as Jasmine proved that she was her father's daughter by slipping into lecture mode with ease. He leaned back and let her speak, just smiling as she passionately spoke about steel types. There was just something so… appealing… about Jasmine when she was in her element and discussing a topic she felt so strong about. She became utterly alive while also dropping the mask she tended to wear, the one that made her appear to be nothing more than a battle-hungry warrioress.

"Magnamites are the exact opposite," Jasmine stated, spreading her arms out wide as she gestured and spoke. "They are completely metallic beings, with even the 'eye' being a sensory piece that evolved over many generations to allow them to better connect with humans but actually isn't needed; they don't see the world so much as sense the biofield every living thing gives off. With them you have to treat them like living Roombas: you inspect them for cracks and rust, you tinker a bit to get them to move faster and with less energy, those kind of things. If it weren't for the fact that they did eat organic food, turning it into processing power, they would be classified as a machine. You can't care for them like normal Pokemon which is why so many have assumed they aren't from our world.

"Steelix is a mix of the two. It looks like a Magnamite but that is just the plating; under that is normal flesh and blood and bone. The outer shells are pure metal, so you have to check for cracks, buff out scratches, file down sharp spots, so on. If the plates grow over each other that can limit movement and cracks can cause greater damage, especially if foreign objects get into them. Similar to Onix but at a far greater level. Some think that is it but you also have to get in between the plates and clean the flesh underneath… make sure there aren't any irritants that could cause rashes, ensure that none of the plates have begun to grow into the sink itself, things like that."

"Sounds like a ton of work," Harry commented, grabbing his notebook and scribbling a few of Jasmine's comments down. While not covered in the book he was hoping, if he sourced it as 'Testimony by Accredited Steel-Type Specialist Jasmine Kenway' McGonagal would score it well. Especially if he found a few other trainers that agreed with her.

"It is but needed to ensure Malificent is in fighting shape. Especially when I have challengers coming at me wanting to prove themselves against my heavy hitters." Jasmine laughed. "The other day I had some kid with no badges demand to take on Malificent and Chernabog. With a Pidgey and a Mankey, of all things."

"Chernabog is which one again?" Harry asked.

"Aggron," Jasmine stated.

"Right, sorry. You don't use him a ton…"

Jasmine shrugged. "He's my starter so he tends to be overpowered for most situations. Plus he's so big that it makes it hard to send him out in tight areas. That's why I've been working to build up my ranks with Xena. Also looking to get another small Pokemon or two… tried to convince Da to look for one for me but with the travel ban in place he can't go out and hunt like he normally would and I've exhausted Johto when it comes to Steel Types."

Harry forced himself not to smile; he'd managed to catch a Togedemaru a few weeks back while helping Ron train his Emolga near Black Lake and found via speaking that the little guy was quite a scrapper and enjoyed a good fight. He was working with him on and off since then and planned to give him to Jasmine as a Solstice gift.

"Yeah, that's why I try to keep my team pretty diversified," Harry stated, setting his book off to the side. "Though that does make it a bit harder to care for all of them… have to research each one, figure out the quirks for all of them." Jasmine gestured for him to continue. "Ludwig, for example. Fire and Ghost, so I need to do the normal things like making sure he gets plenty of combustible food, check his arms to ensure that he can flare up his fires properly, give him ghost treats… but he also has metal parts of him so I have to do checks for him like you mentioned with Magnamites."

"Right," Jasmine said. "He the one you're doing the report on?"

"Him and Orion. We need to explain the difference in care. I know most people are going to do radically different types; Ron is doing his Beartic and Pyg, fire and ice, but I wanted to get into the subtle differences."

"If your professor is anything like my old Care professor then she'll like that. Prof. Grusse was real big on going beyond the parameters of an assignment. Heck, our 7th year he just told us 'write a report about what you've learned' and then let us do what we want. By then everyone had learned not to slack off. You do that and you are repeating. Actually made it more intense, like working without a net. Still good though… training for the real world."

Harry shook his head at that. "I can't see McGonagal being like that. She's too rigid. Loves structure far too much." He let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling while Jasmine quietly moved her holocaster to its original position. "I think that's why she's having such a problem with me."

"Things haven't gotten better?" Jasmine asked, her tone sympathetic. "I thought you said she wanted to try and make things better."

"That's what Snape told me," Harry said, remembering that horribly awkward conversation. His uncle was someone not used to dealing with subtle emotions and wasn't one to get 'touchy feely' as Sirius would say. The two of them could sit down and discuss Pokemon training or Harry's mother or current events and there wouldn't be an issue, especially since Harry now understood Snape's abrasive personality. Where others would have been offended if Snape called them a dunderhead who knew nothing Harry knew that was just how he was and gave back as good as he got… but only in private (Snape wouldn't be able to tan his hide for talking back as Remus would have beaten him too it) and only if he knew he could actually back up what he said. He was a harsh teacher but only because he put just as much pressure on himself and he wasn't one for wasting time but Harry and him had shared a few quiet conversations and he'd found them rather nice, as the man only treated him like a child when it came to him doing something stupid. When it came to merely discussing things Snape didn't sugarcoat it or say he was too young to hear something… merely too young to act.

