Author's note/replies

I'm back! This chapter took a while because I got busy. I'll try to update at a reasonable pace however I can't guarantee a scheduled release.

Note: I will be removing the 4 move restriction I imposed last chapter and will be editing that part out as per reader advice. Thank you all for feedback. From now on Pokemon movesets will be more free form.

Jason Wu: Yep, Almighty will come into place eventually but the start is too peaceful for that. Do you mean when a Pokemon uses struggle?

Blackdragon: I like to mix things in from the Manga for this fic. Rosa was indeed a Plasma member in BW2's comic. N just might flip a table if he learned Minato threw his soul into parts of his Pokemon.

Guest: Thank you.

MasterDarkElf: Thank you for the feedback, the edits have been done. At first I was going to give Minato Oshawott but then I found Deino to be funnier.

Phantom Thief of Hearts: Deino is huge for its size, I wouldn't be shocked if it could be called an Alpha. Both Black and White will have roles in this story.

3697014: In some ways, I feel like I'm writing a genderbent version of Adventure manga's Black with our fic White here. She's an odd mix of both. Minato does have his powers although I won't spoil much there but there are some things he can't do. N being blunt is a rare sight, although I can see him being extremely passionate about the idea of healing any Pokemon enough to make him jump at the idea.

HiroRanger: this fic will be a mix between the manga and the games for the Pokemon side.

Minato shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. If it were back home, everyone knew what this meant. He was about to get serious. In the darkness he could tell there were multiple hidden presences behind his interrogator. Were they people or Pokemon, he couldn't discern, yet he was sure of one thing: they weren't his allies. Odd forms shrouded themselves using the curtain of night, as he concluded the stranger in front of him wasn't a fair individual, in fact he would even rate him as hostile.

The bluenette put all his energy in his legs and leapt forward, rushing like the wind, breezing past a dumbstruck N. Reaching out one hand, Minato snatched back his ID before sprinting off into the night. Dashing towards a hollow outed building, he hid inside before casting a teleport away from the situation.

Warping to a secluded alley in town, Minato made sure nothing else was missing from his possessions before going to his campsite. Looking back, he had no reason to speak to whoever that was, nor did he have any idea how that man found out about the miracle he performed. Since the thief asked him to confirm his suspicions, the Persona veteran was sure he had no actual proof to use on him. Which meant the issue would end there. Besides, what mad man would believe a human was capable of such a feat anyways?

Crossing a softly lit bridge by tall street lights, he found his tent undisturbed. Thankfully that man's Zorua didn't rummage through his campsite, or he would have personally tracked down its owner for compensation. When he was about to retreat inside for the night, he felt someone wack him with a stick.

"Oh! Sorry Mina, I thought you were a thief for a sec." White made sure he was fine, her ability to swing a stick was better than he thought. In fact, Mitsuru would have been proud to add that type of skill to her team with enough practice. If he were a normal person, she would have knocked him out cold.

"No worries, I was just out for a walk. Couldn't sleep." He lied, rubbing his head, pretending to be in pain.

"So…that was why you were out for so long. Found any nice places in town?"

"Not really. It's all just a few residential buildings and the center Plaza. Maybe there'd be a few businesses if this were Castelia." Compared to the bustling nights back home, there was little to do in Accumula at this hour.

"Were you up studying the League again?"

White gave a cheeky grin, pulling out her notebook. "How'd you know? Striaton's Gym is coming up in the next few days so I'm going to make sure I have a good battle plan."

Minato combed his memories, ones filled with White's drilling on the eight gyms scattered throughout the Unova region. In this world, Gyms served as check points for growing trainers but also doubled as a city's main line of defense. They say a Gym leader is supposed to be the toughest trainer in town, and by defeating them all, one could gain entry to the Pokemon League where people are elevated to legendary status. White watched him with glittering eyes, rivaling Koromaru's puppy act, she really wanted to go all in and crush the competition.

"Since they're going to test you on type advantages, why not catch something they'll counter Panpour? Water types are weak to grass and electricity."

