Chapter 46: Pokemon - Leaving

  After I cut the youngest two girls out of the family I wanted to be supportive of their choices, but I was forced to immediately head back to the Shuttle before I collapsed. To my poorly hidden relief, my four wives followed me in and firmly put me in the center of the bed before cuddling up around me. It wasn’t quite enough to make up for what was emotionally and spiritually ripping a part out of myself, but it helped.

  The more platonic comforting helped, but so did the memory of Luna and Dinah’s faces as I was helped out of the living room. It was clear that they didn’t like what this was doing to me, but were resolved to follow it through… and a large part of me realized it was for the best. It was literally the only way I could be absolutely sure I wasn’t pressuring or controlling everyone into staying with me.

  In fact, as I laid there and reviewed my memories of the rest of the room, just about everyone had seemed concerned. Only Sarah, Carol, and Brian had seemed indifferent to my pain. Even Alice had seemed worried. That right there was probably a victory since while Alice might not trust me… or anyone for that matter, she seemed to care at least a little. That meant a lot from someone that had been betrayed and abused like that.

  Thus, despite the pain, I fell asleep to the warmth of my wives around me and the knowledge they cared. It almost made what felt like a massive rash on my very soul worth it.

  The next morning I felt like I had recovered enough that I decided to get up and help with breakfast. I wanted the girls who were leaving, especially Luna and Dinah, to understand I supported their decision.

  It also gave me a chance to get involved with the food making since I had been too busy or injured to help with the meals recently. That had left the food prep to be primarily done most often by Ahri, and Sabah, which wasn’t fair even if they didn’t seem to mind.

  Breakfast was just simple pancakes topped with a variety of fruit that we had collected throughout the worlds we had visited, augmented by a few Amy had created. Amy had even managed to make some sort of maple syrup even if she was still grumbling to herself that she didn’t think she got the taste just right.

  The only other thing we were able to cook was some sausage from Konoha and start the coffee maker before the smells produced a veritable stampede of drowsy hungry refugees and the rest of my girls.

  Breakfast was a somewhat somber event. My girls were a little melancholy about the separation. Even Amy wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye to Vicky again even if they weren’t as close anymore. While the refugees were now being faced with actually starting their lives again. Thus the cabin was mostly just filled with the sounds of eating.

  After everyone had finished eating and Taylor and Hinata had taken over cleaning dishes, I stood up and clapped my hands. “Ok everyone, based on the Anime, Ash should have spent all night charging up his Pikachu and is going to be headed back to the gym today to challenge Brock again. I know that most of you want to be able to watch that battle, but we should also figure out what else we need to accomplish first.”

  Looking around I continued. “I know that we should also get all of you some Pokeballs, but does anyone have anything else they want done before we leave? I won't be able to jump again until tomorrow morning at the earliest so we have some time to get everyone a little more situated.”

  Luna and Dinah looked up and nodded at each other. “We have our two Eevee. But we need pokeballs for them.”

  I did a double take. “How in the bloody hell did you already get two Eevee.”

  “It was my first request to Lord Arceus. We couldn’t save a species with just two animals unless Amy micromanages their genetic diversity.”

  That made me blink in surprise before I remembered that Xeno and her father were experts in creatures. Just because the rest of the inbred purebloods in the UK didn’t know anything about modern genetics, it didn’t mean that the Lovegoods weren’t aware of it.

  Luna must have seen my surprise and then approval because her smile looked extra smug. “Mr and Mrs Figgles are the absolute best, I am sure you will love them.”

  That seemed to have been sort of signal as two Eevee burst out of Luna and Dinah’s room. My first thought was that they were pretty fast as they ran forward and lept up onto Dinah and Luna’s shoulders. Yet as I had more time to study them, I realized they were a distinctive red, very similar to the red panda looking creatures that Luna had saved.

  That made me sit back and click my tongue, “huh… well I guess you have that covered then.” Considering for a moment longer I looked at Luna and asked, “what was your second request you made to Lord Arceus?”

  Luna shook her head and waggled a figure at me, “That would be spoilers, I will let you know when you come pick us up.” Luna's eyes narrowed, “you will need us before Holly's fourth year.”. Then her smile widened as she glanced back at Xeno “that and Daddy says we need to take our OWLs”

  That made me consider my plans. Dumbledore had been much more helpful than I thought he would be, considering how passive he was in the story, so I was starting to think that we could take care of old Moldyshorts before Holly’s fourth year. Simply get rid of all of his Horcruxes so he wouldn’t be able to return in the first place.

  However Luna’s statement seemed to imply that that wouldn’t work. Maybe he needed to be in a body to die, or maybe he had already made Nagini into a Horcrux. That was a problem either way.

  Sighing I considered for a moment before I nodded. “Ok, we can come pick you up during the summer break then.”

  Looking proud of herself Luna nodded then gestured away from us in a ‘lets go’ kind of motion. “Come on, we need Pokeballs for Mr and Mrs Figgles. Then we can start our own journey.”

  Turning, I shared a bemused look with Taylor and Sabah, before I shrugged and opened a portal and directed the other end into a back alley where no one would notice us appearing. That just left us to follow Dinah who had spotted the Pokemart when we were out the first time.

  As our large group walked down the street, and not having much else to say personally, I listened to the refugees as they made plans on what they would be doing here.

  It seemed that the Pelhams had decided that they were going to get involved with law enforcement. The girls that were familiar with Pokemon were explaining that they would need Growlithe or some sort of other law enforcement type pokemon to help them. They also explained that popular Pokemon were often raised by breeders rather than attempting to capture whole packs of Growlithe.

  Both Vicky and Missy were looking somewhat enviously at Dinah and Luna’s Eevee so Dinah had to burst their bubble. Apparently Dinah had noticed advertisements for an Eevee breeder as well but mentioned Eevee breeders were really expensive. Yet that didn’t seem have actually deterred them as I noticed that Alice, Aisha, Vicky and Missy started whispering to each other before looking in my direction, already pulling out the puppy eyes.

  I made sure they all saw me roll my eyes, but internally I was pretty sure I was going to be footing that bill as well and I was going to have to dip a little deeper into my gold reserves. I would have liked to believe I could say no, but a half dozen girls I cared about to varying degrees were probably going to get what they wanted.

  While I watched this planning I also noticed that Carol and Mark Dallon still hadn’t started talking to each other. It reminded me that while not explicitly stated, Vicky was suspected to have been the result of Carol cheating on Mark based on Vicky’s powers. However when I saw her finally turn to Mark and suggest joining another law firm and I saw Mark only nod lethargically, I frowned. I didn’t really have a good solution for him.

