“Thanks again for coming,” I told Kieran and Carmine as we walked from the bus stop past the winding rice paddies into Kitakami. As we walked, I adjusted the incubator on my back, currently holding the Goomy Egg I’d been given. There hasn’t been a ton of movement from it yet, but that’s normal.

  At least, it was normal according to everything I’d read, which had been a lot, on the subject of both Pokemon Eggs in general and Dragon Type and Goomy Eggs in specific. The wait at the airport and plane ride over had given me plenty of time to furiously study it, much to the bemusement of most of my team. It’s my first time with an Egg, give me a break!

  “No worries,” Kieran said with a soft smile, while Carmine laughed boisterously.

  “Of course. You’d need the best guides of Kitakami to help you here so it’s only natural we’d offer to help,” she preened. Kieran and I rolled our eyes, but we were well and truly used to her behaviour. As much as she boasts, Carmine is also quite kind, refusing to take my BP as payment for this.

  “Alright O’ wise guide,” I said half-mockingly. “Our first step will be in convincing the mayor of Mossui Town to let us take so many Goomys. What would be the best approach there?”

  “Money,” she deadpanned and I nearly tripped at how quick and concise a response that was. Oh man, if I fell over and onto the incubator… okay, realistically, nothing bad would happen. Incubators are built incredibly tough in general and this one is top of the line. I’d have to get smooshed to paste before anything could even scratch this. I still felt a little worried, and I wondered if this was what being a mom felt like.

  “Soooo, am I just supposed to bribe him or…?” I could afford it, but I really don’t think that’s legal.

  “Uh, I mean it might work. B-but you should just offer promotions for the town and especially the inn,” Kieran advised. “He really likes to increase the tourism here.”

  “Got it.” I nodded, taking in the sights of Kitakami. It really is a beautiful place, I thought to myself, looking out at the green fields, running streams, and Pokemon playing about happily. The road carried us up to the town square, a few people waving happily at the siblings beside me as I marched into the Inn.

  “Hello, we’re here to see the mayor,” I told the woman at the front desk. She smiled kindly at me and brought the man forward. He had a somewhat timeless look to him, appearing just as he had the last time I’d been here. Over two years already. How time flies…

  The bald man greeted us kindly. “Kieran, Carmine! So wonderful to have you back so soon,” he declared with only a slight twitch to his smile. Carmine downplays it, but I know they’re seen as troublemakers, at least a little. Still, overall, he seemed in a good mood, though part of that may have been how his eyes were fixed on my very flashy jinbei. “And what brings you back, Miss Glitterati?”

  “You remembered me.” I said, a little surprised. Hadn’t realized I’d made that big an impact.

  “It’s good in this business to keep a note of everyone you can.”

  “Mayoral business or Innkeeper business?” He just gave me a broad smile that clearly said ‘both.’ Turning back to the receptionist I asked for the fanciest room to stay in for at least a few days.

  “Weren’t you going to stay at our place?” Kieran asked and I saw Carmine pouting beside him. Giving them an apologetic smile I explained.

  “I don’t want to impose, and you guys would have to clean up the guest room and everything…” More important however, is the way the Innkeep’s eyes lit up at that. I was nowhere near as good as my parents when it came to winning people over, couldn’t even match Cyan in that regard, but I’d learnt a few things from my family at least for these kinds of situations.

  “Besides, we don’t know how long we’ll be in town to complete our experiment.” I continued. “On that note, is there somewhere we can discuss this?” I asked the mayor and he straightened up.

  “Of course.” He led us to the coffee table with a slightly nicer set of couches and seats than the ones on the other side of the small foyer and sat down. There was no one else around, likely due to it being the low point in the tourism for Kitakami, the winter months seeing few guests to the inn. I took my seat opposite him, but took a moment to double glance at Carmine with her rigid, back-straight posture, in contrast to Kieran, who was practically hanging out of his loveseat.

  “I got your email about you asking to catch an unusually large number of Goomys, is that right?”

  “Correct. I have a non-invasive experiment to run with a decent sized group of Goomys. We’d take at least twenty to join us and live at Blueberry Academy for a few years, then return that many back, from those who wanted to return and with new Goomys born from Eggs since who wanted to opt out.”

  That’s the most difficult part of the balancing act here. I need to find those willing to leave their homes, at least for a time, and then find an equal number to return. The return part is a future Nemona problem however, and I can likely find enough willing to give Eggs to send back, however.

