Caleb left his room the next day rubbing his eyes, still feeling somewhat tired. Maple, Z-Tron and Purdy looked completely exhausted, like they just spent all night awake at a frat party. They all had a very long night, which was spent watching movies, karaoke, and a lot of food.

So it basically was a frat party, only without the excessive amounts of alcohol.

Caleb blinked slowly as he headed into the cafe, ready to get something in his system to hopefully wake him up more. But as soon as he stepped inside, he saw Dave and Barranco off to the side, quietly talking as they looked over drawings and sketches that they hung up from the wall. The boy, with his curiosity peaked, walked closer, which inadvertently caught the attention of the other two.

"Good morning, Caleb!" The minion greeted happily. "Sleep well after last night?"

The boy nodded in a bit of a distracted manner. "It was okay. Aside from Purdy nearly suffocating me once or twice during the night, it was decent."

The Rabbid looked behind Caleb for a moment, then back up at him with a questioning look. "Where's Gladius?"

"He decided to sleep in", Caleb said with a shrug, rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes. He then looked over all the drawings and such that were on the wall. "What are you two doing, anyway?"

"Just talking about some of the other places we can visit now", the Rabbid began. "A lot of them are places that have strange creatures like me and Dave, so we were wondering where would be a good starting point."

Caleb blinked and looked over the drawings, before eyes caught sight of a map of a location he knew all too well. "You guys… You guys want to visit the Unova region?"

Dave looked at the map, and shrugged. "Honestly, any of the regions from the Pokémon world are on our table. We just singled it out Unova because it felt the closest to home for the both of us."

"We live in the states, and we both have been to New York", Barranco added. "So it felt like the best option."

"Do… Would you guys be down going there?" Caleb asked in apprehension. "Just because… If you do… We could do some Pokémon catching."

The two smaller beings shared a look, cocking an eyebrow each. "Why do you want to do that, Caleb?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, I guess I've always wanted to experience this all in person", the boy said as he shyly looked away, before looking back with a bright smile. "And I never thought of doing this myself. So if you guys were planning on this, why don't we go and get this experience under our belts? That way we all come out winners!"

Barranco gave Caleb a confused look. "Do you know what Pokémon to catch when we're there?"

"I… I do… kinda", the boy mumbled. "Four of the five, yes. The sixth one… Is a lot trickier…"

Dave shrugged. "Well, nothing is easy. A little challenge will help us build character. So yes, we'll go! Get Gladius and get packed while we go and talk to Jeremy about this. We need to be fully ready!"

Caleb nodded his head and left the cafe… Before rushing back in and grabbing a muffin to tide himself over. He ran back out, his three companions all hanging on for dear life, before he burst into his room and rushed over to his backpack.

Maple, Z-Tron and Purdy all jumped onto the couch and watched as the boy worked quickly to fill his bag with all the essentials. The notes it caused woke Gladius up from his prolonged sleep on the main bed.

"What… What's going on?" The blade grumbled, starting to hover over while stretching.

"I talked with Dave and Barranco, and they agreed that the three of us, plus you, are heading to the Unova region!" The boy flashed his best friend a smile, and the blade angled himself to look thoughtful.

"Going to one of the Pokémon countries, I see… Is it because you've been eyeing up wanting to get some new companions?" That last bit was said in a smug tone, which made Caleb blush.

"K-Kinda…" he mumbled. "I didn't really think of it till talking with them, but I just thought it would be cool to have that. And I do have a few ideas in mind of what Pokémon to catch…"

"Well, that's good we won't be going in blind…" The sword moved over to his small cabinet mounted on the wall, which was mainly just filled with emergency supplies as he deemed fit. "If we're going to be trekking across the whole country, I'd like to be more prepared. So I'll be taking my own bag."

"We don't need to be that prepared, Gladdy", the boy said back. "There's towns and cities everywhere, so if things go wrong, it'll just be a short jog to the next town."

The sword hummed in uncertainty, then closed his cabinet. "Alright, if you say so. But if something goes wrong, I will chew you out for it when we get home."

The boy nodded and resumed packing, but paused again as he faced the three on the couch. "I want you three to stay home, okay? None of you guys really look like Pokémon, and I don't want to be haunted by every person we pass because I have things they won't recognize."

"But what about me?" Gladius asked.

"There's a sword Pokémon, Honedge. If we play it smart, then we can just say you're that and prefer to stay out of your Pokéball."

The sword shrugged and bought the explanation, leaving the boy to finish getting packed up. As he did, he moved over to his small desk, ripped a page out of his notebook, and scribbled down eight names on the paper. Gladius looked over his shoulder, but wasn't able to see what was written before the boy stuck it in his pocket.

He picked up his packed bag, and looked back at the three on the couch. Only to be greeted with Maple and Z-Tron. Purdy was completely awol. With a shrug, he bid farewell to the two of them and headed out into the hallway with Gladius in tow.

But what he failed to noticed was something the plant and bot did notice but didn't want to say: A familiar pink and fluffy tail slipping into the open pouch.

They shared a look, and shrugged.

Outside on the balcony, Barranco and Dave were being run through the specifics of what they needed to have done for their trip to ensure it was as safe and controlled as possible. All thanks to Jeremy, who was using their map as a guide.

"So, I'm going to open the portal here on Route 18", the elite guard said, pointing at a line sticking out at the bottom right of the map. "It's secluded enough for a portal to be opened with no issue. That way you guys can head east, then north, and then you're on your way!"

"Thanks Jer", Barranco said, taking out a pen and scribbling on it. "By the way, since we're going to the world of Pokémon, we're gonna need some stuff from there."

"Way ahead of ya'." The guard pulled out a bag and handed it to Dave. "This is a recreation of what the player characters have for their bag, so it has all the space in it."

Dave set the bag on the ground and opened it, poking into the biggest pocket to get a look at what there was. "Let's see… Potions, Full Heals, Revives, Pokéballs, blah, blah, blah…" He stood back up and smiled. "This is perfect, Jer, thank you so much!"