But have to sit down and talk about emotions? That's when Snape began to squirm like a little boy, became far too aware of his own body, and ended up taking 20 minutes to say a single sentence.

"He said that she'd expressed regret over our fallout last year and wanted to make up for how she treated me. How she abandoned me when I decided to compete and wasn't there to help me out." He ran his hair through his wild locks in frustration before reaching over to adjust his own dex, Jasmine's imagine once more flickering before resettling back in place. "And she's been trying. I can tell that she wants to make things right. The first time she made an overture I did my best to be receptive… I didn't want to be cruel and turn her away. The first week of the new school year she pulled me aside and told me that her door was open and that if I ever wanted to talk I could. So after Umbridge decided to begin singling me out in class I came to her and asked for her help. I wanted her… I don't know." He stretched out and after a moment Jasmine moved to lay down beside him, resting her head on her palm, elbow propping her up. "Something. Speak up for me. Give me a way to deal with her. I mean I had the gameplan and I was following it but after she brought up wanting to help I thought, "what the hell, give her a chance!" You know what she said?"

"What?"

"Just keep your head down, Mr. Potter." Harry scoffed. "A student came to her, telling her that a professor was abusing their position and was verbally mocking them and her response is a shrug. And then she doesn't understand why I ignore her and won't come talk to her again? Why I feel more comfortable calling Lance or Jonas or even Prof. Drayden than her? Drayden… the time difference in Unova is HORRIBLE and I still talk to him more than McGonagall. And he gives good advice! My Head of House just brushes me off! Seriously?! She wants to make things right with us and meanwhile that pink blob is insulting me, my friends, my PARENTS, and all mighty McGonagall can say is-"

"Harry, love," Jasmine said gently. "Breathe." He whipped his head in her direction before forcing himself to take a breath. "Your mask is slipping."

Reaching up Harry touched one of his canine teeth and found that indeed it had sharpened to a deadly point. Lifting his left hand he confirmed that it had become more talon-like and he knew that if he had a mirror nearby he'd find his green eyes brighter and sharper and far more predatory than normal. The Long Talk had given him so many benefits, sharpening his senses and making him faster and stronger than before. Prof. Sprout had been startled at his improvements in Tracking class, able to easily complete the warm up sprints and when it came to locating hidden Pokemon his superhuman hearing made it laughably easy for him.

But with all the pros came the negatives. Harry found his temper all the more dangerous now with his new abilities. Before hand losing his cool would see him merely yell. Now, as Jack and Lugia called it, his 'mask' slip and his more animalistic form revealed. Thankfully it had only happened once or twice and always where few, if any, noticed, but it showed him how much work he still had left in mastering the Art of Speaking.

And he was destined to also master Magnus and another Art in order to defeat Voldemort.

Jasmine reached over but stilled her hand when she remembered she couldn't actually touch him. Still, Harry drew on her strength and calmed himself, feeling his body return to normal as the mask slammed back into place.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." Jasmine jabbed her tongue at her lower lip before asking, "How did you get your dorm all to yourself?"

Harry chuckled at that. "Ron wanted to work on some new Pokeballs and Flitwick said he'd let him use his workshop so he's off doing that. I think he wants to get Ron to apprentice under him after he graduates. I know Dean went off to meet some Ravenclaw he's currently seeing."

"And the others?"

"Neville said something about Luna having that covered so knowing her she's probably putting on a big Lusimine City Musical with half the school roped in to play roles."

Jasmine snorted at that.

~MC~MC~MC~

In the Great Hall Luna stood on the platform that was normally where the professors sat during meals. Only now the table had been shoved aside, leaving it bare, and behind her were prop houses. Luna was dressed all in black, her skin painted green.

"Glinda, come with me," she said to Hermione, who was wearing a fluffy dress and a tall hat upon her bushy hair. "Think of what we could do, together!" Luna smiled and sang, "Unlimited! Together, we're unlimited! Together we'll be the greatest team there ever been, Glinda… dreams the way we planned'em. If we work in tandem…"

Hermione stared at her friend before, as much to her own surprise as everyone else, she began to sing along, music swelling around them, "There's no fight we cannot win! Just you and I, defying gravity! With you and I defying gravity!"

"I can't believe she set this all up," Ginny said, reading the playbill that featured a smirking Luna with Hermione whispering in her ear.

Neville looked around the packed Great Hall. "I can't believe almost the entire school is here watching… and most of those that aren't have parts! How the heck did she get Blaise to be Boq?"