  Amy seemed to have noticed that too as I watched her walk over and hold Mark’s hand. Carol frowned at her, but didn’t say anything and after a minute or so I saw him perk up a little. That made me consider Amy’s changes. Amy was in no way still limited to the rules she gave herself on Earth Bet. She still hesitated to do anything that would change a person’s personality, but the knowledge that the soul was real and would resist her changes to a degree helped. Yet the biggest change was her self confidence. Getting away from her foster mother and her emotional abuse masquerading as expectations, she had become a much more confident and happy woman.

  As I saw Amy start up a conversation with the now much more alert Mark, I remembered Amy explaining depression and how she still couldn’t just fix it. Specifically how it was both physical and mental and while she could balance his hormone and brain chemistry, she couldn’t just get rid of the mental aspects without removing large swaths of memories and how he viewed himself, thus changing who he was. Yet as I watched Mark look around with new eyes I realized he now had a new chance. Whether he stayed with Carol after everything was best left between the two of them.

  Danny had been staring at his daughter silently for the entire trip before he sighed. Turning to me he asked. “You wouldn’t happen to know where there is a dock workers association that I could join.” His smile turned even more plastic. “I don’t think that I know how to do anything else.”

  Taylor looked a little disappointed at him, probably hoping he would fight for her or something, but she was about 20 years old now. I think everyone knew that his chance to be a father as she was growing up was past. Still, I made a note to give him a message tube so two of them could write to each other. We would also try to visit here occasionally so they could still recconnect occasionally. Taylor was still hurt by his neglect, but she was much more self assured and I really hoped it was due to being surrounded by people that paid attention to her and cared about her well being.

  Speaking up, I agreed to Danny’s implied request. “The next town over is a port city that would probably have work for you. You will probably need a water Pokemon though. There aren’t a lot of those around here so you might have to look around until you find one.”

  Luna and Dinah walked over and nodded at him. “If you can’t find one, we should be able to help you while we are there.”

  Danny Hebert looked a little unsure about needing to catch a Pokemon and the concept of making it his partner, but I realized that having someone else would probably do him good. If he couldn’t get over his wife’s death then a different sort of partner would probably make sure he didn’t collapse into depression again.

  Taylor seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she nodded in encouragement, albeit when I looked closer I thought I saw what looked like some lingering conflicting feelings. Danny only seemed to see Taylor’s encouragement and sighed before he agreed.

  Xeno and Luna meanwhile were nearly floating with how excited they were to start their exploration of this world.

  Walking into the Pokemart I was immediately faced with a display of the types of Pokeballs and my face fell. Part of me had hoped that the 100 Pokedollars that the games displayed were in Yen or about 1 USD. Because Pokeballs were so common, they must therefore have been insanely cheap.

  That was NOT the case. Their price was low based on the technology involved, but it was NOT that low.

  Even the basic Pokeball was way more. A Little comparison with the loaf of bread on the shelf one aisle over for 1 Pokedollar meant that the Pokedollars were maybe just a little over 1 USD. That meant that the Pokeball’s price tag of 179.99 Pokedollars meant I was going to be paying approximately 200 USD for each Pokeball.

  My wallet was going to be empty before I had even got a chance to look around for myself.

  That price hike almost immediately became an issue as I realized that I had not been respecting the technology of this world nearly enough. Just like in RWBY, they had somehow figured out spatial expansion technology along with whatever allowed them to perform weight reduction on the contents of their bags. They also had healing potions, These HP and Mana Potions were things that even trainers could use.

  Those would have been impressive alone, but that was ignoring the elephant in the room of the Pokeballs themselves. Pokeballs that could turn matter of living creatures into energy, store it, and even teleport the pokeball itself back to the registered stable or ranch of the trainer if he or she went over their carry limit. Then, if the anime was to be believed, these people would soon invent a method of transmitting matter across the phone lines to make Pokemon trades just as easy.

  That was straight up at or above the level of the technology available in most sci-fi settings.

  Behind me I heard Amy gasp in shock. Turning I noticed her touching the berries on display. That made me think about all the berries I knew about and I realized there was even more. Oran berries were supposed to straight-up regenerate damaged tissue. Rawst berries were supposed to cure burns. Petcha berries were a cure-all for poison. Persim berries somehow cured confusion. Bloody Hell, Aspera berries were supposed to cure being frozen… somehow.

  That put the raw berries at the same level of magic as the carefully brewed potions at Hogwarts.

  It was absurd.

  It was incredible.

  … I was going to be spending a stupid amount of money here, wasn’t I?

  Maybe it was a sign of how much money this all cost, but after being surprised when I pulled out gold bars, the teller actually allowed me to pay for our purchase using gold. Well, either that or that calculator he pulled out was going to be used to calculate the sum and he was going to run across town to sell the gold, maybe take a percentage as a fee… which was completely fair since he earned it if that was the case.

  Once I had gotten several examples of the bags, pokeballs, potions, berries and a few cell phones, I turned to the rest of our group.

  Immediately I noticed that everyone in the younger age bracket had grouped up at the front of the store to discuss what pokemon would be on their teams. Even Crystal and Eric, were getting involved despite making no plans to actually go on a Pokemon Journey.

  Meanwhile, all of the older refugees were standing off to the side next to the yellow pages, probably looking for jobs. Everyone had been offered Pokeballs, but the generational gap was showing as aforementioned parents had each only somewhat grudgingly accepted one Pokeball each, while everyone else had collected at least three. That left me to hand out a basic cell phone to each of them as well.

  Apparently said cell phones didn’t have great reception in the wilds which explained why they weren’t really seen in the anime. Probably due to all the interference with electric Pokemon and lack of towers out there. The lack of connectivity also showed in the large rigid antenna along smaller screens. Thus everyone got something that looked like a flip phone from around the 2010s.

  I had also bought two sets of camping tents and equipment. I wasn’t sure how the younger group would organize itself, but I wanted to make sure they were prepared. I was also planning on giving Luna and Dinah the smaller magical tent even if they couldn’t use it with outsiders if they wanted to keep their heads down. Something told me that Xeno wouldn’t even bother to hide his… so maybe it didn’t actually matter with all of this sci-fi tech around.

  As we walked back towards Brock’s gym to wait for Ash’s rematch I noticed that the Pelhams and the Dallons all looked like they wanted to leave. Even the Alcotts which had been mostly willing to just silently follow their daughter around were looking antsy. Deciding there really wasn’t anything keeping them here, we stopped and I handed each of them another bar of gold as their seed money before discreetly opening up a portal to the shuttle so they could start packing their things for now.

  However just when I thought it would only be all of the older crowd, Brian hesitated before walking through the portal to pack as well. I would have thought that he would want to stay with his sister, but then again Aisha was 18 now so maybe he didn’t think he needed to stay with her as much and they all had cell phones to keep in touch. I wasn’t sure what he would do, but he had eyed some of the security guards near the pokecenter… so either a guard or a thief… I firmly decided not to get involved either way.

  Lisa looked at me searchingly for nearly a full minute before she shook her head and went through to start packing her bags as well. She had been pretty quiet which was pretty surprising. I would have thought she would have tried to control or even just make snide comments along the way. However without the conflict drive in her, she had mellowed out quite a bit. Just not enough to enjoy being a follower instead of a leader. To be fair, Lisa’s hesitation did seem to make me think she might eventually change her mind and join us if she didn’t find something to do before then, but I didn’t think it would be any time soon.

  Yelling through the portal to get everyone’s attention, I pointed towards Amy, Taylor, and my Hogwarts trunks which were sitting on the side of the cargo hold. “You can empty those and use them to transport your things so you don’t have as many separate boxes to take care of. Brian and Lisa, you didn’t look like you had as much stuff, but ask any one of us and we will make sure to make your boxes feather-light before we leave.”

  That got us an annoyed huff from Carol, but the rest of the refugees looked grateful.

  That left the rest of us to head back to the Gym. Namely my girls who were staying, the girls that were leaving, Amy’s cousins and their significant others, and Sarah who, as far as I could tell, had declared she would leave but hadn’t said where she was going.

  Walking into the gym and paying the nominal fee to watch the matches, we sat down to watch the matches until Ash returned to try again to earn his bolder badge.

  Unlike the anime there was actually a large number of people challenging the gym for the badges. Maybe not one every quarter hour, but at least one per hour. Two trainers came in for their first badge, a boy and a girl, with the girl walking away with the badge.

  However, that was nothing when compared to the next match. Specifically Brock’s beat down of a cocky young boy who had declared that having already achieved 5 badges, he would stomp Brock with a single Wartortle.

  I could actually see Brock’s eyebrow twitch at that and I was excited to see what a high level match was actually like. In fact, while all of Brock’s pokemon were weak to water, Brock did not look even remotely nervous and actually looked pretty cool as he took to the podium.

  The Kid seemed to puff himself up further and yelled “Go Wartortle!” as he threw out his ball.

  Brock's mouth just narrowed and a moment later he scoffed. “Go Golem…”

  The ref stepped forward and a moment later he formally started the advanced match. “The challenger Laurance is challenging the Pewter Gym. Both trainers are allowed 4 pokemon, Gym Leader Brock is not allowed to substitute… BEGIN!”

  Before Laurance could even yell anything Brock firmly yet calmly stated “Dig Around!”

  Laurance’s call of “watergu…” was cut off as he realized Brock’s Golem had dived immediately underground. Yet we weren’t left waiting too long as a moment later the Golem erupted below the Wartortle throwing the turtle Pokemon into the air.

  Brock watched the Wartortle fly back before calling out “Rock Throw then Stealth Rock.”

  Before Wartotle had even hit the ground, Golem reached down and scooped up a large number or rocks before hurling them forward.

  Seeing the wall of stones, Laurance frantically called out for Wortortle to “Get out of there!” was too late. Wartortle still tried to twist in the air to the side, but was still hit by dozens of baseball sized stones at what must have been major league pitching speeds.

  Skidding to a stop, Wortortle was already looking woozy when Laurance called out, “Regain control, surf and soak the arena.”

  I thought that was a good idea and so did Brock from the slight curve of his lips, but he wasn’t done laying the smack down as he didn’t stop the Stealth Rock preparation. Already several rocks were now floating in the corners of the arena which represented the trapped field that all of Laurance’s Pokemon would be ambushed by.

  As the surf began to build and was about to crash forward, Brock simply shook his head called out. “Jump up to Stone Edge, bring him down!”

  That surprised me, but building up a wave took time and in a real life Pokemon battle it now seemed like a bad idea if your opponent wasn’t forced to stand there and take it. Well either that or this Wartortle needed to speed up his prep significantly.

  Jumping much further than I thought a Golem could reach, the rock Pokemon brought his arm down in a slashing motion connecting with his opponent's shell, knocking Wartortle off of his building wave and into the surface of the arena again.

  To add insult to injury Brock simply said, “Body Slam.” before Golem landed and Golum rotated so he would land directly on top of the Wartortle.

  The impact was jarring and the ref only took one look at Wartortle before declaring “Wartortle is unable to battle.”

  Laurance was now sweating as he returned Wartortle and after a moment of consideration, he tossed out another ball. “Pidgeot Go!”

  However, the bird Pokemon didn’t have any warning before the stealth rock trap activated and the floating stones around the edge of the arena suddenly rushed forward and pummeled the poor bird Pokemon making him fall to the ground, wheezing. I winced as that both looked like it hurt but also, if I remembered correctly, would be a super effective attack.

  Brock must have been feeling merciful as he decided not to capitalize on Pidgeot’s bad fall and simply ordered “Rock Polish!”

  It took several seconds for Pigeot to collect himself and shake off the remains of the stone prison only to be faced to face with a powered up Golem. Brock was apparently done waiting as he next ordered a. “Smack Down?”

  The Golem jumped up before performing what looked to me to be a classic karate chop and the bird was sent face first into the dirt.

  After Pidgeot looked like he might still get up, Brock decided to end it with an ominous “Rock Tomb.” This time we watched a bolder raise up and come screaming down on Pidgeot’s leg and I heard something snap. I shuttered hard, I guess that explained the slow down effect.

  Man, I knew Pokemon were superhumanly tough, but this was on a whole new level.

  Pidgeot was one tough bird though as he still tried to rise. However after a moment the referee called out “Pidgeot is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your next Pokemon.”

  Laurance was obviously and visually off balance this time as he returned Pidgeot to his Pokeball. Obviously considering his options and not liking what he was finding, he pulled out another Pokeball before calling out much more hesitantly, “Uh, Ah… Go, Machoke!”

  Once again the stealth rock activated, yet the fighting type was able to visibly shrug off most of the damage. That was the difference between a super effective and a typing that the Pokemon could resist.

  It really made me wonder why Laurance hadn’t called out Machoke before this.

  That question started to become obvious when Laurance called out “Bulk Up” and the pokemon slowly began to channel his power.

  Brock noticed this and didn’t seem concerned before simply calling out a second “Rock Polish.” to further power up his Golem.

  Laurance’s call of “Low Kick” sounded good and was a fighting type attack, but the attack that was produced was slow. Very slow. Machoke must have either been recently caught or recently evolved.

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  This time Brock looked disappointed and simply shook his head. “Dig around.”

  Having used that exact same command at the beginning of the match I turned to watch to see if the kid would notice the pattern, but the 14 year old kid seemed to have lost all motivation to fight and didn’t even call out a warning before the Golem rocketed up with another uppercut.

  Yet maybe that was what he wanted as Laurance suddenly perked up and seemed to try one more time to turn the tides of battle as he called out “Seismic Toss!”

  That was a powerful fighting type move and Brock actually looked interested, but when Machoke grabbed Golem and only managed to swing him around once before launching him towards the ground, Brock shook his head again. “Defense curl”

  Golem rolled up into a tight ball before impact and while it obviously rocked Golem pretty hard, the boulder pokemon simply stood back up and shook himself off several times.

  As Machoke touched back down and Laurance called out a “Low Sweep”, Brock interrupted with a firm. “Earthquake.”

  The entire stadium began to rumble and for a moment I wondered if it would bring the roof down before I noticed the barrier around the area flare up. I had noticed the barrier when it blocked the rock throws, but now it was somehow isolating a bloody earthquake?

  Damn it, I was going to figure out a way to buy those as well, wasn’t I?

  The Low Sweep connected and the Golem rocked back, but a moment later Brock barked out a “Heavy Slam” which caused Golem to suddenly lunge forward slamming his body back onto Machoke. Machoke tried to resist and I wondered if it would be able to pull it off since fighting was still strong against rock. However it was then I noticed the metal glint on Golem I realized this must have been a steel type attack and thus would avoid Machoke’s resistance ending with a nasty forehead smash.

  That proved true because, after a moment of silence, Machoke collapsed and a moment later the ref declared him unable to battle.

  Laurance looked crestfallen and on the edge of tears for a moment as he returned Machoke and looked at his final Pokeball. Yet after a moment he shook his head. “I would like to withdraw. Venomoth is not up to this battle.”

  Brock paused before he too returned the now bruised and battered Golem. Holding the Pokeball up he said a few words to it that I couldn’t catch, but I assumed were praise for the battle.

  Then stepping forwards Brock smiled. “Knowing your strengths and weaknesses speaks well of you. You are right, a Bug Poison pokemon without any special training and moves such as Steel Wing would not do well here.”

  Laurance looked like he had swallowed a lemon before he nodded. However Brock interrupted Laurance’s pity party. “Yet I want to commend you, your Pokemon are strong and getting stronger. Your problem this match was your overconfidence and you and your Pokemon’s reaction times. Once I knocked you off balance you never really recovered.” Glancing at the arena again, Brock continued. “You also need to be able to sweep the field to remove arena effects if you don’t have any counters for them.”

  Laurance once again looked crestfallen but Brock shook his head. Reaching down he put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Look up kid, you have five badges trying for your sixth. You are in the big leagues now so I wasn’t taking it easy on you.” Laurance still looked hesitant so Brock gestured around him. “Look up and be proud, despite my harsh start you and your Pokemon weren’t far off from powering through that match. Just don’t get cocky next time, train your reactions and be ready to disengage to reassess your position and you should have it next time.”

  Brock seemed to consider something before he continued. “That and if you keep going and learn Protect, you look like you might even get all eight before the end of the year and have plenty of time to prepare for the end of year conference.”

  That seemed to have cheered Laurance right back up and he smiled before nodding and heading back out the door, probably to the Pokemon center to get his team healed.

  Yet before Brock could do more than grab a sandwich and sit back down and wait for his next scheduled challenger, Ash arrived by shoving the doors open with a thunderous “I am BACK! We are ready this time!”

  Brock’s eyebrow twitched in what I was starting to believe was his version of an eyeroll. “We’ll see.”

  I considered how narrow his eyes were and part of me wondered how he was able to see as well as he did. Then again, it did disguise where he was looking during the Pokemon battles and something told me that Brock would probably get a laugh out of no one being able to tell when he was rolling his eyes at them.

  Yet before the match could actually begin I noticed someone else arrive in the doorway behind Ash. Immediately I realized it must be Brock’s father Flint.

  Brock must have realized the same and I was a little disturbed to see the anger, hurt, and frustration on his face. Brock was only supposed to be in his late teens, I would have guessed maybe 17 or maybe 18 based on his looks, but he was basically working a full time job being a gym leader while also taking care of his massive number of siblings. I wasn’t sure the exact number, but I remember it being over a half dozen.

  This was all because his father left, potentially to look for his mother who also left or possibly just because he couldn’t handle the pressure… both answers were bad regardless of what was true in this version of the Pokemon universe.

  Brock and Ash had kept bantering back and forth while the referee stepped up and declared the rules. “This will be a 2 vs 2. Brock may not substitute. BEGIN!”

  I didn’t really remember this battle well. Only that Pikachu was going to be way stronger than Brock expected.

  However, I watched as Ash threw out his Pidgeotto and I felt like face palming again. I know Ash was slow to catch new partners, but using a flying type against a rock was just as bad as when Laurance had done it. No, it was worse as Pidgeotto was noticeably slower and smaller but was still going to be taking the same super effective attacks.

  Once again proving that Brock was sandbagging hard for these first few fights, Brock flipped out his pokeball. “Go Geodude!”

  My pessimistic analysis proved somewhat prophetic as Ash yelled out “Sand Attack”. In the game that should have lowered Geodude’s attack accuracy which might have been a good idea.

  Here in real life Pidgeotto’s sand attack did nothing and Brock didn’t even have to tell Geodude to use rock throw. Pidgeotto tried to dodge, but even this much smaller barrage through the sand attack did nothing as Pidgeotto was hit by multiple rocks before falling to the ground, already knocked out.

  Brock shook his head and his explanation, “Remember, Flying types are weak to Rock types, Ash,” seemed a little more exasperated this time.

  Ash’s “Oh, I forgot” actually saw several in the crowd face fault. I had never seen anyone actually fall over in surprise before, but the slap stick apparently wasn’t completely limited to the anime.

  It did make me a little more disappointed in Ash. I mean, he was probably 11 or 12 or something, but seriously? Didn’t he at least know the basic typing?

  That wasn’t helped when Ash returned his Pidgeotto only to send out his Pikachu next. “Go Pikachu!”

  Pikachu looked much more eager to battle this time. Maybe it was because he was facing a Geodude and not an Onix right off the bat.

  I knew that Pikachu would one day become world tier strong, but today was not yet that day.

  Brock looked unconcerned as he ordered Geodude forward.

  However I was shocked as apparently Ash’s strategy of supercharging his Pikuchu was way more effective than I thought it would be because when Ash yelled ‘Thunderbolt’, there was a blinding bolt of electricity.

