Erin

  —

  I was still lightly frowning as Diana left the room.

  I wasn't upset about the questions, honestly. She had soft-balled a lot of them, and they were natural questions to want answered. I still couldn't talk about some of those, and wouldn't for the rest… If I ever did want to talk to a reporter for some reason, I would call her, so it had worked out for both of us, really…

  No, I was frowning because she had asked me a very good question, and I didn't have an answer to it…

  What did I want to do?

  I had no idea, and that… was a familiar feeling, honestly. Growing up I hadn't exactly known what I wanted to do, just what I didn't want to be. Goals? Those were for people who weren't miserable… Now, though? I liked who I was, what I was for the most part, I just… had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

  Ironically my thoughts somewhat lined up from my memories of my last life. Fourteen, feeling like an adult, so ready to be an adult, and absolutely no idea what it meant to be an adult. Not to me, just an adult in general. I'd never exactly figured that out before, either. I had one good example in my aunt, but that was it before…

  Now I had some more examples, sure, even if most of them were… statistical outliers. Professor Oak wasn't usually someone that people measured themselves against, nor was Lance, or even Raihan… I think the most 'normal' adult I knew in this world was mom, honestly! Well, Mrs. Maple, but I didn't know her that well… All of my 'role models' this time around were kind of out there… Not that that was a bad thing, of course…

  That was about what I would be this time, though, what kind of person I could turn myself into without anxiety, addiction, and depression fighting inside my head full-time.

  What would I do, though?

  Other than my aura, I didn't have any huge advantages in this world compared to a 'native', honestly. I didn't have any wildly unique recipes for this world, I'd had Dexter help me check. Some of my spice mixtures were a bit novel, and some of my preparation methods, but I wasn't about to revolutionize anything in the culinary field. Yeah, I knew a lot of Pokemon facts, but not all of them were accurate, or just completely wrong like Togepi. I knew about Legendaries and Mythicals, but once again, not sure how accurate my knowledge was. Plus, what kind of a job would involve them?

  I knew that most of the population weren't trainers, and that 'normal' jobs were, well, normal. While a construction worker here might- and usually did- work with Pokemon, at the end of the day they were still construction workers. Groceries needed to be stocked on shelves, plumbing fixed, children taught, and food cooked. Goods still needed to be transported, crops grown, technology developed.

  Most people worked jobs where strength didn't come into play even if they had Pokemon and battled, basically.

  I had said I wanted to be a trainer, and that hadn't changed, but… what kind of trainer? I wasn't the kind to strive to be the strongest in the world, although I would probably give it a shot at some point, so what was my motivation? Well, there was one really big one, honestly.

  To see this new, insane world I've been dropped into.

  Would I be more like a tourist, just idly visiting new places with my immensely overpowered team? Did I want to follow the 'Ketchum' route and Journey for years, competing in Conferences in every region? That would be boring with my current team, though, and I didn't want to form new teams each Circuit… A wandering Dragon Master, finding the regions strongest to challenge out of pride? A hunter capturing or putting down dangerous Pokemon? Nah, the Rangers usually did that… A bit more scientific, going on expeditions to catalogue new Pokemon?

  That last one was very interesting, actually, because this world was not Earth. I had seen a globe of it before, and it was similar, if with smaller landmasses, but distinctly not Earth. The amount of areas humans had settled was small, too. There were enough 'regions' out there to double the 'franchise', actually… Or at least surface area. There wasn't much information on them, either. In a world where going to sea meant dealing with Gyarados, Sharpedo, Jellicent, Dragalge and Dhelmise, just to name a few, attempts to sail the globe outside of established routes between known regions were few and far between in the past.

  Ocean shipping these days was still dangerous, but not deadly anymore when attacked, just pricey. Usually… For the most part. Air shipping was safer, but still never safe, considering some of the flying types out there… It was dangerous, and expensive, to fund something like settling a new region. Satellites had made scouting places out quite a bit easier, but on top of the cost, you had to find enough people willing to move to true wilderness, too far away to quickly receive help or support. Why do that when there's still plenty of uninhabited land in the currently settled regions?

  It was fascinating, now that I gave it some real thought… I really wonder how our worlds are connected, though. A lot of the games and anime were accurate, but not everything by any means… Maybe I would get some answers if I went somewhere… 'new'?

  Would I get a real-life patch?

  Still, that wasn't a bad idea… Spend a few years growing up, traveling, enjoying my second childhood while getting stronger, then maybe go exploring?

  Huh… Yeah, I guess I'm glad I did the interview, if I had a nice realization like that. Not that I was a good interviewee… I'll give Diana some better answers next time.

  Probably.

  I'll try to, at least.

  —

  —

  The next day passed in a blur for me. Artemis and I had 'finished' our practice, and we didn't make any more mistakes, so hopefully we did well… Hopefully Artemis did well, really. I was doing very little for our performance, honestly. Both because I did not want to do this, and because I didn't trust myself to do anything complicated on a stage being stared at. The most attention I got was during Gym Battles, and those didn't bother me at all, really. Still not a fan of the audience, but they were easy to tune out when a battle was happening or about to happen…

  Still, we didn't need to plan, or practice, but we did need to register for our Challenges. Not that it took very long, but we had three days until a slot opened for us. I do mean us, too, as this was apparently a group Challenge… That made some sense, though? Solo trainers were rare for a variety of reasons. Extra security, cost sharing, and companionship were the biggest reasons, of course, but it remained a fact that the majority of trainers Journeyed in groups. Not a bad idea to challenge them as a group if you had the chance…

  We didn't have any shopping to do, either. Alex and I were still barely richer than 'completely broke', and anything we bought at this point would be kind of… indulgent, I guess? We had food, we had sustainable electricity for our devices and Dexter, we had clothes… If we were going to buy anything it would be entertainment, honestly. We'd looked at a few portable TV's, but the affordable ones were kind of small for a group of Pokemon as large as ours. We could just buy a regular model, but those didn't have humidity guarantees… along with warranties that covered being outdoors.

  Now that we had wised up and realized mom could just make us a shelter out of stone, maybe we should buy a portable AC unit… nah, it was starting to cool down. Now, a space heater? It might be unnecessary, actually, that was a lot of body heat…

  So we didn't spend any money the day before I put on my first Performance of either life, but we still stayed relatively busy.

  In fact, we found a way to combine entertainment, training, and money making into one activity!

  Battle Arena's were a thing here. There were smaller clubs, cafe's, and even a battle library here in Saffron when I'd looked it up earlier, but Arena's were the best way to make money. Although the Battle Library had looked very interesting… I wonder what the 'Champion' of the library got to read?

  Still, we went to one of Saffron's three Battle Arena's in the morning, and didn't leave until early afternoon. The battles had been very fulfilling, in more ways than one. We all made some money and had some fun, sure, but more than that? We got some experience against older trainers.

  We also had one of our weaknesses highlighted.

  We all had very straightforward ways of battling. Of training our Pokemon, really, because your Pokemon were fighting, not you, and they could throw out Moves faster than you could call them out once they were experienced enough. Our Pokemon either went straight for the knockout, or buffed themselves before going straight for the knockout. It worked on the majority of opponents, but those that it didn't?

  We didn't lose any money… overall. Cerberus lost to a Sliggoo that bogged him down with Mud Shot. Yanmega lost to an Exeggutor using Gravity, because even after training in it, it was hard for him to move and attack the way he wanted to. His Air Slash's were terrifyingly well trained, considering it was his favorite Move, but they did very little good when he had to scuttle around on the ground, and couldn't dive bomb the Move into his opponent.

  He was going to sulk for a while, and an eight foot dragonfly sulking was kind of unsettling…

  Even Hazard almost lost to a Pidgeot! To be fair, it was a much stronger, faster Pidgeot than the ones I hunted, and had avoided every ranged Move Hazard threw out for minutes… It had only taken one to knock it out of the air, although Hazard was looking pretty torn up afterwards…

  Still, it showed me a weak spot I had been vaguely aware of, but had kind of… I guess forgotten about?

  We would need to do some training before we fought Sabrina, honestly. I knew intellectually that sixth badge battles were where Gym Leaders started pulling out more complicated tactics, but now that it was looming in front of me I couldn't help but get a little worried. Our exhibition matches against Brock had been slug-fests, just power against power with little strategy. Sabrina would be using actual strategies… Most psychics also fought like Grace and Hecate, from range that they tried to maintain, and there was a reason they gave most of our Pokemon issues during spars… Even if Hecate could punch hard in melee combat these days…

  I hadn't exactly been enthusiastic to become something of an attraction at the arena, though, but it made sense… Mom didn't come out, but everyone else but Artemis made an appearance today, and other than Stabby and Ahab they were all Alpha's, and put up quite the fights… That one girl with the Sliggoo had been tough, though…

  Still, we made some decent money today, so we could at least afford to eat out tonight. I was already wanting to go hunt some more Pidgeotto, though… Those capers last night hadn't been as good as the brands I used to use, but the rest? The best 'chicken' picatta I had ever made. They even had angel hair pasta here! It had been called something else, and slightly expensive even for imported pasta, but worth it! I would need to stock up again…

  "Dexter, what was the restaurant called again?"

  I was broken out of my thoughts by Leaf's question, thankfully. I could just get lost in my thoughts… So that hadn't changed in my new life, at least…

  "It's called A Pinch of Saffron. Solidly mid-range as far as prices go, but they have discounts on large Pokemon orders, and enough room to let everyone out, even Leto if she crouches." Oh, yeah… shit. There goes most of the money I made today, then… I wasn't going to not order mom food when she could come out, of course…

  Even if I could already hear my bank account screaming.

  —

  —

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The next morning I had to argue with myself for minutes to force myself up. It was hard. I had said I would do this, and I couldn't disappoint Artemis like that… I still felt like I was going to die.

  Violently.

  —

  Alex

  —

  So apparently Erin got stage fright.

  Somehow.

  She could walk into a dark tunnel system underground and decapitate people with a smile, but tell her to walk onto a brightly lit stage? Apparently that was too much for her.

  Far too much.

  It was easy to tell that she had stage fright, considering how pale she looked at breakfast, mechanically eating a waffle like she didn't even see it. She was looking through her food, through the table, actually, and barely responded to her own name.

  Artemis had the opposite issue.

  Artemis was already posing, actually, her ration of meat ignored as she shone with Rock Polish, scales glinting in the bright cafeteria lights…

  "I thought you were really looking forward to this, Erin?"

  She lifted her head to glare at me with dull purple eyes.

  "I don't like audiences, Alex… Gym Battles I can deal with, but a Contest? I can't just focus on my Pokemon, or look straight at the Gym Leader. No, I have to look at the audience!"

  I grinned as I took another bite of my own waffle.

  "Technically you're appealing to the audience, too!" She groaned louder and dropped her head to the edge of the table.

  I couldn't resist one more jab.

  "I'm really interested in what kind of outfit you put together for this, actually!"

  I think if she groaned any louder it would be a yell…

  —

  —

  The Contest Hall was packed.

  It was easy enough to see why, as well…

  The huge poster showing Leto on top of a throne, judgemental eyes staring at the 'camera', was visible enough.

  We didn't know for certain that this place was safe, so as Erin broke away from us she handed me Leto's Luxury Ball with a frown.

  "I'll hold onto everyone else, but mom needs to go take her… throne." A faint smile played across Erin's face, but only for a brief moment. Then she was back to being pale and uneasy as she slipped through a door labeled 'Contestants Only'.

