Chapter 28: Catching Up ("The Pearls of the Coast" arc begins)

  "Dammit, I wanted Growlithe to go in and be the hero yo!" Tupp loudly complained, looking across the Ultra Storm's chaos.

  Ian grimaced as he watched Tupp's Alpha Growlithe freeze in place, seeing that Selene's Brionne and Hyde's Torracat had successfully dispatched the messy tangle of vines that was the opposing Tangrowth that had begun hobbling away. Growlithe turned around, its eyes mostly covered by its mane of tough fur, notably not burning red with fury. Who knows how long that will last, Tupp and Growlithe have gotten close in a short amount of time.

  "You'll get your chance eventually bro," Ian assured his best friend, noticing his Alolan-Sandslash watching its surroundings patiently. He's not taking Selene's rejection of a second date and subsequent fooling around with Rook all too well. I feel for you bro.

  "Shit! That the Alpha?" Tupp said, pointing ahead to a large, whirling mass that had begun forming into an Ultra Wormhole in front of the duo and their Pokemon.

  "Looks like it. Sandslash, get ready with a Swords Dance!" Ian ordered. Sandslash began glowing with Normal TE and swaying, scraping its claws into the ground intensely.

  The Ultra Wormhole floating not fifteen feet in front of them finally reached its zenith, and out fell a large, pink Pokemon with an oversized lower jaw. A Granbull. The Fairy Type mammal let out a proud, vicious roar, causing Ian and Sandslash to cover their ears. "Tupp, let Sandslash take this," Ian ordered. "Watch the perimeter."

  "Gotchu bro," Tupp said. Ian didn't even look as he held his fist up and bumped Tupp's before Tupp took off, barking orders at his Alpha Growlithe to stay clear of the battle.

  Granbull gave another proud roar before turning its attention to Sandslash and Ian, eyes glowing red as it bound into action. "Sandslash, Snowscape!" Sandslash's arms glowed with Ice TE as it folded them, then spread them in one motion where ice, snow, and white slush began expanding in a radius all around the Ice-Steel Type. The ICE TE faded from Sandslash's arms, but Sandslash's body began glowing with a faint TE as well. Snowscape's defensive boost makes her a mobile fortress.

  Granbull had begun glowing with Normal TE when it slipped and fell on the altered terrain. It recovered quickly, growling fiercely as it launched itself at Sandslash once more. "Let's skate!" Ian commanded with a smirk.

  Sandslash got on all fours and began sliding toward Granbull, zig-zagging side to side like a trained skier as Granbull leapt forward, its head watching as Sandslash slid by Granbull with ease. Ian couldn't see as Granbull's body smacking into the icy terrain blocked his vision, but Ian saw the tip of Sandslash's iceberg jutting out above her head turning on a dime with her claw surely in the ground to keep some of the momentum. Now Sandslash was sliding at Granbull at near full speed again with the Alpha helplessly on its belly. "Metal Claw!"

  Sandslash's claws glowed a bright silver as it went airborne, slashing the Fairy Type Alpha as Sandslash stabilized before landing once more. Granbull whimpered with pain momentarily before it began to growl angrily as it struggled to get back up. Granbull then stood up on its hind legs and wound up what Ian expected to be an Alpha Roar. He covered his ears and yelled "Defense Curl!"

  Sandslash glowed with Normal TE, allowing itself to bend beyond its natural limits and curl and completely shield its vulnerable underbelly from the outside. The roar still stung his ears, but Ian was far enough back to only stagger backwards a bit to keep his balance. "Now Icicle Spear!" Ian yelled, although it sounded faintly louder than a whisper with his ringing eardrums.

  Sandslash's curled self sprang into action, still in a ball, or as much as it could be as it spun forward. The icicles sticking out of its fortified back began to glow, and then one was fired and landed as rapidly as a fastball. The first icicle collided with Granbull's hide, breaching its skin before bursting into hundreds of tiny crystals. Before Ian could process the wound on Granbull, another icicle landed, and afterwards another, before one sailed over the now collapsing Granbull. Did that do it?

