The disclaimer can be found on the first chapter.

A/N:

I should probably be mugging right now. But, then again, the next exams are my language papers, so I can't really be bothered to study for them.

Out of curiosity, have you realized the trend in my title names?

"The inside of a Pokéball has been a mystery to many a trainer. Even the other professors are baffled by what it truly looks like, as very few Pokémon can give an accurate description, and no two answers are the same. The original Pokésmiths, such as that old man Kurt, claim that this is a result of Apricorn magic, which distorts the view of every Pokémon to be different. This theory holds true to the mass-produced Pokéballs, which still use a sliver of Apricorn to improve their authenticity.

Believe it or not, he's half-right. When Arceus, Goddess of the Pokémon saw how Pokémon and Trainers lived happily together, she was pleased. However, she realized that some aquatic Pokémon, such as Alomomola, were restricted to water, and often could not follow the trainers they had bonded with overland. Thus, she imbued a portion of her, and her descendants' power, into Apricorns, and implanted the idea, via Cresselia, into a young Mr. Kurt Gantetsu. When interviewed, he recalled that he had seen a woman in a yellow and white dress, with long blonde hair giving him the idea to use Apricorns in the first place, and had not associated her with Arceus until the debacle at the Sinjoh Ruins, when Arceus was forced to create carbon copies of the Creation Trio for Team Rocket's nefarious plans.

So far, most of the secrets surrounding the power of an Apricorn have been determined. These include Palkia's space-compressing abilities, Jirachi's wish-making skills, and Ho-Oh's regenerative properties. Basically, the dimensional transcendence causes the Pokéball to be significantly bigger on the inside than what you'd actually think. This space is filled with a Pokémon's ideal habitat, or whatever they wish it to be. And due to the nature of every room, any fainted Pokémon will be revitalized, although they will naturally still be too weak to fight.

The quality of this habitat, however, depends on the Pokéball. Cheap, ordinary Pokéballs appear to have limited resources, which, while ample for the Pokémon at hand, are not luxurious. On the other hand, an associate of mine whose 'top-percentage Rattata' (his words, not mine), lives in an Ultra Ball, appears to view a neverending lush meadow, which can be customized at will.

For more information about the different kinds of Pokéballs, please refer to Chapter 7: Your Balls, At a Glance."

From, "Academy Graduation Exam Preparation Guide, 5th edition" by Professor Trevor Lapointe

"No way! I know mine is obviously much more adorable than yours!"

"I agree with the flatty!"

"Well I, for one, think mine's classier."

"I concur! I have much more decency than you!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Calem unglued his face from the table. "Dude, how long have they been at this?"

Tierno checked his watch. "Ten minutes, still counting."

He turned his head to the right. "Girls, what exactly is the point of the argument, again?"

Serena folded her arms crossly. "It's just that someone doesn't agree with me that my Fennekin is much more appealing."

Shauna poofed her cheeks. "Is not! Froakie is much more cuter! Don't you agree, C-Sharp?"

Calem blanched. He knew where this was going and didn't want any of-

"Calem." Uh oh.

Serena had already clamped his right arm in a vice-grip. "You, of all people, think that my Fennekin is better, right?"

The words struggled to come out of his mouth. "Well, I, uh-"

It was then that an equally strong hand grabbed his left arm, and held it close to Shauna's…

The blood rushed to Calem's head so fast, it turned his face into a very weird shade of pink.

"C-Sharp, Froakie is cuter, isn't it?"

Think of something, think of something, think of something-

He blinked. Got it.

"Wait, you guys haven't nicknamed your Pokémon yet?"

A few moments passed. He could hear the cogs grinding on either side of him, and the cymbal-banging monkey in front of him.

Serena was the first to let go. "And have you? You're one to talk."

Oberon, help me out here. Calem gestured at the hedgehog, who was now lying on his back, and still sleeping the while away. "Of course he has a name. It's…"

Almond? "…Almond." Really? Almond?

You put me on the spot, sir, I just went with it.

Shauna took this moment to let go. She walked over to Froakie, who had been glaring daggers at a certain fox, who was doing the same.

She gently scooped him up, and said, "From now on, your name shall be Fontaine! Is that alright?"

"Hm. Fontaine doesn't sound half-bad." The frog grinned. "In fact, I guess you can say I like it! I am Fontaine, dashing conqueror on the high seas!"

"That makes so much sense. You're already drunk off your arse."

"Well excuuuuuuuuse me, princess, it's not like I don't see you acting all high and mighty."

Predictably, she ignored him.

Serena tapped her chin. "What will be a suitable nickname… Cordelia? I don't think that suits her."

"You. Lime-hair."

Oberon, who up to now had been working on Shauna's uncompleted Picross puzzle, looked up.

"Krystal? Probably not, she doesn't look blue enough."

"You called, miss?"

"Well, now. Cultured. I like that. Anyways, do you mind telling what's-her-name that I want to be named-"

"Mozilla?"

"That was entirely out of left field, Tio. Where did that come from?"

"Dunno."

"How did you know I could talk to humans?"

The fox waved a paw. "I picked up on the conversation you and that boy with the sunglasses had. Anyways, hurry up, before she picks something else."

Oberon relayed the short conversation to Calem, who tapped Serena on the shoulder.

"Siri? I think I have a name for her."

Upon hearing the name, Serena turned to her Pokémon, who was currently grooming her tail.

"So, that's how you want to named, huh, Fiametta?"

Fia turned and yipped at her trainer in appreciation.

"Trevs? Are you coming round anytime soon?"

Someone was gently prodding his cheek. It wasn't uncomfortable, no, but he vaguely recalled that the last time he had ever willingly let someone do that was when he was 8.

