Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: Toad Town (Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story plus Bowser Jr's Journey)
Out at a patisserie in the heart of Toad Town, Ruby was out sitting at a table enjoying some cake and coffee with her Venusaur enjoying the sunshine. Joining her were Weiss with Manaphy in her lap, Chelsea with her Spoink happily bouncing, Futaba with her Houndstone resting comfortably near her and Cinder with her Charizard taking a nap in the shade.
"Wow! So you have a new restaurant in Neo Bowser City?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah." Cinder nodded. "Of course, being a new business, service is naturally slow but I can imagine things will pick up shortly." She glanced over at her Charizard. "Acnologia's… kinda mixed over the new location but he's getting used to it."
"Hard to believe that this is the same Charizard who'd so eagerly kill any human that was within his range." Chelsea said. "You must have quite the bond."
"Mmm… some days are touch and go. Like, seriously, every time I say hi to him, he burns my face."
"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad." Futaba said.
"Watch." Cinder turned her head. "HI bud." She said warmly, only to be met with a Flamethrower to the face. Acnologia gave her a playful smirk right after.
"Mana!" Manaphy applied water on her face.
"See what I mean?" Cinder responded, wiping her face with a washcloth.
"Hmm… based on that playful reaction…" Futaba folded her arms, recalling how in the anime, Ash's Charizard would always greet him with a Flamethrower to his face. "I wonder if he's just being affectionate."
"Love is pain…" Cinder groaned. "So, what's new with you guys?"
"Oh, we've just been relaxing this past week after being at Starfall Islands." Ruby said. "In fact, mom went on vacation with Byleth and Dorothea. I can't remember where they went but I know they went on the Daisy Cruiser…"
"I'm… still trying to find my answer." Weiss said.
"Your answer?" Cinder wondered.
"When Eggman invaded, my hope plummeted and I just… snapped at Luminary, asking him where was my hope. Things just started going downhill after that."
"Right, when you were not yourself that one time…" Cinder nodded. "How have you been holding up?"
"I've… been slowly getting better. Aqua and Chell dropped by the house with a few baked pies and cookies to cheer me up. Of course, chili dogs would also cheer me up too."
Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Chili dogs… of all things?"
Weiss chuckled. "You take one bite of a chili dog that Sonic gives you and… suddenly, you're hooked on them."
Ruby snickered. "You should've seen her yesterday, she was devouring that chili dog on sight!"
Weiss blushed. "Ruby…"
"What? It's true." She giggled.
"Well, considering Esdeath is addicted to meatball subs, I'm sure you being addicted to chili dogs isn't too far fetched…" Cinder teased.
"Hey!"
"As for me, well, I've discovered something interesting… or more like, Sage discovered something. She was looking into my Technomagic and saw something that intrigued her. Apparently, I have the ability to, shall we say, summon a video game controller and digitally plug in to someone else, where I pretty much control them."
"Whoa…" Ruby whispered.
"I… haven't fully tested that out yet but I'm curious to see how it plays out." Futaba said.
"I'm not sure if I should be amazed or concerned…" Cinder grimaced.
"How's Sage holding up anyway?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, she's a blast to have around. Her curiosities about everything is so adorable. Heck, she's getting along with Nyx, the Ayami twins, the rest of the thieves, Chiaki… in fact, Sage often plays games with her. It's so adorable!"
"She got another one…" Weiss snickered.
Futaba shrugged, smiling. "What can ya do?"
"As for me, I've been working on my solo album and I'm almost done with it. Mom and Kokoron have been cheering me on and offered feedback if I needed an opinion on something." Chelsea said before sighing. "I'm like the last one to do so now. I still don't know how Ling and Cardin snuck past me… As far as I knew, I was so far ahead of them and next thing I know, they were finished! Not only that, but their singles are amazing!"
She let out a sigh. "It's what I get for procrastinating on one particular song…"
"Happens to the best of us." Ruby said.
Chelsea smiled. "Speaking of Kokoron, I wonder how she and the rest of the Warriors of Hope are handling their new recruit…"
"New recruit?" Everyone else wondered.
