Whirlipede - Entoma

Dwebble - Gargantua

Wimpod - Cocytus

Heracross - Kyouhukou

Ribombee - Leinas

"Rise and shine, Rox!" I spoke loudly, shaking her tent.

I had taken to waking up early; Something about getting up with the sunrise just worked for me. My team hadn't taken issue either, it seems that sleeping habits in the wild die hard. This didn't really apply to when I was in a Pokémon center, but out camping, I tended to get up sooner.

Roxie, though, was not used to waking up early. I assume she could wake up early if she needed to, seeing as she was around for the boat rides in the morning. Generally speaking, punk types are the kind to sleep in, and Roxie did not seem to be the exception.

"Ugh... what is it?" she groaned out.

"Time to get up, do all that."

"Nooo... Don't wanna..."

A few minutes of badgering was all it took to convince her to get out of her tent. I made sure to keep quiet about her bedhead, figuring it was a bad idea to wake the sleeping dragon that was a teenage girl and her hair.

"Hey, Rox, mind if we stay here for the day, you know, get a bit of training in?" I asked, handing her a chunk of my rations.

"Eh, it's fine. I should probably get my new team a bit stronger." Her nose scrunched up as she bit into the ration, questioning, "Is this what you eat? All the time?"

"Yea? What's up with it?"

"It's so... bland."

I looked down at the chunk of mysterious calories. Was it that bland? I took another bite. Nah, it was decent.

"It's pretty good to me. If you want some different food, Leinas is more than willing to give you some pollen puffs."

Leinas perked up, floating over to Roxie with excitement. Roxie opened her mouth to speak, probably to ask what a pollen puff is, but Leinas simply generated one and shoved it in her opening mouth. Once the initial shock of the force-feeding wore off, she began to happily chew onto the treat.

She swallowed, "Huh, that's pretty good. Why don't you eat those all the time instead?"

"I guess I just like the rations. Paid good money for them, after all."

She shrugged, "Fair enough."

Kyouhukou and Gargantua had gone off with each other to find some berries for everyone. As much as we love Leinas and her puffs, you can only eat them so much. A boat ride of her attempts to feed us quickly caused the diminishing returns of flavor to kick in.

I wasn't about to keep Leinas from a new prey to her love, so I guess she gets out of training for now.

"Cocytus, Entoma. I'd like you to start working on a bit of accuracy. Cocytus, you had a surprising amount of endurance when it came to rapid-fire moves, but I'd like you to calm it down today. Keep it precise, not an excess. Entoma, you'll just be dodging."

That kickstarted another day of training, nothing particularly interesting.

We departed to Nacrene the next morning. Roxie was about as awake as yesterday morning; that is to say, not at all.

If anything, she was even worse than before. She didn't even bother to fix her hair like she eventually did the other day, walking around the forest with a permanent bedhead and dark shadows under her eyes.

The rest of the Pinwheel Forest was a straight shot down the paved road. Pinwheel is only important in the games to get the Dragonite Skull, but a specific story event hardly makes for a memorable location. I suppose it also has Virizion, but my irritating paranoia involving training anything not a bug-type made that pointless.

Outside of the Pinwheel Forest was the derelict train route. Or, was it the exterior Pinwheel Forest? I could never really tell, there wasn't a screen transition between it and Necrene in the games, but it was considered part of Pinwheel Forest according to the game.

Regardless, once we exited the forest proper, both Nacrene and the derelict came into view. This section seemed to be game-accurate, as a lady clad in a pink nurse's outfit was just to the right of the exit.

Well, if the game is accurate, perhaps I'll visit the Challenger Rock. Off in the little side route was a large rock, that if you brought a fighting-type along in your party, would allow you to collect a Comet Shard once a day.

Free cash is free cash, even if in the form of a fancy rock.

"Hey Rox, you want to do a bit of exploring before heading into the city?"

"No."

Roxie's head had not shifted in the slightest as she responded. Her tone was dead, like a corpse speaking.

"Are... you alright?" I asked, mildly concerned.

"I've gone two days without coffee, what do you think?" she deadpanned back.

Ah, yes, caffeine addiction. A horrible curse, I tell you.

"Well, if that's what you want, why don't you go ahead? I'm sure they've got a nice shop or two up in Nacrene. I'll let you sober up while I run around."

She considered it for a minute, before slowly replying, "Eh, sure. Meet you there."

Well, onwards to Challenger Rock! Roxie departed towards Nacrene, leaving me on my lonesome.

