I woke up nice and rested. The Wingull squawked, the waves crashed against the shore, and Cocytus was butting into my leg asking for more food. Sure, Cocytus was ruining the whole aesthetic, but I couldn't bring myself to be angry.

I got out of bed and grabbed some rations for Cocytus, Entoma, and myself. Gargantua had found a nice chunk of the black rock around us to munch on already. Huh, I hadn't considered what kind of rock we were on. Basalt, maybe? The only igneous rocks I knew of were obsidian and basalt, and obsidian was typically pretty shiny.

Unless that was only polished obsidian that was shiny? Eh, the rock here was a lot duller anyhow. I feel it's likely either basalt or some other unknown rock. A question for another time, I suppose.

I was facing a major problem regarding my lack of Pokéballs. I had come to Poni Island to catch some bug Pokémon, and I now lacked the ability to do so. I blame the boat ride, fucking with my mind using vile techniques such as relaxation and buffets.

So, I suppose I ought to make the trip back to Seafolk Village, collect some more Pokéballs, and come back. That was quite a depressing thought, but I suppose I must pay the price for my lack of planning.

Well, time to pack up and head out. Honestly, I wasn't too upset. I was just in a good mood, so today felt like it was going to be a good day regardless.

It appears optimism was a mistake. I swear, try and become a better person and the universe goes out of its way to kick you in the shins.

As I was going through the Ancient Poni Path, everything seemed normal. Pokémon meandered around and the whole path was absent of trainers. Gargantua and Entoma walked behind me. I had returned Cocytus for now; three Pokémon following me all at once was just excessive to me.

Then, boom. No warning, no ominous groups of Pokémon leaving, nada. Completely unprompted, a massive tear in reality opened up in front of me.

I can't describe how the wormhole looked. The best comparison I could give was that it reminded me of a tunnel, except not. It seems H.P. Lovecraft was wrong, when faced with a sight beyond human comprehension, you don't go insane. You just get a bit of a headache and a combination of fear and confusion.

Before I could do the reasonable thing and run like hell, a being seemed to warp out of the blatant violation of the space-time continuum. The being was about six feet tall with thin, stretched limbs and visible joints. The entire body was insectoid and pure white, except for the occasional gold highlight.

Despite being shoved through a transuniversal glory hole, the being landed without a trace of inelegance. It, no, she looked around giving everything an appraising look, turning her nose up as if she was too good to even be in the presence of this reality.

So, could someone explain to me why the fuck a Pheromosa decided to drop in not an hour after I woke up?

The first thought that went through my head was "Well, it's a shame I don't have any Pokéballs" before I realized just how dumb of an idea fighting a legendary equivalent was. As soon as I banished my stupid thoughts, a sweet smell hit my nose.

Suddenly, the thought of running away drifted from my mind as I stared at the Pheromosa, enraptured. It wasn't necessarily sexual, but I couldn't help but think that the Pheromosa in front of me was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen.

It wasn't too long, but I stared for far longer than necessary. I realized something was wrong with that, as I wasn't one to stare. Perhaps take a glance or two and burn it into my mind, but stare? I was better than some gawking prick.

I put two and two together. Honestly, a sweet smell, Pheromosa, and sudden shifts in behavior? This bitch was mind controlling me. Using smells!

I shook off the influence, but not before Pheromosa finally noticed us and began to walk over. Now, I'm not sure exactly what threat these things constitute in this reality, but it's pretty safe to assume that the literal alien approaching me wasn't something I should accept with open arms.

"Oy, Gar, Entoma, snap out of it!"

The two Pokémon I had out were similarly bedazzled but my yell woke them harder than an espresso shot in the morning. Entoma positioned herself in front of me in a clear effort to try and protect me while Gargantua, the violent maniac he is, launched himself with a shriek at Pheromosa.