Pause BGM
Meanwhile…
"Finally finished." Nagisa said, picking up a badge as he approached Flandre. "Our newest member of the Warriors of Hope… Flandre Scarlet, the Sorceress."
A few days ago, the day after Flandre met Kotoko and Co…
BGM: Iono Zone (Pokemon Scarlet/Violet)
"For our next segment, we are going to discuss an oddity in the Pokemon world." Iono said as Kotoko was watching her livestream on the balcony on her Scroll, which had been upgraded as a Rotom Scroll with a Sylveon-themed case.
Iono turned the camera to an aquarium, which held a Finizen. "I went out and about and caught myself a Finizen, because I wanna know what the heck is up with these things. No one knows how these things evolve. Do they eat so many tiny Water Pokemon that they evolve? Do they specifically eat Shellder that makes them evolve? Do they do a few tricks? Do people get in a weird friend circle and it evolves by the power of friendship? No one knows for sure!"
Iono smiled. "So today, we're going to be doing some fun experiments to see what makes these cuties evolve. So first, I got a cute little beach ball! Perhaps by playing with it, the Finizen will evolve!"
She turned around. "Okay, sweetie! Time for you to-"
Suddenly, Finizen started to glow.
"HUH?!"
Finizen soon evolved into Palafin. "Pala Pala! Paaaallll!"
"Uh… uhhhhh…"
She turned to the camera bewildered.
"UHHHHHHHHHHH…"
"We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by."
End BGM
Kotoko laughed. "Poor girl…"
"Hello~!"
"ACK!" She screamed as she saw Flandre flying right outside the building next to the railing while carrying a small box with her. "Oh, it's just you, Flan…" She then looked annoyed. "And dude, why didn't you just use the elevator to get up here?!"
Flandre landed on the balcony floor before shrugging. "Eh, it feels kinda fun meeting up this way."
Kotoko sweatdropped. "Okay…?"
She held up the small box she brought with her. "Oh, and… I brought some charcuterie too! Sakuya made them for me when I told her and my sister that I was gonna meet up with some friends off-world." She winked. "Of course, they knew who I was talking about."
Kotoko smiled. "Sweet!" She got up from the couch. "C'mon, let's introduce you to the others and have your recruitment finalized."
"Okay~!"
They both headed inside.
"Man, you had quite the upbringing…" Masaru said.
"Yeah, I'm just glad these two managed to make me see life differently… and honestly, screw my folks. I'd rather live my own life, thank you very much." Pacifica said. "And knowing them, they wouldn't want me to hang out with, as they would put it, "demon children" because of what you guys did, but honestly? You guys changed for the better, just like I did… though I didn't really kill anyone. But you're atoning, that's all that matters to me."
"I said something similar." Silver said, as he was wearing a dark gray scarf with the white-colored Paladin class emblem emblazoned and a pendant version of the Warriors of Hope's badge around his neck.
"Yeah, and, dude… you have our condolences over your fallen sister." Soos said.
"Yeah, that kinda stinks…" Wendy nodded.
"Rest assured, me and the other mechanics will get your sister back up and running soon." Ford reassured. "Heck, as far as I know, the Crygors are looking into finding new material for us to work with at Diamond City."
Nagisa smiled. "Thanks…"
"Though, I'm curious." Pacifica said. "Based on you three's, plus Kotoko's first names, are you guys like… Japanese or something?"
"Pretty much!" Jataro nodded.
"Hai!" Masaru nodded.
Pacifica smiled. "That's pretty cool!"
She then folded her arms. I guess I could join the Warriors of Hope given that Dipper and Mabel recommended me, but… what kind of RPG fantasy class would suit me? "You mind if I become an "un"official member first before I figure out what RPG class would suit me best?"
Nagisa chuckled with a nod. "Of course, take all the time you need."
"Um, if I may interrupt?" Kotoko spoke up as all attention turned to her and Flandre, where everyone else was shocked to see the latter there.
"Wh-what the…?! H-how the hell did she get in here?!" Masaru demanded.
"Uh… I used my wings? Duh!"
"But how did you know which floor our office was?!" Nagisa asked.
Flandre smiled. "Simple, I flew up to the building until I found Kotoko hanging around outside your office balcony."
