Oby posed a good - but obvious - question. Why did I want to find the island? Simple answer, “Because I want to find Mega Stones,” I said simply, locking eyes with the large Swampert. As I looked him over, I noticed the large amount of scarring over his body.

  He scrutinized me for a moment before letting out a sigh. “So you just seek power. Just like that red haired man.”

  Inexplicably I felt anger. A sort of tightness in my chest as I felt rage building. There was only one person who jumped to the front of my mind at that moment when Oby said that. “Don’t you dare compare me to that man,” I said coldly, taking several steps towards the Pokemon. “I am nothing like Lysandre.”

  It was clear that he wasn’t intimidated by me, and seemed to puff up slightly as if insulted that I would even try to talk back. “You humans are all the same,” he growled. “Lowly beings that think themselves better. You enslave Pokemon, and force them to do things against their will. You are no better-”

  His words were cut off as a blue and silver streak slammed into him, sending him sliding several meters down the beach. “If you insult my papa again, I’m gonna make you regret ever existing,” Rio said, her body already crackling in orange and silver energy. I found it very amusing that she was using Mewtwo’s line.

  “That’s a bit dramatic, Rio,” I said softly.

  But clearly it had worked somewhat in reigning in the Swampert’s arrogance as he watched everyone shift, ready to fight without me saying a thing. He seemed rather deep in thought as he rubbed his side slightly. Even with a resistance to steel, he had the definite imprint of a paw on his side. However, what I thought he was thinking turned out to be different when he asked a simple question, “Papa?”

  Rio’s face suddenly got quite red, but she refused to answer. It was kind of adorable that she got embarrassed when she called me that.

  “While I can’t deny that some Trainers see Pokemon as…tools,” I said slowly, placing a hand on Rio’s shoulder to try and calm her down. “They are my family. And I want my family to be strong, because they want to be strong.”

  Again Oby seemed to scrutinize me for a moment, and I struggled to read what sort of expression he was making. “And why should I believe you?”

  “The sheer fact we are even having this conversation is proof enough,” I said with a slight huff. “Someone like Lysandre wouldn’t even give you a chance. They would beat you down, and make you do what they wanted. Even if they had to torture you.” Again my eyes roamed over the scars. “But you know that already. Don’t you?” Some of those scars were far too neat to have been caused by anything but a sharp implement. Surgical scars.

  He scoffed. “He could not get me to obey him, no matter his efforts. And you will get the same results, even if your methods differ.”

  I shrugged before looking him in the eyes. “I don’t need your help. I would like it, as it would make things go faster…” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But in the end, Oby. Try as you might… While you may be able to delay me, you can’t stop me.”

  His eyes narrowed and darted around, taking in more information on the other Pokemon.

  “I don’t want to fight. And I won’t hurt you if you stay out of my way. Nor will I force you to do anything.” I rubbed Rio’s shoulder, still trying to get her to relax. “I’m just asking for your help. If you don’t want to give it, that’s fine.”

  His eyes continued to look all of us over, mulling over my words.

  As he was internally debating, I had a thought to ask a question. “Do you know someone named Gurkinn?”

  Immediately I saw the way his muscles tensed and he stared at me. “How do you know that old man?”

  “I don’t know him. I know of him. But everyone I’ve asked has no idea who he is.” I was quite glad that someone had finally recognized the name. Sure Sycamore probably knew who he was, but I wasn’t about to ask that jerk. “He’s supposed to be the Mega Evolution Guru, and a sort of keeper for the island.”

  Slowly I watched as Oby relaxed, his eyes becoming slightly unfocused. “He was.”

  The air suddenly felt a lot heavier. I let out a sigh and rubbed the side of my face. “What happened?”

  “That red haired man is what happened,” he growled. “Over ten years ago, he sought out the old man, wanting his knowledge. I do not know the details… but he retreated to the island before succumbing to his injuries. Taking all of his secrets with him.”

  “Shit…” I muttered. This was what I was afraid of, but finding out that Lysandre had apparently caused his death nearly a decade ago… That man was slipping for so long and everyone just stood by and watched it happen. But that wasn’t something I could focus on. “Does Korrina know?”

  Oby just looked confused, which made my heart sink. “I don’t know who that is.”

  “His granddaughter,” I said, a bit more bite in my tone than I meant. “Dammit. Okay… This… This changes everything. I have to…” I ran a hand over my hair, trying to work out my thoughts. I need to find out if Korrina knows what happened to her grandfather. I turned my attention to Oby. “I’m guessing if I ask to go and see where he died, you’re just going to refuse and claim it’s some excuse to have you lead me to the island, right?”

  He stared at me for several moments, thinking it over. “No. I shall take you to the island. But in exchange, I want you to bring this… Korrina as well. The old man left many things for his successor.”

  I nodded. “I can do that.”

  “I will watch for you at the Western shore of the Tower of Mastery,” he said before making his way back into the water. I was more than a little amused at the way he took a wide berth around Rio and did his best to keep her in his line of sight. And then he was gone.

  And I remained silent, staring out at the ocean. It felt like I’d just been struck in the back of the head with a bat again. My thoughts were scrambled. Gurkinn was dead. He was supposed to be running the Tower of Mastery, right? Who was doing that instead? But there were more important things. He was supposed to be such an important figure in Korrina’s life. Giving her her key stone and explaining how to Mega Evolve her Lucario and where to find the Lucarionite. Wasn’t there also supposed to be something about a Scroll of Secrets?

  This was going to be even more awkward than I had feared. Turning around, I paused as the tent was almost completely packed away. Everyone was working together to clean up. With a laugh, I walked over and ran my hand over Primarina’s head. “You did a fantastic job,” I said softly, smiling at her.

  She made a sort of pleased noise that wasn’t actually words, before pressing into my chest.

  “Hey, hey. Me too. Me too,” Rio said as she rushed over and practically threw herself onto me.

  I nearly toppled over, laughing as I pat her on the head. “Yes, yes. My little girl is so protective of her papa.”

  Her face turned an extremely bright shade of red before she was suddenly several feet away, patting at her face. “That’s not what I meant!” she exclaimed, but her tail was wagging a mile a minute behind her.