"Treeeeeeeeevs?"

Someone was calling him. He didn't quite know who, but by the sound of it, it had to be either Tierno or Calem.

"Rèveille-toi, Trevor Marc Lapointe!"

His eyes immediately snapped open as he forced himself into a standing position and saluted, "Bonjour, Enseignant Babin!"

Laughter erupted from all sides as he realized he hadn't been caught sleeping in class.

In fact, he wasn't even in class, and he hadn't been for two years.

"Well, bonjour to you too, Trevor. What are you doing asleep in the middle of one of our meetings?" Serena joked.

"I think I might have dozed off. Sorry about that." Trevor rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So, how far are we?"

Tierno gestured to the now-empty cylinder. "I've done my part, and they've even nicknamed their Pokémon. You're in charge now."

"Right." Trevor reached into his bag, and brought out five small pouches. He gave one to each of the others before continuing on.

"The Professor gave these to us to allow us to understand Pokémon on a deeper level. Open 'em up!"

Inside each pouch was a curious little device. It had the size of an extra-large playing card, 13x18 centimetres or so, but one glance at the movable top and bottom told Serena that it could be extended. The movable top and bottom were plated in crimson and black coating, while the clear screen in the middle of it had a flickering Pokéball symbol.

Glancing around, Serena realized that they'd all received Pokédexes in different colours. While Serena's had been crimson, Calem's was a deep cobalt, like his jacket. Shauna's was carnation pink to match her bag, Trevor's shamrock green, like his shoes, and Tierno's a brilliant shade of lemon like his pants.

"I get the feeling the Prof. is somehow spying on us."

"You and me both."

"I third that."

"Well, anyways, the Pokédex is a high-tech device that automatically records every Pokémon you encounter along the journey."

"What is this… journey, anyways? " Shauna queried.

Trevor went through what Professor Sycamore had briefed him about in his head. "He wants us to go all around Kalos and complete the Pokédex, meaning that he wants us to see every possible Pokémon that can be found here, and scan them into our Pokédexes. In a way, it's an important mission from the professor, I'm sure of it!"

Tierno laughed. "Lighten up, Trevs! You said the exact same thing when Enseignante Bouvier sent us out to buy materials to make PokéPuffs."

"That was legitimately important! And aren't you forgetting something else legitimately important?"

Tierno gasped. "Oh right! You guys have letters you need to give to your parents."

He dug into his sling bag, finally withdrawing three envelopes. Two were plain white, with nothing special about them. The third was violet, with small gems encrusting the border.

Serena had a perfect poker face as she said, "300 Pokédollars says that one's addressed to Aunt Grace."

Calem looked ready to dig a hole in the concrete floor.

"That's pretty much it, really. What do you suggest we do now?"

Shauna responded first. "Why don't we scan the Pokémon we already have on hand?"

Tierno took out a Pokéball. "I guess that means you're up too. Come on out, Eugene!"

As the Corphish came out, Trevor did a quick headcount. The results were… off.

"Odd. Counting the three starters and Eugene, there should have been five Pokémon. Where's-"

As Trevor finally remembered what, or rather who, it was that had caused him to lose consciousness, he looked around in fright.

"W-W-Where exactly is Obi?"

Calem, who had seen him sneak back from the bathroom, and Oberon replied in sync.

"Right behind you."

That day, Trevor was secretly glad he had worn brown underpants.

As Tierno draped a yet-again unconscious Trevor on his shoulder, Shauna, Serena and Calem made their way to the entrance of the Vaniville Pathway, with Fontaine, Fia and Oberon following. Almond was somehow still asleep, so Calem had already returned him to his Pokéball.

"Say, guys, how about a race?"

He nearly expected that. Shauna liked to turn everything into a game, and running was not an exception.

"What's the catch this time?"

Shauna pondered this a while, before snapping her fingers. "Pokémon get to participate too, and the first one to get there receives a baker's dozen of my famous chocolate PokéPuffs!"

Instantly, saliva began to flood Oberon's mouth. He had eaten one of those tantalizing macarons before, but to have thirteen of those?

"What are these 'chocolate PokéPuffs' she speaks of?"

"Well, if it's making bowler-boy drool, then it's probably something worth running for."

"For once, you actually have a valid point."

"You managed to compliment and insult me in the same sentence. Well played."

"Ready?"

Oberon's mind cleared up. He judged his opponents, and horrifyingly concluded that he was going to lose.

"Set,"

Oh well. Now was a good time to try out that new move.

Instead of preparing to run, Oberon went down on one knee and started to concentrate.

"Go!"

Fia dashed off as fast as her legs would allow her, with Fontaine very close behind, jumping forward and steadily closing the gap between them. The three Trainers were not far behind, with Shauna taking a very small lead. Oberon remained at the arch, and his body started to glow.

At the three-second mark, before Fia had crossed the halfway point, Oberon managed to tap into the Psystream.

"TELEPORT!"

And he instantly disappeared into the folds of space.

Fia, who still had the upper lead by the smallest of margins, dodged a Bubble sent her way. She sent back an Ember, and was pleased to hear a fizzle as her attack hit its target.

She was about a metre away from the entrance when, out of nowhere, a green-haired, white, humanoid blinked into existence. Right in front of her.

Unable to slow down or change direction, she slammed into Oberon, sending him flying into the air.

And through the gate.

So totally worth it.

A/N:

Rèveille-toi – "Wake up!"

Bonjour – Good morning

Enseignant – Male teacher

Enseignante – Female teacher

café au lait – coffee with milk

Treat yourself to an internet cookie if you know who Calem's and Oberon's shared line references.