AN: Something I feel the need to mention, as I go through this theoretical memoir of mine, is that a JumpChain story… isn't quite as easy to write as it sounds. You have to keep in mind that the SI is doing lots of things between each 'interval', but in the case of settings I know relatively-little about, or Jumps with no real overarching plotline such as this one (having been deliberately made as 'generic' as possible), there just… isn't much story to actually tell to begin with. The criminal gangs 'will be dealt with by the police if you don't feel like getting involved yourself' (similar to Quicksilver's inFamous Jump taking place afterSecond Son's story), and therefore there's a minimum of plot hooks other than those you deliberately introduce into the story. You, the reader, can fill in the blanks much easier and more effectively than I, the writer, can through the medium of written words and no budget. How interesting would spending a million words on the SI living through a generic Pokemon world really be, if the reader can't substitute themselves a little bit?

Sure, I could regale you readers with thousand of words to describe each Gym Battle, and spend a solid thousand a day describing everything I do. But while I am rather important to this whole shebang, doing nothing but banging on and on about how awesome I am? ~365,250 words of experiences that are at least somewhat unrelatable to anyone but myself? Sooner or later, that's going to get boring. Thus, I'm limiting myself to focussing on the events surrounding each 'Discovery' and writing on-the-spot. Five thousand words a chapter is fairly reasonable, especially since this only builds the world the SI is currently living in while still moving the story inexorably forward.

Whether or not things will improve as I reach more storied Jumps remains to be seen, but I'd rather not have more than several chapters of writing devoted to each of my beginning Jumps, especially when the source material branches over to uncommon knowledge among my prospective audience. Even so, there will be at least enough 'Pokemon' Jumps so as to fill out a 'full' party of Starter Pokemon (for reasons which have been and will be further explained at the end of this Jump), so get comfortable.

Also, telepathic communication will be punctuated with [this] instead of "this", because that's how the Animorphs did it (Edit: Applegate used 'greater than/lesser than', but those apparently don't work on FFN), and bolded 'thoughtspeak' indicates the communication of a broader concept rather than using words (usually due to a language barrier). And the reason this chapter and the last are collectively a week behind, is due to a fairly-severe summer flu (thankfully, testing confirmed it wasn't anything worse) the neighbours gave us, and cooking dinner for three like this is bad enough.


Pokemon: City Life50; Actual Starter: Eevee (Shiny50); Freerunning; Swarmed+100 (100)

Priority: Physical Fitness100; Survival Training100; Master Ball*3100; Rebreather50; HM Collection50; Psionics300 (700)


-Day 701-

The next day, after sleeping in until early noon like a pair of lazybones, we took a slightly-longer-than-polite shower, stuffed ourselves with brunch, and strolled out to the beach. While Mount Pyre might technically be closer to the sun, it's a graveyard full of Ghost-types and that feels like tempting fate, especially if I want Evan to Evolve into an Espeon.

And then, I proceeded to bear my feelings to her in one of those sappy heart-to-heart sessions. Not sure that it was necessary, but she was clearly nervous and she needed to focus on our bond if she wanted to perform a Friendship-based Evolution. I reminded her of all our victories and accomplishments, scooped her up in a hug, gave her a kiss on the forehead, told her she was the bestest of girls and my first and closest friend, and by that point she was already Evolving, but by then I felt that I may as well go all the way.

We spent the rest of the day chilling out, splurging on expensive treats in the Department Store and playing in the sand like the children we were. God, being sixteen again is still weird when I actively think about it. But it was the right time to emphasize the new differences in her form: Eevee were fluffy little foxy-catdog-ish Pokemon, and Espeon were much more feline and graceful than the relatively cute-and-carefree Eevee. They were also three times as tall, four times as heavy, their paws were almost nonexistent and their (normally lilac, but hers was Lime/Emerald/Avocado Green depending on the ambient light level, and her forehead-gem was Orange instead of Red) fur was extremely short and velvety, excluding their 'whiskers', which were very important according to their Pokedex entries.