  All I could do was laugh at how embarrassed she got. I quickly joined in and we finished putting everything away before I returned everyone but Scoly. It was always interesting traveling on the big bug, as with her speed many Pokemon didn’t even realize we were there until we’d already passed. Those that did see us were quick to get out of the way. Scolipedes had a reputation, and one as big as her barreling through the woods was something to avoid.

  Even with her speed, it still took another two days to get back to Shalour. As I stepped onto the road and returned her, I wondered just how big Kalos was. I could vaguely remember the map from the game, and wondered how big it was compared to France. If I remembered correctly, France was one of the top five largest European countries, but I couldn’t recall the exact size. Even so, Kalos seemed bigger. Everything just seemed bigger. Or perhaps that was just my state of mind from my previous life? Things felt so far apart, but at the same time it was only a few hours by train to get from one town to another. That raised the question of how fast the trains were going if I wanted to try and estimate distance. Something to think about later.

  As I made my way towards the gym, I looked over at the Tower of Mastery. Again I had a simple question; who was running the tower? Something to ask Korrina.

  Pushing open the door to the gym, I was immediately hit with just how busy it was. There were dozens of Trainers here. Milling about, talking to each other, exchanging information, signing up for challenges. Which made sense, since this was supposed to be the third gym in the circuit. Of course it would be busy at this time. It also was apparently a rollerskate rink.

  As I made my way to the line for the secretary, a few people looked over at me, a bit puzzled. I probably stood out since I was fairly certain I was the oldest person in this room now. There were a few people who seemed to recognize me, which was interesting, and they started whispering to those near them. I wondered what kind of reputation I had.

  When I reached the desk, there was a moment of confusion on the young secretary's face before her eyes were suddenly blown wide. Before I had a chance to even say anything, she leaped onto her feet. “Pokemon Expert Jason?!” she exclaimed.

  I blinked, caught off guard by the reaction. “Yes?” I pulled my Trainer ID out and put it on the counter for further confirmation. “I was hoping to have a conversation with Korrina, when she’s available.”

  “Of course!” she said excitedly, already rushing away from the counter. “I’ll go get her.”

  “You don’t need- aaand she’s gone,” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. Looking around, I was starting to think that I missed something in the time I was out in the woods.

  I watched as the room seemed to slowly go back to what they were doing, and I could see quite a number of people on rollerskates. How long had it been since I had been rollerblading? Before college? I’d always enjoyed ice skating more, but it had been so long I was probably horribly rusty at both.

  My reminiscing was interrupted as Korrina skated in front of me, a big smile on her face. She was honestly easy to recognize; white dress with red accents, matching helmet and skates, and the way her blonde ponytails were jutting out of the holes of her helmet. “So the time has come that you challenge the Shalour Gym!” she announced, puffing up a bit.

  “Oh, uh. Actually-”

  “I have heard a lot about you,” she continued, nodding. “And I’ve been looking forward to seeing what a fight between our Lucario would look like.”

  “Actually, I need to talk with you about-”

  But she interrupted me again. “You’re lucky that I actually have some time now! So we can-”

  “Korrina,” I said firmly, trying to cut her off before she could keep going. “I’m not here to challenge the gym right now. I need to talk with you about something.”

  She stared at me, blinking a few times. “Oh. Uh… Okay?” she murmured as she seemed to deflate.

  “Sorry,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “With what happened during the fight with Wulfric, I was taking time off doing the circuit until she recovered more.”

  “No, no. It’s fine. I should be the one apologizing. I got really excited.” Her energy seemed to return rapidly. “When I saw your Lucario just absolutely demolish Wulfric’s Pokemon in one hit, just like bam!” She mimed the Steel Cannon strike, a big smile on her face. “That was cool.”

  I smiled a bit and nodded. “Yeah, that was Rio. If you’d like, she and your Lucario can do some sparring?” My eyes darted to the nearby Lucario that was maintaining a respectful distance. While it was looking out at all the people around, I could see it had one ear pointed at us and was paying close attention.

  “Oh for sure!” she said, very excited again. “Brava was super interested in that match. He’s watched it like, five times.” Brava’s ears twitched and I saw him turn more away from us.

  I nodded. “I’m sure Rio would enjoy it.” Suddenly I had a thought. “Wait. You’ve seen the video?”

  She nodded several times, a big smile on her face. “Oh yeah. They’ve shown all the Gym Leaders, I think. Cuts right after the referee announces you victory, but damn do you look rough. And pissed. Is it true you put Wulfric in the hospital?”

  With a bit of a chuckle, I nodded slightly. “Yeah, I did.”

  “Nice.” She said, nodding as well. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

  Before I opened my mouth, I looked around. “It’s… probably something that you don’t want to talk about out in the open.” Or more accurately, I didn’t want to talk about it with an audience.

  “Oh. Uh… sure. This way?” She made a gesture and then began to slowly skate away. I followed after her, Brava doing the same. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, immediately noting he was shorter than Rio. Was Rio just really tall for a Lucario? She did seem like a rather tall Riolu, but I haven’t gotten any good comparisons.

  We followed Korrina into a familiar looking hallway, and she stopped, turning around and looking at me expectantly.

  I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. This was something I was just going to have to dive right into. “How much do you know about your grandfather, Gurkinn?”

  The smile that she had on her face slowly slipped away. “Why do you want to know?”

  I took a moment to try and figure out the best way to word it. “I found out some things that involve him. And they’re important.”

  She looked at me for a few seconds before she sighed. “Not much? He was…” Her face scrunched a bit and she looked a bit sad. “He was around a lot when I was younger. Practically raised me. Told me a lot of stories. Taught me a lot more than my parents. But then… He was just gone. No one would ever tell me what happened. I don’t think they knew.” Her eyes seemed to narrow a bit as she looked at me. “Did you find him?”

  “Not… Technically. Did he ever mention Mega Island?” I asked.

  She snorted. “That old fairytale? Yeah, he used to tell me stories about it. Said it was our families-” she stopped. “Are you saying you found the island? And that’s where my grandpa is?”

  “Sort of…” I said, making a so-so gesture with my hand. “I knew the island existed, and I knew Gurkinn was its keeper. But…”

  “But you couldn’t find him?” she asked, leaning a bit against the wall.

