Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Crossover)

Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 2

It had been a few days since they had left the skate park, and much progress had been made. According to the PokéNav function on Louise's Pokédex, they were about a day away from Camphrier Town. Good progress, all things considered. That wasn't to say that there weren't delays.

"For the last time, I don't want a Magikarp," Saito glared at the man in front of him. He was rather short and getting on in years, wearing a white shirt, white headband, and yellow straw hat. The only remarkable feature about him was his stubby mustache. All in all, it made him look like a sleazeball, which he was more than happy to prove with each passing moment.

'I should never had agreed to hear this man's sales pitch…,' Louise cursed herself for her naiveite. The two trainers had stumbled across the man along the road carrying a large wicker basket on his back. Out of concern, they offered to help, but instead he revealed he was a travelling salesman and was offering passersby the business of a lifetime. One that would make them both rich within the month. Saito of course saw through it immediately, but before he could refuse, Louise agreed to hear him out. He swore he could almost see Pokédollar signs in her eyes. Before he could stop it, they were already being subjugated to a rehearsed spiel on how buying a Magikarp, one of if not the most prolific Pokémon species on the planet, would make them both rich.

"Please reconsider," he urged them, slime coating his every word. "Magikarps are a living gold mine! Each one can lay up to a thousand eggs in a single batch multiple times a year! You'd make back your investment in no time at all!"

"I have no interest in selling Magikarp," Louise plainly stated, her arms crossed and foot tapping in growing impatience. She had lost it some time ago, to be honest, but at this point the salesman wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You don't have to sell the Magikarp. I can see that you two are trainers, likely taking on the Gym Challenge?" he fished an answer, but received no answer, not even a nod. Rather than take that as a cue to leave, he took it as an answer in and of itself and carried on with his pitch. "Something tells me that you two have an eye for powerful Pokémon, and Magikarps are among the strongest there are."

"Only when they evolve into a Gyarados," Saito poked a hole in the man's pitch. "Until then, they are the weakest Pokémon in the world."

"And besides," Louise pointed out, "Magikarps need a body of water to do anything. Otherwise they just flop around helplessly. Do you honestly expect us to only stay next to a body of water?" The man said nothing, but Louise continued. "And even if we somehow managed to get the Magikarp to evolve, Gyaradoses are extremely aggressive and powerful. We wouldn't be able to control it. So please, tell me. What other reasons do you have for us to buy a Magikarp, a Pokémon we could easily get for ourselves if we so desired?" Louise and Saito pointedly stared at the fidgeting man, not expecting a satisfactory answer. With a huff, he turned around and stomped off, grumbling about a miss opportunity, likely his own.

"What a slimeball," Saito shook his head as the conman continued walking away. "… You know, I'm pretty sure that selling Pokémon without a license is illegal."

"It is," Louise nodded. Sycamore had been very clear about that. He even showed her what they looked like and how to ask to see them. It was one of the first things she asked to see, and what he showed her was not a legal permit.

"… You already called the police, didn't you?"

"They were listening the whole time."

"Hey, Saito?"

"Yes, Louise?"

"You ever get a…strange feeling in the back of your head? Like your being watched?"

"Hmm," Saito hummed, "every so often. But usually its just my mind playing tricks on me. Why?"

"… No reason," Louise glanced towards the forest one more time, never breaking her stride, that feeling never leaving.

Louise had felt something was off for the past few days now, even before they ran into the conman. Every so often, the hairs on the back of her neck would stand up and she'd get a chill running down her spine. She couldn't quite explain it, but something told her that they, she in particular, was being watched. By who or what, she couldn't figure that out. It frightened her a little, but what was most alarming was that as they got closer to Camphrier Town, the feeling got more and more intense. As if what once was a cursory glance was now staring intently at her.

"Louise, you look troubled," Saito stopped and looked at her in concern. "Is something wrong? You can tell me."

"I…," Louise sighed. "For the past few days, I've… I've felt like we're being watched. That I'm being watched." Saito hummed in contemplation and took a closer look at the surroundings.

"When did it start?" he asked, eye's continuing to look for anything.

"A few days ago," Louise revealed. Saito's hand hovered over Tanuki's Pokéball, contemplating whether to release him. "It's been getting worse, though."

"Have you seen anything unusual?" he inquired, straining his eyes in an attempt to spot anything out of the ordinary, but finding nothing.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "I even had Espirit scan the area, but whatever it is, she couldn't pick it up."

"Well, if a psychic can't find anything then it's probably nothing. Still, I could send Tanuki out to make sure," Saito said as he pulled out the Pokéball in question, only to be politely waved off.

