“... Of course, I totally understand. I hope he recovers- err is feeling better soon. I hope you’re feeling better soon too, Arven.” He wished me well and hung up, and I collapsed onto my bed, staring up at the light blue ceiling of my dormitory.

  Dammit. Just… dammit. I thought I could save Turo, and I guess I did, but I didn’t intend for him to get maimed by some Tera Garchomp down in Area Zero as a result of me stopping him. Staring at the ceiling, I wondered if things were better as a result of my involvement.

  “I changed the world, it’s undeniable at this point. But is this just the start? Will things just keep on getting worse from here? Was it hubristic to think I could or should change that?”

  “Dun dun. Sparce un.” My starter argued back.

  “I know, I’m not unhappy about meeting you or becoming Champion,” I clarified, glancing over at him laying by my bed. My room wasn’t ‘small’ but it still felt that way at times, not being able to have most of my team out at once. I really have gotten used to living in this world. In my own, my bedroom was smaller than this. Though the kitchen was slightly bigger than the one attached here. I think? It’s been so long, and I never bothered to keep notes of things like that.

  I’d recorded plenty of details about the secrets of this dimension. Of ultra wormholes and meteors carrying alien Pokemon (something that greatly interested me; if Pokemon existed in space, were there other habitable planets? Could an interstellar community be connected through teleportation or other powers/technology?). Of game stats and how they translated to the ‘real world.’ Of Turo and my own future.

  But there were other things too. Like my former sister, and how she was constantly tardy, messy, and somewhat self-centered… but how she could be kind and caring. Little details like how she did swing dance, would give me the shrimp off her plate, and how she’d always play yugioh or whatever card game I wanted, even if it wasn’t her favorite because she knew I liked it and didn’t have anyone else to play with. Of my previous mother, and how she could be strict and impossible to argue with, even over little things… but she cared so damn much for me and my sister, and would always make sure to have everything planned out so well.

  And my old father. Who was a good man, took me to martial arts, introduced me to tabletop RPGs, and read my stories. But when he lost his job, he went downhill. Lashing out, yelling, lying, would steal from his wife’s purse (even though I would have given him the money if he just asked me!). How he had talked about just walking away from it all, and in a way, did, drifting away and resisting us as we tried to reach out to him until there was a barrier between us. Will Turo become listless and distant to Arven, now that he’s lost his dream and his arm?

  Dun nudged me out of my thoughts, bumping his head against my shoulder. He warbled an understanding of my feelings, and the sentiment that this wasn’t my fault.

  “You’re right, Turo will do what he does and it isn’t my fault. Even him losing an arm wasn’t my fault… but that doesn’t mean I can’t help.” I can invite him on other projects, through Blueberry Academy or the League, or even my own work (though I’ll have to be careful not to make it seem like I’m pressuring him or I got him to give up on his dream for my own). Keep an eye on him and keep him engaged, to make sure he doesn’t slip into bad habits or fall into depression.

  At the end of the day, what he did was up to him, but like Dun showed, I could still try and nudge him in the right direction. With Arven at his side, I felt hopeful that even with this unfortunate incident, we’d be able to get Turo on the right track. A shame that he’s unable to join me in the Tera Sphere project, but I’ve already made the arrangements…

  ***

  “... So that’s what Blueberry Academy is requesting. Does it seem viable?” I asked Chairwoman Geeta on the other end of the screen. The serious woman looked deep in thought at my request, for so long that I cleared my throat, causing her to twitch slightly as she startled.

  “It’s viable, yes. I assume you already knew that, however. Paldea would still need something in return. Tera Crystals are one of our greatest natural resources.” Debatable, since we don’t really trade in the substance, but aside from here and Kitikami, they aren’t found naturally. “Blueberry Academy generates plenty of energy, we could trade them for that for the next decade.”

  “True. I’ll also see what I can get forwarded by way of technological advancements. What they’re working on here… it’s incredible.”

  The dusky skinned woman nodded. “That would be quite the boon. I’ll give you Director Harrington’s contact information. That part of the deal should be brokered through Uva Academy.” At my questioning glance, she explained. “Uva has the best tools to make use of and adapt their innovations, and promoting the connection between our Academies is a good idea.”

  “Transport of such a material will be a concern,” Geeta pointed out. “Pirates aren’t an unknown threat, and they’ll be emboldened by such a prize. We won’t be able to harvest so much material and move it without some leaks, and our Elites are busy with… the other project.”