  I nodded. “So I searched for the island. And…”

  “And you found it?!” she interrupted, suddenly in front of me and grabbing at my coat.

  “I found a Pokemon that knows where it is,” I replied softly, gently gripping her wrists. This was probably a lot for her emotionally, and she was trying to cling to something. “And they told me what happened to Gurkinn.”

  There was a moment of silence, and her grip loosened on my coat. She probably would have slumped over if I didn’t have a hold of her. “He’s dead,” she said, her tone a bit hollow.

  “Yes,” I said softly.

  “How did he die?”

  I hesitated, but decided she deserved to know. “I was told Lysandre killed him.”

  Her grip tightened on my coat again, and I could see the way her eyes started to water. “Why?”

  “Because he refused to tell him where Mega Island was,” I said, keeping my voice soft.

  “So that bastard killed him?” She was crying now, her hands clenched so tightly on my coat I could see her knuckles turning white.

  I reached forward, slowly pulling her in close. “I’m sorry…” I whispered as she leaned into me, choking on sobs. Brava looked a bit unsure of what to do, but did come over and hug Korrina, trying to comfort her.

  It took a few minutes for her to calm down, as I just rubbed her back softly. Another person crying on me that I had to add to that growing list. “Sorry…” she mumbled as she pulled away, rubbing at her face

  “It’s alright,” I said with a soft smile. “Sometimes you just need a good cry. It’s unhealthy to keep it bottled up.”

  She took in a deep breath. “Still… Sorry.”

  I knocked on her helmet. “Now. The Pokemon that told me about your grandfather wanted to meet and talk with you, and give you some things. Do you think you’re up for that?”

  It took her a moment of taking deep breaths before she nodded. “Yeah… I… I just need to tell Haily that I have to step out.”

  She rubbed at her face a bit, and I offered her a cloth so she could clean up a bit. She laughed a bit as she accepted it, thanking me and spending some time to wipe her face. I realized that her crying had completely ruined her makeup. I hadn’t even noticed she’d been wearing any until now.

  Brava remained quite close to her, and she had to constantly reassure him she was okay. He wasn’t speaking verbally, but from the slight glint in his eyes I figured he was communicating through aura. He didn’t seem upset, but I could tell he was tense.

  “Okay,” Korrina said suddenly, taking a few more deep breaths and nodding. “Let’s go.” We made our way back out, getting a few odd looks. I wondered how obvious it was that Korrina had been crying. “Haily. I need my schedule pushed back. Some…things have come up.”

  The secretary, who I knew now was named Haily, glanced at me a few times before nodding. “Okay. I’ll clear your schedule. Do you know how long you’ll be out?”

  Korrina looked at me. I shook my head with a shrug. “No idea.”

  She shrugged and turned back to Haily. “I’ll just have to let you know when I’m back.”

  Haily sighed. “Okay. This is going to be annoying,” she muttered as she started to type on her computer.

  I turned and started to leave the gym, Korrina and Brava quickly following after me. Hopefully that Swampert was going to keep with his end of things, or else I was going to feel dumb. “The Tower of Mastery?” Korrina asked as we stepped onto the odd sad path that led to what honestly looked like a fortress. She took a moment to remove the skates from her shoes, and I found it interesting that they were detachable. But that made sense since she wouldn’t be able to go everywhere with them.

  “Sort of.” I was looking around, trying to see if I could spot the frog Pokemon. Or wait, it was a mudfish, right? There’s also some catfish in there. And frog. That was something I always liked to do; look at a Pokemon and look for its influences.

  “Where are you going?” she suddenly asked and my steps faltered. I had just been walking off to the left along the beach while lost in thought.

  “Ah. They’re over here, or should be.” Thankfully, before we went too far, I could see the Swampert sitting in the shallows, the waves breaking against his chest. “There he is,” I said with a smile.

  The large Pokemon looked over and I saw the way he tensed slightly when he saw Brava, but relaxed when he realized it wasn’t Rio. Even after a few days, I could still see the paw print bruise. “It seems you made good time,” he said as he looked Korrina over. After a moment he seemed to find whatever he was looking for and nodded. “I will be right back.” Without another word he disappeared into the water.

  “So that’s uh… The one you mentioned?” Korinna asked, coming up beside me.

  “Yeah. He told me about your grandfather…” I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and she just nodded as she fell silent. She looked nervous, but also excited. I couldn’t blame her for either, since this was probably the first bit of news she’d ever gotten about her Gurkinn since his disappearance.

  It took a minute before something began to rise from the water. Much to my dismay, it was a boat, and hefting it from its watery grave was the Swampert. He quite unceremoniously dumped the water out, which just made me feel even more skeptical about the quality of the little thing. He dropped it into the sand beside us. “Alright. Get on.”

  I put my hands into my pockets to try and keep the shaking from being too obvious. I knew it was an island. What else did I expect? Of course there would be a boat. But why the heck did it have to be a tiny little rowboat? I took a deep breath before stepping into the thing and sitting down.

  “You’ll have to return your Lucario,” the Swampert said to Korrina, and I watched the way Brava bristled. Clearly he didn’t like that idea. “The boat won’t hold all three of you.”

  I wasn’t sure if I was going to need to translate, but it seemed that Brava explained it to her as she nodded and retrieved the canines pokeball. She was hesitant to do so, but eventually did before getting into the dinky little boat.

  The Swampert seemed satisfied with this before pushing it out into the water. This stupid tiny little rowboat that had probably been at the bottom of the sea for who knows how long, somehow managed to stay afloat. But it wasn’t like I was going to just rely entirely on the mudfish. I pulled out Primarina’s ball and released her into the water next to us.

  “Yay! More swimming!” she said happily, circling the boat.

  Oby was clearly not pleased. It looked like he was about to complain, probably argue something about wanting to keep the island location hidden, but apparently thought better of it and just huffed as he started to push the boat.

  I closed my eyes, refusing to even look at what was going on. It was a few minutes before Korrina placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

  After taking in a shaky breath, I nodded a bit. “Yeah. Fine. Just…don’t like water.” It was annoyingly difficult to keep my voice steady.