  It was enough that the barriers hum picked up… or maybe that was the ringing in my ears as I was completely blinded for several seconds. When I was finally able to see again we all stared dumbfounded as Brock’s Geodude actually collapsed looking like it had been covered in soot.

  The gym was silent at that moment before there was a spattering of applause. Apparently that had surprised everyone.

  In fact, no one looked more surprised than Brock, but demonstrating that he was still a professional he didn’t let his shock stop him for more than a few seconds before he sent out Onix

  “You may have been able to stop my Geodude, but there is no way your Pikachu will be able to beat my Onix”.

  It was then that I realized that Brock really liked being a bit of a heel to the trainers that arrived. Being confrontational like this must have gotten their blood pumping and made them feel better about winning. It couldn’t be his own personality because an asshole wouldn’t be taking care of his siblings after his parents ran off or have helped Ash so much along his journey.

  I wondered if Ash would try something else. Pikachu had moves that weren’t electric. In fact I was pretty sure he already knew Quick Attack.

  However, just like last time Ash decided to go for the obvious, yelling out “Thunderbolt!” However, this time we were all prepared and simply winced as lightning struck the arena.

  Unfortunately for Ash, we could all see his face fall as he saw Onix barely the worse for wear.

  Again I wondered if he was going to try something else but Ash demonstrated he was of the ‘just try harder’ approach to solving because he yelled out another “Thunderbolt!”

  This lightning strike was noticeably smaller than the first two and I winced. It was not going to work. However I did notice that some of the small banners in the roof had started smoldering. Now remembering that detail of the sprinklers making all the difference I waited to see how this would play out.

  Brock simply shook his head, disappointed. “Bind!”

  Pikachu tried to dodge but the Onix moved quickly and wrapped up the small rodent pokemon in his tail before he started to squeeze.

  We all waited for Ash to declare his forfeit as he had done last time, but this time he yelled out. “We aren’t giving up here. Hold on Pikachu!”

  Seeing Pikachu groan, Brock sighed and ordered Onix to release Pikachu.

  Brock’s demand to forfeit was less kind this time. “You can’t win this. Give up!”

  However, Ash’s subbornheadeness was in full effect as he declared that “We are going to see this to the end!” and actually made me wince.

  Saying that was all fun and games when it was a cartoon, but watching real live Pokemon get hurt in a match they had no chance of winning with those strategies was just stupid.

  That was the moment that I had been waiting for as the sprinklers kicked on and started raining the arena with water. I winced as Onix immediately groaned in pain.

  Ash then proved he wasn’t a complete idiot and realized the water would help the electricity bring Brock’s Onix down. Or at least he probably realized what was happening after Misty literally yelled out “Rock Types are weak against WATER.”

  Apparently Pikachu was all fired up again or had gotten his second wind as the Thunderbolt this time was just as bright as the first.

  Brock seemed to have been thinking the same as I could see Brock’s eyebrow twitch and I wondered if he was rolling his eyes, shutting them in frustration, or looking up in the sky for guidance.

  Ash had pulled a win out of his ass. Yet he only just barely demonstrated that he knew what Pokemon typings were.

  Ash’s command to “Finish it!” seemed a bit cruel when Brock’s Pokemon was weakened. Specifically right after Brock had spared Pikachu from Onix’s bind not two minutes before.

  Yet that was only the surface level of what was going on, Brock was a gym leader and his Pokemon had to be used to losses or even taking a dive or no one would ever get a badge.

  Yet before Ash could command Pikachu to attack Brock’s youngest siblings ran out to stop Ash. Maybe Onix was more hurt than I realized… or maybe they wanted to teach Ash to be a little more considerate.

  Either way, it seemed to work as Ash paused and said “I can’t do it” before realizing he was literally being held back. Again, part of me wondered if he was just an idiot at this point.

  Still, he listened to their pleas to not hurt Onix and after a moment he shook his head. “Pikachu, Return!”

  Pikachu looked a bit confused, but seemed willing to follow Ash’s lead on this one.

  On the other hand Brock looked surprised as he asked. “What do you think you are doing? This isn’t over.”

  Ash smiled, showing his best attempt at a cool pose, and replied. “That water was an accident, it wouldn’t have proved anything, we are going to be back to battle you my way. Fair and square.”

  Brock actually looked impressed, probably for the same reasons as the Laurance kid. However before he could say anything else, Ash turned and walked out of the front door.

  I almost laughed as I watched Brock open and close his mouth. It was clear that he was about to tell him what he had done well and what he needed to work on. Maybe even tell him that he had still earned a badge regardless of his loss, but Ash hadn’t even given him a chance.

  I shook my head. Ash really was like a whirlwind of energy and chaos. Behind him I noticed Flint slip out the doors as well.

  Shoulders slumping Brock turned to address the audience. “It looks like I need to track down that young man, I guess that is the end of the gym battles for today.”

  The dozen or so other people in the gym watching the matches today, including Misty, all laughed at that and we started making our way towards the exit.

  If I remembered the anime correctly, Brock would run up and offer Ash the Boulder Badge. Ash would refuse saying he didn’t earn it. Brock would explain that he had done enough. The two would have a heart to heart about wanting to follow their dreams and become the best Pokemon Trainer and Pokemon breeder respectively.

  Despite following the two towards the road that ran along the edge of town, we were much too far away to hear any of their conversation and despite Aisha’s pointed glair, I refused to open up a portal just so we could listen in. I didn’t want to encourage any more of her voyeuristic tendencies.

  As Sabah, who apparently knew this part better than I did told everyone else what was happening I wondered about the morality of Pokemon breeding when the Pokemon were almost as intelligent as you were. Was it like doctors in a fertility clinic or was it like some questionable dog breeders that would wait until the female dog was in heat and just shove her in a cage with a male?

  I shook my head, I was going to believe it was the former for my own piece of mind. It was still a bit weird, but when in Rome I guess.

  That was when Flint caught up with the pair. Sabah continued to explain his identity for those who hadn’t caught that along with his expected offer to take up his position as Gym Leader again.

  To my surprise I could see the weight that suddenly fell from Brocks shoulders even from the hundred yards away that we had stopped at.

  Yet now that Brock was facing us, I could tell he was planning something from the grin he was now sporting.

  So, as they approached us and came back into hearing range, I wasn’t surprised to be able to make out Brock explaining all the things Flint would need to do to take care of. Honestly there really wasn’t any sympathy from me, Brock’s siblings were his children… all of these things that Brock was currently doing were Flint’s responsibility.

  It really just highlighted how awesome Brock was. The anime was from the perspective of Ash and really didn’t show how much Brock did here and on the road. In fact, often Brock was just comic relief, especially with his flirting attempts.

