East Province Area Two was peaceful with its grassy fields and clear skies overhead, and Astrid was certainly at peace as she and her companions traversed it. Levincia was easy to spot from a Flying Taxi, and still easy to spot even after hopping off at Artazon to grab a morning snack from a Smoochurro cart. A larger river flowed through it, leading closer to the sea around Levincia, and made a gentle babbling sound as the water flowed that was quite relaxing to hear. Skiplooms drifted about on the breeze, Skiddos grazed, flocks of Swablus flew around in the distance, and Tinkatinks fussily swung their hammers at Magnemites passing through. Mimi exchanged sparks with wild Pawmos and their Pawmi companions, Toast couldn't help but to chase a hapless Chansey he saw poking through the grass, and the ever-showy Igor spread his wings and took a fighting stance at a snorting Tauros before giving it a swift kick upside the head. Raijin and Astrid both kept their eyes out, the former more so at some of the more rambunctious wild ones that eyed them and the latter to make sure her smaller companions didn't get into trouble.

"You know, we've been away from Coalition HQ for a while now," Astrid mused as she strolled along the river. She glanced up at Raijin. "I know you guys aren't like my human family and friends, but… you think they'll give up on us?"

"I don't think so," Raijin replied easily. "Necrozma would let them know, and even if they didn't, our friends care about us. They wouldn't give up on us." He tapped his fingers together pensively. "To be honest… I wouldn't put it past Rush to go climb Megalo Tower by himself and demand answers. He was mad enough at them the first time they sent you away, and now there's three of us missing."

Astrid couldn't help but to grin at the mental image of an angry Scrafty with a trail of busted Stakataka bricks behind him wildly waving his fists in the air and cussing out the honest-to-goodness supreme god of Ultra Space. "He would do that," she remarked.

"You still wanna go up there, don't you?" the Xurkitree inquired, giving her a glance. "At some point, anyway."

"Yes," Astrid replied without missing a beat. "I'm not as mad as I used to be, but… I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind." She deflated slightly, getting a hapless look as she said, "…But that's not gonna be for a while. We barely pulled through last time, and that was them not at full power with Lunala taking the brunt of it."

"If you said you wanted to go take them up on their challenge soon, I'd ask what was wrong with you," Raijin concurred. "Their Photon Geyser makes my Discharge look like a firecracker."

The sound of Toast yapping and a flustered-sounding "Mo!" from Mimi made Astrid's head jerk around, however, and her eyes go a bit wide at seeing the Fidough wagging his tail at a clearly not-enthused Combat-breed Tauros. The wild bovine scraped the ground with one hoof and snorted angrily, but Toast was none the wiser and yapped with his face right up close to his angry company's. Mimi, on the other hand, held a sparking hand up and slapped it, which, unlike the assertive gesture it was meant to be, only succeeded in pissing it off. The Tauros let out a loud bellow and charged, Toast finally figuring out that it wasn't trying to play and bolting back to Astrid with Mimi close behind.

"A-ah-!" Astrid cried, quickly grabbing up their balls to recall them and darting aside.

Igor perked up and struck a pose with one foot raised and his wings out to the side as if daring it to make a move, but his usual cry was cut off. "Igo-!"

"Easy there," Raijin said, nudging the bird aside with his tail.

The Tauros didn't touch Mimi or Toast when Astrid recalled them, or Igor, or even Raijin, who quickly started to spark like a tempestuous storm. It was clearly rethinking its life's decisions from the hesitant look that graced its face and the way its charging steps faltered for a second, but one Discharge later, it was lying in a sparking, unmoving heap. Igor blinked with wide eyes, Astrid eased up, and Raijin went back to nonchalant.

The shy girl sighed, giving a stern look to Toast's ball. "I take my eyes off of you for thirty seconds…" her voice trailed off.

Of course, Mimi and Toast didn't stay in their balls for long, the Fidough jumping out and yapping happily all the same. Mimi, however, jumped out and let out a "Mooooo!" with starry eyes, darting over to Raijin. She couldn't quite tug at a pant leg like she did with Astrid seeing as the Xurkitree didn't wear any clothes, but she nonetheless grabbed one of the prongs of his tail and tugged that instead with a "Mo! Mo!" escaping her mouth. He noticed and crouched down, to which the Pawmo practically leaped at him and he scrambled to catch her.

Astrid couldn't help but to chuckle at her antics. "You like Raijin's bolts, huh?" she asked with a slight grin.

"Mo!" the Pawmo cried back in affirmation, her ears wiggling as she nestled herself under Raijin's head.

"Oh, get nice and comfy," the Xurkitree said haplessly but not protesting. "I know how it is- being supercharged is fun."

Astrid chuckled some more. "Let's take a break," she said, glancing around for a suitable picnic area. "A sandwich sounds good right now and you two can do some bolt-firing."

Mimi perked up even more. "Mo!" she cried, clearly enthused at the idea.

Igor still blinked, clearly not sure what to think. "Igo…" his voice trailed off, one eye staring holes through the Xurkitree. He kept plenty of distance as he strutted back to Astrid's side, as if unsure whether he should get too close to that much electricity.

Nonetheless, Astrid was shortly spreading out a picnic blanket on a grassy patch by the river, giving plenty of room to the still-unmoving Tauros that probably wouldn't be waking up for quite some time. Toast was certainly eager to gobble up whatever he could get his teeth around, and thus Igor kept swatting him away from the ingredients Astrid was divvying out- banana slices for Mimi, boiled egg for Igor, cheese for Toast, and avocado slices for herself. Olive oil would certainly make for a nice drizzle, thus Astrid kept it out too. Arranging everything in an appealing way was the real trick- Astrid took great care to keep certain flavors on separate ends while some, like the eggs and cheese, melded together perfectly fine. The entire time, Toast was seemingly giving his opinion that she should just throw everything together and call it a day, Igor practically dancing around him and the sandwich ingredients to keep him from running off with everything.