"You do know that you could have used the elevator, right?" Dipper pointed out.
"Pffft, why would I do that? That'll only slow me down. Flying is much faster."
Nagisa sweatdropped. "Touche…" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, is this the new recruit you were talking about?"
"Yup~!" Kotoko smiled. "Everyone, meet Flandre Scarlet."
"Hello~! I'm the infamous mentally unstable vampire of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Flandre Scarlet."
Kokoro and Mabel smiled alongside Kotoko, but everyone else took a step back the moment they heard "mentally unstable", not to mention they've seen what she was capable of from the video recording Mabel sent them.
"Relax, I'm not the same vampire as I once was." Flandre waved it off, causing them all to relax.
"Hmm?" Pacifica noticed the small box Flandre put down on the coffee table, and with her permission, she opened it up. "Hey, is this charcuterie board in a box?"
Flandre smiled. "Sure! Help yourselves."
Wendy took a cracker and a slice of brie cheese from the box. "Heh, sweet."
Within a few minutes, the rest of the group warmed up to the vampire, chatting with her while they ate from the charcuterie board.
"Mind if I study you? This is interesting information to put into my journal." Ford asked.
"Knock yourself out." Flandre said casually, doing a pose as Ford quickly made a sketch of her, then proceeded to write down some notes.
"Dudes, check this out. These crystals on her wings make her look like a humanoid Christmas Tree than a vampire!" Soos said, checking out her wings.
That's a new one… Flandre thought.
End flashback…
Nagisa gave the badge to Flandre. "Welcome aboard, Flan."
"Thanks." Flandre smiled as she took it. "Hmm, Flandre the Vampire Sorceress…" She giggled. "Has a nice ring to it~!"
Back with the others…
Resume Toad Town BGM
"THEY GOT FLANDRE?!" Most of them yelled.
"...Who?" Cinder raised an eyebrow.
"Kokoron showed me the video. I'm amazed that Kotoko survived that." Chelsea said. "That girl's something else."
"Well, that's both awesome and terrifying at the same time." Ruby sweatdropped.
"Hey lasses!" A voice called out to them as they turned to see Gloria approaching them.
"Hey Glor-... whoa, what are you wearing?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, this?" Gloria pointed to her head, which she was wearing a tiara on her head, resembling Zacian's crown yet smaller. She took it off and smiled. "Luminary made this for me. He managed ta enchant it ta where the poison in my head would be held back. In short, if I wear this, the poison will be kept at bay."
"And… you took it off." Weiss said.
"Ahehehe~..." Gloria sheepishly scratched her cheek. "About that… the lad gave it ta me a few minutes after Xerneas dropped by and healed me from Adam's poison. I just hadn't had the heart ta tell the lad…"
Futaba chuckled. "Humoring him?"
"Yeah… I'm gonnae have to tell him eventually, but I'm keepin' it. I feel like a princess wearin' this!"
Ruby snickered, playfully elbowing Gloria. "Guess that makes you the queen of Galar~?"
Gloria snickered. "Nice one, lass!" She giggled and then pointed to the jewels on the crown. "These four jewels represent my four best friends."
She pointed to the dark purple jewel.
"Marnie-"
Then the scarlet red jewel.
"Ruby-"
"Awww~!" Ruby gushed.
Then the blue jewel.
"Hop-"
And finally, the pink jewel.
"-And Bede."
"Nice." Weiss smiled.
"Mana…" Manaphy's eyes sparkled at the crown as Gloria put it back on her head.
"So, what's new with ye, lasses?" She glanced over at Acnologia. "I see someone's still a grump."
"His treatment is… slow and steady, but he's getting better." Cinder responded.
"I see." Gloria nodded. "By the way, ye want to do somethin'?"
"Well, if it means getting my mind off things, sure." Ruby nodded. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well… I've been itchin' to go check out Paldea lately. I talked with Marn, Bede and Hop and they all thought it'd be a good idea to go there. Hell, even Professor Sonia's willin' to come with us, and of course, Victor and his girlfriend too."
Ruby smiled. "Sure, I wouldn't mind going there!"
"Well, I suppose I can head over there." Weiss said. "Maybe then I'll find my answer… wherever my hope would be."