  Seeing them heading back, we had started walking back towards the gym as well as to not get in their way when we spotted Misty on the side of the road. Maybe she had decided to follow us when we started following Brock.

  Realizing what was about to happen I considered encouraging my girls to step to the side so they wouldn’t be collateral in Brock’s attempt to flirt with Misty since he was pretty famous for trying to flirt with all the ladies he came across… or just about anything that was human and female.

  I knew my girls didn’t need me white knighting for them, but I also knew that none of them really enjoyed the catcalling either. It wasn’t like I was going to get jealous as I trusted them but, especially for my four wives, getting hit on in front of your spouse was… uncomfortable.

  Still, I couldn’t really find myself hating Brock either as long as he kept it polite. Amy had done some serious work on all of us to the point I believed my girls were all world class beauties. Not inhumanly beautiful and thus in the uncanny valley, but the full lips, blemish free skin, slight blush to the cheeks, silk like hair, large eyelashes on an athletic but also curvy hourglass body was… entrancing. The only reason they didn’t get mistaken for models more often was because we were generally dressed for battle, training, or comfort.

  However, to my surprise, I saw Sarah step up in front of our group.

  Yet I didn’t have any more time to ask her what she was doing before Brock spotted Sarah and came bounding over and practically threw himself in front of her. “My fair lady, would you do me the honor of giving me your name?”

  Completely breaking my expectations of her reaction she simply smiled at him and responded. “My name is Sarah Kim.” Her mouth tilted up into a bit of a self amused smile. “I occasionally go by Bakuda. You impressed me with your battling today.”

  I could practically see blood overflowing to his face as he turned an almost comical shade of red. “Uh, thank you, My name is Brock Harrison. You wouldn’t mind doing me the honor of a… date… would you?” He visibly considered kissing the hand but must have decided it was too forward and simply took it and held it up while practically vibrating with hope.

  I actually saw Sarah smile for the first time in a long while as he seemed to worship the ground she walked on. “That sounds… nice.”

  There was a full three seconds of silence as everyone was surprised Brock’s flirting actually worked.

  Yet, as her agreement was finally processed, I watched as Brock looked like he was split between kneeling at her feet in thanks and jumping for joy. It was then as I saw her smile I realized what might have happened. Bakuda in the story had her pride, in fact it was arguably her defining feature.

  Now that I considered that, even after her conflict drive was removed by removing her shard’s influence, she was probably never going to be happy with a supporting role. Even if I gave her all the power, comfort, and things in the world, she was always going to want to be at the top of the pecking order. She wanted to be the center of attention. Something that my Family was never going to be able to give her.

  It made me realize that I had been either incredibly lucky, or maybe influenced into picking the girls I had chosen to bring with me. Taylor, Amy, Dinah, and Sabah were all either self sacrificing or shied away from conflict wanting to be with people that cared. The Family fit into that almost perfectly.

  Ahri was a kind soul that wanted family and to know about her past. The Family gave her both.

  Luna and Hermione were both supportive personalities and seemed to thrive in supportive groups. Yes Hermione had her pride of being the smartest in the books, but this Hermione was older and her intellect was already well respected among us. Even our attempts to recruit Holly seemed to be a good fit since Holly Potter, like Harry Potter, didn’t want the fame or attention and seemed happiest with friends and potential family.

  Ahsoka had been a bit attention seeking baggart when she was younger, but the war and hardship had broken her out of that. While she was still on the fringes of the Family she looked like she would stay and be happy here.

  Hinata was hard to read, but the longer she spent with us, the more I was starting to feel like she was letting her guard down. It was almost like she was slowly melting. It wasn’t that she was cold or standoff-ish, but almost like she was learning how to let down her guard and ridgid manners.

  I didn’t know if Lara or Tonks would end up joining us as they were a bit more adventurous and individually driven, but they worked hard for family so it was possible.

  Aisha, Alice, and Riley seemed like they were interested in what we were doing, but they were also quite young and impatient, mistrusting, and traumatized respectively. They simply didn’t seem to know what they wanted. It was probably a good thing they were leaving for at least a few months so they could take some time to themselves without feeling like I was pressuring them.

  That was the same as Missy and Vicky. The two had become somewhat close recently. They both had liked the same guy, Dean, who had died. They both came from dysfunctional homes. Originally they were both attention seeking, or at least liked being recognized for their work. Now… Well, now I wasn’t sure what they wanted and this would give them a chance to figure it out.

  In fact, now that I had time to consider it, Vicky and Missy were probably something similar to Ginny Weasley. Ginny didn’t want to be left behind, but she didn’t really want to join either. Ginny had her dream of being a Quidditch star and doubted she would join us before achieving that.

  Thea was an AI and just seemed thrilled to explore. Her small floating drone had been attracting a few looks, but the tech level probably could have created her and anything she could fabricate so she kind of fit in.

  Still, that was something I could consider later.

  Taking a deep breath I focused back on Sarah’s slight preening under Brock’s attention. It was to the point that Misty actually grabbed his ear and pulled him away to lecture him about proper behavior.

  That made me take a metaphorical step back. I would have thought that Brock would have hit on Misty. However, now that I thought about it, Brock’s type was always the mature and curvy type… Misty was neither of those things…

  Misty swung her head around to look daggers at me.

  I blinked in surprise and Misty’s eyes narrowed. “You were thinking something quite rude just now, weren’t you?”

  I had to keep my jaw from dropping. Was Misty psychic now?

  No, wait, this was a bit of a slapstick world. Maybe the very reality around us was driving us towards that level of physical comedy.

  Misty obviously didn’t like my silence and actually stepped forward, “I don’t care what kind of pretty boy you are, but…”

  That was enough for Taylor and Amy to step between Misty and me with Ahri stepping up behind us which brought Misty up short. Amy shook her head. “You can punish Brock if you want, but if Sarah likes it then it really isn’t any of your business.” We all glanced over at Sarah who was frowning a little. Amy shook her head. “As for the rest of us, even if he was thinking something mean, that doesn’t give you the right to hurt our husband.”

  I had to fight down a blush as I realized they were white knighting for me now that the roles had been reversed. From their smiles Taylor, Amy, Dinah, and Luna were giving me knowing glances, obviously aware of my slightly embarrassed amusement at the role reversal. Ahri and Sabah behind me also knew me well enough to likely see the humor in it even if they couldn’t see my face.

  Misty seemed to mouth the word “Our Husband?” several times obviously confused since I doubted Poligamy was legal here.

