AN: I don't know exactly when the Pokemon Sword and Shield Jump was uploaded to the Drive, but it was uploaded to the Complete folder a week after the year started, so I'm willing to both use it and give out an explanation when I get to it as to why I'm using a Jump 'made' past 2020. Also, this is a few days late thanks to real life, but I'm not keeping an especially-strict schedule, so maybe you'll get another chapter by the end of the week, who knows.

To the reviewer who said this wasn't to their taste (yet): Fair enough. I am focusing on myself a bit, because that's kind of the point of JumpChain: nothing changes unless it's by your hand. Take Drawbacks that influence the world you're dropped into, give out-of-context powers to the locals, introduce technology that suddenly complies with the laws of physics, etc. That doesn't mean they won't have character interactions in the future, I tend to focus more on the story-telling than the fighting for that exact reason, but there's not much characterisation to be had in a 'Generic' setting (technically closest to the Video Games, but it's explicitly a mix, and that makes things generic). I'm mostly just starting with it because I've never seriously considered using it after the Pokemon Anime Jump came out and, well…

The SI knows that most settings allow 'up to' eight Companions to be Imported (often in bulk), so having eight Companions is semi-important. So he want eight Companions, but he wants to have some inherent backstory-related connection to them, not just grab anyone off the street, and he wants to save the 'high-power' settings until he does, because you want to go into a dangerous setting with as much backup as possible. Also, he knows nothing about what Companion mechanics govern his Chain or even if his Companions can respawn if they get killed… but this Jump explicitly makes your Pokemon immortal (reliant on you, of course), and lets you keep them on you in a pocket dimension at all times. So logically, he wants a team of eight Pokemon (six 'Starters' and possibly/probably Nadia and Nemesis from the Pokemon Anime OVA Supplement), and since the Pokemon Jumps are (relatively) safe for beginners, well, it's not like he's got a time limit to earn his Spark, right?

As for not catching other Pokemon, consider the following: Only five Pokemon (plus his Starter) can leave the Jump. He wants to take additional Pokemon Jumps 'early' so he can build up more Perks. Logically, relying on Free Starters for the first five-six Jumps makes sense. It gives a solid, orderly framework (which appeals greatly to my OCD) and a self-inflicted 'time limit' in which he can spend decades screwing around and seeing the sights with little concern or worry for the surrounding world (as opposed to, say, Bleach or One Piece). Any Pokemon Companions have no idea how humanity works, especially in other worlds (which will serve as a rude wake-up call to the crappiness of the multiverse) and need both guidance and discipline to learn how to function… not necessarily as human beings, but in worlds controlled by human (or humanoid) beings with wildly-different cultures.

He's already going to have several, basically children, he'll have to spend the InFamous Jump (currently planned to be his seventh) teaching about human culture and mannerisms, and having the power to effectively mould the people who will be spending the rest of prospective eternity alongside him is uncomfortable, to say the least.

As for being ROB'd, he has justified suspicions, but nothing concrete yet. Even if there is an overarching intelligence guiding him on this journey and not just an automated system of some kind, does it really change anything? My parents are in their late sixties and comfortable with the idea that they're going to pass away sooner-or-later, and I have no real social circle to speak of. As a result he's not sure what to think just yet. Sure, it's been a few years in-Chain since then, so he's confident it's not all just a dream or anything cliché like that, but he also has fifteen additional years of memories prior to his insertion, and that's pushing him towards his 'native' frame of mind. And hell, since time is stopped whenever he leaves a Jump, it's not like there's any real risk to what he's doing… except, y'know, the risk of fucking it all up and missing his chance for immortal adventuring eternal.

And if this were presented in the medium of a Video Game, I would absolutely agree that realism is overrated and can easily get in the way of gameplay… but it's Writing. I feel like it's rather important to help people immerse themselves in the world I'm building (I don't even think I've used the SI's in-Jump or 'chosen' name yet) over 'excitement'. Each to their own, but while Writing can be used as a medium to excite, it's not a thing I'm very good at or very interested in spending months learning.

On the flip side, you're about to see just how far Evan's grown in three years…


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

Priority: Physical Fitness100; Survival Training100; Master Ball*3^100; Rebreather50; HM Collection50; Psionics300 (700)


-Day 738-

Of course, spontaneously-gaining psychic powers meant a few weeks of pushing the initial limits of my maximum 'output' and range, and my growth was immense… for 'a few weeks' of playing psychic tennis with Evan, then it quickly tapered back off to a more normal level. Still, by that time I could levitate what had to be the same as my physical lifting weight, so I was happy with my raw psychic strength. The range of my telepathy/telekinesis seemed to be roughly equal to my peak-human hearing at its limit, despite my efforts to increase it, but I was now confident in my ability to communicate with other people. Mostly because I'd used my brain and visited the Weather Institute to ask if they had any interest helping a human Psychic hone his telepathy, or at least help me confirm that I could speak recognisable Japanese (probably should have mentioned a while ago that the local language, being in Japan, was Japanese. Still, I remembered how English worked just fine and accidentally slipped into it more than once due to my larger experience with it, so visiting Unova and Alola should be fine, at the very least…), and they were at least willing to help me confirm that I could, indeed, communicate in the local language.

Then there was the cities. Fortree was actually the most difficult to get used to: the houses being built attached to trees meant that there was constant movement I was being forced to keep in my awareness, but it was also probably best to acclimate myself to this relatively-mobile town before I handled one with cars and skyscrapers. Also, it was my second anniversary of starting my journey, so I didn't have much excuse not to visit my parents, may as well get used to my new powers in the process. It did help me figure out the 'off-switch' my Perks were supposed to have, which is a good backup just in case the 'psychic pressure' of a larger or more-active city grew too intense.

It also led to a series of awkward conversations with my parents. Mostly because I refused to limit the usage of my psychic training (even if levitating Evan's empty Pokeball wasn't exactly intense, I was confident that immersing myself in constant psychic 'exercise' would only improve my powers) and having to explain… well, it taught me three important things for future reference:

First, other people could see my 'Jumper Records' whenever they were 'displaying' in front of me. I hadn't tested that next to people up until now because I was suspicious that this might be the case, and I'm glad I got confirmation from someone I trusted;

Second, revealing the bare basics got them off my back (woke up the day of my journey with an interface, spent a hundred days-worth of Choice Points to buy the Physical Fitness Perk which is why I was suddenly so buff last year, and now I have psychic powers and three extremely-expensive Master Balls after two years), but they were understandably nervous of my sudden superpowers and wanted me to visit a doctor, which I only agreed to because I was confident they wouldn't find anything 'wrong' with me, and;

Third, just because being a Jumper is my life now, doesn't mean that other people are quite as enthused about it. People don't like what they don't understand and all that, and I'd been pressured into putting a cap on the whole thing while I was home. They were willing to discuss it over the phone, but seeing sudden and drastic differences in me and knowing full well that I wasn't going to stop whatever I was doing was making them understandably uncomfortable.

But c'mon, I was (sorta) psychic! This was way too cool to get upset about limitations, or bother with concealment.

I wasn't necessarily happy with it, mind you, but I understood. They didn't have an extra twenty-five years of life in a different universe, and the context to know where this was most likely to lead. And how could I bring that up in casual conversation? 'Oh, and by the way, in eight years I'm going to vanish from the face of the planet and either die somewhere far, far away from you, or I'm going to live at least a thousand years, gain godlike powers with no rights or responsibility to maintain my moral structure, and return to-'… well, what? What do I even have to return to this world for? I could do it, and I probably would do it at some point, but… these weren't my 'real' parents. They loved me, and I did my best to love them back despite my metaknowledge, but… it's kinda hard to want a relationship, when I was going to be sent elsewhere in less than a decade, for hundreds of years at a time.

So I eased away from the whole subject and instead focused on how I wasn't able to acquire my seventh Badge from Mossdeep without a second Pokemon, that I was thinking of either catching another one or going to another Region and giving their Gym Challenges a shot since I'd defeated the 'eighth' Gym Leader and was only missing the one Hoenn Badge.


The next thing to work on, was my plans. Long story short, I wanted to go to Johto first (being that it was closer), then go through Tohjo Falls to Kanto, then travel up to Sinnoh, then I guess… Unova first, then Alola next? I really wanted to visit Kalos too, but I'd rather leave the potential language barrier until later. I also planned on visiting the Orre and Galar Regions, but Orre required a plane trip (makes sense, it's literally in Arizona and 'fairly close' to Unova, whereas 'Japan' had plenty of roads between its four interconnected regions, and most of the other Regions were nearby islands connected through cruise ships) and Galar apparently wasn't accessible right now.

Why, I wasn't too sure. It could be simple inconvenience… but my metaknowledge reminds me that someone uploaded a Pokemon Sword/Shield Jump to the Work-In-Progress category not long before I left. Might also explain why the Fiore, Almia, Oblivia and even Ferrum (despite being set around the same rough island that was Japan in this world) Regions are also conveniently inaccessible, I know that Pokemon Ranger and Pokken Tournament both have individual Jumps allocated to them, but it's a little too early to tell. Maybe it's just by boat…? But then why would there be no access to those areas by sea? More than half of them are literally just islands, and four of the five are close enough to be considered part of Japan as a whole!

…in any case, as I was checking the available voyages, I ran into a snag. My enhanced hearing picked out some gossip about 'Mister Briney' having had his house broken into, which… didn't bode well at all for my travel plans. Either one of Kyogre or Groudon being awoken would cause widespread climate shifts and fickle weather patterns that… probably wouldn't delay me leaving Hoenn, but if I wanted back in later… The Jump established that the authorities were competent enough to take care of criminals and Teams, so this was probably a plot hook from a ROB meant to draw me into action, and that would make ignoring the call a bad idea. But it also might just be coincidence, or a casual poke to get my attention, which would make 'getting involved' a bad idea all on its own. I'm not a crime fighter, despite my 'superpowers', and in any case, I don't want to be a crime fighter! Yeah, I have Evan and my Perks, but that doesn't mean I want to put my life on the line (potentially, depending on how violent the Teams are in this world)!

…but despite my misgivings, if the authorities managed to screw up enough for the Legendaries to get free, my parents would still be in the line of fire. And my Secret Bases, and all the people of Hoenn-especially Sootopolis, they would have front row seats to the local gods of the continents and oceans throwing down.

Did I need to intervene in the oncoming shitshow? Probably not.
Did I want to intervene in the oncoming shitshow? …well

Honestly? A little bit. Mostly to ensure the safety of all the innocent people who didn't have my already-abused metaknowledge. But I couldn't deny that deep down, there was a part of me that wanted me to take my new powers and fuck someone up with them, and showing these dicks not to mess with my home Region is a convenient excuse. I can't guarantee my own safety, but I'm fairly confident I can walk away at any time (and might outright skip some sections of the 'plot' if I have the chance), and I'm the most likely one to be able to do this without being hurt. Perks of being competent and underage, and all that.


With that in mind, I promptly had Evan teleport us to the southern entrance of Petalburg Woods, already planning to tell Mister Briney about a 'suspicious figure' running towards Rusturf Tunnel, only to see a bunch of police officers scouring the outside (and from the 'feel' of it, the inside too) of his cottage. Makes sense, if the gossip had already reached Slateport, it should have also reached the police, and I was confident they'd find evidence soon enough. Predicting that the Grunt would have already been through Petalburg, and likely robbed the Devon Employee in the process, I had Evan send us both to the entrance of Rusturf Tunnel. Less than ten seconds in, the sound of a battle was audible, and we quickly came upon the presumed Aqua Grunt, fighting… was that Wally's sister back there? Makes sense, the Black Belt must be her boyfriend from that Strength Sidequest. I can't say I was expecting there to be a Crawdaunt unconscious on the floor, but I… think that's from the Anime?

In any case, the Grunt was clearly smart enough to tell that the Wingull he was physically-restraining was not going to fight for him, threw out his Poochyena to try and slow down the enemy Machamp (don't need to be a genius to see that going poorly), and tried to book it… straight into me. Suffice to say, I didn't bother with one-liners and threw him into the nearest wall with my mind. Then I force-choked him against it and laid down the law. "Return your Pokemon, put your hands above your head and march back out this cave, or I strangle you unconscious and drag you out the painful way." Given that I'd covered my face and skin with a long-sleeved hoodie (and returned Evan to her Pokeball to conceal our identities, much to her later ire), I probably cut quite the imposing figure. Suffice it to say, he chose the easy way out, returned both of his already-fainted Pokemon, and marched.

Joined by the other two, the three of us escorted this moron out to Route 116, right as a police patrol showed up. Guess I wasn't needed after all, no way this Grunt would have escaped. Still, they didn't exactly object to me and the Black Belt defeating and capturing a dangerous criminal. Mister Briney and a frantic businessman who presumably worked for the Devon Corporation and had his 'Devon Goods' stolen back in Petalburg Forest (without a Player Character to protect him) were both thrilled to have had their Peeko and assorted machine parts returned to them while I tried to stay in the background. Of course, while Mister Briney was happy to help us with anything we needed, the Devon worker specifically asked if either of us 'responsible young men' could escort him in delivering the Devon Goods to Slateport (and possibly a Letter in Dewford while we were at it) and the Black Belt didn't seem terribly interested. So I offered, pulling down my hood and sending out Evan now that the goon had already been dragged well out of sight, and that was that.

Well, I did mention to the police that "I heard the Grunt claim that 'they needed those parts to take Stern's sub before we grab him outta the museum'. Doesn't Slateport have a giant open-to-the-public museum?" before we left, which had gotten some frantic reactions as they barked into their radio's. But ultimately, it wasn't even noon before they let us go (my 'face reveal' having done a lot to calm their nerves and reassure them that I wasn't some kind of Team Magma plant) to visit President Stone of Devon Corp, and we followed Mister Briney all the way south back through Petalburg Forest and set sail further south to Dewford. Granite Cave, being poorly-lit at best, was a joke with one of Evan's well-practiced Sunny Day orbs following behind us and sending most of the Wild Pokemon scurrying out of our way. Meeting Steven Stone, though… Suffice it to say, the former Champion of Hoenn knew how to project an aura of certainty, despite being a 'mere' geologist. The smart outfit didn't hurt.

After that, I followed the worker to Slateport, where we witnessed a fairly-large gathering of officers explaining to the slightly-larger gathering of equally-outfitted men and women (although some of them looked to be around my age, who honestly knows) that they'd received a tip-off about suspicious activity, and a flash-mob of this size trying to get into a museum all at once looked, well, suspicious as hell. The lead gentleman, who I'm assuming is Archie, seemed resigned to holding off whatever 'nefarious scheme' they had planned rather than start a terrorist attack in the middle of a city (which, being a city, would be full of pissed-off local trainers), so that was that done. I just made sure the worker could make it back, I was a little concerned about an 'unarmed' worker trying to get to Rustboro through Mauville, Verdanturf and the routes and Rusturf Tunnel between his destination, but apparently he'd picked up a Shroomish in Petalburg Woods shortly after being robbed. All's well that ends well for him, I guess. Me though?

I didn't know exactly when Team Magma tried to set off Mount Chimney, but I didn't trust it to not be relatively soon-ish. So Evan teleported us both to the upper cable car lift, and not only were they up there in visible numbers (just like Aqua's unsubtle little gathering), they were also installing some kind of machine and… setting up guard patrols, I think. I wasn't close enough to confirm anything, and I wasn't going to try and get any closer and potentially ruin the element of surprise, now I had circumstantial evidence as to what was going on and could inform the police without being asked how, exactly, I knew any of this. With this in mind, Evan sent us both to Lavaridge, where the plan came together.

First, I entered the Gym and asked to speak with Flannery, where I told her that 'after a group of identically-dressed troublemakers tried to enter the Slateport Museum en masse, I heard one of them say something about Mount Chimney before the police arrived to break them up, and when I went up in the cable car to check, there's a different group of identically-dressed troublemakers setting up some sort of machine on the crater's edge and patrolling the rim with their Pokemon out'. Thanks to the wonders of Metaknowledge, I knew that she was a similarly-recent promotion (just like Roxanne) by her grandfather, and she was eager to prove herself. So she gathered up her personal team (Arcanine, Magcargo, Houndoom, Rapidash, Camerupt and Torkoal) and ordered me (in the least confident/intimidating tone ever) to escort her up the Jagged Pass so she could assess the situation herself… rather than, y'know, inform the local authorities. Just as planned, because this time I wanted a captive to confess for future reference.

After a kilometer-and-a-half of climbing a steep mountain pass, in which I revealed my telekinesis and explained my battle plan, we ended up getting two: a male and a female, both with Zubat's and a Numel and Poochyena, respectively… all of which I returned with their own telekinetically-controlled Pokeballs. Then I grabbed them both around their throats, dragged them over to us none-too-gently, and pinned their panicky forms to separate trees within two meters of each other. "Not a fucking sound." I hissed at both of them, taking the pressure off their necks. "I have questions, you have answers, and if you don't provide them for the benefit of the local Gym Leader, I'll choke you both out, release your Pokemon, and you'll wake up in a prison cell with nothing to your name. Nod if you understand." They both understood. "Good. First question…"


A few minutes of asking them very direct questions that I already knew the answers to (and therefore, how to best phrase them in front of Flannery), and she was convinced that yes, they were criminals of some sort. The lack of local knowledge of Teams Aqua and Magma, I put down to them being careful not to attract attention… at least until the plot hook that was an interruption to my travel plans popped up, and 'canon' went back on the rails (apparently, Team Rocket was busted up by 'Red' in Kanto within weeks of my Journey starting. But since 'both' Gen 3 Games were supposed to take place at the same time, it was growing rapidly more clear that someone or something was influencing the events of my journey). On the other hand, once Flannery handed them back their Pokeballs and we marched them back down to Lavaridge, where her testimony had them both dragged off by police and several harried calls for backup to storm Mount Chimney, I had a feeling that 'canon' wasn't going to last much longer, and I was okay with that. Also, I saw what looked like Zinnia sneaking off towards the mountaintop, so if the Delta Episode did happen, I was confident she could handle it herself.

Even got a 'thank you for making me look competent' kiss on the cheek from Flannery… though, I find myself wondering, was that solely because of my help, or did my attractiveness play a part in her decision-making? I was eighteen again, and not at all oblivious to how good I looked in a mirror… eh, I'll take it. Nothing else, mind you, even if Flannery is twenty now (two years past her canon age of eighteen, compared to Roxanne being seventeen when I last encountered her), I still had little-to-no interest in leveraging the kiss into a date. Even ignoring my previous age-related quandary, I'd feel obligated to bring them with me and I'm already taking a party of six-to-eight others, I don't want to have to start trying to decide whether or not a given person is 'worth bringing' into a Jump, or having to pick sides, etcetera.

And after Lavaridge, things… kinda went quiet. I was expecting a bit more out of the whole ordeal, but despite daily check-ins on Mount Pyre, neither team tried to take an Orb, or otherwise awaken their respective Legendary, or did anything in the public eye for a solid week. So…

Well, I went back to my planned trip. I could have confronted them in their hideouts, but there was no immediate need to, and I really didn't want to pick a fight with them. If they were the aggressors, so be it, I could at least justify it as trying to protect myself or another, but deliberately putting myself in harm's way… that seemed like a bad idea, especially when there are people with jobs dedicated to dealing with this problem, giving me no need to involve myself. That's why I'd relied so much on them over the course of… what, one day? I was technically limited to in-universe powers and I'd broken up two major pre-mediated terrorist attacks in a single day, with not-inconsiderable risk to myself, why the hell should I put myself in more danger when there's no requirement or consequence for refusing? Fuck this, I'm going while the going's good.

…and hey! Maybe I'll find another Pokemon on my travels… maybe.


-Day 1087-

Well, none so far. Though to be fair, I'm still in Japan. And surprisingly, not much has really changed over the last two years.

Johto was first, so I opted to set aside a whole year for it, and… it was interesting to see everything 'in real life', but the original Gen 2 Johto was made for the Gameboy Color, so its towns weren't quite as fancy or inspired as, say, Fortree or Pacifidlog. Mostly just the same basic building materials, with aesthetic architecture but still very same-y.

The National Park was nice, I guess. So was the Lake of Rage… from a distance, damn thing apparently got its name from being perpetually-infested with Gyarados, and I'm not dumb enough to try going swimming in that hellhole. And a few spots, like the mountainous Blackthorn and towering Ecruteak, were pretty cool, but… I guess I had my expectations a little high from living in Hoenn, huh.

In any case, the Gym Leaders actually took my challenge seriously, and defaulted to their 'Eight-Badge' teams. Suffice to say, there were three reasons I stuck around in Johto: The first being touring the place, the second being the Gym Challenge, and the third… well, Team Rocket happened near the end of the year. I'd honestly forgotten about them due to their defeat at the start of the Jump by Red (and wow, I'm starting to see why only needing a few weeks to defeat even Giovanni and the Elite Four is way beyond me and Evan) and their relative lack of presence in the original Gen 2 Games, but they mostly stuck to Poison-types (which Evan could dumpster) and they were merely a few remnants of the original gang I was very confident I could deal with by myself. More than anything, I just wanted to make sure that Evan and I were at least capable enough to defeat an Executive of a more-experienced gang, which we were. That did a lot to put my mind at ease for if (well, more like when) Mag/qua pop back up before my decade is over.