Ruby pulled out her scroll. "I'm gonna make a few calls real quick."
Futaba's phone went off, where she pulled it out of her pocket and saw it was Akira calling her. "What's up, bro? …Oh? Meet you at JINXY's? Okay! Be right there!"
Futaba got up. "Alright, I'm headin' off. See ya!" She waved. "Come on, Spooks!"
"Woof!"
"I should be headin' off myself." Cinder said, activating her Maiden powers. "Come on, Acnologia."
Acnologia let out a gruff snort as they both flew off together.
"Hmm… Paldea, eh…?" Chelsea mused as she pulled out her scroll and started texting Kokoro.
Meanwhile…
Pyrrha walked out of the door, stretching. She let out a soft sigh and headed over to Toad Park where she saw her team and Jinx chatting it up.
"Hmm? Ah, there you are!" Nora waved her over. "You all ready?"
"Yeah. I'm just waiting for Erza."
"She's still packing?" Ren asked.
"Pretty much."
"Well, I'm sure she's trying to decide what to take." Jaune said.
"You guys headed off somewhere?" A voice asked as they turned to see Hiyoko approaching with Mahiru.
"Yeah, we're headin' for Kitakami." Nora said, handing her a flyer that they had seen on the bulletin board.
"Let's see…" Hiyoko looked it over. "Kitakami, a region near the Johto region… a Mask Festival, home of the Ogre…" She mumbled to herself. "Ah, so headin' to the Pokemon world, eh?"
"Yeah." Jaune nodded.
Hiyoko smiled. "We want in."
""We"?" Jinx asked.
"Yeah. You can thank Nanami for actually getting me into Pokemon-"
Earlier…
"I dunno, girl… it doesn't really seem like my cup of tea…" Hiyoko said.
"Come on, just one Pokemon game? If you don't like it, then I won't bother you again with the subject."
"Mmm… oh, fine. But it better be a good one, or so help me, I'm shoving you into a maze filled with styrofoam with cannons that shoot whipped cream at you."
Chiaki sweatdropped while slightly paling. "Well… at least it won't be a death maze…"
Later in the day…
"Alola…" Hiyoko mumbled as she was playing Ultra Moon on the 3DS. "More like Aslowla. Hehehe…" She chuckled as she walked into some a flower field, which triggered a Pokemon battle as a cheerleading Oricorio.
"...Huh?" Hiyoko stared at the Pokemon before quickly taking a picture and sending it to Chiaki, then called her up.
"Hey, I just sent you a picture. What the hell is an Oricorio?"
"Ah, Oricorio? You're probably seeing it's Pom Pom form. You can give it different colored nectar to give it a different style of dance and form. If you give it red nectar, it'll change into Baile style. Yellow nectar gives, well, Pom Pom. Pink nectar gives you Pa'u style and purple gives you Sensu style."
"Ooookaaaay…? Send me a few pics."
"Okay, give me a sec… okay, sending them to you now!"
Hiyoko looked them over and her eyes widened at the Sensu styled Oricorio. She gasped.
"Thank you so much, Nanami! I'm getting me a Sensu style Oricorio!"
"You're welco-... wait! Before you do anything, I need to tell you that Sensu style is post-"
Hiyoko hung up and immediately started to lower the Oricorio's health with her Popplio before throwing a Pokeball at it, capturing it a few seconds later.
"Welcome to the team~!"
Back in the present…
"I pretty much creamed Hau with my Oricorio… unfortunately, I was stuck with Pau'u because Chiaki didn't warn me that Sensu was post game."
"You hung up on her. You got overly excited that you didn't listen." Mahiru pointed out.
Hiyoko sweatdropped. "Ahehehe~... whoops… well, now I know, at least."
"Meanwhile, I've been meaning to take some photos of a new area I haven't been to yet and this Kitakami sounds perfect~!" Mahiru smiled. "So I'm going too."
"Yup, we're comin' with ya!"
"Well, alrighty then!" Jaune nodded.
"Sorry, I'm late!" A voice said as they turned to see Erza approaching them pulling a cart. "I couldn't find the sunscreen…"
Everyone jawdropped at what she was pulling, which was a gigantic mountain of luggage in a cart.
