Leaf

  —

  That night we got some looks from the flock of Doduo as mom's meat spit lazily spun over some embers, and even more looks when Erin ran off to do some more hunting…

  The looks turned into wide, hopeful eyes after a braver Dodrio asked for a bite and Leto allowed it… Doduo were omnivores, even if they mostly ate vegetation, and I guess Tauros tasted just as good to them as it did to us… Luckily they wanted nothing to do with the Pidgeotto that Erin had brought back earlier, though, and after we roasted it we mixed that with some dried noodles for our lunch and dinner.

  Of course, Erin hadn't had too much time to hunt, considering she'd had a talk with mom for almost an hour… We weren't mad at her, it was just… stressful, knowing she had once again put herself at risk. To accomplish a good deed? Sure, and the Doduo flock was very grateful, but there was still a chance that she would get hurt or die each time she did something like this. Erin wasn't even upset by the talk, either. She understood we were just worried about her…

  Emily and Anya were much more disconcerted, though, by the huge flock of Doduo and Dodrio surrounding our campsite. Our campsite, and the injured Alpha.

  It- She had been calm by the time we got there, and gratefully accepted her treatment, but she was very much not happy to be told to stay off her feet while her leg healed. It had taken Ahab, Hecate, and Cerberus to hold her heads and other leg down to set and splint her broken leg, actually, because not even she trusted herself not to snap at the source of her pain. She was laying on her stomach right now, all three heads glaring at the meat spit. Well, one was glaring, one looked sad, and one looked happy… All three looked hungry, though, but she'd already been given some…

  "Is this the kind of thing you kids get up to every time you leave a city or something?"

  I laughed a little at Emily's question, relaxing with Hope and Tinkatink. Grace was still hovering over the Alpha, and judging from her frown and occasional raised fingers, scolding her for trying to move.

  "I mean, not every time? Maybe like, a quarter of the time? Sound about right, Alex?"

  Alex nodded from her spot reclining on Dignity around the fire, Joy latched onto the top of her head with Duncan sitting next to her looking very entertained by the day. That made a lot of sense, though… He had been stuck in Mt. Moon for a long time, and the first day he spent as a new trainer's Pokemon he got to witness not only the aftermath of Erin being Erin, but also her getting a well-meaning lecture about personal safety…

  I had never asked him about his first trainer, but Duncan was nice, so I doubted he killed them for naming him Duncan… They probably lost something, though, but I honestly didn't care enough to ask… Giggles had happily volunteered that his trainer was no longer among the living… I liked Giggles, but I was kinda glad he was happy enough remaining at Mt. Moon… making the occasional poachers fear him…

  "Yeah, there haven't been that many dangerous incidents. Mass capturing the Noibat colony was safe, and a Center request for Erin, even if that one Noivern was furious at first before Erin convinced them to accept moving. There was Saffron, but everyone knows about that, and so far it was a bit of an outlier." Don't jinx it, Alex!

  "The first time we went to the plains was pretty uneventful… I guess the Sharpedo pack that attacked us in Fuchsia could count, but Ahab ate them, or at least their lifeforce, and we were technically still staying in the city. Us stopping Yanmega at the Yanma swarm's request was safe, too, even if the sounds still hurt through Protects… Glad he accepted being my Pokemon, though!" Emily and Anya looked more than a little stunned as Alex just kept going.

  "I think Erin hunting a Wailord with Ahab was the most insane thing, but it was still relatively safe, I guess? Yanmega really enjoyed helping them divebomb it, actually." Now they really looked stunned, Yanmega nodding and clacking his mouth-fangs together.

  I giggled a little and looked over at Emily's first Pokemon, intrigued. He was a little shy, and hadn't wanted to come out at the Center around all of us, but out here? He couldn't just not eat… Togetic had been fed and quickly returned, glaring at me the entire time… Lightly, because every Pokemon was glaring right back at her…

  Sylveon were beautiful Pokemon, and I honestly wouldn't have minded having one on my team, even if I already had a pure Fairy. The ribbon-tentacles were slightly freaky, but nothing compared to Ahab's decaying kelp, for sure… The colorful Pokemon caught my eyes and I smiled, and I smiled wider as he grew curious.

  I closed my eyes and started to pull myself into that in-between place, and after a moment Hope helped fully pull me in. I could do it myself, but it was infinitely easier to get her to help…

  Sylveon looked like… an Eevee. That was it, just a plain Eevee made of very solid looking smoke. That was new… I had been very curious, and as he felt that he perked up a little.

  "What's so interesting? Other than you being able to come here, I mean?"

  'I've never seen a fae here that didn't start out life as a fae… wait, are you a fae?' He shook his head at me.

  "I'm not, not technically. It's more like I'm… wearing the typing? I guess? Something like that." Now I was very intrigued, and confused, but Hope had a few points to clarify.

  Only to me, not allowing Sylveon to hear.

  "He's from a branching Evolution, and he was never certainly going to be a Sylveon, so he's not… one of us, you could say. It's more like he's a… guest. Hecate is, though, because she would always have Evolved into a Hatterene. Even if she never does, that's still technically her only… path forwards."

  'How does that work, though? If she's from the same… place, wouldn't she know that?' Hope 'shook' her head.

  "Remember Erin's theory of everything? Most of it wasn't accurate, but some was… Fae like Hecate forget where they come from, that they are fae. That's why she can lie if she wants to. Even if I told her that, it's not the same as knowing that she's fae, just understanding." Huh… I'd been wondering about that… Wait…

  'What about Mime Juniors that become Galarian Mr. Mime's? They lose their fairy typing.' Hope 'shrugged'.

  "I'm not entirely sure, honestly. My guess is they forget, too, just after they Evolve. They probably change so much through Evolution that they don't notice how much more… freedom they have. We should have asked Ian's, actually." Dangit, yeah! I had one right there I could have asked!

  "You two know I can tell you're talking to each other, right?" I jerked a little and looked back at Sylveon.

  'Sorry, I was just curious… Say, if Emily named you, would it be set, like Hope and Stabby and Duncan?' He paused for a few seconds, then shook his head.

  'I'm not certain, but probably not? I wouldn't mind one, actually. You can tell her she can name me, just… something good. Please. She has a… unique naming sense. I grew up with her, and her stuffed Sentret was… very unfortunate."

  I smiled at him and pulled myself back out of that space, and when I opened my eyes Emily and Anya were staring at me. Alex looked half-asleep, actually, reclined on Dignity, who also looked half-asleep.

  I smiled at Sylveon, then turned my gaze on Emily.

  "So, you can name Sylveon and it probably won't be 'set' like it is for a born fae, and he would like one, but he would prefer a good name. Very much so, actually… Not like your, ah, stuffed Sentret." She went slightly red, even as her eyes got wide for a moment before she pulled her Sylveon to her chest, hugging him tightly.

  "Well, in that case I will, but I'll have to think about it. I've never really given it real thought, because I kind of wanted to keep breathing, but if that's the case…"

  Anya looked more intrigued than anything, though.

  "How about Marill? Would she be… 'set'?" I nodded even as the tiny blue rodent nodded, and Anya's face fell. I rushed to interrupt her mood before it fell even further.

  "Well, if she wants a name…?" Marill nodded at me, but tightly, eyes squinted.

  "I would recommend you wait until she's fully Evolved, that way you know her and every desire she might have. I'd also probably… wait until me or Erin can interpret for you, too. By interpret, I mean they pick the name out of our mind while communing. It's a bit of a loophole, because until you actually name them it's just an option you're considering, but if you ask them, it's implied that you intend to name them that… If you trust her not to take from you, and have her agree to not do it by accident temporarily, you could do it yourself, it would just hurt." Anya's face lit back up and she hugged her tiny mouse to her chest… Wait…

  "Uhh, how is she not Evolved yet, though? I thought Marill Evolved relatively fast…" They were supposedly one of the easier species to fully Evolve, actually, other than species like Rattata and Bug types…

  Anya shrugged.

  "I think she just doesn't want to yet? She's more than strong enough for it already…" Marill nodded with a wide smile. Huh, I guess that made sense…

  A crash of snapping branches made us all look towards the dark woods, and after a moment Erin emerged, slightly out of breath. She didn't look scared, just… uneasy as she ran towards us, the Doduo flock parting for her.

  "Sis, what made you run like that?" Everyone was giving her wary looks now, because Erin was insane, and something that made her run must be-

  "A Lickitung!" We all relaxed, and I smirked at her.

  "You mean one of the friendlier Pokemon out there? The ones who like humans and will go out of their way to help them if they're in trouble?" She nodded, breathing heavily as she dropped a Pidgeotto on the ground.

  "I know that, Leaf, but tell my brain that! I didn't want to get… licked by one, and it saw me… They aren't that creepy, not like a Jynx, but I'd still rather not have to… deal with them." She looked guilty as she said that, but I could… kind of understand it?

  They weren't exactly the most popular Pokemon because of their tendency to lick everything, not to mention the stinging saliva, but they were nice, friendly Pokemon for the most part… I'd never have one on my team, sure, but I don't think I'd have run like that, either…

  "I thought you loved every Pokemon?" Erin shook her head at Alex's question as Cerberus popped out to perform his usual task of being a happily grinning chair, one that Erin plopped onto with a sigh.

  "I don't judge individuals based on species, or I try not to… I think the only species I have a real… horror of would be Jynx or the Togepi line, actually. I'd rather encounter a wild Grimmsnarl, or even a Spiritomb, than one of those. Over a hundred souls shackled to a keystone? Much easier to deal with than a Jynx…" She looked embarrassed by the admission, but I just laughed.

  "Still kind of weird, but I find Jynx a little creepy, too. Although, Spiritomb are kind of murdery, so… Well, I guess you probably wouldn't have a huge issue with them. That's a whole different kind of murdery compared to Hazard, or even Ahab or Yanmega." My baby nodded from his spot, where he had been talking to… Morgrem. That could be trouble… I almost asked him, but Morgrem probably wouldn't tell me what they were talking about…

  Erin sighed heavily, staring at the fire for a moment before she brightened up.

  "We've been stuck inside for a few days, so guess what we've missed? Something that we should do before we sleep?" Alex and I both narrowed our eyes at her, because that didn't sound good…

  "Exercise!" Now we both groaned, because these days we never just exercised… Erin wanted to spar. I kind of enjoyed it, honestly, but she could be a little… overenthusiastic sometimes. Most of the time…

  "Exercise? Like, jogging and stuff?" We all grinned at Anya's innocent, naive question.

  "Yeah, sure… there's jogging in there, and stuff…"

  I might be sore later, but it was going to be so worth it to see their faces when we sparred… or when Erin sparred with Stabby!

  —

  —

  It took the Alpha three days to heal enough for Grace's liking, and we stayed relatively productive during that time. Emily was pretty idle, actually, but Anya got to experience our version of training.

  Her Pokemon were kind of irritated by Gravity, but oh well…

  Tinkatink finally progressed to the point she could not only join in on the Gravity training, but also sparring. Mainly with Morgrem going easy, because even holding back, Hazard would be a little dangerous to fight. Not that he had wanted to test it out, himself! No, my murder dragon liked Tinkatink, and he didn't want to hurt her by accident. Noibat mainly sparred against his sister… far away from the rest of us, while Grace actually sparred with Honor quite a bit. Her melee skills were the weakest thing about her in battle, but Honor was eager to pay her back for her help with his footwork.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The rest of our teams were steadily progressing, but Yanmega showed the most growth out of everyone. He was huge, strong, and fast, sure, but he hadn't had very good 'battle instincts', despite all that. After fighting Seraphina, Artemis, and Hazard, though? He had much better 'I need to dodge right now!' instincts, at the very least… He was really looking forward to Saffron and the Gym, actually…

  Unity was having a hard time with his Evolution, and nobody blamed him in the least. One of his tail serpents was cooperative, for the most part, but the rest of his new gang? They weren't. Unity sometimes struggled to even move properly, considering there needed to be cooperation between his serpents for anything resembling coordination. He was getting there, but most estimates we found on the PokeNet said it would be weeks before they had anything approaching basic cooperation in battle, and they would still bicker a lot when not in battle… Unity was very un-unified at the moment, and he was extremely frustrated by it… He was very happy with his new size, though, especially considering how he was almost twice the size of his 'underlings'…

  Erin and Artemis would run off for a couple hours every evening, and judging from their faces when they returned, their practice was… going. Not badly, but they didn't seem very enthusiastic, either. Erin also refused to tell us what her routine would look like….

  Emily and Anya had some very predictable reactions to our own, personal training. Disbelief at the intense fitness training, shock at our sparring… then extreme shock as Erin and Stabby sparred and stabbed each other. At least Emily had finally realized that no, our fae wouldn't attack us… Because if Stabby receiving a stab to his… nether regions wasn't enough to trigger some sort of 'fae rage', very little was…

  Duncan was loving the entire experience, of course. He was eager to train, eager to help Alex's Pokemon train… eager to help Erin train. Hope had no desire to spar with Erin, but Duncan was happy to join Stabby in lazily fighting my insane sister, even if he didn't want to stab her. Erin was pretty happy about the entire thing, too… except Duncan loved to use pinpoint Gravity's to make her stumble into a punch or kick from him. She said it was good training, but she got a lot more frustrated when they went at it these days…

  Finally, on the third morning Grace pronounced the Alpha's leg healed enough to accept her weight. She shakily stood up, took a few steps, and screeched out her happiness. That triggered the entire flock to call out as well… Not that it was unusual, of course. No, we'd all had some very loud wakeup calls from the rest of them every morning.

  The Alpha warily walked around a little before turning to stare at Erin for a minute. Erin just smiled and shook her head, though, before the entire flock ran off. She refused to tell us what the Alpha had said other than thank you, too!

  I got the feeling that Erin wouldn't be hunting any Doduo she found from now on, though… She might enjoy hunting, but she had spent more than a little time each day just… petting them all, something they were more than happy to initiate themselves. It made sense, though… She had saved the majority of them from being captured, caged, and separated from their flock, and without our intervention, the Alpha would have died, unable to heal properly. At this point it would be like her hunting a Rattata, or a Koffing. Not that there would be any point to hunting either, but still…

  The flock had actually brought the Alpha back plenty of food from their daily grazings, but without Grace and our other healers, her leg would have healed crooked at best from natural healing. Avian bones were fragile, and even if Doduo and Dodrio leg bones were stronger than, say, a Pidgeot's because they were solid instead of hollow, that had still been a bad break.

  So overall? We weren't exactly impeded by the delay… Well, Emily and Anya were, technically, but they also saved days even with the delay. Mom was fast, and cut through wilderness that usually didn't even have paths, much less mostly-safe, walkable Route's.

  As we came to a stop outside Celadon's west gate, however, I tried not to think about why we had come here, not just dropped Emily and Anya off… Erin had finally stopped fighting herself, and looked at least mildly enthusiastic at the prospect, and of course Alex was happy to finally be able to choose stuff she actually wanted to wear, but me?

  Apparently I had the worst taste in clothes… Alex had joked about how bad my selections for her were back in Cerulean, about how impressive it was that I chose the worst… everything. I hadn't lied about it when she brought it up, either… I just hadn't said anything…

  They had all been kind of serious, except for the neon pink shirt… I had liked the orange shorts I picked out…

  Maybe Erin was right, and Alex could help me? She picked out the outfit Erin actually liked… I had chosen the 'Misty' outfit just to mess with her, honestly…

  Also because I didn't have any good ideas in the store…

  —

  Erin

  —

  Saying goodbye to Emily and Anya was a lot easier than Heather, Ian, and Zavier, honestly. I liked them by this point, sure, but they barely qualified as friends in my head. Friendly acquaintances, absolutely, but not someone I would… miss, I guess. Alex apparently felt similarly, based on her goodbyes, but of course Leaf considered them both good friends now…