  “Don’t like water?” she repeated, clearly puzzled.

  “It’s an irrational phobia I have. Large bodies of water cause me to panic,” I explained slowly.

  “But… You…” I could practically hear the way that her face scrunched. Of course she would be confused. That was honestly the nature of phobias. “You have a water Pokemon?”

  I frowned, but I refused to open my eyes. “I fail to see how those are related.”

  “I… Eh… What… Of course they’re related?” she stated, though it came out as a question. “Water. Water Pokemon. It’s in the name.”

  “Irrelevant,” I said as I waved my hand vaguely. “Primarina is part of my family. She can like water for the both of us.”

  I could hear the seal somewhere to my side, giggling as she swam beside the boat.

  Korrina just sighed and shook her head.

  It took quite a while in that little boat, and I kept my eyes closed the entire time. My heart was beating pretty hard, so I tried to think of anything but where I was and let my thoughts wander. Who else was gone? Gurkinn being dead was unfortunate, and problematic for the future. He was supposed to help Ash and Korrina. And the girl didn’t seem to have her key stone. I hadn’t seen the jewel embedded in her glove. And her Lucario hadn’t had the bracer with the Lucarionite.

  That was something I was going to have to do now, wasn’t it? I would have to help her with that, and then she would have to help Ash. Was this world trying to balance itself to follow the story for Ash? That could be why I was here; covering the cracks formed so that he had an easier time. Cracks? Bridge? Maybe? At least that made some sense. I was doing that now for Korrina as well. A bridge for others over the gaps that have formed in fate.

  My eyes snapped open and I stared off into the distance. That made sense, right? But that couldn’t be all of it. Maybe that was part of it? I had definitely thrown the timeline into a mess with my interference with Team Flare. But maybe it had gotten out of hand there? Maybe it was something that Ash wouldn’t have been able to handle? Considering Diantha struggled, how was Ash and Alain supposed to beat him? Especially if Lysandre had perfected that weird Pokemon boosting device.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I rubbed my face, trying to think.

  And then there was Cyrus. Shouldn’t he have been beaten? Or no wait, Ash should be in Sinnoh right now so problems with Team Galactic should be happening right now. Why is keeping track of the timeline so difficult? I should have made notes on everything I remembered when I got here… Now everything felt jumbled. After the League, my next stop will be Sinnoh. If Team Galactic is still around, I’ll end it.

  Suddenly the horizon was broken up by a massive spire. The spire became several, and the jagged peaks of an island came into sight. The island was absolutely massive. As we got closer and closer it just seemed to get bigger and bigger. Again I was reminded how the anime never did the size of anything justice.

  Oby began to push the boat more to the left rather than straight towards the island and I realized that it was surrounded by cliffs. Massive waves crashed into the cliffs, and our little boat gave them a wide berth.

  Eventually the waves became smaller and smaller against the cliffs and a massive cove came into view. We slowly entered, and I realized that our speed was because the Swampert was going a specific path. There were jagged rocks scattered throughout like a natural protection. Although, it probably wasn’t natural and had been made by some Pokemon. What was really off putting was the remains of ships I could see. And my heart started racing as I was reminded of the water. I kept my focus on the island as I took deep breaths.

  The water in the cove was almost completely still, and just up at the edge of the beach was a building. It looked old, but well cared for.

  I stumbled from the boat the moment it was beached, doing my best to regain my footing. The trip had only been a couple hours, but it felt like I hadn’t been on solid ground in months.

  Primarina came up beside me, pressing her face into my side. “Tired,” she mumbled. I chuckled and began to pet her, thankful for the bit of grounding that she offered for a moment before I returned her to her pokeball.

  “So this is…” Korrina walked up beside me, her eyes locked on the building.

  My attention turned to the building as well. The Pokemon must have been maintaining it and caring for it. But my eyes were slowly drawn to the side, just behind the house was a large stone.

  It seemed Korrina had seen it as well and started to walk over. I followed behind her, as did Oby.

  Standing in front of the grave, she started to cry again. This time wasn’t full on sobbing this time, but tears were slowly falling. She looked to the side at Oby. “What does it say?” she asked softly.

  “Here lies Gurkinn,” I said softly, looking over the paw print script. “Friend. Mentor. Guardian.”

  She looked at me for a moment, and then looked at the gravestone. A soft laugh escaped her. “Of course you can read this…”

  We stood in silence for several minutes. Korrina was trying to come to terms that her grandfather was actually gone, and this was the evidence.

  I wasn’t about to interrupt her grieving. It was important. At least now she had closure of sorts.

  “Korrina?” came a voice from the house.

  When I looked over, I had to try really hard to resist the urge to not shout or laugh. Because standing on the porch, looking down at our little group, was a Gengar. A Gengar with large wispy eyebrows and a tuft on their forehead.

  “Oh… Korinna… You’ve gotten… So much bigger…” they said, their voice struggling to not crack.

  “Grandpa?” Korrina asked softly, even more tears falling down her face.

  Gengar Gurkinn rubbed his chin. “Unfortunately, yes.” Korinna barreled into him, and he caught her with a bit of a smile on his face. I was oddly glad that I wasn’t the one being cried on this time.

  I turned my attention back to the tombstone. The paw script was carefully carved, except for the last word. That wasn’t carved; it was pressed into the stone. Something had molded every symbol of the word into the stone.

  “Why?” came Korrina’s voice, drawing my attention back to the two of them.

  I glanced at Oby, a little annoyed that he hadn’t said anything about this, but he was probably asked not to. “I’m not entirely sure myself,” Gurkinn said with a bit of a sigh. “After I died, I woke up as a Ghastly. My memories were…jumbled. I couldn’t remember a lot of who I was, but my Pokemon were quick to explain things to me. And as I grew in strength, the more my memories returned.”

  “No,” she said firmly, glaring at him. “Why did you never come home?”

  “I… Well, you see…” He looked around, his eyes suddenly landing on me.

  Immediately I shook my head. “Don’t look at me. I’ve got business elsewhere,” I said as I quickly retreated from the two, heading further down the beach. Oby was quick to follow me, also wanting nothing to do with that conversation.