  —

  Patricia Greenwood

  —

  Most Ranch's were places of relaxation for Pokemon, places where they idled around, trained, or just enjoyed themselves in-between traveling with their trainer. Even those at Ranches specifically to breed were there voluntarily. Ranches where the Pokemon didn't have a choice weren't called Ranches, they were called farms…

  What did a large population of Pokemon in close quarters do? Even when there were other distractions and entertainment?

  Breed.

  A lot.

  I hadn't paid all that much attention to most of the Rescues 'desires', honestly. We'd had so many Rattata and Ekans to begin with that I just hadn't really… connected the dots. Those lines were very uninterested in breeding, as former… 'Expendables'... The Houndoom line as well, for similar reasons… The rest, though?

  Well, I tried to fix the problems that were cropping up by myself, but I'd had to call in a little help for this one… Not that there was much to do. Yet.

  Professor Oak had happily given me his recommendations, of course. I couldn't, or rather, wouldn't stop the rescues from breeding, but in time the population of the Ranch would grow… just a little…

  The Skarmory chicks had already hatched, of course, but many of the Murkrow had formed nests in the forest, getting help from the Grass types to form a dark section where no sun fell, and there were dozens of Eggs in total already. They had actually gotten the Ekans and Arbok to help 'guard' their nests. They just hung out, of course, but any wild Ekans that slipped in the walls would think more than a few times about trying to climb those trees…

  Not to mention the Weepinbell hanging close to the nests at night…

  Four of the Meowth were pregnant, but they wouldn't be too hard to handle, Meowth were common house Pokemon for very good reasons… Two of the Mightyena were happily pregnant, which had made the Houndoom restless… I didn't blame them for not wanting to bring any more Houndour into the world yet, though.

  A few of the Zubat were pregnant, too! They apparently had singular pups for the most part, so that was one population that I wouldn't have to worry about exploding… Three of the Hypno were pregnant as well!

  Even two of the Indeedee were pregnant!

  Luckily I knew what to do even before I called Professor Oak, it had been part of my test to open a Ranch, I had just wanted some confirmation…

  It took me and the Meowstic hours, but eventually we had a full list of every rescue, and some notes for each. Well, we'd already had records, of course, but we hadn't asked a very basic question in the confusion of binding hundreds of rescues.

  What to do with their kids?

  For some Pokemon they simply didn't care what happened to their offspring so long as it wasn't bad, so those were easier. Many wanted their offspring to stay with them, which was slightly harder to deal with, but not very much… Unless the Oddish and Bellsprout lines decided to breed, considering they could have dozens of 'sprouts' each time, we would have plenty of space for everyone without expanding the walls.

  The rest, though? Most Pokemon at places like Breeder Ranches wanted their offspring to go with trainers both new and experienced, to spread their genetics far and wide, to give their offspring options. We may not be a dedicated Breeding Ranch, but at this point, we were close enough… Of course, that was accomplished a bit differently depending on the species.

  Pokemon Eggs were strange things, and were still being researched to this day. An avian Egg was the typical type of Egg people thought of when they were mentioned. Everything needed for life, just developing outside of the mother. They could be eaten, because avians only produced Eggs. Many, many species of Pokemon gave live birth, however, or used different 'shell' substances, such as aquatic Pokemon and their flexible Eggs, like Gyarados and even Dragonite. Bipeds especially gave live birth more often than anything.

  How did Eggs work for those that gave live birth, then?

  That was a very good question, because nobody knew for certain.

  A Pokemon like a Pidgey or Spearow? They laid their Eggs, Eggs that physically developed inside of them. A Pokemon like a Tauros or Hypno? They made their Eggs.

  Somehow.

  As far as I was aware Professor Elm in Johto was currently studying the phenomena, and very little was understood yet. It was theorized that Eggs were simply an in-built property of Pokemon themselves, allowing two physically-incompatible Pokemon to breed, and also likely a response to environmental stressors. Depending on the species, it was far easier to take care of an Egg for a month or two rather than deal with a growing pregnancy for many, many months… There were never large amounts of Eggs produced at one time, however, so doing it biologically was still the 'best' option.