  Not that I had a problem with my sister being nice and kind and friendly. Far from it! If nothing else her style of 'everyone's a friend just waiting to be met' balanced out my 'everyone's a potential enemy until known' style of… socializing. Alex was a happy middle ground, honestly…

  Still, I hadn't exactly minded them being around, but I was very happy when they separated from us, mainly because we did so in front of the huge mega-mall that called itself a department store. I wasn't the biggest fan of shopping, and probably never would be, but we had only briefly dropped in to buy a new Ride Basket the last time we were here…

  Alex was, of course, highly enthusiastic, practically dragging a very reluctant Leaf behind her as she made a beeline up the stairs for the fifth floor and its clothing shops… I followed them a bit more sedately, though. We couldn't exactly separate very far, but I had something I wanted to check…

  "Dexter, could you do me a favor?" He flew out of my jacket, grinning widely as he readied himself to be a menace to anything resembling peace, as usual, but grew serious at the look on my face and nodded.

  —

  —

  I might not have hated clothes shopping these days, but I still sighed in relief when it was done and our new clothes were packed away. It was still too warm to wear the new clothes, other than the long sleeves I guess, but I had insisted on some heavy winter clothes for everyone as well, not just some fall jackets and such.

  Johto actually got cold, or at least parts of it did due to elevation, as opposed to Kanto…

  I might be a little… irritated by Lance's over-protectiveness, and slightly… grateful that he was concerned about Leaf and I too, not just Alex, but Lance had contacted me this morning, and he had a good point…

  Even if I still wanted to violently destroy Giovanni, I knew intellectually that I couldn't just accomplish that by myself, even if my entire team was fully Evolved, and every single one Master level Pokemon… Giovanni was evil, not stupid or weak. Lance had said he would think about letting me join him when he finally confronted the leader of Team Rocket, and I had given him some non-committal assurances I wouldn't make it an issue. I would be there to see it at the very least, no matter what Lance thought, and mom would almost certainly want a leg… maybe two… I could probably make it look like an accident… Hecate could heal him for his trial…

  Sabrina was our next Gym, but I was pretty okay with skipping Blaine and going to Johto afterwards, especially considering he would probably still be AWOL doing whatever mad scientist crap he got up to here in reality… I really hope he got cleared sooner rather than later, though, considering Heather and them were heading there… They would be kind of upset we wouldn't be meeting them there, but Lance did have a good point.

  I had long since stopped following my old 'path', and I probably wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying anything if we tried to go to Viridian to take the train to Goldenrod, so whatever method we used to get to Johto was fine by me… That had been a mild surprise, as in the games the train ran between Goldenrod and Saffron, but not a huge one. Why not connect to the closest city in Kanto? Of course, why have it in Goldenrod then… Maybe Heather and them could meet us there? Or we could meet them in Goldenrod?

  I had no idea when Cerberus would finally Evolve again without some extreme life or death situation, honestly, so our mobility may increase drastically by the time we got to Johto, or it may not. He had Evolved far earlier than the games would suggest, but then again, his line had been introduced in a later-stage area, and their levels to Evolve likely inflated because of it. Not that levels were a thing here, of course… thankfully. It would have freaked me out more than a little bit if you could, I don't know, slot a Pokeball into a machine and get your Pokemon's stats displayed. Like one of those LitRPG's I used to read…

  Still, we had warmer clothes now, and I smiled as we descended to the third floor with its electronics shops. Also one shop that I was determined to visit… before I blew through the rest of my money.

  I'd barely had to think about money during my Journey so far, but with me giving almost all of it to mom to help the Ranch and the rescues, it was becoming more and more of an issue. I mean, sure, if I needed money I could call and ask for some, but… I felt like one of those trust-fund kids or something, just running around and not thinking about my purchases.