  The two of us walked until we came to a small path heading into the woods, and I stopped. “What are you going to do?” he suddenly asked.

  I reached up, gently pulling the key stone hair piece out and looking at it. “I should be able to find some stones with this… Although I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work.”

  “But you know it works?” he asked, tilting his head.

  “Yeah. Sure.” I held up the stone, smiling. “I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

  “What if you don’t?”

  “I don’t concern myself with what ifs,” I said, giving a wave as I headed off down the path.

  After walking for a minute, I released Rio. I was hoping to have Cara here for this, as her aura sensing was much better, but this would actually be good training for the younger Lucario. She threw her fists into the air. “Freedom!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to do that every time you have to spend time in your pokeball?”

  She just grinned at me.

  With a sigh, and a shake of my head, I reached for another pokeball. “Okay. Well, first part of plan B is a success. Now for part two.” I released Diancie who blinked, looking around. “Diancie, can I see your Diancite for a moment?”

  “Of course,” she said, not even hesitating a little bit as she ripped the thing out of her shoulder. I winced at the action, but she seemed completely unbothered as she held it out to me.

  “Thank you,” I said as I took it and placed it into my hand, right next to the key stone. “Okay, Rio. We’re looking for Mega Stones, similar to this.” I pointed at the Diancite, "And you’re our best bet to find them with your aura sense."

  Rio tilted her head slightly, picking up the stone marble. “Hrm…” she made a thoughtful noise, her eyes suddenly flashing from red to blue. Her eyes suddenly flicked to the key stone, and then to Diancie. She had a rather puzzled expression. “Okay… I think I can do that? It feels… kinda like your stone, but also like Diancie?”

  I nodded a bit, rubbing my chin. “Okay… So then look for things that are similar to my key stone but also feel like Pokemon. Do you remember what the Abomasnow felt like when it Mega Evolved?”

  She nodded and tossed the Diancite back to Diancie, who caught it and… I had to look away as she jammed it back into her shoulder. “Yeah I think I remember. There was definitely a difference after I hit him.”

  “Alright, good.” I turned to Diancie. I was about to ask if she wanted to stay out, but got my answer when I saw her messing about near the base of a tree. Thinking about it for a moment longer I realized that this was a good opportunity for everyone to enjoy a walk, so I released them.

  “We’re looking for rocks!” Diancie stated excitedly before I had a chance to explain. She was holding up a piece of quartz that she had found.

  I laughed, and nodded. “Yeah, pretty much,” I said as I put the key stone hair tie back.

  Primarina and Sliggoo were up on Scoly’s back, and we continued down the path. Rio was at the front, her eyes flashing a bit brighter every now and then as she was trying to examine the area. Eevee decided to also join us and hang out on the back of the bug rather than ride in my hood.

  Every now and then, Rio would dash off, but returned disappointed. She explained there was residue of the energy all over the place and it was hard to pick it out.

  After a few hours of walking through the woods, Rio bolted suddenly, returning a moment later with a stone, a big smile on her face. As I took it, I gave her a smile. “Good spot. A key stone.”

  Immediately she deflated. “Oh it’s another key stone…” she grumbled.

  I rubbed her head. “Hey, it’s still a really good find. Means that our method is working somewhat. Take a moment to examine the nearby area a bit more, we might find something else.”

  With a sigh and a nod, she did just that. Shockingly, five minutes later she rushed back, extremely excited. She had found something.

  And this time, it was an actual Mega stone. It was a pale green, with a dark green and orange catseye. “Sceptilite,” I said with a nod.

  “It was buried a bit. I think I’m getting the hang of reading the energy,” she said excitedly, her tail wagging.

  “Very good, Rio,” I said as I rubbed the top of her head. Sceptile was the final evolution of the Hoenn grass starter. And not something one could find in Kalos. Either way, a good find and something that I might be able to trade for or sell. I put both it and the key stone into my bag.

  “I think there’s another one, too,” she said before suddenly disappearing. She returned after a moment, and was indeed holding another Mega Stone. This one was almost white, with a gray and red catseye.

  “Scizorite,” I said with a smile, starting to rub her head again. “Good job.” I put it into my bag, and looked around. I blinked, doing a quick headcount. “Where’s Sliggoo?” I asked, looking around.

  Scoly seemed to go rigid and look at her back. “Eh? She was there?” she mumbled and started to look around.

  It was only a minute before I felt something odd prickle at the back of my neck. Reaching back, I grabbed at the key stone, which was gently vibrating. My brow furrowed and I had the urge to look back at where we had come from, and I could see Sliggoo down the path, trying to catch up.

  As she did, the stone became warmer in my hand and I realized why when I saw what the little slug had. It was a pale purple marble, with purple and green swirl. My brow furrowed as I crouched down at her level, and she just had a huge smile on her face. “Lookit!”

  I smiled in return and reached out my hand, taking the Mega Stone. This wasn’t one that I recognized at first, which was extremely confusing, but as I looked at it, I was given the knowledge. “Goodrite?” I mumbled, stunned at the realization.

  This was a stone I didn’t know. One that wasn’t in any of the games I knew. Did that mean there were others? Did this mean every Pokemon had a Mega Evolution? I was struck with the realization that there were probably more Pokemon games after I had come to this world. That meant there were probably regions and Pokemon I didn't know about. The last games I had played had been Scarlet and Violet. There was a sudden pit that formed in my stomach as I realized I'd never get to play another Pokemon game...

  But I pushed that aside and let a grin pull at my mouth before scooping Sliggoo up, spinning her around as I laughed. “Fantastic job, Sliggoo!” I said, unable to control my laughter. “How did you find this?”

  Her face was a bit red, but she was clinging to me. “I… I felt something… Like… a little pulling?”

  I nodded a few times, bringing her over and placing her onto Scoly. “Well, good job. But…please don’t wander off like that without saying something, okay?”

  She looked a bit sheepish, but nodded. “Okay.”

  I rubbed the top of her head before slipping the stone into my bag. “Okay! Let’s keep looking!”

  I got a chorus of cheers before we all started going again.