  Really, I was surprised it hadn’t come up until now. Then again, Earth Bet was a world collapsing into a dystopia, Ahri was a fox, Hogwarts crowd and Alice were being influenced by Victorian sensibilities which I now could confirm had open brothels and mistresses. Ahsoka was a literal alien. Hinata was from a middle-ages styled Asian country where there were courtesans and concubines for leaders. I had once read that until very recently between 3 and 5 percent of the population were prostitutes… that was approximately 1 in every 10 women. Maybe what we had wasn’t normal, but it wasn’t as unheard of as people would have thought.

  Yet before Misty could figure out what she wanted to say, we were interrupted by Brock turning to address Sarah again, “Would you allow me to travel with you, my fair Sarah?”

  That got Ash to cry out, “Hey, I thought you were coming with us.”

  Before Brock could say something about how that was before he met Sarah, Sarah spoke up. “I wouldn’t mind traveling with you as well. I have a few Pokeballs, and have been considering becoming either a trainer or a coordinator. You wouldn’t mind helping me, would you, Brock?”

  Brock’s head almost turned into a blur as he nodded his head. “Of course, of course, I would be happy to.”

  I actually sighed at that. I explained my realization quietly so my girls could hear me. “Sarah just got someone to fawn over her, carry her things, buy her stuff, and a talented Pokemon teacher all at the same time. She might really have been impressed by his battling, but I don’t think anyone can doubt she won’t be getting her money’s worth. Plus the fact that she knew the difference between trainers and coordinators proves she understands this world fairly well.”

  That got several nods and a slightly confused look from Misty who must have overheard me.

  Calling out to Sarah while getting everyone else’s attention as well. “If all of you are headed out, why don’t we get everyone’s stuff and we can meet at the town gate in perhaps four hours? It will allow everyone to each lunch, pack and be ready to go.”

  It was actually Brock that I knew would probably need the most time to pack his things as I didn’t think he expected to be leaving any time soon.

  Still Brock looked back and forth between us obviously wondering about our relationship. However, before I could offer something of an excuse Sarah came up with one of her own by reframing the truth a bit. “Max and the girls here grabbed me before I could make a big mistake and I got involved with a lot of violence. They have been getting me some help ever since, but I am ready to head out on my own now.”

  I had to admit that that was actually well done as it was both true and also gave nothing away. Still, I wasn’t going to be here much longer so it probably didn’t matter.

  Seeing as no one else gave any complaints and even Ash, Misty, and Brock looked to be in agreement I led my group away, noting that Sarah was happily waving at Brock as she followed us.

  Luna turned around to look at Dinah, Vicky, Missy, Alice, Riley, and Aisha. “It is time. I want us to make a magical girl squad. Max is going to give us money for an Eevee team and we are going to take this world by storm. Are you with me?”

  There was a moment of silence before I could see the idea start to take hold between the girls. A few moments later a too-wide smile broke out on all seven of them.

  My first thought was, oh dear Arceus, I am sorry.

  Seriously, this wasn’t my intention. Luna, Dinah, Aisha, Missy, and Vicky were all chaos magnets and I actually felt a little sorry for anything or anyone in their way. Riley and Alice might slow them down a bit, but not by much.

  My second thought was, how long had Luna been planning this?

  She had obviously been working on it for at least the moment we touched down here, but the stuff she had brought from Hogwarts implied she had at least a little idea from the start.

  My third thought was, WAIT… I am going to be paying for what?

  We had already confirmed Eevees could cost as much as one of the fancy, foldable bikes worth thousands of Pokedollars.

  I thought about complaining, but after seeing her raised eyebrow I decided it just wasn’t worth it and looked for an alley where no one could see us so we could portal back to the shuttle.

  The first few seconds of walking were silent before Aisha asked the question. “So, you got the hots for old squinty boy Brock, huh?”

  Sarah’s sneer was something to behold. “Just because you want to Money…”

  Wanting to kill this conversation now as it was likely to turn into a slurs and these two were not ones to give ground, I cut in firmly. “We are going to have to remove your unbreakable vow if you are staying here in Pokemon. This world is fairly safe, but I don’t want you having to hold back against Team Rocket here or the others like Team Magma or Aqua.”

  Again, I didn’t mention that Pokemon made her personal threat level almost moot and this was a world where, unless something happened to Arceus, there was an almost guarantee of things generally working out for the better. I mean, it was a world that almost ran on friendship and hard work unless it was some sort of doomed timeline… and Luna would have noticed if it was.

  Looking around and noticing we were once again alone in an alley between buildings and I opened a portal into the shuttle for the last time for most of these girls.

  Inside I noticed that the Pelhams, Dallons, Alcotts, Danny Hebert, Lisa, and Brian all looked more or less ready to go.

  Nodding to everyone and inspecting the two Hogwarts trunks for the families along with several boxes and suitcases for the rest of them I looked around. “Look around and double check you haven’t forgotten anything. Girls, why don’t you get ready while we cook lunch…”

  Missy, Vicky, Luna, Dinah, Alice, and Aisha turned around to collect their stuff. Meanwhile I realized that I only had two Pokemon backpacks which I handed to Missy and Vicky while Luna had her own bag. However even if Dinah shared with Luna which seemed likely, I was going to have to figure out how to get one for Alice and Aisha. Yet before I could Luna and Dinah proved they were ahead of me again as each one handed a magical bag to Alice and Aisha respectively.

  Really, how long had they been planning this?

  That just left the rest of us to work on Lunch. I even sent out Taylor and Hinata to grab more ingredients in order to make this a bit more special. We had time and magic so we could try to make some sort of lasagna and garlic bread with what we had.

  It was when we were wrapping up and sticking everything in the ovens when Xeno showed up frazzled carrying a vast assortment of bags while dragging a trunk behind him.

  I shook my head. As much as I had learned to really love the crazy fatherly mentor, I suspected he wasn’t ever going to leave this world again. It was a world of discovery, strange creatures, and magical wonders… that might have literally been magic since I wasn’t sure how some of the things Pokemon were doing were possible if magic wasn’t involved somehow.

  As the food cooked, the following hour was spent watching the departing people prepare which inevitably took longer than the travelers expected. Still, it gave us more time to work make some packed lunches and distribute more gold for everyone to use as a safety net.

  When It was their turn to come get money, Luna and Dinah came up with puppy dog eyes already on and I simply shook my head and handed them a bag with a full fifth of our gold. It was probably a hundred thousand British pounds, enough to buy another small cottage in Hogsmeade. Yet, I suspected they could find more money to repay me with if they wanted to. Still, I didn’t miss their smirks and high fives as they left.

  Lunch was a somewhat somber affair, but as everyone discussed their plans. I noticed that Luna and Dinah pulled Amy to the side to make some sort of request. Amy blinked in obvious surprise, but after a moment she rolled her eyes and nodded with another more embarrassed high five.

