A/N: Getting a bit closer to a main point in the YGO 5D's timeline, if only just part of a flashback. I'm also trying to be a bit proactive this year, so been trying to write chapters in advance before posting a new chapter for the story. Maybe instead of doing only once a month uploads, might try for twice a month. Maybe more if I get especially productive. Really depends since TLK has been trying to creep back in every time I see a new storyboard scene of what could have been in the latest movie (seriously, with several of them, I feel cheated!). Anyway, enough rambling, story start again!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon nor Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Both go to their respective owners. I only claim my OCs. Also prepare the soap for Ren's potty mouth.

Chapter 7- Proof of Trust, Phase 1:

(Yusei's POV)

I wasn't quite sure what to do with this new guy, Ellis. Ren wasn't exactly in any position to say if he knew him (mostly due to having a breakdown with AJ's disappearance and also, well, the amnesia thing) at the moment, but considering how Ren's partners reacted with seeing Ellis and his own little group as they looked like they had seen a ghost. Something was up. I did recall AJ mentioning an older brother that she and Ren had, not that she mentioned a name or anything during the explanation at Martha's. Only problem was that he was dead.

There was another thing that bothered me about this Ellis. He had three of the capsules Ren and AJ used to transport or hide their partners, but only two of them were out. Considering what AJ had in her arsenal, it could be anything hidden in the third one, and she did say that half of her team was currently in training while the other she had left with her and Ren's elder sister. That made me more nervous, especially if he turned out to be dangerous and sent something Ren couldn't handle with his team.

At one point to heading back, Ren's legs gave out and I resorted to carrying him instead. Ellis tried to offer to do it instead, but I said I could handle it. Riki, Mazin, and Storm were still chattering to themselves and acting like they were unsure of him, too, so I wasn't taking any chances so soon. The others should still be at the hideout, so I'll leave Ren there and take Joan to his and AJ's to patch her up. I should be able to do the same as she had before.

(No One's POV)

"This has got to be a trick," Storm muttered. "There's no way it's him."

"We know, Storm," Mazin replied quietly.

"Then how in Giratina's realm is he walking right in front of us? And with Para, too! She-"

"We know. Quit shouting it, or else Ren will hear it."

"He's passed out! Even if he could hear, his hearing isn't as good as ours! I'm just saying that AJ disappearing and then Ellis's freakin' ghost comes along and-"

"Shush, both of you," Riki snapped. "You're going to draw too much attention with your arguing."

"Well, excuse me, but I'm having a hard time finding out that someone we know is supposed to be dead is walking and talking right in front of us! How can you be so calm about all this?"

"Because right now, we've got other problems like AJ being gone along with our Trainer being in a lot of distress. Besides, whether it is actually Ellis or not, there could still be a chance he can understand what we're saying. You really want to tip him off that we're aware?"

Storm and Mazin looked each other, both with nervous looks on their faces. "Okay, fine. I'll stay quiet," Storm mumbled.

"Should we, uh, mention this to Nana and Dash?" Mazin asked, nodding to the named two who were walking right next to Yusei.

"Not yet. Nana would attack first and ask questions later. You see the number of Poké balls on his belt? Two have to be empty, since he's got a Fuecoco there and...uh, a Pikachu. We could take them, but if that third one is anything stronger than us..."

"But Ren's got that ball on the necklace AJ left him. There's got to be a strong Pokémon in it too...right? She wouldn't have left us completely defenseless."

"Yeah, I realize, but I don't recall her ever letting whatever is in it out in front of us. And she had been in Sinnoh for a few months..."

"You don't think..?"

"I mean, maybe? It might explain why she didn't let it out so much, and probably around here it'd be too noticeable and way harder to explain away. When Ren calms down, let's talk him into opening and letting it out so we can be sure."


"This isn't going well," Lesli muttered, watching the screen. She tapped a few things, going to the next cameras as well as making sure of the other program being up and working.

"Reear?" a silhouetted form behind her rumbled, looking with glowing blue and yellow eyes.

"Should have waited until things calmed down, but I guess I shouldn't be too harsh. I wasn't expecting his sister to vanish like that, and with that group of all things. I didn't anticipate having to worry about the Arcadia Movement."

"Arria..."

"There's got to be some way to at least give him a little leeway of trust...but what..."

A silvery snout came up, nosing the Poké balls resting on the table. "Rrree."