And then Giovanni strolled in to the Broadcast Tower. Apparently, he'd heard the radio call and come to see his old associates, and while he'd encountered his son on the way, Silver had failed to come even close to defeating him. Though, to be fair, he had a Croconaw, Sneasel, Magneton, Haunter, Golbat and Kadabra, and Giovanni had a highly-refined Persian, Dugtrio, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Rhyperior, and Honchkrow, so it was understandable. I just didn't know why he was so relatively weak… but Red was 'canon' and Ethan wasn't, so maybe my choice of starting in Hoenn had some impact on Silver's development? Hard to say, and I wasn't thinking about it at the time, that's for sure.

"Well, doesn't this bring back unpleasant recollections." He started, frowning at the teenager who'd just finished steamrolling his three direct subordinates. "Three years ago, I announced my abdication out of shame for falling to a ten-year old, and now I return after a training sabbatical to see my former executives defeated by a teenager."

"S-sir, excellent timing!" Archer immediately spun to face him and performed a perfect salute. "We apologise, the boy has psychic powers-"

"The boy," I interrupted rather testily. "is twenty-five years old, and he can speak for himself." I gave Giovanni a once-over. "You're the former Viridian Gym Leader, aren't you."

"Indeed." He just oozed a combination of confidence and high-class sleaziness. "And you appear to be in my way. That being said, I have yet to send out a single member of my team, and your Espeon is clearly exhausted. If you leave now that I have arrived, I will make no effort to capture you or your Pokemon. Do you plan on fighting me anyway?"

Of course, Evan had just gone through three Golbat, two Weezing, a Raticate, a Houndoom, a Magmar, a Muk, an Arbok, a Vileplume, and a Murkrow, and then the last smartass had pulled out half -a-dozen Voltorb and commanded them to rush her with Self-Destruct, so I'd had to actively intervene and shove them out of the nearest window, revealing my psychic powers in the process. But while we could Teleport out… they were actively-endangering the building and the jobs and lives of those innocent employees working there. So I pulled out my emergency Full Restore and administered it to Evan, standing up to the hardened crime boss anyway, and quietly preparing some Sitrus Berries. "If I was confident you weren't going to bring down the building, I would. But you're already being surrounded and you're going to get someone, probably a hostage, killed if I walk away. So no."

"…you have the same eyes as the kid who stood in front of me three years ago. Very well then, boy, but my old associates need me, and we will not repeat the failure of three years ago! Team Rocket will be born again, and I will rule the world!" He announced with grandiose certainty, and ordered his Persian forward.


And I'd like to say, this entire battle was a stupid idea in hindsight, and something that haunted me for the rest of the decade. I had no reason or excuse to put my life on the line like that, and I still did, like an idiot. But at least we won, though it took half-a-dozen sneaky Sitrus Berries to ensure the victory.

"What in the world…?" Giovanni, and his associate onlookers, were floored. "How this is possible… The past three years have been a waste? How can a kid like you manage to destroy my dream once again?"

"Partly because Evan is very good, partly because I can cheat better than you." They all seemed clueless. "…you really didn't see me passing her Sitrus Berries using my psychic power that one of you specifically warned your boss about?"

"More that I wasn't expecting such a duplicitous act from-" He started, wry respect in his voice that I immediately cut off.

"I'm not apologizing for stopping a criminal with under-the-table methods in a one-versus-six. Hoenn has Team Magma who tried to erupt Mount Chimney to release Groudon last year and Team Aqua who were trying to steal an experimental submarine to release Kyogre from a Seafloor Cavern. The only real difference is that Maxie's an ecoterrorist who wanted more land for people to expand on, and Archie runs a suicide cult who want to 'give the world back to the Pokemon' by drowning everyone. Then Sinnoh's got Team Galactic who are supposed to be trying to get ahold of Dialga and Palkia to 'remake the world', Unova's got Team Plasma who want to take everyone's Pokemon because 'only we can be trusted with Pokemon', and Kalos has Team Flare looking for Xerneas or Yveltal to reactivate an ancient weapon to cleanse the world of all human life, except for Team Flare, for mostly the same reason as Team Aqua." I rattled off the list of the 'new' criminal Teams. "Don't even get me started on Orre's Team Snagem stealing Pokemon so Cipher could try to turn them into mindless berserking Shadow Pokemon, or whatever the hell the Aether Foundation in Alola's trying to pull with their 'trans-dimensional wormholes', or that idiot in Galar trying to awaken Eternatus early. We have enough extremists already, we don't need a mafia making a comeback on top of everything else!"