Mimi and Raijin, on the other hand, were up to their own antics, far enough away so as to not disturb the others (mostly Igor) but close enough for Astrid and Raijin to yell back and forth or keep an eye out for each other. The Pawmo was perfectly content, clapping her sparking hands together once he set her down and giving his tail a playful tug.

"Alright, little one," the Xurkitree said, crouching down and patting her between the ears. "Once we're able to go home, I'll have to show you the stormy paradise for Electric types known as Ultra Plant, but for now, let's make it work."

"Mo!" Mimi happily replied.

He straightened himself out and started sparking again, which the Pawmo was apparently excited by judging by the way her eyes lit up. "I'm not gonna show you the kind of full throttle Discharge that I've had to pull in some crazy fights back home, but by non-Ultra Space standards, it's still pretty strong even when I hold back," he noted, looking at the clouds overhead.

CRRRRRRACK!

And shortly, Mimi's eyes were shooting wide and glittering with excitement as he let the bolts fly, an absurd barrage of them sailing off into the heavens and splitting the hapless cloud they hit in half. Maybe it wasn't his hardest hit, but some of the floating Skiplooms still let out cries of fright and a Skiddo or two brayed in dismay.

"A-ah, sorry, don't mind us!" Raijin exclaimed, gazing after a Skiddo as it bolted away.

Mimi clapped her hands together, giving a tiny shower of sparks as she did so. "Moooo!" she cried. She started rubbing her cheeks, making her hands spark some more. "Mo! Mo!"

The Xurkitree turned back to her, crouching down and nuzzling her between the ears again. "That's right, your turn," he said gently.

Igor and Toast too paused, the Flamigo's eyes practically bulging out of his head and Toast skittering into Astrid's lap at the wild crackling sound. Astrid was completely unfazed, still carefully layering ingredients without flinching.

"Igo," Igor said flatly, his feathers fluffing out hesitantly.

"Igor, I used to be a bird too," Astrid mused. "Maybe a Grass-type bird without a weakness to electricity, but still. The power that an Ultra Beast wields freaks you out the first few times, but after that, you just get used to having a walking explosion around. This is totally normal."

Toast didn't seem to care too much after a few seconds, but Igor, on the other hand, looked to Astrid as if wondering whether she was crazy or not. Mimi, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with wicked bolt-firing like her human was. She rubbed her cheeks, clapped her hands, and grinned up at the clouds above… but what she fired wasn't anywhere close to what Raijin had let off. She still sparked after sending a Thunder Shock, her own bolt dissipating somewhere in the sky. Even so, she clapped some more, bouncing excitedly.

"Not bad," Raijin said, giving her a pat with his tail.

"Mo! Mooooo!" the Pawmo cried, giving his tail a tug.

A crackling chuckle escaped him. "Let me help you with this next one, alright?"

She grinned, rubbing her cheeks some more, and Raijin crouched down with one hand scuffing her behind the ears again, albeit with the rest of his body going right back to sparking. Mimi perked right up, sparks from the Xurkitree dancing along her form along with her own and fired another Thunder Shock off at the sky.

Crrrrack!

It still wasn't anything close to Raijin's, and maybe it wasn't going to split clouds in half, but it was noticeably bigger. The Pawmo chattered excitedly, and Raijin gave her a friendly scratch between the ears.

"Good job," the Xurkitree said, albeit studying her a bit.

"Mo!" she exclaimed, flicking her ears happily.

He wasn't intentionally creating sparks, but as he scratched her head, quite a few flickered in the air and made faint crackling sounds. "You're still holding onto a lot of charge," he noted.

She tilted her head to the side. "Mo?" she inquired.

He glanced to the sky, at the parted cloud, then back to her. "My body might work a lot differently than yours, but my cables and your fur are pretty similar. It's good insulation until you intentionally go channeling your currents outwards… but I'm not so convinced that our methods of channeling them outwards are the same."

She flicked her ears, studying him inquisitively. It was obvious she couldn't understand all of his words, and maybe the Xurkitree lacked facial expressions to convey things like Astrid did, but Mimi at least appeared to know that he was contemplating something by the way his voice sounded.

He raised his hands up and said, "Hit me."

Those words, she understood perfectly. She started sparking again and threw herself at him, knocking him over into a hapless pile of cables. Another Electric-type's sparks didn't bother him one bit, and he'd certainly been hit by much, much harder blows, but one thing was fairly obvious- her currents were more noticeable when she'd physically hit him instead of throwing bolts into the sky.

"Mo," she chattered, disentangling herself from his cables and studying him.

"There we go," Raijin mused, straightening himself out but still staying crouched to be more on her level.

The Pawmo skittered closer and gave one of his hands a pat, saying a gentle but intent "Mo" as if to make sure he was okay after the hit.

He gave her another scratch between the ears. "You hit better physically," he noted. "You felt that, didn't you? You released more."

"Mo!"

Again, he held his hands up. "Hit me again."

She did, and he was yet again sprawled on the ground. It certainly wasn't a good Thunder Shock… but it was a fairly good Spark, and Mimi seemed to notice too from the way she smiled and flicked her ears. The Pawmo nonetheless gave him a reassuring pat as he picked himself up, but he didn't mind her hits one bit and gave her a few friendly scratches to tell her it was fine.

"The moves I know won't be much use to you, but I can definitely teach you how to crank up the voltage," he said, tapping his fingers together contemplatively. "And you can use that however feels best to you."

Her eyes sparkled. "Mo! Mo!" she cried, clapping her hands with a flurry of sparks between them.

Maybe there weren't any more bolts sailing off into the heavens, but there were certainly plenty of sparks and crackles between the two of them… for a little while, anyway.

"Guys," Astrid called, looking over. "The sandwich is ready."