Whereas Jolteon's were mostly flavor text and explaining how it could use Pin Missile, Espeon's were quite a bit deeper. Their hair was so fine and sensitive that they could detect even the smallest of fluctuations in air pressure and currents of wind, and use those to predict the movement of solid objects, similar to an Absol's ability to 'predict' disasters despite not being Psychic-typed. When combined with their Psychic-typing, they could predict the actions of an opponent as quickly as they consciously decided on them, making them incredibly accurate and evasive when trained to take advantage of these traits. That being said, an Espeon's Psychic abilities were basically powered by absorbing and storing solar energy into the gem on their forehead, making them much more active during the daylight but noticeably weaker during the night (or without a constant influx of sunlight, artificial or natural). Also, their forehead gem would dim as they used their 'supply' of solar energy, making it easy for an attentive enemy to tell how close they were to losing their Psychic powers, and without those an Espeon typically wasn't all that threatening… unless it had been trained in ranged TM Moves of other Types. Hyper Beam, Weather Ball, Shadow Ball, Hyper Voice, Grass Knot and Dazzling Gleam were all options, as well as Signal Beam and Zap Cannon, and whatever Hidden Power Typing they had access to.

So Evan was suddenly a badass-well, she was a badass after a few days of getting used to her new proportions (her tail-fork was the most interesting thing in the world for a full week before she got over it), and she started working on developing her newly-acquired Psychic abilities. Learning to send me tiny mental pokes and prods when she wanted to express a given feeling or desire took a few more days, then it was a mix of levitating and throwing objects (similar to the difference between lifting strength and striking power) for… probably months, if you could ever say that training her mind in this way had concluded. Given that she never really stopped regularly exercising these powers, it's a bit disingenuous to focus on brute strength and raw finesse when they'll only develop further from here. Mentioning her small-but-noticeable jump in physical strength is a given, though she obviously wasn't a very physical Espeon going forward, mostly just keeping a solid grounding of her Double Kick and Bite Moves in case she ran into a Dark-, Steel- or Psychic-typed enemy.

She also took a great deal of satisfaction in being able to consistently outrun me now… when she stopped faceplanting because her tiny paws no longer offered her the traction she was used to. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to not laugh at her after the first time (which I tried to make the last time not only because she got visibly upset with me, but also because her [embarrassed psychic 'barking'] was much louder than her whiny, pouting mewls. But god, the look on her face and the clod of dirt stuck to her nose was just too good not to laugh at). I honestly enjoyed both the competition and the opportunity to crisscross the region faster than ever, and told her as much to her [cheery smugness.]


And a month later, we had a ferry booked on a round trip through Mossdeep, Sootopolis and Pacifidlog. I suspected shenanigans, but I still didn't have any proof that there was a ROB watching over my Chain, so for the time being it was 'just' a happy and well-timed coincidence. In that time, I'd also realised that Espeon was actually just as good as Jolteon and Glaceon for fending off the ever-present Zubat Swarm thanks to their Flying/Poison-typing, which… wasn't exactly a godsend because we'd both gotten used to dealing with them by now, but it was a welcome addition nevertheless. We also realised that her sudden jump in power had made most of the previous fights into jokes. Not saying that the Gym Leaders wouldn't have used better teams if I'd rocked up with a fully-evolved Espeon, but a month was more than enough time to pay the Winstrates a second visit. Apparently, they gave out homemade Macho Braces to anyone strong enough to defeat them, and halved speed (which was basically just Eevee speed at this point) for doubled growth is pretty enticing. Figuring out how to get it on was a bit of an issue, you basically needed a second person with opposable thumbs to fit it on you, and Evan wasn't all that keen to have restrictive straps around her front legs and a lined ring stuck on her back for all that long, but she agreed to at least try it after thinking about how strong their Pokemon had been.

In any case, our first stop was Mossdeep. Not much to say about it. The space center was interesting, but shuttle launches were expensive, due to still being too prototypical and unsafe to host living crew (and no-one wanted to put a Psychic-type on the spot by asking them to teleport a hypothetical crew out of a shuttle during a crash landing), and therefore rare. I thought about visiting Steven Stone's house briefly, out of sheer curiosity if he really did just leave random Pokeballs with Beldum on his condo's table, and I even had a good reason: asking the former Champion if there was any way to attend the Ever Grande Conference without the Mind Badge. But he didn't answer the door, and not only would it be outrageously rude to invade his house, actually checking if there was a Pokeball with a Beldum in it would only end with me putting it back (I'm already on the fence about home invasions, direct thievery/kidnapping was not happening), and probably involve either being given it as a 'secret test of character' I'd unknowingly passed (which would be awkward to accept, let alone reject) or legal action, and I was not going to get myself arrested over a random flight of fancy.