"…" Giovanni seemed, uncertain how to address that infodump. "I can't deny that I've been out of contact with civilisation for some time, but… Archer." He turned to his second-in-command. "How much of this can you confirm?"

"I… haven't really kept abreast of events outside of Japan, sir," He started, visibly nervous, "but Cipher's attempted takeover of the Orre region failed very publicly when Cipher's leader, Evice, had his escape helicopter shot down by a Ho-oh. Likewise, Teams Aqua and Magma were caught last year performing major operations in broad daylight, but the details were obscured by the police. Team Galactic is still a relatively-unknown threat, and the other groups the boy mentioned… I just don't know, sir."

"And by the way," I pointed out as he visibly rethought the whole plan. "the kid who defeated you went on to defeat the Elite Four, his Rival who less than a day before had become the Champion, and has since secluded himself in Mount Silver. His rival, after becoming the Champion, has since taken your place as Viridian Gym Leader. Even if one of them didn't make themselves a problem for you, I really don't see Team Rocket's revival working. Or at the very least," I concluded. "not in an open and obvious manner. The days of open crime are long past forgivable, and taking away resources from fighting the bigger threats doesn't seem reasonable or justifiable." [Evan, get ready to Teleport us both to the PMC.] "Now if you'll excuse me: my Espeon needs rest, I doubt there's anything else I can contribute to convince you not to return to being a criminal, and I really don't want to give testimony to a police officer during the next four hours' big rush of arrests. Espeon, Teleport."

And just like that, we were out. I still contacted the local police department and came down later that same day to report what had happened, as a good law-abiding citizen should (which was probably the only reason I got away with 'fleeing the scene', so to speak. Not sure if anyone there bought that I was concerned about being attacked by anyone else after fending off a former Gym Leader and four of his cronies, but willingly returning to give a statement did a lot to redeem me in the eyes of the law), but Giovanni and his men (and Ariana) had all slipped away and left his son, who was conveniently wanted for questioning about his Croconaw and a mysteriously-disappearing Totodile from Professor Elm's lab.

I took the opportunity to wash my hands of the whole affair and Teleport home for Christmas, still wracked with nerves over that questionable decision-making, no matter how much Evan rolled her eyes and sent [reassurance] at me.


AN: While all of the builds I've made were done well in advance of this story, and this particular build was made days before it was published (but was cribbed from another pre-made build, because I might as well use them), most of the 'story' elements are made up as I write. The 'canon' gives plenty of material if you know where to look, and I'm operating on a weird mix of Games/Anime/whatever I feel like, so nothing's really set in stone. Case in point, I was considering having the ORAS story beats, complete with the Eon Flute and the Delta Episode, but I'm trying to follow the 'Jump canon' which (as already noted in the story) states that 'the authorities will handle the gangs if you don't want to', and the uncontrolled release of two Legendaries, or the SI telling Maxie that Aqua's a suicide cult and that 'if he really believes in his ideal then why not try to convert him there and then with logic and hard facts', don't really mesh well with the story I'm trying to tell, or the SI's characterisation. Walking up to the head of a terrorist cell and trying to convince him that screwing with the climate and/or the planet's water levels is a bad idea? Is not how I would operate in this situation, especially if the people being paid to stop that shit are competent. Thus, the whole thing is (at least temporarily) shelved, and the free Legendary is also being taken off the table. Convenient though Soaring is, I'd like to keep the 'OP' nature of JumpChain out-of-sight for at least a little bit longer.

Of course, the SI then went on to challenge Giovanni, but at least that plot point was original and semi-justifiable (in that he had healing items on hand, cheated to heal his only Pokemon during the fight through other means, and there was 'only one guy' left to fight by that stage), and it let me communicate in the story itself why the SI doesn't want to get involved in risky situations: because You Only Live Once, and he doesn't want to accidentally YOLO himself when all he needs to do is survive a little longer for more superpowers.

Also, I have a different Legendary plot point that I'm still working on the execution of, so we'll see how that turns out…