"Ah, don't mention it", Jeremy said happily, smiling down at them. "Just be careful, a lot of Pokémon in the wild can be a bit territorial or just flat-out hostile."

"Don't worry, we know…" Barranco trailed off as Caleb finally joined them.

"Ready to get going guys?" The boy asked.

"You bet!" "Absolutely!"

"Go where?" Asked a new voice. The group turned around to see Laney coming up from the courtyard, eyeing the group curiously.

"Oh, we were heading out!" Caleb told her happily. "Just doing some last bit of prep time, that's all."

"Yep. Hope you four have fun!" Jeremy walked back inside, waving farewell as he went. Laney watched him go for a bit before turning back to the others.

"We're going to Unova", Barranco explained. "To just see the sights, smell the smells, all of that."

"Unova… That one place with those Pokémon things?" The bassist asked. At the nods, she looked off to the side. "Okay, that's cool. Well, I hope you guys have fun!" She went to head inside, only to stop when Gladius called after her.

"Wait, Laney! Were you… hoping to join us?" The blade asked. The others all looked at her expectantly, and she looked at them with uncertainty.

"Maybe? Just something to catch a break with all band practice and stuff… But I don't know if this is my kind of thing…"

"Aw, c'mon Lanes! It'll be fun!" Caleb walked up beside her and smiled. "Plus, there could be a Pokémon that you get attached to."

The bassist looked down in thought for a moment, before letting out a groan mixed with a sigh. "Alright, I'll tag along. But I'm heading home if I'm not having fun."

"You got it!" The Rabbid quietly talked over the last few things with Dave, and then he walked over to the gateway and inserted a special keycard into a slot on the side. A portal opened as usual, and the two short guys headed in first. Laney sighed and followed after, and finally Caleb and Gladius were last.

Stepping through, Caleb was instantly met with a powerful blast of sea air. Blinking and wrinkling his nose at the smell, he looked around and took in the sight. The group was high above on the highest point of the furthest island, with the shore and mainland of the leftmost Unovian peninsula visible in the distance.

"So what exactly is Route 18, Caleb?" Dave asked as he looked over the map, with Barranco taking the bag Jeremy gave them.

"It's a bonus area of sorts", the boy explained. "There's just some extra goodies to get, but aside from that not really anything." He looked down thoughtfully. "Actually, there is one place here that I need to check out…" Looking down, there was a temporary building set up on a lower cliff. The others all looked down, and they all decided that was their first stop.

They started to make their way down, wading through the tall grass. Occasionally, Crustle and Dwebble would walk by, and the occasional Watchog would poke its head out of the grass and watch the group intensely.

Caleb smiled, taking in the sounds of the Pidoves and Wingulls flying above. Barranco pulled out a camera and started taking pictures, while Dave catalogued the photos in an album he had. Laney was just enamoured by the sights, although jumped a bit when a Scraggy came running past without a care in the world.

Caleb just laughed as the group crossed a bridge and were just before the temporary building. It was grey with a green roof, and smaller windows. The group took in the the sight of the field they found themselves in, seeing all the wild Pokémon milling about at their own discretion. Despite his earlier fears of being in such a very… isolated area, the Pokémon were surprisingly chill. Though they were still very intimidating.

Gladius hummed as the group approached the small shack's front door. "I'm surprised that they still have something set up so far from land, especially in such an… untamed locale."

"That's how this place works, Gladdy", Caleb said with a shrug. "Trainers need places to recoup and recover after some especially awful battles, so they do this. Sometimes it's just a nurse or doctor standing in the middle of wherever."

"That… That sounds kinda sad", Laney said with a frown. "Just standing around doing nothing for all your life."

"Well, that's just the games. Route 18 in the games doesn't look like… this… So maybe there's influence on other aspects of the franchise, like the anime and some of the spinoffs."

Dave looked around, using his goggles as a set of binoculars. "Honestly, this place does look a lot bigger on the map. So that's a pretty sound theory."

The boy nodded and opened the door, and was immediately set upon the sight of an egg on the single desk in the building. Also inside were two occupants, both looking like explorers of some kind. The one closest to the egg looked over, and smiled.

"Oh, hello!" She greeted in a cheery tone. "We don't get many visitors around here, so it is nice to see some sense of humanity."

Caleb snorted and walked over. "Yeah, I get that. We're just travellers, so we're gonna be exploring the whole region." He glanced at the egg, eyes sparkling a bit. "What's in this egg?"

"Don't know", the treasure hunter responded. "Me and my partner…", she subtly nodded to the other person, who was being heckled by Dave and Barranco, "…found it while we were exploring the Relic Castle. It hasn't shown any sign of hatching, so I think it's a dud…"

Caleb looked at it curiously, and ever so slightly he leaned forward and gently touched it. Immediately, it shook, making the boy and woman jumped back a bit, and she looked at the boy. "Okay, never mind then. Guess it just… wasn't my egg." She looked back at the object, which stilled once again. "Do you… Do you want to take it with you?"

Caleb looked at her in confusion. "You're willing to just give a random stranger you just met an egg?"

The treasure hunter shrugged. "The two of us are more after valuables, treasures, artefacts, stuff like that. An egg, while cool, doesn't really fit into that. So you can have it. Plus, I have never seen an egg react like that before."

Caleb blinked quietly, and carefully he took the egg and hugged it close to his body. His heart beat a bit faster as whatever was inside shifted around, as if it was happy to feel his warmth. The boy smiled and hugged the egg closer, careful not to break it, and faced the woman.

"Thanks. This… This means a lot to me."

"Ah, don't mention it kid", the woman said with a relaxed hand wave. "Now you go and enjoy your travels. Keep that egg, and whatever comes out, be sure to cherish it."

"I will, I promise", the boy faced the others, who were all talking with the other treasure hunter. "C'mon guys! Let's get going!"

The group all bid farewell to the duo, Gladius making sure to stay silent as they left. Once they were out, the others all faced the egg.

"You were looking to get an egg?" Laney asked, rubbing a hand against the warm shell. "I'm kinda surprised, honestly. I thought it would be something like a rare Pokémon or something."

