I keep staring at something out of reach, trying to grab the answer I'm looking for.

A sharp beak stabbed Peter in the nose. He groaned, trying to bat his nosy partner away.

"Ughhhh…just leave me alone already!!" He rolled over to look at his clock: 7:00 AM. Archen was strutting around his bed, occasionally hopping on his chest.

"Damnit…I shouldn't have come home at 3…well, I did promise to take you two on a morning walk." Peter jumped out of bed, with Archen getting startled and fluttering around the room. Tyrunt also woke up at this, and began teething Peter's ankle.

"Haaaa…."

—

The morning sun shone down on the park.

"Don't go too far, you guys!!" Peter tottered after his Pokemon, still exhausted from his scant hours of sleep last night. It had been more than a week since he had begun working in Dr. Williams' astronomy lab, and he was more or less settled in. His work involved using a global array of radio telescopes to map out the orbits of celestial bodies in and around their solar system: asteroids, comets etcetera. This meant looking at spreadsheets, constructing data analysis programs, and the like.

Basically, it was a whole lot of staring at a computer screen. Combine that with Peter's tendency to go bar hopping, and he wasn't exactly living the healthiest lifestyle. He could feel himself being revitalized as he walked, though. The sun invigorated him.

"I wonder how he's holding up..." As he plopped down on a bench to watch Archen and Tyrunt frolic in a fountain, his thoughts shifted from himself to his roommate, who had left about a day ago for an ecological survey. Kibe was one of the most capable people he had ever met, but Peter knew about the awkward feelings he had for his research partner. Honestly, it felt like Kibe was just projecting his issues onto Arienne, but Peter had never met the girl, so he couldn't say for sure.

—

A child was exploring the forests around his hometown, Ecruteak City. He was looking for Pokemon to befriend, like always. However, today, something was unusual. The Pokemon who would usually be crying out to their heart's content were oddly…silent? The child, determined to investigate the cause, trotted deeper in the forest. Eventually, he came across a clearing. An incredible number of Pokemon were crowded in a circle around…something. The child walked towards them, and the Pokemon turned around and growled at him, as if trying to protect whatever was behind them.

"I-It's okay!! I just want to help!" Despite being scared, the child clearly stated his intentions, and the group of Pokemon let him pass. He approached the center, and there he saw…

—

Akira woke up. I wonder how it's doing… That dream held a lot of meaning for him. It was a memory of the moment he met his partner, and set him on the path to becoming a Pokemon Trainer in earnest. He looked around in the small dorm room he shared with Nathan. They'd be moving out to an apartment close to campus at the end of the summer, but until then they had extended the lease on their dorm from the summer. There were two twin-size beds lined up parallel on opposite sides of the room. A desk was at the foot of both. The room wasn't big enough to let out all of their Pokemon, so they stayed in their Balls at night.

"You up, Akira? Let's head out in a bit. The first cut is today, after all. We should get breakfast early." Nathan popped his head into the room from the adjacent bathroom, toothbrush in hand. Akira nodded.

"All right!"

—

Akira and Nathan were at a cafe, eating breakfast. They were sitting outside, so that all of their Pokemon could eat as well: Nathan's Samurott, Mandibuzz, Stoutland, and Heatmor, as well as Akira's Feraligatr and Mienshao. It was a bright spring day; the sun was invigorating.

"So, are you ready for the first cut? I'm surprised they're taking half of us out from the jump…"

"Well, as ready as I could be. I know that we're probably at the top of our class, but you never know. Someone could've prepared a strategy specifically for us, or was hiding their strength."

"Yeah, the world is a lot bigger than we assumed it was, wasn't it…" Nathan was referring to the battle he had with Kibe about a week ago. He was honestly shocked at the level of skill that random student had…and he didn't even seem that interested in battles.

"I wonder why that guy isn't in the Battling Club with moves like that? His Garchomp was expertly trained, so there's no way that he doesn't have competitive experience. If he were in the pool, he'd definitely even get chosen for the main team, not just the junior one." Akira was evidently of the same mind. They both sighed and stared up at the blue sky.