Mimi certainly knew what that meant too and flicked her ears for a second before darting over as quick as she could. Maybe Raijin wasn't partaking with his noticeable lack of any anatomical features with which to eat, but he did the closest thing his species could and plugged his limbs into the ground by Astrid to recharge a little. The shy lass had carefully cut sections of the sandwich for everyone's tastes- Mimi's had plenty of riper banana slices and a slice of cheese for a slight salty touch with the sweet, Toast had some egg slices with his cheese and a slight drizzle of olive oil, Igor's had a single cheese slice and a few pieces of avocado with his eggs and a generous drizzle of oil, and Astrid's was mostly avocado slices with a few of the greener banana slices and a slight drizzling of olive oil. Toast downed his in a single gulp, and Astrid held Igor's piece while he pecked it seeing as, unlike her in her Decidueye body, he didn't have as easy of a time holding things with his feet. Mimi nibbled hers happily, giving Toast a playful sparking shove when he'd sniff it, and Astrid had to remind him several times that he'd already had his fair share when he went to sniffing hers or Igor's too.

"You and Mimi looked like you were having fun," Astrid noted after swallowing a bite, giving the Xurkitree a glance up.

"She learned some new moves, actually, and it seems to suit her much better," Raijin noted. "She can throw around bolts like I do, but she was still holding onto a lot of charge that way. So I had her physically hit me, and she released a lot more. She's better off using Spark and Nuzzle instead of Thunder Shock and Charge."

"Well, the Pawmi line is better suited to that," Astrid replied.

The Xurkitree perked up, shifting his gaze slightly to look at her. "You mean, like as a general rule?" he inquired. "Like how my species is good at blowing stuff up but not so great at punching a hole through a wall?"

"It's not so noticeable early on, but it becomes more pronounced the further down the evolutionary line they go," Astrid answered. "She's half Fighting-type now, and the kind that mostly uses their fists."

He gave a slight twitch. "She's a Fighting-type now?!" he asked in surprise.

Astrid nodded. "She hasn't really shown it yet, but yes."

"…Duly noted," Raijin remarked, easing up and studying the Pawmo. "I wouldn't have guessed."

"Well, something soft and fluffy doesn't really spring to mind when you think of a Fighting-type, and you didn't exactly live your entire life in a world full of Pokémon," Astrid acknowledged. "I had an idea that, unless she was an exception to the rule, she'd start moving towards physical attacks after she evolved, but I thought I'd let her reach that conclusion on her own." She shot her comrade a slight grin. "But you figured it out fairly quickly without knowing any of that."

"Well, I still might not know as much about Pokémon as you and Arashi, but no one knows an Electric-type quite like another Electric-type," the Xurkitree replied.

"That's true," Astrid concurred. "And the next gym we face is entirely-"

She was cut off by Toast perking up and yapping intently at Raijin in what initially looked like an effort to get him to play, but when the Xurkitree gave a surprised twitch and unplugged from the ground, she noticed what the actual cause was- a Swablu, clearly a very brazen one, landing and nestling herself amongst his head spikes. A puzzled look graced the Swablu's face as Raijin moved as if she wasn't expecting her perch to be mobile just as much as Raijin and Astrid weren't expecting her to perch in the first place.

"You have a Swablu on your head," Astrid noted simply.

"Is that what it is?" Raijin replied, holding perfectly still. "I feel something fluffy, but I didn't really expect it to be a bird."

"Igo," Igor piped up, eyeing their fluffy company with a scrutinizing look.

"Maybe she was drawn over by me making a sandwich," the shy lass proposed. She set Igor's sandwich down for a second and stood up, breaking a small piece off of hers and holding it out. "H-here, you- ah-!"

The Swablu took the bite, then promptly jumped off Raijin and onto Astrid's head. Toast yapped some more and Igor studied her, but Mimi traipsed over to Astrid and tugged at her pant leg, getting the shy lass to sit down again. Her fluffy company didn't go anywhere and nestled down comfortably once Astrid had situated herself, apparently at peace with the world, which, odd as it was, Astrid accepted. Toast yapped, standing on two legs and leaning against Astrid's back for a better look, and though Mimi tried to offer the bird a banana slice from her own sandwich, the Swablu didn't seem too fazed.

"…Well, I knew they liked to act like hats, but I never figured I'd be wearing a Swablu," Astrid mused haplessly before taking another bite of her sandwich and holding Igor's again.

"I know birds like to sit in trees, and maybe I'd understand why she went for me first if trees here looked like they did in Ultra Space," Raijin remarked, tapping his fingers together and studying the fluffy bird.

Astrid chuckled, swallowing her bite. "It's not because of that," she replied. "It's because you look like a power line, and birds sit on those all the time in the cities. It keeps their feet warm."

"…Ah," Raijin took it in.

Astrid reached up and gave the Swablu a pat, saying contentedly, "You're really soft. Roost as long as you want to, okay?"

The Swablu didn't move even to nibble at her fingers, instead chirping a simple, "Blu.~"

Toast yapped, Mimi occasionally looked up to chatter at her, and Igor simply studied her, but the Swablu was apparently content to mind her own business, using Astrid's head as a perch while absentmindedly preening her wings. It was quite a nice picnic free of charging Tauros herds or cranky Drednaws trying to bite anyone, and after a little bit, they were back to heading towards Levincia's glowing silhouette.

[***]

… And even after Raijin went back into his ball once Astrid neared the city, the shy lass still had a Swablu sitting atop her head. Astrid figured that surely, she might fly off as they ventured further away from her natural habitat, or that maybe she'd get tired of the same head-perch and go seek another one, but no, she found herself with a fluffy hat even as she approached the gym. Mimi didn't protest but nonetheless kept glancing up, Toast wagged his tail and yapped, and Igor occasionally shot her a glance that nonverbally told her to behave herself. A small child had piped up to say that he liked her 'hat,' but not knowing what to say in return, Astrid ended up stammering something out along the lines of "I-it's not a hat…" before darting off.