"I was thinking about that too." White spotted a few wild Deerling in a nearby clearing, their forms shrouded under the cover of the night. Then, she noticed another figure among the group, something tinier and far more mischievous. "Hey Mina, what's that…?"

Minato's eyes narrowed, spotting the same creature from before. "White, let's go back for now. It's getting late, we have an early departure tomorrow."

Zorua watched him from across the campsite, morphing into a Deerling, mocking him with its sly grin.

"But Mina, we have such a good opportunity right here. Deerling is a pure grass type. I'm good at this, I'll be quick." Grabbing a pokeball, the brunette snuck her way to the clearing, to chuck a Pokeball. With one precise throw, the object flew through the air like a speeding bullet, smacking into the side of one of the creatures, earning a high pitched yelp before it reverted back to its original form. Before it could be engulfed by the ball, it was blocked by a stern hand.

"Huh? Was one of them not wild?" By the time she got closer, all the other Deerling had scattered into several different directions, leaving a sulking Zorua behind.

"My apologies, however this Pokemon is my friend." N emerged from behind the foliage. Gingerly, he picked up the tiny fox.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I've never seen a Pokemon that could perform illusions like that before." White scanned it with her Pokedex, showing information about the creature, "Wow, it can even take the form of a human? That's crazy."

"May I ask what you are holding?" N glared at the device, it brought some unpleasant memories. Ones involving Pokemon labs. While most institutions were ethical in their approach, it was ultimately up to the Professors running them to decide what was going too far, leaving the industry widely unregulated. To him, it was a symbol of Pokemon captivity.

"Oh, this? It's a Pokedex. A new research device entrusted to me by a famous Professor." She answered him earnestly, unaware of the man's distaste. From White's perspective, he appeared to be just another trainer with a funny traveling companion. "Say, have you ever played a prank on people with Zorua's abilities before? I can think of a few ways to use that skill in battle too."

"Why yes, I have…" N answered absent mindedly, paying more attention to the person behind her. Ice cold rage threatened to chill him to the bone, an otherworldly dread so encompassing that he could not look away. For if he did, his body told him it would consume him whole. From his chest he could feel Zoura shaking, clinging to him tightly like a frail child. Listening closely, he could hear the soft chirps of his friend telling him to run as if some deep primal fear had awakened deep within its soul. For the first time in his life, N felt fear.

Minato held his deathly gaze, channeling the energy of Thanatos from the sea of his soul, silently sending a message: 'Hurt White in any way, and I will personally end you.'

Taking a few steps back, the pale King acknowledged his loss, quickly retreating from the scene before the aura of death could cling to his soul any longer. Sprinting down an empty street, he could barely breath between rapid shallow breaths as if he were drowning in a dark sea. Just who the hell was that bluenette?

Back at the clearing, White stood dumbstruck. She was about to ask N more questions when he suddenly ran off, white as a sheet. Furthermore, he held an expression she'd only witnessed in horror movies. Did she say something that offended him somehow? Was there some ghost type playing tricks in the background?

"Ummmm…Mina?"

"Yes?"

White hesitated for a moment, "Why did he run off?"

Minato gave a light shrug, "Who knows? Maybe he had something urgent he forgot about." Pretending none of it was his fault. He made sure to only target the stalker, controlling the output of his aura.

"He looked like he'd seen a ghost…" The brunette said, scratching her head. Was there a ghost type around here she could go after? Minato nodded, humoring her idea but they ultimately returned to the campsite with no new Pokemon after another hour of looking around. Disappointed and on the brink of exhaustion, White returned to her tent, waving him a good night before collapsing inside. There were no ghosts to be found, real or fake.

Mimicking his friend, Minato laid down, drained. A certain heaviness spread through his body from the day's events. Unable to drift off to sleep, a tinge of guilt pricked at his mind from unleashing such a foul power onto this peaceful world. Thanatos, as the god of Death, had brought him nothing but pain. The first moment he was able to summon a Persona, that wretched god had taken Orpheus's place to conquer the Shadows, tearing the eldritch being to ribbons in a brutal choir of screams. Worse, it was the thing sealed into him at a young age where he was immediately orphaned, destined to carry that painful burden until the moment of his death. It was like his own personal bad luck charm, wrecking havoc wherever it manifested.

Clutching his mouth Minato felt sick, bile building up in his throat, releasing that god once again even if it was to protect his friend from that stalker was too much. After all, there would be no telling what using Thanatos could do to this peaceful world, which left the Messiah tossing and turning through a paranoid, sleepless night. He didn't want to lose everything, again.

Tossing her fifth ball, White threw her fist up in the air, celebrating her first catch. They were now on Route Two, making their way to the Striaton Gym.

"Whoo hoo! Now that restaurant is toast!" Pulling out her Pokedex, it identified her new partner was a Blitzle, an electric type. It was perfect to deal with Panpour and fast enough to leave most mons in the dust. In the middle of celebration, she was approached by her friends who almost all held a new creature in their hands.

"Please don't phrase it like that, you sound like you'll destroy the Gym itself." Cheren said in concern. Actually, he wasn't sure if White didn't think about property damage as a valid strategy when Minato did just use the environment to beat her in their previous fight.

"Relax, now I have Stacy with me. Gigi won't have to go that far!" She chirped, petting the newly named Blitzle who eagerly wolfed down multiple bowels of Pokemon food happily. The promise of free food for life was too enticing for the pony to turn down and so it snuggled up to its trainer. It had a very laid back, almost lazy nature.

"Bliz! Blitzle." It replied back, catching the attention of the other two new additions to the group.

"Pidove!" Cheren's Pidove cooed, like it was chidding the electric zebra for being a glutton. In some ways, it mirrored its new trainer.

"Audino." a third, sweeter voice entered the ring. "Audino!" but it was soon followed by a strong taunt where it reached out one paw and challenged the other two, holding a cheeky grin. Both Pidove and Blitzle reacted, obviously offended by whatever the pink Pokemon just said.

"Ok, ok! That's enough Audino. You're supposed to be nice when you first greet others." Bianca scolded, but it huffed before retreating back into its Pokeball on its own. "Sorry everyone, I only recently caught it and I guess it hasn't warmed up to me yet." She laughed nervously, seeing how well both her friend's mons had adjusted.

White nodded, "It's alright Bianca. I read that sometimes it does take more stubborn Pokemon to warm up to you. Just look at Minato and Deino." Everyone turned to the bluenette in question, looking worse for wear than usual. Deep dark circles plastered against his face.

Minato yawned, "before anyone says anything. I had a bad sleep last night." Between the nightmare of being back in that hour, and his paranoia, the boy didn't exactly have a pleasant night.

"Are you doing alright? If you're feeling sick, we can take a few days to rest." Cheren worried.

"Papa always said to rest if you don't get eight hours of sleep." Bianca added.

"Nah, I'm a good guys. Just stayed up too late thinking about the first badge. Exciting, isn't it?" Minato faked a crummy smile, hoping no one would notice his exhaustion. Both Cheren and Bianca looked at eachother like they were going to buy his crappy excuse. But White wasn't so sure, raising her voice she faked her own bout of exhaustion.

"Awwww, I'm tired too! We should all take a break. Looking for Pokemon here was really energy sapping. I say for the next few hours we sit down and relax and enjoy the nice weather!" She stretched her arms, plopping down onto the grass with the most wooden delivery possible as if she were in a parody skit. She refused to move until the others all agreed, her eyes on Minato.

"Well, you aren't wrong." Cheren gave up, sitting down. White's exaggerated, otherwise cheesy act was never to be argued with, not even by Black. Bianca followed with Minato completing the full set of people laying down. Silently, he watched White wink at him from afar, telling him to rest. The Gym could wait, the group would delay their shared dreams for a breather.

The Messiah relaxed, closing his eyes, assured that even in this life his new friends would have his back which put him more at ease.

Serving up a pot of tea after a careful brew, Minato left the owners of the restaurant in awe, impressing them with his skill. Sampling the drink, Cilan was lost for words. Observing the boy in front of him to be no less than the age he himself would have struggled with the craft, let alone create such a masterpiece. In some regions of the world, tea brewing was considered an art.