"It technically is…" The bespectacled boy said wistfully. "Just you guys wait and see."

"So, where's the next stop on our Pokémon hunting extravaganza?" Barranco asked.

"The next stop would be Pinwheel Forest. It's right after Nacrene city."

Dave pulled out the map, and hummed. "A bit of a trek, but it'll be worth it. So, let's head along our way!"

The group all started to take the trek, taking a path that pressed against the cliff face down to the shore that headed towards the mainland. As they headed down, they saw what looked to be a bunch of Sawks and Throhs practising their fighting skills on a distant cliff. Rocks were being smashed and thrown, all while the area looked like a primitive fighting dojo.

"It's weird that so many Pokémon are basically just humans, but they're still treated as animals", Gladius said, shivering a bit. "Especially since Pokémon like them look human too."

"Yeah, when you think about it, it's weird", Caleb said. "But considering a lot of these Pokémon are mainly based on concepts, traditions, or mythical creatures, it does make sense when you dig a bit deeper."

"Makes sense", Dave said. "I mean, look at me and Barranco. We're walking examples of this."

Laney rolled her eyes, but as the group made it to the shore, she stopped to take in the sights of the world. "I will admit, this place is cool. I kinda thought it would be, but it's something else to be there and see it in person."

"Yep… That's how I felt three years back…" Laney looked up at Caleb sadly, and held onto his hand with a tight reassurance. The bespectacled smiled back, and the group continued down to the very edge of the shore. They stopped right before the water, and looked out towards the mainland.

"Wait, how are we supposed to get over there without a boat?" Laney asked.

"They don't usually use boats for places like this", Caleb said in worry. "Trainers usually use Pokémon that know Surf. Boats are usually reserved for going across oceans and such, like the boat route between Virbank and Castelia."

"Luckily!" Barranco said with a beaming and sneaky grin. "They didn't consider that there would be people with connections to super geniuses!" The Rabbid tossed something into the water, and in the blink of an eye there was suddenly an average sized sailboat right before them. "We set sail soon, gang, hop on!"

Without any hesitation, the group all boarded the boat, and Dave took his position at the helm. The engine sputtered to life, and they were soon off. The ocean air blew through their hair, and Laney put on a sun hat she seemingly was always able to pull out of thin air at the most convenient of times.

As they coasted across the waters, the bassist looked over at a smaller island. "Hey, Caleb, what's that?"

The boy looked over to see the island with the small building on it. "That's the P2 Laboratory. It was the place where Team Plasma brought Genesect to life."

"Gene-what?" Gladius asked in confusion.

"Ancient Pokémon they brought back and tried to turn into a weapon. Plasma was awful, so let's be glad they're gone."

The others all winced at that, and Dave sped the boat up so they could get away from it as fast as possible. Luckily, that meant they reached land sooner, thus meaning they could continue their trek.

As Barranco collapsed the boat into its storable state, Caleb noticed his bag was moving around a bit. The others noticed, and were suddenly filled with panic.

"Did one of those rock crabs slip in?" Dave asked in worry.

Caleb said nothing as he opened his bag… And was caught off guard when a familiar pink fuzzball jumped out onto his arms.

"PURDY?!" Everyone shouted in shock.

The adorable cat simply meowed and purred.

Gladius groaned, burying his jewel in his wings. "Of course we have a stowaway… Every time!"

Caleb just sighed, looking at his kitten with a bemused smile. "Wanted to tag along, huh?"

Purdy mewed in confirmation.

The boy just sighed, and placed his cat on his head, and picked the egg back up. "Alright. But you stay close to me, understand?"

The cat purred and curled up on her spot, content where she was. With that little distraction out of the way, the group got all their things together and continued along their way. But as they walked, Caleb could feel the eggs getting warmer…

~X~

The walk to Pinwheel Forest was a decent trip. The group made small talk and took in the sights as they headed through the routes, taking pit stops in Accumula and Striation City. They even made a quick excursion into the Dreamyard to see if they could spot the rare Musharna. Sadly, she was a no-show.

So they continued along their way, passing the Pokémon Daycare with smiles bright. Despite initial worries bouncing around his head, Caleb was surprised that very few people seemed to be put off by Barranco and Dave. Perhaps since their world was already so fantastical, no one of Unova paid much mind to the bipedal rabbit and living Tic-Tac.

Laney herself was enjoying her time, and only a few times she was enticed by a Pokémon or two they passed. It was never enough to stop them completely, but as they reached the end of Route 3, just before Nacrene City, everything came to a screeching halt.

Laney froze when she saw a small zebra looking Pokémon walk out of the grass, seemingly without a care in the world. Caleb noticed, and quietly told the others to stop.

"You like that Blitzle, Lanes?" The boy asked with a smirk.

The bassist nodded her head. "I… Don't tell the others this or I will kill you, but it… It looks adorable. I want it."

"Well…" He reached into the bag filled with Pokémon stuff, and handed her a ball. "Go ahead. See if you can catch it."

Laney looked at the regular Pokéball in shock, then at Caleb's encouraging smile, then at the Blitzle. Carefully, she walked up to the small zebra with complete apprehension, worried it was gonna jump out and kick her. But when she stepped in a bad spot, a twig snapped and the Blitzle looked over.

It was a quiet stare down for a bit, with neither the bassist or Pokémon moving even an inch. But, after a bit, the Blitzle walked up to Laney carefully, and started to pace around her. She tensed as it sniffed her, and she felt the urge to run off in case it lashed out. Based on the lighting bolt mane and stripes, this thing was clearly electrically capable.

After a bit, the zebra stepped back and looked up at her, almost expectantly. Laney looked over at the others, and they gestured for her to pet it. While she was still nervous, she carefully brought her hand up, onto the Blitzle's head…

And immediately, something clicked in them both. Laney looked at the Pokémon in surprise as it started to nuzzle against her, and the others all watched the two form a very quick bond.

"Okay, this is awesome", Dave whispered, smiling lightly. "I'm really glad we agreed to this." He looked at Barranco, who nodded with the exact same smile.

After the moment of petting had concluded, Laney was able to coax the Blitzle into the Pokéball. After three shakes, she had caught her first Pokémon as the ball sounded off its resounding click.

With a smile, she walked back up and joined the group. "Okay, I'll admit, that was awesome! I actually did it!"

"You did, Laney!" Caleb said happily. "So, how about you let your Blitzle-"

"Her name is Zap", the bassist corrected.

"Okay, how about you let Zap out so both her and Purdy can bond."

Laney nodded and let Zap out, the zebra looking up at the fluffy kitten still on top of Caleb's head. Sensing a new spot, Purdy jumped down and landed on the zebra's back. She got herself comfortable, before relaxing on her new friend's back. Zap brayed happily, careful not to disturb the kitten, and the group all laughed.

With all of that settled, they all continued along their way and entered Nacrene City. It was a very rustic town, with a massive museum as the signature attraction. But they weren't sticking around for long, as their next true destination was just on the other end of town. They continued along their way, and only one or two Unovians looked a bit off put by Gladius. But otherwise things were still going smoothly.

As they left the city and headed into the forest, immediately the group could smell the fresh nature of this place. Laney scratched Zap's chin as they all looked around, seeing Pidove nesting in the trees and Cottonee blowing in the breeze.

Caleb set his bag down and headed into the dense foliage just off the main road, making sure to snag some Luxury Balls before heading out. He was still holding the egg as he came across his target.

A small, red insect with yellow eyes.

A Venipede.

Caleb cautiously raised his ball, but hesitated when several more venipede scurried out from the bushes and all grouped around the original one. But as he tried to formulate a plan of action, something caught his eye.

On their own, away from the group, was another Venipede. Only this one was noticeably larger and brown instead of red. Blinking a bit, Caleb carefully made his way closer to the insect. As he did so, he saw how a few times the discoloured Venipede tried to rejoin the group, but the others all just shoved it away aggressively.

Caleb's heart broke, and he watched as the Venipede sulked off. Silently, Caleb followed, picking a berry off a tree. He knelt down, which caught the brown bug's attention, and it turned to face him. Looking at the berry expectantly, the boy smiled and offered it. The Venipede took it with slight hesitation, and started to eat it. But it paused at some point, and looked back up at the boy.

Carefully, it crawled onto his lap before continuing to eat the berry, seemingly content with this stranger. Caleb smiled and started to pet it, which made it… pur. It was weird for a bug to pur, but stranger things have happened.

The rest of Caleb's group all emerged from the bushes, and looked at the insect with wide eyes.

"This is what you were after?" Dave asked.

"Yes…" Caleb said. "But… This one is shiny…"

"Shiny?" Barranco asked as he looked the bug over. "What's that mean?"

"Basically that they have a colour that isn't the same as the other of their species. It's super rare to find one, so… yeah…" He looked down at the bug, and smiled as it looked back up at him. "Do you want to tag along with us? I promise that you'll have an amazing home."

The Venipede's eyes sparkled, and without hesitation, it headbutted the Pokéball Caleb had on him. The group's eyes all bugged out as the ball shook three times, then clicked to signify a successful catch. Caleb picked up the ball and looked at it, tilting his head and smiling.

"Welcome to the family, Bugsy."

The egg bounced back onto Caleb's lap, which made the boy smile and laugh. He stood back up, and clicked the now occupied Pokéball onto his bag. As he adjusted himself, the Pokéball opened and out came Bugsy, staying close to Caleb's side.

"For what's supposed to be some kind of centipede", Laney said, leaning down and petting the insect. "It's pretty cute."

Bugsy purred at the attention, and as the bassist gave all the attention to the two Pokémon, Dave opened up the map and looked it over. "Okay, so is there anything else we need here, Caleb? Because I would like to check out this massive desert Route 4 cuts through."

"We'll get there eventually", the boy said as he looked around. "There's a spot here that has a really special Pokémon, and I want to see if it's here…"

"Is it one of those legendaries I hear so much about?" Barranco asked, peering around to make sure no one had heard them. "Because if it is, then that's gonna be a massive hassle to try and catch it."

"I know… But I'm willing to at least try." The boy stood up and started to walk to where he assumed this legendary was. The others all followed behind, Bugsy staying close to Caleb. As they walked, the egg started to get warmer, to the point Caleb and the others were starting to get a bit uncomfortable.

"Okay, what's going on with that egg?" Gladius asked, sounding a bit worried. "I fear it might burn the forest down."

"Well, if my intuition is right…" Caleb trailed off when the egg cracked a bit, and he beamed. "It's hatching!"

The egg shook as it cracked more and more, and Caleb held it out at arm's length as the eggshell burst open.

Only the bottom half of the shell remained, and the others all gasped at the sight. It was some sort of worm, with a brown back end, white fluff around the head, short black stubby legs, and five wavy red horns around the head. The obvious bug opened its blue eyes, and looked up at Caleb.

"Hey there…" The bespectacled boy said sweetly. He pet its head, and the little bug let out a happy squeal. Bugsy looked up in curiosity, and crawled up Caleb's back to see this new face.

"What Pokémon is this, Caleb?" Barranco asked.

"Larvesta." He set it down, and the two bugs, both around the same size, started to mingle and check each other out. "It'll evolve into something crazy powerful in the future, just you guys wait." The boy pulled out a ball, and knelt down. The Larvesta looked up, and headbutted the Luxury Ball, willingly letting itself get caught like Bugsy. "Welcome to the family, Sol!"

Immediately, Caleb let Sol out of the ball, and both him and Bugsy continued to mingle, forming an immediate bond. Purdy, watching everything from a happy Zap's back, hopped onto the ground and walked over to the other fluffy being. Sol looked over, and let the kitten sniff him over, seemingly content with this.

"Okay, how about we split up a bit", Caleb said. "Dave, Barranco, you two are tagging along with me. Laney, Gladius? I want you two to stay here and keep an eye on all the riff-raff. It'd be better to do what I need to without all nine of us there."