Maybe Astrid's human home of Goldenrod in Johto was a sprawling city in its own right… but Levincia felt like it would swallow her whole with its obnoxious billboards, bright monitors plastered on the sides of buildings, and loudspeakers playing wherever she went. One figure was certainly ubiquitous among the monitors- none other than Iono, who Astrid couldn't help but to find borderline frightening for how exuberant and over-the-top she was. Had Arashi been with her, she probably would've been hiding behind him the entire time while he enjoyed the traipse through such a bustling place… but he wasn't, and she couldn't, so she ended up walking with very stiff steps and a hunched posture so as to make herself as least noticeable as possible.

However, the moment she stepped inside the gym, her phone began to ring and flew out of her pocket, with yet another exuberant person's name attached to the call. Astrid quickly answered it and said, "H-hey, Nemona."

"Astrid!" came a spirited voice at the other end. "It's meeeeee!"

…It couldn't have possibly been anyone else, Astrid figured. "I had a feeling it was," she said in a haplessly amiable tone.

"You know me so well!" Nemona laughed on the other end. "How's the gym journey? Which one are you going for now?"

"I-I'm at Levincia Gym right now, a-and-"

"Wait, seriously?!" Nemona cut her off. "I'm close by! Hang on, I'll come over and say hi."

"A-ah, you-!" Before she could finish her sentence, Nemona had hung up the phone. She stared at the screen for a second, but nonetheless said a hapless, "She's always sticking around somewhere close by."

"Maybe she's just watching your back," a message from Raijin was displayed on the screen.

"I doubt it's that so much as it is being battle-obsessed," Astrid mused, shaking her head but nonetheless getting a slight grin.

She went to go sit herself down, and not thirty seconds after she did, the gym door was bursting open with a familiar, perpetually bouncing figure blowing through it. Astrid couldn't help but to jump slightly, both at the sudden entrance and how it seemed that, much like before, Nemona had intentionally positioned herself close by to 'coincidentally' be able to drop in. It was either that, or the exuberant girl ran about as fast as Arashi did in his Greninja body to catch up from heaven only knew where… which, for several reasons, Astrid heavily doubted was the case. Though Toast was happy to see her, Mimi certainly eyed her suspiciously, and Igor studied her with one eye narrowing in scrutiny too. The only one that didn't react was the Swablu perched atop Astrid's head, still preening and fluffing herself.

Almost instantly, Nemona's eyes were locked on Astrid. "Hey, hey!" she cried, waving before running over. "There you are!"

"H-hey, Nemona," Astrid greeted softly.

"Look at you with two badges already!" Nemona said with a laugh, sitting down next to her. Her eyes drifted to the Swablu. "And your team has grown bigger! Who's this, huh~?"

"A-ah, sh-she, u-um…" Astrid stammered, not quite sure how to answer.

"Blu," the fluffy bird chirped without a care, albeit with eyes simultaneously going wide and narrowing into a borderline crazy look that Astrid couldn't see.

Nemona, however, certainly saw it and grinned herself, saying, "Well, it looks like she's a little protective of her perch! I like that fierce look!"

The Swablu didn't make another sound, just staring Nemona straight in the eyes for another moment before going right back to looking perfectly content. Astrid couldn't see the look, but Toast got something of a glance of it and paused wagging his tail for a second in uncertainty.

"W-we were just h-having a picnic, a-and she came to visit," Astrid finally piped up. "I was thinking she'd fly off after we got into the city, but… I g-guess she just likes to sit like that…"

Nemona giggled. "Well, she might have a disadvantage here, but she looks up for the challenge, and you are too, I'm sure!" She leaned in for a second, still grinning but studying Astrid slightly. "But, like, just to be safe…"

Astrid paused, studying her in turn too. "H-huh?"

Nemona grinned even more. "You better have a pre-gym warm-up battle with me!"

The shy lass blinked, then piped up again, blushing slightly, "N-Nemona, if you just wanna battle, you know you can just say that, right…?"

"Moooo," Mimi piped up, reaching up and giving the edge of Nemona's shorts a tug.

"Igo," Igor too chimed in, striking a pose and practically staring her down in challenge.

The exuberant one perked right up at their antics, giving Mimi and Igor both a knowing glance before replying to Astrid, "Okay, I wanna battle! And it seems yours are up for it!"

Astrid nodded. "Okay. Let's do it."

At that, Nemona bolted up, pumping her fists in the air and exclaiming, "There's that enthusiasm! Let's go!"

Before Astrid could even hope to answer, Nemona was darting out the door, and Astrid and her entourage were running to catch up. The Swablu tightly clutched Astrid's head so as not to fall off but still perched there even as the lass darted through crowds, down streets, and dodged people walking to keep up with Nemona. Toast yapped happily, Mimi ran on all fours, and Igor started flying to stay close behind. Nemona didn't stop until they reached a large circular area held over the sea in the middle of the city, clearly a battle court from the Poké Ball-esque design on the floor.

Once she stopped, Nemona turned around to look at Astrid, piping up with a grin, "Y'know, I think it's time I start introducing you to some of my harder hitters! You're stronger than you look, so it's only fair!"

Astrid couldn't help but to blush a bit more, stammering out, "A-ah, N-Nemona, I-"

"Besides," Nemona kept on, getting closer and giving her a pat on the shoulder, "what was his name- Raijin?"

The shy one paused, feeling a bit uncertain. "W-what about him?" she inquired, her mind immediately rushing to think of excuses if Nemona asked to see him. The figurative Meowth was already out of the bag, and there was no way to put it back in- Nemona knew she had someone very strong in her corner, but revealing that she was accompanied by her Ultra Beast friend on a world where presumably very few people were allowed to keep their otherworldly company simply wasn't something Astrid was going to do.

Thankfully, that didn't happen. "If I don't prove myself to you, your secret ace might never wanna come out! So don't expect us to hold back so much, alright?" She grabbed a ball as she darted to the other side of the court and tossed it with a grin. "Let's go, Rockruff!"