  Granbull's even angrier roar told Ian he was wrong. Granbull then lowered its head and seemed to go into a frenzy, with the faint glow of red cloaking its body. Dammit, now it's really mad. Granbull engulfed itself in Fairy TE and began to charge once more at Sandslash, who had opened up from its defensive curl. "Dig!" Ian yelled, his hearing starting to come back.

  Sandslash was underground in moments, causing Granbull to pause shortly. Granbull's gaze turned beyond the hole and on to Ian himself. Curse my want to practice evasive maneuvers. Sandslash would shrug off the attack anyways. Granbull roared viciously and charged Ian now. Ian stood his ground though, heart thumping in his chest, Grimsley's words echoing in his mind. "Trust your Pokemon and they will trust you."

  Granbull snarled as it crossed the ten feet line and Ian gulped. C'mon Sandslash-

  Suddenly the ground erupted in a glow of Ground TE as Sandslash arose, sticking its sharpened claw into Granbull's lower jaw, effectively upper cutting the Alpha, causing the Fairy Type to leave the ground and spin midair slowly as it fell with an audible thud. Granbull began struggling to get back up once more. Damn you're stubborn. "Sandslash, finish it with Metal Claw!"

  Sandslash didn't hesitate as it dashed over, claws aglow and struck Granbull on the back of the head, effectively knocking it out. Sandslash gave one last teasing laugh to Granbull as Ian pumped his fist when he saw the Ultra Wormhole that had brought the great beast into the Ultra Storm re-appear and began pulling it back into itself. It didn't take more than a few seconds until the Alpha Granbull had completely disappeared into the wormhole. The blue of the Ultra Wormhole condensed suddenly and a cubic blue object plopped onto the ground casually. Another medium one? I'll take it. Ian turned to Sandslash who looked on triumphantly. "You had me pretty terrified for a second there." The Alolan Sandslash pointed its glowing claw at Ian and did its signature laugh. "Rude!" Ian teased playfully.

  "That was sick yo!" Tupp called from across the decreasingly frosted area as Sandslash's Snowscape finally faded away. "Did Sandslash even take any damage?"

  Ian shrugged. "I probably could've stopped Granbull from nearly killing me if I'd let Sandslash take the hit," Ian said. "But I wanted to work on faster evasion."

  "For Lucario's Aura Sphere?" Tupp said knowingly.

  Ian grimaced. "Okay fine, that's kinda it, but it'd be good to have just in general."

  Tupp pointed at the Medium EXP Candy. "Another medium one?"

  Ian nodded. "Second one this week."

  "What else you got again?" Tupp asked.

  "One small, one large, plus the medium from the Galvantula on the expedition," Ian said, remembering the difficult Luxray battle that yielded the Large EXP Candy from a couple days back that he and Tupp had endured with Sawsbuck and Growlithe. After Vibrava and Gumshoos went down, that is.

  "Grimsley still sayin' you shouldn't be usin' 'em?" Tupp asked.

  Ian shrugged. "Yeah. He wanted to consult with some people about them though."

  "Whatever you say bro," Tupp said as Ian reached for his foraging bag, seeing a number of shards had scattered in an area just beyond the fastly fading Snowscape.

  It didn't take long for the duo to collect the shards, and when they got out of the Ultra Storm, Ian saw Rapp running over to them around the border of the Ultra Storm. "Ian, Big Sis wants you!" Rapp called out, pointing back to the rendezvous point.

  "The hell's this about?" Ian asked rhetorically.

  Ian and Tupp trudged around the perimeter, with Ian noticing a Sunkern bouncing out of the Ultra Storm in a panic. Good for you little one. I think you're gonna love it here. When Ian and Tupp came around a bank of shrubs to see Plumeria and Selene, Plumeria had turned around, clearly agitated. Ian then saw a hovering, dark purple form seemingly following her dyed hair. Well that's a surprise.

  "Ian, what the hell is this?" Plumeria demanded in frustration.

  Ian took one more look before shaking his head in disbelief. "That, Plumeria, is a Poipole."

  "Poipole?" Selene asked. "I've never heard of that Pokemon."

  "And you didn't know what a Varoom was," Plumeria asked as she tried to escape the levitating Ultra Beast's advances. "Why's this thing obsessed with my hair?"

  "Might be cuz your hair's pink," Ian said.