"I must say, this is a fantastic batch. It might just rival the finest tea houses in Johto." The gym leader swished the cup in his hand, watching the green liquid inside dance in a hypnotic swirl. "May I ask who taught you such wonderful techniques?" If Minato wasn't going on a journey to the League, Cilan would have immediately offered him an apprenticeship on the spot.

Minato's eyes shone a sad light, his mouth wearing a faint smile, creating an interesting mismatch between his and heart. "I was taught by someone close to me. They were an excellent teacher and friend." Cilan nodded, understanding the subtle melancholy pause.

Deep down, there were many regrets the veteran had about his time back home. When he first arrived at the dorms, he had only known the company of cheap, instant ramen from years of barely scraping by. One day, Shinijro caught him brewing another batch out of habit when he stopped him, then taught him the basics of culinary cuisine. By the time his grumpy teacher had departed from the world, he was able to become a competent chef. And by the time he sacrificed himself, Minato could match the best restaurants in Iwatodai. Because to him, cooking was one of the last ways he could keep the memories of Shiniji alive. It pulled him out of the darkest times where he could just focus on creating something that didn't involve risking his life. A safe haven of sorts to shield his fragile sanity from the world.

Pulling out of his mindspace, Minato saw Cheren pull off a flawless win, downing Chili's Pansear. Snivy first blinded the monkey with a well placed leaf storm before striking it like a ninja in the night.

"AWwwww come on!" Chili complained but admitted his loss after a bit sulking. He was sure he was going to teach this kid all there was to learn about type advantages but had the battle end prematurely before he could say the word 'ember'.

"Hooray for your first badge Cheren! You even beat my record!" White yelled from their table, which held a front row seat to the stage. The restaurant allowed guests to spectate while trainer battles occurred daily. It was a good source of revenue with people streaming in daily to place bets on the outcomes.

"Yea, we're really proud that you pulled through. That was amazing!" Bianca said, with her Oshawott voicing in agreement. She had a shiny badge of her own, although there was still a mellow aura to her. Like there was something tugging at her mind.

"Thank you, the both of you. With my battle finished this only leaves you now, Minato." Cheren baton passed to the last member of their group. Minato raised his hand for a high five before going up stage with his friends cheering in the back. Opposing him was his first obstacle in this world, his first ever Gym battle. Bowing to him, an equally blue haired male greeted him with serene composure.

"Greetings Minato, as you have already previously witnessed my name is Cress, one of the leaders operating this Gym." The bluenette said's words flowed out like a calm stream, matching the Persona user's own tempo. However, there was an unspeakable understanding between two. Both their eyes locked onto one another as if they had found some strange kinship in having similar hairstyles and personality.

"Hmm, I thought I was going up against Cilan. Haven't you fought once already?" Uncharacteristically, Minato found himself sizing up his equally blue opponent.

"You are indeed correct. My apologies, but there has been an abrupt situation in our kitchen so I must substitute my brother for now. " From the corner of his eye, Minato watched Chili disappear with his brother.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad I can test my skills against you Cress. Let's see who can keep up in the raging tide of battle, shall we?" Minato tossed out Deino, it roared at the sight of the Gym leader.

Cress nodded, "Yes, perhaps we can decided a winner between us," he tossed out Panpour, unshaken by the dragon cub's challenge.

White gulped, sensing tension in the air. Both trainer and Pokemon stood still as a statue before someone shouted a command to make the first move. Panpour swiftly disappeared from sight, leaving Deino isolated in the arena looking confused. Swaying its head side to side trying to sniff out where the monkey went when hot blasts of water seared it from the left and then right.

"Deino!" it yelled, running from multiple more streams of brine with no Panpour in sight. Left, right and center, the onslaught seemingly coming from every direction, the speed increasing with each rapid fire.

"As you are an unusual guest, we decided to treat you to our special course instead." Cress studied his foe for any crack in composure, noting how Minato's ability to tame such a dangerous dragon to be special. Deinos were known to have a nasty temper and bite from day one. No newbie trainer in their right mind would get near a beast like that without ending up in the hospital.

"Is that so?" The veteran sounded unimpressed, pointing to a random direction with his figure. Deino followed by spitting out a powerful dragon breath, aiming at seemingly nothing in the distance when there was a loud yelp. Above them, Panpour smacked down to the floor with a shocked cry. Yet, despite the fall, the monkey sprung up once more before disappearing again, becoming a blue blur across the walls, dashing horizontally, literally monkeying around, blasting more streams of scalding water at Deino who countered just in time with another dragon breath.

"P-panpour!" It jumped from a wall fixture to a chandelier however it was hit right before its tiny hands could clung on, leaving it desperately catching its footing on a nearby table before dashing off. It turned to its right then leapt backwards, having its way blocked by a dragon breath, then left, then up, then down as Minato predicted it's every action, caging it in his line of sight. Nothing could escape the Messiah's grasp.

Cress's eyes narrowed, waving Panpour back to the arena, maintaining a good distance from Minato's hellspawn. Taking this chance, Deino opened its jaws charging at the monkey when it launched its claws at the dragon in a fury of swipes before getting its right arm caught in the mouth of the dark creature. Biting down as hard as it could, teeth sinking into flesh, Panpour closed the distance between them, licking the creature, causing it to reel back in pain but also flinging the exhausted monkey across the room, smashing it into a row of empty seats.

"Pan…pour."

Unable to get up, the blue monkey laid in the rubble unconscious. After Cress revived it with a quick revive. Minato also gave Deino a paralyze heal, freeing it from its statue-like state.

"Congratulations on your victory, Minato. As promised here is the Trio badge. That was a sublime match if I have to say." Cress masked his hidden surprise at the outcome.

"Thank you for the battle as well. If it weren't for Panpour's sudden faint, me and Deino would have been in real trouble." The match could have easily ended with Minato's loss with lick's paralyzing effects. Deino would have been a sitting duck.

"Yes, I was hoping Panpour would pull through on that gamble. There was little chance we could have taken your Deino head on." Cress admitted, showing a rare competitive side to his reserved front, smirking. The small dragon was huge for its size, enough to scare the Gym leader into keeping his distance. When it came to weight classes, Panpour would have suffered a heavy blow if it were to receive a tackle from Deino head on.

"Pan! Panpour!" His mon said, like it was agreeing with its trainer's words.

Holding up a glass of root beer, White cheered. "Let's eat our hearts out guys! First badge means one step closer to the Pokemon League. All root beers are on me!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, announcing their four way win streak to the rest of the restaurant, followed by a few claps.

Clinking their glasses in celebration, the four friends conversed nonstop about their day's accomplishment, even attracting the attention of other people who came to listen to their tales, especially the battle between Minato and Cress. White and Gigi retold the events, acting out the entire skit along with Stacy like true entertainers. There was just something surreal about the match, like it was a sequence you'd find in an all out action movie. How Deino's trainer had the magic eye to track such a creature moving at superhuman speeds was a show to behold.

"And then, Panpour ran up the walls like so! And Deino blasted it like this!" She had Stacy mimic Deino's motions followed by Gigi being Panpour, then turning to Minato, "But I really wanna know Mina, how did you know where Panpour was? I couldn't even see where it disappeared off to. Was it some trick you had up your sleeve?" She eagerly questioned him, her eyes sparkling like a puppy.

"I'm also curious about your strategy. Surely you couldn't have seen Panpour running by yourself." Cheren added, as such precision would make Minato a top ace trainer if he did. In that moment, the bluenette felt all eyes in the restaurant lock in on him, both friends and strangers alike eagerly waited for his answer. Because it was rare to see newbie trainers go toe to toe so instantly with an experienced Gym leader.

Minato shrugged, "I guessed."

"Ehhhhhh?! No way! Come on, you're pulling my leg Mina! That's not right at all!" White pouted, shaking her friend but he only gave a few variations of his previous answer. No way would he say the blue monkey was actually moving as slow as molasses in his eye. Deflecting a sentient robot's bullets as a part of daily reaction training to stay alive in that green hell was also not an answer he could give either.