"...maybe...we'll have to push for that opening sooner rather than later. I didn't want to interfere any more than I've already, but I guess we've got little choice in the matter." She got up from the desk and headed for the table, picking up the ball the creature poked. "At least, Ellis shouldn't freeze up with this one, and Mew already has the correct moves down in its disguise."


"Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Okay, no problem."

"I was talking with Riki and the others."

"Oh...right, okay then."

Riki watched as Yusei headed down the stairs to the subway tunnel. 'Ellis' sighed, rubbing the back of his head while 'Para' jumped down to the ground. During the rest of the walk there, the Charmeleon was arguing with himself over whether or not to actually face and find out who this person claiming to be Ellis was. He didn't want to fully risk Ren or Yusei in case things went sour, but now was the best time to find out.

"Dash, Nana. You guys go on ahead. We'll be there in a bit," he said to the two.

"Nuh-uh," the Jangmo-o retorted, shaking her head. "I'm not going anywhere without Joan, too."

"Riki, uh, what are you doing?" Mazin hissed.

"We'll be bringing her along, don't worry. Just get things set up for when we do and make sure the searchers are back."

"Look, bub, I might have joined the team a lot later, but I'm not going to be-" She got cut off when Dash bent down and picked her up in his mouth, carrying her like a lion mother would a cub. "Dash! Put me down! I'm not a hatchling!" She flailed a bit in his grip, but he continued walking on ahead toward their place without any indication that her shouting and flailing were doing anything.

"Okay, why the sudden change here, Riki?" Storm asked, looking up at him. "I thought you wanted to make sure we didn't tip this guy off that we know."

"I was going to, but the more I thought on it the better it'd be to find out once Ren and Yusei were not in the immediate range."

"What if things go awry? Like you said, we don't know the mystery third Pokémon and it could be any number of things," Mazin stated, pinning his ears down.

"Storm, you still know that Flash move, right?"

"Uhh, yeah, why?"

"We'll just make sure he can't get that third one out. Just blind him with Flash while I knock it out of his reach should anything go wrong with this." Besides, I want to know why he still smells like Ellis. I thought if maybe he was disguised, I could at least tell it wasn't him, but he doesn't. If...If there could be a chance it is him...then how did he... Riki shook his head. "Stay close to me." He started walking forward with Mazin and Storm, after a glance to each other, following close behind him.

The Fuecoco by his side noticed them coming up, pulling on 'Ellis's' pants leg. "Ellis, behind you," he murmured.

"Hm?" 'Ellis' turned toward the trio. "Can I help-"

"We've got a few questions," Riki interjected, crossing his arms in front of him. "For starters, we-"

"Who are you and why do you look like Ellis?!" Storm yelled out suddenly. "Because there's no way in hell you are him!"

"Storm!" Riki and Mazin chastised.

"Hey, I wasn't going to pull the run around, and you both were thinking it, too!"

"And your way of doing it is going to make things go downhill faster than it needs to be!" Mazin growled.

"Guys!" Riki snapped with a glare, causing the two to stop bickering.

"You guys don't think it's me?" 'Ellis' questioned, having the trio turn back to him. With the expressions on the three Pokémon giving away their thoughts, he gave a small sigh. "I guess that answers it."

The three Pokémon expected him to reach for the third ball on his belt, but they got surprised when he kept talking instead. "I can assure you, it is me, guys."

"And how do we trust that? We know what we saw," Storm growled a bit. "There's no way it can be-"

"Storm, you were always a bit mischievous even before evolving, chewing on so many electric cords in the house. You caused quite the panic when you got sick really bad and ended up in the Pokémon Center. Ren was so happy that you made a full recovery and made sure to have something else for you to do so you weren't bored."

The Pikachu's eyes widened at the statement. "H...How did...?"

'Ellis' turned to Mazin. "Mazin, you used to be terrified of water and wouldn't go near any big body of water until you met Suicune during one of our vacations, seeing it run across the water with ease and making the water clear enough to see deep down into." Said Eevee's ears drooped bit as he kept talking through it.

"No one knows about that..." he muttered.

"And Riki...you've been with Ren since you were a little Charmander. Both of you were wanting to find the rare Pokémon that was spotted near the house and wound up getting stuck out in the rain. Ren kept your tail from getting soaked and became sick with a cold after the event. You refused to leave his side the entire time he was bedridden until he got better."

Riki's shoulders slumped at hearing that, his blue eyes full of confusion and astonishment. "There's...the only ones that could know that were..."

Ellis gave a small smile. "I know it seems impossible, but it is me. I promise."

"Bu-But how? I mean, we saw...you were...and even Para and the others..." Storm stammered, looking at the other Pikachu.

The Para lookalike glanced up at Ellis. "Ya gonna show them?" she asked.

He sighed. "Well...I can't say I didn't come out full unscathed." Ellis grabbed the bottom edge of his shirt, lightly lifting it up to show what was underneath.

Riki, Storm, and Mazin all gasped at the sight. Ellis let the shirt drop back down. "I can't fully explain it all, but I can say that it wasn't...quite my body laying there. Someone helped me and made sure I didn't lose my life, but...well, wasn't quite quick enough to get Para and the others. I'm sorry, Storm."

"So who..." Storm glanced over to 'Para.' A quick burst of light revealed Mew sitting there for a brief second and then changing back to the disguise. He jumped back a bit in surprise. "W-Wha..!"

"I'm having Mew be disguised as Para for a time, at least unless something else comes up. I know Ren doesn't have his memories intact, so if he does have something he remembers with me, it'd be a bit easier to say I'm training a different team if Para is there."

"So...do you know where..?" Riki tried to ask but had a bit of a hard time finishing as he felt he already knew the answer.

Ellis frowned. "No, I'm afraid not. That was why I came out in the first place. I didn't want to leave Ren without some family to help him. But I'll also try to see if AJ can't be found, too, so we can all be together and safe."

"So now what? I mean, not like we can tell Ren because...you know..." Storm said.

"Not right now. I want to be sure he's got a bit more memories coming back before...well, telling him," Ellis replied. "If that happens to return before telling him, I'll tell him as much as I'm able. But right now, just keep quiet on it."

"Okay..."

"Thank you."

So...Ellis is the one we know. I guess that's a bit of a relief. And this person that he said helped him...how did they make that body we saw in the field? Are they doing this for a different reason? Surely they couldn't have done it out of the kindness of their heart, right? Then what could be the reason... Riki felt a nudge at his side. Storm nodded over to the subway entrance. "Psst, act normal. Yusei's coming back up," the Pikachu muttered.

(Yusei's POV)

I had managed to get Joan free from Ren's grasp after setting him down on the makeshift bed. She woke up for a moment when I shifted her a bit. "Ruff..?"

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" I asked. She shook her head, rolling from being on her back in my arms to laying on her front as best she could. What could have attacked her so badly? Even when AJ had them practice, it never got to this point. I'll have to have Ren translate to see if she knows what happened with AJ, and then maybe we can work to get her back, I thought as I walked through the hideout. "I'll be back in a bit. Keep an eye for Ren until then."

"You got it, Yusei!" Rally responded.

I walked up the stairs out of the subway tunnel, Ren's partners going quiet when I came up. I didn't see Dash or Nana among them. Did they go on ahead of us? Ellis who had his back to the entrance turned around when I walked up. "Where's...?" he began asking.

"Ren's resting. I'm going to get Joan patched up in the mean time," I replied.

"You're leaving him alone?" His voice pitched a bit but not quite to point to shouting.

"No, I've got some friends watching him while I'll be out. They'll keep him safe."

"Char..." Riki rumbled, looking at Mazin and Storm before he headed down into the tunnels. Guess I shouldn't be surprised Riki went in, if what AJ had said was true about the partners handed out as first Pokémon.

"Let's get going. I've got to get Joan's injuries patched up so they don't get infected."


"I need your help with this one."

"Krrzt?"

"I'm not asking for you to cause too much damage or go full crazy, but just do enough to make it seem like you are a decent threat, okay? Also, you need to let it be believable when Ellis sends his partners out to fight you."

"Zzzraa."

"Then go."


(No One's POV)

The strange group continued their walk down the streets. The silence was heavy for Ellis who wasn't quite sure how to broach anything. He had managed to talk with Riki, Storm, and Mazin fairly easily as he had been around them since Ren had received them, but it would be tricky to talk with Yusei on giving him the smallest ounce of trust. Considering the setting he grew up in, he could definitely see why he'd be guarded, but to top that AJ had vanished and with Ellis popping out of nowhere...well, the young man didn't have to be a mind reader to know that seemed very suspicious.

He had got him give a glance at the Poké balls on his belt, knowing that he had a third one but only two out. He wanted to have Sleuth out, too, but she didn't want to face Ren's partners period as they only remembered her as being hostile and trying to claw their faces off, something that Lesli was trying to look into. His going with her wishes added another tally onto 'not trustworthy' on his list. He kept the groan inward. I shouldn't be surprised at this. Look what happened when I trusted the wrong person, this whole mess for one. Well, I can at least talk, right? At least to ease tensions...also due to the fact that this level of quiet is making me uneasy.

But I've got to be careful with this. I can't let slip I know what's been going on lately. Riki, Storm, and Mazin are okay with keeping things hush-hush—at least around Ren until I can figure how to explain everything—but I let even a small thing slip out of keeping an eye on them through Lelsi's hacking into hidden cameras, and there goes any chance of keeping Ren and his partners safe, Ellis concluded in his head. He took in a deep breath, prepared to start the conversation, when the sounds of sparks and Storm groaning a bit caught his and Yusei's attention.

"Storm? You okay?" Ellis asked.

"Ow...I dunno..." Storm whimpered a bit, though only Ellis could hear what he said. To anyone else, he was saying, "P...Pikaaa..."

Ellis bent down to the Pikachu. Shoot...is he getting sick? He put a hand on Storm's head, not feeling any heat coming off. No, his temperature feels normal, but he's sparking and wincing like he's in pain. The only other time I've seen something like this...it was when... Ellis's blue eyes widened.

"What's going on?" Yusei asked, stepping forward to them.

Ellis stood up and then lunged for Yusei. "Get down!" he ordered, pushing Yusei down just as something zipped over their head, sending a strong gust of wind over them. Storm, Para, Mazin, and Specter all let out yells in their language as the shape flew over head and nearly knocked them down as well.

"Zzzrraa!" came the roar from the creature overhead.

"What in the world was that?" Joan had woken up in Yusei's arms from the pull down along with his voice rising a bit.

Ellis didn't answer him, trying to find what had flown over them. The last time I had seen a Pikachu's cheeks sparks for no reason was because of an intense energy in the air, specifically from a Zapdos being nearby. Except that hadn't sounded like a Zapdos, or at least not one I've run into. It almost sounded like a Hydreigon roar. The flaps (if one could call them that as they sounded more machine than animal) came around as the shape came back in view. The creature did indeed resemble a Hydreigon, but instead of a mix of fur and scales it was metal glinting in the little sunlight shining through the clouds. Its eyes were also digital, but they clearly were shining with anger. Is that..? The segmented wings flexed hard as it dove for the group again.

"Move...move!" Ellis picked up Specter, knowing he couldn't keep up with their quick pace.

No arguments came up as they started running as the thing was flying back at a fast pace. Thinking quickly, they ducked into an opening between buildings just as it flew past again, kicking up dust and debris every which way. Damn it, that thing is fast, and it seems to be going after us. Could it be sent by one of the people Lesli talked about? From the way Lesli talked, they are trying to shake around things, but this soon and to this extent? No, no time to think too heavily on that. We've got to get that thing out of here and off our tails. But if it's like a regular Hydreigon, there's no way we can take it out that easily.

"Hey, you're from the same world Ren is, right? Any clue what that thing is?" Yusei asked.

"Uhh...well...maybe," Ellis replied.

"'Maybe'?"

"Look, I've seen a good number of Hydreigon, and if it's on the same level as one, we're in deep trouble." Ellis looked over the corner to see where it had flown. "We don't have any-" He stopped when he felt a strange sensation come over him as he caught sight of it again.

As he continued looking at the mechanical Hydreigon, he suddenly could sense that despite the similar appearance it wasn't the same. It was like a voice whispering to him all he needed to know on the creature even if he never had seen it before. Dark and Flying type...so that means...we might have a chance. He pulled his head back in, quickly processing the sudden spout of information. He looked down to Mew still in the form of his old Pikachu partner. Mew's gotten all of Para's moves down, though we haven't had a full blown test and only used random pieces we found lying around as practice targets. And we also need to get it out of the sky if we want to have a chance to weaken it.

"Got an idea how to get that thing off our tails?" Yusei asked.

"I think so, but first we got to slow it down and knock it out of the sky. You won't mind acting as a Trainer for Storm, do you?" Ellis replied.

"Uh, sure, but any reason for that?"

"Well, because we're about to do a raid battle with a double dose of paralysis, and Storm won't be able to jump high enough without some aid." Ellis set Specter down, motioning for Para to jump onto his shoulder. She did just that. "Storm, up." He held out his arm for Storm to hop on before handing the other Pikachu to Yusei.

"So what's the move?"

"We're going to have Para and Storm hit with Thunder Wave, slowing it down and hopefully bringing it down for the next attacks to hit." And I hope a Volt Tackle will suffice to taking it out, otherwise there may not be another chance to hit if it retaliates.

(Yusei's POV)

Guess there's not much choice but trust he knows what he's doing, I thought as Ellis looked out for a moment before darting out. I followed close behind, only stopping when he did.

"Get ready," he muttered, keeping a watch as the creature flew several feet ahead of us. It soon made a turn as it noticed we were out in the open, charging right for us. It was coming up fast, getting closer with each second. "Now!"

"Thunder Wave!" we both shouted. Storm and Ellis's partner Para leaped off our shoulders once it was close enough, sending out sparks toward the beast.

It let out a screech as the sparks hit it, causing it to twist a bit in the air. It stopped, but it was still high up above us. Now with a closer look, what I thought were hands or claws were two smaller heads. Or they looked like heads, hard to know with any of these creatures even with AJ trying her best to explain with her device.

"Now what?" I asked as Para and Storm landed in front of us.

"It's still too high for Para to hit. She's not good with long range moves," Ellis hissed in frustration as he glared at it. He glanced around. "And—don't mean to sound rude or anything about your home—but nothing around here can handle her power without crumbling right beneath her."

Joan started to shift a bit in my arms, acting like she was trying to get down. "Rrr...ruff."

"Oh no, not right now." I changed my grip on her to not drop her. She turned around to glare at me. "Sorry, but you aren't exactly up to par right now."

"Good thing I might have someone who does." Ellis reached to his belt, pulling the third Poké ball off of it. I could have sworn I heard him mutter something to it before throwing. "Go, Sleuth!"

The ball opened with a bright light and then shifted into the creature in it. A purple and white cat-like being with a feather replacing one ear and sharp, purple claws. "Sne...Sneasel?!" it yipped, looking back at Ellis in surprise.

"Pi?! Pikaa?!" Storm yelped, jumping back. He acted like he had seen this one for a second time and not expecting it.

"Sleuth, we need to knock that thing closer to the ground," Ellis called over, snapping both out of their shock. "Try using the surroundings and strike with your best move."

The creature, Sleuth, looked around as if calculating how to follow the order. "Sne. Sneasel!" With speed that almost made it hard to track, it used the old lamp posts to hop up to as close to the other creature.

The other one wasn't paying any attention to what Sleuth was doing. Bringing up a claw that started glowing, Sleuth jumped onto the back of the dragon. It let out a roar and tried to buck the offender off until Sleuth hit the back of it with the claw, falling closer to the ground. "Yes! Now, Para!"

"Pi!" Para rushed back behind, Ellis stepping away to give room.

"Para, Volt Tackle! Full power!"

"Pi...ka!" Para charged forward, going through the space between us. Sparks came from Para's cheeks as then electricity covered her body as the distance shrunk. Sleuth, seeing the oncoming attack, jumped off the back of the dragon. It didn't have much time to know what was going on until Para crashed hard into the body of it, sending out more sparks at the collision.

A second later, a miniature explosion happened, sending both flying in opposite directions. Para managed to roll and land on her feet, though winced as blue sparks appeared on her body. Did that attack hurt her too? I can see why Ellis wanted the thing closer to hit, or Para might have had more damage done to her. The creature landed on the ground, twitching a bit but not getting up to try and strike back.

"There's our chance. Run!" Ellis called, picking up Para. "Mazin, Specter! Come on!"

"Vee Eevee!" Mazin barked as he came running out from the alley.

"Coco!" called Specter, though wasn't running as fast as Mazin. Ellis scooped Specter up too as we rushed past the fallen dragon.

I did catch a quick look at the creature, finding it looked more machine than beast. In fact, its eyes looked robotic with the lights showing an 'x' where regular eyes would have been. Was that...is that even a Pokémon? That explains why Ellis wasn't sure on it, but who made it? I wondered as I kept the same pace.


"Well, hopefully that worked."

"Zzz...graaz..."