"Erza! I told you to pack light!" Nora said.
"Hmm? What are you talking about? I did pack light." She responded, causing them to sweatdrop.
"If this is your idea of packing light… I hate to see your idea of packing heavy…" Jinx said.
"Hmm… ah! I'll be right back." Mahiru said as she walked off.
"Where you heading off to?" Hiyoko asked.
"I think bringing Basalt along for the ride wouldn't hurt. Make him stretch his legs." She winked and walked off.
"Oh! Let me come with you! I wanna see that Basarios of yours!" Hiyoko took off after her.
"Looks like we're bringing a monster with us." Ren chuckled.
End BGM
Back with Ruby and Co, at the Smash Mansion…
"Alright, a new Pokemon region to explore! Now we're talkin'!" Sun said,
"Sounds like fun." Neptune nodded, his hand holding Weiss's.
"Heh, sounds exciting." Claude said.
"Man, it's been a while since I've gone out on an adventure with ya." Pit said, doing some stretches.
"Yeah, sorry… everything happened so fast…" Ruby sheepishly admitted.
"Ah, don't worry about it!" Pit smiled.
"I see all the boyfriends are going." Meryl said as she joined them. Mmm, I need to find me a special someone…
"Are we waiting on someone?" Hop wondered.
"I think a few more people are coming." Bede responded.
"I've been to Paldea before, so I guess I could show you some sites I've seen." Victor said, as Neo clung on to him.
"Well, at least we're not goin' in totally blind." Marnie said with Blake nodded.
"Ugh! I came all this way for an exciting new adventure at the Pokemon world… and you mean to tell me that I'm gonna be traveling with THIS jerk?" An annoyed feminine voice spoke up from behind.
Bede frowned in annoyance, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. Tch. Of all people, of course she's here too.
He turned around, coming face to face with an equally annoyed Kotoko, where all the Warriors of Hope (minus Pacifica) walked over.
BGM: Taking a Break (Tekken: Bloodline)
"Strauss." The gym leader of Ballonlea growled, narrowing his eyes at Kotoko.
"Bede." The pink haired girl glared back heatedly at Bede, taking off her travel bag and tossing it to the side.
Kokoro tensed up along with a few others. "Easy there, girlfriend…"
Did I miss something? Silver and Flandre thought.
What the hell is Flan doing here?! Yang and Blake thought in surprise.
"We've been over this several times last month, Pixie Chick. There's no way in Arceus you'll ever beat me." Bede sneered while folding his arms. "Just give it a rest."
"Oh, I decide when I'm done, Bede-y." Kotoko retorted with a sneer of her own, causing Bede's eyebrows to twitch in annoyance at the nickname. "Besides, it's not my fault that you chose to get off on the wrong foot with me the moment you decided to make fun of me and my skills as a Pokemon Trainer when we had our first battle together at Toad Park last month."
Earlier…
"Chaaaamp…" Her Machamp fainted.
"Adonis!"
"Hmph!" Bede put away his Gardevoir. "This match is officially over. You're weak, you're not that great of a Pokemon Trainer and honestly, did you really expect to win against me when you're just a novice? Embarrassing, honestly."
"Grrrr…"
Back in the present…
"Ouch…" Sonia winced.
Bede forced a smile. "...Is that a challenge? Or are you just trying to get up on my grill, you wannabe streamer?"
Kotoko smirked smugly. "Maybe a bit of both, you hypocrite!"
Both of them glared at each other, sparks shooting out of the both of their eyes.
"Is this what he's been grumpy about earlier?" Hop whispered to Gloria.
"How could ye tell? He's always a grump."
"Fair point."
"I heard that!" Bede said in annoyance.
"Soooo… are you two like, friends, or something?" Flandre asked.
"HUH?! NO WAY! WE ARE NOT FRIENDS, DAMMIT!" Kotoko and Bede yelled in unison.