The path towards the moderately sized hill I assume hosted Challenger Rock was a nice little scene. Vivid green trees, some overgrown grass, I even passed over the decaying remains of a train track.

A Timburr tried to fight me, but that was swiftly dealt with. Kyouhukou was very efficient about hooking and launching his opponent into the air with his horn. Heh, I'll have to get a recording of him doing that again, the look of fear as the Timburr was sent into the stratosphere was enough to make me stop and laugh.

I made it to the hill and began climbing the steps. Two people awaited me at the top, one man and one woman. Both were in some kind of martial arts clothing. A Gi, perhaps? I'm not up to date on martial arts fashion. Regardless, they both had white tunics with black belts tied around their waists and wouldn't look too out of place as an actor in The Karate Kid.

"HALT!" called out the male one once I got about halfway up the poorly maintained stone stairs. "Have you come to test your mettle on the Challenger Rock!?"

"Err... I suppose I have, yes."

The woman spoke this time, "Then we must ask you some questions! First! What is your name?"

"Nico."

"Do you have a fighting-type Pokémon?"

"Well, yes. I do."

"Finally! Do you seek strength!?"

"Yup," I popped the "p."

"Excellent!" the man spoke again. "Then come, and your Pokémon shall test their mettle against Challenger Rock!"

I still had to climb the rest of the stairs with them watching. It was a little awkward.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, the man commanded, "Release your fighting-type!"

The man may speak in a permanent state of Drill Sergeant, but I released Kyouhukou regardless.

"Hmm... a strong Pokémon. Perhaps you will succeed," the woman commented.

We walked a minute or so in silence, and I wasn't willing to speak up and break the silence. A rock I assumed was Challenger Rock came into view, nestled in a valley at the top of the hill. The rock itself had a strange coloring to it, somewhere between brown and purple yet neither at the same time. It looked to be eight or so feet tall and twice that in diameter.

"This is Challenger Rock! Have your Pokémon strike it with all his might, determination, and passion!"

Thank you, strange man.

"Kyou, go ahead. Give it a smack."

Kyouhukou buzzed down into the valley, coming to a stop just in front of the large rock. He gave it a couple of pokes with his hand, testing it. Then, he raised his arm and brought it down with a Brick Break.

Crack!

The sound of something cracking with the hit resounded from Challenger Rock. No visible breaks in the rock appeared, strangely enough. Kyouhukou's wings buzzed with irritation as he prepared to strike again. Then, a chunk of the rock fell off the top, bouncing off Kyouhukou's head, sending the beetle to the ground as he lost his balance.

"Heh, I love to watch that happen," the woman giggled at the sight.

"Indeed! It is quite amusing!"

Is this... normal?

Kyouhukou stood back up, jerkily picked up the piece of the rock, and flew back up to me. He seemed just the slightest bit angry. I, on the other hand, was very happy. The chunk of the rock he handed me, which I knew to be a Comet Shard, was a solid five-pound chunk of it.

Hello, money.

"You have succeeded at the Challenger Rock, trainer. Take pride in knowing your Pokémon is mighty!" boomed the man.

"Ah, thank you?"

I left the two to whatever strange martial artists do in the woods with a comet. That was possibly the most uncomfortable I've ever been around someone here, they were just too enthusiastic. I mean, when given the option, why would you let people have access to a valuable rock. Do they even know if it's valuable? Eh, not my issue.

I started to walk down the hill, Comet Shard in hand.

Fwoosh!

I sighed, "Honestly, I wish you'd at least ask before taking my shit."

In yet another blink of white and brush of air, my fancy rock was gone. Kyouhukou's head darted around, looking for the source of the sudden movement.

"Calm down, Kyou. Just the scary bug lady again. You'd think some people would try and have decent manners, but no. We just get thieves around here."

Pheromosa appeared in front of me, Comet Shard nestled in her elbow, and blew a raspberry. Then, quick as she appeared, she was gone. I didn't even have it in me to be angry.

"How rude."

The audacity of this bitch.

I found Roxie at a chic little coffee shop, looking incredibly out of place in a crowd of trendy hipsters. Honestly, that's probably the best description I could give of Nacrene City: trendy.

It had this semi-modern aesthetic, perfect for someone looking to find a place that acted like they were keeping up with the times while simultaneously about to complain about society. Houses were dolled-up brick warehouses, revitalizing the old buildings with a hint of flair. All the shops I've seen looked perfectly at home with some fancy resort restaurant, just enough pretentiousness to attract customers but not too much that it would make people feel inadequate in them.