It seems she took that poorly as she seemed to teleport right next to Gargantua, and with a firm kick punted him towards a ruin's wall. Upon the impact of her foot, Gargantua's shell immediately fragmented into chunks of shrapnel while Gargantua himself was sent careening into the wall, immediately unconscious and likely sporting a nasty bruise.

"SHIT!" I couldn't help but yell in panic. "ENTOMA! TOXIC AND PROTECT!"

Entoma immediately spat the familiar purple orb towards the Pheromosa, who deftly moved to avoid it. Looking down at the puddle of toxins that splattered over the ground, the Pheromosa turned her head towards Entoma, her expression morphing from arrogance and disdain to outright contempt.

Entoma managed to get her Protect up just in time for the Pheromosa to once again instant transmission right next to her and punt. The kick stopped as it hit the Protect for about a second before completely shattering the dome around Entoma, sending her careening away about ten feet.

With both of my Pokémon effectively disabled, I had no choice but to try and hope for Cocytus. I started to reach into my pocket when Entoma began to brightly glow. Let me tell you, it was bright. Both the Pheromosa and I had to cover our eyes as a shine brighter than the sun was emitted from her.

While we were still blinking stars out of our eyes, my newly evolved Whirlipede spun directly at the Pheromosa and blasted another Toxic, noticeably larger than she was capable of as a Venipede, out of her spines and directly onto the Pheromosa.

The Pheromosa was absolutely drenched in the dangerous gunk. She froze, looked down at herself, and let out an inarticulate cry of rage. The first sound she had made the entire time she had been here, I realized. The Pheromosa immediately began to try and scrape as much of the filth as she could off her body, clearly panicked.

Entoma decided that now would be a good time to charge in with what I assume is a Poison Tail, judging by the glowing purple spines. Just before the attack landed, Pheromosa's head flashed up with a look of pure frenzy.

Her leg flashed up in a kick, sending Entoma launching backward. Instead of continuing on and hitting the ground, the Pheromosa appears in her flight path and kicks her upwards. Now going almost straight up in the air, Entoma's visible eye widens in panic. Then, the Pheromosa appears just above her with her leg stretched out prepared for a perfect axe kick.

Crack!

I didn't even see her leg move, but Entoma is sent directly into the ground, no doubt completely unconscious. Like she hadn't just jumped over fifteen feet in the air, Pheomosa gracefully landed.

Her head slowly turns towards me, eyes still flaming with hatred and her whole body trembling with rage. She begins to very slowly step in my direction.

I jammed my hand back into my pocket and grabbed the first circular thing I could. In my panic, I had completely forgotten that not only was Cocytus' Pokéball shrunk, but I had been keeping the same large pearl I had found in that pocket at all times for safekeeping.

So when the orb I grabbed did not have a button on it to release Cocytus, not that he would have helped all that much, I was very disappointed to look into my hand to find the large pearl.

My very addled mind decided to ignore fight or flight and somehow managed to jump straight to the bargaining portion of the stages of grief.

"H-Hey! L-let's say y-you take this a-and you don't... b-break me into bits?" I managed to stutter out

Her face slowly shifted from manic frenzy to anger with a hint of interest as she looked at the pearl.

"A-Ah, y-you want it?"

She came to a stop about a foot in front of me, and I had never been so aware of my recently acquired short stature as the six-foot bug lady stared down at me. Her face seemed to consider my offer. Then, quicker than I can see, she snatches the pearl from my hand and inspects it.

After a few moments, her eye leaves the pearl, flicking back to my terrified face. Her leg quickly extended into a kick directly to my ribs, but clearly not as fast as it could have been. I didn't have time to be thankful for the restraint, however, as I was launched about five feet to the side and began to vomit up my breakfast.

I have no doubt that if I didn't have the durability inherent to this world, my lungs would be full of my ribs. My entire body felt slight shivers of pain, and I knew that I would have a very painful bruise if not a few fractured ribs.