"I wonder what he's doing right now…"

—

Miranda walked into her office at an unholy hour of the morning for her. Lewis had stayed the night at the lab researching the Pokemon he had received from Paldea, and thus was asleep on one of the couches in the lounge, Zangoose at his feet. While doing said research last night, he received the planned call from Kibe and Arienne.

They had confirmed that there was definitely something different about the Inner Forest, and that they would continue investigating tomorrow. She was a tad concerned, especially with the timing of the whole thing. Why was there an attack at the center of Twist Mountain now, of all times? She shook those thoughts away as she booted up her desktop and walked back out to the lounge.

"Hey Lewis, wakey wakey!" Zangoose's ears pricked, and Lewis sleepily sat up.

"Good morning, Miranda…You're here early."

"Well, I couldn't sleep easily with everything that's been going on recently." Miranda opened the blinds, and walked over to the mini kitchen they had in another room, looking to brew a coffee.

"That's true. Preparing for the Paldea expedition, the new recruits, and our current projects are keeping us pretty busy." Lewis hopped off the couch and went over to the sink to wash up.

"Speaking of current projects…how did it go with that Pokemon?" They were now sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and enjoying some breakfast sandwiches that Miranda had ordered to the lab. Beheeyem was floating by the window.

"He's fascinating. I can't imagine how such a form change would even come about. The Pokemon's body structure completely changes, and becomes much stronger. For now, I'm assuming that it was a sort of evolutionary necessity born out of a need for a leader to protect a community of Pokemon. Due to the way it works, the transformation was called "Zero to Hero"... I don't think it's that far off. But to be sure, I would need to extensively observe the Pokemon in the wild. Check out this data I collected on the gene expression differences between the two forms!"

Miranda smiled as she flipped through the preliminary report Lewis handed her. He had been in her lab for three years; he would be submitting his dissertation on the inherent similarities between type shifts due to form changes in different species of Pokemon and its potential links to Terastalization later this year. Miranda's lab primarily focused on the differences between regional forms, but Lewis' tangent had already yielded two first-authored papers. He was undoubtedly a genius. She was very proud of him.

"This is really interesting…there is a stark difference here. It'll be a long time until we find the source of this, though. For now, why don't you see the form in action for yourself?"

"...Huh? But in order to see it in the wild, I'd need to fly to Paldea…" Lewis was confused.

"Pfft, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about that!" Miranda giggled and pointed at Beheeyem, who was staring at the goings-on of the Castelia University Unova Invitational tryouts from the window.

—

Peter stretched back in his office chair and yawned. He had spent the morning assembling a plot of data that had been collected by a radio telescope array overnight, and had just set a program he had created over the past week to assess it. He had a few hours before it would be finished compiling everything. It was nearly midday, so he decided that now would probably be a good time to go for lunch.

"Hey professor, the parser is going to be running until 3. I'm going to head out."

"Got it! While you're out there, why don't you check out the festivities at the battling grounds today? They're starting the tryouts for the Unova Invitational."

Peter's professor, Dr. Williams, was one of the foremost researchers in the connections between Pokemon and outer space. He helped develop various devices and methods used by the Mossdeep Space Center, and was one of the people who helped resolve the "Delta Incident". Now, he continues his work at Castelia University. Peter was originally from Mossdeep, so he jumped at the chance to work with someone from his hometown.

"Oh, yeah? Maybe I'll take a look."

It couldn't hurt to give it a go. Maybe he could surprise Kibe by becoming a competitive battler while he was gone…heh.

—

Nathan and Akira stared at the grounds for their Battling Club, which was now milling with people. Originally, the tryouts were going to start several weeks from now, but so many people had applied to join that they had to start them early. The signups weren't limited to club members, so the organizers were inundated with requests.

"My god…"

"There's gotta be at least three hundred people here. Well, that'll probably mean advancing easier, right?"

