Thomas: Peren (Deerling), Blitz (Fletchinder), Scout (Pachirisu), Nin (Minnesotan Arbok), Shadow (Galarian Ponyta), Winter (Minnesotan Mightyena)

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

I leaned back in my chair with a contented sigh, glad to have been able to eat a real meal instead of trail rations for the first time in more than a week. After arriving in Hibbing a little before noon, I'd decided to stop at a restaurant before heading to the gym to set up the challenge. The weather was perfect so I was able to eat outside with all of my Pokemon, though from looking at how much room we were taking up on the dining porch, I wasn't sure how much longer we would be able to eat in one group. One more evolution would probably necessitate eating in shifts when we tried to have a meal in a public space.

That was a problem for the future though, and for the time being, I just enjoyed the current situation. My Pokemon seemed to like their meals as much as I had, as everyone except for Shadow basically already finished. It was impossible to tell from just looking at her, but from the number of mental pings I'd gotten, she had been quite distracted by all of the going-ons around us. Hibbing was the largest city that we'd been in since Duluth so I could understand her interest.

When everyone had finished off their food, I recalled them to rest in their Pokeballs and went to pay our bill. The other side-effect of my team's growth was that I'd started dipping into my earnings from the Brawl a bit more than I'd expected. I wasn't nearly at risk of being destitute like I had been half a year ago, but I knew that it was something that I would have to keep a closer eye on. I idly wondered how John was planning on feeding his significantly larger Pokemon once they'd all evolved until I remembered that at least some of them could subsist purely on rocks.

Since I was thinking of food anyway, I made a quick detour over to the grocery store to restock and then finally headed over to the Hibbing gym. Some of the novelty of entering a new gym had gone away once Cait had given me the rundown of all of the gym challenges, but the receptionist at the Hibbing gym still managed to throw me for a loop during her explanation.

"...and while it's okay to look, remember not to get too close to Registeel."

"Uh, what did you say?"

The woman seemed momentarily thrown off by my question before she frowned at me as if I had said something particularly stupid. "Registeel stands at the southwestern edge of the mine and-"

"No, I know that," I quickly interrupted since it looked like she was about to jump into a lecture. "But people really go to look at it?"

"Oh! Yes, it's a fairly popular tourist attraction. The parts of the mine that have been opened to the public are quite wonderful but many people who make the trip here are here to see Registeel." Seeing my disbelief, she assured me, "It's perfectly safe. Registeel doesn't attack anyone who doesn't attack it first and its presence stops that from being an issue."

I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a legendary Pokemon was considered a tourist attraction. Eventually, I just shook my head and decided to get back on track. "Right. So uh, anyway, the gym challenge is just to patrol the mine then?"

The receptionist brightened again now that we were back on script. "I wouldn't say patrol, but yes. Spend some time in the mine, enjoy the scenery, and yes, do your best to help out if you do come across an issue." She looked a bit reluctant as she said the last part.

"Okay, sounds good, I guess. Is there anyone that I need to check in with after a while?"

"Nope! We're on the honor system around here so you just need to come back from your gym battle when you've finished."

That seemed a bit unusual to me but it was far from the oddest thing in the short conversation so I shrugged it off. "Got it. Thanks for the help."

"Of course! Have a good day!"

I answered with a quick goodbye of my own, then made my way out of the gym. With all of my errands taken care of, I hopped back on my bike and started making for the open pit mine on the north side of the city. I had never been to Hibbing back in my world so I wasn't entirely sure how different the operation was between the two worlds. Here it was still a massive open pit mine, but parts of it had been co-opted by wild Pokemon after the ore in that area had been gathered.

The mine was barely on the edge of the city so it took me barely fifteen minutes to arrive at the lookout at the edge of the pit. From the vantage point, I could see that the mine went on for several miles in front of me in several directions. The north-eastern edge was by far the longest section, with the mine following the deposits in the ground toward the rest of the iron range. Despite being in what was essentially a big hole in the ground, the parts of the mine nearest to the city were incredibly lush and I could see a large number of both Pokemon and people from the distance.