I admit, despite all my judging, I could see myself living here. I'm self-aware enough to recognize my nature.

Roxie had evidently noticed her messy hair and made a half-hearted attempt to tame it, returning it to something similar to her normal hairstyle. She was absentmindedly sipping on a massive jug of coffee, it looked like something out of an American gas station's self-serve soda fountains.

Her face didn't display the same exhaustion as it did earlier. It was a little bit tired, but more reminiscent of morning drowsiness. It had only been half an hour at most since we broke up the squad, so I was a little surprised to see her so quickly revitalized. Eh, good for her, I suppose.

"Hey, Rox," I said, leaning over the rails dividing me from the shop patio, "I'm back."

She looked over to me, a little surprised, "Oh! You're already back? Find anything neat?"

I thought about the Comet Shard. "No, I can't say I did. It seems you did though, that's quite the container you got there."

She chuckled, "Heh, yeah, I guess I might have gone a bit overboard. Y'know, it's the whole shopping while hungry thing, a bad time to get something. I'll have to pick up a portable coffee machine or somethin'."

I hopped the fence, pulling up a seat and sitting down with Roxie. I got a bit of a glare from a waiter, but nobody interfered. "Hey, whatever keeps you going. Speaking of going, is there anything you'd like to do while here? If I remember right, they've got a fancy museum."

Roxie snapped her fingers, evidently recalling something. "Right! The Nacrene Museum! It doubles as a Gym if you want to give it a go."

Challenging the gym? I'll eventually have to do it, and I am here already. Decisions, Decisions.

"Eh, nah," I decided, "We'll be coming here again later. Might as well give it a shot when I'm stronger."

She nodded, "I gotcha, just not up to it yet. It'll be neat to see you fight 'em when you do get around to it."

Now, I was curious. "What about you? Are you planning on fighting any gyms?"

"Eh, dunno," she hummed, "might give it a shot when you do. Should be fun to have a bit of a challenge to keep me on my toes. Back to the museum though, might as well. A little distraction and all that."

"So, when are we heading out?"

She stood up, "I'm ready now, paid it all when I got it. Are you good to go or do ya' want to get something to drink too?"

"Nope, I'm fine," I said, standing up as well. "Not much of a coffee fan myself, bit too bitter."

We left the coffee shop, still making small talk about our favorite drinks. The Nacrene Museum was a short walk away. It wasn't all that hard to find, it was the largest building in the town by far.

Approaching the site, I couldn't help but notice a small crowd outside the building. Of the group, I recognized three of the people involved. Alder stood off to the side, while Hilda and Lenora talked face to face. An amber-haired old man and a younger woman with matching hair stood off to the side along with a blond woman dressed in green and orange.

Going off context clues, we had Professor Juniper, Cedric Juniper, and Bianca gathered together in the main character squad for some story event. Oh, there's why. Lenora produced a moderately sized black stone from under her arm, presumably the Dark Stone. Hello, Zekrom.

As we got nearer, I heard Bianca say, "Whoa. Isn't that the... stone... found at the Desert Resort?"

"Yes, that's right," Lenora responded, "but is it really a dragon-type Pokémon?"

Not wanting to seem suspicious by eavesdropping, I call out, "Hey, Hilda! Fancy seeing you here!"

The whole party except Alder jumped at my call. Turning towards me, Hilda blinked in surprise, "Err... Nico, was it? Back from Alola? And, with a friend, I'm guessing?"

"Yup, got back a couple of days ago. Am I interrupting something? Sorry, just saw you and figured I'd call over to 'ya."

"Oh, no, no!" she winced a bit. "Well, maybe a little."

"Oh, alright. We were just planning on heading into the museum, don't mind us too much," I waved my hand in a dismissive motion to my words. "Oh, and hello, Alder. Nice to see you again."

"Good to see you too!"

I moved past the group, Roxie in tow, and entered the building. Lenora in particular looked at me with moderate irritation, I suppose she still doesn't like me. Oh, no! the consequences of my actions. How horrible.

After paying for the tickets to enter the museum as a whole, Roxie began to question me. "Hey, who were those people? And was that the champion?"

"To the second question, yes," I responded. "And that was Hilda, I met her once in Nimbasa, helped her fight off some Team Plasma members. Not sure what she's doing here, but I figured I'd say 'hello' regardless. I've got no clue who the rest are, though."

"Ah, gotcha."

Perusing the artifacts and exhibits, my thoughts turned back to the Dark Stone. It's been long enough since I've played Black and White, to the point where the story events kind of flowed together. Regardless, if Hilda has the Dark Stone, that means N has gotten ahold of Reshiram at this point.

Meaning, N is running around with enough power to beat up the red headed old man likely still outside the museum. That's just the slightest bit terrifying. The whole "taking Pokémon from the PC system" was going to occur pretty soon, meaning that I need to travel to some of the more... restrictive... regions, I could store Pokémon through that pretty easily.

So, she's somewhere between the seventh and eighth gym? How long would it be till she reaches the Pokémon League? If it took about a month or so to get from Nimbasa to-

"Nico?" Roxie poked my shoulder, breaking me from my thoughts. "You good? Ya' zoned out for a bit."

"Oh, yea, yea, I'm good. Was just curious as to what's going on out there, it seemed like that rock they had was pretty important."

"Hmm... I guess. Don't see what that matters though, not our problem."

I blinked, "Shit, fair enough."

"You know it. Now come on, I want to see the bones."

I was a pretty neat collection of bones, I've got to admit.

-TSM-

We had plenty of time to go around Nacrene and didn't feel like dipping back into the wilds quite yet. Not that Striaton was particularly far away, but it was still a decent walk away and we'd rather take in the sights, enjoy the city, and all that nonsense. Wandering the streets, we hadn't found anything particularly interesting yet. Strange shops and restaurants were the standard non-residential, but neither of us were particularly interested in buying crystals or unique shirts.

Of course, that was bound to change eventually.

"Yo, is that an arcade? I haven't been to one of those since I was a kid!" Roxie excitedly chattered.

A large neon sign in a window proudly announced that, in fact, the building was an arcade. The side of the building was littered with further evidence, posters, and merchandise alike. I couldn't help but die a little on the inside at the sight of some of the games.

Poké Combat, a mortal kombat rip-off. Or, how about Poké Capture, the Duck Hunt parody? Let's not forget the worst of them all: Poké-ball, which was just pinball with the Poké- prefix.

It's the whole Batman issue, does he really need to call everything a different name? Just because your car has bat-like qualities doesn't mean you need to call it the "Batmobile" or any other ridiculous name. Ah, whatever, I'm just an excessively critical cynic.

"I can't say I remember the last time I've been to an arcade myself," I replied. "Want to give it a shot?"

"You know it!"

I admit I was a bit skeptical going in, but the arcade assuaged my fears. It was dimly lit, pretty spacious, and the walls and floor were lined with arcade machines. There was a surprisingly consistent mixture of adults, teenagers, and children playing the games, and all of them seemed to be having a pretty enjoyable time. The machines were pay-per-game, but it was hardly an unreasonable price.

"What do we want to budget, like, two hundred Pokédollars or so?" I ask.

She snorted at me, "Budgeting? We're here to have fun! Just splurge a little, cmon!"

You know, this was exactly how I lost a thousand or so when we hung out in Castelia. I suppose I should have recognized that the punk girl would be a bit carefree, so this one is my fault.

"Eh, fair enough."

I did say I need to destress a while back, and this is an excuse to do so. Eh, fuck it. Party time, baby!

Now is the part where if I flash to an hour, where Roxie and I are very much not relaxed as we compete in an old-school fighting game. Eh, it'll be fun anyhow.

We wound up sleeping at the Pokémon Center, having played at the arcade well into the night. As we exited our rooms, meeting in the Pokémon Center lobby, Lenora suddenly walked into the lobby.

"ATTENTION ALL TRAINERS! TEAM PLASMA IS CURRENTLY ATTEMPTING TO SYSTEMATICALLY CAPTURE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF POKÉMON IN PINWHEEL FOREST! I AM ASKING ALL TRAINERS TO ASSIST IN THEIR DEFEAT. THANK YOU."

Man, that lady has a set of lungs on her. I looked at Roxie inquisitively. She was still a little tired, but it seemed the sudden announcement had gotten her awake.

"Come on Nico! We have to go help!"

Do we have to? Team Plasma will fail soon enough, does it matter if they have a few extra monkeys and flowers? Still, they must be getting pretty confident if they're going around without hiding behind PR-friendly activities. Eh, they'll be around here for the next two years anyhow, maybe this would come back to bite me if I don't help.