"That's cool", the bassist said. "You three go and have fun being ripped apart." She led their group towards a clearing right beside the main road, and sat on the grass as the remaining trio headed past her and over a fence on the other side of the road. They took a very overgrown but still clearly there trail that went deeper into Pinwheel Forest than what was clearly intended.

"Okay… So what are we looking for exactly?" Dave asked, careful not to disturb the wilderness. "Because if you want us to go after some sort of nature spirit, walking this far into the woods will get us killed."

"I just want to check this out…" Caleb and his companions poked their heads through a bush, and were taken in with the beauty of a serene field that sparkled in the sunlight. There was no Pokémon in sight… Except for not that resembled a green elk with pink accents.

"What is that…" Barranco asked in a near whisper.

"Virizion", Caleb whispered back. "One of the three Swords Of Justice…"

"That's a very welcoming group name", Dave hissed sarcastically. "I say we just go."

Caleb looked at him weirdly. "You and Barranco are basically invincible, why are you so freaked out?"

"Because you aren't invincible-" Dave was cut off when the branch he was leaning on broke, and he fell forward into the field. Virizion looked over, a steely look on its face as Caleb's and Barranco rushed over to help their friend back up.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to bother you…" Caleb mumbled. The trio were about to head back, only to stop when Caleb froze. His hair stood on end, feeling the Sword Of Justice right behind him. It was sniffing him, seemingly checking something out about him.

After a moment, the presence was gone, and the trio turned around. They saw that the legendary was gone, and in the middle of the field was another egg. Only instead of the classic white with green spots, it was something that more resembled Virizion. Curiosity peaked, Caleb walked over and knelt before the newly appeared egg.

"Guess it's a gift from that elk guy", Barranco said thoughtfully. "So since we have that, can we get going?"

Caleb picked up the egg and nodded, heading back to the others. The trek through the forest was a lot smoother than before, and soon enough the group was all back together again. As Laney brushed off her pants of all the grass, she took notice of the new egg Caleb was holding.

"Is this gonna be a thing now?" She asked.

The boy looked down at the egg in his arms. "Maybe for one of the other ones I wanted to find, but not the others, that's for sure."

The group all started towards the exit of the forest, walking past some occasional trainers. Zap, Sol and Bugsy started to get a bit uncomfortable with all the unfamiliar humans, so Caleb and Laney got them in their Pokéballs quickly. Purdy returned to her spot on top of Caleb's head as the group all made it out of the forest, finding themselves on a small cement patio of some kind.

To their left was the entrance to the pedestrian walkway that went over a bridge that went across the channel from the leftmost peninsula to the central one. Across the water was a massive city, which was Castelia according to the map.

"Well, this'll certainly be a fun trip", Barranco said as he folded the map up after he took it from Dave. "A big city we can easily get lost in, just what we needed."

"There isn't really anything of interest in Castelia that concerns us anyway", Caleb said. "If we take any of the main roads all the way north, we'll get to the gate that leads to Route 4 in no time."

"Good to no", Dave said slowly and he snagged the map back. The Rabbid rolled his eyes, and the group all continued into the gate and crossed the bridge, which Caleb said was the Sky Arrow Bridge. As the group headed over the pedestrian walkway, over the rushing traffic on the road below, Caleb pointed out the distant Marvellous Bridge, which was visible further north.

Barranco took pictures of all the sights, absolutely enamoured. Laney was smiling, holding Zap's Pokéball close to her chest as she looked up to the sky to see a swarm of bird Pokémon fly by overhead. Dave was charting out a course for their map, and Gladius was flying about lazily.

Caleb closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking a deep breath. Already, this day was going perfectly.

And his smile only grew as the egg wiggled about happily.

~X~

Cutting through Castelia quickly, the group soon arrived at Route 4. But much to Dave's sadness, it was mostly just desert with some abandoned construction equipment. Caleb said how this was meant to be a through road that connected Nimbasa and Castelia, but because of its close proximity to the Desert Resort and the running of the Relic Castle, the project was halted.

So the group continued on, braving the sandstorm as they passed by some Sandiles that were just barely hiding in the darker patches. As the sandstorm raged on around them, the group pushed on till they entered the gate towards Nimbasa City.

They brushed all the sand that caked them off, and headed into the next stop. As soon as they did, the group's eyes all sparkled and gleamed at the extravagant buildings that surrounded them, from sports stadiums, a massive theatre, and a subway depot. Off towards the left, they could see a mini amusement park with a towering Ferris Wheel.

"Okay, so do we just continue towards Driftveil?" Dave said as he looked at the map, then pointed to the right. "Or do we take a slight detour and head left to relax at the amusement park for a bit?"

Caleb hummed and pulled out his phone, looking at the clock. Gladius looked over his shoulder, and shook his hilt. "I feel it's best we continue on", the blade said. "It's best we do all of this before night falls, so we aren't stuck here for more than a day."

"Good call", Laney said with a nod. While she did seem a bit disappointed they weren't going to the park, she was grateful they were at least being punctual. So the group headed right, cutting through Route 5, across the Driftveil Drawbridge, and then the next city. They did get stopped a bit as they checked out the market in Driftveil, but nothing really was attention grabbing enough to make them spend anything.

Except for the Sea Incense Barranco bought.

The group continued along, heading through Route 6 with ease. Sure, there were a few Foongus that nearly sported them, but Sol was able to jump out and stop the mushrooms from attacking.

That made Caleb realise they would need to train their Pokémon to hopefully help them evolve. So the group did take a quick break to help get Zap, Bugsy and Sol to a stronger form. As they trained against the wild Basculin, Emolga, Deerling and Foongus, Zap started to get noticeably stronger. And after Laney and the Blitzle bested an Audino, the zebra finally evolved.

The group watched in excitement as a blinding light covered Zap's whole body, and when it burst off, Zap was now a Zebstrika, with her beautiful double mane and spiked tail. The lightning zebra looked at her trainer, and nuzzled the bassist happily.