  “I see.” There was an unspoken agreement not to talk about Paradox Pokemon over the phone or other communications that could be hacked, especially after I had subtly hinted at weaknesses that existed with the League Point distribution system. That sent her on a (hopefully bloodless) rampage from what I heard as she worked the IT staff hard in fixing it. Sorry Penny, but it shouldn’t be so easy to access any more. At least I plan on stopping her from ever needing to enact Operation Starfall in the first place. Hopefully.

  “I could reach out to Friede, he’s trustworthy, and I doubt many pirates could contest him in the skies.” It wasn’t impossible that some criminals could have an airship; Jessie, James, and Meowth had plenty of wondrous inventions, but most criminals didn’t bother with such things. The gear tended to need skilled mechanics and a large organization to support it, and most of those had been beaten down after the rash of near-apocalyptic ‘Team’ incidents in the past. “I can travel with him in any case.”

  “Anything else?” She inquired, and I told her of the other reason why I’d be personally returning to Paldea, my own experiment.

  “I’ll need to talk with the Dragon Clans of course, but I assume that the League would be alright with the relocation of Goomys to Blueberry Academy? Assuming of course that a similar number of eggs and Goomys are sent back to Paldea in a few years time?”

  “That’s quite reasonable. You’ll find harsher arguments from the Dragon Clans than you will from me.” I drooped at that, knowing what she said was true. And not just from their usual stance; The League had to take back some land to house some of the retrieved Paradox Pokemon.

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  The Elites and some Champion rank Trainers like Miguel had all been tasked with cleaning up Area Zero from Turo’s experiments. From what I’d heard it had gone pretty well so far, but there was an issue with all the Paradox Pokemon. Some had escaped the Professor’s containment and were living in Area Zero, but for the most part that was fine. None of those ones seemed to be quite on Radiance’s level and the harsh environment of the Great Crater was a good place for the Pokemon to stay. The problem came with the dozens of others still locked in Pokeballs.

  The League felt (rightly) that it was unconscionable to keep them locked up forever, but introducing those ones as well to Area Zero could imbalance the situation there. Instead, they opted for Paldea’s other inhospitable realm: The Vast Cliffs.

  A rocky, barren, vast terrain off to the North-East of Paldea. It was dangerous and isolated to stop random travellers from happening upon the Paradox Pokemon, and they could live there with relative ease. The problem is those lands were given to the Dragon Tamer Clan back when the League was founded, alongside some other holdings. Of course, even the Dragon Tamers don’t use the cliffs, so it’s not like it’s a huge loss for them, but they’re still likely bitter about it.

  I could understand why; the League system had taken over/co-opted Paldea and pushed out many smaller groups like the older clans. On the other hand, the Dragon Tamers of Paldea got a sweetheart deal, especially considering their power had already been on the decline for centuries. It would be tricky no matter what. Ugh, hopefully at least the idea of a new version of Goodra will be enough to sway them.

  ***

  “... Good,” I muttered, mostly to myself but partly to Miles as they showed me Friede confirming he could swing by to pick me up. “Can you get a list of all of my teacher’s emails? I need to send them a message asking to get any coursework online when we leave.” I don’t anticipate the trip will be overly long, not more than a week or two, and thankfully Blueberry Academy has plenty of overseas students, so the teachers or their assistants should be able to easily send me any material I need… I still kind of hate it though. Online classes sucked in university, and I feel like the same issues will be here, of just little things missed and less engagement.

  “Wot’s this? You’re leaving us already?” Chumley asked, plunking down in front of me at the lunch table. His tone was more joking, but Sally had a worried expression on her face.

  “It’s not forever. I’m just helping the Director out with a project that needs some materials from Paldea.” Underselling it a tad, but I’m not sure if Cyrano wants to keep it secret or not, so best to err on the side of caution. Besides, it’ll be funnier when I see the looks on their faces this way. “I won’t be leaving for another twelve days anyways.”

  Sally brightened up. “Whew. Maybe you can help me practice for the tournament then?”

  “Tournament?” It was Carmine who answered, her voice sounding out behind me.

  “The League Club is running a big, schoolwide tournament ten days from now, open to even those who aren’t in their little club, with plenty of BP as the prize.” Craning my neck, I saw her and Kieran walking up, the siblings sitting down on either side of me.

  “The exhibition rounds are taking place in the Terarium with the finals up top,” my tall friend continued. “Are you ready to face your match? I’ve been training my butt off to beat you!” She declared exuberantly.

  “Nah,” I responded casually, taking all the wind out of her sails. “I mean, I’d be up to throw down with you whenever, but I’ll be too busy to take part in a tournament.”

  There was a shocked silence, so dead that other tables were starting to notice and turn our way. “What?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Imposter! There’s an imposter among us!”