I looked up from my impromptu retching session and noticed that the Pheromosa had moved next to me. Her face still radiated an arrogant disgust not lessened by the purple gunk still dripping off her.

After a moment of eye contact, she let out a huff, glanced between me and the pearl, and vanished.

It occurred to me that she hadn't used a single genuine move the entire fight, simply her brute physical strength and speed. Damn, is this how it feels to be outclassed?

I simply laid on the ground for a minute or so before getting the courage to move. As I stood up, I felt quite a bit of pain, but not enough to send me to the ground. I think that rules out a broken bone, thankfully.

I recalled the still unconscious Entoma and Gargantua and decided to walk back to the coast. I wasn't going to make it to Seafolk Village like this.

I sat down, back to an outcrop on the Poni Breaker Coast. It took me about fifteen minutes to make it back to the coast. Sitting down, I summoned all three of my Pokémon out of their balls.

Entoma and Gargantua were still nice and fainted, and Cocytus let out a keening cry at the sight of them.

"Hey Cocytus, gonna need you to keep us safe as we recover. We got a bit fucked up by something much stronger than us, and it's not feeling all that good."

Cocytus' food-ensured loyalty seemed to be stronger than anticipated, as his gaze hardened and he gave a resolute nod.

The walk back was relatively short, but my side hurt like a bitch. It wasn't agony, but it was certainly debilitating. More worryingly, I'm concerned about the possibility of internal bleeding. The spot I was kicked was rapidly discoloring, and more so that I would assume a bruise would.

I didn't trust my ability to get back to the Pokémon Center though, so I would need to wait till Entoma got back awake so I could use her as a supporting wheel on my way back. Heh, that's a decent trade to not have any cuddles.

Gargantua was the first to awaken. The first thing he noticed was his lack of rock shell, moaning at his exposed tail. I had taken off my shirt to keep an eye on my bruise, and Gargantua noticed and gave me a pitying look.

"Ah, don't worry about me too much. Go and get yourself a new shell, I'm sure there's a suitable one around here."

After a moment, Gargantua nodded and set off. A black shelled Dwebble, that'll be a sight.

Entoma woke up a full ten or so minutes later. Instead of the moderate pity that Gargantua gave me, she let out a sorrowful cry as she rolled over to me.

"Hey, Entoma. Looks like we both got a bit roughed, eh?"

She had a large crack in her exoskeleton where the axe kick had landed, but she didn't seem to have too much issue rolling over it.

"I'll be needing to use you to keep me upright as we walk back, I'm not in a good position to be moving all that much."

She couldn't nod, but her click and the look in her eye told me all I needed to know. A few minutes of silence passed

"Hey, Entoma." Her iris flicked to me. "Just want to let you know that I appreciate you. No doubt you saved my ass, and I respect that."

She crooned and I laid back down against the rock, closing my eyes. I needed a rest after what had just happened.

When I opened my eyes an hour later, Gargantua had returned. As expected, his new shell was a chunk of the igneous rock the rest of the coast consisted of.

"Lovely shell you've got there, Gar."

All three of their eyes flicked over to me, letting out a set of chitters and clicks. It's good to be wanted. Gargantua, specifically, let out a proud chatter at my compliment. I wasn't lying either, I adored the new dark grey-nearing-black of his shell.

As I stood up, my side flared up in pain. Looking at it, the color was distinctly off putting, a swollen and dark purple. I can't say I know internal bleeding signs all that well, but this at the very least was a bruise I needed to get looked at.

"Alright, let's try and make it back to the town. Entoma, as we talked about, I'll need you as support so I don't fall or something. Gar and Cocytus, you two-"

A flash of white flickered in my peripheral, but when I flicked my head in that direction, nothing was there.

I coughed, "Sorry about that, I thought I saw something. You two can stay in your balls if you like, otherwise, feel free to walk about with me."

Both of them shook their heads, so I let them stay out.