After taking a minute to admire the view, I packed up my bike into my backpack and started making my way down the long staircase that would bring me into the mine. Rather than sending out any of my Pokemon right away, I made my way over to a small pond that I'd spotted to the north from above. Even though it was only a short walk away, I passed several other people on the path, who all gave me cheerful greetings as I passed.

I also spotted a good number of wild Pokemon near the path, but they paid me almost no mind as they continued about their day. Wild Pokemon in northern Minnesota generally lived up to the word wild, but in and around Hibbing was a pocket of Pokemon that were practically tame due to constant exposure to people. It was a far cry from the jungle of aggressive grass types that were only twenty-odd miles to the east. Even when I reached the pond, I got a few interested looks from a Sobble and a Ducklett, but the wildlife otherwise ignored me.

I tapped my Pokeballs in quick succession, being sure to angle Nin's toward the pond. He barely made any ripples as he materialized on the water's surface, though it was still enough of a disturbance for the Sobble to quickly swim to the other side. Nin took a few seconds to assess his surroundings, then relaxed and allowed most of his body to be submerged in the water. There had been surprisingly few opportunities to let him bask in water that wasn't excessively cold since he'd evolved so as far as I was concerned this was already one of the better gym challenges.

I was already turning to check on the rest of my Pokemon when I got a ping from Shadow. It took me a couple of seconds to notice what had gotten her attention, but then I spotted a woman that appeared to be making a beeline directly for me. She looked to be in her late twenties and her professional-looking attire made me suddenly self-conscious that I had barely walked a couple of hundred feet into the mine before stopping.

"Hello there. Are you on your gym challenge?" She asked as soon as she got close enough to be heard without speaking loudly.

"Uh, yeah," I said, glad that she at least sounded friendly and not like she was going to chew me out. To be safe, I quickly added, "We're just stopping here for a few minutes and then I'll get right back to the challenge."

She paused to give me a confused look, then after a second she smiled and lightly laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get you in trouble with the gym. To be honest, I don't think they'd really care. I just come out here to relax on my lunch break on nice days."

While I was relieved that I wasn't in trouble, I instead felt like I was intruding. "Oh, well, we can go somewhere else if you want."

My offer earned me another chuckle as she waved off my concerns. "Don't worry about it. In fact, a light conversation with a trainer would be the perfect thing to take my mind off work, if that's alright with you. I always love to hear what your lives are like. I'm Lisa by the way."

"Sure, that's fine with me. I'm Thomas," I said and then stalled on what to say next. My default question would have been what she did for work since it was the only thing she'd mentioned so far, but she had also said she wanted to take her mind off of it. When nothing came to mind, I shrugged and asked, "What do you want to know?"

Lisa hummed thoughtfully as she sat down on a nearby bench facing the pond, and I mirrored her by sitting down on a convenient boulder. My Pokemon took that as a sign that we would be staying a bit longer and everyone likewise settled down on the ground. Shadow walked over to me before sitting and I absently started petting her fluffy mane. An 'aww' sound brought my attention back to Lisa who was giving us a large smile. "Well how about your Ponyta? I'm sure there's an interesting story for a trainer from Minnesota having a Galarian Pokemon."

"It's not as interesting as you might think. I was helping a professor with his research and he gave me Shadow's egg as thanks."

"Really? I would have thought most trainers wouldn't have time for something like that. What sort of research were you doing?"

I barely suppressed a slight frown at the question, suddenly feeling like I was in the middle of a job interview. Lisa seemed genuinely interested though so I shrugged off my hesitation. "The research was gathering data about how different Pokemon handled the changing of the seasons." I glanced at the pond next to me and wondered how the Pokemon that lived in there dealt with winter when their home was shallow enough that it likely froze all the way through. Deciding it was something I would have to ask Al about, I turned back to Lisa and attempted to change the topic before she could press for more details. "So do you have any Pokemon yourself?"

"Nah, I'm one of those weirdos that never even got a partner Pokemon," Lisa said with a wry smile. "I like Pokemon as much as the next person, but I never really clicked with any, you know?"

"Oh. Sorry to hear that," I said, feeling legitimately bad for her. I'd obviously grown up without Pokemon, but I imagined it would be extremely difficult to go without when basically everyone else had one. "What about the Pokemon here? You must get along pretty well with them if you come here often."