  I knew that most kids my age didn't have the kind of money I had when they Journeyed, Ian's group had kind of made that clear. They didn't even have a solar panel for their small power bank, and they had split the cost for that! Their biggest expenses were food and battling! A decent chunk of Ian's money went to buying expensive, specialty Pokemon Chow for his Eevee!

  Granted, his Eevee was a bit of a… diva, and would refuse to eat anything else if there was any option, but still!

  I had been more than a little bit free with my money, and especially with my TM purchases, but this would be the last large purchase I made unless I had some significant income. We might be able to hunt for most of our Pokemon, and for our meat, but we still had Hecate, Hope, Stabby, Duncan, Grace, Tinkatink, and Morgrem to feed, and while they all could eat meat, an exclusively meat diet made them sick, not to mention only Stabby and Morgrem were even vaguely interested in eating meat.

  We also had to take our Pokemon's nutritional health into account, but that was far easier than it could have been, thanks to Dexter. He couldn't actually do something like blood tests, but he did keep decent track of what everyone ate for us, and would tell us when someone needed more of certain nutrients. Mainly the fairies, honestly, considering most apex predators ate meat, organs, bones, skin, and the occasional roughage for fiber. We actually had plenty of supplements still, enough for a couple months at least, so that wasn't a huge drain on our finances…

  Combine all that, along with us needing to buy vegetables, fruit, and carbs? Especially the carbs, even the dried noodles were delicious here in Kanto, and I'd developed a… mild obsession with a certain brand… After we had also just bought some required warmer clothes? We wouldn't starve, not so long as we hunted, but Alex and I were getting very, very low on money. Leaf was fine thanks to her informal request as a Fairy Master, even after The Rocky Feast thanks to the discounts Lance and I received, but still. We weren't going to have Leaf buy all of our food once we ran dry…

  We might have to start beating up on other trainers more, honestly! I knew there were battle clubs in most cities, and older, more experienced trainers were usually worth a lot more than the poor kids who occasionally challenged us. Battling was the usual way for new trainers to fund their Journey's, actually. It was also one of the reasons many didn't have large teams before they hit their sixth badge, because more Pokemon were herbivores or omnivores than apex predators…

  Still, I was smiling widely as I walked into Gertrude's Technical Bonanza, a horrendous name for one of the best TM shops in Kanto, one with a huge variety of TM's, even the more extreme ones like Hyper Beam. Not that anyone but Leaf would be able to afford Hyper Beam, and even Leaf would be looking kind of broke after that purchase. It was a small enough store I didn't say anything as the other two broke off from me, because I had a very specific TM or two I wanted to find.

  Cerberus had almost no Moves other than Dark and Dragon, and very few of his ranged Moves were worth it. His echolocation training had paid dividends once he Evolved, and he could 'see' well enough these days… Not in a fast, active battle, though. At least not well enough for his ranged Moves to be effective past ten or so feet, which was pitiful… but expected. When he finally Evolved, though… His damage output, and accuracy with eyes, would be insane! Hydreigon could use three Moves at once, one from each head, but using all three at once would tire them out very quickly.

  Still looking forward to him blasting out three Hyper Beams at once, even if that was in the far future, price aside… Three Hyper Beams would take some serious stamina to not cause him to faint instantly. When he was freshly Evolved, though, three Dragon Breath's seemed pretty doable…

  If my game knowledge was accurate, never a certain thing, I'd found, then Zweilous didn't have all that many options as far as TM's that would cover their weaknesses. Mainly Fairy types, honestly, because they were the biggest threat to him. I knew Hydreigon could learn Flash Cannon, I'd used it on my Hydreigon in the games, but that was it. No Poison Move TM's for Cerberus… He had tried to learn a few from Kallen and Seraphina, but there wasn't even the beginning of him potentially picking them up, and he had stopped trying.