"Sorry you had to endure that, Hydro. Return." A flash of red light and a click. "Ellis, you better handle the rest because I'm risking way too much interjecting like this."


We managed to get to Ren and AJ's place with no other trouble. Dash greeted us, holding Nana in his front claws. As soon as we got into view, she started trying to wiggle free of Dash's grasp and yelling. Mazin and Storm looked at each other guiltily. It didn't take understanding what they said to know they were in trouble with her.

As soon as we got in, some of the ones still staying there were on alert, a few hiding when they saw Ellis since they hadn't seen him before and then the rest joined them at seeing Sleuth. Ellis recalled her as she looked uncomfortable with all the eyes on her.

I went to one of the tables AJ and Ren had set up, moving some of the pots a bit but making sure they still were in the light's path and setting Joan down. Seeing her injury better, it looked like something had slashed into her side, different than the claw marks from before. Whoever took AJ must have used a knife or something on Joan. At least it healed up a little despite the wait, I thought as I took my gloves off.

I heard Ellis come up. "Hang on, I can get a salve made up," he said as he went over to the plants. "Sitrus and Lum tend to work best at healing and keeping out infection."

"Sounds like what AJ said last time," I replied.

"Well, any Trainer going out on their own needs to have the basics down when they're too far from a Center and all." He plucked some of the yellow and green fruit off the plants, reaching and pulling out a pocket knife from his pocket. He flicked the blade open. "Para, is there anything that can work for a bowl around that's clean enough?"

"Pi...Pika!" Para cried as she hopped around, pulling out a small bowl. She dusted out the inside before coming up to hand it to Ellis.

"Thanks, pal." He started peeling the items in his hand.

"So, are you a relative of Ren and AJ?"

He paused for a minute. "Um...any reason you're asking?"

"For one, you've been acting very familiar with Ren's partners and him too. And two, you have the same last name, and some of the same facial features."

He gave a deep sigh, going back to his task. "I guess I shouldn't be too shocked that you've paid attention, but yeah, I am a...fairly close relative. And I've been around AJ and Ren since they were really young, so I know quite a few things about them."

"Not sure how to break it to you, but Ren doesn't have a full memory to work off on, so anything you say about him will be news to him."

"...ah, I see..." There was a shift in his voice, like he was trying to act he was shocked to hear that. Perhaps he has the same ability as Ren and AJ, since he knew the names of Ren's partners and I never mentioned them to him. They might have told him.

The door creaked open, revealing Nana looking rather pleased with herself and Storm and Mazin looking a bit roughed up (not to the same extent of Joan). Dash had been the one to open the door, looking sheepish. "You couldn't have stopped them?"

"Agrrii..." Dash rumbled.

"I doubt he could have. Once a Jangmo-o has a target in their sights, the only thing that can stop them is exhaustion or their pack leader," Ellis replied. He got the salve fixed up and had gone to Joan to start applying it. "This might sting, but it'll help heal the gash and you'll be back on your paws in no time."

"Ellis." He turned. "I've got to get back to my place. I want to keep a close eye on Ren until he's feeling better."

"Okay, just let me get finished with this."

"Actually, I think it'd be better for you to stay here. At least until he's settled down. And someone has to be able to watch out for the other ones here." I nodded to some of the hiding creatures who still looked a bit nervous.

"...all right. Just come around and let me know how he is."

"I will." While I'm not entirely sure who he is, at least he can keep an eye on these guys until Ren's back on his feet. I just hope I'm not wrong with this.

A/N: Well, I was going to end this a bit differently, but with over 5000 words on this doc, I figured might want to cut it off until next time. '

There's still a lot I want to figure out before the later arcs (namely when it gets around the pre-WRGP, WRGP, and Ark Cradle parts) and how to fit Pokémon into it. I've got an idea with the latest mechanic and maybe tying it with Duel Energy (like they're similar enough or something). I'll also be doing a bit of a mini arc between the second and third arcs of this story featuring the Teal Mask DLC which leads into what I said with Terastal energy and all. Let's hope I can keep from muddying it up!

Also, the way Ellis knew what type that the Pokémon was something that I thought that wielders could have, essentially allowing them to know the type of Pokémon they're facing even if they never saw it before then. Kind of another explanation why Ren knew that Joan's Zen Headbutt would affect the Hisuian Sneasel despite not knowing it was a different typing to the Sneasels of present day.