  “If you insist,” he said with a shrug, causing me to blink. “Honestly, they’ve been a bit of a pest around here, we had to drive them off the crops and break up disputes they’d get into the Applins with. I don’t think we’ve seen many of them in recent times.”

  “Not nearby Mossui Town, but there are some caves in Oni Mountain that have them!” Kieran piped up brightly. “Uhh, on the other side of the mountain from the Oni’s Maw,” he added quickly at the older man’s stern gaze.

  “Sounds like that could work then. Ah, but you need permission to gather so many Pokemon from here, don’t you?” I nodded. Kitakami has remarkably relaxed catch regulations, but I still wouldn’t be allowed to catch more than two Dragon Types from here without getting permission.

  “I wouldn’t mind letting you do so, your um, experiment sounds like an interesting idea,” he stated with the tone of someone who had only skimmed the required reading. “Kitakami is a rich environment, full with plenty of interesting Pokemon that are sure to catch Trainers' eyes. It would be nice if more people around the world could see that. Like, if, say, we got an endorsement from a Champion,” he finished with a pointed look my way.

  I gave him a polite smile. “I can do that.” No real issues with it, honestly. Kitakami is a great place, and it would be nice if more people heard about it. Maybe I can tie a song into it? But what would fit? I could just say I dedicated a song to Kitakami, but that didn’t feel right, but trying to capture the mini-region in a song was tricky too.

  Hunting High and Low? It has a sense of new frontiers and freedom to it, but the ‘hunting’ part might not work. Similar issues with Black Diamond from the same band. I could change some things around, play with it and see what works. Or maybe something about a monster to tie into the legend of the Oni? I don’t want to vilify Ogerpon or raise too much interest in her yet though.

  Clearing my throat as I caught myself getting lost in my thoughts, I added, “I’ll talk to the teachers and see if we can arrange a field trip here in the future.” That caused all three of them to light up.

  “All our classmates coming over here? W-Wowzer…”

  “Yessssss! I can show them how great our region is!”

  “A school sponsored trip… we might need to renovate the inn and add more rooms just to fit everyone!”

  If this was an anime, this would be the part where his eyes turned into dollar signs. I kept a grin plastered on my face as I stood up and offered him my hand. “Does that sound like a good deal then?”

  “Of course, of course! If you can get regular field trips set up to our town, you don’t even have to send any back after,” he eagerly offered as he reached down to shake my hand. Considering how you mentioned the Goomys as being ‘pests’ before, that’s not really some great offer. I took it anyways, knowing it would make things much easier.

  With that settled, I dropped my suitcase in my room before meeting up with my friends. Heading out of the inn, we waved goodbye to the innkeeper, wishing us well from the doorway. As we crossed the bridge separating the town from the wilderness, I asked my companions:

  “Okay, so, what is his name?” Felt way too awkward to ask in there.

  ***

  Kieran gave one last longing glance over at the Oni’s Maw before dragging himself along the path around the mountain. “You can go look for her later, okay?’’

  “Yeah…” he said with a sigh before perking up as we walked along the rocky path. It had been pretty chilly down below, but the hike up (and Slugmas passing by) had Carmine wiping her brow of sweat.

  We were travelling along the same path we’d travelled before to the Crystal pool for the mask their grandfather made for Ogerpon and where I had met Notch, but rather than ascend those steep stairs to reach the water, we continued around the mountain.

  “I’m kinda regretting the winter uniform too,” I commented to the taller girl who just gave me a miserable look. Fair, especially considering I’m using my aura to call on a cooling breeze and to lighten my steps. It was still tiring in its own way, Aura usage draining me, but these subtle tricks weren’t too hard to maintain. I was also eager to start working on those techniques more consistently; I’d had my journey and Turo to worry about before, and I took things easily after that, but getting more mastery of my Aura was a goal I hadn’t forgotten about.

  As we neared our destination I held a hand out as I saw a Terastalized Lampent floating in our way. Atop her lamp head floated a Grass tera jewel hat, which looked a little silly, but did nothing to take away from the danger this Pokemon posed. Of course, I had Bahamut out, leading the way for us, and the Dragon Type stomped forward, giving off a low greeting cry. The wild Pokemon seemed ready to defend itself, but her flames shrunk a little as Bahamut nodded his head to the side, indicating we just wanted to pass.

  She seemed convinced, drifting to the side and letting us proceed downwards. Given that she floated up to check the rest of the path first, she didn’t quite take him at his word, though. Of course, none of the Pokemon there had been hurt on our way past, save for one uppity Houndoom that got promptly swept aside by Bahamut’s tail before turning their own and fleeing. In fact…

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hey, was it just me, or did that Lampent seem rather afraid of you in particular?” I asked Carmine, realizing that the Terastalized Pokemon had likely been staring directly at her.

  “Urk!” Her grunt confirmed my suspicions. The Pokemon on the way up generally gave us a wide berth, implying that they were used to and had been fought off by at least one member of our group. She confirmed my suspicions with her next words.

  “That’s just how training works! I don’t have any fancy facilities to battle in or train up my team, so I have to challenge wild Pokemon to make them strong,” Carmine defended herself, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “I get it, that’s how I trained too, but you waited to see who was willing to challenge you, right? Or at least offer them berries after you finish thrashing them?” From the way her cheeks lit up an adorable red, I took it to mean that she had not. Kieran snickered behind her.

  “She didn’t think of anything like that. No room for any thoughts in her head beyond ‘how to surpass Nemona.’”

  “Shut up Kiki!” She whirled on him, shaking a fist and he just stuck his tongue out at her. It’s nice to see them like this. Kieran gets quiet and shy in public, but he can have quite the biting retort of his own when he’s just with close friends. Someone unfamiliar with them might not understand and be upset with how Carmine talked to her brother in public, but I knew it to be no different than how she was here. I also knew that the first person to insult or make fun of Kieran (besides herself) would face all of her wrath, as a few of the more egotistical jerks at the Academy had already learned.

  At the edge of a drop off in the rocks was a faded sign that read ‘To The Chilling Waterhead.’

  “Looks like we’re on the right path,” I said, about to recall Bahamut to climb down the wooden ladder placed up against the cliff wall before he just jumped over, landing down with a heavy thud. A cheeky smile grew on my face before I followed suit, jumping down with a slightly less dramatic entrance (but no less impressive for it), the winds slowing my fall as I landed as light as a feather.

  “Show off,” Carmine grumbled as she got off the ladder after climbing down the slow way. I just beamed at her and Kieran as they joined me, the Kitikami siblings and everyone else in my circle of friends having been informed of my Auric abilities. Except for Drayton, Chumley and Sally. I like them but I’m not fully sure I trust them yet, at least that much. Though, Drayton probably already knows about Aura and the other two likely aren’t interested in such a thing.

  The cave itself had a wide, yawning entrance within the mountain face, one that narrowed down as we wound down the path, eventually coming up to a deep opening. Many stone paths and walkways crossed over and down through the large shaft down, with numerous side passages out and around, heading further into the mountain.

  The space was also teeming with Pokemon of all sorts. Quagsires waddling around on the ground, ignorant of the hisses of Sneasles scrambling around the icy stone floors and walls, with Noibats gleefully swooping down from their perches above. Chiming sounds rang out through the entire cave system, echoing around.

  I was a little lost, shivering from the drop in temperature. I wonder if it’s so chilly down here because of all of the Ice Types, or if they make their home here because of the cold. But that still wouldn’t explain why, naturally, this part of the mountain interior would be so icy. Though it could be that one led to the other - perhaps some Swinubs and Sneasles relocated here at some point, leading to a drop in temperature which in turn drew in more Ice Types? But that wouldn’t explain why environments all around the world weren’t changed like that. Unless the cave system forms a micro-environment mostly sealed from the outside world! That in general the environmental conditions follow the landscape and features therein, but a closed off space might adapt to the Pokemon involved.

  While my friends also had their teeth chattering over the cold, they knew the environment much better and quickly set to tracking the Dragons we sought down. Unfortunately, a half an hour of searching found no Goomys, but they did find signs of them.

  There were clear indicators of Goomys within the cave, slick trails covering the icy ground, but nothing to be seen of the Pokemon themselves. Following the trails was a complicated process, due to the winding tracks, twisting caverns, and especially the wild Pokemon. After our run in with that Piloswine, nobody wants to cause another disturbance and bring down the mountain on our heads. I have no clue how some people explore caves regularly, these places feel like death traps. Nowhere to easily get out of the way if it all goes wrong.

  Thankfully, most of the other Pokemon we ran into were unbothered by our passing (or possibly unaware in the case of the Quagsire we went around), until we reached the bottom. There, near the exit, a Dudunsparce drilled her way out of the ground and glared at us, puffing herself up in the face of Bahamut.

  Rather than let a fight break out (even if I had every faith my Dragon would win), I sent out Dun to help smoothing things over. This worked a little too well, when the other Dudunsparce waggled her tail at him, causing Athena to pop out of her ball on her own accord, glaring daggers out at the wild Pokemon.

  With that settled, the wild Dudunsparce quickly tunneling away from the fierce Fighting Type, we continued out of the tunnel, emerging onto the rocky mountainside, though far lower than we had been before. “Now who’s terrorizing the wildlife?” Carmine asked.

  “That’s not the same - Athena didn’t even fight the Dudunsparce and- oh.” I stopped myself as I realized the Kitakami girl was just teasing me.

  A pause filled the air as we climbed down before Carmine sighed and spoke up. “You don’t need to worry so much about what you say, you know, right?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Like that!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger down at me before almost losing her grip and scrambling back as we continued our descent. “It was harder to tell when we didn’t hang out as often or mostly chatted online, but none of us are gonna get mad at you if you say something dumb or weird. Like, look at Kiki.”

  “Or you,” the boy shot back under his breath.

  “Shut up Kiki!” Despite her words, her voice held no heat to it. Turning back to crane her neck down at me, she continued. “You act awkward, but you don’t need to. We like you for you, Nemona. Now hurry up!” She shouted at the end, as if embarrassed by the openness of her feelings. I felt my face heat up too.

  I know that I’m weird for my age… and in general. There were friends I made in my first life and then I would… say the wrong thing, or do something wrong, whatever it was and they’d distance themselves from me. And there were a few (a very select few) that stuck by me. I wonder what they thought when I was go- no, none of that. I’m sure they mourned and moved on and are fine, like I am.

  Still, there’s a reason why I gravitate to socializing during games, eschewing parties or large social gatherings, and talking online, when I have the time to craft a perfect message. It is nice though, to get some reassurance that it’ll be fine. I’ll try to relax more.

  We chatted a bit more, mostly about inconsequential stuff, but I didn’t try to filter back my thoughts, even if they were a bit rambly. That talk died down as we followed the trail of goo down the mountain and across the wide, grass, windswept plains. The individual trails converged, the group gathered up, and I spotted almost two dozen of them gathered together by a tree.

  There, in the center of the field, a small group of Goomys and one Sliggoo were huddled up nervously, being harassed by a foe who terrified them. Flying above with malicious glee in their eyes was Ribombee, menacing the dozen or so Dragons.

  The Sliggoo fought back valiantly, spraying Acid at the Fairy Type, but the Ribombee nimbly evaded the attack before doing a ‘bombing run,’ dropping Pollen Puffs that disoriented and dazed the Dragons.

  Before the Fairy could fly by for another attack, Bahamut stepped up, followed swiftly by Dipplin and Sinsitcha. The Ribombee turned to face the new threats, sneering. My Dragon gave a warning growl, but they didn’t bother to respond, simply diving straight at him, tossing a Pollen Puff at his face.

  Catching the attack expertly on his tail, he knocked the pollen aside, spinning around again in the air, his tail flashing with Steel Type energy as he continued his rotation before smacking into Ribombee hard.

  I winced as I heard the crack before pushing it aside. Never fun to see a Pokemon get hurt, but that Bug was picking on the little Goomys for no good reason. Glancing over, I saw the Ribombee get back, flying limply to eye level with Bahamut and begin ‘yelling’ in my Pokemon’s face. My Dragon reared back slightly but I held a hand out, motioning him down. If she doesn’t want to attack any more, we don’t need to continue things. I was also worried it might lead to serious harm, since the Ribombee looked the type to push herself, and given the difference in strength between her and Bahamut, she could end up being maimed or worse, and I wouldn’t want that on Bahamut’s conscience.

  Stepping forward slightly, though still placing Bahamut between myself and Ribombee, I asked, “What seems to be the problem here?”

  Ribombee angrily buzzed, waving her arms about in the direction of the Goomys, which caused them to cower for a second. After that second was up however, the little Dragons made a cacophony of noise in response, screeching back. This went back and forth for a moment before Carmine whistled sharply.

  “Shut… upppppp!” She shouted, and the Pokemon went silent, even some of those beyond our small section of the field, for a moment, before going back to their games and foraging. The taller girl beamed brightly at me before gesturing a hand forward. I appreciate the quiet - they were giving me a headache - but now it’s too quiet, and I can get to the bottom of it.

  My hand drifted over Notch’s Pokeball for a second before moving past it. Throwing a Legendary Fairy Type into the mix will only put them more on edge. Possibly the Ribombee too, given the Rock Typing as well. Opening Athena’s ball instead, I asked for her to translate.

  Ribombee seemed fascinated with Athena and what she was doing, and as she pushed her emotions clumsily at me, I got the feeling she was trying to copy my Pokemon. I remember now, Ribombee’s are empathetic in nature, capable of using Aura like Lucarios can. Athena was far more skilled (and more importantly) far more in-tune with me than the wild Bug Type, so Ribombee’s words mostly just splashed over me like a distorted echo.

  [‘She claims that ‘the slug-Dragons’ were ‘disturbing the peace.’] I didn’t need to hear Athena’s derisive snort to understand what she thought of that, and as I looked around the lush, peaceful fields, I couldn’t help but agree with that sentiment.

  The Goomy pack was eager to make their side heard as well, wailing back, with the Sliggoo eventually becoming a central voice for the group. [‘She claims that they were just trying to find a new den to live in.’] There was no judgment in Athena’s translation, so I crouched down slightly to stare Sliggoo in the eyes as I talked directly to her.

  “Why leave the caves? It didn’t seem too dangerous.”

  “Goo goo, sligoo!”

  [‘The constant ringing. A bunch of Chimechos and their Chingling children moved in to the passage beside them and were making a bunch of noise. And- too crowded?’] There was a slight disconnect with the translation. As good as Athena was at being in-tune with me and I was at reading her, the use of Aura really only stretched to feelings and impressions. Getting actual words out of it took skill on both of our parts and it wasn’t perfect.

  “Well, I don’t think you were doing anything wrong coming here; there’s plenty of space you could use here.” Cheering ensued, one of the Goomys already beginning to slide up the nearby tree, eyes eagerly fixed on an apple hanging off of one of it’s branches. Ribombee moved aggressively towards them, but Sinistcha floated in front of them with a sinister expression on their face, one which had the Fairy Type shivering.

  “That being said,” I began, raising my voice over the din. “I do have a third option, if you’re interested. We could take you with us to a far off land, with plentiful food and space to live. One that could see you changing and becoming tough enough that you wouldn’t ever have to worry about getting bullied around like that ever again.”

  The Goomy’s turned, shocked (so much so that the one climbing the tree fell off with a squishing sound that had me worried for a minute before seeing the ball of goo easily right himself and continue to stare on with the same starry-eyed wonder the others had). I waited for a moment before asking, “So, who wants to come with me?”

  That led to a flurry of eager responses and cheers (even some from Ribombee, whom I assumed was just happy to have ‘won’ and reclaimed complete dominance over this tiny section of the fields), but those quickly died down as the Sliggoo argued with her pack. A sidelong glance to Athena told me that their leader was mistrustful of me. Or maybe just distrustful. The difference there is subtle but important. She might just be worried for her family rather than having a bias against me.

  “You want to know how you can trust me? I know, I’m promising a lot, and you haven’t seen much of what I can do yet, but…” I knelt before them, sliding the incubator case around in front of me. The group gathered around, squishing sounds filling the air, and I eyed the trails they left behind. That is something I’ll have to get used to. I’ve never been the greatest at dealing with that kind of muck, but even still. I don’t doubt I can do it.

  Showing the Egg clearly within the glass, I said. “This is a Goomy Egg. One day, a little guy or gal just like you is going to hatch from this. And I’m going to raise them in the same place I’m taking you all, to become big and strong. To build an iron shell that will keep them safe from any harm. Doing that will take time, so I’m hoping that you can help protect them and raise them alongside me.”

  This time I got a unanimous round of cheers, one which had Ribombee flying off in a huff, and even I winced before using Aura to dampen the sound around my ears. The trust I offered them was clearly being returned, with the Sliggoo even coming up to give me a hug. Yup, this is… very sticky. Much goo. Ah well, I can get cleaned up later. I returned the hug to the squishy Dragon, a smile splitting my face.

  Discord. and I'll see what I can do. 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:

  -Fried (Goomy Egg)

  -Tera Type: ???

  -Held Item: None

  -Ability:???

  -Moves Known: None

  *Custom Moves