Maybe it wasn't a matter of wanting to come out, but Astrid got the sentiments just fine and nodded wordlessly, looking to Mimi to send her up first… but the Swablu on her head apparently had other ideas, for she jumped off and took to the court. Astrid couldn't help but to be surprised, and her Pokémon were too by the intonations that escaped them.

The sound that came from the Swablu was so unlike their usual cutesy, sweet-sounding songs too. "SWAAAA!" she screeched, puffing up and throwing her wings out to make herself look bigger.

Nemona's eyes shot slightly wide. "Qué?! Pulling a surprise pick on me like that, huh?!" she exclaimed with an excited grin. "You tried to convince me she was just using you as a roost, but ohhhhh no! I see how it is, Astrid! You do know more than you let on!"

"A-ah…!" Astrid exclaimed, looking a bit flustered. "I just-! It's not like-!"

She cut herself off when the Swablu turned around to look at her for a moment with wild, narrowed eyes as if daring the shy lass to tell her to stop. There was no mistaking a look like that- that bird was going to battle whether Astrid had planned for her to or not. Somehow, things started to make sense- maybe she hadn't perched on Raijin to warm her feet like a bird on a power line, but maybe because she'd seen the bolts flying around and was drawn to the thought of a scuffle. Astrid hadn't asked her if she'd wanted to accompany like she had with Toast and Igor, no- this bird was inserting herself into the team and telling Astrid she would be accompanying.

Either way, Nemona wasn't going to protest. "Rock Throw, Rockruff!"

"Ruff!" The little canine unfurled her tail to reveal some rocks bundled up inside, which she spun her body around to hurl. The little fluffy bird was at a clear disadvantage, and Astrid thought of all the possible moves a Swablu could learn and which this one was most likely to have… but the Swablu had her own ideas.

She opened her beak and, with another aggressive "SWAAA!" cry, sent a Dragon Breath back while flapping her wings to avoid the flying rocks that sailed harmlessly underneath her. The little canine she faced couldn't avoid it and took the hit, some sparks lingering around Rockruff's form as she tried to regain her footing- paralysis. Nonetheless, she still let out a determined growl, telling the fluffy one that she wasn't going to back down.

"B-but you haven't picked out a ball and we haven't decided on a name for you yet!" Astrid cried. "N-not that you have to have either of those things if you don't want to, but-!"

"Blu!" the Swablu hollered back, turning to look at her for a second.

Astrid studied her for a second, still a bit flustered, but cried back, "Y-you want me to call you 'Blu?!'"

"BLU!" the fluffy bird shouted with a wink.

At that, Astrid eased up slightly, albeit still with a somewhat racing mind and flustered mannerisms. "O-okay, Blu! I guess we're doing this, you fluffy two-faced gremlin of a bird!"

Nemona couldn't help but to laugh, but Blu, on the other hand, only got sparkling eyes and gave happy chirps at the description.

[***]

Blu certainly had moves to show- Dragon Breath, Peck, Fury Attack (that truly lived up to the 'fury' in its name), and Disarming Voice (that was so grating that whoever heard it just had to pause in hesitance). The poor Rockruff, despite her clear advantage, just couldn't stand up to Blu's onslaught, and Nemona's hapless Pawmi found himself outmatched by Astrid's Pawmo who was happy to show off her higher voltage despite it really not doing much against a fellow Electric-type. Igor was rather eager to show off his moves, so when Nemona sent out her Marill, the Flamigo strutted onto the court to counter with elegant Wing Attacks and defend with flashy Detects. Toast was content to cheer from the sidelines, Astrid telling him that he'd get his own piece of action during the gym test, which she headed to complete after their battle ended and Nemona granted her a few items to heal with.

"Welcome to the Levincia Gym!" the man behind the gym counter greeted as she approached. "Let me register you as a challenger." He studied her for a moment. "You're Sage, yes?"

"M-hm," Astrid answered softly, giving a nod. The fact that he already knew who she was put her slightly on edge, but maybe it was reasonable, seeing as things were more stringently tracked in Paldea, or that the number of trainers challenging gyms tended to shrink the further along in the challenge they were, or maybe, just maybe…

"Nemona had stopped by earlier, asking if I'd seen you yet," the man said simply.

Astrid eased up. "…Ah," she replied. "Sh-she would do that…"

The gym staffer chuckled before keeping on, "In order to face Gym Leader Iono, you'll first need to pass the gym test." His face lit up. "Here at the Levincia Gym, that means starring in one of Iono's livestreams!"

And as soon as the words left his mouth, Astrid's face fell. "L-livestream?!" she exclaimed, hardly getting the words out.

"Igo?!" Igor exclaimed, looking much happier than his human did at the mention.

Toast wagged his tail, yapping and jumping up and down, but Mimi, on the other hand, looked a bit puzzled at what that could possibly mean… or if she was interested at all. Blu didn't care, perching on Astrid's head and preening.

Astrid, however, couldn't help but to feel entirely put off by the thought. Obnoxious personalities, she could tolerate, but being broadcast for everyone to see was an entirely different story. Maybe there wasn't concrete proof that she was on her human home world, but in the event she was… she was still technically a missing person in Johto. The authorities had no way of knowing she had zero desire to return, or that leaving again after the initial disappearance was a choice entirely her own, but even just explaining those things was sure to be a headache, even with leaving out everything about Necrozma, mystery dungeons, megalomaniacal Nihilegos poisoning the world… and to outright tell her human mother and sister that she'd found a new family she much preferred the company of wouldn't be easy. That chapter of life had been closed, and she did not want to reopen it again.

"Oh, someone is camera shy," the man at the counter said.

Replying "I have people looking for me that I don't want to find me" probably would've given the wrong idea, so Astrid wordlessly flipped her hood up (after moving Blu around a bit) and covered as much of her face with it as she could.

He chuckled some more. "Iono's a streamer as well as a gym leader, so we want you to dazzle her audience with your skills and rack up those subscriptions! Just head outside, and you'll soon find out what you need to do. Now, get out there and have fun!"