  "Rapp's hair is pink," Plumeria said.

  Ian shook his head. "Yours is a lot more visible."

  "You even know what attracts it?" Selene asked. "Sometimes I wonder how you know this stuff Ian."

  "Prince's secret," Ian said jokingly.

  Plumeria cleared her throat. "And you know what that secret is?"

  "What?" Selene asked.

  "Ian here was a huge nerd before he emerged in that Ultra Storm," Plumeria answered, stealing a teasing glance at Ian.

  "It seems pretty attached to you," Ian observed as Poipole's little arms wrapped around one of Plumeria's long pig tails and cuddled up to them. "You gonna catch it?" Ian asked.

  "Well, I don't know what type it is…" Plumeria said, uncomfortable at the Pokemon's familiarity but slowly accepting that the strange Pokemon wasn't going to leave her hair alone anytime soon.

  "Poi-pole, it's a Poi-son Type," Ian answered.

  "Okay, you can shut your mouth with the attitude 'prince of Po Town,'" Plumeria said in a tone Ian knew was just her way of bantering. "I have a hard enough time with six Pokemon now, adding a seventh?"

  Ian shook his head. "If it wants to join you, I highly suggest you take it. It is an Ultra Beast after all."

  Plumeria gasped, looking over her shoulder at the floating purple Pokemon with an oversized head. "You're not kidding?"

  Ian shook his head. "Nope. And that thing's pretty weak right now, but if you can get it to evolve…"

  "How strong you think I'd be?" Plumeria asked curiously.

  Ian shrugged. "You said Rook's stronger than you, which you haven't told me what his team is like. But if the rest of the team is the same minus Arbok or Varoom? Poipole's evolution here probably puts you over the top."

  Tupp whistled, clearly impressed. "Woah…"

  "This little thing?" Plumeria asked. "You're sure?"

  Ian nodded. "Evolves into a Poison-Dragon Type called Naganadel."

  Plumeria's eyebrows rose. "Well… I wasn't expecting that. Anyone got a ball I can borrow?"

  Ian's mind nagged him, reminding him he had the Beast Ball Colress had gifted him. But Rapp raised her hand, volunteering a Poke Ball of her own first. If Poipole goes in a regular ball then it'll be fine.

  Half a minute later and the Poke Ball fell still, with Plumeria standing in disbelief. She knelt down to pick the Poke Ball up and eyed Ian knowingly, giving him a wink.

  ***

  They didn't stay around the Ultra Storm for much longer, and they were only a few miles north of the Akua Jungle so it was a short ride back to Po Town where one of Sinclair's boats lurked a half mile or so off shore, which had become a regular occurrence. Ian and Tupp ditched the gate and made for Elk Grove, where they parked their bikes against the trees and looking out for their favorite kimono-clad teacher. Ian remembered that wasn't the only reason they'd side-stepped Po Town upon their return and released Sawsbuck from his Heal Ball, with the blessed stag quickly leaning its neck into Ian affectionately. "Good to see you too Sawsbuck," Ian said. Sawsbuck grunted lowly, eyeing Ian judgmentally. "What? Are you mad I didn't use you in the Ultra Storm?"

  Sawsbuck put its hoof down and bowed its head, effectively agreeing, showcasing the slow growing buds of the new cherry blossoms on its antlers. "Aw c'mon Sawsbuck, I wanted to give you a break from battling after that Alpha Luxray. That thing shocked off your antler's flowers, and you still got some marks from where it shocked you last." Sawsbuck grunted, wanting to shake off the accusations.

  Ian got in close and scratched Sawsbuck on the back right where he liked it. "I got six team members now. I gotta give everyone some love, Sawsbuck. But don't you worry, I'll never forget not just my first Pokemon, but the one that pleaded for my life to Tapu Bulu, okay?" Ian wrapped his arms as best he could around Sawsbuck's neck and his blessed stag gave a joyous bleat. "Alright Sawsbuck, get this grove growing for me. I gotta talk to Grimsley."

  With renewed vigor, Sawsbuck bounded into action, quickly leaving Ian and Tupp's line of sight. As they made their way closer to the creek, Tupp opened his mouth. "Sawsbuck's been a real attention whore recently," he observed.