They walked over to the organizers, where they got identification numbers which would be used for the rest of the test. Nathan was number 121, and Akira was 122. The test was starting in a few minutes, so the pair went to talk with some of their friends from the club. Meanwhile, a certain graduate student was standing in line…

Lewis sighed. While he was pretty decent at battling, he wasn't particularly interested in becoming a competitor. He didn't have the time to train with a team for a tournament, not with his dissertation deadline coming up. However, he did want to see this Pokemon's capabilities, and luckily this little competition was one used with two Pokemon in a Multi Battle format. He had to admit that it was perfect for his needs. And hey, if he actually DID end up winning, well, he could probably make a little time.

Lewis looked up. The person in front of him was someone he had seen walking around with Kibe on campus over the past week. Kibe had said his name was Peter, and was his roommate. Peter received his tag, and walked over to the staging area.

"Here you go. You'll be number 256." The organizer handed out what appeared to be the last tag to Lewis. A Klink was hovering next to him.

"Thank you."

"You're in luck. This is the limit for how many people we're willing to accept for the junior tryouts. Hey, you guys! This is the end of the road, no more applicants will be accepted! Better luck next year!!" The organizer cut off the line after Lewis, much to the dismay of the people behind him.

—

Peter, now contestant number 255, was starting to feel a little bit nervous. Some contestants had their Pokemon out already while waiting to get started. Peter was loathe to do the same: for one thing, his Pokemon were not nearly behaved enough to stay in one spot for more then five seconds, and he also didn't want to reveal what kinds of Pokemon he had to his potential opponents. This meant that these Trainers were extremely confident in their battling skills, and they had no qualms of letting people come up with strategies.

As the hubbub died down, the tension in the area started to rise. Peter looked around, scoping out some of the Pokemon people had brought in. It wasn't looking good; there were lots of fully evolved Pokemon, like Metagross, Goodra, Manectric, Salamence…hold up, was that a REGIROCK?! Peter's jaw dropped, and he went over to get a closer look. Sure enough, someone had brought a Legendary Pokemon to a intermural tryout event. How did he even catch that thing, let alone get permission to bring it onto a university campus? The Trainer in question was surrounded by a circle of contestants gawking at him like Peter. Two Trainers were conversing with him; they were accompanied by a Samurott and Feraligatr. Those must be the pair Kibe and his research partner had encountered…

"Interested in him?"

Peter turned around. Standing next to him was a smiling bespectacled older student…was he a graduate student? A Zangoose walked up next to him.

"Well…who wouldn't be? Don't you need to have a special permit to bring a Legendary Pokemon into a public space?" Peter was honestly more interested in the pair talking to the Trainer at this point, but it was only respectful to play along.

"That's half correct. When you catch a Legendary Pokemon with an Association Poke Ball, they get notified immediately. They already monitor every recorded Pokemon capture primarily for research reasons, but they use this technology to help manage Trainers with extraordinary Pokemon. When this happens, the Association issues the Trainer an ultimatum: abide by a set of rules and sign a release stating that you agree, or release the Pokemon. One would need to get further permission to bring it to a university, as you said."

"Yeah, which is why I was wondering how that guy got one."

The Regirock was standing as still as a statue next to its Trainer; in fact, it was so still one wouldn't be able to tell it WASN'T a statue if not for the lights flashing periodically across its face, with strange grunts accompanying them.

"That student happens to be the university president's grandson. He was able to easily get an Association permit due to his grandfather's assurances, and a university permit came as a matter of course. Connections are everything when it comes to this sort of thing. I would expect that he had significant assistance when capturing that Pokemon as well."

"The more you know…" The Pokemon Association had a pretty high position in society, being the authority on all things Pokemon. They coordinated with every region to research Pokemon, manage Trainers, and everything in between. In Peter's opinion, the Association should take its responsibilities more seriously and not give handouts, but who was he to judge?

Just as Peter was musing over the revelations, a man in a tracksuit finally walked out onto the staging area, followed by an alternate-colored Scizor. The Scizor had a odd strap around its chest with a stone inlaid in it-Peter sharply inhaled. That was a Mega Stone. The man held out a loudspeaker and announced:

"Err, hello everyone. My name is Whittaker. I'm the faculty chairman of the Battling Club. Welcome to the Castelia University tryouts for the upcoming Unova Invitational tournament, which we'll be hosting in downtown in the fall. These are the general tryouts; the top 32 students here will be admitted into the junior pool of the team. Mind you, these don't necessarily mean junior when it comes to age; it refers to your skill as a trainer. There's also a main pool, made up of an already chosen 8 students. The Battling Club's seniors make up the current main pool, as they've gone through this general selection process already in previous years, and compete in invitationals abroad, as well as the Circuit on a yearly basis."

Peter gulped. Just how strong were these guys? Kibe said he beat the ace of the underclassmen, that Trainer with the Samurott, but Kibe was also an extremely capable Trainer.

"After we select the top 32 Trainers for the junior pool, the top 8 from that pool will be moved to the main pool. This will result in a total pool of 24 Trainers for the junior team, and 16 for the main team. 5 Trainers are selected from each pool to represent the University at the tournament. The team members then have the right to choose one or more alternates, or seconds if you will, from the remaining pool members. However, that's not where it ends for the pool members who get left out. They automatically join the Battling Club, and it's their job to help the representatives train for the tournament. In addition, pool members wil stay the same for when it comes to the Circuit tryouts in winter; we only hold general tryouts once a year."

Peter glanced at the man beside him. Honestly, he didn't seem too interested in the precedings themselves; he was carefully observing both the Regirock and the Scizor. As a researcher, Peter understood the appeal…but did this guy even want to be here anyways?

"With all of that out of the way, let me break down how these tryouts will actually work. The format of the Invitational this time around includes Multi Battles, so that's what we'll be testing you guys on. For the entire duration of these tryouts, you will be with the same partner according to your tag number. For example, 1 pairs with 2, 3 with 4, 5 with 6, and so on…odd numbered contestants will pair with the even numbered contestant after them, and vice versa. There will be 128 teams, who will play 5 matches each. We will select 16 teams based on the standings after these rounds have concluded. We'll be holding one round each day. With that said…if you lose more than once, you might as well forfeit. There will be no chance of you getting selected otherwise."

This made sense; it was just the way the numbers played out. Peter was sure that the Battling Club themselves didn't want to manage 64 matches every day. In fact…how did they plan on managing these, exactly?

"As explained in the flyer, the exact format of these tryouts will be 2 on 2 Multi Battles, with each Trainer being allowed up to 2 Pokemon. One substitution total is allowed per team per match, as well as only one usage of Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, or Terastal if you somehow have a Tera Orb that's usable here. The match ends when all four of one side's Pokemon are unable to battle. Now, I'm sure you guys are wondering just how we're going to hold 64 battles at once.

"Luckily, the Unova Invitational is a big event this year; the Gearframe Corporation, and by extension the Unova Branch of the Association, are partnering with us this year. They want to make this event a big success for publicity's sake, so they're throwing tons of money into making this a mega-event; there's going to be a research conference, a business expo, and even an exhibition match for the Pokemon World Championships.

"As such, we're getting full access to their respective facilities to run these tryouts. We'll be splitting up these 128 teams into 4 blocks: Block A will remain here, while Blocks B, C and D will have their matches downtown. Please check the board behind you to figure out which Block you're in. There will be multiple buses arriving in 10 minutes to take B, C and D to the facilities. Block A's matches will begin at the same time. With that said, good luck!"

Peter looked at the guy next to him yet again, and then gave a start. The man's tag read: 256. He was Peter's partner. The man noticed Peter's chest tag as well, and smiled.

"So we're partners, huh? What a coincidence. I gues introductions are in order. My name is Lewis; I'm a graduate student at Dr. Foxglove's lab. This is my partner, Zangoose."