  Unfortunately, after several hours of wandering the first, we hadn’t found anything else. Rio was starting to get frustrated. There were a lot of those false positive places, and I realized as we were taking a break that it made a lot of sense. The entire island was supposed to be saturated in whatever energy that caused Mega Evolutions. That’s why it drew in strong Pokemon.

  What was really weird is we hadn’t seen any of those supposedly strong Pokemon. Maybe this area of the island wasn’t inhabited by many, or they stayed away from the old man's shack out of respect. Or fear? It was starting to get dark, so I decided to head back. Hopefully I would have missed all the awkward conversation.

  Arriving back on Scoly, I could see Korinna and Gengar Gurkinn sitting on the beach, watching the sun set. It looked like they were still having a moment, and so I started setting up my kitchen. A good meal after an emotional day would be good for everyone.

  Oby was still nearby, but keeping his distance from everyone. After a while, Korinna and Gurkinn came over, attracted by the smell of food. “What’s that?” Korinna asked.

  “Curry,” I said simply.

  “Papa's world famous curry!” Primarina said excitedly.

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t say world famous, but it is good.” I turned to the two of them. “What kind of curry do you want? I make a plethora of different flavors to cater to my Pokemon’s tastes.” I looked over. “That means you, too, Oby!” I called. The Pokemon jumped slightly at being addressed, but I could practically see him drooling from where I was.

  He came over, though he seemed reluctant. “You feed your Pokemon well,” Gurkinn said, rubbing his chin.

  “Food is one of the most important things in life.”

  Gurkinn seemed to nod at this, and expressed that he would like something sour. Korinna didn’t care, and Oby wanted something spicy. With a nod, I plated the three of them when I was done. Oby was clearly impatient, staring and drooling. He dug in with enthusiasm, and it was confirmation that I could have convinced him to bring me to the island with food alone.

  “This is…very good,” Gurkinn said, and I could tell he was trying to take his time and savor the taste.

  “Mhm!” Korinna was far less reserved, practically shoveling food into her face.

  Once everyone had eaten their fill, Primarina and I started to clean up and wash the plates and other dishes. “Did you have any luck?” Oby asked.

  I looked at him a moment before I realized what he was asking. “Ah. Yeah, found three Mega Stones and a key stone.”

  Gurkinn whipped his head towards me, which was impressive considering it was his entire body. “What? Is that why you’re on the island?”

  I nodded slightly. “Yes?” I tilted my head a bit and showed off the key stone that was in my hair. “Gotta get my use outta this.”

  He huffed. “So you’re just here to get power. Typical.”

  With a sigh, I put the plate down I was washing. “Why the fuck does everyone immediately assume that I want strength for some nefarious purpose? Is your view of other people so twisted that you just assume the worst? Is that why your pathetic ass hid away on this island?”

  “You dare-” his words stopped as he realized there were suddenly five Pokemon standing beside me and glaring at him.

  “All you old bastards are so jaded with the world you always assume the worst. There are people that are trying to kill me. Who have tried multiple times to ruin me and take away my family. And the only way to stop them is with force.” I took a deep breath, and went back to washing dishes.

  He was still glaring at me, but Korinna put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “That’s enough.”

  “He is clearly exaggerating,” Gurkinn said with another huff.

  “He’s not,” Korinna snapped before I had a chance to. “Wulfric blatantly tried to murder him during a gym battle. I’ve seen the recording.”

  Gurkinn was quiet for a moment before he sighed, rubbing at his face. “Okay, yeah. I can see Wulfric doing that… The man was always a bit unhinged and I can’t imagine it got better.”

  “And then the Association and League defended him,” I added as I started to put away the kitchen.

  The man gaped at me for a moment, and looked over at Korinna, who nodded. “What?”

  I continued, “The League came around eventually, but only after I threatened them.” I paused. “And Diantha threatened them.”

  “And Malva threatened them,” Korinna added with a bit of a giggle.

  “And the Jenny and Joy Clans threatened them,” I mumbled, looking up to see if I had missed anyone else who probably threatened them. “But even then, he only got suspended for the season.”

  Gurkinn blinked several times. “Okay, not that I don’t believe you, but why did so many come to the defense of a Trainer?”

  “I’m not a Trainer,” I said as I shuffled a bit, pulling out my identification and holding it out to him. It was easier to just show him rather than try to explain it to him.

  He just stared at it, his eyes wide. He was muttering something, but I caught the words “Pokemon Expert…” and something about Joy Clan endorsement. The second part seemed a lot more surprising to him than the first.

  I turned my attention to Oby. “I don’t suppose there’s a way to exchange Mega Stones here on the island? Some kind of economy?”

  The massive mudfish jolted from being addressed again. It was like he kept forgetting that he was actually here and could be talked to. “Uh… Well, sort of? There are a few collectors. But… Hm…” He seemed to think about something, clearly hesitating. “You might be able to talk with Mayma. She would help.”

  Gurkinn’s attention immediately snapped over to us. “You want him to talk to Mayma?”

  Oby suddenly looked annoyed. “I was just making suggestions.”

  “Would she get upset if you brought me to her?” I asked, watching the two of them.

  Both of them shook their heads, and Oby was the one to speak first, “She won’t be mad, but it’s going to upset a bunch of others.”

  I gave the two of them a puzzled look.

  Thankfully, Gurkinn was quick to continue the explanation, “A lot of the residents of the island don’t like humans. It’s why they avoid this part of the island.”

  “So that’s why I hadn’t seen any…” I mumbled, before I shrugged. “Well, not like that matters to me. Where does Mayma live?”

  Gurkinn frowned at me, and didn’t answer.

  However, Oby pointed. “That mountain.” Following where he was pointing, I noted it was one of the larger of the massive peaks. It wasn’t the closest one, but it wasn’t the furthest or the biggest.

  I tried to do some calculations for distance, but without knowing the size of the island I wasn’t sure. “Few days travel?” I estimated aloud, frowning a bit.

  The mudfish nodded. “Three there, three back,” he agreed. “If you don’t rush,” he added as he looked at Scoly. I suppose he had seen me riding the Scolipede at some point.

  “Well, I’m not in a rush,” I said with a shrug. Turning back to Korinna I gave her a smile. “Welp, I have my plans. What are yours?”