Around the same time, Bugsy was able to evolve, transforming into the wheel based Whirlipede, with a now deep lavender body and a vibrant green ring pattern. The now tire-like insect jumped and spun like a saw blade, her horns slicing through the air. When she stopped, Caleb walked over and started to pet her, making the now curled centipede to pur. Sol looked awestruck, clearly excited for his own evolution.

With that done, the group continued along their way till they entered a cave. Inside, there was this deep blue hue over everything, all coming from the electrically charged crystals that floated about.

"This place is so cool!" Barranco said happily. "I can see why they call it Chargestone Cave now."

"The magnetic levels in here are insane", Dave said as he looked down at a compass he was holding. The arrow was spinning around in all directions, seemingly too confused for its own good. "I can bet there's gonna be a lot of Electric Types here."

"Like that one", Caleb said, pointing to the top of Dave's head. The others all looked and squinted at what seemed to be a tiny, small, yellow lump on the top of the Minion's head. Dave remained frozen as the small lump gently walked about, seemingly looking for something.

It was very small, barely the size of Anyone of their palms. It was yellow and fluffy, had two big eyes and two smaller ones, and even had four legs that ended in little blue stumps.

"What is that?" Laney asked.

Caleb lifted a finger just before the small thing, and the odd Pokémon crawled onto it without a care in the world. "This is Joltik!" He explained happily. "Basically think of a tick, but for electrical currents. It likes to latch onto Electric Types to just get some energy."

"Okay, so it's a pest", Barranco said bluntly. Gladius bonked him on the head, making the Rabbid grumble bitterly.

"Say that when this thing evolves into an electrical tarantula that's bigger than you", Caleb said with a smirk, making Barranco freeze and twist his expression into one of pure horror.

That simply made the boy chuckle as he brought out another Luxury Ball and clicked it on the tiny insect. It was transferred in, and after three shakes it was caught. "And that's Voltula down!"

"Okay, cool. What's the next target?" Laney looked up at him expectantly.

Caleb looked around, and blinked when he saw it. With how he froze, the others followed his gaze till they saw what he was looking at. It was a pair of floating grey gears, both completely identical. They spun against each other, their faces showing the same empty eye, cross in place of the other eye, and small mouth that was forever shocked.

"That's your next target?" Dave asked, looking at Caleb in confusion. "It's just a pair of gears…"

"And my absolute favourite Pokémon", the boy responded, setting the egg down and pulling out another Luxury Ball. "Klink." The group all looked at him in surprise, but silently watched as he stalked closer to the pair of gears, readying a ball throw…

Only to quickly and suddenly grab Gladius, throwing the sword at the gears. The sword hit them hard, which gave Caleb the opening to throw a ball and catch the gears.

"And there's Omni!" The boy said happily, running over and picking up the ball. "Now we're good here. All that's left is to go to the Celestial Tower and Victory Road!"

"Hang on…" Gladius returned to the air, looking a bit disoriented. "First, never throw me again!" Caleb hunched up apologetically at the shout. "And two… weren't there eight names on that list? You're one short."

"Well… It's because the last one is also a legendary like Virizion", he explained. "But it's one that's a lot harder to find, because it's constantly moving, and tends to flee from battle."

Laney hummed in thought. "Well, you have a flying sword as a best friend. Maybe he can talk to this guy and maybe get another egg?"

"Maybe… But later. Right now, we need to get out of here."

Everyone agreed, and they all started to make their way out of the cave. It took a while, considering we had to push some of the crystals around and head deeper into the cave, but eventually we were able to see the sun once again as we walked into Mistralton City.

The group all took deep breaths of the clear air, but did somewhat feel a bit of harsh wind. Outside of the city, in the next route over, was a very nasty looking storm, which seemed to be centred in at a tower not too far from the city.

"Oh my gosh…" Caleb said in shock. "This… This is what I needed! Guys, we need to get to the Celestial Tower now!"

"In that storm?!" Dave cried out in horror. "Are you nuts?!"

"Trust me!" With the Virizion egg close to his chest, he rushed through the city towards the storm. The others were panicking, but soon followed after him. Rain crashed on the ground and high speed winds rushed past as Route 7 was ravaged by the impressive but also terrifying storm.

Caleb fought through it, though, using an arm to guard his face as he approached the tower. Wild Pokémon ran for cover, and Purdy was hanging onto the boy's back for dear life, her claws hooking into the shirt.

After what felt like forever, Caleb managed to get inside of the tower. He breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against a wall as he was soaking wet from the torrential downpour. Soon, the others were able to join him, looking like they went through a freaking war that was marching through a waterfall.

"Okay, we are never doing that again!" Gladius roared. "We need to deal with this storm, else we could be trapped here."

"We need to get to the top", Dave said, looking up to the ceiling of the floor. "C'mon!"

The group all started to climb up the tower, feeling the somewhat sombre tone as they passed by graves that resided in the tower. At one point, Laney was jumped by a sentient candle, and it caused this whole thing where it started jumping between everyone in the group with the intent to cause lasting damage. Caleb growled, and held it upside-down at arm's length when he got a hold of it.

The candle was a little pudgy, with one eye covered by the melting wax, and the wick burning with a faded blue flame.

"Okay, if you tag along willingly, I won't punt you out a window", the boy said in a flat tone. The candle's eye widened, and it looked outside to the storm that was still raging. With a panicked look, it nodded and gave in.

Caleb smiled and pulled out another Luxury Ball, and the candle willingly let itself get caught. He put the ball away, smiling bright. "And that's Puddin' the Litwick!" At all the weird looks he got, he gave a defensive look. "What?"

"Puddin'?" Laney repeated. "Why name it that?"

"Because I like the name, sue me." There was a deep boom above, and the group continued to the top of the tower. They passed by plenty of graves, but while it was sad, it wasn't the focus, so they pushed on.

When they reached the top of the tower, they found it calm, probably because it was the eye of the storm. But also because they were at the source of it. Above the tower's bell was a being with green skin and purple spots, arms crossed as the lower half of its body was replaced by a cloud. A purple tail with yellow swirls came out from the back of the cloud.

The thing turned to face the group, and its gleaming yellow eyes shining above its spiked moustache. Two horns rested on its forehead, with a flowing lock of cloud-like hair to finish the look.

"Tornadus…" Caleb said quietly.

"Oh, a wind god, cool", Barranco said somewhat sarcastically. "Excellent. Yeah, no, cool. Of course we gotta fight this thing!"

Caleb was frozen, unsure what to really do. "To be honest, I never really planned ahead for this."

"WHAT?!" The others cried. They all just looked up at the wind god in terror, hoping it'd just leave them alone. Rather, Tornadus got closer, eyeing Caleb carefully. There was this glint in his eyes, like it knew who Caleb was.

And then it clicked in Caleb's head… Arceus. The Pokémon God knew who he was, and was probably why his catching spree was so easy. So whatever was happening here was the creation god throwing the kid and his friends a bone.

Maybe as a sort of apology for what happened those three years back.

The wind god leaned back again and nodded, reaching into his cloud. What he pulled out was another egg, this time styled after himself. Caleb took it into his other arm carefully, now hugging both eggs close to his chest. Smiling down at them, he looked up at the wind god gratefully.

"Thank you…" He whispered.

Tornadus simply gave a curt nod, and flew off so fast it kicked up a massive amount of updraft. The group braced until it subsided, and opened their eyes to see the skies clear and pristine. They all sighed in relief, and looked at the two eggs, then out towards the massive mountain in the distance. Dave quickly took out the map and looked it over.

"That place is called Twist Mountain, and we'll need to cut through it to get to Icirrus City", the Minion explained. He looked at Caleb. "Anything we need to know about the mountain?"

"It lives up to the name…" was all the boy said. That made the group, even Purdy, blanch a bit, and they slowly looked back at the towering, oversized rock with a sense of dread.

"Is there a way around?" Barranco asked. Caleb shook his head. "Maybe there's a cheat way to get through and not get lost?" A shrug, which did elevate a bit of the dread. "Could we ask someone?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah, which will definitely help. But before we go…" The boy took his bag off, and carefully did it so the two legendary eggs were relaxing in the bag and safe. "Okay, let's get this over with…"

The group headed back down the tower, making sure to be respectful to the Pokémon that have passed. It was sad, and did make Laney feel scared for Zap's own well being.

After they left the tower, they steeled their nerves and headed towards Twist Mountain, ready to tackle the rest of their trek even if it cost them all their sanity…

~X~

Barranco was marching with a rhythm as the group finished crossing the Tubeline Bridge and took their first steps into Route 9. The trip there was a ridiculous one, with Twist Mountain being as much of a headache as one would expect, and the fact they had to wade through a marshland right after did really end up killing their motivation and energy.

But thankfully they were finally in the home stretch.

The group all breathed a sigh of relief as they looked over at the shopping mall that called this route home, and Opelucid just a short distance away from the gate at the end of the route. They could also see the massive mountain that Caleb said had the Pokémon League resided.

"We're almost there, gang!" Caleb announced. "Once we get to Victory Road, we're home free!"

"I'm looking forward to sleeping a whole day away", Laney droned out in exhaustion. "Because I never walked this much in my life!"

"Maybe except what happened in the Convergence Universe", Barranco mentioned off handedly. "Plus, I'm used to walking across whole states. So this is nothing."

Dave eyed his partner in crime with a pointed look. "Yeah, the bags under your eyes say otherwise."

The Rabbid looked suddenly on the spot, like he was guilty of a heinous crime. The others all rolled their eyes, and started heading down the road. Caleb adjusted his bag, the eggs in it jostling a bit. Gladius glanced at them for a moment, before flying forward a bit to look Caleb in the eye.

"How do hatching eggs work here, Caleb?" The blade asked.

"They usually hatch after you take a certain number of steps", the bespectacled boy explained. "Sol's egg hatched so soon because those treasure hunters had to walk from the Relic Castle all the way to where we found them, so they obviously walked a lot. That little munchkin clearly was just waiting for the right trainer. With these eggs…" He looked over his shoulder. "Who knows?"

"Maybe we can set up a spot for them in the Rec Room", Gladius elaborated, sounding thoughtful. "I could ask to borrow some heat lamps, and we can see where it goes from there."

"It'd be cool to have something like that… what did you say its name was?" Laney asked.

"Tornadus", Caleb answered.

"Yeah, him. It'd be cool to have one on our side. A powerful buff dude like that helping us would be awesome."

"If we ever face any sort of situation, it would be a lot of help", Gladius said in agreement.

"I just hope all these guys like the Capital…" Caleb said with very slight concern. "They might not like the noisy city or busy courtyard."

"I'll ask Rainbow and Virus to give them their own room if they do end up antsy because of the arrangements", the sword said firmly. "I can promise that."

"Thanks Gladdy."

The group fell into a comfortable silence as they headed through the next city, which was a bit weird. Opelucid was an odd fusion of its two versions from both Black and White, with a more modern and technologically advanced city centre and more natural and rustic surrounding area. It was fascinating, really. But it wasn't much of the focus, so the group just headed through the city at a swift pace, following the roads to the gate to Route 10.

Heading through to the gate, the group looked up as they found themselves just barely under the shadow of the Pokémon League mountain.

"So… How are we getting into Victory Road?" Barranco asked. "Because I know you usually can only get into it after collecting all the badges."

Caleb paused, his face twisting into an over exaggerated frown. "Crap. I never thought of that. I guess I just thought that because this place seems to be combining both versions of Unova, there'd be something we could do in Victory Road without needing to do the whole gym challenge…"

"Well, what were you even looking to catch?" Laney asked. "Because if it's in Victory Road, then it must be really strong."

"It is… I just don't know if I can catch it anymore…" Caleb's eyes showed a conflicted glint. "Maybe because the gates to the league were moved to the east side of the mountain, there's something we can do here…"

The group decided to try that, which was better than nothing. So they continued along their way, passing the occasional trainer and some wild Amoongus and grazing Bouffalant. This was always a peaceful route, so it was nice to get one last bit of nature before they headed back home.