"Says the guy playing her love interesting…" Ginny teased, gesturing at his costume.

"Shhh!" someone hissed from behind them.

"So if you care to find me," Luna belted out, her words lyrically filling the Great Hall as she held up a broom, unleashing the full force of her Veela powers. Her hair began to flow about her, a green light shining from her skin as her eyes went wide. "Look to the western sky! As someone told me lately, "Everyone deserves a chance to fly!" And if I'm flying solo at least I'm flying free! To those who ground me take a message back from me!"

"Are you crying?" Leafeon asked Hedwig

"It's so beautiful!' the Pokemon stammered, blinking back tears. "I am so buying the Original Soundtrack-" she couldn't finish as Luna began to rise in the sky, the extras Luna had somehow convinced to take part (including Hagrid as the Mayor of Munchkinland) began to sing the final parts of the song.

"Is ever going to bring me down!"

"I hope you're happy!"

"Look at her, she's wicked! No one mourns the wicked! So we must bring her down!"

"BRING ME DOOOOOOOWWWWWNNNNNN!"

"~MC~MC~MC~

"Do you hear cheering?" Harry asked, tilting his head.

"Not through the speakers on my dex," Jasmine stated. "So, given any thought to new additions to your team?"

"Not really," Harry admitted. "I mean, I'm still training Vegeta and I think I'm close to being able to prove myself to Zygarde to let me train him..."

Jasmine though shook her head. "Okay, this is going to sound weird considering you have a legendary, a psedo-legendary, your family Pokémon, and the Black Family Pokémon but... your team is seriously lacking."

Harry blinked, considering what would make her ever think that before he let out a groan. "This is about my Fire Types, isn't it?"

"You have only two, Harry. That's just... sad."

The teen glowered at the holocast for of his girlfriend. "Some of us like to have diverse teams."

"Which is fine if you're going to be like da but you need more fire types. You'll be able to reopen the Potter Family Gym in a few years and two Pokémon won't cut it."

"Togekiss knows Flamethrower," Harry countered only to receive a cool stare from his girlfriend. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I need at least two more at minimum and would be better to have a full team of just fire types." His shoulders slumped. "But I also want a well-rounded team to take on threats!"

"Then let's make two lists." Jasmine once more reached out beyond her dex's range and when her hand returned she was holding a pad of paper and a pen. "Let's start with your current team. What would you like to add?"

Harry considered that. "I don't want to double up if I can help it. I've got a lot of coverage. I guess I need an electric type... rock would be good too. Ice wouldn't hurt, though honestly Togekiss has Dragons covered. Oh!" He grinned. "Bug."

"Bug?" Jasmine asked.

"I know they get a bad rap but I've heard some can be truly amazing."

Jasmine shrugged. "Maybe a Durant... alright, what about Fire Types. What would you like to train next?"

"I don't know... a Growlithe would probably be too on the nose but would be fun to train one. A Heatmor maybe? No evolution for those. Maybe a Sazazzle? I hear the females can be super tricky in battle. Poison too, that would be fun."

"What about a Volcarona?" Jasmine suggested. "Bug and Fire. Best of both worlds."

"Yeah but finding one is hard. Aren't they usually found in Unova... as temple guardians?"

"I think there were some spotted in Alola, maybe Hoenn too," Jasmine said. "I can check with Uncle Jonas. It's an option."

"Yeah it-"

Before Harry could finish his dex buzzed. Picking it up, he ignored Jasmine's squawk of surprise as the holocast struggled to reorient itself and he began to read the message over. What he saw there made him raise an eyebrow... and then begin to read faster as the sheer weight of what the message said came crashing down on him.

"Harry!" Jasmine yelled in frustration. "What is going on?" She tried to look at the screen but the projector didn't let her see what he was reading. "Come on-"

Harry held up his hand. "Just... I'll start at the beginning, okay?" He shifted on the bed and Jasmine stopped trying to digitally crawl on top of him, instead moving to sit near his feet. "'Dear Mr. Potter. I know that you may find this hard to believe, considering the stance the Ministry has taken and in fact many in Avalon, but you do have supporters within the halls. People who wish to see you rise up and become the champion Avalon deserves. While I can't speak for everyone else for myself the choice to stand with you is no choice at all; you are the only hope I see.'"

"Laying it out think, aren't they? Is it a girl? I bet its some pedeo that wants to get in your panties. Tell her I don't share… unless she has a nice ass."

Harry just continued on, ignoring her. "'I suppose it would be beneficial if I took a public stance but that simply isn't an option, not if I wish to help you. You've come to learn that there is a rot deep into Avalon society but you have no idea how far it goes. A shiny surface gives way to a mushy, putrefying body underneath and at times I wonder if there is any part of our region that hasn't been completely destroyed by what most will only whisper quietly to themselves. The Ministry is no different and if I were to raise my voice in support for you at best I would find myself out in the street. One does not reveal an allegiance to anything or anyone other than the Ministry in these halls. Not if they wish to remain within them.'"