  "Yeah," Ian said. "He's been my loyal buddy since day one, I figured he was going to start forming his own personality at some point." Ian and Tupp made their way to the creek's bank and saw Grimsley sitting still, meditating peacefully.

  "Should we interrupt him yo?" Tupp whispered.

  "I can hear you," Grimsley announced. Suddenly a high pitched babbling hit Ian's ears as a pink form leapt at him from a nearby tree branch. Ian covered his face as Impidimp landed on his arms, continuing to babble excitedly as he climbed onto Ian's shoulder.

  "How was your sleepover with Mr. Grimsley?" Ian asked Impidimp, who Ian doubted heard a word of his over its incessant, excited babbling.

  "The Pokemon Center said he's almost no longer underweight," Grimsley offered.

  "Well that's good. You've been eating berries like a Snorlax after all," Ian said, holding his hand up and poking Impidimp on its little tummy where its ribs no longer were exposed. Impidimp gave a dramatic cry and recoiled as if Ian had just brutally hurt him and pantomimed falling backwards before the little imp caught itself on Ian's Skull tank and pulled itself back up, sticking its black tongue out defiantly.

  "Liepard really liked hanging out with the little guy," Grimsley said. "Except when he tried to ride Liepard. She was not a fan of that."

  Ian chuckled as he turned to Impidimp, who had perched on Ian's shoulder once more. "C'mon, you know Sawsbuck's the only one that lets you ride him, and he only does that because I asked him to. Pyroar doesn't let you."

  Impidimp play-sulked, then saw Tupp was looking at the stream and leapt to the not-looking bystander. "Tupp-"

  Tupp recoiled but was unable to dodge as the pink Pokemon tried to stabilize itself on his shoulder. "Ian, you want Impi-whatever back?"

  "He's a bit of an oddball, but you don't want to get used to him?" Ian asked.

  "Nah, just don't want him to get used to it when you start using those blue candies on him and he gets way bigger," Tupp said as he shook his shoulder, to which Impidimp stuck his tongue out and jumped back to Ian's shoulder.

  "Speaking of those candies," Grimsley began. "I finally heard back from my guy in Galar."

  Ian suddenly recalled that during their break, Grimsley had said he'd contacted a friend of his about the EXP Candy. "What'd he say?"

  Grimsley grimaced. "He said the Galar League tries to keep them super secret, but the pics I sent matched up with what he'd seen a couple times. They call them 'Max Candy' over there."

  "Interesting…" Ian said, figuring Grimsley had more coming. Maybe we should call them Ultra Candy here then.

  "He said there's some interesting whispers about them. Champion Mustard first discovered them and had Chairman Rose's mega-company do research on them. Once they realized what they were, Mustard wanted the truth buried to prevent power-hungry trainers from farming Dynamax raid dens and retired," Grimsley continued. "Not long after, Chairman Rose endorsed Leon, and the undefeated champion began his rise. My guy says there's a whole conspiracy saying the timing's not coincidental."

  Ian gasped. "Oh shit… So Leon…"

  "Probably getting boosted from that weird company that basically runs Galar," Grimsley explained. "He did give me a few warnings about using them too much though."

  Ian grimaced. "Let me guess, so we don't use 'em at all?"

  Grimsley shook his head. "They'll strengthen your Pokemon, but it's artificial. It won't make your Pokemon smarter or more experienced, just more powerful. And not just that...."

  "Okay…"

  "... they can harm a Pokemon's long term growth. All of that condensed energy boosting and empowering your Pokemon? The physical bodies of the Pokemon will become stressed. Plus the power they grant can become addictive with prolonged exposure. Leon's Charizard gets in these fits of rage when it goes too long without some. It apparently hasn't done any fan meet and greets for a while."

  Ian grimaced. "Well that's not good…" Ian eyed Impidimp, who had taken a seat on his shoulder, grinning happily. "How long term are these effects?"

  Grimsley rolled his eyes. "Leon's getting funneled all of these and his Pokemon get constant exposure, so only the scientists at the company likely know. I just wouldn't use them recklessly is all."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Ian sighed. "Fair enough."