As they rounded a bend, they were glad to see no badge gates. Thus meaning there was just a straight path to a rocky slope. They all smiled and headed down the path, taking in the sights of the nicely decorated trail. Flowers of various colours liked the sides, with Petilil and Lilligant mingling with each other.

Barranco had to take some more photos of the adorable sight.

Soon, they had reached the old Victory Road, which was open to the public but blocked at the top of the slope to keep people from just walking to such an important building.

"Okay, so we're looking for a short little dragon with black fur covering its eyes", Caleb explained. "It tends to bite so, so be careful."

"OOOOOOWWWW!"

The group looked over in shock as Barranco jumped a few feet in the air, running around as his hands covered his butt. As he did so, the Pokémon Caleb just described standing there with some of the Rabbid's fur in its mouth.

"And that's Deino", the boy said bluntly. "A bit of a troublemaker… But still adorable."

The young dragon looked towards Caleb's direction, and charged at him. Caleb stepped aside, thus meaning Dave took the full force of the dragon's headbutt. Laney took a step back so she wasn't dragged into this little scuffle as the Rabbid and Minion started to fight the dragon with their bare hands. Caleb found it somewhat hilarious, but he also wasn't a fan. So he picked the two of them up and threw them away, kneeling down and clicking his last Luxury Ball on the disoriented Dieno's head.

It was caught after three shakes, meaning Caleb's list was fully complete.

"And that's Hydra", the boy said. He put the ball away in his bag, and pulled the list out of his pocket. Pulling a pen out of his other pocket, he crossed out all the Pokémon on his list, smiling bright. "Now we can go home!"

"Okay, good!" Barranco said, a light smile on his lips. "Don't get me wrong, this was fun. But it's been such a long day, and I want to just go home."

Dave took out his phone and glanced at the time. "Just an hour till dinner, too. So we'll be able to relax for a bit before we have to tell everyone what happened."

"That'll be fun…" Laney said flatly.

Caleb chuckled, and looked up, petting Purdy gently. "Did you have fun, Purdy?" He asked the kitten. "Enjoy seeing all the new friends you'll have?"

The cat mewed happily, making biscuits on his head as a sort of dance. The boy giggled and adjusted his bag, looking at Barranco and nodded. The Rabbid saluted, and pulled out a simple clicker. He pressed the only button on it, and a portal opened beside the group. They all walked through and had returned to the balcony of the castle, taking a deep breath at the familiar smell. As Dave and Barranco dealt with the card in the gateway, Laney headed off inside, holding Zap's Pokéball close.

Caleb set his bag down, pulled out all his caught Pokémon, and threw the balls into the air. All at once, all the Pokémon were freed from their temporary residences. They looked at each other (except Hydra, who just sat down and scratched himself like a dog), then back up at Caleb.

"Alright guys", he said happily, looking down at all of them. "Welcome to your new home!You guys have the whole castle and courtyard to explore, me and Gladius just need to get a spot set up for the eggs."

Purdy jumped onto the ground and started seemingly talking to the Pokémon, all of them listening to her carefully. Caleb smiled as he went inside, carrying his bag with him. Maple and Z-Tron rushed out as soon as he opened the door, and the boy chuckled as he followed Gladius all the way into the Rec Room. Only some of the others were there, and they all waved at the duo as they entered.

"Jeremy told us about your little trip to Unova", Steve said. "So I wanna know how it went!"

"me and the others will tell you at dinner", Caleb bounced back cheekily. "Just gotta get a spot set up for these two." He lifted the eggs, and headed to a table that Gladius was putting a next of blankets on. The boy helped speed up the set up, and when it was all done, he placed the eggs in the middle as Gladius flew off to get some heat lamps.

Caleb pulled a chair up and sat in it, leaning against the table and watching the eggs. He felt two presences behind him, and smiled a bit as Eva and Bonnie took a closer look at the eggs.

"What will these hatch into?" The Fitness Buff asked.

"A legendary each", the boy responded. "So some really powerful new friends."

"I did hear about most of these legends", NightBon said in a sophisticated tone. "A fair amount of them are very powerful, so I'm curious to see which ones you were able to get."

"You'll probably be disappointed with one of them", Caleb said with a slight giggle. "Because they aren't all that impressive."

"We'll have to wait and see." The rabbit walked off, and Eva sniffed roughly.

"Did you have fun?" She asked.

"Yeah! It was really fun. One thing I will say is that you definitely enjoy a lot of the Pokémon there. Could be really nice sparring partners, especially Sawk."

The Raging Bull hummed in thought. "That does sound fun… I'll think about it." She walked off, leaving Caleb all on his own. After sitting there for a bit, he got up and left the room, ready to see what he was going to have for dinner this time around. As he headed into the hall, smiling as all his new Pokémon adorably followed Maple, Z-Tron and Purdy down the hall…

The two eggs shifted, and cracked the tiniest bit.

~X~

And thus ends a really long chapter. This was one I had a lot of fun writing, especially since it is a franchise I love dearly! Because, yes, Pokémon now have entered this AU. It would have at some point, considering how massive the franchise is as a whole, but it's better to get it done sooner rather than later.

So yeah! We got multiple new faces: Omni the Klink, Sol the Larvesta, Hydra the Dieno, Puddin' the Litwick, Bugsy the shiny Whirlipede, Voltula the Joltik, and Zap the Zebstrika. Plus the two unhatched legendary eggs. Each of them will play a role in this funky family, just you wait. The shenanigans will be fun~

Anyway, third chapter out, and including these ending notes it's over 10k words long. Without it… it's just under. Yeah, I went a bit crazy here, LOL.

Hopefully this chapter was fun! Look forward to the next one… some time.

Up next: When it starts to rain and everyone is stuck inside, Gladius decides to break out something he used to do with some old staff centuries ago… Trivia!

~Caleb~