"Thank you, but no. Honestly, your probably right. My mind is just playing tricks on me. I appreciate the offer, though," Louise smiled, and he smiled back.

"No problem, Louise." The two started walking again in comfortable silence, Louise's nerves calmer now. The never noticed the small shape dart behind the trees, staring at Louise as she slowly disappeared through the trees.

The rest of the day went without incident, yet Louise never could quite shake the feeling she was being watched. At the very least, it finally seemed to be getting weaker. She guessed whatever it was finally lost interest and left. Now, as the sun began to set, and the two trainers finished setting up camp for the night, she decided to get some training in, as did Saito.

"Brennaraki, Aile, pincer on Tanuki!" Louise ordered. The two Pokémon sped towards their target, Aile disappearing in a Quick Attack and Brennaraki becoming a rolling ball of fire, coming in from opposite sides. The Riolu watched as the closed in, Aile coming in faster, but before she struck he ducked down, causing her to miss. She banked up, trying to avoid crashing into the ground, forcing Aile to jump away, never breaking her stride as she continued sprinting towards Tanuki. She struck, sending him back a bit but never off his feet. He grinned as he rushed towards her, palm glowing as he used Force Palm on her, sending her flying back. As she did, she was suddenly struck by a stream of water, courtesy of Ronin, sending her crashing into the ground. Water soaked deep into her fur, to the point where she was practically a mop, yet she quickly got up and shot out a Psywave at Ronin. He blocked it with his scalchop, only to be blindsided by Aile's Quick Attack.

"Nice one," Saito commented, already forming a counterattack. "Tanuki, Quick Attack! Ronin, Water Pulse!" Tanuki immediately sped away, zooming towards Aile and knocking her out of the sky, while a large orb of water formed in Ronin's outstretched hands. He then threw it at Brennaraki, who jumped out of the way yet was still hit by the subsequent explosion of water. It stung, but nothing serious. Tanuki and Aile, on the other hand, were proving exactly why punching a bird was so difficult, as Aile twisted and turned away from all the punches and kicks Tanuki threw at her. She managed to get a few quick Pecks in, but they were more of an annoyance. As she sped for another attack, Tanuki grabbed her and, using her momentum against her, threw her away. Before she crashed into the ground, she recovered and immediately used Quick Attack on the canine.

"Counter!" Saito yelled, causing Tanuki to smirk and Aile's eyes to widen. Unable to stop herself, she could only watch as a red glow enveloped him. As she struck, he winced in pain, but Aile was sent flying back with twice the energy. She crashed into the ground, knocked out cold, allowing Tanuki to take a sigh of relief. That did not last, as he was suddenly blindsided by a Psywave hitting the back of his head. He fell, unconscious, and Brennaraki quickly turned her attention back towards Ronin. Pulling out his scalchop, he used Air Slash to send slices of compressed air at her. She jumped of the way, only to be struck by another slice, Ronin having anticipated where she would jump. She fell to the ground and tried to push herself up, only to be struck by the scalchop directly, water racing off it as he used Razor Shell. This slammed her back onto the ground, and this time she didn't get back up.

"Drat," Louise grumbled as she walked over to her fallen Pokémon, already pulling out a few full restores. "Thought I had you that time."

"You were close," Saito admitted, gratefully taking the offered Full Restores from Louise's hand. He began administering the medicine, happy to see his Pokémon healing up quickly. As Brennaraki got to her feet, Ronin put his fist in his palm and bowed in respect, with Brennaraki bowing back. Both were smiling.

"Good job, guys." Louise smiled before turning her attention to her other Pokémon, her smile ceasing. She saw Espirit exactly as she had left her, over on the other side of the camp and using her psychic abilities on a large rock. She was trying to crush it, and to her credit a few hairline cracks appeared, but it didn't seem to be working out. Louise's smile left her face, and she began to walk over, only for Maindo teleport in, grab the rock, and silently crush it without much effort. She and Espirit looked at him in shock as he smiled and teleported away, and then Louise began to fume.

"Why that little…" She calmed herself, taking in a deep breath. He wasn't going to win this one. Ignoring Maindo, Louise continued walking over to Espirit and kneeled down. Espirit looked up at her, disappointment and frustration easily seen in her eyes, but Louise merely smiled back.

"Hey, its okay," she said, attempting to sooth her Pokémon. "You're getting better. In no time at all you'll be crushing that boulder. Okay? So no frowning. You can't let bullies get on top of you." She directed a pointed glare at Maindo, who simply smirked at her annoyed look. A series of images entered her mind, and Louise looked back down at Espirit, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, I know how it feels. But you keep trying, and you'll get there. Never let anyone tell you different."

