As soon as I felt the transfer finishing, I popped out of my ball.

I'd had a lot of thought about whether I wanted to follow Cynthia, and while I didn't like the idea of surrendering any of my newfound freedom, I also agreed with Calem that she was my best bet. Just not for the same reasons he thought.

While I could easily assume that there was some truth to the idea of this world potentially being in danger, my reasons were rather more selfish. Cynthia was- or would be, apparently- the foremost archeologist, the person connected to all the lore doodads concerning the Sinnoh region. That included Arceus. Even just Palkia would do, to send me home. Failing that, she would still become the Top Trainer of the region, which would open up all sorts of opportunities. Wealth and fame could net me interesting possibilities... such as the idea of making my way over to Alola where they're studying Ultra Wormholes.

That was also, in part, the reason I'd attempted to seek Mesprit out, but for better or worse it didn't show up. Coming back to the present, I stared at Cynthia. The blonde girl had traded the blue dress for a black jacket, azure shorts, and black boots. More sensible than before, at least.

Ignoring her startled jump, I looked around before slamming both my paws on my nose as the extremely intense smell of flowers hit it. After a moment the sensation subsided as my nose got used to it, but I could already feel the headache coming.

"Right, the professor told me you didn't like staying in your ball. So, I'd like to become your trainer. You want to become even stronger than you are, right? I'm building a team in order to take on the strongest trainers in the world, and I want you to join it. I've seen firsthand what you can do, and I believe I can help you reach even greater heights. What do you say?"

I watched as her hopeful expression dwindled at my deadpan stare. She'd gotten my measure completely wrong. "If I hadn't already agreed to look over you..." I sighed, before putting my paw out to shake her hand. She stared at me in surprise for a moment, before beaming sunnily and taking it.

CRASH!

I winced in surprise, feeling my muscles immediately tense as I instinctively worked myself up, feeling for danger outside of the Pokémon Center. After a moment, I slowly felt myself unstiffen, though I wasn't any less ready. Two trainers were duking it out.

After accepting that things were messed up around here, it wasn't quite as shocking to see what appeared to be younger versions of Cyrus and Palmer duking it out, a Sneasel belonging to the former versing a Rhyhorn belonging to the latter.

"Take Down again, Rhyhorn!" "You've got it boss!" The spiky rhino cheerfully replied, kicking up stone after stone and tossing them at the Sneasel.

"Circle and Metal Claw, destroy them." I tilted my head. While I didn't necessarily think it wouldn't work, Sneasel didn't really look like a Pokémon fit for the "Tank and Rush" strategy, the rocks being chucked at it being larger than it was. Still, it clearly made things work, because with a grunt of effort, the stones were shattered one after the other, the ice type fatigued but unharmed.

After a moment, Cynthia stepped up next to me, quietly observing the battle from the couch next to the windowsill as well, as did other people.

"Again, Rhyhorn! We've got them on the backfoot!" Palmer cheered. Cyrus simply stood there, hands behind his back, waiting. Another round of "break the rock ensued", and I narrowed my eyes. As I tried to figure things out, I noticed that Sneasel was ever so slowly advancing- and more than that, the smashed stones were littering the battlefield as it circled around Rhyhorn.

The Sneasel was trembling with exhaustion by the end of the second onslaught. Palmer grinned savagely, the idiot. "Ready to admit defeat? Your Sneasel is practically out of energy since you treat your Pokémon as though they were unfeeling machines."

"That idiot…" Cynthia slapped her palm against her face.

Cyrus just sneered at him. "Taunt, vanish."

Sneasel, exhaustion seemingly forgotten despite the way its aura was dimming, flashed a smirk at Cyrus before pulling its eyelid down and sticking out it tongue. "Catch me if you can, you dumb sack of bricks!"

"Oh no you don't, you weaselly bastard! I've got you now!" Rhyhorn roared, charging after the Sneasel, who vanished amidst the rock field. Another shout of outrage saw it start to blitz through the terrain it itself had created head first.

What followed was the saddest game of failed whackamole, with Palmer failing to control his Pokémon's anger through the taunts and Sneasel punishing every fail by blowing frigid wind in the Rhyhorn's direction until it passed out in exhaustion.

At that moment, Cynthia decided to approach, and I followed. For some reason, however, she pulled out her Pokédex and seemingly snapped a picture of the two. The smell of flowers was becoming overwhelming, and I was feeling mildly light headed.

"Is this how you two entertain yourselves? Dirtying up the place in front of the Pokémon Center?" she asked haughtily, standing on one of the rocks that Palmer pulled out from the ground and Sneasel shattered.

"Cynthia!" Palmer called out, before looking around. After a moment, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Man, I guess I got a bit too carried away there, huh?"

She snorted. "Ah yes, 'a bit'. If your father could see you right now, he would be fining you for one billion Pokédollars. What if I could make that happen?" she waved her Pokédex around cheekily.

"Waaah!" he cried out, before falling on his knees. "Please, Grand Mistress of all things battle, have mercy on my soul!" he quite literally prayed to her.

This was kind of pathetic. Was this truly the guy who would go on to be the Battle Tower leader?

"I guess it can't be helped. I shall spare you this one time." she sighed, dramatically brushing her hair backwards. I swear I could see sparkles for a moment, as I was reminded that this world was technically an anime.

"As much as seeing him writhe on the ground is cathartic, we don't have all day here Cynthia." Cyrus frowned. "Where were you, at any rate? You claimed you would be right on our tail after your Gabite healed up from the Gym challenge, but you're a week late. You also have a new Pokémon." he pointed to me. It was still wild for me to see Cyrus, grand leader of Team Galactic, the guys who had the biggest shot at completely rewriting reality, as a moody teenager.

Cyrus was dressed sensibly; a white button up with a black tie, blue jeans, and comfortable looking shoes. Not necessarily the best travel wear, but I'd just agreed to go around with someone who went around in a dress and heels when we first met. Palmer, likewise, went around in a black tee, cargo pants, black shoes and a handkerchief around his neck. At least, I think that's a handkerchief.

God, this headache was killing me.

Cynthia sighed. "I would've, but Rowan found out that there were some crooks hiding in one of the buildings in town, so we had to…" I stopped focusing on what she was saying, instead grabbing my head.

The smell of flowers… why was it so strong…?

"Hey there, pal." A claw landed on my shoulder, and I didn't even find the strength to lash out, barely raising my head to look at the Sneasel. "You okay there?"

"The flowers, they're… making me feel all weird." I gagged. I wasn't quite at puking stage, but my stomach was closing in a knot real quick.

"Oh, yeah. You're probably not used to the smell. Though, they're not that strong really." Sneasel commented. "Sure, I'm gonna have to go roll myself in the mud once we get out of here since smelling flowery is the opposite of stealth, but when everything around you is flowers… kinda nice." He took a deep breath of flowers.

"They're messing with my head…" I grit my teeth. I could feel uncertainty and confusion creep up through me. I looked at Cynthia, figuring that it'd be best to get back to my Pokéball, but she hadn't even noticed.

All of a sudden, the memory of me nearly killing her flashed in my mind, making my heart leap in my throat. I'd really almost killed a child like that. The sunny look she gave me when I accepted to join her… I don't-

As the pain hit my head like a sledgehammer trying to hit my skull, the last thing I heard was a faint "Hey! I swear I did nothing this time, he just fell over on his own!" As though I had cotton in my ears.

Another strike, and this time I actually went down.


"He's just been sitting in his cage. He eats, sleeps and even exercises on his own normally. But the moment I send him out into the field, he just plops himself down and takes it. Sometimes he'll even talk to his opponents in whatever freaky Pokémon language thing they've got going on. This bitch is just a money sink, I swear- completely stubborn to his core."

"I see. Well, far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, but I do believe that some things take a more… persuasive approach."

"...is that a-"

"Why, yes. You're well informed for a grunt."

"I did do my studies, ma'am. It's half the reason I'm with Team Might in the first place- the academies are a little too concerned with the ethics of things to look into how we could really make use of Pokémon. Is that why we're allying with them?"

"Among other things, but you needn't worry your little head about that. Since you seem to know what to do with this, I'll trust you to provide results, now that you have the means of motivating the little beast."

"Of course ma'am. I haven't heard of one Pokémon that wouldn't go crazy violent with one of these."


When I was conscious again, I got up quickly, scanning the environment. Getting knocked out like that was… weird. But apparently, we were in the forest, no longer in Floaroma proper- though if the scents I could smell on the wind were anything to go by, the city wasn't far.

"You alright?" Cynthia asked me. She was wearing the same clothes as before, so I probably wasn't out for too long. "Apparently, you're allergic to Gracideas. We set things up with Nurse Joy and we were able to get you your booster shot, but you're going to be feeling a bit of nausea for a bit. She said you were fine for training, though."

I nodded, watching as she fingered the rest of the Pokéballs on her belt. My head was pounding slightly, but way less than before.

As they were released from their Pokèballs, I stared at Gabite and Budew. The grass type stared at me back in open curiosity; we had not been introduced to one another yet. Gabite, on the other hand-

I could feel liquid rage pour in my veins as frost enveloped my arm, allowing me to slug the dragon in the claws just as it was getting ready to skewer me, having gotten up in my face. I could feel my arm warm up with pain, but it was nothing to the glorious way Gabite screamed.

"HEY! BREAK IT UP, YOU TWO!" Cynthia shouted, placing herself in between us. I raised an eyebrow at that- the sheer balls on this woman to get between two Pokèmon's fight. Still, Gabite listened, despite the fact that it was now looking at me in a feral lizard way.

"Miss Gabite! You hurt her!" Budew turned to look at me with a look of betrayal on its face and a very squeaky voice, and I shrugged, raising the arm where a not-that-thin stream of blood was pouring down.

"She started it. I just defended myself."

"Alright, listen, there will be no more fighting without my say so!' Cynthia shouted. "Budew, Gabite, this is our new teammate, Riolu. As he... just demonstrated," she frowned. "You have a remarkable weakness to Ice type moves, one that I fully expect Byron to exploit to try and quickly take you out of the competition, as he most likely knows already about you. While you're still the strongest fighter overall, Riolu is going to be our ace for the upcoming battle."

Gabite reeled back as though physically struck, before glaring at me so harshly you'd think she was using a move. "Just you wait, pipsqueak. As soon as you slip up..." she growled.

Cynthia sighed as she fished out an Ice Heal- I'd seen enough of the pink colored bottles in the last few days- and liberally applied it to both of Gabite's claws. "Gabite, we're going to work on your evasive maneuvers and your ground type moves. Back when you were a Gible, you lacked the speed to do things, but that's changed- and your ability to perform Bulldoze to slow your opponent down further and entrapping them in Sand Tomb means you'll be able to run circles around them."

Gabite, now recovered from the frost and given a pep talk, flashed me a grin that promised pain. "Two to zero, jaws, catch up first before thinking you've won." I huffed.

As Cynthia nodded to us and went about instructing Gabite to do certain things, Budew approached me.

"U-um! Hi! I'm Budew!"

"...Nasir." I pondered the idea of introducing myself by my species' name, but given that others may have become a Pokèmon like me, I might as well use that.

"Oh!" She paused, looking at me in confusion. "I thought Mistress said that you're a Riolu?"

Oh boy, here we go again. I was getting too used to speaking with humans. "I am a Riolu, but I am Nasir."

"Oh. Is that like a title?"

"...no." I facepalmed. "Okay, so. Picture this. Our trainer is... well, our trainer. You could call that her title."

"I call her Mistress."

...sweet mother of God give me strength- "That works. Her name, however, is Cynthia. And she is a human."

"Oh, right, I recall the other humans calling her something weird... I'm not as good at human speech as you are, though." A sad frown came on her face. "I get easily enough when she's calling out for certain attacks, but I mostly go off of her vibes when she's talking..."

I blinked, glancing over where Cynthia and Gabite were talking. "I thought you guys understood her?"

"Oh, Miss Gabite does, they've lived together for a loooooooooooong time now. I only joined them a few moons ago."

"That makes sense… how'd-"

"I guess it's good that at least you two don't seem to be starting things off beating each other up." Cynthia chimed in, hand on her hip as she returned towards us. I glanced towards Gabite, but if the way she seemed to be speeding through the trees at a rapid pace while constantly covering herself in sand was any indication, it seemed like she had things handled.

"Yeah. So, what are we doing?"

She didn't seem to pick up on what the question was, since she completely ignored me in favor of turning to Budew. "I'm going to be honest with you, Budew. I don't think you'll be of much use in the coming Gym."

"What?! Why!" Budew cried out. "Am I too weak?"

"Calm down." Cynthia commanded. "It's not what you think. Simply put, most of the trainers that we've fought so far are extremely susceptible to your fighting style of setting up your Spikes, bogging them down with poison and waiting for them to faint while you keep yourself healthy with Mega Drain. That's just not going to work."

If the way Budew looked like she was going to cry, that wasn't helping. Then again, I wonder how much she picked up of that to begin with.

"The opponent's team is full of Steel types. While you could, in theory, learn to fight against them, it goes against everything that I've taught you so far, and relearning your entire style just for the sake of a singular battle is wasteful. I just want you to focus on getting better at what you already know to do, okay? Work on your endurance. I want you to try and slow down Gabite as much as you can and prevent her from attacking you, while she tries to evade your attacks and strike back. Get at it."

A tearful nod is all she received as Budew began toddling away, and I frowned. That seemed like an overreaction. I wonder what's going on, behind that, or how much of it Budew understood besides "you're going to be of little use". Still, Cynthia turns to me.

"So. Ice Punch, huh?" Cynthia said, kneeling down on the grass at my level. "The move demo the professor sent me didn't contain such a move." She paused, before pointing at my right arm. "And given the fact that I can still see the frost lingering on your paws, am I right to assume you've just learned it?" She asked, raising the can of Ice Heal. After a moment, I tentatively nodded. "You really are a vicious one..." she murmured. After a moment, she slowly reached out to grab my arm, and I allowed her. The warm, anti-freeze substance soon melted what little frost remained on my paw, and after a moment she swapped it out with a purple container, the spray of which closed up the wound. "Thanks." I muttered.

"Did you know your little stunt put that entire Pokècenter out of commission? The head nurse had to be transferred to another hospital for three broken ribs, and her Chansey hasn't recovered yet." My eyes widened, but before my thoughts could go anywhere, she continued. "I won't blame you for it, but that ends now." She stood back up.

"Gabite does need a rival to measure herself up against, but that doesn't mean you should go out of your way to injure her. I don't mind you expanding your roster of moves, but you probably could've done with a move to shore up your own weaknesses, rather than attack your team member."

That's not quite..." I began, before trailing off as I remembered that she couldn't understand me. Ultimately I settled for an uncertain wobble of my paw. Seeing that I had her attention, I began drawing on the ground with a claw, trying to put the thought of that nurse and the Chansey out of my mind.

I wasn't going to claim that putting Gabite in her place was not on my list of reasons- albeit, mostly because of the fact that I (correctly) expected it- her? To want to take revenge on me. But I also was taking seriously the idea of growing stronger. As such, I wanted something to work on towards when I evolved.

The thought of evolution was a weird one. Everyone and their grandmother imagined themselves as a Riolu eventually turning into a Lucario at the thought of becoming a Pokèmon- and I had lucked out in the sense of retaining a humanoid shape. But Lucarios needed friendship to evolve.

That... was a whole other matter. Ugh. Don't want to think about that now.

Still, thinking about eventually becoming a Lucario, if only because I'd never keep up in terms of power otherwise, meant that I had to deal with the Steel typing. One of the best defensively, immunity to poisons sounded sick, but also came with weaknesses. One of them being ground type, Ice Punch was the next logical step.

To that effort, I drew on the ground a triangle with arrows that led a mountain to a gear to a snowflake back to the mountain in a small chart, before popping out my Metal Claws.

Cynthia nodded seriously. "I see. But why not shore up one of your already existing weaknesses?" I winced at that. That came with a more complicated drawing that took me a few minutes to accomplish as I tried to remember how to draw the symbols for the types. Ultimately, I settled for an eye and a wing and put them next to an arrow, then put a clenched fist and a mountain next to a sword.

I huffed as Cynthia read my message. I placed no stock in her understanding me if I wrote, not when this place actually used something similar to kanji for writing (and that, technically speaking, made me illiterate). I'd learned the language over the course of my life here, but that meant I was stuck playing this exhausting game of charades.

"You're trying to tell me that... being a prevalently melee combatant, you don't have many options against prevalently ranged typings such as Flying and Psychic?" She guessed.

"Yeah." I confirmed with a nod, thankful for her not being dumb.

"Well, I'll be. You truly placed much more thought in this than I could've imagined. And with how many scars line your body, I can tell you're an experienced battler. Gabite is more powerful than you are, but has only a fraction of the experience." I glanced at her, wondering where she was going with this.

"Right now, especially with the upcoming gym battle being grossly in our favor, I daresay you're overqualified in terms of strength. Instead, I would like for you to focus on controlling how much you're putting out and getting your emotions under control so we don't get arrested." For a moment, I could imagine a comically large drop of sweat on her head. "To that effort, I want you to battle with me against some of the trainers here. However, you must follow my orders exactly, and unless I tell you to, you're not allowed to finish off the opponent, okay?"

"...what?" I narrowed my eyes, staring at her in disbelief.

"You're strong and you're smart, Riolu," she began, looking at me intently. "But if you don't follow my orders, you're worse for the team than a weak, dumb pokemon who follows what I tell it to. Got it?" I could feel my hackles rising, but forced myself to nod. Remember, this is supposed to be the potential savior of the region.

"Let's get to it, then."


So as mostly everyone could guess, Nasir isn't really into the whole team thing for friendship and smiles. He sees Cynthia as the lesser evil that might allow him to achieve his means. He's also... not very patient about it.

That's kind of what happens when you get a Pokémon that is way overleveled for your party, isn't it?

I'm gonna be changing my update schedule! Updating 4 fics all at the same time is hard, man . instead, I will be uploading one update at the start of each month, and every week thereafter, it'll be another fic (In the order of The Elemental Nations Gamer Experience - Comfort By Candlelight - Royal Business - Syzygy). But don't worry! This month, I'm doing my start-of-month update, *and* this new update!

If you wish to support my writing, you can check me out on the place of patrons where I post five chapters ahead. Alternatively, you can always PM me in private if you wish to commission something written where we can hash out the details. Otherwise, a review is still more than enough, and I can't be thankful enough for it.

I now also have a Discord Server! If you want to come talk to me about anything and interact with other people reading my works, here's the link! /xuSVQY7bw3

Drink water, stay awesome. Nick of Name, out. :)