Peter realized that this was the graduate student who worked with Kibe, and got even more nervous.

"O-oh, nice to meet you. My name is Peter. I'm an undergrad astronomy major…Correct me if I'm wrong, but you work in the same lab as Kibe, right?"

"Ah, so you're his roommate. Kibe's told me a bit about you. To answer your question, yes. I've been in regular contact with him since his expedition started. I'll actually be receiving a call from him shortly after we're done here. You can come listen in if you'd like."

"Thanks, I think I'll take you up on that! So what's he been up to out in Pinwheel Forest, anyway? He didn't tell me a lot."

"Primarily, he's doing a sort of census. Comparing the presence of certain species with those of a survey taken before the development of the Skywheel borough and tracking their movements….we can talk about this later. For now, why don't we check which Block we're in and who we're up against?"

"Oh shit, five minutes have already passed…good idea!" Peter and Lewis hastily jogged over and noticed they were in Block A, which meant that they didn't have to go anywhere. They were against numbers 121 and 122 first, but there were no names attached to any of the numbers, so they didn't know who it was. With a bit of relief, they walked over to a corner of the staging area to have a strategy discussion.

"Incidentally, Peter…what Pokemon are you using? Kibe mentioned that you're fond of fossil Pokemon, but he never mentioned the specifics…"

"O-oh! Yeah, I didn't let them out of their balls because they don't behave very well, especially around lots of people…but here you go!" Peter sent out Tyrunt and Archen. Lewis was intrigued; both of these fossil Pokemon were particularly rare. His appraisal of Peter raised a bit.

"You entered a competition with Basic Pokemon? Are they particularly well-trained?" Archen flew on top of Peter's head, and Tyrunt started headbutting Zangoose.

"I've battled a decent amount with Tyrunt in particular. My Archen knows Scary Face and U-Turn, so I can use it as a support while juggling with Tyrunt." Lewis winced at the thought of fighting nearly professional Trainers with such feeble Pokemon, but at least Peter had a plan…In the background, the usually-stoic Zangoose was getting increasingly frustrated with Tyrunt. Just then, Whittaker began calling up and directing Group A matchups.

"...Pairs 121-122 and 255-256, please proceed to Field B…"

"That's our queue, Lewis. Archen, Tyrunt, return!" Peter returned his Pokemon to their balls, and walked over to the second battlefield in the staging area along with Lewis. Across from them…Peter did a double take. It was the underclassmen aces!! When they all reached the battlefield, Lewis chose that moment to lean towards Peter and murmur:

"Peter, I came to this tryout to test out a certain Pokemon. My battling strategy will be a bit unconventional, but I hope you'll see it in a positive light. Both of my Pokemon have swapping moves, so please use our substitution as you see fit."

"Huh? Ok, got it. I'll primarily be looking to support you in this match anyways." Peter and Lewis agreed on their game plan, and faced their opponents. The on who had the Samurott earlier spoke up.

"Huh, I've never seen either of you before. You guys have a bit of bad luck. Both of us have been training very hard for these tryouts; we're members of the Battling Club." Peter gulped. These guys were strong to begin with, and their Water types were a horrible matchup for his fossil Pokemon. A referee stepped up to the sideline.

"Round 1 matchup of pairs 121-122, Nathan and Akira, and 255-256, Peter and Lewis, will now begin! Trainers, send out your Pokemon!"

"Heatmor! Mienshao!" Nathan and Akira sent out Heatmor and Mienshao, respectively.

"Go, Archen! Palafin!" Peter sent out Archen, and Lewis sent out…what exactly WAS that Pokemon? He had never seen it before. The referee raised his flags.

"This match will follow the tryout regulations! The match will conclude when one side's Pokemon are unable to battle! One substitution per team! One usage of Mega Evolution, Z-Moves or Terastal per team! Get ready!" Peter and Lewis nodded at each other and tensed up. On the other side, Nathan and Akira were perfectly serene.

"3! 2! 1! Battle begin!!"