  “I still have to talk more with my grandpa… But I can’t stay here that long, so I’ll probably leave tomorrow or the day after?” Her brow furrowed a bit as she talked, as if trying to figure things out as she spoke.

  “That sounds like a good idea.” She probably couldn’t be away from the gym too long, especially during the middle of the season. “If I don’t see you tomorrow before I leave, I’ll see you for our gym battle,” I said with a bit more of a smile.

  She returned the smile and nodded. “Right. That… I’m looking forward to it.”

  With a wave, I headed off towards the path, leaving Oby and the other two. I had a feeling there were going to be a lot more awkward conversations, and honestly I didn’t want to talk to Gurkinn at the moment. So after setting up camp, we all settled in for the night.

  In the morning, I didn’t go over to the little house. No one was out that I could see, so I decided to just get moving. As we traveled, I had Rio continue to try and sense Mega Stones, but it seemed we used up all our luck yesterday, because we went the whole day without finding anything but those false areas. We hadn’t even made it out of the forest before the sun started to go down and we stopped for dinner.

  Rio, for once, didn’t complain about the lack of training. Constantly using her aura sense had apparently worn her out, but she was starting to show improvement. Cara had been at ten meters the last time I had checked, but Rio had been at six at the start. Now Rio was approaching a range of seven. It was clear she hadn’t been working on extending her range, and was not used to trying to see as far as possible while sweeping an area.

  The next day found us finally exiting the forest, into a more open area with less trees. Not quite a meadow or grassland, but it looked like that was the way it was going. And in the distance I could actually see some Pokemon. Off in the distance was a group of Kangaskhan. If my headcount was right, there were between five and eight of them. Only one of them seemed to pay attention to us - probably a lookout - but the others seemed unbothered.

  I also caught sight of a Pidgeot off near a different cluster of trees. I wondered if it was the same one that battled the Salamence in the anime. If we never saw any others than it probably was.

  Our path towards the mountain was actually taking us fairly close to the group of Kangaskhan, and a few of the others also started to pay attention. Now that we were closer, I could see that not all of them had children in their pouch, and one of the children was actually out and playing with… dirt? Or something in the dirt.

  They didn’t seem agitated at our presence, but were clearly cautious.

  Rio came up beside me. “They have some Mega Stones,” she said, watching them as they watched us.

  “Makes sense,” I said with a nod. “We’ll probably come across a few groups like this, or Pokemon that have stones.”

  As we passed by them, I was surprised that one actually called out. “You there!”

  We stopped, and I turned around. I put a hand on Rio’s shoulder when I felt her aura become tense. One of them was coming over while the rest of them watched. “Yes?”

  They came to a stop a little ways away, looking over my group curiously. The child in their pouch almost looked excited as it looked us over. “Where are you headed?”

  “We’re going to see Mayma to trade Mega Stones,” I answered honestly.

  Their brow furrowed a bit, tilting slightly to the side. “Are you a Trainer?” they asked, and there was a bit of bite to their use of the word.

  With a bit of a smile, I shook my head. “Nope. I’m a Pokemon Expert.”

  Their brow furrowed a bit more, but before they had a chance to speak, the child beat them to it, “What’s that?”

  “It means I know a lot about Pokemon, and spend my time helping them,” I said with a bit more of a smile.

  “And Mega Stones help them?” the parent asked, their eyes narrowing a bit. They were suspicious, which was understandable.

  “Mega Stones give Pokemon strength, right?” I asked, and they nodded, the kid nodding much more enthusiastically. “Well, they want to be strong, and so I’m helping them do that. And honestly I’m starting to get annoyed with how many people don’t seem to understand that. I keep having to explain myself over and over again.” I ran a hand over my hair. “It’s so sad that this world seems so focused on nothing but strength for yourself, rather than the sake of others.” I paused. “Sorry, I don’t mean to rant at you.”

  They blinked at me a few times before waving their hand vaguely. “It’s fine. Sounds like a touchy subject.”

  I snorted. “Yeah that’s one way of putting it. It’s just…” I looked at them for a moment and then smiled. “If your child said they wanted to be strong, you would help them, right?”

  A smile formed on their face and they nodded. “Yeah. I understand.” They looked back at their group and nodded. That seemed to be some sort of signal and the rest of them went back to what they had been doing. “Be careful on your way to Mayma,” they said as they turned back to me. “There’s a pack of those things-” she pointed at Scoly- “on the South side of her mountain, and they’re not nice. And the other way leads through the electric pillars and those sparking dogs.”

  I blinked and looked at Scoly. “There are Scolipedes?”

  They nodded. “There’s a lot, and they’re really mean. We’ve lost a lot of family to them. I’d suggest going through the pillars.”

  Slowly I nodded. “Thanks.”

  With another nod, they turned and made their way back towards the group.

  With a Scolipede group on this island, that most likely meant there was a Mega Stone for them. And that was very much not something I wanted to deal with. I was very aware that Scoly was an exception to her line. And electric dogs meant Manectric, which I was much more comfortable with dealing with.

  We continued through the fields as we headed towards the mountain, the trees becoming more and more sparse before we came to another forest. It was late enough in the day that I decided to end the day here. Again we had no luck in finding any unclaimed Mega Stones.

  As I was making dinner, trying to teach Rio how to help, her attention suddenly snapped to the woods and I saw a feline like creature, red eyes, white fur, with a dark blue face and an interesting sort of horn out of one side of their head.

  I smiled a bit at the Absol. “You can join us if you’d like!” I called out, going back to cooking. “They’re fine. Absol’s…” I paused. “Actually, it’s probably concerning that they appeared.” My attention turned to the slowly approaching Pokemon. They were being cautious, which was understandable.

  “You should leave,” they said.

  “What sort of disaster approaches?” I asked as I began plating curry.

  There was a moment of silence. “I am not sure.”

  I made a sort of thoughtful hum, “Mmm… Well, that’s unfortunate. Do you have any taste preferences? What’s your favorite type of berry?”

  Clearly the question had thrown them for a loop, as they just stared at me blankly for several moments until I looked at them. “I… I like leppa berries?”

  “Okay, that narrows it down somewhat…” I said with a nod. “Any other ones?” I was plating for myself, as I waited for their response.