Flandre gave them a cheeky grin. "Just checkin'~"
End BGM
Nagisa sighed. "I decide to take a little vacation to get my mind off things with SAPR and I'm pulled into this drama…"
"It could be a lot worse." Jataro said, as he had a haircut, which was similar to Akira's
"True." Nagisa nodded. "I could use a distraction…"
"I guess everyone's here then?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, looks like it." Gloria nodded.
Ruby nodded. "Alriiiiight! Vacationing in Paldea, here we come~!" She smiled as they went through the portal as they found themselves near Gloria's home in Galar, where on cue, they heard a roar as they looked up to see Rayquaza coming down and landing.
Zinnia peeked behind Rayquaza. "Need a ride~?" She smiled.
"We're gonna need two rides for this." Gloria chuckled, calling out her Eternatus as they hopped on both Legendaries.
"This is gonna be exciting~!" Sonia smiled.
"Let's ride!" Ruby exclaimed as they took off to Paldea.
"Have fun!" Chelsea called out to them, waving them goodbye as she was seeing them off. She then sighed in exasperation, recalling how Kotoko and Bede interacted.
"I just hope those two don't kill each other…"
Meanwhile, in Paldea…
"Mmmph…" Alessandra groaned, looking in a mirror as she was decked out in an orange and purple school uniform. "Come on, this totally clashes. I've worn better uniforms in photoshoots for Arceus' sake." The bluenette complained.
"Oh, it's not so bad." Cian said, wearing the same outfit.
"Maybe to you…" Alessandra rolled her eyes as they headed downstairs.
"Aless! Cia-... oh!" Their mother smiled. "Look at you both, you're already ready to go to Nuranuva Academy!"
"Yup!" Cian nodded.
"Woohoo…" Alessandra cheered unenthusiastically, moreso because of the drab attire she was wearing.
"Ah, I see the students have already gotten dressed into their uniforms." A voice said as they turned to see an old man sitting in a chair drinking some coffee.
"Well, I was going to put this on when I got to the academy but somebody insisted I wear it immediately!" Alessandra playfully glared at her twin brother.
Cian chuckled. "You gotta look presentable."
"I'm already presentable! I'm naturally beautiful, for Arceus' sake!"
"Then why do you wear make up?"
"I… like the way it looks…" Alessandra mumbled while sweatdropping. "You know that!"
Cian chuckled. "Yeah, I know."
The old man chuckled. "Ah, the youth and their sibling bonds…" He said as he stood up. "Now then, as you may be aware, I am the headmaster of Nuranuva, Headmaster Clavell."
"Pleasure to meet you/Nice to meet ya!"
He smiled. "Likewise. I assume you've both read the student manuals?"
They both nodded.
"Excellent. Now then, perhaps it would be wise for you to pick out your first Pokemon. I'm well aware of what your mother had told me, regarding that you both shared a Growlithe as young kids before a major storm in Galar made it run away and you never could find it."
Cian shifted uncomfortably.
Alessandra sighed. "That was a rough day for Cian, actually… for all of us. But I believe our Growlithe is still out there alive. I don't know where he is, but I can bet he's still alive and perky!"
"If only I held on to him tighter…"
Clavell nodded solemnly. "You have my condolences…" He said, putting his hands on their shoulders. "Now come on, let's step outside and meet your potential companions."
"Wait!" Their mother spoke up as she handed each of them a bag. "Here you go. Sandwiches for the road ahead!"
"Thanks, mum." Cian smiled.
"Thanks!" Alessandra grinned as they hugged her, where she both kissed them on the cheeks.
"You go have fun at the academy, okay? Check in often!"
"We will!" Alessandra nodded as they walked out with Clavell.
Clavell turned around. "Now then, allow me to introduce you to the three." He said, tossing out three Poke Balls.
BGM: Poco Path (Pokemon Scarlet/Violet)
"Spriga!"
"Fuecoco!"
"Quax!"
"Sprigatito, the Grass Cat Pokemon. Fuecoco, the Fire Croc Pokemon. And Quaxly, the Duckling Pokemon."
"Oh wow! They look so cute~!" Alessandra's eyes sparkled.
"Hmm, what to choose…" Cian mused as he briefly looked up at the sky as he saw Rayquaza and Eternatus fly by. "Huh…?! Aless, look at that!"