  Pokemon at dedicated Breeders could choose, and decide between live birth or Eggs, but Eggs were most common for the majority of the year. It was generally preferred by trainers for the extra bonding time and imprinting before they hatched, and before they reached a certain point of development Eggs could be put into stasis, making transport easier.

  Still, none of ours wanted to make Eggs, those that had a choice at least, and that meant that while the majority of the rescues that did intend on breeding wanted to keep their kids, some wanted them to go to trainers. Not as house Pokemon, no, they wanted them to get experience. To grow strong, broaden their horizons.

  It was a rather easy problem to solve, however, even if I couldn't quite get around to it yet.

  Children needed starter Pokemon, after all.

  Next year's batch of kids from Pallet Town, Viridian City, and various other small towns would all have a bit more variety in their options. The Zubat, Meowth, and Murkrow would join the Tauros and various other Pokemon the Professor contributed yearly. There may even be a few who got one of the rarer Pokemon, like a Skarmory or an Indeedee. The maids hadn't made up their minds yet, but I had to imagine the first litters would stay with us for a while at least, and probably get at least partially trained as Nurses… I wonder what a baby Drowzee looked like? I agreed with Erin, they were kind of cute in an ugly sort of way, but a baby one? That sounded like pure cuteness.

  I had baby Pokemon on my mind a lot these days. Even before sunrise! Mainly because my sunrises included baby Skarmory these days, and the knowledge that they would soon awaken was like a giant, high-pitched blade hanging over all of our heads.

  The first true rays of sunlight were greeted by the adult Skarmory, and I was used to those. It was an unholy clanging, screeching sound, but it was bearable, and over quickly.

  The truly hellish, unorganized, high-pitched screeching chaos that erupted after the adults was honestly one of my least favorite sounds. Ever. It really didn't help that the babies were so adorable!

  They were growing rapidly, but the first morning I experienced my newest wake-up call I had been practically harassed up onto the roof to meet them. Four tiny, fluffy chicks, each the size of one of my fists, each so adorably soft! I knew that wouldn't last, though, especially considering the brambles that had filled most of the space inside their alcove. I had looked it up later, and apparently them demanding I come see their kids immediately was a sign of trust. I mean, obviously, but even more so for Skarmory. That was the one time in their lives they weren't at least somewhat defended by their natural armor, and Skarmory didn't work out at most Breeders due to their hunting drive. Actually seeing baby Skarmory was rare…

  Luckily I had taken plenty of photos…

  They had let Professor Oak up there for only a couple of minutes, but that had been enough time for him to find something 'very exciting' about the whole experience…

  So that morning me, and the entire backyard, flinched as the Skarmory woke up. Then we flinched again when the babies cried out… Then we did our best to adjust to the noises, because it's not like the babies were only going to cry out once…

  I looked at a frowning Alfred with a frown of my own.

  "Leaf was always a loud baby, but that is something else…"

  Alfred nodded seriously as he stared up at the alcove, then shrugged.

  ""Children are a delight. A child is a delightful annoyance… A child that sounds like that is a delight… for their parents. Hopefully they grow well… and quickly."" I snorted out a laugh.

  Alfred had finally taken one of my 'I'd prefer not to have to ask you every time' speeches to heart and freely talked with me now, and I was very grateful for it. I now had three Pokemon translators, so I was quite happy being able to just talk to my charges whenever I wanted to. Not to mention talking to Alfred himself! Pantomime was great, and still what I mainly used, but just talking was so much nicer, even if I required help…

  "I guess I should start getting ready…" I sighed as I stood up, for multiple reasons.

  It wasn't tiredness, I had slept just fine last night. I was preparing myself for some mild insanity, actually. Leto was my biggest worry, even if I knew intellectually that she wouldn't blow her first time at a Contest. I wasn't even that worried about Erin, considering I knew she wasn't looking forward to this, and thus hopefully wouldn't do anything too insane for her Performance.