"I forget."

"Nooooo!"

"It's true."

"You're a meanie!"

"Heh."

"See? I knew you were messing with me! Now tell me."

He used to enjoy teasing Yukari but this would also do. Minato chuckled.

Cilan cleaned the last of the tables, wiping sweat off his face in an exhausted sigh. After their last battles, dinner rush had been a nightmare due to malfunctioning equipment in the kitchen. With a stressed crew and customer complaints of slow service, today was an incredible journey in endurance.

Pouring a cup of tea for himself, he pulled up next to his two brothers to relax. "I'm so tired. Hopefully the repair company will be here tomorrow morning." He saw Chili nod but Cress remained unresponsive, as if in deep contemplation.

"What's wrong, Cress? Were the customer complaints unreasonable again?" Cilan watched his brother shake his head.

"No. If there were, then I wasn't in the headspace to record them." Cress admitted, breaking out of his usual, soothing diligence to listen to each and every guest, being the face of near perfect customer satisfaction. He was also the one training the waiters and waitresses while Cilan balanced the books.

"Huh? Something on your mind?" Chili was now curious too.

Cress crossed his arms, sighing. "Yes. That Minato fellow. I'm sure he'll be a big shock to the League once he enrolls…"

"Whoa! Why the sudden prediction? You know, Cheren wasn't bad either. Took Pansear out before I could react." Chili raised a brow, he and Cilan were away when that fight happened.

"Something akin to that. Although…" Cress paused, looking down at his tea cup seeing his reflection. Blue hair and blue eyes mirrored back, his face having a much more youthful aura than the boy he had just fought. "Is it possible for a youngster to have an aged soul?" He blurted out, unsure of himself. Compared to him, there was something about Minato that felt…ancient. The way he reacted from his frightening accuracy at predicting Panpour's movements, to his coldly calm composure. His ability to tame such a large dragon cub. There was only one other person in the world Cress could compare that crushing aura to. A person he had met in a distant beach town in the East, Sinnoh Champion Cynthia. The women who wielded earth shattering power in the form of a ground dragon with icy composure that not even Alder could match.

"What? That's ridiculous bro, chill out. He probably just got lucky. That's what I heard from White's retellings anyways. Good show." Chili brushed his brother's concerns, "Speaking of which, she was pretty skilled too. Tho I'm willing to bet Cheren will be the toughest of the group once they reach the League."

"I'll have to disagree brother." Cilan said, "Personally, I'm placing my chips on White to sweep at least one Elite four member once she refines her tactics a bit more. Her techniques might be brash but it's her will to overcome all odds that will persevere in the end." The greenate finished in a calculating tone. The surreal scene of the passionate Chili backing a bookworm while the cool headed Cilan went for someone that displayed unbeatable willpower was bizarre, leaving Cress to shake his head at the both of them, bringing up out a bag of peppers.

"No. I'm afraid you're both off." He began, "I'm willing to bet my taste buds that Minato will win out in the end." He announced, dropping down the ghost peppers, determined. Truly, brotherly competition was going to be the end of them.

Chili grabbed a pepper, "fine, but if he loses, I'm making you eat five of these."

"Hmmm, interesting. I'll join in too. I look forward to both of you scarfing them down." Cilan mused.

Author's Note:

N gets scared off and the group earn their first badge. The three Gym leaders offer up their sanity to place bets on who'd come out ontop once Minato's group reaches the League. This one was more of a transitional chapter for the big events later. Although Cress's observations of Minato will be relayed to the other leaders and it'll start building a reputation for him.

Next chapter will feature the Dream and Team Plasma being openly evil for the first time. I really wanted to give Chili, Cress and Cilan some screen time because I wanted to show this world was alive besides having Minato roam around in it. Not to mention the hilarious image of Cress and Minato being look alikes where he purposely raised the level of the GYM challenge for him due to Deino being hard to tame. Looking at its pokedex entries, they sound like they would bite pretty brutally.