"Hmm?" Alessandra looked up at the sky, only to see nothing. "Yeah, bro… it's a really pretty blue sky."
"No no, I saw Rayquaza and some weird purple… dragon thing!"
"Is that what we're calling Salamence now?" Alessandra deadpanned.
"No! It's not a Salamence! It was different!"
"Uh-huh… ooookay then."
"A Rayquaza, you say?" Clavell mused before chuckling. "You have quite the imagination, young Cian."
Cian sweatdropped. "I swear I wasn't seeing things…"
"Now before you choose your Starter Pokemon, there's one other student we need to speak to. In fact, she happens to be your neighbor. Come along, now."
Clavell started to walk away as the three Pokemon finished circling around the duo by checking them out as they started to run off.
"Hey, wait up!" Alessandra said before turning to Cian. "Last one there is a rotten Exeggcute!" She took off running.
"Huh?! No fair!" Cian ran after her.
Meanwhile…
Rayquaza and Eternatus landed near the lighthouse as Gloria was the first to hop off. "Aaaah… Paldea! I wonder where this path leads!" She excitedly ran off.
"Hey, wait up!" Ruby called out.
"There she goes…" Marnie chuckled.
Gloria ran through the path as Fletchling flew out of the grass as some Hoppip curiously flew around. A Taorantula scurried away while a Lechonk curiously looked up from grazing.
She turned the corner and kept running, looking around to see the Pokemon around her, not seeing where she was going… and sprinted right into Alessandra.
BONK!
"OOOOOF!" Both girls grunted as they rubbed their heads, shaking it off as they both let out an annoyed growl.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOI-" Both gasped, their eyes widened in surprise. "ALESS/GLORI?!"
"What the Giratina…? Gloria?!" Cian said in surprise as the Starter Pokemon ran back to check on the duo, with Quaxly checking Alessandra's forehead and Sprigatito rubbing against Gloria's side.
"Holy smokes!" A voice called out as they looked to see Hop. "Alessandra? Cian?! Is that really you?"
Alessandra gasped. "Hoppy?! You're here too?"
"And me." Victor approached.
"Oh! Victor!" Cian smiled warmly.
"Vic-cy~! You're here!" Alessandra smiled as she saw everyone approaching.
"Okay, I think we're owed an explanation." Yang said.
Gloria giggled. "Right… these are our childhood friends when we were wee folk before they moved away deeper into Galar and we never saw 'em again… until now. Alessandra, Cian… meet-"
One introduction later…
Alessandra smiled, pointing to Ruby. "I recognize you from the Galarian Star Tournament." She then pointed to Weiss, Blake, Marnie and Bede. "And I also recognize you guys as well! …As for the others, well, nice to meet ya."
"Actually, I've heard about you." Cian said, pointing to Zinnia. "You're the famous lorekeeper in Hoenn, right?"
"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me!" Zinnia said proudly.
"Yeah, you were impaled by Rayquaza. It was all over the news!"
Zinnia prat fell. "That's what was so newsworthy?! Me being turned into a pincushion?!" Anime tears ran down her cheeks. "I tamed Ray Ray but every other region sees me as a pinata… why must mainstream news be so cruel…"
"There there…" Sonia patted her on the back.
"By the way, Rubes." Alessandra said. "Back at the tournament, your arm wasn't so green back then, and now it's so… green and rosy. What's going on?"
"Oh, right… well… long story short, I had an evil dark clone from a mirror and I had several bad run ins with her before I finally destroyed her… but it cost me my arm because she destroyed it."
"...OOOOOH THANK ARCEUS. I thought for a fact that your mother mated with a Carnivine or a Roserade and you were starting to mutate into one!"
"...What." Ruby deadpanned, hearing some amused snickering coming from Yang and Gloria.
"I was thinking a Venusaur blessed you." Cian said.
"WHAT."
"PFFFT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Both Yang and Gloria fell on their backs in laughter while everyone else tried to hold in their laughs, though Weiss, Meryl, Marnie, Silver and Nagisa failed to do so.
Ruby groaned. "Somehow, that would've been much better than the alternative…"
"I don't even want to know where she came up with that first guess…" Dipper said.