'Fun' didn't seem like the right word, but nonetheless, Astrid dutifully turned around without a word and sauntered outside. The moment the doors to the gym opened and she set foot on the pavement, she found herself recoiling in fright at two cameras much too close for her comfort and what appeared to be a group of Iono's fans watching her intently. A quick look upwards revealed the monitors on the sides of buildings showing her as the cameras filmed… and she stumbled backwards in fright, her back slamming into the closed door before she haplessly slid down into a sitting position. Igor, on the other hand, was happy to take the spotlight, strutting in front of her and striking a pose, and the cameras got plenty of Toast too as the Fidough yapped and jumped up to see them. Mimi only eyed the setup, and Blu narrowed one eye for a second but otherwise didn't react.

"G-gods above, why this…!" Astrid croaked out.

"Awww, she's got stage fright!" one of the fans cried.

"Does someone have a mo-cap suit? She could be a VR star instead!" another exclaimed.

Her phone buzzed and flew out of her pocket, a message from Raijin reading, "If you want me to jump out and fry those cameras, just say the word. A really weak Discharge would probably have the rest of these humans sleeping for a few hours too."

As tempting as that was… it would only work if it went off perfectly, which Astrid had her doubts that it would. She didn't say a single word, only shakily got back to her feet while pulling her hood as close as it would go.

On the monitors, an overlay was added to the stream- some garish yellow borders with an equally garish young woman in one corner. "Ladies aaaaand gentlemens! It's time for the Iono Zone!"

This… this had to be what Hell was like, Astrid was sure. Not full of horrifying visages, or a ground made of needles that poked the feet of whoever walked on it, or perpetually on fire… no, she'd seen things like that before and gotten over them. Just the world she didn't want to be in, as it otherwise was, broadcasting every move, every embarrassing moment, and every potential failure she was involved in… that was the real terror.

"Hey, hey, heyyy!" the exuberant one on the screens cried, grinning and waving her oversized sleeves. "Your eyeballs are MINE now- caught in my Electroweb! Whosawhatsit? Iono!"

"…Gods help me," Astrid croaked out.

"I'm the gym leader here! 'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and bonjour!"

Astrid looked up at the sky, practically growling her words out and hoping Necrozma, wherever they happened to be, would hear. "Whenever I get up there to challenge you on your own turf, you better hope I don't smash you into a million pieces!"

Of course, the bunch of fans had no way of knowing who her words were directed at, nor did Iono, and Astrid's eyes shot wide the moment she realized what she'd said. From the stream's perspective, she'd just issued a serious threat at Iono's visage on one of the big screens.

"Shots fired!" one of the fans exclaimed.

"Iono's getting cancelled!"

"She's crazy! I like her!"

"Igo!" Igor too chimed in, striking another pose.

Astrid found herself stumbling backwards again, squeaking out a hapless, "A-ah…!"

Iono herself looked surprised, but she nonetheless replied, with some more arm-waving, "Oh snap! You wanna dethrone me, eh?!"

"N-no, I-!" Astrid stammered.

"Well, you're bein' broadcast live to the world right now, so don't screw up! Smile!"

Had she still been a Decidueye, she would've melded into the ground right then and there… but she wasn't, and she couldn't, so she did the next best thing- clench her fists and stare with wide-eyes at the cameras, not saying a word.

"Anywho, challenger!" Iono continued. "Thanks for coming out to the Levincia Gym to see me! I'm super happy you're here, but I'm also a bit of a celeb, you know? I'm all kiiiiiinds of busy! So I can't collab with you unless I know you can bring in those sweet, sweet viewer numb-!"

At that, Astrid gave an incredulous look to the camera, still thoroughly not enjoying herself being in its view but getting more distracted by Iono outright giving herself away as an attention-monger. "At least you're honest," she said under her breath.

Iono, however, cut herself off before finishing the word, instead piping up with, "Er, I gotta make sure you can bring some real passion to my stream! Nyohoho!" She seemed to fumble for a second, but nonetheless kept going. "And! So! If you wanna battle me, you're gonna have to help me make this livestream a viral hit first! Got it?"

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Astrid said to herself.

"Allow me to explain the plan!" Iono said, spinning around ostentatiously and throwing her arms in the air. "Come on out, Mr. Walksabout!"

Astrid saw someone striding up through the fans that she easily recognized- none other than Director Clavell. Mimi studied him for a second as if wondering why he was there, and Toast bounded over to wag his tail.

"D-Director Clavell!" Astrid exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, Sage," he said, giving a bit of emphasis to her pseudonym and crouching down to pet Toast for a second. "What a coincidence, meeting you here."

Iono too got a surprised look on the big screen, exclaiming, "Say whaaaat?! D'you guys know each other or something?! This here dude had a real aura about him when he was walkin' down the street, so I snatched him up for my dealio here!"

The director got a hapless look and stammered, "You are, er, too kind. Ha ha ha…"

"Well, anywho, Sage!" Iono kept on. "Since you're today's challenger, I'ma have you play hide-n'-seek with Mr. Walksabout here! Look for the good gentleman using the street surveillance cameras! Find 'im three times, and you can consider this gym test passed!" She paused, spinning around again. "We need a better name for this challenge, though! I'll call it… 'Where in Levincia is Mr. Walksabout?' Y'think that title's safe? There's nothing iffy about it or anything, right?"

Astrid's eyes narrowed on Iono's figure on one of the big screens. There certainly hadn't been anything off about it… until she asked if there was. She couldn't help but to wonder what could possibly be running through Iono's mind that would make a game of hide-and-seek questionable in any way.

"Eh, whatevs!" Iono brushed the thought off. "I 'unno 'bout you, but I'm ready to go! Get ready to hide, Mr. Walksabout!"

"I feel that I owe the Pokémon League for many a past favor, so I am more than happy to help," the director said nonchalantly. "Do bear with me as I try my best in my allocated role."

As soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, Astrid was yet again giving another jolt of surprise as he full-on sprinted back through the bunch of fans and off to heaven only knew where. Someone as buttoned-up and professional as Director Clavell taking part in an obnoxious livestream by itself already gave Astrid pause, but seeing his antics afterwards left her blinking and staring as he turned a street corner and disappeared. The big screens went blank, which Astrid was thankful for, but in a few moments, Iono's voice was still plenty audible.

"Mayhap our dapper gentleman is ready?! Heyyy, Mr. Walksabout! You good to go?!"

Oddly enough, Director Clavell's voice could be heard too. "Yes, I am."

At that, the screens returned to functioning, albeit without Astrid at their center (which yet again, she was thankful for). Instead, it seemed to be surveillance camera feed someplace around the gym's street, only the corner of the building itself visible. A woman sat at a picnic table with a Dedenne perching next to her as she texted, a group of children played hopscotch with a Voltorb rolling after them, and a teenage boy with his arm around a teenage girl strolled through with a Jolteon traipsing next to him.

"Nyohoho! Ready he be!" Iono said, her visage popping back up in the corner of the screen. "Mr. Walksabout is hiding somewhere in this video feed, friendo! Open those eyes wide like a Magnemite and get to searchin'! Ready or not, here our challenger comes!"

Astrid studied it for a second, but it didn't take her long at all to find the director perched at a table with a potted plant partially obscuring his face. His academy getup was hard to miss, however, and easily stuck out against the white and silver of the buildings near him.

"At the table with the plant," Astrid said.

Immediately, the camera feed zoomed in on him, and he perked up, saying, "Oh dear. It seems you've found me."

Back to Astrid switched the video feed on the big screens, making her pause and stumble again while looking haplessly at the ground. Blu couldn't quite keep her perch when Astrid tilted her head forward, and thus moved to her shoulder, which the shy lass much appreciated for how some of her fluff hid her face. Some of the fans started cheering, clapping and jumping up and down in over-the-top gestures just like Iono's.

"Our challenger has found Mr. Walksabout!" Iono cried, clapping with muffled claps for the way her oversized sleeves covered her hands. "Wowzah! You did it! You're one cool kid!"

Astrid couldn't help but to blush, thinking being called 'cool' for finding someone on a staged video feed was flat-out ridiculous.

"Well then," Iono said intently, getting a slight smirk. "Before we move on to the next round, let's make things a little more interesting." She spun around before throwing her hands in the air again. "You get to have a battle with one of my fans! Get out here, ya silly Poké Maniac!"

At that, Astrid gave another jolt as one of the fans, a young man with a patchwork hoodie of different Pokémon patterns, strode towards her with a ball in his hand. "The Iono Hype Squad is here! Long live the Iono Zone!"

"Go, Marti!" one of the other fans hollered in support.

"Make our queen proud, Marti!" another chimed in.

Nonetheless, they took to battling positions, Toast deciding to put himself in the battle while Marti threw out a Luxio. The big screens, of course, showed their battle, which Astrid couldn't help but to be hesitant about but nonetheless tried to ignore.

"Bite, Luxio!"

"Play Rough, Toast!"

Maybe Toast was considerably smaller than his opponent, but he didn't care- he took on a pink fairy glow and slammed into the feline, albeit getting a Bite on his back as he bowled Luxio over. It was not a long battle by any means- a Covet from Toast made Luxio second-guess himself before Biting Toast again, and one more Play Rough had the feline sprawled out, unmoving.

Marti got an awkward look as he recalled Luxio, but nonetheless said, "Win or lose, Iono Hype Squad forever!"

Maybe it hadn't been one of their own winning, but the other fans cheered anyway, along with Iono's visage in the corner. "Aaaaaand you win!" Iono exclaimed, clapping. "Well done, challenger friendo! Time for a change of scenery!"

Again the camera feed went black for a second, then shifted to a different location- the Pokémon Center. A woman was consulting the TM machine, a man reached for his Poké Balls for healing from the nurse, a young girl babbled to her mother while walking down the street, and a young man greeted a friend passing by. The gym was nowhere in sight, and Astrid figured the director must've used their brief time battling to dart further away.

"Here we go!" Iono exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "The next stage for my totally rad test! Everybody loves it- it's the Pokémon Center! Mr. Walksabout is once again hidin' in the feed somewhere! Panic! Ahhh! Find 'im quick!"

Contrary to Iono's words, Astrid was not panicking. Maybe a hiker stopping by wore clothing with similar colors, but Director Clavell still could be found- where a nurse ordinarily would've been taking Poké Balls, there he stood, chit-chatting with the man dropping them off.

"By the healing machine," Astrid piped up.

The camera feed zoomed in on him, and he turned to look at the camera with a surprised face. "Oh? And here I thought I had blended into my surroundings quite well."

"Mr. Walksabout's been found once again!" Iono exclaimed, clapping. "Yesss! I knew you were something special! Let's spice things up again before moving on to ye olde next round! That's right- iiit's another Pokémon battle! Get out here, Poké Maniac pal!"

Back to Astrid went the video feed, another fan stepping forth. Iono spun around and grinned before disappearing from the stream, allowing the whole view to be of Astrid and her new opponent.

"Miss Iono's watching!" he exclaimed. "I can't lose!"

"Go, Michael!" another fan cheered for him.

"You can do it, Michael! Steal her thunder!"

"Iono Hype Squad forever!"

Another scuffle followed, Michael sending out a Tynamo and Mimi deciding to take to the field. Maybe the little floating fish had no type weaknesses to speak of… but an Arm Thrust from the Pawmo quickly had him feeling much weaker than he had moments prior. The Flaaffy sent out next didn't fare all that much better when Toast took to the court next, scattering Cotton Spores to slow him down but still falling after he Played Rough a few too many times.

Michael too looked awkward, piping up, "Well… you know what I haven't lost to you in? My devotion to Miss Iono!"