That being said, I did head over to the Gym and crush all of Tate and Liza's Trainers. Mostly so I could ask them if they'd be open for a two-on-one fight at some indeterminate point in the future without their Badge being on the line (which they thought was interesting enough to agree to, if it ever happened), but giving Evan a chance to cut loose against some Psychic-types with her own powers gave me a good chance to determine how well she stacked up after Evolution. The answer was 'favourably'. A bit unclear of a judgement, but the thing about not being Psychic myself (YET) was that it was hard to determine how much was physical force and how much was mental force. Either way, it was valuable experience in both using her new Typing in a series of official fights (which she didn't even need a rest between) and learning how to combat other Psychic-types for the future (read: not getting flung around the room like a pinball).


Then it was on to Sootopolis. Apparently the City was most similar to its ORAS depiction, but the southern portion of the crater was exposed for ships to sail into, like in the Anime. Also, the Cave of Origin was blocked off to literally anyone who wasn't personally approved by the Gym Leader, either because it was 'sacred ground' or because they didn't want the massive number of red-and-blue crystals in Emerald's version to be raided by criminals. Either way, fair enough, though I was mystified at the sheer number of steps it took to reach the opening at the top of the crater. I recall the natives are supposed to be super-fit due to the need to climb so many stairs and Dive everywhere, but what about the old people? Were the elderly expected to pay for help to carry their groceries, or sod off to another island?

In any case, I visited the Gym. And despite having the metaknowledge to get through the little breakable-floor gimmick, I deliberately dropped down at the third level so I could fight the Gym Trainers. Partly to prepare Evan for the Water/Ice Moves she should expect, but also to test her might against well-trained Pokemon who were not Psychic-typed. The answer, once again, was 'favourably'. Not having to worry about opposing mental force, Evan could focus on attacking and dodging without needing to counteract other Psychic-typed attempts to levitate her off the ground or pin her to the floor. Suffice to say, I was hesitantly confident, and it turned out to be well-placed. Despite this being 'only' my seventh Badge, he still accepted my challenge with his 'canonical' party of Luvdisc, Whiscash, Sealeo, Crawdaunt, and Kingdra. I suppose Sealeo not being a fully-Evolved Walrein was the only exception between this and a fully-evolved team. Suffice to say, while Evan didn't exactly make quick work of them (not having any justification for knowing about his Kingdra's Cheri Berry/Rest combo meant I just had to encourage her to save her energy between fights), she still first-tried him.

"What a difference Evolution makes." I'd commented to her as we left the building, her radiating [smugness] and me thinking over the answer I'd gotten when I'd asked Juan about his team having a not-fully-evolved Walrein on it. Apparently, while Gym Leaders each had eight 'lesser' teams assigned exclusively to the Gym's themselves, they also had a personal team of six Pokemon for Eight-Badge challengers, which sounded like Emerald's Gym Rematch feature, but less designed around Game limitations and more around logic. The only reason I'd avoided his A-team of not just Whiscash, Crawdaunt and Kingdra, but also Lapras, Politoed, and Walrein, was because I didn't have 'all' eight of the Hoenn Badges yet. A mildly-chilling thought, though I wasn't against trying this whole thing again at some point, just maybe not now when I'd only just acquired the last Badge I could get… by only fighting the canonical Gym Leaders. I mean, if I was allowed to challenge Tate and Liza with only one Pokemon, Evan might have to fight not just their more well-known Lunatone and Solrock, but also a Claydol and a Xatu, in a two-on-one battle (unless I caught another Pokemon). So yeah, probably not happening anymore. But eh, we'll see.