  So I had two options that I was looking at, and I found them easily enough. They were both mid-range TM's, and I could just barely afford one of them… Now comes the 'fingers crossed' part…

  I took both of the TM's to the counter, manned by an older lady I assumed was Gertrude. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw me, and I grinned internally. Maybe this would work? She might be willing to give me the chance if she knew who I was and approved of my hobbies… That, or too scared to say no…

  "Hi, I have a question for you. I think my Pokemon could learn one of these two Moves but I'm not sure, and I can afford to buy one… Would it be possible to try? Obviously I would buy it if he was able to learn it…" She frowned at me for a long moment, then held her hand out. I passed her the TM cases, trying not to feel nervous as she looked at both of them and frowned.

  "I… may be willing to allow that, but why are you unsure? Is your Pokemon a Steel type?" I gulped a little. Now comes the hard part…

  I did my best to project 'innocent, hopeful young girl' energy, but I don't think it worked very well… The scar certainly didn't help, and I was known to have a bodycount…

  "Well, he's not, but he does have claws, and technically he has wings? Even if they're more like proto wings…" Her eyes got a little wide at that before they dropped to my bandoleer. My bandoleer full of Luxury Balls, the only kind of ball that could never be locked…

  "What… species is he? Most can learn Moves not of their type, of course, but a pure Fire type would never be able to learn the majority of Water Moves, for example." C'mon, let my big, hopeful eyes work…

  "He's a Zweilous, actually." Now her eyes got huge, but only for a moment. Then they grew intrigued.

  "You know what kid, sure. I'll want some proof that you have the money first, of course, but go ahead and try. I'd like to know if a Zweilous can learn these Moves, myself." Dexter flew out to show her, and after a moment's shock seeing his huge phone, she nodded. I did a little cheer, internally, as she unlocked the security cases and handed the TM's back to me in their thin cases.

  I took Cerberus' ball off my bandoleer, enlarged it, and placed it on the counter. Gertrude- it was her, she had a small nametag- only looked nervous for a few moments, long enough for me to take the first TM out. I had been fascinated when I bought my first TM, Protect, and continued to be each time I used them.

  TM's looked a lot like teeny tiny, thick CD's, honestly. They weren't shiny like CD's, though, just purely a single color, and I grinned a little as I slotted the TM onto the release mechanism for Cerberus' Pokeball. They stuck out just a tiny bit, enough to hold a TM, and for a brief moment I grew hopeful.

  Then nothing happened, that moment passed, and my shoulders slumped. Still, I had kind of expected that…

  Gertrude took it back from me, not looking very surprised.

  "I've never gotten a good look at a Zweilous, just a single Hydreigon once. You say he only has proto wings?" I nodded. "Maybe try when he Evolves. If he can learn Steel Wing then, with six full wings, that would be pretty impressive…" Yeah, it would be…

  I held my breath as I slotted in the other TM, before releasing it in a happy exhale. It started to spin, lightly lighting up as it did, and I smiled so widely. I wasn't fully certain how the process worked, but I assume the TM sort of uploaded the knowledge of how to use a Move into a Pokemon's mind. They turned into red light when being released or returned, and light could hold information, so it made sense… as much sense as most of this world made, at least.

  Gertrude was already ringing up my order, and I happily nudged Dexter to get him to pay. She smiled as the payment went through, handing me the empty case as the disc stopped spinning.

  "I'm sure you know, but he's going to have his work cut out for him getting used to that Move. Still, even if it's not one of the stronger Moves out there, Metal Claw is very versatile."

  I smiled as I put my newest TM away, slipping the case into my jacket pocket for now. I'd put it away in my cheap TM case later.

  "I know, but he will be so happy to put the effort in! Dark Dragons are kind of… not fans of fighting fae, obviously…" She barked out a laugh as I moved to the entrance to wait on the other two.

  Resorting to a Body Slam for fairies? Nah, how about my big happy guy claws the fuc- crap out of them! Even if it would be more of a stomping clawing, sure… He might not be able to use it after he Evolves, either, he wouldn't have any claws…

  He would still take extreme damage from Fairy Moves, absolutely, but this at least gave Cerberus a hard hitting option against them… and Rock, but he had learned Stomping Tantrum from mom and Artemis, even if his wasn't nearly as good as theirs…