Still, he looked downcast as he darted off to the Pokémon Center, and Astrid almost felt bad for making him lose in front of his idol… but that was outweighed by her being quizzical of someone's 'devotion' to an influencer. To each their own, she figured… but it still sounded questionable.

"Aaaaand you win again!" Iono said, popping up on the screen again and throwing her arms in the air. "Well done, challenger friendo! There's no stoppin' ya! Master of seekin' and master of battlin'! You're the real deal!" She giggled some more. "Alllllrighty then. Time for a change of scenery!"

After another brief moment of a dark screen, the camera feed changed to a location Astrid recognized from her battle with Nemona- the battle court. It appeared it was being put to use by someone else after she and Nemona had left, for two young men faced each other with a Magnezone and Electrode out showing their moves. Some other folks, most of them in academy uniforms save for two young women in casual clothes, watched from the sidelines, and a few passersby steered clear as they walked around the court's perimeter to reach the city's other side. A small boat or two passed by on the water underneath, some cargo laying on their decks.

Iono again spun around and threw her hands in the air, exclaiming, "Ze last stage will be this place right here- the battle court, where battles are a-ragin'! Can you find our Mr. Walksabout among these randos?! Let's find out! Readyyy? Go!"

This one, Astrid had to pay close attention to. Some of the figures walking around wore similar colors to the director, but their distinct lack of white hair and an impeccably pressed suit made it obvious that they were not him. The ones battling were much too young, and the ones watching from the sidelines didn't quite fit the bill either. However, something caught her eye on one of the small boats, and after a bit of squinting, she picked him out, sitting on a box just as the boat sailed underneath the court.

"He's on the boat," Astrid piped up. "He just passed under the court."

Maybe she couldn't see the director, but his voice was nonetheless audible. "My, my. Admirably done. I hope you will find your treasure in your independent study with just as much ease."

Back to Astrid went the livestream, and yet again she gave a jolt as the gathered fans cheered. "A-ah…" her voice trailed off.

Iono's figure popped back up on the video feed too. "Woo! My subscriber numbers are on the rise just like a super-fast Eelektross crawlin' out of the ocean!" She too gave a slight jolt. "Er-! I mean, congratulations on passing my gym test! Hot diggity dang! What a good time, huh? You had people on the edge of their seats worldwide! I bet I could have some suuuper rad streams by collabing with you, Sage!"

'A good time' was… not what Astrid would've called it, and she certainly hoped that Iono's words were words she said to everyone that passed her test and not an actual declaration of wanting to 'collab.'

Iono, nonetheless, chuckled. "So heyyy, when you're ready, just hit up my lobby staff! They'll get you all set up to collab with me lickety-split! I'll be ready to go whenevs!"

Without breathing another word, Astrid promptly turned around and disappeared straight back into the gym lobby with her team lingering for just a moment longer than she did. Igor did one last pose for the camera, and Blu couldn't help but to turn around and shoot the gathered fans a devilish look too before the doors closed. A few cheers came from the crowd, but whatever they said, Astrid didn't much care to think about.

[***]

However, elsewhere in the city, a certain young woman with a Weavile trailing her as she exited a comic shop couldn't help but to notice the stream being played over one of the big screens, specifically the challenger showed on it. She stopped dead in the doorway, staring up at the screen for a second with her mouth hanging slightly open and grip loosening on the shopping bag she carried until it dropped. The Weavile next to her gave her a funny look, but neither one of them said anything for several moments. Maybe the name 'Sage' was different, but the face and the shy mannerisms… There was no mistaking who it was.

She blinked a few times as she took the sight in, then finally piped up to herself, "Holy fu-"

Another woman, noticeably older, gave her a stern look as she walked by with a school-aged boy skipping along next to her. "Watch your language!" she scolded, cutting her off.

At that, the one staring snapped out of it and turned to both the other woman and her child and said, "I'll say whatever I want to, lady! You and your snot-nosed brat can both go to hell!"

The older woman gasped and the boy looked frightened, some colorful phrasing getting hissed at them as they hurried past her into the store. The Weavile made a few giggling sounds, holding up her claws and sticking her tongue out, and several other patrons and passersby shot them some uncertain looks.

Nonetheless, the young woman picked up her bag and smirked at the big screen again, saying, "C'mon, Amber. Let's go pay Astrid a visit.~"

Author's Note

Azakael: Yet again I find myself putting way too much thought into things that are mostly insignificant. I wanted the sandwich Astrid created to have Flying-type encounter power because of her uninvited Swablu guest, which is not all that hard to craft seeing as the game outright gives you a list of sandwiches and the types they attract… but no, it is never that simple in the realm of Azakael's work. I've already got it in my head what sort of flavors each character is fond of, and I wanted the sandwich to stay in line with that, which caused me a dilemma. None of the sandwiches on the in-game list fit because I can't see any of them picking onions as an ingredient, so I spent two hours consulting the list of sandwich ingredients and messing around on a Scarlet/Violet sandwich simulator. Then I was thinking to myself like, "Azakael, birds are little gremlins that cause trouble and steal everyone's food regardless, so you don't have to do this," but OH NO, I WAS GONNA SEE THIS THROUGH BECAUSE IT'S GONNA KEEP ME UP AT NIGHT IF I DON'T, and thus I spent another chunk of time messing around until I got something close enough.

…Contrary to what it may seem, it's stupid crap like this that I enjoy. I am well aware of the impositions I place on myself when taking mechanics like meal powers literally, but I do it anyway.

TheDragonSaver: I was cracking up while reading the Gym Challenge this chapter. Azakael really captured the insane devotion some fans have when it comes to their favorite celebrities, and Astrid was having none of it. Seriously, girl, this chapter was hilarious!

If you're wondering who that mysterious person with the Weavile was at the end, you'll find out more about them next chapter. Let's just say that they're a blast from Team Starstorm's past ;)

…Also whenever I read Blu's name I just think of the movie "Rio" which was one of my favorites as a kid.