So, as Roxie power walks away, I follow. It was another short walk back to Pinwheel Forest, nothing special. Roxie had a determined grimace set on her face, obviously upset about something. I assume it's the whole "stealing Pokémon" thing, but it never hurts to be uncertain.

Arriving at the entrance, Lenora was waiting. A dozen or so other trainers had also gathered, prepared to enter the forest as a group. Scanning over us, likely scoping out the numbers, Lenora noticed me. A look of almost grudging respect came over her face, likely assuming that even though I'm a dick, I'm still the kind of person to go out of my way to help a Pokémon in need.

Heh, a classic case of misinterpretation of actions.

"Alright, everyone!" Lenora began to speak, "Let's get going! Stick together, we don't want an individual to be singled out. We don't know exactly how many members are out there, so be careful."

She turned and entered the forest, the group following behind her, Roxie and I included. We didn't stick to the main path, instead turning to one of the more open side trails. The group muttered and chatted between themselves, generally coming to the consensus that Team Plasma are possibly bad dudes. You'd think they would figure that out sooner, but it seemed to be a new idea to them.

It took a few minutes, but we eventually found a small group of Plasma Grunts. Only five of them, and considering we had a solid dozen trainers, they were quick to surrender, no fight involved. Turns out, they were lookouts and not particularly devoted to their jobs, willing to sell out their team with the promise of reduced punishment.

They gave up information on the group in the forest. Turns out, there's a solid twenty to thirty members roaming about. They were attempting to maximize the efficiency of capture, so they were going out in groups of four. Since we had plenty of people, they had us split up into two groups of six for superiority in numbers.

It was me and Roxie with four other schmucks, none of them important enough to talk to. Not that we were supposed to talk anyway, seeing as this was more of a stealth thing. We didn't want to alert the smaller groups and get them to reconvene, after all.

So, we prowled just off the beaten path, through brambles and branches. I was mildly tense, not quite like the rest of the group who were as stiff and wary as possible. I figure, if they're a team sent to capture random wild Pokémon, their lineup is likely less than stellar. Save the important teams for the important tasks and all that.

Sounds of a scuffle came from a distance, so we followed the noise. The information given seemed to be accurate, as a set of four Plasma Grunts and their various Purloin and Scraggy were entrapping and attacking a group of three Pansear.

Just as I was about to start whispering a half-formed plan, one of the people I had ignored, a man in his early twenties, hopped from the cover, called out a Herdier, and shouted, "Get away from those Pokémon, Team Plasma!"

You know, completely ruining any element of surprise.

"Damn it!" I cursed, "You idiot! Everyone, get in there!"

I wasn't prepared to immediately enter combat, so I floundered around for the right Pokéballs. By the time I managed to get a random Pokéball thrown, sending Leinas out, everyone else had engaged.

The man with a Herdier was fighting two Purrloin, Roxie fought a Purrloin and Scraggy at once with her Whirlipede, and another grunt had sent two Scraggy my way.

Leinas was a bit confused and uncertain about the situation, evidently not expecting to be sent out in a conflict. I suppose that solves the question of just how aware Pokémon in Pokéballs are, unless there are multiple states of awareness. Honestly, I should just look it up at this point.

"Leinas, use Fairy Wind on those two Scraggy!"

Snapping out of her shock, Leinas summoned a Gale of pink-tinged wind. The current of air caught both of the Scraggys, and judging by their cries of pain it wasn't particularly enjoyable. If I had to guess, it was like getting blasted with insanely hot air, but replacing the heat radiation with strange magical radiation composed of happiness and sunshine.

Despite being canonically four times weak to fairy-types in the games, it seemed that a single blast of fairy energy wasn't quite enough to knock them out. At the order of their trainer, the two split off so that they wouldn't be quite as vulnerable to AoE attacks. The leftmost Scraggy launched itself at Leinas in what would be a vicious Headbutt attack.

"Leinas, get higher up and keep moving. Don't get hit!"

With a quick flutter, Leinas took to the air, twisting around unpredictably. The Scraggy attempting to Headbutt Leinas made an arc through the air, its own momentum preventing it from landing and moving.

"Pollen Puff it into the ground," I commanded.

Leinas turned to the airborne Scraggy, summoning a buckshot of Pollen Puffs. Quick as they were summoned, the orbs were fired directly onto the lizard-things' back. Its body contorted around the blast as it was propelled directly into the ground, creating a small crater.