  I was worried about Artemis if they did poorly, actually. Not very much, but the thought got into my head and wouldn't leave. Artemis would throw a real tantrum if she tripped or something, I knew that… Hopefully I didn't have to find out…

  Ten minutes later I was flying Midir to Saffron, Maddy, Wukong, Alfred, the male Meowstic, and Petals joining us. That had surprised me, but apparently Petals wanted to watch, and I hadn't been about to deny her… Meowstic had come along for my protection, and I wouldn't say no to that either, of course…

  I think I might have gotten somewhat spoiled recently, though.

  Flight by Dragonite was one of the safer, faster forms of solo travel in the world, second only to Teleportation between major cities, and it was rare. Dragonite were dragons, even if they were generally kind dragons, and very few had ever volunteered for commercial flights. You had to be their trainer or someone they respected to get a ride from them…

  It was getting very common for me to just hop onto Midir and fly halfway across Kanto in an hour now, though… He was fast, too… I remember how hard it was to move to Pallet Town from Saffron! I had shipped my stuff, not that I'd had much, but getting to Pallet had taken most of a day in a taxi! These days I just hopped onto a Pokemon that casually broke the sound barrier!

  I really hadn't expected my personal 'team' to look like this when I was eleven, a failed trainer with no Pokemon, either.

  I hadn't expected Wukong to show back up, of course, but Maddy? The huge, terrifying Alpha Fearow? She had certainly been a surprise, more so than Alfred. It had seemed inevitable from the first day that one of the butlers would latch onto me, and I had been right. Petals was the real shock, because of all the things I expected to come out of that Pokeball my daughters had sent me, an Alpha Bellossom was not one of them. Midir, though? Midir was an unsurprising surprise, especially after he had said he would be a 'Greenwood dragon'.

  I felt kind of odd about the entire situation, honestly. My team alone placed me in the ranks of Elite trainers, not officially but just based on estimated strength. Three Alphas by themselves were unheard of, considering most fought humans, but add a Dragonite into the mix? I was strong.

  Or really, my 'team' was strong. Me? I had been a mediocre trainer at best, yet now I had powerful Pokemon… I had no desire to battle, but I should probably ask them if they wanted to visit a Battle Arena or something. At the very least it would break up the monotony of sparring amongst themselves and some of the Pokemon at the Professor's Ranch.

  I might not enjoy being a trainer, or be very good at it, but very few people disliked watching a battle…

  —

  —

  I had more than a few mixed feelings about Saffron, but I can't deny that the skyline, and the huge buildings, were somewhat nostalgic. I much preferred Pallet Town now, and especially my Ranch, but I'd had some good times in Saffron. Bad times too, sure, but that was life… and despite the lack of greenery, Saffron practically pulsed with life. Also traffic, which is why I had never bothered to get a license before moving, lack of funding for a vehicle aside.

  Still, I was grateful to make my way to the Contest center, Meowstic riding on my left shoulder, and the sight I saw left me slightly stunned.

  There was a huge banner hung down the side of the building… A huge, eye-catching banner. One with Leto on it, sitting on a huge throne and staring down like the Tyrant Queen she was. Three human judges sat on a smaller throne to the side, all four of them facing a spotlight.

  Oh Arceus above…

  It was just now hitting me what I was about to experience, and judging from the large crowd, they had realized it as well.

  The Tyrant Queen of Galar, a huge Alpha Tyrantrum and a confirmed, documented maneater, was about to judge an entire Contest. She had a decent reputation here in Kanto, so the perfectly valid fear that people felt had been blunted a bit…

  Leto loved to watch Contests. It was one of her favorite things to do, honestly, and she always judged them herself. Before Dexter it had been a bit harder to translate, but she would point up or down to give her own score. She adored judging others, and harshly… Leto could be a bit mean, but I was really looking forward to her reactions in there.

  An entire Contest to judge… Including two of her daughters…

  This was going to be great!