  As Ahri and Sabah took care of the clean up I moved a portal to an apartment block for the refugees that wanted to stay here. I then sent another portal towards the coast for Danny. The final portal was placed a little outside the city near where we had promised to meet up with Ash and company.

  There was a lot of awkward hugging and goodbyes even among the groups staying here on the Pokemon world. Dinah wasn’t staying with her parents even if she promised to talk to them often. Neither was Vicky or Aisha. Still, that was their choice and I wasn’t about to get involved.

  When it was down to the newly named ‘magical girl squad’. Which was somewhat literally named as Dinah requested that I give Alice, Aisha, Riley, Missy, and Vicky the ability to cast Hogwarts type magic. They wouldn’t be able to do much without wands, but it made them literal magic girls which seemed to make all of them except Alice happy. Alice obviously didn’t understand the appeal like the four from Earth Bet.

  Meanwhile Sarah stood a little off to the side watching down the road.

  Ash was the first to arrive with Pikachu and Misty trailing behind him.

  Brock crested the hill next being followed by Flint and his siblings all wishing him a safe journey.

  When they met with Sarah they only paused for a minute awkward but before I could say anything. Sarah once again beat me to the punch. “Thank you the help and for giving me a chance.”

  I was suddenly hit by the realization that based on what she would do and what we had accomplished here. I hadn’t been thinking that at the beginning, but maybe we should try to rehabilitate villains when we could. Riley was another prime example.

  Yet as I thought about it I realized we couldn’t do it for everyone and now was not the time to get lost in thought.

  Nodding to her I smiled. “Good luck…”

  Watching them walk into the distance I turned to the ‘magical girl squad’.

  There were a lot of things I wanted to say, but after a moment I just tried to give them a genuine smile as I encouraged them. “Please take care, I want you to have fun, grow, and see the world, but be safe.”

  Luna rolled her eyes at my awkward speech but stepped forward to hug me. “We will see everything and we won’t let any Nargles stop us. Just remember to come back in six months, I am serious about that.”

  I paused for a moment but nodded.

  Turning to Dinah I smiled. “Please take care of them. You are probably the wisest of everyone here.”

  Dinah looked at me and took a deep breath before fixing a smile on her face. “I will, and I will be ready when you get back.”

  Deciding not to think about what she might be hinting at as I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable about their ages especially when we first met. Still that was not something to be discussed now.

  Giving me one more goodbye, the magical girl squad turned and headed towards the edge of town perpendicular to the road where I suspected they could find a breeder for Eevee. I was sure they would want to follow Ash and see Mt. Moon and the Clefairy before they moved on.

  Danny Hebert was now the last one left waiting to head through the last portal to the Cerulean port maybe 50 miles or so away. He looked at us, before pulling Taylor a little further out of hearing range to say his goodbyes. I wasn’t about to begrudge him that as I was sure he wanted to mend a few bridges, and tell her to be safe… maybe to leave me if I hurt her. I didn’t know and I didn’t care to find out.

  A minute or so later, Danny Hebert finished his conversation and stepped through and waved goodbye for now.

  And with that we had gone from dozens of people down to just myself; my original four wives: Taylor, Amy, Sabah, Ahri; the genius bookwork: Hermione; the wandering Jedi: Ahsoka; Dragon’s branch AI: Thea, and the ninja duo: Anko and Hinata.

  It was still 10 people, but as we stepped back into the shuttle in the center of our pocket land, it actually felt a little empty.

  I was going to have to head back into town tomorrow morning to try to hunt down somewhere where we could buy the force field generators. The more I thought about them, the more I wanted one. Star Wars had force fields for physical and energy projectiles, but Pokemon had ones that could stop energy, sound, psychic attacks, and maybe even teleporting.

  I also needed to follow up on the berries that Amy had been drooling over in the shop. Those could be incredible and I could only imagine having an entire plantation of those on our land.

  It was just going to take more gold… again… Damn it.

  I was going to have to try out my theory of mining asteroids for precious metals wasn’t I?

  Behind me Anko smirked and broke me out of my thoughts. “Well, now that the distractions are gone. I think it is about time we got you started on your training, don’t you think?”

  I winced, realizing I was also going to be in a lot of pain, very soon.

  We had another day or so until we could jump… I might be begging for that to happen sooner if her tone was anything to go by.

  Interlude Ahri:

  Watching Luna and Dinah leave was one of the hardest things she had done. It reminded her too much of when her pack of arctic foxes had been killed and she had been left to wander the icy tundra alone.

  Oh, she still had her fellow wives and her mate, but Dinah had been there longer than even she had. Dinah was her pack, even if the others didn’t want to call it that.

  Feeling the older ninja eyeing her tails again she forced herself not to respond. It wasn’t her fault that another ninetails, this one not even vaguely humanoid, had attacked their village.

  It didn’t help that her slight empathic sense from the ninja was swinging back and forth between sensing a hungry horniness and a warry anger.

  Were those the only two feelings that this Anko could feel?

  To the buxom kunoichi’s credit, she had started the training off strong. Yes she was actively attacking them if they were too slow on their runs through an obstacle course, but she was also giving them theory… albeit via yelling at them as they ran and dodged.

  Still even Hinata had seemed a little intimidated by Anko’s training and she was already trained even if it apparently wasn’t up to Anko’s high standards.

  Said training thus had left them all exhausted.

  Yet after everything was all said and done. She had noticed that her body had seemed to bounce back even faster and better than the rest.

  Was this the mystical nature of being part fox spirit? She didn’t know but if it let her get closer to smacking the irritating woman upside the head, all the better.

  She was momentarily distracted by the now familiar lurch of being launched away towards another world.

  As they landed she was happy to see that while Max looked tired, he didn’t look near death like he had at the beginning.

  She just wondered why he looked conflicted as he looked out on a science and research company’s parking lot.

  Author Notes:

  1) Yep, I am apparently incapable of making these shorter. I will probably just have to start cutting these in half in the future, but here you go.

  2) After studying “Hard Enough” I wanted to take a crack at writing a Pokemon Battle. I have more respect for that story now as this fought me a bit, Still hopefully this wasn’t too terrible.

  3) I am curious what you all think Luna and Dinah requests were from Arceus and Amy.

  Also, yes I love the idea of said seven girls running around in Pokemon causing havoc. If it wouldn’t slow this story down even further I would make an entire story of just that.

  4) And yeah I want Brock to be cool, but he is still canonically a simp… so I figured Bakuda who wants to be the center of someone’s world would like that… plus she was impressed by his battling. I also peg this version of Bakuda as someone who secretly liked Pokemon.