The grunt growled, recalled the Scrafty, and yelled out, "Scraggy! Hi Jump Kick!"

Mate, I hate to tell you, not only is my Pokémon a bug/fairy type, it can fly away. Not worth the risk.

And it turns out, the risk didn't pay off. With a mighty push, the remaining Scraggy managed to launch itself an impressive twenty feet into the air. Then, using the same strange physics that make Smack Down abruptly shift downward, the Scraggy launched foot-first at Leinas.

Of course, she just moved a couple of feet to the side, not tired whatsoever from the short flight.

The Scraggy came crashing down into the ground with an immense momentum, landing with all his momentum on a single locked-open leg. As durable as Pokémon are, nothing beats the cold, cruel grasp of Newtonian Physics forever. Its outstretched leg hit the ground, bent in the wrong way, and suddenly the Scraggy wasn't going to be fighting anymore.

It was the first time I've seen a Pokémon break a leg, but at least that explains why Hi Jump Kick had such a harsh penalty in the game. A bit disgusting to watch, if I'm honest. This is why I train my Pokémon, so I don't have to deal with this sort of body horror.

The Scraggy was recalled, and to his credit, the grunt seemed somewhat apologetic as he looked down on the Pokéball. I guess he's just mostly a hypocrite.

Then, pocketing the Pokéball, he glanced up at Leinas, still a decent distance away from me in the air. Apparently deeming it a good idea to use me as a hostage, I was bum-rushed by a man in fake plate mail. Never thought I'd say that sentence, but life is a wild ride.

Speaking of a wild ride, the man was sent for a one as an indiscernible white blur launched him backward, leaving him motionless. I glanced around, trying to see if anyone had noticed.

At this point, the combat was wrapping up. The monkeys the Plasma members were trying to catch had escaped. Our side was mostly unharmed and, except for one lady's Tympole, we were perfectly ready to continue searching. Of course, we couldn't just let the group go, meaning we had to walk them all the way back to Nacrene City.

But, nobody seemed particularly interested in my specific combat except, you know, Roxie, who stared at the launched man with wide eyes. She had just finished fighting the two Pokémon sent after her, evidently looking for more people to help fight. Fuck, I already know this is going to cause me problems. Honestly, even when technically helping me this bug-lady is a pain.

I started making shushing motions at her, which she noticed and nodded in response, though confused.

With only mild paranoia, I helped our group round up the remaining enemies. The trip back didn't have any drama besides me backhandedly mentioning the value of ambushes to an embarrassed man and a confused Plasma grunt uncertainly rubbing his bruised chest. It seemed that, yes, only Roxie had seen the flash of Pheromosa. Good, I have leverage in the form of friendship over her. It would be much harder to keep my stalker a secret from the rest of the population if someone else knew, and I don't want that attention.

Strangely enough, by the time our group made it back to the forest, Lenora's group was exiting empty-handed.

"Our informant neglected to mention that in one of the groups was a Sage," she irritably informed us, "I didn't have enough firepower to risk a confrontation, so we came to a deal. We keep the members we have already caught, and the rest of them... we'll leave."

Eh, sucks to be her, I guess. I'll admit, I zoned out for the rest of the conversation, but Roxie seemed pretty invested. All "we'll get them next time" and all that sentiment. Though, I can't say I'm too disappointed, finally got to use Leinas in a fight, and she put in work.

After all that, the group broke up, and Roxie and I began to walk back to Nacrene.

"Nico?" she began, "What was that... whatever it was?"

My brow furrowed as I tried to think of what exactly to say. "Well... I don't quite know how to explain it. Though, I'd prefer to wait till we got to somewhere more secluded to talk about it, I don't want people listening in."

"Don't want... Nico, is this a big thing? Like some kinda' mystery novel secret?"

I breathed out a light chuckle, "Not quite that big, but big enough it could get a bit of attention that I'm not particularly interested in having. So, please, hold off on the questions for now."

"Alright, alright," she sighed, "where should we talk about this?"

"Let's say tomorrow, we head out to Striaton. It's a decent walk away, I'm sure we can find some sort of corner to hide in and discuss our big mystery book secret."

She laughed at that, so I suppose I was doing a decent job at deescalating. "Heh, fine, we'll make like the Snivy Brothers tomorrow. This better be good."

"The Snivy Brothers? The mystery novel brothers? Have you never heard of them?"

I swear to God, if they Poké-fied the Hardy Brothers I will go ballistic.