  "And oh, I got another thing for you," Grimsley said, whipping his smart phone out. He then began swiping on it until he landed on something. "Emett left the Battle Subway some years ago, which is why I didn't know where he was when you asked about where he went."

  "Oh?" Ian asked.

  "But I found out what he's up to," Grimsley said, showing the phone screen to Ian.

  Ian immediately recognized the distinct look of Ingo's identical twin, just in a very different uniform. This was all white with military medals and a captain's hat. Beneath the picture Ian read Vice Admiral Emett Anville. "Great! Any chance to email him or mail him that his brother's here?"

  Grimsley shook his head. "Ian, he's a Unovan Marine. Him showing up in an active conflict zone like this island? If he got hurt or worse, it'd be an international incident. Plus Alola wouldn't be too happy a foreign military officer just showed up on the island uninvited."

  "So the only way he could get here would be if Alola asked him to be here?" Ian asked.

  Grimsley nodded. "That's the most likely way. Or we tell him his brother's here, and if he even believes us, which he likely won't, he can't even come here. Or else it'll spark a huge shitstorm and no one wants that."

  Ian grimaced. "So if we get the Pearl Clan a safe place to live and close the Ultra Rift, and then things return to normal, we can re-unite the train twins?"

  Grimsley shrugged. "I guess so."

  "Another reason to figure out what the hell is going on here," Ian said.

  "How are the negotiations with the Pearl Clan going? Any word?" Grimsley asked.

  "Well that Palina chick's been here a couple days, ain't heard a thing," Tupp said. "Better than when that buff dude Gay-Rick and Guzma got into it or something."

  Ian smiled nervously. That definitely wasn't their best move, sending Gaeric down. Plumeria had said Guzma didn't like the idea of the Pearl Clan moving into Team Skull's territory, but he'd see what the Pearl Clan was willing to pay. I'm just glad negotiations were able to resume when Gaeric got swapped for Palina.

  "Better than nothing, right?" Grimsley asked.

  "Yeah…" Ian said.

  "Well, is that all of the catching up we need to do?" Grimsley asked.

  "I think so," Ian said, eyeing Grimsley curiously.

  "Then get your Alphas out!" Grimsley bellowed.

  "Yeah!" Tupp cheered excitedly as he scampered far enough away so an impromptu battlefield lay between them. Ian grabbed Tyrunt's Ultra Ball and made sure Grimsley was far enough away.

  "You sure want Impidimp out for this?" Grimsley asked.

  "He does like watching carnage unfold," Ian said. Impidimp gave a boisterous cheer.

  Grimsley shook his head. "You need to be solo with Tyrunt for this."

  "Fine," Ian said. "But you gotta apologize to Impidimp here."

  Grimsley snorted. "Hurry up, Tupp's got Growlithe out already."

  Ian looked across, seeing the fiery tiger with the demeanor of a dog standing proudly, its head as high as Tupp's chest. That boy as an Arcanine is gonna really be something. Ian finished recalling Impidimp into its ball, protesting in a babble of sound before de-manifesting into red energy. Ian scowled, narrowing his eyes on Growlithe. Alright Tyrunt, here we go. Ian tossed the Ultra Ball into the air, and his Alpha Tyrunt manifested in front with a fierce battle cry.

  Growlithe returned the favor just as loudly, its eyes seemingly covered by its tangle of a mane. "We all ready here?" Grimsley asked.

  "Yeah!" Tupp howled.

  "Come and get some!" Ian taunted.

  "Bite!" Tupp ordered, causing his Alpha Hisuian Growlithe to burst into motion.

  "Rock Tomb!" Ian roared. Tyrunt glowed with brown TE before rocky cylinders sprang up from the ground. Growlithe leapt over them quickly, its jaws engulfed in Dark TE as it closed in on Tyrunt snapped at the charging Alpha, who went head on into Tyrunt, aiming for its neck. Tyrunt gave a fierce cry to shake Growlithe off as it lit up with Rock TE once more, this time the rocky cylinders erupted from the ground before Growlithe could regain its composure and smacked into Growlithe, sending it up in the air before it crashed onto its belly painfully. Growlithe struggled to get up, its hind leg suddenly giving out.