Lisa's expression turned thoughtful as she turned her attention toward the pond. "I originally started coming here because my cousin was going to make one of the Sobble that lived here her starter. Since I work nearby, it was easy for me to stop by and make sure that he was doing alright until she could officially catch him. I never really fell out of the habit after that."

I was a bit surprised to learn that wild Pokemon in the mine constituted a starter, but decided it made sense given the area's lack of a lab and the usual temperament of the local Pokemon. A check of the pond found that the Pokemon that had been startled by Nin had relaxed, and Scout had struck up an animated conversation with a Chewtle. I turned back to Lisa and shrugged. "You might connect with one of them too. Maybe give it a shot."

Lisa was silent for a few seconds, then smiled. "You know what? I think I will. After work though, I don't think my boss would be too happy if I came back from lunch with a new Pokemon." Her smile turned wry and she stood up with a small sigh. "Speaking of, I should probably be getting back to it. Good luck with the rest of your gym challenge," she said, putting the last word in air quotes.

I chucked and stood as well. "Yeah, I guess I should probably at least walk around. Hope you're able to find a Pokemon." After thanking me, Lisa waved goodbye and then started walking back to the city with a slight bounce in her step that hadn't been there before.

Thursday, May 24th, 2018

I idly tapped my pencil against my notebook, trying to think if there was anything else that I wanted to add to any of my entries. While quickly putting things that I wanted to remember in my Poryphone was convenient, I'd started to transfer them to paper when I had the chance, a habit that I'd picked up from Cait during the Brawl. The current page I had open was Peren's, which had unfortunately received the fewest additions over the last couple of months. Even when nothing continued to come to mind, I kept staring at the page simply because I didn't have anything better to do.

The cheap hotel room that I'd booked had a stipulation that no Pokemon bigger than the Jigglypuff that was at the front desk were allowed in the rooms. I had no idea why they were using a Pokemon that could change its size as the benchmark, but only Scout met their arbitrary criteria. I didn't even want to think of the trouble that a bored Scout could get into in a small room so I'd decided just to keep all my Pokemon in their Pokeballs. I'd been glad for the opportunity to sleep in an actual bed for once, but probably wasn't going to make the same choice again in the future.

The only reason why I was still in the room was because it was raining and the Hibbing training center didn't open until ten. I'd been tempted to head straight to the gym to see if they had a slot available for a challenge, but had decided to stick with my original plan of getting some extra training first. Watching John lose the battle for his seventh badge had made me warier about my own challenge and I still had plenty of time to spare. I had a bit more than two months to earn the badge and get back to the cities, so it made sense to take it slow and not challenge the gym until we were ready.

About a half-hour later I'd only jotted down a few more things, but it was finally late enough for me to start heading over to the training center. I had returned my notebook to my backpack when my Poryphone began to ring. It had been so long since I'd gotten a call that it took me a few seconds to even identify what the noise was. The caller id revealed that it was Tammy calling, which confused me even more given that I hadn't heard from the professor in several months. Hitting the answer button, I said, "Hello?"

"Thomas! How are you doing?" Tammy's warm voice came over the phone.

"Uh, I'm doing pretty well. Yourself?"

"That's great! I'm doing good as well. Sorry to bother you, but do you have a few minutes?"

Given that I'd just spent the last hour barely writing ten words, I could definitely spare a few more. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Well first of all I wanted to congratulate you on completing the Hibbing gym challenge." I was a bit surprised that Tammy already knew that I'd finished the challenge when I hadn't even talked to anyone from the gym. I guessed the receptionist was right when she said that the gym ran on the honor system if they just assumed that I'd done it. I was about to thank her when she added, "So what did you think of Registeel?"

"Oh. I actually didn't go see it."

"What? Why not?" Tammy sounded surprised to the point of almost being scandalized by my answer.

I was a bit annoyed that I was being treated like I was the crazy one for the second time in two days. I tried to keep that feeling out of my voice though and evenly answered, "I just didn't feel comfortable with it I guess. Treating something like that a roadside attraction."

Tammy hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I've never thought about it that way. For many people around Hibbing, it's a symbol of their heritage, so Registeel isn't something they treat blasély, even if it sometimes seems like it. For researchers like me, it's a fascinating piece of history. Did you know that the three Regi in Minnesota are in a perfect line if you look at them on a map? No one knows why, but people have spent years trying to figure it out."

"I guess that all makes sense," I admitted somewhat reluctantly. I was still far from comfortable with the idea, but it seemed a lot more reasonable given the context.

"I don't want to pressure you, but you should reconsider going to see it before you leave. Which actually brings me to what I originally called about. I know this is a bit of a big ask, but are you available a week and a half from now? Al is teaching a week-long seminar at the headwaters and I know he would love it if you could stop by for at least some of it. It's the week of the fourth."

I had to think for a couple of seconds where that would be before I answered. "That… could work. I wasn't really planning on going for my last badge right away anyway." Training on the road was never quite as effective as at a facility built for it, but with the amount of time that I had to spare, it wouldn't matter very much.

"Last badge? So you're planning on staying in the amateur league for the finals?"

"Um, yeah," I said, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the decision. "It was Cait's idea," I quickly added, then cringed since it sounded like I was throwing her under the bus.

Thankfully, Tammy just laughed. "I would have expected her to push as far as she could, but I suppose I should have realized that the three of you would want to stick together for the finals. Anyway, that sounds perfect then if you're fine making the trip over to Bemidji."

"Yeah, that's not a problem. I'll have more than enough time to get back here afterward. Do you know whereabouts the seminar is? Or should I text Al for the details?"

"How about we leave it as a secret that you'll be there? I can find out where it is and let you know."

"Sure, that sounds good." The lack of an exact location didn't really matter given that it would take me almost a full week to get to Bemidji anyway.

"Wonderful! Well then, I'll let you go. Have a good rest of your day!"

"Thanks, you too."

I was about to press the button to end the call, but stopped when Tammy added, "And think about going to see Registeel before you leave!"

"Yeah… I'll think about it," I slowly said. I added a quick goodbye before hanging up, then sat there for a few seconds trying to figure out my new schedule. Even taking my time it would take a bit under a week to get to Bemidji so I had some time to spare. From what I could remember, the forecast was fairly clear so that wasn't something I would have to account for either. Which meant that I didn't really have an excuse to not do what Tammy had recommended.

With a soft groan, I stood up out of the desk chair and grabbed my backpack. That could be dealt with tomorrow. I just wanted to head over to the training center so I would actually be able to get something done today.

Friday, May 25th, 2018

I paused at the bottom of the stairs going down into the mine, wondering if I was really about to do this. I generally preferred to avoid risky situations, but there I was, ready to march right up to a legendary Pokemon. Logically, I knew it was perfectly safe. I'd spent almost an hour the previous night scouring through news articles and in the only four situations that I could find where one of the Regis had attacked someone, it had been the fault of the foolish trainer who had been the one to initiate the fight. Add onto that that the mine stopped barely fifty feet away from Registeel's vigil, meaning that the Pokemon hadn't even cared that heavy machinery had been so close to it.

However, logic was a poor comfort when approaching something that was essentially a walking natural disaster. If something went wrong, Registeel would be able to snap me like a twig before anyone could do anything about it. No one around me seemed to share my concerns though, and I watched a family with a child that couldn't have been older than six happily walk right past me as they headed toward the trail that led to Registeel. The kid seemed perfectly happy as he sat on his dad's shoulders, mirroring his parent's casual nonchalance about the event.

Deciding that I could use a bit of moral support of my own, I stepped off to the side of the path and tapped the button on Peren's Pokeball. When he appeared in front of me, he looked around and gave me a mildly confused look when he saw that he was the only one that had been sent out. Out of my entire team, he was the only one that I fully trusted not to do anything rash when faced with an unusual, strong Pokemon. His reaction also made me realize how long it had been since I'd spent any real one on one time with my starter, cementing my confidence that I'd made the right choice in having him come along.

"Hey, do you want to go see Registeel with me? People keep talking it up, but to be honest, I'm more than a little nervous." Peren's slight hesitation before answering reassured me slightly that my fears weren't unique. He eventually gave me a nod with a determined look in his eyes, making me smile. "Well then, I guess let's go." Peren nodded again and we took a left onto the path leading to Registeel.

With Peren by my side, I couldn't help but remember the very first day that I had arrived in this world when we'd gone on the long walk through the cities. I was surprised to find that the memory had become a bit bittersweet, which was more than a bit unexpected given how much of that first day I had spent miserable. Still, that had been the day that I had met Peren, Cait, and Tammy, which was at least something to think about somewhat fondly. Thinking about it some more, that had also been the day that I'd learned that Registeel was in the region, making my current trip with Peren feel all the more fitting.

It didn't take me long to realize that there was another aspect of our current walk that was reminiscent of the one I had originally done after meeting Peren: the length. It turned out that we had another eight miles to go to reach Registeel. It was enough to make me consider taking out my bike, but I decided against it because I knew that Peren didn't like running along the bike and after deciding to go see Registeel together it didn't make sense to return him just to make the trip quicker.

The two of us walked on the path in comfortable silence, but a question that I'd been having for a while slowly started to bubble up to the forefront of my mind. I'd been purposely putting off that topic, partially because I didn't know how to bring it up. I still felt like I should talk about something as we walked, so I eventually asked, "So how do you think the team has been doing? Everything's been looking good from my side, but you have perspective I don't."

Peren barely took a second to consider the question before looking up at me and nodding vigorously. I smiled, knowing full well that I shouldn't have expected anything different. He and Blitz got along famously despite the vast difference in personality. He acted like Scout's big brother. He did his best to include Nin in activities, even when the snake Pokemon would rather sleep. He never seemed to care about Shadow's lack of visible emotions. He had become the closest to Winter, despite being the one who had been the wariest of her in the beginning.

He was definitely the heart of the team, but what I was worried about was him getting locked into a position where that was his only contribution. My research had revealed that even in this world, Pokemon species originally from Unova tended to evolve much later than others for some reason. While his labmates had evolved more than a month ago, Peren's strength had seemed to plateau lately and I wasn't sure what to do about it.

I did my best to not show any of my worries as I smiled down at my starter. "That's good to hear." I waited several more seconds and then decided that, for the sake of my sanity, it would be best for me to rip off the metaphorical bandage instead of continuing to stew about it. "So no pressure either way, but do you have an idea of when you think you'll evolve?"

For a bit, it seemed like Peren hadn't heard me because he gave absolutely no reaction to my question. Finally, he slowly nodded.

"...Soon?"

I got the approximation of a shrug, which I supposed was fair. Even if a Pokemon knew that they were getting strong enough to evolve, it hardly seemed like triggering it was an intentional process. Blitz and Nin's evolutions had both been when they had been pinned down in a battle. Winter's had happened while she was eating lunch and she had seemed just as surprised as the rest of us. I supposed that it didn't matter when Peren's evolution happened, though it was comforting to know that he was at least thinking about it.

That thought made me realize something else and I quickly asked, "You're okay with evolving right? It's perfectly fine if you don't want to. I've still got Winter's Everstone after all." Peren responded with a quick nod and I gave him a slightly relieved smile. "Well, cool. Looking forward to it." With that dealt with, the rest of our hike to Registeel seemed a bit easier.

It was incredibly obvious when we started to get close to the legendary Pokemon since warning signs started appearing on the trail practically every thirty feet. Ultimately, the messages said to keep yourself and your Pokemon on the boardwalk. There were additional warnings that the young, elderly, or people with certain medical conditions shouldn't enter Registeel's aura, but I didn't fall under any of the categories. That said, the listing did absolutely nothing to calm my nerves.

Finally, we came to the edge of the mine and a large staircase leading out of it. Peren and I slowly made our way up the stairs, our heels dragging somewhat after such a long hike. When we finally crested the top of the stairs, I looked out at the area in front of us and I got my first sight of a legendary Pokemon.

Despite not being too much taller than me, Registeel seemed to tower over its surroundings as it stood alone on a completely flat section of ground. The nearest thing to it was the boardwalk that opened in a crescent shape, staying around ten yards away from the iron golem. In the middle of the crescent shape was a short walkway allowing people to get a bit closer to Registeel. Posted next to the walkway were all of the warnings that I had passed by earlier, here printed in even larger lettering. The boardwalk was fairly empty with the only people present being the family I saw earlier, a couple, and a bored-looking ranger.

I stood perfectly still, staring directly at Registeel, ready to jump back down the stairs if it abruptly moved. However, it didn't so much as move an inch, the dots on its face staying a dull gray. When nothing continued to happen, I relaxed, my fear and people's respect both suddenly seeming equally ridiculous. Standing perfectly still, Registeel didn't look like anything more than an oddly shaped lump of metal sitting alone in a rocky field.

With Peren a half-step behind me, I walked up to the railing on the main boardwalk to get a better look at Registeel. While the legendary Pokemon didn't look any different with the slightly closer view, I could feel an odd tingling in the air that I'd never felt before. My eyes drift to the walkway going closer to Registeel and an unexpected curiosity comes over me.

"Want to try getting closer?" I softly ask Peren and he gives me a nod after only a moment. We stepped away from the railing and toward the longer walkway leading toward Registeel. I paused before stepping on it and glanced behind me to find that the ranger was staring directly at Peren and me. It made sense since we were the only ones doing anything, but it was still a bit unnerving. I did my best to put the ranger out of my mind and took a step onto the walkway.

Even before my foot hit the wooden plank, the tingling feeling returned, then quickly amplified. What had felt like a slight buzz before started to feel like something was pressing in on my skin. With another step, it felt like gravity had increased and I began to slouch under the pure weight that Registeel's very presence was giving off. I thought about taking another step forward but decided against it and instead just stood there, standing in wonder at the feeling. It was unfathomable to me that anyone would ever think about messing with the legendary Pokemon when I could barely move after barely getting two feet closer to it.

"You need some help there son?" A deep voice from behind me asked.

"I'm… good…" I managed to stammer out, then angled my head down to check on how Peren was doing. He had stepped right up next to me, and although his legs were wobbling under the pressure, he was still standing tall. I was able to slowly drag my left foot backward, making the bulk of the feeling fade away. I felt like I had just shrugged off a weighted backpack and took a deep sigh of relief.

After making sure that Peren had also been able to walk out of the aura, I turned around to find the ranger and a large Lickitung standing next to him. Both the Pokemon and the man had slight smiles on their faces and I was suddenly very glad I had been able to leave Registeel's aura on my own. "Two steps and out isn't too bad for a first-timer. So what'd you think?"

"That was definitely… different," I answered, not entirely sure how to feel about what I'd just experienced. I reflexively glanced behind my back at Registeel and saw that the walkway went on for another few yards past what I'd been able to reach. Turning back to the ranger, I asked, "So has anyone ever made it all the way?" I felt a little dumb even as I finished asking the question because unless the walkway had been built entirely by psychic Pokemon, someone must have gone to the end just to build it.

"A couple, though no one that I've seen," the ranger answered, scratching his beard thoughtfully. "Furthest I've seen was a guy who made it a bit over halfway. Though Franky here had to fish him out, so it barely counts." The Lickitung nodded eagerly at the mention of the event and I barely suppressed a shudder at the idea of the long tongue wrapping around me to drag me back.

Peren and I spent another half hour or so near the legendary Pokemon, even deciding to brave the aura a second time. The experience was just as impressive the second time around and I was rather proud that both of us managed to make it another step further. I was oddly tempted to push for more, but the thought of having to be rescued by Lickitung was more than enough to dissuade me.

With the extra safety net that he had to avoid that fate, Peren ended up going for a third round. He didn't make any more progress than his second attempt before getting stuck, and I quickly returned him before Lickitung could get any ideas. Deciding that was a good sign that it was time to head out, I wished the ranger a good day, then made my way down the stairs and back into the mine. I got my bike out for the return journey since I had no interest in walking all the way back, especially given how much traveling I'd be doing over the next week.

A/N: The website that I used for getting historical weather shut down. I found a new one but it's not nearly as good.

Thanks to Star (quarknova on this site) for betaing. Next up is Chapter 38: Class Trip