  “Pecha?” they questioned aloud, as if unsure.

  “So, sweet,” I said with a nod and plated up some sweet curry before putting it in front of them. I also included a pokebean on their plate, just to make doubly sure they got their fill.

  It was at that moment that they stiffened, as if suddenly realizing they had come all the way up to me without thinking. I didn’t really pay them any mind as I grabbed my own plate and started to eat.

  As was usually the case with most Pokemon, they were hesitant. Eventually they tasted it and had quite a positive reaction. This curry was definitely my best weapon against Pokemon. People as well, but it seemed extremely effective against Pokemon.

  “So, some sort of disaster is coming?” I asked after they seemed to have eaten their fill.

  They jolted, as if only now remembering why they were here. “Yes. I am… Unsure what it is, but it is in your path.”

  I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “Interesting. I’ve always wondered how an Absol can see disasters…”

  “It is just a feeling. I am… Not very good at interpreting the feelings,” they admitted. “My mother is very good at it. But she is busy on the other side of the island so I can’t ask her about it.”

  My eyes wandered over the Absol. They were a bit small, and probably young. “Well, I appreciate the warning. Truly. Thank you.”

  They nodded and turned to leave but hesitated. Turning back around, they placed a small marble on the ground. “For the meal. Thank you.” And with that they dashed off.

  I blinked, and looked down at the small stone. I wondered if it was Absolite, but when I picked it up, the colors were wrong. It was a pale green, with red and black catseye: Tyranitarite. That was a bit concerning. Did the Absol not know what type of Mega Stone this was, or did they have a different perception of value? Did they even have any value to them? If this was worth a meal, I should feed a lot more wild Pokemon.

  Going through the little forest between field area and the magnetic spires, Rio managed to find another Mega Stone. It was yellow with a tan, brown, and orange swirl. “Pinsirite… Finding a lot more of them than I thought, but so far I’d found none that I could use at the moment.

  As we passed a small clearing, I stopped. There were five Audino sitting in a circle and talking to each other around a stump. I just sort of stared for several moments as I watched what was clearly a teaparty. They even had little cups. After thinking about it for a moment, I asked my group to wait there for a moment before stepping out into the clearing. “Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time?”

  I was a bit surprised to be met with confusion, that quickly turned into excitement. “Oh! Yes, please,” one of them said as she motioned over to me.

  “Goodness, how long has it been since we’ve seen a human on the island?” another asked to the table.

  “Not since Gurkinn died,” one said, and they all murmured a moment about the old man, about surprise he became a ghost, or how he used to be a lot friendlier before his death.

  I smiled a bit as I came over, and they made a fuss about me sitting with them, two of them actually pulling on my coat to get me to sit. To thank them for their hospitality, I passed out pokebeans. They were all extremely pleased. “So, I wanted to ask if any of you knew where to get some Audinite?”

  “Oh? You know an Audino?” one asked excitedly.

  “Is she here?” another asked, looking around.

  “No, she’s back taking care of another member of my family,” I explained, a bit sad about that. Dee would have probably really enjoyed getting to see other Audino.

  “Family?” one of them commented, her head tilting.

  I explained that I wasn’t technically a Trainer, and the nuances of how things worked. They asked a lot of questions about Dee, and the other members of my family. They all seemed to get quite upset when I explained what happened to Cara and how she was recuperating under Dee’s care.

  It was honestly kind of nice listening to them chatter about things. Mostly about the Joys. They apparently knew who they were, but had not had contact in a long time. As they returned to the subject of my question, they did admit, “We all have Audinite. They’re not very rare as far as stones go, and there’s only a few dozen of us on the island.”

  They all nodded and there was a general murmuring of agreement. “How hard would it be for me to get one?” I asked.

  “I’ll give you one for more of those delicious bean things,” one of them suddenly said, leaning over the stump and nearly jumping to their feet.

  There was an immediate argument amongst them on who gets to trade theirs for beans. It was actually a bit concerning how hostile they all got. Eventually I had to step in when it sounded like they were about to start fighting, “Wait, wait.” I put my hands up. “I… Well… What about other Mega Stones? I only need one Audinite, and I don’t want to deprive you of your own, so we can trade other ones?”

  It was very quiet for a moment as they all looked at each other. There was an almost silent conversation that was going on between them. Eventually there was some murmuring and nods. “Okay,” one of them said, and they started to pull out a few Mega Stones. There were two more Pinsirite, a Slowbronite, a Beedrillite, and a Mawilite. But what really caught my attention was a very specific one that I didn’t recognize.

  It was a deep blue stone, with a light blue and pink swirl. Curiously I reached forward and picked it up. Immediately I knew what it was. “Primarinite…” I muttered, staring at the pretty little stone. “I’ll give you twenty beans for each Mega Stone, fifty for this one, and fifty for an Audinite,” I said as I looked around the table.

  The group seemed to think on this for a few moments. “Twenty five for the others,” one of them said.

  My gaze swept over the stones. I didn’t need any of them, but they were clearly used for trading and gifts on the island. Eventually I nodded. “Deal.”

  All of them looked extremely happy with the trade, and I honestly felt a bit bad that I was pretty much tricking them. I had thousands of beans. After all this time I had hardly gone through half of my supply.

  They tried to convince me to stay and have tea with them, but I explained that I was on my way to Mayma and they seemed to drop it. There was sort of an impression that going to see Mayma was the natural course of action if you were going to be on the island and collect Mega Stones.

  As I waved goodbye and we started on our journey again, I was thinking about how abundant the little rocks were on this island. That was never explained. But maybe I could get some answers from Mayma.

  Lucario - The group mom, battered and out of action

  Lucario - Glorified stone detector

  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

  Sliggoo - Deadly chew toy

  Mimikyu - Very skilled seamstress

  Banette - Silent but persuasive?

  Vulpix (Alolan) - A bit too battle hungry

  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) - Not up to too much yet.

  Rotom - Shy little zappy

  Houndour

  Guff

  Bleak

  Rascal

  Dilly

  Fret

  False

  Grubby

  Muddle

  Gabby

  Dwindle

  Crass

  Houndoom

  Poochyena

  Mightyena

  Sneasel