Eager to get to Camphrier Town, Louise and Saito had set off early in the morning. Not quite at dawn, but close to it. By the time they finally arrived, people were just now starting to open their doors and go to work. It also meant that the Poke-Mart wasn't ready for business, but given how the Pokémon Center was open twenty-four hours a day, it wasn't much of an issue.

"I'm still weirded out by that family," Louise shook her head as they walked out of the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy waving goodbye. Saito patted her shoulder before stopping at the Poke-Mart. She prepared to step forward, only for Saito to cough and hold out his hand. Slowly and reluctantly, Louise gave Saito her credit card, who smiled as he took it and walked inside.

"I'm not bad with money. He's bad with money…" Louise grumbled to herself. Before the two of them had first set off from Lumiose to Camphrier, they had decided to set some ground rules between them. Nothing formal, like a contract, but more of what they could and could not share. Things like food, clothing, sleeping supplies, and medicine. They had also decided that Saito would oversee the money, despite Louise's protests. Given how she was living off a hundred thousand Pokédollars, carried over from the Collette Family settlement, and that Sycamore had given her that money in the first place meant that by all rights he could decide who was in charge with it. Apparently, he hadn't forgotten Louise's shopping spree, and after Saito saw the aftereffects of that spree, he readily agreed with the professor, and so she got outvoted.

She was still grumbling when Saito emerged from the store, to which he merely chuckled and handed back the card.

"So," Saito began, "off to Parfum Palace like you wanted?" Louise stopped grumbling at his question, happy that he remembered his promise to take her there.

"Actually, there's a museum in town that I'd like to check out first, if you don't mind." Louise pointed to the museum in question. It was a large Romantic-style castle on a hill, surrounded by a moat, and visible from the entirety of Camphrier. "Shabboneau Castle. I think it would be interesting."

Saito gazed at the castle in question, cupping his chin, before nodding. "Sure, I don't see why not." Their plan set, the two began walking towards the castle. As they did, they came across an irritated man, dressed in blue with a red hat, talking to others at Palais Lane. They two paid him no heed, but they couldn't help but overhear him.

"I'm telling you, there's something out there. Something old, something powerful. It's got all the other Pokémon in Route 6 on edge," he said.

"Come on, Calem," a girl replied. "I'm sure you're just taking things out of proportion. Besides, the increased agitation of the Pokémon you're talking about? It happens all the time here. Now come on. Mom is expecting back home soon." The boy, Calem from what Saito and Louise could tell, moved to protest, only to stop and sigh. The brother and sister then left down Rivière Way, while Louise and Saito continued walking, the conversation already leaving their minds.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter to Outsiders! Another set up chapter, but things are coming forward now.

In other news, we are now all officially caught up to the Spacebattles thread. Yay! As we are now all caught up, I will be transitioning to a weekly updating schedule alongside the Spacebattles thread. So, goodbye daily updates, and hello weekly updates.

Now, onto the Q&A:

ian25rebel: Glad you liked the omake! Yeah, the Bewear that adopted Team Rocket is a blast, and in the Alola saga it replaced the Blasting Off gag. It really is the best gag of the series as well.

Celestia's Paladin: I have no shame. And yes, having Saito and Louise interact without the harem elements is something that we purposefully set off to do. Glad to see it's coming off well.

Sakura Linsel: He does, actually. Since we mostly follow Louise's POV, however, we only show hers. Don't worry, though. He will be pulling out his Pokédex.

Ki Dalang Samezu: Glad to see you like it! We enjoy writing it as well, and we have a lot of plans to uncover as time moves on. Team Rocket is, unfortunately, a one-off cameo in a non-canon omake. Do not expect to see them in the future. Again, they are in Alola, and the story is set in Kalos.

Pacer287: Thank you. Again, I have no shame. Now, to answer why I chose Toni and Hawk, I needed names for two Characters of the Day OCs, and since they were skaters I decided "screw it" and went the path of puns.

PokemonFam93: Louise's Pokédex is indeed the model used in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The upgrade happened in the Anime as well, so we decided to bring it over here. Louise and Saito will indeed participate in a wide variety of different types of battles. Kalos has many, and we want to explore all of them. Make for more interesting chapters. One of this chapter's goals was to show just how good Maindo is when he gets off his ass and actually tries. The Espirit/Maindo interactions is also something we like to show. As for Bewear, we don't really know. Arceus doesn't even know. And that was not a typo. Ash and Co. went to Kanto for a few episodes, met with Misty and Brock, Team Rocket Shenanigans ensued, then Bewear suddenly showed up to take the TRio back to Alola.

That concludes the current chapter. See you guys on Saturday!