"I already imagined it… bad thoughts…!" Mabel groaned.
Alessandra then patted Ruby on the shoulder. "You have my condolences."
"By the way, was it you who flew in with that Rayquaza and that weird alien dragon thing?" Cian asked.
"Yup!" Zinnia and Gloria nodded.
"Ha! I told you I saw a Rayquaza!"
"Okay, okay… if you saw a Rayquaza, you saw a big green lizard." Alessandra shrugged. "So, you guys wanna tag along? We were just heading to that house over there."
"Sure." Gloria nodded.
"Awesome~!" Alessandra grinned as the group walked toward the house together.
"By the way… she's your girlfriend?" Cian whispered to Victor.
"Yup."
"You picked a good one." Cian said in approval as Neo overheard and started blushing.
Hop, meanwhile, stared at Alessandra as she was chatting with Gloria. …Is it me or… has she gotten prettier the last time I've seen her? He thought as a small blush formed in his face.
They walked through the gates as the Starter Pokemon ran ahead toward a young woman who was chatting with Clavell. The three Pokemon cried out as the young woman giggled, patting them on the heads before turning her head to see the group.
"Hey… are any of you these three's trainers?"
End BGM
Meanwhile, with Cinder…
"Oh hey, you two." Cinder said, waving to Bowsette and Rei.
"Hey!" Bowsette waved. "How was Toad Town?"
"Oh, pretty good. The cake there wasn't too bad. Though Ruby and her friends decided to go to some place called Paldea."
"Paldea?" Bowsette looked intrigued. "Fascinating…"
She then smiled. "Rei, get the Koopalings. We're going on vacation!"
"Okay!"
"Wha?!" Cinder said in surprise. "You mean we're all going to Paldea?"
"Yeah, it could be fun to unwind!"
"...Well, okay then. Might as well take Acnologia too." She said and then pulled out her scroll, calling someone up. "Hey Eddie, it's me. You want to come with me and my family for vacation?"
"Oh, that'd be wonderful! Where to?"
"Paldea."
Meanwhile… at JINXY's Home…
"Mmmph…" Nyx had her arms folded in agitation.
"You haven't told her yet?" Ryuji asked.
"No… because I didn't want to ruin her relaxation. The last thing I wanted was for her to get upset when she was decompressing."
"Well, you're gonna have to tell her at some point." Ann said.
"I know!" Nyx groaned. "I just… don't know when's a good time to tell Jade about what Viola did. The fact that she had the audacity to come and almost kill a member of my family… rrrrgh… it just riles me up just thinking about it!"
"Easy… deep breath…" Xena said, massaging her shoulders.
"Ugh… thanks sis, I needed that…"
At that moment, Jade came out of her lab with Iris and Rantaro. "Well, that regenerating steak I invented didn't go as planned… somebody ate it before I could start testing it."
"Hey, if you put a New York Strip in front of me, I can't guarantee it's survival." Iris said in defense, hearing a snicker from Rantaro right as Futaba walked in.
"Sorry I'm late. A few Toads wanted autographs and pictures with me all because of my Winter Maiden status." Futaba chuckled.
"You're right on time though." Makoto said. "The woman of the hour hasn't shown up-"
Suddenly, the front door opened up, revealing Myra.
"-Yet."
"Sorry about that. I was just making the final preparations." She said as she summoned her staff.
"So, what did you call us up here for?" Ann asked.
"My grandmother has just finally finished making the map regarding the locations of the Crystal Stars… and she just sensed the first one."
"Oh?" Xena asked as everyone looked intrigued.
Myra raised her staff as the Shadow Queen came out of it, holding the map.
"Show us the location of the Diamond Star!" Vivian exclaimed as a bright light shined down on the map before the light faded away.
She then made the map bigger for all to see as the map zoomed out into the world of Remnant, before zooming into Vale, and then several lights sparkled as a tower along with a few buildings popped up on the map, complete with a red forest behind the tower.
The location of the Diamond Star?
Beacon Academy.
Welcome to Paldea, watch your head for possible previous gen protagonists running at full speed!
Ibuki: Woo! New adventure! And it looks like the Crystal Star hunt begins!
Deadpool: Woo!