  “You don’t want to battle? But you always want to battle!”

  “What have you done with the real Nemona!”

  All four of them shouted at me, and I had to pull Carmine off as she tried to shake the answers out of me. “Geez, I just said that I was totally down to battle, but I really am just too busy for the tournament! I’ve got Cyrano’s project and my own stuff - which you’re still down for helping me with, right Kieran?” He nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. So many things to juggle.

  “I know but… you even get the chance to take on the Champion of the League Club if you win,” Chumley pointed out. I opened my mouth to deflect but I saw the stares intensify my way. Yeah, my opinions on Elsa are pretty well known.

  With a great sigh, I said, “Okay, the truth is, I don’t really like tournaments. When I was first getting into battling, I entered a tournament and got accused of cheating, or ‘breaking the rules’ at least, the judge ruling against me on a vague ruling. It turned out the judge was corrupt and the winner got banned afterwards, but it left a bad taste ever since. Maybe it’s stupid, but I’m just not super keen to do a tournament.”

  At their sad looks I added, “Besides, there really is a ton for me to do before I go, so it’s not like it’s a huge loss.”

  “Fine, but you better come to cheer on my victory at least!” Carmine demanded, her voice becoming a bit more bossy in that way she did when she was trying to redirect attention to herself when she could tell someone else (usually Kieran) was uncomfortable. I gave her a grin in return.

  “You bet. Kick Elsa’s a- butt for me.”

  “Only if I don’t manage to win first,” Kieran said with a small yet cocky smile sent his sister’s way, and I laughed as the two bickered over top of me.

  ***

  While I didn’t see much of the beginning rounds, I did catch all of my friends’ fights, including how Drayton knocked out Lacey, despite her favoring the Fairy Type in general, and him Dragons. She was a good sport about it, however, even cheering him on in the finals (though that was in part her ‘wanting to only have been beaten by the best’).

  Sally entered but Chumley declined to, only having a Komala (and likely not being a huge fan of battling in the first place). Sally made it to the second round and even ran up afterwards to hug me, thanking me for the training I’d put her, Trubbish, and her newly caught Galarian Slowpoke through. They joined me in cheering for Kieran, Carmine, and Drayton in the final rounds.

  Kieran got paired up against Drayton in the Quarter Finals, so I cheered for both of them, though I was somewhat (read: completely) drowned out by Carmine, who screamed her cheers for Kieran so loud that she was a little hoarse and needed some Throat Spray I kept handy for her own match.

  In the end, it wasn’t enough to beat Drayton, though the two of them had an epic final bout with each using an Eviolite Dragon Type, Duraludon narrowly eking out a victory against Dipplin. Kieran’s starter was avenged though, by Carmine in the next round, pushing the slacker boy with a surprisingly well thought out strategy. Despite that (or perhaps because of it since some of her strategies, like ‘Morepeko’ being a Mimikyu got revealed earlier on), she ended up losing to a third year student, Tobias, who was part of the League Club.

  Not the Elite Four of the club however; they and the Champion, Elsa, had stayed out of the tournament. As a League Club member, he was given the opportunity to instead of fighting Elsa, get a bunch of BP and direct tutelage from her, which he eagerly took, shivering at the thought of fighting that icy girl. From the rumors going around, the fifth-ranked, a girl with shockingly bright blue hair by the name of Casandra was the one Tobias wanted to try his luck against at a later date. I've seen her sneering at the thought of it when it got mentioned in her vicinity, but I can sense the trepidation underneath her bravado. Must be tough for Cassandra - or anyone that takes the position of the lowest ranked Elite; everyone below you is gunning for your spot.

  I didn't have much time (or any desire) to get embroiled in any of that, generally finding the League Club to be a toxic environment. Elsa, the Champion, spending every moment where she wasn't officiating the matches, glaring hatefully at me, didn't improve my opinion of them. What is your problem? I didn’t even compete here!

  Such thoughts soon faded from my mind as I went over the last minute checks before Friede arrived. And like that, only a month after having arrived here, I was heading back to Paldea. Still, I know I’ll be back soon. And hopefully then, we can have some battles with Terastalization and other Enhancement effects! This is gonna be great.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter, Master Ball)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type, Friend Ball)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type, Lure Ball)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type, Dream Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Babiri Berry

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost, Fast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel, Moon Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon, Level Ball)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison, Beast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Poison

  - Held Item: Booster Energy

  - Ability: Quark Drive

  - Moves Known:

  -'Anya' (Gothorita, Female, Psychic, Love Ball)

  - Tera Type: Psychic

  - Held Item: Sitrus Berry

  - Ability: Shadow Tag

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves