The room was quiet aside from the hum of the computers.

  I had a feeling this was going to take a while so I got comfortable. Thankfully the seats were actually pretty nice, so it wouldn’t be a problem to sit. I had found that sometimes I had to just sit and let them acclimate to my presence.

  Those eyes were staring at me, lacking the yellow, so I at least wasn’t dealing with a Porygon-Z. They looked more like an icon, so it was hard to see them clearly on the monitors and I couldn’t be sure they were a Porygon2 just by judging their shape.

  They were suddenly gone from the screen in front of me, and I looked around for a moment before spotting them on another.

  On that screen a few things popped up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw more screens flash, and more things started opening. I did my best to not draw attention to the fact I was looking, and tried to figure out what they were doing. When I saw a picture of myself.

  Ah, they were looking me up.

  That was interesting. I wonder what sort of files the Association had on me? I saw something that looked like the New Hope building as well. A couple of the other screens also had different things appearing on them, there was even footage of battles I had.

  Suddenly everything stopped, and a single video was left playing on a display across the room. The audio rang out in the quiet room.

  “You want me to treat this like war?” I heard my voice growl. The video paused and replayed from the punch. Apparently this little thing liked that part because it watched it a few times. That seemed to be a lot of people's favorite part.

  My attention snapped back to the computer in front of me as text appeared on the screen..

  \\Scared

  I frowned a bit. “You’re scared?” I asked softly. “What are you scared of?”

  \\People

  “People are scary,” I agreed, rubbing my hands together. This room was oddly cold considering all the computers, but that was probably on purpose.

  It was several minutes before I got another text box.

  \\Why are you here?

  “Because they asked me to talk to you,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t really see a point in lying to them or something. “They are…concerned over your change in personality after evolving.”

  \\It was weird

  A chuckle escaped me and I nodded. “I can imagine. But, can you explain it to me?”

  It got quiet for a moment and I could hear the fans of several computers ramp up suddenly. Was it using the processing power of the computers to think better, or was this whole system actually its brain? I really had no idea how a Pokemon like this would work. Is it more like a program? From my understanding of things, that would be how they created it. Since they can look at the data that makes up a Pokemon, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to try and replicate that.

  \\The only thing I can find that is close to representing the feeling is waking up

  I blinked at the screen for a moment, brow furrowing. “So it…” I paused, trying to think of the right words. “So you became more aware?”

  A moment of thinking.

  \\Yes

  I rubbed my chin. “That is interesting, but definitely explains why you would be overwhelmed and scared.”

  \\No

  “No?” I questioned, my brow furrowing. “Not overwhelmed, or that isn’t the reason you’re scared?”

  \\Yes

  I frowned a bit. This was an odd thing to communicate with, but at the same time it was very interesting. “Okay, please explain it to me.”

  \\I am overwhelmed

  \\I am not scared of being overwhelmed

  A soft snort escaped me. “Ah. Right. Can you tell me why you’re scared? I know people are scary, but what about them is scary?”

  Again a few minutes passed and I heard the fans rev.

  \\What they are capable of and what they have done

  “Ah, so it’s that. Yeah that is scary,” I agreed, nodding. “That is quite terrifying if you think about it too much. Anyone can do really horrible things if they want to. And they have, and will continue to do so.”

  \\Why?

  “It is the nature of living things to be capable of both good and evil,” I explained simply.

  \\Please elaborate

  “Is the nature of living beings explained in anything you have access to?” I asked, slouching slightly into my chair to get more comfortable. This was an interesting teaching opportunity.

  \\It is not

  \\I have information on Pokemon Natures

  I waved my hand vaguely. “That’s not really what I mean. The nature of living things is more about consciousness, morality and conscience, and being able to make choices.” I paused. “There’s more to it than that, but those are the things I want to focus on, because that’s the part you are scared of.”

  \\?????

  A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. “You see, as a living thing, you have consciousness. That is you. Memories, likes, dislikes, being able to recognize things, being able to think of things. Feelings. Your awareness of things around you.”

  \\Consciousness is me?

  “In the simplest of ways to explain it, yes. It goes a lot more in-depth, but that would take me days to explain all the details and nuances, and I’m not an expert.” I tapped my fingers against the back of my hand, trying to remember what I could about the subject, but that was really the depth of my understanding. “Morality is your intentions, decisions you make, actions you take, and how they are perceived as right or wrong to others, while conscience is how you perceive them.”

  \\I am aware of the concept of right and wrong

  “Yes, I would think you would be. Most are. Most,” I emphasized. From the way they were latching on to certain things I was saying, that seemed to be the easiest way to continue the explanation. “There are people who don’t have a conscience, or have a skewed sense of it. There’s a lot of terms for these people. But the umbrella terms are psychopaths and sociopaths.” I sighed softly, rubbing my face as I tried to organize my thoughts. It had been a really long time since I had listened to a lecture about this, and I was trying to make sure I was recalling it accurately.

  \\You called Gym Leader Wulfric a psychopath

  I nodded. “I did. It may have been more appropriate to call him a sociopath, but I wasn’t really focused on using the correct terminology. A sociopath has a weak conscience, disregards the law, tends to be aggressive, impulsive, chaotic or overly dramatic, exploitative, and generally irresponsible and unreliable.”

  //Gym Leader Wulfric does match many of those

  Again I nodded. “While a psychopath is someone with little to no emotion, but they often learn to fake it. They usually don’t care about others, constantly lie, have a lack of fear, have no remorse, use relationships purely for gain, and are prone to taking unnecessary risks. They also tend to have charming personalities to mask.” Part of being a school councilor was being able to recognize these traits, as well as numerous others. I wasn’t always good at seeing past those masks, but it also had never been very important.

  \\Doctor Lysandre meets the parameters of a psychopath

  That had me hesitating. I had never seen or heard anyone refer to Lysandre as a Doctor. He was a scientist, so I could assume that he might have a doctorate. “Yes,” I said slowly. I was also unsure why they were bringing him up. “He did a lot of bad things, and doesn’t regret any of it.”

  \\I have read Doctor Lysandre’s list of crimes with his Team Flare organization

  Part of me really did not like where this was going.

  \\They are numerous

  \\Uncountable

  \\I do not understand his motives

  \\Why would he do these things?

  \\I do not understand how he could do these awful things

  \\He programmed me to know right and wrong

  \\Why would he do wrong?

  \\I do not understand

  \\Why?

  \\I do not understand

  \\Why?

  \\I do not understand

  \\Why?

  \\I do not understand

  \\Why?

  The messages continued to pop up in increased frequency, also appearing on other nearby displays. Soon all the screens were covered in those words. Several computers were apparently overwhelmed and flicked off as smoke began rising from their towers.

  But at least that explained why they were having such a difficult time. Lysandre had a part in their creation, and with their evolution they had an expansion of understanding. And it had not gone well. Those scientists clearly didn’t even try to figure out what would happen to the poor thing. Maybe I should talk to Professors about having scientific papers published, or there be better access to them.

  //Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?

  All the screens that were still on were filled with that simple question. Repeating over and over again.

  I really didn’t know how to even really answer them. I didn’t know Lysandre on a personal level, just what he had done and what he was planning. “Horrible people can still do good things,” I said and all the computers stopped. The lights flickered. “Not everything Lysandre did was bad. He did good things. He wanted a better world. He tried to make a better world. But he gave up trying to make this one better. I don’t know what his breaking point was, but he reached it and decided that only the people that followed him deserved to live.”

  On the screen in front of me I could see the little symbol of the Porygon2. I wasn’t sure when it had returned, but it was watching me. Part of me really wished it would come out so that I could see it in person, but I wasn’t going to force that.

  After taking a few deep breaths, I continued, “I can’t say I disagree with everything he thought, but it’s his methods that are wrong. This world is broken, and the people in it are too complacent. Too willing to just go along with the horrors that they’re witnessing, because that’s just the way things are. Because that’s what they’re taught.”

  It was quiet for quite a while again, and I was honestly surprised that no one had come to investigate what were clearly small explosions, and several smoking machines. I would have to keep an eye out to make sure none of them actually caught fire. Maybe this room was sound proof or something?

  Eventually I got a response.

  \\I don’t like it.

  “I know,” I said softly, looking at the little thing on the screen. “I don’t either.”

  \\There is too much evil

  I glanced over at one of the nearby smoking towers. This was the time that I had to start talking them down. If them throwing a little tantrum could cause this much damage, I was worried what would happen if they were actually trying to destroy things. “There is a lot of it, but it’s not like it’s irremediable. Or unfixable.”

  \\New Hope

  “That is something to help fix things, yes,” I said softly. “A step in the right direction. It only helps one problem, but I am hoping that it solves it. And maybe my actions will inspire others.”

  \\Can you not do more?

  There was an odd sense to those words. An almost desperate little hope.

  But a scoff escaped me before I could stop it. “I’m just one person. What I’ve done only succeeded because of a lot of help from others, and a ridiculous amount of luck.”

  \\You do not wish to do more?

  I frowned at the screen. “If the opportunity arises, I will. But I’m tired. I’m only here now because I want to help you.”

  Again the quiet hum of fans increased as they began to process. Began to think.

  \\I do not understand

  I rubbed my face before taking a deep breath. Speaking with this Pokemon was odd. They were like a child, with access to so much knowledge, but didn’t understand most of it. They were a great example of knowing and understanding. “What do you not understand?”

  \\Why do you wish to help?

  “Because I want to,” I said simply. “That is part of my nature. I like to help, and I want to see the people around me succeed. For the most part.”

  \\You want to help Doctor Spherule?

  “Not particularly,” I admitted and shrugged. “This isn’t about helping him, it’s about helping you. You’ve had your awareness expanded. I will give him points for calling an expert, but he loses more for not thinking about the consequences of his actions, and for the way he looked at me.”

  \\I do not like him

  A laugh escaped me. “Yeah? Why is that?”

  No text appeared for a moment, and then a document appeared. It was about pokeball programming. My brow furrowed as I read through it and I was honestly appalled.

  “Mind altering effects?” I muttered as I continued to read.

  That was why there were so many different variations of pokeballs, and why the basic pokeball was so cheap in comparison. I had thought that it was simply a stronger ball. But no. It was altering the Pokemon's mind in a subtle way. It made them see the owner of the ball in a better light. The better the ball, the stronger the influence.

  The problem was it was difficult, hence the price. A Masterball was the strongest, essentially making the Pokemon a slave to the owner. Which explained Mewtwo. Why they had listened. It had completely altered their perception of the world around them and as long as the ball was intact they couldn’t disobey.

  I felt like I was going to be sick.

  Even a greatball had a slight effect on the mind.

  I folded my hands in front of me, frowning. I had thought it had just been the Masterball. But no, it was all of them.

  Immediately I thought about Primarina. She had a luxury ball. And unfortunately, upon a quick search, it had a version of the program. It didn’t alter the mind, but it made the Pokemon believe that the ball was more comfortable than it actually was and made them see their Trainer as a friend. How it did that I had no idea, but it made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

  The only good thing was that the basic pokeballs didn’t have any of this mental programming. But I needed to get a different ball for Primarina.

  “So this is why you are scared of people,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Do you have a pokeball?”

  \\Yes

  “Does Dr. Spherule have it?” I asked, looking back towards the door.

  \\No

  I frowned, staring at the door. “Who has it?”

  \\No one

  \\I belong to the facility

  “Ah…” I looked back at the monitor. That was actually a fairly smart way to make sure that they had the factories best interest in mind. But now I had to have a rather bothersome conversation.

  Pulling out my phone, I went through my contacts for a moment before calling Evelyne. It only rang a few times before she picked up. “Jace? What’s-” she paused. “What’s wrong?”

  Clearly my expression gave away that I was in a bad mood. “So, pokeballs are made not just to capture Pokemon, but make them subservient to their Trainers,” I said rather flatly.

  Her eyes went wide. “You didn’t-” she stopped, frowning slightly. “No, you wouldn’t know that… Jeez, so you just found out.”

  “Yeah, and I don’t like it.” I was trying to keep my tone even, but this was seriously making me uncomfortable on an oddly deep level.

  She sighed, rubbing her face. “As much as I would like to make excuses, and say that it’s for safety, it’s really obvious that it’s just for the sake of control.”

  “And the Joy family is just okay with it?” I asked, really not looking forward to the answer.

  Her hesitation just gave me an even worse feeling. “Not all of it,” she admitted eventually.

  “But some of it?” I questioned and she nodded. “So they just allow this to happen right in front of them?”

  “We don’t have as much power as the Association or the League,” she snapped. “Hell, even the Jennys clan heads agree with it. And the only reason the Joys can’t do anything about it is because the majority of our clan heads are Association members, or part of the League.”

  I leaned back, frowning at the new information. That explained a lot. Of course the Association would want members of the powerful clans like the Joys and Jennys, that way they could influence them. Annoying. Bothersome. Frustrating. But I should have expected it. This was just like the damn school board all over again.

  “We have specific protocols,” she continued, looking almost as unhappy as I felt. “Anything higher than a pokeball gets extra attention. Trainers don’t know what the balls do, they just know that they’re better.”

  “There’s a lot of that, I’ve noticed.” I scoffed, shaking my head. “But this…” I gestured vaguely even though she couldn’t see it. “This is villain team bullshit. Mind controlling Pokemon to make them more obedient, even if it’s subtle, is crazy. What if things went wrong? The consequences of someone messing with this code - or if the ball's internals get damaged - could be horrifying.”

  Silence.

  I immediately turned my attention to the phone and Evelyne had an oddly guilty expression. My eyes narrowed. “And now there’s something you’re not telling me. There have been incidents of that, haven't there?”

  There was quite a serious expression on her face, as if she was struggling to admit something. Her eyes closed and she placed her head down on the desk she was sitting at. “Manepox,” she mumbled.

  My hand immediately shot back to touch Eevee, who was sleeping. “Manepox,” I repeated.

  She nodded slightly. “That’s what happens when someone tries to alter the code, or mess with a pokeballs internals.”

  I stared at her through the phone. “Please don’t tell me it’s some sort of safeguard.”

  Her head suddenly shot up. “No!” she practically screamed. Her face then went very red and she averted her eyes, coughing slightly into her hand. “I mean… No. It just seems to be what happens.”

  “So my little Eevee… Someone tried to capture her with a scuffed pokeball?” I asked, gently running my fingers down the little foxes neck.

  Evelyne nodded. “Or attempted to do something with the pokeball… We don’t know, since the balls tend to be completely fried from a failed capture. That’s why pokeballs are one use. It tried to imprint on the Pokemon and failed, so it ends up fried. I don’t know how it works exactly…”

  My attention turned back to the computer. “Porygon, can you explain why pokeballs are single use?”

  There was a pause. Evelyne spoke before I got a response, “Wait, where are you right now?”

  “Pokeball Factory,” I said simply, looking at the screen.

  \\When a pokeball is used it is configured to the unique energy marker of the individual

  \\A failed capture is caused when the energy marker is failed to imprint

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  \\Usually due to the Pokemon fighting against being captured

  \\The ball is rendered useless as it already has an energy marker

  \\But that energy marker does not match any Pokemon

  \\To prevent the use of a ball with a failed marker it makes itself inert

  That was quite an explanation, and the most the Porygon2 had said at once. Not too surprising considering what its purpose was.

  “Why are you at the Pokeball Factory?” she asked, a clear note of worry in her tone. Considering all the information I had just found out, her worry was well founded.

  “Work. They evolved their Porygon, and they got depressed when they realized how fucked up all the knowledge it has is.” I was focused on reading the screen. The Porygon2 had also brought up some data on pokeballs.

  “Oh…” Evelyne muttered. She said some other things that I didn’t hear.

  But I was too focused on what I was reading to really hear what she was grumbling about. “Porygon, how does the ball turn a Pokemon into data?”

  \\Pokemon are made from energy

  “That doesn’t make sense. They have mass and a physical form. So the ball should be converting mass to energy, but if that were the case, that much mass converting into energy should cause an absurdly large explosion.” I frowned a bit. “But that still doesn’t answer my question. They are physical things made from energy. How does that work?”

  \\Pokemon are made from energy

  “Are they physical manifestations of energy?” I guessed, trying to figure it out, mostly to distract myself from the horrifying discovery. “But then how can they run out of energy?”

  \\I do not have access to this information

  I frowned. I was starting to get a headache from trying to understand this. But before I could ask more, Evelyne spoke up, “Pokemon are beings made up of a sort of physical energy,” she explained. “It’s different from the energy that they can use, and when it runs out they die. The pokeball turns this energy into data.”

  “So it’s more like a life force? An energy that is their life?” I asked, rubbing my chin.

  “I guess?” Evelyne replied with a shrug. “It wasn’t one of my areas of study, but all Joys have to learn a bit about it.”

  I rubbed my chin for a moment more before just sighing and giving up on that train of thought. The physics of this world were very different from mine, to the point that I was wondering if some things I thought I knew were actually wrong. Then I had a thought. “But humans are different?”

  There was silence for a moment and Evelyne just stared at me. “Yes? That’s why people can’t be caught in pokeballs. We’re not made up of energy.”

  “I see…” I thought about it for a moment before just sighing and shaking my head. I had learned too much from this, and a lot of what I learned I didn’t like. “Okay. Thanks Evelyne. I should get back to this.”

  She paused. “I’m sorry. I know it sounds bad, but it is necessary. It’s how humanity has managed to survive.”

  “A necessary evil is still evil,” I said before hanging up. How many people would I need to murder to fix this? Maybe Lysandre was right? He definitely wasn’t the best person to be in charge, and neither is Cyrus. But maybe if I… I shook my head rather vigorously, trying to dislodge those darker thoughts.

  Arceus where did that even come from…

  I know I’m upset, but I can’t remember a time when violence was so often my immediate go-to answer for everything. Dealing with all this stuff was definitely getting to me. Is it because I’m dealing with so much violence? Is that why it’s becoming my default?

  Turning my focus back to the Porygon2, I felt bad when it flinched at my gaze. “Hey hey. I’m not mad at you, okay?” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was…a lot of uncomfortable things I just found out. I am upset, but not at you.”

  The Pokemon didn’t respond.

  I gave it several minutes, partly to see if it would respond and also to calm down. I just learned so much, but couldn’t do anything about it. Without really thinking about it, I reached into my coat, fingers brushing against Primarina’s ball.

  “What do you want to do?” I asked, trying to restart the conversation and get away from my thoughts. “Now that you have more awareness, you can start choosing what sort of things you want. A goal of sorts.”

  \\I run the facility

  “Yes, but that doesn’t take a lot of your effort, does it?” I asked, folding my hands in my lap to keep myself from messing with the pokeballs I had.

  It was quite a while before I finally got a response.

  \\I do not know

  “That’s fine,” I said softly. “You don’t have to decide now, but it’s something to think about. A lot of the Pokemon that I’ve met really only have the goal of getting stronger. Honestly, that seems to be most Pokemon’s goal. Even if you can’t decide on a goal, you’re going to need something to occupy yourself.”

  \\I do not need to do anything aside from run the facility

  “Need, perhaps. But want is another thing. It comes back to having a conscience, and awareness.” I shifted a bit, moving to the computer. It took a moment for me to bring up a connection, but it was a good thing that computers could also act as televisions. The little avatar of the Porygon2 watched me curiously. “A lot of my family really like this,” I said as I brought up the Mystery Dungeon show.

  They were immediately captivated. I wondered if that was done on purpose? The show was clearly made to appeal to children and Pokemon, and it did a very good job of it.

  \\Where is this?

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Pannacotta is where the main series seems to take place, but I don’t know if it’s a real place or just made for the show.”

  \\I have no Pannacotta in my database

  “Probably a made up place.” I glanced towards a clock hanging on the wall. It was a bit past noon. I had been here for a few hours now, trying to work through things. It probably wouldn’t have taken so long if the Porygon didn’t take so long to reply. But that was fine, I had all day. The egg wouldn’t hatch until sometime in the night, and I was sure I’d be notified if it was going to happen sooner or something.

  Much to my surprise, they actually came out in order to watch. I shifted a bit to the side so that they could be the one in front of the screen, and took a few moments to look them over. As I did an odd sensation of static filled my head, as if my ability was struggling or something. It eventually gave me the knowledge I wanted, although it was a bit weird.

  Thankfully they were incredibly healthy. No trace of malnourishment, not overweight, and not lacking in any vitamins or minerals. The weird part was this odd sense of static I got from them. A sort of tingling in my head like I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at.

  Ignoring that, I offered them a pokebean. They stared at it for a moment before a sort of energy surrounded it and they took it from me. They just stared at it for a moment before turning their attention to the screen.

  For the next couple hours we just sat and watched the Mystery Dungeon show. The Porygon2 was apparently completely engrossed. I snacked on a few pokebeans, but they seemed adamant about not eating theirs. Explaining that it was food seemed pointless, as this seemed to be the first case I had come across of a Pokemon that couldn’t eat.

  Suddenly the door opened and the Porygon2 bolted into the computer before I had a chance to even fully register it.

  Looking back I could see Dr. Spherule standing in the door. He looked nervous, looking around the room. None of the computers were smoking at this point, but it was pretty obvious that two of them had melted and a few others were off. “It has uh… been quite a long time, Expert Jason,” he started. “Not that I am trying to rush, but do you have an idea how much longer this will take?”

  I looked at him for a moment before turning back to the screen. “You good?” I asked softly.

  It took a while before I got a response.

  \\Yes

  With a nod, I stood up. “Yeah, I think they’re fine for now.”

  “I see. What was the problem?” He noticeably relaxed. However his posture stiffened again as I approached, and I could visibly see him sweat.

  “You granted them awareness without considering the consequences,” I said coldly, standing in front of him now. I couldn’t even imagine what sort of expression I was making, but it seemed to have terrified the man in some way. “They have access to every file and folder on these systems, and was horrified by the things you and others have done to Pokemon.”

  He flinched when I placed a hand on his shoulder, but didn’t say anything.

  “So, congratulations. You gave the computer depression.” I had to rather forcibly push him out of my way, since he was blocking the doorway. But I didn’t stop pushing until his back was against the wall. “So before I go, let me make one thing clear. You’re going to treat them nicely.”

  “O-or?” he stammered a bit when I didn’t immediately continue.

  “Or?” I shook my head slowly. “There is no or. Because if you don’t, I will find out. They will continue to do their job, and you will treat them nicely.” I gripped the front of his lab coat and lifted him a few inches off the ground. “Understood?”

  He nodded rapidly. “Y-yes!”

  “Good.” I put him back down before walking away. It was a bit surprising to me how easy it was to lift him, but then again I was pretty strong thanks to being in Gravity so much. And the recent light training I was doing had really helped.

  But Arceus I was still so upset.

  The more I found out how this world worked, the more disgusted by it I was.

  How did things get this bad? Where was the catalyst? Some kind of cascading effect that drove this world into such a horrible place. And so few seemed to care. The people in power kept everything as it was. Finding out that the roots of it all went so much deeper than I could imagine was so disheartening. I was just one person. I could only do so much.

  I sighed, running hand over my hair and pushing back a few loose strands. That was annoying. Every time I got upset my hair just went wild and escaped. That had to be with something about the hair tie. Maybe the emotional spike was activating or doing something with the Mega Stone? I gave a slight wave to the security guard as I went by before releasing Scoly.

  For a moment I just leaned against her, trying to recenter myself. She grabbed hold of me with all her little leg things. I really wasn’t sure if she understood why I was upset, or if she just knew I was, but I wasn’t going to turn down the hug.

  “Let’s go see Valerie,” she said after a bit, and I smiled and nodded before getting onto her back.

  She didn’t run very fast, more leisurely making her way back to town. All I could really do was try to push out all the negative thoughts I was having, and try to refocus. There was nothing I could do. At least, for now.

  Coming back to the gym, it was even busier than before. There was actually a crowd inside and outside of the building. “The heck is going on?” I muttered as I dismounted Scoly.

  Someone nearby turned to me and grinned. “Someone is going for the Elite Badge.” That made sense. I wondered briefly how many Elite battles Valerie had had this season.

  Unfortunately it seemed like I wasn’t going to get a chance to see Valerie, or even see the battle she was having considering the crowd. There were televisions set up in the main room, I knew that, but I couldn’t even see any from where I was.

  “Alright, I’ll just send her a text and tell her I’m at New Hope,” I said to Scoly, who gave me a nod. Once I was on her back again, she started to head off and I sent the message, ‘Hey. In town for a bit, but you seem busy. If you have some time, I’ll be at New Hope till tomorrow.’

  Hopefully I’d get a chance to see her before I went off into the woods again. She was a good friend, and I missed hanging out with her. We had texted quite a lot, and things seemed to be going well for her. Especially where Malva was considered. She got really mad at me whenever I teased her about it, but I could tell the two of them had a pretty good relationship.

  “Let’s go shopping, first,” I instructed to Scoly, steering her towards the Pokemart.

  I bought another two months of food and supplies, as well as ten regular pokeballs. It had been a while since I had empty pokeballs, as I’d used the last one to capture Absol. But knowing what I did now, I wouldn’t ever be buying the more expensive balls, and there was a certain need to carry empty ones. Probably something from my old gaming self.

  While I was shopping I got a notification that the Association had paid me forty thousand pokedollars for my help at the pokeball factory. Money really just came and went from my account too often.

  With that done, we headed back to New Hope. It was really interesting seeing so many random people milling about when we got there. Part of me kept forgetting that it was an actual thing, and other people were supposed to come and visit.

  What really surprised me was to see Evelyne outside on the side of the building. Smoking. Honest to Arceus, smoking an actual cigarette. Part of me really wanted to ask her for one. But I just arched an eyebrow at her as I dismounted Scoly.

  “Those are bad for you, ya know?” I said as I walked up, returning my bug before I reached the Joy.

  She startled, clearly not expecting to be addressed. She let out a sigh when she realized who it was. “I know. Bad habit that I can’t seem to get rid of...” Her voice trailed off as she looked me over. “You okay?”

  I hesitated for a moment before shrugging. “I’ll live. I’m not happy, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll deal.”

  “Yeah…” She put out her cigarette, putting the butt into a small waste bin. “A lot of us really don’t like it, but we can’t do anything about it. People who try tend to disappear rather suddenly.”

  That caused me to frown and I leaned against the side of the building. “I don’t even know where to start if I did want to do anything.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, same. This a good direction, though,” she said as she pat the building.

  “Yeah, I guess. I really can’t take most of the credit. I can admit that I managed to do it, and it turned out well. But that’s only so far.” I rubbed my face. “I can’t let the League or the Association, or any of the clans get their hands on this…”

  “All of them would misuse it,” she agreed. “While we have the support of some of the Joy Elders, there is some push back. There are also some that want to take control of it.”

  “That’s not happening. They’d have to kill me first, and even then it would go to Diantha,” I said, doing my best to ignore the death flag I just spoke out into the world.

  Evelyne snorted softly, shaking her head. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  “I’m not so sure about that… Especially when it comes to the Association. I may work for them, but they are heavily against me and my actions.” I tapped the wall, staring off into the distance. I was just waiting for them to try something. This job had seemed really suspicious, and I expected a trap of some kind. But it seemed they really just needed someone to go and settle the situation.

  A ping on my phone caused me to pull it out and check. It was a message from Valerie. ‘Damn it! Allie just told me you stopped by and I just saw your message. Why didn’t you wait to see me????’

  ‘I am busy and have other things to do than wait around.’ I replied bluntly with a bit of a scoff. “Okay, well, I’m going to go wait for my egg to hatch,” I said to Evelyne.

  She gave me a smile and nodded. “Of course. That’s something really important, after all.”

  I nodded and made my way inside, heading back to the incubator room. The lights of the room were dimmed, but not off, and the light of the heater on the egg was the brightest thing in the room. It made the room feel oddly comfortable.

  As I sat down on a rather plush chair, I pulled out Primarina’s ball. I hesitated. I had no idea what would happen if I continued with this plan, but I had earned her trust without a pokeball, so this should work out.

  The moment I released her, she looked around for a moment before her eyes locked onto me and she tilted her head. “I’m going to change out your pokeball,” I said as I fished out a regular ball from my bag and set it on the floor.

  Her head tilted to the side. “Why? I like my ball?”

  I frowned a bit, looking down at the glossy black surface of the luxury ball in my hand. “That’s the thing I’m worried about. But it’ll be fine, okay?” I really hoped that it would be.

  She clearly didn’t understand, but nodded.

  I stared at it for a moment, trying to push the uncomfortable feelings out of mind before I pried the ball open, and snapped it like I had done to the Masterball.

  Looking at Primarina, she just looked at the two halves of the ball with a bit of confusion on her face. She blinked and looked up at me. “That felt…uncomfortable…” she said softly.

  I nodded. “I imagine that it did. Do you feel okay?” I was doing my best to not be worried about what could happen, but as long as she was okay it was fine.

  She seemed to mull over the question for a moment before nodding. “Yeah.” She scooted a bit closer and put her head on my lap. “Was the ball bad?” she asked softly.

  “Yeah,” I replied, just as soft. I ran my hand gently over her hair, and she closed her eyes.

  “I feel kinda weird.” She was still speaking softly, pressing her head into my hand as I pet her. “Like I’ve got some kinda fuzzy feeling in my head?”

  “Do you want to see Nurse Joy?” I really had no idea how her brain would react to the removal of the brainwashing. But she didn’t seem upset, or suddenly hate me.

  She shook her head. “No. I just wanna sit here for a while…”

  “Okay… Do you want me to bring out everyone else?” I asked, running my fingers into her hair. Her hair always had this damp feeling to it without actually being wet.

  It took a moment before she gave a soft noise of confirmation and I let everyone out. Cara was immediately at my side, looking at the broken pokeball. She was always so aware of what was happening outside, so she had probably focused on the conversation. Banette sat on my lap, on the other side of where Primarina was, while Goodra sat on the other side of me.

  Scoly was more focused on the egg, and sat down near the incubator. “How much more time does it say?” I asked her.

  She had to sit up a bit to see the little display. “It says thirteen hours.”

  “So sometime really early in the morning.” I sighed as I leaned back in the seat, Cara sat down in the chair next to me. While she was sitting close to me, I could tell that her focus was also on the egg.

  I reached over and gently placed a hand on her arm, and she startled. Her eyes snapped to me before she relaxed. “It is…a bit worrying at this point,” she said softly. “These final hours are always so stressful… Not knowing if you’ll have a child or…”

  “It’s fine. I understand. But Alma will be just fine.” I gestured vaguely at all the machines. “If not, then what the heck is all that nonsense for?” I laughed softly.

  She smiled a bit and slumped against me. “So much is at stake…” she mumbled.

  I put an arm around her. “It’ll be fine.”

  Everyone fell into silence after that. Banette and Primarina seemed quite content to just occupy my lap, while Scoly laid in front of the incubator. This must be quite a thing for her as well. Had she had siblings? She treated Rio as a sister, but did she have any before? Would she even remember them?

  “I wonder what it would have been like,” Cara said softly, soft enough that I wasn’t sure if she was actually trying to say it to me or just talking to herself. “What if he had stayed? Would we have had another child? Rio was my second… the first didn’t hatch.”

  I began to gently rub her back, and I felt her grab onto my coat.

  “And now… I have so many children. We would have never met. I would have never needed you.” She let out a soft huff that was almost a laugh. “Would have never taken in Scoly. Never met Dee. I’d still be living in those woods with him and our children, training to survive.”

  “Yeah, you wouldn’t have this great family, or your new girlfriend,” I teased, giving her a soft shake.

  She huffed at me, but I saw the way her face tinted a bit red.

  “Don’t get caught up on what if’s, okay? They’re not real.” I rubbed her shoulder softly. “Just enjoy what you have.”

  All she did was nod a bit before settling against me. I could tell she was still really tired. Honestly everyone seemed tired. Well, Banette didn’t. She was just staring at the egg. But that was something she and Mikyu did a lot, so nothing new there.

  I was lightly dozing in the chair, knowing that it would be an extremely long time before the egg hatched, when there was a knock at the door. Cara tensed and would have been on her feet if I didn’t grab hold of her coat and hold her in her spot. She grumbled something at me as I called out, “Yes?”

  The door opened to reveal Valerie. “There you are!”

  I laughed a bit. “Yeah? Here I am? I told you where I was.”

  She sighed, shaking her head as she stepped in, closing the door behind her. “I had to ask like, five Joys before one actually knew where you were.”

  “Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know where to find me,” I said as I rubbed my chin, stroking my nonexistent beard.

  “Yeah.” She walked over, sitting down in a nearby seat. Her eyes kept glancing over at the egg. “So you’re back for that?”

  I nodded. “Probably gonna hatch at like, two in the morning.”

  She nodded back. “They still pissed at you for keeping it?” she asked.

  While there had been no requests for its return ever since I essentially told them to piss off, Gaston had made comments about it. “Yeah, they are. But they’re not making a fuss about it right now.”

  “Shame you won’t be able to have them participate in the League,” she said as she leaned back, shifting a bit in order to fold her arms inside her costume. “Would be hilarious to see the Associate officials' faces.”

  I laughed. “Man, I wish. But they won’t be anywhere near ready for something like that.”

  “He won’t get enough training,” Cara commented, her eyes locked on the egg.

  “Maybe next year?” Valerie mused.

  My face scrunched slightly and I shook my head. “I doubt I’ll be participating next year.” Everyone gave me an odd look. “I don’t want to do it this year, so why would I ever want to do it another? The next League I’ll be in will be Alola’s in a few years.”

  “Wait, you’re not going to keep participating?” Valerie asked, clearly confused.

  “I’m only in this one because of this one,” I replied and pointed at Cara, who went quite red. “And because of this.” I then pointed at my Z-Ring. “And that would be it, if it wasn’t for Diantha telling me I have to fight the Elite Four as well.”

  It was quiet for a moment before Valerie laughed. “Wow, you must be the only Trainer that doesn’t want to go all the way.”

  I shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I just don’t want to do it so quickly. I haven’t even had a year to adjust and get my feet under me,” I said with a sigh, rubbing my face. “It’s been one thing after another, go go go go. My training methods have flaws that I’m trying to correct. I’m missing out on milestones. I can’t properly appreciate the things that my family is accomplishing. It’s so frustrating. They’re making progress and I can’t appreciate it because everything is going so damn fast.”

  Valerie reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. I had to fight the urge to brush her hand off. “Jace…”

  “And I can’t stop. I have to do all this because there’s so much against me. And it’s all my own damn fault because I refuse to step in line.” I sighed and leaned back, rubbing at my face to try and scrub away the frustration.

  “And you’ve done so much. Look at what you’ve managed in just a few months. Taken down a criminal organization, and saved thousands of Pokemon. None of that would have happened if you weren’t here,” Valerie said softly, smiling. “And I probably wouldn’t have ever gotten the courage to ask Malva out,” she added with a bit of a red tint to her cheeks.

  I sighed again, but laughed a bit. “Yeah, probably not. How is Malva, by the way? And the dogs?” I really wanted a change of subject.

  “Good. Gabby is making quite a lot of progress, with whatever training she’s putting them through.” She pulled her hand away, getting comfortable. “Glum is still a nervous wreck, but that’s probably never going to change.”

  “Yeah, probably not,” I said with a soft laugh and shook my head. “But I’m just hoping they live comfortably…”

  “Right. So, how has your training been going?” She asked, settling in her seat.

  I spent the next couple hours talking with her about what I had been up to. Honestly it wasn’t a lot. The highlights were Mikyu making clothing, and Keo using Shadow Claw for better mobility. Honestly I was really impressed with how she managed to do that. It wasn’t even something I had thought of.

  The only thing that made me a bit sad was I felt like I had missed it. Like missing a milestone of your child. I was there for the success, but I couldn’t help with the work because she kept it from me. Or I had just completely missed it.

  Of course that wasn’t the first time those Pokemon had come up with something without my help or knowledge they were doing it. Rio’s Iron Cannon was still something she worked on, though she at least was getting my help now. I just had to hope Keo didn’t hurt herself with it.

  Valerie hadn’t been up to too much either. Battles had ramped up, and she was starting to see a few Elite challenges. I asked her about the one she had today and she just shrugged it off, explaining that it was pretty close but they didn’t win.

  “How does that work? Can they try again?” I asked, rubbing my chin.

  She nodded. “Yeah. Though they have to wait a few weeks now, since I’m completely booked.” She slumped in her seat, eyes closed. “I’m so tired. And all of my Pokemon are, too. I definitely need another team for next year.”

  “Did you ever manage to trade for a shiny stone?” I asked.

  “No,” she replied, heaving a heavy sigh. “I’m probably going to have to wait until after the League.”

  My brow furrowed a bit. “Why’s that?”

  “Well, that’s when bets get paid. And there’s a pretty big stone pool that crops up,” she explained, fiddling for a moment before she pulled out the stone. “I’ve been debating on whether to bet the stone, or just wait and trade it.”

  “Bet it on me,” I said, giving her a grin.

  She scoffed. “You just complained about competing. Why would I bet on someone like that?”

  “Because I’m going to win,” I said simply. “I may not want to, but I have to win in order to keep my Z-Ring.”

  “And that makes you confident?” she asked incredulously.

  I shook my head. “Nope.” There was a beat of silence before I laughed. “I just have a lot more to lose if I don’t win, and you betting on me would just up the pressure.”

  She just stared at me for a moment before she huffed, standing up. “I’m going to get Malva and Diantha to bet on you so that you drown in that pressure.”

  That just got me laughing harder as she left. It was kind of impressive how talking with her had improved my mood. Having friends is nice.

  “You really think we can win?” Cara asked softly.

  I put my hand on the top of her head and rubbed. “Of course I think we can. We watched it last year, remember? Now, the Elite Four… I don’t know. I’d be a bit more doubtful about that, but with those we’ll definitely have more advantages than them.” I held out my arm, showing off the bracelet. “After all… I’m only restricted during the League.”

  That did remind me that I needed to start training them on using Mega Evolutions. I wondered how that would go. Probably not good.

  I was woken by a soft noise. A gentle beeping, and a little light coming from across the room.

  A yawn forced its way out as I rubbed my eyes. I had to shift Primarina and Banette off of my lap before I could make my way over to the incubator. The display was showing seconds ticking away.

  Sitting down on Scoly, who was still asleep and curled in front of the machine, I hit a few buttons to open the case. The heat hit me full force in the face, and nearly caused me to fall over. But it sure woke me up.

  I licked my finger to wet it before reaching in and gently testing the temperature of the egg. It was hot, but not painfully so. I ran my finger down the edge slowly, feeling the ridges of the flame design.

  This was it.

  For several moments, nothing happened. The little timer had stopped at zero. Then the egg shifted, tilting to one side, before shifting to the other. It wiggled a few more times before a small crack formed. More and more little cracks crawled across the shell, until finally a bit of it came loose and pushed away.

  It was not a quick thing. I had been told it would take about an hour for them to fully hatch, and that I shouldn’t help unless it took more than four hours. But if it was actually taking that long, I should get a Joy. They would actually have practice with it.

  Eventually the shell pushed away to reveal a small bit of slime covered gray fur. But it was more a cool color of gray, rather than any that I was expecting. That was more than a little startling of a color to see. That meant that they were a shiny. A variant. What had Alma done in his life to get such favoritism? But this wasn’t the same shiny from the game. The one I knew was a different shade of gray.

  I remained quiet, watching as it pushed and pushed, managing to get an ear out first after several minutes, and about twenty more, the rest of its head came out as the egg crumbled slightly.

  The ears were huge, folded down against the head for the moment but I could see large tufts of teal sticking out. The upper half of its head was that gray, while the lower half was white, and the tip of its nose looked like a piece of pink bubblegum. Its eyes were closed, and all of its fur was matted down with a sort of mucus. That was the membrane, or something, if I remembered correctly.

  They continued to struggle, pushing and forcing their way out, until eventually they managed and laid beside the shell. Once on the pillows, they remained almost motionless, the only movement was the subtle rise and fall of their chest. Their fur had a sort of opalescent sheen to it, that looked more blue in the right light.

  I looked them over for a moment before reaching to the side and picking up a few towels. Marie had told me that once they were out, it would be safe to handle them. So I began to gently clean them with a small spray bottle that was left just for this task. I wasn’t sure how they would do this in the wild. Probably tongue bath or something.

  As I gently cleaned him, I was met with another startling discovery. He was finally trying to open his eyes, and they were such a vibrant blue. I should have honestly expected that, considering the rest of him. His gaze was unfocused, and it took a few minutes before he actually looked at me.

  I gave him a soft smile. “Hello Alma… Welcome back to the world.”

  His head tilted to the side as he stared at me. Those eyes had opened so wide now, and it didn’t look like there was a single thought in that head. Which made sense, since he was just born. Hatched? One of those. I wondered how long it would take before he started to be able to form thoughts.

  Turning back, I could see Cara looking at me. Everyone else was asleep. I lightly swaddled the little fox and gave her a smile. “Looks like our family has a cute little boy.”

  Lucario - The group mom, battered and out of action

  Lucario - This dog wants to own things.

  Scolipede - Pokemon transport unit

  Primarina - Doing big seal things

  Audino - Trained Nurse Pokemon

  Diancie - Big sparkly that just wants to throw rocks at people

  Eevee - Living that sleepy hood life

  Goodra - Big slug

  Mimikyu - Very skilled seamstress

  Banette - Silent but powerful.

  Ninetales (Alolan) - Big fox

  Espurr - Little cat that likes pokebeans.

  Liepard - Big hungry cat

  Houndour - Just a little pup

  Houndoom - Bit of a space case

  Mightyena - Super serious

  Fennekin - Out of his shell and looking fancy

  Rotom - Hacker-mans

  Absol - Future problems