  Sorry Growlithe, Tyrunt and I need those red eyes. "Tyrunt, Stomping Tantrum!" Ian ordered coldly. Tyrunt gave a savage cry as it became encapsulated in light brown Type Energy, then Tyrunt grew into frenzy of fierce cries as it charged Growlithe. Sorry for the four times effective move, Tupp.

  Growlithe suddenly stood up with ease and roared so loudly it knocked Ian and Tyrunt backwards. My ears! When Ian caught a look at Tupp's Growlithe his jaw dropped. A specific red glow had emerged in what could be seen of its eyes. Oh shit. Tyrunt had started getting back up, but Growlithe charged with a vengeance, its mouth becoming engulfed in a greater mass of Dark TE. Crunch… Tyrunt's tail became engulfed in Dragon TE, but Growlithe was too quick, latching onto Tyrunt's back and making the tyrannosaur screech with pain. Ian turned to Grimsley and shook his head, indicating he was ready for the match to be over before Tyrunt sustained more wounds.

  "Ian concedes, Growlithe wins!" Grimsley announced.

  Growlithe hadn't let go of Tyrunt until Tupp rushed up. "Growlithe you won, let her go!" He ordered. Growlithe begrudgingly did as ordered, backing away from Ian's wounded Alpha.

  Ian had already prepared Tyrunt's Ultra Ball and recalled Tyrunt. "We're getting there, girl," Ian said encouragingly.

  "Excellent job Tupp," Grimsley said proudly. "When Ian conned me into training you too I didn't think anything good would come of it but…" Grimsley watched as the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe licked Tupp harmelssly. "... I was very wrong."

  "I owe you guys so much. I was never good at this starteejic' shit," Tupp said with a big smile.

  A fog horn sound interrupted the moment, and Grimsley shook his head dismissively. "Lunch time for you guys? Neroli's gonna pick me up before you'd get back, so we're done for today. Hopefully there isn't an Ultra Storm at that time of the morning tomorrow."

  They said their goodbyes to Grimsley and when they got out of the grove, walking their bikes the short distance to the gate, Ian realized he and Sawsbuck had some blessing to do. "Sawsbuck and I gotta do a round through the crops," Ian said. "You don't gotta wait up."

  Tupp shook his head. "I'll hang at the gate with the bikes yo."

  When Ian and Sawbsuck finished up and Ian dismounted, Tupp seemed rather serious. "Anything wrong bro?"

  Tupp nodded. "Yeah bro. I just wanted to say I'm sorry Growlithe got the Alpha eyes before Tyrunt, I know you two been workin' hard-"

  Ian shook his head. "Tupp you don't gotta apologize for shit." Tupp seemed genuinely surprised at the sentiment. "You and Growlithe are good friends already, and he was following your commands on day two. Tyrunt took two weeks before she stopped trying to eat me every time I let her out of her Ultra Ball. Plus it took Sandshrew bullying her repeatedly to get to that point." Ian shook his head. "But you feeling guilty about that? That means you're my fucking bro, bro," Ian said with a laugh, holding out his fist.

  "Bros for life," Tupp said, a seriousness in his voice as he bumped Ian's fist.

  "Bros for life," Ian said with a smile as they walked under Po Town's gates.

  "Aaaaw, you two are so cute!" Mina's voice teased.

  "We're gonna get some food, I'll be right back!" Ian promised.

  "You better!" Mina teased.

  When they got out of earshot, Tupp gave Ian a playful elbow. "You finally going on that date tonight?"

  Ian cracked a grin but didn't want to seem too hyped for it, even though his heart began pounding with a purpose. "Yeah."

  "Happy for you bro," Tupp said sincerely. "Good thing the double date stuff didn't come in the plan then…"

  Ian put his arm on Tupp's shoulder. "Sorry bro…"

  Tupp shook his head. "I got the red eyes today, you get your first date. Kinda fair."

  Ian shrugged. "Hey, maybe next week it'll reverse."

  Tupp shook his head, his head lowering dejectedly. "I dunno about that bro."

  The two walked in silence up The Spine, noticing a crowd of people at the Pokemon Center. "Looks like they're busy," Ian said, hoping to get Tupp out of his funk, to which Tupp only looked briefly, remaining stone faced. Ian couldn't help but feel awful for his best friend.

  They stopped at Ian's locker in the back of Tom's warehouse. Upon opening, Ian's eyes went right to the near full forage bag of Stardust on the bottom, along with the pile of green and blue shards next to it. Ian unloaded the shards from his forage bag quickly, promising he'd be back later to make Star Pieces after his meeting with Mina. Next he grabbed the cubular EXP Candy and placed it on the top shelf where an assortment of Star Pieces rested along with the two other medium candies, one small candy, and a large candy.

  They grabbed lunch not long after. They now had freshly baked bread in addition to a mixed offering of fruits thanks to Elk Grove. Ian smirked as he remembered the panic that had broken out on his first full day back in Po Town when they harvested wheat but realized they didn't have any mills. Thankfully there was an old sugar mill nearby and Tom's crew modified the stone mills to work for wheat. The bread had become a big hit, with The Grill's ovens working overtime to satisfy the insatiable demands of Team Skull as a whole.

  "Oi, mates!" The familiar accent of Stompz said as he made his way over to Tupp and Ian's table. "This the best damn food I had in months. This bread's even better than them Kalosian bakeries!" Stompz said as he put his big black arms around Ian and Tupp.

  "Grillz is the one baking," Ian said. "And Tom's peeps got the mills working."

  Stompz shook his head, flashing them a big smile. "I know who went to the ranch and got these seeds, and who's growing them."

  "None of us did it alone," Ian said, pointing at Tupp.

  "Humble little shit. No wonder blokes keep callin' you 'the Prince,'" Stompz teased. "You get any home cooked meals out there?"

  Ian gave Tupp a knowing look as Tupp lit up. "Yeah bro! Ms. Kathy's the best! I told her Imma work for her when this is done and all they gotta pay me in is her cooking."

  "Oh, I can't imagine mate," Stompz said. "Next time you head that way, sneak me in the little tea party of yours."

  Ian shook his head. "Can't take one of the freshly promoted squad leads, can we?"

  "Aw, you heard about that? Yeah, Plumeria got Noiz fired and Lex took his place. Boss promoted me himself the next day," Stompz said with a sheepish grin on his dark skinned face.

  Ian smiled as he remembered Plumeria ranting at Guzma's debrief. We spent almost two whole days in their supposed zone and didn't see them once. Probably not the best boundary guards. A few minutes later Stompz had to go back to his squad's table and Tupp decided he'd go to Backstreet and do some training with Drizzile and Ian noticed the schoolyard had a bunch of kids playing in it. Ian scanned it for one child in particular and saw Rylee sitting by herself against a wall, clearly unhappy. I'm sure Mina will understand.

  Ian went around fence and into the schoolyard and Auntie Pula gave him a big smile as she waved at him. Ian gave her a quick wave and pointed at Rylee, and Auntie Pula put her hands over heart as if to say "I feel for her." Ian acknowledged her with a nod and jogged over to Rylee.

  "Hey Mr. Ian…" Rylee said unenthusiastically.

  "Hey there Rylee," Ian said softly, taking a seat next to her. "What's the matter?"

  Rylee's frown got even more pronounced. "I miss mommy and daddy."

  Ian immediately put his arm around the poor girl and pulled her in close to him, giving her a light squeeze. "There, there."

  "Auntie Pula said you're a Faller too. Do you miss your mommy and daddy?" Rylee asked.

  "Every day," Ian answered as he nodded. "But even though I don't know if I'll ever see them again, I want to make them proud. I'm sure they're doing everything they can to find me, and I know your parents are doing everything they can to find you."

  Rylee nodded. "But we're in a different world, right?"

  Ian nodded. "Yeah, so it may take a long time for them to find us. But Plumeria and I are going to Ultra Storms to make sure anyone who comes out is safe. So if we run into anyone's parents, we can bring 'em back here and keep them safe."

  Rylee smiled. "Do you think my mommy and daddy will come here?"

  Ian smiled nervously, not wanting to give her false hope. "I wish I could tell you, Rylee. But hey, stranger things have happened."