Another thought slammed into my skull. Eyes wide, I opened my backpack and pulled out the incubator. The Larvesta egg and the incubator were completely intact, to my relief. I hadn't experimented with the backpack of holding, but it seemed that the pocket dimension doesn't get shaken around if I, say, get launched through the air.

Just a crazy hypothetical.

I stored everything back up and gestured for us to leave. Entoma immediately moved to my side with the other two following shortly behind. Ugh, I can already tell this is going to suck. Eh, heave-ho and all that jazz.

I got significantly further down Ancient Poni Path than I did last time. Worryingly, I kept seeing flashes of white out of the corner of my eye, but it's entirely possible that this is some sort of PTSD or Mal0 situation, where my mind is just fucking with me.

This time I was interrupted by two gangly jackasses in their late teens, one male and one female. Both were dressed in punk outfits, though neither of them rocked them as good as Roxie did. Massive silver and black insignias hung off chains around their necks, proudly announcing them as Team Skull members

"Yo, yo! What're doing on Team Skull's turf? Seems like someone's cruising for a bruising!" said the male member.

Holy shit, it's like a thirteen-year-old attempting to imitate a gangster on Xbox Live.

I let out an irritated sigh, "Look, man, gonna have to ask you to piss off. I've been through a lot of shit today, I cannot be held accountable for what I will do to you if you don't leave."

They were both stunned for a moment before the female one began to speak, "You're just looking for a fight, aren't you, yo!"

I breathed in deeply, held it, and exhaled. My side was flaring up, worsening my temper by the second.

"Alright, let's make this easy," I said as evenly as I could. "You leave, or I have my friends here turn you into modern art."

"Alright, let's go, yo!" they said at once, tossing their Pokéballs.

Out of the balls came a Sandalit and a Mareanie, but before I could command my team to go at them I heard a childish voice.

"Mudsdale, git' 'em!"

A massive horse charged in between us, rearing up and slamming its hooves into the ground. I could see the earth shake as a shockwave traveled through the earth directly into the two grunt's Pokémon, sending them blasting backward.

The grunts' eyes widened and they called out, "It's the Kahuna, yo! Let's get outta here!"

They returned their Pokémon to their balls and dashed off. Honestly, how many times can you say "yo" in a single conversation?

A child in brown overalls with a deep purple bonnet walked out between the ruins, the Mudsdale walking over to her. She gave it a little pat before turning to me and speaking in her heavy southern accent.

"So, what brings 'ya 'round these parts? 'Yer welcome fer the Team Skull business, by the way."

I lift my shirt to show her my bruise. Her eyes widened at the bruise.

I chuckle, "I need to get to a Pokémon Center real quick. You mind helping me out?"

She immediately launched herself onto the back of the Mudsdale, telling me, "Saddle up real quick, hear? Gotta getcha' to the doc before that gets worse, I reckon."

She guided her Mudsdale over to me and helped me get up on it. Once on it, I recalled all three of my Pokémon and she spurred Mudsdale into a gallop.

"So, how'd ya' git smacked around like that?" she asked.

Should I tell her about the Ultra Beast situation? Nah, that'd bring me too much explaining. They can figure it out themselves. Ah, fuck, there's that flicker of white again.

Ignoring the flicker, I respond, "Ah, you know how it is. Messing around, taking a fall, all that sort of thing. Actually, I was out looking for some bug-types. You're the Kahuna, yea? Don't suppose you could point me in the direction of some bugs while you're here?"

She seemed a little suspicious of my fall story, but the distraction with the bug-type query got her distracted.

"Well, they're a few 'round Poni Island. You can get some Wimpod around the Breaker Coast, but it seems like 'ya already went and did that. In the Grove, you can find yerself some Heracross and Pinsir. The Meadow has some Cutiefly and Ribombee. Past that... err... Oh! In the Poni Plains, sometimes there's a Scyther or two roaming about, though you'd be lucky to see them."

"Glad to hear it. I admit, I was worried all I'd get here was my Wimpod, much as I'm glad to have him."