"Cheery, aren't they?" Jasmine said dryly.

"I'm not done," Harry said before continuing. "'But while I can not step out into the light I can provide assistance in other ways, from the shadows so that you can draw out from the darkness the other foul things that make the underbelly of Avalon their home.'" Harry paused. "There is a picture."

"Oh? Does she have a nice ass?"

"It's a young guy... maybe Tonks age. Long hair, dirty looking too. Huge ears. Face has pimple scars on it. Dazed look like he was either kicked by a Mudsdale or is just really slow."

"Harry, I am leaving you for that man."

"Shut it," he said with a smirk before growing serious once more. "The message goes on. "This is Stanley Stunpike, main conductor of the Knight's Bus #5.""

"What in the blue hell is a Night's bus? Like... it drives only at night?"

"Knight with a K."

Jasmine grinned. "In honor of Luna... it's ka-nig-it."

Harry just rolled his eyes. "The Knight's Bus is actually several buses that drive around Avalon picking up trainers and taking them to the next town. Usually used by people that had their entire team faint... there is a bed for them to rest and the Knight's Bus doesn't charge when you get on but when you get off so if you lost all your cash you can transfer more from the Pokecenter."

"Ah," Jasmine said in understanding. "We have something like that but it's run by Pokémon. Houndooms roam around Johto, looking for trainers who are in need and alter the local Jennies or Hoods that they need to pick them up."

"Yeah but the Knight's Bus has a reputation of being for the... well, lower class." He held up his hands. "I don't buy into the Team Nocturne shit about how only the elite should have Pokémon, that's not what this is about. I mean that there are some people who are... well..."

"You pass them on the street and you check your wallet right afterwards to make sure its still there?"

"Exactly." Harry looked back down at the dex and the picture of Stan. "Remus said that the Knight's Bus is also a bit of a tourist trap. Trainers from other regions hear about it and want to go on a ride. Has overpriced food and tacky souvenirs, those kinds of things. Supposed to also give 'tours' in between picking up trainers whose teams are blacked out. Anyway," he continued to read, ""Stan Stunpike might seem to merely be a vain man who wants to impress everyone but there is an odd occurrence that the ministry is trying to keep quiet. Several trainers have been attacked upon leaving the Knight's Bus. Never Stan's bus but ones he's been in contact with that night. Every single time a trainer has been targeted it was shortly after Stan talked with the driver of that bus. He then calls the wrong number before hanging up and making no attempt to redial. It is clear that he is a go-between for Team Nocturne and their undercover agents on the Knight's Bus. When a target gets on the driver makes light chatter with Stan and then he'll radio it in to a hit team.""

"Damn," Jasmine whispered. "It's that's true..."

Harry nodded. "The message goes on to say that he's passing this along to me so I can look into it, get the information to the right people and shut down the entire network." The teen paused, pursing his lips. "If you were going to try and catch a Mightyena what would you do?"

Jasmine didn't need to be strung along to understand what Harry was getting at. "Bait them with something they couldn't refuse, that they craved, and then spring a trap the moment their jaws were around the tasty morsel." She shook her head. "It does seem far too perfect. Send da or Uncle Jonas after this Stan Stunpike and find out that it was Nocturne trap."

"I'm not just thinking about Nocturne," Harry stated with a sigh. "The Ministry is desperate to paint your family as killers. They don't want to admit in public that the Pack is hunting in Avalon as that means admitting they've lost control of the situation. What people would follow a ministry that can't keep 6 people out of their borders? So they know that the Pack is coming to and from Avalon and Fudge is convinced I'm directing the whole damn thing because he's a fat idiot-"

"Putting it lightly. Also you kinda are."

Harry let out a huff. "Tell that to Remus and Sirius. But Fudge thinks this is all my doing… and he has smart men working for him. He's a moron but not everyone in the Ministry is. What better way to gain a greater control of Avalon than to bring down Lily Potter's Heir? He catches me directing an attack against an innocent man and he can arrest me, Remus, Sirius, get your father brought up on war crimes, and meanwhile he comes out looking like a bloody hero."

"So we do nothing," Jasmine said.

"Yeah… except…" Harry slapped his hand against the mattress. "If this is true… if this Stan Stunpike really is working with Nocturne… can I live with myself letting him go on just because I am worried about my safety? Can I ever sleep at night again if I know I abandoned people to the tender mercies of Team Nocturne because I was too cautious?"

Jasmine reached out to hold his hand only for her holographic form to pass through his. She grimaces but then asked, "What are you going to do then?"

"I have no idea."