  Rylee's smile quickly faded as Ian's words sank in. "Okay…"

  "How come you're not out playing with your friends?" Ian asked, giving her a playful nudge.

  "They think I'm weird."

  "Why's that?" Ian asked.

  "Cuz I kept saying stuff about Pokemon being my favorite TV show," Rylee said dejectedly.

  "They just don't understand how weird it is to come from another world," Ian said, soothingly rubbing her shoulder.

  "Yeah…" Rylee said, her tone still morose.

  "You know Rylee, it's not weird to come from another world. Happens all of the time here in Alola," Ian said.

  "But no one else came from a world where Pokemon weren't real," Rylee protested.

  Ian shook his head. "Rylee, I'm gonna tell you a secret. It's a very big secret."

  "Really? A big secret?" Rylee asked.

  Ian nodded as he put his hand in front of her and stuck his pinky out. "Yup. It's so big I'm gonna make you pinky swear."

  Rylee gasped. "Ohmigosh, I love pinky swears!" The seven year old said excitedly as he locked her much smaller pinky with his. "I promise I won't tell anyone, Mr. Ian."

  Ian smiled proudly. "Thank you," he said. "I've only told two other people about this."

  Rylee gasped again. "Really?"

  Ian nodded. "Yup. So the world I came from, Pokemon weren't real either. They were in videos games and on TV."

  Rylee gasped even louder than before. "Really?"

  Ian nodded. "Yup. I grew up playing the video games."

  Rylee's eyes narrowed on him, suspecting something. "Prove it."

  Ian rolled his eyes. "Okay, well this might be different in your world, but the main character of the TV show was Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu."

  Rylee was frozen in shock. "Wow…"

  Ian nodded. "So you're not alone, Rylee."

  Rylee nodded. "Okay, but you have Pokemon to be your friends. I don't."

  Ian sighed. "Yeah. But Pokemon can be very dangerous. Not every ten year old gets to go out on a journey like in the TV show."

  "I know…" Rylee said, dejected once more.

  Ian moved his head closer to Rylee. "How about this, if I find a Pokemon that needs a friend, I'll bring it back here and ask Auntie Pula if you can have it."

  "Really?" Rylee asked, her eyes watering with happy tears all of the sudden. "You'd do that?"

  Ian nodded. "I promise I'll try," Ian said.

  "Will you pinky promise it?" Rylee asked.

  "Of course," Ian said with a nod and put his pinky out once again and they locked their pinkies for the second time.

  "And Mr. Ian…" Rylee began. "...why haven't you told more people where you came from?"

  Ian sighed. "Because I was afraid people would think I'm weird."

  "Oh… Now I wish I'd kept it secret too," Rylee said.

  Ian shook his head and smiled hopefully. "But telling everyone has made you stronger."

  "I don't feel stronger…" Rylee said.

  Ian pointed at his heart. "Stronger here, in your heart."

  "Oh…" Rylee said, pondering the idea.

  Suddenly a loud whistle blew throughout the schoolyard and Auntie Pula announced recess was over. "Looks like you gotta go," Ian said. "I haven't introduced you to my newest Pokemon Impidimp, have I?"

  "No," Rylee said like she was almost insulted he hadn't. "Can you show me after school today?"

  Ian shook his head. "Maybe not today, I'm going on a date."

  "A date?" Rylee asked in surprise. "Who is it?" Rylee demanded before quickly realizing something. "Is it Ms. Mina?"

  Ian felt blood rushing to his cheeks. "Yup."

  "Oh that's so cool!" Rylee exclaimed.

  "Rylee, time to let Mr. Ian leave," Auntie Pula called out.

  Ian mouthed "sorry" to the schoolteacher and pointed at himself as he gave Rylee another big hug. "Have a good rest of the day of school for me, okay Rylee?"

  Rylee nodded. "Yes Mr. Ian." Rylee then paused a mischievous smirk came across her face. She then put her hand out and stuck her pinky up. "Remember the pinky promise!"

  Ian smiled. "You too," he fired back, putting his pinky out. Rylee then quickly turned around to Auntie Pula, who bowed her head and mouthed "thank you."

  Ian roused himself and smiled proudly, a warm euphoria flowing through his blood. This must be kind of how a parent feels…