Pacifidlog Town… was an odd case of two different canon's not quite meshing until logic was brought into the mix. In the Games, it was a group of buildings lashed together between two massive, barren mountains. In the Anime, it was just another island (presumably to save on production value). In this world, the two 'mountains' were fertile islands produced by a pair of undersea volcanoes, and they contained extremely-rich soil as a result. That being said, they couldn't hold the whole population indefinitely, so they'd started by laying out stilts into the surrounding underwater sands. Then they realised that the native trees produced wood that was very shock-absorbent, and one madman had the idea of setting up a floating sea-house lashed to the stilt-based houses. The idea spread like wildfire to the point of everyone moving off the island to make more room for crops, and the walkways were so modular they could be disconnected to allow ships to travel between the two islands… at first. Then there was a modern-day 'Titanic' incident due to the progressively-rising stalagmites in the 'channel' between the two islands (not like the underwater volcanoes stopped producing more stone), and while everyone survived due to being in the middle of a city of natural swimmers, future travellers decided to stick to just going around the entire settlement. Gave the natives a chance to fill the gap between the islands with more stilts, to take up the increasing pull of hundreds of ocean-borne houses, which wasn't a bad idea. Now

The city looked amazing. I mean, it had been one of my considerations for 'starting city', alongside Fortree and Verdanturf, but the forests were more interesting to me than living on the waves (never been a fan of salty ocean air), or a city reputed for having exceptionally-clean air (seeing as I no longer had brittle asthma or sinus hypersensitivity). Also, while I was fine on a boat for a few hours, I didn't want to test my vulnerability to sea sickness, thank you very much. Still, the whole thing had been a nice diversio-no, don't think about it like that. It was a nice tour, there simply wasn't all that much to do in the city, or on the cruise ship itself. I still enjoyed the stop-off, even bought a collection of 'Tree Fruits' ('Berries' in the Western Games) grown on the islands to try growing next to a Secret Base in Route 119 or 120 (I had yet to decide), but there wasn't much to do in the city except see the sights.

In any case, me and Evan both had fun, and that's what matters. After this, though, we stepped off the boat back into Slateport, and I was faced with the realisation that I'd been to every single 'big' location (discounting a relatively-tiny number of the smaller towns and biomes outside the purview of the Games, some of which I was still looking up on my Pokegear), and as a result, there wasn't much left to do in Hoenn. I could… rent a boat to Sky Pillar and see if Rayquaza's hanging out up there, but Evan having to fight through Sableye with only Bite would suck, and there's no guarantee Rayquaza would be up there, nor was I very interested in catching or even 'just' challenging it. Same for the other Legendaries: Evan could be taught Dig to tunnel into the Titan's chambers, but once again, I didn't really care about them. Nor was I interested in seeking out the 'downloadable' Islands for all the Legendaries who lived on those, including the Lati Twins. What I really wanted…

What I really wanted right now, was a quiet little hidey-hole I could use as a home-away-from-home, rather than relying exclusively on Pokemon Centers for shelter. I had seven Badges, I couldn't earn the last one (at least not right now, and while Morrison had an unknown Badge in the Anime, I wouldn't know where to begin looking or asking around, and my 'local knowledge' suggested that the 'Eight Gyms' set-up was a traditional holdover, and therefore it was unlikely there would be other officially-sanctioned Gyms), and I had a Psychic-type that should be able to learn Teleport. I think. It was Espeon's field move in one of the Rangers Games, I don't see why Evan couldn't learn a Psychic-type Move.

And that led to my other three priorities: First; help Evan learn the Moves she was still struggling with. Confusion and Psychic are fairly straightforward, and Psybeam and Future Sight aren't much more complicated, but she'd only just figured out Morning Sun, and that was mostly because she was an Espeon. Power Swap and Psych Up, neither of us had a clue where to start, so we'll probably have to find a Move Tutor who can show her what she's missing (in return for a fat stack of cash, of course), but that was acceptable. Second; I wanted to travel across the rest of the world and gather every Technical Machine I could (even the ones Evan couldn't learn) for future use. A long-term goal, but I couldn't see why it couldn't be done, and starting a career as a Move Tutor… actually didn't sound all that bad. Finally; I wanted to conquer the Hoenn Gym Rematches, and the rest of the 'canon' Gyms across the entirety of the local Japan. It was a well-defined goal with clear boundaries and checkpoints, and I wanted to prove that I could beat a Gym Leader, rather than just a Gym 'team' that a Gym Leader restricted themselves to for the sake of Badge-based challengers.


And over the course of the Three Hundred days between Evan's evolution and now, I'd accomplished the first goal and had made a decent start on the second. Spending almost a year getting down Secret Power on Route 113, along with all of the other local Technical Machines whose Moves she could learn (thirty-five from 'Generation Six', minus Psychic and Psych Up which she naturally learned, and Iron Tail and Skill Swap from 'Generation Three'), had netted me enough Ash for my Soot Sack (and prize money from passersby) that I'd been able to purchase not only each of the five Flutes and an Elegant Desk, but also ten Elegant Chairs. Where did I store them? In my Secret Base on Route 119. Just above the southern waterfall, there's a Secret Tree you can use, the left side of which produces a nice Three Room Secret Base. The only way to access it normally is going down to the cliffs just below the East side of the Route's bridge and following the current until you reach the rock formation that prevents anyone from going over the cliff. For me, it had been relatively-difficult (likely impossible without Olympic fitness or the kind of superhuman physique I now possessed) to swim/climb across it to the little raised ledge where the Tree stood, but the sheer isolation appealed greatly to me. Partly because I was a loner at heart, and partly because I wanted somewhere quiet to train my soon-to-exist Psychic abilities.

Of course, there was no fertile soil to plant Berries in this area, but there was an alternative. Y'see, I'd also checked out the Secret Shrub on Route 120, just below Registeel's Ancient Tomb, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the soft-dirt floor compared to the wooden floor of my Tree Base, this one could be used for planting Berries in it due to the relative moistness of the soil without them being available to anyone else who walked past. Waterproof ceiling? Seemingly, but with the sheer quantity of never-ending rain, the collective moisture spread through the ground was more than enough to feed them. Lack of sunlight? Well, Berries could still grow on the rest of the Route, and the cloud cover never let raw sunlight through, so clearly they didn't need it. In either case, it was easily fixable by prying open the roof… or better yet, having Evan Teleport in once a day, use a short-ranged indoor Rain Dance to water them all, and follow that up by sticking a Sunny Day 'orb of light' to the roof that was set to last for a much longer duration. Even without a Leafeon or a dedicated Grass-type, we could still grow our own Berries safe from the grasping hands of strangers.

I also had to register them with the local law enforcement, which was… somewhat counterintuitive, but it made sense that the police didn't want to have a Rashomon Effect where two different people claimed sole ownership of the same Secret Base. Apparently they were named as such due to the difficulty of figuring out where they were and who had the right to use them. They were mostly tolerated and explicitly legislated, despite the headache of new ones being found all the time, because they encouraged new Trainers to pick a spot and settle down in it, an understandably-important element of a Pokemon Journey since no journey lasted forever, and a Secret Base helped free up some time and effort for the local Pokemon Centers to lodge other Trainers. And, y'know, so empty locations could be officially auctioned off to aspiring landowners to give them a taste of owning a 'real' house.

In any case, I'd decorated the Tree Base and kept the Shrub Base as a secret Berry-growing garden, with a tiny closed pagoda set up in the center holding a sleeping bag big enough for the both of us and some preserved snacks, just in case. The Tree Base turned into a Bedroom, Lounge and Shed, the smaller room in the back-left used for storage and the larger room in the back-right set up as sleeping quarters, with a proper raised mattress in a bedframe and everything. The right side of the front room had my Elegant Desk, a pair of Chairs set up, a single-burner electrical stove, a small-but-wide refrigerator/freezer combo with a microwave perched on top, and a kettle. The left side, was dedicated to storing perishables… and the TV cabinet. Getting a TV that could pick up radio was surprisingly simple, but finding out that every Nintendo console from the NES to the Switch existed with their full 2020 libraries of games, that added my first secondary objective: pick up some digital entertainment, and pray I'm allowed to send it to my Warehouse when I'm done here.


Other than that, it was mostly just… smiling and waving as life passed me by. I'd picked up some nice chairs and a table, I guess. I had my own little treehouse out in the boonies that Evan could Teleport us to whenever we wanted a break from real life, or whatever the hell 'real life' had since become for me. I'd brought a stack of ten different Cushions and Mats (most of which were currently sharing the Shed with three massive Regi Dolls), a Glitter Mat for the 'front door' of my Tree Base, and a Substitute Doll for Evan to curl up into at night (sweetest thing in the world, I swear) when she felt like using the separate, much smaller futon I'd set up in the corner of the Bedroom for her specifically.

And then, abruptly, the day came.

It wasn't something I rushed into. I had all day (well, I had eight more years, but you know what I mean) to 'purchase' Psionics, but I deliberately waited until after dark due to the relatively-small number of nocturnal Pokemon on Route 119, mostly Oddish and the occasional Gloom (and, more than likely, the SwarmTM). I spent it quietly contemplating how this would change my life forever, and while I knew some aspects could only be an improvement, knowing that I was about to have the equivalent of supernatural brain surgery performed on me was a little nerve-wracking, even though I had a rough idea what the effects would be: Telekinesis and Telepathy. My second foray into supernatural powers, but this one was a little bit more obvious than a superhuman physique. To what degree, I wasn't quite sure. 'Skill cap equal to a Gardevoir' implies the eventual strength to create 'small black holes'. Maybe even the potential for precognition, though I doubted that ability was included if it wasn't explicitly stated.

Either way, I readied a text message to the Fortree police on my Pokegear, with my co-ordinates and a suggestion that I was about to be attacked by a wild Psychic-type. Evan knew what it was for and which button to press to send it if needed, and while I wasn't very likely to need medical aid, if the spontaneous acquisition of psychic powers (JumpChain's inherent safeties notwithstanding) had a backlash of some sort, I wanted someone to know before I potentially had a seizure.

And with that cheery thought in mind, I selected my choice, laid down on a sleeping bag to make sure I didn't fall off my bed, and checked off Psionics as I closed my eyes-


-…and now I was very glad to have made that decision.

Psionics… I hadn't been entirely sure what to expect. The ability to apply and sense pressure/kinetic energy made sense, I don't know how else you could learn to control psychic powers if you didn't have any feedback, but-well, it explicitly barred mind-reading but allowed the sending of telepathic messages. So, what did that mean? How would telepathy work, if you couldn't read the minds of those around you to tell where to send messages?

The answer, it seems, was to combine the two different effects into one generalised package. My guess on the 'telekinesis' aspect was correct: I now had a second 'touch'-esque sense similar to the one all Humans have when they make skin contact and get pressure-based feedback from their peripheral nerves, and after taking a few minutes to examine the room around me and get used to the slight fluctuations my voice made, I was able to accurately count the wires in the electronics and, with a slowly-increasing flex of mental effort/my willpower, lift a bouncy ball I'd stashed next to my pillow about an inch off the ground before it's round nature caused it to 'roll off' the 'flat' wall of force I was placing under it. A few minutes of mental gymnastics later, and I had a constant upward force while also providing an equally-slight 'push' inwards from four directions… then I lifted it a bit faster and it bounced out of the trapezoidal 'cup', since I hadn't bothered to put a 'lid' on it. That caused me to open my eyes in annoyance and glare at it, surrounding it in a 'sphere' and picking it up by visualising a hand on either side, which was only mildly more taxing but a lot easier.

From the progressive falling of Evan's jaw and my recollection of her spending multiple days to finesse her own psychic abilities to a level where she could hold objects without crushing them, I was way better than a complete newbie should be. Another point to the 'JumpChain Perks are bullshit' theory. "Not bad, uh?" I sat up and smirked at her.

[…mild jealousy.] She sent back to me with a dry look.

"Well, I can't read your mind the way you can read mine, and you can do stuff like Psybeam and Morning Sun. I'm just a battering ram in comparison: focused brute-force, and not much else." Although… that wasn't the entirety of what I could do. Her body was showing up to my senses as a solid mass that I couldn't sense or manipulate the insides of, presumably because that's never shown to be a trait of Psychic-typed Pokemon. So instead, I stared into her eyes and rather than projecting mental force, tried to project my mental thoughts instead. Well, just the word/concept ['greetings'], but from the way she twitched and stared back, I was confident I'd at least taken baby steps. "Did you understand that?"

[!-Barely.] She sent back to me, visibly amused once more.

"Hey, I'm working from scratch and I have no idea what I'm doing, give me time." Probably a lot more time than it took to move stuff with my mind, but them's the breaks, I guess.

[Acceptable.] She prowled over and curled up in my lap. [Happy for you.]

"And I'm happy to have you." I gave her a belly rub that she cutely mewled and rolled up in response to, while I thought about something I'd always wanted to ask her about.

[Evan.] I gently rested my hand on her chest, getting mild disappointment. that I'd stopped back from her. "Something I always wanted to ask you, that I probably should have asked you the day you Evolved, and you could finally somewhat communicate back to me: Do you like fighting other Pokemon, or is it just an obligation I'm putting on you?"

She seemed… rather nonplussed by my sudden tone shift. [Pokemon fight. Pokemon meant to fight.]

Well, no better time that to test this out. [But do you want to fight? Do you like fighting other Pokemon? Or do you fight because I tell you to, and you feel like you have to fight?] I cut off her emanating [deadpan]. with [Yes, I'm asking you this again. Last time I had a big change, the most you could do to talk back to me was 'eye roll'. I want to communicate with you: why do you choose to fight? Do you fight because you like fighting other Pokemon, or do you only fight because you feel I am pressuring you to fight?]

Now she seemed a bit less certain, so I pressed on. [We've beaten seven Gym Leaders, and we're both proud of that accomplishment. They have special teams if you've got all eight Badges, and I don't know how we could get the Mossdeep one without another Pokemon, or if there are any other Gyms we could challenge, so… I've been thinking for the past year about getting another one.] She didn't need to project her surprise for it to be visible on her face. [I don't know if I want another Pokemon, but I've been thinking about it, and I don't know what you think about it. I've been thinking about touring the other regions and fighting their Gym Leaders for more Badges, but I don't know if you're all that keen or if you want to fight more Gym Leaders. I'm thinking about becoming a Move Tutor once we've finished travelling so you can teach other Pokemon how to do certain moves, but I don't know what you want.] I silently spread my arms and shrugged. [So tell me, Evan: what do you want to do?]

[Pokemonfight…] She seemed to be struggling to say what she meant, so I gave her some time (and a quick scritch behind the ears, which relaxed her somewhat). [Pokemon are meant to fight. I'm a Pokemon. I like fighting. I like winning, Badges, making you proud/happy, learning new Moves, growing stronger. Understand?]

[You're saying fighting is a part of who you are.] I started wrapping my head around her ideology. [You wouldn't be Evan if you didn't like fighting.]

[Correct. Why are you so concerned about this?]

I had to take a moment to think it over, and started 'speaking' my thoughts out loud as I went. [Human society… glorifies violence. Even back home… well, the first thing anyone thinks of when Pokemon are mentioned is Pokemon Battles. Even more than fulfilling basic needs like creating endless supplies of water or electricity from Water- and Electric-typed Pokemon, or growing food with Grass-typed Pokemon, people think of Pokemon fighting first and the Pokemon themselves second. But when Pokemon fight, there's no lasting damage. The most you'll do is knock each other out-well, unless you get really violent like Wild Pokemon do, but they eat each other when they win, so I'm not touching that subject.] I tried to recollect myself. [When humans fight, the damage is a lot more obvious and lasts a lot longer. You can bruise and scratch each other up, but Pokemon can't suffer lasting injury unless they're already unconscious. Humans can. I'm still having trouble getting used to how differently Pokemon work in official Battles… mostly because I'm thinking of you as a Human, and I shouldn't. You can be not-Human and still be sapient, it's just… it's strange to see all the fighting going on and knowing that there'll be no lasting damage, but it still worries and upsets me a little when I see you getting flung around in a fight, even if you do win.] Let's simplify this. [I know you're not fragile, and you can take it, but I don't like you getting hurt, and I want to make sure you're doing this because you want to fight, not because I want you to fight. Okay?]

She just sort of, stared at me for a few seconds, then stood on her hind legs and rubbed her face against mine. [Too nice for your own good.] She thought at me with wry affection. [You're my Trainer. I trust you to make the right choice, for both of us. If I didn't, I would leave.]

I can't deny, that matter-of-fact dedication warmed my cold, dead heart just a little bit. […you're the best girl, you know that, Evan?]

[Of course.] She preened back with her nose up, giving me a perfect opportunity to 'punish' her mock-arrogance. And judging by the way she froze up half a second before I started tickling her, she'd realised exactly what I was about to do, and just as quickly resigned herself knowing she couldn't escape what was coming now that I also had telekinesis.

And as I staggered to bed, despite the exertion of carrying her and tiredness of it being well past midnight, she exhaustedly curled up next to me and all was right with the world.


AN: This was meant to come out yesterday, but I had to go through and redo the []'s since FFN ate that and the hyphenated lines this time.