We galloped along the path, chatting all the way. It took less than an hour on horseback to get back to Seafolk Village. She gave me her name, Hapu, along the way.

Hapu stopped her Mudsdale in front of the Pokémon Center and helped me off. I was ushered into the center by her surprisingly strong arms as she called out to the nurse.

The Nurse Joy of this location had a whole-ass Blissey, which quickly waddled over as I pulled up my shirt, revealing my still worsening bruise. It laid its hand-thing on my side and let out a sad cry.

The nurse nodded seriously, "Definitely some serious internal bleeding. You're lucky you came around here when you did, a few more hours and we could have some issues. Blissey, I'm going to need you to use Softboiled."

The Blissey nodded, pulled its hand off my side, and summoned some ethereal egg. I winced as it cracked the egg onto my side, before a flash of relief hit. Before my eyes, the purpling skin and swelling began to go down.

Ah, that was nice. I had managed to block out most of the pain, so when it vanished it felt like a weight left me.

"Thank you for that, I was a bit worried," I hummed.

"It's not a problem! I'm just glad we could get you all fixed up before anything bad happened!" the lovely lady and her Blissey smiled at me.

"Oh, and I can't forget you, Hapu. Wouldn't have gotten back particularly quickly if not for you, and who knows what those thugs would do."

I was feeling awfully chipper, I blame it on the dopamine rush from the healing.

"Aww, don't 'ya worry 'bout it! Always happy to help. I'll be headin' back 'round soon 'nuff, if 'ya want a ride back."

"I'd love a ride back, but I'll need to pick up some stuff here first."

"I've got to stick 'round for a couple o' hours anyhow. Meet me outside the town in a while."

So, we left, prepared to meet a few hours later. Well, she left, I still had to get a quick check-up from Blissey. Afterward, I went over to the PokéMart in the PokéCenter.

Prices were consistent with the last time I went and got Pokéballs, all the way back in Floccesy Town. Man, it hasn't been all that long but it feels like ages since I was there. I considered splurging and getting some of the fancier Pokéballs, but eventually, I decided on the basics. A full purchase of ten balls also got me a premiere ball, which I figured would be perfect for my Larvesta.

The TM section was surprisingly packed, but the average price was about thirty thousand and I'm not about to spend that. Otherwise, I didn't want to be stuck in a situation where most of my team is unconscious, so I got three revives and four super potions. It was pricey as hell, but I could deal with that if it meant I didn't have to crawl back to a beach on my own.

My rations were nice and full still, so no worries there. I left the shop and went to the healing machine and got everyone nice and spiffy. Don't want them to be out of shape, and that crack on Entoma's shell was a little nasty.

I had a bit of time until I had to go meet up with Hapu, so I figured I ought to go and do a bit of tourism. Hadn't gotten the chance to last time, I was too focused on getting back into the wild and roughing it. Heh, if I had stuck around, perhaps I wouldn't have gotten kicked in the side.

Eh, maybe not, I'd probably have slept in the same spot on the beach anyhow. All the "houses" were a bunch of ships that came in and out pretty frequently, but a few had "Welcome Aboard!" signs posted on them, inviting travelers in.

The few I went on were interesting. Most notable was the Wailord boat, where I got some fancy noodles with a complimentary heart scale. "Z-noodles," as stupid as the name is, were surprisingly delicious.

It was still relatively relaxed, not much happened. I figured that I may as well go and kick back with my Pokémon over where we'd be meeting Hapu.

All my Pokémon had recovered, and we're put at ease when I showed them that I had been healed too. But, we had one important thing to do.

"Congrats on your evolution, Entoma!" I couldn't rub her head anymore, so I just rubbed her top.

She seemed a little surprised at the sudden praise but gladly accepted it.

"Now that you're all evolved and that, you're the hard hitter of the team. Let's figure out just how strong this new body of yours is. We've got a couple of hours, get to it!"